October 23, 2015

What happened this week?

Mexico. Hurricane Patricia weakens, but still 'extremely dangerous'.Hurricane Patricia weakened to a Category 4 storm Friday night with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, but remained "extremely dangerous" over southwestern Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said. Patricia made landfall hours earlier as a Category 5 storm, the fiercest... Read More

Belize. An area of low pressure is still affecting the country and as the rain continues flooding is expected. The Rio Hondo River is at flood stage and rising. Emergency personnel are on standby to assist Douglas and San Antonio residents in the event of an evacuation... Read More

Guatemala. 13 of the 22 departments have been affected by the rains. CONRED reported that about 223,000 people were affected by the rains that occurred in the past five days; 442 damaged houses, evacuations have been carried out; six landslides; 10 incidents on roads associated with landslides and fallen trees, as well as the collapse of the Bailey Bridge north of the country... Read More

Nicaragua. Heavy rains from the last hours have caused flooding due to the overflowing of the Ochomogo River. At least three homes have been flooded near the tributary; authorities are conducting risk assessments and will take appropriate action. The river will continue to grow as more rain is expecte... Read More

Argentina. One dead, injuries reported after earthquake hits the northwest... Read More

United States of America. Massive mudslide causes highway disaster. Emergency crews were working to dig out head-high mounds of mud from the 58 and Interstate 5, which was also shut down as hundreds of cars were trapped in the mud Thursday... Read More

Interesting Facts

Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones: Storms of Many Names. There is an old expression that a hurricane is Mother Nature’s way of telling us that she is angry. But of course hurricanes are not just a byproduct of nature’s ire... Read More

NEC Tests Landslide Simulation Technology in Rio de Janeiro. NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), has successfully concluded a series of trials in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using innovative technologies and solutions to monitor the potential of natural disasters... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

ACS: Climate change and the Caribbean. This debate surrounding our climate has polarized the world into two different groups for a long time; some theorists maintain that an intrinsic characteristic of climate is that it changes while a large percent of others support the theory that global warming is anthropogenic or caused by human action... Read More

The California Drought And Standards Of IoT. If we start sharing information and capabilities, and thinking more holistically, we may just be able to solve a lot more than the water problem... Read More