Himalaya and Other Mountainous Regions
Sri Lanka Landslides and Floods
Heavy rains have triggered deadly landslides and floods in the tea-growing, mountainous regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka‘s central province.
As of today, the death toll has risen to 31 since last week, with more than 20 fatalities and 14 people missing reported in the past few days alone.
Authorities have been forced to stop passenger trains and close roads after rocks, mud, and trees fell onto tracks, cutting off communication and essential services.
The severe weather has impacted approximately 4,000 families.
This underscores the acute vulnerability of mountainous regions, particularly those with dense cultivation, to climate-fueled extreme rainfall.
Major Disasters in Other Areas
Indonesia Deadly Floods and Earthquake
A catastrophic disaster is unfolding on Indonesia’s Sumatra island.
Flash floods and landslides have killed at least 49 people and left 67 missing in North Sumatra province alone. The disaster has submerged over 2,000 houses, forcing nearly 5,000 residents to evacuate.
The region was simultaneously struck by a Magnitude 6.6 earthquake off the western coast of Sumatra, compounding the disaster.
Authorities have recommended weather modification (cloud seeding) to reduce further rainfall and prevent additional floods.
The simultaneous occurrence of a deadly earthquake and climate-fueled floods/landslides in Sumatra highlights the primary climate incidence today: the compounded risk. Climate change amplifies hydro-meteorological hazards, making geologically vulnerable regions prone to simultaneous, overwhelming disasters.
Vietnam Climate Toll
Vietnam has reported over 409 people dead or missing and $3.2 billion in economic losses from floods and storms since the beginning of 2025, a stark incidence of the chronic and severe human and financial cost of climate change.
The ongoing human impact of disasters in Vietnam and Sri Lanka reinforces the need to integrate human mobility (migration and displacement) into national DRR strategies, as climate change forces mass movements of people.
Floods in Southern Thailand
Record rainfall flooded Hat Yai and surrounding areas, killing at least 33 people.
Military airlifts evacuated critical patients; the storm is advancing toward Indonesia, raising landslide risks in Aceh.
Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake in Hawaii, USA
Struck near Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island around 23:50 local time on November 26. No immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Winter Storm in US Plains and Midwest
Heavy snow and travel disruptions began impacting regions including Chicago on November 26, affecting millions returning from Thanksgiving. Road closures and flight delays reported, with no casualties noted yet.
DRR & CCA Conferences, Workshops, Reports, Concerns and Incidences
Ongoing Forum
The Bonn Technical Forum 2025 is holding a Scene Setting Webinar today focused on “Data ecosystem maturity assessment: towards institutionalizing Disaster Tracking Systems”.
This is a crucial DRR effort to improve the accuracy and integration of disaster reporting and early warning systems.
Global Resilience Investment
The Global Infrastructure Resilience Report 2025 (GIR 2025) remains central to policy discussion.
It warns that economic losses from service disruptions after disasters are 7.4 times higher than direct infrastructure damage, urging global cooperation to embed resilience into the massive infrastructure development planned for the Global South.
UN Policy
The UNDRR continues to advocate for Comprehensive Disaster and Climate Risk Management (CRM), emphasizing that policy efforts must address the compounding nature of climate, environmental, and socio-economic risks.
Food System Risk
The issue brief, “Accelerating comprehensive risk management in agrifood systems,” highlights the severe and escalating vulnerability of global food systems to climate-induced floods, droughts, and pests.
Historical Disasters on This Day (October 21)
1095 – First Crusade Called
Pope Urban II delivered a sermon at the Council of Clermont, formally calling for the First Crusade, which marked the beginning of centuries of religious military campaigns that profoundly impacted European and Middle Eastern history.
1703 – The Great Storm
The Great Storm of 1703, which finally abated over England on this date after 13 days of unrelenting hurricane-force gales (up to 100 mph).
Originating as an extratropical cyclone in the North Sea, it ravaged southern Britain, uprooting 4,000 oaks in the New Forest alone—enough timber to build 200 warships—and toppling steeples in London like dominoes.
The Royal Navy suffered catastrophically: over 1,000 sailors drowned when 19 ships, including the HMS Restoration, were driven ashore or wrecked off Goodwin Sands.
Total deaths are estimated at 10,000–30,000, including fishermen and coastal villagers swept away by 30-foot waves.
Contemporary accounts, like Daniel Defoe’s The Storm, described roofs torn off and lead sheets from churches hurled miles away, marking it as Britain’s worst natural disaster until modern times.
It spurred advancements in meteorology, with the Royal Society compiling wind data that influenced early weather forecasting.
1864 – Explosion of the USS Greyhound
Explosion of the USS Greyhound on Virginia’s James River during the Civil War. Likely sabotaged by a Confederate “coal torpedo” (a bomb hidden in fuel), the boiler blast killed six Union sailors and nearly claimed Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler and Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter.
It highlighted wartime espionage’s deadly ingenuity, foreshadowing modern asymmetric threats.
1898 – The Portland Gale
A nor’easter born from merging low-pressure systems off New Jersey—pummeled New England’s coast with 100+ mph winds and 16-foot waves, sinking over 150 vessels and claiming ~400 lives, including lighthouse keepers at Minots Ledge off Massachusetts, whose beacon was shattered.
The storm’s ferocity isolated communities, downing telegraph lines and stranding ships in Portland Harbor, and it remains a benchmark for coastal resilience in US weather lore.
1940 – Iron Guard Assassinations
In Romania, the ruling Iron Guard fascist party assassinated over 60 political dissidents and former aides of King Carol II, marking a brutal act of political violence.
1944 – RAF Fauld Explosion
A massive explosion at a Royal Air Force ammunition dump at Fauld, Staffordshire, England, killed approximately 70 people.
1978 – Assassinations of Moscone and Milk
San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by former supervisor Dan White, shocking the nation.
1983 – Avianca Flight 011 disaster
Avianca Flight 011, a Boeing 747 en route from Colombia to Frankfurt, slammed into a fog-shrouded mountain near Madrid’s Barajas Airport during approach.
Of 192 aboard, 181 perished in the fiery crash, one of the deadliest in Colombian aviation history.
Investigators pinned it on pilot error amid poor visibility and outdated navigation aids, prompting global reforms in instrument landing systems and crew training—echoing how earlier disasters accelerated safety tech.
November 27 has a somber legacy in disaster history, often marked by ferocious storms, maritime tragedies, and aviation mishaps that exposed human vulnerability to nature’s fury and technological limits.
Stay vigilant; history whispers warnings.
यह हमारा एक छोटा सा प्रयास हैं, आपको हर दिन आपदा से जुड़ी नवीनतम जानकारियाँ प्रदान करने का –
विशेष रूप से वह आपदायें जो हिमालय व अन्य पहाड़ी क्षेत्रों में घटित हों.
हमारा यह प्रयास आपको कैसा लगा और कैसे हम इसे बेहतर व उपयोगी बना सकते हैं ?
हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों का हमें इंतजार रहेगा.
Leave a Reply