April 5

What happened this week?

Peru – Thousands Hit by Floods in San Martín and Junín Regions. Several rivers overflowed in Junín region in the central highlands of Peru from around 29 March, 2019. Heavy rain has also caused landslides in the region. Emergency authorities say that 1,800 people have been affected in the province of Chanchamayo... Read more

Emergency declared after flooding in Paraguay's capital due to heavy rain. More than 20,000 families across Paraguay have been affected by severe flooding from two weeks of heavy rain that caused the country's main river to burst its banks, a senior official said Wednesday as an emergency was declared in the capital Asuncion...Read more

Flood, floods, floods and more floods. Natural Disasters Monitoring. Since the report of March 19, the number of affected families has increased in many countries of South America due to heavy rains and landslides. An overflow of the Gurupi River caused the evacuation of several families, affecting 650 people in Brazil. We will share with you this week's monitoring... Read more

Interesting Facts

Weather or climate change? In the last month, we’ve had three nights ranging from minus 18 to minus 22, so we can expect to hear this trumpeted by some as proof positive that global warming (climate change) is a hoax. But that of course is wrong and here’s why. What we experienced last week is nothing more than “weather,” experienced on one tiny part of Montana, on one really tiny part of the earth... Read more

California is overdue for a huge earthquake, seismologists say. Recent storms may have ended California's drought when it comes to water, but not when it comes to earthquakes, scientists say. The Golden State is in the midst of an earthquake drought. Seismologists are saying there haven't been enough powerful earthquakes in the past 100 years along California's highest slip-rate faults, and a ground-rupturing quake with a magnitude greater than 7.0 is overdue... Read more

10 Technologies That Help Buildings Resist Earthquakes. Over the last few decades, architects and engineers have devised a number of clever technologies to ensure that houses, multidwelling units and skyscrapers bend but don't break. As a result, the building's inhabitants can walk out unharmed and start picking up the pieces... Read more

Policy Developments and Outlook

Flood Control and Disaster Management. Flood control refers to all methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters (Wikipedia). Some of the common techniques used for flood control are installation of rock berms, rock rip-raps, sandbags, maintaining normal slopes with vegetation or application of soil cements on steeper slopes and construction or expansion of drainage channels... Read more