Spain wildfire death toll rises to 4 & six horrifically burned as fires enter NINTH day and 2k soldiers battle inferno
More than 40 fires are still active, and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes.
1
Spain is having to call in international reinforcements as the blazes continue to devastate the country.
The disastrous infernos have taken a devastating human toll.
Four people have sadly died in the blazes, including one firefighter - with more seriously injured.
Three of six people hospitalised in Leon and Zamora remain in critical condition.
The same number are in serious condition, according to the Regional Government of Castilla y Leon.
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BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Katrina to Erin: The most extreme hurricanes in history
Hurricanes are increasingly breaking records for intensity and the destruction they leave in their wake. Here we look at some of the most powerful storms in history. It is 20 years since Hurricane Katrina barrelled into south-east Louisiana, killing 1,833 people and creating a calamity on a previously unimagined scale. The storm hit on 29 August 2005, leaving most of the city underwater and its population without power, food and shelter. "My city, New Orleans, has fallen into utter chaos," resident Windi Sebren told the BBC at the time. "My life in New Orleans is over for the time being – I have to start over completely." Katrina is undoubtedly one of the worst disasters to have hit the United States in living memory. Here we revisit pictures from Katrina and some of history's other powerful and destructive hurricanes. The most lives lost: The Great Hurricane of 1780 On the night of 9 October 1780, after a balmy day on the Caribbean island of Barbados, rain began to fall. The next morning a breeze picked up – and by 6pm a hurricane slammed into the island at full force. Known as the Great Hurricane, it remains the deadliest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Estimates of the death toll range between 20,000 and 27,500.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Hurricane Erin updates: Storm strengthens as North Carolina's Outer Banks conditions ‘deteriorate'
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Forecasters warn that Erin is set to bring powerful waves, potentially reaching up to 20 feet high, along with life-threatening surf and rip currents, leading to beach closures and swimming bans across multiple East Coast states, including North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. Despite advisories, some beach-goers in North Carolina were reported to have entered the water at Wrightsville Beach, which was later cleared due to lightning. Hurricane Erin, which formed on August 11 and was upgraded on August 15, is considered one of the fastest-intensifying hurricanes on record and previously caused significant power outages in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. The National Hurricane Center noted Erin as an "unusually large hurricane" and predicted it could strengthen back to a major hurricane by Wednesday evening, with maximum sustained winds near 110 mph, though weakening is expected by Friday. Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 03:30 ICYMI: Hurricane Erin caught in stunning 0.5km-resolution imagery Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 04:15 NASA wants your photos of hurricane damage — here's why NASA is launching a pilot program to harness citizen science for faster hurricane disaster recovery. The space agency, in collaboration with the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, a science and education initiative, is spearheading a new Response Mapper project. This innovative initiative will utilize photographs submitted by the public, both before and after a disaster, to track ground conditions in affected areas. Here's why NASA wants your photos of hurricane damage Americans can help with disaster recovery decisions by joining space agency initiative to document damage at ground level Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 03:45 Hurricane Erin mapped: Tracking areas most likely to see the impacts of storm surge and 20-foot waves Hurricane Erin is spinning its way across the Atlantic toward the U.S. East Coast, but it still appears it's going to swing north and miss a landfall in the lower 48. Even if the storm doesn't have a direct hit on the East Coast, people living in those areas will still feel the storm's presence in the form of dangerous surf and potential rainstorms. Graig Graziosi has more: Hurricane Erin mapped: Tracking areas most likely to see the impacts of the storm Hurricane Erin will bring storm surges and tropical storm conditions to parts of North Carolina and Virginia as it passes along the U.S. East Coast between Wednesday and Friday Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 03:00 Erin set to strengthen again over the next 24 hours According to forecasting from ABC News, Erin is currently a Category 2 storm but could re-strengthen later on Wednesday. The weather system could potentially become a Category 3 hurricane as it tracks between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda over the next 12-to-24 hours, according to the outlet. In its outlook, the National Hurricane Center confirmed it was possible that Erin could strengthen and become a 'major hurricane' again by Wednesday evening. The weather system's maximum sustained winds are near 110 mph with higher gusts, according to the forecaster. 'Some strengthening is possible during the next day or so, and Erin could become a major hurricane again by tonight,' the update said. Weakening is likely to begin by Friday, but Erin is forecast to remain a hurricane into the weekend. Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 02:30 NHC continues to monitor two other areas for possible hurricane formation The National Hurricane Center is continuing to monitor two other areas of the North Atlantic for tropical system development. Currently, one system has a 70 percent chance of developing into a storm in the next seven days and is just east of the Caribbean. The other has a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical storm within the same period and is just west of the Cape Verde Islands. Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 02:00 Watch: Why do hurricanes strike the Outer Banks almost every year? Here's Accuweather to explain why the Outer Banks are so vulnerable to hurricanes: Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 01:40 In pictures: Beaches closed but New Jersey shows up to watch the surf Beaches up and down the East Coast of the U.S. have been closed off to swimmers because of dangerous currents and rip tides caused by Hurricane Erin. Here's the scene in Surf City, New Jersey. 21 August 2025 01:20 NASA posts graphic of Hurricane Erin in 3D Hurricane Erin underwent a period of rapid intensification, strengthening from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in approximately 24 hours last week. NASA's GPM Core Observatory passed over Hurricane Erin at 6:23 a.m. ET on August 16, while it was intensifying. Here's what they captured: Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 01:00 National Hurricane Center reminds people not to swim The National Hurricane Center is reminding people not to go swimming in the ocean. In its latest post on X, the NHC writes: 'Outer Bands of Large Hurricane Erin Brushing the North Carolina Outer Banks. Beachgoers Are Cautioned Against Swimming At Most U. S. East Coast Beaches Due to Life-Threatening Surf and Rip Currents.' Oliver O'Connell21 August 2025 00:54
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
Is historically arid Beijing ready for a wetter future?
