May 04, 2012

Recent Natural Events

Peru - Heavy rains cause more than 50 deaths since November

Flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Peru have caused the deaths of 53 people over the past six months, according to the country’s National Civil Defense Institute, INDECI. Read

Nicaragua monitors microseismic activity Increase in Volcano

Nicaraguan Experts reported Sunday more seismic activity at Masaya volcano, about 20 kilometers south of Managua, with an increase in expulsions of sulfur gases, which keeps the disaster warning system in high alert. Read

Mexico: Popocatépetl volcano activity update: ongoing ash and steam emissions, occasional explosions

CENAPRED reported that gas-and-steam plumes, occasionally containing ash, rose from Popocatépetl during 25-29 April. Read

Other Disasters Related News

Colombia takes step in the right direction with new disaster law

 A new National Disaster Risk Management law has been approved by authorities of Colombia, significantly shifting the positioning of the National Response and Prevention System. Read

Independent Review of the U.S. Government Response to the Haiti Earthquake - Final Report

The ultimate objective of the study is to improve the U.S. Government response to global catastrophes by informing decision makers about the strengths and shortcomings of the Haiti response, and by offering recommendations about how best to organize response to major humanitarian crises. Read

Haiti - Lack of data prevents measurement of aid effectiveness

Vijaya Ramachandran and Julie Walz of the Center for Global Development provided a nice overview of the U.S government’s review of its Haiti earthquake response. They found that, while the review includes “some frank and enlightening assessments of USG [U.S. government] response and coordination,” it contained “very little discussion of aid accountability.” Read

Earthquake Plan for Mexico: An Example to Follow

The Federal Plan for Preparedness and Response to a Large-scale Earthquake or Tsunami in Mexico (also called the Earthquake Plan), will provide support and consistency to the implementation of all institutional response plans and the collective initiatives of civil society and the private sector to improve the response capacity and execute response actions in case of earthquakes. Read

Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP wins victory over US government as trial is postponed until 2013

BP has won a legal fight with the US government after a judge ruled that the trial to apportion blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will not happen until 2013. Read