Nocere – Earth Disasters

Tropical storm, Agatha, the first topical storm of the season for the Pacific area, has been raising  havoc across Guatemala, SE Mexico and a large area of El Salvador. It brought to the area,  heavy rainfall, flash flooding and landslides.

As the storm left the area, there were at least 12 people found who had perished and yet another 11 in Guatemala are still yet to be found.

There were 4  children found buried in a landslide on the outskirts of Guatemala City. 4 adults were found dead in Guatemala. Yet another 2 children and 2 grownups were killed as a boulder crashed into a  house. The bolder had become loose by the heavy rains and slid down the hill.

The expected rainfall from Agatha was to be about 10 to 20 inches spread out over the 3 areas. There was a possibility of up to 30 inches of rainfall in some areas by Sunday night.

Guatemala was already suffering the eruption of Pacaya a volcano on Thursday. There were at least 1800 people that left the area to find shelter elsewhere. 3 people died in the eruption.

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One million people was evacuated but 90 000 people decided to brave out the storm and news for those 90 000 ain’t good because Ike is having winds over 180 km/h. President George W Bush, who earlier declared a federal emergency in Texas, said the federal and state authorities would conduct the recovery effort together, bringing in generators and ensuring water and ice supplies. The rain is coming sideways. Debris is flying through the air. Things are getting ripped off buildings every second, and flying through the air. There is widespread flooding, and a hospital there is under at least 3 meters of water. The city Galveston has lost power and a number of houses are reported to be on fire. Hurricane Ike earlier caused devastation in Cuba and Haiti, where hundreds of people have died in several tropical storms over the last month.

Source: BBC

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Series of tropical storms left one million people on Haiti without home. Strong winds and torrential rains over the past month have battered Haiti’s already fragile infrastructure and left more than 550 people dead. Season of storms is not yet over.

Source: BBC

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Tropical storm Fay is lashing Florida for fifth day and is the first storm to make landfall three times in the state for almost 50 years. Fay have caused heavy flooding and leaving thousand people without power. Citizens are warned of snakes and alligators searching for dry land. Warning for Tornadoes is also issued. Forecasters say storm will weaken but lets wait and see.

Source: BBC

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Flash floods and landslides caused by tropical storm kills at least 62 people. Dozens of people are missing and villages are cut off in Lao Cai region. Tropical storm Kammuri hit china with rain and winds earlier in the week. Kammuri is the ninth tropical storm this year. China evacuated nearly 400 000 people and called thousands of vessels back to port. To see video of Vietnam floods go here.

Source: BBC

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Warnings 2 and 1 are issued in several city’s and places. Citizens in low lying areas and near mountains are advised to take all necessary precautions against possible flash floods and landslides. Helen forces classes and schools In Ilocos to shut down. Around 100 000 students didn’t visit school yesterday because of tropical storm Helen.

Source: MB
Source: ABS-CBN

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Tropical Storm Bertha has formed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. This is second named storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season and its moving towards the west. Its too early to say if it will hit land. First tropical storm was named Arthur this season.

Source: IHT
Source: The Canadian press

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