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2007 Disasters
January 2007 Disasters
- Jan. 1, Indonesia: Adam Air Flight KI-574, flying
from Java to Manado, crashed in stormy weather and strong winds, killing
all of the 102 people on board.
- Jan. 12, Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy was fired
on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.
- Jan. 12–16, Tex., Okla, Mo., Mich., Ind., Iowa, N.Y., N.H.,
Maine: a winter storm with heavy sleet, ice, and snow moved
across 9 states, from Texas to Maine, resulting in extensive power
outages and causing 65 storm-related deaths of which 23 were in
Oklahoma. Washington state, Oregon, and California also experienced
freezing weather.
- Jan. 16, Louisville, Ky.: a CSX freight train
carrying chemical cargo derailed and 14 cars ignited, forcing the
evacuation of homes and closing roads including 20 miles of Interstate
65. There were no injuries.
February 2007 Disasters
- Feb. 2, Florida: At least 20 people died when
tornadoes and thunderstorms ripped through central Florida.
- Feb. 18, India: Two homemade bombs exploded on a
train headed for Pakistan from India, killing at least 70.
- Feb. 18, Thailand: Some 30 coordinated bombs
exploded at bars, hotels, and electricity transmitters in Pattani
Province, killing or wounding 60 people.
March 2007 Disasters
- March 1, Ala., Minn., Miss., and Ga.: Storms hit
Alabama, Minnesota, Missouri, and Georgia, killing about 20 people,
including eight high school students.
- March 6, Sumatra, Indonesia: Two earthquakes,
magnitudes 6.4 and 6.3, struck the island of Sumatra two hours apart,
killing at least 70 people.
- March 7, Yogyakarta, Indonesia: A Garuda Indonesia
Airlines plane overshot the runway and crashed, killing 22 of the 140
people on board.
- March 19, Ulyanovskaya, Russia: A methane explosion
killed 110 people in a coal mine. It was the worst mine disaster in
recent Russian history.
April 2007 Disasters
- April 1, Honiara, Solomon Islands: Magnitude 8.1
earthquake and ensuing tsunami left at least 34 dead and thousands
homeless.
- April 16, Blacksburg, Va.: A Virginia Tech student
killed 32 fellow students and then himself in the most deadly shooting
rampage in U.S. history.
May 2007 Disasters
- May 5, Doula, Cameroon: A Kenya-bound Kenya Airways
plane took off in stormy weather and crashed moments later, killing all
114 people on board.
- May 7, Greensburg, Kansas: A tornado destroyed a
small farming town, killing 10.
- May 24, Novokuznetsk, Russia: A methane explosion
killed 38 coal miners in Yubileinaya, two months after a similiar
explosion in a nearby town killed 110.
June 2007 Disasters
- June 10, Chittagong, Bangladesh and Beijing, China:
Mudslides set off by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 62 people in
Bangladesh. Torrential rains in southern China caused flooding in small
cities and farming villages, killing at least 66.
- June 18, Charleston, S.C.: Nine firefighters died
when a roof collapsed during a fire in a furniture warehouse.
- June 24, Karachi, Pakistan: More than 200 people
died during severe storms in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest
city.
July 2007 Disasters
- July 8, West Bengal, India: Monsoon rains and
flooding left 660 dead and more than a million stranded.
- July 17, Niigata, Japan: 6.8 magnitude earthquake
left at least 11 dead and injured more than 900. A nuclear power plant
in nearby Kashiwazaki sustained significant damage, including minor
radiation leaks, ruptured pipes, flooding, and a fire.
- July 17, Sao Paulo, Brazil: More than 176 people
were killed when an Airbus skidded off the runway at Congonhas Airport
in rainy weather. It was the worst aviation accident in Brazil's
history.
August 2007 Disasters
- August 1, Minneapolis, Minn.: An eight-lane
interstate bridge packed with cars broke into sections and collapsed
into the Mississippi River, killing at least nine, and injuring at least
60. The bridge was in the midst of repairs when it buckled and broke
apart.
- August 1, Benaleka, Congo: A passenger train
running between Ilebo and Kananga derailed after the brakes failed,
killing about 100 people.
