Disasters, Featured

Healing After the Maui Wildfires: How to Help Maui Recover

About two months after quick-sweeping wildfires swept through the island of Maui, leaders and tourism stakeholders are asking tourists to visit the “Valley Isle” again — respectfully. According to the National Fire Protection Association, these were some of the most devastating wildfires in the U.S. in over a century. The wildfires killed over 100 people, ...

Nathan Machoka

The Maui fires.

Qantas Flight Mayday: Can a Plane Normally Fly on Just One Engine?

You may have seen the news Qantas flight 144 from Auckland landed safely in Sydney yesterday after the pilot was forced to shut down one engine and issue a mayday call while flying over the Pacific Ocean. The plane was reportedly a ten-year-old, twin-jet Boeing 737 and was carrying 145 passengers, all of whom disembarked ...

Troy Oakes

Qantas Boeing 767 taxis on the runway.

Floods in Germany Cause Financial Worries for Home Owners

The recent flash floods in Germany caused a massive disaster in many areas of the country. Many people stood by as their livelihoods washed away and hundreds more fell victim to the unwelcome floods. How I experienced the floods in Germany It was only when I made my way home and had to drive through ...

Hermann Rohr

A flooded German road.

1958: Mao Zedong’s War on Sparrows

Many bizarre (and horrific) things have been done in the name of communism in China. One of them was Mao Zedong’s war on sparrows, a campaign waged by the communist leader to eradicate Eurasian tree sparrows. Mao lumped the little brown bird along with rats, flies, and mosquitoes in the so-called Four Pests (or four ...

Rory Karsten

A Eurasian tree sparrow.

Shepherd Saves 6 Runners in Deadly Gansu Ultramarathon

The Gansu ultramarathon held on Saturday, May 22, met with extreme weather that killed 21 runners. Among those who survived was Zhang Xiaotao, ranked as one of the top six runners in the race. Zhang Xiaotao wrote a message on the Chinese social media site Weibo thanking his savior, Zhu Keming, a shepherd, for rescuing him ...

Helen London

People running a marathon.

China Floods: The Yellow River Will Face More Heavy Rain

The flood situation in China is ongoing. The Yellow River reached its most massive surge in 22 years in Shandong Province on August 21. The weather forecast showed that there would be heavy rain or rainstorms in the coming days, so there may be another flash flood disaster. The Yellow River Shandong Bureau confirmed on ...

Max Lu

A flooded house under water.

CCP Officials Pay Scant Attention to Flood Victims

Floods have affected over 54 million people in China and caused damage to the tune of US$20 billion. Rather than comforting the citizens in their worst times, the authorities seem to have decided that silence is the best way to deal with the flood victims. This could easily be categorized as one of the worst ...

Max Lu

A flooded street.

Three Gorges Dam Under Scrutiny as China Reels Under Heavy Flooding

China is receiving the second-highest rainfall in over five decades and the results have been devastating. Large areas around the Yangtze basin and its tributaries have borne the brunt of the floods. The Three Gorges Dam was constructed in 2006 to control floods and has proven to be ineffective. And some are apprehensive about whether ...

Max Lu

The Three Gorges Dam.

Locust Swarms: Global Food Security in Danger

The world is currently experiencing one of the worst incidences of locust swarms in decades. Vast regions of East Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, and India are being invaded by these pests, which consume all plant crops in their path, thus creating the possibility of serious food shortages around the world. Locust swarms damaging crops ...

Armin Auctor

A locust feeding on wheat.