BEIJING, Aug 21 (Reuters) - During last month's deadly floods in Beijing, rural hotel owner Cui Jian and his guests spent the night stranded on a rooftop in torrential rain before rescuers battled through metre-high mud and silt to get to them the next day. Beijing's mountainous northern Huairou district and neighbouring Miyun district received a year's worth of rain in a single week, triggering flash floods that devastated entire villages and killed 44 people in the deadliest flood since 2012. The authorities' most serious weather warning came too late for most villagers in Huairou, who were already asleep by the time it was issued. "In the past, they closed scenic areas and campsites, evacuated tourists and relocated villagers. If you warn people in time, good, but if not, it's a natural disaster," said Cui, whose 10 properties in the same Huairou district village, which he had spent 35 million yuan ($4.87 million) renovating, were submerged. The floods exposed weaknesses in the rural emergency response infrastructure for Beijing, whose urban core is surrounded by several rural districts. But they also revealed how historically-dry Beijing, home to 22 million people, remains insufficiently prepared for what experts say will be an increasingly wet future. The Chinese capital has experienced three deluges since 2012 that forecasters said could only happen once every 100 years, and climate experts warn there is a growing risk of disasters on a previously unthinkable scale. Chinese experts are increasingly calling for city planners to prioritise "ecological resilience" given the disastrous effects of climate change. "The current understanding of the climate crisis and its future challenges is insufficient, which naturally leads to insufficient deployment and planning," said Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. China's ministries of housing and environment, and the Beijing city government, did not respond to faxed requests for comment. While two Beijing districts devastated by floods in 2023 have issued long-term reconstruction plans prioritising "climate-adaptive city construction" and proposing measures to improve rural flood control systems and upgrade infrastructure, the vast majority of recently-commissioned infrastructure projects in the capital do not prioritise climate adaptation in their plans. A Chinese government database showed only three Beijing infrastructure projects in the past five years whose procurement tenders mentioned "ecological resilience", while several hundred tenders mentioning "climate change" were mostly related to research projects at state scientific institutes in Beijing. Ecological resilience refers to measures such as restoring natural river embankments, reducing the use of concrete and other hard materials and excessive artificial landscaping, as well as increasing biodiversity, according to Zhou. In a shift away from decades of breakneck urbanisation that propelled China's economic growth, a top-level urban planning meeting in July emphasised building "liveable, sustainable and resilient" cities. Mid-July is typically when northern China's rainy season starts, but this year it had its earliest start since records began in 1961, while several Beijing rivers experienced their largest-ever recorded floods. Citywide rainfall in June and July surged 75% from a year earlier, official data showed. This is due to the "significant northward expansion of China's rain belt since 2011" linked to climate change, the director of China's National Climate Center told state-owned China Newsweek, marking a shift towards "multiple, long-term, sustained cycles of rainfall" in the traditionally arid north. China's policymakers have taken some steps to combat urban flooding. "Sponge city" projects have been underway across the country since 2015, transforming concrete-laden megacities with hidden drainage infrastructure such as permeable asphalt pavements, sunken rain gardens and modernised sewage systems. The concept, originating in China, refers to mimicking a sponge's ability to absorb and release rainwater. In Beijing, recently-built projects include flood control pumping stations, riverside parks and manmade lakes. China spent more than 2.9 trillion yuan ($403.78 billion) on more than 60,000 "sponge city" infrastructure projects in 2024, according to official data. Authorities aim to have covered 80% of urban areas in all cities by 2030, although many provinces and major cities are behind schedule. In Beijing, new "sponge city" projects worth at least 155 million yuan have begun this year, according to a Chinese procurement tender database. Currently, 38% of Beijing's urban areas meet "sponge city" standards, media reports say. But experts say such initiatives cannot help in Beijing's rural fringes because the mountainous landscape makes villages, usually built at the foot of steep hillsides and lacking emergency response infrastructure, more vulnerable to secondary disasters such as landslides. Current "sponge city" standards are also based on historical precipitation data and are poorly-equipped to deal with extreme rainfall, said Yuan Yuan, Greenpeace East Asia's climate and energy campaigner. Future contingency plans must also consider ensuring pre-emptive evacuation of residents and improving early warning systems, in particular identifying vulnerable populations with limited mobility, she added. In the recent Beijing floods, 31 elderly residents of a nursing home in Miyun were among the dead. They had not been included in evacuation plans and were trapped in the rising waters. "It's necessary to rationally plan the infrastructure needed by local communities and ... coordinate risk response plans and countermeasures, to create an integrated system to minimise future losses," Yuan said. ($1 = 7.1813 Chinese yuan renminbi)
