Disaster Briefs, May 4, 2024

Disaster Briefs

Disaster Briefs are your weekly (or more often, if needed) summaries and headlines from around the world about natural and man-made disasters, climate change, and international conflict.

Meteorological/Climatological:

The tropical system we were monitoring in the South Indian Ocean last week has developed into Tropical Cyclone Hidaya and will make landfall in Tanzania today as a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Heavy rains in neighboring Kenya have already claimed 350 lives this week. The country is now bracing for its first-ever tropical cyclone.

Canadian officials issued warnings at the start of wildfire season this week, noting ongoing drought across the country and expected higher-than-average temperatures going into the summer. Record-breaking wildfires in 2023 burned an area the size of North Dakota, according to satellite data.

The US plains state face another weekend of severe storms following last weekend’s deadly tornado outbreak. Houston, Texas is reporting “catastrophic” flooding.