NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

nancyk58 · July 22, 2010

News on 22 July 2010 - HAITI plus BP oil spill

NEWS on 22 July 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

Swedish SVT: HAITI: THE IMF CANCELS / WRITES OFF 268 MILLION $ OF HAITI's DEBT

The International Monetary Fund, the IMF, has written off / cancelled 268 of earthquake-struck Haiti's debts.

The IMF asked the world community not to forget its pledges for financial aid to Haiti amounting to 5.3 billion dollars within the next 1.5 years.

German ARDtext: THE IMF WRITES OFF / CANCELS HAITI's DEBTS

6 months after the powerful earthquake in Haiti, the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) has cancelled 210 million Euro of Haiti's debts. The IMF also adopted a new aid programme to support the reconstruction in Haiti.

By the earthquake in January 2010, more than 200,000 people were killed, and a large part of the infrastructure was destroyed.

In the days following the earthquake, the head of the IMF, Mr. Strauss-Kahn had pledged to cancel (some of) Haiti's debts.

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Swedish SVT: FEARS OF A TROPICAL STORM IN THE GULF OF MEXICO HAS STOPPED THE WORK IN CONNECTION WITH PLUGGING THE LEAKING OIL WELL.

BP may have to open the oil well again in the worst case. If so, the oil will leak out into the Gulf of Mexico again.

USA's national hurricane center warns that a storm at the Bahamas may develop into a tropical storm. Next week-end it will sweep across Florida and may reach the disaster area in Louisiana on Sunday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10729485

STORM DANGER STOPS BP SPILL WORK / SPILL SITE TROPICAL STORM WARNING / TROPICAL STORM COULD HIT SITE OF BP OIL SPILL

22 July 2010 Last updated at 20:08 GMT

BP workers in the Gulf of Mexico have stopped drilling a relief well and are preparing to evacuate the oil spill site as a tropical depression nears.

There is a 20-30% chance of tropical storm force winds of 39mph (63km/h) or more at the spill site by Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center says.

Because of the slow-moving vessels at the spill site, evacuation plans are already well under way.

Work on the relief well could be suspended for up to two weeks.

A "packer" - a plug used during storms - has been placed in the relief well to stabilise it.

The damaged well is currently closed off while an integrity test is carried out to see if there are weaknesses in the well or ruptures in the sea bed.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other experts had been "encouraged" by the results of the well integrity test so far.

Senior BP official Doug Suttles has emphasised that a week with no new leakage has improved the situation on the surface, with skimmers picking up vastly reduced quantities of oil.

Skimming has gone from 25,000 barrels of oil a day before the cap was put on to just 56 barrels on Wednesday.

"A great deal of the oil that was on the surface has been collected or was dispersed with help from mother nature," he said.

The government is to reopen one-third of the closed Gulf fishing areas, as oil has not been observed for 30 days.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has announced he will take his family to Florida's Gulf Coast on the weekend of 14 August.

The government's incident commander Thad Allen and BP have joint responsibility for deciding whether to leave the well shut during a storm, or to open it and allow oil to gush out into the sea.

The tropical depression is over the Bahamas but is travelling west-northwest at 15mph. It could become a tropical storm later in the day. Storm warnings are in force in the Bahamas and on much of the Florida coastline.

A reconnaissance flight was sent to investigate the depression. There is a 5-10% chance that winds at the spill site could reach 58mph (93kph) or more.

Shell Oil has already begun to evacuate employees stationed out in the Gulf.

A US Coast Guard ship, the Decisive, is heading to the spill site.

"It's a controlled chaos out there," Lt Patrick Montgomery told the Associated Press news agency.

'STATIC KILL'

Permission for BP to test the integrity of the well was conditional on close seismic, acoustic and visual monitoring - all of which would have to stop during the evacuation as ships and remote-operated vehicles moved out of the potential path of the storm.

The first relief well is only 4ft from the damaged well horizontally, but more work needs to be done before it can be used for a "kill" to stop the flow permanently.

A final piece of casing needs to be cemented in place at the bottom of the relief well.

Once the weather improves, a "static" kill - pumping mud into the top of the well through the new cap - could be done as an intermediate measure.

BP would need a weather window of two to four days to place the final bit of casing, cement it and then carry out the static kill operation, Mr Wells said.

The cap applied last Thursday stopped oil leaking from the well for the first time since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April.

Eleven workers on the BP-leased rig were killed and the oil caused one of America's worst environmental disasters.

The New York Times has reported that a safety survey by the Lloyd's Register Group found pieces of equipment on the Deepwater Horizon Rig - which belonged to Transocean - had not been tested since 2000, despite guidelines recommending testing every three to five years.

"As part of Transocean's unwavering commitment to safety and rigorous maintenance discipline on all our rigs, we proactively commissioned the safety survey and the rig assessment review," Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said in an e-mail to the Associated Press.

"A fair reading of those detailed third-party reviews indicates clearly that while certain areas could be enhanced, overall rig maintenance met or exceeded regulatory and industry standards and the Deepwater Horizon's safety management was strong and a culture of safety was robust on board the rig."

From other news sites

MSNBC: Gathering storm halts Gulf relief well work

Yahoo! UK and Ireland: Storm forces Gulf oil spill ships back to port

Christian Science Monitor: Tropical depression races toward BP's leaky well

Telegraph: BP oil spill: tropical storm threat halts clean-up

Washington Post: Oil spill workers prepare to evacuate as storm approaches Gulf of Mexico

nancyk58 · July 23, 2010

NEWS ON 23 JULY 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

Danish DR1 + TV2 NEWS + German ZDFtext: TROPICAL STORM THREATENS OIL CLEAN-UP OPERATION

The second named tropical storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season is now a reality near the Bahamas.

According to prognoses, the tropical storm "BONNIE" may hit BP's leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The US National Hurricane Center said last night that Bonnie has reached a speed of 65 km per hour.

Prognoses show that the storm will move from the Bahamas around the southern Florida before turning in north-western direction and finally hitting central parts of the Gulf of Mexico including the BP oil spill site.

The tropical storm is expected to hit Louisiana's and Texas's coasts Saturday morning.

nancyk58 · July 24, 2010

News on 24 July 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 24 JULY 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

Danish DR1 and TV2 TTV: THREE EARTH QUAKES HIT THE PHILIPPINES

Three powerful earthquakes hit the PHILIPPINES early Saturday, but there is no report of casualties. The quakes were measured at magnitudes between 7.3 and 7.4 on the Richter scale and occurred in a depth of between 575 and 605 km under the surface of the sea about 100 km from COTABATO City in the south-western part of the Phiippines. According to the Tsunami Alert Centre on Hawaii, no destructive tsunamis were generated due to the quake. The first quake was recorded shortly after midnight in the night between Friday and Saturday.

Swedish SVT: THREE POWERFUL EARTHQUAKES SHOOK THE PHILIPPINES

Three powerful earthquakes in a row hit the southern part of the PHILIPPINES. They reached magnitudes of 7.3 to 7.5 earlier Saturday morning according to seismologists. No tsunami alert was issued, and there was no report of casualties. Such powerful earthquakes may cause widespread destruction. The quakes occurred at sea. The epicentre was 10 miles southwest of COTABATO City on MINDANAO and 575 to 605 km down in the earth's crust, according to the US Geological Survey, USGS.

German ZDFtext: THREE EARTHQUAKES SHOOK THE PHILIPPINES AND INDONESIA

Saturday morning, three earthquakes shook the PHILIPPINES and the neighbouring INDONESIA. The earthquakes occurred off the Filipino island of MINDANAO with magnitudes of 7.3 to 7.6, according to the US Institute of Geophysics. There was no report of casualties, and no tsunami alert was issued.

The Philippines and Indonesia are situated on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire with 100 earthquakes per year.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/196897/after-magnitude-69-quake-aftershocks-shake-mindanao

AFTER MAGNITUDE-6.9 QUAKE, AFTERSHOCKS SHAKE MINDANAO

Mark D. Merueñas, GMANews.TV - 07/24/2010 | 03:07 PM

(Update - 8:10 pm) At least four more aftershocks, one of them measuring a powerful magnitude-7.1, rocked parts of Mindanao Saturday morning after a magnitude-6.9 quake rocked the same area early Saturday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the first quake was recorded at 6:08 a.m. at magnitude 6.9, and was tectonic in origin.

Its epicenter was traced to 94 km southwest of Cotabato City, and was felt at Intensity II in Surigao City and General Santos City.

Phivolcs also said the first aftershock was recorded at 6:51 a.m., and measured at magnitude 6.7. Its epicenter was traced to 97 km southwest of Cotabato City, and was felt at Intensity II in Butuan City and Surigao City.

A second aftershock was recorded at 7:15 a.m., and the epicenter was traced to 98 km southwest of Cotabato City. It was tectonic in origin and measured at magnitude 7.1.

The magnitude-7.1 quake was felt at Intensity IV in Tanjay City and San Jose City, Negros Oriental; Intensity III in General Santos City; Lingig, Surigao del Sur; San Jose and Hamtic, Antique; Irosin in Sorsogon and Sorsogon City;

Intensity II in Cotabato City; Kidapawan City; Dipolog City; Tacloban City; Davao City; Legazpi City; Cagayan de Oro City; Cebu City; Dumaguete City.

The quake was felt at Intensity II as far as Manila and Antipolo Cities.

Phivolcs said a possible source of Saturday morning's tectonic quakes was the deformation of the subducted slab of the Molucca Sea Plate.

NDCC: NO REPORTED DAMAGE DUE TO QUAKES

Despite the powerful earthquake and aftershocks, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said it has not yet monitored any damage in affected areas as of Saturday afternoon.

“There is no damage. Although it’s 6.1 intensity, there are no reported damage in the Cotabato City areas," NDCC executive officer and concurrent Office of Civil Defense administrator Benito Ramos told reporters on Saturday.

He added that even minor damage were not seen in buildings near the epicenter, although NDCC personnel are still monitoring areas affected by the earthquake.

“We have people there. It’s just a little shake and it did not cause damage. We did not even see cracks (on structures)," he said.

Philvolcs officials earlier said that damage due to the tectonic earthquake was unlikely, and likewise allayed fears of a tsunami resulting from the tremors.

USGS RECORDS MORE AFTERSHOCKS

The United States Geological Survey measured the second aftershock at magnitude 7.4.

The USGS also said a third aftershock was recorded at 9:44 a.m., at magnitude 5.3.

It said the epicenter was at 90 km southwest of Cotabato, 135 km south-southeast of Pagadian, 170 km west-northwest of General Santos City, or 930 km south-southeast of Manila.

USGS recorded a fourth aftershock at 1:35 p.m., measuring it at magnitude 6.2.

It said the epicenter was at 135 km south-southwest Cotabato; 175 km west of General Santos City; 180 km south of Pagadian; or 975 km south-southeast of Manila.

LBG/JV, GMANews.TV

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German ZDFtext and ARDtext, Danish TV2 TTV and Swedish SVT:

TROPICAL STORM WEAKENED - THE WORK AT THE OIL SPILL SITE RESUMED

The tropical storm "Bonnie" which stopped the work in connection with fighting the oil pollution in the Gulf of Mexico has weakened to a low-pressure area. According to the US Hurricane Center, the tropical storm "Bonnie" lost power on its way over the US state of FLORIDA.

The nearing storm stopped the work at the leaking oil well temporarily - vessels and the oil rig over the leaking oil well had been moved to safer places. Now the work has been resumed.

BP also postponed the relief well drilling.

The "Deepwater Horizon" oil drilling rig sank in April 2010 after an explosion which triggered the worst US oil disaster.

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German ZDFtext and ARDtext: PERU DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY DUE TO VERY COLD WEATHER - A "COLD WAVE"

Peru's government has declared a state of emergency in 16 provinces due to the very cold weather / the cold wave. This means that aid can reach the needy population more rapidly according to Peru's Ministry of Health. Since the beginning of 2010, the cold weather in the Andes state has cost more than 400 human lives including the lives of 211 children younger than 5 years old.

Since May 2010, the situation in regions located in an altitude of more than 3,000m has clearly become worse. In the highland provinces, the temperatures in some areas fell to minus 24 degrees Celsius.

nancyk58 · July 25, 2010

News on 25 July 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 25 JULY 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

Swedish SVT Text: 10 VIETNAMESE DEAD AFTER BAD WEATHER (FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES)

Floods and landslides have cost at least 10 human lives in the mountainous, Vietnamese provinces in the North close to the Chinese border. Cloudbursts have followed the ravage of typhoon Chantus in the past week.

The province Ha Giang is worst hit with 5 dead according to the authority in charge of disaster management in Hanoi.

Water masses carried some of the victims away, while landslides buried other victims.

In the 5 northern provinces, up to 300mm of rain fell since Thursday. The result: Hundreds of buildings are under water, roads are damaged and crops are destroyed.

Swedish SVT Text: CHINA HIT BY FLOODS

CHINA has evacuated more than 100,000 people due to heavy rain and rivers overflowing their banks, state media reported on Saturday.

China is threatened by the worst floods in a decade. So far in 2010, more than 1,100 people have been killed or reported dead according to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao who spoke on state TV. In the TV report Wen Jiabao walked in knee-high water from the Yangtze river.

BBC: OIL SPILL VESSELS RETURN TO SITE

(also mentioned on SVT, Danish DR1 + TV2 News as well as German ARDtext + ZDFtext)

Ships involved in the effort to secure BP's blown-out oil well are preparing to resume work after a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico weakened and dissolved / disintegrated over the Gulf.

Coast Guard chief, Adm. Thad Allen says the storm put back efforts to drill a relief well by 7 to 10 days.

But he said the operation to plug the well by pumping mud through the cap that has stemmed the flow of oil could start in 3 to 5 days. Experts say that choppy seas will have broken up some of the slick.

nancyk58 · July 25, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters - also from 25 July 2010

German ARDtext: 21 KILLED BY BAD WEATHER IN INDONESIA AND 8 KILLED BY BAD WEATHER IN VIETNAM

Bad weather has cost at least 21 human lives in INDONESIA. The worst incident occurred on the island of BURU in the MALUKU province in the eastern part of the country where a LANDSLIDE swept several houses away and 18 were killed according to a spokesman for the disasters management. On the island of BORNEO a FLOOD cost 3 human lives.

In northern VIETNAM 8 people, including a 3-year-old girl, died due to a FLOOD and due to LANDSLIDES. The TYPHOON “CHANTHU” or rather what was left of it caused these deaths.

nancyk58 · July 27, 2010

NEWS ON 26 JULY 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

German ARDtext: LUOYANG, CHINA’S ANCIENT CAPITAL THREATENED

According to Chinese television, the floods in CHINA threaten the historic ancient capital, LUOYANG in central China. It has been necessary to close a place which is part of UNESCO’s (the United Nations’ cultural organization) world heritage. LUOYANG was the seat of power for several dynasties of Chinese emperors until sometime in the sixth century.

Since the beginning of 2010, floods in China have cost 823 human lives, and 437 are missing. 700,000 have been forced to leave their homes, and 48,000 houses were destroyed.

nancyk58 · July 27, 2010

News on 27 July 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 27 JULI 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

German ARDtext: MORE THAN 60 DEAD IN JAPAN DUE TO THE HEATWAVE

Due to extreme heat in the past two months in Japan, at least 60 have died. 57 of them died sometime last week from a heatstroke, according to the authority in charge of disaster management.

As many as 15,000 with problems have been hospitalized due to the very long period of hot weather.

Japan has had an unusually hot summer since the rainy season ended at the beginning of July. Last Sunday the temperatures in most regions rose to at least 35 degrees Celsius.

Swedish SVT: BRIDGE COLLAPSED IN CHINA - 37 DEAD

An accident with a bridge collapsing into a Chinese river filled with water caused 37 human lives, and 19 are missing according to a Chinese newspaper on Tuesday. The bridge in Luanchuan in the HENAN province collapsed Saturday evening. People walking on the bridge fell down into the river which was filled with an enormous amount of water. The torrent / current was violent after weeks of heavy rains, according to the Chinese newspaper DAHE on its website.

So far in 2010, 750 people have died in floods and landslides in China. Hundreds are missing.

nancyk58 · July 28, 2010

News on 28 July 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 28 JULI 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

Danish TV2 TTV: CHINESE DAM UNDER HEAVY PRESSURE

A new flood has hit the already hard-hit dam at the Yangtse river after heavy rain. The water level in the reservoir has reached 158m – the capacity of the reservoir is 175m.

The authorities have warned villages lying further down the river that they should prepare for an increase in the water level as the great floodgates in the dam release large amounts of water.

More than 823 are feared dead in floods in central and southern China after the heaviest rain for more than a decade in the area.

nancyk58 · August 1, 2010

News on 31 July 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 31 JULY 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10826105

31 July 2010 Last updated at 19:16 GMT

PAKISTAN FLOODS 'KILL 800' PEOPLE AND AFFECT A MILLION

The UN's Manuel Bessler in Pakistan says many areas are cut off.

The worst monsoon floods in living memory have killed at least 800 people and affected one million in north-west Pakistan, a local official has said.

Rescuers are struggling to reach inundated areas where transport and communication are down.

Peshawar, the area's largest city with a 3m-strong population, is cut off.

At least 60 people have died across the border in AFGHANISTAN where floods affected four provinces.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier) province, announced the latest death toll. Earlier, he described the floods as the province's worst ever.

Manuel Bessler, the head of the UN's Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) in Pakistan, told the BBC about 1m people's lives had been disrupted.

He could not say with certainty the full scale of the emergency in Pakistan, as he was having trouble reaching his own offices in some of the worst-affected areas.

UN aid workers were helping to co-ordinate efforts to provide shelter, health care, drinking water and ready-to-eat food rations, he said.

There was concern, he added, that swollen rivers running south would carry the floods to provinces like Sindh where heavy rain was forecast in coming days.

