Extreme Rain Events Pound East Africa, Killing many, Displacing Tens of Thousands

Severe floods wreak havoc across much of East Africa

Much of East Africa including parts of seven countries—Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania have been affected by deadly floods that were triggered by extreme rain events, beginning mid-March.

The rains have “caused significant flooding in the Lake Victoria basin in Uganda and Kenya, the southern Maasai rangelands in Kenya, and along the Wabi Shabelle in Ethiopia in late March and early April,” according to Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).

“Above-normal rains have occurred in several areas, including northern and western Tanzania; Rwanda; Burundi; the Lake Victoria Basin; western, southern and northeastern Kenya; southern and central Somalia; and eastern and south-eastern Ethiopia,” said FEWS NET.

• The rains are forecast to continue through May.

• Floods have resulted in the loss of life, displacements of large numbers of people, the destruction of crops, and damage to infrastructure, FEWS NET reported.

Kenya

Flash floods have killed dozens of people in Kenya, displacing tens of thousands, and destroying crops and much of the infrastructure.

“If the current rains continue with the same intensity for the next three weeks, we expect food shortages and escalation of food prices in May and June this year,” according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).

“In northeastern Kenya’s Dadaab refugee complex, home to about 463,000 mainly Somali refugees, the rains have displaced some families and affected commodity prices.”

Somalia

“Robust precipitation accumulations (>75mm) were again observed over central and southern Somalia,” states an Africa Hazards Outlook.

“Many local areas have already experienced more than three times their normal rainfall accumulation since the beginning of April, sustaining the risk for localized flash flooding and downstream river inundation over the Jubba and Shabelle River basins in eastern Ethiopia and southern Somalia.”

• “SWALIM [Somalia Water and Land Information Management] field reports in the last two days indicate river breakages at Hurway (about 8m wide), Eji (about 6m wide) and Maadheere (about 14m wide) villages all in Middle Shabelle Region. This has led to inundation of large areas, causing destruction of cropped area[s] of unconfirmed acreage, and displacement of several families.”

Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda

See report update by FEWS NET.

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DISASTER CALENDAR – April 13, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,064 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,064 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

H7N9 Infection: Beijing Reports First Case, China’s 44th

Avian Flu Death Toll Rises to 11 in China

A 7-year-old girl in Beijing has been infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu, the first reported case in Beijing.

The new case has raised the number of H7N9 infections in China to 44, including 11 fatalities, so far this year, said a report.

The child’s parents work in live poultry market in Shunyi District,  a northeastern suburbs of Beijing, according to the report.

“The girl developed flu symptoms, including fever, cough, [suffocation,] sore throat and headache, Thursday morning. She was brought to the Beijing Ditan Hospital to seek medical treatment around noon and was then hospitalized for lung infection.“

Avian Influenza A (H7N9) Virus

This is a “novel” (non-human) virus and therefore has the potential to cause a pandemic if it were to change to become easily and sustainably spread from person-to-person. So far, this virus has not been determined to have that capability. However, influenza viruses constantly change and it’s possible that this virus could gain that ability. CDC takes routine preparedness actions whenever a new virus with pandemic potential is identified, including developing a candidate vaccine virus to make a vaccine if it were to be needed. There is no licensed H7 vaccine available at this time. —CDC

• Avian Influenza A (H7N9) Virus – CDC

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Vietnam: Cancer Death Rate One of the World’s Highest

More than 110,000 new cases of cancer are reported in Vietnam each year, with a fatality rate of 73.5 percent (82,000 deaths), one of the highest rates in the world, according to Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital.

• World average mortality rate for cancer is 59.7 percent.
• Average death rate is 67.8 percent in developing countries and 49.4 percent in developed countries.
  
• Most common types of cancer in Vietnam are lung, breast, large intestine, stomach, liver, prostate, uterus, cervix, esophagus, bladder, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, oral cavity, leukemia, pancreas, ovary and kidney.
• Most common cancers among Vietnamese men are lung, colorectal, stomach, prostate, while in women the most common are uterus and cervix cancers.