Disasters and emergency response
US Group to boost ASEAN disaster relief capabilities
On November 17, a U.S.based nonprofit inked an agreement with ASEAN to help boost its disaster relief capabilities.As one of the world’s most disaster prone subregions, Southeast Asia has been working on setting up new institutions to strengthen regional capabilities to respond to natural disasters. ...
69m people breathed toxic smoke from 2015 Indonesian fires: study
Sixty-nine million people were exposed to toxic haze as a result of last year’s devastating wildfires in Indonesia, a new study has found. Little is known about the health impacts of Indonesia’s annual fires, which spread uncontrollably because the country’s vast peat swamp zones have ...
Khon Kaen farmers race to harvest paddy as over-capacity dam threatens flooding
Farmers along the Chi River in the Northeast are rushing to harvest rice crops as Ubolratana Dam discharges more water to free up capacity. Farmers were told to be prepared for the possible flooding of paddy fields as they are ready to harvest because Ubolratana ...
Phu Yen calls for emergency aid after floods
The flooded central province of Phu Yen Province has called for Government emergency aid of 1,000 tonnes of rice and over one tonne of medicine and medical supplies. The province sustained the most damage in the south-central region from recent rains and flooding, with an estimated ...
Flooded schools miss first classes in capital
Three schools in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district failed to open for the first day of the school year due to residual flooding from the Prek Thnout River, Ministry of Education spokesman Ros Salin said on November 3. All schools nationwide were meant to begin classes ...
Rain, flooding expected to hit Vietnam coffee belt
Torrential rain is forecast to continue in Vietnam’s biggest coffee growing provinces in coming days, government reports said on November 4, potentially further disrupting harvesting of the 2016/2017 crop. That has been stoking worries about supply from the world’s top producer of the robusta variety ...
Further delays to workplace health and safety law expected
Despite being in the works since 2012, there is no end in sight for enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Law, which has not yet reached the floor of the hluttaw for a vote. Since it was drafted, the law has been discussed among ...
Experts warn Mekong Delta agriculture, livelihoods face serious threats
Even though the latest El Niño wound down in Vietnam in September, it left in its wake diminished water supplies, risks to people’s health and food security, and a loss of livelihoods. The effects of the severe drought that the El Niño weather phenomenon—exacerbated by climate change—delivered ...
Cyclone skirts Myanmar
A storm gathering in the Bay of Bengal is now anticipated to unleash heavy rain on Myanmar, but the cyclone has turned northwest and is forecast to hit India and Bangladesh instead. The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said on October 24 that the cyclone is no ...
Typhoon Haima churns toward China after lashing Philippines
Typhoon Haima churned toward southern China on October 21 after smashing into the northern Philippines with ferocious wind and rain, triggering flooding, landslides and power outages and killing seven people. China suspended rail services in several provinces on the mainland’s south, where the typhoon is expected to ...
