PHÒNG CHỐNG BÃO ! – Prevent storm damage – Prévention des catastrophes naturelles

Brussels, 25 July 2007. In line with its commitment to support Disaster Risk Reduction, the European Commission has allocated €18 million from the humanitarian aid budget to improve the capacities of communities at risk in the Caribbean, South America and South Asia, so that they can better prepare for and protect themselves against natural disasters. The funds will be channelled through the Commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO) under the direct responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel. With these DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness ECHO) decisions, the Commission is underlining its commitment to improve the capacities of communities at risk from natural disasters, in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.

Three decisions – one for each region – have been adopted and will target the most vulnerable local communities and their institutions, those at greatest risk from natural hazards and with the lowest coping capacities, so that they will be better able to save lives and protect livelihoods if disaster strikes. The decisions also aim to improve advocacy for Disaster Risk Reduction measures by means of better exchange of information, documentation of lessons learned and best practices which can be replicated and therefore sustained.

These three regions are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes/cyclones, tropical storms, drought, floods and landslides. The losses and destruction that result from such disasters are very significant from a social and economic point of view and reduce the development potential of the three regions.

As well as large-scale disasters, these regions, particularly South America and South Asia, are frequently hit by small-scale disasters which affect communities who are already very vulnerable, causing considerable damage to their livelihood. This highlights the ongoing need for disaster preparedness activities and the significance of community-based disaster risk reduction efforts, which enable the communities concerned to mitigate hazards and prepare themselves for future natural disasters.

The Commission is a major donor for such “people-centred” initiatives that aim to create models which can be replicated and scaled up by governments and development agencies within the Disaster Risk Reduction framework.

The strategies of the three DIPECHO Action Plans have been defined in close co-operation with non-governmental and international organisations, local authorities and other stakeholders, within the framework of consultative meetings.

€ 4 million will go to the Caribbean region, € 6.5 million to South America and € 7.5 million to South Asia.

More information: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/field/dipecho/index_en.htm

It’s official : the heavier rainfall in Britain is being caused by climate change, a major new scientific study will reveal this week, as the country reels from summer downpours of unprecedented ferocity.

More intense rainstorms across parts of the northern hemisphere are being generated by man-made global warming, the study has established for the first time an effect which has long been predicted but never before proved.

The study’s findings will be all the more dramatic for being disclosed as Britain struggles to recover from the phenomenal drenching of the past few days, during which more than a month’s worth of rain fell in a few hours in some places, and floods forced thousands from their homes.

The “major rainfall event” of last Friday fully predicted as such by the Met Office has given the country a quite exceptional battering, with the Thames still rising. In Gloucester water levels had reached 34 feet, just 12 inches below flood defences the same level as during the flood of 1947 although a police spokesman said last night that the River Severn had stopped rising.

Last night vast areas of the country around Gloucestershire and Worcestershire were still inundated, large numbers of people in temporary accommodation, transport links were widely disrupted, and yet more householders were standing by to be flooded in their turn, in one of the biggest civil emergencies Britain has seen.

About 150,000 residents in Gloucestershire were left without drinking water when the Mythe Water Treatment Works in Tewkesbury became inoperable after flooding. Another 200,000 people are at risk of losing their supplies. The water shortages may last until Wednesday and 600 water tanks were being drafted to the area.

Panic buying of bottled water was reported, with supermarkets selling out of stocks, and there were contamination problems in south London, where 80,000 households and businesses in the Sutton area were advised to boil their water after rain got into a tank. Yet another potential danger was from car thieves ; West Mercia police warned drivers who had abandoned their cars in the floodwater to collect them quickly to prevent theft.

The Great Flood of July is all the more remarkable for following right on from the Great Flood of June, which caused similar havoc in northern towns such as Doncaster and Hull, after a similar series of astonishingly torrential downpours on 24 June.

Meteorologists agree that the miserably wet British summer of 2007 has generally been caused by a southward shift towards Britain of the jetstream, the high-level airflow that brings depressions eastwards across the Atlantic. This is fairly normal. But debate is going on about whether climate change may be responsible for the intensity of the two freak rainfall episodes, which have caused flooding the like of which has never been seen in many places.

This is because the computer models used to predict the future course of global warming all show heavier rainfall, and indeed, “extreme rainfall events”, as one of its principal consequences.

The new study, carried out jointly by several national climate research institutes using their supercomputer climate models, including the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office, does not prove that any one event, including the rain of the past few days in Britain, is climate-change related.

