Earth Changes and the Pole Shift
Wild Weather, the Wobble Effect
|
Weather: |
Tides and Whirlpools:
|
"We warned at the start of ZetaTalk, in 1995, that unpredictable weather extremes, switching about from drought to deluge, would occur and increase on a lineal basis up until the pole shift. Where this occurred steadily, it has only recently become undeniable. ZetaTalk, and only ZetaTalk, warned of these weather changes, at that early date. Our early warnings spoke to the issue of global heating from the core outward, hardly Global Warming, a surface or atmospheric issue, but caused by consternation in the core. Affected by the approach of Planet X, which was by then starting to zoom rapidly toward the inner solar system for its periodic passage, the core was churning, melting the permafrost and glaciers and riling up volcanoes. When the passage did not occur as expected in 2003 because Planet X had stalled in the inner solar system, we explained the increasing weather irregularities in the context of the global wobble that had ensued - weather wobbles where the Earth is suddenly forced under air masses, churning them. This evolved by 2005 into a looping jet stream, loops breaking away and turning like a tornado to affect the air masses underneath. Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, droughts had become more intractable and deluges positively frightening, temperature swings bringing snow in summer in the tropics and searing heat in Artic regions, with the violence of storms increasing in number and ferocity."
From the ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for February 4, 2012:
The wobble seems to have changed, as the temperature in Europe suddenly plunged after being like an early Spring, Alaska has its coldest temps ever while the US and much of Canada is having an extremely mild winter. India went from fatal cold spell to balmy again. Has the Earth changed position vs a vs Planet X to cause this? [and from another] Bitter cold records broken in Alaska - all time coldest record nearly broken, but Murphy's Law intervenes [Jan 30] http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/30/bitter-cold-records-broken-in-alaska Jim River, AK closed in on the all time record coldest temperature of -80°F set in 1971, which is not only the Alaska all-time record, but the record for the entire United States. Unfortunately, it seems the battery died in the weather station just at the critical moment. While the continental USA has a mild winter and has set a number of high temperature records in the last week and pundits ponder whether they will be blaming the dreaded "global warming" for those temperatures, Alaska and Canada have been suffering through some of the coldest temperatures on record during the last week.
There has been no change in the wobble pattern, the wobble has merely become more severe. Nancy noted a Figure 8 format when the Earth wobble first became noticeable, in early 2005, after Planet X moved into the inner solar system at the end of 2003. The Figure 8 shifted along to the east a bit on the globe between 2005 and 2009, (the last time Nancy took its measure) as Planet X came closer to the Earth, encountering the magnetic N Pole with a violent push earlier in the day. But the pattern of the Figure 8 remained essentially the same. So what changed recently that the weather patterns became noticeably different in late January, 2012?
The N Pole is pushed away when it comes over the horizon, when the noon Sun is centered over the Pacific. This regularly puts Alaska under colder air, with less sunlight, and thus the historically low temps there this January, 2012 as the wobble has gotten stronger. But by the time the Sun is positioned over India, the N Pole has swung during the Figure 8 so the globe tilts, and this tilt is visible in the weather maps from Asia. The tilt has forced the globe under the hot air closer to the Equator, warming the land along a discernable tilt demarcation line.
The next loop of the Figure 8 swings the globe so that the N Pole moves in the other direction, putting the globe again at a tilt but this time in the other direction. This tilt is discernable in weather maps of Europe, again along a diagonal line. Depending upon air pressure and temperature differences, the weather on either side of this diagonal line may be suddenly warm or suddenly cold. The tilt and diagonal line lingers to affect much of the US and Canada, but the Figure 8 changes at this point to be an up and down motion, pulling the geographic N Pole south so the US is experiencing a warmer than expected winter under a stronger Sun. Then the cycle repeats, with the magnetic N Pole of Earth pushed violently away again as the Sun is positioned over the Pacific.
From the ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for April 6, 2013:
Would the Zetas be able to let us know what is causing the early break-up of the Arctic Ice, the ice seems to have taken on a swirling pattern at the same time, would this be wobble related? [and from another] http://www.vancouversun.com/news/national/Canada+Arctic+cracks+spectacular+event/8185609/story.html The ice in Canada’s western Arctic ripped open in a massive “fracturing event” this spring that spread like a wave across 1,000 kilometres of the Beaufort Sea. Huge leads of water – some more than 500 kilometres long and as much as 70 kilometres across – opened up from Alaska to Canada’s Arctic islands as the massive ice sheet cracked as it was pushed around by strong winds and currents. It took just seven days for the fractures to progress across the entire area from west to east. [and from another] http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80752&src=iotdrss A high-pressure weather system was parked over the region, producing warmer temperatures and winds that flowed in a southwesterly direction. That fueled the Beaufort Gyre, a wind-driven ocean current that flows clockwise. The gyre was the key force pulling pieces of ice west past Point Barrow, the northern nub of Alaska that protrudes into the Beaufort Sea.
The Figure 8 formed by the N Pole during the daily Earth wobble has shifted somewhat to the East, due to Planet X positioned more to the right of the Earth during its approach. This was anticipated, and well described in ZetaTalk, the Earth crowding to the left in the cup to escape the approach of Planet X, so the angle between these two planets would change slightly. This shift of the Figure 8 to the East is due to the push against the Earth’s magnetic N Pole occurring sooner each day than prior. Thus instead of occurring when the Sun is high over the Pacific, over New Zealand, it is now occurring when the Sun is high over Alaska. All the wobble points have shifted eastward accordingly.
This has brought a lingering Winter to the western US, and a changed sloshing pattern to the Arctic waters. Instead of Pacific waters being pushed through the Bering Straits into the Arctic when the polar push occurs, the wobble is swinging the Arctic to the right, and then later to the left, creating a circular motion in the waters trapped in the Arctic. Since the Earth rotates counterclockwise, the motion also takes this path. This is yet another piece of evidence that the establishment is hard pressed to explain. They are attempting to ascribe this to high pressure and wind, all of which are not new to the Arctic, but this circular early breakup of ice in the Arctic is new.
SongStar101
Aug in Europe Swelters Under a Heat Wave Called ‘Lucifer’
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/world/europe/europe-heat-wave.html
Animal rights groups in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, urged citizens to place bowls of water outside their buildings and in parks for stray dogs.
High temperatures this summer have brought punishing heat to regions in the United States like the Pacific Northwest — where generations had shunned air-conditioning — reaching as high as 104 in Seattle and 107 in Portland, Ore. In parts of Asia, like Pakistan, a blast of scorching weather this year also had people there reaching for comparisons to hell on earth as records fell.
Continue reading the main storyAdvertisement
Experts say it’s all part of a broader trend: Summers are, indeed, getting hotter. Here is what our correspondents across Europe reported about the heat on the Continent.
Sun-kissed Italy has become sun-cursed. With temperatures in recent days regularly rising north of 100 degrees, a nationwide drought leaving rivers and mouths dry and countryside kindling and arsonists combining to ignite the landscape, Italians are, well, boiling.
Farmers are lamenting more than $1 billion in revenue lost to drought and singed fields. Firefighters are busy. Packs of gum are melting in their wrappers.
In Rome, the heat wave has coincided with a meltdown of public services, including public transport. The city’s older residents bunch together in the narrow shade of bus stop signs waiting for buses that are late or out of service.
On trams without air-conditioning, women fanned themselves and children, slicked with sweat, across the aisle.
(In Italy, air-conditioning is viewed, even by doctors in offices without air-conditioning, as a malevolent, unnatural force responsible for stiff necks, respiratory ailments and anything else not easily diagnosable. Taxi drivers refuse to turn it on as a public health service.)
