Tag: Disaster

Fierce heatwave hits Japan flood recovery

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A blistering heatwave smothered swathes of flood-hit western Japan Monday, hampering clean-up efforts as survivors and relief workers toil in stifling temperatures a week after devastating inundations that killed more than 200 people. Tens of thousands of rescue workers are still digging through the debris for bodies after Japan’s worst weather-related disaster in over three decades, which saw record downpours spark flash flooding and landslides across the region. The toll of […]

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Japan rains disaster toll rises to 199: government

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose Thursday to 199, with dozens still missing, a top government spokesman said. Yoshihide Suga said search operations were continuing after the worst weather-related disaster in Japan in over three decades. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited one of the worst-affected regions on Wednesday, plans to travel Friday to another area hit by deadly flooding and landslides after the rains, Suga […]

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Japan PM to meet stranded evacuees in flood disaster zone; death toll rises to 179

by Hiroshi Hiyama Agence France-Presse KURASHIKI, Japan (AFP) – Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe headed Wednesday to one of the areas worst-hit by record rains as the death toll rose to 179 and thousands of evacuees remained stranded in shelters. Abe, who cancelled a four-stop foreign trip planned for this week as the disaster worsened, was due to visit the flood-ravaged Okayama area to see the scale of the damage first-hand. With dozens reportedly still […]

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UPDATED: Japan rescuers go house to house as flood toll hits 156

by Hiroshi Hiyama  Agence France-Presse KURASHIKI, Japan (AFP) — Rescue workers carried out house-to-house searches Tuesday in the increasingly unlikely hope of finding survivors after days of deadly floods and landslides that have claimed 156 lives in Japan’s worst weather-related disaster for decades. The record downpours that began last week have stopped and receding flood waters have laid bare the destruction that has cut a swathe through the west of the country. In the city […]

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Landslide warnings as Japan digs through rain devastation

by Hiroshi Hiyama Agence France-Presse Desperate relatives braced for bad news Monday as rescuers dug through landslides in the wake of severe floods that have killed 75 people and left swathes of central and western Japan under water. As floods receded, emergency workers were able to reach previously cut-off places where authorities fear they could find more bodies in the wreckage of homes devastated by rivers of mud and debris. “I have asked my family […]

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Official death toll from record Japan rains rises to 75

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose to 75 on Monday, according to an official tally, as rescue operations continued. The toll could rise further with dozens of people still missing after the days of torrential rains that have caused flash floods and landslides. © Agence France-Presse

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Mobile app on traffic, flood reports in Metro Manila to be developed soon; target launch this December, says MMDA

By Phoebe Salvador Eagle News Service   (Eagle News) — A mobile application on traffic reports, flood alerts, and disaster and emergency preparedness tips will soon be developed and be made available to the public by year-end, according to  the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). MMDA Chairman Danilo D. Lim signed on Thursday, June 28, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Atty. Ray C. Espinosa, President and Chief Executive Officer of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. to develop the said […]

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Search for survivors as Kenya burst dam toll reaches 44

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — The search for survivors after a dam burst its banks in central Kenya resumed Friday with 44 confirmed dead and a further 40 still missing, the region’s governor said. Weeks of heavy rains have caused flooding and mudslides across the country that have left 175 dead. On Wednesday evening, the earthen wall of a privately owned irrigation dam in Solai, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Nakuru town in Kenya’s […]

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At least 32 dead as Kenya dam bursts after torrential rains

by Fran Blandy Agence France Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — At least 32 people died after a dam burst in central Kenya, sweeping away their homes while many of them were asleep, police said Thursday. After a severe drought, weeks of torrential rains in Kenya have led to flooding and mudslides that have left 164 dead. The private Patel dam, used for irrigation and fish farming, burst on Wednesday evening in Solai, near the Rift […]

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Search for Taiwan quake victims ends as toll rises to 17

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Rescuers Sunday ended their search of a Taiwan building partially toppled by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake as the last trapped pair were presumed dead, bringing the final death toll to 17. Thousands of emergency workers had combed through rubble at the foot of the 12-storey Yun Tsui apartment block since the quake struck the eastern city of Hualien late Tuesday. It was left leaning at around a 50-degree angle by the quake, […]

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Search for Taiwan quake victims ends as toll rises to 17

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Rescuers Sunday ended their search of a Taiwan building partially toppled by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake as the last trapped pair were presumed dead, bringing the final death toll to 17. Thousands of emergency workers had combed through rubble at the foot of the 12-storey Yun Tsui apartment block since the quake struck the eastern city of Hualien late Tuesday. It was left leaning at around a 50-degree angle by the quake, […]

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‘Youngest and brightest’ lost in Pacific ferry disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Many children and teenagers are among those missing after a ferry sank in the remote Pacific, official figures have revealed, with victims described as their region’s “youngest and brightest.” Radio Kiribati reported late Wednesday that a council survey of Nonouti island, where the ferry departed on January 18, showed there were 88 people aboard. It said they included 10 children of primary age and 13 high school students. The youngsters […]

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