Latest news with #disastermanagement
News24
19 hours ago
- Climate
- News24
30 dead, 80 000 residents relocated as ‘intense volume of rainfall' hits China
30 people died as a result of heavy rainfall in China. China's usually arid north has seen record precipitation in recent years. Train and bus services were suspended and flights were cancelled. Extreme weather killed at least 30 people in Beijing after a year's worth of rain fell in a matter of days, stretching the Chinese capital's disaster management capabilities and prompting some experts to call the city a rain trap. Much of the rain inundated Beijing's mountainous north near the Great Wall, with 28 deaths reported in the district of Miyun and two in Yanqing, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. It did not say when or how the deaths occurred. Heavy rain started last Wednesday and intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday, with the capital experiencing rainfall of up to 543.4mm in its northern districts, Xinhua said. The average annual rainfall in Beijing is around 600mm. 'The cumulative amount of precipitation has been extremely high - reaching 80% - 90% of the annual total in just a few days in some areas,' said Xuebin Zhang of the University of Victoria in Canada and CEO of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC). Very few systems are designed to handle such an intense volume of rainfall over such a short period. Xuebin Zhang The local topography - mountains to the west and north - 'trapped' the moist air and forced it to rise, enhancing the extraordinary amount of precipitation, he said. China's usually arid north has seen record precipitation in recent years, with some scientists linking the rainfall to global warming. In the summer of 2023, heavy rain and flooding killed at least 33 people in Beijing. READ | Two dead, people trapped on a train in US flash flooding, as state emergency declared Rainfall in the city of Xingtai in neighbouring Hebei province exceeded 1 000mm in two days - double the yearly average. Late on Monday, President Xi Jinping said there had been 'heavy casualties and property losses' in Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong, and ordered 'all-out' search and rescue efforts. Zhai Yujia/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images More than 80 000 Beijing residents had been relocated, Xinhua reported, with roads and communication infrastructure damaged and power to 136 villages cut off overnight. The most intense rain occurred on Saturday in Beijing's hilly Huairou, which saw 95.3mm of rain in one hour. In Miyun on Monday, some people were trapped at an elderly care centre as water levels rose close to the roof. Emergency rescue services swam into the building and used ropes to pull out 48 people. On Tuesday, parks, libraries and museums including the Palace Museum at the Forbidden City were closed. Train and bus services in the suburbs and along waterways were suspended. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed at Beijing's two airports, state media reported. Heavy rain also pounded the province of Hebei and the city of Tianjin neighbouring Beijing, which are all part of the vast Hai river basin. Four people were killed in a landslide in Hebei on Monday, with eight still missing, as six months' worth of rain fell over the weekend. In two villages in Tianjin on Monday, major roads were flooded, bridges damaged, with only the roofs of single-storey houses visible, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. Heavy rain is expected to persist in parts of Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin on Tuesday, the emergency management ministry said on Monday night, adding that 'the disaster relief situation is complex and severe'. Some residents in the region posted on social media platform Weibo calling on authorities to expedite rescue efforts. 'The flood is still coming, and there is still no power or signal, and I still can't get in touch with my family!' a post on Tuesday morning said.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Drone footage captures scale of wildfires in Turkey's Bursa province
Thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes as firefighters battled to contain wildfires in Turkey, fanned by strong winds and searing heat. More than 1,100 firefighters were deployed to tackle at least 76 blazes that broke out within 24 hours, as the country faces a wave of heat-driven infernos
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Fema director defends Texas flood response as ‘model' for disasters
