Natural Disasters Association blog

Tanzania

20 people have been killed and hundreds left homeless in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by floods that occurred on the 20^th December 2011. The floods were caused by the heaviest rainfall the country has witnessed since 1961. Dar es Salaam is the main economic city of Tanzania; the floods bought the city to a standstill. Rain is predicted to continue over the next few days, leading to warnings being given out to the population living in the valleys of the city. According to witnesses and reports, several homes and bridges have been destroyed or damaged and main roads have been flooded making them impassable.

Continue reading →

A series of Earthquakes have struck in Christchurch, New Zealand leaving power outages and damage.

The city, which was hit by a devastating earthquake earlier in the year killing 182 people suffered a series of earthquakes ranging from a magnitude of 5 to 6.

With many people still trying to come to terms with the September 2010 Earthquake as well as the one February 2011, some people are seriously considering leaving the area.

A magnitude 5.7 struck the city of Van in eastern Turkey on 9^th November. The earthquake struck just a few weeks after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the same region, killing at least 600 people, injuring over 1600, leaving over 50,000 homeless and destroying over 2000 buildings.

Continue reading →

Eastern Turkey has been struck by a magnitude 7.2 Earthquake which has left almost 300 people killed and many more injured.

The city of Ercis was one of the worst hit areas with many buildings collapsing.

Although some survivors have been pulled from the devastation, it is feared the death toll could rise.

The earthquake had a depth of 20 km and an epicentre located just 16 km north east of the City of Van. This was followed by hundreds of smaller after shocks, causing further panic.

Continue reading →

Spain has been hit by flash flooding after experiencing heavy rains with some fatalities including a British couple who were swept away whilst at a market in Costa Blanca.

The capital of Thailand, Bangkok and surrounding areas have been severely affected by flooding.

Heavy monsoon rains over the past 2-3 months have led to over 12 million people being affected in what is being described by many as some of the worst flooding the area has seen in decades.

Over 300 people have been killed by the flooding and many are blaming the newly appointed Prime minister and her Government that not enough has been done to protect areas.  It is estimated that damage could already be in the region of $2 Billion.

The Wild Fires in Texas have continued to rage due to high winds and continued dry conditions.

In Bastrop County, a 16 mile wide fire destroyed more than 800 homes and left two people dead.  Around 4000 people had to be evacuated from the area as around 34,000 acres were burned by the ravaging fires.

Thankfully firefighters are starting to get control of the fire due to lighter winds.

More than  170 fires have broken out this week in the state of Texas due to a massive drought and recent high winds.

20 people have been killed and at least 50 are missing after Typhoon Talas struck western Japan on Saturday 3rd September. The powerful typhoon had winds of up to 108 km per hour (68 miles per hour) when it made landfall on Shikoku and central Honshu Island, forcing the evacuation of over 460,000 people in western and central Japan.

Continue reading →