WASHED AWAY

The government declared a STATE OF EMERGENCY as Pakistan's meteorological department said 312mm (12in) of rain had fallen over the last 36 hours in the north-west - the largest amount for decades.

The districts of Swat and Shangla have been inaccessible with people left homeless and helpless after several rivers burst their banks, washing away villages, roads and bridges. Some 45 bridges were washed away in Swat alone.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet, who is travelling through some of the worst-hit areas, says at least half a million people remain marooned on islands of high ground, while others have taken refuge in mosques and schools.

TV footage taken from helicopters flying over the flooded landscape showed people clinging to roof-tops as raging torrents swept through the streets.

Military and rescue workers have been using helicopters to deliver essential supplies to areas that have had transport and communication links cut off.

Some 17 helicopters were in action to airlift people out of the worst affected areas on Friday and more were being deployed over the weekend.

Swathes of farmland have been inundated, and some power supplies have been cut after people were electrocuted by the water-borne current.

Many of those hit hardest by the flooding are the rural poor who live in flood-prone areas because they cannot afford safer land.

Pakistan has not made a formal request for international aid, but it is understood that it has appealed to donors to help it respond to this disaster.

AFGHAN EFFORT

In Afghanistan, the national army said it had rescued 5,000 people over the past three days, using helicopters, vehicles and bulldozers.

The provinces of Laghman, Nangarhar, Kunar and Logar have all been hit by the bad weather.

There were plans to deliver food and medicine on Monday but the mountainous terrain was hindering the effort.

In Eastern Logar province, a provincial spokesman told the BBC that 10 people had been killed overnight. Nomad communities had lost tents and livestock, he added.

In Kama, Nangarhar, local resident Haji Baqi told the BBC: ''We lost all of our food.

"I lost three wheat harvests, our bridges have been destroyed. We want the government to come and help. What will people eat for the rest of the year? Where is the government? When are they going to help us.''

Lyse Doucet BBC News, Khyber- Pakhtoonkhwa province

This is the proverbial end of the road: what was once the traditional trunk highway running south is now a massive lake.

Further back, it's clogged up with traders and families who've been stranded on the road for days. They are trying, hoping against hope, that they can still move south, but a lot of them are turning back. The road simply isn't passable.

We've seen whole families passing on foot, grandparents and parents carrying children and possessions on their heads.

So many Pakistanis here say they haven't had any help from the government or relief agencies. And yet we see the military helicopters going overhead occasionally.

The Pakistani army and rescue services say they're trying to reach people, but the scale of this disaster is such they simply don't have the resources.

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German ARDtext on 31/7: PAKISTAN: MORE THAN 870 DEAD (maybe as many as 900 dead)

Worst flood since 1929. 1 million people affected according to information given by the United Nations. Fears of epidemics.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10828039

31 July 2010 Last updated at 14:33 GMT

RUSSIA MOBILISES 240,000 TO FIGHT DEADLY WILDFIRES

Almost 240,000 people have been mobilised across Russia to tackle wildfires that have killed at least 30 people, officials say.

The military has pooled resources with firefighters; the emergencies ministry said 25,000 engines were being used.

But with temperatures forecast to hit 40C (104F) in some areas, the ministry has warned more fires are likely.

Several villages and swathes of forest have been destroyed, but officials say they are now on top of the situation.

"The fire situation in Russia is under control," the ministry said in a statement.

Firefighters are currently battling blazes in 14 of Russia's 83 regions, and many thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes.

Internet users across the country had been complaining bitterly on forums that the firefighting effort had concentrated on Moscow at the expense of other regions.

PUTIN's PLEDGE

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday visited a Volga village where all 341 homes were destroyed by flames, leaving 500 people homeless.

He told distressed residents of Verkhnyaya Vereya that the village would be rebuilt before winter.

"You are not being forgotten," he said, promising 200,000 roubles (£4,200) in compensation for each person affected.

"All the houses will be built by winter," he added. "I promise you that the village will be restored."

The government has earmarked 25bn roubles for the national emergency effort.

It is estimated that a fifth of Russia's wheat crop has now died due to the lack of rain in what is thought to be the country's worst drought for more than a century.

Temperatures reached a record 39C (102F) in the capital on Thursday, with health experts warning of pollution levels 10 times higher than normal safety limits due to the thick pall of smoke from nearby wildfires.

Hundreds of people have drowned over the past two months in an attempt to cool off in the record heat, with 170 such deaths recorded in Moscow alone, medical sources told Interfax news agency.

The high toll has been partly blamed on drunkenness and the use of poorly equipped beaches.

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German ARDtext on 31 July 2010: MORE THAN 274 INJURED AFTER EARTHQUAKE IN NORTH-EASTERN IRAN

274 have been injured in Iran as a consequence of an earthquake in north-eastern Iran. As many people have been trapped in the ruins, it is likely that someone died, said the prefect of the county Torbat Heidarieh. The tremor caused "substantial damage" in the region. Many villages have been 50% or 100% destroyed.

The tremor had a magnitude of 5.7.

The epicentre was between the towns of Baigh and Torbat-Heidarieh in a depth of 7 km.

In southern Iran there was a new earthquake on Saturday. There is no report of casualties.

nancyk58 · August 1, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters on 1 August 2010

NEWS ON 1 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ 1 August 2010 Last updated at 14:16 GMT

PAKISTAN FLOOD DEATH TOLL 'PASSES 1,000'

The number of people known to have been killed by floods in north-west Pakistan has passed 1,000, officials say.

About 30,000 troops have joined the relief effort, with large parts of the north-west submerged by the worst monsoon rains in memory.

There are also fears that with more rain forecast for the next 24 hours, some areas face further threats.

The main north-south motorway has partially reopened, raising the prospect of aid reaching those trapped.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in the capital Islamabad, says officials fear that once access to affected areas improves, the full picture will show that the situation is much worse than known so far.

A spokesman for the disaster management authority of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province - formerly known as North West Frontier Province - said an aerial survey was being conducted to determine the full extent of the flooding.

"It has shown that whole villages have been washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have been washed away," said the spokesman, Latifur Rehman.

"The destruction is massive."

BRIDGES DOWN

The Pakistani government says 19,000 people in the worst-hit areas had been rescued by soldiers by Saturday night, but that thousands more remained stranded.

About one million people in the north-west of the country are estimated to be affected by the flooding.

Among the hardest-hit areas are:

The districts of SHANGLA and SWAT, where at least 300 people have been killed and many bridges washed out

PESHAWAR, NOWSHERA and CHARSADDA, where at least 700 people have drowned

And the NEELAM VALLEY, IN Pakistani-administered KASHMIR, which has been cut off by landslides.

There have been reports that the flood water is receding in some areas but officials fear that relief operations could be hampered by more rain, with a new monsoon system forecast to arrive in the next 24 hours.

Officials are concerned that more heavy rains could push the flooding south into Sindh province.

Military and rescue workers have been using helicopters to deliver essential supplies to areas that have had transport and communication links cut off.

"Virtually no bridge has been left in Swat. All major and minor bridges have gone, destroyed completely," said army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas.

The army has deployed 43 helicopters and over 100 boats to try to reach people still trapped by the floods, said Mr Rehman.

The Chairman of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, Gen Nadim Ahmed, said it would be necessary to rely on helicopters to shift people and drop aid supplies for some time.

He said the UN was responding to a request for help with food, shelter, water and sanitation and medicines.

The US has also provided about 50,000 meals, four rescue boats and two water-filtration units, said US and Pakistani officials.

The American embassy in Islamabad said it would be providing 12 temporary bridges to replace some of those knocked out by the flooding.

There have been complaints from some that emergency shelters have been inadequate or even non-existent in some areas.

Relief agencies have also warned that there is a RISK of DISEASE in the flood-affected areas.

"There is now a real danger of the spread of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, asthma, skin allergies and perhaps cholera in these areas," said Shaharyar Bangash, the head of operations in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa for the aid charity World Vision.

As well as the more 1,000 deaths in Pakistan, at least 60 people have died across the border in AFGHANISTAN, where floods have affected four provinces.

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All news media around the world cover Pakistan's floods and their consequences.

German ARDtext: The European Union will grant 30 million Euro in prompt aid to Pakistan. The German government pledges 1 million Euro.

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Danish DR1 TTV: SEVERAL THOUSANDS ARE WAITING FOR HELP / AID IN NORTH-WESTERN PAKISTAN

Several thousand are waiting for help in north-western Pakistan where massive floods have cost more than 800 human lives. The rescue operation is running very slowly. Many boats are destroyed, and there is lack of petrol / gasoline according to Pakistan's newspaper "Pawn".

According to Pakistan's authorities, at least 19,000 have been rescued from the worst-hit areas.

Motorways, railways and bridges are under water. Lack of petrol / gasoline, food and drinking water in PESHAWAR.

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Danish TV2 NEWS: PAKISTAN DEATH TOLL IS NOW 1,100

This info is given by Pakistan's authorities Sunday. Refugees are packed into public schools and buildings with insufficient food and beverages. According to relief organizations there is a RISK of DIARRHEA and OTHER DISEASES.

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Danish DR1 TTV: UNITED NATIONS: WORLD COMMUNITY HAS GONE BACK ON ITS PLEDGES TO HELP HAITI

The world community has gone back on its pledges to help Haiti. 6 months after one of the worst natural disasters in modern times, less than 2 per cent of the pledged 31 billion have reached the rebuilding unit run by the UN on the Caribbean island, says the Danish newspaper "Politiken".

The United Nations' humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, Nigel Fischer raises the alarm: The rebuilding is too slow. Currently, 1½ million Haitians are living in tents. We have to speed up the work, but we cannot do that, because the donor countries will not make the pledged amounts available, he said.

ALSO mentioned in the news, LIVE from DANISH television

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International news media all report from THE WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA

News from Danish television: The russian wildfires are spreading. One fire is almost 12 kilometres from the capital, MOSCOW.

nancyk58 · August 2, 2010

NEWS ON 2 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10834414

August 2010 Last updated at 15:40 GMT

'2.5M PEOPLE AFFECTED' BY PAKISTAN FLOODS, OFFICIALS SAY

The US government has been dropping food parcels by air.

Up to two-and-a-half million people have been affected by devastating floods in north-west Pakistan, the International Red Cross has said.

Rescuers are struggling to reach 27,000 people still cut off by the floods, which are the worst in 80 years.

At least 1,100 people have died and thousands have lost everything.

"In the worst-affected areas, entire villages were washed away without warning by walls of flood water," the Red Cross said in a statement.

There are fears DIARRHOEA and CHOLERA will spread among the homeless. Food is scarce and water supplies have been contaminated by the floods.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the Information Minister of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province), one of the worst-hit regions, said rescue teams were trying to reach 27,000 stranded people, including 1,500 tourists in the Swat Valley, the scene of a major military offensive against the Taliban last year.

"We are also getting confirmation of reports about an outbreak of CHOLERA in some areas of SWAT," he added.

The Pakistani military says it has committed 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters to the relief effort, but winching individuals to safety is a slow process.

The army - which says it has rescued 28,000 people in recent days - predicts the initial search and rescue operation will take up to 10 days, says the BBC's Orla Guerin, who has been on board a military helicopter over the Swat Valley.

But the army says rebuilding the damaged areas could take six months or more.

A spokesman for the UK-based charity SAVE THE CHILDREN told the BBC that the INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE in SWAT may be worse than in the earthquake which devastated the region in 2005.

"We fear that in places that have not been accessed as yet there are people that were trapped, and there is a possibility of more deaths taking place," the spokesman said.

FULL PICTURE

As well as the more 1,000 deaths in Pakistan, at least 60 people have died across the border in AFGHANISTAN, where floods have affected four provinces.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says the biggest challenge for the emergency services is access, as so many areas had their transport and communication links destroyed and are now isolated.

Officials in Islamabad fear that once access to affected areas improves, the full picture will show that the situation is much worse than is so far known, our correspondent adds.

Floodwaters receded in some areas as weather conditions improved on Monday, but more rain is now forecast.

Part of the main north-south motorway into the region was re-opened on Sunday, before reportedly closing again. The brief opening allowed some aid supplies into the flooded area while also permitting people to flee.

The rain may have stopped but huge swathes of north-west Pakistan remain submerged, with many of those affected still stranded and waiting for help.

There have been complaints from some survivors that the government response has been slow and inadequate.

Several hundred people took part in a protest in the north-western city of PESHAWAR, where homeless survivors have crammed into temporary shelters.

"The government is not helping us," said 53-year-old labourer Ejaz Khan, whose house on the city's outskirts was swept away by the floods.

"The school building where I sheltered is packed with people, with no adequate arrangement for food and medicine," he told AFP news agency.

Shariyar Khan Bangash, the regional programme manager for the aid organisation World Vision, based in Peshawar, said survivors of the worst-affected areas were desperate for drinking water.

"All the wells which are providing water for them are full of mud," he told the BBC. "Among the children the DIARRHOEA has started already, and CHOLERA."

Yet more rain predicted for flood-hit areas of Pakistan

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply saddened by the significant loss of lives, livelihoods and infrastructure in Pakistan", and offered an extra $10m (£6.5m) in aid for the relief effort.

The UK government's Department for International Development has said it is providing £10m for the Pakistan relief effort.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: "I know many British people are deeply concerned by the terrible suffering caused by the ongoing monsoon floods in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan is leading the relief efforts and the UK is ready to help in any way we can."

Earlier, the US also promised the government $10m in aid.

The US embassy in Islamabad said Washington would also be providing 12 temporary bridges to replace some of those destroyed by the floods.

At the scene

Orla Guerin BBC News, on army helicopter in the Swat Valley :

From the air we've had a clear view of the destructive force of the monsoon rains.

Muddy brown waters have submerged fields, bridges and roads, destroying crops and devastating communities.

In some areas we've seen people wading, chest-deep, through the floods. In

others, only the tops of trees have been visible.

We went to the city of Nowshera, one of the worst affected areas, where we saw several lakes - including one which covered the polo ground. Mud and rubble lined the streets.

We met people at a temporary camp who said they were being helped by the army, but they were worried about the future.

Danish DR1 TTV: DANCHURCHAID: ENORMOUS NEED FOR AID AFTER FLOODS IN PAKISTAN / TV2: DANISH RELIEF AND AID UNDER WAY TO PAKISTAN

DanChurchAid has granted DKK 750,000 to the victims of the very heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan. The rain caused the worst floods in more than 80 years. More than 1 million need help / aid. According to estimates, about 2,000 have died due to the floods. Worst hit is the Khyber region in north-west Pakistan.

Secretary-General Henrik Stubkjaer expresses fear of an outbreak of epidemics. A prompt relief effort is decisive, says Henrik Stubkjaer. This amount of DKK 750,000 is going to finance 10,000 food rations, 2,000 kitchen sets, soap, mosquito nets, 2,000 hygiene kits and 2,000 tents. Danish Red Cross sent DKK 1 million to Pakistan.

Danish ChurchAid's local partners are on site in the worst-hit areas to help the needy population, says Emmeline Managbanag, the organizations vice-director.

German ARDtext + ZDFtext: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon offered an extra $10m (£6.5m) in aid for the relief effort, said one Ban spokesmen.

The EU has granted 30 million Euro, and the German government has granted 1 million Euro. 100,000 have been made homeless by the floods.

German ZDFtext: SURVIVORS ASK FOR HELP

After the devastating floods in Pakistan, the rescue teams are very busy trying to rescue the many people who are crying for help. The government has sent at least 30,000 soldiers to the disaster area. Survivors complained of insufficient / inadequate help: "We need tents", demanded villagers from Kamp Koroona in Nowshera county, one of the worst-hit regions./COLOR]

Hundred villagers waited for help - in the middle of a motorway that passes Kamp Koroona - in temporary shelters made of plastic tarpaulins and blankets.

Danish DR1 TTV: EMERGENCY MANAGER: WORSE THAN EARTHQUAKE

- 2 August 2010 at 14:31 o'clock

Smashed infrastructure makes it difficult to rescue the many stranded / trapped people after the floods in Pakistan. Red Cross' country chief in Pakistan, Asif Kahn, is concerned about the situation:

- The situation is very grave. Most of the big cities, provinces and districts are badly affected, so I fear the long-term consequences. Freedom of movement is curtailed, the water is contaminated leading to diseases, so the days ahead will be challenging, he says.

Malaria and dehydration

He even fears that this disaster will exceed the earthquake that hit Pakistan in

2005 in scope:

- The earthquake killed 70,000 people. This time, the death toll is not just as high, but the whole country is affected by the floods here, while the earthquake hit a restricted area, so I fear that the disaster will be bigger in the long term, says Asif Kahn.

One of the problems he fears are sequelae.

- It's extremely hot. People have no shelter, and in the nights, the mosquitoes come, so we fear that many people will get malaria. And we fear that people will dehydrate or become sick because the water is polluted / contaminated and they have to drink it, "says Asif Kahn .

He says that now the Pakistani government has opened schools and other public buildings for the many people who have lost their homes.

On Sunday, the United States pledged to provide relief for ten million U.S. dollars to Pakistan. And also China, Canada and the EU have promised to send help.

In Denmark Red Cross and DanChurchAid now urge the Danish government to do the same.

-------------------------------

German ZDFtext: WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA: DEATH TOLL GONE UP TO 34

The death toll in connection with the devastating wildfires in Russia has gone up to 34. In 24 hours, 500 new fires were reported according to the EMERGENCIES MINISTRY. Most of them could be extinguished relatively quickly. About 1,500 houses have been destroyed so far. Russia has suffered from heatwave and drought for many weeks. July 2010 has been the warmest July in 130 years. South of Moscow the temperature was over 40 degrees Celsius (centigrades). Close to the Ukraine border by river Don, the temperature was even 41.6 degrees Celsius!

