Important Announcement: State of Washington

Stay Tuned for Important Announcements on Washington State

Starting 2014, FIRE-EARTH Blog will release important announcements concerning the state of Washington.

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Global Disasters/ Significant Events – Nov. 30, 2013

SHAME ON YOU!

An entire generation of Syrian children are becoming casualties of the Saudi-supported terrorist war in the country, with the UN refugee agency calling the situation as “a shameful milestone of conflict.”

More than half of the 2.2 million Syrian refugees are children, young people aged 17 or under, as the country faces losing an entire generation, warns UNHCR.

Some 75 per cent of the refugee children are under the age of 12.

“Too many have been wounded physically, psychologically or both. Some children have been drawn into the war—their innocence ruthlessly exploited,”  said UNHCR in a report.

Many of those not at school go out to work for long hours and for low pay from as young as seven years old.

As many as 300,000 living in Lebanon and Jordan could be without formal education by the end of 2013, said UNHCR.

Thousands of children in Jordan and Lebanon are living without one or both of their parents, or with no adult caregivers at all.

Philippine Mega Disaster:  Death toll rises to 5,632 with 1,759 others missing and  26,136 injured

Death toll from Super Typhoon HAIYAN climbed to 5,632, after 34 bodies were recovered in central Tacloban city since Thursday, said the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The number of people missing also rose to 1,759, with 26,136 others reported injured due to HAIYAN [ locally known as YOLANDA.] Read more…

Another day of massacre in Iraq leaves at least 55 dead

At least 55 people were killed  on Friday as sectarian violence continues to spiral in Iraq.

Most of the victims were targeted individuals who had been snatched  from their homes in Baghdad and neighboring towns, and executed,  authorities said.

Police discovered 18 corpses early morning, including four policemen, an army major and two tribal chiefs, dumped in farmland near the town of Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad.

More than 8,000 people have been killed in Iraq, so far this year.

Mozambique airliner carrying 34 people vanishes

A passenger plane carrying 34 people vanished from radar screens over northeast Namibia en route from Mozambique to Angola on Friday, said the Mozambique Airlines .

The Embraer 190 with 28 passengers and six crews failed to arrive at the Angolan capital Luanda, authorities said.

Ukraine riot police break up pro-Europe demonstrations

Ukrainian riot police used batons and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of pro-Europe protesters on Saturday following a night of violence in the capital Kiev after President Yanukovich decided against a landmark pact with Europe. Read more…

Police helicopter crashes into Glasgow “pub”

At least three people were killed and dozens of other injured after a police helicopter crashed into a busy pub in Glasgow, Scotland.

Scottish authorities have declared a major incident after a police helicopter with a crew of three came down on the roof of a public house with an estimated 120 people inside.

55 found HIV positive in tests for blood donation in Japan

Some 55 of the 782 cases of new HIV infections confirmed across Japan between January and September 2013 were detected in tests for blood donors, according Japan’s health ministry.

Among every 100,000 blood donors, 1.4 people tested positive for HIV this year, the ministry’s data show. The rate is 1.8 times the nationwide ratio for HIV carriers detected last year.

Earlier this month, blood donated from an HIV-infected man was given to 2 people, one of whom became infected, said NHK.

The health authorities have not revealed the criteria for the test. It’s unclear what percentage of the donors are tested for HIV, given the latest infections.

Death Toll Rises in Super Typhoon HAIYAN

Philippine Mega Disaster:  Death toll rises to 5,632 with 1,759 others missing and  26,136 injured

Death toll from Super Typhoon HAIYAN climbed to 5,632, after 34 bodies were recovered in central Tacloban city since Thursday, said the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The number of people missing also rose to 1,759, with 26,136 others reported injured due to HAIYAN [ locally known as YOLANDA.]

Total number of people affected by the Super Typhoon is put at just under 11 million [U.N. estimate is about 13.5 million,] with the number of displaced revised down to about 3.9 million.

The number of houses destroyed or damaged has increased to 1,168,909 units including 582,827 units completely flattened, according to NDRRMC SitRep No. 48, released today.

The total cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture [the estimate excludes cost of rebuilding homes] is pegged at over PhP30.6 billion [$1=43.77 Philippines peso] with about PhP15.6 for infrastructure and PhP15 billion for agriculture in Regions IV-A, IV-B, V, VI, VII, VIII, and CARAGA, said the report.

State of National Calamity

The Philippine President issued Presidential Proclamation No. 682 declaring a state of national calamity on 11 November 11, 2013.

Extent of Crop Damage

“High winds, heavy rains and localized floods destroyed houses and infrastructure, including irrigation facilities, and resulted in losses of the main staple rice paddy, sugarcane and coconut crops, as well as livestock, poultry and fisheries,” said the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

HAIYAN destroyed about 153,500 hectares (ha) of rice paddy, maize and other high value crops, including 77,500 ha of rice and 21,000 ha of maize crops, it added [figures are rounded to the nearest 100.]

Philippines imports of rice are to increase by 20 percent next year to 1.2 million metric tons, said FAO.

FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models

On November 9, 2013, FIRE-EARTH Models estimated the impact of Super Typhoon HAIYAN in the Philippines as a magnitude 6.2 catastrophe on the FEWW Disaster Scale, indicating large-scale regional destruction with up to 40,000 casualties.

• FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models estimate the total cost of damage at more than $5billion.

FIRE-EARTH and MSRB  2004 Forecast

In 2004,  our team forecast an 80-90 percent increase in the total power dissipated annually by tropical cyclones  in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by 2015.

• Storms will continue to get stronger (develop greater average intensities) and survive at high intensity for longer (take more time to dissipate peak energy) resulting in substantial increases in storm-related losses in the near future.

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Chronology of Disaster

Super Typhoon HAIYAN (locally known as YOLANDA) made its first landfall in the early morning of 8 November in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province. HAIYAN made subsequent landfalls in Tolosa south of Tacloban City, Leyte province, Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island, Cebu province, Conception, Iloilo province and Busuanga, Palawan province.

Related Links

• Super Typhoon HAIYAN: WE TOLD YOU SO! November 20, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN Disaster: 4 Pct of Philippine Population Displaced November 17, 2013
• Global Disasters/ Significant Events – November 18, 2013 November 18, 2013
• 4.24 Million Displaced in Super Typhoon HAIYAN November 23, 2013

Police Declares Major Incident After Chopper Crashes in Scotland

Police helicopter crashes into Glasgow “pub,” multiple fatalities likely

Scottish authorities have declared a major incident after a police helicopter with a crew of three came down on the roof of a public house with an estimated 120 people inside.

The helicopter fell from the sky “like a stone,” according to eyewitnesses.

“Given an incident of this scale we must all prepare ourselves for the likelihood of fatalities,” said Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond.

A police insignia could be seen on the wreckage of the helicopter.  Source: Police photo via BBC.

“I was just a few yards away and I arrived on the scene outside the pub a few seconds after the impact. No-one knew what it was but you saw the pandemonium of the people trying to get out of the pub,” Jim Murphy, a  member of parliament told BBC, describing the aftermath as a “horrific scene.”

“It was almost like slow motion. Like other people you just do what you can to help.”

“As you stood there you could see the helicopter embedded in the roof and sticking out the top of the roof and you knew it was something really serious.”