Nexus - 0221 - New Times Magazine-pages

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The UN's "Disasters around the World" report, issued this year, states that the number of people killed, injured or displaced by disasters over the last 30 years is increasing by 6% per year. Floods caused the most deaths with 26% of the total, but drought affected more people, accounting for 33% of all categories of victims, While the number of earthquakes is remaining fairly constant, volcanic eruptions are increasing. The severity of individual storms is also increasing with ‘worst of the century' weather occurring more frequently. Listed below are some of the major Earth events which happened in the first half of 1994 alone. places still without power from the previous winter storm. 15th—Vanuatu Islands—Earthquake, 6.0. —Southern Sumatra, Indonesia—Earthquake, 6.0. At least 190 people killed, more than 2,000 injured and 75,000 homeless. Extensive damage from landslides, mudslides and fires. Six thou- sand homes, shops and government buildings were damaged or destroyed by landslides. 25th—Virginia, South Africa—A torrential cloudburst caused a disused slime-dam to burst its banks, killing more than 100 people and destroying hundreds of houses. MARCH '94 2nd-3rd—USA—Another major winter storm, the fifteenth, pounded the north-eastern part of the country, dumping up to two feet of snow, snarling air and commuter traffic, and cutting off New Jersey island towns from the mainland. 4th—Peru—River flooding caused by heavy mountain rains left at least 120,000 people homeless in Lima. 14th—Indonesia—Floods triggered by several days of heavy rain forced at least 1,000 people from their homes. In eastern Indonesia, at least five people were killed, and thousands were forced to flee their homes because of flooding. 20th—USA—A 5.3 earthquake struck Los Angeles, one of the 6,000+ aftershocks from the January quake. —Thailand—Amidst the longest drought in history, a freak dry- season storm inundated Bangkok, causing widespread flooding. 21st—Russia—An unusually snowy winter caused severe flood- ing in the southern Russian region of Kalmykia. At least seven people died, and more than 1,300 were evacuated. 26th—Jordan—The heaviest rains to fall on the area in more than seven years caused severe flooding with some loss of life. —Indonesia—Severe flooding caused by heavy rains inundated hundreds of villages in Java. At least 67,000 people living in tem- porary shelters in East Java faced food shortages caused by the floods. 27th—USA—Killer storms moved through the south-east, spawn- ing deadly tornadoes that left 44 dead and more than 160 injured. 28th-April 2nd—Bangladesh—Rainstorms with hurricane-force winds, and hailstones weighing over two kilograms, lashed south- em and north-eastern Bangladesh, killing close to 40 people and damaging crops and vegetation. JANUARY '94 2nd-10th—Australia—Fires ravaged New South Wales. By January 7th, every shire from Coffs Harbour to Tweed Heads on the NSW-Queensland border declared in a state of emergency. Parts of Sydney's bush suburbs, nearby Blue Mountains and Central Coast devastated. Five lives lost, 120 homes destroyed; damage estimated at $200 million. 6th-7th—Europe—Blizzards, high winds and torrential rain lashed western Europe, killing many people. In Portugal, high winds whipped the Atlantic into waves of up to five metres, clos- ing many ports. Snow fell as far south as Andalusia in Spain and the Algarve in Portugal, while many avalanches closed roads in the Italian Alps and on the Spanish-French border. In south-west- em France, many towns remained under water. In Germany, sev- eral tourist towns on the Moselle were flooded for the third time since early December. Almost continuous rain fell in southern and central England, parts of which were under water for more than 30 days. The Isle of Wight, off the southern coast, was blan- keted in snow after one of its worst storms in 50 years. 17th—USA—The Los Angeles area was jolted by a deadly 6.6 earthquake. At least 57 people were killed, 8,000 injured and thousands lost their homes and are presently living in tent cities. 21st—Halmahera, Indonesia—-Earthquake, 7.3 on the Richter scale. Seven people killed, and buildings destroyed at Kau. FEBRUARY '94 1st-6th—Madagascar—Cyclone Geralda, packing wind gusts of up to 320 kph, devastated the island-nation, destroying 70 per cent of the rice fields and causing widespread flooding. Called the “cyclone of the century", the storm killed at least 35 people and left over half a million people homeless. 8th—USA—A blizzard dumped close to a foot of snow, followed by sleet and ice, on the north-east. Temperatures as low as 50 below zero recorded in parts of Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas. 11th—USA—Worst storm since 1978 hit eastern United States. The north-eastern US came to a halt, shutting down airports, financial markets, railroads and whole cities. Power outages for thousands in southern states lasted up to a week or more in some APRIL '94 2nd—United Kingdom—Fierce storms with driving rain and gale- force winds left a trail of destruction across Britain. 8th—Japan—Earthquake, measuring 6.4 off the east coast of Honshu, generated local tsunami waves. 15th—USA—Californian authorities declared this the eighth dri- est year of the century, and said they may have to cut water alloca- tions to Sacramento and San Joaquin farmers by 25 per cent. 16th—Canada—Floods along the Maine-Canadian border killed NEXUS ¢ 11 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1994