ARGENTINA: Ribut dahsyat melanda bandar pelabuhan Bahía Blanca di Argentina pada hari Jumaat (7 Mac), mengorbankan sekurang-kurangnya 16 nyawa dan menyebabkan 40 peratus penempatan di bandar itu terputus bekalan elektrik serta air, menurut laporan media tempatan.

Pihak berkuasa tempatan mengesahkan bahawa hujan lebat melebihi 400 milimeter melanda kawasan tersebut, memaksa pemindahan 1,443 penduduk. Pasukan kecemasan kini sedang menyiasat lebih daripada 100 laporan orang hilang sementara operasi menyelamat diteruskan.

Sebagai tindak balas terhadap bencana ini, kerajaan Argentina telah mengisytiharkan tiga hari berkabung nasional dan memperuntukkan 10 bilion peso (kira-kira AS$9.4 juta) dalam bantuan kecemasan bagi menyokong usaha bantuan segera.

Datuk Bandar Bahía Blanca, Federico Susbielles, menzahirkan kesan kemusnahan yang berlaku, menganggarkan bahawa kos pemulihan akan melebihi 400 bilion peso (AS$375 juta). – REUTERS

SARIKEI (March 11): Heavy and prolonged rainfall triggered a landslide behind Rumah Riti, Sungai Bakong on Jan 10, resulting in significant damage to the kitchen, toilet, and bathroom.

Gung Chiu Kion, representing Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability and Sarikei MP Dato Sri Huang Tiong Sii, recently inspected the site.

He was joined by officials from the Meradong District Office and the Sarikei Public Works Department (JKR) to assess the situation.

Discussions centered on strategies to address the issue and prevent similar events from endangering the structural integrity of the longhouse in the future.

Sidi, a resident who lives at the far end of the longhouse with five family members, recounted his harrowing experience.

He said he heard loud noises moments before the back portion of their house, including the kitchen, started to sink gradually.

Sidi has appealed to Huang, who is also Repok assemblyman, for help in reconstructing the damaged sections of his home.

Pemanca Yii Hee Sieng, representing Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing, was also present during the visit.

MIRI (March 11): A charity rice distribution event held at Thian Chun Tien Temple, Tudan Phase 3 here on Sunday also involved the distribution of 385 food packs to flood victims.

Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, who joined the volunteers in giving away the food, expressed his gratitude to local community leader Kapitan Chong Ah Muk for undertaking the initiative.

“Community-driven efforts such as this are so important in fostering unity and helping those in need, regardless of race or religious backgrounds. The generosity shown here today reflects the strong community spirit of Miri people.

“It is heartwarming to see people come together to support one another in challenging times like this,” he said in his brief remarks.

It is informed that each food pack contains rice, sugar and cooking oil.

These essential items were donated to the temple by a generous donor, who wished to remain anonymous, and had asked Lee to witness the handing-over of the items to the affected families.

SAN JOSE, Guatemala, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Guatemala's active Volcan de Fuego (Volcano of Fire) poses an imminent threat to at least 30,000 people, the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) warned on Monday.

The agency's executive secretary, Claudinne Ogaldes, called on nearby residents in the departments of Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla to immediately evacuate their homes following eruptions in the past hours.

Some 282 families have already been evacuated to shelters in the town of San Juan Alotenango, in Sacatepequez, and a shelter has been prepared in Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla, she said.

According to a Conred newsletter, the volcano could spew "constant incandescent material during the night and early morning, as well as lava flows that can descend any ravine of the volcano."

If the activity continues, it said, officials expect plumes of ash and smoke to reach "heights of 6,000 meters above sea level" and fall on communities as far as "40 kilometers west, southwest and northwest" of the volcano, the agency warned.

"Constant (lava) avalanches can also be registered towards the different flanks of the volcano, which could cause pyroclastic flows causing greater amounts of ash at low altitude," it added.