Tag Archives: natdisasters

California’s largest wildfire so far this year was significantly surrounded Monday after blackening a swath of hilly grasslands between San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley. The Corral Fire was 75% contained after scorching more than 22 square miles during the weekend, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. One home was destroyed and two firefighters were injured. …

Lava continued to spurt from a volcano in southwestern Iceland on Thursday but the activity had calmed significantly from when it erupted a day earlier. The eruption Wednesday was the fifth and most powerful since the volcanic system near Grindavik reawakened in December after 800 years, gushing record levels of lava as its fissure grew to 2.1 miles in length. …

The World Health Organization’s emergencies department is facing “existential threats” as multiplying health crises have left it so short of cash that it needed emergency funds to pay staff salaries at the end of last year, an independent report said. It will likely have to ask for funding again to cover salaries up to June, the document, released ahead of …

Indonesian authorities seeded clouds on Wednesday, trying to prevent further rain and flash floods after deluges that hit the country’s Sumatra Island over the weekend left at least 59 people dead and another 16 missing. Monsoon rains triggered a landslide of mud and cold lava from Mount Marapi, eventually causing rivers to breach their banks. The deluge tore through mountainside …

A crewmember’s mistake caused a Singapore-flagged cargo ship to blackout a day before it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March, causing it to collapse, according to a preliminary report from federal investigators. The report, from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), determined that a crewmember of the Dali was responsible for accidentally disabling the vessel’s equipment …

Mount Ibu, a volcano in Indonesia’s North Maluku province, erupted on Monday, spewing thick gray ash and dark clouds 16,400 feet into the sky for five minutes, officials said. “The volcanic earthquakes are still intense so there is a potential for a future eruption,” Hendra Gunawan, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said. After an eruption …

The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 13, local authorities said on Thursday, May 2, 2024, as the state government declared a state of public calamity to handle the dramatic situation. The storms, which have caused the greatest devastation in the state in recent years, also left 21 people missing …

Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano spewed more hot clouds on Wednesday after an eruption the previous day forced the closure of schools and airports, pelted villages with volcanic debris and prompted hundreds of people to flee. Seven airports, including Sam Ratulangi international airport in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, remained closed after Tuesday’s eruption, the second in two weeks. …

Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert Wednesday after eruptions at Ruang mountain sent ash thousands of feet high. Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area. The volcano on the northern side of Sulawesi island had at least five large eruptions in the past 24 hours, Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said. Authorities raised their …

With more frequent natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, it’s important to be prepared for anything, especially if you live in one of the most affected states. There are a few key items everyone should have to ensure they’re prepared in the event of a disaster. We’ve rounded up everything from first aid kits to waterproof bags to emergency …