Mudslides hit Colombia

On Tuesday, in Bello, Colombia, rescuers pulled more bodies from a giant mudslide. More than 100 people were buried from the mudslide that was caused by heavy rains and floods that hit the county. Evacuations have been made in the fear for more mudslides to occur as the country tries to recover from the large amounts of water that have hit the region. The floods have killed more than 200 people, damaged crops and livestock, and caused about 1.7 million people to be removed from their homes. This has been one of the worst natural disasters to hit the area for they have not experienced such events before in recent history. The government plans to spend around $550 million in disaster relief for people. Clearly the government is taking action in helping the citizens of Colombia. Neighboring countries are experiencing similar effects from the storms, such as Venezuela. The large amounts of rain are coming from a weather phenomenon called La Nina. The weather office in Colombia expects this event to continue into next year and could increase rainfall in the next rainy season in March. It appears the worst of is yet to come while the nation tries to recover and prepare for future floods.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101208/wl_nm/us_colombia_disaster

Landslide in Bosnia

In Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 3 people were killed while many were left homeless due to a landslide on Sunday. The landslide was caused by heavy amounts of rain. This area had been experiencing heavy rain for over five days now causing some of the worst floods in a century. These floods have caused many people to be evacuated from their homes. A man was rescued from his three story home, told the Associated Press. Tragically, however, his wife, teenage son, and mother were unable to escape as the landslide slid the house downhill 20 meters before it crushed and buried the building.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101205/ap_on_re_eu/eu_europe_weather

Cold weather and heavy snow hit Northern Europe

With the official winter season just around the corner, it has already been affecting people around the world, especially in northern Europe. Sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow fall has caused travel chaos. Air flights have been canceled and trains have been halted due to this weather. More importantly, this winter weather has been have a significant impact on Europe's economy. It is projected that they are losing about 1.2 billion pounds ($1.87 billion) a day. This is some of the worst early winter weather Britain has experienced in nearly two decades. The second busiest airport in Britain, Gatwick, canceled all flights on Wednesday and is not expected to reopen until Friday. On top of Britain's criticism for handling severe winter weather like this to keep means of transportation moving, the weather does not seem to being easing up at all. 

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Cars-stuck-wheel-loader-tries-get-snow-off-road-during/photo//101202/481/urn_publicid_ap_org0d58ad96ef76448eae4025ee45dbad8d//s:/nm/20101202/wl_nm/us_europe_weather;_ylt=Aq0oHJ0hObgjNEP8aA1Eqy1n.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5ZWIwc2luBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9yX3RvcF9waG90bwRzbGsDY2Fyc2FyZXN0dWNr

Floods hit Sri Lanka

On Thursday, troops in Sri Lanka were sent out to rescue residents in the Capital city Colombo. This area experienced its heaviest rains in 18 years causing the city to flood which forced 300,000 people from their homes. At least one man was killed due to a lightning strike, while one woman was injured when her house collapsed. There are 12 temporary shelters around the capital for the victims to stay while this disaster is being sorted out. The flooding is believed to be caused by the loss of marches in Colombo which used to act as a sponge to soak up water for events such as this. Houses have since replaced these marshes for the growing city. In my opinion, some places are just not meant to be lived on for they serve a specific purpose such as these marshes. I found this article rather interesting because in our Environmental Hazards course we just started talking about floods. Another topic of discussion was the city of New Orleans and how it is located on a place where a city is not meant to be, similar to the houses in Colombo. People just need to realize that the environment is a powerful force that should not be messed with.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101111/wl_asia_afp/srilankaweatherfloods

13 Dead from Landslide in Philippines

In the Philippines, specifically Manila, at least 13 people have been killed from floods and landslides which were caused from large amounts of rain for the past week. This northeastern part of the Philippines is was still trying to recover from a typhoon a month earlier. Although the rains eased up on Sunday, 200 families in the Kalinga province to be relocated because a side of a mountain gave away from all the water which then created a dam. If this dam were to not hold, the village would be smashed by rushing waters. Last week, 6 of the 13 people killed, were buried by a landslide in Isabela province. 2 others remain missing from this landslide.

Some people may not think of landslides as a threatening event. However, as you can see, they can be deadly. Hopefully the evacuation of these villages will help keep death tolls low.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20101107/tap-as-philippines-floods-fe2a5de.html

Mount Merapi continues to erupt

In Indonesia, Mount Merapi continues to spew lava and smoke for a week now. However, on Wednesday the volcano had it biggest blast yet shooting ash miles into the air causing more and more people to be evacuated. The article described scenes from the lava flowing and debris of rocks and other material falling from the sky causing abandoned home to start fire and burning carcases of cattle along the hillsides.

