Natural Calamities

The government had already declared November 30 a holiday for educational institutions

A major storm swept across the northwest US on Tuesday evening, battering the region with strong winds and rain and causing widespread power outages and downed trees that killed at least one person. The Weather Prediction Centre issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect as the strongest atmospheric river a large plume of moisture that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season overwhelms the region. The storm system is considered a bomb cyclone, which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. Downed trees struck homes and littered roads across northwest Washington. In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, South County Fire said in a statement on X. In Seattle, a tree fell onto a vehicle, temporarily trapping a person inside, the Seattle Fire Department reported. The agency later said the individual was in stable condition. Trees are coming down all ov

The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the ruling LDF and opposition UDF in Wayanad district in Kerala on Tuesday saw shops largely remaining closed and vehicles blocked in many areas. The CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-headed UDF announced hartals separately to protest against the lack of Central assistance for the landslide victims in the mountain district even months after the disaster. Both the ruling and the opposition parties wanted the BJP-led union government to declare the landslide calamity as a national disaster and provide required assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of the survivors at the earliest. While the LDF alleged that the denying of Central assistance to Wayanad was due to political reasons and the union government had grudges towards the state, the UDF criticised the Left government in the state for the continuing plight of the landslide survivors. In many places, those supporting the hartal blocked vehicles, causing traffic snarls since morning. The ...

A powerful typhoon wrecked houses, caused towering tidal surges and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it cut across the northern Philippines on Sunday in the sixth major storm to hit the country in less than a month. Typhoon Man-yi slammed into the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Saturday night with sustained winds of up to 195 kilometers (125 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph). The country's weather agency warned of a potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation in provinces along its path. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the typhoon, which was forecast to blow northwestward on Sunday across northern Luzon, the archipelago's most populous region. The capital region of metropolitan Manila would likely be spared from a direct hit but was placed, along with outlying regions, under storm alerts and warned of dangerous coastal storm surges. The rain was minimal, but the wind was very strong a

The MoS stated that the financial assistance provided under SDRF and NDRF is by way of relief and not for compensation

The Ministry of National Defence said that it had mobilised to support regional recovery from Typhoon Kong-rey

Widespread flooding and landslides set off by a tropical storm in the northeastern Philippines on Thursday left at least 23 people dead, swept away cars and prompted authorities to scramble for motorboats to rescue trapped villagers, some on roofs. The government shut down schools and offices except those urgently needed for disaster response for the second day on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people after Tropical Storm Trami slammed into the country's northeastern province of Isabela after midnight. The storm was blowing over Aguinaldo town in the mountain province of Ifugao after dawn with sustained winds up to 95 kph and gusts up to 160 kph. It was blowing westward and was forecast to enter the South China Sea later on Thursday, according to state forecasters. At least 23 people died, mostly due to drowning in the hard-hit Bicol region and nearby Quezon province but the toll was expected to rise as towns and villages isolated by flooding and roads ...

Cyclonic storm 'Dana', formed over east-central Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the IMD said. Eastern and South Eastern railways cancelled a large number of trains on October 24 and 25, in view of the cyclone. The storm is likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm over northwest Bay of Bengal and make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The cyclone lay 420 km southeast of Paradip, 450 km south-southeast of Dhamara and 500 km south-southeast of Sagar Island at 8.30 am on Wednesday, it said. The Met warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy downpours in isolated places in the south Bengal districts of North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly districts on October 24 and 25. Advisin

Visuals from the area have shown the sensitivity of the region due to the landslide

Packing maximum sustained winds of 209 kph (130 mph) near its eye, Yagi registers as the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday announced a grant of Rs 5 crore each for Kerala and Tripura to support recovery efforts following natural disasters in both states. Majhi expressed his condolences for the devastation caused by these calamities during telephonic conversations with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said Majhi conveyed Odisha's readiness to assist with post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. Kerala was struck by a severe landslide, while Tripura has experienced significant flooding. In light of these events, Majhi said, "Odisha will provide Rs 5 crore each from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (SMRF) to support the recovery efforts in both Kerala and Tripura." Both Vijayan and Saha expressed their gratitude for Odisha's support. Majhi also thanked the leaders for their assistance to Odia residents in their states during recent natural disasters.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the recent torrential rain and subsequent floods in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Vijayawada, is the "biggest disaster" he has witnessed in the state in his political career. Naidu on Monday also said he will request the central government to declare the flood in the state as a national calamity. At least 17 people have been killed in rain-related incidents and the floods. "In my career, this is the biggest disaster...We had some events like Hudhud hurricane and Titli cyclone but compared to these, here the human suffering and property loss is the biggest," Naidu told a press conference at the NTR district collectorate late Monday. The collectorate in the district, one of the worst hit by the incessant rain in the state and floods, has been turned into a temporary secretariat by the chief minister. Naidu said all reports related to the calamity will be sent to the Centre and he will request it to liberally give funds to the state to ...