In Venice, tourists are cramming with their suitcases onto the city’s water buses, their arms squeezed clammily together. Tempers are running as high as the temperatures. On a recent afternoon, a water bus driver instructed a woman to carry her suitcase to the lower deck.
“I can’t,” the woman, visibly sweating, snapped. “I’m old!”
Italians who can do it have escaped to the seaside, where they have summer houses or apartments or spots in camping ports. The beaches on the western coast of Tuscany are packed with Italians wading up to their knees and splashing their shoulders.
On Sunday afternoon, in Castiglione della Pescaia, on the coast of Maremma, the manager of a restaurant apologetically explained that the air-conditioning wasn’t working because the air was too hot to be conditioned.
JASON HOROWITZ
Trains slow to a crawl
In Romania, two people died from the heat last week — a 45-year-old man working in a field in the northeast part of the country and a 60-year-old man along the Black Sea coast. In Bucharest, the government warned people to stay indoors during the hottest hours.
Trucks and heavy traffic were ordered off the main highways over the weekend. Trains had also been running slower than usual in Romania because of the heat.
But by Sunday, the hottest of the weather had pushed to the south, and only two of Romania’s southernmost counties were still under a “red alert” warning for high temperatures.
In southern Serbia, the heat got so bad that some train tracks warped and service had to be suspended.
In Slovenia, which hugs the eastern edge of the Alps, the ski resort of Vogel saw its first “tropical night” on Wednesday, marking the first time at that altitude (1,500 meters, or about 4,920 feet) that overnight temperatures failed to dip below 68 degrees.
RICK LYMAN
The pain in Spain
About half of Spain was placed under an emergency alert over the weekend because of the heat wave, as forecasts predicted temperatures of up to 111 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Celsius).
In the southern city of Córdoba, the temperature reached almost 113 degrees on Friday afternoon. However, no major incident was reported, and the continuing high temperatures are slightly milder than that experienced in mid-July in Spain, when the temperature reached a record of almost 117 degrees in Córdoba.
RAPHAEL MINDER
Step away from the alcohol
The public health institute in Serbia’s capital offered residents simple instructions for beating the heat:
• Keep wet towels on the windows if you don’t have air-conditioning.
• Avoid physical exertion.
• Avoid alcohol.
No relief at nighttime
The heat wave that hit southeastern France throughout the week increased pollution levels. The authorities also issued safety warnings on proper hydration as thousands of incoming and departing vacationers clogged roads across the region.
Corsica was hit especially hard. Nighttime offered no respite to inhabitants of Marignana, a village on the island where the temperature stayed at nearly 87 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday night into Tuesday.
On Wednesday, France’s national electricity provider announced that energy consumption on the island had reached a record high the previous night.
The French Riviera was not spared either, especially inland. In Puget-Théniers, a village about 25 miles northwest of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes Department, the national weather forecaster registered a record high of 104 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday.
In several areas of the neighboring Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Department, local authorities prohibited irrigating land, watering lawns or filling up swimming pools between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
In the port of Marseille, a dozen students were hired by the town hall to check in on the city’s older residents by calling them or visiting their homes, a summertime measure that was begun in 2003 after a particularly deadly heat wave.
On Sunday, however, the national weather forecaster lifted its heat-wave warning, as temperatures decrease across the region.
AURELIEN BREEDEN
Burning up, literally
Summer means the start of a dangerous dry season for many parts of Europe. In Portugal, a raging forest fire in June killed scores of people, some of whom were trapped in their cars, and forced many to flee their homes. And last month, fires forced the evacuation of over 20,000 in southern France.
Wildfires revisited parts of France this week, burning for days near the town of Palneca, and torching more than 400 acres of forest.
On Friday morning, a wildfire in the southern Greek island of Kythira, southwest of Athens, led to the evacuation of a village and power cuts.
It was contained but flared again on Saturday as the wind picked up, reports said. No homes have been reported damaged and there are no reports of fatalities.
Temperatures were forecast to reach 108 degrees in parts of mainland Greece over the weekend.
Hail as big as tennis balls
Polish officials have been warning of possible infrastructure failures as the country’s electricity demand set a record for a summer morning at 23.82 gigawatts last Tuesday.
At the peak of the heat wave, employers in public administrations in several communes in the east and southeast of Poland ordered their employees to leave work two hours early.
Scorching temperatures also caused dramatic weather breakdowns, including strong storms that brought a whirlwind, as well as hail the size of tennis balls, injuring dozens of people across the country.
JOANNA BERENDT
What heat wave?
Of course, there were some parts of Europe (London, anyone?) that have escaped the blistering heat.
=====================================
Over the past week!
http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/04/heatwave-lucifer-is-making-europe-hot...
Aug 8, 2017
KM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4770720/Massive-menacing-cl...
Fognado! Massive cloud of mist suddenly engulfs Californian beach, blotting out the sun, sending sand and umbrellas flying
An enormous, menacing cloud of mist suddenly engulfed a Californian beach, blotting out the sun and sending sand and umbrellas flying in what resembled an Armageddon-like nature event.
The all-engulfing cloud approached with a steely menace on the Natural Bridges Beach in Santa Cruz last Wednesday, blocking out the sun and nudging seabirds into a loud squawking frenzy.
'It was really hot in Santa Cruz, so I went down to Natural Bridges Beach. About five minutes after I sat down, the sky got dark, the wind picked up, and a huge fog cloud rolled in fast,' the unnamed person who recorded the footage said.
'Umbrellas were flying, sand was pelting me in the face and people were quickly leaving the beach. After only a few minutes, the fog cloud passed and the sun came out.'
In the astonishing video, the enormous cloud blocks out the sun, nudging seabirds into loud squawking action as they suddenly take to the sky and wheel about in the air, investigating this strange new atmosphere.
But despite the menacing clouds, beach-goers seem relatively unperturbed at the start and continue with their seaside recreation, paddling and playing with balls on the shore.
But the wind then whips-up into a storm-like frenzy and towels flap violently in the gusts.
The all-engulfing cloud approached with a steely menace on the Natural Bridges Beach in Santa Cruz last Wednesday like an avalanche crashing down a mountain
The sky went dark as it rolled over the beach like an Armageddon-like nature event
But almost as soon as it arrived, the strange mist leaves, blowing away from the beach and leaving the sunlight stream through to earth once more.
Reaction was predictably animated online after the video was shared on YouTube.
James Austria wrote: 'There's an alien spaceship inside that dense cloud.'
And Chrome Who wrote: 'It's the end of the world.'
The wind whipped-up into a sudden frenzy and sand blew about beach-goers
But almost as suddenly as it arrived, the strange cloud departed once more and blew away
Aug 9, 2017
KM
http://strangesounds.org/2017/08/two-rare-wildfires-greenland.html
Unprecedented!
How can you imagine a fire on Greenland as three-quarters of the island is covered by a permanent ice sheet, and permafrost is found on most of the rest of the island. This is why it is very unusual, and possibly unprecedented, that two wildfires are burning on the giant island.
The fires are near Sisimiut in Western Greenland north of the Arctic Circle. They were first spotted from an airplane on August 3, 2017.
These fires appear to be peatland fires, as there are low grass, some shrub, and lots of rocks on the western edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet. They are likely occurring in areas of degraded permafrost.
The European Union Earth Observation Programme has stated that wildfires in Greenland are rare but have no data on previous wildland fire activity in this region.
