Latest news with #disasterresponse
CBS News
29 minutes ago
- Climate
- CBS News
North Bay hit by earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 3.4
An earthquake struck in the North Bay on Saturday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 3.4 and was about .6 miles north-northwest of The Geysers. It had a depth of about 1.8 miles. Some weak shaking was reported by people in Healdsburg and in San Rafael.
CTV News
5 hours ago
- Climate
- CTV News
India's monsoon floods kill at least 22 people in the country's northeast
A member of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) distributes drinking water to a resident after heavy rains flooded the area around her home, in Guwahati, India, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo) GUWAHATI, India — Landslides and flash flooding triggered by days of torrential monsoon rains in India's northeast have killed at least 22 people, officials said Saturday. Five people, including three from a single family, were killed on Saturday when their homes were buried in a mudslide in Assam state's Guwahati city, an official flood bulletin said. In neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh state, which borders China, seven people were killed on Friday when their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters. Two others drowned in a separate incident in the state. Eight people were killed in the states of Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya in the last 24 hours due to floods and mudslides brought on by the rains, according to official figures. Meanwhile in Assam, authorities disconnected the electricity in several areas to reduce the risk of electrocution, state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Heavy rains also led to flooding in many urban areas of Assam's capital city of Guwahati, leading to long power outages Friday night and prompting authorities to shut schools and colleges on Saturday. India's weather agency has forecast more heavy rains in the region in the coming days. India's annual June-September monsoon season offers respite from intense summer heat. But the rains that are crucial for crops planted during the season often cause extensive damage, particularly in the northeast, which is considered one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Scientists say monsoons are becoming more erratic because of extreme weather and global warming, leading to frequent landslides and flash floods in India's Himalayan north. Wasbir Hussain, The Associated Press
CTV News
5 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Turmoil, worry swirl over cuts to key U.S. agencies as hurricane season begins
Dustin Holmes, second from right, holds hands with his girlfriend, Hailey Morgan, while returning to their flooded home with her children Aria Skye Hall, 7, right, and Kyle Ross, 4, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Sept. 27, 2024, in Crystal River, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File) WASHINGTON — With predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes. Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions, travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs since U.S. President Donald Trump took office at both the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which prepares for and responds to hurricanes, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks and forecasts them. 'My nightmare is a major catastrophic storm hitting an area that is reeling from the impact of all of this nonsense from the Trump administration and people will die. And that could happen in Florida, that could happen in Texas, that could happen in South Carolina,' said Susan Cutter, the director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina. Representatives of both NOAA and FEMA say the agencies are prepared. Experts: DOGE cuts diminish FEMA About 2,000 full-time staff have left FEMA since Trump took office in January, a loss of roughly one-third of the agency's full-time workforce, amid U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mandated cuts. Scholars who study emergency management are concerned by both the reduction in capacity and the 'brain drain' of experienced staff. 'There's really been a brain drain within FEMA in addition to the loss of overall employees,' said Samantha Montano, who teaches emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. She noted that many who left were in critical management positions. The agency is run by an acting chief, David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served overseas and worked as the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. He does not appear to have any experience in managing disasters. Emergency management requires knowing where to get things, who to call, how things work and how to get it done quickly — which comes from experience and establishing relationships with state officials, Montano and Cutter said. What's happening reminds former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate of 2005, the year Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and exposed inexperienced and poorly prepared governments at all levels, especially the then-FEMA chief who came from a horse-rearing association. Fugate said he's especially worried about top experienced disaster people leaving FEMA. FEMA canceled various emergency management trainings this spring, moved others online and restricted travel to events such as the National Hurricane Conference. Some trainings have resumed. 'Given the reduction in staffing, being unable to do trainings, participate in conferences, there's potential that the federal government's ability is diminished,'' said former Florida Emergency Management chief Bryan Koon, now president of the disaster preparedness firm IEM. FEMA has also cut disaster resilience programs. Making areas more survivable saves up to US$13 for every dollar spent, said Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado. The federal government promises to be ready for hurricane season, which runs through November. 'FEMA is shifting from bloated DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,' Associate FEMA Administrator Geoff Harbaugh said in a email. 