Danish DR1 TTV, TV2 News and Swedish SVT: RUSSIA: STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED DUE TO ONGOING WILDFIRES

Russian President Dmitrij Medvedev declares state of emergency in 7 out of Russia's 83 regions which are hit by the worst heatwave in over 100 years and by wildfires. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets the governors in the affected regions today / Monday to discuss how to fight the massive / devastating wildfires.

At least 34 died due to the fires according to the latest official statement.

Danish TV2 NEWS: 86,000 EVACUATED FROM WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA

The number of evacuated people might rise in the coming week which - according to meteorologists - will be even hotter with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius in Central and southern Russia. At the same time there will be strong winds with wind gusts of up to 20 m per second.

German ARDtext: RUSSIAN WILDFIRES THREATEN CITIES AND TOWNS

There are ongoing wildfires only 10 km away from Moscow. Large parts of Moscow are enveloped in mist (fog) caused by smoke from the wildfires. At present, there are 7,000 fires ongoing, said head of national crisis center Wladimir Stepanow. Hundred thousand rescuers are active in fighting the wildfires. The Russian-orthodox patriarch, Kyrill asks believers to pray for rain. So far around 40 have died as a consequence of the fires.

-------------------------------

German ZDFtext: USE OF CHEMICALS: US COAST GUARD IS BEING CRITICIZED

In connection with the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the US coast guard is being criticized for having allowed widespread use of chemicals - after a test - damaging the environment.

The US government had decreed minimum use of chemicals. Since the beginning of the oil pollution, more than 6.8 million litres of chemicals have been used, of which about 3 million close to the leak on the seabed.

nancyk58 · August 3, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters on 3 August 2010

NEWS ON 3 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10847793

3 August 2010 Last updated at 15:27 GMT

PAKISTAN FLOODS: RESCUERS AIM TO REACH STRANDED VICTIMS

The BBC's Orla Guerin joined a Pakistani army helicopter crew on a mission into the disaster zone

Rescue teams in northern Pakistan are battling to reach tens of thousands of people cut off by monsoon flooding.

While water is receding in some areas, many communities remain cut off by the region's worst flooding for 80 years.

The UN said 3m people had been affected and more than 1,400 had been killed. The government said some 27,000 people remained trapped and awaiting help.

RENEWED RAIN on Tuesday slowed the relief effort, with criticism rising of the pace of the government response.

The United Nations' World Food Programme says it has provided emergency food for 42,000 people in Pakistan by Monday and that by the end of the week it expects to have helped 250,000 people.

However, WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella said about 1.8 million needed food aid.

On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement vouching support for Pakistan during the crisis:

"Our relationship with Pakistan goes far beyond our shared commitment to fight extremists. The United States government stands ready to continue to assist Pakistani authorities address the difficult challenges posed by this natural disaster," it said.

In the Swat Valley, where reconstruction was under way after a major military operation against the Taliban during 2009, the flooding has brought down bridges and left communities cut off.

The Malakand region, which includes Swat, is among the worst-affected areas, with roads and bridges washed away.

Local official Mian Iftikhar Hussain said rescue teams were trying to reach 27,000 stranded people, including 1,500 tourists in the Swat Valley.

DISEASE SPREADING

Adnan Khan, a relief official in the worst-affected province, Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, told Reuters news agency: "The entire infrastructure we built in the last 50 years has been destroyed."

The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Islamabad says the flooding would be a challenge in any country, but is a growing crisis for a country like Pakistan, already suffering economic woes and a Taliban insurgency.

The return of monsoon rains has grounded helicopters and raised fears of renewed flooding.

Forecasters said rain would continue in the north-west and in southern provinces of Punjab and Sindh over the coming days.

The Pakistani military says it has committed 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters to the relief effort, but winching individuals to safety is a slow process.

Some survivors have complained that the government has responded slowly; several hundred people protested in the city of Peshawar, where homeless survivors have crammed into temporary shelters, and there have been angry scenes in Swat.

In Nowshera district one flood victim, Faisal Islam, told the Associated Press: "We need tents... This is the only shirt I have. Everything else is buried."

Aid agencies say the RISK OF WATER-BORNE DISEASES spreading will remain high until the floodwaters fully recede. Mr Hussain, the regional information minister, said there were reports of CHOLERA emerging in the SWAT VALLEY.

The UN children's agency Unicef said more than a million children needed emergency aid.

Governments around the world have pledged millions of dollars in aid, but there has been no decision yet on whether to launch a global appeal for aid.

At the scene

Aleem Maqbool BBC News, north-west Pakistan

Just as emergency services and the army said they were making some headway, the rains have come again. That has meant an immediate suspension of helicopter flights to stranded people.

We've had about two hours of very heavy downpours. It has just eased up but more are expected in the coming hours - floodwaters could rise again and rivers will burst their banks again. Aid operations will have to be suspended for even longer.

There are many areas the army admits that it has not reached at all. There are several valleys in the north-west of Pakistan where they do not know how many people have died or how much destruction there is. Time is now crucial for those people waiting for aid, who do not yet have food or clean water.

Danish DR1: FLOOD AFFECTS MORE THAN 3 MILLION PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN

UNICEF estimates that more than 3 million people are affected by the floods. The death toll has passed 1,400.

Islamistic relief /aid groups - some of them suspected of having close relations with taliban and other militant groups - distribute food and other necessities. This lays further pressure on the government in Islamabad to demonstrate that it can handle the situation.

Danish DR1 and TV2 TTV: 1 MILLION FLEEING FLOODS IN PAKISTAN

The worst floods for many years in Pakistan have forced about 980,000 to flee their homes, or they have been made homeless by the floods according to estimates made by OCHA, UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in its latest situation report after having examined the conditions in 4 districts in the worst-hit province, Khyber-Pakhtunkwa.

The number of displaced or homeless is expected to rise further as the UN reaches other districts.

At the same time, local authorities expect the death toll to go up. So far 774 deaths have been recorded.

German ZDFtext: MORE THAN 1,400 DEAD BY FLOODS IN PAKISTAN

The flood disaster in north-west Pakistan is becoming more and more devastating according to the UN. More than 1,400 have been killed by the water masses according to UNICEF. More than 3 million people are affected by the floods. On Tuesday, relief organizations and representatives for the government were to decide whether or not to launch a global appeal for aid.The floods are the worst in Pakistan's history.

German ARDtext: UP TO 1,500 FEARED DEAD BY THE MASSIVE FLOODS

According to UNICEF 3 million people in Pakistan need help including 1.4 million children. Worst affected is north-west Pakistan where thousands remain cut off by the floods.

Heavy monsoon rain triggered the disaster. More rain is expected!

____________________________________________________________

Swedish SVT: RUSSIAN WILD FIRES SITUATION WORSENED

Russia has accepted assistance / aid from abroad. UKRAINE and Azerbaijan have offered to provide aircrafts. ESTONIA has also offered Russia its help.

At least 41 have died since the fires started last week in connection with the heatwave in Russia.

German ARDtext: RUSSIA: MORE THAN 400 FIRES

The devastating wildfires in RUSSIA are coming close to the Russian center for nuclear research, Sarov. More than 2,000 fireworkers are at work fighting the fires, and these should be under control.

At least 41 died in the worst Russian natural disaster. The fires are spreading, and there are currently 400 ongoing fires in Russia.

The head of the ministry's crisis centre, Vladimir Stepanov, said municipal bodies in central Russia "must mobilise all their forces, not just sit and wait for fire brigades to arrive".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10850048

3 August 2010 Last updated at 16:15 GMT

FIRES SPREADING IN PARCHED RUSSIA

Russia struggles to contain its disastrous wildfires with military aircraft hangars

near Moscow among sites destroyed by the flames.

Volunteers driving through wildfires are forced to flee from the approaching blaze.

Moscow is mobilising more forces to fight hundreds of wildfires raging across a vast area of central Russia amid a record heatwave.

At least 40 people have died in fires in the past week, and seven regions are under a state of emergency.

Some fires are in danger of getting out of control, the government said.

Officials say a naval aviation storage area outside Moscow burnt down last week, with the loss of an unknown quantity of hardware.

Nobody was hurt but 13 warehouses were destroyed in the blaze near Kolomna, which began on Thursday and lasted into Friday, military prosecutors said.

According to Russian news agency Interfax, the Kolomna depot services aircraft from all of Russian navy's fleets.

Earlier, the defence ministry denied Russian media reports that scores of planes and helicopters had been destroyed.

Elsewhere, extra firefighters went to protect a major nuclear facility at Sarov, in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It was a top secret site in the Cold War.

Many children are also being evacuated from summer camps threatened by fires.

About a fifth of Russia's grain crop has been destroyed and there was another big rise in the price of wheat on international markets on Monday.

No let-up in the record heatwave is expected in the next few days. Temperatures in the Moscow area are expected to hit about 38C (100F) this week.

'OUT OF CONTROL'

At a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said firefighters had managed to protect 360 populated areas in danger of forest blazes.

But he warned that the situation was dangerously unpredictable.

"In some places it is getting out of control and urgent firefighting manoeuvres are needed," he said.

About 155,000 people, including 124,000 emergency workers, and more than 20,000 units of machinery are currently being used to fight the fires across Russia, the minister said.

Most of 323 new fires which flared up on Monday were put out.

However, 529 fires continued to burn on Tuesday over an area of 172,300 ha (425,762 acres), compared with 460 on Monday.

Mr Shoigu confirmed that many of the fires were caused by human negligence.

An eyewitness travelling in forested areas east of Moscow over the past week told the BBC she had seen smokers on a train flick smouldering cigarette butts from windows, and motorists likewise discarding them along roads.

The head of the ministry's crisis centre, Vladimir Stepanov, said municipal bodies in central Russia "must mobilise all their forces, not just sit and wait for fire brigades to arrive".

POOR VISIBILITY

Russian officials say more firefighters are being deployed south of the Sarov nuclear research centre as a precaution.

More than 2,000 people fought a blaze in the area on Monday and 1,000 were still at work on Tuesday in conditions of poor visibility, Mr Shoigu said.

"We hope to bring the situation by Tuesday evening to the level observed the day before yesterday," he added.

Thousands of people have lost their homes in 14 regions of Russia, the worst-hit being Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and Ryazan.

Nineteen of the 40 deaths recorded were in Nizhny Novgorod, the health ministry said.

The STATE OF EMERGENCY was announced in a decree that also restricted public access to the regions affected.

Peat bog fires outside Moscow have shrouded the capital in smog for several days. Doctors say the elderly and toddlers should wear gauze masks outdoors.

More famous for its bitterly cold winters, the giant country's European part normally enjoys short, warm summers.

However, this July was the hottest month on record, with Moscow, which sees an average high of 23C in the summer months, sweltering in 37.8C heat last Thursday.

nancyk58 · August 4, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters on 4 August 2010

NEWS ON 4 AUGUST IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ August 2010 Last updated at 16:16 GMT

MAJORITY OF BP SPILL 'DEALT WITH'

Almost three-quarters of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico has been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces, the US government says.

White House energy adviser Carol Browner said only a quarter of the leaked oil posed any further danger to the environment.

The majority had been captured, burned off or evaporated, she said.

She was speaking after BP announced its "static kill" procedure was working. Barack Obama welcomed the news.

"So, the long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end. And we are very pleased with that.

"Our recovery efforts, though, will continue. We have to reverse the damage that's been done," he said.

A 'BIG STEP'

Speaking on the ABC television network, Ms Browner said: "The scientists are telling us about 25% was not captured or evaporated or taken care of by mother nature."

She said the inter-agency report was "encouraging", but added that more cleanup was necessary.

"This is an initial assessment by our scientists in the government and outside the government. We think it's important to make this available to the public. That's what we'll be doing today," she said

The New York Times said the report from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration indicated it was unlikely beaches along the Gulf of Mexico would be covered by surfacing oil in the future.

And although the report may claim residents along the Gulf will not see their beaches coated with oil, Ms Browner warns we may continue to see effects from the disaster.

"Mother nature will continue to break it down. But some of it may come onshore, as weathered tar balls. And those will be cleaned up. They can be cleaned up. And we will make sure they are cleaned up," she said.

Meanwhile, BP says the "static kill" of its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well has worked, a big step towards sealing it.

On Tuesday, the oil giant began pumping a drilling fluid known as mud into the well from vessels on the surface.

Experts believe the mud will force the oil back down.

Workers stopped their static kill procedure after eight hours to monitor the well and make sure it remained stable.

BP said well pressure was being controlled by the pressure of the mud, which was "the desired outcome".

A 18,000ft (5486m) relief well is also currently being drilled, which BP will use later this month to perform a "BOTTOM KILL" procedure.

Retired Coast Guard Adm Thad Allen said mud and cement would be injected into the bottom of the damaged well as the last step in the process to permanently stop the leaking oil.

"There should be no ambiguity about that. I'm the national incident commander, and this is how this will be handled," Adm Allen said.

Efforts to kill the well are becoming increasingly important as hurricane season approaches in the Gulf.

Oil began flowing into the Gulf after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in April. Eleven workers were killed in the blast.

The leaking oil was stopped on 15 July when BP closed a new cap it placed on the leaking well.

An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked into the waters of the Gulf during 87 days, with only 800,000 barrels being captured.

----------------------------------------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10866439/ 4 August 2010 last updated at 17:18 GMT

PAKISTAN FLOODS: RAIN BRINGS MORE MISERY

The BBC's Orla Guerin joined a Pakistani army helicopter crew on a mission into the disaster zone.

Poor weather is bringing more misery to Pakistan as authorities battle to contain record flooding, with yet more heavy rain forecast.

Rain is falling in parts of the north and east, with villages badly damaged and crops destroyed in fertile PUNJAB.

Meanwhile bloated rivers are carrying the floodwaters south.

Many of the displaced are openly and angrily asking why President Asif Ali Zardari is on a visit to the UK such a time of crisis, correspondents say.

At a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told ministers to speed up relief efforts, the AFP news agency reported.

The army insists it has mounted an effective rescue operation and says aid is now reaching those hit by the floods.

But thousands of displaced living in makeshift camps are still waiting for food and water - and say they do not expect it to come from the government but private individuals from neighbouring districts.

About 1,500 people are feared to have died and aid agencies say some three million have been affected by the flooding.

'BREADBASKET' HIT

The rain is still falling in several parts of Pakistan and BBC Weather forecasters suggest it will continue over the next few days, before a predicted let-up at the weekend.

The rain is further swelling rivers, bringing flood torrents towards the south of Pakistan, which had until now been spared the worst of the damage.

In the populous eastern province of PUNJAB - known as Pakistan's "breadbasket" for its rich agriculture - hundreds of villages have been ravaged by floodwaters, the Associated Press reports.

The army has used boats and helicopters to evacuate stranded villagers to higher ground.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Nadir Zeb said on Wednesday that at least 30,000 people had been rescued from KOT ADDU and nearby areas in PUNJAB over the previous 72 hours - but he warned that more evacuations would be necessary given the forecasts for more rain.

"People must co-operate with us, and they must leave those areas where floods are going to hit," he said, according to AP.

As the massive volume of water moves south, there are fears about crucial hydroelectric power stations being critically damaged and dams bursting.

In the flood-hit areas of the north-east, emergency services here say far more people have been stranded than previously thought.

Many of those displaced by the floods are still waiting for contact from the official aid operation or politicians.

Local Islamic charities have been stepping into the breach, with unconfirmed reports that they include some with links to militant groups.

Where some aid has arrived, large crowds have gathered and the aid dispersal is chaotic, causing a lot of FRUSTRATION, correspondents say.

'LET DOWN'

Pakistan's opposition leader Nawaz Sharif heaped more pressure on President Zardari as he added his voice to criticism over the president's trip to Europe this week.

The visit comes amid a diplomatic row with London over remarks by the UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Zardari is not expected home until he has launched his son's political career on Saturday in the British city of Birmingham.

"We have been let down very badly by Mr Zardari. We have been let down more by him than the statement by David Cameron," Mr Sharif was quoted as saying by AFP.

Mr Sharif also criticised the government's response to the crisis.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in north-west Pakistan says millions of dollars of international aid - from China, the US, the UK and the United Nations - is arriving in the country. But he says that so many are affected that the aid figures seem small.

German ZDF: GERMAN RED CROSS: CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN PAKISTAN'S FLOODED AREA

The flood victims in Pakistan are angry because they find the government's aid / help much too slow. Hundreds of them demonstrated in the town of NOWSHERA in one of the areas worst hit by the floods. They demanded better supplies / distribution of food and medicaments. According to German Red Cross there have been cases of cholera.

According to estimates made by aid agencies more than 3.2 million people are suffering due to the worst floods for 80 years. So far 1,500 have died.

Danish DR1: THE FLOODS IN PAKISTAN BECOMING WIDESPREAD

Floods in Pakistan are becoming more widespread hitting larger parts of Pakistan.

The death toll goes up, and the number of homeless rises as well. Today water masses have destroyed hundreds of villages in PUNJAB in central Pakistan. At least 47 have lost their lives in Punjab. The death toll for all of Pakistan has passed 1,500 people.

Major cities like KOT ADDU have been hit. In many areas, the water level is so high that only the treetops and upper storeys/floors of houses are visible.

More than 30,000 have been evacuated from KOT ADDU the last couple of days. More rain is expected in the next couple of days! ______________________________________________

Swedish SVT: RUSSIA'S SITUATION WITH WIDESPREAD FOREST BLAZES STILL BAD

The death toll in connection with Russia's wildfires have risen to 48 after 8 were found in burnt-down houses. This disaster has the highest death toll since 1972 when more than 100 died in forest blazes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10871997 / 4 August 2010 - last updated at 16:08 GMT

MEDVEDEV SACKS OFFICERS OVER RUSSIA FIRE FAILURES

BBC's Richard Galpin: "Twelve houses here have been completely destroyed"

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has sacked several top military officials for failing to stop wildfires from destroying a naval base outside Moscow.