But it certainly supports the idea, by showing that in recent decades rainfall has increased over several areas of the world, including the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, and linking this directly, for the first time, to global warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases.

The study is being published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, and its details are under embargo and cannot be reported until then. But its main findings have caused a stir, and are being freely discussed by climate scientists in the Met Office, the Hadley Centre and the Department for Environment For Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

One source familiar with the study’s conclusions said : “What this does is establish for the first time that there is a distinct ’human fingerprint’ in the changes in precipitation patterns the increases in rainfall observed in the northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, which includes Britain.

“That means, it is not just the climate’s natural variability which has caused the increases, but there is a detectable human cause climate change, caused by our greenhouse gas emissions. The ’human fingerprint’ has been detected before in temperature rises, but never before in rainfall. So this is very significant.

“Some people would argue that you can’t take a single event and pin that on climate change, but what happened in Britain last Friday fits quite easily with these conclusions. It does seem to have a certain resonance with what they’re finding in this research.”

The Hadley Centre lead scientist involved with the study was Dr Peter Stott, who specialises in finding “human fingerprints” sometimes referred to as anthropogenic signals on the changing climate.

Last September Dr Stott, who was not available for comment yesterday, published research showing that the climate of central England had warmed by a full degree Celsius in the past 40 years, and that this could be directly linked to human causes the first time that man-made climate change had been identified at such a local level.

The human fingerprint is detected by making computer simulations of the recent past climate, with and without emissions of greenhouse gases and then comparing the results with what has actually been observed in the real world.

In Dr Stott’s research, and in the study to be published on Wednesday, the observed rises in temperature and rainfall could be clearly accounted for by the scenario in which emissions were prominent.

The conclusions of the new rainfall study are regarded as all the more robust as they are the joint work of several major national climate research bodies, led by Environment Canada, with each using its own supercomputer climate model.

Global warming is likely to lead to higher rainfall because a warming atmosphere contains more water vapour and more energy. Since climate prediction began 20 years ago, heavier rainfall over Britain has been a consistent theme.

Michael McCarthy, The Independent, 23 July 2007

 

Rain and erosion pulled sections of several HCMC houses into a canal this month

 A Ho Chi Minh City agency warned Saturday that 35 riverbank areas are likely to collapse after fifteen houses slipped into a canal three weeks ago. The Department of Traffic and Public Works sent an emergency memo to the municipal government listing sites in six districts that were on the verge of tumbling into rivers and canals.Districts 8, 9, Can Gio, Nha Be, Binh Chanh and Binh Thanh were all listed. Tran The Ky, head of the department’s waterway traffic section, said Nha Be is the most at risk.The 15 houses previously lost collapsed into Binh Thanh District’s Thanh Da Canal in late June and early July. No one was injured, but experts have warned that a major truck route running alongside the canal – Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street – could also collapse if no action is taken.The ground between the canal and Xo Viet Nghe Tinh is splitting, with large cracks creeping as close as 1 meter to the road.The area has been hit by six landslides that have killed two people since 2002. The canal embankment had been zoned for reconstruction prior to this year’s mishaps, but the project has yet to begin.The city Department of Natural Resources and Environment has attributed the weak ground foundation to the over-exploitation of sand along the canal bank and the rampant construction of houses too close to the water.Story from Thanh Nien News Published: 22 July, 2007

Since mid-June, more than 100 million Chinese have been affected by some of the worst summer flooding to hit the country in half a century. Officials say 425 people have been killed, while 110 are missing. An estimated 3.6 million people have been forced from their homes.

“I have lost everything,” says Pei-tian Peng, a 57-year-old farmer in Anhui Province. “This will be a most difficult year for us,” he remarks as he sits along an embankment of the flooded farmland near his village of Hou He.

Flanked by temporary shelter tents, he stares across the water that now covers his 1.3 acre farm plot – his sole source of income.

Peng is one of nearly 15 million people who have been affected by flooding in Anhui province in recent days. Torrential rains, dumping up to 584 mm of water in a 24-hour time period, have saturated this and many other areas of Huainan Prefecture, where Hou He village is located.

As a result, the residents are looking at a long and trying time ahead. For the time being, many are stuck living in tents with no source of income and little food supplies.

River levels remain dangerously high and the land is so saturated it cannot absorb excess standing water. Experts say the river levels are likely to remain very high for the next month or two, with more heavy rains expected in the coming days and weeks.

