Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events – August 13, 2013

Extreme heat kills at least 40 people in south China

A heatwave that has been hovering over a large region encompassing eight provinces and municipalities in central, eastern and southern China has already been the longest lasting since 1961 (presumably when record-keeping began), with the temperatures reaching or exceeding 35ºC for an average of 25.3 day since July 1, said the National Meteorological Center (NMC). 

[Note: the actual number of people killed as a result of the heatwave may be much higher.]

“Authorities have for the first time declared the heat to be a second-level weather emergency, a label normally used for typhoons and floods. The NMC issued a second-level heat alert on Tuesday for the next 20 days.”

Worsening drought an the long-lasting heatwave have “taken a heavy toll on agriculture and made drinking water increasingly difficult to obtain,” said the report.

At least 130 million people in China have been affected by the drought and extreme heat. More than 10 million people, and as many livestock,  are short of drinking water, FIRE-EARTH estimates. See earlier posts on China drought.

Original caption: Withered tea plants are seen at a Longjing tea protection area in Hangzhou City, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, Aug. 12, 2013. More than 40 percent tea plants in the Longjing tea protection areas in Hangzhou died of the continuous scorching weather in recent days. (Xinhua/Long Wei). More images…

Related Links: Drought, Extreme Heat Cripple China, Japan, S. Korea

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Iraq Death Toll

Since August 1, at least 400 people have been killed and more than 2,500 others wounded amid growing violence in Iraq.

• In July, at least 1,057 people were killed and thousands more injured.
• Since the beginning of this year, at least 4,500 people have lost their lives to the violence.

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Vietnam’s coffee crop forecast down in 2013-2014

Vietnam’s coffee production for 2013-2014 is estimated at about 1.2 million tons, a decrease of 15 percent compared to the previous year, said the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa).

The decrease is due to the drought and hail in June, which damaged about 5,000 hectares of coffee plantation and affected other 27,000 hectares, said a report.

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Fishery disaster declared in Apalachicola

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Pritzker has declared a commercial fishery failure for the oyster fishery in Apalachicola Bay, said a report.

“Gov. Rick Scott requested the declaration in September 2012 because the fishery was near collapse. A May 2013 state report sent last week to federal officials blames lack of fresh water flowing from federal reservoirs in Georgia and Alabama.”

“Pritzker declared the commercial fishery failure for the oyster fishery along the west coast of Florida. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the fishery resource disaster resulted from excessive drought conditions in Apalachicola Bay and elsewhere in the Florida panhandle during the 2012-13 winter fishing season.” More…

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Cholera outbreak infects 1,500  in NE Afghanistan

A cholera outbreak in northeast Afghanistan has infected 1,492 people, killing at least one person and leaving more than 100 in critical condition, local officials told reporters.

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Drought, Extreme Heat Cripple China, Japan, S. Korea

Drought and extreme heat plague many parts of  China, as heat dome hovers over east Asia

Record temperatures, many of them above 40ºC, are seriously affecting people, killing poultry and livestock and destroying crops across east Asia.

Original caption: A farmer shows the dried-up rice fields in Hejia Village of Yongxin County, east China’s Jiangxi Province, Aug. 9, 2013. Lingering drought has caused severe damage to agricultural products, leaving millions of people short of drinking water in many parts of China. (Xinhua/Zhou Ke). More images…

Up to a staggering 10 percent of the population, an estimated 130 million people, have been affected by drought in the south, southwest, central, east and southeast, and by extreme heat in central and eastern China.

Original caption: An excavator is used for seeking water on a riverbed in Shuangfeng County of Loudi City, central China’s Hunan Province, Aug. 8, 2013. Regions in Hunan Province were hit by a severe drought this summer due to lingering high temperatures and lack of rainfall, leaving about 1.5 million people short of drinking water. (Xinhua/Bai Yu). More images …

More than 10 million people and at least as many livestock are short of drinking water, in the worst affected regions including Jiangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan and Zhejiang Provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A villager prepares to pump water from a deep cave in Motou Village of Quanzhou County, Guilin City, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Aug. 9, 2013. (Xinhua/Lu Bo’an. More images…

  Original caption: Soldiers carry water for local residents in Zhoushan City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Aug. 11, 2013. A lingering drought has left 417,000 people short of drinking water in the province. The Zhejiang provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters raised the drought emergency response system to level-3 on Sunday. (Xinhua/Xu Yu). More images…

Japan

In western Japan the mercury rose to 40.7ºC causing more heatstroke and heat related illnesses. More than 30,000 people have been hospitalized since May this year, a rise of 10 percent compared with last year.

Weather authorities have issued several alerts, advising people to reduce exposure to the sun and remain well-hydrated.

South Korea

“The entire Korean Peninsula is sweltering with average daily temperature reaching just under 33 degrees in Seoul. The heat has killed tens thousands of chickens and fish, a serious blow to the poultry and fish farming industry,” said a report.

Meantime, the country faces serious power shortages this week as temperatures are forecast to rise pushing up demand for power, while six of the SK’s nuclear plants r4emain off-line.

