Stories about Disaster from December, 2006
Bombs in Bangkok
It was not a good start to the new year in Bangkok as a series of bombs exploded in the city killing two people and injuring several others. From 2Bangkok's Youtube page The lost boy has pictures from one of the explosion sites At 6.45 p.m. today, less than 300...
Malaysia: Failure in Disaster Management
Opposition Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang asks “why the authorities were caught off-guard despite the availability of sophisticated early-warning systems about the massive floods in the south of the country”. Southern states of Malaysia have seen record levels of rainfall and massive flooding in the last couple of weeks.
Romania: A Fire
Brasov fire department ignores a minor fire, local residents have to cope on their own, Romerican reports: “Without the help of paid city officials, they began dismantling burning objects from the fire with their bare hands and rolling each hot item in the dirt until the flames subsided. Then, they’d...
Indonesia: Internet Outage and Flood in Aceh
There is nothing worse for Indonesian bloggers in particular around the new year eve but to see the sudden temporary “demise” of internet connection. The cause as reported by Budi Putra, , Sani Asy'ari and Enda Nasution is “the strong quake off Taiwan’s coast on December 26 damaged submarine cables...
Iran:Remember Bam
Several bloggers remember in their blogs about Bam earthquake,three years after disaster. Shamgahan has published a couple of photos of earthquake . The blogger asks what has been done for Bam population with all the foreign help that government received.The blogger adds, 72 hours after earthquake, government got 8 million...
Nigeria: who is to blame?
Chxta's World discusses the tragedy that claimed more that 200 lives in Nigeria, “Concerning the avoidable tragedy that played out in Abule-Egba, it is pertinent to note that there are many factors involved, and all of them are/were totally avoidable. I will like to point some of these factors out...
Malaysia: Internet Slowdown
Nik Nazmi comments on the breakdown in internet services in some parts of South East Asia and East Asia because of an earthquake in Taiwan. “When I told my colleague earlier that a website stated repair works for the cables in Taiwan may take up to three days, we were...
China: Ping…ping…pfft
The earthquake near Taiwan last night which snapped six underwater internet cables, seems to have left a large part of Asia, particularly the Northeast, struggling for an internet fix. Those with internet censorship circumvention tools (proxies) already installed on their computers seem to be doing a little better, but for...
Malaysia: Flood Situation Worsens
The Malaysian rounds up the flood situation in Malaysia. It has been raining on and off since Monday in Southern Malaysia and Singapore.
Sri Lanka: Two years after the Tsunami
Two years after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, there isn't too much noise in the respective blogospheres. LaneTop remembers the day, and wishes more had been done by the author. Another reaction here.
Sri Lanka: Preparing for the Tsunami
LIRNEasia is apprehensive about a report in the UK press which claims that Sri Lanka is prepared well if a tsunami strikes. “The best-prepared country is Sri Lanka, one of those worst hit two years ago, which has a system of transmitting warnings through its police stations.”
Ukraine: Chernobyl Photographer
Ukraine List writes about the first photographer on the scene in Chernobyl.
Ukraine: Chernobyl Rumors
MoldovAnn writes about the most recent Chernobyl scare: “One guy had a chance to check the news on the internet before dinner, and read a report that a wall on the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant had collapsed, releasing a bunch of radioactive dust into the air. The report advised to...
Haiti: Millennium Development Goals
Haiti Justice Blog refers to an article from the New York Times, which examines the ways in which the comfort of rich, developed countries “is, to a large extent the result of unfair extraction of wealth from poor countries; but more important, that wealthy countries could eliminate the worst forms...
Belize: Jack and Jill
Nurse Melly tells the near-tragic tale of two young puppies, Jack and Jill – and she's relieved to report that, “like all good human stories, the good guys won.”
Russia: Deadly Hospital Fire
Andy Young has relaunched Siberian Light, a blog on Russia, and reports on a deadly fire at a Moscow drug rehabilition hospital, which killed 45 women last night.
Armenia: Earthquake Anniversary
Onnik Krikorian marks the 18th anniversary of the 1988 Armenian earthquake that killed 25,000 and continues to impact northern regions of the country.
Israel: Rachel Corrie's Legacy Lives On
“Despite the murder of Rachel Corrie almost three years ago in Gaza, international volunteers continue to arrive in Palestine to help bring justice to the people living there. These are wonderful, brave young people who have no fear for their lives, standing up to the very forces that killed Rachel,”...
Philippines: A Thousand Bears for Bicol
Cathy Bythesea is asking her readers to help her collect a thousand bears for Bicol. Bicol region was badly hit by the typhoon Reming. “Stuffed toys have been known to be effective comfort givers in times of extreme stress and fear. To children, stuffed animals are more than toys, they're...
Afghan Whispers:Marshall Plan,Drought and Herat
What Happened to Marshall Plan? Sanjar explains why a Marshall Plan for his country did not achieve its objectives. The blogger writes After the establishment of President Karzai’s government in Afghanistan there was talk of the need for implementation of a plan much like the Marshall Plan for post Second...