While it is not unprecedented for satellites to observe fire activity in Greenland, a preliminary analysis suggests that MODIS has detected far more fire activity in Greenland in 2017 than it did during any other year since the sensor began collecting data in 2002:
Aug 9, 2017
jorge namour
MEXICO AUGUST 10 2017
NOTICE #Franklin Tropical Storm now in Central Mexico. Incredible where it has come ... So Mexico City live
https://www.facebook.com/webcamsdemexico/videos/1532441390176980/?h...
-------------------------------------------------
Severe Weather Europe AUGUST 10 2017
Dust (sand?) devil on Salis beach, Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, S France today, August 10! Who knew beaches could be this dangerous? Video: Virginie Ségal / Météo-Contact
https://www.facebook.com/severeweatherEU/videos/2062157584007332/?h...
Aug 11, 2017
KM
https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0812/896885-poland-storms/
Two teenagers among five dead in storms in Poland
Five people, including two Girl Guides, have died in freak accidents as violent storms hit Poland amid a heatwave.
The two girls, aged 13 and 14, were crushed by falling trees while sleeping in a tent when a storm hit the campground for Girl Guides and Boy Scouts in the northern village of Suszek.
Another 20 children were said to have been injured.
A woman died when a tree hit her house in the northern village of Konarzyny.
In a nearby village, a man sleeping in a tent also perished after being hit by a tree brought down by high winds.
Authorities in the same region also confirmed the death of a fifth victim, a 48-year-old man, crushed by a tree.
A total of 28 people were reported injured.
Power was cut to around half a million homes and businesses as violent winds downed trees and ripped off roofs in northern and southern regions.
An unusual heatwave saw peak temperatures soar to the high-30s Celsius across Poland in recent days.
However, milder weather is expected this weekend when the mercury is forecast to dip to the mid-20s in most regions.
Aug 13, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
Biblical amounts of rain: Nearly 3 times the monthly ave 184mm or almost 7 inches drench Bangalore overnight the highest recorded amount ever
When Bengalore went to sleep on Monday night, the city had received 44.8mm of rain for August. When it woke up on Tuesday morning, that figure had risen by 128.7mm - the highest rainfall in a day since 1890, according to the Met department.
It made up nearly 300% of the rain expected over the entire month, pouring down on the city from 11pm on Monday to 4am on Tuesday.
The highest-ever rainfall recorded in the city in a day was on August 27, 1890, when Bengalore received 162.1mm of rain, the monthly ave for Sept August is 62.8 mm.
According to the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSDMC), that record was broken on Tuesday.
It said the city received 184mm of rain since Monday night, the highest being recorded in Bilekahalli. The overnight rain flooded several parts of the city, submerging parking lots and entire road stretches, and snapped power in vast swathes since the early hours of Tuesday.
The Yediyur lake breached a retaining wall, while foam from the Bellandur lake flowed to neighbouring localities.
Over 40 rescue boats came out in ST Bed area of Koramangala, while the fire department was called to flush out water from apartments in HSR Layout, Koramangala, Jayanagar and Bannerghatta Road, among other areas.
At least 26 trees were uprooted.
Wildlife volunteers received panic calls as snakes entered homes in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, JP Nagar, Nagarabhavi, Thanisandra, Uttarahalli and Puttenahalli.
Source: http://www.thebigwobble.org/2017/08/biblical-amounts-of-rain-nearly...
Aug 16, 2017
SongStar101
Astonishing figures:16 million people affected by floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India: Nepal claimed at least 128 lives and 33 people missing
http://www.thebigwobble.org/2017/08/astonishing-figures16-million-p...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfjSdGXKapA
Aug 20, 2017
KM
http://omantribune.com/details/47582/
Flood situation worsens in Bihar, 10m hit
NEW DELHI/PATNA
The toll in Bihar floods rose to 153 on while the number of those marooned in 17 districts of the state crossed the 10 million mark.
Meanwhile, as many as 500 people have died and millions have been affected by monsoon floods in northeastern states and Uttar Pradesh, officials said Saturday.
Authorities sought military help in two districts of northern Uttar Pradesh state after heavy rain left hundreds of villages marooned.
As many as 33 out of 75 districts in the state are reeling from floods that have left 55 people dead. “We have sought army’s help to reach out to the affected people,” T P Gupta, a senior official from the state’s disaster management authority, said.
Nearly 100,000 people have been moved to shelters, with authorities estimating another two million have been hit by the deluge.
In Bihar the death toll reached 153. Nearly 400,000 people have sought shelter in relief camps and an estimated 10 million have been affected by one of the state’s worst floods since 2008.
Anirudh Kumar, the state’s top disaster management agency official, said more than 5,000 emergency workers, including 2,000 soldiers were supporting relief and rescue operations.
Araria district accounted for 30 deaths, West Champaran 23, Sitamarhi 13, Madhubani 8 and Katihar 7. As many as 11 each have died in Kisanganj, East Champaran and Supual and 9 each in Purnea and Madhepura.
Around 10.08 million people have been hit by floods in 17 districts and 1,688 panchayats, he said. Saran was included in the list of affected areas on Friday, taking number of districts under water to 17, Kumar said.
Further east, at least 60 people have died in floods that hit Asom a second time in less than four months and nearly 425,000 remain in relief camps.
As many as 225 animals have died in the Kaziranga National Park in Asom, park officials said. As of Saturday, 30 per cent of the park was still inundated.
Meanwhile, rain in the national capital brought the mercury down by nine degrees Celsius with the maximum temperature recorded at 29.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season’s average.
Aug 20, 2017
SongStar101
Death Valley Breaks Record for Hottest Month Ever in the US
July temperatures in Death Valley have incinerated previous records.
https://www.livescience.com/60050-death-valley-breaks-record-hottes...
Temperatures in Death Valley in July blazed into the record books not only as the hottest month in the desert valley in eastern California but also as the hottest month ever recorded in the United States, according to NWS Las Vegas. [Hell on Earth: Image Tour of Death Valley]
During July, temperatures were at their lowest at around 5 a.m. local time, averaging about 95 degrees F (35 degrees C), Death Valley National Park representatives wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 3.
"This is an extreme place to live and visit in the summer, especially this past month," they said.
A photo shared in the post showed a National Park Service (NPS) official posing next to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in the park, leaning against a sign displaying a local temperature of 124 degrees F (51.1 degrees C).
Death Valley's highest temperatures during July were 127 degrees F (52.8 degrees C) on July 7; 126 degrees F (52.2 degrees C) on July 8; and 125 degrees F (51.7 degrees C) on July 31, according to daily temperature reports compiled by the National Weather Service, The Washington Post reported.
A combination of geological factors — including its low elevation and the presence of surrounding mountains that block cooling moisture — trap and fuel the baking heat that develops during summer in Death Valley.
Death Valley holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth — 134 degrees F (56.7 degrees C) on July 10, 2013, which was part of a five-day heat wave during which temperatures hovered at 129 degrees F (53.9 degrees C) or more, the NPS reported.
Death Valley isn't the only place where things are heating up — global average temperatures have been on the rise for years. 2016 was the hottest year on record for the third consecutive year, and a forecast for August, September and October 2017 predicts more warmer-than-average temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, according to a report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Aug 23, 2017
Yvonne Lawson
Typhoon Hato hits Macau & Hong Kong, leaves 12 dead
A woman stands beside a big wave on a waterfront Typhoon Hato hitting in Hong Kong, China August 23, 2017 © Tyrone Siu / Reuters
A man died in Macau when he was swept into a wall, while another man was hit by a truck and another fell from the 11th floor in Macau, the Macau Daily Times reports.
A man and a woman died after water flooded an underground car park in Macau, the South China Morning Post reports.
More than 150 people were treated for injuries in Macau hospitals, the South China Morning Post reported. Two people have been reported missing. No deaths have been reported in Hong Kong.
