Global Natural Disasters This Week — October 30, 2026

By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather · Oct 30, 2026

At a glance

Cyclone Arnab was the week’s deadliest disaster, striking India’s Andhra Pradesh coast on October 28 and flooding southern Odisha, while floods killed people in Haiti and Syria. The week runs from Saturday, October 24, to Friday, October 30, 2026.

Tropical cyclones

Two storms hit land this week: Arnab in India and the tail end of Champi in Japan, while Super Typhoon In-fa closed on the remote northern Mariana Islands. The Atlantic stayed quiet all week.

Cyclone Arnab, India. Arnab made landfall near Narsapur, Andhra Pradesh, early on October 28. Winds were 125 to 135 km/h (78 to 84 mph), gusting to 150 km/h (93 mph), Outlook India reported that day. At its peak on October 27, the India Meteorological Department estimated 150 to 160 km/h (93 to 99 mph) winds, according to Down To Earth (Oct 28). Death counts rose from 3 on October 28 (AP, citing state officials) to 5 the same day (PTI via Free Press Journal) and 7 by October 30, per Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu (The News Minute). About 180,000 people were evacuated across both states before landfall, Al Jazeera reported on October 28, citing the National Disaster Response Force. Naidu put preliminary losses at Rs 4,600 crore (Oct 30). Crop damage in Andhra Pradesh reached 2.24 lakh hectares (about 553,000 acres), the Daily Pioneer reported on October 30.

Super Typhoon In-fa, Northern Mariana Islands. In-fa was a Category 4 storm with 150 mph (241 km/h) winds early on October 30, local time. It was forecast to pass near or over Agrihan that afternoon or evening, RNZ via Scoopreported. A typhoon warning covers Agrihan, Pagan and Alamagan, and high surf of 12 to 18 feet (3.7 to 5.5 m) was forecast for Saipan and Tinian. The islands in its path have very few residents, and no casualties had been reported. Japan’s weather agency expected it near the Ogasawara Islands on November 1 as a very strong typhoon (Weathernews, Oct 28). National weather services and local authorities issue the official warnings.

Typhoon Champi, Japan. Champi, which peaked at 185 mph (298 km/h) on October 21 per AccuWeather, passed Okinawa and brushed Kyushu before becoming extratropical on October 25. A man died in Nagasaki while checking on a boat, and 13,000 Okinawa households lost power, wetter.net reported on October 26. Hirado recorded 397.5 mm (15.6 inches) of rain. Its remnants later pushed seas of up to 29 feet (8.8 m) into the Bering Sea, washing out the Nome-Council Road in Alaska (Nature World News, Oct 27).

Floods and landslides

Haiti and Syria had the week’s deadliest floods, while Arnab’s remnants caused the largest flood displacement, in India’s Odisha state.

Haiti. Weeks of rain from low-pressure troughs over the northern Caribbean caused floods and landslides that worsened through the week. On October 27, Haiti’s Civil Protection reported 4 dead and 2 missing (Jamaica Observer). By October 29 the agency’s count rose to at least 8 dead, 40 injured and 5 missing, all in the Sud department, with 11,884 families affected and more than 7,100 homes flooded (EFE via Infobae). In the neighboring Dominican Republic, at least 30 communities were cut off and more than 100 homes flooded, with no deaths reported (AP via Le Quotidien, Oct 27).

Syria. Heavy rain and hail set off flash floods in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor on October 28, killing 5 people, including 4 children, Syria’s emergency ministry said. Five more were missing and about 375 families were moved from three flooded displacement camps, Al Jazeera reported on October 30. The al-Salmani bridge collapsed, cutting the Raqqa–Aleppo road (Arab News, Oct 29). Reports of people rescued differ: 25 (Arab News) and 15 (Al Jazeera).

India (Odisha). Arnab’s remnants dropped 546 mm (21.5 inches) of rain on Patrapur in 24 hours to October 29 (The Watchers). The Rushikulya River reached 19 m (62 ft), above its 16.8 m (55 ft) danger level. Odisha moved 59,028 people across nine districts and airlifted 2,328 from cut-off villages, with no deaths reported, according to National Herald(Oct 30). More than 1,000 villages were inundated in Ganjam and Gajapati districts.

United States (Four Corners). Days of rain from Pacific tropical moisture on saturated ground caused record flooding from October 22 to 25. The San Juan River at Farmington, New Mexico, reached 14.1 feet (4.3 m), beating a 1909 record, before its gauge failed (The Watchers, Oct 26). Deseret News reported hundreds of homes still evacuated on October 26, and more than 100 homes and RVs damaged in Hurricane, Utah. No deaths were reported.

