Weather

Citation

(2007), "Weather", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2007.07316cac.005

Weather

20 October 2005Vietnam

Floodwaters caused by rainstorms hit Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, Vietnam News Agency reported today. Water tides in the Hau River, which hit a peak of 2.2 metres or 0.5 meters above the third and highest warning level yesterday, have broken four sections of dykes and submerged most of the transport system in the city. In Some areas water is 0.5 metres above the surface, said the report. The flooding has caused many traffic accidents and caused health problems to hundreds of families.

25 October 2005

Fifty-seven people have perished in floods ravaging the Mekong delta in southern Vietnam and in the central region over the last several weeks, according to the last official tolls released today. The official Vietnam News Agency said four people died in central Binh Dinh province and 53 in the three southern provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap and Long An. Thousands of hectares of rice and some dykes have been damaged, VNA said.

27 October 2005

Floods have killed 24 local people and left one missing in Vietnam’s central region since last weekend, a local official told Xinhua today. Binh Dinh province has suffered the highest human loss with 12, and followed by provinces of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen, said Nguyen Sy Nuoi, deputy head of the Flood and Storm Control Bureau in charge of the central region under the Central Flood and Storm Control Committee. The floods, sparked by torrential rain, have also submerged several thousands of houses, more than 15,000 hectares of rice and subsidiary crops, and damaged many sections of roads, dykes and irrigation works in the region, he said. Last year, natural disasters killed 232 people and left 38 missing, injured 187 others, destroyed 4,200 houses and 3,000 hectares of rice, and killed over 2,000 cattle and 170,000 poultry in Vietnam, causing a property loss of over 900 billion Vietnamese dong (some US$57 million).

23 October 2005India

Tens of thousands of people were marooned by flooding in West Bengal today after four days of torrential rains, that killed at least ten people, officials said. The unseasonal rains came after the June-September monsoon, which triggered severe flooding in places like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam. Rains also hit life in Kolkata, which remained flooded as the city’s more than two centuries old drainage system failed to cope with the rising waters. People said they were facing problems commuting due to the continuous rains for the last four days. Officials said at least ten people had died in the state due to wall collapses and electrocution, following the rains, and some 50,000 people remained cut off by the floods. Relief officials warned the situation could get worse for hundreds of thousands of people living in the Sunderbans region, where two rivers were close to bursting their banks. Cars and motorcycles floated in waist-deep water in Kolkata, while people waded their way around the city and residents of some low-lying areas used boats. Many shops and business establishments remained closed.

26 October 2005

Five days of torrential rain have led to severe flooding in the south Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Several hundred villages in Karnataka are threatened by the rising water levels of the Cauvery river. Residents in India’s technology hub, Bangalore, are also battling floods after three major lakes in the city breached their banks. Many of the areas affected by the rainfall have been hit by severe drought in recent years. The water level in many dams in Karnataka is overflowing. The Karnataka government has released excess water to the Mettur dam in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, which has led to severe flooding in low-lying areas in Salem district. In the Karnataka state capital, Bangalore, flooding was worsened by unauthorised developments along the three flooded lakes. Choked drains led to residential areas being inundated. Traffic has been severely affected. Thousands of office-goers were stranded on the city’s waterlogged roads. Schools in the city were closed and several apartment complexes flooded. Water entered some office buildings, including one of the offices of India’s third largest software exporter, Wipro. Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh has held several rounds of meetings with senior officials, but they say little can be done until the rain stops. Flooding in West Bengal state earlier this week claimed 19 lives and left more than 250,000 homeless, officials say.

27 October 2005

Heavy rain and storms paralysed life in southern India today, flooding roads, snapping power and phone lines and disrupting flights as the death toll due to the bad weather this month crossed 100. Tamil Nadu state was the worst hit by the latest downpour as many areas in the capital Chennai were inundated and cut off, while people and vehicles waded through waist-high water in some parts of the city, witnesses said. Strong winds uprooted trees and snapped power and phone links in some parts of the city. State relief commissioner R. Santhanam said: “We have already evacuated about 50,000 people from the flooded low-lying areas in Chennai and its suburbs. Over 100,000 food packets have been distributed for lunch in the temporary shelters set up in community centres.” Chennai city had received 27 cm of rain until early today, he said. Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have struggled to cope with torrential rain this month. More than 100 people have been killed in the three states, mostly in house collapses or due to electrocution. At least 60 of those deaths occurred in Tamil Nadu, with four new deaths being reported over the last 24 hours, said R. Sivakumar, a senior government official. Police in Karnataka said that seven people had died in the state capital Bangalore, India’s technology hub, in accidents triggered by heavy rain and winds this week. In Andhra Pradesh, the airport in the eastern port city of Visakhapatnam remained closed for the second week as the runway was under water, officials said. At least 35 people have been killed in storms in the state over the past two weeks, they said. Weather officials predicted more rains in the region over the next two days as a severe depression over the Bay of Bengal moved close to the Andhra Pradesh coast. “Heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by squally winds with speeds of 55-65 kph in north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh are expected,” said S.R. Ramanan, director of a Chennai cyclone warning centre. He said the seas would get very rough and fishermen had been told not to venture out.

