PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
GAZA CITY: Ratusan ribu penduduk Palestin yang kini berlindung di kem-kem pelarian sementara dilaporkan bakal berdepan penderitaan lebih perit susulan ramalan ribut baharu yang dijangka membadai Gaza dalam masa terdekat.
Keadaan kem yang sedia ada daif dan tidak mampu menahan cuaca musim sejuk yang ekstrem itu kini menjadi ancaman besar kepada nyawa pelarian.
Pejabat Media Kerajaan Gaza melaporkan minggu lalu sebanyak 127,000 daripada 135,000 khemah di kem pelarian rosak dan tidak lagi boleh didiami akibat cuaca buruk sebelum ini.
Wartawan Al Jazeera, Tareq Abu Azzoum melaporkan, pihak Israel masih menghalang kemasukan unit rumah pasang siap dan bahan binaan yang penting untuk perlindungan musim sejuk, selain menyekat aliran bantuan kemanusiaan.
Di bawah perjanjian gencatan senjata tajaan Amerika Syarikat (AS) bermula 10 Oktober lalu yang dicabuli ratusan kali oleh Israel, penghantaran bantuan sepatutnya ditingkatkan kepada sekurang-kurangnya 600 trak sehari namun hanya purata 145 trak yang dibenarkan masuk.
“Ratusan ribu keluarga pelarian masih tinggal di dalam khemah yang koyak dan rumah tanpa bumbung, terdedah kepada hujan serta malam yang membeku.
“Tanpa bahan api dan alat pemanas, penduduk Palestin terpaksa mengambil langkah terdesak dengan mengukuhkan khemah menggunakan plastik, memakai pakaian berlapis-lapis, serta membakar sisa sampah di dalam khemah untuk memanaskan badan,” kata Tareq.
Kesan musim sejuk kali ini dilaporkan amat tragis apabila seramai 24 orang dilaporkan maut akibat pendedahan kepada cuaca sejuk melampau, dengan 21 daripadanya adalah kanak-kanak.
Sekurang-kurangnya 25 orang terkorban sejak pertengahan Disember akibat bangunan rosak yang runtuh berpunca daripada faktor cuaca dan kesan pengeboman lalu.
Pengarah Kompleks Perubatan Al-Shifa, Mohammed Abu Salmiya berkata, virus yang menular di wilayah itu sejak awal musim sejuk turut menyebabkan kematian harian, bukan sahaja dalam kalangan warga emas dan mereka yang menghidap penyakit kronik, tetapi juga wanita hamil dan kanak-kanak.
CONCEPCION, Chile, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Wildfires in Chile have left at least 19 people dead, authorities said on Monday, as the government carried out mass evacuations and fought nearly two dozen blazes exacerbated by intense heat and high winds.
While weather conditions overnight helped control some fires, the largest were still active, with adverse conditions expected throughout the day, security minister, Luis Cordero, said at a news briefing on Monday.
"The projection we have today is of high temperatures," Cordero said, and the main worry was that new fires would be triggered throughout the region.
Parts of central and southern Chile were under extreme heat warnings with temperatures expected to reach up to 37 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN NUBLE, BIO BIO
As of late Sunday, Chile's CONAF forestry agency said firefighters were combating 23 fires across the country, the largest of which were in regions of Ñuble and Bío Bío, where President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe.
Over 20,000 hectares (77 square miles) have been razed so far, an area about the size of Seattle, with the largest fire surpassing 14,000 hectares on the outskirts of the coastal city Concepcion.
The fast-moving blaze tore through the towns of Penco and Lirquen over the weekend, destroying hundreds of homes and killing several people, with authorities still assessing the damage.
HEAT, BLAZES ALSO IMPACT ARGENTINA
Authorities are currently battling the fire as it threatened Manzano prison on the edge of Concepcion and the town of Tome to the north.
