2007 Storm Events - floods, landslides, wind
Storm Events from 2005
Storm Events from 2006
11/15/07 -
LA NINA - Indications point to a much drier winter than would be expected from a
typical La Nina.
"The high pressure cells that typically develop over the eastern central Pacific Ocean
during a La Nina phase appear to be setting up further to the north than in other such
winters. This may shunt the northwesterly jet stream to the north, which would otherwise
bring moisture-laden storms into the [western U.S.] region, translating into fewer storms
throughout the winter."
This winter outlook, if it holds up, could be devastating to regions already hard
hit by drought, such as southern California and the desert Southwest. And Colorado, which
is one of the few western states without current drought concerns, could lose some of the
ground it has slowly regained after the severe drought of 2000-2002.
"I am very concerned that Colorado, which is essentially drought-free on the
national drought monitor, might see regions of drought develop by spring."
This La Nina also is UNUSUAL because it came on quickly and strong so late in the
year. La Nina most often develops in the spring, but this one took off in August.
"It was ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC TRANSITIONS FROM NEAR NORMAL OR NEUTRAL IN THE
PACIFIC to a moderately strong La Nina, based on records from the last 60 years."
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - a flood warning has been issued by the National Weather Service
after ONE OF THE HIGHEST RAINFALLS IN A DAY was recorded in Port Moresby.
The deluge began on Monday afternoon and continued till yesterday afternoon, flooding
parts of the city and damaging food crops and poultry in at least one suburb.
Up until 10am yesterday, Port Moresby recorded 143.2mm of rainfall — the HIGHEST RECORDED
FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER IN 30 YEARS.
“This is UNPRECEDENTED. That is a huge amount.” Although the onset of a rainy season
varies, on average an onset was about the first week of December. But this year,
conditions favoured an early onset, although an onset takes five days of continuous rain
to be confirmed.
PNG is experiencing the La Nina season, and the country could expect a lot of rain for
the next three months.
AUSTRALIA - A huge landslide at one of Victoria's biggest power plants - Yallourn
power station - has slashed electricity production.
The landslide has left Yallourn running at less than a third of its capacity ahead of a
week of forecast 30C days.
The State Government will investigate the landslip, which opened a giant chasm and let
the rain swollen Latrobe River pour into the Yallourn open cut mine.
Heavy rainfall this month has been blamed for putting pressure on the mine's wall,
causing it to collapse and cover two major conveyor belts with coal and earth.
Work has started on diverting the river to stem the flow of water into the mine. The
Environment Protection Authority is monitoring the river for possible contamination, and
Southern Rural Water has advised farmers and domestic customers downstream of Thoms
Bridge to stop using river water until further notice.
Consultants were hired last week to review seepage into the brown-coal mine, but there
was no indication the wall was about to collapse. "Due to the significant subsidence and
resulting leakage, the river will now need to be diverted to restore downstream river
flows."
The National Electricity Market Management Company said the collapse would not jeopardise
the security of Victoria's power supply.
(photo)
11/14/07 -
UKRAINE - More than 1,000 settlements remain without the power supply in Ukraine for
the third day since the cyclone. [this is the same storm that sunk ships in the Black
Sea, see next item]
The power supply was fully resumed only in five regions – the Cherkassy, Poltava, Rivne,
Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions.
The situation is more difficult in the regions that were the hardest hits of the natural
disaster. According to the Emergencies Ministry, from 1,015 power-cut settlements, 650
are located in the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, the Mykolayiv and Kherson regions.
The power supply was resumed only in 17 out of 236 settlements in the Crimea over the
past day.
In Berdyansk, the storm left without power, water, heating and gas supplies more than
100,000 residents of the port.
Emergency works are underway in the Kiev, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad and Lviv regions.
The storm that moved over the Black Sea and sank 10 ships was an UNSUALLY powerful
one for the Black Sea. The storm formed over the Mediterranean Sea along the tail end of
a very strong cold front. This front was the same cold front that pushed through the
North Sea on Friday, bringing winds near hurricane force, flooding in southeast England,
and a storm surge over 10 feet high to the coast of the Netherlands. The new storm fed
off the relatively warm waters of the Mediterranean and pushed eastward across Greece and
Turkey, intensifying to 980 mb as it struck the Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula late in the
morning Sunday. Simperopol, Ukraine, on the tip of the Crimean Peninsula, measured
sustained winds of 54 mph, gusting to 72 mph, on Sunday afternoon. The pressure bottomed
out at 980 mb. Kerch, Ukraine, on the west side of Kerch Strait, recorded sustained winds
of 45 mph and a minimum pressure of 988 mb as the storm blew through. On the other side
of the strait, in Anapa, Russia, sustained winds of 47 mph, gusting to 65 mph were
observed. Waves up to 18 feet high buffeted the waters in the Kerch Strait. This was too
much for the Volganeft-139 oil tanker, which was designed for river travel. (satellite
photo)
CHINA - Floods and other natural disasters killed 600 people in the reaches of the
Yangtze River in its May-October flood season.
About 90 million people in 812 counties along the country's longest river were
affected and 440,000 houses were brought down by disasters.
The disasters caused direct economic loss of 43.4 billion yuan (5.8 billion U.S.
dollars).
While no serious flooding occurred along the river, certain areas experienced
RECORD-HIGH WATER LEVELS or heavy rainfall.
Chongqing, a major city along the river, experienced its WORST STORM IN MORE THAN A
CENTURY on July 17 when precipitation of up to 350 millimeters fell in 24 hours in
certain areas. Floodwater inundated most of the municipality's downtown area.
In July, a RECORD-HIGH WATER LEVEL occurred on Qujiang River, a branch of the
Yangtze's major tributary Jialing River. The flood crest at Qujiang's Luoduxi reached
0.33 meters higher than historical records.
11/13/07 -
CANADA - About 156,000 British Columbians remained without electricity Monday
night after a massive storm struck the province's south coast, downing
power lines and toppling trees.
Vancouver Island was lashed by heavy rain, swollen seas and raging winds Monday.
The first big storm of the fall of 2007 was a one-day-wonder, typical for November.
"No doubt about it - these are really strong winds. But what strikes fear in your heart
is remembering what last November was like. It was truly one of the wettest Novembers on
record. People don't want a repeat of the devastation that occurred last year."
Monday's storm wreaked havoc on ferry sailings between Vancouver Island, the mainland and
the Gulf Islands, as winds, gusting up to 100 km/h, bashed white-capped waves onto the
coast. Thousands of passengers were stranded for hours as they tried to return home.
Trees fell on power lines causing power outages in Greater Victoria and throughout
Vancouver Island. At the height of the storm, more than 195,000 homes across the province
and 70,000 homes on Vancouver Island were without power.
B.C. Hydro crews struggled to repair more than 330 separate outages as falling branches
and toppled trees knocked out power to a wide swath of southern British Columbia.
The bad weather was blamed on a storm system with warm fronts and cold fronts north of
Vancouver Island. As the storm moved north, the winds that were blowing from the
southeast veered around to blow from the southwest.
The front also brought copious amounts of rain to the south coast. Rainfall in the
Greater Victoria area was between 20 and 40 mm. Other parts of the Island, particularly
the west coast near Tofino, got between 100 and 150 mm of rain. Up to 100 mm of rain was
forecast for inland Vancouver Island and north and east Vancouver Island.
(photo)
VIETNAM - Floods triggered by new heavy rains have killed at least 13 people in
central Vietnam over the weekend, as victims now face a new threat from hundreds of
escaped crocodiles swimming around the floodwaters, disaster officials said on Monday.
The weekend's heavy rains, brought on by Typhoon Peipah, which had faded to a tropical
depression before making landfall, saw waters rising again in central Vietnam.
"Flood water level keeps rising and it is still raining very heavily now following the
Storm Peipah. We are afraid that the death toll will continue to rise."
Rainfall in central provinces averaged 300 millimetres on Sunday. In some areas in Thua
Thien Hue province, the rainfall reached 1,000 millimetres and in Quang Nam province it
reached 625 millimetres.
"It just keeps raining and FLOODS ARE OVERLAPPING FLOODS." Floods have continued to
plague central Vietnam four times since early October this year, killing at least 175
people, including around 90 people killed in the Storm Lekima and the floods it
triggered.
RUSSIA - An environmental disaster began to unfold in southern Russia on Monday as
tens of thousands of oil-slicked seabirds and globules of heavy oil dotted the shoreline,
a day after at least 11 ships, including a small oil tanker, sank or broke apart in a
fierce storm. Three bodies washed ashore, and 20 sailors were missing when searches were
called off late Monday because of rough weather. Any survivors were at risk of freezing
to death before they could be found.
The heavy fuel oil also settled onto the seabed, surely destroying marine habitat and
killing fish.
The tanker, Volganeft-139, split apart as it was pounded by 18-foot waves in the Kerch
Strait which links the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. Its 13 crew members were rescued,
but 1,300 tons of heavy, viscous oil — the equivalent of 560,000 gallons — were
discharged into the sea.
The Russian authorities said captains disregarded storm warnings, but survivors said the
seas picked up suddenly and little could be done.
“The waves were too high, so we could not lift the anchor. Everything happened instantly.
We listed, and then we sank.”
The spill on Sunday, in a relatively narrow body of water and close to the shoreline, has
the potential to be particularly harmful.
11/12/07 -
RUSSIA - Up to 2,000 metric tons of fuel oil have leaked near the Black Sea after a
Russian oil tanker split in half.
It came apart after it was smashed by 108km/h (67 mph) winds and 5m (16ft) waves in the
Kerch Strait between the Azov and Black Seas.
Four other ships sank in the storm, some of them carrying dangerous cargos, and several
more were in trouble.
The tanker's 13 crew were rescued after several hours, but more than 20 were reported
missing from the other ships.
Dozens of vessels have reportedly been evacuated from the busy Russian commercial port of
Kavkaz because of the storm.
The tanker accident is a "very serious environmental disaster".
The heavy oil is sinking to the seabed and could take years to clean up.
Three other vessels that sank in Sunday's storm were carrying thousands of tons of
sulphur.
Meanwhile, 15 crew members were reportedly missing from a scrap metal ship that sank
300km (187 miles) further west, near Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
Yet more ships ran aground or slipped anchor and drifted at the mercy of the storm.
A second oil tanker was being monitored closely because its hull had developed cracks.
11/11/07 -
THAILAND - Nakhon Si Thammarat in the mid-South declared seven districts as disaster
zones, after one resident drowned and about 100 schools closed because of torrential
rains and resulting floods.
More than 30,000 residents have been affected by flooding.
RECORD HIGH RAINFALL was measured in the provincial seat with 241 millimetres.
"The water level of rivers and canals is still increasing, so government workers have
built embankments to prevent floods with the municipality,"
Friday, heavy rain was still pouring down on the rain- and flood-drenched province.
Flooding on Samui island is still worrisome due to forest run-off and high tides. Local
government workers face difficulty in draining water into the sea due to the volume of
water involved.
Meanwhile, the meteorological department said that a low pressure cell covering lower
southern Thailand continued to cause abundant rain and heavy rainfalls from Chumphon to
the south.
11/09/07 -
CUBA - Torrential rains have caused the WORST FLODDS IN 40 YEARS in Cuba leaving one
person dead and $500 million in damages.
Of the 80,000 evacuated last week, half have not been able to return home.
Sugar and coffee crops have been severely affected.
Officials said 50,000 hectares (123,000 acres) of sugar cane fields had been flooded or
damaged.
Nearly 22,000 homes in the east of the country were damaged or destroyed.
Incessant rains which soaked the east of the country from 11 October to 5 November also
wrecked thousand of kilometres of roads.
Cuba has not seen such devastating floods since 1963.
