by Alfons LUNA TAZACORTE, Spain (AFP) — Fleeing their home after the La Palma volcano erupted on September 19, one couple married nearly 60 years decided to seek safe haven aboard their tiny boat until the storm passed. When the evacuation order came, neither Margaretha Straates, 80, nor her 90-year-old husband Luis Rodriguez Diaz fancied the idea of staying in temporary accommodation. “It suddenly came to me, why don’t we try the boat? It’s only […]
Tag: evacuee
Bali volcano belches steam, sulphur as more evacuees flee
KARANGASEM, Indonesia (AFP) — A rumbling volcano on the holiday island of Bali is spewing steam and sulphurous fumes with more intensity, heightening fears of an eruption as officials said the number of evacuees had topped 144,000. Mount Agung, 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the resort hub of Kuta, has been shaking since August and threatening to erupt for the first time since 1963 — a potential blow to the island’s lucrative tourism industry. The […]
50,000 displaced in deadly Brazil floods: authorities
SAO, PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Floods and landslides in northeastern Brazil have killed six people and driven 50,000 people from their homes, authorities said Tuesday. Heavy rain swelled rivers, causing mud slides, felling trees and harming water supplies, they said. The number forced to flee in Pernambuco and Alagoas states rose from an earlier estimate of 30,000, the regional governments said. Both states declared emergencies after the flooding, which left two dead in Pernambuco and […]