Lesser events:

• Sri Lanka, Oct 26: 1 dead, 10,545 people affected in 12 districts (Newswire, Oct 26).
• Egypt, South Sinai, Oct 27: flash floods left 1 dead and 1 missing; Nuweiba declared an emergency (MeteoWeb, Oct 28).
• Thailand: the toll from floods since mid-September rose to at least 83, and Phuket had flash floods on Oct 26–27 (The Star, Oct 27).
• Colombia’s Caribbean coast, Oct 24–25: about 376 homes affected in Cartagena, no deaths (Semana, Oct 25).
• Argentina, Chaco and Corrientes: more than 3,000 people evacuated by Oct 26 (PAHO, Oct 27).
• Greece, Oct 28: red alerts in Thessaly and the Dodecanese; part of Platanias village was cut off (MeteoWeb, Oct 28).
• Nigeria: the season’s toll stands at 245 dead and 214,997 displaced, a figure dated October 20 with no newer update (Daily Trust, Oct 23).

Earthquakes

No earthquake this week caused reported deaths or damage; the main activity was a swarm off northern Vanuatu. The US Geological Survey (USGS) rated every event green on its PAGER impact scale.

Source: USGS event catalog and USGS weekly feed, Oct 29. The GDACS feed also lists a magnitude 6.2 off Vanuatu at 21:46 UTC on October 29, not yet in the USGS catalog when checked.

Vanuatu swarm. The M6.9 on October 24 opened a run of 12 M5.5+ quakes in five days, most of them 170 to 220 km (105 to 135 miles) northwest of Port-Olry. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center briefly issued a threat for coasts within 300 km, then withdrew it the same day, with no waves or damage reported (Beinsure, Oct 25).

Tibet aftershock. The M5.9 near Nagqu on October 25 struck the area of the M7.0 earthquake of October 22, the week before. That quake killed 16 people, and more than 12,000 were relocated, Reuters reported on October 23 (ARY News). Injury counts differ: 65 in that report and about 54 in the Center for Disaster Philanthropy update of October 26, which also counted at least 339 collapsed homes.

Volcanoes

No eruption with casualties or evacuations appeared in this week’s disaster reporting. The latest Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report available at publication covers October 8 to 14, 2026, so the alert changes below are about two weeks old. It listed new activity or unrest at 4 volcanoes and ongoing activity at 23 (The Watchers, Oct 16).

Kanlaon in the Philippines, on the ongoing list, sent ash to 5 to 6 km (16,000 to 20,000 ft) on October 10, with ashfall reported in Don Salvador Benedicto.

Wildfires, heat, drought and cold

Fire, heat and cold caused no reported deaths this week, but two new drought disaster declarations came in. Windstorms and tornadoes are noted at the end of this section.

Wildfires. The US National Interagency Fire Center held its lowest preparedness level on October 26, with 8 large uncontained fires. The biggest, the Timber Fire in California, covered 25,350 acres (10,260 ha) and was 97% contained. The US has seen 9,060,375 acres (3.67 million ha) burn this year, 141% of the 10-year average (NIFC report, Oct 26). In southern Africa, GDACS flagged several large fires in Botswana, the largest about 32,629 ha (80,600 acres). In Indonesia’s Jambi province, 5,168 ha (12,770 acres) had burned through October 27 (ANTARA, Oct 28).

Drought. India’s Telangana state declared 365 of its 621 rural sub-districts drought-affected after rainfall ran 17% below normal (Rural Voice, Oct 28). South Sudan’s Lakes State declared a state of disaster over drought linked to El Niño, warning of famine (One Citizen Daily, Oct 28). In Ethiopia, an IFRC plan counts more than 3.5 million people affected by drought in 101 districts (Rio Times, Oct 25).

Heat and cold. South Africa issued a heatwave advisory for Inxuba Yethemba in the Eastern Cape from October 29 (The Citizen, Oct 28). Interior Alaska had about 5 inches (13 cm) of early snow at Fairbanks by October 26 (Nature World News, Oct 27).

Windstorms and tornadoes. Storm Boelo brought gusts of 84 mph (135 km/h) to Machrihanish, Scotland, on October 24–25, per Cotality (Oct 27); ferries and trains were also halted in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (AP via CP24, Oct 25). A rare EF-1 tornado with 110 mph (177 km/h) winds hit Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 24, injuring no one (Albuquerque Journal, Oct 26). A preliminary EF-2 tornado in Requínoa, Chile, on October 26 injured 1 person and damaged 85 homes (The Watchers, Oct 27).

What to watch next week

Typhoon In-fa is the main hazard to watch, with flood recovery continuing in India and Haiti. National weather services and local authorities issue the official warnings.

About this report

This report covers Saturday, October 24, to Friday, October 30, 2026, and draws on agency data (USGS, GDACS, the US National Hurricane Center, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program) and news and disaster-agency reports. Tolls are given with the source and date reported, and often rise as officials reach affected areas. Where sources disagree, both figures are shown. Events that began earlier appear only where their impact or toll changed during the week.

