Disasters and emergency response
Disasters
Southeast Asia heatwave: Thailand’s heat index tops 52 degrees as Philippines risks ‘overloaded’ power systems
Thailand is reeling under the grip of a severe heatwave with temperatures soaring to record highs in some areas and authorities warned of harsher weather in the coming days. More than three dozen districts across Thailand’s 77 provinces have seen record temperatures in April, generally the hottest month of ...
Bloomberg
Vietnam heatwave threatens farmers' livelihoods, worsens challenges for Mekong
HO CHI MINH CITY — A heatwave in Vietnam is worsening environmental conditions in the Mekong Delta region, and farmers and gig workers have told VOA the heat is causing grueling working conditions and cutting crop yields. The heatwave is fueled by the El Nino weather pattern ...
VOA News
Special Report: Under the Haze - Demystifying the Flames
Under last year’s haze that shrouded the region and sent over two million people to hospital, concerned authorities and policymakers have started to dispel the myth that has lasted for over 16 years, demystifying it and discovering the root causes; the vastly burned forests and ...
Piyaporn W.
Mekong Delta crossroads experiences chaos due to high tide
A high tide caused many houses and restaurants to be flooded, leading to prolonged congestion at the Trung Luong junction, where Highway 1A crosses Highway 60 in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang. By 4 p.m. on Sunday, many streets within a radius of one ...
Hoang Nam
Saltwater intrusion forecast to come early in Mekong Delta
HÀ NỘI — Localities within the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are devising strategies to tackle the anticipated early onset of saltwater intrusion, projected to occur soon. These strategies aim to secure adequate water for the winter-spring rice harvest and reduce the damage inflicted by drought and salinity. The ...
VNS
Mekong water level falling
NAKHON PHANOM: The level of the Mekong river is falling and water can now be drained more quickly out of thousands of rai of flooded rice fields, authorities in this northeastern border province said on Monday. The river was receding by 10-20 centimetres per day. It ...
PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI
Indonesia to prepare 500,000 hectares for rice crops amid El Nino phenomenon
JAKARTA: The Indonesian government will prepare 500,000 hectares of agricultural land for rice production in anticipation of the long drought brought on by the El Nino climate phenomenon. According to a Presidential Secretariat’s Press, Media and Information Bureau (BPMI) statement, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said ...
Rhea Yasmine Alis Haizan
Laos to proceed with seventh Mekong dam despite impact concerns
Pressing ahead with its vision to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia,” the government of Laos is going forward with plans to build its seventh of nine mainstream dams on the Mekong River, despite widespread concerns that it could inflict social and environmental damage. The 728-megawatt ...
Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Myanmar: Junta Blocks Lifesaving Cyclone Aid
(Bangkok) – The Myanmar junta’s increasing obstruction of humanitarian aid in the month since Cyclone Mocha has put thousands of lives at immediate risk and endangered millions of people, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the cyclone made landfall on May 14, 2023, junta authorities have refused ...
HRW
NASA satellite network bolsters Mekong River observations
Unevenly split across a half-dozen country borders, the will for transboundary management of the Mekong River rises and falls like its water levels. But now, with the help of the U.S. space agency NASA, satellite data is set to play an increasingly prominent role in taking ...
ANTON L. DELGADO