The level 10 warning typhoon Hato headed towards Hong Kong Wednesday morning, coming within 37 miles of land before heading west towards China, where it lost some of its strength. Schools, businesses and the stock market were forced to close in Hong Kong, and flights were canceled.
See more: https://www.rt.com/news/400698-typhoon-hato-macau-hong-kong/
Aug 24, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
Unprecedented snow falls over Romania and Russia (video)
At least 5 cm of snow fell in the region of Borșa, a small town in eastern Maramureș County, Romania. This is the first time ever in August.
On the same day another anomalous snow fell onto Norilsk. Pretty earl too!
Unprecedented snow covered the montainous landscape around Borsa, Romania during the night between August 22nd and 23rd.
The snow did not melt above 2000 meters. According to the mayor of the city, this is the first time ever that snow has fallen in August.
Meanwhile, snow was also experienced in Norilsk on August 23, 2017. Although not surreal, it is quite a weather anomaly in August.
Source: http://strangesounds.org/2017/08/unprecedented-snow-romania-russia-...
Aug 24, 2017
Yvonne Lawson
Intense Flooding Kills 800 People in South Asia, Displaces a Million More
Aid workers carry drinking water to flooded communities in Bangladesh. PIASH KAZI, BANGLADESH RED CRESCENT SOCIETY
The heaviest monsoon flooding in decades has wreaked havoc across south Asia in recent weeks, killing more than 800 people in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and displacing a million more, several news outlets reported. An estimated 24 million people in the region have been impacted by the heavy rains and landslides.
One-third of Bangladesh, for example, is submerged under floodwaters, and more than 45,000 homes in the country have been destroyed. “This is not normal,” Reaz Ahmed, the director-general of the country’s Department of Disaster Management, told CNN.
“Floods this year were bigger and more intense than previous years.”, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, a humanitarian group, said the flooding in Bangladesh is the worst the country has ever seen.
Water levels are beginning to recede, but government officials and humanitarian aid groups said they are now worried about the spread of water-borne diseases and food shortages.
The disaster in south Asia follows heavy flooding in China and Japan in July that forced more than 12 million people to flee their homes.
Source: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/intense-flooding-kills-800-people-in-so...
Aug 25, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
Hurricane Harvey hammers Texas coast Live updates
Aug 26, 2017
Howard
NWS tweet on Hurricane Harvey: "This event is unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced."
Aug 27, 2017
KM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4827474/Five-feared-dead-Hu...
The flood of a lifetime hits Texas - and there's another FIFTY inches of rain to come: Dramatic scenes across the state as Hurricane Harvey stalls over the state and dumps record-setting precipitation
The flood of a lifetime has hit Texas after the violent winds of Hurricane Harvey began to die down, with the state expecting another 50 inches to pour down upon the region in record-setting precipitation.
The destructive path of the hurricane began to take shape on Sunday, with a striking collection of aerial photographs laying bare its damage for the first time.
Highways lay submerged in water where abandoned cars bobbed alongside rescue boats taking residents to safety, as Galveston County estimates up to 1,200 people had to be rescued from the 'life-threatening' waters.
At least three people are dead and dozens are injured after 130mph winds and unprecedented floods swept through the southeast pocket of the state on Friday and Saturday.
There is even more rain on the way - a record-setting 50 inches - and emergency response teams have been stretched to their limit as the state was hit with 11 trillion gallons of water, according to reports.
On Sunday, as thousands fled their homes in kayaks and swam through the watery streets, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, revealed it would take the area years to recover from the storm which is the worst this decade.
Harvey has been downgraded from a Category 4 hurricane to a tropical storm but its threat is still imminent. Authorities are now fearing its second deadly phase - the floods.
An aerial photograph reveals the huge swathes of flooded land in Houston, Texas on Sunday. Hurricane Harvey blustered through the town on Friday and Saturday, bringing with it unprecedented downpour and triggering life-threatening floods
Rockport was one of the worst hit coastal towns by the Category 4 storm. Hurricane Harvey blustered through the town on Friday and Saturday, bringing with it unprecedented downpour and triggering life-threatening floods
Aug 28, 2017
Starr DiGiacomo
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/floods-india-bangladesh-nepal-kill-185728...
Floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal kill 1,200 and leave millions homeless
At least 1,200 people have been killed and millions have been left homeless following devastating floods that have hit India, Bangladesh and Nepal, in one of the worst flooding disasters to have affected the region in years.
International aid agencies said thousands of villages have been cut off by flooding with people being deprived of food and clean water for days.
South Asia suffers from frequent flooding during the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September, but authorities have said this year's floods have been much worse.
In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, the death toll has risen to more than 500, the Straits Times reported, quoting disaster management officials.
The paper said the ongoing floods had so far affected 17 mllion people in India, with thousands sheltered in relief camps.
Anirudh Kumar, a disaster management official in Patna, the capital of Bihar, a poor state known for its mass migration from rural areas to cities, said this year's farming had collapsed because of the floods, which will lead to a further rise in unemployment in the region.
In the northern state of Uttar Pradresh, reports said more than 100 people had died and 2.5 million have been affected.
In Mumbai, authorities struggled to evacuate people living in the financial capital's low-lying areas as transport links were paralysed and downpours led to water rising up to five feet in some parts of the city.
Weather officials are forecasting heavy rains to continue over the next 24 hours and have urged people to stay indoors.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, at least 134 have died in monsoon flooding which is believed to have submerged at least a third of the country.
More than 600,000 hectares of farmland have been partially damaged and in excess of 10,000 hectares have been completely washed away, according to the disaster minister.
Bangladesh's economy is dependent on farming and the country lost around a million tonnes of rice in flash floods in April.
"Farmers are left with nothing, not event with clean drinking water," said Matthew Marek, the head of disaster response in Bangladesh for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Aug 29, 2017
jorge namour
At least five dead in Mumbai as heavy rain batters city
August 30, 2017
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/29/asia/mumbai-rains/index.html
People walk along a flooded street during heavy rain in Mumbai on Tuesday.
(CNN)At least five people have died in flooding in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, Wednesday.
An unrelenting downpour has battered low-lying parts of the city since the early hours of Tuesday, with some areas receiving almost 12 inches of rain. Weather forecasts suggested that the rain will continue over the next 48 hours before it begins to decrease.
Vehicles gingerly made their way through waterlogged roadways as residents sloshed through flooded streets -- navigating waist-high water in some areas -- after being sent home early from offices and schools. CONTINUE...
Aug 30, 2017
Jorge Mejia
Mexico City affected by heavy rain, airport closed for 5 hours, 300 flooded homes.
Translated version
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/comunidad/2017/08/30/1185073
Redacción Excélsior
From 18:40 hours the International Airport of Mexico City (AICM) suspended its operations due to the heavy rain that occurred in the eastern zone of the CDMX.
By about 22:00 hours 34 flights were diverted to other air terminals.
Translated version
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/comunidad/2017/08/30/1185073
Redacción Excélsior
The Secretariat of Civil Protection (PC) reported a s 300 houses affected in Mexico City by the rains of the last days.
Lugo also reported that there were no people injured by the rains.
Aug 31, 2017
jorge namour
Harvey aftermath: More chemical fires possible as city loses clean water
August 31, 2017
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/31/us/harvey-houston-texas-flood/ind...
CNN)A spate of unexpected disasters are gripping Texas cities nearly a week after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the coast.
The entire city of Beaumont has no running water after both of its water pumps failed. And they won't be fixed until the floodwater has receded.
In Crosby, plumes of black smoke billowed from a flooded chemical plant -- with more blasts possible.
