evacuations

China plans to evacuate close to 400,00 people from southern Shenzhen province as the typhoon makes landfall in the northern Philippines.

China has begun preparing to evacuate 400,000 people from the city of Shenzhen ahead of Typhoon Ragasa, which has barreled through northern Philippines with a wind speed of 215km/h (134mph).

Super Typhoon Ragasa made landfall on Monday in Calayan province in the Philippines at 3pm (07:00 GMT), Philippine forecasters reported. More than 8,200 people were evacuated to safety in Cagayan, while 1,220 fled to emergency shelters in Apayao province.

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Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 215km/h (134mph) or higher in the western Pacific are labelled “super typhoons”.

The Philippines’ weather agency warned that “there is a high risk of life-threatening storm surge with peak heights exceeding 3 metres (nearly 10 feet) within the next 24 hours over the low-lying or exposed coastal localities” of the northern provinces of Cagayan, Batanes, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr suspended government work and schools in the capital and 29 provinces in the northern Luzon region.

Ragasa is the 14th weather disturbance to hit the Philippines this year, which comes as the country deals with anti-corruption protests linked to ghost flood-control projects.

The typhoon is forecast to move westwards and remain in the South China Sea until at least Wednesday while passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong before hitting the Chinese mainland.

Land and sea warnings

Chinese authorities have activated flood control measures in southern provinces and warned of heavy rainfall beginning from Tuesday night.

In China’s Shenzhen, authorities said on Sunday night that they planned to move hundreds of thousands of people from coastal and low-lying areas before the typhoon reaches them.

Other cities in the Guangdong province announced the cancellation of classes, work and public transportation due to the heavy rainfall and strong winds.

Moreover, Taiwan has issued land and sea warnings, cancelled 146 domestic flights, and evacuated more than 900 people from mountainous southern and eastern areas.

Vietnam’s Defence Ministry ordered its forces to monitor the storm and prepare for possible landfall later this week.

Typhoon is the 16th to hit Guangdong province and causes closures of schools, public transport and cancels flights.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated as Typhoon Tapah has made landfall in southern China, causing flight disruptions and school closures.

State broadcaster CCTV said the storm made landfall on Monday morning in the city of Taishan in Guangdong province, unleashing powerful winds and torrential rain.

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The Guangdong Meteorological Bureau raised a yellow alert, the third highest in China’s four-tier warning system, and forecast thunderstorms and gale-force winds.

Authorities said an estimated 60,000 people have been evacuated across southern China before the storm came ashore with maximum winds of 108 kilometres per hour (67 miles per hour).

Guangdong’s Emergency Management Department ordered the suspension of all outdoor activities and closed recreational areas like parks and beaches. Schools were also closed.

Guangdong has been hit by 16 typhoons this year. Tapah is expected to move northwest, gradually losing power until it exits the province.

In Taishan, classes were suspended for 120,000 students at schools and kindergartens across the city as an estimated 41,000 people in Jiangmen were evacuated. Chinese state media reported that 3,300 emergency personnel were on standby in the city.

The southern cities of Jiangmen, Maoming and Zhuhai also raised typhoon warnings and announced school closures.

In Hong Kong, a major regional economic hub, hundreds of flights were cancelled, and travellers were stranded at the airport awaiting information on when flights would continue. Macao, a nearby casino hub, also ordered the closure of its schools, public transport and taxis and reported disruptions to flights.

In the neighbouring city of Yangjiang, just west of Hong Kong, an estimated 1,785 workers were evacuated from 26 offshore wind platforms along with 2,026 people from fish farms.

Authorities have warned residents in areas impacted by the typhoon to remain vigilant.

Pakistan began evacuations last month after India released water from overflowing dams into low-lying border regions.

Nearly 300,000 people have been evacuated in the past 48 hours from flood-hit areas of Pakistan’s Punjab province following the latest flood alerts by India, officials have said, bringing the total number of people displaced since last month to 1.3 million.

A new flood alert was shared with Pakistan by neighbouring India through diplomatic channels early on Wednesday, said Arfan Ali Kathia, director-general of Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

Floodwaters have submerged dozens of villages in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh district, after earlier inundating Narowal and Sialkot, both near the border with India.

Authorities are also struggling to divert overflowing rivers onto farmlands to protect major cities, as part of one of the largest rescue and relief operations in the history of Punjab, which straddles eastern Pakistan and northwestern India.

The flood alert on Wednesday was the second in 24 hours following heavy rains and water releases from dams in India.

