Top 10 Natural Disasters of the Year - Essay Example

? Top 10 Natural Disasters of the Year About 32.4 million people lost their homes as the result of natural disasters that occurred last year. According to the statistics released by Norwegian Refugee Council, 98 percent of these disasters are weather related. It has been observed that poor population of the world suffers more when any natural disaster strikes the world. Natural disasters especially floods have been the source of disrupting the lives of millions of people each year. 90 percent of the death occurred due to natural disaster that take place in the developing where poverty and lack of resources increase the suffering of people. 10 natural disasters that have made people homeless, children orphan and has taken the lives of millions in the year 2013 are: Chad, Drought (June2012- February 2013) Mindanao floods, Philippines (January)   Yunnan earthquake, China (March)  Guangdong Storm, China (March) Sichuan Earthquake of China (April) Argentina, Buenos Aires floods (April) Namibia, Drought (May) Hubei Flood, Guan gong, China (May) Patuakhali cyclone, Bangladesh (May)  Sichuan Flood, Gansu, China (June) (Aspi, 2013) Chad, Drought (June2012- February 2013) In 2012 Chad experienced the worst drought in its history. From 2010 about five regions of the country have been affected by drought. During this time the production of cereal reduced to 50 percent of the country’s production in 2010’s. To worsen the situation the neighboring countries cut the supply of food and the income on which the citizens of this region rely on. Almost 18 million citizen across Africa faced hunger as a result of this step. It was the poor governance of the concerning authorities and the low quality infrastructure that increased the difficulties of the people affected from drought. Mindanao floods, Philippines (January) It was due to the heavy rain and flood that about 100,000 people got displaced in Manila, Philippines. According to the report presented by National Reduction and Management Council about 23,886 families and 100,994 people flee from their homes due to bad weather conditions. About 5,912 families and 26,828 people were living in 46 evacuation centers across Philippines whereas 19,974 families and 74,166 people were staying with their friends or relatives. Properties worth 71 million were damage as the result of this flood. Assistance worth 3.27 million was provided to the residents affected by flood. Yunnan earthquake, China (March) The area of South Western China that killed hundreds of residents, destroying the houses of hundreds of people also forced people to migrate to a safer place. This earthquake affected a wide area including Yunnan. The magnitude of this earthquake as recorded by the China Earthquake Administration was 5.9 whereas the magnitude reported by U.S. geological survey was 5.9. The China Earthquake Information Administration while citing the provincial civil affair department of Yunnan said that 5 people died as the result of this earthquake and about 17 were injured in the cities of Deqen and Shangri-La. The condition of six injured people is still serious. This earth quake destroyed 600 residential units and around 55,000 of these units were damaged. The flood caused around 9,000 residential units to relocate. Guangdong Storm, China (March) Typhoon Usagi arrived in the province of Guangdong in the south of China, bringing along winds at 165 km per hour accompanied by massive storm and heavy rain and flooding a wide area. At least 25 of the residents died on the first day in the city of Shanweim present in the province of Guangdong. The storm destroyed 7000 homes and around 80,000 people were evacuated from the residential units present in province Fujian. The storm also caused transport network disruption in the southern area China. This Typhoon before hitting Guangdong has been the cause of a number of fatalities in Taiwan and Philippines as well. Sichuan Earthquake of China (April) The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit the Lushan Country area located in Sichuan Province present in South China on April 20, 2013. The epicenter of the earthquake was located near the Lushan City at the depth of 13 kilometers. By May around 196 people were killed, 655 were displaced and 14, 785 were killed. Moreover, 2.1 million residents were affected by this natural disaster as 193,000 houses collapsed and 510,000 residential units were extremely damaged. Several townships were damaged and electricity units present in the affected areas were damaged to a significant extent as well. April 27 was declared the day of mourning by the government of China. On that day the entertainment of the public was forbidden and a 3 minute long siren was wailed to mourn the loss of earthquake. Argentina, Buenos Aires floods (April) Several flash floods were experienced by the Buenos Aires province of Argentina that took the lives of around 80 people. Greater La Plata was affected the most claiming 72 lives whereas 8 deaths were recorded in Greater Buenos Aires. It was considered to be the worst flooding in the history of La Plata. This flooding occurred as the result of extremely heavy rainfall. By May, about 219 more fatalities were recorded with the relation to the flood in La Plata. The power cut in La Plata lasted for almost 15 days affecting around 70,000 households. This power failure also occurred in two of the hospitals of La Plata whereas the rail system of this area was badly affected too as a result. The loss to the economy of Argentina as per calculation was approximately 104 million dollars. Government offices and schools were closed all across La Plata. Namibia, Drought (May) The cereal crop output of Namibia suffered a severe decline in the year 2013. Due to excessive raining, the average production of cereal declined to about 50 percent during the same period. Due to the lack of water the livestock condition also deteriorated. On May 17, an emergency situation was declared by the president owing to the ongoing situation of the country. The international community was appealed for assistance by the president. The amount requested by the president for assistance was 33.7 million dollars. In September around 1 million dollar was donated by Algeria in the form of food. Over 300,000 people in Namibia were categorized as food insecure and 4,000 livestock present in the area died. Around 1 million people of the total population of 2.3 million suffered from extreme level of food insecurities. The harvest of the year 2013 as estimated by the Namibian government was 42 percent less than the last year. Hubei Flood, Guangdong, China (May) Around 7 million people were affected as the result of several rounds of flood in Guangdong province of China. The flood relief activities in Guangdong and in the province of Hubei were supported by the Red Cross Society in China. By 10 June around 10 people were reported as dead in the province of Hubei. Moreover, 110,000 people were evacuated from the affected area of the province of Hubei. 261,200 hectares of crop were damaged because of this flood, around 2, 194 houses collapsed and 5, 077 residential units were damaged in the flood affected area. The total people affected as the result of this flood were 278, 200 and the total crop damaged were 21,500 hectares. Patuakhali Cyclone, Bangladesh (May)  On May 31, 2013 the nation’s storm alert was raised to level seven by the government of Bangladesh. Building such as hotels and other private places were labeled as evacuation centers. The armed and air forces of Bangladesh were placed on standby for the relief and rescue operation. 15,770 shelters were prepared for evacuees in almost every part of the country. US $3,800 was allocated in funds by the nation’s disaster management authority (Aspi, 2013). Mahasen struck Bangladesh on May 16, 2013 causing heavy rain and winds striking in at 95 kilometer per hour. The strength of the storm was weaker than anticipated but the heavy rainfall preceded the cyclone causing thereby flood. In some areas of country the rain worth a month fell in a single week. Relief and rescue effort started soon after the storm ended. Around 17 people were killed as the result of the storm. 49, 178 houses were destroyed and around 45, 825 were severely damaged. Moreover, the country’s livestock faced heavy damages too. The government allocated US $13 million for the relief of the victims. Sichuan Flood, Gansu, China (June) On May 31, 2013 it rained heavily on the province of Gansu, present in China. The storm was the part of the series of the natural disaster that occurred from May 31 to June 6. Around 34 people were killed and 183 were injured because of the flood. 154,000 people and 201 villages were affected because of this flood. According to the preliminary statistics of the government 2,148 houses collapsed and 13,000 hectares of crop got affected. The power was interrupted for around eleven hours in some part of the country. The government as well as the private organization responded immediately to this natural disaster as shelters were provided to the evacuees and they were safely evacuated from the danger zone. Reference Aspi, A. (2013). Top 10 disasters in 2013: A glimpse into recovery and preparedness. Retrieved December 5, 2013, from World Division: http://www.worldvision.org/news-stories-videos/2013-top-natural-disasters Read More