Hurricane Harvey linked to health problems in pregnant women, babies

Pregnant women and their newborns may be among the worst hit after a hurricane.

A Texas study of women who delivered after Hurricane Harvey showed they had more complications than women who delivered in the years and months before the storm.

High blood pressure, cesarean sections, and infection during labor were all more common in women who gave birth after the hurricane, researchers report in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“Natural disasters can truly have deleterious effects, especially on vulnerable populations, that may not be evident until weeks or months later,” lead author Dr. Hector Mendez-Figueroa told Reuters Health in an email…

Jamaica shows how nature can heal coral reefs – with a little help

Everton Simpson squints at the Caribbean from his motorboat, scanning the dazzling bands of colour for hints of what lies beneath. Emerald green indicates sandy bottoms. Sapphire blue lies above seagrass meadows. And deep indigo marks coral reefs. That’s where he’s headed.

He steers the boat to an unmarked spot that he knows as the “coral nursery.” “It’s like a forest under the sea,” he says, strapping on blue flippers and fastening his oxygen tank before tipping backwards into the azure waters. He swims down about 8 metres carrying a pair of metal shears, fishing line and a plastic crate…

Telecom infrastructure in India may soon get disaster-resilient standards

Telecommunications infrastructure in the country will soon have international standards that will make these resilient in times of natural disaster.

Power infrastructure in the country already follows statutory standards for safety but telecommunications does not. As part of the global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has initiated discussions with the telecom players — Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea — to develop standards for the sector….