PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
(Reuters) -A wildfire in tinder-dry forest on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon grew around 50% on Tuesday after it destroyed dozens of buildings, prompting public outrage that it was left to burn for a week before firefighters tried to fully extinguish it.
The so-called Dragon Bravo Fire swelled to 8,570 acres (3,468 hectares) after burning the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and 70 other structures, including tourist cabins and park staff housing over the weekend, a spokesperson for the incident team said.
Local media reported around 280 National Park Service workers lost their housing in the blaze sparked by lightning on July 4.
"It's just like perfect tinder-dry for a fire," said spokesperson Stefan La-Sky of record-low tree moisture in ponderosa pine and fir forest on the North Rim.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has demanded an independent investigation into why National Park Service staff let the fire burn during the driest time of the summer in a botched attempt to reduce wildfire risks and improve forest health.
The National Park Service said it initially treated the fire with a "confine and contain" strategy to allow for the natural role of fire to reduce fuel accumulations, stimulate new plant growth and help regulate insects and disease.
It switched to an "aggressive full suppression strategy" after strong northwest winds on July 11, uncommon to the area, drove the fire towards park buildings on the edge of the canyon, according to the InciWeb U.S. government wildfire site.
The blaze was the second so-called managed wildfire on the North Rim in as many decades to have raged out of control.
The Warm Fire in 2006 was allowed to burn for weeks following a lightning strike before high winds sent it out of control, briefly trapping hundreds of tourists and park workers before they were evacuated. It went on to burn 59,000 acres (24,000 hectares), much of it severely.
The North Rim of the park will remain closed for the rest of the 2025 season, which runs to October, and inner canyon trails and campgrounds are closed until further notice, the National Park Service said. The South Rim of the park, which attracts around 5 million visitors annually, remains open.
NEW JERSEY, 16 Julai – Dua individu dilaporkan maut apabila kenderaan yang dinaiki mereka dihanyutkan arus deras selepas hujan lebat menyebabkan banjir kilat melanda kawasan Plainfield, New Jersey, pada malam Isnin hingga awal pagi Selasa.
Kejadian berlaku susulan ribut yang membadai kawasan sekitar New York City, sekali gus menyebabkan kerosakan meluas serta gangguan besar terhadap sistem pengangkutan di rantau itu, termasuk di lapangan terbang, lebuh raya dan laluan kereta api.
Rakaman video yang tular menunjukkan air banjir mengalir deras di jalan-jalan Plainfield, dengan beberapa buah kenderaan kelihatan hampir tenggelam sepenuhnya.
Lokasi dan tarikh kejadian disahkan secara bebas oleh agensi Reuters melalui metadata pada fail video asal.
Gabenor New Jersey, Phil Murphy, dalam satu kenyataan telah mengisytiharkan darurat berikutan bencana itu, dan mengesahkan dua kematian yang berlaku apabila sebuah kenderaan dihanyutkan air deras di Plainfield.
Hujan luar biasa yang melanda kawasan berkenaan turut mengakibatkan beberapa stesen kereta api bawah tanah dinaiki air, menambahkan lagi cabaran kepada usaha pemulihan dan keselamatan awam. -REUTERS
JAKARTA, 15 Julai: Seramai 20 keluarga dilaporkan terjejas manakala 38 rumah mengalami kerosakan susulan gempa bumi bermagnitud 5.3 yang melanda wilayah Poso, Sulawesi Tengah pada malam Isnin.
Gempa berlaku sekitar jam 8.52 malam waktu tempatan dengan pusat gegaran terletak 67 kilometer di barat daya Poso dan 82 kilometer barat laut Luwu Timur, pada kedalaman 10 kilometer.
Menurut Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG), gegaran turut dirasai di beberapa kawasan berhampiran termasuk Morowali Utara, Luwu Timur dan Kota Palopo.
Jurucakap Badan Nasional Pengurusan Bencana (BNPB), Abdul Muhari berkata, tiada kemalangan jiwa dilaporkan setakat ini, namun pasukan pemantau dan penyelamat masih menjalankan penilaian kerosakan dan keperluan bantuan di lokasi terjejas.
“Pasukan kami terus melakukan pemutakhiran data dan pemantauan di lapangan. Orang ramai dinasihatkan agar kekal waspada terhadap kemungkinan gempa susulan serta tidak terpengaruh dengan maklumat tidak sahih,” kata BMKG dalam satu kenyataan malam ini.
Kerajaan tempatan kini menjalankan koordinasi bersama agensi berkaitan untuk memastikan bantuan dan tindakan susulan dapat dilaksanakan segera.
TOKYO: Taufan Nari melintasi pantai Hokkaido pada Selasa, menjadikannya taufan pertama yang melanda pulau utama utara Jepun itu sejak 2016, menurut Agensi Meteorologi Jepun, lapor Xinhua.
Taufan kelima tahun ini itu membadai kawasan berhampiran Tanjung Erimo di bahagian selatan Hokkaido kira-kira 2 pagi waktu tempatan, sekali gus mencatatkan kejadian pertama landaan taufan di Hokkaido pada Julai sejak rekod bermula pada 1951, menurut agensi cuaca itu.
Sistem taufan itu terbentuk hujung minggu lepas, kira-kira 200 km di selatan Pulau Chichijima di Lautan Pasifik, bergerak sepanjang bahagian timur kepulauan Jepun sebelum menghampiri Hokkaido dan bertukar menjadi siklon tropika kuat pada 9 pagi waktu tempatan.
Pegawai kaji cuaca menyeru penduduk agar terus berwaspada terhadap angin kencang di Hokkaido, dengan kelajuan maksimum sehingga 87.48 km sejam direkodkan di Bandar Kushiro.
-- BERNAMA
TO reduce radiation across Japan's northern Fukushima region after the 2011 nuclear disaster, authorities scraped a layer of contaminated soil from swathes of land.
Now, as young farmers seek to bring life back to the region once known for its delicious fruit, authorities are deliberating what to do with the mass of removed soil — enough to fill more than 10 baseball stadiums.
Topsoil was collected as part of largescale decontamination efforts that also included blasting buildings and roads with high-pressure jets of water.
Almost all areas of Fukushima have gradually been declared safe, but many evacuees have been reluctant to return because they remain worried about radiation, or have fully resettled elsewhere.
Fukushima has, however, welcomed new residents such as 25-year-old kiwi farmer Takuya Haraguchi. "I want people to become interested in and learn about what Fukushima is really like these days," he said.
A vast quantity of soil — 14 million cubic metres — is being stored at interim storage facilities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The huge mounds are kept inside guarded grounds, protected by layers of clean soil and man-made sheets to prevent runoff into the environment.
The government wants to use the soil for building road and railway embankments, among other projects. It has vowed to do this outside Fukushima to avoid further burdening the region.
Around 75 per cent of the stored soil has a radioactivity level equivalent to or less than one X-ray per year for people who directly stand on or work with it, according to the Environment Ministry.
Asphalt, farm soil or layers of other materials should be used to seal in the radioactivity, said Akira Asakawa, a ministry official working on the Fukushima soil project.
In a test, the government has con- structed roads and fields in Fukushima by using the contaminated soil as filling material.
Those locations did not show elevated levels of radioactivity, and there was no runoff of radioactive material to surrounding areas, Asakawa said.