He made the announcement after halting his summer holiday to return to Moscow for emergency talks on the wildfires.

Seven regions are under a state of emergency as the fires, which have killed 48 people, continue to rage.

To the east of the capital, firefighters are battling blazes near a major nuclear research facility in Sarov.

As a precaution, all nuclear materials have been removed from the site, which is about 400km (250 miles) to the east of Moscow.

"All explosive and radioactive materials have been taken away," Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's nuclear agency, said after attending the emergency meeting of the national security council chaired by Mr Medvedev.

Mr Kiriyenko said there was no risk of a nuclear disaster, and that the primary concern was the threat to expensive equipment and the suspension of important work.

"I can guarantee that even in an extreme situation with squalling winds there is no danger to nuclear security, no threat of radiation, explosions, or environmental consequences," he said.

PUBLIC REPRIMAND

Having returned to Moscow from his traditional summer break in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Mr Medvedev announced the military sackings during a televised appearance at the Kremlin.

Thursday, flames tore through the naval logistics base in Kolomna, 100km south-east of Moscow, destroying office buildings and warehouses and equipment.

Mr Medvedev said commanders of the base were absent when the fire occurred and that it was "unclear where they were".

As a result Mr Medvedev formally reprimanded the head of the Russian navy, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, and his deputy Alexander Tatarinov, accusing them of a lack of "professional responsibility" over how the fire was handled.

He also said he had ordered the sacking of a swathe of officers including the head

of the Russian navy's logistics division, Sergei Sergeyev, and Nikolai Kuklev, the head of the navy's aviation arm.

Mr Medvedev said many other military sites across Russia were also threatened by the wildfires, and warned that if they were not properly protected by the military there would be more sackings.

"If something similar happens in other places and departments, I will act in the same way, without any pity," Mr Medvedev said.

Thousands of people have lost their homes in 14 regions of Russia over the past few days.

About a fifth of Russia's grain crop has also been destroyed.

On Wednesday morning 520 fires were still burning over an area of 188,525 ha (465,000 acres), Russia's emergency ministry said.

In a 24-hour period, 403 new fires had been recorded and 293 had been extinguished, the ministry added.

Many children are being evacuated from summer camps threatened by fires.

There is expected to be no let up in the heatwave, which has seen record average temperatures, in the next few days, with the Moscow area predicted to hit about 38C (100F) this week.

Peat bog fires outside Moscow have shrouded the capital in smog for several days. Doctors say the elderly and toddlers should wear gauze masks outdoors.

Elena Lezina, an expert at the Moscow state agency that monitors air quality, said pollution in the capital had surged four to 10 times above safe levels on Wednesday morning.

'Negligence'

On Tuesday, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu warned that the situation was dangerously unpredictable.

"In some places it is getting out of control and urgent firefighting manoeuvres are needed," he said.

About 155,000 people, including 124,000 emergency workers, and more than 20,000 units of machinery are currently being used to fight the fires across Russia, the minister said.

Mr Shoigu confirmed that many of the fires were caused by human negligence.

An eyewitness travelling in forested areas east of Moscow over the past week told the BBC she had seen smokers on a train flick smouldering cigarette butts from windows, and motorists likewise discarding them along roads.

The head of the ministry's crisis centre, Vladimir Stepanov, said municipal bodies in central Russia "must mobilise all their forces, not just sit and wait for fire brigades to arrive".

Prosecutors have opened a criminal case against national park officials in the Sverdlovsk region in the Urals, who stand accused of failing to extinguish fires in the area.

nancyk58 · August 5, 2010

News on 5 August 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 5 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

BBC World News: BP starts pumping cement into the top of its damaged Gulf of Mexico oil well as part of its "static kill" procedure.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10878458 5 August 2010 last updated at 13:27 G

SPREADING PAKISTAN FLOODS AFFECT 4m PEOPLE, SAYS UN

"People say they are not getting help from the army or the government"

Pakistan's worst flooding in nearly a century has now affected more than four million people and left at least 1,600 dead, says the UN.

While floods in the north-west began to recede, the vast body of water has been moving down the country into new parts of PUNJAB and menacing SINDH province.

All wells have been contaminated and water-borne diseases are spreading, officials say.

The region is midway through MONSOON SEASON and MORE RAIN is forecast.

The number of affected districts in Punjab has reached seven, while 350,000 people have been moved from neighbouring SINDH province, most of which is on high alert, the United Nations said.

Manuel Bessler, who heads the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Pakistan, told a news conference in Geneva: "What we are facing now is a major catastrophe."

He added: "We are only in the middle of the monsoon season, there is more rain expected. We are afraid it will get worse."

With crops, homes, roads and bridges washed away, the human exodus continued on Thursday as yet more torrential rain fell.

Fleeing villagers have waded barefoot through water up to their necks and chests, carrying belongings on their heads.

Treetops visible

In Punjab, known as Pakistan's "breadbasket" for its rich agriculture, more than 1,300 villages have been affected and at least 25,000 homes destroyed, said disaster relief officials in the province.

In the worst-affected areas, small villages have been submerged.

In large tracts of KOT ADDU and nearby LAYYAH, water levels were so high only treetops were visible.

In Pakistani-controlled KASHMIR, at least 20 people died when a bus plunged into a rain-swollen river, a government official told AP news agency.

At a refugee camp in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North West Frontier) province, Tahir Shah, a doctor, said most patients coming to him were suffering from stomach problems, chest infections and skin problems, caused mainly by dirty flood water.

Meanwhile, forecasters warned of further downpours for the north-west, which has not seen such flooding since 1929.

"The flood water is increasing at different points and we are expecting more rain in the next 24 hours," Hazrat Mir, chief meteorologist for Punjab, told news agency AFP.

President scorned

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sent a special envoy, Jean-Maurice Ripert, to Pakistan to help mobilise international support and aid flood victims.

The army has used boats and helicopters to evacuate stranded villagers to higher ground.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said about 100,000 people have been rescued.

But government and civilian agencies have been struggling to get supplies to the worst affected areas.

Victims have bitterly accused the authorities of failing to come to their rescue and provide sufficient relief.

Particular scorn has been poured on President Asif Ali Zardari because he pressed ahead with a visit to Europe.

Mr Zardari is due to launch his son's political career on Saturday in the British city of Birmingham.

The disaster has piled yet more pressure on an administration struggling to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.

Meanwhile, local Islamic charities with unconfirmed links to militant groups have reportedly been stepping into the breach to help flood victims.

From other news sites:

News24.com: Pakistan floods hit 4 million

AFP via Yahoo!: Pakistan floods hit four million

Telegraph: Pakistan floods spread into populous Punjab

Melbourne Age: Thousands flee as Pakistan floods spread

Reuters UK: Pakistan's Sindh province braces for floods

Danish DR1: PAKISTAN: FLOODS SPREADING

Floods in Pakistan are spreading and approaching the SINDH PROVINCE in SOUTH PAKISTAN, where the largest city - Karachi - is located.

About 350,000 people have been evacuated from the low-lying areas by the INDUS river in the SINDH province.

In the PUNJAB PROVINCE north of the Sindh province, more than 1,300 villages are affected by water masses, and more than 25,000 houses have been destroyed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10881892 / 5 August 2010 - last updated at 12:20 GMT

RUSSIA WILDFIRES STILL SPREADING - 50 DEAD

The BBC's Richard Galpin: "Twelve houses here have been completely destroyed"

Russia is still fighting to extinguish nearly 600 wildfires in an emergency that has now claimed 50 lives.

Foreign reinforcements are arriving, Russian officials say, including two Canadair water-bombing planes from ITALY. UKRAINE and BELARUS are also sending firefighters.

One fire threatens a shelter housing some 1,000 animals in the Moscow area.

The Moscow smog eased on Thursday, though an acrid smell persisted from peat fires burning outside the city.

The Bim charity shelter at Khoteichi, 100km (60 miles) south-east of Moscow, said a forest fire had come dangerously close to the animals' cages. It is home to hundreds of dogs and cats, as well as circus animals, RIA Novosti news agency reports.

No details are available on the number of animals killed in the wildfires, which have spread amid a record heatwave, with temperatures soaring to nearly 40C (104F).

Forecasters expect Moscow's high temperatures to persist for several more days.

On Wednesday President Dmitry Medvedev sacked several top military officials for failing to stop wildfires from destroying a naval base outside Moscow.

He made the announcement after halting his summer holiday to return to Moscow for emergency talks on the wildfires.

Seven regions are under a state of emergency. Russian officials say there are now 589 wildfires raging across 196,000 ha (484,326 acres). More than 160,000 firefighters have been deployed.

KEY INSTALLATIONS AFFECTED

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow, firefighters have been battling blazes near a major nuclear research facility in Sarov.

As a precaution, all nuclear materials have been removed from the site, which is about 400km (250 miles) from Moscow.

A week ago a naval logistics base was engulfed by fire at Kolomna, 100km south-east of Moscow. Office buildings, warehouses and equipment were destroyed.

Mr Medvedev said commanders of the base were absent when the fire occurred and that it was "unclear where they were".

As a result Mr Medvedev formally reprimanded the head of the Russian navy, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, and his deputy Alexander Tatarinov, accusing them of a lack of "professional responsibility" over how the fire was handled.

He also said he had ordered the sacking of a swathe of officers including the head of the Russian navy's logistics division, Sergei Sergeyev, and Nikolai Kuklev, the head of the navy's aviation arm.

More than 3,500 people have lost their homes in 14 regions of Russia in the past few days.

About a fifth of Russia's grain crop has also been destroyed.

German ARDtext: MERKEL OFFERS TO HELP RUSSIA

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel has offered the Russian president Medwedjew German assistance, and Poland has also offered Russia help.

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Swedish SVT: PAPUA NEW GUINEA: A powerful magnitude-7 earthquake shook Papua early Thursday morning. There is no report of casualties or damage to buildings.

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Swedish SVT: FLOODS IN STARVING NORTH KOREA

North Korea is hit by widespread floods that destroyed more than 5,000 houses and agricultural areas (large farmland). The situation with SHORTAGE / LACK OF FOOD in North Korea has worsened, and the country is already hit by a HUNGER DISASTER. The heavy rain in July had a negative effect on the lives of the population, on the railway transportation, on the agriculture and on other economic sectors - according to the state-run news agency KCNA on Thursday.

Deaths should have occurred, but KCNA did not state the death toll. According to UN's estimates, 1/3 of North Korea's children are suffering from MALNUTRITION.

nancyk58 · August 6, 2010

NEWS ON 6 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

BBC WORLD NEWS: UK BROADCAST APPEAL FOR PAKISTAN. BRITISH CHARITIES HAVE LAUNCHED AN APPEAL FOR PAKISTAN.

Danish TV2 News / LIVE: US was allowed to evacuate flood victims in PAKISTAN from flood-affected areas. 1.5 million have been made homeless by the floods.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ 6 August 2010 - last updated at 12:33 GMT

PAKISTAN's FLOODING SWEEPS SOUTH

BBC's Adam Mynott: 'It's a catastrophe...and that's no overstatement'

The worst monsoon rains in 80 years are continuing to sweep from the north-west to south and central Pakistan.

Rivers in SINDH province, home to Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and business hub, are bursting their banks.

Pakistani authorities have evacuated 500,000 people in 11 districts of SINDH and issued warnings to people in low-lying areas of the INDUS river.

Flooding has submerged whole villages in the past week, killing about 1,600 people and affecting another 4.5m.

There is mounting anger at the absence of President Asif Ali Zardari, who left the country for a state visit to Britain to meet the UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

With flood victims bitterly accusing the authorities of failing to come to their aid, the disaster has piled yet more pressure on an administration struggling to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.

And the region is only midway through monsoon season, with more rain forecast.

FRESH DOWNPOURS

A big wave of flood waters has been passing through Guddu barrage in the upper parts of Sindh and is heading down to Sukkur barrage, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says.

Electricity grid stations in the Punjab-Sindh region have been shut down to minimise chances of electrocution.

Officials say they are trying to move about one million people from the riverine region of Sindh.

So far, 263,000 houses have been fully or partially damaged in the two worst affected provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Waters in the Punjab region are now receding but several new villages in the Jaffarabad area have been deluged since Thursday evening.

There have been fresh downpours in the north-west, adding to the misery of over two million people left homeless there by the floods.

About 1.4 million people have been displaced in Punjab, according to a UN spokesman.

'UNPRECEDENTED'

The situation is likely to worsen as the meteorological department has predicted heavy rains in areas already hit by the floods.

"We're forecasting widespread rains in the country, specially in flood-affected areas," Reuters quoted Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, director general of the department, as saying.

Authorities in Sindh have warned of major floods in the next 48 hours along the swollen Indus river.

"It is unprecedented floods in our history," news agency AFP quoted military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas as saying. "We do not have the kind of resources to cope with a situation like this."

Army helicopters have evacuated about 3,000 tourists stranded in the Kalam region of Swat district, which has been cut off after many bridges were washed away by flood waters.

Sixty boats have been sent from Lahore to Multan, in Punjab province, and Sukkur in Sindh province, for evacuation purposes, an army press release said.

Officials say the most immediate needs of the displaced are tents, plastic sheets, food and medicines.

The WORLD BANK said it had set up an AID FUND at Pakistan's request with initial pledges of $80m (£50m).

Meanwhile, 90 people have died in flash floods in the Ladakh region of INDIAN-administered KASHMIR, officials say; nearly 270 people were injured.

The inspector general of Kashmir police Farooq Ahmed told the BBC that the dead included four policemen who had joined the rescue operation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10896849 / 6 August 2010 / last updated at 14:39 GMT

PAKISTAN FLOODS 'HIT 12M PEOPLE'

6 August 2010 Last updated at 14:39 GMT

The worst floods in Pakistan's history have now affected 12 million people, says the government relief agency.

Nadeem Ahmed, of the National Disaster Management Authority, said that figure only applied to the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Figures for Sindh province were not yet available, he added.

It has meanwhile emerged that a charity connected to a group allegedly linked to al-Qaeda has been winning hearts and minds in flood-hit areas.

Flooding has submerged whole villages in the past week, killing at least 1,600 people, according to the United Nations.

And the region is only midway through monsoon season, with more rain forecast.

Flooding has also hit INDIAN-administered KASHMIR, where more than 100 people have died in the Ladakh region.

In Pakistan, authorities have evacuated 500,000 people in 11 districts of Sindh and issued warnings to people in low-lying areas of the Indus river.

According to the Federal Flood Commission, 1.4m acres (557,000 hectares) of crop land has been flooded across the country and more than 10,000 cows have perished.

The situation is likely to worsen as the meteorological department has predicted heavy rains in areas already hit by the floods.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that volunteers belonging to Falah-e-Insaniat, a charity with links to a group blamed for the Mumbai attacks, have been helping flood victims.

Adil Mir, the leader of Falah-e-Insaniat in the city of Risalpur, in Nowshera district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told the BBC his volunteers had helped thousands of people.

Falah-e-Insaniat has close links to Jamat ud Dawa, an organisation linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the jihadist group banned by the Pakistani government following the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.

The BBC's Adam Mynott says the concern is that while the Pakistan government is being widely condemned for failing flood victims, Falah-e-Insaniat has been quick to respond and is quietly recruiting supporters right across the country.

Swedish SVT: NEW CLOUDBURSTS EXPECTED IN PAKISTAN

The floods have so far affected 12 million people. Karachi - Pakistan's biggest city with 17 million inhabitants - is threatened in the coming days. "A potential disaster", so Benoit de Gryse from the organization

Médécins sans frontières (doctors without borders).

Danish TV2 News: Pakistan's prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeals for prompt international aid.

½ million people were on Friday about to be evacuated from the affected areas in south Pakistan.

Swedish SVT: SWEDEN has so far contributed with 94 million Swedish kroner (SEK) in HUMANITARIAN AID to PAKISTAN - before the floods.

Additional 20-25 million SEK will probably be granted to Pakistan. Most of the money will be transfered via various UN organizations.

------------------------------------

German ARD: FLOOD IN INDIA (KASHMIR): MORE THAN 100 DEAD

After Pakistan, now also neighbouring INDIA is affected by the massive floods. According to the police, at least 100 have died due to floods in the Indian part of KASHMIR. At least 340 are injured. In the area around city LEH, sudden heavy rain in the night triggered a flash-flood. Hundreds of houses were washed away by the floods.

Swedish SVT: FLOOD AFTER CLOUDBURST IN INDIA

More than 100 people have been killed in floods after cloudbursts in LEH city in the LADAKH region in northern India. Dozens are missing and more than 400 are injured. Tourist minister Nawang Rigzin Jora describes the devastation as "unprecedented". Floods have isolated LEH. Most main roads have been washed away. Airports are damaged. Military forces are involved in rescue operations. The Indian army has military forces in the LADAKH region because the area borders on CHINA.

Danish DR1+TV2 News: KASHMIR HIT BY FLASH FLOOD KILLING 113 PEOPLE

More than 113 are killed, and hundreds are injured after massive FLOODS triggered by heavy rain in KASHMIR, a corner of INDIA which is popular with tourists.

LEH, the biggest city in INDIA's LADAKH region in Kashmir, experienced a WALL OF WATER, and the authorities describe the devastation as "unprecedented".

The FLASH FLOOD / wall of water swept through parts of LEH in the night between yesterday and today destroying both houses and government buildings as well as damaging the airport in LEH.

Many are missing, and today the search for those missing continued.

TV pictures show devastation similar to the destruction after an earthquake. Buildings have collapsed, the power is down, people are moving round in knee-high mud, trying to dig survivors out of the rubble / ruins.

