March 29

What happened this week?

After the explosion that the Popocatépetl volcano registered on March 26, 200 exhalations were identified. The authorities exhort the population to not be approach to the volcano and respect the safety distance of 12 kilometers "because of the danger involved in the fall of ballistic fragments"...Read more

Thousands Affected by Floods and Landslides in Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. Around 70,000 people are currently affected by floods in Paraguay. Flooding and landslides in Peru. The authorities declared state of emergency in several areas of Ecuador, while in Bolivia, 109 homes have been destroyed by flooding...Read more

Interesting Facts

The Midwest floods are going to get much, much worse. An “unprecedented” flood season lies ahead this spring, according to NOAA. The flooding, which began over a week ago, has killed at least three people and caused at least $3 billion in damages so far. Rising water levels have breached levees along the Missouri River and forced several towns to evacuate...Read more

See National Geographic reference about Floods. Floods are among Earth's most common–and most destructive–natural hazards. No other kind of natural disaster in America has caused more death and destruction than floods. Massive efforts to mitigate and redirect inevitable floods have resulted in some of the most ambitious engineering efforts ever seen...Read more

30 Innovations for Disaster Risk Reduction. This publication is indeed a very valuable collection of thought provoking work which will contribute greatly to the world’s understanding of disaster risk and how it can be managed through the practical application of science and technology. The message here is that our efforts must be people-centered and inclusive if we are to make progress on reducing disaster risk and disaster losses.The volume is a  response from the world of academia to the Sendai Framework’s call for the promotion of scientific research and to support the application of science and technology in decision-making...Read more

Policy Developments and Outlook

Senate moves forward on multibillion dollar disaster aid package. The bill, which the Senate voted 90-10 to advance, provides supplemental funding to states affected by recent natural disasters, including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas, which have experienced flooding. The bill also provides $600 million in nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico... Read more

How much is climate change costing us? A bill in the Legislature would start an official accounting. The day-to-day costs of climate change and the resiliency efforts required to mitigate the impacts are equally significant and will likely far surpass the financial cost of hurricanes. Rising sea levels, extreme heat and increased rainfall are pushing aging infrastructure to the brink, resulting in costly collateral impacts that require big investments, such as sunny day flooding... Read more

March 22

What happened this week?

The third week of continuous heavy rains cause 3 Dead as Rivers Reach Record Highs in Iowa and Nebraska. Mexico’s national disaster prevention agency showed a fiery light at the volcano’s crater at 9:38 p.m. The explosion was quickly enveloped in ash and pulverized rock as burning fragments of the volcano’s dome fell over a radius of a mile and a half....Read more

Paraguay-Thousands Affected by Flooding in Presidente Hayes, Concepción and Guairá. Heavy rain and flooding have affected thousands of people in Paraguay since 15 March, 2019. Concepción and Guairá. More than 3,000 families have been affected by flooding and rains. SEN said that 2,376 families required assistance...Read more

The third week of continuous heavy rains cause 3 Dead as Rivers Reach Record Highs in Iowa and Nebraska.The flood situation in upper mid-western states has worsened over the last few days. Wide areas of Nebraska and Iowa are under water, with many rivers reaching record levels. About 200 miles of levees along the Missouri River have been either breached or overtopped, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Areas of Wisconsin and Missouri have also been affected. by the flooding...Read more

Interesting Facts

Mexico's 'green gold': The company powering cars with cactus juice. Described as the "green gold of Mexico,"the nopal plant already a staple in Mexican diets, medicine and cosmetics, is pureed and mixed with manure by a clean energy company called Nopalimex. The mixture is then left to decompose, a process which produces methane...Read more

Alabama Records 37 Tornadoes in 2019 Before Spring Begins.If that sounds like a lot, but it is. The average number of tornadoes through the months of January, February, and March is closer to 8-9 in a given year.The active start could be attributed to the warmer start to the year. When the weather becomes more spring-like earlier in the year, it follows that springtime weather patterns capable of producing tornadoes could start occurring earlier...Read more

