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Intense Rains Cause Extensive Flooding In South Africa; The War In Ukraine Threatens Widespread Food Insecurity; Another Benefit To Exercise
Aired April 15, 2022 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: You made it to Friday. Awesome. We are exactly halfway through the month of April and we`re glad you found time to watch
our show. I`m Carl Azuz.
One of the worst storms in the history of South Africa, that`s how a local government on the nation`s east coast describes a subtropical system named
Issa. It was a slow-moving storm. It hit the province of KwaZulu-Natal, which includes the city of Durban, home to more than 3 million people and
Issa`s sluggish pace gave it plenty of time to drop heavy rains on the region. They began on Monday and brought several months` worth of
precipitation to the area over just a few days.
So, flooding along South Africa`s East Coast has been tremendous. Mudslides have flowed downhill. Buildings have collapsed. Cracks widened into deep
fissures destroying roads. Homes have been lost and officials say more than 300 people have been killed.
Rescue teams have been digging through mud and rubble to save lives. Most of the shipping containers that arrive in Southern Africa are processed
through the port of Durban, and when the weakened ground gave way, a large stack of containers could be seen collapsing into the muddy waters around
it. Electrical crews have been working around the clock to restore power, but the flooding has been so bad around some stations that workers haven`t
been able to get to them.
Officials say water mains have also been damaged and the local government is asking for the South African national defense force to help provide
support from the air.
Is there any end in sight? Well, the rain did let up for a while on Thursday, bringing some relief. But with a cold front expected to stall
over South Africa`s east coast this weekend, more rain is in the forecast.
Unfortunately, this isn`t the only disaster threatening the African continent. Another one that could become widespread stems from a conflict
that`s thousands of miles north.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The early starts and the intense work at the Phillips Attiquila (ph) bakery in Lagos
used to be worth it, used to be profitable.
ABIGAIL OLUFUNMILAYO PHILLIPS, BAKERY MANAGER: So entirely this year, precisely around the time of the bombing of Ukraine, it has affected the
supply of yeast, which has affected our primary item of production, which is a white wheat loaf. Our flow has been very expensive. The prices are
changing constantly.
MCKENZIE: Now, they can only afford to produce half of what they did and each tin gets less dough.
This war is horrifying for Ukraine`s people, it could be devastating for global food security.
Russia and Ukraine are agricultural export powerhouses. On the field of battle, farmers will struggle to plant crops. With export ports blockaded
by Russian warships, it has pushed the prices even higher.
So, the 10 hours Mariam Arikoke (ph) spends selling bread won`t be enough to feed her two children. She says customers don`t have the cash anymore.
They often refuse to pay the going rate.
And even on the fertile slopes of Mount Kenya, they are hurting.
Caroline Kimarua (ph) had to slash a workforce the cost of fertilizer for her tea and coffee plantations has doubled in recent months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have no money to buy that fertilizer at that high cost.
MCKENZIE: And Russia is one of the world`s biggest fertilizer producers. Sanctions and trade disruptions are likely to push prices even higher.
Could this be any worse timed?
WANDILE SIHLOBO, CHIEF ECONOMIST, AGRICULTURE BUSINESS CHAMBER OF SOUTH AFRICA: The war is starting at one of the worst times because we were
already thinking we are in a recovery mode. On top of that, there were already inflation pressures that were across the world. Africans are
spending a lot on fuel and spending a lot on food. Then in this current moment, this is a tough time for the continent.
MCKENZIE: The impact of this conflict is coming on top of already soaring global grain prices. And if you look at this map over here,, of course,
countries across the world could feel the pain, but economists point to specific African countries like Senegal, which imports more than percent of
its wheat from Ukraine and Russia and Somalia which imports more than 90 percent.
And in Somalia, already suffering from generational drought if the rains fail again, the war in Europe could push this crisis into a catastrophe
even into famine. Aid agencies depend heavily on grain from Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
Who invented the exercise called the burpee?
James Naismith, Vince Lombardi, Pat Summitt, or Royal Burpee?
Yes, it was an exercise physiologist and YMCA director named Royal Burpee who brought us the exercise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Whether or not burpees are part of your routine, new research suggests even a little exercise has another benefit to our health. It might
significantly lower the risk of depression.
First, how much is a little exercise? Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends Americans spend two and a half hours every week
taking part in an aerobic activity, like a fast-paced walk. Runners can cut that time in half. And in addition, the CDC says we should work out all
major muscle groups twice a week.
The benefits are well-documented. Exercise can lower stress reduce anxiety improve sleep protect us against heart problems and diabetes. But new
research that looked at 15 other studies found that adults who walked 75 minutes a week, half the government`s recommended level, had a risk of
depression that was 18 percent lower than those who don`t exercise at all. The risk was 25 percent lower for people who followed the recommended
amount but working out more than that didn`t improve depression rates.
So, what`s the big conclusion here? In short, we should get off the couch and move. The authors of the study which was published this week in the
journal "JAMA Psychiatry" say it can help health experts give guidance to people who can`t find the time to follow the CDC`s recommendations.
(MUSIC)
AZUZ: Eight years ago, a rock smacked into the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea. Cool story, bro, but this was CNEOS 2014-01-08, what
researchers believe was a meteor and an interstellar one at that. Meaning it`s thought to have come from outside the solar system. They haven`t
actually seen or examined it so how do they know any of this?
Well, Amir Suraj, the person who first observed it, calculated that it was traveling at 37.3 miles per second. And when he mapped out its trajectory,
he found this meteor wasn`t orbiting the sun as others do but that it probably came from outside the solar system.
Years after his discovery was made, U.S. Space Command just confirmed the meteor was likely interstellar. Scientists hope to publish their findings
and maybe get the chance to find the rock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: We get questions here all the time about comets, asteroids and meteors, meteorites. What`s the difference?
Well, let`s start in space and work our way all the way down to the surface. A comet is a snowball. It`s a piece of ice. Now the ice is mainly
frozen gas not water but there could be dust and rocks and things inside the comet. Haley`s Comet, now NASA knows of about 3,600 other comets than
that one out there.
Closer in in the asteroid belt, these are rocks, not gas. They could be metal as well but they are hard surfaces and sometimes they come out of the
asteroid belt get closer to the surface of the earth or at least our atmosphere.
If one or a piece of a smaller one called a meteoroid hits the surface of the atmosphere, it turns into a meteor. It gets bright because it hits our
atmosphere and begins to burn up. If it doesn`t make its way all the way down to the surface it turns into a shooting star.
Now if it does make its way all the way down to the surface of the earth and hits the ground and you can pick it up, that is a meteorite.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Of course, if they couldn`t, they could have snagged a midnight snack. It`s like delivery with Uber bleats. There`s mutton wrong with
haggis, true, some might lambaste or completely shun the idea saying you can`t woolly be serious, but it`s tough to bleed if you can stomach it.
Pendleton High School in Pendleton, Oregon, gets today`s shout out. Carl, how did they do that? They subscribed and left a comment on our YouTube
channel.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
END
