Damage varies widely in Texas town hit by Ike
Galveston County Daily News Sep 24, 08 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Heaps of furniture and electronics lined Galveston's streets as evacuees returned to the Texan island to salvage their belongings, the Galveston County Daily News reports. Some were spared from Hurricane Ike’s wrath altogether, while others discovered their homes completely flattened. In the city's central housing projects, first-floor residents found dead pets in courtyards that were submerged under 8 feet of water during the storm.
More »
ANALYSIS
The costs of living seaside on a barrier island can be huge
LiveScience Sep 14, 08 3:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The barrier islands along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts entice inhabitants with their balmy beachfronts, but prove an equal draw for often devastating tropical storms. As Hurricane Ike's path of destruction across Galveston Island shows, building houses on what amounts to an oversized sandbar can be a critical mistake—though one that is becoming more and more common, reports LiveScience.
More »
Residents urged to stay put as Hurricane Ike menaces mainland
Miami Herald Sep 8, 08 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Hurricane Ike is now a Category 2 storm, and officials have rescinded orders to evacuate the Florida Keys, the Miami Herald reports. Residents still on the archipelago shouldn't go anywhere, and those who've already left are being asked not to return until after the storm passes. It's expected to continue battering Cuba today and tomorrow before proceeding toward the mainland.
More »
National Guard prepares to pitch in for aftermath
Galveston County Daily News Aug 5, 08 5:47 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Coastal Texas residents are preparing for Tropical Storm Edouard to make landfall in just hours as the state deploys its National Guard to help clean up and distribute food and water, the Galveston Daily News reports. The storm is expected to bring 10 inches of rain to some areas and high tides of 5.5 feet, with winds as high as 70 mph.
More »
OPINION
Floods to mud, there's lots we can take responsibility for besides global warming
New Scientist Aug 3, 08 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Humans can do a righteous job of messing up the planet in the long term. We're also more than capable of wreaking short-term havoc with these man-made natural disasters, reports the New Scientist: Mud volcanoes: While we can't create the real thing, shoddy mining practices in East Java have made the ground hemorrhage mud since 2006.
More »
Disasters spur economic growth,
but at what cost?
Boston Globe Jul 8, 08 7:25 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Casualties aside, natural disasters may not be so devastating after all. Catastrophes like the recent earthquake in China destroy old buildings and roads, making way for new and improved infrastructure that may not have been created otherwise and pumping cash into the economy. In the long term, updated technology and efficiencies have the potential to create a more productive economy, reports the Boston Globe .
More »
Cedar Rapids restricts water use for next few days
CNN Jun 14, 08 7:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Floodwaters receded today after 24,000 people fled Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but only one well is uncontaminated to service the city, CNN reports. Officials say it will run down if people take showers and flush toilets over the next 3 or 4 days. "Water is still our primary concern," one said. "We're still using water at a greater rate than we're producing."
More »
UN official denounces coerced moves
BBC May 30, 08 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The Burmese junta has reportedly begun closing shelters and telling cyclone victims to return to their decimated villages, a move that drew strong condemnation from a UN official, the BBC reports. Military leaders, apparently worried that the camps will become permanent aid centers, have given victims tents and bamboo poles and told them to rebuild their lives, says a UNICEF official.
More »
Storms in Iowa and Minnesota chew up towns
CNN May 26, 08 5:17 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Midwestern tornadoes killed seven people in Iowa and a toddler in Minnesota yesterday as they tore paths of destruction through communities, CNN reports. The southern half of a town in Iowa was unrecognizable after a twister demolished the local high school, commercial areas and some 200 houses. At least 50 people were injured in the town of 1,900, the Des Moines Register reports.
More »
Up to 10K kids died; parents blame gov't
New York Times May 25, 08 9:56 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
As a massive earthquake shook Sichuan province, subpar construction turned many Chinese schoolrooms into the mass graves of as many as 10,000 children, the New York Times reports, and grieving parents are pointing fingers at Beijing. The government, aware of the problem, had issued warnings on school safety in the years before the quake—but in many cases, the shoddy buildings remained. “This is not a natural disaster,” said one parent. “They stole our children.”
More »
Foreign medical workers arrive as focus shifts toward aiding survivors
Guardian (UK) May 20, 08 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
The official quake death toll climbed to nearly 40,000 in China’s Sichuan province today, the Guardian reports, as foreign medical teams and equipment arrived on the scene. Relief efforts began shifting away from finding survivors to aiding the more than 200,000 injured and 5 million left homeless. Russia, Taiwan, Japan, the US, Germany, and Italy had all sent rescue workers.
More »
Burma, China donations pale compared to tsunami, Katrina charity
Associated Press May 20, 08 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Americans’ donations to disaster relief this year fall far short of money given to victims of the 2004 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina—and it’s likely due to “disaster fatigue," say experts. With tragedies like Burma’s cyclone and China’s earthquake quickly piling up, people may feel they can’t make a difference, AP reports. As of Friday, Americans had given $12.1 million to Burma, while the tsunami garnered $1.92 billion in US donations.
More »
General meets survivors for first time since cyclone hit
CNN May 18, 08 2:48 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The head of Burma's junta emerged today for the first time since cyclone Nargis struck two weeks ago to meet with survivors, CNN reports. Gen. Than Shwe visited a refugee camp 200 miles south of Yangon, touching the faces of infant survivors. The visit came as the UN's humanitarian secretary began a three-day tour meant to pressure Burma to accept more foreign aid, the AP reports.
More »