-----------------------------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10892865 / 6 August 2010 - last updated at 10:47 GMT

CHINA FLOOD FEARS ALONG NORTH KOREA BORDER

China has suspended traffic on the Yalu river, which marks the border with North Korea, because of record rainfall in an area already badly hit by floods.

More than 40,000 people have been moved from their homes in the Chinese border city of Dandong.

RED CROSS workers in NORTH KOREA have reported heavy damage by floods in the east of the country.

They say buildings, bridges and roads have been destroyed, but warnings had enabled many to move to higher ground.

The Yalu river in north-east China has swollen to critical levels after two weeks of unprecedented rainfall, Chinese state media reported.

It has led to fears of mass flooding in NORTH KOREA, which, according to its official news agency, suffered heavy flood damage in July with more than 5,000 houses destroyed.

The Korean Central News Agency said 360 buildings, including clinics, bridges and factories, had also been destroyed and huge swathes of farmland rendered useless by flash floods.

There have been no reports of serious injuries or fatalities, but such information is difficult to verify outside the reclusive state.

A team of RED CROSS workers in North Korea's South Hamgyong province told the BBC that they had witnessed widespread destruction.

Doctors told the Red Cross that a number of people, especially the elderly, were suffering from shock and had "clear symptoms of traumatic stress reactions".

The Red Cross had also heard reports from South Phyongan province that the water system was severely damaged by a reported landslide, leaving an entire city without clean drinking water.

Particularly heavy summer rains in CHINA's north-east have triggered the country's WORST FLOODING in a decade and left nearly 1,700 people dead or missing.

More rain was expected in the region on Friday, according to a spokesman for the flood control headquarters in Dandong, quoted by Xinhua news agency.

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Swedish SVT: WARNING IN MOSCOW AGAINST POISONOUS PARTICLES

Smog covers Moscow, and the situation there is getting worse. In MOSCOW even healthy people are advised to stay inside. The mortality rate in Moscow is stated to have gone up by 50% in June compared to June 2009 - due to the heatwave and the smog / smoke from the wildfires.

Danish DR1: WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA MAY FREE / RELEASE RADIO-ACTIVITY

The wildfires in Russia may constitute a RADIO-ACTIVE THREAT if they are not contained. The fires approach the Brjansk region which is radio-actively contaminated after the CHERNOBYL disaster in 1986.

Emergencies minister Sergej Sjoigu warned that the heat from the fires in the region may free / release harmful particles into the atmosphere. That may result in a new zone of contamination, he told on russian television.

2 fires have broken out / started in the Brjansk region - 400 km south-west of the capital, Moscow, but these fires were quickly under control, the minister said.

The authorities have ordered the removal of all ammunition from military depots in the greater Moscow area - according to the news agency Rio Novosti.

Eyewitness / RUSSIA'S WILDFIRES

Richard Galpin BBC News, Moscow

This is by far the worst day we have had in the capital. The smoke is choking, my eyes are stinging and a lot of people are starting to wear face masks.

The pollution levels are very, very high, it is extremely dangerous and indeed people are actually wearing their face masks inside offices, at home and even in the metro.

The smoke is just seeping into every building here. Indeed, the authorities are telling people that particularly the elderly and children should stay inside as much as possible.

Not only do you get smoke particles in the atmosphere but also a very high concentration of carbon monoxide.

I am just looking now at a guy on a bike who has actually got a full gas mask over his head.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10890557 / 6 August 2010 Last updated at 11:57 GMT

DENSE WILDFIRE SMOG GRIPS MOSCOW IN HEATWAVE

The thick blanket of smog that has shrouded Moscow as peat fires continue to burn just outside the city has worsened.

The smog has disrupted air traffic at two international airports in Moscow - Domodedovo and Vnukovo.

Many Russians are wearing masks as the temperature rises close to 40C (104F).

On Thursday officials said nearly 600 wildfires were raging across a huge area south and east of Moscow. The emergency has now claimed 50 lives.

The smog has been affecting the capital for a week, and appeared to have been easing before worsening on Friday.

Medical experts say the concentration of toxic particles in the air is far higher than the norm, and can be especially harmful to toddlers and the elderly.

Domodedovo and Vnukovo lie in the south of Moscow - areas closest to the peat fires.

Planes were still able to take off normally on Friday but incoming flights were diverted to other Moscow airports where visibility was still acceptable.

At Vnukovo visibility was reduced to 300m, and at Domodedovo it was no more than 400m.

Meanwhile, the level of CO2 in Moscow's air is more than three times higher than normal, officials say.

According to some experts, inhaling the polluted air is as dangerous as smoking

several packets of cigarettes a day.

VAST AREA AFFECTED

One wildfire in the Moscow region is threatening the Alabinsk military base, the RIA Novosti news website reports. More than 1,000 firefighters and two helicopters are trying to douse the flames.

Up to 2,000 homes have been destroyed in the blazes, officials say.

Seven regions are under a state of emergency. Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan and Voronezh are reported to be the worst hit.

On Thursday Russian officials said there were 589 wildfires raging across 196,000 ha (484,326 acres). More than 160,000 firefighters have been deployed.

Forecasters expect Moscow's high temperatures to persist for several more days.

Russia has announced it is banning the export of grain from 15 August to 31 December after drought and fires devastated about a fifth of its grain crop.

nancyk58 · August 7, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters on 7 August 2010

NEWS ON 7 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10897116

MOSCOW UNDER SMOG HEALTH WARNING AS WILDFIRES BURN

6 August 2010 Last updated at 19:10 GMT

Russian health officials are warning people in Moscow to stay inside and avoid physical exertion as smog from the worst wildfires in modern Russian history smothers the city.

Haze and smoke are spreading through Moscow's streets, even seeping into the Metro network, and some people are wearing face masks indoors.

Reports suggest the city's mortality rate rose by at least 30% in July.

The national death toll attributed directly to wildfires is 52.

Nearly 560 fires were still burning across central Russia as of Friday.

Of these, 39 were peat bog fires, 27 of them in the Moscow region alone, accounting for the acrid smoke choking the capital.

Daytime temperatures in Moscow remain close to 40C (104F) with little sign of relenting in the next few days.

The smog has been affecting the capital for a week, and appeared to have been easing - before it worsened on Friday.

Air traffic at two of Moscow's international airports has been disrupted.

In the south of Moscow, visibility at the international airport Vnukovo was reduced to 300m (yards), and at Domodedovo airport it was no more than 400m.

Seven regions are under a state of emergency. Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan and Voronezh are reported to be the worst hit.

Up to 2,000 homes have been destroyed in the blazes, officials say.

Russia has announced it is banning the export of grain from 15 August to 31 December after drought and fires devastated about a fifth of its grain crop.

'MORTALITY RATE RISES'

No data for Russia as a whole have been released on the effect of the heat and air pollution on seasonal mortality rates.

But a Moscow registry office told AFP news agency that the city's overall rate had risen by 50% in July compared to the same period last year.

"We recorded 14,340 deaths in Moscow in July, that is 4,824 deaths more than in July 2009," Yevgenia Smirnova told the agency.

"The increase started in July, as opposed to June when the figures were largely good. The heatwave has certainly had an influence."

The Russian news agency Interfax quoted an anonymous "informed" source as saying Moscow's mortality rate for July had risen by 29.7% directly as a result of the "catastrophic heat and smog".

When the agency's correspondents phoned the city's morgues to obtain a clearer picture of mortality rates, only a few responded, it said.

At one of them, the agency was told that the situation in July had been "twice as bad". At two others, medical staff were so busy, they had no time to speak to journalists.

Medical experts say the concentration of TOXIC PARTICLES in the air is far higher than the norm, and can be especially harmful to toddlers and the elderly.

Those vulnerable also include people with heart or respiratory problems.

The level of CO2 in Moscow's air is more than three times higher than normal, officials say.

According to some experts, inhaling the polluted air is as dangerous as smoking several packets of cigarettes a day.

At the scene / Richard Galpin BBC News, Moscow:

"I am standing just on the edge of Red Square. In front of me is that famous Russian landmark, St Basil's Cathedral, and behind it the clock tower of the Kremlin, and you can hardly see them.

They are so shrouded in smoke that they are disappearing from view, like a lot of the rest of this city.

This is by far the worst day we have had in the capital. The smoke is choking and a lot of people are starting to wear face masks as they walk along the streets.

The pollution levels are very, very high. It's extremely dangerous.

People are actually wearing their face masks inside offices, at home and even in the metro.

The smoke is just seeping into every building. Indeed, the authorities are telling people that particularly the elderly and children should stay inside as much as possible."

----------------------------------------------------------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10900947 / 7 August 2010 Last updated at 14:01 GMT

PAKISTAN ISSUES FLOODING 'RED ALERT' FOR SINDH PROVINCE

Pakistan has issued a red alert as floods that have devastated northern areas sweep south into Sindh province.

Authorities have evacuated more than half a million people living near the Indus river as hundreds of villages have been inundated by floodwaters.

The worst floods in the region for 80 years have killed at least 1,600 people and affected about 12 million others.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari has rejected criticism that he should return from an extended foreign trip.

In a BBC interview, Mr Zardari said the cabinet was directing relief efforts, and he was being kept up to date about the situation.

"I'm the one who's given all the powers from the presidency to the parliament. The parliament is in session - the Senate is in session. It's the prime minister's responsibility, and he's fulfilling his responsibility."

The president said he had secured promises of assistance from the countries he had visited - the UAE, France and the UK.

'CRITICAL PERIOD'

Pakistan's meteorological office has warned that at least two more days of rain are expected in Sindh, where a RED ALERT is in place because of the "imminent" and "extreme" flood threat.

Further downpours are also forecast in the badly-hit north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The continued bad weather has GROUNDED ALL the HELICOPTERS working to deliver aid and rescue stranded survivors, according to Amal Masud of the National Disaster Management Authority.

Prime Minister Gilani called the flooding the worst in Pakistan's 63-year history and appealed for help.

"I would ask the international community to support and help Pakistan alleviate the sufferings of its flood-affected people," he said.

"The next two days are very critical. Our top priority is to rescue people, to save their lives. But we will also provide them all facilities, and we will work for their rehabilitation."

The authorities have so far evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from low-lying areas along the Indus river, much of which is already submerged.

Engineers have also warned that the huge Tarbela and Mangla dams are dangerously close to their maximum levels.

Earlier, a dam in northern Sindh's Kashmore district was breached, inundating large parts of the surrounding area with floodwater and forcing thousands of residents to take shelter on rooftops or in trees. One man told the BBC said his entire village had been destroyed and all its livestock washed away.

The BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Karachi say the authorities are now trying to prevent a breach in another dam downstream, close to the cities of Kandhkot and Kashmore, where nearly half a million people live. A breach would also threaten the Qadirpur gas field, one of Pakistan's largest.

But despite the threat of further deluges, many people have refused to leave their land, crops and homes.

"We are compelling them to evacuate because there is massive danger to their lives," Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said.

Officials say 650,000 homes have so far been destroyed, 1.4m acres (557,000 hectares) of agricultural land has been flooded and 10,000 cows have died.

An official at the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Manuel Bessler, told the BBC that with crops swept away by floodwaters, some Pakistanis might be forced to rely on food aid to get through the winter.

But he said the priorities were drinking water and medical assistance.

The UN earlier said the disaster was "on a par" with the 2005 KASHMIR EARTHQUAKE, which killed about 73,000 people, in terms of the damage to infrastructure and the numbers of people needing assistance.

Many of those affected by the flooding have been critical of the government's response.

"Floods killed our people, they have ruined our homes and even washed away the graves of our loved ones," Mai Sahat told the Associated Press near Sukkur, Sindh. "Yet we are here without help from the government."

Correspondents say that with victims bitterly accusing the authorities of failing to come to their aid, the disaster has piled yet more pressure on an administration struggling to contain the Taliban and an economic crisis.

KASHMIR: Meanwhile in INDIAN-administered KASHMIR, rescue workers are recovering more bodies after the mountainous region of Ladakh was hit by flash floods on Friday.

One-hundred-and twenty people are known to have died and hundreds more are missing. Many buildings were damaged.

At the scene - Orla Guerin BBC News, Sindh province:

"More than half a million people in Sindh province have been evacuated. Rescue missions by the army and navy will continue today.

The authorities have spent several days trying to clear the low-lying areas along the Indus river which are most at risk. Some local farmers were reluctant to leave their land and had to be forced to go.

The floods have overwhelmed vast agricultural areas and the UN has warned there will be long-term effects on Pakistan's food supply. With 12 million people affected so far, officials say the floods are the biggest disaster in the country's history."

Black Rose · August 7, 2010

*thinks of giving Nancy an award in the awards for her posts*

nancyk58 · August 7, 2010

NEWS ON 7 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS, PART II

NEWS ON 7 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS, PART II

German ARDtext: MORE THAN 50 DIED IN PAKISTAN / ALSO INDIA AFFECTED

HEAVY MONSOON RAIN and new LANDSLIDES have cost more than 50 human lives in NORTH PAKISTAN thus worsening the flood disaster further.

So far 1,600 people have died. According to the authorities, as many as 15 million people are affected. So far 650,000 homes have been destroyed, 10,000 cows have died, and more than 500,000 hectares of agricultural land has been flooded according to a spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry.

INDIA - or rather the INDIA-administered Kashmir - has also been affected. More than 130 people have died there.

German ARDtext: FOREST BLAZES / WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA SPREADING. 15 NATIONAL PARKS AFFECTED

In the Russian areas affected by forest blazes, the situation is getting worse and more dramatic.

At least 15 national parks are affected according to the Ministry for Nature Conservation.

According to official statements, so far 92 have been killed in the flames, hundreds have been injured and thousands have been made homeless by the fires.

In south-west Russia, there is a risk that the flames will raise radio-active dust from the Chernobyl disaster. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises the public not to travel into the affected regions.

German ARDtext and ZDFtext: BAD WEATHER WITH HEAVY RAIN IN SACHSEN AND POLAND. 3 DEAD IN SACHSEN. EVACUATIONS IN GÖRLITZ COUNTY

Very bad weather in SACHSEN and POLAND has cost 4 human lives.

3 drowned in Neukirchen in SACHSEN when they tried to rescue their things from their cellar, but they were surprised by rapidly rising water.

In POLAND one person was washed away by a flood.

In GÖRLITZ county in SACHSEN, an alert of disaster was issued. Parts of Zittau city were under water, and the inhabitants were evacuated. According to the police, there are injured and trapped people.

Ulbig, the minister of interior for the German state of SACHSEN, is on the way to the region, said his spokesman.

Heavy rain Friday caused floods in southern Germany where many roads are under water, and cellars are flooded.

German ZDFtext: FLOODS KILLED PEOPLE IN POLAND AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC

After a heavy thunder storm with torrential rain, the Polish city of Reichenau (Bogatynia) at the border between Poland and Sachsen has been almost flooded. One person died. Many inhabitants waited on rooftops for help. The authorities asked for military assistance. Last night it also rained a lot in other parts of Poland.

On Saturday, at least 2 were killed by floods in the northern part of the CZECH Republic. More than 1,000 had to be moved to a safer ground away from the high water / flood.

nancyk58 · August 8, 2010

News on 8 August 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 8 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

German ZDFtext: WILDFIRE DISASTER IN RUSSIA

Soldiers empty / clear a weapon depot. The ammunition depots near Moscow are threatened by the flames. Rockets and artillery have been moved to safe places according to the Interfax agency.

Doctors warn against serious health problems caused by the smoke. Measurements have showed oxid particles in such as CO the air in amounts 4 times as high as normal.

In the area where the major nuclear research facility in SAROV is located - about 400 km east of Moscow - rescuers continue to fight the wildfires. Nuclear weapons and civilian, i.e. non-military nuclear installations have been moved to a safe place according to information given by the government.

Air traffic in Moscow has been disrupted by the smoke from the wildfires. Airplanes have been re-routed.

According to the Emergencies Ministry there are more than 500 on-going fires, more than 52 have been killed, 2,000 houses have been destroyed.

German ARDtext: RUSSIA: WILDFIRES SPREADING

The situation in Russion is getting more dramatic in the areas affected by the forest blazes. There are at least 840 fires. 52 have been killed, hundreds are injured, and thousands have been made homeless. President Medwedjew has called for donations.

Moscow is suffering from the dense smoke from the peatbog fires around the capital. The inhabitants are complaining that they have trouble breathing. Germany will send 100,000 protective masks to Russia.

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Swedish SVT: HEAVY RAIN IN CENTRAL EUROPE KILLED MORE THAN 7 PEOPLE ON SATURDAY

The electricity was down, the traffic was disturbed and the rain triggered floods where Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic meet. One died in the Polish city, Bogatynia, and 2 deaths were reported in the northern Czech Republic, and one died on the other side of the Polish border.

In SACHSEN in South Germany, 3 are reported dead in the cellar of a house for more families in Neukirchen.

Danish DR1: TORRENTIAL RAIN OVER CENTRAL EUROPE HAS KILLED AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE

Sunday, massive floods ravaged South Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. So far at least 10 have died, and many are missing.

German ZDFtext: ALL TRAIN SERVICES SUSPENDED/DISRUPTED FROM SACHSEN TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC

After heavy rain, river NEISSE in SACHSEN has swollen. During the night, after a DAM BREACH in POLAND, the stream/current rose rapidly. Within 3 hours the water level rose by 4 m to a highest level of 7.07m. According to

Sachsen's Flood Centre the water level is expected to rise to 7.20m.

Several areas in county district Görlitz were evacuated. The situation has become more serious after the breach of a dam in POLAND. The situation in Zittau was also critical. At least 8 people were killed in the corner where GERMANY, POLAND and the CZECH REPUBLIC meet.

