Natural Disasters

Late last month unusual rains hit Chile’s arid region, causing widespread flooding. “The downpour began… in the Atacama region, home to the world’s most arid desert, and lashed the area for hours, turning riverbeds that had been dry for years into torrents” (AFP, March 26, 2015). “President Michelle Bachelet said the downpour—equivalent to at least 10 times the previously drought-hit region’s average annual rainfall—had caught authorities off-guard.” (ibid.).

Cyclone Pam tore through the south Pacific island nation of Vanuatu last Friday and Saturday, packing winds of over 300 kph/180 mph. The Category 5 storm created so much damage that rescue crews from Australia and New Zealand are having difficulty reaching victims. “‘We have no contact of any sort with the outer islands, the priority is to get communications up and running. It’s very, very concerning that we haven’t heard anything from the outlying islands,’ Joe Lowry, a spokesman for International Organisation for Migration (ILM), told Reuters in Port Vila.

“More than 170 people have been killed and 200,000 displaced by torrential rain and flooding in Malawi. Large areas in the south are underwater and homes, crops and livestock have been washed away” (BBC, January 19, 2015). Drinking water sources have been either submerged or contaminated and officials fear an outbreak of cholera (ibid.).

“An underwater volcano off Tonga was spewing ash high into the air on Tuesday, causing several carriers to suspend air travel to the South Pacific island nation and turning the surrounding ocean blood red, residents and officials said” (The Guardian, January 12, 2015). “The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano… was sending volcanic ash up to 4,500m into the air...