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Climatic Natural Disasters Around the World in the last week of August.

Tracking Natural Disasters around the World by PaaClimate🌨️.

We know all too well that disaster can strike at any time, in any place in the world. Some disasters make headlines; others do not. Here at PaaClimate🌨️, we keep an eye on the status of disasters worldwide and compile a list of the ones we’re tracking weekly, along with relevant disaster-related media coverage.

Here’s what we’re watching for the week of Aug. 30, 2021.

Hurricane Ida

Hurricane forecasters downgraded Ida to a tropical storm Monday morning but are still warning of dangerous storm surges, damaging winds and heavy rainfall in multiple states.

The storm weakened 16 hours after Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane. Ida battered Louisiana into Monday, with reports of downed power lines, levee failures and flooding, collapsed buildings and trapped residents on rooftops.

Forecasters warned that flooding from storm surges will continue through Monday morning in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. As Ida’s center moves into southwestern Mississippi, damaging winds could cause more power outages. Heavy rainfall is possible through Tuesday morning across southeastern Louisiana, coastal Mississippi and southwestern Alabama.

Flooding could also hit portions of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and the Mid-Atlantic through Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

New or emerging disasters

Flooding – Tennessee:

While Tennessee was spared from Tropical Storm Fred a week ago, it was inundated by catastrophic rains on Aug. 21, bringing as much as 17 inches of rain. At least 22 people died while rescuers continued their frantic search for those who had been swept away. Many of the over two dozen people listed as still missing as of Aug. 22 on the Waverly Public Safety’s Facebook page have been found, but about half remain missing. Images on social media showed cars buried almost to their roofs in debris and rocks. Emergency management officials estimate that hundreds of homes have been destroyed or sustained major damage.

Flooding – Multiple countries

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda:

The neighboring countries of Uganda and the DRC received heavy rains on Aug. 19, leaving widespread damage across the region. One person died and a second person was missing in the DRC, while two more people died in the nearby regions of Uganda.

Ethiopia:

Heavy rains left seven people dead in the capital city of Addis Ababa on Aug. 17 as officials reported unspecified “heavy damage” throughout the city. Local officials urged residents to prepare for additional heavy rain, though no further reports were publicly available.

India:

17 marked the 10th consecutive day of flooding in India’s Bihar district that has now affected 2.7 million people, including 12 fatalities. As of Aug. 17, approximately 22,000 people had moved to temporary encampments set up by local authorities to provide shelter and other services.

Malaysia:

Mount Jerai in the Kedah district recorded more than 8.5 inches (219 mm) of rain in the 24 hours between Aug. 17-18, with almost half of that coming in just one hour. These heavy rains caused flash flooding and landslides that killed at least four people and left two more missing.

Mexico:

The northern state of Chihuahua received 2.4 inches (60 mm) of rain in just three hours on Aug. 19, leaving water racing overland and hillsides tumbling down. One person died and another is missing as local officials reported 80 flooding incidents and nine landslides near the state capital.

Nigeria:

Flooding from heavy rains over multiple days leading up to Aug. 20 has left at least four people dead and an unknown number of people missing as officials reported 200 homes and large swaths of farmland destroyed by the surging water.

Previous/ongoing disasters

Haiti –

Earthquake and Hurricane Grace: After being stymied by the dual disasters of an earthquake and tropical storm striking the same area within the space of a week, aid is starting to reach the people of Haiti. It didn’t come soon enough to prevent the looting of an aid convoy as desperate Haitians try to survive as aid trickles into the area.

The health system has been especially hard-hit as overwhelmed hospitals struggle to care for patients with limited resources. According to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “As of 21 August, the death toll has risen to 2,207 people and there are 12,268 more injured, as well as 344 still missing, figures that continue to rise by the hour as search and rescue teams will be hard-pressed to find more survivors with each passing day. While the number of critically injured people continues to grow, the already limited health system’s capacity to respond is becoming increasingly more strained.”

In addition to the damage to the health system, at least 266 schools were damaged or destroyed. OCHA reports that 130,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Although U.S. naval and Coast Guard resources were in the area as soon as it was safe to operate, more help is coming from overseas as countries such as the Netherlands deploy their military resources to help support the rescue and relief efforts.

North American Wildfires:

As of Aug. 22, the National Interagency Fire Center’s situation report listed a total of 41,122 wildfires in the U.S. that had burned more than 4.59 million acres. A total of 26,123 personnel – approximately the population of Paradise, California – are deployed on 89 active fires across the country; 81 are considered to be large uncontained fires.

In Canada, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reported 6,022 fires that had burned more than 10 million acres (4.04 million hectares) as of Aug. 22, including 190 out-of-control fires burning in several provinces across the country. Hundreds of personnel from Mexico have arrived in both Ontario and British Columbia to support firefighters already deployed.

CDP regularly updates a North American Wildfires Season Disaster profile with information on the fires and advice on how funders can help address critical needs.

Worldwide – Wildfires:

Fires continue to burn around the world, and earlier this month smoke from wildfires reached the north pole for the first time in recorded history. For a full review of major fires burning worldwide, please see our 2021 International Wildfires profile.

2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season:

Officials are monitoring two storms, including Tropical Depression Henri and a disturbance located several hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands. This disturbance only has a 20% chance of formation over the coming five days, although it may become more organized through the middle and later parts of this week.

Tropical Depression Henri is located inland approximately 60 miles (95 km) north-northwest of New York City, where it has largely stalled, bringing heavy rains to New York State. It is expected to move east across New England before moving back out over the Gulf of Maine as a post-tropical depression and bringing the potential for heavy rains to the Canadian maritime provinces. While there are no deaths or injuries associated with Henri, the heavy rains did cause extensive damage, leaving more than 100,000 people across the northeastern U.S. without power at one point.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Grace continued to move west after striking Haiti’s southern coast, strengthening into a Category 3 hurricane as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) near the resort town of Tecolutla in the state of Veracruz. At least eight people died, including six from the same family – and all but one of those killed lived in the Veracruz state capital of Xalapa, while the other was killed when a roof collapsed on them in the city of Poza Rica.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Fred unleashed torrential rains across the southern U.S., leaving intensive flooding and significant damage across a wide swath of states. An area from Georgia through North and South Carolina saw heavy flooding, landslides and tornadoes as a result of the passage of Fred’s remnants. At least one person died when his vehicle went off the road and overturned into a water-filled ditch in Florida. Thirty-five people were initially unaccounted for in North Carolina, however, that number had dropped to five people missing as of Aug. 20. Four people died in North Carolina, and more than 100 people had to be rescued from their homes as water rushed through their neighborhoods.

Flooding – Germany:

A fresh round of heavy rains struck Germany and Austria, leaving at least one person dead and another one missing as of Aug. 17. Both people were swept away by raging waters along with the bridge they were standing on. One person’s body was recovered the next day while the second person remained missing. The same storm spawned an extremely rare tornado that damaged several homes but didn’t cause any reported injuries or deaths.

Flooding – Turkey:

The death toll from last week’s flooding reached 78 while 47 were still missing as of Aug. 18, according to the Mehr News Agency. More than 8,000 personnel using 1,100 vehicles continued to search for the missing and those who may have been buried in the associated landslides.

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