NDYS in Action, Newsletter 
Natural Disaster Youth Summit Monthly News     
                 http://ndys.jearn.jp/news/index.html 　ndys@jearn.jp

Editor: Daniel Paz, 
Salta, Argentina

NDYS Youth Editors

Topics

Disaster Reduction and Climate Change

Flash floods affected Afghanistan in a severe way.

    

            Local aid workers have called for urgent replenishment of relief stocks in several provinces severely affected by floods and landslides over the past month.
             
            Provincial offices of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) and the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) in the provinces of Badakhshan in the northeast, Herat in the west, and Balkh in the north said they had run out of stocks of relief aid for flood-affected communities.

            The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has also reported the need to replenish dwindling relief stocks in the affected provinces.          

At least 10 provinces were affected by floods and there were 22 death people in many districts in Badakhshan
            
             "Stocks are depleted; the authorities and aid organizations are calling for the replenishment of assistance items in anticipation of more flooding in the near future," OCHA said in a report on 5 May.

             The re-opening of numerous roads blocked by floods and landslides has become a challenge which has impeded aid delivery in some remote areas.

             Aid agencies, the government and the NATO-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams have reported delivery of life-saving food and non-food aid to hundreds of flood-affected families across the country. At least 10 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces have experienced flash floods, heavy rain and landslides since early April, ANDMA said.  

                  About 6,000 families have been affected by floods and landslides in the north, northeast and west of the country over the past three weeks, OCHA reported. Officials in Badakhshan Province said at least 22 people had died in floods and avalanches in a number of districts in the past week.

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Editor: Daniel Paz, 
Salta, Argentina

Topics

Disaster Reduction and Climate Change

Nepal needs to adapt better to climate change.

                 

Lack of preparation and bad infrastructure are things that need a better develop.

              Nepal is one of a number of South Asian countries directly affected by global warming, especially in mountainous regions which have seen rapid glacier melt: Local experts warn that climate change adaptation plans urgently need to be put in place.
             
               Some organizations have been involved in small-scale community activities designed to promote sustainable agriculture, alternative energy and biodiversity conservation, but these are insufficient, they say.
             
               The Asian Development Bank, which is helping the Nepalese government to assess and address climate change risks, says water shortages in the dry season and the melting of over 3,200 glaciers are the main challenge
             However, Nepal lacks the institutional, scientific and economic resources to adapt effectively to climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
             
             Experts said there was an urgent need to quantify the likely impact of climate change and assess Nepal’s scope and capacity for adapting to climate change. Up to now most climate change information relating to agriculture, food security and water resources has been anecdotal or general, a fact which, however, does not mean that adaptation programs should be shelved pending further scientific evidence.

             The drought has led to the loss of winter crops like wheat, maize and mustard - with serious implications for food security. Some organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have already started their own hazard mapping exercise in mountainous areas to assess livelihood vulnerabilities related to agriculture, flood patterns and erosion.
             
             “Our priority is adaptation and the building of the resilience of the most vulnerable communities,” WWF Nepal official Ghana said Shyam Gurung. “We haven’t had rain for more than six months and because of that crops have suffered - and definitely you have productivity going down a lot,” he added.

         
                                                                                                                                     

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Editor: Daniel Paz, 
Salta, Argentina

Topics

Disaster Reduction and Climate Change

Heavy storms displaced people in Benin

              Hundreds of people displaced by severe April storms in the Collines region 200km north of the business capital, Cotonou, are expected to receive construction materials from the Red Cross of Benin to begin home and school repairs.

              Violent winds and rainstorms displaced more than 800 people in late April when their homes were destroyed. They are now staying with other family members, said Blandine Babadankpodgi, the head of Red Cross’s disaster relief team in Benin. Red Cross’s Babadankpodgi said that school officials will try to finish the repairs by the end of May in advance of scheduled 2 June year-end exams. “Classes are now overflowing and teachers are forced to teach students from different [class] levels in one school room,”

Floods cause severe complications in the normal activities of people.

               

              Disaster worker Babadankpodgi said while windstorms and flooding cannot be prevented, the region’s storm warning system and better building constructions can help minimise damage. “Even when there is no rain, the poor soil quality and Sahelian climate [with strong winds] leaves this area permanently at risk.”

               “We need to improve the quality of buildings here so they are more resistant and can withstand perennial Sahelian windstorms,” added Babadankpodgi. Red Cross volunteers are also in the process of instructing people to purify drinking water – often polluted rain – to prevent a cholera outbreak during the rainy season, which typically starts in June and continues up to October.

 

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Editor: Daniel Paz, 
Salta, Argentina

Topics

Disaster Reduction and Climate Change

Philippines suffered heavy storms and strong winds.

         

Lack of preparation and bad infrastructure are things that need a better develop.

             Emergency relief efforts continue for people displaced by two back-to-back typhoons that wreaked havoc across large parts of the eastern and northern Philippines.

             The storms displaced more than 400,000 people, the vast majority of whom have yet to return home, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, also chairman of the NDCC, said medicine, food and aid workers had been airlifted to areas in northern Luzon, devastated by Storm Chan-hom, which made landfall on 7 May, dumping heavy rains and causing landslides that killed 43 people. It also displaced more than 161,020 people in 51 towns, six cities and 11 provinces in Luzon, the country’s largest island.
            Of this number, more than 4,000 remain in government-run evacuation centers, mostly schools, the NDCC said on 11 May, while the majority are still staying with family and friends. The military's 7th Infantry Division, he said, had been bussed to Bolinao to help clear the debris and back up rescuers.
Chan-hom blew into the Philippines just days after tropical depression "Crising" and typhoon Kujira battered the eastern Bicol region and nearby provinces on 2 May, leaving 33 people dead and displacing 246,170, according to the NDCC.

             Of that total, more than 3,000 remain in government-run shelters, while the rest are either staying with friends or relatives, the agency said.

             The total cost of the damage wrought by Chan-hom has surpassed US$16 million, with more than 23,000 homes totally or partially damaged by f Gwendolyn Pang, Philippine National Red Cross secretary-general, said its emergency response unit (ERU) and more than 170 volunteers were helping with relief work.

             Red Cross volunteers are also monitoring possible disease outbreak in camps, as scattered rains have persisted even as the storms have left the Philippines.

             The state weather bureau said the three storms, as well as a tropical depression that preceded them, ushered in the early arrival of the annual typhoon season, which kills tens of thousands and causes widespread damage. About 20 typhoons strike the Philippines every year.

                                                                                                                                    

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Comments: Here we can see countries like Afghanistan, Philippines and Benin suffering the same situation…floods. This is only the beginning of a new episode which will bring more and more cities getting drowned and people moving their lives to another part. Governments need to take action on this; because it will get worst…preventing is always the best way. Also Nepal’s Government should take more action but economic boundaries are a difficult topic to treat… So it is necessary to take the best decisions…and I think securing citizens lives is the right one.

  By Sergio Daniel Paz;  Salta-Argentina

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