28 October 2005

Thousands of people in low-lying areas along the south-east Indian coast have been evacuated ahead of a cyclone that is expected to make landfall today. Winds of 70-100 km/h and heavy rains are already severely disrupting life in the area. Air and rail transport has been badly affected. Fishermen have been warned not to go to sea until Sunday (October 30). More than 100 people have died in several days of heavy rain in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. India’s technology hub, Bangalore, is battling floods after three major lakes breached their banks. The city accounts for one-third of India’s annual export revenue of $17.2bn in software and back-office outsourcing. The cyclone, triggered by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, is expected to hit somewhere along the coast of Andhra Pradesh state. “High winds and heavy rains are hampering our evacuations,” B. Udaya Lakshmi, an official in Andhra Pradesh, told Reuters. Rain and landslides have cut links to some coastal areas. In Tamil Nadu, schools and colleges have been shut and many state-run schools converted into temporary shelters. Several trains passing through the state capital, Madras (Chennai), have been cancelled because rail tracks are under water. Tens of thousands of people have been stranded at railway stations and airports across the region and the weather has hit the travel plans of many more during the holiday season which coincides with the Hindu festival of light, or Diwali. In the past few days, more than 50,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in affected areas of Tamil Nadu. Heavy rains in the neighbouring state of Karnataka have led to the flooding of the Cauvery river, which flows into Tamil Nadu.

12 November 2005

The damage caused by heavy rain and floods in Bangalore and in other parts of the State is “very severe.” This is the assessment of the seven-member Central team headed by Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs Ranjan Bhattacharya. Mr. Bhattacharya told press persons after a meeting with Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh that the team will submit a report to the Centre immediately. The team arrived in Bangalore on November 9 and got down to business immediately. It split into three teams and visited all the 12 affected districts to assess the damage caused by last month’s heavy rain and floods to infrastructure and public and private property. S.M. Jaamdar, Principal Secretary to the Government, Department of Revenue; Ramesh B. Jhalki, Secretary (Scarcity); V.P. Baligar, Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj; and K. Jothiramalingam, Commissioner, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), made a presentation on the situation. The Centre deputed the team after a delegation led by Mr. Dharam Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in New Delhi on Saturday last (November 5) seeking an assistance of Rs. 1,167 crores. The Chief Minister expected the team to draw the Centre’s attention to the severe natural calamity suffered by the State. The Centre released Rs. 400 crores for taking up immediate relief measures in the flood-affected areas in north Karnataka. Expressing his happiness over the team’s visit to the affected areas in Bangalore, Bidar, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Raichur, Hassan, Mandya and Mysore districts in three batches for assessing the damages, Mr. Dharam Singh exuded confidence that substantial relief would be received from the Centre. When his attention was drawn to the statements of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders that the Prime Minister had not stated that the Centre would release the funds sought by the State, Mr. Dharam Singh said the Prime Minister told the delegation that money is not a problem.

24 November 2005

The death toll in rain-related incidents in Tamil Nadu since the onset of the North East Monsoon on October 12 has mounted to 167. While 158 people were killed up until November 17, nine deaths were reported during the fresh spell of rain, official sources said today. Meanwhile, a Tiruchirapalli report said three people were feared washed away in flash-floods in a jungle stream in Maniyankurichi village near Siruganur. The search is under way to find them.

25 November 2005

Flash floods swept a bus off a bridge in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu today, drowning at least 30 passengers, police said. Another 30 passengers were rescued by local villagers and police after the bus was pushed into a swollen river by raging waters at Janaveli village, some 450 km south of Chennai, the state capital, formerly known as Madras. “The bus is still stuck in the slush of the river bed and there are bodies in the vehicle,” K. Sellamuthu, a senior state government official, said. Since Monday (November 21), heavy rains – caused by a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal – have lashed Tamil Nadu, causing widespread flooding. Over 30 people have died, mostly due to wall collapses and electrocution from fallen power lines. State officials said at least 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes in coastal districts.

16 December 2005

The death toll from a cold snap sweeping northern India has reached 27, as officials report more deaths among the homeless due to the unseasonably low temperatures. In Lucknow, the sate capital of Uttar Pradesh, the temperature dropped to six degrees Celsius, six degrees below normal for this time of year. Weather officials forecast that temperatures in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with 180 million people and one of its poorest, were likely to drop further. The night-time temperature in the city of Agra, home to the famed Taj Mahal, fell to just above three degrees Celsius, almost seven degrees below normal. The winter takes a heavy toll each year around South Asia, as poverty forces many homeless people to live outdoors or in flimsy shacks designed for the equally deadly hot summers. Most of the 27 dead in Uttar Pradesh were homeless. The state government has ordered that bonfires be lit at major street crossings so that the homeless can warm up.

25 October 2005Tropical storm Alpha

Ten people died, 11 were injured and three were reported missing in Haiti after tropical storm Alpha flooded rivers and wrecked homes, civil defense officer Alta Jean-Baptiste said yesterday. Three people were also missing as a result of the storm in the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti, authorities there said. Alpha became the record-breaking 22nd named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season on Saturday (October 22) in the Caribbean and headed straight for Hispaniola, lashing it with rain through yesterday. The storm weakened to a tropical depression as it moved northeast over the Atlantic.

