FLOODING IN VISIYAS AND MINDANAO

REPORT/ STATEMENT

The 2022–2023 Philippine floods was a series of floods that severely affected the provinces
of Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental, and also affected some parts of the Visayan islands in
the Philippines. The floods began on December 24, as intense rain poured down on the central and southern
parts of the Philippines. As of January 11, 2023, fifty-two people were killed and eighteen others were
missing, with at least eighteen others being injured.

CAUSE

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in
a statement that the widespread rains were triggered by the shear line collision located within the regions of
Visayas and Mindanao. The shear line then persisted towards the Eastern Visayas and CARAGA regions in the
central and northern parts of the country.

IMPACT

The provincial government of Misamis Occidental declared a state of calamity (SOC) as they received
the full brunt of the flooding. The cities of Gingoog, Ozamiz, and provincial capital of Oroquieta, as well as
surrounding municipalities were most affected by the floods.[10] Samar, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar
also declared SOC.

LA NIÑA BEGINS, SOUTHWEST MONSOON ENDS IN PHILIPPINES

REPORT/ STATEMENT

The Philippines’ weather bureau on Friday, October 15, declared the start of La Niña and the end of
the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat. La Niña, which will lead to more rain, is expected to last until
the first quarter of 2022. “La Niña is usually associated with above normal rainfall conditions across most
areas of the country during the last quarter of the year and early months of the following year,” the
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in a
statement.

CAUSE

La Niña is a weather phenomenon characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in the

Equatorial Pacific which causes increased numbers of tropical storms in the Pacific Ocean. Disease
related to contaminated water due to flooding, such as acute gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, cholera and
hepatitis A.

“Rainfall forecast from October 2021 to March 2022 suggests that most parts of the country will
likely receive near to above normal rainfall conditions. ”PAGASA said the declaration of La Niña was based on
the cooling of sea surface temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific, which has been recorded since
July.In a separate statement, PAGASA also announced the termination of the southwest monsoon, noting
that it has “significantly weakened” over the past few days.

In addition, the weather bureau observed the “strengthening of the high pressure area over
mainland Asia” and projected a “northeasterly surge over Northern Luzon within the next five days.”

“This means that the season in the Philippines is now in the process of transition, which will lead to
the gradual onset and progression of the northeast monsoon in the coming weeks,” PAGASA said. The
northeast monsoon or hanging amihan, which typically lasts from October until February or March, will bring
cool, dry air to the country. The ongoing La Niña, however, could enhance the northeast monsoon, which
might cause floods and landslides. Prepare for more rain

IMPACT

Tropical cyclones may dump rain and further enhance the northeast monsoon, too.

PAGASA expects four to six tropical cyclones to enter or develop within the Philippine Area of
Responsibility during the period of La Niña. Most of these tropical cyclones are seen to make landfall.

The weather bureau warned that the eastern parts of the country, “which normally receive greater
amount of rainfall at this time of the year,” may be most affected by the hazards.

PAGASA urged government agencies, local government units, and the public to take precautionary
measures.

“Kailangan paghandaan po natin ‘yung mga areas na vulnerable sa mga pagbaha (There should be
preparations for areas which are vulnerable to floods),” PAGASA Deputy Administrator for Research and
Development Esperanza Cayanan said in a briefing.

“[Dapat] alam na ng mga kababayan natin kung saan sila lilikas o kung paano lilikas…. Nakahanda ang
lahat (The people should know when to evacuate and how to evacuate. Everyone must be prepared).”

The summer of 2021 brought ideal fire weather to southern British Columbia in Canada. A dome of
hot, high-pressure air settled over the area, sending temperatures soaring into record territory after months
of drought.

WILD FIRE IN AUSTRALIA, CALIFORNIA, AND BRITISH, COLOMBIA

REPORT

In early July, an average of 40 fires sprang up each day in the province — in what would become one
of the region’s worst wildfire seasons ever recorded. Flames scorched the steep, tree-covered slopes above
the valleys that are home to the Trans-Canada Highway and national railway lines, as well as oil and gas
pipelines. The blaze raised concern about another imminent threat: landslides from the destabilized hills.

In mid-November, a massive storm known as an atmospheric river dumped a month’s worth of rain
on the region in just two days. When the downpour hit the burnt, scarred slopes, it set off giant surges of
mud and debris that swept across the highway and railway lines. “They severed several key transportation
corridors in western Canada, which then meant critical supply-chain interruptions,” says Matthias Jakob, a
geoscientist at BGC Engineering in Vancouver, Canada, who worked on assessing the potential for landslides
in the region.

Although they might not be as deadly as hurricanes or heatwaves, landslides such as this can cost
hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage, Jakob says. And more are expected this winter as
atmospheric rivers pummel the northwest of the United States and British Columbia, following a year of
intense and widespread fires.

This one-two punch of fire and flood, is just a taste of what’s to come there, and in many other
regions. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of fires around the world, and it is also
leading to more extreme bouts of precipitation1. When rain hits recently burnt hillsides it can trigger a
particularly deadly type of landslide called a debris flow — a water-laden mass of soil, rocks and other matter
that can surge downslope with devastating force.

In regions prone to these types of hazard, scientists have developed models that can feed into
warning systems and save lives. But wildfires are now claiming hill slopes that have rarely been burnt before.
This is happening around the world, from the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada to the mountains of
Austria, where fires are burning more frequently and more intensely than ever before.

There will be an increased likelihood of both fire and post-fire debris flows in areas where they are
currently only a theoretical possibility,” says Bruce Malamud, a geophysicist at King’s College London.

The central region of British Columbia has always had wildfires but now the province is even seeing
blazes in coastal areas. The models used to forecast inland debris flows simply wouldn’t work for these
regions, where the soils and vegetation differ, Jakob says. It’s a similar scenario in the United States, where
fires in the past few years have scorched areas of northern California, Oregon and Washington that rarely
burn.

Evidence suggests that the debris-flow behaviour is going to be different in these wetter, more
vegetated regions than in arid southwestern states, where fires and landslides are more common, says Jason
Kean, a hydrologist at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Landslide Hazards Program in
Golden, Colorado.

“While it’s kind of clear what’s happening in the drier areas, the picture gets murkier as we move
north,” Kean says. “So right now, we are scrambling to collect data to figure out how well our current model
works and how to make a better one.”

Surging slopes

When rainfall hits an unburnt slope, it gets caught on trees or shrubs and then slowly trickles to the
ground, where it can filter into the soil. But fires make it harder for hillsides to soak up water. When flames
burn away vegetation, that allows rain to hit the surface with its full force. And fires burn off the waxy
compounds that coat leaves and needles, some of which then evaporate and condense on cooler soil
particles just below the surface. That can form a water-repellent layer that stops the soil from absorbing
water2.

