H5N1

Puerto Rico governor declares emergency after new 6.4 earthquake

Via The New York Times: Puerto Rico Governor Declares Emergency After New 6.4 Earthquake. Excerpt:

MIAMI — The strongest tremor yet in a week of heavy seismic activity rocked Puerto Rico early on Tuesday morning, knocking out power to much of the island, seriously damaging homes and buildings and leaving at least one person dead. 

The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, declared a state of emergency throughout Puerto Rico and activated the National Guard. 

“In 102 years, Puerto Rico had not experienced anything like this,” she said.  

The 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck five miles southwest of Tallaboa on Puerto Rico’s southwestern coast, was recorded at 4:24 a.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. It was the second consecutive day that an earthquake hit the island before dawn, terrifying residents scared about the cumulative effect on older buildings that may be unsafe. 

The governor warned that the seismic activity is expected to continue in the coming days, as most of the island struggles with the massive power outage. A power plant in the south suffered significant damage, she said. The outage also left nearly a third of the island without running water.

The governor warned people whose houses do not meet building codes to seek shelter. About 255 people were already staying in shelters on Tuesday.  

“There is nothing to indicate from the experts who know these types of disasters that this is going to be bigger than what we have seen so far, but yes we will have repetitions and tremors that we will be feeling,” Ms. Vázquez said. “This is going to be happening for the next few days. How long? We cannot predict.”

Venezuela refugee crisis to become the largest and most underfunded in modern history

Via ReliefWeb, a report by the Brookings Institution: Venezuela refugee crisis to become the largest and most underfunded in modern history. Excerpt:

The Venezuelan refugee crisis is just about to surpass the scale of the Syrian crisis.  

As 2019 comes to a close, four years since the start of the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis, 4.6 million Venezuelans have fled the country, about 16 percent of the population. The figure is strikingly similar to the 4.8 million people that had fled Syria by 2015, four years into the massive forced displacement crisis there. 

As Figure 1 shows, the Venezuelan refugee crisis is one of the largest in modern history, and, if current trends continue, there could be as many as 6.5 million Venezuelans living outside of the country by 2020 (based on estimates from the U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR)—far outpacing the speed of displacement seen in Syria. In prior work, we show that the numbers could be significantly higher if the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela continues to worsen, reaching over 8 million.  

Unlike other refugee crises, the Venezuelan one is not the result of conventional war or conflict. But the conditions Venezuelans face daily are not much different than those in an active war zone. Since 2013 the Venezuelan economy has contracted by 65 percent, the largest contraction outside of war in 45 years. 

The only close comparators are countries in active conflict, such as Liberia, which lost 90 percent of its GDP during its bloody civil war. But the Venezuelan economic collapse, which preceded international sanctions, stands out because it was not triggered by external forces or internal unrest: It was manufactured by those in power, and thus, was totally avoidable. 

This has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises this hemisphere has ever seen. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the undernourishment rate has quadrupled since 2012, and the U.N. estimates that 300,000 people’s lives are at risk due to limited access to medical treatment and lifesaving medications. 

In fact, Venezuela is quickly becoming a failed state, if it hasn’t become one already. Extended shortages of water and electricity have become the norm, and generalized violence—often carried out with the complicity of government security forces—makes the country one of the most violent in the world. 

Thus, those fleeing Venezuela are refugees and should be entitled to the protections that come with that status. So far, the bulk of the hosting responsibilities, and hence integration challenges, have fallen on regional neighbors. 

Yet, despite the massive scale of displacement and humanitarian need, host nations—the three largest being Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru—have received very little support from the international community compared with other historical displacement episodes. 

In response to the Syrian crisis, for example, the international community mobilized large capital inflows, spending a cumulative $7.4 billion on refugee response efforts in the first four years. Funding for the Venezuelan crisis has not kept pace; four years into the crisis, the international community has spent just $580 million. On a per capita basis, this translates into $1,500 per Syrian refugee and $125 per Venezuelan refugee.

