Stories about Disaster from August, 2009
Japan: We will not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki
64 years ago, on the 6th and the 9th of August, atomic bombs were dropped by the U.S. forces on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 200,000 people died and every year, ceremonies are held to commemorate those victims and to remind humanity of the horrors of war and of the use...
Russia: Two Photos of Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam
LJ user drugoi visits Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric dam, posts two photos and writes (RUS) about the colossal damage done to the facility on Aug. 17: “It seems that it's easier to build a new power plant than to clear up the huge amount of deformed metal and restore the turbine hall.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: R.I.P. Walter Porter
And Still I Rise remembers Walter Porter, “a son of the Vincentian soil, calypsonian, musician and unfortunately the person seated in number 25C on Pan Am 103.”
India: Another Bulding Collapsed In Mumbai
Tech and Trek comments on the incident of another building falling apart in Mumbai, India after daylong rain: “what can we really do? Nothing but curse our luck.”
Taiwan: Post-typhoon reconstruction attracts criticism
After Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan earlier this month claiming hundreds of lives and making thousands homeless, the government is pushing forward a recovery plan. Michael Turton writes that the Ma government's post-typhoon reconstruction plan is a shock doctrine.
Sri Lanka: Citizen Media Contest
Sri Lankan citizen journalism initiative Groundviews announced a new competition “aimed at encouraging more citizen journalism on two vital issues confronting polity and society in post-war Sri Lanka – the conditions facing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and growing reports of Police brutality”, informs ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) blog.
India: A wave of suicides among farmers
Increasingly, Indian farmers are resorting to extreme measures, including suicide, to escape complex problems of poverty, crop failure and growing debt. Indian bloggers analyze the situation.
Taiwan: Stories of the survivors from Typhoon Morakot
Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan on 8 August. The heavy rain it brought to Taiwan has caused serious damage across the country, with thousands of people evacuated from their homes. Stories abound on the internet.
Greece: Wildfires encroaching on Athens
Forest fires are blazing still closer to Athens, the capital of Greece, threatening to consume even more land and property. Meanwhile, citizens are tracking developments via the web and Twitter.
Taiwan: A Hug for Taiwan
Beeside made (zh)a video of his “free hug for Taiwan” campaign after he saw so many tragedies caused by the flood everyday (translation): “At the beginning, it was like other netizens said, people there were merely watching, no one dared to give me a hug. But this situation did not...
Ukraine: “Radiant Girl”
Chernobyl and Eastern Europe reviews “Radiant Girl” by Andrea White – a children's book about a young survivor of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
Ukraine: Street Children
Michelle Knisley of Scenes from the Sidewalk shares stories of some of the Ukrainian street children that her ministry has helped over the years.
Barbados: BICO Fire
Barbadian bloggers are concerned about a factory fire, both from economic and safety standpoints.
Bangladesh: On Food Security
Duncan Chowdhury informs that the food supply situation of Bangladesh is more or less quite secure as the country never had to import food grains more than 15% of the total domestic production. The only concern is proper management of the food production and supply during natural calamities like droughts,...
Sri Lanka: Images Of The Flood In An IDP Camp
Groundviews posts pictures of the flooding in Menik Camp and updates on the increasingly desperate situation for the IDPs.
Russia: Two Jets Collide at Air Show
Two Russian Su-27 fighters collided Sunday near Zhukovsky airfield during a rehearsal for the MAKS-2009 air show, killing Col. Igor Tkachenko, the commander of the Russian Knights flying group, and crashing into summer houses. LJ users pompeya, kpoxaxa, and mfirishka have posted a few photos (RUS) from the site of...
Peru: Lack of Reconstruction Two Years After Earthquake
Two years after an earthquake struck Southern Peru, Peruvian bloggers are wondering why reconstruction is taking so long and what happened to all of the donations provided to the affected areas.
Taiwan: Criticisms of government response to floods
Following the terrible flooding from Typhoon Morakot there has been widespread criticisms of the Central Government for its slow response. Claudia Jean has written two posts detailing some of the failures of the Central Government: Part 1 and Part 2. The View from Taiwan looks at criticism of President Ma...
India: Swine Flu Vs. Other Diseases
Nita at A wide angle view of India discusses whether Swine Flu is more dangerous than other types of influenza or seasonal flu or not.
India: Swine Flu Scare
In India, the Swine flu deaths rose to twenty from ten in a matter of a couple of days. But panic is spreading more than the virus itself.
India: Hit By Swine Flu
As the number of deaths from Swine Flu in India crossed 20, fear has crept in among the inhabitants of the Maharashtra state. The South Asia blog opines that: “if this kind of situation continues then many people would become afraid and it will hurt the Indian economy a lot.”