And in Houston, where authorities will go door-to-door to search for victims Thursday, residents near the Barker Reservoir must flee immediately as the massive pool of water is at imminent risk of overflowing and overwhelming their homes.
More chemical plant fires possible
A pair of blasts at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby sent plumes of smoke into the sky Thursday morning -- and more could follow.
"We want local residents to be aware that product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains," Arkema said in a statement. "Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so."
The twin blasts Thursday morning happened after organic peroxides overheated. The chemicals need to be kept cool, but after the plant lost power Sunday, the temperature rose, officials said.
That led to containers popping, including one container that caught fire -- sending black smoke 30 to 40 feet into the air.
The thick black smoke "might be irritating to the eyes, skin and lungs," Arkema officials said in a statement.
Fifteen Harris County sheriff's deputies were hospitalized, but the smoke they inhaled was not believed to be toxic, the department said. By midmorning Thursday, all of the deputies had been released.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said nothing toxic was emitted and there was no imminent danger to the community.
Three other containers storing the same chemical are at risk of "overpressurization," said Jeff Carr of Griffin Communications Group, which is representing Arkema
'People are freaking out' in Beaumont
Extreme flooding caused both of Beaumont's water pumps to fail, meaning the city of 118,000 has no running water.
"We will have to wait until the water levels from this historical flood recede before we can determine the extent of damage and make any needed repairs," the city said in a statement. "There is no way to determine how long this will take at this time."
So residents lined up at stores hours before they opened Thursday in hopes of getting whatever bottled water they could find.
'I have no food. I have no water.'
After flooding from Harvey inundated Port Arthur, the pleas for help keep growing.
Julia Chatham and her neighbors are trapped in her home, with virtually no supplies.
All I have in my house is power. I have no food. I have no water. I only have power in my house. I don't have no way of getting around," Chatham said. CONTINUE...
Aug 31, 2017
Stanislav
Irma Turning Into Monster Hurricane: "Highest windspeed forecasts i've ever seen"
30 August, 2017 "Hurricane Irma continues to strengthen much faster than pretty much any computer model predicted as of yesterday or even this morning. Per the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) latest update, Irma is currently a Cat-3 storm with sustained winds of 115 mph but is expected to strengthen to a devastating Cat-5 with winds that could top out at 180 mph or more. Here is the latest from the NHC as of 5PM EST:
Reference: Irma Turning Into Monster Hurricane: "Highest Windspeed Forecasts I've Ever Seen". (2017, August 30). Retrieved September 01, 2017, from http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-31/irma-turning-monster-hurri...
Sep 1, 2017
Heather
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lightning-weather-extreme-...
Sep 2, 2017
KM
http://www.ksdk.com/news/firestorm-burning-more-than-half-a-million...
'Firestorm' burning more than half a million acres in Montana
As the country keeps its eyes trained on Houston, another natural disaster is ravaging states far to the north.
With red flag warnings covering 200,000 square miles of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and the Dakotas saying the danger for new wildfires is imminent, firefighters continue to battle blazes that have burned huge swaths of land.
This summer has been particularly dry and windy for our northern neighbors and a lack of moisture and unfortunate weather has led to hundreds of wildfires burning across Montana, Idaho and northern California.
Rainfall at this point hasn't been much help; lightning strikes on Wednesday sparked at least 40 more in a state already on fire, according to the Great Falls Tribune. High winds are pushing the fires and helping them spread.
Smoke is so heavy in Montana that planes couldn't fly over the fires to check their size or status, the Tribune said on Wednesday.
Back in July, Gov. Steve Bullock declared a state of emergency in Montana. The declaration was issued July 24, sometime after the federal government denied the state's request for aid. Three days later, the feds reversed their decision and sent FEMA in to help.
"Over the coming days, additional National Guard resources will be mobilized to continue to support the men and women fighting these fires," he said. "Our top priority remains firefighter safety and protecting Montanans and their property."
The town's 1,800 residents have been on high-alert with no end in sight, as new fires crop up every day - ten new ones popped up on Friday alone.
Towns in Montana, Idaho and other high Rocky Mountain areas are being smothered by the smoke from nearby wildfires, including Seeley Lake. The town is near a 34,000-acre fire and, according to the Great Falls Tribune, has been near a burning wildfire since July.
The fires have burned up more than 500,000 acres already, and the smoke from those fires is reaching southward to northern Colorado.
Air quality for the Denver metro area, as well as the Greeley and Fort Collins areas is unhealthy for sensitive groups, according to the state's website.
While Colorado and Wyoming are faring far better than parts of Montana and South Dakota, haze is still visible in some areas.
At this point, there's no end in sight. With the emergency declaration, Montana's governor is also mobilizing the state's National Guard to try and assist the firefighters in the region.
Fires in rural parts of the state have destroyed people's homes and, according to the Associated Press, the most recent estimates show they've cost the state $71 million so far.
Sep 4, 2017
Stanislav
Hurricane Irma strongest since 2007 in Atlantic basin. Hurricane Irma now a 5 Category storm
Source of image: https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/09/05/hurricane-irma-no...
5 September, 2017 "Wednesday the storm is expected to be near Puerto Rico and by Friday it will be near Cuba. Meteorologists warned that Hurricane Irma is a big storm and the strongest in the Atlantic since 2007's Hurricane Felix. In the Jacksonville area, there will be an increasing threat of dangerous rip currents for several days. Because of the weather threat, the opening of the new flyover J.T. Butler and I-95 has been delayed indefinitely.
Many hazards include: Elevated surf, coastal flooding, and beach erosion toward the end of the week. There is also a threat of very heavy rainfall through Northeast Florida this weekend. (7-day forecast) The storm is then expected to make a quick turn to the north early Sunday morning, but it is still unknown at this time what that track will look like."
Reference: Action News Jax (2017, September 05). Hurricane Irma: Category 5 storm; Scott declares State of Emergency. Retrieved September 05, 2017, from http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/hurricane-irma-category-5-s...
Sep 5, 2017
Stanislav
Category 5 Hurricane Irma 2nd strongest ever in Atlantic
Source of data: Irma track and forecast tracks: National Hurricane Center
5 September, 2017. "Throughout the day this Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Irma has increased in power again and again, and as of 2 p.m. ET, contains sustained winds of 185 mph, tying with three others as the second most powerful* Atlantic hurricane on record
The immediate threat is to the islands, and it will be a massive one to the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Antigua and Barbuda. We have details in our story.
Believe it or not, there's not much of a precedent for a storm this strong on the Caribbean islands. Only one Category 5 (David, 1979, much further away and to the south of Puerto Rico), and only eight Category 4 hurricanes have passed through this area since 1950. This is the most impressive hurricane I've ever seen on the Caribbean Radar.
<...> *Irma's pressure doesn't rank in the top 10, however, standing at 926 mb as of 2 p.m.; the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic as measured by pressure was Hurricane Wilma in 2005, at 882 mb, something I was lucky to blog about on AccuWeather.com."
Cat 5 Hurricane Irma 2nd strongest ever in Atlantic. (n.d.). Retrieved September 05, 2017, from https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/weathermatrix/cat-5-hu...
5 September, 2017. Source: NASA Earth observatory Link
Reference: Hurricane Irma Strengthens : Natural Hazards. (n.d.). Retrieved September 05, 2017, from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90901
"Hurricane Irma intensified into an extremely dangerous high-end Category 5 storm with top sustained winds of 180 mph on Tuesday morning, putting it among the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever observed. Irma's winds are the most powerful ever measured in an Atlantic hurricane north of the Caribbean and east of the Gulf of Mexico. Measurements from Hurricane Hunter aircraft found peak winds of close to 180 mph, well above the 157-mph threshold for Category 5 strength. At 11:07 am EDT, a dropsonde in Irma's eye measured a central pressure of 927 millibars, 4 mb lower than the previous pass, so Irma is still strengthening."
