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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: disaster

disaster stories: 106 news summaries

1 - 20 of 106 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>

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Army Corps' Negligence Led to Katrina Flooding: Judge

Feds could be on the hook for billions in damages

Nov 18, 09 8:30 PM CST
(Newser) - In an opinion that could open the federal government to billions in damage claims, a judge ruled today that the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain an outlet channel led directly to disastrous flooding in and around New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.... More »

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Hurricane Katrina • New Orleans • flooding • civil lawsuits • Army Corps of Engineers • disaster • Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet • New Orleans levees • Lower Ninth Ward • Stanwood Duval • neglect • mismanagement

 Landslides Wipe Out 
 4 Indonesian Villages 

Another 640 people feared dead in remote areas

Oct 3, 09 11:26 AM CDT
(AP) - At least four Indonesian villages were obliterated by earthquake-triggered landslides that buried as many as 644 people under mountains of mud and debris. Most of the victims were members of a communal wedding party. It's not clear exactly when the landslides occurred, but the full extent of Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude... More »

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Indonesia • landslide • Padang • Sumatra • disaster recovery • disaster

UPDATED

 Miracle Rescue Lifts Hopes 
 for 3,000 Trapped in Quake 

Hopes dim as new emergency teams arrive in Indonesia

Oct 2, 09 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rescue teams racing to find earthquake survivors in Indonesia pulled a young woman alive from the rubble of a collapsed school today, a rare glimmer of hope in the 2-day-old search. More than 1,000 people are reported dead, and difficult conditions in Padang are making it hard to reach... More »

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Indonesia • survivors • Padang • Sumatra • earthquake • disaster • rescue mission

 Indonesia Quake 
 Toll Passes 1,000 

Samoa tsunami cleanup effort begins in earnest

Oct 1, 09 1:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - The death toll in Indonesia has reached 1,100 and is expected to keep rising. Rescue workers are scrambling to find earthquake survivors under trapped buildings, with "many hundreds more" injured or missing, says a top UN relief official. Rescue efforts have been hung up over a shortage of... More »

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Indonesia • South Pacific • tsunami • Pacific Ocean • Padang • Sumatra • earthquake • disaster • rescue mission • Samoa • American Samoa

 Samoa Tsunami Toll Hits 150 

Villagers describe terror of being trapped underwater

Oct 1, 09 8:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Stunned Samoans combed through the sodden wreckage of their lives and told of the terror of being trapped underwater or flung inland by a tsunami that ravaged towns and killed at least 150 people in the South Pacific. Officials expect the death toll from Tuesday's disaster to rise as more... More »

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tsunami • natural disaster • disaster • Tonga • Samoa • American Samoa

UPDATED

More Quakes Slam Indonesia, Still Counting Its Dead

Witness describes crumbled, burning wreckage in Padang

Sep 30, 09 9:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Indonesia, still counting the dead and searching for the missing from yesterday’s 7.6 earthquake, was rattled by two more earthquakes this morning local time. The US Geological Survey recorded a 6.8 quake 140 miles from Padang, the western Sumatran city nearest yesterday’s epicenter; just 20 minutes... More »

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Indonesia • death toll • Padang • Sumatra • US Geological Survey • earthquake • disaster • rubble

 Tsunami Toll Reaches 100, 
 Obama Sends Disaster Aid 

Second earthquake near Indonesia triggers new wave warnings

Sep 30, 09 6:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - The death toll from the tsunami triggered by last night's 8.3-magnitude earthquake near Samoa has risen to more than 100, with fatalities reported across a number of islands. Barack Obama declared American Samoa a disaster area and has pledged "swift and aggressive" aid to the territory, where at... More »

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Indonesia • tsunami • natural disaster • Sumatra • Pacific Tsunami Warning Center • earthquake • disaster • Samoa • American Samoa

UPDATED

240 Dead, 375K in Shelters After Philippines Floods

Minister appeals for more international help as toll continues to rise

Sep 28, 09 9:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - At least 240 people are now confirmed dead in flooding in the Philippines after more than 90 new deaths were reported in Manila. Moreover, 375,000 have been displaced by the disaster, more than double earlier official figures. As government officials appeal for international help, a BBC correspondent says getting... More »

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flooding • Philippines • displaced persons • disaster • search and rescue • refugees

 20 Killed in Turkish Floods 

Downpour leaves 20 injured, more stranded

Sep 9, 09 7:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Flash floods gushed across a major highway and a commercial district in Istanbul today, killing at least 20 people and stranding dozens in cars or on rooftops, AP reports. Eight people are missing. Fueled by the worst rain in decades, waters rose more than 3 feet high in the city's... More »

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Turkey • severe weather • flooding • rain • Istanbul • flash floods • disaster

(Newser) - The so-called Station Fire is closing in on Los Angeles residents who refused to evacuate with their neighbors over the weekend and are now trapped and in danger, KTLA reports. Five people are stranded in a canyon, according to the AP. "Those people were told to get out two... More »

