Disaster Declared for 27 Counties in Three States

Drought Disaster Declared for 10 Counties in California and Arizona

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated eight counties in California as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.

• The disaster declaration lists Imperial, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as primary disaster areas, and Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and San Luis Obispo as contiguous disaster areas.

• Additionally two counties in Arizona—La Paz and Yuma—have also been designated as contiguous disaster areas.

Georgia Disaster Areas

In a separate disaster declaration, USDA has designated a total of 13 counties in Georgia as primary or contiguous  natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain, high winds and hail that occurred from Feb. 24 – March 24, 2013.

• Those counties are Evans, Montgomery, Tattnall, Treutlen, Appling, Candler, Johnson, Long, Bryan, Emanuel, Laurens, Toombs, Bulloch, Jeff Davis, Liberty, Wayne and Wheeler.

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Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Singapore smog from Indonesia fires continued to choke the city-state

Haze caused by forest fires in Indonesia enveloped Singapore, pushing  the pollution standards index to 371 on Thursday.

Parts of Malaysia have also been shrouded in “hazardous” pollution levels, prompting the authorities to close hundreds of schools in the south.

Air Quality Index for Singapore, June 20, 2013 @ 12:00UTC. Sources:
Meteorological Service Singapore; http://aqicn.org Composite image by FEWW.

Prelude to more serious events?

Our colleagues at EDRO believe that the collapse of Singapore may occur as a result of volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.

Map of Singapore smog. Source: ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center/ Meteorological Service Singapore via BBC

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Bolivia declares a state of emergency amid nationwide drought

The Bolivian government has declared a state of national emergency due to drought in the departments of Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz, Tarija and Cochabamba.

The drought has so far destroyed 84,000 hectares of crops and affected 16,000 families.

“To date, we have 16,000 families affected in the Bolivian Chaco region in Chuquisaca, Tarijo and Santa Cruz, and 226,000 head of cattle as well as 806,000 hectares of crops are at risk,” Deputy Minister of Civil Defense Oscar Cabrera told reporters.

Meantime, cold weather has affected six departments in the south and west. Frost has caused crop losses in the departments of Oruro, Potosi and La Paz located on the high plateau, as well as the valley regions Tarija, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba, added Cabera.

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Beijing’s Air Pollution Again Rises to “Very Unhealthy”

“Death Penalty” for China’s Polluters

Meantime, China’s “supreme court and procuratorate jointly issued the new judicial explanation on Tuesday that imposes harsher punishments on polluters. In the most serious cases the death penalty could be handed down,” said a report.

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DISASTER CALENDAR – June 20, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN:

996 Days Left 

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

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 996 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity [To be updated.]
• 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

‘Himalayan Tsunami’ Kills Hundreds, Leaves 72,000 Missing

Hundreds Killed at ‘Temple of Doom’ as sludge buries scores of villages in northern India

Floods and mudslides have destroyed scores of villages, towns and communities, washed away more than 500 roads and at least 200 bridges in northern India, killing at least 200 people with 72,000 others listed as missing.

“The toll could go much higher as the process of recovery of bodies has not yet started in many places that are marooned,” said a high-ranking official.

Uttarakhand floods: 8000 stranded in Kedarnath; toll likely to rise- IBNLive Video

Carnage at ‘Temple of Doom’

The disaster began after a cloudburst shattered Kedar Dome, a glacier-like body in the in the western Garhwal Himalaya, which dislodged massive boulders causing a rupture in the Charbari Lake Dam, located about 6km from the shrine, said a report by India Times.

Thousands of people have died in floods and landslides in Uttarakhand: BJP

Indian People’s Party (BJP), which is the country’s second largest political party, has claimed that “thousands of people have died [in floods and landslides in Uttarakhand] and [that] there is no rescue operation,” said a report.

• “We demand that urgent steps be taken to describe this disaster as a national calamity. Adequate attention on war footing be given for rehabilitation and rescue operations,” a BJP spokesperson told reporters in Delhi.

Uttarakhand: Thousands still stranded as roads, bridges wash away – IBNLive Video

Thousands Evacuated as New Wildfires Rage in U.S.

Wildfires in Arizona, Alaska, California and Colorado Prompt Evacuations

An Arizona wildfire, dubbed Doce Fire, has burned at least 7,000 acres of chaparral and pine forest in just over 24 hours, prompting mandatory evacuation of more than 200 homes in five areas near the Granite Mountain Wilderness area, about 100 miles north of Phoenix.

Colorado

Lime Gulch Fire: A new wildfire in Jefferson County, southwest of Denver, has forced the emergency evacuation of about 100 homes on Wednesday.

Sparked by lightning, the Lime Gulch Fire has been burning fiercely since Tuesday. The blaze is fueled by gusty winds of up to 40 mph and humidity levels as low as 5 percent.

Most of Colorado will be under Red Flag Warnings Wednesday and Thursday due to ongoing drought, hot and windy conditions, forecasters said.

Black Forest Fire: The fire, listed as the most destructive in Colorado’s history, which started on Tuesday, June 11, was about 85 percent contained on June 19, 2013 (1:00 p.m. DST).

According to El Paso Sheriff’s website, the property loss caused by the deadly fire are currently as follows:

• Total Loss: 509 homes
• Partial Damage: 28

• Current Fire Map as of 2 p.m. Tuesday
  
• Other Info

California

Carstens Fire: The 1,600-acre wildfire, which has been burning since Sunday near a highway in N California, is currently 40 percent contained.

• More than 500 homes remain under evacuation orders.

Carstens Fire in Mariposa County, Calif., Day 2 – June 17, 2013 

Alaska

Red Flag Warnings remain in effect across Alaska amid baking temperatures, which top 90 degrees (32ºC ), low humidity and strong to gusty winds.

Alaska wildfires have consumed more than 172,158 acres (269 sq miles) of land, according to Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Situation Report dated Wednesday June, 19, 2013.

Related Links

• Fire Threat Intensifies in Western U.S.  June 19, 2013
• Colo. Fire Turns Deadly, Most Destructive in State’s History June 14, 2013