“That takes the soil from acting like a sponge that just soaks up the rain, to acting like a giant plastic
sheet that water runs off,” says Gary Sheridan, a soil scientist at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

ain runs off this water-repellent surface until it reaches a crack and then can soak into the soil. But if
the rain is falling at an intense rate, only some of it seeps into crevices and the rest forms rivulets that flow
downhill. These streams pick up soil and rocks, which gain speed, and surge downhill creating a debris flow.

“It can be a small amount of rainfall, but it needs to be intense,” says Stefan Doerr, a wildfire
scientist at Swansea University, UK. “Particularly soon after a fire, because the stuff is just sitting there, ready
to be moved.”

When an extreme storm, known as a bomb cyclone, blasted California and the Pacific Northwest in
October 2021, it broke single-day rainfall records for several regions that didn’t burn and caused flash
flooding, but didn’t set off any significant mudslides in the burnt areas. “It is not about the storm total
rainfall, but the intensity of the rain,” says Nina Oakley, a research meteorologist at the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography in San Diego,California, who studies the connection between extreme rainfall events and
landslides. “That’s why you really need 15-minute rainfall information to forecast post-fire debris flows.”

Mudslides and similar types of slope failure can cause tremendous damage. In the United States,
rough estimates put the direct economic costs of landslides in the range of several billion dollars each year,
says Jonathan Godt, the coordinator of the Landslide Hazards Program at the USGS. But the indirect costs,
which include losses in commerce and related factors, are probably several times that estimate, Godt says.
 In January 2021, Congress passed the National Landslide Preparedness Act, which authorized US$37
million annually from 2021 to 2024 for federal agencies to broaden their efforts to reduce the hazards from
landslides. One goal of the bill is to expand existing early-warning systems for post-wildfire burnt landscapes
in the United States.

EARTHQUAKE IN MALAYSIA

REPORT

The strongest earthquake in Malaysia in the past 48 hours occurred 1 day 6 hours ago: Minor mag.
3.2 earthquake - 87 km east of Padangsidempuan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 at 8:37
pm (GMT +7).

HOW OFTEN DOES MALAYSIA EARTHQUAKE?

According to a paper published recently, intraplate earthquake occurrence and distribution in

Peninsular Malaysia over the past 100 years, there have been 59 occurrences of earthquakes in Peninsular
Malaysia from 1922 to 2020 (a span of 98 years) with magnitudes ranging between 2.4 to 4.6 on the Richter
scale.Jan 12, 2022.

IS MALAYSIA EARTHQUAKE PRONE?

Despite being one of the safest countries in the world with shallow earthquake hazards, Malaysia has
experienced some minor earthquakes due to its proximity to neighboring countries like Indonesia and
Filipina. High seismicity areas surround the nation on the west, south, and east.

WHAT IS THE MOST RECENT EARTHQUAKE IN MALAYSIA?

"Earthquake of Magnitude:6.1, Occurred on 29-08-2022, 08:59:15 IST, Lat: -0.97 & Long: 98.68,
Depth: 10 Km, Location: 566km SW of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia", the National Centre for Seismology said in a
statement.

INDONESIA: EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMI FINAL REPORT N° MDRID013 (15 FEBRUARY 2022)

REPORT

Since the first 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Lombok, province of West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on
29 July 2018, four further earthquakes and multiple aftershocks impacted the districts of North Lombok, East
Lombok, West Lombok, Central Lombok, Mataram, and Sumbawa Island, in addition to Bali Island. The
Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana or BNPB)
reported more than 564 fatalities and almost 150,000 houses damaged due to the earthquakes.
 Another magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the Island of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara on 17 March
2019, with depth of 19 km and followed within minutes by another earthquake of 5.2 magnitude with depth
of 10 km and epicentre located in East Lombok. The earthquake was felt strongly in West Lombok, North
Lombok, East Lombok, and mildly in Central Lombok and Mataram. No tsunami alert was issued by the
authorities; however, people in Lombok panicked and evacuated to the nearest higher ground.

On 18 March 2019, PMI/ IFRC joint teams visited North Lombok and East Lombok districts for further
assessment of damage and needs. An information bulletin was published on 22 March. The findings of the
assessment did not reflect major needs. PMI, supported by IFRC, provided assistance to affected families
without the need to revise the emergency plan of action.

Context (Central Sulawesi operation)

On 28 September 2018, a series of strong earthquakes struck Central Sulawesi Province. The
strongest of which measured at 7.4 magnitude and 10km deep with the epicentre in Donggala Regency, close
to the provincial capital Palu.

The earthquake triggered a tsunami which reached up to three meters in some areas, striking Talise
beach in Palu and Donggala. The earthquakes, tsunami and resulting liquefaction and landslides caused
significant damage and loss of life in affected areas.

The government reported that 4,140 people died in the disaster, of which 1,016 were not identified;
and a further 705 people remain missing. More than 4,400 were seriously injured and more than 110,000
houses destroyed, damaged or lost due to the earthquake, tsunami or liquefaction. Of these, 27,662 houses
were severely damaged while more than 6,500 were lost (mainly due to liquefaction). In its wake, almost
173,000 people were displaced. Currently, some people are living in government-constructed barracks
(huntaras), while others take shelter in their damaged homes or with relatives in other communities or within
theirs.

More than 320 district and community-based health facilities plus 1,300 schools were also damaged.

The status of government response is on the recovery phase.

On 22 December 2018, another tsunami hit Carita Beach in Banten Province and the coast around
the Sunda Strait, specifically in Pandenglang, South Lampung and Serang districts. The tsunami was
generated when a part of the Krakatau volcano collapsed into the sea and displacing large quantities of
water.
 Based on government reports, more than 1,600 houses were severely damaged or destroyed and
more than 600 were medium- or lightly damaged, displacing more than 16,000 people. The disaster also
killed more than 400 people and injured more than 14,000. More than half of the casualties was recorded in
Pandegnlang district.

The tsunami was recorded four times in four different locations with waves reaching a height of 0.3
to 0.9 metres. The highest wave hit Serang sub-district with a height of 0.9 m. The National Meteorology,
Climatology and Geophysical Agency – Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) issued high-
tide warning before the tsunami struck for the mentioned area. A tsunami early warning was not issued as
the cause of the tsunami was not an earthquake, which the current system monitors and responds to.

