Debris from 3/11 disaster now washing ashore across Okinawa

Plastic containers washed out to sea after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster are starting to wash up on the shores of Okinawa Prefecture, leaving residents puzzled at the time it took for the items to travel just 2,000 kilometers.

Yasuhiro Nomura, 47, operator of an Italian restaurant on Ishigakijima island, was walking along a beach Sept. 9 when he came across an aquamarine container measuring 1 meter on each side with lettering for 2005 and the Miyako fisheries cooperative in Iwate Prefecture.

“At first, I thought it came from (Okinawa’s) Miyakojima island, but then I recalled news reports about items from the Great East Japan Earthquake washing ashore,” Nomura said.

When contacted by The Asahi Shimbun, an official with the Miyako fisheries cooperative said the container was one of theirs…

Flooding leaves South Sudan facing threat of ‘catastrophic’ hunger levels

Catastrophic flooding and rising food and health costs in Sudan have driven up the number of people in need the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or Archer said on Friday authorities declared a three-month state of emergency in early September after the worst flooding in thirty years to date more than eight. Hundred and sixty thousand people have had houses destroyed or damaged and more than one hundred, twenty died hundreds of schools and thousands of health facilities have also been affected…

Why introduce DISASTER MANAGEMENT in school education

Over the past years, there have been several occasions when I championed for introduction of disaster management as a separate subject in school education. Many others are doing it for a greater cause. The subject is there at the PG level with the endless efforts of the people from the Department of Geography, University of Kashmir. It is a compulsory skills-based subject at the UG level with the constant efforts of Mr Talat Parvez Rohella, Commissioner Secretary, Higher Education Department. The subject has gained momentum as it rolled down the Zabarwan hills – initiated by University of Kashmir…