Glossary

• PAGER: a USGS system that estimates likely deaths and losses from an earthquake, rated green, yellow, orange or red.
• GDACS: the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, a UN and European Commission service that issues automatic disaster alerts.
• Extratropical: a storm that has lost its tropical structure, though it can still bring strong wind and rain.
• Lakh and crore: Indian number units; one lakh is 100,000 and one crore is 10 million.
• EF scale: the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates tornadoes from EF-0 (weakest) to EF-5 by the damage they cause.

Frequently asked questions

Why do reports give different death tolls for Cyclone Arnab? Early counts came from rescue teams on the day of landfall, while the state government updated its figure as reports came in from districts. The highest figure, from the chief minister on October 30, is the most recent. Counts may change again as damage surveys finish.

Will Typhoon In-fa reach mainland Japan? Current forecasts take it near the remote Ogasawara Islands around November 1. AccuWeather said on October 28 that it may then stall and curve northeast, with a less likely path west toward the Philippines. Forecasts this far ahead can shift, so official warnings should be followed.

Did the Vanuatu earthquakes cause a tsunami? No. A tsunami threat was issued for nearby coasts after the magnitude 6.9 quake on October 24, then withdrawn the same day, with no waves or damage reported.

Why was the Four Corners flooding so severe? Days of heavy rain carrying Pacific tropical moisture fell on soils already saturated by about two months of on-and-off rain, AP reported on October 24. Saturated ground absorbs little water, so more of it runs into rivers.

Is El Niño linked to this week’s events? Officials in South Sudan’s Lakes State tied their drought disaster to El Niño, and Argentine media attributed floods in Chaco and Corrientes to it. Single events cannot be pinned on El Niño alone, but it shifts rainfall patterns in many regions.

Sources

• USGS earthquake catalog, M5.5+ from Oct 22, generated Oct 29
• USGS M4.5+ weekly feed, Oct 29
• GDACS alert feed, Oct 30
• NHC Tropical Weather Outlook, Oct 29
• NHC home page, Oct 30
• JTWC Western Pacific and Indian Ocean outlook, Oct 29
• NHC, Vance discussion 35, Oct 30
• CPHC, Olana advisory 7, Oct 26
• The Watchers, Weekly Volcanic Activity Report Oct 8–14, Oct 16
• Center for Disaster Philanthropy, weekly update, Oct 26
• AP via Bay News 9, Cyclone Arnab, Oct 28
• Outlook India, Cyclone Arnab, Oct 28
• Down To Earth, Cyclone Arnab, Oct 28
• PTI via Free Press Journal, Cyclone Arnab, Oct 28
• Al Jazeera, Cyclone Arnab landfall, Oct 28
• The News Minute, Arnab toll and losses, Oct 30
• Daily Pioneer, Odisha floods, Oct 30
• National Herald, Odisha evacuations, Oct 30
• The Watchers, Arnab rain in Odisha, Oct 29
• RNZ via Scoop, Super Typhoon In-fa, Oct 30
• Weathernews, In-fa forecast, Oct 28
• AccuWeather, Champi and In-fa, Oct 28
• wetter.net, ex-Typhoon Champi in Japan, Oct 26
• The Watchers, Champi in Taiwan, Oct 25
• Nature World News, ex-Champi in Alaska, Oct 27
• Jamaica Observer, Haiti floods, Oct 27
• AP via Le Quotidien, Haiti and Dominican Republic, Oct 27
• EFE via Infobae, Haiti toll, Oct 29
• Arab News, Syria floods, Oct 29
• Al Jazeera, Syria floods, Oct 30
• The Watchers, San Juan River flooding, Oct 26
• Deseret News, Four Corners flooding, Oct 26
• AP via WRAL, Four Corners flooding, Oct 24
• Newswire, Sri Lanka, Oct 26
• MeteoWeb, Sinai floods, Oct 28
• MeteoWeb, Greece alerts, Oct 28
• The Star, Phuket floods, Oct 27
• Semana, Colombia floods, Oct 25
• Infobae, Argentina floods, Oct 24
• PAHO, natural hazards monitoring, Oct 27
• Daily Trust, Nigeria floods, Oct 23
• Beinsure, Vanuatu earthquake, Oct 25
• ARY News (Reuters), Tibet earthquake, Oct 23
• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report, Oct 26
• ANTARA, Jambi fires, Oct 28
• Rural Voice, Telangana drought, Oct 28
• One Citizen Daily, Lakes State drought, Oct 28
• Rio Times, Ethiopia drought, Oct 25
• The Citizen, South Africa forecast, Oct 28
• Cotality, Storms Austen and Boelo, Oct 27
• AP via CP24, Storm Boelo, Oct 25
• Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe tornado, Oct 26
• The Watchers, Requínoa tornado, Oct 27
• AccuWeather, Halloween forecast, Oct 26
• Men’s Journal, Sierra snow advisory, Oct 29
• The Watchers, polar vortex forecast, Oct 26