April 2008
Natural
disasters in September 2005
The
information summarized has been culled from press reports
and is indicative only. For official information, including
final statistics, readers are advised to contact the
National Meteorological Service of the country in question.
Drought
France
The drought in France severely affected growth
of wheat and maize. The most affected regions were on
the Atlantic coast.
Floods/heavy
rains/ lightning/landslides
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Thailand, Viet Nam
Afghanistan
Flash floods caused by torrential rains killed at least
seven people and damaged several houses in eastern
Afghanistan.
Bangladesh
About 50 people died and hundreds of fishermen unaccounted
for after a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal.
India
Heavy downpours killed at
least 36 people and thousands fled their homes as swollen
rivers flooded their banks in southwestern India.
Iran,
Islamic Republic of
Floods spawned
by heavy rains damaged 100 houses in the city of
Meshkinshahr, Ardebil Province, north-western Iran. The
floods also damaged roads, factories and gardens and killed
livestock.
Mexico
Intense rains
experienced throughout southern Mexico and parts of Central
America caused many rivers to overflow their banks, killing
at least three people and forcing thousands to flee their
homes.
Pakistan
Some
60 families were displaced and rendered homeless by floods
in Chitral district.
Philippines
Sixteen people died in a landslide.
Romania
Six people were
killed in floods in south-eastern Romania, damaging hundreds
of homes and disrupting traffic on the Black Sea shore.
Thailand
At
least seven lives were lost in a landslide.
Viet
Nam
Seasonal floods killed at
least five people in the southern Mekong Delta and led to
the evacuation of over 28 000 people to higher ground.
Severe
storms
China,
Fiji, Japan, USA, Viet Nam
China
Typhoon Kanun
At least seven people died when Typhoon Kanun hit Zhejiang, south of Shanghai, on 11 September. More
than a million were forced to evacuate. The typhoon affected 7.056 million people, flattened 19,332
houses and caused US$ 993.8 million of direct losses in.
China
and Viet Nam (Philippines and Thailand)
Typhoon Damrey
Typhoon Damrey was the strongest storm to hit the Chinese island of Hainan
in decades. It killed nine people, forced more than 170 000
from their homes, flattened houses and severely damaged
crops. Damrey then
struck Viet Nam, killing some 70 people. More than 300 000 people were evacuated in advance. The death toll was put at 120 in the countries
affected by Damrey: China, Thailand, the Philippines and especially Viet Nam.
Fiji
A freak storm hit Suva, wreaking havoc to medical
services and resulting in the closure of a number of schools
and businesses.
Japan
Typhoon Nabi pummelled
south-western Japan with torrential rain and high winds,
causing floods and landslides, causing traffic chaos and
forcing people to flee their homes. One person died and 10
others were injured.
Typhoon Songda killed
about 40 people and injured 900 in Hokkaido and western
Japan.
USA
Katrina, Ophelia, Rita
At
least 1,036 deaths were attributed to Katrina across the
Gulf Coast region and 350 000 families were left homeless.
Property damage was estimated at US$ 1.3 billion in Louisiana and US$ 1.1 billion in Mississippi.
More
than 1 million people along the Texas coast fled at the
approach of Hurricane Rita. About
100 people were killed and many missing in the small towns
along the west Louisiana coast. Most
of the victims died while preparing for the storm or fleeing
from it. At least 80
000 homes and business in North Carolina suffered from
severe power failure as a result of Ophelia.
Severe
cold
Mongolia
About 30 people died when temperatures plummeted from 23°C.
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Climate 