October 31, 2005
Tropical Storms
:In the United States, Hurricane Wilma damaged both Florida coasts after quickly moving from Mexico this past week. The storms 125-mph winds killed at least six people and left millions without power. Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the brother of President Bush, stated that aid problems were the faults of the state of Florida and not FEMA. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Alpha, the first time a season has needed a Greek letter as the name, made land fall in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. At least 26 people are dead on the island.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, The Americas, America, Hurricanes, Dominican Republic, Haiti)
October 24, 2005
Hurricane Wilma
:Hurricane Wilma made land fall earlier today in Southwestern Florida. By the day’s end it had cleared the eastern coast. This is after the hurricane hit the Yucatan Coast of Mexico, where winds of more than 110 miles per hour created massive flooding. Most of the hardest hit areas in Mexico are still without supplies to help the residents or the ability to communicate the losses. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Alpha was the record 22nd storm of the season, making it the most active year on record in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, The Americas, America, Hurricanes)
Earthquake Aftermath
:Over two weeks after the earthquake, the horrors remain. After the disaster, where over 53,000 people are dead and another 75,000 injured, a second wave of death is beginning. Much of this can be attributed to a lack of water and other supplies for the victims. The UN is working on a ‘Berlin Airlift’ plan to bring the needed supplies to the region but aftershocks in the region and a lack of suitable infrastructure are compounding the logistical nightmare.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Asia, India, Kashmir, UN, Earthquake, Pakistan)
Hurricane Aftermath
:The Red Cross and the federal government announced that they had been significantly over-reporting the number of people still in hotels. Instead of the 600,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors cited last week, 200,000 remain in hotels according to the Red Cross. If it appears that FEMA still does not know what is going on, Congress pointed that out when Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appeared before a House panel. Chertoff claimed that there was not “a lack of urgency� at FEMA, despite him working from his home two days before the storm hit.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Politics, America, Hurricanes)
Global Temperatures
:The same week that a record 22nd tropical storm was named in the Atlantic Ocean, the first to use a Greek letter to identify it, scientists announced research that suggests that increased temperature will cause an increase in extreme weather. Under a scenario that used U.S. weather from 1961 to 1985 to predict weather from 2071 to 2095, the coldest day in the Northeast will be as much as 18 degrees warmer. The Gulf Coast will see less frequent but more intense rain, while the Southwest will become drier and hotter.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Environmental Impact, Science / Technology, Global Issues)
October 17, 2005
Earthquake Aftermath
:In Pakistan the death toll has risen to over 38,000 and in India it is over 1,350. Most of the deaths are centered in the Kashmir region, which has been a violently disputed territory controlled in part by both Pakistan and India. Both nations are rushing aid to the region with the support of the international community. The aid was delayed in part this week due to storms that turned the roads to mud.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Asia, India, Kashmir, Earthquake, Pakistan)
Guatemala Floods
:The remnants of Hurricane Stan that hit the Central American coasts caused much flooding and landslides throughout the region. Guatemala was hardest hit. There 652 are officially dead with another 600 people listed as missing. Another 133 are dead throughout Central America. Rain and floods caused substantial damage that is only beginning to be investigated as they work to help the affected areas.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, The Americas, Guatemala)
Hurricane Aftermath
:As we move further away from the tragedy, more is coming to light on how federal money was spent in the aftermath of the disaster. Federal officials, in an effort to meet President Bush’s mid-October deadline to move all victims from shelters, have rented 600,000 to hotels at a cost of $11 million a night instead of moving people to cheaper and, for the long-term, more sanitary apartment complexes. Meanwhile, the government has purchased most things at full price, instead of bulk rates that the government could have demanded. This is proceeding the largest cleanup in American history that still most be undertaken to remove 22 million tons of waste from New Orleans.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Politics, America, Hurricanes)
October 10, 2005
Earthquake
:A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake near the Pakistan-India border Saturday reduced the disputed Kashmir and surrounding areas to rubble. Pakistan officially puts the number dead in Pakistan to 19,369 with over 40,000 injured (but it could soar well above 30,000). India has at least another 600 dead. The United Nations said that two and a half million people are homeless due to the disaster. The epicenter of the earthquake was centered in a remote part of the Hindu Kush mountains of Pakistan in the North-West Frontier Province, where at least 1,600 people perished. Within twenty-four hours of the earthquake, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made an urgent plea for help for the nation. India has responded to that call and has offered to send aid despite the two nation’s hostility and distrust over issues surrounding the possession of the Kashmir region.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Asia, India, Kashmir, Earthquake, Pakistan)
Hurricane Aftermath
:On Wednesday, the mayor of New Orleans announced that the city would lay off half of its 6,000 employees because the city did not have the funds to pay their salaries. Meanwhile, R. David Paulison, the acting head of FEMA told a Senate panel on Thursday that all no bid contracts would be reopened for bidding. Four contracts worth $100 million each were awarded to four giant firms with long records of work with the Federal Government and ties to the Bush Administration.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Bush Administration, America, Hurricanes)
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