January 13, 2020

Earth has been a particularly dangerous place in recent weeks. Airplane crashes, military clashes, terror attacks, and political unrest have taken a toll on human life and happiness lately, but it is a series of natural disasters that has caused the most trouble. A typhoon ravaged the Philippines, deadly flash floods hit Indonesia, bushfires continued to rage in Australia, a measles epidemic continued to kill in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a series of earthquakes rattled Puerto Rico.

Firefighters confront a bushfire near the Blue Mountains town of Bilpin, New South Wales, on Dec. 19, 2019. Credit: © 1234rf/Shutterstock

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Typhoon Phanfone (also called Ursula) struck the Philippines, producing high winds and flooding that killed 105 people in the Visayan Island provinces of Biliran, Capiz, Iloilo, and Leyte. Phanfone was a Category 2 storm (moderate strength) with sustained winds of more than 90 miles (150 kilometers) per hour. Storm surges and deadly flash floods hit communities just as families were gathering to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed.

On New Year’s Day in Indonesia, abnormally heavy monsoon rains caused flash floods that killed 66 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others in Jakarta, the capital. Some 14.5 inches (37 centimeters) of rain fell on New Year’s Eve, causing the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers to overflow. Floodwaters submerged more than 150 neighborhoods and caused landslides in the Bogor and Depok districts on the outskirts of Jakarta. Flood water levels in some areas peaked at more than 13 feet (4 meters). Electric power was cut off, and closed schools and government buildings were converted into emergency shelters.

On January 7, the World Health Organization announced the 6,000th death from measles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since an epidemic began there in 2019. More than 300,000 suspected measles cases have been reported in the DRC—a nation also troubled by recent terror attacks. The epidemic has continued and grown because of low vaccination coverage, malnutrition, weak public health systems, outbreaks of other epidemic-prone diseases (such as Ebola), and the difficulty of getting health care to people in remote areas.

In Puerto Rico, after several smaller earthquakes, a 6.4-magnitude temblor struck the southwestern part of the island on January 7. The earthquake, the strongest to hit Puerto Rico in more than 100 years, killed one person, toppled hundreds of structures, and forced a state of emergency. Many people lost their homes, the island briefly lost electric power, and schools and public offices were closed. In the 10 days before the 6.4-magnitude earthquake, the United States Geological Survey recorded hundreds of temblors in Puerto Rico—including 10 of 4-magnitude or greater.

A number of major bushfires have lately devastated southeastern Australia. Since September, the wild fires—mostly in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria—have burned more than 25.5 million acres (10.3 million hectares), an area the size of South Korea. The bushfires have destroyed more than 2,100 homes and killed 27 people and hundreds of millions of animals. On January 8, the Australian government ordered the mass slaughter of thousands of wild camels and horses that have invaded rural towns looking for water. Many people are without electric power and telecommunications in Australia’s southeast, and some were without drinking water and other supplies. Smoke has obscured the city skies of Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney. The bushfires followed a three-year drought that experts link to climate change.

July 12, 2018

On Tuesday, July 10, the last members of a youth soccer team of 12 boys and a coach were rescued from a flooded cave system in the southeast Asian nation of Thailand. The boys, aged 11 to 16, and the 25-year-old coach had been trapped in the extensive Tham Luang cave complex in northern Chiang Rai province since June 23. The team—known as the Wild Boars—was stranded by flood waters while on an outing in the caves, which are a popular recreational destination. Most of Tham Luang’s 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) of subterranean passages are dry, but they often flood during the rainy season.

Wild Boar teammates wave happily from a hospital in Chiang Rai, Thailand, after being rescued from the nearby Tham Luang cave complex in July 2018. Credit: Thailand Government Spokesman Bureau

For many days after the Wild Boars disappeared in the cave, people feared the worst as entrances were blocked by high waters. A massive rescue operation began that included 90 specially trained divers—40 from Thailand and 50 from countries all over the world—and hundreds of emergency and support personnel. The divers navigated the maze of pitch-black flooded caves, laying guide lines along the way to help find their way to and from the safety of the cave entrance. Narrow gaps in the submerged caves forced the divers to remove their oxygen tanks at times, while in dryer places the divers had to walk or climb the caves in their heavy and cumbersome gear. Divers searched the flooded passages, but they hoped to find the group in an air pocket of one of the partially flooded areas.