BPBD, together with the military, police, BASARNAS, local government office, Ministry of Social
Welfare Volunteers (TAGANA), PMI, volunteers and the community provided emergency response support to
the affected people. The response was locally coordinated in a command post, along with the establishment
field kitchens and displacement sites. Heavy equipment was dispatched to clear debris to ease evacuation
and response efforts.

DROUGHT IN AFRICA

REPORT

March - September 2022

As the end of 2022 draws near, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the longest and most severe
drought on record, threatening millions of people with starvation. Relentless drought and high food
prices have undercut many people’s ability to grow crops, raise livestock, and buy food.

On November 7, 2022, a consortium of 16 international organizations issued a statement about

the deteriorating food security crisis in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. According to the statement, large-
scale loss of food and income over the past two years, due primarily to drought, has led to food
insecurity for 21 million people across the region. More than 3 million people face emergency levels of
food insecurity, which means they regularly go a day or more without eating and have sold their
possessions to earn income for survival. In Somalia, the drought has forced over 1.3 million people to
abandon their farms and migrate to displacement sites.

A combination of human-induced warming, Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures, and La Niña
have contributed to four dry rainy seasons in a row, which is unprecedented in the 70-year precipitation
record analyzed by researchers at the Climate Hazards Center (CHC) at the University of California, Santa
Barbara. Now a fifth season of poor rainfall has arrived.
 Rainfall in the Horn of Africa is concentrated in two rainy seasons: one in March-April-May and
one in October-November-December. “Four dry seasons in a row is already unprecedented and now
we’re in the fifth dry season,” said Chris Funk, the director of CHC. Funk contributes rainfall data and
forecasts to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), a program supported by the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) and several other U.S. agencies.

FEWS NET is a collaboration between several organizations designed to monitor drought and
flooding in Africa in order to identify problems in the food supply. NASA provides satellite imagery and
climate, weather, and hydrologic data.

The map at the top of the page—based on the Climate Hazards Center InfraRed Precipitation
with Stations (CHIRPS) dataset—shows rainfall anomalies from March to September 2022 compared to
the 1981–2021 average. It shows much of Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia received 50 to 200 millimeters
less rain than normal (about half or less of average for those months).

CHIRPS precipitation data is a key component of the FEWS NET Land Data Assimilation System
(FLDAS), which NASA’s FLDAS team uses to model water supply deficits related to agricultural drought
and food insecurity several months in advance. Rainfall deficits during the March-April-May 2022 rainy
season were the most severe in the historic record, according to CHC researchers, and very poor rains so
far in the October-November-December 2022 season has worsened the humanitarian crisis.

“What this region needed during October-November-December was a good rainfall season, but
that’s not what happened at all,” said Laura Harrison an analyst at CHC who works with FEWS NET and
the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor, a Group on Earth Observations initiative to monitor agricultural conditions
and food security around the world.

CHC researchers combine CHIRPS data alongside NOAA’s weather model, the National Centers
for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS), to provide 15-day
forecasts of precipitation globally. This provided FEWS NET and the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor a way to
get an early estimate of the drought in eastern Africa through the end of the October-November-
December rainy season.

This map shows rainfall anomalies in the October-November-December 2022 season so far from
the CHC early estimates. It is based on a combination of final and preliminary CHIRPS data through
December 5, 2022, and forecasted 15-day CHIRPS-GEFS anomalies through December 20. The map
indicates another poor-to-failed rainy season with less than normal rainfall throughout most of Somalia,
Kenya, and southern Ethiopia. The drought is looking especially dire in southern Somalia and eastern
Kenya, where rainfall deficits are expected to be 50 to 200 millimeters less than average in many areas,
which is only 30 to 60 percent of the average rainfall.

FEWS NET analysts contribute to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which
provides a common scale for classifying the severity and magnitude of food insecurity and acute
malnutrition. Famines are declared when at least one in five households faces an extreme lack of food;
more than 30 percent of children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition (wasting); and at least
two people out of every 10,000 are dying each day.

The latest IPC analysis projects that a famine will most likely occur among rural and displaced
populations in Bay Region and Mogadishu—located in southern Somalia—between April and June 2023
if current levels of food assistance are not sustained.

“Large-scale humanitarian food and nutrition assistance has likely been the key factor that
prevented an all-out famine this year,” said Lark Walters, food security analyst for FEWS NET. “Without
significantly higher levels of assistance in 2023, we are extremely concerned that deaths over the course
of the prolonged 2020-2023 drought could exceed that of the 2011-2012 famine in Somalia.” The
drought in 2011 led to 260,000 hunger-related deaths among the Somali population.

“Our ability to monitor and predict these droughts has improved a lot,” said Funk, “as has the
ability of humanitarian agencies’ ability to ingest these data.” These improvements have contributed to
the prevention of famine so far this year, but the relentless lack of rain is causing the situation to
deteriorate.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using data from the Climate Hazards Center,
at the University of California, Santa Barbara. FEWS NET data on drought and food insecurity are
available on their data portal; FLDAS data products can also be accessed through NASA’s website and
the NASA Giovanni portal. Story by Emily CASSIDY.

TYPHOON/ CYCLONE/ DEVASTATION

REPORT

The 2022 Pacific typhoon season was the third consecutive season to have below-average tropical
cyclone activity, with twenty-five named storms, although it was more active than the previous seasons by
named storm count. Ten became typhoons, and three of those intensified into super typhoons. This low
activity was caused by a unusually strong La Niña that had persisted from 2020. The season's first named
storm, Malakas, developed on April 6, while the last named storm, Pakhar, dissipated on December 12. The
season's first typhoon, Malakas, reached typhoon status on April 12. The season ran throughout 2022,
though most tropical cyclones typically develop between May and October. Tropical
storms Megi and Nalgae were responsible for more than half of the casualties, while
typhoons Hinnamnor and Nanmadol both caused $1 billion in damages.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean to the north of the equator between 100°E and 180th
meridian. Within the northwestern Pacific Ocean, there are two separate agencies that assign names to
tropical cyclones which can often result in a cyclone having two names. The Japan Meteorological
Agency (JMA)[nb 2] will name a tropical cyclone should it be judged to have 10-minute sustained wind speeds of
at least 65 km/h (40 mph) anywhere in the basin, whilst the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) assigns names to tropical cyclones which move into or form as
a tropical depression in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) located between 135°E and 115°E and
between 5°N–25°N regardless of whether or not a tropical cyclone has already been given a name by the
JMA. Tropical depressions that are monitored by the United States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)[nb 3][nb
1]
are given a number with a "W" suffix.

