Update info

Updated every Friday.

Friday, August 14, 2015

August 14, 2015

What happened this week?

Argentina: Around 30,000 people have been affected by the floods in Buenos Aires. The Quilmes River overflowed and is continuing to rise. In the meantime SMN predicts heavy rainfall to the north of Buenos Aires, and southern-central area of Entre River and southern-central area of Santa Fe... Read More

Chile: Regions of Arica and Parinacota and los Ríos; Floods, frontal system. Heavy rains leave five people dead and 934 affected. At the same time, regional directorates of ONEMI reported seven homes destroyed and 215 with more damage. About 38000 people without power... Read More

El Salvador: Municipality of La Alegria, seismic swarm. Close to 84 earthquakes attributed to the activation of local geological faults in the area. Slight injuries in three persons, 69 housing disabled by damage to the walls and 23 more homes with slight damage... Read More

Bolivia: Department of Cochabamba; about 48 fires are affecting 700 hectares of grasslands, forests, and pine trees in various areas of the department. At least 45 sources of fire of have been reported, primarily affecting Tunari National Park... Read More

United States: 
  • The Animus River in Colorado has turned orange due to 3 million gallons of pollutants that were accidently dumped into the river by a team at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Officials believe that the spill carried metals- from the mine into a creek that flows into the Animus River. Cities in New Mexico are also at risk as the polluted river flows into the San Juan River. The Governor of Colorado has declared a state-of-disaster emergency on Monday. EPA is currently conducting assessments of water quality and is determining the impact on wildlife... Read More
  • Kentucky: A Major Disaster Declaration has been approved for the state of Kentucky due to severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, flooding, and mudslides... Read More
Cuba: Specialists from the Institute of Hydraulic Resources in Pinar del Rio say that the province is experiencing its worst drought in 50 years. According to Tele Pinar, on average Cuba’s westernmost territory receives 785 mm of rain, however from January to July of this year, only 534 mm were recorded. Livestock and various crops are suffering due to the drought and experts say that there is no provision for improvements in the rates of rainfall... Read More

Panama: A State of Emergency has been declared for Panama due to impacts of El Nino. Authorities have ordered the creation of a High Commission of Water Security. The State of Emergency will last until 60 days after the indicators of the World Meteorological Organization on El Nino indicate the temperature of the equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean is below 0.5 ˚C. Water restrictions have been put in place... Read More
Interesting Facts

Science helps to reduce flood risk around the world: Nnew computer models that estimate the social and economic impacts of flooding are helping in the fight to protect people from devastating floods, and to reduce the economic losses associated with them... Read More

U.S. flood risk could be worse than we thought: A new study looks at what happens when storm surge occurs at the same time as high rain fall... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

ACS in the greater Caribbean: The Challenge of Small Island Developing States: Barbados, Mauritius, Samoa and beyond... Read More

How to improve flood resilience: There are a host of ways in which we can enhance flood resilience. Improved assessment and communications of the risks would help people make better choice and take mitigating actions... Read More


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