The period from the end of July to early November 2006 has been reasonably quiet from the perspective of natural hazards. Most notably, the Atlantic hurricane season has proven – so far - to be much reduced in relation to pre-season forecasts. The Pacific, on the other hand, has seen continued typhoon activity, with seven tropical storms and eight typhoons affecting the region over the period. Of these, typhoons Saomai, Xangsane and Prapiroon proved to be the most lethal and costly, together taking more than 700 lives and costing in excess of US$2.2 billion, mainly through damage to mainland China and Vietnam. Major flooding again proved to be a problem in many parts of the world, often associated with tropical cyclone activity. Severe river flooding affected Ethiopia, and other countries in the Horn of Africa, leading to hundreds of deaths, affecting many hundreds of thousands of people and bringing food shortages and disease. Other floods were reported in Afghanistan, Greece, India, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria (dam collapse), Turkey, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. No large earthquakes were recorded over the period, but a magnitude 4.5 event took three lives and caused damage totalling US$22 million in Tajikistan, while – more unusually – a magnitude 6.7 quake caused widespread damage and economic losses of around US$73 million on Hawaii’s Big Island. Heat waves dominated summers in both North America and western and central Europe, with temperatures in the former reaching a staggering 47? C (117? F) in South Dakota.