2012info.ca Earth Watch

HAZMAT – North-America – USA

February 28, 2009 on 11:39 pm | In Disasters | Comments Off

EDIS Number: HZ-20090301-20682-USA
Date / time: 01/03/2009 04:35:58
Event: HAZMAT
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Missouri
City: Springfield
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured:4 persons
Damage level: Minor

Description:
Springfield firefighters, police, the Red Cross, and emergency management officials are on the scene of an apartment complex where they believe hazardous chemicals caused four people to seek medical attention, said David Hall of the Springfield Fire Department. Police went to the Rosewood Village apartment complex on the 2000 block of East Bennett around 5:10 p.m. While there one officer began feeling a burning itch on his skin, and was taken away by ambulance. Some also noticed an odor. Another officer who also responded reported similar symptoms, as did two residents. Officials evacuated the building — about a dozen residents — and called in the Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) team. City buses are at the site so the displaced residents have a place to stay warm. None of the injured parties is believed to have life-threatening injuries, said Hall. Resident Maygn Jasenski said she was worried there may be a meth lab in the building, but officials were only saying a chemical was causing the problem. She said she didn’t feel any symptoms. Hall said it was going to take some time for the Hazmat team to enter the apartment that is believed to be the source of the problem, and then determine what the problem is. “Any time you’ve got a Hazmat scene it is something where we move very methodically,” he said. “We’re very careful about what we do.”

HAZMAT – Africa – South Africa

February 28, 2009 on 10:01 pm | In Disasters | Comments Off

EDIS Number: HZ-20090301-20681-ZAF
Date / time: 01/03/2009 03:00:32
Event: HAZMAT
Area: Africa
Country: South Africa
State/County: State of KwaZulu-Natal
City: Nongoma
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured:None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:
About 500 children were admitted to hospital in Nongoma to be treated for food poisoning on Friday, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said. They are believed to have eaten rotten mince meat, said Leon Mbangwa. They were taken to the Benedictine Hospital in the area for treatment.

Vehicle Accident – Middle-East – Yemen

February 28, 2009 on 10:00 pm | In Disasters | Comments Off
EDIS Number: VI-20090301-20680-YEM
Date / time: 01/03/2009 02:59:20
Event: Vehicle Accident
Area: Middle-East
Country: Yemen
State/County: Unknow
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 45 persons
Number of Injured:None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:
Forty-five Africans drowned after a boat carrying them from Somalia across the Gulf of Aden capsized in deep waters off Yemen, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said Saturday. The boat, carrying 46 would-be migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia, capsized Friday night about 95 kilometres off the south-eastern Yemeni port of Mukalla, the ministry said in a statement. An Ethiopian passenger and three traffickers were able to get safely to shore, the ministry said. The smugglers were arrested. The boat was making a two-day journey across the Gulf of Aden from the northern Somali port of Bossasso. It was not clear what caused the boat to capsize. This was the second accident involving migrants off Yemen in the course of about one week.

AP : Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) / South-America / Bolivia [20:33735]

February 28, 2009 on 9:58 pm | In Bio Hazards | Comments Off
GLIDE Number: AP-20090215-20510-BOL
Date / time: 15/02/2009 04:17:07 [UTC]
Event: Epidemic
Name of Hazard: Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF)
Area: South-America
Country: Bolivia

Number of Deads: 20
Number of Infected: 33735

Description:
In the worst national outbreak in a decade, nine Bolivians have died after contracting hemorrhagic dengue fever, officials announced Saturday. The health ministry reported 64 confirmed cases of people with the deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever virus and some 15,800 people with regular dengue fever. Local media reported the number of people affected by the classic type of dengue fever was around 20,000. Authorities have declared a health emergency in the central, eastern and northern parts of the country, in the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Cochabamba. The hemorrhagic variant of the dengue virus is much more dangerous than the classic type because it causes violent internal bleeding and swift fluid loss, which can lead to a quick, painful death if not treated in time.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-03-01 at 02:58:11.


Not confirmed information!