“If one nuclear reactor stops its operation all of a sudden, we may have to start rolling power blackouts like we did on September 15, 2011,” Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick told reporters.

SK’s power demand is forecast to peak at about “80,500 megawatts (MW) in the next three days while its power supply capacity is seen at 77,440 MW the energy ministry said in a statement. With all the possible power-saving and supplying measures, the supply surplus could be raised to 1,800 MW but that would still not be enough,” said a report.

The heatwave is forecast to linger in East Asia until at least next week.

Related Links

• Major Catastrophe Unfolding in China
• China’s Latest Drought Disaster Figures
• Shanghai Sets Yet Another Record High Temp August 7, 2013

Earth Unhappiest Planet to Live on: Majority

Flood, Mudslide, Disease: Human Disasters

Earth must be the unhappiest planet to live on for the majority of its animal species [humans included] – but in most places condoms are distributed for free!

UGANDA

A cow that was also swept away by the mudslides. The mudslides buried crops, animals and people.  Credit: Daily Monitor – Uganda. Image may be subject to copyright.

The search for the missing has finally ended more than a week after the mudslides buried three villages in Bududa district, eastern Uganda. “The rescuers have only managed to retrieve only about 89 bodies and they seem to have lost strength and hope. We are thinking about officially stopping the retrieval on Tuesday and then we shall be advised on what next.” A local official said.

Up to 350 had previously been reported missing, which should now be presumed dead.  The Ugandan mudslide disaster is a direct consequence of climate change.

“At least 104 people, mostly children, have been reported to suffer from diarrhea at the Bukalsi Health Center in Bududa.” UN news said.

“Working with the Ugandan Government, which is leading the emergency response, UN officials have said that so far there are no reports of cholera, but warned about the possible health risks of increased malaria, acute malnutrition and psychological disorders.”

NEPAL

Humanitarian agencies [let’s hope they are not embedded by the international aid/charity mafia]  in Nepal say more than 3.4 million vulnerable people across the country are in need of life-saving assistance, especially food aid, in 2010.

“Nearly half of Nepal’s districts are experiencing food shortages and the humanitarian country team estimates that nearly 2.5 million people face extreme food insecurity, mainly in the Midand far-western hill and mountain regions.” OCHA reported.

Nepal is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods, landslides and earthquakes. “In 2009, some 152,000 people were affected by monsoon floods and landslides. Preparedness activities in water, sanitation and hygiene are also needed following a severe diarrhea outbreak in western districts of Nepal last year.”

“As a country emerging from conflict, Nepal needs sustained international humanitarian support to see it through this fragile period of transition,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “An estimated 28,000 children die every year from preventable diseases, some of them the consequences of severe malnutrition. Most of these problems can be solved with adequate donor support,” Mr. Holmes said.

At least 70 percent of household budgets, especially in rural areas, goes to buying food, “and dependence on subsistence agriculture remains high. Inadequate funding for agriculture in 2009 is believed to have compounded the effects of the severe winter drought. Sufficient investment in agriculture might have mitigated the current food crisis.”

MOZAMBIQUE

About 130,000 people are being evacuated in Mozambique as  rising waters in the country’s three main rivers prompted the authorities to declare a red alert, which imposes an evacuation order on the area, for the regions along the Zambezi River, Noticias newspaper said, AFP reported.

“At least two people have died in floods in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, reports Monday’s issue of the independent daily O Pais,” All Africa reported.

Mozambique is a flood-prone area. The rainy season in the 2000, 2001 and 2007  triggered deadly floods drove half a million from their homes, and left 700 people dead.

ANGOLA

At least 10,000 people have lost their homes to floods in Angola’s southern province of Cunene,  the state-owned news agency Angop reported.

In 2009 the floods in southern Angola killed at least 20 people .

Meanwhile, All Africa reported that the Angolan Red Cross had distributed 136,828 free condoms between June and December 2009 in the municipalities of Namacunde, Ombadja and Kwanhama, in southern Cunene province.

KENYA

The recently flooded regions of Kenya may be hit by water-borne diseases including  UN health organizations have warned, urging for organized hygiene campaigns. The 2010 rainy season in Kenya, which is expected to last until late June/ early July, has already claimed 18 lives and affected the lives of more than 10,000 others. The worst affected areas are located in the northern, north-eastern and western regions of the country.

In northern Kenya, health authorities have warned about a cholera outbreak because most of the areas affected by floods lack clean drinking water, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported.

“In Mandera, the floods are said to have destroyed buildings and water sources. In Gucha District, most roads are impassable and crops have been destroyed by hailstones. Some 200 pupils of Got Kachola Primary School in Migori District are learning under trees after a storm destroyed their classrooms.” The report said.

Related Links:

• 2010 Disaster Calender [March]
• Global Weather Chaos
• Drought and Deluge: Two Major Mechanisms of Collapse
• 10 Facts on Climate Change
• Australian Coal and the Planet
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200
• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
• A Living Hell Heated by Australian Coal
• 10 Facts on Climate Change