#disaster-response

#disaster-response

"We're still in the golden hour of our search and rescue," Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a news briefing.

At least one person has died while dozens were trapped after an Islamic boarding school building collapsed in Indonesia's East Java province, officials said Tuesday. Over 100 people, mostly children, have been rescued from the debris of the Al Khoziny school which collapsed on Monday afternoon, the disaster mitigation agency said in a statement. It was unclear how many people were still stuck under the rubble of the building, with reports varying between 38 and 65 missing. The building collapsed under the weight of the fourth floor which was being constructed. The building's expansion had not been authorized, according to provincial police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast.

Wildfires that have raged through one of Africa's largest national parks were under control, Namibia's government has said, amid criticisms from citizen firefighters over the lack of a national disaster response mechanism and limited resources. Fire broke out in Etosha national park, in the arid desert nation's north, on 22 September. The government said it suspected charcoal production next to the park, which is home to 114 mammal species including the critically endangered black rhino, was to blame.

Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai called on Wednesday for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders in an eastern county where flooding from a breached mountain lake during a strong typhoon killed 14, as fresh warnings spooked residents, reports Reuters. Sub-tropical Taiwan, frequently hit by typhoons, normally has a well-oiled disaster mechanism that averts mass casualties by moving people out of potential danger zones quickly.

Built to meet local and international building codes, they're very different from the cheap, toxic trailers that FEMA deployed 20 years ago, when Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Some of those trailers had formaldehyde levels that were 75 times greater than safe levels. They were poorly insulated and never meant for long-term housing, but some families were stuck in them for years.

Papadakis recalls watching plumes of smoke fill the sky, resembling a nuclear explosion. The blaze would ultimately kill 104 people, making it the deadliest wildfire in Greece's history.

A sudden flow of debris and water surged through Dharali village in the Kheer Gad area near Harsil, prompted by a massive mudslide. Videos showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away buildings.

Wilsey said of an initial social media post, "Because I was like, No, I'm not. I'm not helpless. I can do something." Within 48 hours of that post, Wilsey had rallied more than 300 people to donate supplies and support her effort to assemble flood relief kits for impacted families.

Sen. Maria Cantwell emphasized the importance of improving communication systems and science to better prepare for future natural disasters, particularly in light of recent tragedies.