| November 2, 2007 | - Friday marked Mexico's Day of the Dead, which was celebrated as hundreds of thousands of people attempted to flee the flooded state of Tabasco by boat, helicopter, jet ski, tractor, or by swimming through murky, snake-infested currents.
| Source:
AP via Yahoo!
|
| April 14, 2006 | - An audit found that FEMA misspent at least $1 billion in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
| Source:
Democracy Now!
|
| February 20, 2006 | - In Guinsaugon, Philippines, at least 1,371 people were buried in a mudslide. Imelda Marcos promised to visit the region soon.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| November 28, 2005 | -
Earthquakes struck Iran and China.
| Source:
The Arizona Daily Star
|
| November 24, 2005 | - Former FEMA Director Michael Brown announced that he was starting a disaster-preparedness company. “My parents,” noted Brown, “are still proud of me.”
| Source:
CNN.com
|
| November 7, 2005 | - A tornado killed at least 22 people in Indiana.
| Source:
The New York Times
|
| November 4, 2005 | -
Louisiana was told that it owes FEMA $3.7 billion for the aid organization's help after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
| Source:
USA Today
|
| October 25, 2005 | -
Hurricane Wilma struck Florida and left millions without power.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| October 10, 2005 | - At least 42,000 people died in an earthquake in Pakistan.
| Source:
ABC News
|
| October 6, 2005 | - Hundreds of people in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador were buried alive in mudslides caused by Hurricane Stan.
| Source:
Science Daily
|
| October 2, 2005 | -
Somali pirates relinquished a ship--filled with food intended for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami--that they had hijacked 98 days earlier.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| September 26, 2005 | - In the wake of Hurricane Rita, which damaged a number of oil refineries, President George W. Bush called on Americans to conserve gas. "I mean," he said, "people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive when they--on a trip that's not essential, that would helpful."
| Source:
The White House
|
| September 24, 2005 | -
Hurricane Rita, the third-most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, struck Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, killing 36 people and causing flooding, tornadoes, and storm surges, and re-flooding parts of New Orleans. Hurricane evacuations caused miles of traffic jams in Texas, and a bus filled with elderly people exploded when an oxygen tank caught fire, incinerating at least 24 passengers.
| Source 1:
Wikipedia
Source 2:
Houston Chronicle
|
| September 8, 2005 | - Emergency officials in Louisiana requested 25,000 body bags for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and a total evacuation of New Orleans was ordered. Much of the city was still underwater, though several people who lived on high ground objected to the evacuation. "I haven't even run out of weed yet," said one woman.
| Source 1:
The Guardian
Source 2:
The New York Times
|
| September 6, 2005 | - Houston, Texas, the headquarters of contractors Halliburton and Baker Hughes, was preparing for a boomin the wake of Hurricane Katrina; one real-estate firm was offering special financing deals "for hurricane survivors only."
| Source:
IHT
|
| September 5, 2005 | - In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the United States declared disasters in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Taken together, the 90,000-square-mile disaster area would be the twelfth largest state. Emergencies were declared in Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.
| Source:
U.S. Department of Defense
|
| August 31, 2005 | - President Bush decided to end his month-long vacation two days early and return to Washington, D.C. During his trip, Air Force One flew low over New Orleans. “This was a natural disaster,” said Bush.
| Source 1:
The Washington Post
Source 2:
The Village Voice
|
| March 28, 2005 | - An earthquake off Sumatra killed at least one thousand people.
| Source:
Wikipedia
|
| March 21, 2005 | - A magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit Japan.
| Source:
Christian Science Monitor
|
| March 16, 2005 | - The Department of Homeland Security was preparing for: the detonation of a ten-kiloton nuclear device; a biological attack with aerosolized anthrax; an outbreak of pneumonic plague; a flu pandemic starting in south China; the spraying of a chemical blister agent over a football stadium; an attack on an oil refinery; the explosion of a tank of chlorine; a 7.2-magnitude earthquake; a major hurricane in a metropolitan area; three Cesium-137 dirty bombs going off in three different cities, each contaminating thirty-six city blocks; the detonation of improvised bombs in sports stadiums and emergency rooms; liquid anthrax in ground beef; a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak; and a cyber attack on the nation's financial infrastructure.
| Source:
The New York Times
|
| February 22, 2005 | - An earthquake in southeast Iran killed six hundred people.
| Source:
ReliefWeb
|
| January 29, 2005 | - Meteorologists were forecasting record thinning of northern Europe's ozone layer in the coming weeks,
| Source:
BBC News
|
| January 22, 2005 | - A survivor of the Indian Ocean tsunami was found in his underwear eating coconuts on a tiny island 25 days after the tsunami hit.