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The last members of a youth soccer team were rescued from a cave system near Chiang Rai in far northern Thailand on July 10, 2018. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Contact was at last made on July 2: the Wild Boars were safe, but understandably hungry, exhausted, and frightened. Rescue operations then kicked into high gear. If the kids and coach were not rescued quickly, further flooding in the area could leave them stranded underground for months. Diminishing oxygen levels in the cave system were also a concern. After the divers took supplies to the trapped team members and rigged a system to get them out, the first four of the boys—none of whom knew how to swim—were brought to safety on Sunday, July 8. Accompanied by two divers, each boy wore a full-face scuba helmet, wet suit, and boots. One diver swam ahead and carried the boy’s air tank. The boy was tethered to the lead diver as a second diver followed. Four more boys were rescued on Monday. The last group (including the coach) was greeted by cheers and sighs of relief at the cave entrance on Tuesday. The soccer team survived the 17-day ordeal relatively unharmed, but a Thai navy diver died on July 6 when he ran out of oxygen while trying to return to the cavern entrance.

The boys and coach are now recuperating at a hospital in Chiang Rai city, where they are temporarily quarantined from physical contact. The group drank water in the cave that was likely contaminated, and they were exposed to bird and bat droppings. Once cleared of the possibility of infection, they will get some long-awaited hugs. The boys lost an average of 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) each. Despite calls for rich dishes of rice and pork, the hungry team must be fed blandly and slowly to prevent digestive upset. Like little movie stars, they are also wearing sunglasses as their eyes readjust to light.

August 29, 2012

Hurricane Isaac barreled into the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, bringing storm surges, heavy rains, stiff winds, flooding, and threats of tornadoes. The Category 1 hurricane, which struck parts of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, was expected to reach New Orleans late this evening, seven years to the day that Hurricane Katrina slammed into the city. One of the most destructive storms in United States history, Katrina killed about 1,800 people and caused about $100 billion in damage. About 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded as parts of the city’s system of levees (flood barriers) failed. Most of the approximately 1,500 Louisianians who died because of the storm were from New Orleans.

Isaac made its first landfall at about 7:45 p.m. (EDT), about 95 miles (153 kilometers) south of New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish. The storm then wobbled westward and back into the gulf but returned for a second landfall at 3 a.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, near Port Fourchon, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of New Orleans. Heavy rainfall and storm surges along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Mississippi caused flooding as deep as 14 feet (4 meters) in some areas, sending residents who chose not to evacuate to the rooftops of their houses. Local residents and members of the National Guard mounted rescue operations in Plaquemines Parish, where a 12-foot (3.6-meter) storm surge overtopped (flowed over) an 18-mile (5.4-meter) section of levee.

By midday Tuesday, the slow-moving storm had essentially stalled, leading forecasters to predict that heavy rains would pound the area for several days. New Orleans could receive up to 20 inches (51 centimeters), said an official with the National Weather Service. Residents and officials in New Orleans were keeping a close eye on the city’s levees and pumps, which had undergone a $14-billion federal upgrade after the flood protection system had failed catastrophically during the much-stronger Hurricane Katrina.

A street intersection lies flooded near downtown New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck the city in August 2005. The hurricane caused many deaths and widespread damage. A combination of storm surge (a rapid rise in water levels produced when winds drive ocean waters ashore), heavy rainfall, and broken levees (walls to prevent flooding) caused water to cover most of the city. (© Chris Graythen, Getty Images)

Ahead of Isaac’s arrival, the governors of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi ordered mandatory evacuations in some counties. The next day, U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. troops were placed on stand-by alert to help communities affected by the storm. New Orleans officials also declared a state of emergency and provided buses for people to wished to leave their homes voluntarily.

Before hitting the Gulf Coast, Isaac–then a tropical storm–had lashed central and southern Florida with heavy rains and strong winds. The storm also caused the deaths of 24 people in Haiti and widespread damage along that country’s southern coast. The storm left 5 people dead in neighboring Dominican Republic.

Additional World Book articles:

• Corps of Engineers
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• The Second Battle of New Orleans (a Special Report)
• City (2005) (a Back in Time article)
• Safety (2005) (a Back in Time article)