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