Once the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe now on brink of man-made starvation, UN rights expert warns

Via the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, a warning about a story far graver than Ebola: Once the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe now on brink of man-made starvation, UN rights expert warns. Excerpt and then another link:

GENEVA / HARARE (28 November 2019) - Despite the constitutional protection of the right to food and a sophisticated set of human-rights based national laws and policies, man-made starvation is slowly making its way in Zimbabwe, said the UN expert of the right to food after visiting the country from 18 to 28 November 2019.  

"More than 60% of the population of a country once seen as the breadbasket of Africa is now considered food-insecure, with most households unable to obtain enough food to meet basic needs due to hyperinflation," said Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, presenting a preliminary statement at the end of an 11-day visit. 

"In rural areas, a staggering 5.5 million people are currently facing food insecurity, as poor rains and erratic weather patterns are impacting harvests and livelihoods. In urban areas, an estimated 2.2 million people are food-insecure and lack access to minimum public services, including health and safe water.  

"These are shocking figures and the crisis continues to worsen due to poverty and high unemployment, widespread corruption, severe price instabilities, lack of purchasing power, poor agricultural productivity, natural disasters, recurrent droughts and unilateral economic sanctions." 

Elver said women and children were bearing the brunt of the crisis. 

"The majority of the children I met were stunted and underweight," she said. "Child deaths from severe malnutrition have been rising in the past few months. 90 % of Zimbabwean children aged six months to two years are not consuming the minimum acceptable diet.  

"I saw the ravaging effects of malnutrition on infants deprived of breast feeding because of their own mothers' lack of access to adequate food. 

"In a desperate effort to find alternative means of livelihood, some women and children are resorting to coping mechanisms that violate their most fundamental human rights and freedoms. As a result, school drop-outs, early marriage, domestic violence, prostitution and sexual exploitation are on the rise throughout Zimbabwe."  

Elver said people she met in the drought-affected areas of Masvingo and Mwenezi, located in the driest regions of the country, told her they ate only one portion of cooked maize a day. Women, the elderly and children are barely able to meet their minimum food needs and are largely dependent on food assistance, while most of the men are abroad seeking work, she added. 

"Without access to a diversified and nutritious diet, rural Zimbabweans, particularly younger children, barely survive," she said, adding that the agricultural and food system needs immediate reform.  

"I strongly urge the Government to take the necessary measures to reduce the country's dependence on imported food, particularly maize, and to support alternative wheats to diversify the diet. The Government should create the conditions for the production of traditional seeds to ensure the country's self-sufficiency and preparedness for the climate shocks that hit the country." 

The Special Rapporteur said the crisis in Zimbabwe's cities was no less severe than in rural areas.

"I witnessed some of the devastating consequences of the acute economic crisis in the streets of Harare, with people waiting for hours on long lines in front of gas stations, banks, and water dispensaries," she said. 

"The Zimbabweans I spoke to in Harare and its suburbs explained that even if food was widely available in markets, the erosion of their incomes combined with an inflation skyrocketing to over 490%, made them suffer from food insecurity, also impacting the middle-class. 

Elver also said that she received "disturbing" information that public hospitals have been reaching out to humanitarian organizations after their own medicine and food stocks were exhausted.  

Elver also received indication that the distribution of lands or food had been manipulated for political ends throughout the last two decades, favoring those who support the ruling political party. 

"I call on the Government of Zimbabwe to live up to its zero hunger commitment without any discrimination," Elver said.

Meanwhile, The Zimbabwean reports striking doctors say poor conditions in hospitals are causing a "silent genocide":

The senior doctors described the situation at the country’s hospitals as a silent genocide, saying doctors are forced to work without basics such as bandages, gloves, and syringes.

“We have watched the past few months as the situation in our hospitals continues to deteriorate.

“In March this year, the situation in hospitals deteriorated to the point where there were no bandages, gloves, and syringes available forcing senior doctors to highlight the dire situation publicly. It is important to find out why this has taken so long to be resolved as a silent genocide continues to be perpetrated upon the people of Zimbabwe,” the statement said.

