Disasters and emergency response
El Nino likely to set new weather records: Experts
The impact of El Nino in 2016 will likely surpass last year’s record to become strongest ever in history, according to experts. Hoang Duc Cuong, Director of Vietnam’s National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting, issued the forecast at a conference held late last week to review the national ...
Cambodia’s lightning deaths spike in 2015
Deaths from lightning strikes jumped 42.6 per cent year-to-year in 2015, with 107 people killed and another 77 injured across Cambodia, according to statistics released on 5 January by the National Committee for Disaster Management. The numbers represent a marked increase from 2014, when 75 people died ...
New Thongkhankham market rises from the ashes
The building that will house the new Thongkhankham market in Chanthabouly district, Vientiane, is now 50 percent complete and it is expected the whole complex will be finished by the end of this year. The modern five-storey complex and its two underground parking levels are a ...
Flood aid brings relief, but also anger and distrust
Donor aid to villages afflicted by the July-August flooding is just a lucky dip, say angry residents. They blame “sloppy” out-of-town NGOs and ill-equipped local authorities for directing money – sometimes more than once – to some villages while completely neglecting others. Donors themselves say villagers ...
Thapaung farmers face silted waterways
Inadequate irrigation could lead to the loss of more than 1000 acres of farmland in Ayeyarwady Region as creeks and rivers are drying up, farmers say. The rice growers, in Thapaung township, are still recovering from floods in August and September that forced them to ...
New teacher guides target student safety
Education and disaster management leaders from eight Southeast Asian countries gathered in Phnom Penh on 16 December in a bid to encourage schools in areas prone to natural catastrophes to make children safer. The two-day ASEAN regional conference on school safety gave officials and educators the chance ...
ASEAN disaster management conference opens
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong called for further regional cooperation in disaster response and adaptation to climate change at the third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management, held at the Cambodiana Hotel in Phnom Penh on 16 December. Delivering the opening ...
Another jade mine disaster hits Hpakant
Another deadly landslide struck the jade mines in Kachin State on 14 December. At least one death has been confirmed, while up to 20 others are feared dead in the slag-heap collapse. The latest spill occurred near Lamaungkone village in Hpakant township, according to locals. Freelance, itinerate ...
Typhoon Melor approaches East Sea
About 37,000 fishing vessels with 166,000 fishermen from the coastal central region have noticed the approach of tropical storm Melor, which is moving towards the East Sea. The Central and Central Highlands Flood and Storm Prevention Centre said all fishing vessels in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, ...
Experts call for dam review to consider earthquake risks
If there is one place most ill-equipped for a mega hydropower dam holding back cascades of water, it might very well be along a fault line. Yet China’s Myitsone project is slated for such a quake-prone site not far from the Sagaing Fault. In addition to ...
