Disasters and emergency response
Disaster preparedness and emergency response policy and administration
ASEAN disaster management conference opens
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong called for further regional cooperation in disaster response and adaptation to climate change at the third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management, held at the Cambodiana Hotel in Phnom Penh on 16 December. Delivering the opening ...
Another jade mine disaster hits Hpakant
Another deadly landslide struck the jade mines in Kachin State on 14 December. At least one death has been confirmed, while up to 20 others are feared dead in the slag-heap collapse. The latest spill occurred near Lamaungkone village in Hpakant township, according to locals. Freelance, itinerate ...
Typhoon Melor approaches East Sea
About 37,000 fishing vessels with 166,000 fishermen from the coastal central region have noticed the approach of tropical storm Melor, which is moving towards the East Sea. The Central and Central Highlands Flood and Storm Prevention Centre said all fishing vessels in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, ...
Experts call for dam review to consider earthquake risks
If there is one place most ill-equipped for a mega hydropower dam holding back cascades of water, it might very well be along a fault line. Yet China’s Myitsone project is slated for such a quake-prone site not far from the Sagaing Fault. In addition to ...
Drought spurs call for home water savings
The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) has urged households in the capital and its vicinity to reserve at least 60 litres of drinking water for the duration of the drought season until May next year. The reduction of Chao Phraya River water usage is due to the ...
Cambodian PM tells lenders to weigh drought
Prime Minister Hun Sen on 7 December called on lenders to go easy on farmers bedeviled by a fickle rainy season that has hurt production and incomes, though financial institutions quizzed yesterday had no plan yet in place to facilitate the request. This year’s powerful El Niño ...
Authorities introduce new safety measures in Hpakant
Amid warnings of fresh disaster beneath the lowering waste tips, Kachin State government officials and civil society are mobilising to protect local residents and demand accountability from the companies they blame for the death of more than 100 people. Rescuers have abandoned attempts to recover any ...
Landslide risk survey seals fate of Chin capital
A Team of German geologists have confirmed that Hakha, the capital of Chin State, is too dangerous to live in. The team has deemed most of the city at very high risk of landslides, which are often caused by heavy rain. The survey is the first ...
Relatives of landslide victims urged to reject compensation
A Kachin civil society group is urging relatives of those killed in a landslide near a Hpakant jade mine on 21 November to reject an offer of K600,000 compensation for each victim, and has reiterated threats to press charges against those involved in the mining ...
Laos counts the cost of climate change: record floods, drought and landslides
Villagers in Namai, central Laos, are unanimous in saying that the greatest threat facing Namai now is natural disaster – in the form of cyclones, storms, floods and drought. Over the past 10 years, say village leaders, they have seen record floods, droughts and landslides, ...