German ZDFtext: MAN RESCUED OUT OF RIVER NEISSE BY HELICOPTER IN SACHSEN, GERMANY

A totally exhausted 48-year-old man was rescued out of river NEISSE by helicopter early Sunday morning in Ostritz in Sachsen, Germany. The man had clung to a bridge pier in the river, according to German Red Cross. He was discovered by passers-by. A rescuer from the German Red Cross climbed down a 70-m-long rope to the 48-year-old man and saved him from drowning. In Neukirchen in Sachsen, 3 were killed trying to save their belongings in a cellar, but they were surprised by the flood and drowned.

German ARDtext: HIGHEST WATER LEVEL IN GÖRLITZ

In SACHSEN, POLAND and the CZECH REPUBLIC, the situation by the NEISSE river remains dramatic due to high water / flood.

In Görlitz, a historically high water level of 7.07m was measured. The water level has fallen somewhat according to the spokeswoman for Sachsen's Flood Centre.

After heavy rain and the BREACH OF A DAM by Witha Lake, river NEISSE and other rivers in SACHSEN, POLAND and the CZECH REPUBLIC were overflowing their banks. So far at least 11 drowned.

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Danish text-TV: PAKISTAN FLOOD: HEAVY RAIN GROUNDS AID FLIGHTS

Heavy rain in the disaster area in North Pakistan has hampered rescue efforts Sunday in connection with the flood of the century. Helicopter aid flights were grounded. According to Pakistan's meteorological office at least two more days of heavy rain are expected in North Pakistan, where authorities have declared an "imminent" and "extreme" flood threat.

According to the media, floods in North Pakistan have cost additional 173 lives. More than 1,600 flood victims were already recorded. 15 million people are affected by the floods.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10904903 / 8 August 2010 Last updated at 07:36 GMT

FRESH DOWNPOURS HAMPER PAKISTAN FLOOD RELIEF

More heavy rain in Pakistan is frustrating efforts to help about 14 million people affected by severe flooding in much of the country.

Helicopter missions in the north-west have been grounded and a red alert has been issued for the south.

One dam in SINDH province has been breached and engineers are warning that the huge Tarbela and Mangla dams are close to their maximum levels.

The region's worst floods for 80 years have killed at least 1,600 people.

Pakistan's meteorological office has warned that at least two more days of rain are expected in Sindh, where authorities have declared an "imminent" and "extreme" flood threat.

Further downpours are also forecast in the badly-hit north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool says places where floodwaters had receded are now submerged again, and roads that were opened are now closed.

"Things are getting worse. It's raining again. That's hampering our relief work," said UN World Food Programme spokesman Amjad Jamal.

Many helicopter aid flights in the north-west have been grounded by the bad weather.

The helicopters are essential in the region's rugged terrain because the floods damaged or destroyed most of the bridges, cutting off many survivors from relief. In the Swat valley alone, 29 bridges have been swept away.

"The situation is bad, particularly in the SWAT VALLEY, and we have advised people in low-lying areas to vacate their homes as river water levels are rising," said Adnan Ahmed, an official with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's government.

AID APPEAL

The deluge has brought the water levels behind the Tarbela and Mangla dams - two of the world's largest - dangerously close to their maximum, engineers warned.

A dam in northern SINDH's Kashmore district has already been breached, inundating large parts of the surrounding area with floodwater and forcing thousands of residents to take shelter on rooftops or in trees.

One man told the BBC said his entire village had been destroyed and all its livestock washed away.

The floods, brought on by seasonal monsoon rains, began in the north-west, but have now inundated a stretch of Pakistan about 1,000km (600 miles) long, primarily along the INDUS river and its tributaries. Heavy rains in Afghanistan are also expected to swell the KABUL river, which flows into northern Pakistan.

With the flood surge heading south, authorities have evacuated more than half a million people living near the Indus as hundreds of villages have been inundated by floodwaters.

Some people, however, refused to leave their crops and homes.

"Let the flood come. We will live and die here," Dur Mohammed, 75, told the Associated Press in the village of Dadli.

Officials say 650,000 homes have so far been destroyed across the country, 1.4m acres (557,000 hectares) of agricultural land have been flooded and 10,000 cows have died.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's appeal for international aid has been answered, with many countries offering assistance.

The US has diverted helicopters and troops from Afghanistan to deliver AID while NATO has said it will co-ordinate supplies from member countries and partners.

A NATO spokeswoman said it was providing food, mosquito nets, tents, generators and medicines.

The UK's first aid flight arrived in Rawalpindi late on Saturday, with 500 tents to join the 2,000 already distributed.

The head of the British development mission in Pakistan, George Turkington, told the BBC that it had a team of engineers in the north-western city of Peshawar "to look at establishing an emergency bridge-building programme so we can contribute to opening up new access routes".

He said the priorities were water, sanitation equipment, food and shelter.

Our correspondent says much more is needed, with the renewed rains submerging new areas every day.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari has rejected criticism that he should return from an extended foreign trip.

In a BBC interview, Mr Zardari said the cabinet was directing relief efforts, and he was being kept up to date about the situation.

"I'm the one who's given all the powers from the presidency to the parliament. The parliament is in session - the Senate is in session. It's the prime minister's responsibility, and he's fulfilling his responsibility."

APPEAL FROM DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE:

http://www.dec.org.uk/ : Donate Now to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal or call 0370 60 60 900 now.

NEWS from http://www.dec.org.uk / Disasters Emergency Committee:

BRITONS GIVE £ 4M TO PAKISTAN FLOOD APPEAL

6 Aug - Pakistan appeal raises £2.5 million despite tough times

05 Aug - Aid reaches hundreds of thousands in flood-hit Pakistan

04 Aug- Aid delivered in Pakistan as DEC Appeals broadcast in UK

From other news sites

Guardian.co.uk: Monsoon rains threaten to worsen Pakistan's flood crisis

Mirror.co.uk: More rains hit flooded Pakistan

The Independent: Millions in despair as Pakistan floods spread

Mail Online UK: Pakistan puts 13 MILLION people on floods red alert as President Zardari brings UK visit to a close

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Swedish SVT: 2 SWEDES MISSING AFTER FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES IN NORTH INDIA

More than 10 Swedes are currently in the flood-affected area LADAKH in North India according to the press service at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2 of the Swedes have not managed to be in contact with relatives. One likely explanation is that the mobile phone connections do not work properly. The situation in the area is very difficult, and the airport is closed.

According to AFP, 137 are confirmed DEAD, and 500 are MISSING - including the two Swedes - after floods and landslides - triggered by cloudbursts - in the tourist city of LEH in North India in the night between Thursday and Friday. According to the chief of police in the region, at least 5 of the dead were foreign tourists, but their nationalities are unknown.

Danish DR1 + German ARDtext: DEATH TOLL GONE UP TO 137 IN KASHMIR

The death toll has gone up after the massive floods in the Indian part of Kashmir. 400 are still missing.

Rescuers continue to find dead bodies in the mud and in the collapsed houses. A flood swept / washed through the city of LEH and nearby villages on Thursday. Scores of houses in the village of Choglamsar are buried in mud.

Buddhist monks participate with soldiers and the government's preparedness forces in the search and rescue operations.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ 8 August 2010 Last updated at 10:51 GMT

OVER 100 DEAD IN LANDSLIDES IN CHINA's GANSU PROVINCE

The BBC's Michael Bristow: "A wide river of mud has cut a swathe through towns and villages"

LANDSLIDES and FLOODS triggered by TORRENTIAL RAIN have engulfed a town in NORTH-WEST CHINA, killing at least 127 people and leaving 2,000 missing.

Nearly 3,000 soldiers and 100 medics have been sent to assist local rescue teams in Zhouqu, in an isolated, mainly Tibetan region of Gansu province.

More than 45,000 people have reportedly already been evacuated from the area.

Local officials say thick mud, more than 1m (3.3ft) deep in some places, is hampering rescue efforts.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao flew to Gansu after receiving news of the disaster. He said no effort would be spared to rescue survivors.

More than 1,400 people are believed to have been killed this year in unusually severe flooding in central and southern China.

About 1.4m homes have been destroyed, 12 million people evacuated, and 87,600 sq km (22m acres) of crops ruined, officials say.

'WIPED OUT'

The landslides happened late on Saturday following torrential rain in Zhouqu county, officials told the official Xinhua news agency.

Rock and mud slipped down several hillsides and engulfed the town of Zhouqu, which lies in a narrow valley cut by the Bailong river.

"There was thunder and huge rain, and then the landslides started coming down," a resident of Zhouqu told the Reuters news agency.

"That was about midnight, so some people must have been in their homes,

asleep and didn't know what was happening."

The landslides swept mud and other debris into the river, blocking it upstream of the town.

Water built up behind the temporary dam, creating a 3km (2-mile) long lake that eventually overflowed and sent waves of water, mud and rocks crashing down on the town.

The deluge flattened houses and tore several blocks of flats in half. One resident said the fifth floor of his building was submerged at one point. A small hydroelectric power station was destroyed.

Pictures from Zhouqu on Sunday showed scenes of devastation, with mud, water and wrecked cars covering the town as people searched for missing relatives.

"Many single-storey homes have been wiped out and now we're waiting to see how many people got out," Han Jiangping, a local merchant, told Reuters.

"We've had landslides before, but never anything this bad. People are trying to find their families and waiting for more rescuers."

Rescue workers told Chinese state television that the thick mud and wreckage made it impossible to use heavy machinery.

"Now the sludge has become the biggest problem to rescue operations. It's too thick to walk or drive through," said the head of Zhouqu county.

Tents, food and medical supplies are being rushed to the area, but the remote, mountainous location is making access difficult.

Yahoo! UK and Ireland: CHINA MUDSLIDES LEAVE 127 DEAD, 1,300 MISSING

German ARDtext: Half of ZHOUQU county is under water

Swedish SVT: DEATH TOLL GONE UP AFTER LANDSLIDE IN THE TIBETAN "GANNAN REGION" IN THE GANSU PROVINCE IN NORTH-WEST CHINA: So far 127 deaths have been recorded.

Danish Text-TV and SVT: MANY KILLED IN MUDSLIDES TRIGGERED BY TORRENTIAL RAIN IN THE TIBETAN GANNAN REGION IN THE GANSU PROVINCE IN NORTH-WEST CHINA

The mudslides appeared late Saturday evening. The authorities have sent 2,400 soldiers and 100 medical experts to assist the local rescue teams according to the state TV. More than 50,000 people have been affected by the floods. The floods have affected half of the Zhougu area.

So far the death toll after floods in China in 2010 is reported to be 1,700 people.

nancyk58 · August 9, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters on 9 August 2010

NEWS ON 9 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

APPEAL FROM DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE:

http://www.dec.org.uk/ : Donate Now to the DEC PAKISTAN FLOODS APPEAL or call 0370 60 60 900 now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10910778 9 August 2010 Last updated at 07:52 GMT

PAKISTAN FLOODS THREATEN KEY BARRAGE IN SOUTHERN SINDH

Waters have exceeded the danger level at a key flood barrier in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

THE SUKKUR BARRAGE OVERFLOW means Sindh faces as much devastation as that seen further north in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, say experts.

Enraged survivors have been physically attacking government officials in flood-hit areas, amid widespread anger at the pace of the relief effort.

At least 1,600 people have died in the region's worst deluge in 80 years.

With more than 14 million people already affected, the monsoon rains show little sign of abating.

DONKEYS DELIVER AID

Flood waters have roared down from the north to the agricultural heartland of PUNJAB and on to southern SINDH along a trail more than 1,000km (600 miles) long.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the water flow coming down SINDH's SUKHUR BARRAGE was recorded at up to 1.4m cusecs (cubic feet per second). It can only withstand 900,000 cusecs.

Upper Sindh is already under water, and rescuers are continuing to evacuate thousands of families from the province, where the banks of the swollen INDUS river are at risk of bursting.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday the country had gone back years as he visited Sindh, where hundreds of thousands of people have already been displaced.

With roads, bridges and railway tracks washed away, and DEADLY LANDSLIDES increasing the isolation of many of the worst-hit areas, aid workers are having to use donkeys to deliver relief.

The entire SWAT VALLEY was cut off at the weekend, with even helicopters unable to reach it because of the poor weather.

"It's hard to get supplies there. I would like to emphasise we are moving by foot or donkey. We are unable to get in to most places of Swat Valley," Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told news agency Reuters.

In the far north of the country, dozens of people were killed when two villages were buried in mud and rocks. Nearly 30 bodies were recovered from rubble after Saturday's landslides in Gilgit-Baltistan province.

The UN has said that PAKISTAN will NEED BILLIONS of DOLLARS in AID to recover.

Survivors have bitterly accused the authorities of failing to come to their rescue, with President Asif Ali Zardari, who pressed ahead with a trip to Europe, singled out for particular scorn.

Hundreds of protesters jeered Mr Zardari on Saturday at a rally organised by his Pakistan People's Party in the UK city of Birmingham.

Meanwhile, charities with links to militants have been delivering AID to thousands of flood victims, as they did during the EARTHQUAKE that devastated part of Pakistani-administered KASHMIR in 2005.

German ZDFtext: UN: SITUATION IN PAKISTAN's FLOOD AREA WORSE THAN EXPECTED

According to estimates made by Jean-Maurice Ripert, the UN Special Envoy, the consequences of the floods in PAKISTAN are much worse than expected.

15 million people are affected by the floods that have been going on for almost 2 weeks. "These FLOODS are the WORST EVER IN PAKISTAN, said the UN special envoy.

So far more than 1,600 people have been killed in connection with the floods.

PAKISTAN's GOVERNMENT PLEAS FOR INTERNATIONAL AID.

Swedish SVT: 13.5 MILLION AFFECTED IN PAKISTAN

There are more people affected by the flood disaster in Pakistan than by the TSUNAMI in South-East Asia in 2004, says Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman of United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Hunamitarian Affairs.

So far 13,8 MILLION people are AFFECTED BY the FLOODS in PAKISTAN. "This disaster is BIGGER THAN the TSUNAMI, the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 and the HAITI EARTHQUAKE.

According to Giuliano, about 5 MILLION people were AFFECTED BY the TSUNAMI in 2004, when 220,000 died.

The DEATH TOLL in connection with the current FLOODS in PAKISTAN is so far 1,600.

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German ZDF: 1,300 MISSING AFTER LANDSLIDES IN NORTH-WEST CHINA

One day after the devastating LANDSLIDES in north-west China, the DEATH TOLL is more than 127. According to reports in state media, 1,300 are missing.

Soldiers are searching for survivors in the rubble of collapsed houses. Other soldiers tried to blow up a dam by a river over the severely damaged city of ZHOUQU in order to prevent another flood wave.

Sunday, heavy rain triggered several landslides in the TIBETAN part of the GANSU province.

Swedish SVT: 74-YEAR-OLD WOMAN SURVIVED LANDSLIDE IN CHINA

A 74-year-old woman has been rescued from the mud in the Chinese city of ZHOUQU after the DEVASTATING LANDSLIDE in the night between Saturday and Sunday central European time.

The woman is reported weak, but in a stable condition.

So far 127 have been killed, and the number of missing after the landslide is now 1,300.

CHINA is experiencing the WORST FLOODS IN A DECADE: About 1,700 have been killed so far in 2010.

The MUDSLIDE in ZHOUQU is the worst single accident. MORE RAIN is expected tomorrow!!

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10909818 - 8 August 2010 - last updated at 23:26 GMT

FLASH FLOODS STRIKE CENTRAL EUROPE, KILLING AT LEAST 15

FLASH FLOODS brought on by rains in CENTRAL EUROPE and the BALTIC have killed at least 15, officials say.

Rivers overflowed their banks, sending torrents of water through Bogatynia in SOUTH-WEST POLAND and Goerlitz in EASTERN GERMANY.

The Neisse river, on the border with Poland, reached its highest recorded level in Goerlitz.

Three POLES, three GERMANS and five CZECHS were killed, while further north in LITHUANIA four people were killed.

Three other Czechs were reported missing after the downpours on Saturday triggered the floods.

The army, police and fire services were using helicopters and boats to move people away from the flood zones and clear flood debris.

'NO TIME'

The heavy downpour caused POLAND's Miedzianka river to overflow, flooding BOGATYNIA before swelling the NEISSE river.

One woman drowned in Bogatynia while a 55-year-old firefighter was swept away when a dyke burst its banks.

Another woman drowned in the nearby town of Zgorzelec, across the NEISSE from Goerlitz.

The Neisse reached its highest recorded level of 7.07 metres (23 feet).

"The flood wave hit the town in a few hours. We couldn't do anything to get ready for that," the mayor of Goerlitz, Michael Wieler, told German TV.

Police said 1,500 people evacuated their homes in GOERLITZ as torrents of water rushed through the streets.

Further west, near Chemnitz, three Germans were found drowned in the flooded cellar of the building they lived in in NEUKIRCHEN, near the Czech border.

Police said they had been trying to carry furniture upstairs.

An additional five people drowned over the weekend in the CZECH REPUBLIC where people were plucked by helicopter from the roofs of their homes in the towns of Chrastava and Frydlant.

As the storms moved north, four people were killed in LITHUANIA. Two campers died when a tree collapsed on their tent, local media reported.

The same region was hit by heavy flooding in May and June this year, killing nearly 30 people.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has promised EMERGENCY AID PAYOUTS to help people affected by the floods.

German ZDFtext + ARDtext: GERMANY: FLOOD REACHED BAD MUSKAU IN NORTHERN SACHSEN AND LATER BRANDENBURG

The peak of the river NEISSE flood reached Bad Muskau in the Northern Sachsen according to Sachsen's Flood Centre in Dresden. Around noon it reached BRANDENBURG. The water level of the NEISSE river is expected to be 4,50m higher than normal, said a spokesman for the authority in charge of disaster protection in Goerlitz county.

Also Prince Pückler Park which is on the UN list of world heritage is threatened.

Last week-end, 9 were killed by the FLASH FLOOD in the corner where the 3 countries - Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic - meet.