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California • Los Angeles • evacuation • wildfires • California wildfires • disaster

 Calif. Wildfire Doubles 
 Size to 85K Acres 

10K evacuated as soot covers parts of Los Angeles

Aug 31, 09 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - A southern California wildfire almost doubled in size overnight, reaching a whopping 85,760 acres, NBC Los Angeles reports, calling the speed of the fire’s spread “staggering.” A blanket of soot covers parts of the city as locals are warned to stay indoors, and heavy winds are... More »

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Los Angeles • Southern California • evacuation • wildfires • California wildfires • disaster • soot • NBC Local

(AP) - Fire crews outside Athens are scrambling to exploit a lull in high winds as they fight massive wildfires that broke out Friday and have razed about 58 square miles north of the Greek capital. The flames are still spreading, and a dozen nuns had to be rescued from a convent... More »

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firefighters • Greece • Greece fires • fire • disaster

(Newser) - Flooding and mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot killed over 500 people in Taiwan, President Ma Ying-jeou said today in the country's first firm estimate of casualty figures. Some 400 people are believed to have been buried alive in a single village, the BBC reports. The military has now reopened a... More »

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Taiwan • typhoon • disaster • Ma Ying-jeou • Typhoon Morakot

 Hollywood Focuses on 
 Post-Apocalyptic Future 

Escapism, real fears fuel new crop of movies, TV shows

Jul 31, 09 11:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - In one, the Earth's destruction fulfills an ancient prophesy. In another, mechanical dolls take over where humans left off. From serious to humorous, reality shows to documentaries, Hollywood is obsessed with the theme of a post-apocalyptic future, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some attribute the trend to escapism: “... More »

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entertainment • Hollywood • film • apocalypse • movie industry • movies • disaster • trend • Zombieland • Ruben Fleischer

China Censors Artist Leading Quake Inquiry

Police stake out whistleblower's studio, shut down blog

Jul 13, 09 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Chinese artist who has made investigating the deaths of children in the Sichuan earthquake a personal crusade is facing a government crackdown, reports the CBC. Ai Weiwei's widely read blog has been deleted, and plainclothes police officers are staking out his studio in Beijing. Ai has relaunched his blog... More »

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China • Chinese art • art • censorship • 2008 Beijing Olympics • death toll • Olympic Games • earthquake • Internet censorship • disaster • Sichuan province • China earthquake • Birds Nest National Stadium • Ai Weiwei • Olympic Stadium

Yemenia Air Black Boxes Too Deep for Divers 

Search continues as France sends searcher robots to Comoros

Jul 7, 09 12:11 PM CDT
(AP) - Investigators have concluded that the black boxes from Yemenia Airways Flight 626 that plunged into the Indian Ocean are too deep to be reached by divers, a French official said today. French investigators are trying to determine the exact zone where the boxes can be found using equipment that allows... More »

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black box • France • plane crash • Comoros • Yemen • disaster • Yemenia Air • diver

Teenage Air Crash Survivor Reunited With Family

French gov't flies 14-year-old to Paris

Jul 2, 09 4:34 AM CDT
(AP) - The young girl believed to be the only survivor of Tuesday's Indian Ocean plane crash flew back to Paris today, to the waiting arms of her father and siblings. Bahia Bakari, 14, returned to France alongside a government minister and other French officials. The other 151 people on Yemenia flight... More »

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France • plane crash • Paris • air disasters • survivors • disaster • Yemenia Air • Bahia Bakari

 Signals Detected, but Officials 
 Deny They're Flight 447's 

Submarine sent to probe ocean floor

Jun 23, 09 6:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rescuers are hot on the track of signals picked up deep in the Atlantic that could be from one of Air France Flight 447's black boxes, Le Monde reported today, but a French official denied that the signals could be originating from the doomed plane's flight recorder. “The black... More »

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black box • Brazil • plane crash • Le Monde • flight recorder • signals • disaster • Air France • Air France Flight 447

 Air France Jet 
 Was Moving 
 Too Slowly 

Airbus to give thrust guidelines today

Jun 4, 09 9:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - The crashed Air France jet was flying too slowly, insiders have told Le Monde. Airbus, which built the plane, plans to notify airlines of the right thrust levels for flights in bad weather today, the Daily Telegraph says. Whether speed could be at fault for the jet’s series of... More »

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plane crash • air disasters • speed • disaster • Air France • Air France Flight 447

UPDATED

5 Dead in Honduras Quake; Toll Expected to Rise

Tsunami warning has been called off

May 28, 09 1:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Five deaths have been confirmed after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Honduras and Guatemala early today. Four victims were children between 3 and 15, crushed under their collapsed home, Reuters reports. "There will be many more dead," said a Honduran official. Buildings in both Central American states... More »

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death • Belize • Central America • Guatemala • Honduras • earthquake • disaster

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