This year is considered to have brought some of the worst flooding in more than 50 years. At least 30 people have been killed in Anhui alone, and flooding along the Huai River – the third longest river in China – has already forced the evacuation of more than a half a million residents, while destroying 71,000 homes and 2.25 million hectares of farmland.

Current economic losses are estimated at around $12 billion yuan ($1.6 million USD), a majority of which is accounted for in Anhui.

At the same time, Hubei and Sichuan provinces have also been hit hard by this year’s rains. Hubei, host to a long stretch of the Yangtze River and known as the “Province of Lakes”, has suffered severe flooding since late June. At least 40 people there are dead, with another 11 missing, and nearly one million people affected.

Sichuan Province has seen the highest death toll, with at least 42 dead and 26 missing. Flooding and landslides have affected nearly 1.1 million people and caused the evacuation of more than 300,000 people, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The Xinhua news agency reports that the government is mobilizing nearly 380,000 people, including People’s Liberation Army troops, to provide immediate relief.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) is also responding to the immediate needs of flood victims in 13 provinces, providing supplies worth over 10 million yuan ($1.4 million USD).

A national appeal has been launched by the RCSC, seeking supplies and financial assistance to further help victims in these and other regions.

In Anhui alone, more than 300,000 people are facing shortages of clean water, while concerns are mounting, as the rains continue, that displaced residents will have to cope with long-term food shortages due to extensive destruction of farmland.

“I have nothing left here,” says Peng. “My four children have all left for the big cities to find work,” he adds, commenting on the increasingly common trend of urban migration, which plagues socio-economic stability within China.

The fact that Peng’s family lives in an area that has experienced massive flooding six times since 1991, means his children long ago recognized the risks of trying to follow in their father’s footsteps.

Now without his children by his side, Mr. Peng is left to face recovery and rehabilitation alone.

After surviving weeks of standing water in his home and saturating his land, he will have very little with which to start. His economic hardship will extend into the months and years ahead, as he will try to rehabilitate his land and recover his most basic necessities without a source of income.

Unfortunately, each year floods ravage China’s river basins, and it is the poorest of the poor that suffer most.

They face a worrisome future of food and water shortages, lost homes and possessions, and a lack of means for income generation. With more than 600 million people in China living on the equivalent of, or less than two dollars a day, a constant cycle of natural disasters in China forces even more to fall into, or deeper into, poverty.

This is why long-term community security is also a critical element of the Red Cross’ plan for recovery, including disaster preparedness and risk reduction strategies that include evacuation and mitigation activities, as well as income generation options during and after disasters.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has been supporting the RCSC in developing disaster preparedness programmes year round, and is currently supporting flood relief efforts in Anhui, Sichuan and Hubei through its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.

Last year, the RCSC was able to not only provide immediate relief supplies when severe floods struck, but they also rebuilt 1,200 houses, four schools and 15 health clinics in seven provinces.

For local farmers, like Peng, this type of support is essential for both their short-term and long-term survival. And with more rains in the forecast, it seems the work has only just begun.

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Date: 20 Jul 2007

In recent years, the climate and hydrological situation in Vietnam and over the world is very complicated, unusual, resulting in heavy disaster events as well as human and property loss. According to the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control, in 2006 alone, natural disasters claimed 339 lives, 274 people missing, 2065 injured, caused the total estimated damage of 18,556 billion VND (equivalent to US$1.19 billion). In order to further implement the regulation on the notification of tropical depression, storm, flood and regulation on the notification of earthquake, tsunami warning (promulgated in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision No 245/2006/QD-TTg dated 27 October 2006 and Decision No. 264/QD-TTg dated 16 November 2006), ministries, sectors, localities has been conducting the following activities:

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) already directed the National Hydro-meteorological Service to change the name of the tropical depression and storm forecast bulletin to a more realistic one; increase the number of forecast reports per day and the period of forecasting from 24 to 48 hours. The content of the reports are now more concrete, and able to meet the demand of natural disaster preparedness and mitigation. MONRE also assigned the Institute of Hydro-meteorological and Environmental Sciences the following tasks: Research, make adaptation and addition to the flood warning levels on rivers nationwide for issuance at the end of 2007; Conduct 2 research projects, “Developing the flashflood map” and “Developing tsunami risk map for the coastal areas of Vietnam”, from June 2006 to June 2008. MONRE assigned the National Hydro-meteorological Service to conduct the project “Urgent investment in hydro-meteorological forecasting capacity enhancement, with the focus on storm forcasting, to serve the purpose of natural disaster preparedness and prevention”. This project, consisting of 12 components, will be implemented from 2006 to 2010. Moreover, with a view to implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 16/2007/QD-TTg dated 29 Jan 2007 on the approval of national master plan on natural resources and environment observation network up to 2020, MONRE is expanding the hydro-meteorological and rainfall measuring network, raising the number of existing stations from 951 to 1898 in 2020. 

