Natural Disaster Reduction - News & Events

According to the United States Geological Survey, a magnitude 7.2 event occurred at 02:25:06 (UTC) with epicenter located at 3.634°S, 135.477°E, approximately 70 km. South of Nabire, 95 Km west of Enarotali and 3,195 km east of Jakarta. Its depth was registered at 35 km. Preliminary information gathered by the UN Office in Jakarta indicates that at least 11 people have been killed and 65 injured. Some 50 houses have collapsed and several shops, worship buildings as well as government buildings, including power and telecommunications facilities, have been damaged. Telephone communications are down. (...)
Full story // Indonesia Earthquake: Situation map // OCHA Indonesia Humanitarian Update November 2004 // Situation Report 2 - 09.12.2004
More information: UNDP Indonesia Country Office // UNDP DRU & Indonesia

The Philippines, particularly prone to natural disasters, has been struck by a typhoon and topical storm in recent days, bringing widespread death and destruction. First to hit was Typhoon Muifa, sweeping through the Bicol regions and Southern Tagalog, rapidly followed by tropical depression Violeta, triggering flash floods in Aurora province. Muifa subsequently made a second pass through Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Mindoro Oriental provinces, wreaking further havoc. More than 106,000 families (some 573,000 people) have been affected. According to figures from the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), 74 persons are dead, with 96 injured and 62 reported missing; the death toll may rise further as searches continue for those currently unaccounted for. Nearly 21,000 houses are totally destroyed with damage to a further 50,700. Eleven evacuation centres for the homeless have been established by local authorities in the stricken areas. (...)
Full story // Philippines Typhoon & Tropical Storm: Situation map // Effects of Tropical Depression "Winnie" as of December 1, 2004 (Source Government of Philippines)
More information: UNDP Philippines Country Office // UNDP DRU & Philippines

Volcanic activity on Manam Island, Papua New Guinea, "ongoing since October " has recently increased in intensity, affecting all 16 villages on the island and prompting provincial authorities to raise the alert to phase three, and begin the voluntary evacuation of the island. Some of the island's 9,000 inhabitants have already moved to other villages or the mainland to escape the most severe effects of the volcano. The threat posed by the volcano goes beyond the risk of a large-scale eruption, to the less visible but no less serious critical shortage of food and clean water. Evacuation does not automatically solve these problems, as the arrival of evacuees on the mainland will put scarce resources there under severe stress. The government has reported that water rationing is already being imposed in parts of Bogia, on the mainland, where many evacuees are expected to be located. It is expected that relief will be required even following evacuation (in line with the government response strategy). (...)
Full story // Papua New guinea Volcano Eruption: Situation map
More information: UNDP Papua New Guinea Country Office // UNDP DRU & Papua New Guinea

This first pilot course was jointly sponsored by UNDP and WHO/SEARO and developed with the technical input of ADPC. The goal was to promote a comprehensive inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary approach integrating prevention, mitigation, response and recovery into the broad framework of sustainable development of both the health sector and the country. The first D&D was successfully conducted in Bangkok from 1st to 12th of November 2004 with the participation of 24 participants from 9 countries. That first pilot course has been highly successful in terms of sharing of experience and lessons learned, in terms also of identifying a core content for future courses to be developed for other sectors than the health sector. There is an obvious need for promoting a series of D&D courses focusing strongly on public health. It is suggested to open the door to major NGOs such as the Red Cross/Crescent and even to welcome participants from outside the WHO/SEARO Region. (...)
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More information: UNDP DRU & the Asia and Pacific Region // WHO/SEARO - World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia Website // ADPC - Asia Disaster Preparedness Center Website

Photogallery of the First Training Course on Disaster Development, Bangkok, Thailand, 1-12 November 2004

On Sunday November 21, 2004 at 7.41am Dominica was struck by a moderate Earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was about 10km north of Dominica. The preliminary location for the event was 15.77°N 61.44°W. A strong aftershock followed at 09.36am. The quake was also felt in Antigua & Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. The Northern Section of Dominica primarily the Portsmouth District was severely affected by the quake which caused serious structural damage. Assistance to the area has been hampered due to blocked roads leading into Portsmouth. This has been as a result of mudslides from the heavy rains which having been impacting the island since last week. (...)
Full Dominica Situation Report - PDF
More information: UNDP Barbados Crisis Prevention and Recovery // CDERA - Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency Website