During the year several national meteorological services and scientific agencies forecast how many tropical
cyclones, tropical storms, and typhoons will form during a season and/or how many tropical cyclones will
affect a particular country. These agencies included the Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) Consortium of University
College London, PAGASA and Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau. The first forecast was released by PAGASA
on December 22, 2021, in their monthly seasonal climate outlook predicting the first half of 2022.[6] They
predicted that only 0–3 tropical cyclones were expected to form or enter the Philippine Area of
Responsibility between January and March, while 1–4 tropical cyclones are expected to form between April
and June. PAGASA also stated that ongoing La Niña conditions could last until it transitions back into ENSO-
neutral conditions by the second quarter of 2022.[6]
On May 5, Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) issued its first forecast for the 2022 season with ongoing La Niña still
anticipated until roughly the third quarter of the year, TSR predicted that tropical activity for 2022 will be
slightly below average predicting 23 named storms, 13 typhoons and 7 intense typhoons.[3] TSR remained
constant with their prediction in their second forecast in July.[4] On August 9, TSR released their third and final
forecast for the season, with the only changes is increasing their typhoon numbers by 14, and decreasing the
intense typhoon numbers down to 6. The ACE Index forecast was significantly lowered to 166, and was based
on the then-current index as of early August and the reduction of cyclonic activity in the month of June.[5]
The first two months of 2022 were relatively quiet in the Western Pacific Ocean, with no storms
forming. In the final week of March, a tropical depression formed west of Palawan and headed for
Vietnam, and received the designation of 01W from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, but the system
did not last long and dissipated the next day. In early April, the systems designated as 02W and 03W
formed. 02W went on to become Tropical Storm Malakas, which later intensified into the first tropical
storm, and later the first typhoon of the season. It also received the name Basyang from PAGASA, but
only lasted 5 hours inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility. 03W received the name Agaton from
PAGASA and first struck Guiuan in Eastern Visayas before eventually moving westward, and later
intensifying into Tropical Storm Megi. Megi brought catastrophic flooding and landslides to the country
as it remained almost stationary in the Leyte Gulf before making landfall, which effectively made it the
deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the month of April in the Philippines. Megi later dissipated on
April 13, as Malakas developed into a Category 4-equivalent typhoon. Malakas then began to rapidly
weaken as it headed northeast and became extratropical, and the basin quieted down for the rest of
April. No named storms formed during the entirety of May, with a minor tropical depression forming
east of Mindanao on May 30, and later dissipated on that day.
Nearing the end of June, a tropical depression formed west of Luzon where it received the name Caloy by
the PAGASA. Caloy then intensified into a tropical storm a day later, gaining the international name Chaba.
Around the same time, a new Low Pressure Area (LPA) east of Northern Luzon was given a Tropical Cyclone
Formation Alert by JTWC, and was named by PAGASA as Domeng. The system eventually strengthened into a
tropical storm where the JMA named the system Aere. Chaba continued to intensify until it reached Severe
Tropical Storm status as Aere moved poleward and threatened the Japanese Ryukyu Islands. Chaba became a
Category 1 typhoon and struck Maoming, China, and also sunk a crane ship passing nearby Hong Kong. Aere
passed through Naha, Japan and weakened into a tropical depression. After crossing Japan, Aere (Domeng)
was reupgraded by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center into a subtropical storm.
During the last week of July, Songda formed west of the Mariana Islands, which was joined by Trases (Ester)
in the Philippine Sea three days later. Songda traveled northwestwards, passing over the waters
of Kagoshima Prefecture on July 30. Songda dissipated on August 1 as its remnants made landfall over North
Korea. Songda additionally brought heavy rainfall over Kyushu and Shikoku regions of Japan as well as Jeju
Island in South Korea. Trases on the other hand passed over Okinawa, Trases made landfall on Jeju Island
before weakening into a tropical depression until it dissipated on August 1.

Typhoon Hinnamnor taken by the Expedition 67 crew aboard the International Space Station on August 31.

In early August, a low pressure area formed southwest of Taiwan on August 1. Two days later, the
disturbance strengthened into a tropical depression according to the JMA, and the JTWC designated the
depression as Tropical Depression 08W. 08W dissipated on August 4, as it made landfall on Huidong
County in Guangdong. On August 8, a tropical depression formed east of Vietnam. The JMA classified the
system as a tropical storm and was given the name Mulan. The JTWC classified Mulan as a monsoon
depression. Mulan travelled across the South China Sea and passed the Qiongzhou Strait before making
landfall on Northern Vietnam and dissipating on August 11. On August 10, another low pressure area formed
northwest of Iwo Jima. The JMA named the system as Meari as it reached tropical storm status. Meari made
landfall near Shizuoka Prefecture before it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone by August 14. The storm
disturbed multiple events held in Japan and caused some transportation in the country to be suspended.
Additionally, causing minor damages to houses. On August 14, the JMA began tracking a weak tropical
depression that formed west of the International Date Line. The depression only lasted until the next day. On
August 19, the JMA began tracking a low pressure area north of Palau. The system was then named Ma-on by
the JMA as it reached tropical storm status on August 22. The storm further strengthened into a severe
tropical storm on the same day. Ma-on first made landfall over Maconacon in the province of Isabela before
exiting the Philippine Area of Responsibility on August 24. Ma-on then made its second landfall
near Yangjiang, China the next day and its final landfall in Northern Vietnam before it was last noted on
August 26. Ma-on killed at seven people in the Philippines and Vietnam and caused moderate damages to
infrastructures in both countries. On August 21 after Ma-on formed, another tropical depression formed
northeast of Guam. Due to favoritable conditions, the depression rapidly intensified into a tropical storm and
was named Tokage by the JMA. Three days later, the JTWC upgraded Tokage into a typhoon, with the JMA
following suit 3 hours later. Tokage reached its peak intensity as a Category 3 before entering hostile
environments east of Japan. Tokage became an extratropical storm on August 25 before it was last noted
south of Alaska. Additionally, on August 22, a tropical depression formed north of Typhoon Tokage. However,
it dissipated on the same day. Nearing the end of August on the 28th, a tropical depression formed southeast
of Japan. The depression was named Hinnamnor by the JMA 6 hours later upon formation. Hinnamnor later
strengthened into the basin's first Category 5-equivalent typhoon. Hinnamnor headed west towards
the Ryuku Islands and stalled south of the prefecture while maintaining its strength. On August 30, another
tropical depression formed south of intensifying Typhoon Hinnamnor. The depression was named Gardo by
the PAGASA. Gardo was short lived and its structure was absorbed by Typhoon Hinnamnor near Taiwan.
Hinnamnor later headed north in the East China Sea and restrengthened into a Category 3-equivalent
typhoon. The typhoon then made landfall near Busan in South Korea and the JMA declared Hinnamnor as an
extratropical low as it was located in the Sea of Japan. Hinnamnor killed at least 12 people and caused
widespread damage across South Korea and Japan. Additionally, Hinnamnor's outer bands brought heavy rain
across Taiwan and the Philippines causing moderate damage.