David Richardson, the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), on Wednesday defended his agency's handling of recent deadly floods in Texas, claiming the response was a 'model' for 'how disasters should be handled'. The comment came as Richardson faced accusations that the response to the floods was botched, characterized by ignorance and carelessness. 'This wasn't just incompetence. It wasn't just indifference. It was both,' Greg Stanton, a Democratic representative from Arizona, told Richardson at the House transportation and infrastructure committee hearing. 'And that deadly combination likely cost lives.' The hearing followed a slew of reports saying Richardson was nowhere to be found during the flood. Earlier, the acting director, who has no previous experience in disaster management, reportedly said he was unaware that hurricane season exists in the US – something the White House later said was a 'joke'. Richardson denied any agency wrongdoing in the Texas floods. 'What happened in Texas was an absolute tragedy,' he said. He and other officials under Donald Trump were aiming to restore the agency to its original goals, he said, encouraging states to take on more financial and logistical responsibility for disasters. 'Fema has lost sight of its original intent,' he said. 'Under the leadership of the President and the Secretary we are returning to this mission focus moving forward.' Anticipating this argument, Rick Larsen, a US representative and ranking member of the House committee, came to the hearing armed with the Congressional Research Service's list of the 518 actions that Fema is mandated to follow. 'Currently, Fema doesn't follow all these laws,' he said. In response, Richardson said the agency had done it 'own mission analysis'. 'What we did, and I can commit to, is that we developed eight mission-essential tasks that we have to do by statute,' he said. At the hearing, Larsen also announced a bipartisan bill to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he is co-leading with Sam Graves, the House transportation and infrastructure chair and a Republican from Missouri, that proposes centralizing disaster assistance funding information. 'As disasters become more frequent and severe, leaving more lives, homes and livelihoods at risk, maintaining Fema's core functions remains critically important,' said Will McDow, an associate vice-president at the Environmental Defense Fund, which is backing the bill. During his first week in office, Trump floated the idea of getting rid of Fema altogether, something the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, repeated in March. John Raymond Garamendi, a Democratic representative from California, asked Richardson if he can 'commit to us today that Fema will exist in the future, will be able to carry out its functions under the law and under the needs of this nation'. Richardson provided a vague response. 'The president wants better emergency management for the American people, and that's a noble goal,' he said. In the days after the recent floods ravaged central Texas, reports showed that Fema did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance hotline, something Noem dismissed as 'fake news'. Richardson also denied the reporting. 'The vast majority of phone calls were answered, the questions were addressed,' he said. He said a key goal for Fema under his leadership is 'cutting through red tape and ensuring that when federal assistance is warranted we deliver assistance to survivors rapidly'. But Noem in recent weeks has enacted a new rule requiring any department contract or grant over $100,000 to be personally signed off by her before funds can be allocated, anonymous Fema officials told NBC News. 'To me, having someone, one person only, having to sign off on every contract of $100,000 or more is the definition of bureaucracy,' said Dina Titus, a Democratic representative from Nevada. This week, Ken Pagurek, Fema's urban search and rescue branch head, resigned, CNN first reported, after more than a decade at the agency, reportedly citing concerns about major cuts Trump has made to the agency and the result on disaster management. Study after study shows that flooding like this summer's in Texas is becoming more severe and more common amid the climate crisis. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democratic delegate from Washington DC, asked Richardson if he believes fossil fuels are the primary cause of the climate crisis, and if he thinks extreme weather is increasing. Richardson was noncommittal in his answer. 'What I believe is that we will address disasters regardless of their origin,' he said. Asked if he thought the agency had made any mistakes during the floods, Richardson said: 'I can't see anything that we did wrong. 'Nothing is perfect. However, I will say that it was a model, particularly at Fema, the region and the state level,' he said. 'It was a model how disasters should be handled.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Fema director defends Texas flood response as ‘model' for disasters