11/8/07 -
Millions of people have been affected by severe flooding as storms swept parts of
Mexico, the Carribean, Vietnam and Australia in the past fortnight.
Tropical Storm Noel brought heavy rain that devastated parts of central America and the
Carribean.
The Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas saw the worst flooding in the area in more than
50 years, with aid agencies estimating more than a million people were affected.
The storm also triggered floods in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, just weeks after the
region had been hit by heavy rain, adding to the death toll.
More than 70 people were killed by flooding in Vietnam and more than 90,000 homes were
deluged in the central province of Phu Yen.
Just last month 89 people died after Typhoon Lekima triggered floods and landslides and
officials fear another tropical storm, Peipah, could hit the country in the next few
days.
Hundreds of people in the Australian state of Victoria were also left counting the cost
after flash flooding swept through homes and businesses.
A freak hail storm also hit Colombia in South America this week, blocking roads with ice
before melting and leaving the streets awash with water.
Although the individual incidents cannot be attributed directly to climate change,
scientists predict that extreme weather events such as floods will become more frequent
and intense as average global temperatures rise.
CUBA - A massive evacuation was carried out on Monday in the eastern municipality of
Cauto River due to severe flooding.
11/7/07 -
CHINA - Five members of the same family in northwest China were killed on Tuesday
after a landslide buried their house in which they were sleeping.
Debris from a nearby hill buried the house in Niwan village, near Lanzhou, capital of
Gansu province.
Police have evacuated dozens of households under threat. Villagers have blamed
continuous rain for the landslide.
[Best not to go to the link as it got a warning rating from my site advisor, but here it
is if you need it - http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/06/content_7022151.htm]
11/5/07 -
JAMAICA - and the rest of the Greater Antilles - seems to have been oversupplied with
rain over the last four years and has been visited by a variety of weather systems
including storms and hurricanes, which seems without parallel in the memory of at least
one resident.
The truth is that global warming is already changing their weather in unpredictable ways.
Over the past few weeks, in Stony Hill, views of Kingston have been occluded by more mist
/ fog / low cloud than a resident can remember in the 34 years he has lived in his
house.
UNITED KINGDOM - In a frightening scenario that could see large parts of Wales sink,
the Environment Agency has outlined the devastation a major flash flood could cause to
Wales and its coastline.
The EA says a flood could strike at any time and maps show the chaos they would cause to
Wales, without even taking into account the future threat posed by climate change.
Large parts of Wales could disappear or face serious devastation if a major flood was to
strike – and that includes large areas of Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and North Wales.
If such a serious flood were to strike, similar to the floods which battered
Gloucestershire this summer, many people could be left homeless.
With the increased likelihood of storms, the EA says this makes coastal cities on the
banks of rivers which flow from the mountains, like Cardiff for example, particularly
vulnerable to the affects of climate change.
Adjacent areas, such as the Gwent levels and low-lying areas along the Severn estuary,
are already inundated by storm tide and may become uninhabitable as the sea level rises.
“In England and Wales, five million people already live in flood-risk areas and about 12
per cent of farmland and a quarter of industrial sites are at risk.
The combined effects of increased sea-level rises and greater storm surges has the
potential to increase risk of floods in 2080 by up to 30 times present levels...
by 2080 flood levels that are now expected once in 100 years could be recurring every
three years. People at high risk of flooding in Britain will double to nearly 3.5
million. If no work is done, coastal erosion in Britain will increase nine-fold."
11/4/07 -
MEXICO - Some 300,000 people are still trapped in their homes in Tabasco, waiting to
be rescued by boat or helicopter.
Overall, floods have claimed at least five lives in southern Mexico.
The entire air force has been ordered to help bring supplies into the region and move
people out.
Villahermosa is completely overwhelmed by murky, filthy water. The Mexican government has
admitted that the scale of this disaster has taken them by surprise and for those still
trapped in the remote areas of Tabasco aid is still a long way off.
As the massive operation continues, there are now fears that disease could spread and
forecasters say more heavy rain is on the way.
The flooding was described as "NOT JUST THE WORST NATURAL CATASTROPHE IN THE STATE'S
HISTORY BUT, I would venture to say, ONE OF THE WORST IN THE COUNTRY'S RECENT HISTORY".
(photos)
CUBA - As of Wednesday morning, the province of Guantánamo had reported 516.9
millimeters of rain in October, almost 300% MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS RECORD AMOUNT FOR THE
MONTH, 187.7 millimeters. The evacuation of some 1,800 people, the suspension of flights
and the continuous monitoring of reservoir capacities almost 99% full are among the
measures taken in Santiago de Cuba as a result of the intense and unrelenting rain.
In Guantánamo the Pozo Azul reservoir in the Caujerí valley was spilling Wednesday for
the first time since its construction 24 years ago.
In the eastern mountainous region, rainfall of more than 100 mm was reported and the
coffee harvest has been significantly compromised.
INDIA - Unseasonal rains accompanied by lightning claimed 13 lives and damaged crops
across several regions of India's western Maharashtra state.
GREECE - Officials and ecologists in northern Greece were in an uproar after garbage
from neighbouring Bulgaria flooded into protected wetlands following heavy rains.
"Massive" quantities of waste from households and industry were swept into the Nestos
River on October 22 and 23.
"This is the fourth time this has happened ... and we just completed a costly cleanup
from waste coming from your country last year. Obviously the garbage was swept from
disorganised (Bulgarian) landfills after the heavy rains that fell recently," the mayor
wrote.
11/2/07 -
MEXICO - Tens of thousands of Mexicans were trapped on rooftops and others clung to
lightposts today after heavy rains flooded nearly the entire southern state of Tabasco.
At least 500,000 people were made homeless and one person was killed in the WORST
FLOODING IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS in the swampy state.
The floods began last week and now cover 80 per cent of Tabasco, affecting about one
million people.
"Of the 2.1 million Tabasquenos, more than half are suffering from this serious problem
that HAS NOT BEEN EXPERIENCED IN THE HISTORY OF TABASCO."
More than 850 towns have been flooded in the Gulf of Mexico state.
"People are frantic, families are split up everyone is searching for someone."
"The amount of water is shocking. One hundred per cent of crops are lost. The state is
devastated." State officials warned that rivers continue to rise, one week after the
first flooding started.
The floods began last week when a cold front brought heavy rain that caused rivers to
break their banks. The flooding could get even worse as forecasters say a new cold front
could bring more rain over the weekend.
(photo)
CONGO - After days of heavy rainfalls in Congo and Congo-Brazzaville dozens of people
were reported dead and hundreds missing on Thursday.
In the Congolese capital Kinshasa alone, at least 32 people were killed. Some 800 people
are considered missing, while 1,500 families were made homeless.
Brazzaville also reported serious damage. Houses and streets were destroyed, while no
details were given on the number of victims.
11/1/07 -
VIETNAM - Torrential rains drenched many districts in Quang Nam Province Tuesday
while cyclones hit several districts in Thua Thien-Hue Province, seriously injuring 23
locals in the latter.
In Quang Nam, rains flooded some streets under one meter of water, separating Nam Tra My
and Phuoc Son districts.
MEXICO - A week of heavy rains unleashed massive flooding Wednesday in southeastern
Mexico, where tens of thousands fled the rising waters for shelters in Tabasco and
Chiapas states.
At least 20,000 people had sought shelter in Tabasco's oil-rich capital of Villahermosa,
where floodwaters reached the rooftoops of homes, and the governor was urging residents
to evacuate. The flooding, which is not related to Tropical Storm Noel, also apparently
caused the soil supporting a 10-inch natural gas pipeline to give way and spring a leak.
Tabasco state officials said the pipeline had exploded, but that there were no deaths or
injuries.
More than 300,000 homes were flooded, damaged or cut off.
In the southern state of Chiapas, 7,000 people were evacuated due to floods.
In Villahermosa, rooftops barely jutted above the surface of brackish waters flooding the
city's streets after at least one major river overflowed its banks.
"Tabasco (normally) has water on 34 percent of its territory, but I can tell you that
now, it's more than 70 percent water. In 48 hours, our state has been devastated, totally
devastated."
Heavy rains started swelling rivers on Sunday.
(photos)
The floods, caused by a cold front that has wreaked havoc with the oil industry along
Mexico's Gulf coast, were THE WORST EVER IN TABASCO'S STATE HISTORY. Bad weather from the
cold front caused an oil platform to collide with another rig last week, killing at least
21 workers. Stormy seas closed Mexico's three main oil ports on Sunday, halting almost
all exports and a fifth of production. Two of the ports were operating again on
Wednesday.
(VIDEO)
----------------------------
10/31/07 -
AUSTRALIA - Vicious storms with winds equal to a category three cyclone have lashed
towns in central and southeast Queensland.
The broad area of storm cells brought wind gusts of 180km per hour to Gayndah in the
north Burnett region, where four houses were unroofed, tree branches brought down and
fuel tanks tipped over properties.
The area was also hit by heavy rain.
The area's main business centre was also hard hit by another storm, with about 32 calls
for help to the State Emergency Services.
Wind speeds in Emerald hit 144km/h and hail the diameter of a 50 cent coin was reported.
The storms follow wild weather earlier in the day across the southeast.
The WORST FLOODING IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS hit the Appila plains on Tuesday
afternoon – devastating farmers already ravaged by five consecutive years of drought.
About four inches of rain fell in The Hog's Head in a two-hour spate on Tuesday – when it
reached Appila it washed fences away and filled others with debris.
They lost acres of crops. While most of the water flowed away, it had left a lot of silt
behind, along with ruining fences. Because damage was hit and miss throughout the Mid
North it was expected to take a week before the full damage was known.
10/30/07 -
MALAWI - Meteorologists in Malawi are warning of possible flooding during the rainy
season which runs from November to March. The heavy rains would be caused by a weather
pattern over the Pacific Ocean called La Niña. It’s defined as cooler than normal
sea-surface temperatures that affect global weather patterns, with one result being
increased moisture in southern Africa.
Some doubt the accuracy of the forecast – saying past predictions have been wrong.
10/29/07 -
PHILIPPINES - At least five people were killed in the series of landslides caused by
heavy rainfall on Saturday, in the province of Catanduanes, in the eastern Philippines,
officials said on Sunday.
Several provinces in Catanduanes experienced landslides, which blocked some roads in the
area.
The heavy rainfall was caused by a Pacific Ocean low pressure area, which was about 25
miles north of Catanduanes province.
10/28/07 -
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - At least 30 people have died and 100 been injured in
flooding in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Heavy rain caused waterways to burst their banks, washing away roads and bridges and
knocking down power lines.
Some of the victims were electrocuted, others drowned or were crushed when their homes
collapsed.
Officials said the number of people killed could rise as relief workers reach districts
cut off by the floods.
The torrential rain began falling late on Thursday and continued until Friday morning. A
particularly heavy rainy season across a broad stretch of Africa since June has led to
the worst floods in 30 years.
The latest floods in the DR Congo brings the number killed to more than 400. Two million
people across the continent have been affected, with many requiring shelter and food aid.
AUSTRALIA - A FREAK tornado with winds up to 150 kmh that tore through a northern NSW
village was ONE OF THE RAREST WEATHER EVENTS TO HAPPEN IN A POPULATED AREA OF AUSTRALIA.
The tornado rampaged through the village of Dunoon after clipping nearby Lismore, causing
millions of dollars in damage.
Destructive twisters are more commonly associated with the Midwest of the United States,
and RARELY seen by Australians.
The tornado came out of the bottom of a thunderstorm about 4pm on Friday. Large
hailstones and destructive winds were battering Dunoon, Lismore, Byron Bay and
Mullumbimby.
