Global Disasters/ Significant Events – March 7, 2015

Death toll from severe weather in Afghanistan rises to at least 308

Some 182 districts in 20 provinces have been affected by heavy snow, avalanches and flooding, which have killed at least 308 people, injured 187 others and completely destroyed 4,776 houses, government sources said.

The number of casualties is expected to  rise, with more severe weather forecast for northern and central Afghanistan.

Worsening Food Insecurity and Water Shortages in Ethiopia

Pocket areas that received inadequate seasonal rainfall in 2014 and/or had a poor harvest due to flooding or crop disease will remain vulnerable in early 2015.

Food insecurity is worsening in belg/gu/ganna/sugum rain-receiving areas, as the dry season reaches its peak. Delayed rains and the expected below-average seasonal rainfall will impact belg planting, as well as water and pasture availability in pastoralist areas, said UN OCHA.

Refugee Crisis

Ethiopia hosts the largest refugee population in Africa with 656,199 registered refugees including 251,545 South Sudanese refugees, 196,000 new arrivals in Gambella since mid-December 2013, and 125,000 Eritreans.

33,000 new Eritrean arrivals registered in 2014 (including unaccompanied minors).

Massive Fire as Train Carrying Crude Oil Derails in Canada

Derailed Crude Oil Train Explodes in Canada

A train carrying crude oil exploded after it derailed near Gogama, NE Ontario, closing Highway 144, according to reports.

The authorities were forced to close a section of the highway for up to two days, with no detour available.

The incident, the fourth derailment in Northern Ontario since January this year, follows another derailment in the same area in February.

Freight Train Carrying Crude Oil Derails Near Illinois City

On March 5, a freight train loaded with crude oil derailed in northern Illinois, exploding into a ball of fire and prompting officials to suggest that everyone with 1 mile radius of explosion evacuate, authorities said, AP reported.

“Since 2008, derailments of oil trains in the U.S. and Canada have seen 70,000-gallon tank cars break open and ignite on multiple occasions, resulting in huge fires. A train carrying Bakken crude crashed in a Quebec town in 2013, killing 47 people. Last month, a train carrying 3 million gallons of North Dakota crude derailed in a West Virginia snowstorm, shooting fireballs into the sky, leaking oil into a river tributary and forcing hundreds of families to evacuate.”

Recent Train Explosions

• Canadian Town Evacuated after Train Explosion July 7, 2013
• Hundreds of Homes Evacuated after Ohio Railcar Leak November 28, 2013
• Two W Virginia Towns Evacuated after Derailed Train Explodes February 17, 2015