David Richardson, the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), on Wednesday defended his agency's handling of recent deadly floods in Texas, claiming the response was a 'model' for 'how disasters should be handled'. The comment came as Richardson faced accusations that the response to the floods was botched, characterized by ignorance and carelessness. 'This wasn't just incompetence. It wasn't just indifference. It was both,' Greg Stanton, a Democratic representative from Arizona, told Richardson at the House transportation and infrastructure committee hearing. 'And that deadly combination likely cost lives.' The hearing followed a slew of reports saying Richardson was nowhere to be found during the flood. Earlier, the acting director, who has no previous experience in disaster management, reportedly said he was unaware that hurricane season exists in the US – something the White House later said was a 'joke'. Richardson denied any agency wrongdoing in the Texas floods. 'What happened in Texas was an absolute tragedy,' he said. He and other officials under Donald Trump are aiming to restore the agency to its original goals, he said, encouraging states to take on more financial and logistical responsibility for disasters. 'Fema has lost sight of its original intent,' he said. 'Under the leadership of the President and the Secretary we are returning to this mission focus moving forward.' Anticipating this argument, Rick Larsen, a US representative and ranking member of the House committee, came to the hearing armed with the Congressional Research Service's list of the 518 actions that Fema is mandated to follow. 'Currently, Fema doesn't follow all these laws,' he said. In response, Richardson said the agency had done it 'own mission analysis'. 'What we did, and I can commit to, is that we developed eight mission essential tasks that we have to do by statute,' he said. During his first week in office, Trump floated the idea of getting rid of Fema altogether, something homeland security secretary Kristi Noem repeated in March. John Raymond Garamendi, a Democratic representative from California, asked Richardson if he can 'commit to us today that Fema will exist in the future, will be able to carry out its functions under the law and under the needs of this nation'. Richardson provided a vague response. 'The president wants better emergency management for the American people, and that's a noble goal,' he said. In the days after the recent floods ravaged central Texas, reports showed that Fema did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance hotline, something Noem dismissed as 'fake news'. Richardson also denied the reporting. 'The vast majority of phone calls were answered the questions were addressed,' he said. He said a key goal for Fema under his leadership is 'cutting through red tape and ensuring that when federal assistance is warranted we deliver assistance to survivors rapidly'. But Noem in recent weeks has enacted a new rule requiring any department contract or grant over $100,000 to be personally signed off by her before funds can be allocated, anonymous Fema officials told NBC News. 'To me, having someone, one person only, having to sign off on every contract of $100,000 or more is the definition of bureaucracy,' said Dina Titus, a Democratic representative from Nevada. Study after study shows that flooding like this summer's in Texas is becoming more severe and more common amid the climate crisis. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democratic delegate from Washington, DC, asked Richardson if he believes fossil fuels are the primary cause of the climate crisis, and if he thinks extreme weather is increasing. Richardson was noncommittal in his answer. 'What I believe is that we will address disasters regardless of their origin,' he said. Asked if he thought the agency had made any mistakes during the floods, Richardson said: 'I can't see anything that we did wrong.' 'Nothing is perfect. However, I will say that it was a model, particularly at Fema, the region and the state level,' he said. 'It was a model how disasters should be handled.'
South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korean, Filipino officials rebuked for poor flood response and misjudgment
As floods devastate communities across South Korea and the Philippines, their presidents have rebuked officials for indulging in merrymaking and political publicity instead of focusing on disaster management. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday ordered a 'strict crackdown on the careless public officials who went about drinking and dancing or acted thoughtlessly' during a recent devastating rainfall, which claimed at least 19 lives nationwide. Lee said it was important to punish misconduct by civil servants during a cabinet meeting, referring to incidents involving Guri Mayor Baek Kyung-hyeon and North Chungcheong Governor Kim Young-hwan. Baek had been filmed singing at a restaurant in Hongcheon while neighbouring areas in northern Gyeonggi were battling flood damage. Kim came under fire for drinking with councillors on the second anniversary of the 2023 Osong underpass flooding in Cheongju, which killed 14. On the other hand, Lee has praised frontline responders, urging ministries to 'identify and promote exemplary cases to serve as models', according to a report by the Korea JoongAng Daily. He has also directed agencies to prioritise efforts on search for the missing, designate special disaster zones and swiftly distribute grants to flood-hit communities, including Sancheong county in South Gyeongsang, which reported 10 fatalities.