Northeast Syria: MSF forced to evacuate staff due to extreme volatility in the region

Via MSF.org: Northeast Syria: MSF forced to evacuate staff due to extreme volatility in the region. 

AMSTERDAM/NORTHEAST SYRIA - Following the launch of Turkish military operations and the extremely volatile situation in northeast Syria, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has taken the difficult decision to suspend the majority of our activities and evacuate all our international staff from northeast Syria. 

Since Wednesday 9 October, the extreme volatile situation in northeast Syria has forced MSF international staff to evacuate from our projects in Ain Issa, Al Hol, Tal Abyad, Tal Tamer, Tal Kocher/ Yaroubiyah, Kobane/ Ain Al Arab and Raqqa city. These have been extremely difficult decisions, as MSF is very aware of the needs of fleeing and vulnerable people in the region. 

However, the highly unpredictable and fast-changing situation at present has made it impossible for MSF to negotiate safe access to deliver healthcare and provide humanitarian assistance to people in distress. Given the numerous groups fighting on different sides of the conflict, we can no longer guarantee the safety of our Syrian and international staff.   

“The people in northeast Syria have already endured years of conflict and uncertainty. The latest developments have only increased the need for humanitarian assistance, yet it is impossible to deliver it with the current insecurity,” says Robert Onus, MSF emergency manager for Syria.  

“It is with a heavy heart that MSF has taken the difficult decision to suspend the majority of its activities and evacuate its international staff out of northeast Syria. We cannot operate at scale until we can gain the assurances and acceptance of all parties to the conflict that we can operate safely.  

“We are extremely worried about the safety of our Syrian colleagues and their families who remain in northeast Syria in these troubled times. We will continue to support our Syrian colleagues remotely and explore all possible options to deliver assistance to the people in northeast Syria, despite the constraint,” says Onus. 

The decision to suspend the majority of MSF’s activities comes as the humanitarian situation spirals further out of control and needs are likely to increase. 

In Tal Tamar town, MSF teams were providing blankets, emergency food rations, bottles of water, and soap to the thousands of displaced people who were arriving in the town daily after having fled from their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs.  

Until October 13, MSF was supplying water to several villages in the area to overome water shortages after an airstrike reportedly damaged the water pumping station, cutting off the water supply to whole towns.  

Airstrikes, shelling, and armed clashes have had a grave impacts on the civilian population and on the ability of humanitarian organisations to deliver aid safely.  

On 13 October, dozens of people wounded by an airstrike were brought into Tal Tamer hospital. In Ain Issa town, MSF teams witnessed the population fleeing their homes on foot and seeking safety away from the ongoing conflict. Health workers were evacuated and relocated from the Ain Issa hospital, which had been one of the main hospitals treating wounded people over the past five days.    

Today, as MSF teams depart, we have heard from our staff that the people in Ain Issa camp are severely lacking food, water and medical assistance. Just last week, MSF teams were providing healthcare and, supplying water and mental health support to people living in the camp. Now they are left in a very precarious situation and we are extremely worried for their wellbeing. 

MSF calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians. We further call on them to provide humanitarian organisations with safe and unhindered access to the civilian population so they can deliver assistance, at a time when it is urgently needed. 

Note: MSF remains present in northwest Syria, providing health care in various facilities and via mobile clinics, as well as supporting health structures in the area.

South Kivu: Water shortage at Kalehe hospital

Via 7sur7.cd: South Kivu / Water shortage at Kalehe hospital: MPs urge government to find a solution. The Google translation:

Fearing the outbreak of epidemics due to lack of water in Kalehe hospital (South Kivu), the rapporteur of the Provincial Assembly, Jacques Kamanda challenges the government and invites it to find a solution. 

Jacques Kamanda said that the absence of water is increasingly exposing the health of the population and especially the patients interned in health centers and particularly at the Kalehe Reference General Hospital. 

