In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion. The year 2024 was marked by extreme temperature events in Asia that caused thousands of deaths, severe droughts in Africa affecting over 25 …
The extreme thunderstorm that tore through Kurnell was consistent with being an mid-intensity tornado with wind gusts well above the previous strongest recorded four decades ago in NSW. The Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday released the preliminary results of its damage assessment of Wednesday's mid-morning storm with recorded wind gusts …
Wide areas of the central Philippines were plunged into darkness on Tuesday as powerful typhoon Melor barreled into the coconut-growing region, causing flooding, storm surges and forcing almost 800,000 people to evacuate their homes, officials said. Known locally as Nona, the storm packing winds of 140 kph (87 mph) was …
Hail storm continues to cause havoc in Malawi as 1000 people have been made homeless in Dedza, Mzimba, Rumphi and Karonga and plants have been washed away. In Dedza, Zione Viyazi, the district department of disaster and management officer said 700 people are homeless and have lost all their property …
Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the central Philippines on Monday as a typhoon with winds of up to 150 kph (95 mph) made landfall, dumping heavy rain that could cause flooding, landslides and storm surges, authorities warned. About 40 domestic flights were grounded, while 73 ferries and …
Police have urged people to stay indoors after a Cumbrian village was flooded for the second time within a few days. The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, a local MP, said the government must learn that flooding is likely to become more frequent. Fast-flowing water ran through the village of …
Drenching storms triggered mudslides and flooding in the Pacific northwest on Wednesday, knocking out power to thousands of people and leaving two women dead in Oregon, authorities and local media reported. Portland has endured more than 5 inches of rain in three days, nearly as much as all of December …
Storm Desmond has caused an estimated £500m of damage across Cumbria – almost double the cost of the floods that hit parts of the county six years ago. Experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which made the calculation, also warned that the bill could rise further if the rain keeps falling. “If …
Pretoria — The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has dispatched its disaster management teams to respond and assess the extent of damage caused by the severe storm in Uthukela and Umzinyathi Districts. On Monday, a raging storm swept across Ezakheni township and Tugela Ferry, ripping roofs …
One person has been found dead and 45,000 properties are without electricity following the flooding that has hit north-west England. Police said that a body had been found in the water in the river Kent near Kendal after Storm Desmond hit Cumbria. The environment minister, Liz Truss, told MPs that …
Britain's emergency response committee met on Sunday after prolonged heavy rain caused widespread flooding in northwest England and forced emergency services to evacuate residents from their homes. The meeting was called after storms battered the country overnight, killing one man and leaving hundreds of homes flooded and without power. Police …
The Global Climate Risk Index 2016 analyses to what extent countries have been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heat waves etc.). The most recent data available - from 2014 and 1995–2014 - were taken into account. The countries affected most in 2014 were Serbia, the …
The study proposes a number of policy options for the Urban Poor Poverty Reduction Working Group (led by Phnom Penh Municipality and UNICEF) and Joint Action Group for DRR to consider: mainstream DRR into urban planning, implement regulations that limit the negative environmental impacts of rapid urban development, increase the …
Hurricane Sandra weakened to a Category 3 storm on Thursday as it headed toward Mexico's coast, though it is the strongest recorded in the eastern Pacific Ocean this late in the year, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Sandra, about 420 miles (675 km) south of the southern tip of …
Underscoring yet another reason why an ambitious climate deal must come out of upcoming COP21 talks in Paris, a new United Nations report warns of the "high price" of extreme weather disasters that are spurred in large part by a warming globe and rising sea levels. An average of 335 …
Hurricane Sandra formed off Mexico's Pacific coast on Tuesday, with the storm expected to strengthen as it heads toward the country's northwest coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. On Tuesday evening, Sandra was located about 540 miles (869 km) south-southwest of the Mexican Pacific port of Manzanillo, the …
The long-term rise in global temperatures, the dominant cause of which is the anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases, combined with the effects of a developing El Niño, have resulted in unusual global warmth in 2015. The global-average near-surface temperature for 2015 is likely to be the warmest on record according …
This publication provides a sober and revealing analysis of weather-related disaster trends over a twenty year time-frame which coincides with a period which has seen the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties become an established high-profile annual fixture on the development calendar. The contents of this …
At least three people were killed and about 250,000 homes and businesses were without power in Washington state on Wednesday after a storm blew down trees and triggered mudslides, authorities said. A wide swath of the Puget Sound region was under flood watches and warnings through Wednesday afternoon, the National …
The present report is a collection of research results presented, by IITM scientists and other experts at the IITM Monsoon Discussion Forums (IMDF) during conspicuous boreal summer of 2015. The evolution of the consecutive deficit Indian summer monsoon, with developing El Niño phenomenon over the Pacific, turned out to be …
A second extremely rare and powerful cyclone in two weeks battered the Yemeni island of Socotra with hurricane-force winds on Sunday, killing a woman and causing around 5,000 people to flee their homes, a local official said. The new storm, called Megh, comes less than a week after Cyclone Chapala …