10/26/07 -
KENTUCKY - Louisville had its HEAVIEST TWO-DAY OCTOBER RAINFALL ON RECORD Monday and
Tuesday.
MINNESOTA - the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus reported that the first 16
days of October were THE CLOUDIEST STRETCH FOR THAT TIME OF YEAR IN 45 YEARS that the
observatory has been measuring solar radiation, measuring less than three-quarters of
average. The 18.91 inches of rain that fell in the Twin Cities during August, September
and October SET A RECORD FOR THE 3 MONTH PERIOD - well before October ends.
The drought has been retreating, particularly in the past week, having largely
disappeared along the Canadian border and the North Shore of Lake Superior.
It continues to hang on stubbornly in a pocket of central Minnesota, near Wadena County.
That news is good for the state's farmers, already looking toward next year's growing
season, though the recent rains came too late to have much effect on this year's crops.
An exceptionally wet early fall says precisely nothing about the coming winter.
"The pattern could break any day now, or it could hang around awhile."
10/25/07 -
GULF OF MEXICO - At least 10 people died after two oil platforms crashed into each
other in high winds in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a gas leak that forced the evacuation
of all workers in the area.
58 of 81 Pemex employees and contract workers on the oil rig had been rescued, including
five sailors taking part in the rescue operation.
Pemex did not say what had happened to the other people unaccounted for, but there were
eight helicopters and four ships from the Mexican navy searching the area for survivors.
The accident occurred late on Tuesday amid high winds and heavy seas when the two
platforms crashed into each other.
"Due to wind gusts of up to 130km/h and waves of 6m-8m ... the Usumacinta drilling
platform struck the valve train of Kab-101 platform. Weather conditions in the are have
made it impossible to reach an emergency life boat that has already been spotted and
which we presume could be carrying the staff that was working on the platforms."
The crash triggered some fires around the damaged platforms.
COSTA RICA - Since 12 October, Costa Rica has been affected by various atmospheric
disturbances such as the passing of a tropical wave and a direct influence of a low
pressure system. These events have provoked intense and continuous rain in the Pacific
coast area and the central valley causing floods in the communities of the Brunca, Huetar
Norte, Los Santos, Central Pacific and Chorotega regions. The rains are still affecting
the entire country. The National Meteorology Institute forecasts strong to moderate rain
throughout the entire Pacific slope.
COLUMBIA - A total of 43,200 people have been affected in October by intense rains
affecting almost all Colombia in the winter season which started this month.
Heavy rains have caused ravages in 39 municipalities in 18 of the 32 Colombian
departments.
The main affectations are due to floods that have affected hundreds of houses and
cultivation areas, landslides, and overflowing of rivers and streams.
The Institute of Meteorology and Environment Studies warned that intense rains would
affect the Andean, Caribbean and Pacific regions of Colombia up to Saturday.
Some zones at the center of Colombia would be affected with electric storms and some
other things.
BRAZIL - Heavy rain wreaked havoc in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, causing a mudslide
that cut off the main tunnel linking the Brazilian city's north and south. An average of
180,000 vehicles go through the Reboucas Tunnel every day and its closing caused huge
traffic jams across the city. Five mudslides since late Tuesday had left some 5,000
tonnes of debris in tunnels and there was a risk of more collapses.
The Reboucas Tunnel, more than 2 kilometres long, could be closed for up to a week. Power
was cut off in some neighbourhoods, causing further traffic jams as traffic lights did
not work.
THAILAND -
No districts were left unaffected when more than 10,000 houses were damaged yesterday by
floods which swept across most of Chumphon province.
An active low pressure trough just above the southern region caused the heavy rainfall.
Four lanes of highway 41 in Thung Tako district were covered by 20-40 centimetres of
water yesterday morning, bringing traffic to a standstill.
In the Central province of Sing Buri, already reeling from earlier floods, more than 591
monks in 39 temples in In Buri, Muang, and Phrom Buri districts are facing food shortages
after being left stranded by high floodwaters and a lack of boats.
The Royal Irrigation Department reduced the amount of water being released through
Bangkok from 3,000 to 2,800 cubic metres per second to try and avert possible flooding in
the capital.
However, people should still be on alert for possible floods between Sunday and Wednesday
due to high tides, the city governor warned.
10/24/07 -
AUSTRALIA -
Communities in northern South Australia are counting the cost of flash flooding late
yesterday.
Up to 50mm of rain fell in just over half an hour yesterday, as thunder and hail storms
swept across South Australia's Yorke Peninsula and north-west regions.
Two major roads were cut by the downpour, which caused extensive flooding in several
regional centres.
Crops have also suffered extensive damage, but farmers say at this point it is too early
to tell what can be salvaged from the sodden paddocks.
10/22/07 -
PHILIPPINES - This year the beginning of the northeast monsoon is earlier than
expected. The northeast monsoon is now the current weather system in the country, and
will bring rains to the eastern side of the country until early 2008.
The northeast monsoon is usually prevalent during the period from November to March or
April.
It is also responsible for the cool atmosphere during the last part of the year until the
early part of the next year before the beginning of the summer season.
The southwest monsoon usually brings rains in the western side of the country, including
Metro Manila, from May to September.
Earlier this year, the southwest monsoon had not brought rains to the country until
August, and there had been an absence of tropical cyclones in the country during the
typhoon season, particularly during the month of June and the entry of only one tropical
cyclone in July.
This led to a dry spell in most parts of Luzon.
Tropical cyclones enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains in the western side of
the country. They also enhance the northeast monsoon that brings rains in the eastern
side of the country.
So far this year, only nine tropical cyclones have entered the Philippine Area of
Responsibility.
The Philippines is visited by an average of 19 to 20 tropical cyclones each year due to
its geographical location within the Pacific "Typhoon Belt."
NIGERIA - No fewer than 60 communities have either been submerged or ravaged by a
charging flood in four states of the Niger-Delta, specifically, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa and
Ondo states, in the past few weeks, with more than 120,000 persons reportedly dislodged
following the overflow of the River Niger and the bordering tributaries. The kind of
flooding that was experienced, this year, HAS NEVER BEEN EXPERIENCED IN THE LAST FIVE
DECADES in the riverside communities of the Niger-Delta and the situation was not helped
by the fact that most of the communities do not have foreshore protective walls and there
was no piling or concrete measures taken to prevent flood disaster.
Worse hit is Delta state where at least 50 communities were affected at Ndokwa-East,
Patani, Bomadia and Burutu local government areas. The palaces of two royal fathers in
Ndokwa-East were destroyed in addition to other residential buildings, farmlands,
economic crops and domestic animals in the endangered communities.
THAILAND - Two more districts in Ayutthaya were declared disaster zones yesterday,
bringing the number of severely flooded districts in the province to eight.
The worst-hit areas are in Bang Ban district where the flood rose as high as 2.5 metres.
10,187 houses in the provinces were reported to be inundated by last night.
The water level in the Chao Phraya river is rising by 10 centimetres a day. It threatens
to inundate ancient riverside temples and Siriyalai Palace.
Yesterday soldiers helped build a 400-metre wall of sandbags in front of the palace to
keep the water back.
The weather office said rain would continue to lash southern Thailand until later this
week as a low pressure front moved slowly across the area.
Heavy rains warnings were issued for nine provinces in the South, including Chumphon
where 150 village roads and 15 bridges have already been damaged by the flood.
Officials have been also told to stay alert in 267 areas prone to mudslides.
MINNESOTA - Before the flood of the century on August 18-19, the part of the Upper
Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge that lies just beyond Minnesota City was a
sanctuary.
Now it looks like an asteroid hit it. The woods around Garvin Brook have been erased. A
crushed car sits buried in chocolate-colored muck. A semitrailer container still slumps
in the brook bed, all but buried.
The impact of August's floods on the refuge may not be as jaw-dropping as the demolished
foundations and waterlogged homes along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. But federal
officials estimate the raging waters caused nearly half-a-million dollars damage on the
refuge - blowing out culverts, ripping new paths for Mississippi tributaries and leaving
behind tons of sediment and debris. "That kind of rain event hasn't happened in our
recorded history."
Now boaters must watch out for new sandbars. Fish could have a tough time surviving the
winter. Aquatic plants could starve for sunlight next spring.
The refuge - a collection of islands, channels, forests and marshes - stretches about 260
miles from southern Minnesota to northern Illinois.
The floodwaters were so powerful they forced the Whitewater River over its banks. Before
the flood the Whitewater emptied into the Mississippi just north of Minnieska, but the
volume of water was so overwhelming the river carved a new bed and now joins the
Mississippi a half-mile farther north, complete with a fresh, sediment-built delta.
The story was the same with the Root River near Brownsville, which pumped so much dirt
into its Mississippi mouth it, too, created a new delta.
Biologists aren't sure what long-term effects the flooding may have, but the refuge's
backwaters were "severely affected."
SRI LANKA - A landslide threat is looming in several places due to the developing
inter-monsoonal weather conditions in the island.
Hilly areas in the Central Province could be affected by landslides.
Certain places in Pussellawa, Hanguranketha, Walapane and Kandy subject to landslides
earlier have been mapped out as high landslide prone areas.
In addition, hilly areas in the Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern Provinces have also been
detected as landslide prone and residents are advised to be vigilant.
10/21/07 -
U.S. - A wave of severe weather cut a brutal path across the United States overnight
Thursday, killing six people.
Three dozen tornadoes were reported since Wednesday, starting in Oklahoma and continuing
into Florida and throughout the Mississippi Valley Thursday. Tornadoes were reported from
the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico as UNUSUALLY warm temperatures created instability
not normally seen this late in the year.
The storms that spun tornadoes and dropped pounding hail in the central United States,
barreled toward the east coast Friday, bringing hope for relief to parched southern
states suffering the worst drought in a century.
Tornadoes and thunderstorms had been thought of as being too localized, as weather
events, to tie to larger climatic shifts. But a NASA study this August suggested that a
warmer climate would produce more updrafts and keep more heat energy in the atmosphere —
two pre-conditions to strong storms like thunderstorms and tornadoes.
The weather is UNUSUALLY severe for late October.
This type of "UNUSUAL” weather event could become more and more commonplace if the
atmosphere continues to warm up.
INDIA - Twelve people died and eleven sustained severe injuries in southern India
when an apartment building collapsed after heavy rain.
CUBA - As a result of the heavy rains which fell on Thursday night, focused in the
northern area of the city of Camagüey, the rivers crossing the city overflowed, affecting
the low grounds of the neighbours La Norma, José Martí, El Jardín, Saratoga and La
Zambrana.
Some 130 millimetres of rain fell in less than an hour and runoffs caused people living
near the banks of the rivers to go into a state of alert.
Floods were also reported in Albaisa and Lenin de la Paz, in northern Camaguey, because
of the saturation of the soils and the inability of runoffs in the same proportion.
The Defence Council in the province and the municipality of Camaguey adopted measures for
the possible evacuation of the people living in vulnerable zones.
10/19/07 -
RUSSIA - a storm warning was announced in the Primorye territory on Thursday over the
approach of a powerful cyclone. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry reported that
on October 19-20 the region will be affected by heavy rains and the wind force will reach
23-25 metres per second. The heaviest rains are expected in the west of the territory on
the night to Friday and during the day heavy rains are also possible. After passing of
the cold front on Saturday, northern winds will cause air temperatures to fall and it
will snow.
The bad weather conditions may cause disruptions in the work of sea and air transport,
work of the housing and public utilities sector, damage of communication and power
transmission lines and an increased number of road accidents.
VIETNAM - Flood waters threatened the central Vietnam World Heritage town of Hoi An
on Thursday, drowning at least 10 people and forcing thousands from their homes.
