Reports

(FAO report outlines extent of damage) (510) By Eric Green USIA Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- Abnormal temperatures and ill-distributed precipitation caused by the El Nino weather system are causing serious problems in crop production in many parts of Latin America, says a special…

Ref: OCHAGVA - 98/0186 SITUATION 1. According to reliable press information sources, the unusual weather conditions, caused by El Niño, has so far claimed 296 lives, injured 730 people, and affected approximately 325,400 inhabitants. Furthermore, 28,301 houses, 811 schools, 598 health…

Ref: OCHAGVA - 98/0184 1. The UNDAC team, which has been in the State of Roraima since 31 March 1998, completed its mission to Roraima on 7 April 1998. The team carried out aerial and ground assessments in coordination with…

By Julio Villaverde BRASILIA, April 7 (Reuters) - Brazil on Tuesday announced plans to prevent and fight fires in the Amazon amid concern that a recent environmental disaster in the northern state of Roraima might recur in this year's dry…

Ref: OCHA/GVA - 98/0179 I. SITUATION: 1. Floods, landslides, and heavy seas attributed to El Niño continue to claim lives and cause damage to homes, roads, bridges, and farmland along the coast and in the lower areas of the upland provinces…

A group of American scientists have likened the smog caused by Asian, Australian and South American bushfires to the smog that makes Los Angeles air, the dirtiest in America. Nobel Laureate F. Sherwood Rowland is among the scientists who released…

By William Schomberg BRASILIA, April 1 (Reuters) - Rain has put out virtually all the fires raging in the savannah and jungles of Brazil's northern Amazon, but one official warned on Wednesday there was still a risk of new outbreaks. Satellite…

ICRC NEWS 13 To help combat a cholera epidemic in La Merced prison, the ICRC last week provided the detaining authorities with cleaning products, chlorine and rehydration salts. Over the past few weeks, ICRC delegates have visited 1,380 detainees (about 60…

Ref: OCHAGVA - 98/0178 UNDAC TEAM 1. At the request of the Government of Brazil, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has dispatched a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team to assist in the joint assessment…

By William Schomberg BRASILIA, March 31 (Reuters) - Rain fell on Tuesday in various areas of Brazil's northern Amazon ravaged by huge savanna and forest fires, just hours after two Indian shamans performed an ancient ritual to bring on the…