26 October 2005

Tropical storm Alpha has left at least 15 people dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic before moving north into the Atlantic Ocean. A dozen people were missing after mudslides and flooded rivers swamped streets and swept away homes. The death toll in Haiti could rise, its civil protection agency chief said. Alpha was the record-breaking 22nd named storm of the Atlantic season. It later weakened from a tropical storm into a tropical depression. In the Dominican Republic, authorities found the bodies of two fishermen whose boat capsized in the rough seas that preceded the storm.

27 October 2005

Several more deaths were confirmed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding caused by tropical storm Alpha bringing the death toll to 26, officials said today. The storm drenched the two countries with torrential rain on Monday (October 24) and caused flash floods that swept away people, houses and animals. Haiti is especially vulnerable to floods and mudslides because much of the impoverished country has been stripped of trees by desperately poor people whose main source of fuel is charcoal. Five more deaths were confirmed in Haiti today, bringing the death toll in the country to 17, civil protection officials said. Nine people died in the Dominican Republic, officials said. Six of the deaths occurred in the coastal province of Puerto Plata, in the north, when a river broke its banks.

26 October 2005Bay of Bengal

At least 12 people have been killed following a series of floods in southern Bengal. Four of the victims were crushed when a house collapsed while two others died as a result of electrocution during the storm. Around 800,000 people are now stranded as a result of the floods, many of which are now living in relief camps. Many train services in the region were severely disrupted, as rails stood underwater making it impossible for trains to run. Meanwhile, the torrential rains also caused enormous damage to crops in the area.

26 October 2005Hurricane Katrina

The death toll attributed to hurricane Katrina in Louisiana has grown to 1,053, according to figures released Tuesday. The number of bodies received by a special morgue in St. Gabriel near Baton Rouge and by coroners in 13 parishes rose to 1,061, up from 1,056 on October 21. However, that total included the bodies of eight people whose deaths have since been ruled unrelated to the storm, the state Department of Health and Hospitals said. Just under half of the bodies have been identified, and many of those names have not been released because of difficulty locating family members or because autopsies are pending, said Bob Johannessen, a DHH spokesman.

27 October 2005

Repairing all the hurricane-damaged rigs and platforms and pipes in the Gulf of Mexico will take up to a year, and crude oil output will not return to normal “for many months,” US Interior Secretary Gale Norton said today. “Recovery is dependent on repairs to onshore facilities, offshore and onshore pipelines transportation systems, and offshore platforms,” Norton said in written testimony prepared for a Senate Energy committee hearing on damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. About 45 percent of oil and gas pipelines in the Gulf are operating, while 30 percent need repair, Norton said. Another 25 percent of pipelines are undamaged but cannot be used due to “downstream problems,” she said. Testing and repair of energy onshore facilities, pipelines and platforms will take up to one year, based on industry estimates, she said. Some 16 natural gas processing plants, which purify natural gas before it can be shipped to customers, remain closed from the hurricanes, Norton said. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman was also scheduled to testify at the hearing. Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug 29, shutting eight major refineries and halting crude and gas output in the Gulf of Mexico. One month later, Hurricane Rita hit the Texas-Louisiana border, closing more refineries and natural gas processing plants. At one point, 25 percent of US refining capacity was offline due to both storms. Earlier on Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said production from its Mars platform in the Gulf would not resume until the second half of 2006 because of damage from Katrina. Another big platform, BP’s Thunder Horse, was originally scheduled to come on-stream in 2005 but will not begin producing oil and gas until late 2006 because of the hurricanes. Some 68 percent of the total 1.5 million barrel per day crude oil production in the US Gulf remained shut in yesterday, according to government data. About 55 percent of the region’s 10 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas also remained offline.

28 October 2005

At least three oil refineries in the US Gulf of Mexico region remain shut down as a result of damage sustained from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Continued storm activity in the Gulf has further disrupted the energy industry, but, gasoline prices have eased a little in recent weeks. Gasoline prices at the pump have fallen about 16 percent in the past month, according to the AAA Travel Club. But fuel prices are still about 15 cents-a-litre higher than a year ago. The high price has caused some motorists to curtail their time on the road and that, combined with the seasonal slowdown in driving that always comes at summer’s end, has helped keep the prices falling. But prices are unlikely to fall much further. Crude oil, which counts for more than 40 percent of the price of gasoline, remains above $60 a barrel and supplies of gasoline remain somewhat tight because of the refinery shutdowns. Bob Tippee, editor of Oil and Gas Journal, says most refineries in Louisiana and Texas affected by the hurricanes are now either back online or close to being back. But, he says, facilities that suffered heavy damage will take longer to recover. “In many cases with Katrina the problem was flooding, which flooded electric motors, of which there are many in a refinery. In many cases, those have to be replaced and that takes a while. Also, with both these storms, you had workers who were scattered and evacuated and it takes some time to get them back,” he said. Mr Tippee says energy companies estimate the refineries closed by the hurricanes will all be back online by sometime in December. In the meantime, he says, many US motorists are using gasoline shipped over by tankers from refineries in Europe. “Europe does have a significant amount of gasoline available for export and a lot of that does come to the United States whenever the price is high here relative to there and that certainly is the case now as a result of the storms. So that is a comfortable buffer supply of gasoline,” he said. During the worst part of the hurricane disasters, as much as 25 percent of US refining capacity was closed down. The refineries that remain closed today account for only about six percent of the nation’s capacity. Crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has also slowed as a result of the storms. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed 113 oil and gas production platforms in the Texas-Louisiana coastal region.

