Hazards/Threats

East Africa In Ethiopia and Sudan drought conditions which have prevailed over the past three years have threatened the food security of an estimated 15 million people. In addition the dry conditions have exacerbated wild fires in Ethiopia during the month of March. (OCHA) (USAID)

Southern Africa and Madagascar From February 4-7, Maputo Province, located on the southeastern coast of Mozambique, received almost 18 inches of rain during the cyclone, Connie. Connie was follwed by Cyclones Eline and Gloria, followed by additional heavy rains. Although some rivers have begun to recede after February's flooding, there are warnings of further storms and floods. To make matters worse, the country's traditional rainy season -- which regularly produces floods in the northern cities of Beira and Quelimane -- began on schedule in mid March.   Story: (DRO); Situation reports: (UNICEF) (USAID)

Afghanistan and Pakistan Drought conditions have stressed water supplies and reduced water table levels. The region is heavily dependent on rain for irrigation and drinking water. (Reuters) 

Indonesia Since the start of the dry season at the end of February 2000, forest fires have been rapidly spreading out of control in Sumatra and West Kalimantan in Indonesia. By 5 March 2000 more than 780 fires had been located over Sumatra, according to the Meteorological Service Singapore. The present dry weather is not expected to continue as increased shower activities generally occur in the region through May 2000. This is likely to result in an improvement in the current fire situation. During the period June to October, which is traditionally the dry Southwest Monsoon season in the region, periods of increased fire activities can be expected when dry weather conditions prevail. (OCHA)

Northwest Argentina and Southern Bolivia In early March, torrential rains struck several provinces in Northwestern Argentina: Cordoba, Jujuy, Santiago del Estero, Salta and Tucuman. Several days of continuous rains forced the evacuation of more than 20,000 people, while 10 were reported dead. Preliminary estimates are for of several millions of dollars in damages to crops, roads, bridges and houses. In Bolivia, flooding and landslides from torrential rains affected southern sections of the country. Prior to the heavy rains in March, the area had been experiencing a severe drought. (AFP) (OCHA)

Health

Ecuador At least 14 people have died during an outbreak of malaria and dengue fever in Ecuador. 14,192 cases of malaria have been confirmed (six deaths) and 220 cases of dengue (8 deaths). Ecuador last experienced an outbreak during the 1997-98 El Niño event which resulted in heavy flooding, providing ample breeding grounds for mosquitoes. (ProMED)

Ethiopia and Sudan Outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis, normally associated with the dry season in sub-Saharan Africa, have been reported in Ethiopia (140 cases, 9 deaths) and Sudan (2,549 cases, 186 deaths). Reports: (WHO) (WHO); Info about meningococcal meningitis.

Mozambique Mozambique's capital city, Maputo, reported 16,773 cases of malaria at the end of March (as compared with 11,520 at the same time last year). From 1 December 1999 until 13 March 2000, a total of 15,173 cases of cholera with 860 deaths (case fatality rate 5.7%) has been reported in Mozambique. (OCHA) (WHO)

Panama Twelve suspect cases of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), including 3 deaths, were reported from Las Tablas and Guarare districts, Los Santos Province of Panama. Reports suggest that a recent increase in peridomestic rodents (HPS carriers) was linked to increased precipitation in the affected region during the fall and winter of 1999. In the southwestern United States, increases in HPS cases have been associated with above-average precipitation in this normally dry region. The increased rainfall has resulted in improved habitat quality and increased numbers of infected rodents. (WHO) (ProMED)

Pakistan Ninety-five people died in the Tharparkar district of Pakistan from pulmonary tuberculosis. The underlying cause of the disease outbreak is considered to be low disease resistance due to malnutrition and water shortage resulting from recent drought conditions. (ProMED)

Agriculture

East Africa By the end of March, the onset of the critical belg (secondary) rains was already 3 to 5 weeks late in highly food-insecure agricultural areas of Tigray, Amhara and Oromiya regions of Ethiopia. The late onset of the rains in both the belg-farming areas and the southern and southeastern pastoral areas represents an immediate additional crisis for the relief effort now being implemented. Situation report: (FEWS)

Northwestern Africa Warm, dry conditions continued to threaten vegetative winter grains in Morocco and Algeria. (JAWF) 

Europe Dry weather in western Europe helped spring planting in the north, but continued to hamper winter grain development in Spain and Portugal. (JAWF) 

Asia In Java, Indonesia, seasonably dry weather aided maturing main-season rice. Across western peninsular Malaysia, heavy showers boosted moisture for oil palm, but slowed field work. Across the north China plain, warm weather continued to promote early vegetative wheat growth, but increased irrigation demands. (JAWF) 

United States From southern Texas eastward to the Atlantic coast, widespread rainfall improved topsoil moisture, benefiting pastures, winter grains, and recently planted summer crops, but long-term drought continues. Warm, dry weather returned to the southwest and favoured an acceleration of spring field work in California. (JAWF) 

Fisheries

Monthly catch of small pelagics along the Peruvian coast was approximately 1,500,000 metric tons. Cumulative catch of small pelagics for 2000 was approximately 2,061,290 metric tons, compared to 1,214,226 for 1999. The majority of catch occurred in the North-Central region, and were reported to be adults, high in protein and fat content. These extremely high catches have lead to speculation of a fishing ban. However, it is unlikely that a ban will be implemented prior to presidential elections (April 9) for fear of negative political repercussions.

Material for this portion of the IRI Climate Information Digest has been extracted from the UN/OCHA Reliefweb, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the USDA/NOAA Joint Agricultural Weather Facility and the Fishmeal Exporters Organization. Additional information was obtained from theNOAA/OGP Climate Information Program and Red Cross/CNN/IBM Disaster Relief.