Tag: flood

Sorrow in Peru as mudslides destroy homes

by Carlos MANDUJANO Agence France-Presse CHACLACAYO, Peru (AFP) –One mudslide after another finally destroyed the house of Elvis Palomino in Chaclacayo, east of Peru’s capital Lima, where others are stacking sandbags they hope will save them from a similar fate. As heavy rains continue to drench the region, they fear the rising waters of the Rimac — Quechua for “talking river” — could also turn them into casualties of the natural disasters that have claimed […]

Wetter storms, deforestation: Manila faces worsening floods

by Mikhail FLORES Agence France-Presse BARAS, Philippines (AFP) — From her house in a Manila suburb, Rowena Jimenez can’t see the bare mountains around the built-up city. But she feels the impact of deforestation every time her living room floods. Slash-and-burn farming, illegal logging, open-pit mining and development fueled by population growth have stripped the once-densely forested Philippines of much of its trees. In Manila, where more than 13 million people live, low-lying areas are […]

Biden to visit flood-hit California Thursday: White House

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – US President Joe Biden will travel to flood-hit areas of California on Thursday, the White House said, as the country’s most populous state cleans up from a devastating series of storms. Biden will tour “communities impacted by the devastation from recent storms, survey recovery efforts, and assess what additional federal support is needed,” the White House said late Monday in a statement. California has endured nine successive storms rolling in from […]

Latvia hit by worst flood in decades

  Jekabpils, Latvia  (AFP) Latvian authorities on Sunday urged residents of certain central areas to evacuate their homes in response to the worst flooding the Baltic state has seen in decades. “It will be near impossible to get you out from among the ice cold sludge once it rushes into your homes,” Raivis Ragainis, mayor of the city of Jekabpils, warned on local radio. Particularly exposed are Jekabpils and the town of Plavinas and surrounding […]

Philippines floods force tens of thousands to flee homes

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – Holiday floods in the Philippines forced the evacuation of nearly 46,000 people from their homes, civil defense officials said Monday. Two people were killed and nine others were missing after heavy seasonal rain inundated parts of the southern region of Mindanao, the officials added. The disaster dampened celebrations on the mainly Catholic nation’s most important holiday. “The waters rose above the chest in some areas, but today the rains have ceased,” civil […]

DR Congo leader blames climate change for devastating floods

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the United States on Tuesday in blaming climate change for major floods that have claimed around 100 lives in the capital Kinshasa. “The DRC is under pressure but unfortunately it’s not sufficiently heard or supported,” President Felix Tshisekedi told Secretary of State Antony Blinken as they met at a US-Africa summit in Washington. The flooding is an example of “what we […]

Around 100 dead as floods strike DR Congo capital

by Joel LUMBALA Agence France-Presse KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — Around a hundred people died on Tuesday as the worst floods in years battered DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa following an all-night downpour, according to state television. Major roads in the centre of Kinshasa, a city of some 15 million people, were submerged for hours, and a key supply route was cut off. State television said that around 100 people had died in the floods, as […]

Blinken urges Pakistan to seek China debt relief after floods

by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday on Pakistan to seek debt relief from its close partner China as floods devastate the South Asian country. Blinken promised strong US support for Pakistan as it dries out from the floods, which have submerged one-third of the country, an area the size of the United Kingdom. “We send a simple message. We are here for Pakistan, […]

Floods kill seven at Venezuela religious gathering

Caracas, Venezuela (AFP) At least seven people were killed in western Venezuela after heavy rains swept away a group of people at a religious gathering, the state’s governor said Saturday. Around 40 members of the Methodist Church, a Protestant religious group, had gathered in Tachira state on Friday when heavy rains suddenly caused flooding, governor Freddy Bernal said on Twitter. Some of the worshippers were bathing in the river when the rains came down, suddenly […]

Flood risk in central Ukraine city after Russian strike: Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – Floods could hit the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine after a Russian strike damaged infrastructure causing the Inhulets River to flood, the Ukrainian presidency warned Wednesday. “At the point of impact, we have observed a water flow of 100 cubic meters per second, which is a large volume,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office. “The water level of the Inhulets River is changing every hour,” he […]

More Australia floods ‘very real possibility’ as third straight La Niña declared

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Flood-battered eastern Australia faces further extreme weather in the coming months after the country’s forecasters confirmed Tuesday that a “triple-dip” La Niña was under way in the Pacific. The Bureau of Meteorology said La Niña, which brings intense downpours to Australia’s heavily populated east coast, would probably peak in spring with above-average rainfall expected to last through the southern hemisphere’s summer. The country’s east is still recovering from intense storms and […]

UN chief in Pakistan to boost flood aid for devastated millions

by Sajjad TARAKZAI, with Emma CLARK and Ahsraf KHAN in Sukkur Agence France-Presse ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres began a two-day visit to flood-hit Pakistan Friday that officials hope will boost global support for a humanitarian crisis affecting millions. A third of the country is under water — an area the size of the United Kingdom — following record rains brought by what Guterres has described as “a monsoon on steroids”. […]