For further enhancement of the effectiveness of natural disaster forecasting communication, the Prime Minister assigned Ministry of National Defense to improve flare guns and lighting flares informing storm and tropical depression, enhancing their height and brightness when fired into the air. They are expected to be officialy used at the end of 2007 at 80 flare-firing places in the whole country. 

Since the promulgation of Prime Minister’s Regulation on the notification of tropical depression, storm, flood, and Regulation on the notification of earthquake, tsunami warning, many ministries, sectors and localities have worked in cooperation with each other to carry out the assigned duties. (Article 12, 13 and 14 of Regulation on informing tropical depression, storm, flood and Article 11, 12 of Regulation informing earthquake and tsunami). 

However, the progress is still slow and some tasks have not been fully implemented.

According to some scientists, there is a complicated tendency of natural disaster situation this year. Therefore, the active preparedness and mitigation of natural disaster requires the interest and effort of sectors, levels, organizations and individuals. Collaboration is needed in various aspects such as collecting data, issuing forecasting reports, disseminating information, organizing preparedness and prevention activities as well as reviewing lessons after each disaster event.

                                                            

(Nguyễn Trung Nhân – Director of Hydro-meteorological Institute – MONRE)

See more on NDM-P Website : http://www.ccfsc.org.vn/ndm-p/default.asp

 

Nguyen Van Quy, one of four who represented Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange while suing US companies for production of the chemical last month, passed away in Vietnam on Saturday. Quy, born in 1955, together with three other members of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), attended their trial’s appeal at the Second Circuit Court in New York on June 18 in an attempt to obtain compensation from US chemical firms Dow and Monsanto. The trial had been rejected by another court earlier.During the trip in the United States, Quy’s weak health was a major concern for the delegation and the organizers. The tight schedule, usually beginning from 8am to late night, and many long road trips were a big challenge for the ailing Quy. Attributed to Agent Orange exposure, Quy’s stomach cancer had spread to his liver, pancreas and lungs. Before going to the US, doctors had removed three quarters of his stomach and he could hardly eat. He had to have 6-7 tiny meals per day, just a small cup of soup or a little rice each time. He had lost 20 kg since he got cancer and only weighed 37 kg.According to his family, a day after coming back from the US, he began to lose weight very quickly.Because of his asthenic health, in the early morning of July 7, his family took him to the Viet Tiep Hospital emergency room. At 6.28pm, he passed away leaving two deformed children and a young wife. 

The pain

 Everyone in Quy’s hometown, the northern port of Hai Phong, knows Quy’s story and has sympathized with him and his family for years. He was a former solider who operated along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Vietnam’s central highlands region, which was heavily sprayed with Agent Orange.  Life was so hard during the war that soldiers like Quy had to eat whatever plant and drink whatever water they could find along the trail. Normally, people could have survived on Vietnam’s clean spring water, but the soldiers did not know the area had been contaminated by Agent Orange. After the war, Quy got married and his first child was deformed. His wife became worried and divorced him in 1986. He re-married in 1987. His next two children were also deformed. Due to spinal malformation, his first son can only crawl or use a wheel-chair although he is 20. Quy’s daughter, now 18, is deaf and dumb. She is mentally ill and cannot perform even menial tasks. The hindrances have only gotten worse as she continues to grow bigger. During the trip to the United States last month, the delegation found the sick and wheelchair-bound Quy shinning and optimistic. He usually told jokes and never talked about his pain, which  must have been immense in the final throes of cancer. 