Three tropical cyclones active on September 13: Typhoon Muifa (left), Tropical Storm Nanmadol (center), and Typhoon
Merbok (right)

On September 5, a tropical depression formed near the Japanese island of Iwo-To. The JTWC designated the
system as Invest 91W upon formation. The depression later intensified into a tropical storm and was
named Muifa by the JMA. Muifa then intensified further into a Category 1 typhoon as it was located south of
Okinawa. The typhoon reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 typhoon and passed the Yaeyama Islands on
September 12 as it headed north very slowly while weakening. Muifa then slightly regained its strength in the
East China Sea and made landfall near Shanghai in China two days later. The typhoon suspended several
flights and port activities within the city. Muifa also became the strongest typhoon to strike Shanghai, beating
the previous record set by Typhoon Gloria in 1949. Muifa then degenerated into a remnant low over the
Chinese mainland until it was last noted on September 16. On September 9, a tropical depression formed
west of Wake Island. The JTWC later designated the depression as 15W. It was then named Merbok as it
strengthened into a tropical storm on September 12. Merbok then further intensified into a Category 1
typhoon before it headed north and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone by September 15. Merbok's
remnants later brought gale force winds along Alaska. It then entered the Bering Sea, generating a
dangerous storm surge which inundated several coastal villages and towns. Despite the impact, no injuries
were reported. On September 11, the JMA began tracking a weak tropical depression which formed east of
Iwo-To. The JTWC followed suit and designated the system as 16W on the next day. The depression later
strengthened into a tropical storm and was named Nanmadol by the JMA. Nanmadol then intensified into a
Category 1 typhoon on the same day. It further reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 typhoon as it
approached Japan. The approaching typhoon prompted the JMA to issue a special warning which advised at
least 4 million people to evacuate. Nanmadol then made landfall on the island of Kyushu. The typhoon then
turned east before weakening further on September 19. Nanmadol killed at least 2 people and left more than
70 people injured. Additionally, the typhoon left more than 200,000 people without electricity.
After Nanmadol, the monsoon trough east of the Philippines set up, and a tropical disturbance embedded in
it got upgraded by the Japan Meteorological Agency into a tropical depression. On the following day, the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center designed the depression as 17W. Two days later, as it was approaching Japan,
it intensified into a tropical storm, and was given the international name of Talas. However, soon after, Talas
weakened back into a tropical depression and dissipated as it made its approach towards Southern Japan.
Despite this short duration, Talas killed at least three people and caused a power outage across
Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture. Another system in the monsoon trough formed in the Philippine Sea after Talas,
and the JMA began tracking the system as a tropical depression. The depression was in a favorable
environment for development and made the JTWC to classify the system as 18W on the next day. As the
system formed within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), it was given the name Karding by the
agency. On September 23, the depression intensified into a tropical storm, and was named Noru. After being
initially sheared, Noru began a period of explosive intensification, developing a pinhole eye and intensifying
briefly into a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon as it approached Luzon, Philippines. Noru however
weakened due to increasing shear, and made its first landfall over the Polillo Islands in the municipality
of Burdeos, Quezon. Shortly after, Noru rapidly weakened back into a Category 2-equivalent typhoon shortly
before its second landfall over Dingalan, Aurora. Noru then entered the South China Sea where the typhoon
re-intensified back into a Category 3-equivalent typhoon. Noru then re-developed a pinhole eye and
reintensified into a Category 4 in the South China Sea, before getting sheared and striking Vietnam as a
strong Category 2 before heading inland the Indochina Peninsula. Shortly after Noru's formation the JMA
began tracking another tropical depression southeast of Japan. The depression was then named Kulap shortly
after. Kulap gradually intensified in the open Pacific Ocean, becoming a typhoon as per the Joint Typhoon
Warning Center by September 28. As the Philippines was still reeling from the effects of Super Typhoon Noru,
PAGASA named Tropical Depression Luis in the Philippine Sea, with JTWC later designating Luis as 20W. Luis
left the PAR shortly after without affecting the country. Outside the PAR, the storm began intensifying and
was classified as a tropical storm which was then named Roke by the JMA. It quickly reached Category 1
strength and hours later on September 29, as a Category 2 typhoon. The intensification didn't last long and
like Kulap, it didn't impact any areas. Roke eventually became an extratropical cyclone. However, Roke's
remnants later developed into a subtropical storm.
On October 11, a depression named Maymay by the PAGASA, formed off the coast of the Philippines.
Maymay was rather short lived and dissipated the next day. Despite the depression being short-lived, two
people were killed from the storm and the storm caused infrastructure and agricultural damage. On the next
day, another tropical depression classified as 21W formed east of the Mariana Islands. 21W was also short
lived and never made landfall. On October 13, another tropical depression formed west of the Philippines in
the South China Sea. The depression reached tropical storm status and was named Sonca by the JMA. Sonca
made landfall in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam and dissipated shortly after. 10 fatalities were reported in the
region due to the heavy precipitation from the storm. On the same day Sonca formed, another tropical
depression formed in the Philippine Sea. The storm was named Nesat on October 15, as the storm passed
just north of the island of Luzon. Nesat then entered the South China Sea where it intensified further into a
typhoon. Nesat reached its peak intensity as a Category 2 typhoon and began losing its strength as it
approached Vietnam. Nesat dissipated on October 20, off the coast of Hainan Island. During its lifespan,
Nesat caused minor damage across the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. However, no fatalities
were reported. On October 18, Tropical Storm Haitang formed after interacting with a non-tropical low and
degenerating Tropical Depression 21W since October 14. Haitang was also short lived and became
extratropical the next day. On the same day Haitang formed, another tropical depression formed south
of Okinawa. The depression was classified as 25W as it headed west before it dissipated in the South China
Sea without intensifying further. However, two reported deaths were reported from 25W in the Philippines.
On October 26, a tropical depression formed in the Philippine Sea. As the system approached the Philippines,
the JMA classified the low as a tropical storm where it named it Nalgae. Nalgae (Paeng) intensified into a
severe tropical storm hours before striking the island of Catanduanes and the rest of the Bicol Region. Nalgae
traveled across the Philippine archipelago, making 5 landfalls according to the PAGASA before emerging into
the South China Sea where it further strengthened into a Category 1 typhoon, as per the Joint Typhoon
Warning Center. As the typhoon approached the coast of China, Nalgae weakened back into a tropical storm
due to hostile conditions and made landfall over Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai. Nalgae became the first tropical
cyclone to make landfall over the country since Nepartak in 2003. Nalgae also caused heavy damage and
flooding across the Philippines and killed at least 154 people in the country alone. On October 28, as Nalgae
ravaged Southern Luzon, a tropical depression formed southeast of the Philippines, passing near Palau, with
the PAGASA naming it as Queenie. On November 1, the JMA classified the system as a tropical storm and
named it Banyan. Banyan however weakened back into a tropical depression the next day due to strong wind
shear and dissipated before reaching the Philippines, only delivering some rainshowers as a remnant low. On
November 11, a tropical depression formed near Wake Island. The JMA later named the system Yamaneko as
it reached tropical storm status. Yamaneko was a short lived system and dissipated three days later.
Yamaneko was an out to sea storm, harming no land area near it, and a relatively weak system in terms of
intensity.
On December 9, a tropical depression formed east of the Philippines. The system continued to drift towards
the Philippines and began to turn eastwards, where the system was named Pakhar by the JMA and Rosal by
the PAGASA, as it reached tropical storm status. Pakhar's close approach to the Bicol Region and Polillo,
Quezon prompted the PAGASA to raise Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal (TCWS) #1 in some areas in Southern
Luzon. Pakhar killed 8 people indirectly from a flood that swept away a jeep in Rizal as it was making its close
approach to the archipelago. Pakhar then intensified further, but later rapidly weakening and dissipating by
December 12 from high vertical wind shear and dry air sent by the northeast monsoon, making its circulation
exposed.

