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The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Centre and the Karnataka government should resolve the issue of release of financial assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state for drought management. Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, requested a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan that he needed some time to file an affidavit in the matter. "You should resolve it," the bench said. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the Karnataka government seeking a direction to the Centre to release financial assistance from the NDRF to the state for drought management. During the hearing, the bench asked, "How much amount is released so far?" The counsel appearing for Karnataka said the state requested for Rs 18,171 crore and has been granted Rs 3,819 crore. The bench posted the matter for further hearing in January. On April 29, the Centre told the apex court that around Rs 3,400 crore has been released to the Karnataka governme
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry remain on high alert, battling relentless rainfall and looming flood threats, even as Cyclone Fengal weakens in the region
Rescuers in Indonesia recovered 16 bodies under tons of mud and rocks or that were swept away in flash floods that hit mountainside villages on Sumatra Island, officials said Monday. Six people are still missing, officials said. Mud, rocks and trees tumbled down a mountain after torrential rains over the weekend and rivers burst their banks, tearing through four hilly districts in North Sumatra province, washing away houses and destroying farms. Police, soldiers and rescue workers used excavators, farm equipment and their bare hands to sift through the rubble looking for the dead and missing in Semangat Gunung, a resort area in Karo district, said Juspri M. Nadeak, who heads the local disaster management agency. Rescuers recovered six bodies after a landslide hit two houses and a cottage late Sunday, he said. Nine injured people managed to escape, he said. Rescuers on Monday were still searching for four missing people, including two children. Rescuers on Sunday pulled two bodies
China has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 30 million to compensate for damage caused due to natural disasters from January to October this year, the government said on Saturday. Furthermore, material assistance worth 10 million Yuan is expected from China under the Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Programme, a statement from the President's Media Division (PMD) said. Sri Lanka saw two rounds of massive flooding this year with over two dozen deaths and displacement of more than 50,000 people across the country. The Chinese financial assistance totaling approximately Rs 30 million has been forwarded to the Treasury, the PMD said. Earlier on October 30, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka had handed over USD 1,00,000 (approximately LKR 30 million) and relief material worth LKR 400 million as aid on flood relief to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. In addition, the Department of National Budget has allocated further financial provisions to the Ministry of Defence for t
A crowd of angry survivors of Spain's floods tossed mud and shouted insults at Spain's King Felipe VI and government officials when they made their first visit to one of the hardest hit towns on Sunday. Government officials accompanied the monarch who tried to talk to locals while others shouted at him in Paiporta, an outskirt of Valencia city that has been devastated. Police had to step in with some officers on horseback to keep back the crowd of several dozens. "Get out! Get out! and Killers! the crowd shouted among other insults. Bodyguards opened umbrellas to protect the royals and officials as protestors launched mud their way. After being forced to seek protection, the king remained calm and made several efforts to speak to individual residents. One person appeared to have wept on his shoulder. He shook the hand of a man. It was an unprecedented incident for a Royal House that takes great care to craft an image of a monarch who is liked by the nation. But the public rage ov
In a matter of minutes, flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain swept away everything in their path. With no time to react, people were trapped in vehicles, homes and businesses. Many died and thousands saw livelihoods shattered. Four days later, authorities have recovered 205 bodies 202 of them in the eastern Valencia region, two in Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia. They continued to search for an unknown number of missing people on Friday. Thousands of volunteers were helping to clear away the thick layers of mud and debris that still covered houses, streets and roads, all while facing power and water cuts and shortages of some basic goods. Inside some of the vehicles that the water washed into piles or crashed into buildings, there were still bodies waiting to be identified. Here are a few things to know about Spain's deadliest storm in living memory: What happened? The storms concentrated over the Magro and Turia river basins and, in the Poyo riverbed,
In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed
Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. More horrors emerged Thursday from the debris and ubiquitous layers of mud left by the walls of water that produced Spain's deadliest natural disaster in living memory. The damage from the storm late Tuesday and early Wednesday recalled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn their loved ones. Cars were piled on one another like fallen dominoes, uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia, a region south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast. An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims could be found. Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles, Spain
Flash floods in Spain turned village streets into rivers, ruined homes, disrupted transportation and killed at least 95 people in the worst natural disaster to hit the European nation in recent memory. Rainstorms that started Tuesday and continued Wednesday caused flooding across southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia. Muddy torrents tumbled vehicles down streets at high speeds while debris and household items swirled in the water. Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers stranded atop cars. Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed a death toll of 92 people on Wednesday. Another two casualties were reported in the neighbouring Castilla La Mancha region, while southern Andalusia reported one death. Yesterday was the worst day of my life, Ricardo Gabaldon, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday. He said six residents perished a
Torrential rain set off by an approaching tropical storm swamped eastern Philippine cities and towns overnight in widespread flooding that trapped people, some on their roofs, and sparked frantic appeals for rescue boats and trucks, officials said Wednesday. The government shut down public schools and government offices, except those urgently needed for disaster response, on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people as Tropical Storm Trami blew closer from the Pacific. The storm was about 310 kilometers east of Baler in the northeastern province of Aurora with sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour and gusts to 105 kmph. It was forecast to hit Aurora's coast Wednesday night. Thousands of villagers have evacuated to emergency shelters in northeastern provinces, and storm warnings were raised in more than two dozen northern and central provinces, including in the densely populated capital of Manila. No fatalities or major injuries have been reported. President
The Chinese government on Tuesday granted flood relief assistance of USD 100,000 to Sri Lanka, marking China's first show of goodwill towards the new government headed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the president's office said. The president's office in a statement said Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong met Dissanayake and handed over the donation. "Ambassador Qi Zhenhong handed over LKR 30 million emergency humanitarian relief funds to President Anura Dissanayake to help the people affected by the floods in Sri Lanka. Chinese people are always with Sri Lankan people," the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka said on X. Over 150,000 people have been affected and three killed in heavy rains and flash floods during the last two weeks in 15 of the 25 administrative districts of the island.