American support

 Quy’s sudden death gave many international friends reasons to grieve. From New York, David Cline, former president of Veterans for Peace, cried when he heard the news.During the trips to New York and Washington DC, Mr. Cline always helped Quy walk and they became close friends. Bystanders were often touched when they saw the togetherness of the old soldiers, once foes, now brothers.At a meeting on June 16 at Martin Luther King Labor Center in New York, Cline gave the American Government’s Purple Heart Medal to Quy. “I feel the comradeship with him….I did that to show my respect,” Cline said. Sara Flounders – Director of the International Action Center – sadly said: “Although his health was poor, he still used all of his energy to come here to attend the appeal. It is respectful…”Merle Ratner, a coordinator from Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility, stayed up all night to email Tuoi Tre Newspaper. She wrote “Many of you remember Quy from his visit to New York, California, Midland, Chicago and Washington DC. Quy knew he was in the terminal stage of cancer when he came to the US and his dedication, heroism, and passion for justice in the face of tremendous suffering is deeply moving.” Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 09 July, 2007

Flashfloods caused by Typhoon Toraji that hit two days ago have taken a toll on Vietnam’s northern provinces, destroying standing crops and infrastructure.

Thanh Hoa province was hit hardest with the total losses put at VND10 billion (US$625,000).Lung Niem, Co Lung, Thanh Lam, and Thanh Son communes were badly affected. Over 100 hectares of paddy were lost, major irrigation facilities and four suspension bridges were destroyed, and hundreds of residents were marooned.A flashflood sweeping across Tam Duong district in Lai Chau province destroyed 15 hectares of rice crop, causing losses estimated at VND700 million (US$43,500).A pregnant woman was reportedly injured.In Phu Tho province 100 hectares of paddy were inundated. The flood also heavily damaged major irrigation projects and five concrete bridges.Total losses have been put at VND1.7 billion ($106,000).In Quang Ninh province’s Co To island, seven fishing vessels capsized Thursday. Toraji, the first typhoon to hit Vietnam this year, lashed Quang Ninh Thursday evening before weakening a day later and veering east towards China.Five to six typhoons will likely lash Vietnam this year, meteorologists have warned.

Story from Thanh Nien News – Published: 07 July 2007

Analysis: Heavy rains in wake of Cyclone Yemyin on June 26. 1.65 million people affected by flooding. 300,000 to 400,000 houses destroyed. Baluchistan Province – 132 dead. 250,000 homeless and a further 300,000 displaced. Thousands stranded on rooftops and tree branches. Most of Gwadar city evacuated. Bridges destroyed and damage to main coastal highway. Mirani Dam causes flash floods in Dasht. Kishingi, Bhag and Garani dams also broke apart. Sindh Provice – 110 dead. 50,000-60,000 homeless. 460 villages inundated in Kamber-Shahdadkot district.

The flood started on 2007-06-26 and ended on 2007-07-06, with a duration of 11 days. This flood has severity class 1 (i.e. large flood event with significant damage to structures or agriculture; fatalities; and/or 1-2 decades-long reported interval since the last similar event).

The main cause is Heavy rain. The secondary cause is Tropical cyclone.

See rw_fl_pak070705.pdf

 

HA NOI — The first typhoon of the year made landfall in Quang Ninh Province yesterday and sank at least 5 fishing boats and 2 passenger ships out at sea but no deaths have been reported.

Typhoon Toraji, which in Korean means “a precious flower”, brought wind gusts of 62-88kph and heavy rain, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

The typhoon, which began as a tropical depression, caused rough seas in the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf.

According to initial reports from the provincial authority, in Co To District, at least six fishing boats sunk during the typhoon. So far, there were no reports of death.

Local residents were evacuated from areas threatened by landslides and floods, the provincial authority said.

The typhoon also caused heavy rain and strong winds on Hai Phong City’s Bach Long Vi Island.

The city authority had informed 23,000 fishing boats of the danger, requesting them to shelter on the islands of Bach Long Vi, Cat Ba and Ngoc Hai.

In Cat Hai district, authorities evacuated people near a weak section of a sea dike yesterday.

The weather bureau said the typhoon continued to move in a north-westerly direction, approaching China’s Guangxi Province.

Ha Noi and provinces on the Tokin Gulf saw heavy rains due to the typhoon.

The Prime Minister yesterday issued an urgent message to ask ministries, the National Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control, People’s Committees and relevant offices to prepare measures to cope with the typhoon and limit losses.

The National Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control yesterday also sent an urgent message to People’s Committees and other relevant authorities in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong City ordering vessels to return to shore and local authorities to prevent fishermen from heading out to sea.

Evacuating residents in areas threatened by landslides and floods, and rescuing victims were the most important tasks at the moment. — VNS 06-07-2007