ANKARA
The world witnessed several unexpected environmental developments and disasters in July, including heavy rains and floods in Pakistan and the US, deadly landslides in India, wildfires in Spain, France and the UK, extreme heat across Europe as well as a volcanic eruption in Japan.
Below is a timeline compiled by Anadolu Agency:
July 2:
- The death toll hits 20 from a massive landslide in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur.
July 3:
- With seven more people deaths in the last 24 hours, fatalities in Bangladesh's floods rise to 102.
July 4:
- Educational institutes and government offices in Tehran and other Iranian cities are forced to close because of deteriorating air pollution in the country.
- The death toll from a massive landslide in Manipur reaches 42 as search and rescue operations enter a fifth day.
- A wildfire burning near the town of Amfissa in central Greece is out of control.
July 5:
- Around 50,000 people are asked to evacuate their homes after floods hit the Australian state of New South Wales.
- A wildfire in the Gaacidh forest in the eastern Sanaag region of Somaliland in Somalia is burning from an undetermined cause.
July 6:
- Torrential monsoon rains and flash floods kill at least 29 people and injured several others in southwestern and northern Pakistan in the last 24 hours.
July 9:
- Heavy rains, flash floods and windstorms claimed 15 more lives across Pakistan in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll since June 1 to near 100.
July 12:
- Around 300 people are evacuated from five towns in the Spanish region of Extremadura as firefighters struggle to extinguish a "complicated" wildfire.
- Nearly 50 people die from hunger in the Karamoja region of Uganda with many residents eating grass to survive.
July 13:
- Two fires raging in southwestern France displace thousands of campers and burned more than 1,200 hectares of forest land.
July 14:
- Seventeen people are missing in flooding that struck Buchanan County in the US state of Virginia.
July 15:
- Nearly 7,300 hectares (18,000 acres) of forest and land are burned in wildfires raging in southwestern France.
- Excess temperatures brought on by the heatwave that continues to wash over Spain and Portugal kill at least 322 people.
July 17:
- More than 1,000 families are displaced as Moroccan authorities struggle to bring fires under control that have ravaged remote mountain forests.
July 18:
- Spanish authorities confirm that a shepherd was killed in a wildfire, increasing the death toll to five from recent fires across Spain and Portugal.
July 20:
- A heatwave in Portugal is estimated to claim the lives of 1,063 people between July 7 and 18, according to the Portuguese Health Ministry.
- Wildfires broke out across the UK as temperatures surpassed 40 C (104 F) for the first time.
July 21:
- Fifteen people reportedly have died from drowning and collapsed houses caused by heavy rains in Niger.
July 22:
- Described as "unprecedented, frightening, and apocalyptic," the ongoing heatwave in Europe has claimed more than 1,700 lives in Portugal and Spain.
- After destroying more than 20,800 hectares (51,400 acres) of forests in 10 days, two fires in Gironde in southwestern France are largely stabilized.
July 23:
- At least 20 people are killed and three others went missing in flash floods caused by heavy rains in Iran’s southern Fars province.
- A forest fire forces evacuations from a seaside resort on the island of Midilli (Lesvos) in Greece.
July 25:
- A volcanic eruption in Japan triggers the highest level of alert as officials urged residents to stay away from the hotspot.
- A wildfire fire in the western US state of California, burns more than 15,000 acres (6,070 hectares) of forest land, triggering evacuations.
July 26.
- Record-breaking rainfall in the US city of St. Louis, Missouri causes massive flash flooding.
- Wildfires continue to sweep across Greece with its biggest front in the Dadia National Park, located in the north, close to the Maritsa River.
July 29:
- The number of casualties rises to 18 from floods caused by heavy rains in villages around Iran’s capital Tehran.
- At least 15 people are killed after massive flooding decimates eastern parts of the US state of Kentucky.