Epidemic – South-America – Bolivia

February 28, 2009 on 9:58 pm | In Disasters | Comments Off
EDIS Number: AP-20090215-20510-BOL
Date / time: 15/02/2009 04:17:07
Event: Epidemic
Area: South-America
Country: Bolivia
State/County: Unknow
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 20 persons
Number of Injured:None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:
In the worst national outbreak in a decade, nine Bolivians have died after contracting hemorrhagic dengue fever, officials announced Saturday. The health ministry reported 64 confirmed cases of people with the deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever virus and some 15,800 people with regular dengue fever. Local media reported the number of people affected by the classic type of dengue fever was around 20,000. Authorities have declared a health emergency in the central, eastern and northern parts of the country, in the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Cochabamba. The hemorrhagic variant of the dengue virus is much more dangerous than the classic type because it causes violent internal bleeding and swift fluid loss, which can lead to a quick, painful death if not treated in time.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-03-01 at 02:58:11.

BH : H7Nx (Susp, Animal) / Asia / Japan [0:0]

February 28, 2009 on 9:32 pm | In Bio Hazards | Comments Off
GLIDE Number: BH-20090227-20659-JPN
Date / time: 27/02/2009 04:49:52 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Name of Hazard: H7Nx (Susp, Animal)
Area: Asia
Country: Japan
State/County: Prefecture of Aichi
City: Toyohashi

Number of Deads: 4
Number of Infected: 4

Description:
An outbreak of bird flu has been reported on a quail farm in central Japan but no animals have died and no humans have been infected, the agriculture ministry said on Friday. The H7 viral strain was found during regular monitoring by the prefecture. 280,000 of the 320,000 quails on the farm would be destroyed for quarantine reasons. "The outbreak occurred at a quail farm in Aichi prefecture, but no birds have died and no humans have been infected," an official at the ministry said. "Bird flu may remind you of scenes of many birds dying, but no birds have died there. It is unlikely that the virus found this time is deadly." The ministry banned 65 farms within a radius of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) of the affected farm from shipping birds or eggs.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 2 on 01.03.2009 at 02:31:58.
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-02-28 at 16:29:38.


Not confirmed information!

Assisted Colonization Key To Species’ Survival In Changing Climate

February 28, 2009 on 5:00 pm | In Climate Change | Comments Off Species are adapting slowly to climate change and "assisted colonization" can play a vital role in helping wildlife to survive in a warming world.

Cleveland Status Report issued Feb 28, 2009 11:25 ADT Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY – Aviation Color Code YELLOW

February 28, 2009 on 3:37 pm | In Volcanoes | Comments Off AVO has received no reports of activity at Cleveland in the past 24 hours. Nothing unusual has been observed in mostly to partly cloudy satellite images over the past day. Low-level ash emissions may occur with little or no warning.

Redoubt Status Report issued Feb 28, 2009 11:25 ADT Volcano Alert Level WATCH – Aviation Color Code ORANGE

February 28, 2009 on 3:37 pm | In Volcanoes | Comments Off Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues. No eruption has occurred. Seismicity is currently dominated by small discrete earthquakes; tremor has diminished significantly in the past two days. There have not been any significant earthquake swarms in the past 24 hours. Ice obscures much of the view of Redoubt in the Hut web cam this morning. Nothing unusual has been observed in satellite views over the past day. Yesterday, a field crew installed a time-lapse camera in the Drift River valley, and two campaign GPS sites. Data from yesterday's gas-measurement flight are being processed. ...

Snow Avalanche – North-America – USA

February 28, 2009 on 1:06 pm | In Disasters | Comments Off

EDIS Number: AV-20090228-20678-USA
Date / time: 28/02/2009 18:06:01
Event: Snow Avalanche
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Wyoming
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 3 persons
Number of Injured:None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:
Authorities in Wyoming say a mile-long avalanche has killed three snowmobilers near the Wyoming-Idaho state line. Lincoln County officials say the three victims were among four snowmobilers caught by the snow slide Friday near Alpine in the Snake River Range. Sgt. Shane Tindall said the fourth person walked out and used his cell phone to call for help. The slide was about 100 yards wide and a mile long. Tindall said rescue workers set off explosive charges to reduce the risk of a second slide before attempting to recover the victims. Names of the victims had not been released.