Negative Blogs

Three people died after Typhoon Kompasu hit central South Korea Thursday morning, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kompasu also halted much of the metropolitan area’s subway service, toppled trees and caused widespread power outages, the agency said. Airlines canceled or diverted domestic and international flights.

According to Yonhap: A flying roof tile killed an 80-year-old man in Seosan, South Chungcheong province. A broken tree branch fatally struck a 37-year-old man in Bundang, on the southern outskirts of Seoul. And an electrical engineer was electrocuted while trying to restore electricity in Mokpo, 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of Seoul.

Kompasu also unleashed torrential rain and strong winds on North Korea Thursday, according to the state-run KCNA news agency. The typhoon was expected to further devastate crops in secretive North Korea, which has been gripped by food shortages.
As of late afternoon Thursday, Kompasu was carrying maximum winds of 55 miles per hour and had moved away from both Koreas.

By the CNN

As flood waters rose in Pakistan’s Sindh province submerging more towns, the country’s authorities have evacuated over 150,000 people, worsening the national catastrophe.

A government spokesman said on Saturday that residents of the town of Shahdadkot are fleeing to higher ground as waters from the freshly swollen Indus river overflowed its banks, submerging dozens of more towns in the south, the Times of India reported.

Pakistani authorities are meanwhile struggling to shore up an embankment holding back a growing tide on the edge of the town.

As the latest surge approached, Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for the provincial government, said that it had, within the past 24 hours, evacuated more than 150,000 people from the interior parts of Sindh.

According to officials, the floodwaters nationwide are expected to recede in the coming days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea.

Already, 600,000 people are in various relief camps that were set up in Sindh province during this past month’s flooding.

Meanwhile, doctors say that requests in the country’s camps have been mounting for more medicine and updated equipment to treat the victims.

“In the camp the necessary things we need are medicine and equipment. If we have updated equipment, then we can treat the patients well,” said Gulzar Hussain, a doctor struggling to run a field hospital at a government technical college in Nowshera, 27 miles east of Peshawar in the country’s northwest.

By Presstv

 

UN warns numbers of people affected exceed those in Indian Ocean tsunami and Kashmir and Haiti quakes put together.

Bad weather is preventing the relief effort from reaching hundreds of thousands of the millions of people affected by heavy flooding in Pakistan.

The north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is particularly inaccessible, the United Nations said today, with up to 600,000 people marooned and rain stopping helicopters flying to some areas that are unreachable from the ground.

The devastation continued as the UN said the number of people suffering in the floods in Pakistan exceeded the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

While the death toll in the three earlier tragedies was much higher than the 1,500 people killed so far in the floods, the UN estimates that some 13.8 million people have been affected – at least 2 million more people than in the other disasters put together.

It made the comparison to emphasis the scale of the crisis, which the Pakistani prime minister said today was the worst in the country’s history.

“The number of people affected by the floods is greater than the other three disasters combined,” said Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

Giuliano said a person is considered affected by the floods if he or she will need some form of assistance to recover, either short-term humanitarian aid or longer-term reconstruction help.

“The magnitude of the tragedy is so immense that it is hard to assess,” he added.

His statement came as the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, said the floods were a bigger crisis than the both the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which killed nearly 80,000 people, and the army’s operation against the Taliban in the Swat valley last spring, which drove more than 2 million people from their homes.

Rescue workers have been unable to reach up to 600,000 people marooned in the Swat valley owing to bad weather, Giuliano said, adding that many residents there were still trying to recover from last year’s fight with the Taliban.

“All these people are in very serious need of assistance, and we are highly concerned about their situation,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have also had to flee rising floodwaters in recent days in the central and southern provinces of Punjab and Sindh as heavy rains continued.

One affected resident, Manzoor Ahmed, said that although he had managed to escape the floods that submerged villages and destroyed homes in Sindh, the subsequent lack of government help meant dying might have been preferable.

“It would have been better if we had died in the floods as our current miserable life is much more painful,” said Ahmed, who fled with his family from the town of Shikarpur.

“It is very painful to see our people living without food and shelter.”

Thousands of people in the neighbouring districts of Shikarpur and Sukkur camped out on roads, bridges, railway tracks any dry ground they could find, often with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and perhaps a plastic sheet to keep off the rain.

“We were able to escape the floodwaters, but hunger may kill us,” said Hora Mai, 40, sitting on a rain-soaked road in Sukkur along with hundreds of other people.