A flood warning was issued Saturday after an outburst from a glacial lake in Alaska's capital. Suicide Basin is a side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier above the city of Juneau. Since 2011 it has released glacier lake outburst floods each year that cause inundation along Mendenhall Lake and Mendenhall River. We expect moderate flooding from this event, not major flooding, said Nicole Serrin, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. Residents had 24 to 36 hours to prepare for flooding, she said. The flood warning was in effect until Monday. The forecast called for the river to crest at around 3.35 to 3.5 metres early that day, the weather service said. Officials warned people to stay away from the river. Recent snow has made the banks very slippery. Suicide Basin fills with rainwater and snowmelt during the spring and summer and at a certain point builds enough pressure to force its way out through channels it carves beneath Mendenhall Glacier
Florida residents who fled hundreds of miles to escape Hurricane Milton made slow trips home on crowded highways, weary from their long journeys and the cleanup work awaiting them but also grateful to be coming back alive. I love my house, but I'm not dying in it, Fred Neuman said Friday while walking his dog outside a rest stop off Interstate 75 north of Tampa. Neuman and his wife live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a powerful, Category 3 hurricane. Heeding local evacuation orders ahead of the storm, they drove nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) to Destin on the Florida Panhandle. Neighbors told the couple the hurricane destroyed their carport and inflicted other damage, but Neuman shrugged, saying their insurance should cover it. Nearby, Lee and Pamela Essenburm made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at a picnic table as cars pulling off the slow-moving interstate waited for parking spaces outside the crowded rest stop. Their home in Palmetto, on the
The Chief Minister met with Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday, where he detailed the devastation caused by heavy rains between August 31 and September 8
Millions of people in the state face annual displacement and are forced into makeshift shelters, relying on food dropped by air, and are at heightened risk of water-borne diseases because of floods
Georgia Power meanwhile restored power to over 740,000 customers following Hurricane Helene, it said in its storm update on Sunday
The death toll from rain-triggered floodings and landslides across Nepal climbed to 125 on Sunday, police said. Large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday, with flash floods reported in parts of the country. According to the Armed Police Force sources, 64 people are missing in floods, landslides and inundation, while 61 people have been injured. The Kathmandu Valley reported the highest number of deaths. At least 322 houses and 16 bridges were damaged. The security personnel have rescued nearly 3,626 people, the Armed Police Force sources said. The sources added that rescue operations were still underway. Eyewitnesses said they had never seen such a devastating flood and inundation in the Kathmandu Valley in 40-45 years. The death toll has reached 125, the Armed Police Force said in a statement. At least 19 people were killed on Saturday when a bus was buried in a landslide in Dhading district bordering Kathmandu. Five people died when a house .
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday described the flood situation in the northern districts as "alarming" and claimed that the state is deprived of central assistance to deal with the natural calamity. Banerjee, who was on her way to north Bengal to inspect the flood situation there, told reporters that her government is dealing with the deluge on a war footing. "North Bengal is reeling under flood. Districts like Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar have been affected. Due to heavy rain in catchment areas of Koshi river, places in Bihar and Malda and Dakshin Dinajpur districts of Bengal will be affected in the near future," she said on her way to Siliguri. Accusing the central government of "not performing its role to help the state fight the calamities", she said, "The Centre did not take up maintenance work of Farakka barrage and its water-bearing capacity has reduced to a great extent despite our repeated reminders to them.
On Saturday, Kathmandu recorded a record-breaking rainfall in its 54 years with 323 millimetres of rainfall, recorded within 24 hours on that day