June 27, 2015

What happened this week?

Brazil:  States of Bahia and Minas Gerais.  There is an emergency situation in the municipality of Bahia due to flooding.  Authorities have issued to access funds for a rapid response of affected services... Read More

Mexico: Floods. Guadalajara, Jalisco: Rain from Tuesday night and Wednesday caused flooding in many homes. In Guadalajara, 599 homes were affected and 127 in Tlaquepaque...  Read More

United States: 

• Illinois and Michigan: Storms. Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, damaging wind, and numerous tornados moved across the both states yesterday. In Illinois, 10 total injuries occurred, seven tornados touched down, a search and rescue operation took place where campers were temporally trapped, and 25,000 users are without power. In Michigan, four tornados touched down, one home was destroyed, and 41,000 customers are without power... Read More

• San Bernardino, California: Wild Fire. Wild fire Update: The Lake Fire has reportedly burned over 17,000 acers and is 24% contained. No structures have been damaged, but around 500 are threatened. The Southern California Air Quality Management District has issued a smoke advisory for some areas with heavy smoke. Highway 38 remains closed from Angelus Oaks to Lake Williams... Read More

Interesting Facts

Climate change not on hiatus, new research shows. That comes from Russell Vose, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and a team of scientists from the agency's National Centers for Environmental Information, who found that unlike reports in recent years of a "climate change hiatus," global temperature trends are still creeping upwards... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

A new earthquake Early-Warning System for Mexico city. The distance between the faults and the city made it relatively easy for Mexico to build an earthquake early warning system... Read More

Money approved for Texas earthquake study. Researchers will begin moving quickly to study what may be making the earth move in North Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott approved $4.5 million to pay for a comprehensive earthquake study...  Read More

June 19, 2015

What happened this week?

Mexico: Guerrero state Civil Protection the Port Authority reported that Hurricane Carlos had damaged 37 vessels, 14 of which are stranded, 11 which sunk, and 12 that are adrift. 55 homes were damaged, mostly due to falling roofs and flooding... Read More

Nicaragua, Prinzapolka:  Rains have caused flooding in 25 communities. Prinzapolka authorities have provided shelter to about seven families (21 people) in Alamikamba whose homes have been flooded... Read More

Paraguay: Floods. The National Emergency Agency (SEN) reported that around 9,602 families (about 48,000 people) were affected by the flooding of the Paraguay river. In Asuncion, about 6,000 families received assistance from the SEN, which coordinates actions with the Asuncion Municipal Council of Emergencies and Disasters (Comueda... Read More

United States:

• Puerto Rico. Drought: Despite plans to conserve water, the Carraizo and La Plata reservoirs have not managed to reduce the daily rate of decline. It is predicted that rationing could occur first in July and and second in August. The United States Drought Monitor has declared a severe drought in 13 villages in this central area and moderate drought for the rest of the Eastern Townships... Read More
• Ardmore, Oklahoma: Tropical storm Bill has claimed at least one life and another is still being investigated in Pottawatomie County. Oklahoma was hit the hardest by bill receiving over ten inches of rainfall between Wednesday and Thursday. A rockslide, due to the rain, forced interstate 38 to be closed for some time... Read More

Interesting Facts

Earthquake research points to future. Australian researchers could mean evidence from millennia old earthquakes may be used to help predict how the ground will respond during modern seismic shifts... Read More

Team finds 'unprecedented' earthquake evidence in Africa 25,000 years ago. Researcher used innovative methods to examine the ground  where a large earthquake occurred some 25,000 years ago... Read More

How strong was the earthquake in Nepal? Enough to actually shove Mount Everest.