By Adam Gabbatt

 Amid sirens and blaring horns, people across China Sunday stood in tribute to victims of a massive mudslide in a remote northwest town.

Chinese leaders, students, workers and members of the public paused for three minutes from 10 a.m. Sunday, a week after the devastating mudslide hit Zhouqu County, in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province.

At least 1,248 people have died and 496 are listed as missing.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao and other top Chinese leaders stood and paid silent tribute to the victims at the beginning of a meeting by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held in Beijing on Sunday morning.

DEEP GRIEF

At the Dongjie Village in Zhouqu, more than 5,000 rescuers and villagers stood still on the debris of mudslide, bowing their heads in commemoration of those killed in the disaster.

A huge black banner hung in front of the mourners, and wreaths lay on the ground. The white lettering on the banner read, “Mourning in deep grief for deceased compatriots of the Zhouqu massive mudslide.”

“I only feel sad as I stand on the debris of our homes,” said villager Zhang Xiujuan.

“Although my husband, my son and I survived, I lost more than 30 relatives in the mudslide,” she said.

In Dongjie, two thirds of the families were buried when the mudslide struck. And 368 of the 848 villagers died in the disaster.

Before and after the three-minute tribute, rescuers including troops and medical workers continued to clear the debris, searching for bodies and spraying disinfectant in the area.

Some survivors sat silently on the debris, still holding out hope that the bodies of relatives could be found.

In temporary tents, some bowed their heads, some knelt and some put their palms together to pray for the dead. Loud cries could be heard from time to time in the shelters.

“May the deceased rest in peace. We the people who are still alive must be strong and continue our lives,” said Han Ying, who lost all her family members in the disaster.

Tibetans account for about a third of the total population in Zhouqu. The county sits in the steep valley of the Bailong River, a tributary of the Jialing River, which meets the mighty Yangtze River in Chongqing, and is hemmed in by rocky mountains on both sides.

At the nearby Heiyu and Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, monks and believers attended a religious ritual to mourn for the dead.

In Lanzhou, the provincial capital, about 10,000 people gathered at a city square to show respect for those killed in the mudslide.

Chinese national flags across the country and at embassies and consulates abroad flew at half mast Sunday.

All public entertainment activities, such as movies and karaoke, and on-line entertainment, including games and music, were ordered to be suspended. Major newspapers, were printed in black and white Sunday. Home pages of Chinese websites were turned black and white.

At an on-line condolence hall on Sina.com, a major Chinese Internet portal, tens of thousands of people presented virtual chrysanthemums and posted tributes.

“All the pain and hardships we have endured will become impetus for us to move forward. Be strong, Zhouqu!” said an anonymous posting.

In central Beijing, thousands of people gathered at the Tian’anmen Square early Sunday to watch the national flag hoisted to full height and then lowered to half-mast, shouting “Go Zhouqu! Go China!”

At the Shanghai World Expo Park, all performances were canceled and background music was turned off.

The Gansu Pavilion would not hold any entertainment activities until September, its spokesman Wang Shigang told Xinhua.

Visitor Du Jingli, 50, had planned to visit the China Pavilion first, but changed her mind when she heard a tribute would be observed at the Gansu Pavilion Sunday.

“I don’t know what to say, I just feel sorrowful,” she said, presenting her flowers at the Gansu Pavilion and gazing at a Gansu map.

In the flood-ravaged Yaque Village, in Yongji County of northeastern Jilin Province, thousands of villagers could not feel happy although power supplies were restored Sunday after days of disruption.

“There were no cheers when the power resumed. We paused to remember those dead in Zhouqu,” said Yang Hongming, head of the village.

“In spite of the long distance, we, as people also in disaster-hit zones, have a special affection about the people in Zhouqu. We will rebuild our homes along with them,” he said.

According to Chinese tradition, the seventh day after a death marks the height of the mourning period.

Large-scale national displays of mourning are rare in China.

China observed a three-day national mourning period after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and a one-day national mourning after the Yushu quake in Qinghai Province on April 14 this year.

On both occasions, the national flag was lowered to half-mast and all public entertainment was suspended.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

Zhouqu is braced for more rain in coming days, and thousands of troops are still using large excavators to remove silt and debris that block the county roads.

But life is gradually recovering as the relief operation continues.

The county education department said Saturday that primary and middle schools in Zhouqu will start the autumn semester on Aug. 25, 10 days later than scheduled.

This was because hundreds of homes and one primary school were buried and more schools were damaged or inundated in water. Many classrooms are being used as temporary shelters.

