What we’re watching: Weekly disaster update, June 16
We know all too well that disaster can strike anytime, anywhere in the world. Some disasters make headlines; others do not. Here at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), we monitor the status of disasters worldwide and compile a list of the ones we’re tracking weekly, along with relevant disaster-related media coverage.
Here’s what we’re watching for the week of June 16, 2025.
New or Emerging Disasters
Flooding – Texas: On June 11-12, San Antonio, Texas, received a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours. Nearly 9 inches of rain fell, causing flash flooding, which trapped drivers and caused 13 fatalities. Flood water carried cars into a creek, and nearly 70 people required rescue. Some climbed trees to escape.
More rain is expected in North Texas this week.
Flooding – West Virginia: At least five people died, and another four remain missing after 4 inches of rain fell in just 30 minutes on Friday, June 13 in northern West Virginia. The floods led to multiple water rescues and the partial collapse of an apartment building. At least 2,500 power outages have been reported.
Winter storm – South Africa: At least 78 people have died after a winter storm hit the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa last week. In Mthatha, the worst-hit town, flooding from the storm caused a river to burst its banks, submerging homes in water and causing a school bus to be swept away.
Snow, torrential rainfall and bitter cold have cut electricity to about 500,000 homes and damaged the water supply. The flooding has displaced people from their homes and hundreds of people have sheltered in community centers to escape the cold.
Previous or Ongoing Disasters
Wildfires – Canada: Canadian wildfires have already burned more land than average this wildfire season. To date, 9.63 million acres have burned, mostly in Western provinces, far beyond the country’s of 7.3 million acres.
So many wildfires have burned so fast and close together, that experts don’t believe regrowth can keep up and suggest that savannah or grasslands will replace some of the forests.
On Monday, June 16, more than 220 active fires were burning across the country, with 92 fires deemed out of control. In the U.S., significant smoke across the Midwest and Northeast has caused increased interest among TV viewers in having weather forecasters report on the topic.
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies – Haiti
When a country experiences political conflict, climate shocks, famine, economic challenges or other conditions, it may suffer a complex humanitarian emergency (CHE). CDP maintains complete profiles on several CHEs. Every week, we highlight these and other CHEs hoping to build awareness and philanthropic response.
Haiti is facing one of the world’s worst hunger crises as violent gangs have overtaken the country, displacing thousands of people, burning homes and farmland, and causing economic collapse. The political situation, as well as funding cuts to the World Food Program (WFP), have thrown half of Haiti’s population into severe hunger.
Key facts:
- The WFP in Haiti ran out of emergency food just as hurricane season began on June 1. The program does not have any funding to buy food locally,if possible to do so, or to do a rapid humanitarian response.
- “We are very concerned that a single storm can put hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti into a humanitarian catastrophe and danger.” – Lola Castro, head of the WFP’s Latin American and Caribbean office.
- About 5.7 million people face severe hunger, 8,400 face starvation, and 2 million are in an emergency phase of food insecurity.
- More than one million children are in critical need of humanitarian support.
- The agency’s school feeding program, which feeds half a million children every day, is also running out of money. If it doesn’t receive funding soon, that program will be reduced to feeding half the children it supports now.
The U.N. proposed a $900 million humanitarian appeal for Haiti in 2025 but has only received 9% of its request.
Join us this Tuesday, June 17
Webinar: How funders can address the growing famine in Sudan
What We’re Reading
- These are the stories Lahaina wildfire survivors never got to tell – Honolulu Civil Beat
- In 2025, Tornado Alley has become everything east of The Rockies – and it’s been a violent year – The Conversation
- Major U.S. climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired – The Guardian
A moment of hope… The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces a complex humanitarian crisis driven by a protracted, violent armed conflict between M23, FARDC and other forces. Sexual violence has been used as a tool of war by all sides and women and girls have suffered greatly.
Panzi Hospital & Foundation, an organization committed to reducing the prevalence of gender-based violence in the DRC, will receive $150,000 from the CDP Global Recovery Fund to reinforce the routine and emergency care provided at their facilities for survivors of sexual violence and the wider community. This grant will also support building their capacity to reach communities in remote areas of South Kivu province.
Gina DeLuca
Content Development Associate