There were also threats of flash floods and landslides in three key coffee growing
provinces in the Central Highlands, where rivers were rising following heavy rains
earlier this week. Heavy rain was falling in Hue, 660 km (410 miles) southeast of Hanoi,
swelling floods that have isolated many areas along the north-south Highway One and
forcing people to move around by boat.
At least 30,000 people had been moved to higher ground in the provinces of Thua Thien-Hue
and Quang Tri, where two people drowned as their boat capsized on Wednesday. The
flood-stricken region is not a significant rice producer, but floods have flushed away
farmers' food reserves.
BELIZE - Rains over the past week have resulted in rivers being flooded especially in
the Cayo District. The result has been UNUSUAL flooding occurring in the Belize River
because of the influx of water coming down the Macal and the Mopan River. A lot of rains
occurred over the Peten area over the northern part of Guatemala and this has also
resulted in runoffs to that Mopan River and has been adding to the flooding situation on
the Belize River. The Iguana Creek wooden bridge that joins Blackman Eddie and the
Mennonite community across the river is still under some three feet of water and it’s
impassable. It has been reported that this bridge has been impassable for the past 72
hours which is A RECORD, since this has not been noted to have occurred over the last
five years. So the waters that have been coming down across the Belize river has been
UNPRECEDENTED in this area.
NEW ZEALAND - Geologists have found that the Young River landslide in Mt Aspiring
National Park is the BIGGEST LANDSLIDE IN NEW ZEALAND SINCE 1991 when the top fell off
Mount Cook in 1991.
The volume of the landslide has been measured at 13 million cubic meters.
The Young River landslide occurred on August 29 and was discovered by a helicopter pilot
three weeks later. Seismic waves generated by the landslide were the equivalent of a
magnitude 2.9 earthquake, and were recorded by seismic instruments in the central South
Island.
The landslide impounded a lake measuring about 2km long and 500m wide. It is about 60m
deep and contains about 26 million cubic metres of water. The rising lake overtopped the
debris dam on October 5 and water is draining away through a natural channel.
Large rock avalanches and landslides ranked with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes as
major earth forces that have been shaping New Zealand’s landscape for millions of years.
“While big landslides are not weekly events, they are a natural landforming process that
occur worldwide."
THAILAND - Nakhon Ratchasima is now suffering from the WORST FLOOD IN 13 YEARS as
more than 200000 people have lost the use of tap water after flood waters rose over 1.5
metres and damaged an electricity transformer at a water-treatment station on Tuesday
night. Many houses in the province are now submerged.
UNITED KINGDOM - A Welsh village has been devastated by a 'tsunami' wave of water
even though it is 20 miles from the sea. Ten people were rescued and three homes
evacuated
when a canal burst its banks - sending a 4ft wave surging through the country village.
Mystery surrounds the reasons why the 200-year-old Brecon and Monmouthshire canal burst
its banks - sending the torrent down a hillside into the village.
Families in Gilwern, near Abergavenny, South Wales, have been clearing up after thousands
of gallons of canal water carried tons of mud and debris into their homes. "It is
terrible what has happened here, and there was no warning it was about to happen.
A huge crater has been left next to one house and the canal has very little water left in
it. It really is shocking, and the residents and businesses here will be badly affected."
"It could be an issue elsewhere. Canals are so old they're not constructed how they would
have to be constructed now. How many banks of canals are leaking that we don't know
about?"
(dramatic photos)
10/18/07 -
SOUTH DAKOTA - Yankton officially received 2.15 inches of rain for Oct. 16,
SHATTERING THE OLD PRECIPITATION RECORD of 1.74 inches set in 1968.
MINNESOTA - Wednesday the Twin Cities BROKE A CENTURY-OLD RECORD FOR THE WETTEST
AUGUST, SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER. After a near summer-long drought, now Mother Nature won't
turn off the spigot. If history repeats itself, the record rain this fall might be a
harbinger of lighter-than-normal snowfall this winter. After the wet fall of 1900, the
winter of 1900-01 produced only 41.5 inches of snow, which is below the historic average
of nearly 55 inches annually.
COSTA RICA - The Costa Rican government declared a national state of emergency
Wednesday after heavy damage and casualties were caused by heavy rainfall over the last
week. The floods have already claimed 18 lives. Intense rainfall added to the rain of
recent months, causing an estimated 80 million dollars in damage. Roads across the
country have been badly damaged, particularly in the Costa Rican south and in the
northern province of Guanacaste.
"The damage to the traffic infrastructure is immense."
Neighbouring countries Nicaragua and Panama and several Caribbean islands have also been
affected by flooding.
THAILAND - Three heavily-flooded districts of Ayutthaya have been declared disaster
areas as the province is opening up fields to absorb water and lessen the knock-on
effects of the floods expected to be felt in Bangkok from Sunday to Monday.
Bang Ban, Sena and Phak Hai districts, which are part of the province's major
rice-growing areas, are bearing the severest brunt of the inundation.
More areas in the province could be declared disaster zones if the floods continue to
cause widespread destruction.
Only last year, much of Ayutthaya remained under water for weeks. Water was pushed into
fields to mitigate flood problems for Bangkok, and the practice is being repeated with
the onset of the flood season.
Ayutthaya and neighbouring provinces were expecting the worst as Chao Phraya dam in Chai
Nat was almost full and had already started releasing water.
River water was rising fast and some 50 ancient riverside temples in Ayutthaya were
racing against time to put up sand-bag flood walls. However, at some temples the surging
floods were impossible to beat.
SPAIN - A Danish woman motorist was swept to her death on Wednesday by a flash flood
on the Spanish island of Majorca.
The 30-year-old woman abandoned her car and tried to escape the rising floodwaters after
torrential rain near the town of Puigpunyent in the centre of the Balearic island.
Two passengers in the vehicle, a man and a baby, were rescued.
10/17/07 -
BANGLADESH - Tornadoes, mudslides and boat and trawler capsizes killed at least nine
persons and injured over 100 across the country while 32 others have remained missing as
heavy rainfall fell, caused by a well-marked low in the Bay which inundated the
Chittagong region.
The low pressure developed in the northern Bay of Bengal and started moving towards the
shore in the evening. It may turn into a land depression and may cause heavy rainfall in
Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions until this afternoon.
All fishing boats have been advised to stay in shelter until further notice. Movement of
vehicles smaller than 65 feet in length on 108 river routes was also suspended until
further orders.
Torrential rainfall completely paralysed normal life yesterday.
Logged water has made movement of city dwellers completely impossible in most areas.
Rickshaws and vans became the only modes of transport for the people stuck at different
places.
The rain also caused immense suffering to day labourers and low-income people. The city
kitchen markets faced a serious dearth of supply of essentials.
Three people including two children were killed and two others were injured in a
landslide caused by the onrush of heavy shower in Kaukhali upazila of Rangamati yesterday
morning.
Sources said a large chunk of earth fell straight on the thatched house around 8.30am
yesterday.
In Bandarban, road connection with other districts was snapped due to heavy rainfall and
mudslide from hills.
In Khagrachhari, over 20,000 people were marooned and took shelter on high land and
structures yesterday as the onrush of hill water and heavy rain flooded 25 villages under
six upazilas.
In Patuakhali, four trawlers with 29 fishermen were capsized in rough sea.
A Kuakata-bound trawler rescued 24 fishermen swimming in the sea.
Relatives of the missing fishermen gathered in Kuakata and Mohipur areas to see if they
returned.
At least five people were killed and more than one hundred injured when tornadoes ripped
through the southern coastal districts and the south-central parts of the country on
Monday night.
Over 100 fishermen were reported missing as 18 fishing trawlers capsized in the River
Passur during storms caused by land depression.
The gale also damaged hundreds of thatched houses and crops and uprooted trees in their
thousands and some electrical poles, disrupting road communication and snapping power
supply in the districts.
A tornado that lashed five remote villages of Shahrasti upazila on Monday injured at
least 25 people and damaged around 100 houses.
10/16/07 -
PHILIPPINES - More than a hundred families were evacuated by the municipal government
following flash floods that damaged more than 50 houses in at least five villages in
Sorsogon.
Lahar and mud flows from the slopes of Bulusan volcano hit the villages of Patag, Monbon,
Cogon, Mapaso and Bagsangan following heavy rains Monday, which lasted until Tuesday.
Residents in Barangay Monbon said they heard thundering sounds before the flash floods
hit the houses past midnight.
NIGERIA - Residents of Sili town in Guyuk local government area of Adamawa State are
now living in fear following a major landslide which destroyed their farmlands at the
weekend.
A previous landslide in the area last occurred in 1964, but it produced less impact than
the one of this year.
This year's occurrence devastated the community and destroyed farmlands when millions of
Naira worth of produce went under the ground as a result of the land slide.
Although no life was lost, many were injured during the landslide.
"Those of us who witnessed the 1964 landslide are deeply shocked at the impact of the
disaster this year. Our forefathers witnessed a similar occurrence in the past but none
can be compared to this year's and we fear that the future ones may be more devastating."
NEBRASKA - A NEW MONTHLY RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNT for the Omaha area has been set.
Total precipitation at Omaha Eppley through Sunday was 5.9 inches. The old record was
5.86 inches from 1877. A RECORD FOR DAILY RAINFALL was also set at Eppley Airfield
Sunday, 1.71 inches.
The National Weather Service reports more than eight inches of rain fell in Cass County,
Iowa since Saturday morning.
OKLAHOMA -
A NEARLY 100-YEAR-OLD RECORD FOR RAINFALL IN ONE YEAR HAS BEEN BROKEN in Oklahoma City,
with about two-and-a-half months left in the year.
A line of thunderstorms moved through central Oklahoma before midnight on Sunday and
dropped 1.4 inches of rain at Will Rogers World Airport.
That brings the rainfall total for 2007 to 53.34 inches to break the record of 52.03
inches set in 1908.
MICHIGAN - Water temperatures on Lakes Erie and St. Clair have exhibited an UNUSUAL
pattern this fall. They were in the 60s in the last two weeks of September, climbed back
into the 70s when hot weather returned early this month and now are in the high 50s.
Smallmouth bass have begun their pre-winter feeding binge, and it is some of the best
bass fishing that some fishermen have ever seen.
LIGHTNING POWER - Anyone who's seen 'Back to the Future' knows how awesome a power
source lightning is. Now an inventor from Illinois is getting serious about harnessing
lightning storms as an alternative energy source.
He has developed a system whereby a lightning's tremendous power can be captured and
harvested. He created a demo model, including a lightning generator that shoots out bolts
three feet in length, each capable of powering a 60-watt light bulb for 20 minutes. Since
an average Midwest thunderstorm contains enough energy to power the entire U.S.A. for 20
minutes, if the idea could be expanded and implemented over a large area, we could really
be onto something here. Even just one lightning strike could power 30,000 homes for a
day.
10/15/07 -
TURKEY - rain starting on the second day of 'Bayram' paralyzed life in Istanbul and
in many other cities.
After the days of drought in summer, the rain shower caused floods. Rain was strong,
especially in Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Western Black Sea. The rainfall BROKE A
RECORD in Istanbul for October. The waves in the Black Sea reached five meters. In
Istanbul, three people died and nine people were injured because of the rain.
SOUTH AFRICA - Storms in South Africa are going to become more severe, an analyst at
the South African Weather Service has warned. And while residents in Mamelodi, Soweto,
were mopping up water and clearing up the damage to their houses this week, the weather
man warned that people in low-lying areas could expect more flooding.
“This year alone South Africa has seen MANY WEATHER RECORDS TUMBLING. South Africa will
have to learn to cope with these extreme weather conditions. They are not going to stop.”
Floods are becoming heavier and they will be a major problem in informal settlements.