WORLD’S BIGGEST MAN-MADE DISASTERS

1. Human history is riddled with man-made disasters, from nuclear meltdowns and
underwater oil spills to chemical explosions and mine collapses. We find out exactly what
happened in some infamous cases – and how humanity played a pivotal role in these
events.
2. Big man-made disasters don’t often happen in Britain, which made the Aberfan colliery
slip even more shocking. The Welsh Valleys village of Aberfan grew up around the nearby
coal mine that was established back in 1869. By 1966, the settlement had grown, and the
village was surrounded by seven huge spoil piles – waste material from mining.
3. that’s not necessarily a problem, but in October 1966 the village of Aberfan was hit by
more than six inches of rainfall, and caused the seventh spoil pile to subside. At 09.15
GMT on Oct. 21,1966 a vast quantity of saturated debris broke free from the pile and
travelled towards the village at speeds between 11 and 21 miles-per-hour (approximately
17 and 34 kilometers)and in waves up to 30 feet (9meters) high, according to the
Smithsonian magazine(opens in new tab).
4. This industrial accident took place at a chemical plant north of Milan, Italy. On Saturday
July 10 1976, the factory was producing a chemical called 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol, which has
been used as a chemical weapon and in weedkillers, according to the journal
Chemosphere(opens in new tab).

5. On that daya chain reaction ruptured the reactor — and that, in turn, caused six tonnes of
toxic chemicals to burst into the sky.

6. The cloud settled over 6 square miles (18 square kilometers) of the surrounding area,
including the town of Seveso, according to the journal Environment international. Children
were hospitalized with skin inflammations, hundreds of residents suffered from skin
conditions, and huge areas of land were evacuated. Thousands of animals died or had to
be slaughtered to prevent toxins entering the food chain.
7. the explosion at Chernobyl is one of the world’s most infamous man-made disasters —
and with good reason. It started innocently enough, with engineers performing a routine
experiment that was supposed to find out if the plant’s emergency water cooling would
work during a power outage.
 8. The test had been carried out previously, but on this occasion, there was a power surge
and engineers couldn’t shut down Chernobyl’s nuclear reactors. Steam built up in one
reactor, the roof was blown off, the nuclear core was exposed, and radioactive material
was released into the atmosphere.

he story of Libby, Montana, began when settlers arrived in the 1800s and the town expanded
thanks to mine and railroad construction. In 1919the discovery of a mineral called Vermiculite
changed Libby’s fate.

Vermiculite has loads of uses, from gardening to car parts, and the mine in Libby was
producing 80% of the world’s supply by 1963. That’s great and lucrative, but some kinds of vermiculite
contain asbestos, an exceptionally dangerous substance that can cause a huge range of lung issues.

The vermiculite in Libby, Montana, did contain asbestos, and the mining company knew about
its dangerous side effects. But they didn’t tell anyone, and people in Libby used the mine’s waste
products for building and landscaping, including in school projects and ice rinks.

As a result, nearly 10% of the town’s population died from asbestos-related illness, and the
people who died weren’t always miners – the asbestos fibres that caused health problems are easy to
pass to other people, according to the Mesothelioma Hope organization(opens in new tab).

The town, effectively, had spent decades operating under a toxic cloud. The mine closed in
1990, but the town’s issues didn’t become well-known until 1999, and in 2009 the US government
declared an emergency in Libby to clean up the town, according to the Guardian(opens in new tab).

By then it was too late. Hundreds of people have passed away from asbestos-related health
issues, thousands more have experienced illness, and new deaths and diseases were still being
reported as late as 2018 due to the long-term effects of these poisonous substances.

The Risks of Asbestos

 Deadly asbestos fibres can cause serious health problems for decades – including these five
issues.

LTO SOUNDS ALARM AFTER 15 KILLED TO ROAD ACCIDENTS DUE TO DRUNK DRIVING IN 2022

LTO, vehicles

The LTO sounds an alarm on accidents due to drunk driving. Image from INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Thursday said that 15 people
nationwide have already died this 2022 alone due to road accidents involving drunk drivers.

“The state of drunk driving in the country continues to reach alarming rates,” the LTO said in a
statement.

LTO, vehicles

The LTO sounds an alarm on accidents due to drunk driving. Image from INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Thursday said that 15 people
nationwide have already died this 2022 alone due to road accidents involving drunk drivers.

“The state of drunk driving in the country continues to reach alarming rates,” the LTO said in a
statement.

ADVERTISEMENT

Data from January to August this year showed that the LTO responded to about 402 road
crash incidents, where 353 of the drivers involved tested positive for alcohol intoxication.

These incidents led to 15 deaths and 232 people sustaining physical injuries.

