All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Third of Bangladesh underwater as monsoon drenches region

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SUNAMGANJ, BANGLADESH (AFP) – Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, officials said Tuesday (July 14), with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade.

The monsoon – which usually falls from June to September – is crucial to the economy of the Indian sub-continent, but also causes widespread death and destruction across the region each year.

“This is going to be the worst flood in a decade,” Bangladesh’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre chief Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan told AFP.

The heavy rains have swollen two main Himalayan river systems – the Brahmaputra and the Ganges – that flow through India and Bangladesh.

Mr Bhuiyan said about a third of flood-prone Bangladesh – a delta-nation crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers – was underwater, and at least 1.5 million people were affected, with village homes and roads flooded.

In north-central Bangladesh, the Brahmaputra river was almost 40cm higher than normal and threatening to burst its banks, district administrator Farook Ahmed told AFP.

Most villagers were trying to stay near their flood-damaged homes, but some 15,000 had fled severely affected areas, officials said.

With a 10-day forecast pointing to rising waters, Mr Bhuiyan said if more rivers burst their banks some 40 per cent of the nation could be flooded “in a worst-case scenario”.

In Assam, north-east India, more than 2.1 million people have been affected since mid-May.

At least 50 people have died so far – 12 in the past week as floodwaters surged – with tens of thousands of mostly rural residents evacuated to relief camps, officials said.

Emergency services personnel wore head-to-toe bright-orange suits to protect themselves from the floods and coronavirus – which has infected almost 17,000 people in Assam – as they used boats to reach stranded villagers.

“We have two challenges here, one is Covid-19 and another is (the) flood,” the head of a local rescue team, Mr Abhijeet Kumar Verma, told AFP.

In Nepal, at least 50 people have died in landslides and floods triggered by the monsoon rains, with homes swept away and roads and bridges damaged.

“We are distributing food and relief goods from helicopters to about 300 displaced families after the roads were blocked by floods and landslides,” district official Gyan Nath Dahal told AFP.

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Texas prisons’ coronavirus outbreaks continue with thousands infected | The Texas Tribune

Two Texas prisons each have more than 670 inmates with active coronavirus infections, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the highest counts seen at any state lockup since the pandemic began.

As of Monday, 672 men incarcerated at the Stiles Unit near Beaumont had active infections — a quarter of the lockup’s population, according to the most recent figures. At the massive Coffield Unit in East Texas, 753 inmates recently tested positive — 19% of prisoners there, according to TDCJ data.

Aside from Stiles, three other state-run prisons and jails had at least 25% of their inmates with active coronavirus infections Monday. Dominguez State Jail in San Antonio had 472 inmates with the virus. The Daniel Unit in Snyder and the Hamilton Unit in Bryan each had about 250 cases.

 

Source: Texas prisons’ coronavirus outbreaks continue with thousands infected | The Texas Tribune

Avian Flu Diary: Hong Kong Enacts Tougher Measures As Local COVID Cases Rise

there is a tipping point – such as we now see in parts of the United States, South America, and India  – where the volume of cases greatly exceeds local public health’s ability to rapidly test, contract trace, and quarantine exposed individuals.
While regaining control is still possible, it will not happen quickly, and success will come at a heavy price.  As the proverb says; prevention is always better than the cure.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Hong Kong Enacts Tougher Measures As Local COVID Cases Rise

Lakota, Navajo and Hopi volunteers rush to deliver food and water in grassroots efforts

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Preparing hot meals for Meals for Relatives COVID-19 Relief in Rapid City, South Dakota, Laura Schad said, “I spent the day doing what I truly enjoy…cooking for friends and relatives. Tom Whillock provided some amazing Elk meat (marinated in lime and cilantro) serving as the inspiration for Indigenized Fajitas.”

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Lakota Volunteers Deliver Hot Meals

Karissa Ortman Loewen‎ photo stir fry

O.C. education panel supports school reopening but not masks – Los Angeles Times

Orange County Board of Education panel supports reopening schools in the fall but does not recommend increased social distancing or face coverings.
— Read on www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-13/orange-county-board-of-education-recommends-no-masks-social-distancing-when-schools-reopen

Horrible mistake with cases still skyrocketing – dooms Southern California

Arizona woman blames government officials for father’s COVID-19 death in obituary | TheHill

“I’m not comfortable grieving silently because I believe that my dad’s death was preventable,” Urquiza, 39, told the Times. “And had the Ducey administration, the Trump administration, been listening to experts, doctors, epidemiologists, Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, we would be in a completely different situation. I needed to speak out.”

Source: Arizona woman blames government officials for father’s COVID-19 death in obituary | TheHill