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is bringing additional experts to help in the restoration of Grenada. A delegation from the UNDP headed by Secretary General Eleana Martinez met with Prime Minister Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell on Saturday 16th October, 2004 and outlined areas of assistance from the UN. According to Ms. Martinez, the key to rapid reconstruction is ensuring that the public service, as well as organizations and agencies, work together in the implementation of projects. The United Nations has committed specialists in agriculture, disaster recovery and setting up of websites. The UNDP has also offered to support Government efforts in monitoring relief and re-construction activities to facilitate quick action, increased efficiency, accountability and transparency. Ms. Martinez said what is needed at this time is the breaking down of the re-construction process into project-sized packages. This it is hoped would jump-start the economy and get the country back to some normalcy, so that the process of implementing long-term solutions can be initiated.
Full story - PDF
More information: UNDP Barbados Crisis Prevention and Recovery // UNDP DRU & Grenada // CDERA - Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency Website

Costa Ricans are clearing up after a strong earthquake hit the country at 02:02 am on Saturday, 20 November, killing at least eight people. Hundreds of houses were damaged and major highways were cracked in the magnitude 6.2 earthquake, the epicentre of which was located 48 kilometres southwest of the capital city of San Jose. The hardest-hit areas are Quepos and Parrita in the Pacific Coast and the Central Valley regions, where heavy damages to infrastructure and water systems have been reported. In Quepos, ongoing assessments confirm a total of 36 damaged homes and 5 homes that have been totally destroyed as a result of the earthquake and subsequent landslides. The local hospital and some school buildings were also affected. In Parrita, 15 houses and a number of public buildings have suffered considerable damage, and the local police station reportedly collapsed. Power and water supplies in the area remain cut off. Other communities affected include Puriscal, Cartago, Alejuela and some areas of San Jose. (...)
Full story // Costa Rica Earthquake: Situation map
More information: UNDP Costa Rica Country Office // UNDP DRU & Costa Rica

An earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter scale struck Colombia on 15 November, 2004, causing some structural damage and injuring nine people. Although the earthquake was one of the most powerful to affect the country in a century, there have been no reported deaths. According to the Colombian National Institute of Geophysics, the epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 50 kilometres from the coastal municipality of Bajo Baudo, in the department of Choco, which borders Panama. Choco is the poorest department in Colombia and is very prone to earthquakes. The earthquake was registered at 4:06 in the morning, local time. Hours later, 12 aftershocks were reported, the largest of which registered 3.4 on the Richter scale. In the municipality of Pizarro, in the department of Choco, at least four houses were destroyed, 12 houses were damaged and three people were injured. Given the magnitude of the earthquake the damage was relatively small, due in large part to the fact that the area nearest the quake's epicentre is fairly sparsely populated. (...)
Full story // Colombia Earthquake: Situation map
More information: UNDP Colombia Country Office // UNDP DRU & Colombia

United Nations humanitarian agencies are appealing for some US$ 1.8 million for programs to bring emergency aid to 180,000 people in Bolivia's drought-stricken El Chaco region over the next seven months. A prolonged drought is severely threatening the food security, health and nutritional status of children and adults in the Bolivia's southeastern El Chaco region. The acute nature of this year's drought compounds the effects of years of drought in the region and put the region at risk of a major humanitarian crisis. (...)
Read the UN Flash Appeal - PDF // Bolivia Drought: Situation map
More information: UNDP Bolivia Country Office // UNDP DRU & Bolivia

Indonesian Red Cross volunteers and staff are working around the clock trying to get assistance to thousands of people on the island of Alor in eastern Indonesia, approximately 1,100 km east of Bali (putting the island off the north coast of Timor-Leste), which was hit on Friday morning by an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale (US Geological Survey reading). The total population of Alor is approximately 170,000. The epicentre of the quake was approximately 35 km east of Kalabahi, the main town on the island. Aftershocks continue to rock Alor, the latest on Tuesday morning measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale. Following the earthquake 25 people are confirmed dead, 108 severely injured and another 115 suffered lesser injuries. The two latest deaths were attributed to aftershocks on Monday. There are fears that more bodies could be found as rescue workers are able to access outlying areas. (...)
Full story // OCHA Situation Report N° 2 // Indonesia: Earthquake - Situation map
More information: UNDP Indonesia Country Office // UNDP DRU & Indonesia