“Sadly, despite the many dangers, many Filipino motor vehicle drivers continue to ignore the
dangerous effects on human life and property when driving under the influence of alcohol and
chemical substances,” the agency added.
 The LTO also reminded the public not to disregard the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of
2013.

It states that a driver should have no more than 0.05 percent of alcohol in his body during the
BAC test to avoid charges of drunk driving. Drivers of trucks, buses, motorcycles, and public utility
vehicles, should have 0.0 percent of alcohol in their body after BAC testing is already undeniable proof
that the driver is driving under the influence of alcohol.

“Driving and having a driver’s license is not a right but only a privilege that has corresponding
responsibilities,” the agency said.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI ACCIDENT NUCLEAR (UPDATED MAY 2022)

Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of
three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident beginning on 11 March 2011. All three
cores largely melted in the first three days.

The accident was rated level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, due
to high radioactive releases over days 4 to 6, eventually a total of some 940 PBq (I-131 eq).

All four Fukushima Daiichi reactors were written off due to damage in the accident – 2719
MWe net.

After two weeks, the three reactors (units 1-3) were stable with water addition and by July
they were being cooled with recycled water from the new treatment plant. Official 'cold shutdown
condition' was announced in mid-December.

Apart from cooling, the basic ongoing task was to prevent release of radioactive materials,
particularly in contaminated water leaked from the three units. This task became newsworthy in
August 2013.

There have been no deaths or cases of radiation sickness from the nuclear accident, but over
100,000 people were evacuated from their homes as a preventative measure. Government
nervousness has delayed the return of many.

Official figures show that there have been 2313 disaster-related deaths among evacuees from
Fukushima prefecture. Disaster-related deaths are in addition to the about 19,500 that were killed by
the earthquake or tsunami.

The Great East Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 at 2.46 pm on Friday 11 March 2011 did
considerable damage in the region, and the large tsunami it created caused very much more. The
earthquake was centred 130 km offshore the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture on the eastern coast
of Honshu Island (the main part of Japan), and was a rare and complex double quake giving a severe
duration of about 3 minutes. An area of the seafloor extending 650 km north-south moved typically
10-20 metres horizontally. Japan moved a few metres east and the local coastline subsided half a
metre. The tsunami inundated about 560 km2 and resulted in a human death toll of about 19,500 and
much damage to coastal ports and towns, with over a million buildings destroyed or partly
collapsed.Eleven reactors at four nuclear power plants in the region were operating at the time and all
shut down automatically when the earthquake hit. Subsequent inspection showed no significant
damage to any from the earthquake. The operating units which shut down were Tokyo Electric Power
Company's (Tepco's) Fukushima Daiichi 1, 2, 3, and Fukushima Daini 1, 2, 3, 4, Tohoku's Onagawa 1, 2,
3, and Japco's Tokai, total 9377 MWe net. Fukushima Daiichi units 4, 5&6 were not operating at the
time, but were affected. The main problem initially centred on Fukushima Daiichi 1-3. Unit 4 became a
problem on day five.The reactors proved robust seismically, but vulnerable to the tsunami. Power,
from grid or backup generators, was available to run the residual heat removal (RHR) system cooling
pumps at eight of the eleven units, and despite some problems they achieved 'cold shutdown' within
about four days. The other three, at Fukushima Daiichi, lost power at 3.42 pm, almost an hour after
the earthquake, when the entire site was flooded by the 15-metre tsunami.

This disabled 12 of 13 backup generators onsite and also the heat exchangers for dumping
reactor waste heat and decay heat to the sea. The three units lost the ability to maintain proper
reactor cooling and water circulation functions. Electrical switchgear was also disabled. Thereafter,
many weeks of focused work centred on restoring heat removal from the reactors and coping with
overheated spent fuel ponds. This was undertaken by hundreds of Tepco employees as well as some
contractors, supported by firefighting and military personnel. Some of the Tepco staff had lost homes,
and even families, in the tsunami, and were initially living in temporary accommodation under great
difficulty and privation, with some personal risk. A hardened onsite emergency response centre was
unable to be used in grappling with the situation, due to radioactive contamination.Three Tepco
employees at the Daiichi and Daini plants were killed directly by the earthquake and tsunami, but
there have been no fatalities from the nuclear accident.Among hundreds of aftershocks, an
earthquake with magnitude 7.1, closer to Fukushima than the 11 March one, was experienced on 7
April, but without further damage to the plant. On 11 April a magnitude 7.1 earthquake and on 12
April a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, both with the epicentre at Fukushima-Hamadori, caused no further
problems.The two Fukushima plants and their sitingThe Daiichi (first) and Daini (second) Fukushima
plants are sited about 11 km apart on the coast, Daini to the south.The recorded seismic data for both
plants – some 180 km from the epicentre – shows that 550 Gal (0.56 g) was the maximum ground
acceleration for Daiichi, and 254 Gal was maximum for Daini. Daiichi units 2, 3 and 5 exceeded their
maximum response acceleration design basis in an east-west direction by about 20%. The recording
was over 130-150 seconds. (All nuclear plants in Japan are built on rock – ground acceleration was
around 2000 Gal a few kilometres north, on sediments).

The original design basis tsunami height was 3.1 m for Daiichi based on assessment of the
1960 Chile tsunami and so the plant had been built about 10 metres above sea level with the seawater
pumps 4 m above sea level. The Daini plant was built 13 metres above sea level. In 2002 the design
basis was revised to 5.7 metres above, and the seawater pumps were sealed. In the event, tsunami
heights coming ashore were about 15 metres, and the Daiichi turbine halls were under some 5 metres
of seawater until levels subsided. Daini was less affected. The maximum amplitude of this tsunami
was 23 metres at point of origin, about 180 km from Fukushima.In the last century there have been
eight tsunamis in the region with maximum amplitudes at origin above 10 metres (some much more),
these having arisen from earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 to 8.4, on average one every 12 years. Those
in 1983 and in 1993 were the most recent affecting Japan, with maximum heights at origin of 14.5
metres and 31 metres respectively, both induced by magnitude 7.7 earthquakes. The June 1896
earthquake of estimated magnitude 8.3 produced a tsunami with run-up height of 38 metres in
Tohoku region, killing more than 27,000 people.The tsunami countermeasures taken when Fukushima
Daiichi was designed and sited in the 1960s were considered acceptable in relation to the scientific
knowledge then, with low recorded run-up heights for that particular coastline. But some 18 years
before the 2011 disaster, new scientific knowledge had emerged about the likelihood of a large
earthquake and resulting major tsunami of some 15.7 metres at the Daiichi site. However, this had
not yet led to any major action by either the plant operator, Tepco, or government regulators, notably
the Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). Discussion was ongoing, but action minimal. The
tsunami countermeasures could also have been reviewed in accordance with International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines which required taking into account high tsunami levels, but NISA
continued to allow the Fukushima plant to operate without sufficient countermeasures such as
moving the backup generators up the hill, sealing the lower part of the buildings, and having some
back-up for seawater pumps, despite clear warnings.A report from the Japanese government's
Earthquake Research Committee on earthquakes and tsunamis off the Pacific coastline of
northeastern Japan in February 2011 was due for release in April, and might finally have brought
about changes. The document includes analysis of a magnitude 8.3 earthquake that is known to have
struck the region more than 1140 years ago, triggering enormous tsunamis that flooded vast areas of
Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

