Disasters and emergency response
Disasters
Northern Vietnamese town under 4m of water after record downpour, 3 killed
At least three people have been killed and thousands of others evacuated after heavy rains hit Quang Ninh Province Sunday, causing record flooding. The victims were Nguyen Thi Lan, 27, and her two daughters aged four and seven, who drowned in their house in Cam Pha ...
Thailand's economy isn't a Land of Smiles
Thailand’s worst drought in a decade appears to have ended, but the damage could cast a shadow on the economy for months to come. The crippling dry weather that first emerged in late 2014 is no longer present in the country’s 67 provinces, the deputy head ...
No relief in sight for Myanmar's flood ravaged north
Myanmar’s flood-ravaged northern regions are bracing for another deluge, after the Department of Meteorology warned of possible heavy rains due to a storm in the Bay of Bengal. The announcement, issued by the department on 27 July, warned that the storm was gaining strength and was expected ...
Xebangfay River overflows again
Residents near the Xebangfay River between the two provinces of Khammuan and Savannakhet are still being spared from the flooding which has started since the river began overflowing on 21 July. A Xebangfay district official Mr Sisomphone Innoula told Vientiane Times that the four branches of ...
Lao farmers devastated by severe drought
A lack of rainfall and scorching heat is destroying the livelihoods of Lao farmers, who say their crops are dying amid an ongoing drought in the Southeast Asian region linked to the El Niño phenomenon. The drought since May has left those in Laos who rely on ...
Rain stops but tens of thousands homeless
Tens of thousands of residents in the Sagaing Region, Myanmar, remain displaced as a result of recent flooding, which has still not subsided despite a halt to the rain. Local officials in the worst-hit regions of Kawlin and Wuntho townships said the water level had dropped ...
Bangkok faces water use limits
Tough water conservation measures for state agencies and households in Bangkok and surrounding areas could be introduced to address the water scarcity crisis. The proposal comes amid criticism the government has forced farmers to bear the burden of the crisis by banning agricultural water use without substantial ...
Drought is over in Thailand but water is still in short supply
Drought conditions in Thailand that have threatened the country’s rice production and economic growth are over, the deputy head of Thailand’s disaster prevention department has said. The wet season is underway but Thailand was contending with drought conditions in seven out of 67 provinces last week, ...
Thai Government poised to launch water donation plan
The government plans to ask people to donate drinking water to drought-stricken residents, deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd says. The cabinet will discuss the donation campaign. Water distribution points will be set up under an initiative of His Majesty the King in drought-hit areas in various ...
Farmers defy ban, continue to pump water
Farmers in several drought-stricken provinces in the Chao Phraya River basin have spurned the government’s calls to halt pumping water for agricultural use. The move came as water discharges from four major dams in the Chao Phraya River basin are being gradually cut from 28 million cubic metres per ...