"It's hard to imagine having a hospital without water, it's putting the lives of the patients at risk, and we call on the authorities to implement their campaign promises so that the people of Kalehe will also find themselves in their right of access. water," he said. 

It is worth remembering that this water shortage has hit the Kalehe territory and especially the Kalehe / Ihusi general hospital for more than six months now.

PAHO issues $3.5 million donor appeal for humanitarian health response in the Bahamas

A news release from PAHO: PAHO issues $3.5 million donor appeal for humanitarian health response in the Bahamas. Once again, the first response to a public health disaster is to beg for money:

Nassau, Bahamas, Sept. 8, 2019 (PAHO)—The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is requesting an initial US $3.5 million from donors to cover short-term health care and other needs for the population in the Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian.

The devastating category 5 storm made landfall exactly one week ago in northwest Bahamas, and severely affected the health sector, with significant destruction of equipment and medical supplies and electrical and water supplies in Abaco and Grand Bahama. Some 73,000 persons were affected by the storm, and there are hundreds of people in shelters in the disaster zone. While 43 deaths have been officially reported thus far, mass casualty numbers are expected to rise significantly as more areas become accessible and search and rescue operations continue.   

Dr. Ciro Ugarte, PAHO’s Director of Health Emergencies, said, “Our priority concerns are to restore access to essential health services and continued medical care delivery, to ensure water quality in affected communities and health facilities, and to restore proper hygiene and sanitation.” He said adequate waste management and control of disease-causing vectors such as mosquitoes is key, along with increasing epidemiological surveillance to support early detection and timely management of disease outbreaks. 

The $3.5 million being requested by PAHO is a preliminary estimate to cover short- term healthcare, water and sanitation, epidemiological surveillance and vector-control needs in the Bahamian Islands most affected by Hurricane Dorian for the next six months, Dr. Ugarte said, adding that needs will likely increase as damage assessments are completed. 

PAHO/WHO activated its emergency teams for surge capacity and had pre-deployed Rapid Response Team experts to the Bahamas before Hurricane Dorian struck to support health authorities and humanitarian response as needs were identified. So far, 14 PAHO experts are in the disaster zone to provide surge capacity in logistics, civil and military coordination, information management, epidemiological surveillance, communications, and coordination.

Dr. Ugarte said PAHO is acting quickly to support the Bahamas Ministry of Health in the response, setting up an Incident Management system and co-leading the health cluster with the national health authorities to coordinate health and humanitarian support to the affected population.

The funding requests includes $1.3 million to restore healthcare delivery in affected areas, $500,000 for surveillance to detect and manage disease outbreaks, $800,000 for safe access to water, emergency sanitation and control of disease vectors, and well as $671,000 to coordinate humanitarian assistance and manage information to address the most urgent humanitarian needs.

Bahamas: Hurricane Dorian - Flash Update No. 1 (as of 02 September 2019)

Via ReliefWeb, OCHA has published Bahamas: Hurricane Dorian - Flash Update No. 1 (as of 02 September 2019). Click or tap through to download the full report as a PDF. The main points:

• Hurricane Dorian made landfall over northwest Bahamas on 1 September as the strongest hurricane in Bahamas’ history.  

• Dorian is currently moving westward over Grand Bahama at approximately 1 mph, practically stalling over the island and delaying the deployment of assessment teams on standby in Nassau. 

• The Prime Minister of the Bahamas has reported that five individuals have been confirmed killed as a result of Hurricane Dorian.

• Pre-impact projections based on available data suggest urgent needs in water, food, shelter and early recovery. However, many of these projections are subject to post-impact verification once the Government issues an all-clear.