By Saturday noon, power supplies had resumed in 8,375 homes, or 76 percent of all homes affected by the blackout.

Vegetables were on sale Saturday for the first time since the disaster. Local authorities ordered 8,400 kg of vegetables from neighboring Longnan City and they sold at the same or lower prices than prior to the disaster.

But new floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains over the past week have brought misery to Longnan and neighboring Sichuan Province.

In Longnan, at least 34 people had died and 63 were missing, said Huang Zeyuan, deputy Party chief of Longnan, at a news conference Sunday.

More than 120,000 people had been evacuated, and direct economic losses were estimated at more than 3 billion yuan (441 million U.S.dollars), Huang said.

“The situation is very tough as rainstorms would likely trigger further geological disasters, such as landslides. We are still in dire need of relief supplies,” he said.

In Gansu’s neighboring province of Sichuan, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains this week have killed at least 13 people and left another 59 missing.

Altogether 31 people are missing in Wenchuan County alone, the epicenter of an 8-magnitude earthquake in May 2008 that left about 87,000 people dead or missing.

More than 8,000 villagers have been evacuated from below two “barrier” lakes that were formed after landslides blocked sections of the Minjiang River. Local authorities planned to use explosives to clear the blockages.

China suffered the worst floods in at least a decade this summer.Floods and other rain-triggered disasters have left more than 2,300 people dead and 1,200 missing nationwide this year.

By Mu Xuequan

Death toll in China landslides rises to 1,117; survivor found in the debris, nearly 4 days on

Heavy rains lashed a remote section of northwestern China as the death toll from weekend flooding that triggered massive landslides jumped to 1,117, although the fading hopes of rescuers got a boost late Wednesday when a survivor was found in the debris.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency gave no immediate details on the survivor, found nearly four days after the disaster struck. Earlier Wednesday, a 50-year-old man was rescued who had been trapped in knee-deep mud on the second floor of a hotel, Xinhua said.

Local officials were cited as saying at least 627 people were still missing.

The National Meteorological Center warned there was a “relatively large” chance of more landslides in the coming days, as heavier rain was expected, with up to 3 1/2 inches (90 millimeters) forecast for Friday.

Troops and rescue teams, joined by traumatized survivors, were increasingly turning to recovering bodies and seeing to the needs of the living. Clean drinking water was a primary concern, with most local sources destroyed or too polluted to use.

Entire communities in Gansu province’s Zhouqu district were swallowed when the debris-choked Bailong River jumped its banks early Sunday, releasing wave after wave of mud and rubble-strewn water. While torrential rains were the direct cause, tree cutting that left the dry hills exposed and the weakening of cliff faces by a massive 2008 earthquake were seen as contributing factors.

Buildings were torn from their foundations, their lower floors blown out by the force of the debris-laden water. Three villages comprising hundreds of households were entirely buried and much of the county seat was submerged.

“In some households, all the people have died,” making the counting of the dead more difficult, Zhang Weixing, a Ministry of Civil Affairs official, told a news conference Wednesday.

Crews using explosives and excavators rushed to drain an unstable lake on the Bailong upriver of Zhouqu, fearing more rain could cause a massive breach, bringing more misery to the town.

By DAVID WIVELL

More than 125 are dead, 1,300 missing.

Rescuers armed with little more than shovels searched on Monday for hundreds of people after a torrent of mud engulfed a northwestern Chinese town, tearing down homes, filling the streets with sludge and killing at least 127.

Nearly 1,300 people were missing after heavy rains and landslides created a torrent of mud and floodwaters that buried at least 300 low-rise homes and gouged chunks out of multi-storey concrete homes in Zhouqu County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province.

The region is dominated by steep and barren hills.

Upstream from the disaster, demolition experts and geologists were working frantically to drain a lake that had built up behind a barrier of landslide blockage.

With more rains forecast for this week, there would be fresh tragedy if the unsecured dam bursts, creating a new mud flow.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited the disaster-hit town on Sunday, to survey the wreckage, promise government help, console survivors, and urge rescuers and engineers to work as hard as possible to save lives and prevent fresh tragedy.

China has deployed all the resources of a powerful central government to battle a string of natural disasters in recent years — flooding, quakes and landslides — winning popular support for both the military and the leadership.

Six thousand troops, police and firefighters worked through the night to dig out survivors, though the slurry of mud that devastated the worst-hit areas dimmed hopes of finding many alive under the wreckage, and complicated rescue efforts.

