Displaying items by tag: disasters

There is ‘a serious threat to the survival of the Christian faith in Chad,’ says Rev Clément Hlama. Islam dominates Chadian society, and discrimination against Christians is normal. Poor and uneducated Christians are vulnerable to exploitation and are the most severely affected by 2020’s multiple disasters. Flooding affected 400,000 people. Christians in rural areas lost homes and harvests. Covid-19 lockdown damaged small businesses and prevented farmers travelling to their fields. Food prices shot up, causing malnutrition to escalate. Measles and meningitis outbreaks earlier this year are in decline, but the viral disease chikungunya and a type of vaccine-derived polio is continuing to spread. Cholera is endemic in parts of the south. This would be bad enough for any country, but Chad’s frail health resources cannot begin to cope. Islamic charities are active amongst the Christians, Islamising them through offers of aid.

‘Children are visibly traumatised and distressed, and many have stopped speaking,’ said a Save the Children team member in Bangladesh. Displaced children arriving there are exhibiting signs of trauma such as nightmares and loss of speech after witnessing horrific violence, and are in urgent need of psychological and emotional support. As well as providing food, water and shelter to more than half a million, charities have identified psychological and emotional support services as a critical need. Most of those arriving from Myanmar are women and girls: some have been raped and sexually abused. Hundreds of children are separated from their families, and report having witnessed violence first hand. Their enormous psychosocial needs are obvious to anyone walking through the camps and makeshift settlements.

The map of disasters is immense, according to agencies tracking changes in climate and disaster events. In south Asia 45 million people have been adversely affected by floods and mudslides, with 16 million children and their families needing life-saving support. Pray for emergency aid to reach areas cut off by the floods and against the spread of waterborne diseases, such as cholera, amongst communities living in temporary shelters. On the African continent, 500 lives were lost in Sierra Leone and many are still missing after mudslides.  Hurricane Harvey caused flooding and devastation on the Gulf Coast, and Florida has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Irma moves in its direction. According to reports, 95% of the island of Barbuda in the Caribbean has been ‘apocalyptically’ destroyed, and its prime minister blames this on climate change. He criticised world leaders who deny global warming. See also

Wildfires are raging in central and southern Europe, with firefighters tackling blazes in five countries. Twelve fires broke out in Croatia's second largest city of Split. 4,500 hectares of land were destroyed, including homes. Fires are active in several municipalities in Montenegro; forest fires forced the evacuation of more than 100 campers on the Lustica peninsula and spread further inland. Two firefighting planes from NATO helped contain the blaze. Fires are also burning 300 acres of forest near Nice, and hundreds of firefighters are battling another fire in the south of France. In Corsica, fire swept through 200 hectares of scrubland near Bonifacio. Flames driven by strong winds raced towards homes which had to be evacuated. Houses were also evacuated due to a fire near Rome, and other fires continue to burn near Naples. 1,400 firefighters supported by water-bombing planes and helicopters have fought three blazes in northern Portugal since 16 July. See also item 4 in the ‘World’ section.

Wildfires barrelled across the baking landscape of the western US and Canada, destroying homes, forcing thousands to flee and demolishing forests and farms. A combination of high temperatures and parched land has added to the difficulties of firefighters in California. On 19 July, in California, just one of the many fires that are currently forcing thousands to flee their homes doubled in size (48,000 acres, compared to 23,000 the day before). Over 2,000 firefighters have contained only 7% of the ‘Detwiler Fire’ which is approaching the town of Mariposa and communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These blazes are part of 37 active large fires spread across 12 western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Centre. Meanwhile in Canada firefighters are contending with over 200 fires burning in British Columbia. See also and item 1 in Europe section.