Colombia has been affected by heavy rains since the beginning of October 2004. As a consequence, floods and/or landslides have occurred in 24 out of 33 departments. The situation is critical in the departments of Atlántico, Bolívar (Cartagena, Achí and San Jacinto del Cauca, in particular), Guajira, Cesar, Córdoba, Magdalena, Sucre and Santander. In the area of la Mojana, department of Bolívar, a dike on the Cauca River broke flooding extensive areas of farmed land and destroying several houses along the riverbanks. According to the National Disaster Response and Prevention Office, 19 people have died and 34 have been injured. An estimated 240,000 persons have been affected of whom more than 65,000 persons in the department of Bolivar alone. Temporary shelters have been opened in Cartagena, particularly for those living in poor neighbourhoods that have a high number of internally displaced persons as a consequence of the on-going armed conflict. (...)
Full story // Colombia Floods - Situation map
More information: UNDP Colombia Country Office // UNDP DRU & Colombia

On 10th September, 2004, a category 4 Hurricane Ivan, approached Kingston, the capital city Jamaica with the deadly force of winds exceeding 140 mph. As Jamaicans of all walks prepared and prayed, the DIPECHO/BCPR sponsored “radar early warning project team” was working with members of the Jamaica met service radar department to “own the eye” of the storm when it came within radar range of Jamaica. This procedure (taking ownership of the eye) is standard practice in meteorological circles, but not-with-standing the hi-tech doppler radar situated in the hills overlooking beautiful Kingston, it had never been done before in the many meteorological events experienced since its installation in 1999. (...)
Full story - PDF
More information: UNDP Jamaica Country Office // UNDP DRU & Jamaica

Progress in poverty reduction has experienced stark differences among and within regions over the last decade. Overall, South Asia remains one of the world’s poorest regions with the largest number of poor people, despite advances in the 1990s. Also Africa faces enormous poverty with wide-spread stagnation across most countries and an increasing number of people suffering in the 1990s. Poverty has even tripled in the Europe/CIS region combined with dramatic reductions of life expectancy. A more positive trend could be observed in Latin America and the Caribbean, where human development in many places reaches almost the level of rich countries, despite of slight increases in poverty. Countries in East Asia and the Pacific are performing well across the board, with some exceptions, and poverty fell by almost 15%. The 1990s have experienced unprecedented progress in some places, while others have stagnated and reversed to an extent not seen in previous decades. (...)
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More information: Risk Reduction Tools

The recent UNV/BCPR workshop on ‘South-South Cooperation for Disaster Risk Management’ (13th – 16th October) saw over 50 UNVs, disaster management focal points from seven countries (Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Iran), BCPR and UNV Secretariat officers converge in Bhubaneshwar (Orissa State, India), to share their experiences on the role of UNVs within DRM in the region. Though the emphasis was on the UNV mechanism within the DRM Programme in India, experiences of UNVs within DRM in other countries of the region were also shared. (...)
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More information: UN Volunteers website // UNDP India Country Office // India & the DRU

On 7 September 2004, Hurricane Ivan, one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the Caribbean region in the last 10 years, ravaged Grenada with rain and winds of 220 kilometres per hour. 'Ivan,' a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, left behind an unimaginable scene of destruction and despair on this tri-island nation of 102,000 inhabitants. Some 37 people died and most of the population of Grenada was affected to a greater or lesser extent. Of the six parishes, St. Andrew, St. David, St. Georges and St. John were completely devastated, and the destruction is very striking in all remaining parishes as well. Approximately 90% of the houses were damaged or destroyed; according to government estimates, some 50% of the population is now homeless. (...)
Read the UN Flash Appeal - PDF
More information: ReliefWeb Grenada Latest News

The aim of this Flash Appeal is to mobilize resources for emergency relief and early recovery needs of the Haitian people following the disastrous floods of 17-18 September 2004, which affected areas of the north-west of the country, particularly the towns of Gonaïves and Port-de-Paix. It covers a period of 6 months, from October 2004 to March 2005. Emergency sectors identified are: Food, Health/Water & Sanitation, Agriculture, Education, Early Recovery/Shelter & Infrastructure, and Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. This document has been elaborated in close collaboration with the Government of Haiti and NGOs. According to the official figures from the Civil Protection Directorate, 1,514 people have been killed, 952 are still missing, and 2,600 were injured. The total number of people affected to one degree or other is estimated to 298,926. This is the basic figure used in the appeal except where sectoral analyses are already sufficiently advanced to allow a more precise estimate of victims and therefore already a more targeted response. (...)
Read the UN Flash Appeal - PDF
More information: ReliefWeb Haiti latest news