Over a meter deep in many areas, the mire has made it almost impossible for rescue teams to bring in vital heavy equipment.

More than 1,240 people have been rescued from among the debris or plucked from the top of buildings where they had taken refuge from the onslaught. Over 100 were injured, 29 seriously.

Streams of refugees trekked out of the area, some carrying a few possessions they had managed to salvage, others with a grimmer load — the bodies of loved ones killed by the sludge, the official China Daily newspaper said.

Power lines are down in two-thirds of the county, and water up to 4 meters (13 ft) deep is still surging through some parts of town, the official Xinhua agency said. At least 45,000 people have been evacuated, including the residents of downstream towns thought to be at risk from a fresh mudslide.

The Ministry of Finance has set aside 500 million yuan ($74 million) in emergency funds for the region.

The Agriculture Ministry has also sent protective equipment and disinfectant to an area with large numbers of livestock — there are many nomadic Tibetan herders living there — to help battle possible epidemics caused by dead animals.

By MSNBC

THE death toll in Pakistan’s worst flooding in recent history rose to more than 1300 people yesterday, as the United States rushed out helicopters, boats, bridges, water units and other supplies as part of an initial $US10 million ($11.1 million) aid pledge.

Monsoon rains, flash floods and landslides in the country’s northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province have been blamed for the loss of lives and the tens of thousands of others who have been left homeless.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is the worst hit province as over 567 houses were razed down to ground by flash floods, 90 highways were damaged, 58 big thoroughfares were closed for traffic; while, 104 people are still unaccounted for, Geo TV reported.

Up to one million people were affected, according to the United Nations, with thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland destroyed in a region of Pakistan reeling from years of extremist bloodshed.
The military has deployed 30,000 troops who have helped rescue more than 20,700 people but rescue workers are struggling to save more than 27,000 people still trapped by the water.

Hundreds of survivors sought shelter in schools in Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan, and in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, after escaping the floods with children on their backs.
In neighboring Afghanistan, flash floods killed at least 65 people and affected more than 1000 families, officials said.

Pakistani television footage and photographs taken from helicopters showed people clinging to the walls and rooftops of damaged houses as water rushed through villages.

Pakistan’s weather bureau said an “unprecedented” 12 inches of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the northwest but forecast that only scattered showers would fall during coming days.
 
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said yesterday that the United States was standing with Pakistan.

 ”Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost loved ones or have been displaced from their homes — and we are taking action to help,” she said in a statement.

“Our embassy in Islamabad is coordinating closely with Pakistani authorities to support rescue and relief efforts.

“And we will work closely with the Government of Pakistan to ensure aid reaches those people who need it most. I have seen first-hand the strength and resilience of the Pakistani people and I know they will come through this tragedy with determination and compassion.”

By News

Typhoon Chanthu moved deeper into western China Friday, lashing Guangxi province with high winds and rain before weakening to a tropical storm.

Authorities predicted the storm would bring continued downpours to a region that already is suffering the worst flooding in 10 years.  The official Xinhua news agency said the official toll now is 742 dead and 367 missing after weeks of flooding from storms.

Chanthu was blamed for three deaths, including two killed when 126-kilometer-per-hour winds knocked over a wall in Guangdong province.  In neighboring Hong Kong, officials recovered the body of a man who was swept away late Thursday.

Earlier in Hainan province, authorities suspended all flights in and out, and ordered more than 20,000 fishing boats to return to port and seek shelter.

Xinhua said Chanthu has affected about 1.36 million residents and toppled almost 3,000 houses.  It estimated the economic losses at more than $350 million.

By VOANews

A tropical storm has shifted direction away from Hong Kong and is expected to make landfall in South China early Thursday, adding more weather woes to a region that’s already been deluged, causing suffering to millions.

Tropical Storm Chanthu is forecast to hit China’s Guangdong and Hainin provinces as a severe tropical storm, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

Chanthu was about 260 miles (420 kilometers) south of Hong Kong Wednesday afternoon and was forecast to move northwest at about 6 mph (10 km/hr), edging closer to the coast. The observatory said the storm has slowed down and is taking more westerly track. The storm is expected to strengthen as landfall approaches.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said the storm is packing sustained winds of 63 mph, which are expected to grow to nearly 75 mph. The center is operated by the U.S. Navy and Air Force in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The storm is expected come ashore late early Thursday, local time.
This latest storm comes on the heels of major flooding and landslides across much of the nation with more than 700 people dead and hundreds more missing, China’s vice minister of water resources Liu Ning told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

More than 700 dead in Chinese floods

Regions affected include Sichuan province and Shaanxi province. Of particular concern is the massive Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province. With the Yangtze River already running at record levels, engineers have opened up the flood gates.