Climate experts have warned that there will be “an increase in severe storms, such as
those associated with cut-off low-pressure systems”.
“This will lead to more frequent flooding and consequent damage to farmlands,
infrastructure and inhabitants of flood-prone areas."
The weather service is concerned that the velocity of hailstorms on the Highveld could
increase and it has detected much stronger and more damaging winds during the traditional
thunderstorms that Gauteng is famous for.
Last Saturday a man died in Lenasia when a tree uprooted by powerful winds fell on him.
The storms also caused power failures and infrastructural damage in the south and west of
Johannesburg. Several uprooted trees blocked the N12 highway.
In addition, snowfalls in South Africa are increasing. Johannesburg had its first
snowfall since 1981 and the weather man said that for the first time this winter snow had
fallen as far north as Giyani in Limpopo. People up north are not used to the plummeting
temperatures, exposing them to the dangers of hypothermia.
In August the United Nations Weather Agency said that many parts of the world have
experienced record extreme weather conditions since the beginning of the year, including
unusual floods, heatwaves, storms and cold snaps.
And the global land-surface temperatures in January and April reached the highest levels
recorded for those months.
Africa has had a particularly severe flooding season, affecting 22 countries including
Ethiopia, Niger, Uganda and Sudan.
Torrential rains uprooted the lives of more than 1.5-million people on the continent.
Recent floods in Africa:
2004 and 2005: In Kenya floods rendered 80,000 people homeless. There were livestock
deaths, property was destroyed and thousands of hectares of farmland containing mostly
maize were ruined.
2005: In Ethiopia hundreds of people from Somaliland lost their lives. Many survivors
lost their homes and other property.
2006: In Mozambique 21 people were killed, 35,000 left homeless and many died because of
the increase in diseases such as malaria and cholera.
2007: In Uganda houses and latrines collapsed and crops were damaged, leading to food
insecurity. People were washed away, waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, upper
respiratory diseases, gastroenteritis and malaria were rife. Overall 300,000 people were
affected. In Sudan the Upper Nile region saw about 365,000 people affected by heavy
flooding. In Mozambique Cyclone Favio and associated floods killed 45 people and 170,000
people were displaced.
10/14/07 -
COSTA RICA & PANAMA - Flooding from days of heavy rain left 14 people dead in a
mudslide in Costa Rica and sowed chaos in neighbouring Panama, displacing scores of
people. The mudslide struck poor homes in Atenas, west of the Costa Rican capital on
Thursday in a torrential downpour. Rescuers later found 14 bodies as they picked through
the mud, timber and rubble.
The mudslide engulfed a complex housing the families of poor farm workers. It was the
WORST WEATHER DISASTER FOR YEARS in the Central American country.
Parrita on the western Pacific coast was also flooded when rain-swollen rivers burst
their banks.
To the south-east in central Panama, heavy rain since Friday left two people missing and
more than 100 displaced in remote areas.
Even worse flooding struck across the Caribbean Sea on the island of Haiti.
HAITI - At least 45 people have died in the poverty-stricken island of Haiti as homes
were swept away in floods triggered by heavy rain. More than 6000 people have had to
leave their flooded homes in Cabaret, where neighbourhoods have been completely
submerged. Thousands of families are displaced and hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged
across the country. Roads are swamped and plantations wiped out.
Farming has been particularly affected and numerous crops have been destroyed after more
than a week of rain.
CUBA - There are reports of more than 200 millimeters of rain having fallen in
different locations. The Defense Councils are activated with the prospect of swollen
rivers and flooding. The presence of a widespread area of low pressure in the northeast
region of the Caribbean Sea, together with favorable conditions at different levels
within the atmosphere, was ensuring the increased probability of showers, heavy rainfall
and electrical storms in the eastern region of Cuba.
Las Tunas reported that the region
received 117% of the normal rainfall
for October during the first 10 days
of the month alone. The province of Guantánamo remained cut off from Santiago de Cuba by
road because of the continuous rising levels of La Yaya reservoir, the largest in the
territory. Several points in Niceto Pérez municipality are also isolated.
The National News Agency reported the evacuation of 390 inhabitants from the Río Cauto
municipality in Granma, where flooding has affected more than 1,000 homes in low-lying
areas. It has also been reported that territories linking Holguín and Las Tunas are
presenting a more complex situation.
The Sagua de Tánamo and Mayarí Rivers in Holguín have burst their banks and the number
of evacuees exceeded 2,200.
TUNISIA - At least nine people died and eight others went missing in torrential rains
that caused serious damage in and around the Tunisian capital.
SPAIN - Torrential rain on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast caused flooding that
blocked highways and forced people to flee their homes on Friday.
The Valencia region, one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations, was hardest hit.
Residents of Denia were forced to flee after the Girona river burst its banks.
Valencian towns such as Calpe and Alcoy also suffered flooding and the city of Valencia
closed its port and diverted aircraft from its airport.
On the Balearic island of Ibiza, a kitesurfer was killed when a gust of wind slammed him
into the wall of a hotel.
THAILAND - The flood situation in the northeastern province of Kalasin has eased but
the inundation is reported to have damaged some 80,000 rai of farmland and affected about
50,000 households.
A 50 year-old man was drowned yesterday in flood water while fishing in Phitsanulok's
Muang district, bringing the province's death toll to five.
The flooding situation in the district remained critical, with residents having suffered
inundation for a week due to continuing northern run-offs and steady rain.
Heavy downpours all over the country could lead to flash floods in waterfalls. A survey
found 267 flash flood-prone waterfalls, mostly located in national parks and wildlife
sanctuaries.
Down south, following days of heavy rain, residents of Tambon Nong Chang Lan in Trang's
Huay Yot district urged authorities to inspect a seven-metre-deep and six-metre-wide
sinkhole and nearby cracks in the earth's surface in a rubber plantation, as they feared
it might affect their residential areas.
AUSTRALIA - Lismore faces a damage bill likely to reach into the tens of millions
after a FREAK storm yesterday threw tennis ball-sized hailstones onto the city.
Witnesses said the deluge left some buildings looking like they had been bombed.
17 people were taken to Lismore Base Hospital's emergency department with cuts and
bruises after being hit by hailstones or broken glass.
The storm caused extensive damage across Lismore and Bexhill. Cars across the city were
badly damaged, with hundreds suffering dents and smashed windscreens from the hail.
Yesterday's storm intensified when it combined with a trough off the coast and a
southerly change.
CALIFORNIA - With almost an inch of rain in parts of Solano County, Friday was ONE OF
THE WETTEST OCTOBER 12THS SINCE PRECIPITATION RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT.
IOWA - Giant atmospheric waves over Iowa. Giant waves -"undular bore waves"- were
photographed Oct. 3rd flowing across the skies of Des Moines, Iowa. "These waves were
created by a cluster of thunderstorms approaching Des Moines from the west. At the time,
a layer of cold, stable air was sitting on top of Des Moines. The approaching storms
disturbed this air, creating a ripple akin to what we see when we toss a stone into a
pond."
Undular bores are a type of "gravity wave"- so called because gravity acts as the
restoring force essential to wave motion. "We're all familiar with gravity waves caused
by boats in water. When a boat goes tearing across a lake, water in front of the boat is
pushed upward. Gravity pulls the water back down again and this sets up a wave."
Playing the role of boat, the thunderstorms tearing across Iowa on Oct. 3rd spawned a
train of four waves. Undular bores may play a surprising role in severe weather.
"For one thing, we believe undular bores can amplify tornadoes. Furthermore undular bores
may be a source of thunderstorms." That's right, thunderstorms make undular bores and
undular bores return the favor. "These waves churn up the atmosphere, causing
instabilities that can initiate and sustain severe storms."
Typical waves measure 5 miles from peak to peak and race across the sky at 10 to 50 mph.
"An undular bore passes over any given point in the United States about once a month," a
scientist estimates. [SITE NOTE - the 3rd was the same day that fireballs were spotted
over Iowa.]
(photo)
10/12/07 -
AUSTRALIA - Severe storms hit Queensland again today as the clean-up continued from a
week of extreme weather, damaging winds, large hailstones, and what has been described as
a "mini tornado". A severe storm cell hit the town of Mitchell in southwest Queensland
about 11pm (AEST) yesterday, ripping roofs from buildings and causing extensive damage.
160,000 homes and businesses in southeast Queensland had lost power at some stage since
Sunday.
HAITI - Heavy flooding caused by five days of rain has killed at least three children
in Haiti.
Rising waters have flooded roughly 4,000 homes across the country since the start of the
month.
Widespread deforestation has left much of the Haitian countryside unable to absorb
rainfall, while poor drainage and shabby home construction put many residents at further
risk during sustained rain.
The rain in Haiti stems from the same system that has been affecting Jamaica's weather
for the past few days.
10/11/07 -
FLORIDA - A half-year's rain comes down in 3 weeks -
In Jacksonville, just over 23 inches of rain, almost a half-year's worth, fell at the
Beaches through the last three weeks as northeasters and other turbulence soaked the
region.
The deluge from Sept. 17 to Oct. 5 brought the Beaches' 2007 rainfall total to 47.7
inches. The Beaches typically receive about 50 inches of rain a year.
10/10/07 -
AUSTRALIA - The northern New South Wales town of Lismore was bombarded by large
hailstones today as a severe storm swept through the area.
The state's far northeast was being lashed by a series of severe storms for the second
day in a row.
Hailstones reported to be up to the size of tennis balls smashed windows, car
windscreens, and skylights, and broke roof tiles, as well as damaging the police and
ambulance stations in Lismore.
Damage to a local telephone exchange was hampering attempts to call for assistance.
There had been reports yesterday of larger hailstones "the size of apples", but they had
fallen on remote areas.
The weather bureau said the thunderstorms were likely to produce destructive winds, very
heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones in the area over several hours.
10/10/07 -
CHINA - More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in southwestern
China after a huge landslide dammed a river, creating a menacing lake that threatened to
burst.
The landslide occurred Friday when an estimated 500,000 cubic meters (18 million cubic
feet) of mud and rock tumbled into a river near Guangyuan city in Sichuan province.
No one was hurt in the landslide, but it created a dam 150 meters (492 feet) long,
blocking the river and creating a lake that began to expand as water flowed in.
The lake has submerged about 187 hectares (462 acres) of nearby crop land.
Local authorities began evacuating residents near the site out of fear the landslide dam
could collapse at any moment, and have begun work to drain the lake.
Reports did not mention the name of the river or what might have triggered the landslide.
NEW ZEALAND - Parts of Wellington copped 150mm of rain yesterday – more than the
average MONTHLY total. A slow-moving low pressure front doused the region with heavy,
thundery downpours, compounded by gale-force winds.
Thirty millimetres of rain fell overnight on Sunday, and parts of State Highway 2 between
Upper Hutt and Petone were covered in up to 300mm of water.
The Hutt River peaked at over 4.3 metres above normal flow early yesterday afternoon.
In Wairarapa, gales of more than 120kmh ripped through exposed areas.
Another low is due to move along the troublesome front, bringing continued wild weather
for northern and eastern parts of the country.
While Wellington would miss the worst of the weather, Hawke's Bay is likely to experience
heavy wind and rain.
VIETNAM - Fifty-one people have been killed and 14 others are missing since THE MOST
SEVERE FLOODS OVER THE PAST 45 YEARS in Vietnam started hitting the country's northern
and central regions on Oct. 4. The flooding triggered by torrential rain damaged some
58,000 houses, inundated 120,000 hectares of subsidiary crops, and submerged transport
systems in many areas.
Natural disasters, including typhoons and hails in Vietnam killed 339 people, left
274 persons missing, and injured 2,065 others in 2006.