Mount Everest as seen from an aircraft over Nepal. Chinese state media reported that the April 12 earthquake in Nepal moved the peak by 1.2 inches... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

FEMA Launches Innovative National Volunteer Program to Enhance Disaster Response and Recovery Efforts Nationwide. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with seven technology organizations to provide state, local, tribal and territorial governments with technology resources during a disaster to expedite response and recovery... Read More

Disaster Risk Reduction In Theory And Practice.They are still young, yet they are well worth discussing: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the “New Ten Essentials”, which facilitate implementation of the framework... Read More

Mapping data will elevate flood risk knowledge. LIDAR  (Light Detection & Ranging) uses a laser to scan and map the landscape from above and is widely considered to be the best method for collecting very dense and accurate elevation data across the landscape... Read More 

June 12, 2015

Advancing towards Sustainable Development in the Americas (Virtual Forum with Civil Society and Social Actors)

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) through its Department of Sustainable Development and the Summit of the Americas Secretariat, in cooperation with the Government of Honduras have the pleasure of inviting you to participate in the Virtual Consultation Forum with Civil Society and Social Actors. The Forum is being organized as part of the revision and update of the Inter-American Program on Sustainable Development (PIDS) and the preparatory process of the Third Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development to take place from October 22 to 23, 2015 in Honduras, for the adoption of the PIDS. The PIDS establishes the OAS’ priorities and policy guidelines on sustainable development and environment.

The objectives of this Virtual Forum are:

1. To obtain input from civil society and social actors for the revision and update of the PIDS.
2. Build consensus among representatives of civil society and social actors and obtain their recommendations on the priorities that should be included in the PIDS and analyzed during the Ministerial Meeting.
3. Benefit from best practices efforts of civil society and social actors on the themes to be analyzed during the Ministerial Meeting... (Read More) (Leer más) 

Schools with a Sustanaible Future 2016

The Continental Rally “Schools with a Sustainable Future” is the first international competition in Latin America and the Caribbean that promotes inclusive and participatory education for sustainable development and disaster risk management. Children and adolescents seek to demonstrate the leadership of their schools as agents of development of their local communities, strengthening and making them viable for current and future generations... (Read More) (Leer más) 

What happened this week?

Brazil. National Secretariat for Civil Protection and Defense of the Ministry of National Integration declared emergencies due to flooding in seven counties of the amazon: Alvarães, Boa Vista dos Ramos, Iranduba, Japurá, Manaus, Parintins, and Urucará and in the municipality of Benjamin Constant... Read More

Paraguay.  In Asuncion, Paraguay, the Paraguay river flood leaves more than 5000 families homeless and about 25, 010 asuncenos affected.  Authorities in Asuncion are keeping watch on the  rising riverbed... Read More

United States. Louisiana. The recent rains in Texas and Oklahoma have made their way down to the Red River in Louisiana.  The river has reached its highest levels in 70 years, flooding an estimated 50 homes and cutting off power to an estimated 300 buildings.  At least 2,000 farm animals have been relocated to higher ground... Read More

Honduras. Rains in Comayagua, Siguatepeque have caused a series of floods as well as the collapse of the drainage system in some areas of the city... Read More

Nicaragua. Tropical wave. One person is missing in Masaya and ten municipalities have reported damage to their infrastructure due to rains generated from Tuesday afternoon. Some educational activities were suspended... Read More

Interesting Facts

May was wettest on record, despite drought in West. The month of May was the wettest on record across the United States, but that brought little relief to the drought-stricken West Coast.. Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Turkish aid organizations prepare for UN summit. Turkey’s prominent humanitarian aid organizations have gathered Thursday in Istanbul to discuss their agenda and preparations for the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in 2016... Read More 

White House unveils $34m climate plan to disaster-proof developing countries. The initiative, one of a stream of new climate measures, will give the countries access to critical data and help to build plans for coping with weather extremes... Read More

June 5, 2015

What happened this week?

Nicaragua. Heavy rains in the country, 60 evacuated families, 2,500 homes in 53 districts of Managua have been affected... Read More

United States of America. Texas floods: Enough rain to cover entire state with 8 inches of water in May. Every drop of rain these days is a drop too many in much of Texas, where 22 people have died and President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster... Read More 

Interesting Facts

Japan's big earthquake: Why deeper means safer.  The deeper the quake, the less violent and less dangerous. That's because the strength of shaking or energy released... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Upping Our Game for Disaster Preparedness and Response.  The briefing covered resources like the Administration’s Climate Resilience Toolkit, a website that provides centralized, authoritative, easy-to-use information, tools, and best practices to help communities prepare for and boost their resilience... Read More 

Japan puts toilets in lifts to cater for up to 17,000 people who could stuck in them when the next big earthquake hits. Japan is looking into installing toilets and emergency water in lifts... Read More