| Source:
BBC
|
| January 19, 2005 | - The number of deaths attributed to the tsunami increased to 220,000, with about 3,500 corpses still being recovered daily in some areas.
| Source:
BBC
|
| January 19, 2005 | - and Condoleezza Rice was thinking that the tsunami presented a "wonderful opportunity" for the U.S. to make friends in Asia.
| Source:
Los Angeles Daily News
|
| January 19, 2005 | - Twelve thousand people fled their homes in Concepcion, Chile, after three pranksters ran through a beach shouting that a tsunami was approaching.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| January 12, 2005 | - In India, men were calling tsunami relief help lines, offering to marry women who lost their husbands in the recent disaster. “I have no caste barriers, and my parents are very supportive of my decision,” said one caller.
| Source:
Times of India
|
| January 10, 2005 | - Storms ravaged California, where the resulting mud slides killed at least nine while dislodging boulders up to twenty-five feet in diameter.
| Source:
AP
|
| January 10, 2005 | - A Florida man, upset over hurricanes, beat a puppy with a hammer.
| Source:
St. Petersburg Times
|
| January 7, 2005 | -
Kofi Annan visited the site of the South Asia tsunami disaster and said, "I have never seen such utter destruction."
| Source:
CBS News
|
| January 4, 2005 | - He also said providing disaster relief was a good public relations move.
| Source:
The Washington Post
|
| January 4, 2005 | - Aid efforts were temporarily halted when an airplane carrying emergency supplies hit a herd of cows.
| Source:
Abqtrib.com
|
| January 2, 2005 | - Nearly 150,000 people were confirmed dead in the disaster and far more were badly injured. Estimates of the homeless ran to five million.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| December 30, 2004 | - The World Health Organization warned that outbreaks of cholera and dysentery resulting from a lack of clean drinking water could easily double the number of people killed by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| December 26, 2004 | - A 9.0 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami that ravaged south and southeast Asia, as well as parts of Africa. The wave reached from Somalia and Kenya to Malaysia. Thousands of fatalities were reported in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, South India, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Three-story waves washed sunbathers into the sea, carried away snorkelers, and swallowed up Hindu ritual bathers celebrating Full Moon Day. A prison in Sumatra was torn open by the tsunami, and hundreds of inmates fled. A baby was washed from her father's arms. At least 25,000 died, and millions were displaced. Entire towns were turned into rubble. Corpses hung from trees and fences, and the rotting bodies of humans and animals threatened to pollute water supplies. It was difficult to bury the dead for lack of dry ground. The earthquake was the largest since 1964, and slightly altered the rotation of the earth.
| Source 1:
New York Timesimes
Source 2:
Wikipedia
Source 3:
New York Timesimes
Source 4:
MSNBC
Source 5:
Reuters
|
| December 16, 2004 | - Twelve million honeybees died in a Las Vegas freeway accident.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| December 5, 2004 | -
Mudslides killed more than 1,100 in the Philippines.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| October 3, 2004 | - Scientists were waiting for Mount St. Helens to blow up.
| Source:
Seattle Times
|
| September 27, 2004 | - Another hurricane hit Florida.
| Source:
Washington Post
|
| September 22, 2004 | -
Scientists were hoping to use rat brainwaves to find people buried by earthquakes.
| Source:
New Scientist
|
| September 6, 2004 | - There were floods and landslides in southwest China.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| September 6, 2004 | - Earthquakes in western Japan caused tsunamis, and a typhoon hit the country's southern islands.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| September 3, 2004 | - Millions of people in Florida were evacuated because of Hurricane Frances.
| Source:
Agence France-Presse
|
| August 27, 2004 | -
Japanese seismologists predicted that Tokyo will be hit with a major earthquake within the next 50 years.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| August 11, 2004 | - A plague of locusts was heading for Darfur, Sudan,
| Source:
Reuters
|
| August 10, 2004 | - A British scientist warned that a gigantic section of La Palma island in the Canaries is poised to fall into the ocean, an event that would trigger "mega-tsunamis" 50 to 100 meters high that will crash into Africa's west coast, the Caribbean, and the eastern United States.
| Source:
Guardian
|
| August 8, 2004 | - Locusts were still plaguing
Mauritania.
| Source:
Agence France-Presse
|
| August 3, 2004 | - More than 300 people died in a supermarket fire in Paraguay.
| Source:
Scotsman
|
| July 26, 2004 | - The European Space Agency found that rogue waves more than 25 meters high are not uncommon and may have sunk more than 200 supertankers over the past 20 years.
| Source:
Sydney Morning Herald
|
| July 23, 2004 | - officials there were considering closing national forests to prevent fires.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| July 10, 2004 | - A plague of locusts was massing in Africa.