The report concludes that the region should be alerted of the risk of a similar disaster striking
again. The 11 March earthquake measured magnitude 9.0 and involved substantial shifting of multiple
sections of seabed over a source area of 200 x 400 km. Tsunami waves devastated wide areas of
Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures.(See also background on Earthquakes and Seismic
Protection for Nuclear Power Plants in Japan)Events at Fukushima Daiichi 1-3 & 4It appears that no
serious damage was done to the reactors by the earthquake, and the operating units 1-3 were
automatically shut down in response to it, as designed. At the same time all six external power supply
sources were lost due to earthquake damage, so the emergency diesel generators located in the
basements of the turbine buildings started up. Initially cooling would have been maintained through
the main steam circuit bypassing the turbine and going through the condensers.Then 41 minutes later,
at 3:42 pm, the first tsunami wave hit, followed by a second 8 minutes later.

These submerged and damaged the seawater pumps for both the main condenser circuits and
the auxiliary cooling circuits, notably the residual heat removal (RHR) cooling system. They also
drowned the diesel generators and inundated the electrical switchgear and batteries, all located in the
basements of the turbine buildings (the one surviving air-cooled generator was serving units 5&6). So
there was a station blackout, and the reactors were isolated from their ultimate heat sink. The
tsunamis also damaged and obstructed roads, making outside access difficult.All this put reactors 1-3
in a dire situation and led the authorities to order, and subsequently extend, an evacuation while
engineers worked to restore power and cooling. The 125-volt DC back-up batteries for units 1&2 were
flooded and failed, leaving them without instrumentation, control or lighting. Unit 3 had battery
power for about 30 hours.At 7:03 pm Friday 11 March a nuclear emergency was declared, and at
8:50pm the Fukushima prefecture issued an evacuation order for people within 2 km of the plant. At
9:23 pm the prime minister extended this to 3 km, and at 5:44 am on 12 March he extended it to 10
km. He visited the plant soon after. Later on Saturday 12 March he extended the evacuation zone to
20 km.Inside the Fukushima Daiichi reactorsThe Fukushima Daiichi reactors were GE boiling water
reactors (BWRs) of an early (1960s) design supplied by GE, Toshiba and Hitachi, with what is known as
a Mark I containment. Reactors 1-3 came into commercial operation 1971-75. Reactor capacity was
460 MWe for unit 1, 784 MWe for units 2-5, and 1100 MWe for unit 6.

Three persons were injured when a four-story residential building in Malabon City collapsed
Sunday.

The Bureau of Fire Protection identified the injured as Francisco Catindoy, Rob Tambocon and
Ronalyn Tombukon. They were given immediate medical assistance by members of the Philippine Red
Cross.

The BFP said Ronalyn was the last to be rescued.

Postwar-school
collapse ‘very likely’
21 DEC 2022 BY GREG PITCHER
The prospect of a school-building collapse is “very likely”,
according to the stark conclusions of a government report.
The horrific scenario is one of six key risks identified by the
Department for Education (DfE) in its end-of-year annual
report – along with cyber-attacks and the impact of the
pandemic.
Published this week, the study covers the 12 months to March
2022 and gives an insight into issues taxing schools chiefs in
the wake of COVID-19. Chief among them is the potential for
postwar blocks to fall down as they get to the end of their
design life.
The DfE highlights the risk of “collapse of one or more blocks
in some schools which are at or approaching the end of their
designed life-expectancy and structural integrity is impaired”.
The report adds: “The risk predominantly exists in those
buildings built in the years 1945 to 1970 which used ‘system
build’ light-frame techniques.”
It stresses that there was no known “imminent” risk to life at
the time of publication.
However, the study concedes that the likelihood of a collapse
increased in October 2021 when the number of “serious
structural issues identified” rose.
“The impact and likelihood [of a collapse is] unlikely to reduce
in 2022, as there was no agreement to increase condition
funding or the scale of the rebuilding programme at [the 2021
spending review],” the report adds.
According to the department, careful monitoring and
maintenance of school buildings is “principally the
responsibility of” academy trusts, local authorities and
voluntary aided school bodies. It says it provides funding to
improve and maintain the school estate.
“We have also opened the next round of our school-rebuilding
programme, which will rebuild buildings at 500 schools over
the next decade and will prioritise those schools for selection
where there is clear evidence this risk is present,” the report
states.
A DfE spokesperson commented: “The safety of pupils and
staff is paramount. We have one of the largest and most
comprehensive surveys of school-building conditions in
Europe, and this allows us to assess and manage risk in our
buildings.
“We prioritise buildings where there is a risk to health and
safety, and over £13bn has been allocated since 2015 to
maintain and improve school facilities across England,
including £1.8bn in 2022-23.
“In addition, our school-rebuilding programme will transform
the learning environment at 500 schools over the next decade;
last week we announced 239 schools that will benefit.”

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1660980/lto-sounds-alarm-after-15-killed-to-road-

accidents-due-to-drunk-driving-in-2022#ixzz7qyhpSgyZ

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REFERENCE/ CITATIONS/ LINKS

1. "Effects of Shear Line (2022)". National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. January 11, 2023.
Retrieved January 17, 2023.
2. ^ https://monitoring-dashboard.ndrrmc.gov.ph/assets/uploads/situations/
SitRep_No__13_for_the_Combined_Effects_of_Low_Pressure_Areas,_Northeast_Monsoon,_and.pdf
3. ^ "Death toll from torrential rain, floods in Philippines now at 13". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved December
28, 2022.
4. ^ "Philippine death toll from Christmas rains and floods rises to 13". Reuters. December 27, 2022.
Retrieved December 28, 2022.
5. ^ Pinlac, Beatrice (December 27, 2022). "Christmas weekend rains, floods: 13 dead, 23 missing —
NDRRMC". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved December 28, 2022.