Both Chile and Argentina rang in the new year with heat waves which have continued into January. Earlier this month, wildfires broke out in Argentina's Patagonia, burning around 15,000 hectares.
(Reporting by Alexander VillegasEditing by Bernadette Baum)
Thailand uji sistem amaran kecemasan bergerak seluruh negara tingkat respons bencana
- Admin UKK
- Berita
BANGKOK: Thailand semalam menjalankan ujian sistem amaran kecemasan bergerak di seluruh negara menggunakan teknologi penyiaran sel, bertujuan mengurangkan kerugian akibat bencana melalui saluran komunikasi yang berkesan, lapor Xinhua.
Menurut Jabatan Pencegahan dan Pengurangan Bencana, ujian pada 2 petang waktu tempatan itu mencetuskan isyarat "Amaran Nasional", yang direka untuk bencana berskala besar dan berimpak tinggi, pada peranti mudah alih di kesemua 76 wilayah dan Bangkok secara serentak.
Setiausaha Tetap Kementerian Dalam Negeri, Unsit Sampuntharat, berkata penilaian di seluruh negara semalam mengesahkan bahawa sistem amaran itu beroperasi sepenuhnya dan bersedia untuk berfungsi sebagai alat kritikal bagi keselamatan nasional.
Maklum balas awal yang dikumpul melalui persidangan video susulan ujian itu menunjukkan pengguna mudah alih di kawasan sasaran menerima amaran dwibahasa, iaitu Bahasa Thai dan Inggeris dalam tempoh 10 saat, kata Unsit dalam satu taklimat media.
Ketua Pengarah jabatan berkenaan, Theerapat Kachamat, menyatakan bahawa sistem amaran itu kini diprogramkan untuk merangkumi 14 jenis bencana khusus, termasuk gempa bumi, tsunami, ribut, banjir, pencemaran udara, keganasan di kawasan awam, kebakaran dan kemalangan jalan raya.
Walaupun keputusan teknikal memuaskan, Theerapat menegaskan bahawa keberkesanan mana-mana sistem amaran bergantung kepada kerjasama orang awam dan keupayaan mereka untuk bertindak balas dengan betul terhadap nasihat yang diberikan.
Beliau menambah bahawa matlamat utama sistem ini adalah untuk memberi amaran kepada rakyat dan menyediakan mereka untuk bertindak tanpa panik, sekali gus meminimumkan kehilangan nyawa serta memastikan keselamatan.
JAKARTA, 20 Jan: Seramai tiga orang pelombong tempatan dilaporkan terperangkap di sebuah lombong lama yang tidak lagi beroperasi di kawasan syarikat perlombongan milik negara, PT Antam, di Bogor, Jawa Barat, susulan kemunculan asap dari dalam kawasan galian lombong berkenaan pada Ahad lalu.
Susulan laporan daripada orang awam, pasukan penyelamat Pejabat SAR Jakarta bersama Basarnas Special Group (BSG) telah menjalankan tindakan susulan dengan melaksanakan penilaian awal di lokasi kejadian.
Ketua Pejabat SAR Jakarta, Desiana Kartika Bahari, memaklumkan bahawa kesemua mangsa dipercayai berada di kawasan lombong yang telah ditutup dan dikenal pasti sebagai zon berisiko tinggi.
“Hasil pemeriksaan awal mendapati para pelombong berada di dalam lombong yang tidak lagi selamat dan berbahaya sehingga operasi dijalankan dengan mengutamakan aspek keselamatan anggota penyelamat,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, struktur dalaman lombong didapati tidak stabil dengan beberapa bahagian mengalami pelapukan, selain kualiti udara yang tidak selamat untuk pernafasan yang memerlukan penggunaan peralatan khas seperti Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA).
Menurut beliau lagi, laluan lombong yang sempit dengan diameter kira-kira satu meter turut menyukarkan usaha pencarian serta meningkatkan risiko keselamatan pasukan penyelamat.