Reference: Category 5 Irma the 5th Strongest Atlantic Hurricane on Record. (n.d.). Retrieved September 05, 2017, from https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/category-5-irma-5th-strongest-atl...
Sep 5, 2017
jorge namour
La Chaine Météo
Page Liked · 1 hr ·
Reported on the scale of #France, here is the size of hurricane #Irma.
https://www.facebook.com/lameilleureinfometeo/photos/a.344721230251...
Sep 5, 2017
Juan F Martinez
Irma reaches Barbuda Irma reaches Barbuda
Sep 6, 2017
KM
http://www.keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/massivie-storm-syst...
Massive storm system quickly rolls through Santa Barbara
"Microburst" overturned boats, toppled power lines
Santa Barbara had a microburst Sunday, bringing unexpectedly high winds and heavy rain
Microburst overturned boats, toppled power lines
A quick-hitting storm system rolled through Santa Barbara overturning boats, leaving flooded roadways and power lines knocked down.
Just before 3 p.m., a violent weather event rolled through Santa Barbara with massive amounts of rain and wind.
The storm is believed to be a microburst, a sudden localized and powerful air current. Some areas in Santa Barbara were left unscathed with the majority of damage coming to the Santa Barbara Harbor and lower State Street.
Trees were knocked over near lower State Street and U.S. Highway 101 was at a crawl as debris slowed traffic. Several downtown area visitors took shelter inside nearby businesses.
West Gutierrez had multiple trees in the roadway and some landed on top of cars. People were advised to stay away from the area as crews worked to remove people who were trapped in their vehicles.
Power lines were knocked down on Ortega Street and multiple businesses lost power. Some businesses were forced to close down for the remaining of the day.
A large eucalyptus tree landed on railroad tracks, delaying Amtrak traffic.
Multiple traffic incidents were reported as the water collected on the roadway. Several injuries were also reported.
Boats, kayaks, and paddleboards overturned in the Santa Barbara Harbor and at least 17 people had to be rescued. The Santa Barbara City Fire Department said 56 people were tossed into the water. The Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol said all people were accounted for and remind the public of the importance of wearing a life jacket when out in the water.
Jetskiers and private citizens also jumped in to help. Some people swam to shore on their own. A 22-foot sailboat was also overturned and was sinking into the ocean.
Multiple people called to report a tornado, although it is not believed the weather event was a tornado. Microbursts behave in similar ways and can cause similar damage.
Sep 6, 2017
SongStar101
Hurricane Irma Live Updates: ‘Leave Now,’ Florida Governor Warns (VIDEO)
Hurricane Irma pounded the Bahamas before making landfall Friday night in the northern part of Cuba as it cycled toward Florida. It is expected to hit there late Saturday with wind speeds powerful enough to snap trees and power poles and tear the roofs off buildings. And Gov. Rick Scott said the lower half of Florida could face life threatening storm surge as early as Saturday morning.
Irma, which was making landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago of Cuba as a Category 5 storm with 160-mile-per-hour winds, had already caused flooding in Cuba’s northeast on Friday as it continued to move along the nation’s northern coastline, according to the National Hurricane Center.
In the Caribbean, where more than 20 people were killed, residents in Barbuda and St. Martin, islands that suffered excessive damage from Irma, wearily prepared for Hurricane Jose, the Category 4 storm that could hit those islands within the next two days.
In Florida, officials estimated that 5.6 million residents have been ordered to evacuate. They repeatedly urged Floridians not to underestimate the power of Irma. Governor Scott has said it would be “way bigger than Andrew,” referring to the 1992 storm that was the most destructive hurricane to hit the state.
“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now,” he said at a news conference Friday evening. “Not tonight, not in an hour, now.”
Brock Long, the FEMA administrator, cautioned that people from Alabama to North Carolina should be monitoring the storm and making preparations.
On Friday, Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama issued a full state of emergency in an effort to better prepare the state for Irma. Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina also announced that he would order the mandatory evacuation of several islands — including the popular resort island Hilton Head — beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Here’s the latest:
• The National Hurricane Center said Irma remained “extremely dangerous,” and the Florida Keys were at risk of “life-threatening inundation.” Check out our maps tracking the storm.
• At least 20 people have died because of the storm in the Caribbean.
• In Florida, a 57-year old man died on Thursday after he fell off a ladder while trying to install storm shutters at a house in Broward County, the Davie Police Department said on Friday.
• Another storm, Hurricane Katia, was about 120 miles off Tampico, on Mexico’s eastern coast on Friday afternoon, packing winds of 75 m.p.h., the Hurricane Center said. The Category 1 hurricane was making landfall north of Tecolutla, Mexico, as of 11 p.m. Friday.
Hurricane Irma strengthens, hits Cuba on its way to Florida
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/09/us/hurricane-irma-cuba-florida/index....
Sep 9, 2017
SongStar101
Hurricane Jose: storm 'almost category five' as it follows Irma's destructive path
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/09/hurricane-jose-storm-...
The system is nearing the eastern Caribbean islands of Barbuda and Anguilla, promising further devastation in the wake of the giant Irma
Jose was about 240 miles (390km) east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands on Saturday morning and was forecast to hit the outlying Caribbean islands later in the day.
The US national hurricane centre said that “air force hurricane hunters find Jose even stronger ... almost a category 5 hurricane”.
It issued hurricane warnings for the eastern Caribbean islands of Barbuda and Anguilla, Sint Maarten, St Martin and St Barthelemy. A hurricane watch was in effect for Antigua, while tropical storm watch was is in effect for Montserrat, St Kitts, and Nevis, British Virgin Islands, and St Thomas and St John.
Many of Irma’s victims have already fled their devastated islands on ferries and fishing boats for fear of Jose, which is currently ranked as a category four storm that could punish some places all over again this weekend.
“I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to know that further damage is imminent,” said inspector Frankie Thomas of the Antigua and Barbuda police.
Authorities said around 90% of Barbuda, a coral island rising a mere 125 feet (38 meters) above sea level, had been devastated by Irma.
Its 1,400 inhabitants were ordered to evacuate on Friday to neighboring Antigua, where Stevet Jeremiah was reunited with one son and made plans to bury another.
Jeremiah, who sells lobster and crab to tourists, was huddled in her wooden home on Barbuda this week with her partner and their two- and four-year-old boys as Irma ripped open their metal roof and sent the ocean surging into the house.
Her younger son, Carl Junior Francis, was swept away. Neighbors found his body after sunrise.
The dead included 11 on St Martin and St Barts, four in the US Virgin Islands, four in the British Virgin Islands and one each on Anguilla and Barbuda.
Laura Strickling, who lives with her husband Taylor on St Thomas, said they had huddled in a basement apartment along with another family as Irma storm raged for 12 hours.
“The noise was just deafening. It was so loud we thought the roof was gone,” she said, adding that she and the three other adults “were terrified but keeping it together for the babies”.
“We’re obviously worried by the thought of having to do it all again with Hurricane Jose. It’s not good,” she said.
In Mexico, which is also dealing with its most powerful earthquake in a century, Katia was expected to weaken rapidly over the next day, the USNHC said. Category 1 is the NHC’s weakest hurricane designation while category 5 is the strongest. Storms of category 3 and above are defined as major hurricanes.
Veracruz state officials said in a statement that the storm could cause landslides and flooding, and urged people living below hills and slopes to be prepared to evacuate.
