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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: disaster zones

disaster zones stories: 17 news summaries

 Quake Survivors 
 Find Love 
 Among 
 the Ruins 

Hundreds remarry in quake-devastated Chinese city

May 13, 09 5:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - A year after the quake that devastated China's Sichuan province, many survivors have new loves if not new homes, the Guardian reports. In Beichuan—where only 4,000 of the town's 22,000 people survived—some 600 widows and widowers have remarried, and the government hopes more will soon follow... More »

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China • marriage • disaster zones • Sichuan province • China earthquake • widows

 Berlusconi's Latest Gaffe: 
 Quake Homeless 'Camping' 

Berlusconi slammed for gaffe as quake toll hits 260

Apr 8, 09 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi is drawing fire for reportedly saying the thousands made homeless by Monday's earthquake should see the experience as a "camping weekend," the Guardian reports. The gaffe-prone Italian prime minister, touring an emergency encampment, said the displaced survivors "lacked nothing," although hundreds still didn't... More »

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Italy • gaffe • Silvio Berlusconi • disaster zones • earthquake • L'Aquila

 Pakistan Quake 
 Kills 135, 
 Toll Rising 

6.4 quake collapses thousands of huts; death toll expected to soar

Oct 29, 08 4:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - A 6.4 quake rocked southwest Pakistan early this morning, killing more than 135 people, AFP reports. Pakistan has sent troops to the region to provide assistance and expects the death toll to rise steeply. Most of the deaths were in remote villages in the Afghanistan border region, where mud... More »

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Pakistan • Baluchistan • disaster zones • Quetta • earthquake

 China Landslide Kills 34, 
 Traps Hundreds 

Rescuers search for survivors after mud sweeps through Shanxi valley

Sep 9, 08 5:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rescuers are frantically searching through rubble for survivors of a landslide in northern China that killed at least 34 people, the AP reports. Hundreds are feared missing after a reservoir of mining waste collapsed in the northern province of Shanxi, sending a wall of thick sludge sweeping through a valley... More »

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China • coal mine • landslide • disaster zones • disaster • mine disasters

ANALYSIS

 US Military Showing Softer Side 

Greater emphasis on humanitarian operations seen by some as 'out of whack'

Jul 28, 08 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite recent focus on shooting wars, the Defense Department has tweaked the core mission of US armed forces to promote “soft power,” such as humanitarian aid, the Boston Globe reports. Some civilian onlookers say the foreign policy is “out of whack,” and “too dominated by... More »

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Department of Defense • US military aid • disaster zones • medical care • humanitarian aid • international aid • soft power

 Emergency
 Declared in
 Calif. Fires 

Blazes threaten more than 6,800 homes; better weather expected

Jun 29, 08 9:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Bush declared a region stretching from Nevada to the Pacific Ocean a federal disaster area, the Los Angeles Times reports, as more than 1,000 fires raged across northern California. Some 17,000 firefighters are battling the blazes, which threaten 6,800 homes. “We don’t have... More »

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California • firefighters • FEMA • wildfires • Nevada • California wildfires • disaster zones • George W. Bush • Big Sur

 Burma Aid Delays
 Less Deadly Than Feared 

Villagers tough it out through cyclone's aftermath

Jun 18, 08 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Delays in getting help to cyclone survivors in Burma's Irrawaddy Delta have not caused the catastrophe initially feared, according to aid workers. Hardy villagers have managed to survive on fish and coconuts, helped by aid from private Burmese citizens and monks, reports the New York Times. Expected massive outbreaks of... More »

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cyclone • aid • Myanmar • Burma • Doctors Without Borders • junta • disaster zones • Cyclone Nargis • Irrawaddy Delta

 Draining Quake Lake
 Floods China Town 

Soldiers blast holes in dam; 'Now we can never go back,' says survivor

Jun 10, 08 6:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - A town devastated by the Sichuan earthquake was flooded today as soldiers worked to drain a dangerous quake lake, reports Reuters. Water whooshed into Beichuan after explosives and missiles were used to blast holes in the dam created by the earthquake. Some 250,000 people downstream had already been evacuated. More »

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flood • dam • disaster zones • earthquake • Sichuan province • China earthquake • Tangjiashan