27 October 2005

Murphy Oil Company has set up five adjustment centres in south-east Louisiana for property owners affected by an oil spill after Hurricane Katrina. One and a half million gallons spilled out of the Meraux refinery on the Mississippi River south-east of New Orleans. The coast guard blames Murphy. The company hopes to avert a class action lawsuit by settling with as many residents possible. A federal judge will decide next week if the oil company has a right to contact affected residents directly to discuss settlement options.

1 November 2005

Lamar Advertising Company says it sustained $14 million in hurricane damage to its billboards in Louisiana and Mississippi. But the company’s chief financial officer said new designs will cut future storm repair costs. C-FO Keith Istre said the storms will allow the company to replace existing inventory with wind-resistant structures that are much more durable and have a much higher wind-resistance rating. Istre says some of the existing billboards could withstand winds of up to 110 miles-per-hour. The new designs will be able to handle winds as high as 140 to 150 miles-per-hour. Instead of having a solid face, the new billboards will be like a frame to which vinyl sheets of advertisement copy will be strapped. The company expects its billboards in Mississippi and Louisiana to be repaired by early next year. Istre says the company does not know how long it will be before its business in the hurricane zones returns to normal.

28 October 2005Hurricane Wilma

Last week, oil rigs in the eastern Gulf area were evacuated when hurricane Wilma passed through on its way to Florida. As of Monday, storm-related problems had closed down nearly 68 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s crude production capacity. More than half the region’s natural gas production was also shut down. Energy analysts say natural gas and heating oil prices in the USA are likely to rise as winter weather arrives in the northern part of the country. They say any relief from high gasoline prices could be more than offset by the higher cost of heating homes.

President George W. Bush checked on relief efforts for victims of hurricane Wilma today to ensure federal assistance is provided. Bush visited hard-hit south Florida and the National Hurricane Center in Miami in a show of solidarity with Wilma victims and those working to help the millions without electricity and thousands who are short on other necessities. Hurricane Wilma struck south Florida and killed 14 people and left more than six million without electricity. About 4.4 million were still without power today. Risk analysts say the storm’s damage could reach $10 billion in Florida. Wilma killed 18 others in Haiti, Mexico and the Bahamas. Florida Power & Light said it had restored electricity to 1.1 million customers, but 2.1 million customers, or more than 4 million people, were still without power. The utility said it hoped to restore power to most by November 8. All three of south Florida’s major airports, in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, were open. Curfews were in effect in many south Florida cities. Most courts and government offices were closed and schools were not expected to reopen until next week. Traffic in Miami was chaotic and officials were advising people to carpool, take public transit or stay at home. Only 781 of the county’s 2,600 traffic lights were working, up from just 18 two days ago. Miami’s elevated transit trains resumed operation today. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said police had arrested 87 people for curfew violations in recent days.

24 October 2005Italy

At least six people have been killed as torrential rain battered southern Italy, demolishing a bridge, sweeping away cars and derailing a Eurostar train. Three members of a family were killed as their car plunged into a ravine when a bridge collapsed near Bari, the capital of the Apulia region. Two men drowned near the city when their cars were swept away by floods of water and mud. Italian civil defence chief Guido Bertolaso, who immediately flew to Bari from Rome, describes the deluge as an “exceptional climatic event which can only happen once in a hundred years.” Around 20 passengers were injured when six carriages of a Taranto to Milan Eurostar train were derailed near Bari after a landslide swept away the earth beneath the rail tracks, leaving one carriage overhanging a chasm. The storms also caused one death near Catania, in Sicily, where rescuers have recovered the body of a hunter. Civil defence officials say many roads, houses and factories in the Bari and Taranto area have been flooded. Fields of vegetables and olive trees are completely submerged but officials say it is too soon to put a value on the damage.

2 November 2005Typhoon Kai-Tak

At least nine people were killed in Vietnam as typhoon Kai Tak approached the country’s central coast, officials said today. “Heavy rain hit several provinces. Thousands of houses were flooded,” said Nguyen Van Hung, an official from the flood and storm committee in the central city of Danang. Seven people were killed in Quang Ngai province and two in Thua Thien Hue. “The typhoon was about 250 kilometres off the coast of Quang Ngai this morning and was moving around 10-15 kilometers per hour. It is difficult to say where it will hit the country in the hours to come,” Hung told the AFP. In Hoi An, a seaside resort with a vast beach and a traditional village, more than 3,000 people had been evacuated. The industrial port of Danang spent a few hours yesterday without electricity. Most flights to Danang airport were cancelled and Chinese President Hu Jintao, expected to visit the central region, shortened his stay in Vietnam and was to leave the country early today. In Quang Nam province about 15,000 people had been displaced. Thousands of soldiers and police have been mobilised, Hung said.