Luis Felipe Puente, head of Mexico’s national emergency services, said this week that Katia has “worrying characteristics” because it is very slow-moving and could dump a lot of rain on areas that have been saturated in recent weeks.
Sep 9, 2017
KM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4869944/Hurricane-Irma-hits...
'We just don't know how many are dead': 10,000 people who stayed in Florida Keys to brave Hurricane Irma 'now have no water, food or power' amid fears of a 'humanitarian crisis' - but deadly storm is now downgraded to Category One
Rescuers have admitted they do not know how many people in Florida have been killed by Hurricane Irma amid fears of a looming 'humanitarian crisis'.
Up to 10,000 people are believed to have stayed in their Florida Keys homes during the storm and now have no water, food or power, officials have warned.
It comes as it emerged Irma has left nearly four million people without electricity and five dead as the destructive storm hammered the state with strong winds and threats of devastating storm surges.
Irma weakened to a category 1 hurricane as it pummeled the vulnerable Tampa Bay region with 85mph winds early Monday morning. As of 2am, the storm was centered about 25 miles northeast of Tampa and moving north-northwest at 15 mph.
The deadly storm had earlier punished Fort Myers and Naples after coming ashore for the second time in Marco Island at 3.30pm. The National Hurricane Center said water levels in Naples rose 7ft in just 90 minutes.
Irma arrived as a category 4 storm but had fallen to a category 2 by late Sunday afternoon and was continuing to weaken as it marched up Florida's Gulf Coast.
The death toll jumped to five early Monday morning with reports a person had been found dead in a home in Florida Keys.
But this morning, Florida Director of Emergency Management Bryan Koon said he could not confirm or deny reports of multiple deaths or extensive damage admitting: 'I don't have any numbers on fatalities at this point.'
Hurricane Irma is currently hammering Fort Myers (above) on the west coast of Florida with 110 mph winds after making landfall for the second time on Sunday afternoon
Areas of Naples (above) are now suffering substantial flooding and swathes of the west coast are under 15ft storm surge warnings. The National Hurricane Center said water levels in Naples rose 7ft in just 90 minutes
Hurricane Irma left nearly four million people without power after the deadly storm battered Florida
Koon said about 10,000 people stayed in the Keys to ride out the storm but communications had been cut off.
He said it was likely they did not have power or water and that there would have been 'fairly significant impact to homes'.
'It is obvious we need to get in there, assess the damage and figure out what we need to do for helping those folks,' he said.
More than 170,000 people waited in shelters statewide as Irma headed up the coast.
Forecasters expect Irma to weaken further into a tropical storm over far northern Florida or southern Georgia on Monday as it speeds up its forward motion. The hurricane center says the storm is still life-threatening with dangerous storm surge, wind and heavy rains.
Irma has so far claimed five lives in Florida, including two law enforcement officials involved in a car crash Sunday. Hardee County Sheriff's deputy and mother-of-one Julie Bridges and Hardee Correctional Institute sergeant Joseph Ossman crashed and died around 60 miles from Saratosa.
The storm toppled cranes, swallowed streets and left about 5 million without power Sunday as it unleashed its terrifying fury after wreaking a trail of death and destruction through the Caribbean.
Six million people were ordered to flee the path of the hurricane before it first made landfall in Florida Keys.
Handfuls of holdout residents, having defied calls to evacuate, hunkered down as Irma tore over the Keys, ripping boats from their moorings, flattening palm trees and downing power lines across the island chain popular for fishing and scuba diving.
The Keys is now the subject of a huge airborne relief mission.
The county administrator in the Florida Keys says crews will begin house to house searches Monday morning, looking for people who need help and assessing damage from Hurricane Irma.
Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi says relief will arrive on a C-130 military plane at the Key West International Airport.
Once it's light out, they'll check on survivors. They suspect they may find fatalities. Gastesi says they are 'prepared for the worst.'
While southwest Florida bore the deadly brunt of Irma's wrath Sunday, the coastlines of Miami and the neighboring island of Miami Beach were heavily inundated by storm surges as hurricane winds sent two giant construction cranes crashing down.
A third construction crane toppled late Sunday at a project on Fort Lauderdale beach.
Sep 11, 2017
SongStar101
Up to half a million people to be evacuated as giant Typhoon Talim approaches south-eastern China
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/up-to-half-a-million-peo...
Typhoon Talim was forecast to hit several cities along the central and northern sections of the Fujian coastline, including Fuzhou and Ningde, reported The South China Morning Post, citing the chief engineer at the province's meteorological bureau, Ms Liu Aiming.
Ms Liu said as many as 500,000 people would receive evacuation notices, though the exact figure was subject to change as the situation was evolving.
Most of the people lived in properties that were unlikely to withstand the high winds, or in areas that were prone to flooding and mudslides, or were close to construction sites where they could be hit by flying debris. Ms Liu said that school buildings and sports stadiums were likely to be used as temporary shelters.
Talim formed east of the Philippines on Saturday. It has been steadily gaining strength and was likely to pass through Taiwan. It was expected to have grown into a super typhoon by the time it made landfall, the highest level in China's rating system and comparable to a category 4 or 5 hurricane in the US.
The meteorological agency issued a blue alert, the lowest in a four-tier colour-coded system for severe weather, reported Reuters.
On Tuesday morning, the eye of Talim was 1,040km south-east of Taiwan’s Yilan county, packing winds of up to 33 metres a second.
Talim is expected to hit north and north-east parts of Taiwan the hardest on Wednesday and into Thursday with heavy rains and strong gusts.
The storm will then move north-west at a speed of 25km to 30km an hour towards the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, making landfall late on Thursday or early Friday, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre.
From Tuesday to Wednesday, Talim will bring gales to the southern East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and waters east of Taiwan, as well as parts of the South China Sea.
The Fujian government initiated a Grade IV emergency response on Monday night, the lowest of a four-grade emergency response system.
Relevant government agencies were told to monitor Typhoon Talim and take emergency measures in a timely manner, according to a statement on the official website of Fujian province.
State-owned China News Service reported on Tuesday that Zhejiang province had also initiated a Grade IV response.
If anything unusual was detected, government agencies should issue warnings and organise evacuations, the news report said.
The National Meteorological Centre also warned of a tropical depression 205km east of Manila in the Philippines, saying it could gather strength and become a typhoon in the next 12 hours.
Floods caused by tropical storm Maring submerged many streets and highways in the Philippines on Tuesday, prompting the government to close schools and suspend work in Metro Manila and the affected provinces.
Late last month, Typhoon Hato pummelled Macau with winds of more than 200kmh and wreaked havoc in the nearby financial hub of Hong Kong.
"Talim is a giant. It will dwarf any of the others (typhoons) we've seen this year," Ms Liu told The South China Morning Post.
People who resisted orders to evacuate would be forced to do so by inspection teams, she said.
"It's routine practice. (If they were not told to evacuate) most people would just stay in their homes. Nobody hits the highway," she said, adding that she was a "bit surprised at what happened in the US".
She was referring to the mass exodus by 5 million residents from Florida last week as Hurricane Irma raced towards the coast, which caused huge jams on motorways and saw many service stations run out of fuel.
Professor Huang Peng, who teaches architecture and wind engineering at Tongji University in Shanghai and used to work at the International Hurricane Research Centre in Florida, said the different approaches adopted by China and the US to keep people safe were understandable.
"(In Florida) Most of the people live in timber properties on low-lying ground and that makes them vulnerable to high winds," he said. "And because they are spread over such a wide area, it would have been difficult to get aid and support to them in the aftermath of the hurricane," he said.
"In China, mass evacuations are usually not considered an option, but for those living in poorly built properties or at-risk locations it is better if they are relocated," he explained, adding that the population density was the reason why mass evacuations were not as popular in China.