The situation in SACHSEN has become less tense as the water levels of the NEISSE river continue to fall in Zittau, Goerlitz and Rothenburg. In Goerlitz the water level was 5,63m compared to a record level of 7.07m Sunday morning.

Some of the evacuated inhabitants could begin to return to their homes.

Thousands of people are still without power in parts of Goerlitz and Ostritz, and the inhabitants were told not to drink water without boiling it first.

German ZDFtext: DE MAIZIERE: AID FOR FLOOD VICTIMSGerman's minister of the interior: Thomas de Maiziere has promised the flood victims in SACHSEN that GERMANY will help them - financial aid is possible. But at first, the damage must be registered, and in connection with FINANCIAL AID it must be clear who is insured and who is not. And it must be examined who is in charge of the infrastructure.

"Then we can discuss aid". Sachsen's minister of the interior, Markus Ulbig said something similar.

The FLASH FLOOD in the corner where the 3 countries - Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic - meet, cost at least 9 human lives this past week-end.

German ZDFtext: ALARM LEVEL 3 IN BRANDENBURG, GERMANY

The SACHSEN FLOOD has reached the German state of BRANDENBURG. By the Spree in Spremberg and by the Neisse by Klein Bademeusel, alarm level 3 has been issued according to Brandenburg's authority for the environment. Before this evening, alarm level 4 - the highest level - must be expected, said a spokesman for the authority.

By massive floods in the corner where the 3 countries - Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic - meet, the water caused substantial damage this week-end. Several people died.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10912658 - 9 August 2010 - Last updated at 09:56 GMT

DEATH RATE DOUBLES IN MOSCOW AS HEATWAVE CONTINUES

Moscow's health chief has confirmed the mortality rate has doubled as a heatwave and wildfire smog continue to grip the Russian capital.

There were twice the usual number of bodies in the city's morgues, Andrei Seltsovsky told reporters.

"On normal days, between 360 and 380 die - now it's around 700," he said.

Figures were not being reported immediately for other parts of central Russia, which have had similar droughts and wildfires for more than a month.

Mr Seltsovsky did not give a time frame but earlier reports spoke of death rates in Moscow rising between 30% and 50% in July, compared with the same period last year.

Moscow, he said, had 1,500 places in its morgues and 1,300 of these were currently occupied.

While stressing there was still capacity, he added that about 30% of bereaved people asked to have the body kept in a morgue for more than three days, "which slightly complicates the situation".

The concentration of CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) in Moscow was still more than double acceptable safety norms on Monday as smog from peat and forest wildfires continued to blanket the city.

Temperatures of more than 35C (95F) are forecast for the city until Thursday.

According to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency, Moscow airports were working normally on Monday after earlier disruptions due to smog.

DOCTORS UNDER PRESSURE

Since the second half of July, at least 52 deaths in Russia as a whole have been attributed directly to fires, which have destroyed hundreds of rural homes.

Mr Seltsovsky did not attribute the rise in the mortality rate to the heatwave or smog.

But doctors, speaking off the record, have talked of morgues filling with victims of heat stroke and smoke ailments.

Reuters news agency reported on Sunday that one Moscow doctor had written on his anonymous blog - since deleted - of the stench from bodies piling up in the basement of his clinic where the fridges were full.

"[but] we can't give that diagnosis [heat stroke and smoke ailments] - we don't want to be sacked," the blogger wrote. "We have families to feed."

Another doctor at a major hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that staff had been instructed by senior management not to link patients' illnesses to the heatwave.

A spokeswoman for the Moscow city government declined to comment on the doctors' claims, the agency adds.

The head of the state weather service, Alexander Frolov, said on Monday that the heatwave of 2010 was the worst in 1,000 years of recorded Russian history.

"It's an absolutely unique phenomenon - nothing like it can be seen in the archives," he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

German ZDFtext: RUSSIA: FIRE NEAR NUCLEAR RESEARCH FACILITY

The DEVASTATING WILDFIRES in RUSSIA threaten a new NUCLEAR RESEARCH FACILITY. This time it is the Russian Federal Nuclear Centre in Snezhinsk by Ural which is threatened. The flames in the region more than 1,500 km east of Moscow are under control, said Sergei Shoygu, Minister of Emergencies according to the Interfax Agency.

More than 2,000 firefighters and soldiers had extinguished the fires in the neighbourhood of the nuclear research facility in Sarov about 400 km east of Moscow.

German ZDFtext: INTERNATIONAL AID TO RUSSIA

Today, 100,000 protective masks are due to arrive in Russia from GERMANY. 100 BULGARIAN EXPERTS are fighting the flames in the neighbourhood of the Russian capital, Moscow together with their Russian colleagues. FRANCE sent aid flights, heavy equipment to fight the fires as well as 120 firefighters.

German ZDFtext: MOSCOW: EFFORTS TO FIGHT THE PEAT (BOG) FIRES

Major efforts are being made to fight the PEAT (BOG) FIRES in the neighbourhood of MOSCOW, said Sergei Schoygu, Emergencies Minister according to the Interfax agency. The minister is confident that the fires will be extinguished in 5-7 days.

MOSCOW is still suffering from toxic particles in the air and from the smog. The CO value in Moscow's air has risen to more than 6 times the permit limit. All of RUSSIA is currently fighting the wildfires.

---------------------------------

Swedish SVT: 3 SWEDES ARE MISSING IN NORTH INDIA

3 Swedes - a couple and a man - are missing after floods in the LADAKH region in NORTH INDIA.

The DEATH TOLL has risen to 150 after the floods in the LADAKH region. Several hundreds are missing.

More than 10 Swedes are currently in the area affected by cloudbursts.

nancyk58 · August 9, 2010

NEWS ON 9 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS, PART II (II)

BBC WORLD: UK's PAKISTAN APPEAL REACHES £6M

The British public has donated £6m so far to help the victims of the PAKISTAN FLOODS, charities have said.

The DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE (DEC) said about 545,000 survivors had so far been provided with emergency care, clean water, food or shelter as a result of British aid.

More than 1,600 people have died in Pakistan's worst floods for 80 years.

The United Nations said the DISASTER had AFFECTED 13.8 MILLION people and ECLIPSED the SCALE of the 2004 TSUNAMI.

Spokesman for United Nations' Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):

The current DISASTER in PAKISTAN has AFFECTED 13.8 MILLION people and ECLIPSED the SCALE of the 2004 TSUNAMI.

5 million people were affected by the tsunami in 2004

3 million people were affected by the HAITI earthquake in January, 2010.

APPEAL FROM DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE:

http://www.dec.org.uk/ : Donate Now to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal or call 0370 60 60 900 now.

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German ZDFtext and BBC WORLD: RUSSIA: STATE OF EMERGENCY BY NUCLEAR PLANT

Due to an approaching fire, the Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency around a nuclear reprocession plant in the southern Urals. The local authorities stated in an announcement that the flames approached the MAJAK plant where nuclear waste is stored and reprocessed. The MAJAK plant is situated about 2,000 km east of Moscow. Massive fires in RUSSIA threaten the numerous nuclear facilities in Russia.

There was a new warning over shortfalls in Russia's grain harvest.

German ZDF and BBC WORLD: RUSSIA: MOSCOW DEATHS DOUBLE IN HEATWAVE AND WILDFIRE SMOG

The HEATWAVE and WILDFIRE SMOG have increased the MORTALITY RATE in Moscow.

"The mortality rate has doubled", said Alexander Seltsowski, Moscow's health chief according to the news agency Interfax.

According to the Russian authorities, there are currently 550 fires in Russia, 40 of which near Moscow. Moscow is covered by a cloud of smoke (smog) caused by the peat and forest wildfires around Moscow. Add to this the record heat. Last week-end, the CO pollution was 6 times higher than the permit limit.

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Danish DR1 + BBC World: MANY DEAD AFTER MUDSLIDES IN CHINA

The death toll after the landslides in north-west China has risen to 337.

Rescuers are searching for some of the 1,148 missing - according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

More than 3 villages have been destroyed by mud and rocks following heavy rain in the GANSU province.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visited the disaster-hit areas on Sunday and Monday and asked the rescue teams to do their utmost.

German ARDtext: Affected is an area of 500m width/breadth and 5 km length . More than 3 villages have been buried under mud and rocks in the mountainous region.

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German ARDtext: THE SITUATION IN SACHSEN IS TENSE / SERIOUS

Despite falling water levels, the flood situation in eastern Sachsen remains tense / serious. Bad Muskau which is on UNESCO's list of world heritage was flooded.

South of Bad Musaku a dyke breached. As a safety measure more than 100 people had been moved to a safe place.

In SACHSEN the flood caused damage at several hundred million Euro according to expert estimates. Sachsen has announced a loan programme for the victims at the amount of 100 million Euro.

German ZDFtext: PRINCE-PÜCKLER-PARK FLOODED

The nearby villages Podrosche and Sagar were also flooded. The dyke there breached under the pressure of the flood. 3 villages were evacuated tonight as a safety measure. 140 were affected. In Guben the authorities prepare the evacuation of a hospital.

German ZDFtext: FIRST EVACUATIONS IN BRANDENBURG BY THE NEISSE RIVER

Due to the rapidly rising Neisse flood in Brandenburg, the crisis management in Spree - Neisse county has decreed the first evacuations in the villages of Klein Bademeusel, Pusack and Bahren. 100 people live there. Most of them are determined to stay in their homes for the present awaiting what will happen next.

In some areas in Goerlitz county in Sachsen, the disaster alert has been lifted. The borders over the Neisse river remain closed / sealed. Most schools and day care centers in Goerlitz will open again Tuesday.

German ZDFtext + ARDtext: BRANDENBURG ISSUES DISASTER ALERT

Brandenburg issued a DISASTER ALERT on Monday, because the Neisse and Spree floods with rapidly rising water levels have reached Brandenburg. So Brandenburg's prime minister Matthias Platzeck. "The situation is tense/serious, but can be controlled", he said.

The highest alert - the DISASTER ALERT - was issued in Spree - Neisse county and Cottbus.

Ten thousand sandbags were prepared in the region.

nancyk58 · August 10, 2010

News on 10 August 2010 in relation to natural disasters, part I (II)

NEWS ON 10 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10922535 / 10 August 2010 / Last updated at 06:15 GMT

UN TO LAUNCH PAKISTAN FLOOD APPEAL

The UN is to launch an appeal to help Pakistan tackle the country's worst flooding in 80 years.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued an URGENT PLEA FOR DONORS to "GENEROUSLY SUPPORT PAKISTAN at this difficult time".

A UN official said the disaster had now affected nearly 14 million people - eclipsing the scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

At least 1,600 people are known to have died so far in Pakistan.

"We will soon issue an... appeal for SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS to respond to immediate needs," Mr Ban told a news conference.

UN officials and the PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT have appealed for more INTERNATIONAL HELP as the monsoon rains show little sign of abating.

The flood waters which devastated the north-west of the country have moved south to the agricultural heartland of Punjab and on to Sindh.

The torrents are battering the key Sukkur Barrage, threatening to further inundate large areas of SINDH.

Upper Sindh is already under water, and two million people have fled the province as the INDUS river threatens to burst its banks.

Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the BBC that

the DISASTER was AFFECTING 13.9 MILLION PEOPLE ACROSS PAKISTAN - "MORE THAN THE WORLD's THREE DISASTERS COMBINED".

More than THREE MILLION people were AFFECTED by the 2005 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE,

another FIVE MILLION by the 2004 TSUNAMI; and

THREE MILLION by the HAITI EARTHQUAKE IN JANUARY.

The UN estimates that 1,600 people have died in Pakistan's floods and the Pakistani government has confirmed 1,243 deaths.

About 220,000 were killed in the December 2004 tsunami in Asia.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10922991 / 10 August 2010 / Last updated at 06:21 GMT

FRANTIC SEARCH FOR CHINA LANDSLIDE SURVIVORS IN GANSU

Rescuers in north-west China are continuing a frantic search for more than 1,100 people missing after a HUGE LANDSLIDE that has claimed 337 lives.

MORE HEAVY RAIN is forecast in GANSU PROVINCE, with meteorologists warning that the area will be among those affected by TYPHOON DIANMU. :cry:

The BBC's Chris Hogg, at the scene, says there is thick mud everywhere, and underneath the debris are homes.

He says doctors are searching the upper floors of a crushed apartment block.

"Around me are relatives of missing people sitting dazed, shocked. Each of them has stories.

"They think three or four of their family are inside but they can't be sure. They say the mud swept down here and engulfed the apartment block," our correspondent says.

On Monday evening the death toll jumped from 137 to 337 - and officials say that figure is expected to rise.

SUPPLIES RUNNING LOW

The LANDSLIDES in ZHOUQU county, GANSU, were TRIGGERED BY TORRENTIAL RAINS that hit the area on Saturday.

Landslide debris blocked a river which burst its banks, sending water, rocks and mud down several hillsides and on to homes.

Soldiers have blasted through the blockage on the Bailong river, lowering the water level of an unstable lake created by the landslide.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from downstream villages that could be engulfed if the natural dam bursts.

The landslides came as CHINA was struggling with its WORST FLOODING in a decade, with more than 1,000 people reported dead and millions more displaced around the country.

More than 4,500 soldiers, firefighters and medical staff have been sent to the area, as well as helicopters and other aircraft.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has visited Zhouqu, urging rescue workers on in their efforts and comforting those affected.

Authorities have sent tents, food and water, but some supplies were reported to be running low.

---------------------------------------------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10919460 / 10 August 2010 Last updated at 08:14 GMT

CLIMATE CHANGE 'PARTLY TO BLAME' FOR SWELTERING MOSCOW

By Katia Moskvitch Science reporter, BBC News

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE is partly to blame for the abnormally hot and dry weather in Moscow, cloaked in a haze of smoke from wildfires, say researchers.

The UK Met Office said there are likely to be more extreme high temperatures in the future.

Experts from the environmental group WWF Russia have also linked CLIMATE CHANGE and HOT WEATHER to RAGING WILDFIRES around the Russian capital.

Meteorologists say severe conditions may linger for several more days.

The MOSCOW HEALTH DEPARTMENT said earlier that the number of people dying daily in the city had reached about 700 - twice the usual number.

Jeff Knight, a climate variability scientist at the UK Met Office, attributed the situation in Moscow to a number of factors, among them greenhouse gas concentrations, which are steadily rising.

The recent EL NINO, a climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean and affects weather around the world, and local weather patterns in Russia may have also contributed to this summer's abnormal conditions.

"The Russian heatwave is related to a persistent pattern of circulation drawing air from the south and east (the very warm steppes)," said Dr Knight.

"Circulation anomalies tend to create warm and cool anomalies: while it has been very hot in western Russia, it has been cooler than average in adjacent parts of Siberia that lie on the other side of the high pressure system where Arctic air is being drawn southwards.

"Some long-term records have been broken - for example the highest daily temperature in Moscow. We expect more extreme high temperatures as the climate changes. This means that when weather fluctuations promote high temperatures… there is more likelihood of records being broken."

The head of the climate and energy programme at WWF Russia, Alexei Kokorin, said the abnormal temperatures soaring to up to 40C increased the likelihood of wildfires around the capital.

And though this summer in Moscow had proven harsh for people and animals alike, it was possible that temperatures would continue to rise over the years to come, he warned.

"We have to get ready to fight such fires in the future because there is a great possibility that such a summer will be repeated. This tendency won't stop in the coming 40 years or so, until the greenhouse gas emissions are reduced," he said.

"In a few decades, fires may affect the main forest regions of Russia. Of course, there are a lot less people living there, but we could lose a lot more forests.

"We can now say that the wave of abnormal phenomena that the rest of the world has been experiencing has finally reached central Russia," Dr Kokorin added.

Temperatures have been record-high for weeks and smoke from wildfires has driven airborne pollutants levels to the worst ever recorded in the capital and the Moscow region.

How peat bog fires spread

1. Peat is formed from decayed vegetation in bogs, moors or swamps.

2. Deliberate drainage or drought can expose peat to air.

3. Peat can then be ignited by wildfires or spontaneously combust. The air flow allows the peat to continue burning.

4. Once alight, the smouldering fire spreads slowly through the peat and can cause the ground above to collapse.

Besides people suffering and entire villages burnt down, Russian wildlife has been hit hard as well.

GREENPEACE RUSSIA has criticised the Russian authorities for poor handling of the catastrophe, and mainly for abolishing a centralised woodland fire control system several months ago.

Environmentalists say the number of personnel employed to spot wildfires has been slashed by over a half.

This has greatly contributed to the massive loss of forests and wildlife around the capital, Mikhail Kreyndlin, head of Greenpeace Russia's programme on specially protected natural areas, told BBC News.

"If bigger animals are able to escape the fires, smaller ones, including insects, have perished," he said.

Smog has also been a major issue, he added, especially for birds.

"Birds have very intensive breathing, and such extreme levels of air pollutants have definitely affected them," he said, explaining that it was possible for birds to basically drop dead from the skies.

Dr Kokorin said GLOBAL WARMING creates another problem.

"If it gets warmer in the winter and in the spring and hotter in the summer, fauna changes.

"For example, we have never had as many regions in Russia affected by malaria, and the same goes for ticks carrying encephalitis. This is because winters are becoming much warmer, and less and less of these organisms die during the freezing periods."

There have also been reports of freshwater jellyfish, commonly found in warm lakes and rivers in North America, Europe and Asia, fished out from the abnormally warm waters of the Moscow river.

nancyk58 · August 10, 2010

News on 10 August 2010, PART II in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 10 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS, part II

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10922991 / 10 August 2010 Last updated at 10:32 GMT

CHINA LANDSLIDE: MORE THAN 700 PEOPLE CONFIRMED DEAD / CHINA LANDSLIDE DEATH TOLL SOARS

More than 700 people are now known to have died in a massive landslide in north-west China - making it one of the deadliest incidents so far in the country's worst flooding in a decade.

