Category:

Disaster & Management

Cyclone Burevi slams into eastern Sri Lanka

The cyclone is likely to damage coastal buildings and power lines and unleash flash floods, the island’s disaster management center said, advising those living near its path to stay indoors.Those evacuated, from the Trincomalee district expected to be hit the hardest, have been moved into 237 relief centers until the cyclone passes, disaster officials said.

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Swiss Re to set up new fund for institutional and designated investors to access Nat Cat biz

Martin Bisping, CEO of Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Management  said: “This new fund will open a unique opportunity for investors to invest in the same book of business as Swiss Re, benefitting from Swiss Re’s global reach, client access, risk knowledge and underwriting.“

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In the hands of God:’ Central America bears brunt of powerful hurricane Iota

About 40,000 people in Nicaragua have been evacuated to shelters, authorities said. Many coastal areas are at risk of storm surges of as much as 20 feet (6 meters) above normal tides. In Honduras, 80,000 people were moved to safety.

“It’s the strongest hurricane that has touched Nicaraguan soil since records began,” said Marcio Baca, director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Earth Studies.

This is the first time two major hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic basin in November since records began in 1851.

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Annual global modeled insured average Cat losses in 2020 at $100 billion:AIR Worldwide

“The ability for the global (re)insurance industry, financial institutions, governments, and non-governmental organizations to prepare for large losses before they occur is critical to continued solvency and resilience,” said Rob Newbold, executive vice president at AIR Worldwide.

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Philippines hunts for missing after its deadliest typhoon this year

Vamco, the 21st and most deadly cyclone to hit the country this year, tore through the main island of Luzon late on Wednesday and early Thursday, just as the country was reeling from Goni, the world’s strongest typhoon of 2020, which killed 25 people and flattened thousands of homes.

Tens of thousands of homes were engulfed by the floods and as the water receded in areas such as Marikina, a suburb east of Manila, homes covered in debris and caked in mud emerged.

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English judge blocks $6.6 billion Brazil lawsuit against BHP over burst dam

The case is the latest battle to establish whether multinationals can be held liable for the conduct of subsidiaries abroad.
The collapse of the Fundao dam, which is owned by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and Brazilian iron ore mining giant Vale VALE3.SA, killed 19 and sent a torrent of mining waste into communities, the Doce river, and the Atlantic Ocean, 650 kilometres (400 miles) away. It was Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
The ruling comes about 18 months after the UK Supreme Court ruled that nearly 2,000 Zambian villagers could sue miner Vedanta in England for alleged pollution in Africa because substantial justice was not obtainable in Zambia.

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Super typhoon Goni slams into Philippines, 1 million evacuated

Manila’s main airport was ordered shut down for 24 hours from Sunday to Monday and airlines canceled dozens of international and domestic flights. The military and national police, along with the coast guard and firefighters, have been put on full alert.

About 1,000 Covid-19 patients were moved to hospitals and hotels from tent quarantine and treatment centers in the capital and the northern province of Bulacan, Jalad said. More emergency shelters would be opened than usual to avoid congestion that can rapidly spark infections.

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