There has not yet been an immediate casualty count after the blast lasting over an hour. Over 70,000 villagers have been evacuated from the Mount Merapi region. There have been 38 reported deaths and dozens of people with severe injuries, most of which are burns. According to the article, "Djarot Nugroho, the head of Central Java's disaster management agency, said funding for the refugees would run out in five days unless a national disaster was declared." Certaintly the people of Indonesia are going to need some outside help to survive this hazardous event.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101103/ap_on_sc/as_indonesia_disasters

Scientists urge for better ocean monitoring

On Sunday, October 31, ocean scientists urged many governments around the world to invest billions of dollars in ocean monitoring systems by 2015. According to the article, this monitoring system can do things from giving alerts for tsunamis to acidification linked to climate change. The scientists claim that this system would have large economic benefits. Oceans United, a scientific alliance, is going to present their plea to government in Beijing on November 3-5 which was set up in 2002 to for setting up such a system. The new system could cost up $10 billion to $15 billion to set and cost $5 billion annually to run and operate the system. This cost may seem like a large sum  compared to the current $1billion to $3 billion cost to monitor the oceans. However, if these new systems could help us with early alert systems for hazards such as tsunamis, large disasters could be avoided saving not only a lot of money but human lives as well. In the long run this new system could save us money and allow to gain more knowledge on the earth. We could then use this knowledge to help mitigate future disasters for people around the world.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101031/ts_nm/us_climate_oceans

Disaster's in Indonesia raise death tolls

A tsunami and volcanic eruption in Indonesia have killed more than 300 people with over 400 people missing, and tens of thousands of people displaced. On Tuesday, Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volanoes, erupted after a tsunami slammed remoted islands and flattened villages in western parts of Indonesia which was caused by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. According to the article, more than 40,000 people have been removed from the slopes of Mount Merapi where many of the houses there have been destroyed. This article relates to the Swiss Cheese Model we have been discussing in class in that everything bad that could happen has. Not only were these people hit by a tsunami but then they were hit by a volcanic eruption.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101027/wl_nm/us_indonesia_volcano

As storm Richard heads for Belize, starts to turn into Hurricane..

Tropical storm Richard dumped rain on Honduras as expected. However, as it moved towards Belize and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula it was seen as having hurricane strength. The storm was about 65 miles north of some remote areas, Cabo Gracia a Dios, which is located along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua where indigenous people live along rivers. The storm was expected to cause flash floods. This is great concern for these people because they live in wooden houses in this area. This storm could be devastating to these people.

Winds of the storm have reached 65 miles per hour and is expected to be a hurricane by Sunday. The storm has been predicted to hit areas that have U.S. oil and natural gas production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. This could be tragic if it were to wipe out these facilities and cause oil and/or natural gas to spread, similar to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101023/us_nm/us_storm_richard

Tropical Storm Richard heads for Honduras

The Tropical Storm named Richard is moving its way through the Caribbean as it moves for the northeast coast of Honduras. According to the article on the Yahoo Weather page, As of 4 a.m. Central Time, the storm was about 55 miles north of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border and is moving west at 8 mph (13 kph). It currently only has wind speeds of 45 mph, but the article says that it has the potential to turn into a hurricane. The storm could cause a lot of rain in Honduras that could cause flash floods and mud slides. Since people know of this storm and it's potential, people should be able to take precautionary measures to avoid any disasters. 


I was really interested in this article because in the middle of November I am traveling to Honduras for a research project. Certainly weather like this could effect our travels and research if they happen to be a problem at the time. 


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101023/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather

As Hurricane Paula weakens as it heads toward Cuba..

Hurricane Paula started to weaken as is approached western Cuba on Wednesday. The hurricane went down to a Category 1 out of five on the Saffir-Simpson scale meaning that it has top wind speeds of 85 miles per hour 10 miles from the storm. The storm is expected to reach Cuba late Wednesday afternoon. This is the 16th named hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season for 2010. It was the ninth to affect the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. However, Paula has caused little damaged. Luckily, Mexico's tourist industry has not been that affected by hurricanes during this years season. According to the article, Cuba has very few hurricane related deaths because evacuations are mandatory and done efficiently. This shows that this country is used to hurricanes hitting the area since the people are so well at preparing for them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101013/wl_nm/us_storm_paula

US and China playing blame game on climate change

During the week long United Nations meetings in China, climate change appeared to be an important topic. The United States and China kept accusing each other for willing to curb their greenhouse gas emissions. Both the U.S. and China are the two leaders in greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists are blaming each country for this lack of progress because both countries are worried about themselves more than the planet.

The U.S. is claiming that China and other developing nations are committed to curbing their emissions and have them monitored by the UN. China is saying that the U.S. and other rich countries should have to do more since they are more responsible for this problem.

It seems to me that China and the U.S. are acting very immature about the whole thing and need to grow and take responsibility for their actions. Big deal if you get blamed for the most greenhouse gas emissions or being responsible for the problem. The more important thing to is suck it up and start fixing it, otherwise time is just being wasted. I can understand that no one wants to look like the bad guy, but I would rather look like a bad guy than be the one who does not confess to their problems and try to fix them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101009/ts_afp/unclimatewarming_20101009114808;_ylt=AunOooK6BeLiimpc1YGKwC3HSpZ4

Tornadoes rip through Arizona

Rare tornadoes go through Northern parts of Arizona

Early Wednesday morning, a group of four tornadoes swept through Northern Arizona. It is very rare for this part of the country to experience a cluster of tornadoes causing this much damage. According to the article, people thought to get to their basements from all the tornado movies they have watched. However, houses in Arizona do not have basements. This is exemplifies how rare these tornadoes really are. In the article, a meteorologist said that usually this area has only a couple of tornado warning around this time of the year. On Wednesday there were 22 warnings! This storm system moving across the region has also been causing damage in other parts of the southwest.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101007/ap_on_re_us/us_western_weather

Tropical Storm Nicole hits U.S.

