September 26, 2014

What happened this week?

Mexico: Hurricane Odile. Five municipalities in Baja California declared disaster zones. The most affected areas are La Paz, Comondú, Loreto, Los Cabos, and Mulege. The delivery of supplies to the affected families of those municipalities has started. National response... Read More

Uruguay: Floods. The number of evacuees remains at 296, and those who left voluntarily, at 4294. The Yi River level continues to go down and is below the safe zone. People will begin returning to Durazno and Soriano today. The emergency situation caused by the floods in the south of the country remains under control. The National Emergency System, through its Departmental Emergency Committees, continues to coordinate response activities... Read More

Panama: Floods in the western area of Panama left 427 people affected and 105 houses damaged. The floods were caused by the overflow of the Martin Sanchez river, El Rodeo stream, and obstruction of sewers. SINAPROC recommends being aware of the levels of rivers and streams, and landslides caused by the saturation of soils. National response... Read More

Emergency on Route 32 as landslides trap hundreds of motorists on mountainous Costa Rica highway. Heavy rains triggered multiple landslides that stranded 380 2,000 people for hours in the dark and rain... Read More

Powerful 6.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Argentina. The quake was very deep, at over 100 miles below the surface and struck in a remote mountainous region near the borders with Chile and Bolivia... Read More

Interesting Facts

Signs in groundwater may help predict earthquakes six months in advance. Chemical spikes in water due to stress building up in the rocks could hold clues to forecasting tremors...  Read More

Hi-tech Tools Can Better Predict Droughts, Flood.  New technology has allowed scientists to develop better climate models and measurements.  the goal is to figure out how to combine these tools to better predict droughts and floods... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Association of Caribbean State drives regional approach to disaster risk reduction. The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) in its overall aim of promoting Sustainable Development for the Greater Caribbean, through its Directorate of Disaster Risk Reduction, continues to improve and increase its initiatives in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction as reflected in the 22nd Meeting of the Special Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction... Read More

Plans for $200 million in drought relief released. More than $200 million in expedited bond funding would benefit 110 projects throughout the state, ranging from the city of Mt. Shasta to San Diego, under the draft recommendations by the state Department of Water Resources... Read More 

FEMA offers disaster resources for tribal communities. Tribal members can learn how to prepare themselves and family members for an emergency by visiting Ready Indian Country... Read More

September 19, 2014

What happened this week?

Mexico, Baja California: Hurricane Odile has affected the entire peninsula of Baja California, after making landfall on Sunday in the Los Cabos as a Category 3 hurricane. Five municipalities have been affected. Approximately 7,000 people were evacuated before the hurricane, and 3,000 are in shelters. A Red Alert is maintained because the heavy rains continue... Read More

Uruguay: Floods in six departments, particularly in Durazno, have affected more than 2,000 people. In addition, several roads have been blocked in different sections. The flow of the Yi River has been increasing steadily in recent days, reaching a height of 10.93 meters in Durazno; the height at which it begins affecting households is 8.6 meters. Three shelters have been established for people who have evacuated their homes... Read More

Paraguay: Floods. The Paraguay River has dropped two meters; however, 17,788 families are still at risk. The waters will rise again, according to forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology and Hydrology... Read More

Drought causing food crisis in Central America. Across the region, rivers, lakes and lagoons have dried up along with many of the wells that people rely on for drinking water, cooking and washing. As people desperately dig to deepen their wells in search of water, aid agencies are preparing to deal with a major crisis of malnutrition across the region. Read More

Interesting Facts

Silicon Valley looks to build high-tech alert system. Established giants are pouring resources into Internet-powered alert systems or quake detection technology. Other companies are taking unusual approaches to detect quakes... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Round table with Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Chief World Humanitarian Summit. The General Secretariat of the OAS participated in a round table at The American Red Cross on September 12th to discuss with Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Chief of the UN World Humanitarian Summit, and partners preparations for the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit (WHS)....Read More  (Leer más)

México. Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil. Continuity of Operations Plan. Read More 

Paraguay: The Ministry of Health provides and distributes health care supplies and provisions for the emergency project using CERF funds... Read More

September 12, 2014

What happened this week?

Mexico: Hurricane Norbert. The storm evolved to a Category 3 hurricane and produced heavy rains in Baja California, northwestern Mexico, where a red alert (maximum risk) remains. High waves left 50 affected families in the port of San Carlos, Baja California Sur. Also, rains wreaked havoc and caused partial suspension of electricity services in Leon. The storm is now a post-tropical cyclone... Read More

United States: Southwestern states. Flash floods in the state of Arizona left two people dead; the Governor has declared a state of emergency. In addition, nearly 200 children were trapped in an elementary school in the state of Nevada because of flooding. Damage to roads. The rains are the result of Hurricane Norbert, and are expected to continue for several days... Read More

Peru: Ubinas volcano. An explosion with an eruptive column that reached 3500 meters was recorded today. The forecast for ash dispersion, prepared by the SENAMHI and OVI, indicates that it could reach the towns of Querapi, Sacohaya, Tonohaya, Anascapa, Ubinas and San Miguel... Read More

Interesting Facts

Earthquake detectors to give some B.C. schools warnings before ground shakes. New earthquake detectors could buy some B.C. students precious seconds to get to safety before the ground starts shaking... Read More

Why Do Landslides Happen and Why Are They So Devastating?. Landslides don’t attract the same media attention as more familiar geological hazards such as earthquakes and volcanoes. And yet they can be just as disastrous and, in fact, 2014 has been a particularly bad year... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

International Forum Calls for Focus on Disaster Recovery. Leaders from developing countries, civil society, private sector and agencies including the World Bank, European Union and United Nations are coming together this week to discuss how vulnerable countries can better prepare and protect hard won development gains by establishing recovery strategies and processes before disaster strikes...Read More

September 5, 2014

What happened this week?

Jamaica Drought Causes Nearly US$1 Billion in Losses. Over 18,000 small farmers have been affected by extreme drought that has been plaguing the country for months... Read More

Panama Canal chief says ship sizes could be restricted if drought continues. The head of the Panama Canal Authority says officials might be forced to limit the draft of ships by the end of this year or early in 2015 if a drought continues and lowers the level of lakes that feed the waterway's locks... Read More

Brazil Drought: São Paulo Could Run Dry in Less Than 100 Days. Brazil's largest city could run dry in less than 100 days if the city's government doesn't act... Read More

Drought leaves up to 2.81 m hungry in Central America: UN. A severe drought has ravaged crops in Central America and as many as 2.81 million people are struggling to feed themselves..  Read More

Brazil drought crisis leads to rationing and tensions. Water rationed in 19 cities in southeast and central regions after usually abundant supplies run dry... Read More

Guatemala:Floods. Showers in the country have caused flooding in the departments of Petén and Suchitepéquez that have affected 255 people and caused damage to 39 homes. Local authorities conducted assessments and determined that it was not necessary to enable shelters, and delivered humanitarian assistance to those affected... Read More

Interesting Facts

Reduce Flood Risks with Plastic Tanks. Polypropylene tanks can help prevent city-wide flooding in flood-prone areas...Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Central America braces for drought-linked food crisis. In response to the drought, the Guatemalan government has said it will begin distributing 4,000 tonnes of food aid to more than 170,000 families affected by the drought from early October, using government and United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) food reserves... Read More

Pacific Resilience – Strategy for Climate and Disaster Resilient Development in the Pacific (SRDP). The work of the Pacific in integrating climate change and disaster risk management was showcased at the SIDS side event, Building Pacific Resilience – the Strategy for Climate and Disaster Resilient Development in the Pacific (SRDP) held in Samoa.. Read More