undefined | Over 120 dead in storms across Afghanistan by Sweden Herald

Over the past two weeks, torrential rain, flooding and landslides have devastated Afghanistan, raising the death toll to 123 people, authorities said. Since Sunday alone, 46 victims have been recorded as the country, already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis after decades of war, endures worsening conditions.

In Ghazni province, the tragedy struck a family when their car was swept away by flood‑water on the way home from a maternity ward, killing a newborn baby. The storms have left countless households stranded, roads impassable and essential services crippled across the nation.

The same weather system has also battered neighboring Pakistan. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 47 people – including 27 children – have died since March 25, while in southwestern Balochistan at least 18 fatalities have been reported since March 20, along with widespread damage and blocked transportation routes.

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#afghanistan #pakistan #humanitariancrisis #flooding #landslides

Utility workers repair a water pipe along a road split in two in the Kallitechnoupoli suburb of Athens on Thursday.

Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

#photography
#Greece
#landslides
#roads

BBC: Ground truth: When the Earth moves, AI can spot it. “In the US, landslides kill 25-50 people each year and cause billions of dollars in damage. Worldwide, they claim thousands of lives annually. Predicting when and where they will happen is incredibly difficult. But developments in AI are making it possible, helping geologists identify thousands of slopes around the world that are at high […]

Roads cutting through mountain ranges and waterfalls
Do they cause landslides and reactivate old ones?

Temporary fix for Waterfall Way at Gordonville slip site
"Waterfall Way has reopened between Bellingen and Dorrigo after temporary repairs to the Gordonville slip site. The temporary fix consists of a gravel filled shipping container wall, two containers high and eight containers long, attached to the rockface using nine high-strength steel anchors drilled deep into the rockface." >>
https://insidelocalgovernment.com.au/temporary-fix-for-waterfall-way-at-gordonville-slip-site/

Video of landslide: Waterfall Way, Gordonville Crossing Landslip >>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGymAVc1u8g

Do roads mean landslides are more likely? >>
https://blogs.egu.eu/geolog/2015/01/16/geosciences-column-do-roads-mean-landslides-are-more-likely/

Could road constructions be more hazardous than an earthquake in terms of mass movement?

"In this study, we report a distinct correlation of mass movements and major road constructions that explicitly shows human impact on mountainous environments which are under anthropogenic disturbance recently. Our results further suggest that slope instabilities increased drastically after major service road constructions for hydroelectric power plants and as well as other road extension works."

"We also stress that the impact of road construction can disturb the natural slope equilibrium to an extent comparable with moderate (larger than 6 Mw) earthquakes."

"Such an observation implies that human activities can have a large, if not even dominant, impact on landscape evolution and the natural regime of surface processes. This is part of the definition of “Anthropocene,” an age where our society shapes nature for our purposes, frequently at the risk of damaging ourselves."
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-021-05199-2

Image: Sisyphus, Franz von Stuck, 1920

#roads #WaterFallWay #mountains #ecosystem #denudation #overloading #waterfalls #Bellingenshire #Dorrigo #landslides #landslips #infrastructure #cars #engineering #Sisyphus #mindsets #Anthropocene

RT from antonio vecoli 🛰️🇪🇺#️⃣ (@tonyveco)

🔴 ⚠️ 🌀 ⛈️ Heavy rains led to #floods and #landslides in #Sicily and #Calabria during storm #Samuel in the Mediterranean,with #saharandust from #Libya& #Egypt towards #Crete #Greece. ⬇️ 24hrs evolution on March 17 seen by MeteoSat-12 before reaching Africa.#ClimateEmergency