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Catastrophes

  • Cyclone Nargis in Burma :
    7 May 2008 par (Open-Publishing)

    Cyclone Nargis in Burma :
    Cyclone Nargis was suddenly monstrous - The Hurricane unexpectedly reached Category 4 strength ahead of landfall in Myanmar. After slowly churning through the Bay of Bengal without gaining significant strength – and without forecasters predicting that it would – Tropical Cyclone Nargis suddenly intensified into a monstrous Category 4 storm with winds of up to 132 mph. The last prediction had been for Nargis to make landfall as a Category 1 or Category 2 storm. (…)

  • Tchernobyl Song : Ghost Town (video)
    26 April 2008 par (Open-Publishing)

    Photo: http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org
    http://internationalnews.over-blog.com/article-19070307.html

  • The True Battle of Chernobyl Uncensored (Film, 1h32)
    24 April 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    "On April 26, 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian city of Pripyat exploded and began spewing radioactive smoke and gas. Firemen discovered that no amount of water could extinguish the blaze. More than 40,000 residents in the immediate area were exposed to fallout 100 times greater than that from the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan. But the most serious nuclear accident in history had only begun." (frif.com)
    The Entire Film: (…)

  • Millions facing drought and famine throughout Africa (WSWS)
    4 April 2008 par (Open-Publishing)

    WSWS
    By Barry Mason
    Reports from aid agencies show that many areas in Africa are currently facing drought and threat of famine. In East Africa some 11 million people are suffering a drought that is the worst in a decade and will mean that food aid is urgently needed over the next six months. The countries affected stretch from the Horn of Africa through to Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.
    The January bulletin produced by the USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS) warned of a (…)

  • Ice storm cripples midwestern US
    10 December 2007 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    Ice storm cripples midwestern US
    Reuters | Monday, 10 December 2007
    An ice storm has struck the central US, grounding hundreds of flights and cutting power to more than 100,000 people, the Associated Press reports.
    Five people were killed in traffic accidents blamed on icy roads in Oklahoma, AP said.
    Ice storm warnings were issued from Texas to Pennsylvania, AP reported, and one of the country’s busiest airports, Chicago’s O’Hare International, cancelled more than 400 flights due to (…)

  • Bush declares storm disaster in Northwest
    10 December 2007 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    Bush declares storm disaster in Northwest Move opens door to federal assistance for region ravaged by floods
    The Associated Press updated 9:56 p.m. ET Dec. 8, 2007
    PORTLAND, Ore. - President Bush declared a federal disaster for 11 counties in the Pacific Northwest on Saturday, clearing the way for federal aid after severe storms ravaged parts of Oregon and Washington.
    The declaration provides recovery assistance to five northwestern Oregon and six southwestern Washington counties. (…)

  • North Sea surge brings flood risk
    9 November 2007 par (Open-Publishing)

    North Sea surge brings flood risk A storm in the North Sea has left Britain and the Netherlands facing the worst flood threat in decades with tidal surges predicted early on Friday.
    Flood defences have been put on alert on the entire Dutch coast and flood warnings are in place for the eastern and northern coasts of Britain.
    A tidal wave in 1953 killed more than 2,000 people in both countries.
    Oil platforms have been closed off the Norwegian coast and gales are expected in Germany (…)

  • Fire, water and denial
    6 November 2007 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    by Neal Peirce
    Could there be a pattern here?
    The San Diego and Los Angeles areas are hit by a raging series of high-impact wildfires — the worst in the state’s history. Many of the blazes coincide with areas already scorched in 2003 by fires that themselves were declared California’s worst ever.
    But is there any move to get away from the areas where a century of firefighting has left many forests choked and overgrown, thick underbrush creating tinderbox conditions? Apparently not. (…)

  • Mexico suffers
    5 November 2007 par (Open-Publishing)

    Thousands remain stranded by Mexico floodwaters
    Severe floods in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco were continuing to cause havoc and devastation on Saturday.
    People evacuate a flooded area in Villahermosa, Mexico, Saturday. (Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press) Officials estimate as many as 800,000 people are homeless after a week of heavy rain swamped the Gulf Coast state.
    Rivers burst their banks late Thursday, submerging about 70 per cent of the low-lying state and 80 per cent of (…)

  • IRAQ : Engineers Confirm a Real Surge Would Drown Half A Million People
    5 November 2007 par (Open-Publishing)

    Gen. Petraeus & U.S. Engineers Confirm a Real Surge Would Drown 500,000 People
    The Most Dangerous Dam in the World
    By PATRICK COCKBURN
    A catastrophic failure of the largest dam in Iraq would send a wave 65ft high hurtling down the valley of the river Tigris, killing up to 500,000 people, US engineers warned yesterday.
    The dam, which is near Mosul in the north of the country, was built in 1984 on a bed of water-soluble rock and is in imminent danger of collapse. "In terms of the (…)