- August 14, North Korea: Hundreds are reported dead
or missing after a week of heavy rain in central and southern North
Korea. Huge areas of farmland were washed away, provoking fears that
North Korea's food crisis could worsen.
- August 14, Hunan province, China: A bridge
undergoing construction collapsed in southern China, killing at least 28
people.
- August 15, coast of central Peru: A 8.0-magnitude
earthquake 95 miles southeast of Lima, Peru, leaves at least 337 people
dead, and injures hundreds more.
- August 25–27, Greece: Over 220 separate fires
ravage the Greek countryside and endanger ancient Olympic sites around
Athens. At least 59 people die in the blazes.
September 2007 Disasters
- September 12 and 13, Sumatra, Indonesia: More than
a dozen people die on the island of Sumatra when three earthquakes, one
with a magnitude of 8.4, strike.
- September 16, Phuket, Bangkok: A McDonnell Douglas
MD-82 plane, which took off from Bangkok, skids off the runway and
bursts into flames during heavy rain in Phuket. At least 88 people are
killed.
- September 24, Sudan: Over 20 people die, at least
13,000 livestock are lost, and 65 people are injured by flooding in
central Sudan during August and September. Over half a million people
countrywide are affected by the floods. Clean water is provided to
2.2 million people to prevent deadly epidemics.
October 2007 Disasters
- October 13, southern Colombia: 21 people die and
another 26 are injured in a landslide that was triggered by local
residents digging for rumored gold deposits in an abandoned mine.
- October 21–28, southern Calif.: 24 wildfires from
Simi Valley to the Mexican border are fanned by 50 to 60 mph winds
burning more than 516,000 acres. Seven people die, close to 90 people
are injured, more than 2,000 homes are destroyed, and over 500,000
people evacuate their homes. A 10-year-old boy admits to accidentally
starting one of the fires while playing with matches.
- October 31, Carribean: 107 people die during
Tropical Storm Noel. 66 people die, 27 are missing, 6,300 homes are
destroyed, and more than 62,000 people are homeless when two rivers
burst 26 miles outside Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At least 40
people die and 400 homes are destroyed in Haiti. In Cuba, 24,000 people
are evacuated from low-lying areas and 2,000 homes are damaged by
floods.
November 2007 Disasters
- November 3, Mexico: Villahermosa, the capital of
the southeastern state of Tabasco, remains paralyzed with no clean
drinking water and electricity after severe flooding caused by five days
of torrential rain. At least 300,000 people evacuate their homes, and one person dies. Most of the state's crops
are destroyed and 4,000 schools are damaged.
- November 12, southern Russia: During a severe storm
in the Black Sea 11 ships sink, 3 people die, and 20 sailors go missing.
The tanker, Volganeft-139, splits apart and dumps 1,300 tons
(about 360,000 gallons) of oil into the sea killing marine habitat, and
fish, and covering 30,000 seabirds in oil.
- November 15, Bangladesh: Cyclone Sidr, with winds
over 100 miles per hour, kills nearly 3,500 people in southern
Bangladesh. The United Nations reports that a million people are without
homes.
- November 18, Donetsk, Ukraine: 90 people die and 10
are missing in the deadliest mining explosion since 1991.
- November 23, Antarctica: The Explorer
strikes ice during an adventure cruise in the Antarctic causing the ship
to sink. The National Geographic Endeavour and the Norwegian
cruise liner, Nordnorge, resue all 100 passengers and 50 staff
members.
- November 30, western Turkey: A passenger jet, the
McDonnell Douglas MD-83, crashes seven miles from its destination
airport in Isparta, killing all 56 passengers.
December 2007 Disasters
- December 5, Omaha, Nebraska: Robert Hawkins, 19, of
Bellevue, Nebraska, kills eight people before turning the gun on himself
at the Von Maur department store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha. Five
people are also wounded.
- December 7, South Korea: Oil spill causes
environmental disaster, destroying beaches, coating birds and oysters
with oil, and driving away tourists with its stench. The Hebei
Spirit collides with a steel wire connecting a tug boat and barge
five miles off South Korea's west coast, spilling 2.8 million gallons of
crude oil. Seven thousand people are trying to clean up 12 miles of
oil-coated coast.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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