Disaster
May 9, 2008YANGON, Myanmar - The United Nations suspended aid shipments Friday to the hungry and homeless survivors of last week's devastating cyclone in Myanmar after supplies already on the ground were seized by the military government.
"All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated," said UN World Food Program spokesman Paul Risley.
BANGKOK, Thailand - Myanmar's refusal to let foreign aid workers into the country has not stopped donors around the world, both large and small, from trying to help.
Besides the tens of millions of dollars in aid pledged by governments, help is also being offered by smaller groups and companies.
BANGKOK, Thailand - It was Asia's answer to hurricane Katrina. Packing winds upwards of 190 km/h, cyclone Nargis became one of Asia's deadliest storms by hitting land at one of the lowest points in Myanmar and setting off a storm surge that reached 40 kilometres inland.
"When we saw the (storm) track, I said, 'Uh oh, this is not going to be good,"' said Mark Lander, a meteorology professor at the University of Guam. "It would create a big storm surge. It was like Katrina going into New Orleans."
YANGON, Myanmar - Relief supplies from the United Nations arrived in Myanmar on Thursday, but U.S. military planes loaded with aid were still denied access by the country's government five days after a devastating cyclone.
The military junta also continued to stall on visas for UN teams seeking entry to ensure the aid is delivered to the victims amid fears that lack of safe food and drinking water could push the death toll above 100,000.
LABUTTA, Myanmar - Some survivors arrived half-naked, others wore clothes they scavenged from the dead.
Myanmar's rice-trading town of Labutta, the only spit of high ground in a vast watery landscape, has become a beacon of hope for tens of thousands who lived through the cyclone's fury, most losing homes and family members.
TORONTO - Canadian aid agencies stepped up efforts to get relief for cyclone-hit Myanmar on Wednesday, with a group of four agencies calling for donations and another sending a five-person aid team towards the country.
GlobalMedic's rapid response team, which left from Toronto on Wednesday, was equipped with five million water purification tablets, 21 water purification units and $1 million worth of medicine to stave off water-borne diseases.
YANGON, Myanmar - The death toll in Myanmar's devastating cyclone soared above 22,000 on Tuesday, with more than 41,000 others missing, state radio reported.
Meanwhile, international aid officials said up to one million people may be homeless in the wake of cyclone Nargis, which ravaged the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma, early Saturday.
FREDERICTON - The flood waters are finally receding, but damage claims are steadily on the rise from residents living along New Brunswick's swollen St. John River.
Emergency Measures officials said Tuesday that the river is returning to its normal size, even near its mouth at the Bay of Fundy along the southern reaches of the province.
FREDERICTON - Flood waters have stabilized in Fredericton and are expected to significantly decline over the weekend as dry, sunny weather helps tame the swollen St. John River.
Emergency officials say water levels in Fredericton today are about eight metres above sea level, and they are expected to drop to 7.7 metres by Saturday.
FREDERICTON - Officials in New Brunswick continue to monitor flooding as water levels remain high along the entire St. John River system.
However, the Emergency Measures Organization said there are no crisis situations to report.
FREDERICTON - Emergency Measures officials in New Brunswick are keeping a close eye on the weather and water levels along the St. John River.
The river reached flood level in Fredericton on Tuesday and has continued to rise as a result of snow melt and rain.
MANCHESTER, England - The strongest earthquake to hit Britain in more than two decades was felt across large parts of the country early Wednesday, officials said.
Some homes had minor damage but there were no reports of injuries. The British Geological Survey said it was a 5.3-magnitude quake but the U.S. Geological Survey earlier put the magnitude at 4.7. The quake struck at about 1 a.m. local time and was centred about 200 kilometres north of London.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - The fault line that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has ruptured nearly 20 times this month, causing three strong earthquakes. The activity shows the stress the seam is under and could be a harbinger of worse to come, scientists warn.
Kerry Sieh, from the California Institute of Technology, has studied the fault for more than 10 years. He likened it to a length of rope in an imaginary tug of war between a group of men and an elephant.
MANILA, Philippines - Weeklong rains have triggered landslides and floods across the eastern Philippines, leaving at least 13 people dead, three missing and tens of thousands displaced, officials said Wednesday.
Most of the deaths occurred from drowning in Eastern Samar province since Feb. 15, when a low pressure area dumped heavy rains that caused flash floods and cut off major roads and damaged bridges, officials said.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake struck western Indonesia on Wednesday, prompting short-lived tsunami warnings and sending residents running from swaying homes. There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.
The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, struck under the island of Simeulue off the western coast of Sumatra island, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a posting on its website.
BEIJING - Chinese insurers have paid more than US$165 million for deaths and damage from snowstorms that killed at least 107 people, said officials quoted Wednesday by a state news agency.
Millions more in claims are pending from China's worst snow and ice storms in five decades, which began Jan. 10 and wrecked homes, businesses and crops, the Xinhua News Agency said.
ATKINS, Ark. - The death toll in the line of tornadoes that ripped through the southern United States now stands at 47.
Tennessee is the hardest-hit state, with 24 people reported killed. Emergency officials say 12 others died in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and three in Alabama.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Rescuers dug for survivors Wednesday after a landslide on Indonesia's main island pummelled a village.
Officials say at least seven people were killed and many homes and roads were destroyed.
