• Tracking
• post

Here’s what we’re watching for the week of Nov. 22, 2021.

Flooding – British Columbia (Canada) : Although we covered this last week, this continues to dominate the disaster news with the sheer scope that is only expected to get worse before it gets better as a second atmospheric river hits northern British Columbia early this week. As of the morning of Nov. 22, multiple regions that were hit by last week’s flooding are now under snowfall warnings, with some areas expecting up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of fresh snow. This will not only increase the risk for more flooding and landslides but will complicate recovery efforts and make situations much more treacherous as the snow will make potentially dangerous areas harder to see. Further complicating the situation is that the areas hardest hit by this flooding were also devastated by this year’s fires.

Across the province of British Columbia (BC), at least four people died, while 18,000 more were stranded, roads and railways were washed out, and the Port of Vancouver – Canada’s busiest port –declared a state of emergency with goods currently unable to move in or out. While this has led to shortages and restrictions on purchase quantities in the province, it is also affecting the rest of the country and humanitarian efforts around the world. More than 100,000 tonnes of wheat and other grains are stuck on railways and in elevators across Canada, unable to reach the port to be loaded and transported worldwide. Tens of thousands of Christmas trees are stranded on both sides of the washouts, leaving community groups across Canada without access to a major source of fundraising.

Thousands of people were stranded in communities as floods and landslides wiped out every major transportation corridor in southern BC. At least 200 people who had been stranded for multiple days were evacuated from the town of Hope on a special rescue train organized by Emergency Management BC along with track owners CN Rail and passenger train operator Via Rail. In other areas, a combination of boats and helicopters were used to rescue hundreds of people from areas cut off by the floodwaters. Farmers in the affected area attempted to rescue livestock using everything from kayaks to jet skis as their herds were overwhelmed by the flooding. There is growing concern about the long-term health effects for people as chemicals and biological waste have been found in the floodwaters.

Flooding – Multiple Countries

Bolivia: At least seven people died when rivers in the La Paz department burst their banks on Nov. 12. Many of those who died were believed to be miners working in the area, and local media speculated that the origin of the floods was a burst tailings dam and not the heavy rains.

Italy: Heavy rains from severe storms on Nov. 15 killed at least one person while injuring several others on the island of Sardinia. In addition to the torrential downpours, the storms also spawned tornadoes in the nearby region of Sicilia on Nov. 17, where one person died while repairing his house.

India: Heavy rains struck multiple areas of India on Nov. 16 as a depression stalled over the Bay of Bengal. The bodies of 35 people have been discovered, and more than 100 are missing while others survived close calls as the floods swept buses off roads and the military prepared to rescue people from 16 other villages as cracks developed in a 500-year-old reservoir.

Scorpions – Egypt: Heavy rains from violent storms struck the city of Aswan starting on Nov. 12. Flooding from this rain pushed thousands of scorpions out of their burrows and into streets and homes where they stung hundreds of people. Officials said three people died, and more than 500 others were treated in hospital for scorpion stings.