October 28, 2016

What happened this week?

Colombia. Deadly Colombia landslide engulfs highway near Medellin. A landslide on a major highway in Colombia has killed at least six people, officials said... Read more

Interesting Facts

New system could help save lives in an earthquake. Ocean Networks Canada recently installed early earthquake warning technology to help monitor earthquake activity off the coast of Vancouver Island. The first two sensors were installed roughly 200 kilometres west of Port Alberni... Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

USAID announces $14 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Hurricane Matthew response.  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced an additional $14 million in humanitarian assistance to further bolster the Government of Haiti's ongoing efforts to support communities affected by Hurricane Matthew... Read more 

New Urban Agenda to reduce disaster losses. The UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Robert Glasser, has welcomed the adoption of the Habitat III New Urban Agenda as “a significant contribution to focussing attention on the risks of rapid urbanisation and the importance of taking concrete measures to build cities in a way that reduces exposure to disasters and improves the quality of life for urban dwellers”... Read more 

October 21, 2016

What happened this week?

United States. Hurricane Matthew: There are 48 confirmed deaths, and the number of people in shelters is continuing to decrease daily... Read more

Interesting Facts

Evaluating forecasting models for predicting rainfall from tropical cyclones. To help improve hurricane preparedness and mitigation efforts, new research examines how accurate current forecasting systems are in predicting rainfall from North Atlantic tropical cyclones that make landfall in the United States... Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Call for innovative resilience financing to support sustainable cities. A high level panel has called for innovative approaches to increase financing so that cities become resilient to natural and man-made hazards and other shocks... Read more

October 14, 2016

What happened this week?

United States. Hurricane Matthew: US death toll from Matthew climbs to 27.
Seventeen people have died in North Carolina as a result of the storm. At least 27 US deaths have been blamed on Matthew... Read more

Cuba. 13 aqueducts have been destroyed in the municipality of Maisi. Furthermore, regarding houses, in Baracoa, 9, 210 were affected and 50 were completely destroyed; in Maisi 94% of the houses were affected; in Imias, 45% of houses were affected, in San Antonia del Sur, 33 were affected and 63 are completely destroyed; and in Moa, approximately 2,300 were affected and 163 are completely destroyed... Read more

Interesting Facts

Floods severely affect children and young people: it's time to stop ignoring their experience. Research with flood-affected children reveals serious impacts on well-being but also a desire to take on a role in flood risk management... Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Involving affected communities is key to reducing disaster mortality. The risk of dying in a hurricane or flood is lower today than it was 20 years ago, in most parts of the world. In Haiti, however, the toll of Hurricane Matthew has already passed 1,000, according to media reports.The issue of how to reach countries and communities left behind and struggling to reduce their disaster mortality rates was the focus of a meeting at United Nations Headquarters, held ahead of International Day for Disaster Reduction... Read more

Prepared Peru reduces El Niño mortality. The El Niño weather phenomenon was first named by fishermen in Peru where records going back 500 years have detailed its destructive impact especially along the northern coast where it often hits hardest. When the most recent El Niño was first forecast it stirred fearful memories of the 9,300 people who lost their lives in the so-called Meganiños of 1982-83 and 1997-98 along with GDP losses of 11.6% and 6.2% respectively.Based on past experience, the Government was determined on this occasion to reduce disaster mortality significantly in line with the first target of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction... Read more

October 7, 2016

What happened this week?

Haiti. Hurricane Matthew leaves hundreds dead. At least 300 people have died since Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane... Read more

Nicaragua. 145 homes affected by 5.4 magnitude earthquake. The Coordinator of Communication and Citizenship reported that the 5.4 magnitude earthquake left 145 houses affected in the municipality of La Paz Centro. It was reported that, to date, there have been 424 aftershocks where the epicenter was between two volcanos El Hoyo and Momotombo, with a depth of 2.9 km. The National System for Disaster Prevention and Assistance (SINAPRED) and the Nicaraguan Institute of Municipal Development (INIFOM) are conducting a tour in the communities surrounding the epicenter. The quake also left 6 people with minor injuries and one related fatality... Read more

Interesting Facts

High-tech future early warning system for hurricanes, tornados and volcanic eruptions. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has been able to detect a gravity wave wafting through space from two colliding black holes billions of years ago. Now a group has built a much smaller ring laser interferometer to explore how it could detect geophysical effects such as earthquake-generated ground rotation and infrasound from convective storms and have demonstrated the technology's potential as an early-warning system for natural disasters... Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

#IDDR2016: Europe’s Meteolarm offers life-saving alerts. Rolled out in the wake of one of the deadliest storms to strike Europe in decades, the continent-wide weather information service Meteoalarm plays a life-saving role by raising public awareness of how to curb risks, and fosters international cooperation into the bargain... Read more

UN, World Bank, insurance sector tackle climate vulnerability. A new public-private partnership between the leaders of the United Nations, the World Bank and the insurance sector has adopted a risk management strategy that seeks to harness insurance to promote economic recovery and resilience to climate hazards and disasters... Read more