'Hurricane Dorian has virtually stalled over Grand Bahama'

Via The Tribune: HURRICANE DORIAN UPDATES: ‘Severe flooding in Grand Bahama’. Excerpt:

9.30am UPDATE: NEMA is advising the general public that they are receiving reports of severe flooding in many areas of Grand Bahama. Rescue efforts are currently on standby and every effort will be made when the weather permits. NEMA is encouraging people not to attempt to leave their homes and to move to the highest point your house. Twitter Grand Bahama flooding 

8am UPDATE: It appears Hurricane Dorian has virtually stalled over Grand Bahama, according to the National Hurricane Center.  

In New Providence, there is heavy flooding on Bay Street this morning and power is out island-wide.  

Bahamas Power and Light director of public relations Quincy Parker told ZNS this morning that crews are working to restore power.  

He said the Bahamas Power and Light office in Abaco, which was hit by the Category 5 storm on Sunday, has been flattened.  

"The reports out of Abaco as everyone knows were not good," Parker said.  

With regards to the damage Dorian has inflicted on Abaco and Grand Bahama, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement: “Hurricane Dorian has caused extensive damage across the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama in the Bahamas, according to rapid initial assessments from authorities and Red Cross officials on the ground.  

“According to these reports, Dorian’s ferocious category 5 winds and rains have damaged houses and other buildings, leaving many people without adequate shelter. As many as 13,000 houses may have been severely damaged or destroyed. On the island of Abaco, extensive flooding is believed to have contaminated wells with saltwater, creating an urgent need for clean water.”

In Zimbabwe, the water taps run dry and worsen ‘a nightmare’

Via The New York Times: In Zimbabwe, the Water Taps Run Dry and Worsen ‘a Nightmare’. Excerpt:

HARARE, Zimbabwe — It had been five days since water had stopped flowing out of the taps at Eneres Kaitano’s bungalow in southern Harare, Zimbabwe’s modern and tidy capital city. Five days since she had done any laundry. Five days since she had forbidden her children from using the toilet more than once a day.  

On the sixth day, she again rose at 3 a.m. to fetch water from a communal borehole. By the early afternoon, she was still waiting her turn at the tap with her six buckets and cans.  

Much of the city had the same idea. More than half of the 4.5 million residents of Harare’s greater metropolitan area now have running water only once a week, according to the city’s mayor, forcing them to wait in lines at communal wells, streams and boreholes.  

“It is causing us serious problems,” said Ms. Kaitano, a 29-year-old jeans wholesaler who was down to her last clean outfit last week. “We have to stop ourselves from going to the toilet.”

Zimbabwe’s acute water shortage is a result of a particularly bad drought this year, a symptom of climate change. Poor water management has wasted much of the water that remains. Two of Harare’s four reservoirs are empty from lack of rain, but between 45 and 60 percent of the water that’s left is lost through leakage and theft, said Herbert Gomba, the mayor of Harare.

But the water crisis is only a microcosm of Zimbabwe’s malaise. Years of mismanagement under Robert Mugabe, who governed Zimbabwe for 37 years until he was finally ousted in 2017, have left the economy in tatters. Residents are battling daily blackouts that last between 15 and 18 hours; shortages of medicine, fuel and bank notes; and inflation of more than 175 percent.

India: The water shortage in Chennai

Last week I wrote to a friend in Chennai, and asked for news of the water shortage. He wrote back:

Life has been so bad as we are facing water scarcity. This is really disappointing and an alarm to people how to use water sensibly without wasting it. This is just because of the lack of rain for the last 18 months. Monsoon failure in two successive years made the water crisis worse this summer. The delayed arrival of the southwest monsoon, which was forecast in the second week of June, also left Chennai and several regions deprived of groundwater resources.

Dams are completely empty!

So the government has just initiated third plant to convert sea water to drinking water. This process is quite popular in Gulf countries, especially in Israel, and Chennai is going to follow Israel's technology.

Even today I met government officials and requested 6,000 litres of water that was booked 35 days ago via online but they were not in a position to deliver it any time soon. Ground water is also not helping. So things are worsening day by day and we are expecting heavy rain and praying to god so that the dams will be full. Even continuous rain for a single day or two will be enough for the dams.