natural catastrophe

After the storm

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:19:38 +0200

The Philippine capital, Manila, the worst-hit victim of Typhoon Ketsana, was devastated by the storm's arrival on September 26. Ten days after the crisis began, the metropolis remains in ruins. One of our Observers there, exchange student Martin Poletiek, sent us this account and photos from Tatalon, a poor district of the capital. This information has not been verified by FRANCE 24.

The government can hardly help all the refugees — there are almost two million of them. The current death toll is around 400 — and rising, according to Gilberto Teodoro, the defence secretary. Around 320,000 people have taken refuge in schools, education centres, churches.

Tatalon (a district of Quezon City, itself a region of Metro Manila) is one of the poorest communities in the area. Most people live in hovels and don't own the land.

The 30,000 inhabitants had to evacuate after water levels rose to three metres and sparked the risk of fires from electric cables.

95 percent of the people here had their houses damaged or destroyed.

They have received no help, even a week after the storm. NGOs and the local authorities are overwhelmed by the events. We were the first to discover the devastation in this area. People begged us for rice.

They lost everything they owned, and what's left of it is now forming piles of rubbish up to two metres high in the streets.

Sanitary conditions are getting increasingly worse. The threat of an epidemic is rising.

Photos taken by Martin's fellow students, Edern Le Bris and Abigael Cheung. See more on their website.

Manila under water

Team Observers — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:50:40 +0200

The streets of Manila were left underwater after the Philippines were hit by typhoon Ketsana on Saturday, bringing the country its heaviest rainfall in 40 years. Martin Poletiek sent us these striking photos of the disaster.

The initial death toll for the floods stands at 140. More than 451 000 were displaced and 32 were reported missing, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Filipino authorities have appealed for international humanitarian assistance and publicly apologised for the slowness of rescue efforts. Although the Philippines see dozens of typhoons every year, local government units appeared overwhelmed by what President Gloria Arroyo described as a "once in a lifetime" storm.

Driving into the eye of a tornado

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:50:43 +0200

A violent tornado touched down in the province of Ontario, Canada, on Thursday. Several more twisters ensued, leaving nothing in their path.

Filmed in Vaughan, Ontario, on the outskirts of Toronto. Posted by "jzon06".

Vaughan. Posted by "milsap".

Shoreline storm watching proves deadly dangerous

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:09:10 +0200

Twelve foot waves battered the shoreline of Acadia National Park in the north-eastern state of Maine on Sunday, attracting thousands of spectators. The following video shows the coastguard rescue of one of three onlookers swept into the Atlantic Ocean. Another of them however, a seven-year-old girl, drowned.

The storm was caused by Hurricane Bill as it made its way north to Canada. Along with the three who were swept to sea, 11 people were left with broken bones.

Flood victims swept away in “a year’s worth of rainfall”

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:03:03 +0200

Taiwan has been hit hard by Typhoon Morakot. Fourteen are dead, 51 officially missing, and hundreds more unaccounted for. Bridges and even damns have been swept away by "unseen" amounts of rainfall, displacing over a million people. A meteorologist visiting the country filmed the following footage on his digital camera.

Typhoon Morakot swept into Taiwan on Friday after leaving over 20 people dead in the Philippines. The result of 2.5m rainfall and wind speeds of 85 mph, the typhoon toppled a six storey hotel, left cars submerged under water and sparked huge landslides, leaving the whereabouts of one entire village unknown. It moved on to China's east coast on Sunday afternoon, where over a million people have been evacuated in face of 120 mph gales.

Torrential rains in Abidjan: “The ground gives way and homes too”

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:38:50 +0200

Photo taken by Israël Yoroba Guebo.

Rainy season in Cote d'Ivoire has taken a heavy toll on the country's financial capital, where 19 people have been killed by mudslides. Our Observer in Abidjan says that it's negligence on the part of the authorities that's to blame.

Rugby heroes dig among the ruins of L'Aquila

Julien — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:41:21 +0200

All catastrophes breed their heroes and martyrs. The rugby team of L'Aquila, where a devastating earthquake killed at least 200 people on Monday, has both.

The medieval city of L’Aquila, in central Italy, has long been the heartland of Italian rugby. After a devastating earthquake reduced much of the city and neighbouring areas to rubble, the celebrated local rugby team is once again in the spotlight. One of them, 20-year-old Lorenzo Sebastiani, is among the more than 200 victims counted so far and many of his teammates have played a central part in the recue operations, at the risk of their own lives. We spoke to two “Bersaglieri” or “Sharpshooters”, as L’Aquila’s rugby players are known.

This post was made with the help of our Observer in Italy, Alberto Celani, for whom the heroism of L'Aquila's rugby players is hardly a surprise. As he told us, "L'Aquila is known in Italy to be a club of tough and strong-minded players, who never give up".

You may also read this post in Italian.

The man who predicted the quake - conman or visionary?

Julien — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:58:22 +0200

An Italian scientist had warned a month ago that a devastating earthquake was about to rock the area around L’Aquila, in central Italy, where over 170 people perished in their sleep on Monday morning. At the time, the authorities rebuffed him for scaremongering. Today, he says he is owed an apology.

A few weeks ago, vans equipped with megaphones drove up and down the streets of L’Aquila urging local residents to evacuate the area. The vehicles had been dispatched by Giampaolo Giuliani, a scientist at Italy’s National Institute of Nuclear Physics, in the Abruzzi region. A flurry of earth tremors in mid-January had convinced Giuliani that a massive earthquake was about to strike the area. At the time, the dire forecast allegedly earned him a threat of criminal charges from the city’s mayor.

Now, Giuliani says his detractors owe him an apology. Yet, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics remains unimpressed. Following the catastrophe, its statement simply read: “It is impossible to predict an earthquake”.

Also read the account from our Observer in L'Aquila, Paolo Busi.

Quake rocks central Italy: "It's panic non-stop"

Julien — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:28:32 +0200

A devastating earthquake, measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, rattled central Italy in the early hours of Monday morning. The quake’s epicentre was located under the city of L’Aquila, in the picturesque Abruzzi region, some 100km northeast of Rome. Emergency services say at least 100 people perished under the crumbling city centre, though many more are feared dead as rescuers scramble to clear the rubble.

Riyadh engulfed by sandstorm: ‘the whole city went orange’

Ségolène Team Observers — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:30:03 +0100

Riyadh was hit by a massive sandstorm on Tuesday leaving the capital's residents with only metres of visibility. One of our Observers there went out to photograph the event.