Midwest Floods of 2019—The Latest Disaster to Learn From. The catastrophic flooding in Nebraska and other states along the Missouri River has brought back painful memories of major floods like those in 1993 and 2011. We know that floods are becoming more frequent and causing far more damage. Record disaster years have led to a growing recognition that we need to better prepare for and rebuild differently, not to mention adapt to the impacts of climate change...Read more

Policy Developments and Outlook

Nebraska Faces Over $1.3 Billion In Flood Losses.
Heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt have caused catastrophic flooding across the Missouri River Basin, and three-fourths of Nebraska's 93 counties have declared an emergency, Gov. Pete Ricketts said. The cost of the damage has surpassed $1.3 billion, state officials said, according to The Associated Press. That includes $449 million in damage to roads, levees and other infrastructure; $440 million in crop losses; and $400 million in cattle losses.... Read more


National Government supports the response and recovery of the municipality of Tenerife in Magdalena, affected by gale. The natural event generated an impact on 624 families and an equal number of dwellings in 18 neighborhoods and leaves unfortunately one person dead and another 12 more injured, who were immediately treated at the local hospital in Tenerife, and all were discharged. Likewise, in terms of infrastructure, 2 community centers, 2 schools, the church and 2 parks were impacted... Read more

March 15

What happened this week?

USA – Floods in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota as Rain and Melting Snow Push Rivers to Record Levels.Via Social Media, NWS Omaha / Valley NE said on 14 March, “Historic river flooding will continue today! Evacuations (are) ongoing in multiple locations. Please listen to local authorities and heed any evacuation orders. This is a very serious situation”...Read more

Damaging storms spawn tornadoes in New Mexico, leave thousands without power in Texas. Tornado damage was reported in Chaves County, New Mexico, Tuesday night, according to the Chaves County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office said the rain-wrapped tornado moved into the town of Dexter and damaged several homes...Read more

Extremely heavy rain, deadly floods and landslides hit São Paulo, Brazil. At least 12 people have died and 6 have been injured after extremely heavy rain, floods and landslides hit the state of São Paulo, Brazil on March 10 and 11, 2019. Floodwaters inundated several areas of the city of São Paulo (population 14.7 million), blocked major roads and caused severe traffic disruption. More heavy rain is expected across the country in the days and weeks ahead...Read more

Interesting Facts

The track of all the Fires in Chile. On the afternoon of February 14, in the town of San José Dollinco, municipality of Nacimiento, a forest fire started that destroyed 2,664 hectares, mainly of eucalyptus trees. Until today, a month later, the works continue, because only his control has been achieved, but not the total extinction...Read more

Policy Developments and Outlook


Americans in cool states misjudge threat from rising heat waves. Right now, people in cooler areas "don't experience hotter weather as frequently," said co-author Peter Howe from Utah State University.That means "they have less of that experience ... to handle those hot days"... Read more

Governments seek U.N. scrutiny of technologies to cool the climate. As climate change accelerates, the United Nations Environment Assembly will this week consider whether to start assessing, and setting rules on, technologies that could pull carbon out of the atmosphere or block some of the sun's warmth to cool the Earth... Read more

Hunger, chronic poverty and the effects of climate change demand that we step up our efforts to reduce disaster risk and drought risk in particular.That was the message delivered today in an official statement to the UN Environment Assembly by the UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori.“If we don’t win the race against climate change we are not going to be successful in reducing disaster losses,” she added.... Read more

Check out the Newsletter of ECPA, this time: "ECOMICRO- Green Finances for MSMEs and Low Income Household". At a time when climate change is headline news, it may seem like a no-brainer for a financial institution to offer green loans. But it's not as simple as just launching a new product. As a official at the Grenada Development Bank explained, it's importante to first understand the market and the technologies available and the identify solutions that will work locally and meet customers' needs... Read more