SOUTH DAKOTA -
A storm on Sunday dropped a DAILY RECORD of 1.5 inches of rain in Sioux Falls, the
previous record was 1.35 inches in 1970.
10/7/07 -
PORTUGAL - Many towns and cities throughout Portugal were flooded this week, causing
the evacuation of school children and the elderly as bad weather affected the whole of
the country.
The emergency services had to intervene and the Meteorological Institute placed the
entire country on yellow alert, the second of four levels.
In Beja, as well as severe rain flooding 14 different areas of the city, it was also
affected by strong winds which caused seven trees in the region to fall.
Meanwhile, in the capital, Lisbon, the Alcãntara area was the worst hit as blocked drains
overflowed onto the roads.
10/5/07 -
CAMEROON - On September 27, 23 homes were damaged by landslide, including vast
farmlands in Abuh village, Fundong Sub Division in the North West Province. Eye witnesses
say debris and boulders rolled down toward the steep hills to meet inhabitants in their
Abuh valley settlements at about 2 pm last Thursday.
The mass movement of land also damaged crops, mud brick houses and fruit trees including
maize, kolanuts and raffia palms. 185 people are seriously affected, with 22 families in
great pain.
Abuh is a dangerous settlement with houses perched on hill sides. Its loose soils,
sandwiched by debris and boulders, often come rolling upon the roofs during heavy rains.
The assistant Divisional Officer has ordered families residing at the site to quit to
safer areas.
UGANDA -
The United Nations is continuing to deliver aid to the hundreds of thousands of Ugandans
suffering from the WORST FLOODING the Central African nation has SEEN IN DECADES. The
latest reports indicate that flooding has spread to two additional districts, bringing
the total affected to 32, and the banks of the Rwizi River in south-western Uganda have
burst.
Water and sanitation systems have been severely disrupted by flooding, raising the risk
of an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
GHANA - The United Nations and partner organizations launched a $10-million flash
appeal for 75,000 people in northern Ghana, where entire communities have been hit by
floods after heavy and persistent rain in late August and mid-September.
Farmers in the already vulnerable Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions have lost
their crops, vast tracts of land, food storage and processing facilities are submerged,
and houses, bridges, schools and health facilities have been destroyed by the waters,
which are part of a wider flood crisis across a whole swath of sub-Saharan Africa.
"Although floods are common in Ghana, this year's abnormally heavy rain has resulted in
flooding that is stretching the ability of affected communities to cope. Food security is
a particular concern in areas of the country where people's lives were already
precarious."
Preliminary assessments reveal an estimated loss of 144,000 metric tons of crops,
including maize, sorghum, millet, peanuts, yam, cassava and rice. In addition, prices of
all staples have doubled since the flooding, and not all food commodities are readily
available at markets due to flooded roads and submerged bridges.
This leaves around 75,000 people at risk of malnutrition until next year's harvest, which
will take place only if irrigated crops can be planted on schedule.
10/4/07 -
CALIFORNIA - A major hillside collapse in La Jolla caused massive damage to the
overlying four-lane road and forced evacuations in a residential neighborhood Wednesday,
as San Diego city officials scrambled to determine the extent of the damage.
One home was destroyed and at least eight others were in danger as the collapse buckled
and folded a 50-yard span of asphalt, leaving deep trenches in the road. Rescue crews
were evacuating residents and power and gas lines had been shut off in the area. No
injuries were reported. The sinkhole in the La Jolla neighborhood of million-dollar homes
cut in a cone shape and was about 50 yards long.
"This area has had some slide problems dating back a number of years."
Street cracking began on Soledad Mountain Road in July and escalated in August, along
with breaks in water and gas lines.
At least three significant hill slides have occurred in the general vicinity between 1961
and 1994, including a major failure in 1961 that destroyed seven homes under
construction.
(photos)
10/3/07 -
INDIA - At least 14 people were washed away in flash floods in Guntur, Prakasam and
Krishna districts in the last 36 hours.
This year, Goa has witnessed its highest annual rainfall in last six years,
experiencing altogether 3264.8 mm rainfall (through 9/23) since the beginning of the
monsoon season on June 1.
They also received 113.8 mm of rainfall during the month of May. Though the monsoon in
the state is supposed to end on September 30, it had continued till mid-October last
year. “But this year, the rain has far surpassed all the records of the previous six
years.”
Meanwhile, the incessant rains in the state would prove to be detrimental to crops,
especially paddy grown in the fields.
10/2/07 -
ITALY - Long accustomed to sea surges which swell their canals, swamp their piazzas
and threaten the foundations of their buildings, Venetians are now looking up to the
skies with trepidation as FREAK rainstorms are blamed for bringing chunks of masonry
crashing down from landmark palaces.
Locals and tourists fled for cover on Saturday as a 30kg (66lb) block of white marble,
40cm wide, dislodged from a window frame at the Ducal palace, close to St Mark's Square,
and fell 20 metres (65ft) to the crowded pavement below. The chunk missed passersby
although flying shards of marble from the impact left a German tourist bleeding from a
leg wound. Days earlier, another tourist destination, the Correr museum in St Mark's
Square, lost a large piece of marble from its facade which fell into an internal
courtyard.
The Ducal palace had been restored just three years ago, but water infiltration due to
RECORD RAINFALL may have done the damage.
After a long dry summer, heavy rains set in last Wednesday, causing floods that closed
the airport and shut down local industry. Old iron rods holding the marble blocks in
place at the Ducal palace may have rusted to the point of disintegration in the heavy
rain.
City officials have already warned of tiny cracks appearing in Venice's palaces thanks to
pigeons which peck at facades while searching for food scraps.
INDIA - Bihar recorded their HIGHEST RAINFALL IN 25 YEARS THIS SEASON with 1531 mm so
far.
Patna also saw a RECORD 74.8 mm rain in two days, 9/28 & 9/29, bringing life to a near
standstill.
"More than three million people have been displaced by the flooding in eight
districts" in September and 88 people have been killed.
The southwest monsoon will end this year’s season with a surplus of five percent
(three
percent till last week) on the back of a scorching late-in-the-season run powered by
‘low’ twins to the east and west of the country.
This RARE rally saw it dump an UNPRECEDENTED 40 percent area-weighted surplus rain
week-on-week with Saurashtra topping the chart with +540 percent in the west and the
Gangetic West Bengal +415 percent in the east.
Thirty Met subdivisions recorded excess or normal rainfall, with deficits being limited
to the rest in north and northwest India. The whole of Uttar Pradesh ended up in the red,
with the Met subdivision of west Uttar Pradesh being the hardest hit at -40 percent.
All six subdivisions ran the deficit almost throughout the season. The break-down is as
follows; Himachal Pradesh (-36 per cent); Punjab (-28 per cent); Haryana (-33 per cent);
west Uttar Pradesh (-40 per cent); east Uttar Pradesh (-22 per cent) and east Madhya
Pradesh (-32 per cent).
Even the latest rally could not make much impression, with the causative monsoon system
in east India petering out sooner than expected.
This year’s rains have been better than expected after official forecasts in June
predicted the country as a whole would receive 93 percent of the normal rainfall. The
surplus monsoon would leave good moisture conditions for winter crops which are sown in
November.
Meanwhile, early indications by international models on weather for the
October-November-December quarter suggest that winter rains would be deficient in extreme
south Tamil Nadu, but above average in parts of central India and almost the whole of
east India.
But rainfall for the quarter in north and northwest India brought about by passing
western disturbances will range between average and less than average. As for mercury, a
cold snap will extend from the whole of Gujarat and southwest Rajasthan to the east over
Madhya Pradesh, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and
the North-eastern States.
Current weather trends in the northwest indicate that the westerlies fanning across Iran,
Afghanistan and Pakistan into west Rajasthan are bringing drying, and a slow withdrawal
of the monsoon and its rain. According to AccuWeather.com, it would seem that between one
third and one half of the subcontinent will be outside of the sway of the monsoon.
NEPAL - At least four people were killed and thousands of others affected by flooding
across western Nepal on Sunday.
AFRICA - Thousands in Africa wait for aid amid catastrophic floods - At least 300
have died in the flooding since heavy rains began sweeping across the continent two
months ago.
The Red Cross said Friday that it had observed a "worrying" eightfold increase since
2004 in the number of African flood disasters it has to deal with.
GERMANY - Heavy rain in central Germany has caused severe flooding, and more is
expected in the coming days. Riverbanks have burst and mudslides cut off nearby towns.
10/1/07 -
BRAZIL - Heavy rainfall in late September caused severe flooding in Brazil's
southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul.
LIBERIA - Floods in Nimba have worsened during a second week of heavy downpour,
leading to the St. John River on the border with Guinea and the Cestos River along the
Ivory Coast border bursting their banks, forcing the two borders to close down.
(photo)
OREGON - A tornado hit just north of the Linn County town of Lebanon early Saturday
night.
Weather officials say the tornado began as a funnel cloud, and touched down briefly in
Lebanon, damaging several barns and roofs, and uprooting several trees.
The funnel cloud was active for about a half hour, but the tornado was categorized as an
F-zero.
That's the weakest classification.
Tornados are a RARE event in Oregon and form when vertical wind speed changes.
---------------------------------
9/28/07 -
VIETNAM - Thousands of households in the Mekong River Delta risk being swept away in
landslides during this flood season as a result of local farmers digging too many fish
ponds along river banks. An Giang has been one of the hardest hit provinces in the region
with 42 areas affected. Tens of kilometres of river banks have collapsed. In Tan Chau
District, about one hectare of land along Hau River was struck by landslides.
The landslides have stretched 20 metres inland, forcing local authorities to quickly
evacuate tens of households from affected areas.
In several river sections in Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, landslides following
torrential rains in the last few days have threatened human lives and property.
Local weather officials predict that rising floodwater in the coming days may cause
sudden landslides. In Dong Thap Province, landslides affected 162km of riverbanks. Local
officials plan to evacuate 800 of the 4,200 households from these areas.
9/27/07 -
NEW ZEALAND - A massive landslide in the Southern Alps, thought to be THE BIGGEST IN
DECADES, has created a 2km-long lake.
The landslide came down near Mount Aspiring on Monday and was spotted by a helicopter
pilot.
The dam created by the slip is thought to be up to 70 metres high and has stopped the
flow of water in the north branch of the Young River.
Scientists say there is no chance the dam created by the slip will burst, but sightseers
are being warned to stay away until the water begins flowing over the top, and the rocks
can stabilise.
There has been heavy rain in the area recently and an earthquake, though it is not known
what caused the slip.
A field ranger says it is the biggest slip he has ever seen.
This is the second major landslide this year in Mt Aspiring National Park.
The slip started at an altitude of 1500m on Haunted Spur and hundreds of thousands of
tonnes of rock plunged 900m to the valley floor, creating a dam 70m high. The dam is made
up of massive rocks.
In January, near Lake Wakatipu on the other side of Mt Aspiring National Park, another
massive landslide about 150m wide and 150m long sent at least half a million cubic metres
of rock and debris crashing into the John Inglis valley floor.
It buried an alpine lake and blocked a tributary of the Joe River.
A geologist said at the time that climate change was probably a major factor with a lot
of glacier melt in the area making many of the mountain slopes in the area unstable.
INDIA - The Bay of Bengal is warming again, with a new cyclonic circulation expected
to spring up around September 30 when, normally, the withdrawal schedule of the southwest
monsoon would be complete.
Early indications are that monsoon might start withdrawing from parts of extreme west
Rajasthan after Tuesday’s ‘low’ over east India weakened gradually and the trough in the
mid-and-upper level westerlies pulled itself out of reckoning.
But the anti-cyclone would now have to contend with a fresh bout of wet weather over the
southeast coast (Andhra Pradesh-Orissa) resulting from the brewing cyclonic circulation.
