2020: YEAR OF DISASTERS

Overview of disasters in 2020

In some of the countries, every year, natural disasters happen & these countries are dealing with natural disasters. But the year 2020 is the most destroying & dangerous in the whole history due to the cycle of natural disasters happening all over the world. It is difficult to say that in the rest of the year which Natural disasters the world will face. To date, the following are the natural disasters that happened in every corner of the world in 2020. It will be difficult for the world to deal with these natural disasters. The following are the natural disasters in 2020, which are dangerous natural disasters that happened in 2020.

Disasters in 2020 or 2020 disasters.

COVID 19– December 2019 to till date

It is an infectious disease caused by a virus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case was reported in November (17 November 2020) in Wuhan, China. The below table shows you the total data to date (16/02/2021 till 6 PM IST). It is the deadliest natural disaster in 2020.

This virus spreads due to droplets producing during talking, coughing & sneezing. These droplets are fall around the area rather than spreading through the air over a long distance. When other persons get in the contact with these droplets, during touching its nose, it enters into the body.

In most cases, fever is the main symptom. Others are loss of appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, dry cough, muscle & joint pain.

The typical incubation period for COVID 19 is five to eight days. But it can range from one to fourteen days when first get in contact with an infected person. It may longer in some cases.

To reduce the chances of infection following are the precautions.

1. Staying at home and go outside if it is necessary.
2. Keeping a distance from others.
3. Avoiding going to a crowded place.
4. Washing hands with soap & water more often and at least 20 seconds & avoiding touching to mouth, nose & eyes.

Australian bushfire– 2 January 2020.

Very deadly start of the year 2020 with this news. In each year, there is a bushfire that happens in many countries. But as per the report, Australia is one of the huge, pots of bushfires in history ever.

In December 2019, Australia experienced its hottest temperature reaching near 50 to 51 degrees Celsius. There are many reasons behind this bush fire. But the main reason that most of the scientists think is Dry heat with lack of rain & humidity. The combination of hot & dry weather with strong winds has created a fire to spread quickly over the areas.

Ecology expert Chris Dickman, from the University of Sydney, initially suggested on 3rd January 2020 that as many as 481 million animals were likely to have died in the NSW fire. After less than the week, he updated that number to 801 million & projected nationally that more than 1.01 billion had died. (This is the only prediction). 

Due to this bushfire, till the 9th March 2020, over 18.6 million hectares (46 million acres or 186000 sq. kilometers) burnt. Around 5910 buildings were destroyed & up to 33 peoples died.  (These are only predictions)

7 January 2020 – Puerto Rico Earthquake.

Since 27th December 2019, the Iceland of name Puerto Rico has been affected by hundreds of small earthquakes & powerful 6.4 magnitudes of the earthquake on the morning of Tuesday (7th January 2020).

This earthquake caused damage to the infrastructures, leaving more than 2100 peoples in shelters, nearly 1.1 million without power & hundreds without water as of 9th, January 2020.

On the 7th of January 2020, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Garced declared a state of emergency & evacuated the Puerto National Guard. There were refugees in 28 government-sponsored refugee centers spread over 15 municipalities of south & central Puerto Rico.

Damage to Gov. structures was calculated in over hundreds of million & financial losses were estimated at 3.11 billion dollars. Serious damage happens to the power plant that supplies electricity to Puerto Rico. It gets shut down for repair for around 1 year.

Indonesia Devastating Floods– 1st January 2020.

Floods hit Indonesia several times in history. But when all peoples are in the celebration of the new year at that time Indonesia is dealing with the high Flood. 

The reason for the flood in Jakarta is that it is 241 km2 below sea level. Flooding can occur severe in heavy rain. When this happens, the high tides push water into a low lying area in the upland area flowing down in Jakarta.

In these more than 397100 residents had been evacuated to higher ground. Due to this, power gets switched off, and more than 71 peoples died. 

Tornados– January 2020 to May 2020

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from thunderstorm to the ground. 

In the US from January 2020, In Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, South California, Oklahoma, South Carolina & Louisiana reported tornados. Around 75 peoples died. 

On Friday (3rd January 2020), a thunderstorm developed over the Mpumalanga area of South Africa. It causes serious damage to the farm, destroys the houses of around seven families, & destroy about 510 acres of pine forest.

Cyclone Amphan– 13 May 2020.

The Super Cyclone Amphan is the deadly & dangerous tropical cyclone that damaged east India & Bangladesh in May 2020. On 13 May 2020, a cyclone starts from a low-pressure area about 300 kilometers east of Colombo, Shri Lanka.

On 18 May 2020, the Amphan cyclon reaches its peak intensity wind speed of about 241 km/hr. Amphan cyclone started to weaken due to dry air & variation in wind velocity occurring along a direction at a right angle to the wind’s direction & exerting turning force. 

Due to this Amphan cyclone, the coastal area of Odisha, Kolkata, North Parganas, South Parganas, Howrah, East Midnapur in West Bengal, & Bangladesh are very much affected.

As per the US Pacific disaster Centre, around 38.8 million peoples from India & Bangladesh are at high risk of exposure. All ports in the Bangladesh & Bay of the Bengal have suspended the loading & unloading of goods & materials.

Migrants traveling to Odisha from various locations were asked to wait out the storm. Routes of the AC special trains traveling from Delhi & other locations to Bhubaneshwar were diverted to avoid the effect of the cyclone. Because of that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is also closed until 21 May 2020. 

Approximately 4.1 million peoples from India & Bangladesh were evacuated with 2.1 million from India & 2.2 million from Bangladesh. 

 Locusts Infestation

Locusts are a very big threat to the Corps, Plants, Trees, etc. It may destroy all farms. So from the year 2019 to the date, the following are the countries affected by these Locusts. Such countries are Kenya, Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Yemen, South Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Iran, Pakistan & India.

As of April 2020, about 70,100 hectors of land in Kenya alone are already infested. 20.1 million peoples are facing food insecurity in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania. 

In India, about 3,67,100 hectors of land were attacked by Locusts in the Rajasthan area & Gujrat. Districts that are largely affected are Jaisalmer, Sri Ganganagar, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagpur & Churu. Locust infestation is the biggest natural disaster in 2020 which will ruin the entire farming industry.

Sudan Flooding

Sudan is fighting with the flood since July 2020. Due to heavy rain, the water level gets increased by the Nile River by more than 17 m. According to the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation, this is the highest record to date.

Due to this flood more than 60,000 homes get damaged & destroyed, more than 35 peoples died. The State of Emergency declared by the Government of Sudan on 4th September 2020. Due to floods & landslides around 100 peoples died & more than 1,00,000 properties got damaged as per the reports.

These all are the disasters in 2020. To get more information about natural disasters & emergencies please follow the below link – https://apps.who.int/disasters/repo/7656.pdf

Disaster recovery for disasters in 2020

Let’s see, what is mean by disaster recovery, disaster recovery plan, disaster recovery solution & disaster management.

Before going into detail about the disaster recovery plan, please have a look at the below-mentioned link. This disaster recovery plan by NASA.

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/3-2a-divya_disaster_recovery_1.pdf

In simple words, disaster recovery is the solution for the destruction that happened due to a natural disaster or it may be due to man-made disasters.