Tag - floods

 
 

FLOODS

People release flowers into the Kawauchi River, a tributary of the Kuma River, which overflowed due to downpours five years ago, on Friday in Kuma, Kumamoto Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2025
Victims of 2020 Kumamoto heavy rains mourned five years on
The July 2020 downpours, which caused floods and mudslides, left 67 people dead, including indirect fatalities, and two others missing.
Bereaved families of the victims of the 2020 Kumamoto rain and flooding disaster lay flowers at a memorial held in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2025
Kumamoto marks five years since deadly flooding
Hitoyoshi Mayor Hayato Matsuoka has pledged to continue supporting all of those affected by the disaster.
Buildings and roads are half submerged in floodwaters after heavy rainfalls, in Rongjiang county in China's Guizhou province on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 25, 2025
China, reeling from floods, braces for second tropical cyclone in two weeks
The tropical depression could make landfall somewhere between the island province of Hainan and Guangdong on the mainland on Thursday morning.
Toyota has filed a lawsuit in a South African court over 2022 flood damages that shuttered its plant near Durban.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2025
Toyota insurer files $361 million South Africa flood damage lawsuit
The claim alleges that by failing to maintain waterways and drainage systems that carried the floodwater, the defendants shared responsibility for the damage.
The small village of Blatten in the Swiss Alps was destroyed by a landslide after part of a glacier collapsed last week.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Jun 2, 2025
How Switzerland's Birch glacier collapsed
There are strong theories on the causes, and to what degree it is linked to climate change — but these are yet to be confirmed by scientific analysis.
Rescue workers transport people using a raft along a flooded street in Takeo, Saga Prefecture, in August 2021.
JAPAN / Society
May 24, 2025
Japan to create public-private network on disaster relief
The initiative aims to build a network that facilitates cooperation between local governments, companies and nonprofit organizations.
When you stare into the abyss at the bottom of the No. 3 shaft of the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, the abyss stares back.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 14, 2025
A new tour of Tokyo’s most underground attraction
From April, the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel will offer guided treks of areas previously inaccessible to the public.
A flooded road in the Philippines following heavy rain in July 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 19, 2025
Extreme weather in 2024 forced most people to flee in 16 years
The climate damages also exacerbated a food crisis in more than a dozen countries, according to a report.
Excavators to be used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove debris from homes destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025
Cascading extreme weather events unleash billions in damages globally
Compound weather, when two or more concurrent events that collectively yield a result worse than if each had occurred on its own, are occurring more frequently.
Cyclone Alfred weakened into a tropical depression Saturday as it neared the rain and wind-lashed eastern coast of Australia where hundreds of thousands of properties were without power.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 9, 2025
Wild weather leaves mass blackouts in Australia
Wild weather has blacked out more than 300,000 homes and businesses on Australia's east coast, officials said Sunday.
A man wades through a shopping area flooded by the Kinugawa river in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sept. 10, 2015.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025
Government partly responsible for 2015 river flooding, court finds
In a lawsuit, residents in flooded areas along the river claimed that the government's inadequate river management caused the disaster.
Relatives of people who died in Spain's disastrous floods, as well as protesters, demonstrate against Valencia's regional leader, demanding his resignation for his handling of the emergency, in Valencia, Spain, on Dec. 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2025
Chinese online operation called for toppling Spain's government: report
The online operation from China, called Spamouflage, has been operating in several countries since 2017, online analysis outfit Graphika said.
Strong waves from the Pasig River pummel the shoreline in Manila on Nov. 17 as Super Typhoon Man-yi hits the Philippines.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 24, 2025
Disaster fatigue: When storms drown out compassion
Natural disasters in the Philippines are taking a toll not only on the most vulnerable but also on those whose very job it is to help to them.
A pedestrian walks past air conditioning units in Tokyo in July. The year 2024 was the hottest for Japan since records began, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2025
Japan says 2024 hottest year on record
The average temperatures from January through December were 1.48 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 average, according to the Meteorological Agency.
The first sunrise of the year is seen on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the massive Noto Peninsula earthquake, in Mitsukushima, a scenic spot in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, where part of the mountain face collapsed.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2025
Japan marks anniversary of massive Noto Peninsula earthquake
Most of the people affected by the disaster have returned to their homes or moved into temporary housing, and are working to rebuild their lives.
Photos taken from the same place but at different times in the Noto Peninsula towns of Wajima (left) and Suzu illustrate the progress made following the devastating earthquake that hit these areas of Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1, 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2025
A year after a deadly earthquake, Noto Peninsula still faces long road to recovery
Reconstruction remains a prolonged and complex ordeal for cities in the worst-hit areas, with recovery further hampered by torrential rains in September.
Rivers and canals meander through many of the townships in Ningbo, with some homes built close to the water.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2024
Can China shield the biggest uninsured economy from floods?
Only about 10% of Chinese families have a home insurance policy, compared to nearly 90% in the U.S.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako speak with evacuated people at Wajima Junior High School in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2024
Emperor and Empress mourn flood victims in Wajima
Four people were killed in the September floods, including a 14-year-old junior high school student.
Evacuees from an area flooded by the Kinugawa river, in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 2015
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2024
Japan updates disaster shelter guidelines
The central government on Friday updated its guidelines for disaster shelter operations, with the update calling for ensuring there is one toilet for every 20 people, among other measures.
Passersby hold umbrellas as they walk under strong sunlight as the Japanese government issued heat stroke alerts in 39 of the country's 47 prefectures in Tokyo on July 22.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 12, 2024
Climate change forged a new reality in 2024: 'This is life now'
As the year draws to a close, the environmental conclusion is both blatant and bleak: 2024 was the hottest year since records began.

Longform

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