Thousands of rescuers using boats are taking part in the relief and rescue operations, while the military has also been deployed to transport people and animals from inundated villages, said Kathia.

Rescuers are also using drones to find people stranded on rooftops in the flood-hit areas. Kathia said more than 3.3 million people across 33,000 villages in the province have been affected. The damage is still being assessed and all those who lost homes and crops would be compensated by the Punjab government, he said.

Landslides and flooding have killed at least 30 people in India’s Punjab state, home to more than 30 million people, and nearly 20,000 have been evacuated since August 1.

In Pakistan, tent villages are being set up and food and other essential items are being supplied to flood-affected people, said Kathia, though many survivors complained about a lack of government aid.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif visited flood-hit areas in Muzaffargarh on Wednesday, meeting with displaced families at the camps.

About 40,000 people are in the relief camps, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. It remains unclear where the rest are sheltering.

Malik Ramzan, a displaced resident, said he chose to stay near his inundated home rather than enter a relief camp. “There are no liveable facilities in the camps,” he said. “Food isn’t delivered on time, and we are treated like beggars.”

Facilities at the camps “are very poor,” said Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Multan in Punjab. “There’s no clean drinking water, no proper toilet facilities, plus the fact that it’s very hot and humid, so it leads to dehydration.”

While these families have fans to keep cool in the heat, “there are frequent power breakdowns, so these people now are very vulnerable when it comes to their health and, of course, the outbreak of diseases.”

Last week’s flooding mainly hit districts in Kasur, Bahawalpur and Narowal.

Pakistan began mass evacuations last month after India released water from overflowing dams into low-lying border regions.

The latest floods are the worst since 2022, when climate-induced flooding killed nearly 1,700 people in Pakistan.

Aug. 23 (UPI) — A mandatory evacuation remains Saturday within a 1-mile radius of a lubricant manufacturer and distributor in Louisiana that exploded one day earlier.

Smitty’s Supply, which employs about 400 people at the plant, erupted at 1 p.m. CDT Friday in a plume of black smoke in Roseland, which is 81 miles north of New Orleans.

The fire is continuing to burn, local, state and federal officials said at a briefing Saturday morning.

Several small explosions erupted, Louisiana Police Sgt. William Huggins said at the briefing but there were no new risks.

“We’re fighting a big fire,” Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller said. “It’s not as big as yesterday, but it’s still big.”

“Although there is less visible smoke today, the fire is still burning,” Louisiana State Police posted Saturday on Facebook. “This remains an active and complex incident; please do not let your guard down.”

Forty-six people are in a shelter in Amite City, a few miles from the evacuation zone. Originally, 202 people showed up. Tonya Mabry, executive director of housing in Tangipahoa Parish, said the site will be open as long as needed.

“I got health problems,” one evacuee told Nolo.com, noting his asthma. “I just didn’t want to be in my trailer.”

No injuries were reported, “which is a godsend,” Miller said.

The cause isn’t known, he said.

Soot is believed to contain combustibles and hydrocarbon chemicals, Huggins said.

“Relocate IMMEDIATELY and stay away from this area until further notice,” the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said on X.

Outside the evacuation area, residents are urged to remain indoors when possible, wash their hands frequently, avoid touching their face and avoid direct contact with soot.

Huggins said updated air quality readings indicate “below an actionable threshold,” Huggins said.

Debris wound up in the nearby Tangipahoa River. Water samples will be collected for environmental impact analysis, officials said.

In 2023, Smitty’s officials told state regulators storage tanks can typically hold ethanol, charcoal lighter fluid, gas oil mixture, motor oil, lubricants and hydraulic fluids, diesel, brake fluid, grease and various unnamed water-based chemicals.

Southern Europe is battling deadly wildfires and extreme heat this week, with record temperatures and dry conditions forcing evacuations across France, Spain and Portugal.

An enormous wildfire in southern France’s Aude region has killed one person, injured nine others, marking the country’s largest wildfire this season.

The blaze, which erupted on Tuesday, has already scorched at least 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) – an area larger than the city of Paris – in less than 24 hours. Fires have consumed forests, ravaged villages and damaged or destroyed at least 25 homes, with emergency officials warning that the blaze remains out of control.

“All of the nation’s resources are mobilised,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X, urging people to act with “the utmost caution”.

More than 1,800 firefighters have been sent to battle the flames, backed by 600 vehicles and water-dropping aircraft.

“We have at our disposal in the Aude department the maximum number of personnel and resources that we can have in the south of France in its entirety,” said Remi Recio, deputy prefect of Narbonne.

