November 6, 2015

What happened this week?

United States of America. Flooding – Southern Plains. The heaviest rainfall has ended across south-central Texas where 36-hour rain totals were 14-18” between the Austin and San Antonio area. River flooding and flash flooding impacts improve slowly as a drying trend develops. 10 -30 homes reported damaged due to severe weather in Harris County, TX. 1 fatality, 2 missing citizens as a result of flooding and 5 shelters are open with 101 occupants in Texas... Read More

Costa Rica. Turrialba Volcano Activity: An eruption that was 700m high and as a precautionary measure, a two km radius has been put in place to restrict visitors. Alerts have been declared in the event of an eruption and ash fall...  Read More

Colombia. 

• Department of Bolivar, Montecristo municipality. The Tibona gorge overflowed causing an avalanche that destroyed 127 homes, affected 1051 families (5000 people), and left at least one person missing. Temporary shelters have already been established in surrounding area... Read More
• Department of Cauca: An avalanche caused by overflowing rivers Napi and San Francisco affected 17 communities and approximately 1068 families (5340 people). Pending the needs assessment, a crisis room has been implemented and a declaration of public calamity has been made by authorities... Read More
• Timibiquí municipality: Vereda Cotaje: Overflowing of the Timbiquí River led to flooding of the town, Renacer Negro. The media has estimated that about 900 people were affected, at least 3 homes were destroyed, and an unknown number of homes flooded. The population took refuge in the church community... Read More

Mexico. A landslide occurred in Santa Fe, which resulted in the evacuation of 116 people from a residential complex, damage was seen in electrical infrastructure, and power was lost for 2,870 people. So far no injuries were reported... Read More

Interesting Facts

Hurricane Patricia.  Why a record storm did surprisingly little damage... Read More

Two Degrees: Do ice ages debunk climate science? Ice ages have come and gone many times in Earth's history. What accounts for the Earth's current rapid warming trend?... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

How Mexico handled Patricia. It's an sign of Mexico’s progress... Read More

Resilient private sector key for Sendai success. Efforts to ensure that businesses play a key role in curbing disaster risk have passed a new milestone with the debut of the UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies... Read More