'FEMA is fully activated in preparation for hurricane season.' FEMA's relationship with states Richardson promised to push more responsibilities to the states. He warned that the agency will only do what the law requires and shift more costs to states. But Koon noted that states haven't budgeted for FEMA's changes, adding: 'The biggest issue right now is just the uncertainty.' Some states — which coordinate disaster operations — are experienced in catastrophes, have well trained staff and will do fine, such as Texas and Florida, Fugate said. But it's the poorer states that worry the experts. The feds often pick up the entire bill in big disasters and most of it in smaller ones. In the Trump administration, disaster declarations have been denied or delayed. When disaster declarations were issued for nine states last week, some had been pending for two months and others were only partially approved. 'We've just relied on FEMA for so much for so long and not knowing who's going to fill the gap and how we're going to fill it is really scary,' said University at Albany emergency management professor Jeannette Sutton. Hurricane centre dodges NOAA cuts NOAA, the parent agency of the U.S. National Weather Service, has undergone a series of dramatic job cuts, with some people then reinstated. A sizable chunk of the weather service's 121 local field offices as of late March had vacancy rates of more than 20 per cent, what's seen by outsiders as a critical level of understaffing. Local weather offices are crucial in helping people translate national warnings into what to do locally. 'It should be all hands on deck and we're being hollowed out,' former NWS director Louis Uccellini said. But the National Hurricane Center, which tracks and warns of hurricanes in the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean, has been spared. Acting NOAA Administrator Laura Grimm, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham and National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said the agency is prepared for the season with the Miami-based storm center fully staffed and so are the planes that fly into storms. For the first time this year, the hurricane center will incorporate artificial intelligence into forecasting because it has shown to improve predictions generally, Brennan said. 'Our services have never been better,' Graham said. 'Our ability to serve this country has never been better. And it will be this year as well.' But beyond the hurricane center, weather balloons launches have been curtailed because of lack of staffing. In some places, balloon launches have dropped from twice a day to once a day. NOAA hopes to get more balloons launched if needed, Brennan said. Data from the balloons is crucial for understanding steering currents and needed for forecasts, Uccellini said. He said when hurricanes threatened during his tenure he would order the launch of several extra balloons in the Great Plains to help figure out if storms would hit the United States. 'Hurricane forecasts, I'm expecting not to be as accurate this year because of that lack of balloon data,″ said former NOAA meteorologist Jeff Masters, now at Yale Climate Connections. Aoun Angueira reported from San Diego. The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at Seth Borenstein And Gabriela Aoun Angueira, The Associated Press
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
Turmoil, worry swirl over cuts to key federal agencies as hurricane season begins
WASHINGTON — With predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes. Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions , travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs since President Donald Trump took office at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency , which prepares for and responds to hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , which tracks and forecasts them.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Rescue operations underway after Nigeria flooding kills at least 150
Flash flooding earlier this week in central Nigeria killed more than 150 people, a local disaster response spokesman told AFP on Saturday, while displacing 3,000, levelling more than 250 homes and washing away two bridges. The sharp jump from the previous death toll of 115 came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres (6 miles) away from the town of Mokwa, the epicentre of the floods, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, told AFP. As Husseini warned that the toll could still rise -- with bodies being swept away down the powerful Niger River -- President Bola Tinubu said that search-and-rescue operations were underway, with the disaster response being aided by security forces. Tinubu, in an overnight post on social media, added that "relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay" in Mokwa, which was hit by torrential rains late on Wednesday through to early on Thursday. Buildings collapsed and roads were inundated in the town, which is located more than 350 kilometres (215 miles) by road from the capital Abuja, an AFP journalist in Mokwa observed on Friday. Emergency services and residents searched through the rubble as floodwaters flowed alongside. "Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes," Husseini said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses. He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members had been accounted for as of Friday. Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters: "We lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything." The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that the Nigerian Red Cross, local volunteers, the military and police were all helping in the response. According to the figures shared by Husseini, 151 people were killed, 3,018 were displaced, 265 houses were "completely destroyed" and two bridges were washed away in the busy, rural market town. - Changing climate - Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country. Scientists have also warned that climate change is fuelling more extreme weather patterns. In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. "This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear," NEMA said in a statement. According to the Daily Trust newspaper, thousands of people have been displaced and more than 50 children in an Islamic school were reported missing. - Warning sounded - The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria's 36 states, making it one of the country's worst flood seasons in decades, according to NEMA. Displaced children played in the flood waters on Friday, heightening the possibility of exposure to water-borne diseases, with at least two bodies lying nearby covered in banana leaves and printed ankara cloth. Describing how she escaped the raging waters, Sabuwar Bala, a 50-year-old yam vendor, told reporters: "I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I'm wearing now. I couldn't even save my flip-flops." "I can't locate where my home stood because of the destruction," she said. nro/rmb/bc
