Disaster Diary – 26 June 2013

Alaska Declared Major Disaster Area

The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Alaska  in the area affected by flooding during the period of May 17 to June 11, 2013.

The worst affected areas are in the Alaska Gateway REAA*, Lower Yukon REAA, Yukon Flats REAA, and the Yukon-Koyukuk REAA.

*[Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA)]

-oOo-

Disaster President Signs Disaster Declaration for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

The President has declared a major disaster exists for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the area affected by severe storms and flooding during the period of May 25 to June 1, 2013.

Extreme weather triggered severe storms and flooding which damaged or destroyed much of the facilities on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

The Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a Dakota, Lakota and Yanktonai Indian reservation located in the Dakotas.

-oOo-

Himalayan Tsunami: 8,000 people still unaccounted for in N India

Death toll in Himalayan Tsunami triggered by extreme monsoon rains in
northern Indian state of Uttarakhand could exceed 8,000 as thousands of people, mostly pilgrims, are still unaccounted for, a senior official has said.

Meantime, the Indian military has recovered 824 rotting corpses, which are contaminating the water sources.

Authorities fear an outbreak of serious diseases such as cholera and dysentery due to poor sanitation throughout the flood-affected areas.

“We are getting reports from the field that there are rotting bodies lying around, many of them semi-buried in soil and rubble that came down from the mountains,” said the Humanitarian Manager for Oxfam India.

“There are also carcasses of livestock in rivers and streams and this has, of course, contaminated so many of their water sources. But people are desperate and are being forced to consume water they wouldn’t otherwise.”

The devastating floods have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, washed away farmlands, roads, bridge and other infrastructure.

-oOo-

27 people killed in China’s restive Xinjiang region

Riots have killed 27 people in China’s restive, autonomous region of  Xinjiang, Chinese state media reported.

Rioters stabbed 17 people and set police cars alight, said the report. Police shot dead 10 of the rioters.

-oOo-

Excessive Heat Warnings

Excessive Heat Warnings and Watches are in effect for SE California, S Nevada, NW and Central Arizona, E Oklahoma and NW Arkansas.

-oOo-

National High and Low Temperature – Contiguous U.S.

High Temperature for Tuesday, June 25, 2013 (as received by 8 am EDT June 26)

• 108ºF (42.2ºC) recorded at Death Valley, CA
• 108ºF at Ocotillo Wells, CA

Low Temperature for Wednesday, June 26, 2013 (as received by 8 am EDT June 26)

• 37ºF (2.8ºC) at Mammoth Lakes, CA

NWS Weather Prediction Center, College Park, MD – Issued 8 am EDT Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Global High and Low Temperature

High Temperature for Wednesday, June 26, 2013

• 118ºF  (47.8ºC) – Recorded in Oman

Low Temperature for Wednesday, June 26, 2013

• -92.7ºF  (-69.3ºC) Recorded at  Davis Lgb 46 Aws (Antarctica Weather Station, located at an altitude of 2,354m)

Continued…

Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines – 2 April 2013

Eurozone unemployment rate hits new record high

The official number of people unemployed in the 17 member states rose by 33,000 in February, surpassing 19.07 million, said Eurostat.

• The highest rate was 26.4% in Greece (December 2012 figure).
• Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 26.3% in February.
• The rate in Portugal was largely unchanged at 17.5%.

CHINA

China’s Coal Addiction Claims More Lives

Two explosions in three days at the same Chinese coal mine have killed at least 34 miners and left  24 others missing, said a report.

The blasts occurred at a state-owned colliery operating under the name of Tonghua Mining (Group), located at the Babao Coal Mine in Jiangyuan District, city of Baishanin in China’s northeastern Jilin Province

The first blast occurred on late Friday, killing 28 people and injuring 13 others.

NIGERIA

19 killed, 4,500 displaced in Nigeria’s ethnic violence

Attacks on three communities in ethnically divided central Nigeria have left 19 people dead and 4,500 others displaced, reports said.

• The gun attacks followed a long-running dispute between a mainly Muslim Fulanis and the mostly Christian Atakar ethnic groups in the Kaura district, a remote region of Kaduna state, AFP reported.

• “Apart from the gun attacks, the assailants also set fire to homes,” a local government official told AFP.

• “There has been some misunderstanding between the Fulani and the Atakar communities for some time,” Kaduna state police commissioner said.

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DISASTER CALENDAR – April 2, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,075 Days Left 

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

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,075 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

Wildfires Consume 120,000 Acres in Nebraska

Red Flag Warnings, Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories are in effect from Kansas and Nebraska to Indiana

Another round of triple digit temperatures affect the central Plains, as National Weather Service warns  about the extreme conditions.

Temperatures are forecast to be 10-15 degrees above average in the central Plains and the Mid-Atlantic, as three wildfires consume at least 120,000 acres in Nebraska, destroying a dozen homes.

U.S. Daily Highest Max Temperature Records set on July 24, 2012

Source: National Climatic Data Center

• Excess Heat Warnings are in effect for all or parts of 7 states Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.
• Heat Advisories are in effect for 14 states:  South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
• Red Flag Warnings are in effect for parts of Montana, Nebraska and Kansas.

At least 24 high temperature records were broken and 34 tied in a dozen states Monday: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin, NCDC reported.

“The highest temperature readings of the day were reported at 109 degrees in Minneapolis, Kan., and Hebronville, Texas, tying previous records set in 2001 and 2009, respectively,” said NWS.

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

• Greenland. Greenland’s massive ice sheet has thawed over an unusually large area, NASA has said.
  • The thawed area jumped from 40% of the ice sheet to 97% between   July 8 -11.
  • NASA scientists say they are ‘surprised‘ by the speed and scale of  this month’s thaw,  describing the phenomenon as ‘extraordinary.’
  • See also: Thought for the Day: A 2009 Forecast

• Missouri. Gov. Nixon has declared a state of emergency due to the impact of continued severe heat and drought on agriculture and public health.
  • “Our farmers are suffering tremendous losses in crops and livestock, and we’re seeing more heat-related deaths and emergency room visits, particularly among seniors.” Nixon said. “In addition, we continue to see a high risk of fire from tinderbox conditions, and we are monitoring how the drought is affecting public water supplies and distribution.”
  • The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has reported 25 heat-related deaths between May 1 and July 22, with about 830 heat-related emergency visits to hospitals, reports said.

• Assam, India.  “The death toll from ethnic violence in northeast India rose to 38 Wednesday after four days of clashes. At least 170,000 villagers have fled from their homes in the remote state of Assam,” said a report.

• China. “Tens of thousands of people have been summoned to stand guard  protecting dikes in Jingzhou city (Pop: ~ 6.45 million), which lies downstream of the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province. Authorities declared more than 620 kms of river banks as risky along the Yangtze and its tributaries in the city.” Said a report.

Original Caption: Armed police patrol at the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze River, in Yichang City, central China’s Hubei Province, July 24, 2012. Due to the downpours in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China’s longest, the Three Gorges Dam experienced its largest flood peak this year on Tuesday, with a peak flow of 70,000 cubic meters of water per second. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Related Links

• Deadly Drought Worsens Corn, Soybean, Pasture and Range Conditions Posted July 24, 2012
• Watching Events Unfold, Frame by Frame, Exactly as Forecast Posted July 20, 2012
• Deadly Heat Continues to Devour U.S. Crops Posted July 19, 2012

• Drought Continues to Plague Two-Thirds of Continental U.S. Posted July 17, 2012
• Largest Ever U.S. Disaster Continues Unfolding July 14, 2012
• Drought 2012 Posted on January 8, 2012
• Drought and deluge