2 November 2005

At least ten people drowned and a Filipino was missing in central Vietnam as a typhoon nearing the coast dumped heavy rains on a region where bad weather has killed nearly 30 people in the past two weeks. The National Hydro Meteorology Forecast Centre said today that 740 mm of rain drenched Quang Ngai province, where six people died, even though typhoon Kai-Tak weakened as it neared the coast. Heavy rains knocked down hundreds of trees, causing blackouts and blocking roads in Danang, 760 km south of Hanoi, prompting Chinese President Hu Jintao to cancel a trip to the area during an official visit to Vietnam. Three Vietnamese and a 49-year-old Filipino were swept away yesterday at the Bong Mieu Gold Property mine in Quang Nam province, but the three Vietnamese were rescued, a company official said. “We are still searching for the missing man,” she said. The mine is owned by Canada’s Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc. Four people drowned in Thua Thien-Hue province, where flooding of up to 0.7 metres swamped Hue, including the old citadel, a UN-listed World Heritage Site, state-run Vietnam Television reported. “The rains were terribly heavy yesterday and people had to use boats inside the citadel area,” said a Hue resident who added that rains had stopped but floods had not receded. However, floods did not hit the ancient town of Hoi An, another UN-listed World Heritage site just to the south, another resident said. Winds at the centre of the storm weakened to 74 kph as Kai-Tak moved north-west, nearing the coast of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces today, a weather bulletin said. Sections of railway line and the north-south Highway One were blocked by floods. The government’s committee on floods and storm prevention urged authorities in four central provinces to stay on alert for flash floods and landslides. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has ordered the release of 450 tonnes of rice from national food reserves to help people in the central region, where 67,000 people were evacuated as 29 people died in floods in late October.

3 November 2005

Powerful typhoon Kai-Tak killed 20 people in Vietnam’s central region and a Filipino swept away at a gold mine is still missing, officials said today. The national weather centre said 720 mm of rain fell on Quang Nam province, triggering flash floods and killing eight people before Kai-Tak moved north and weakened into a low pressure system. A 49-year-old Filipino swept away at the Bong Mieu gold mine in Quang Nam on Tuesday (November 1) remained missing, a company official said. Workers were clearing hundreds of trees blown across roads by strong winds, and electricity supply was restored yesterday in Danang, 760 km south of Hanoi. Seven people died in Quang Ngai province, four drowned in Thua Thien-Hue and one was killed by a fallen tree in Danang. The low pressure system moved northward along the coastline off the northern province of Thanh Hoa and disappeared yesterday night, but heavy rains hit ten central provinces, the weather centre said in its last report on the typhoon. The government has ordered 450 tonnes of rice from national reserves to help people in the central region, where the first groups of more than 120,000 people evacuated from the typhoon started returning home today. Typhoon Kai-Tak did not affect its key coffee and rice growing regions or the crude oil production, which are located further to the south.

15 November 2005China

Sixty-one sailors were rescued and 13 remained missing last night as a cold front from Siberia swept gale-force winds and huge waves across the Yangtze River Delta region, swamping at least five vessels in the East China Sea. “We’ve received numerous calls from ships in trouble,” Tang Panrun of Shanghai-based Donghai Rescue Bureau said yesterday. The fate of all the vessels was unclear, however. Some may have sunk, some capsized and some were towed to port, authorities said, without giving precise numbers. The calls began coming in on Sunday (November 13) as winds from the cold front began to gust at up to 88 kilometres an hour, kicking up waves that surged to three metres. Authorities issued weather alerts to all ships in the region, but some vessels foundered under the heavy seas. Four patrol boats and a helicopter were assigned to rescue operations and were still busy with emergency calls late yesterday. “The bad weather caused turbulent waves, flooding ships’ cabins and disabling engine systems,” Tang said. While most of the rescues ended in success, the crew of general cargo Xian Feng Hai No.1, a Zhejiang Province cargo vessel, was not so fortunate. Thirteen sailors who fell into the sea were missing yesterday, and two crewmen who were rescued were in poor condition when they were picked up. They were being treated last night at Shanghai’s No. 7 People’s Hospital. Xian Feng Hai No.1 alerted the Rescue Bureau at 0340, local time, yesterday that the vessel had been stopped by the heavy weather. The bureau dispatched a helicopter that eventually spotted an overturned lifeboat and raft. Two struggling sailors were spotted and pulled from the sea about a half hour later. On Sunday morning, general cargo Eversunny (995 gt, built 1981) became snarled in a fishing net on its journey from Tokyo to Zhejiang Province. The disabled vessel was in danger of capsizing after the winds increased and huge waves began to pound its decks. A rescue boat from the Donghai Bureau managed to tow the vessel to port at 0100, local time, yesterday. All nine crew members were in good shape. Other sailors were saved from general cargo Ruiyuan No.1, a Shanghai cargo vessel, and general cargo Jizhou 6818, from Jizhou in Hebei Province. Ruiyuan No. 1 was stranded at sea for 49 hours after a mechanical breakdown occurred and the bad weather moved in. The vessel was finally pulled into the Yangshan Deep-water Port in south Shanghai. Jizhou 6818 lost power after waves broke into its cabin and flooded its engines. Rescuers saved 17 sailors.