 5.3 Aftershock
 Shakes Sichuan 

Survivors rattled again as quake lakes threaten to burst

Jun 5, 08 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Another strong aftershock has rattled China's quake-devastated Sichuan province amid increased concerns about lake floodwaters, reports AP. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries from the 5.3 tremblor, which came as authorities began evacuating people downstream from a lake formed by last month's quake. The water level... More »

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China • evacuation • disaster zones • earthquake • aftershock • Sichuan province • China earthquake

Blocked US Ships Will Abandon Myanmar Aid

Junta refuses aid 15 times

Jun 4, 08 6:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - US warships laden with aid for Burmese cyclone survivors will sail out of the region tomorrow still carrying their loads, Reuters reports. Burma's military junta has refused 15 requests to allow American forces to deliver aid supplies to the disaster zone, according to the admiral in charge of the operation. More »

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aid • relief • Myanmar • Burma • military junta • disaster zones • warship • Cyclone Nargis • Irrawaddy Delta

 Burma Rips 'Chocolate Bar' Aid; US Ships Threaten to Sail

Junta rails on stingy pace of int'l donations

May 29, 08 6:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Burma's military junta ripped international cyclone relief efforts today, slamming demands for access to the disaster zone and proclaiming "The people from Irrawaddy can survive without chocolate bars donated by foreign countries," Reuters reports. The slam comes a day after a US admiral threatened to yank warships from... More »

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cyclone • relief • Myanmar • Burma • military junta • disaster zones • Cyclone Nargis • Irrawaddy Delta

 Burma Agrees to Accept All Aid 

Junta drops opposition to aid workers entering country

May 23, 08 5:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Burma has agreed to let international disaster relief workers into the country to help with the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Bloomberg reports. The junta's about-face came after  UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who flew in yesterday, met the nation's  reclusive military leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. The UN hopes to ramp... More »

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cyclone • relief • aid workers • Myanmar • Burma • Than Shwe • military junta • disaster zones • Cyclone Nargis • Irrawaddy Delta • Ban Ki-Moon

 Huge Aftershock Rattles China 

President tours region as death toll mounts

May 16, 08 7:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - A powerful aftershock struck today near the epicenter of this week's earthquake, wreaking more havoc as China struggled to bury its dead and care for thousands of homeless and hungry survivors, Reuters reports. Rescuers continued their search amid the rubble, but hope dimmed as the official death toll rose to... More »

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China • Hu Jintao • disaster zones • earthquake • aftershock

 Troops Race Clock
 to Save Chinese
 Buried Alive 

Rescuers struggle in mud and rain as death toll soars over 20,000

May 14, 08 4:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - China has rushed 50,000 more troops to Sichuan province to help dig for earthquake survivors before time runs out, Reuters reports. Tens of thousands of people are still buried under rubble from Monday's devastating 7.9 quake. Rescuers reaching the hardest-hit areas say the destruction is worse than feared,... More »

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China • rescue • People's Liberation Army • disaster zones • earthquake • Sichuan province • China earthquake

 Grief Turns to Fury
 For Quake Survivors 

Anger flares among parents whose children lie in rubble

May 13, 08 10:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - As rescue efforts continue in western China, the mood among survivors of the earthquake has transformed from grief to fury: at the military, at builders, and above all at the government. In Dujiangyan, where several hundreds pupils died when a school collapsed, the Guardian reports that residents tried to push... More »

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China • disaster zones • earthquake • disaster • Sichuan province

UPDATED

 Quake Buries
 Nearly 19,000  in 1 Town 

Buried schoolkids given up for dead

May 13, 08 7:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Nearly 19,000 people are reported buried in rubble in just one Chinese town, the state media said today, as  the death toll from yesterday's 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan province climbed to 12,000. Overwhelmed rescuers worked frantically to rescue as many as possible, impeded by rain and mudslides,... More »

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China • Wen Jiabao • disaster zones • earthquake • Sichuan province

Floods Swamp Eastern Australia

Thousands stranded after storms batter coast

Jan 8, 08 9:29 AM CST
(Newser) - Thousands on the east coast of Australia have been isolated by flooding from heavy rains, the BBC reports. Thunderstorms and overflowing rivers have battered the northeast parts of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, and the southern parts of Queensland; both have been declared natural disaster zones.... More »

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Australia • flood • Queensland • natural disaster • New South Wales • disaster zones

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