Worse, a few weather models suggest that the circulation could descend to suitable levels
to set up yet another ‘low.’ The anti-cyclone normally brings clear weather and cloudless
skies and marks the transition from monsoon to autumn and progressively winter in north
and northwest India. Western disturbances then become increasingly frequent and herald
winter rains in the region.
THAILAND -
Some areas of Phuket and Phangnga were flooded yesterday following torrential rain on
Tuesday. Low-lying areas in tambon Rawai in Phuket's Muang district were under 50 to 80cm
of water and about 10 houses were inundated.
In nearby Phangnga, mountain run-off flooded 25 houses and cut off roads and bridges in
Khura Buri district. Several sections of a road through Kao Sok mountain were made
impassable by landslides.
In Bangkok, City Hall said it expected high sea tides to push the level of the Chao
Phraya river up to 1.75m above the mean sea level around 6.30pm yesterday. People living
along the river, and along Bangkok Noi and Mahasawat canals outside the city's dykes,
were told to take precautions.
The Meteorological Department forecast that tropical depression Francisco, though
weakened, would cause another day of heavy rain in the North and the upper Northeast.
The moderate southwesterly monsoon is expected to bring heavy rain across the South and
waves about two metres high in the Andaman Sea.
NEVADA - The BIGGEST ONE-DAY DELUGE to hit Pahrump in years caused washouts in
numerous locations.
"I don't recall ever having that much in a 24-hour period." A few streets still closed
this week from sinkholes and road collapses.
The heavy rain made a dent in the drought. Until Friday, Pahrump had only experienced
0.45 inches of precipitation this year. The last measurable rain had been 0.13 inch on
Aug. 27.
The official total on Friday was 2.7 inches. That brings the yearly rainfall total to
3.15 inches, almost up to the 3.64-inch average annual rainfall for Pahrump through Sept.
30.
NIGER - Torrential rains and menacingly high waters in Niger have displaced
landmines, sparking fears of explosions as the risk of hitting one is increased. Nearly
50,000 people have been affected by the flooding in Niger, one of the driest countries in
Africa, with no end in sight to the pounding rains throughout East, West and Central
Africa.
9/26/07 -
BRITAIN - Tornadoes have caused widespread damage to homes and businesses across the
UK as the country experienced a spate of freak weather.
They struck Hampshire, Bedfordshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Northamptonshire and
Warwickshire.
BRITAIN - Monday, as firemen picked their way through wreckage caused by a tornado
for a third year in a row, it was time to ask experts in extreme weather whether Britain
is now experiencing an annual "tornado season".
The towering vortex of air ripped roofs off homes and factories and was one of at least
five tornadoes which hit the UK Monday.
The twisters struck less than a year after a 100mph tornado in London reduced houses in
Kensal Rise to rubble. The previous autumn, two whirlwinds in Birmingham destroyed
hundreds of homes, hospitalised 39 people and caused millions of pounds worth of damage.
Reports suggested that as many as 11 twisters formed separately as a cold front moved
north-east across England. Residents reported hearing "horrendous" noises as violent
winds tore down trees, pulled off roofs, knocked off chimney pots and, in one case,
overturned a caravan.
"It's nothing uncommon now to hear of a tornado damaging a roof, whereas 20 years ago it
was a very rare event indeed."
THAILAND - Several of Thailand's lower northern provinces have been hit by floods,
swamping hundreds of homes and prompting local schools to close.
The new floods are quite severe, and spreading. Hundreds of homes have been invaded by
the floodwaters and about 100 fishponds and orchards have been damaged. Meanwhile, the
water level of the Wang Thong River has risen with no sign of stopping, inundating many
households.
INDIA - Barely 15 hours after a tornado struck Bagnan, Minakha, Parganas experienced
a cyclone early Monday morning. The cyclone blew away the roofs of more than 25 huts in
the thickly populated area of Bamanpukur and a few residents sustained minor injuries.
Several trees and electric poles were uprooted. The embankment of the Bidyadhari river at
Minakha was also destroyed.
AFRICA - Fresh rainfalls and slow relief have deepened the humanitarian crisis caused
by RECORD FLOODS in Africa which have affected more than 1.5 million people and killed at
least 300.
The worst floods in three decades have now affected 22 countries, displacing hundreds of
thousands and starkly raising the risk of epidemics.
The worst-hit country, since unprecedented downpours swept across the continent in
August, has been conflict-wracked Sudan, where the United Nations said up to 625,000
people could be in need of emergency aid.
Sudan, Africa's largest country, has been hit by several waves of torrential rainfalls in
different regions and the floods have worsened a cholera outbreak that has already caused
68 deaths.
SUDAN - Half a million people have been hit by devastating floods in Sudan which have
washed away homes, drowned thousands of cattle and marooned villages.
With no end in sight, a new wave of flooding has upped the number of those affected by
100,000, and is set to increase.
More than 113 people have been killed in Sudan since July because of the surging waters.
9/24/07 -
INDIA - Continuous and heavy rainfall has submerged Bhadrak and thrown normal life
out of gear. All the roads in the town have become water logged due to lack of the
drainage system. Major residential areas in the town have become submerged. “The people
of the town are habituated with the problem as the municipality has done nothing after
several demands.”
The town has experienced 270 mm of rainfall in the last two days.
Sources said that the highest water level the Hadgarh reservoir can hold is 82.30 mt. Now
the level is at 81.15 mt. “As the Salandi flows through Bhadrak town, the people residing
in the low lying areas may face a deluge."
Similarly the Baitarani river, near Akhuapada is flowing above the danger level.
The people of Dhamnagar and the Bhandaripokhari blocks are facing floods for the fifth
time this year.
Heavy rains continued to lash coastal Orissa for the third consecutive day, even as the
depression formed over the Bay of Bengal has crossed over to the coast, weakening as it
moved inland in a north westerly direction, and lay centred over Angul today.
Torrential rains disrupted normal life and roads in several towns have been submerged.
Several rivers showed a rising trend.
The forecast for the next 48 hours is heavy rainfall in a few places in the state with a
wind speed which is likely to reach 50 km.
9/23/07 -
BANGLADESH - Eighty Bangladeshi fishermen are missing after 10 fishing boats sank in
the Bay of Bengal during a storm overnight.
Strong winds and high waves were preventing rescuers from launching a search for the
missing fishermen.
Meteorologists said a storm was churning in the Bay of Bengal, heading towards India's
eastern coastal state of Orissa. Bangladesh ports have been asked to show storm warnings.
Fishermen who had managed to return to shore said they had seen several fishing boats
sink in the storm.
INDIA -
Three successive waves of floods in Assam this monsoon have taken a toll on its
agriculture produce, destroying standing crops in over six lakh hectares of farmland,
causing prices of essential food items to spiral skywards.
Inundation of agricultural fields damaged standing crops and vegetables thereby causing
scarcity of vital food items and causing their prices to rise beyond the reach of the
common man, particularly in the capital city Guwahati.
Despite government measures to control the price rise, buyers were hard-pressed to buy
vegetables, rice, meat, fish, mustard oil, milk powder, kerosene and the likes, as their
prices have risen phenomenally.
Official sources said due to the first wave of floods destroying rice and pulse
cultivation the farmers resorted to growing vegetables on high land. But their production
was very low causing shortage in the supply of essential food items.
SLOVENIA - on Tuesday, torrential rains in Slovenia damaged hundreds of houses, swept
away bridges and cars and buried a national monument.
Two villages remain cut off from outside help, as a bridge and a road leading to them
have been washed away. Helicopters are dropping food and other necessities to the
residents.
The death toll is currently at six.
GUATEMALA - Heavy rains triggered mudslides and flooding that killed at least three
people and left as many as eight missing in Guatemala.
COLUMBIA - Since March, continuous heavy rains in Colombia have caused floods
affecting 600,000 people in 247 municipalities and 27 departments. Some families who were
originally displaced by the internal armed conflict in Colombia had sought refuge
settling in marginal areas along riverbanks. With the ensuing floods, families then found
themselves swept up into another emergency. "Although the water has receded from most of
the houses, the resulting effects have created a significant health situation. In the
communities there are no basic services, water systems or adequate toilets."
CALIFORNIA - An out-of-season storm lashed Southern California with thunderous
squalls Saturday and wreaked havoc across the region, trapping cars in mud, sending so
much polluted water to the coast that officials warned people not to go into the ocean,
and contributing, officials suspect, to traffic accidents that killed at least five
people.
The RARE storm, the product of a low-pressure system known as an "orphan," moved out of
the area Saturday night.
In perhaps the most dramatic incident, mud, ash and debris swept down hillsides near the
west end of Griffith Park, overflowing a clogged drainage basin, oozing across Forest
Lawn Drive and trapping 14 vehicles.
Most vehicles were parked and unoccupied at the time, though several drivers got stuck
while stopped at red lights. Witnesses described a frenzied scene, with lava-like goop
seeping down the hills and victims racing to their cars to try to escape.
9/21/07 -
AFRICA - Severe flooding caused by torrential rains stretching across Africa is
probably linked to the "La Nina" weather pattern thousands of mile away in the Pacific.
The World Meteorological Organisation warned in July that the combination of tropical
wind patterns over the Pacific Ocean and cooler than normal sea temperatures off western
Latin America could have a "planetary" impact.
The link between "La Nina" and flooding in western Africa has been closely studied since
the 1990s.
"We have found a very close relationship between La Nina and the phenomenon of flooding
in West Africa. It was therefore very probable that a rather rainy season would occur in
the region extending from Sudan in the east to Senegal in the west."
KOREA - Heavy rains hit a number of provinces in the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) this week causing enormous losses.
Since Tuesday, up to 30 cm of rain fell in the provinces of South Phyongan, North
Hwanghae and South Hwanghae.
The capital city of Pyongyang was also struck by over 268 mm of rain in the past two
days.
"Torrential rain and strong winds have caused enormous losses in many areas."
Heavy rains have hit most parts of the DPRK last month, leaving at least 600 people dead
and 100,000 people homeless.
FLORIDA - Wednesday's deluge dumped more than 4 inches of rain on Daytona Beach by 8
p.m., a RECORD for Sept. 19 in the city. The pounding rain knocked down power lines and
flooded neighborhoods.
Constant rain after weeks of unseasonable drought in Central Florida created the
perfect mix to open up sinkholes. Inspectors examined two houses in Lake County with
major cracks to determine whether or not sinkholes are to blame.Just three weeks ago a
sinkhole swallowed an entire kitchen in Apopka. Ten people were renting the home when
the sinkhole forced them out.
(photo / video)
9/20/07 -
AFRICA - Flood zones face more rain - A million Africans already suffering from
severe flooding have been warned of further misery to come with heavy rain predicted from
West to East.
250 people have died and more than 600,000 people been made homeless across 17 countries.
North-eastern Uganda has lost most of its crops to flooding, after the HEAVIEST RAINS IN
THREE DECADES.
"We anticipate that the situation will worsen," with a flood zone already stretching
"from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea."
In Ethiopia, more than 4,000 people are stranded in the eastern Afar region after a dam
collapsed. More than 250,000 have been left homeless in Sudan alone.
In northern Ghana, more than 30 people have died and flooding has ruined the supply of
clean water.
INDIA - The retreating south-west monsoon in Andhra Pradesh claimed 21 lives in the
past 72 hours. An additional fifteen people were struck and killed by lighting.
Fog in September in India? Sounds strange, but it’s true. On
Wednesday morning, Ambala in Haryana, and from Zirakpur to Ludhiana in Punjab experienced
poor visibility due to fog.