Sehingga kini, operasi pencarian diteruskan dengan membahagikan pasukan SAR kepada dua kumpulan, iaitu pasukan pencarian di dalam lombong dan pasukan sokongan yang bertanggungjawab terhadap kerja-kerja evakuasi dan perubatan. -TVS
THE SUN has been particularly active in recent days, releasing powerful bursts of energy into space.
Scientists monitoring solar activity have issued warnings about a severe solar radiation storm heading towards our planet.
But is Earth really experiencing the largest solar storm in two decades today?
Earth will be experiencing the largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years today, according to the National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center.
The severe solar radiation storm reached S4 level on the agency's severity scale, exceeding the intensity of the October 2003 "Halloween" space weather storms. A severe geomagnetic storm watch was issued for Tuesday (Jan 20) due to Earth's arrival of a coronal mass ejection that blasted from the sun on Jan 18.
Whilst solar storms might sound alarming, they're actually quite common occurrences. The sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, and we're currently in a particularly active phase that began in 2024 and is expected to continue through 2026.
What makes today's event special is its intensity, not that it's happening at all.
The last time such severe conditions were observed was during the Halloween solar storms of October 2003. That event generated the largest solar flare ever recorded by the GOES system and caused a one-hour power outage in Sweden, whilst 12 transformers in South Africa were disabled and had to be replaced.
During the 2003 storms, satellites, GPS and radio communications experienced problems or outages, whilst astronauts aboard the International Space Station had to take cover from high radiation levels. The majority of low Earth orbiting satellites were temporarily lost, requiring several days of around-the-clock work to re-establish their positions.
But the Halloween storms also provided a spectacular treat. Auroras were observed at unusually low latitudes, as far south as Texas, Florida, California and Mediterranean countries in Europe.
The current storm is expected to create similarly dazzling displays. Forecasters predict the northern lights could be visible in more than 20 US states, potentially reaching as far south as Alabama and northern California if geomagnetic activity intensifies to G4 levels.
For those in Malaysia, unfortunately the auroras will most likely not be visible here.
Auroras typically occur near the poles and require very strong geomagnetic storms to push them down to mid-latitudes.
Malaysia is far too close to the equator to witness auroral displays even during the strongest storms.
However, Malaysia may still feel some effects from the solar storm. GPS and satellite navigation systems can experience disruptions around the magnetic equator, particularly after sunset, due to a phenomenon called ionospheric scintillation.
This natural occurrence causes GPS signals to fluctuate and can lead to positioning errors. During major solar storms, these effects can be enhanced, potentially causing temporary inaccuracies in navigation apps, mapping services and GPS-guided systems.
Whilst today's storm is significant, it pales in comparison to the most powerful solar event ever recorded: the Carrington Event of September 1859.
Named after British astronomer Richard Carrington who observed the solar flare that preceded it, this geomagnetic storm was twice as large as any other in the past 500 years.
Auroras were seen as far south as the Caribbean, Panama, Venezuela and Honolulu in the northern hemisphere, whilst the southern lights were visible as far north as Santiago, Chile.
Telegraph systems worldwide failed, with reports of sparks showering from machines, operators receiving electric shocks and papers set ablaze.
The sky was so bright that birds began to sing, thinking it was morning, and people read newspapers by the light of the auroras.
Had the Carrington Event occurred today, experts estimate it could cause between US$1 trillion (RM4.47 trillion) and US$2 trillion (RM8.94 trillion) in damage and widespread disruptions to power grids, satellite communications and GPS systems.
The current storm poses increased radiation exposure risks for astronauts and flights on polar routes, enhanced risks to satellites and potential loss of high-frequency communications in polar regions.
Airlines, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified to prepare for the storm's effects.
Despite the potential for disruptions, space weather officials stress this is a natural phenomenon we can prepare for, not a crisis.
Modern technology is far better equipped to handle solar storms than in 2003, though the interconnected nature of today's satellite systems means vigilance remains important.