| Source:
New Scientist
|
| July 7, 2004 | - A sinkhole in Louisiana ate a giraffe and an ostrich.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| May 24, 2004 | - In Paris, the roof of a new terminal at Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapsed and killed several people.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| April 8, 2004 | -
Brazil said that it had gotten the destruction of the Amazon rain forest under control and that only 9,169 square miles (an area the size of Massachusetts) were destroyed last year.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| April 8, 2004 | - A new study concluded that Greenland's ice sheet could melt within a thousand years, which would raise sea level 23 feet.
| Source:
National Geographic
|
| February 22, 2004 | - An internal Pentagon report warned that global climate change will soon lead to drought, famine, and widespread warfare as countries begin to fight over scarce water, food, and energy supplies. Climate change, the report argues, "should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a U.S. national security concern."
| Source:
Observer
|
| January 22, 2004 | -
Russian soldiers rescued 10 tons of beer kegs that became trapped under the ice of a frozen Siberian river; after divers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations failed to dislodge the kegs, a T-72 tank saved the day.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| January 6, 2004 | - The International Space Station seemed to have sprung a leak.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
| January 4, 2004 | - A charter flight from Egypt to Paris crashed into the Red Sea, killing 148 people, mostly French tourists.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| January 2, 2004 | - A small plane fell from the sky and crashed into two houses near Dallas.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| December 27, 2003 | - At least 138 passengers died on Christmas Day when an airliner hit a building on takeoff in Cotonou, Benin, and then crashed into the sea.
| Source:
Voice of America
|
| December 27, 2003 | - Hundreds of Chinese were killed by poison gas emitted from a natural gas well.
| Source:
Financial Times
|
| December 27, 2003 | - Most of Bam, an Iranian city, was destroyed in a massive earthquake; between 20,000 and 40,000 people were lying dead in the rubble.
| Source:
Washington Post
|
| December 24, 2003 | - Hundreds of Filipinos were buried in landslides.
| Source:
Malaya.com.ph
|
| December 23, 2003 | -
California suffered an earthquake that measured 6.5 on the Richter scale; 3 people died when they were crushed by a clock tower.
| Source:
New Scientist
|
| December 17, 2003 | - The National Weather Service posted an urgent advisory to its website saying that "the Earth has left its orbit and is hurtling towards the sun."
| Source:
Information Week
|
| December 14, 2003 | - Lightning struck a church in Swaziland and killed a priest, five children, and three others.
| Source:
News.com.au
|
| December 12, 2003 | - It was reported that the earth's magnetic field has weakened by about 10 percent over the last 150 years; scientists said that large solar storms could cause "significant but not catastrophic" damage to the ozone layer as a result.
| Source:
Newsday, New York Times
|
| December 5, 2003 | - In Albany, Georgia, a hair stylist's hair burst into flame while she was standing next to a gas pump.
| Source:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
|
| December 3, 2003 | - A postcard-size dinner menu from the
Titanic
sold for $49,500; the menu listed salmon, consommé mirrette, sweetbreads, roast chicken, spring lamb, golden plover on toast, and peaches.
| Source:
Scotsman.com, Reuters
|
| November 14, 2003 | - Thirteen million trees were damaged in a freak
snowstorm in Beijing.
| Source:
Agence France-Presse
|
| November 14, 2003 | - Parts of Los Angeles were covered in a foot of hail.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| November 14, 2003 | - There was severe flooding in central Vietnam.
| Source:
Agence France-Presse
|
| November 5, 2003 | -
President Bush, who has refused to comment directly on the daily casualties in Iraq and has not attended a single funeral for a soldier killed there, traveled to California to inspect the damage from the recent wildfires and was photographed hugging a woman who lost her home.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| June 7, 2003 | - A small airplane
dropped from the sky over Los Angeles and landed on an apartment building.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| October 30, 2001 | -
New York was shaken by a 2.6-magnitude earthquake.
| |
| September 11, 2001 | - Thousands of volunteers rushed to lower Manhattan. Well-meaning citizens created a small disaster by overwhelming rescue workers with truckloads of socks, T-shirts, food. Much was simply thrown away.
| |
| September 11, 2001 | - One million British
schoolchildren jumped in unison for a minute in a failed attempt to create a minor earthquake.
| |
| July 24, 2001 | - A natural-gas well exploded near Waco, Texas, killing two Halliburton Company workers.
| |
| March 13, 2001 | - Anarchists claimed responsibility for last week's earthquake in the Pacific Northwest.
| |
| January 23, 2001 | - A small earthquake was detected in New York City.
| |
| August 15, 2000 | - Oak trees were dying of a mysterious fungus in California.
| |
| August 1, 2000 | - A special federal review panel led by Senator John Danforth cleared the U.S. Justice Department of any “bad acts” in the Waco disaster.
| |