19 November 2005Tropical storm Gamma

Tropical storm Gamma doused Central America with heavy rain today, killing three people and cutting off part of the Honduran coast, as the storm inched towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Gamma was expected to curve to the north-east as it neared the Yucatan and move over western Cuba before taking aim on southern Florida. Rainfall linked to Gamma killed at least three people in Honduras and 13 were missing today, officials said. Honduran officials said more than 5,000 people were evacuated along the Atlantic coast and authorities estimated more than 50,000 were cut off as bridges were damaged or destroyed, leaving several cities and towns isolated. Engineers were working to erect temporary bridges in heavy rainfall. Several people disappeared when a rescue boat overturned in raging river waters. Honduran officials urged communities cut off by the storm to ration food and water until help arrived. About 60 percent of El Progreso, a city of 200,000 people on a river near the coast, was under water, authorities said. Rescue workers were taking boats to isolated communities on the Ulua River to search for stranded residents. The storm was expected to produce up to 15 inches of rain in parts of Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba.

20 November 2005

Tropical Storm Gamma weakened today into a tropical depression after it deluged the Central American coast, killing 12 people – nine in Honduras and three in Belize when a small aircraft belonging to a lodge owned by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola crashed. Forecasters said the slow-moving storm was likely to miss Florida. The storm’s top sustained winds decreased to 35 mph – below the 39 mph needed to be considered a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The storm hit Honduras the hardest; emergency officials said nine people died and 15 were missing from floods and mudslides. It said the storm damaged or destroyed 300 homes and other buildings while forcing 11,307 people from their dwellings. Five people died in the northern town of El Progreso, said Mayor Nelly Soliman. Heavy winds and rains also pounded the Bay Islands, off the Honduran coast, said Hugo Arevalo, co-ordinator of a national disaster-response committee. In Belize, search teams blamed bad weather associated with Gamma for the crash of a private aircraft belonging to an exclusive lodge owned by Coppola. The crash killed Belizean pilot Rene Ram and two guests, said Kathleen Talbert, a representative for Coppola. The aircraft disappeared Friday (November 18), last making radio contact with air controllers ten minutes into its 35-minute flight to the Blancaneux Lodge near the western border with Guatemala. Rescuers were still searching for five Belizean fishermen from the northern fishing village of Sarteneja near the Mexican border who disappeared on Friday. Their 20 ft vessel was capsized by a large wave, police said.

22 November 2005

The death toll in Honduras from tropical storm Gamma increased to at least 32, with 13 people missing, officials said late yesterday. In neighbouring Belize, five fishermen were missing at sea because of the storm, Belize media said. Honduran authorities launched a major operation to rescue people stranded by floods in the north of the country as the storm, downgraded to a tropical depression, headed back out into the Caribbean. The civil emergency committee (Copec) said that more than 23,000 people had fled their homes and helicopters were rescuing some people from rooftops and airlifting food to stricken areas. A Copec spokesperson said the death toll had increased to 32, from 15 earlier in the day, and that 13 people were missing. The storm and floods washed away dozens of bridges and much of the Islas de la Bahia department was under water, officials said. About 2,000 homes were destroyed. The Copec spokesperson said an entire family of six were buried by a mudslide in Locomapa, in Yoro Department, 240 km north. Copec helicopters were flying over the zone to find stranded victims on roofs and in trees. United Nations agencies were helping to distribute food.

21December 2005Philippines

The death toll from heavy flooding in the central Philippines rose to ten today, with almost 13,000 people left homeless as rescuers braced for more torrential rains, officials said. Disaster relief officials said large areas remained under water after the weekend flooding in the provinces of Iloilo, Aklan, Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental and Camarines Norte. In Mindoro, where a protective dyke broke, rescuers had to pluck stranded residents from rooftops. The Office of Civil Defense lifted the death toll from the disaster from six to ten and said 12,849 residents had been displaced. The state weather bureau said more rains were expected and officials expressed fear that thousands more would spend Christmas in crowded evacuation centers.

16 December 2005Thailand

Continuing floods in the southern provinces of Pattani and Songkhla forced nearly 70 schools in the two provinces to close today. A hillside in Songkhla gave way in a landslide this afternoon, leading to the deaths of a father and his son, while the man’s wife was injured. Somwong Thammawong was electrocuted when he went back into his house in an attempt to save his 12-year-old son in Songkhla municipality. Mr Somwong’s wife was injured. The body of their son was found buried under one metre of mud and rubble after a six-hour rescue operation. After heavy downpours Wednesday night, water levels in the Pattani River rose and flooded low-lying areas for the third time during the current rainy season. Provincial authorities evacuated persons at risk areas to higher ground. Some 20 schools were forced to close temporarily. Traffic on Phiphit road, the town’s main street, was congested, while many roads in the municipality are impassable, either submerged or blocked by debris. In Nongjik district, local residents moved their belongings to higher ground and built sandbag embankments to prevent flooding. In Songkhla province, 50 schools in five districts have been closed for a week due to the third round of flooding there. Damages incurred in earlier flooding is estimated at more than Bt700 million. Incessant rain over the past two days caused flash floods, particularly in the area near Songkhla lake.

17 December 2005

At least 2,500 people have been evacuated from their homes in southern Thailand, where violent storms have lashed the region and sent floodwaters rising, officials said. “We have gathered boats from across the country, not only from government agencies but also from private owners to help evacuate people,” Kananat Kachna, head of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said. “The roads are completely impassable, only six and ten-wheel trucks from the government will be able to get through to assist villagers,” he said. Downpours during the night Friday (December 16) caused up to 30 centimetres of floodwater in Yala province, forcing the evacuation of at least 800 people, Mr Kananat said. Another 800 people from Pattalung province and 100 from Nakhon Si Thammarat province have been evacuated. About 680 people in Songkhla and more than 120 from Trang have also been evacuated to safer locations, he added. Officials were considering more evacuations in the provinces of Songkhla, Pattalung and Nakhon Si Thammarat, Mr Kananat said. Twelve people have died since late November in floods across southern provinces, while two people have gone missing, the department said. Two Swedish women also drowned after defying official warnings and swimming in the sea at Pha Ngan island, where the storms helped create an unusually strong current, police said.