An elderly woman who refused to evacuate was killed, while another person is missing. Two civilians were injured, including one in critical condition with burns, and seven firefighters suffered smoke inhalation.

Camping grounds and at least one village were partially evacuated, and roads were closed. “I left everything behind me,” said David Cerdan, 51, who fled the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse. “I’m putting it into perspective. I only have material damage.”

Officials say the fire has already consumed as much land as all French wildfires in 2024 combined – more than double that of 2023. “The fire is advancing in an area where all the conditions are ripe for it to progress,” said fire official Roesch. “This fire will keep us busy for several days. It’s a long-term operation.”

An investigation into the cause is under way. France’s environment ministry said drought conditions and dry vegetation contributed to the spread, with water restrictions already in place in the Aude region.

“The risk of fire is greatest in the Mediterranean,” said climate and agriculture analyst Serge Zaka. “In France, it is the hottest and driest area. But with climate change, these fire risks are expected to become more significant during the summer.”

Last month, a blaze near Marseille injured about 300 people. Scientists warn that climate change is driving more intense heat and dryness across Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent.

Spain and Portugal face heat-driven blazes

In Spain, a prolonged heatwave since Sunday – with temperatures reaching 43C (109F) – has helped fan multiple wildfires across the country.

The resort town of Tarifa in Andalusia saw more than 1,500 people and 5,000 vehicles evacuated after a fire broke out near La Pena, a wooded area close to the beach. The fire, believed to have started in a camper van, was rapidly spread by strong winds.

“What concerns us most right now is the wind, whether it shifts between the west and east,” said Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s interior minister.

Fire crews worked through the night to keep flames away from hotels and tourist accommodation, but the blaze remains active, and residents have not been allowed to return.

Elsewhere, a fire near Ponteceso in the Galicia region forced the evacuation of Corme Aldea village. In Cadiz, a blaze that erupted Tuesday led to mass evacuations, according to state broadcaster RTVE.

The Spanish meteorological agency AEMET has issued orange alerts across several regions through Friday. Civil protection authorities warn of “high” or “extreme” fire risk in much of the country.

Spain’s Ministry of Health reported 1,060 excess deaths linked to extreme heat in July, a 57 percent increase over the same month last year, based on data from the national mortality monitoring system. While the data does not confirm direct causation, it is widely used to estimate heat-related deaths.

In neighbouring Portugal, wildfires have already burned more than 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) in 2025 – the largest area since 2022 and eight times more than this time last year. More than half of that land was scorched in just the past two weeks.

Firefighters managed to bring a large blaze under control near Vila Real in the north on Wednesday, but others remain active. A fire in the city of Amarante continued to burn, while another in A Coruna reached emergency level 2 due to its proximity to populated areas.

Lisbon declared a state of alert until August 7, with more than 100 municipalities on maximum fire risk amid soaring temperatures.

Scientists say Southern Europe is on the front line of climate breakdown. Rising global temperatures are creating the conditions for longer and more destructive fire seasons.

Visitors on the Skywalk with the Grand Canyon below at the opening of the Grand Canyon Skywalk at Grand Canyon West, Arizona, in 2007. Wildfires have scorched at least 45,000 near the Canyon, prompting hundreds of evacuations near the North Rim Sunday. File photo UPI Photo/Art Foxall | License Photo

July 13 (UPI) — Two wildfires burning near the Grand Canyon have scorched more than 45,000 acres of tinder dry brush and vegetation and prompted evacuation orders for the Kaibab National Forest and north to the Utah border.

The Bureau of Land Management is coordinating with Coconino County fire officials on the evacuations of hundreds of people. Both fires continue to burn out of control and are 0% contained, officials said. Nearly 600 crews have been assigned to battle the fires.

At least 500 visitors were also evacuated from public park areas in the North Rim where the fires are burning.

The White Sage Fire has burned more than 40,000 acres near the canyon’s North Rim while the Dragon Bravo Fire has burned more than 5,000 acres, state and federal fire officials reported Sunday.

Lighting from rogue thunderstorms sparked the White Sage Fire, which spread quickly among pinyon pine and juniper trees, fanned by gusty winds and low humidity.

“On the ground resources are now focusing on a full suppression strategy to protect structures in the North Rim developed area,” Grand Canyon Park officials said on InciWeb.

Steep and rugged terrain creates a challenge for firefighters trying to reach the blazes and dry weather continues to pose challenges and a threat for the fires to spread further.

Park officials have said the closures are expected to last until Aug. 9 or until the fires are contained.