Tropical Storm Nicole hit the eastern part of the United States over the weekend. The storm has causes the death of at least 6 people over. Most of the damage from Nicole has been due to large amounts of rain causing high water. North Carolina issued a state of emergency as well as warning for flooded rivers and creeks that are expected to rise after the storm has passed. Clearly getting these warnings out to people is important in saving lives by allowing people enough time to take the proper precautions with the storm. Other states that have issued flood warnings throughout parts of their state include New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C.


According to the article the Nicole was only a tropical storm for six hours on Wednesday but has caused large amounts of rainfall. The rain has cause flash floods in parts of Jamaica, causing more deaths. Although people may have been happy that Nicole did not turn into a hurricane, the storms other effects need to be taken into account, such has the large amounts of rain.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101002/us_nm/us_storm_nicole

Tropical Storm Nicole causes floods and slides in Jamaica

Heavy rain falls in Kingston, Jamaica caused floods and mudslides in the small shanty town. Rescuers are now out searching for survivors and bodies of missing people. Currently the death toll is only at five. However, officials say that they expect these numbers to continue to rise as rescuers continue to search for survivors. Some reports of deaths were from people sleeping in shacks that have away to mudslides. There was another story of a girl who was killed from a tree branch breaking and falling through the house while the girl was in bed. According to the article many people live in illegal housing on the banks of gullies because of the lack of affordable housing. 

Clearly in this town this disaster could have been avoided. If their was affordable housing available to the people then they would not be forced to live in shanties on unstable surfaces. The government is making a good effort to reach the people after the storm hit, but clearly something needs to be done so people can live in houses that will not crumble when a storm hits.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101001/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_jamaica_floods

People displaced in Nigeria from floods

Nigeria opened two gates at swollen in dams that sent the flood down to the neighboring Jigawa state that displaced 2 million people today (Friday). The flooding has washed away many farm villages in the area. More than 34 square miles of farmland have been washed away. Water in this area is released from the dams annually so this is nothing new to the area. However, this is more water than they are used to so officials are not sure if everyone was able to get out in time and far enough way.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100924/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_floods;_ylt=Aib8HfV8IiVkIslfV2RHIfZoWrEF;_ylu=X3oDMTJuYXVxbjU5BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTI0L2FmX25pZ2VyaWFfZmxvb2RzBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrAzJtaWxsaW9ucGVvcA--

Hurricane Rita survivors felt over shadowed..

The town of Cameron, Louisiana is still recovering from hurricane Rita in 2005. The First Baptist Church just finally reopened five years after the hurricane. This is not the only town in southwest Louisiana and Texas who are still recovering from Rita. A lot of these towns were felt they were and after thought and overshadowed by hurricane Katrina. Katrina hit a month earlier than Rita, but Rita still caused much damage to many towns and cities. Although the damage of Katrina ($81 billion) was greater than Rita ($11 billion), Katrina captured the national spotlight.

To be honest, I do not remember hearing about Hurricane Rita in the news a lot. Katrina definitely caught the national spotlight. This article ties into our class discussions as of late about how the media decides which stories to report and what stories people want to hear about. This is a great example of how the public has a short attention span and can easily forget stories. The news media and the public are interested with the most rapid and most severe disasters.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39328510/ns/us_news-life/

Hurricane Igor

(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?5-daynl)

In the image above, tracts the likely path of Hurricane Igor. When first spotted is was classified as a Category 2 storm which means wind speed between 96-110 miles per hour which can cause 'moderate' damage. The storm is expected to hit late Sunday, but some predictions have the storm reaching Bermuda late Saturday.  For the people living there, on vacation, or planning on vacationing there will need to take precautions. This is why it is important to know when storms are expected to hit so people know when and have enough time to prepare. Depending on the planned severity of the storm, evacuation might be necessary.

(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/09/18/world/international-uk-storms-atlantic.html?scp=1&sq=hurricane%20igor&st=cse)

New York City Storm - 16 September 2010

On Thursday a severe storm hit the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island in the New York area. The storm showed typical signs of a tornado. However, the National Weather Service had to analyze data to determine whether or not it in fact was a tornado that caused the severe damage. There were reported winds from 60 to 80 miles an hour in the area. The storm caused much damage. According to the article there were multiple reports of small fires, power failures, and reports to building from fallen tree limbs. Sadly, there was a woman who died because a tree limb fell on her car. Of course this storm and possible tornado is of great concern when it hits in such a highly populated area.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/nyregion/17storm.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=new%20york%20tornado&st=cse

Welcome

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog. My name is Kyle and have started this blog to report hazards that are currently happening around the world and their impact on the regions where they occur. This is part of my Environmental Hazards course at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. So please enjoy and I hope this is useful for you. Feel free to comment on posts and let me know what you think.

Kyle