More than 18,000 have been evacuated since Sunday from cities near the coast, disaster management authorities said

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that Sindh will get significant rainfall and thunderstorms on Monday as well

Southeast Asia is among the regions most prone to natural disasters, but a new analysis released Thursday shows its people also feel the best equipped to deal with them. It seems logical that the countries in and around the Pacific Ring of Fire, vulnerable to earthquakes, typhoons, storm surges and other dangers, are also the best prepared, but the survey by Gallup for the Lloyd's Register Foundation shows that's not always the case in other regions. Frequent exposure to hazard isn't the only factor that determines how prepared people feel, Benedict Vigers, a research consultant with Gallup, told The Associated Press. The report found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has played a key role in disaster risk reduction, and Vigers said the region's wider approach includes widespread and effective early-warning systems, scaled-up community approaches and regional cooperation, and good access to disaster finance. Southeast Asia' success in feelings of disaster preparedness can

Defined as a major tremor occurring in 100- to 150-year cycles, a megaquake could surpass the damage from the March 2011 earthquake

Rescue operations are underway on Friday to trace about 45 people missing following flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Friday. With recovery of three more bodies, the death toll due to the flash floods in Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur subdivision has increased to eight. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu along with Education Minister Rohit Thakur visited Samej on the border of Shimla and Kullu district to take stock of the situation and talk to the victims. Over 30 people were missing after a cloudburst near Shrikhand Mahadev route on Wednesday night triggered flash floods in Sarpara, Ganvi and Kurban nallahs. Talking to reporters, Sukhu said 17-18 women and 8-9 children are among those missing. The rescue of people is our first priority. The chief minister announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 for the victims and also said that they would be given Rs 5,000 a month

Rescue operations were underway on Friday to trace over 45 people missing following flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh, while 29 people stranded at the site of a power project in the state were brought to safety overnight, officials said. Cloudbursts in Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in Shimla districts on Wednesday had left five people dead and over 45 missing. Thirty-three people were also stuck in Malana II power project in Manikaran area of Kullu district. Deputy Commissioner Kullu, Torul S Raveesh, said 29 out of the 33 have been rescued. A wall and way to a tunnel was damaged due to rains and water entered the barrage but the teams of the NDRF and home guard managed to rescue 29 people, while four persons are still in the power house. The relatives of the missing people are campaigning at the spot and the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, State Disaster ..

Six people, including three of a family, were killed and as many injured in Uttarakhand as heavy rains led to house collapses, flooding of areas and rise in water levels in many rivers of the state, officials said on Thursday. In Devchauli in Chamoli district, a woman and a child are missing since Wednesday evening after a house collapsed, they said and added that a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team has left for the spot. Nearly a dozen four-wheelers parked along the riverbed of the Sukhi in Haridwar's Kharkhari area were washed away following torrential rain on Wednesday evening. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the SDRF and the administration have been deployed in affected areas of the state, the officials said. Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said 200 passengers stranded on the Kedarnath route due to falling stones and the washing away of a 20-25 meter footpath near the Bhimbali Chowki have been moved to safer places. In Bharpur village in the

Heavy rains in eastern Afghanistan have killed at least 40 people and injured nearly 350 others, Taliban officials said Tuesday. Among the dead in Monday's storm were five members of the same family when the roof of their house collapsed in Surkh Rod district, according to provincial spokesperson Sediqullah Quraishi. Four other family members were injured. Sharafat Zaman Amar, a spokesperson for the Public Health Ministry, said the 347 injured people had been brought for treatment to the regional hospital in Nangarhar from Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, and nearby districts. About 400 houses and 60 electricity poles were destroyed across Nangarhar, Quraishi said. Power was cut in many areas and there were limited communications in Jalalabad city, he said. The damage was still being assessed. Abdul Wali, 43, said much of the damage occurred within an hour. The winds were so strong that they blew everything into the air. That was followed by heavy rain, he said. His ..