The Yangtze is fed by three major tributaries, and it flows east, from Sichuan, toward the dam. Water flows near the dam are comparable to record flows during devastating floods in China in 1998.

The Three Gorges, the world’s largest dam, was completed last year. So far, it is holding up.

Xinhua quoted Yuan Jie, director of the dam’s cascade dispatching center, as saying that, “Compared to 1998, the biggest difference is the Three Gorges Dam. Without it, thousands of soldiers and rescuers would have been needed to fight the floods.”

Elsewhere, more than 230,000 people have been evacuated from the city of Guangan in Sichuan, after the worst flooding there in 160 years. There’s no power, no clean water, and the only way around is by boat.

The wild weather also has cut off roads, flattened homes, destroyed power facilities and flooded farmland in Ankang City, the worst-hit area, Xinhua reported. Flood control authorities say the lives of nearly 1.5 million people have been disrupted by flooding in 23 counties and cities in the southern regions of the province.

Other areas that have been inundated include the city of Chongquing, and Anhui and Hunan provinces, according to Xinhua. Altogether, more than 9 million people have been affected by floods and landslides, it said.

According to the observatory website, the outer rain bands of Chanthu may affect Hong Kong overnight and local winds will gradually increase.

The government weather website said that since there will be swells, people are advised to stay away from the shoreline and not engage in water sports. All small vessels, including low-power vessels and fishing vessels in open seas, should seek shelter as soon as possible, the government said.The storm is expected come ashore late early Thursday, local time.

This latest storm comes on the heels of major flooding and landslides across much of the nation with more than 700 people dead and hundreds more missing, China’s vice minister of water resources Liu Ning told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

More than 700 dead in Chinese floods

Regions affected include Sichuan province and Shaanxi province. Of particular concern is the massive Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province. With the Yangtze River already running at record levels, engineers have opened up the flood gates.

The Yangtze is fed by three major tributaries, and it flows east, from Sichuan, toward the dam. Water flows near the dam are comparable to record flows during devastating floods in China in 1998.

The Three Gorges, the world’s largest dam, was completed last year. So far, it is holding up.

Xinhua quoted Yuan Jie, director of the dam’s cascade dispatching center, as saying that, “Compared to 1998, the biggest difference is the Three Gorges Dam. Without it, thousands of soldiers and rescuers would have been needed to fight the floods.”

Elsewhere, more than 230,000 people have been evacuated from the city of Guangan in Sichuan, after the worst flooding there in 160 years. There’s no power, no clean water, and the only way around is by boat.

The wild weather also has cut off roads, flattened homes, destroyed power facilities and flooded farmland in Ankang City, the worst-hit area, Xinhua reported. Flood control authorities say the lives of nearly 1.5 million people have been disrupted by flooding in 23 counties and cities in the southern regions of the province.

Other areas that have been inundated include the city of Chongquing, and Anhui and Hunan provinces, according to Xinhua. Altogether, more than 9 million people have been affected by floods and landslides, it said.

According to the observatory website, the outer rain bands of Chanthu may affect Hong Kong overnight and local winds will gradually increase.

The government weather website said that since there will be swells, people are advised to stay away from the shoreline and not engage in water sports. All small vessels, including low-power vessels and fishing vessels in open seas, should seek shelter as soon as possible, the government said.

By the CNN

MEXICO CITY — The death toll in Mexico from flooding caused by former Hurricane Alex has risen to six, authorities said Friday.

Nuevo Leon state Civil Defense Director Jorge Camacho said the victims died in and around the northern city of Monterrey.

President Felipe Calderon toured damaged areas of the city where the force of flood waters had tossed and flipped cars and pickup trucks, and nearly buried houses in mud and rocks.

Calderon said 1,200 soldiers had been dispatched to help in relief efforts.

The city was hit by heavy rain on Thursday that swelled the Santa Catarina river, which is normally dry.

The flooding damaged bridges in Monterrey as well as railway tracks in the region.

Alex hit Mexico’s Gulf coast on Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane before weakening into a tropical storm while moving inland. It dissipated on Thursday.

Alex had earlier battered Central America, causing flooding and rock-slides that killed two people in Guatemala and two in El Salvador.

By Msnbc