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Cyclone Leaves Dead And Across Slew Of Indian Ocean Islands
Saint-Denis-De-La-Reunion (AFP) Feb 25, 2007 Two people were killed on Mauritius and nine hurt in the French Indian Ocean department of Reunion when a tropical cyclone brushed the island at the weekend, officials said Sunday. The victims had ignored official bans on going out while Cyclone Gamede was in the vicinity. On Mauritius a man of 22 was swept away by high waves on Saturday some 10 kilometres (six miles) south of the capital Port Louis. Local member of parliament Maurice Allet said he had slipped off a rock which he and two companions had climbed. Early Sunday a 41-year-old cyclist was killed when he rode into a fallen electric cable in the centre of Mauritius, police said. On Reunion nine people were injured, one seriously, when they defied a ban on driving. In the south of the island a 520-metre (600-yard) long bridge was swept away and around 100,000 people were deprived of electricity, officials said. The mayor of the town of Saint Louis, Cyrille Hamilcaro, said the collapse of the bridge over the Saint Etienne river was a disaster which would cause serious disruption to the local economy. Farmers' leader Jean-Yves Minatchy said torrential rain and wind reaching a record 205 kilometres (127 miles) per hour had also caused heavy damage to crops, especially sugar cane and bananas. As Gamede moved away north-westward authorities said a red alert forbidding movement would be lifted early Monday but schools would remain closed. In Mauritius about 60 percent of electricity subscribers were without power, but the airport and ports had reopened. Schools, however, would also remain closed Monday.
earlier related report Cyclone Favio flattened most of the worst-hit town, Vilankulo in coastal Inhambane province, 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of the capital Maputo on Thursday. "There are three dead in Vilankulo hospital," Hanna Schmuck of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Mozambique, told AFP. "There is also one dead at Govuro, two at Inhassoro, two at Machanga, one at Beira and one in Buzi," she added, referring to places along the coast. Many roofs had blown off and the government had provided tents for more than 40,000 people affected, but many had preferred to stay and try to rebuild their homes for fear of looting, Schmuck said. Residents of Vilankulo in particular were still very shocked, she added. The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (EHCO) on Saturday pledged 2 million euros (2,633,000 dollars) to help set up basic provisions such as clean drinking water and medical centres. ECHO also said it was sending a plane from the Democratic Republic of Congo to help distribute aid to the affected areas, adding that staff had arrived at Vilankulo to carry out assessments. Also Saturday the South African government said it was sending aid to its neighbour in the wake of the cyclone, which packed winds of up to 180 kilometres an hour. "The immediate needs for humanitarian assistance include helicopters, tents for displaced people who are now living in temporary accommodation centres, roof sheeting for the reconstruction of homes, water treatment plants for the accommodation and resettlement centres," the foreign ministry said. "We are ready to provide the material assistance required by the Government of Mozambique. These include the provision of the helicopters to transport food to the temporary accommodation centres," a statement added. The cyclone added to the strain on emergency workers already helping victims of recent flooding that left 80,000 people living alongside the Zambezi river homeless and around 30 dead. South Africa praised its neighbour for the way it was tackling the situation, saying, "The Mozambican Government has proactively implemented numerous contingency plans and mobilised significant resources to pre-empt and deal with the direct effects of the disaster."
Source: Agence France-Presse Email This Article
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San Francisco CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2007When the next big earthquake hits a region like San Francisco, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grantee Kristy Tiampo wants to ensure that communities will not only be able to evacuate, but also rebuild. This is why Tiampo, the NSERC and Benfield/ICLR Industrial Research Chair in Earthquake Hazard Assessment, is involved in an international effort to improve earthquake forecasting. |
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