A frantic search is continuing for the more than 1,000 people still missing.

Buildings were hit by a WALL OF MUDS so mighty that buildings seven storeys high crumpled like paper, says the BBC's Chris Hogg, in Gansu province.

He says rescuers are searching by hand in the remote, mountainous region.

A 52-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble more than 50 hours after the disaster, and other rescue teams say they have heard "very faint" signs of life elsewhere, state media reported.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has urged rescuers to keep looking until they find every last survivor.

But as the hours pass, hopes of finding survivors diminish.

"Around me are relatives of missing people sitting dazed, shocked. Each of them has stories," our correspondent says.

One woman has lost her husband and three teenage children. Until she saw their bodies with her own eyes she did not want to believe it, he adds.

The DEATH TOLL was revised upwards on Tuesday from 337, and officials say that figure is expected to rise.

The weather forecast for the coming days is for heavy rain, which could hamper humanitarian work, and there is also the possibility of further landslides, says the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing.

SUPPLIES RUNNING LOW

The LANDSLIDES in remote ZHOUQU COUNTY, GANSU, were triggered by TORRENTIAL RAINS that hit the area late on Saturday.

The thick layer of mud levelled an area 5km (3 miles) by 500m, Xinhua said.

Landslide debris blocked a river which then burst its banks, sending water, rocks and mud down several hillsides and on to homes.

Soldiers have blasted through the blockage on the Bailong river, lowering the water level of an unstable lake created by the landslide.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from downstream villages that could be engulfed if the natural dam bursts.

The landslides came as China was struggling with its worst flooding in a decade, with more than 2,100 people reported dead or missing and millions more displaced nationwide.

President Hu Jintao led a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday on plans to handle the crisis, Xinhua news agency said.

More than 7,000 soldiers, firefighters and medical staff are now at the scene of the landslide.

The Chinese premier has visited Zhouqu, urging rescue workers on in their efforts and comforting those affected.

Authorities have sent tents, food and water, but some supplies were reported to be running low because roads and bridges into the area have been destroyed.

ZHOUQU LANDSLIDE in figures

702 people confirmed dead and more than 1,000 missing

45,000 people in Zhouqu county evacuated

7,000 soldiers, firefighters and medical staff deployed

300 buildings buried under mud

66% of county without power

-----------------------------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10924581 / 10 August 2010 Last updated at 10:52 GMT

CLEAN-UP BEGINS IN FLOOD-HIT CENTRAL EUROPE

Flood waters that have damaged hundreds of homes in Central Europe are starting to recede, but the authorities remain on high alert.

At least 11 people are known to have died in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Neisse river, on the border with Poland, rose to 7.07m (23ft) in Goerlitz - nearly 4.5m above the norm.

But it has now fallen by at least 40cm and a massive clean-up is under way across the region.

At the weekend rivers burst their banks, sending torrents of flood water through towns such as Bogatynia in Poland, and the historic German town of Bad Muskau

More than 1,000 people had to be evactuated after water levels along the Polish-German border rose by four metres in three hours.

The authorities say the situation remains "tense" but are expected to downgrade the flood alert warnings during the day.

Emergency workers have continued to reinforce and repair dams and pile sandbags in critical regions.

Meanwhile questions are being raised over levels of communication between the Polish and German authorities.

Authorities in the German state of Saxony are claiming that they did not receive adequate warning that a dam in Poland had burst.

AID PROMISED

Nine people were killed in the border region due to FLASH FLOODS caused by the DAM BREACH.

There were several further deaths in the CZECH REPUBLIC and LITHUANIA.

The same region was hit by heavy flooding in May and June this year, killing nearly 30 people.

The regional government of Saxony has promised a 100m-euro (£83m) AID PACKAGE to help the affected area.

Meanwhile Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere have promised EMERGENCY AID PAYOUTS.

nancyk58 · August 11, 2010

News on 10 August 2010 in relation to natural disasters

MORE NEWS ON 10 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERs

Swedish SVT: TORRENTIAL RAIN AFTER DROUGHT IN WEST AFRICA

In WEST AFRICA, heavy rain has cost more than 100 human lives, destroyed thousands of homes, increased the risk of infections and washed away farmland according to the aid agencies.

In the Sahel region south of Sahara, millions of people do not have enough to eat since last year's drought. The area is dependent on rain falling until it is harvest time in October, but so much rain has fallen that the cycle of farming/agriculture can be broken.

In the worst-hit countries - Tchad and Niger - entire agricultural areas might be destroyed. Last week-end Niger river burst its dams.

__________________________

Danish DR1 and TV2 News: KASHMIR: 5 EUROPEANS DEAD

The death toll after the floods in the Indian part of KASHMIR rose to 177. 5 European tourists died according to Indian police.

The 5 killed Europeans were from France, Spain and Italy, says a policeman in LEH in Kashmir where the authorities have identified 150 of the victims.

About 300 are missing after the floods that started on Friday when heavy rain triggered a flood wave that washed bridges, roads and houses away.

German ZDFtext: THE SURVIVAL OF 6 MILLION PAKISTANI IS DEPENDENT ON PROMPT AID

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German ARDtext: RUSSIA: FIRE THREATENS NUCLEAR PLANT

In RUSSIA, soldiers are fighting devastating fires. 2 soldiers died when trying to extinguish fires near the nuclear research facility in Sarov in Nischi Nowgorod.

Not only the plant in Sarov, but also nuclear plants in Sneschinsk in the Urals and Majak are threatened by fires.

So far, fires caused damage amounting to 11 billion Euro. The smog in Moscow is less dense today. But the concentration of pollution remains high.

German ZDFtext: FIRES NEAR THE MAYAK PLANT EXTINGUISHED

By the worst peat (bog) and forest wildfires in Russian history, thousands of men attempt to prevent the fires from reaching the nuclear plants and the areas contaminated with radio-activity. The authorities could lift the alert for Osjorsk, a town in the Urals with a nuclear plant with processing facilities and facilities for storage of nuclear waste.

"The fires near the plant are extinguished", said a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry according to Interfax agency. The mayor of Osjorsk, Viktor Trofimtschuk declared a state of emergency.

Russia's Prime Minister, Wladimir Putin, was fighting the flames in an aircraft as co-pilot over 2 areas with fires 200 km south-east of Moscow.

The Russian population's confidence in their politicians is very low, based on the way they handled this disaster. Experts think that Putin is taking advantage of the disaster by showing the public that he is the crisis manager before the presidential election in 2012.

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Swedish SVT: 2 SWEDES FOUND SAFE IN THE LADAKH REGION IN KASHMIR, NORTH INDIA

2 Swedish ladies who were missing after floods in Ladakh in North India have been found - safe - according to the press manager at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. A Swedish man is still missing. 300 are still missing 4 days after the flood. It is not clear whether the Swedish man was in Ladakh.

The rescue operation in the area is concentrated on the hard-hit town of Choglamsar on the outskirts of Leh. The search operation after dead and survivors is very slow.

nancyk58 · August 11, 2010

News on 11 August 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 11 AUGUST 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS, Part I (II)

Danish DR1: AID FROM THE USA TO PAKISTAN (news from 10 August 2010)

US PILOTS in Afghanistan have been sent to PAKISTAN on a relief and charming mission. US helicopters are participating in the RESCUE of VICTIMS of the massive floods. They participated in the rescue of more than 1,000 people in Pakistan. US donated what corresponds to almost 190 million Danish kroner in aid including food and 12 pre-fabricated bridges.

Swedish SVT/German ZDFtext: TALIBAN WILL PAY FOR THE RELIEF WORK / TALIBAN AGAINST FLOOD AID FROM THE USA

Billions of dollar will be needed to rebuild Pakistan after Pakistan's worst humanitarian crises ever.

Today, Wednesday UN held a donor conference in New York expected to be one of the world community's biggest aid efforts ever. Before the meeting, the USA offered to increase its aid to Pakistan by 20 million dollars to 55 million dollars. Pakistan is an important ally for the USA in the fight against Taliban. TALIBAN will partly pay the bill and asks Pakistan's government in Islamabad to discard USA's aid / financial support with the motivation that "the money will end up in the pockets of corrupt officials anyway", said Taliban's spokesman. Taliban has been active helping flood victims thus winning the population's sympathy. 12 million people in Pakistan are affected by the flood. More than 1,600 are dead.

German ARDtext: UN LAUNCHES $460M PAKISTAN FLOOD APPEAL

The UN has launched an appeal to the international community for IMMEDIATE HUMANITARIAN AID. The appeal is for $460 million dollars (353 million euro) for FLOOD VICTIMS in PAKISTAN. Millions of people in flood-hit areas need medical supplies immediately. There is a risk of outbreak of diseases.

6 million people must be supplied with drinking water and food according to the UN. So far 1,600 died officially. 14 million people are affected.

As so far, 5,000 villages are flooded, the death toll is expected to rise. More heavy rain is expected. It is the worst flood in Pakistan for 80 years.

It is expected to be one of UN's biggest appeals in UN's history.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10943606 / 11 August 2010 Last updated at 16:50 GMT

UN LAUNCHES $459M PAKISTAN FLOOD APPEAL

The UN has launched an APPEAL for $459m (£290m) to help victims of PAKISTAN's FLOOD DISASTER, which has affected at least 14 million people. UN humanitarian chief John Holmes made the announcement at the organisation's headquarters in New York, saying the aid would cover the next 90 days. The disaster was "one of the most challenging that any country has faced in recent years", Mr Holmes said.

So far, about 1,600 people have been killed by the monsoon floods.

Mr Holmes said the funds would be used for food, clean water, shelter and medical supplies. The "emergency response plan" would be revised after 30 days as more information came in, he added.

Weather officials say the monsoon system over the Arabian Sea is weakening and there should be a break in the torrential rains for at least the next three days, though scattered rains are forecast.

The UK responded to the UN appeal by announcing it would supply aid to some 1.5 million people in Pakistan.

Four further plane loads of relief supplies will be sent, said the Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell.

It has been described as one of the biggest appeals in the UN's history in terms of the number of people who are in need, the BBC's Lyse Doucet reports from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

With the monsoon season set to go on until the end of August and the mighty Indus river, swollen with floodwaters, moving steadily south, we still do not know how many Pakistanis will be affected in the end, our correspondent says.

'ONE IN TEN'

Mr Holmes pointed out that almost one in 10 of Pakistan's population had been affected by the floods and at least 6 million were in need of immediate humanitarian aid.

The floodwaters have devastated towns and village, downed power and communications lines, washed away bridges and roads and inflicted major damage to buildings and houses," he said.

Pakistan's government had led the response to the floods by initiating rescue and relief operations and evacuating hundreds of thousands of people but could not cope on its own, Mr Holmes argued.

"While the death toll may be much lower than in some major disasters... it is clear that this disaster is one of the most challenging that any country has faced in recent years," he added.

"That is why the international humanitarian community has been asked to support the response by covering gaps where the needs inevitably exceed the government's response capacity."

Speaking during a conference call from Islamabad, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, Martin Mogwanja, said there was a danger that the number of dead would increase dramatically if action was not taken to stop the spread of disease following the flooding.

High levels of gastroenteritis and water-borne diseases such as scabies were already being noticed, he said.

"There are literally millions of people tonight in Pakistan who are sleeping out in the open on high ground, maybe with a few personal belongings that they could save if the warnings came in time but many millions more not having adequate shelter, not even a tent or a piece of plastic sheeting," he added.

"We need to expand this response radically and very, very fast."

CITIES THREATENED

Enraged survivors have been physically attacking government officials in flood-hit areas, amid widespread anger at the slow pace of the relief effort.

The battle against the floods continued across all of Pakistan's provinces on Wednesday:

In SINDH province, tens of thousands of displaced people have been flocking to Sukkur city - itself under threat from rising water levels - while the city of Hyderabad is under threat from a wave expected to hit Kotri Barrage on the Indus river in the next 24 to 48 hours

Fresh floods in PUNJAB province - upstream of Guddu - caused hundreds of thousands of people to move to safer areas, in many cases for the second time in as many weeks, while Muzaffargarh, a city of 700,000 people, was evacuated

In Balochistan province, officials say rains and floods have killed at least six people in Ziarat, Harnai and Loralai areas. Officials say that hundreds of people in these areas are trapped

Pakistani and US helicopters are running sorties as part of a rescue and relief effort in northern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Pakistan's ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said it was difficult for people to comprehend how big a disaster it was.

"It is going to put us back so many years that we're not even starting on the infrastructure," he said.

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Danish DR1: 18 MINERS TRAPPED IN CHINA (news from 10 August 2010)

Rescuers in north-east China are trying hard to reach 18 trapped miners.

Heavy rain has flooded the shaft where they worked - according to state media.

The accident in the Hongyuan COAL MINE in the JILIN province occurred early Tuesday when the miners tried to save mining equipment from a flooded mine after days of heavy rain - according to the official news agency Xinhua.

The JILIN province has been hit by heavy rain and floods this summer. More than 85 have lost their lives and 66 are reported missing.

German text-TV: German Chancellor, Angela Merkel has offered the Chinese prime minister German aid.

Danish DR1: HOPES OF FINDING SURVIVORS AFTER LANDSLIDES IN CHINA ARE FADING

Rescue workers in the GANZU province in north-west China are giving up hopes of finding more survivors after the landslides and floods in ZHOUQU last Sunday.

702 are officially dead, and more than 1,000 are recorded as missing. The chances of finding survivors under the choking, thick layer of mud that buried / engulfed many houses are almost non-existent.

Rescue teams supported by forces from the army try to pull out dead bodies. At the same time care is needed for the more than 45,000 people who have seen their homes destroyed by water masses or buried under a thick layer of mud.

Swedish SVT: FIGHT AGAINST DANGEROUS BLOCKAGE / BARRIER LAKE ON RIVER IN CHINA

3 days after the natural disaster in ZHOUQU, more than 1,000 remain missing. More than 700 are confirmed dead. Now the authorities focus on the prevention of epidemics and new floods.

More than 10,000 soldiers and rescue workers have been using excavators and explosives to blast through the landslide debris which blocked the BAILONG RIVER's flow through the city of ZHOUQU. Mud and landslide debris constituted the blockage on the river which created an unstable lake, which eventually overflowed and sent a wave of water engulfing the town of Zhouqu early on Sunday. There is fear of more such floods in the area which has already been hit by landslides sending rocks and mud down several hillsides and on to homes.

German ARDtext + ZDFtext: DEATH TOLL IN CHINA RISEN TO MORE THAN 1,100

4 days after the devastating LANDSLIDES triggered by heavy monsoon rain in the GANSU province in north-west CHINA, the death toll has risen to 1,117, and more than 600 are missing. More villages were buried / engulfed. Worst hit was the region around ZHOUQU. The hopes of rescueing more of those missing from the mud and rocks diminish. The rescue operation is hampered by more rain.

Before the new rain storms caused by the TYPHOON DIANMU, rescue teams and soldiers using explosives tried to remove rocks, debris and mud blocking the flow of river BAILONG through ZHOUQU CITY. The blockage dammed the river. The authorities fear that the typhoon DIANMU may trigger new landslides consisting of mud and water. As a precautionary measure, the most threatened areas were evacuated.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10943094 / 11 August 2010 Last updated at 17:18 GMT

CHINA LANDSLIDE TOLL PASSES 1,000

The BBC's Michael Bristow reports on the landslide rescue effort in China

The number of people confirmed to have died after massive landslides in north-western China has risen to 1,117, with 627 others missing, officials say.

Two survivors were found on Wednesday, though hopes were fading and rescuers were turning their efforts to finding bodies and preventing disease.

Large areas in Zhouqu county, Gansu province, were enveloped by landslides triggered by rain on Saturday night.Rain is forecast for later this week, prompting fears of further landslides.

Heavy rain was already said to be falling in Zhouqu on Wednesday and as much as 90mm (3.5in) of rain was forecast for Friday, the National Meteorological Centre reported.

It said the chance of more landslides was "relatively large".

DISEASE RISK

Soldiers have been using explosives to blast through debris that partly dammed the Bailong river and created an unstable lake, which eventually overflowed and sent a wave of water engulfing the town of Zhouqu early on Sunday.

A 1km (0.6-mile) long drainage channel was bringing the water level down, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the vice-minister of water resources as saying.

"The danger of the barrier lake collapsing suddenly has been basically eliminated," the vice-minister, Jiao Yong, told reporters in Beijing.

Meanwhile, specialists in epidemic prevention and medical workers have been sent to the area amid growing fears that contaminated water could spark an outbreak of disease, Xinhua reported.

Yang Long, a doctor running a makeshift clinic at a Zhouqu school, told the China Daily he had already treated several adults and children for diarrhoea. "Unhealthy drinking water and food mainly caused the disease and we need more medicine," he said.

SURVIVORS FOUND

One of the main problems facing the government is getting all those relief materials to where they are needed, the BBC's Michael Bristow reports from Beijing.

The affected area is mountainous and has few roads. Some were blocked by landslides, while officials said others were congested with heavy traffic. Correspondents also say the authorities face a growing problem of where to house survivors. More than 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and another 3,000 flooded.

More than 4,000 tents have been sent to Zhouqu county but the mountainous terrain means there is little open space to set up camps.

Earlier, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had urged rescuers to hurry before the weather worsened but he acknowledged the task would be difficult.

"We must fully realise the difficulties for the search and rescue work," he said. "You must race against the clock and spare no efforts in saving lives."

Though hopes of finding survivors are fading, late on Wednesday one survivor was rescued nearly four days after the disaster struck, Xinhua reported.

Earlier in the day, a 50-year-old man was rescued from a flooded hotel located inside the barrier lake formed by landslide debris.

NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

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