Latest news with #disaster
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Glacier collapses burying evacuated Swiss village in mud and rocks
A huge section of a glacier in the Swiss Alps has broken off, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock to bury most of a village evacuated earlier this month due to the risk of a rockslide. Footage showed a vast plain of mud and soil covering the village after the Birch Glacier partially collapsed. A river that runs through the village was also inundated, along with the wooded sides of the surrounding valley
ABC News
4 hours ago
- Climate
- ABC News
A large avalanche has hit a small village in the Swiss Alps
A huge chunk of a glacier broke off, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock that buried most of the Swiss village of Blatten.
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
The Road to Mandalay
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar in March 2025, devastating communities across the country. Al Jazeera was the only international broadcaster with a team on the ground to witness the unfolding crisis. What emerged was a story of survival against overwhelming odds. From the capital Naypyidaw to the spiritual heart of Mandalay, our cameras captured the desperate search for survivors and the scale of destruction. At the epicentre, entire neighbourhoods lay in ruins as hundreds of thousands of people found themselves without shelter, clean water or food. Emergency services struggled to cope with the response required. The disaster struck a nation already fractured by civil conflict, where a military government appeared ill-equipped to handle the crisis. Over seven days, Al Jazeera correspondent Tony Cheng documented not just the immediate aftermath, but how this natural catastrophe exposed deeper challenges facing the people of Myanmar during their darkest hour.
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Before and after the NSW floods: view from the sky reveals scale of disaster
Deadly and devastating flood waters from the Hunter to the mid-north coast in New South Wales have subsided and a massive clean up blitz has begun. Five people have been confirmed dead, more than 1,000 buildings deemed uninhabitable and flood damage was inflicted on an estimated 10,000 properties. About 3,500 people remain isolated, despite waters receding in recent days. New aerial images show the scale of devastation. Recovery crews have removed 10,000 cubic metres of waste from affected areas and more than 1,500 tonnes of debris from roads, government officials said, with about 5,000 pot holes repaired. 'Recovery is going to take time,' the federal emergency services minister, Kristy McBain, told ABC radio on Wednesday. 'This isn't going to be something that is done quickly and we've reiterated that we will be there for the long haul.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Over 6,000 NSW government staff and volunteers have been deployed. More than 9,200 damage assessments have been conducted, with about 2,000 to go, the NSW minister for emergency services, Jihad Dib, told state parliament. Many of the more than 1,000 buildings deemed uninhabitable may only be so for the short term. 'In some of those cases, it's just flooding over the floorboards, or minor damage,' he said. 'It doesn't mean that they're uninhabitable completely.' But about 30 homes need 'serious work' or are beyond repair. Affected NSW farmers are also reeling; in scenes similar to floods in Queensland earlier this year, where estimated stock losses totalled more than 150,000. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion With Australian Associated Press
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Family's fight to save destroyed caravan park prompts Aussie tourism warning
With the rain pelting on his back and a torch in one hand, Bren Abbott-Hammel waded through the deep floodwaters at his family's caravan park late on Thursday night last week, banging on vans and urging those still inside to evacuate. In a scene that was all too familiar, the Weeroona Holiday Park in Manning Point, on NSW's Mid North Coast, was underwater for the second time in a little over four years. While the majority of the park's 24 permanent residents, short-stay visitors and campers had already fled the area, a few people appeared to be 'in a little bit of denial' about facing another emergency given the 'close time frame' between the catastrophic flooding events. 'There were some people that didn't hear me, and around 2.30am I got a phone call from a lady who was woken up by the water hitting her in bed,' he told Yahoo News. 'I walked and swam down to her and then carried her out with a couple of bags and whatnot.' Tragically, many of those who call the caravan park home had 'only recently' recovered from the 2021 flood, only to have to start from scratch once again. 'They finally got their place set up after chipping away at it for the last four years, and then it's just happened again, and all that hard work and sacrifice and saving money just gets ripped away,' Abbott-Hammel, whose parents took over Weeroona in 2023, said, noting the heartbreaking loss of sentimental items such as photos. 'All the vans are 100 per cent uninhabitable at the moment, and all the campgrounds are completely useless to the point of the power being cut off.' While recovery efforts began after the water started to recede on Saturday, it could take months before the caravan park returns to normal, leaving Abbott-Hammel pondering the effect of Australia's natural disasters on the tourism industry. 'The weather has become more extreme, so what does that mean for tourism-related businesses? I'm sure there's other industries impacted but for us it's less than ideal,' he said. The Aussie admitted he has had several conversations with family members about the 'direct loss of revenue' and the 'definite possibility' of the flood zone's reputation putting people off visiting. 'It's a concern, and I have seen it before,' he told Yahoo, explaining that several campers decided to leave early in April after a predicted 60mm of rainfall. 'And you don't get to measure the people who don't come because they are afraid.' The damage caused to the roads could also deter travellers, given they are often hauling a $100,000 to $150,000 caravan with them. Hypothetically, if Weeroona Holiday Park was unable to recover from last week's floods, which also claimed the lives of five people, the other small businesses in the area would also suffer, Abbott-Hammel said. 'The general store, they will struggle. The bowls club, I assume they would lose 20 to 30 per cent of their business.' And he's not the only one with concerns. ☔️ Photos show brutal contrast across Australia as bureau predicts a wet winter ⛺️ Caravan couple blast 'selfish' act creating major camping issue in Australia 🏡 Aussie council makes major caravan rule change to tackle housing crisis NSW's Mid-North Coast has experienced back-to-back extreme weather events in the last few years and communities are suffering the consequences 'again and again', Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said this week, pointing the finger at what she said is the 'root cause" — "pollution from coal, oil and gas'. 'It is critical that we understand that such disasters are no longer simply 'natural',' she said. The increasing frequency and severity of such events means residents are facing successive disasters with little time in between to recover, which could ultimately hurt the country's tourism industry in the long run. 'The impact of climate change has had devastating impacts on tourism businesses all over the country and over time, it has caused people to close their doors,' Dr Heather Downey told Yahoo. Repeatedly cleaning up and dealing with insurance companies and various government agencies, as well as the 'emotional element', can take a huge toll on Aussies, the associate professor of social work at La Trobe said. 'It's a very difficult time. Then, you have to contact people who've made bookings and let them know what's going on, it's a multi layered event,' Downey added. 'Unless something is done about root causes of climate change, we can expect increased severity and frequency of these types of devastating events.' A GoFundMe page has been created to help provide the Weeroona Holiday Park with necessary supplies. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
