Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Children in indefinite detention in Greek island camps attempting suicide and self-harm – “At this level of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, the risk of disease outbreaks is very high”

ATHENS, Greece, 17 September 2018 (MSF) – Medical teams working with asylum seekers on Greek islands are seeing multiple cases each week of minors who have attempted suicide or otherwise harmed themselves, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today, calling for the immediate evacuation of vulnerable people, especially children, […]

Typhoon Mangkhut officially Hong Kong’s most intense storm since records began

17 September, 2018 (SCMP) – The most intense storm in Hong Kong’s history caused a record storm surge, uprooted some 1,500 trees, and left hundreds of windows smashed all over the city, officials said on Monday. As the long process of recovering from Typhoon Mangkhut began in earnest, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu called […]

Protesters mobilize for week of action to “demand justice” for Puerto Rico – “From the day Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, Trump has shown a level of indifference and callousness toward the people of Puerto Rico that is nothing short of reprehensible”

By Emily Birnbaum 17 September 2018 (The Hill) – Thousands of protesters are expected to mobilize for a week of action to “demand justice” for Puerto Rico one year after Hurricane Maria devastated the island’s infrastructure and resources, displacing thousands and resulting in almost 3,000 deaths.Power 4 Puerto Rico, a coalition of Puerto Rican and […]

“There is no access to Wilmington” as flooding from Hurricane Florence overwhelms North Carolina – City of New Bern “has suffered one of the worst storms ever in its 308-year history”

By Jorge L. Ortiz and John Bacon 17 September 2018 (USA TODAY) – Storm-weary residents of North Carolina struggled Monday to loosen the grip of Florence, the lingering killer that has closed more than 100 roads, cut off power to almost 500,000 homes and businesses and essentially cut off the city of Wilmington from the […]

Typhoon Mangkhut causes heavy damage in Hong Kong, China, and Macau – Mangkhut “brought Hong Kong a record-breaking storm surge”

Dr. Jeff Masters 16 September 2018 (Weather Underground) – Mangkhut made landfall in China at the Guangdong city of Taishan at 5 pm Sunday local time (9Z or 5 am EDT). At the time of the 6Z advisory, three hours prior to landfall, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) rated Mangkhut a Category 1 storm […]

FEMA Administrator Brock Long defends Trump on Puerto Rico death toll studies by misrepresenting the science

By Ben Kamisar 16 September 2018 WASHINGTON (NBC News) – FEMA Administrator Brock Long Sunday questioned the relevance of independent studies tying thousands of deaths to the aftermath of last September’s hurricane in Puerto Rico, echoing President Donald Trump’s criticism of those findings as Florence continues to batter the Carolinas. [cf. Death toll in Puerto […]

Typhoon Mangkhut triggers landslide in Philippines, burying dozens in chapel

By Janis Mackey Frayer and Yuliya Talmazan 17 September 2018 ITOGON, Philippines (NBC News) – Dozens of miners and their families sheltering in a chapel were feared dead on Monday after a powerful typhoon swept through the Philippines and triggered a huge landslide that buried much of the remote community. Typhoon Mangkhut, with sustained winds […]

Sorry, Mr. President: The Hurricane Maria death toll in Puerto Rico didn’t grow by “magic”

By Amy B Wang 15 September 2018 (The Washington Post) – “Like magic” and “NO WAY!” These are the latest phrases President Trump is using to express continuing disbelief that Hurricane Maria could have caused nearly 3,000 excess deaths in Puerto Rico. In his mind — or in his tweets, at least — the death […]

Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria: A year of disruption – “The next one will wipe Puerto Rico off the map”

By Samantha Schmidt and Arelis R. Hernández 12 September 2018 NAGUABO, Puerto Rico (The Washington Post) – As Damarys Cantero awakens her 6-year-old daughter in their damp, sweltering home, ocean waves crash up against the pile of rubble that was once their front porch. The single mother opens a bag of buns in the kitchen […]

Hong Kong braces for impact of Super Typhoon Mangkhut – Two nuclear power plants on projected path are “in combat readiness” – Mangkhut could be most intense storm on record to hit the city

15 September 2018 (SCMP) – Hong Kong today faces sea levels more than two metres higher than normal as officials brace for the worst under a possible No 10 typhoon warning signal with the most powerful storm the world has seen this year roaring towards the city. The No. 8 signal was raised at 1.10am […]

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