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Spain
Flood Response Spurs Unrest
Heavy rains have continued to inundate the southern coastal areas of Spain, as locals affected by flooding have voiced anger at the government for what they believe was a delayed and inadequate response. Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, along with King Felipe and his wife, Queen Letizia, had mud thrown at them and were met with chants of “murderers” when visiting the town of Paiporta, near Valencia, this past weekend. The search for the missing continues, with 217 confirmed dead so far. But a cut-off upper-level low-pressure system, a meteorological phenomenon known by the acronym DANA in Spanish, is still driving dangerous conditions. Today, commuter rail service has been suspended in the Catalonia region, and parts of Barcelona’s airport have been flooded. Rain is in the forecast for the Mediterranean coast of Spain through the upcoming week.
This map depicts cumulateive rainfall totals in southern and eastern Spain since a major deluge hit the country on October 29, driving massive flooding that has so far killed at least 217 people. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Daily Mail
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Comoros
Smugglers Sink Boat & Kill 25
At least 25 people have died after traffickers deliberately capsized their boat off the Indian Ocean nation of Comoros, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The boat sank late on Friday between the Comoros island of Anjouan and the French island of Mayotte, on an often-used migration route on which thousands of people have lost their lives in recent decades. Fishermen rescued five survivors on Saturday morning. The survivors said the boat had carried about 30 people of different nationalities, including seven women and at least six young children. Over half of the inhabitants of the Comoros live below the poverty line and many have no access to healthcare. Despite being France’s poorest department, Mayotte has French infrastructure and welfare. There had been two similar tragedies in the same area in the past three months, with capsized boats leading to the deaths of eight people in August and 12 in September.
This map depicts Mayotte, a French department, and the Comoros Islands. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Modern Ghana
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United States
Drought Conditions in the US
Almost the entire United States was considered in moderate to exceptional drought conditions during the final week of October. Alaska and Kentucky are the only states that have not reached moderate drought conditions. Over the past four months, it has been warmer than normal in many parts of the country, and climate researchers say drought conditions are becoming more frequent, lasting longer, and are more severe in many parts of the country and the world. A rare advisory from authorities in New York City urged its residents to conserve water; the city saw the driest October since the beginning of record keeping in 1869. October has also been Philadelphia’s driest month.
This map depicts the varying drought conditions in the United States. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the country with the lowest average elevation in the world?
A: Maldives
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 470 miles (750 km; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent’s mainland. The Maldives’ chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south. Including the sea, the territory spans roughly 35,000 square miles (90,000 sq km), with a land area of 115 square miles (298 sq km) The Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of 4 ft 11 in (1.5 m) above sea level,[12] and a highest natural point of only 7 ft 10 in (2.4 m), making it the world’s lowest-lying country.
Source
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Q: The Gulf of Paria, a shallow semi-enclosed inland sea, lies between which two countries?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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