The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needs to beef up its disaster management efforts after the region was hammered by deadly storms that left a path of destruction in their wake, its new chief said Friday.Secretary-general Lim Jock Hoi, a veteran Bruneian diplomat, pointed to a tropical storm that battered the southern Philippines last month leaving at least 240 dead and tens of thousands displaced.Also in December, a tropical cyclone pounded Indonesia's main island of Jav

Floods are the most common natural disasters in both developed and developing nations, accounting for almost 40 percent of natural disasters. The Southeast Asian region is especially prone to floods.According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, it is estimated that 9.6 million people are currently affected by the floods in Southeast Asia, with 5.3 million in Thailand alone.

At least 49 people have died after Typhoon Damrey slammed into central Vietnam, disaster officials said Monday, as heavy flooding cast doubt on a planned retreat for APEC leaders' spouses to the ancient town of Hoi An.The weather system hit just days before Vietnam welcomes world leaders to the APEC summit in Danang and has left several areas totally submerged in the worst flooding in years.While Danang itself has not been seriously affected, heavy flooding has hit Hoi An, a UNESCO World

Two workers were found dead and 12 others were missing Saturday after a landslide at a construction site on the popular Malaysian tourist island of Penang, officials said.Rescuers rushed to the Tanjung Bungah area on the north of Penang after the accident was reported just before 9:00 am (0100 GMT), the fire and rescue department said.Pictures showed large piles of earth had slipped off a hillside onto the site, where houses were being built.Two bodies were pulled from the mud and twelve othe

The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in north and central Vietnam has jumped to 54, officials said Friday, in one of the deadliest weather disasters to hit the country in years.Rescuers were desperately searching for 39 people still missing after heavy rains pounded several provinces this week, with forecasters warning of another major storm heading toward the country.

Mount Agung has been threatening to erupt for the first time in more than 50 years. The volcano last erupted in 1963 which left nearly 1,600 people dead. Indonesian officials raised the alert status to the highest level on late Friday, September 22. Over 144,000 people have fled the volcano and its vicinity since it started rumbling, but officials urged evacuees who are from outside of the immediate danger zone to return home.

More than 144,000 people have fled from a rumbling volcano on popular tourist island Bali, but officials Saturday urged evacuees who live outside the immediate danger zone to return home.

More than 34,000 people have fled from a rumbling volcano on the resort island of Bali as the magnitude of tremors grows, prompting fears it could erupt for the first time in more than 50 years, an official said Sunday.