18 December 2005

At least five people drowned and thousands of residents have been forced out of their homes after heavy rains and flash floods swept through Nakhon Si Thammarat and other southern provinces. Rescue operations were launched yesterday to find 50 Thai and foreign tourists after three boats they were on capsized in Phuket and Krabi provinces. Two Swedish tourists who drowned off Koh Phangan prompted Surat Thani authorities to cancel this month’s full moon party to prevent other casualties. In Nakhon Si Thammarat, two residents drowned on Thursday night (December 15) and their bodies were swept away by the floods. The province was hit hard by three rounds of floods which have so far claimed 12 lives. Pol Col Naris Sunthornroj, chief of Pak Phanang district police, said marine police were yesterday sent to rescue seven crewmen whose fishing vessel sank near Laem Talumpuk village, about two nautical miles off Pak Phanang shore. One crewman drowned, his body has not been found. Nakhon Si Thammarat Governor Vichom Thongsong yesterday declared the province a disaster zone as flash floods, triggered by heavy rains, ravaged 21 districts, affecting 173,300 people. So far, 4,012 flood-hit residents have been evacuated. The floods damaged over 1,800 roads, 37 bridges, 38 reservoirs, 27 schools and 24 temples. Over 90,000 rai of paddy fields and 55,329 rai of fruit orchards were damaged. Initial damage was estimated at 105 million baht, said Mr Vichom. He told residents to brace themselves for possible mudslides. Several villages in Chian Yai district were cut off from the outside world as floodwaters reached 1-2 metres high. Vichit Maneelok, chief of Nakhon Si Thammarat disaster prevention and mitigation, said mudslides blocked a section of Khuan Nong Hong-Kapang road in Cha-uat district yesterday, making the road impassable. In Trang, the floods have affected 4,000 residents, said governor Cherdphan na Songkhla, adding the flood situation was the worst in five years. Muang, Huai Yot and Na Yong districts were badly hit. Water level in Trang and Palian rivers and Khlong Nang Noi canals are rising. In Satun, heavy rains and high waves forced tour firms to cancel trips to the province. Several villages in Khuan Don district were inundated. Floodwaters in some areas rose to 120 cm. In Songkhla, 18 houses were hit by mudslides in Ban Mai village in Krasae Sin district yesterday. But there were no reports of deaths or injuries. Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngarm inspected flood-affected areas in Songkhla. He provided 55,000 baht in financial assistance to the victims’ family. Floodwaters still remained high in Sathing Phra, Ra-not, Singha Nakhon and Krasae Sin districts. Three boats carrying 50 Thai and foreign tourists capsized in Phuket and Krabi, prompting the Third Fleet to launch rescue operations to help them. The first incident took place at 1630. A speed boat run by Phangnga Eco-Tour Co, capsized at Hinmusang area between Phuket and Phangnga. The boat carried 20 Thai and foreign tourists. Another boat travelling from Phi Phi island in Krabi sank in the same spot. Eight passengers jumped into the water. On the same day, a third boat carrying 22 passengers sank in Laemtong in Krabi province. Marines and divers were searching for them. In Surat Thani, provincial authorities cancelled the famous full moon party of Koh Phangan yesterday after two foreign tourists drowned on Thursday. Two Swedish tourists were swept away by heavy currents.

20 December 2005

Troops in southern Thailand struggled through mountains of mud today in an effort to reach thousands stranded by floods and landslides that have killed at least 35 people. Late yesterday, 60 soldiers reached a village in Yala province where 2,000 people had been stranded for three days without food, said Samrerng Wongmuneeworn of the Yala disaster prevention centre. He said the landslide in Tanoh Buteh killed one man and damaged about 50 homes. The government has declared nine southern provinces disaster zones after two weeks of heavy rains left much of the area under water or buried in mud. The affected area includes the Muslim-majority provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, where more than 1,100 people have died in separatist violence since January 2004. The government has dispatched military rescue units to the area because civilian teams have been reluctant to look for victims for fear of attacks by Muslim insurgents.

