November 27, 2015

What happened this week?

Costa Rica. Three shelters (San Ramon, Guanacaste, and Upala) that can house 470 people have been set up. Shelters are being prepared preventatively. A total of 1,996 migrants are housed in 11 shelters. The government has developed a comprehensive care plan. The Ministry of Culture and Youth is preparing leisure and recreation events... Read more 

Guatemala.

• Floods in the St. Lawrence municipality, Suchitepéquez department: Floods caused damages to some homes due to the overflow of the Xeleca River. INSIVUMEH reported that approximately five rivers in the country (Polochic, Chixoy, La Pasion, Unsumacinta, and Motagua) exceeded their levels. Authorities forecast flash floods... Read more 
• Floods in Panzós municipality, Alta Verapaz department: 3, 190 people were affected by floods in several communities caused by the Polochic River... Read more 

Mexico. Earthquake in Guerrero. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Mexico City, the epicenter was 44 km northeast of San Marcos, Guerrero with a depth of 10.0 km; it was felt as a 5.4 magnitude quake in Mexico City. So far, there have been no reports of damage... Read more

Panama. Rains in Chiriquí. 15 homes were affected in the province by rainfall, and the storm drain system collapsed. Landslides affected the drainage system, but SINAPROC has removed the debris. The district of Boquete was the most affected. The alert for rainfall remains... Read more

Paraguay. The Parana River rose higher than forecasted with a height of 4.40 meters. About 25 families were evacuated from the flooded areas and relocated to various shelters.  Rains and storms are forecasted in the north and will extend to various departments... Read more

Interesting Facts

UN: Weather-Related Disasters Occur Almost Daily. The United Nations report, called "The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters," found there were an average of 335 weather-related disasters annually between 2005 and August this year, up 14 percent from 1995-2004 and almost twice as many as in the years from 1985 to 1994... Read more

Earthquake App Makes Seismic Data Easy to Digest. The free app — Temblor — is designed to help people who are unaware of the precise seismic environment where they live... Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Latin America and the Caribbean should make risk management an integral part of agricultural planning. The adoption of innovations as well as support for, and the organization of, social actors are some of the actions that can be implemented to make farming a more secure and profitable economic activity... Read more

Towards the Sustainability of the Caribbean Sea through Dialogue and Cooperation. The Greater Caribbean Region’s reliance on the Caribbean Sea to derive social, economic, cultural, climatic, aesthetic and other benefits has also been the catalyst for the development of a number of debilitating phenomena on the sustainability of the marine environment... Read more