For the past three days, Banur residents have been wondering why visibility on roads is
low. They have never seen fog in September. "It’s strange despite such high day
temperature, there’s fog early in the morning." The air was laden with 95% moisture.
Met officials and city-based environmentalists said this climatic condition was ‘RARE’.
"Earlier, we had experienced mist and haze during this season, but fog is rare. It’s been
happening since the last three days. However, it’s a natural phenomenon. Humidity is
present in the atmosphere. Low speed of winds, stable weather and a plunge in the morning
temperature make a perfect condition for fog to occur. Fog can also happen because of
more moisture in the air and a clear sky." "Abrupt changes in climate are expected.
Though fog is rare in September, but it can be due to heat entrapment in atmospheric
layers. This is also a result of global climate change."
AUSTRALIA - Wellington Dam may overflow by the weekend if heavy rain continues.
The dam is south-west Western Australia's largest water resource and is used for
irrigation.
Heavy rains have increased the dam level by 40 per cent since July.
It is more than 96 per cent of capacity.
The region's largest drinking water supply dams, Harris and Stirling, are two-thirds
full.
The corporation says eight of the 23 south-west dams are currently overflowing.
"We had the worst rainfall on record last year, this year wasn't looking much better
until the middle of July and then the heavens opened up and they basically haven't
stopped since, leading to the position where we are closing in on the best position we
have been since 2000...It's a strange thing because even though the dam levels are very
high, the actual rainfall totals for the year are so far down on average."
(photo)
9/19/07 -
JAPAN - Torrential rain lashed the northern part of the Tohoku region Tuesday,
leaving three people missing due to floods after RECORD DOWNPOURS hit some districts.
Akita and Iwate prefectures were hit particularly hard, and authorities were searching
for the missing people and attempting to restore utilities.
Heavy rains prompted the authorities to order 36,120 residents in 14,233 households in
Akita, Iwate, Miyagi and Aomori prefectures to evacuate, but the order was lifted by
Tuesday evening in most areas.
Ten weather observation spots in Akita Prefecture recorded their HEAVIEST-EVER-24-HOUR
RAINFALL through 3 a.m. Tuesday.
(photo)
CANADA - A tornado that hit Elie, Manitoba, in the summer has been rated the
STRONGEST DOCUMENTED TWISTER IN CANADIAN HISTORY.
9/18/07 -
NEW YORK - this year has been ONE OF THE WETTEST – AND MOST EXTREME – YEARS IN
WEATHER HISTORY for the city of New York.
Coming off both the fourth wettest spring and summer ever, New York City could actually
see its second wettest year in history if this year’s strange weather trends continue.
Between January and August, officials measured 46.55 inches of precipitation in Central
Park.
If averages count for anything, then the 23 inches averaged during each of the first
two-thirds of the year would mean we could finish with upwards of 70 inches, well past
the 67.03 inches measured in 1972 – the second highest total ever.
The record for highest precipitation total ever in New York City is 80.56 inches measured
in 1983. "We’re in a pattern of extreme cycles, weather extreme cycles that could
continue for the next couple of decades. We’ve been in extremes as far as record
precipitation. For example, the last couple of years we’ve seen some of the wettest
springs and summers of all time. Severe storm threats have been UNUSUALLY high, with RARE
occurrences happening more frequently, such as the tornado in Brooklyn and the flooding
in Queens.”
Those strange events, not to mention the UNUSUALLY warm winter – in which temperatures
hit 70 degrees in early January – have led many to wonder how global warming has fit into
the equation.
“If you’re thinking about global warming keep this in mind: during the past year it's the
FIRST TIME EVER that just about every single state was averaging above normal
temperatures."
Winter has seen its fair share of extremes too. This past February was one of the coldest
ever, with an average temperature of 28.2 degrees. In February of 2006, a record snowfall
measuring 26.9 inches fell in Central Park, falling within just 24 hours, and breaking
the previous record set back in December of 1947.
This coming winter could be even colder, with the possibile return of La Niña. The
extremes aren’t happening just in New York City.
“We’ve been in extremes as far as the hurricane cycle with super hurricanes becoming more
common. This past hurricane season we’ve already seen two category five hurricanes – some
of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall ever. Dean and Felix were some of the most
powerful hurricanes to strike land, not to mention happening within two weeks of each
other. I’ve never seen anything like that ever."
List of summer's of RECORD-BREAKING WEATHER - worldwide.
9/16/07 -
AFRICA - Some African countries have endured months of flooding.
The severe flooding across Africa has wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and left
many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases.
Scores of people have died and much of the continent's most fertile farmland has been
washed away in what is being described as a humanitarian disaster.
More rain is expected and the need for food, shelter and medicine is urgent.
Some 17 countries have been affected in West, Central and East Africa.
"The rains are set to continue and we are really concerned because a lot of people are
homeless and infectious diseases could emerge. Some of the poorest countries, like Mali,
Burkina Faso and Niger - the poorest nation in the world - are badly affected."
The floods could lead to locust infestations and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera
and dysentery. Countries in East Africa regularly flood at this time of year so they have
set up some contingency plans, but West African nations, which do not regularly flood,
are much less able to deal with the deluge. Ghana has been hit badly by the flooding,
with three northern regions being declared an official disaster zone after whole towns
and villages were submerged.
"It is a humanitarian disaster. People have nowhere to go. Some of them are just hanging
out there waiting for help to come." French military helicopters are helping relief
efforts in nearby Ivory Coast, while officials in Togo are dealing with more than 60,000
displaced people and a wrecked infrastructure.
In East Africa, the brunt of the torrential rain was felt in Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan.
Rwandan officials reported 15 deaths and 500 homes washed away since Wednesday.
(map)
The situation is devastating. "Houses are completely destroyed. In most of these
villages houses are built of mud. Of course they just disappear, no housing, nothing. And
the water takes all of their belongings in the process, so they have to start over from
scratch."
Disasters hit hardest in poor regions like West and Central Africa where people have
nothing to fall back on if they lose their houses or become sick. "If you compare it to
the U.K. or the United States where the governments have the capacity to support the
people in such situations, it is not the same in Africa. Let us face the realities. Our
governments try, we are here to support them, but the resources are just not there."
A worker who has been doing humanitarian work for decades says the floods seem to be
getting worse every year and the climate more unpredictable."Two years ago we were doing
drought relief and now we are doing flood relief. So it is a complex situation."
"People are having to cope with floods that are higher and bigger than they are used to,
and people cope with periods of droughts that are bigger than they are used to. They cope
with extremes of temperature - extremes of heat and extremes of cold. The weather is
becoming unpredictable. It is the unpredictability aspect that is hitting people
hardest." Humanitarian workers say preventing the outbreak of water-borne disease, such
as cholera, is now a major concern. Cases have already been reported in Ghana.
BANGLADESH - The death toll from flooding this year in impoverished Bangladesh
crossed 1000 on Saturday with a further 2.5 million people displaced or marooned.
ILLINOIS - Last month, when some of the worst rain storms in recent memory pelted the
area, was the WETTEST AUGUST SINCE 1895 when the state began keeping track of regional
rainfall data in northeastern Illinois.
The entire summer in the region (June through August) also was the WETTEST ON RECORD.
Rainfall for northeastern Illinois (including those counties from Boone to LaSalle and
eastward) averaged 11.47 inches last month, 7.33 inches above normal, eclipsing the old
record of 11.02 inches set in 1987. From June through August, an average of 20.05 inches
of rain fell on the area, 8.02 above normal. That beat the 1972 record of 19.26 inches.
Many individual rainfall collection stations also set records for August going back more
than 50 years.
GEORGIA is reaping the benefits of Tropical Depression Humberto, which helped Macon
SET A RAINFALL RECORD for Sept. 13. About 1.3 inches of rain fell in Macon Thursday, a
record for the date.
In Atlanta, the 1.64 inches of rain that fell at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport made that the wettest day this year.
The previous record was 1.42 inches on Jan. 7.
MINNESOTA - In addition to damaged homes and muck-covered belongings, residents and
volunteers in the flood-ravaged town of Rushford are facing a new problem - wasps.
The situation is so bad that 3,000 wasp traps were donated. So many people have been
stung that two nurses are on hand at Rushford's command center. The Mayo Clinic in
Rochester has been sending a steady supply of Benadryl and EpiPens for severe allergic
reactions.
Residents say the wasps are making recovery more difficult.
The wasps were likely displaced from their underground nests by the floodwaters.
One nest can hold hundreds of thousands of wasps. And wasps can sting many times, unlike
bees, which die after stinging.
The flood also brought about more mosquitoes. Officials have been battling the mosquitoes
too, but a few nights of below-freezing temperatures would kill them off.
9/14/07 -
UGANDA - The heavy rains in the past three weeks have unleashed floods across Teso, Lango and
Acholi regions and wrecked havoc on the properties and lives of thousands of people in those
regions. People's homes have been flooded and sometimes washed away just like their food stores.
Food crops in gardens have been inundated by the floods and are rotting away. Roads have been
flooded and bridges washed away making movement of people, their livestock and properties
impossible. The people are in desperate need of shelter, food, sanitation facilities, medical
care, clothing etc.
Instead of rushing to the northern and eastern regions of Uganda devastated by these floods to
coordinate governments relief efforts, President Museveni has been in Luweero sounding war drums.
The response of the government to the new catastrophe in northern and eastern Uganda has been
slow, meagre, uncoordinated and visibly wanting. The Ministry for Disaster Preparedness has
openly stated that it has no resources to attend to these disasters.
NIGERIA - almost every part of the country has suffered the effect of the flood, in A SCALE
OF DESTRUCTION NEVER BEFORE EXPERIENCED. From Maiduguri to Maitama, Gombe to Ughelli, it was the
same story of how flood sacked homes, communities, farmlands and claimed lives.
TOGO - Heavy rain has left 20 people dead and 58 injured in northern Togo.
Non-stop rain for several days also washed away or damaged 22,000 huts, more than 100 bridges and
46 schools and colleges, along with 1,500 hectares of food crops, and made 34,000 people
homeless.
ALASKA - More than half the residents of an isolated Arctic village were evacuated as storm
surges threatened to flood their slender barrier island Thursday, the latest chapter in their
losing battle against the sea.
With no road system within hundreds of miles of Kivalina, about 100 people, mostly seniors and
children, boarded small propeller planes to the regional hub city of Kotzebue. More than 100
others embarked on a grueling 70-mile nighttime journey by boat, all-terrain vehicle and bus to
shelter at the mountain headquarters of a zinc mine.
The National Weather Service predicted storm surges Thursday afternoon as the tide rises and
winds strengthen to 25-40 mph.
It was the only inhabited area under the flood warning along the Chukchi Sea, but is one of three
villages along Alaska's storm-battered western coast that probably will have to be moved within
the next 10 to 15 years because of erosion. "The people have lost their peace of mind. Since the
village started eroding, we have lost a lot of land and people have become fearful of the fall
storms."
A storm last year tore away a portion of a wall soon after it was completed.
OKLAHOMA - RECORD RAINFALL caused severe flooding in the southwest part of Oklahoma City.
Between 2 and 5 inches of rain fell in a two- to three-hour period early Monday.
Between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., 2.73 inches of rain fell at Will Rogers World Airport. That broke the
mark for Sept. 10 of 2.4 inches that had stood since 1925.
But weather officials said additional rainfall had increased the day's total to 4.82 inches by
6:45 a.m. and more was falling.
The total was also the second greatest September daily precipitation total on record behind the
7.53 inches of Sept. 22, 1970.
Thus far, the annual precipitation for Oklahoma City stands at 49.17 inches, ranking as the
second wettest year on record behind the 52.03 inches of 1908.
Oklahoma City's weather records date back to November 1891.
9/13/07 -