21 December 2005

Flood damages in eight provinces in Thailand’s southern region were reported to the Cabinet today, which was told of 15 dead, three persons missing, and nearly 200,000 households disrupted. Some 671,000 people (179,991 households) in 92 districts of eight provinces are affected by the disruption, Cabinet heard, with 463 roads and 14 bridges damaged or destroyed. Overall losses in financial terms have not yet been calculated, according to government sources, but preliminary figures indicate significant losses. Flood damage in the southern province of Pattani, for example, is estimated at Bt91 million, with over one hundred thousand people affected, according to the provincial office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. All schools were closed for the second day today. Schools under the municipality will be closed at least until Thursday (December 22), dependent on whether or not further rains and continued flooding occurs. Most shops and petrol stations in Pattani town are also closed, and normal life has come to a standstill. In addition to the emergency situation in the city, villagers in many surrounding areas need large amounts of drinking water, food and medication. Putting a hopeful light on events, Pattani Mayor Pitak Korkiart said that the flood situation in the municipality area has improved. Floodwaters are expected to dry up in the next few days if there is no more rain. The provincial office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said flood damage is estimated at 91 million baht. Some 31,784 families or 132,185 people are affected by flood, officials disclosed. Damages were sustained by over 300 roadways, 61 schools, eight temples, 14 mosques, 23 government offices, 24,000 rai of farmland, 10,000 rai of orchards, 18,915 animals, and 1,226 fish farms. Meanwhile, Trang governor Cherdphan na Songkhla led his team in flat bottom boats to visit flood-stricken areas near the Trang River today. All houses, temples, and schools are submerged under water up to three metres deep. Local residents have evacuated their homes to take temporary shelter on higher level, Trang-Sikao roadbed. Medication for water-borne diseases is needed. He said the flood situation in Trang was better except some areas in the municipality and Kantang district. All schools in Trang are closed this week. The province was hard hit by floods triggered by high tides and damage could not yet be estimated.

16 December 2005Vietnam

Flash floods triggered by prolonged rains in central Vietnam have killed at least 32 people in recent weeks and damaged rice crops, officials said today. Rains which began in late November have inundated more than 30,000 hectares of newly-planted rice crops in the central provinces of Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Quang Ngai, officials from the Committee for Flood and Storm Control told Reuters. “The weather is quite abnormal this year, waters in rivers in the central region have started to recede but we expect new rains over the weekend so people should stay alert,” said an official from the centre in central city of Danang. He said the official death toll from four central provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen, had risen to 32 and at least eight people remained missing after being washed away by flash floods. Heavy rains also triggered landslides in the central region, damaging roads and disrupting traffic. Weather forecasters in the country’s top coffee-growing province of Daklak told Reuters the rains had temporarily stopped on Friday but they expected more rains over the weekend.

17 December 2004

Landslides triggered by prolonged rains in central Vietnam have killed nine road workers, taking the total death toll in the region in recent weeks to 41. Officials in the central province of Khanh Hoa say the bodies of only six of the nine dead have been recovered. Rescue workers are searching for the others. Rains that began in late November have inundated more than 30,000 hectares of newly-planted rice crops and triggered flash floods that have killed 32 others in the central provinces of Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Quang Ngai. “The rains have weakened but the new danger now is landslides so we advise all travellers to take extra caution when travelling through the region,” said a weather forecaster in Khanh Hoa. Heavy rains have also damaged roads and disrupted traffic.

19 December 2005

Weeks of heavy rains triggered floods and landslides that left at least 43 people dead and seven missing in central Vietnam the central Flood and Storm Prevention Steering Board reported yesterday. Flood waters destroyed hundreds of houses and inundated 5,300 other homes, leaving nearly 50,000 hectares of rice paddy and cash crops under water and about 700 shrimp ponds destroyed. The water also swept away 22 irrigation systems and eroded nearly 500,000 cu.m motorway soil. Total losses are estimated at VND300 billion or nearly US$19 million, half of which was incurred in Phu Yen province. “The water level at local rivers has fallen since late Friday (December 16), but the reported number of people killed by floods is on the rise, with 29 already dead” said Nguyen Quang Dung from the flood and Storm Control Department of Khanh Hoa province. A government delegation led by Nguyen Ngoc Thuat, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, is investigating the aftermath of the floods in the central region. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Phan Van Khai also sent an official message asking all relevant agencies to do their utmost to ensure that residents have enough food and to provide seeds for farmers to start the winter-spring crop. Floodwaters caused three sections of the National Highway 1A to sink by as much as 3m in Phu Yen province, marooning thousands of cars and buses that piled up for more than 10 km. An alternative route has already been built. House foundations have cracked under the swell of floodwaters, and a section of the national highway in the province continues to sink, said Tran Quang Lan, deputy director of Phu Yen Road Management and Maintenance Company.

21 December 2005

Floods have killed six more people in Vietnam’s Central Highlands coffee belt, taking the death toll in the central region to 60 over the last ten days, but officials said today the important coffee crop was not affected. The six, two of them children, drowned as heavy rains triggered floods in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Daklak province, which are not key coffee growing areas, an official at Daklak’s disaster management department said. “The damaged coffee area, mainly along streams and rivers, is relatively small, between 300 and 400 hectares,” he said, referring to an area of between 740 and 990 acres. Irrigation projects were damaged and more than 1,100 homes inundated in the districts of Ea Kar, Krong Bong and Krong Ana. Daklak, which has 160,000 hectares of coffee plantations, produces a third of Vietnam’s output. The country is the world’s second largest producer of the commodity after Brazil. The rain has prevented coffee growers from drying cherries, raising concerns about quality as beans ferment and turn black if kept indoors for too long, making them unfit for export. A total of 54 people had died in floods that struck five central coastal provinces since early last week, 40 of them in the provinces of Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen near Daklak, the government’s floods and storms committee said.

22 December 2005

Officials in Vietnam now say at least 61 people have died in floods that have ravaged the country’s central region since the start of this month. They say the latest deaths have been reported in the central highlands province of Dak Lak where seven people have drowned, including two children. A national disaster official says three other people are still missing.