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