Mr Wang Kanghong, a researcher at the meteorological disaster laboratory under the Ministry of Education in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, said the Chinese government was very selective when it came to ordering evacuations, only issuing orders if the data suggested a building was vulnerable to a typhoon.
"(However) the climate is changing. It is possible we will one day be faced with a mega-typhoon that few buildings would be able to withstand," he said.
Officials in every city had plans to deal with such a "doomsday scenario", he added.
These included the evacuation of entire cities, but there were no guarantees such a plan would work, Mr Wang told The South China Morning Post.
"There has never been a drill. Many things can go wrong."
Sep 13, 2017
KM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4887088/Hurricane-Irma-wipe...
'For the first time in 300 years there's not a single living person on Barbuda. A civilisation has been extinguished': Hurricane Irma wiped out entire island, US ambassador reveals
The devastation caused by Hurricane Irma has left a Caribbean island uninhabited by civilisation 'for the first time in 300 years'.
All of Barbuda's 1,800 residents have been evacuated and more than 95 per cent of its structures have been damaged after the ferocious storm hit its shores last week.
The Category 5 hurricane battered the Caribbean with winds of up to 185mph leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Hurricane Irma has devastated the Caribbean leaving homes completely destroyed
All of Barbuda's 1,800 residents have been evacuated, leaving the island uninhabited 'for the first time in 300 years'
This satellite image shows the effects of Irma on Barbuda's Codrington Port from above
Many of Barbuda's residents were relocated to Antigua, which did not suffer as much damage.
The Ambassador to the US for both islands, Ronald Sanders, told USA Today: 'There’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished.'
Irma was 378 miles wide when it hit Barbuda, a small island of just 62 square miles - the damage is estimated to cost around $200m (£15m).
Photographs taken after the storm show homes completely flattened with debris strewn about the landscape.
'The island and the people on the island had absolutely no chance,' Mr Sanders added.
The island generates just $1bn a year and authorities are hoping the international community will provide them with aid
Sep 15, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
Batten down the hatches! As Hurricane Jose weakens another one forms; Tropical storm Maria expected to become strong Hurricane category 4 by Tuesday
With tropical storm, Maria expected to reach strong Hurricane force later today and tropical Storm Lee not far behind and both heading Northwest the recent devastation caused by Harvey, Irma and Jose may yet not be over for the Caribbean and Florida.
Following the development of Tropical Storm Lee, budding Hurricane Maria poses a significant threat to Irma-devastated areas in the northern Caribbean early this week.
Tropical Storm Maria, is located less than 600 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles but that's not good because there is plenty of warm Caribbean water between which is like jet fuel for a Hurricane and presents the biggest risk to land as it continues to gain strength over the coming days.
According to AccuWeather.com people in the Lesser Antilles should be preparing for yet another impactful tropical system.
Maria will quickly track to the west or west-northwest the next few days.
Conditions are conducive for the storm to ramp up into a Category 2 hurricane prior to reaching the Lesser Antilles on Monday night and Tuesday.
This is the third tropical system to impact the area in two weeks, following major hurricanes Irma and Jose during the first week of September.
While it is unlikely that the storm will reach Irma’s intense strength by the time it approaches, the brisk pace of the storm means there is little time for preparations to be completed on the islands.
Seas will build along the east-facing beaches of the Leeward Islands as the strengthening storm approaches on Sunday and Monday.
Torrential rain and damaging winds will then increase on Monday night and into Tuesday.
Some of the islands that were largely spared from Irma’s wrath may take a direct hit from the storm, including Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique.
Residents should prepare for widespread tree damage, days to weeks of power outages and structural damage at the hands of a Category 2 hurricane.
Well-constructed homes may sustain major roof or siding damage.
"Rainfall amounts of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) and storm surge will lead to flooding," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jordan Root said.
Source: http://www.thebigwobble.org/2017/09/batten-down-hatches-as-hurrican...
Sep 17, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
Maximum sustained winds of 90mph and 15ft waves as Hurricane Jose strengthened Sunday to hit Jersey Shore and Long Island Tuesday
Hurricane Jose strengthened Sunday as it churned its way north through the Atlantic Ocean as a Category 1 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour.
Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for much of the Jersey Shore and Long Island as Hurricane Jose will make its closest pass to the Tri-State region late Tuesday into Wednesday.
The centre of Jose will stay offshore so the greatest impacts will be felt right along the coast with dangerous surf, strong rip currents, beach erosion and coastal flooding.
Wave heights can top out between 10 and 15 feet.
The strongest winds will be over eastern Long Island, with gusts up to 50mph.
Farther west, including the New York City area, winds can gust over 30mph at times late Tuesday into early Wednesday.
As far as timing, some of the outer rain bands from Jose could arrive late tomorrow night, but conditions will deteriorate more significantly on Tuesday as it becomes increasingly windy and rainy. This will last through Tuesday night and perhaps into Wednesday, especially on Long Island.
Even as the storm departs later in the week, the ocean will remain rough with high surf and strong rip currents.
The storm was located about 355 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina Sunday and heading north at 9 mph.
The National Hurricane Center advised East Coast residents from North Carolina on up to monitor the storm's progress.
The most likely of the computer models would put the storm at least 250 miles off the coast of the New York area.
The sustained winds increased Sunday morning, but Jose is still expected to gradually weaken as it pushes northward over the next few days into less favourable atmospheric conditions.
Jose is already producing dangerous surf for Bermuda, the Bahamas, parts of the Caribbean, and parts of the US East Coast.
While Jose is projected to weaken and veer away from any direct impact on the coast, the Hurricane Center said a minor shift could bring tropical-storm-force winds to North Carolina's Outer Banks or areas to the north.
The storm formed Sept. 5 in the open Atlantic, brushed northeast Caribbean islands as a Category 4 hurricane and did a loop the loop before tracking west again toward the U.S.
Sep 18, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
After an unseasonal heatwave with temps well above 30deg C powerful storms kill 8 and injure 70 in Western Romania as winds reach 100km/h
Eight people lost their lives and almost 70 were injured as powerful storms hit Western Romania on Sunday evening.
The wind reached speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour bringing down hundreds of trees, electricity poles, and tearing household roofs.
The most affected areas were Timis and Arad counties, in Western Romania, where six people were killed in the storm.
In Timisoara, a woman died after being hit by the branches of a tree at the city zoo.
Another man lost his life after a billboard fell on his car, according to local Mediafax. Some 27 more people were injured in Timisoara, where the wind was so powerful that it even overturned trucks on the road.
Two people were also killed in Bistrita-Nasaud county, in Northern Romania.
One of them was hit by a tree in the city's park.
In Alba county, over 15,000 households were left without electricity as the powerful wind broke the electricity lines.
Six people were also injured in Alba.
Romania has experienced unusually hot weather for this time of year in the last few days, with temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius in the Southern regions on Sunday.
The weather is expected to turn bad in the next few days and rain may take over the country.
Source: www.thebigwobble.org/2017/09/after-unseasonal-heatwave-with-temps.html
Sep 18, 2017
Gerard Zwaan
Typhoon Doksuri tore through Vietnam this weekend killing 4 with almost 100,000 evacuated and 123,000 homes destroyed
Shaken residents in central Vietnam were piecing their homes and businesses back together yesterday after a powerful typhoon hammered large swathes of the country's coast, leaving at least four people dead.
Typhoon Doksuri tore through Vietnam on Friday afternoon, reducing structures to piles of debris and knocking out electricity and telecommunications in several provinces, in one of the worst storms to hit the country in years.
Residents woke up yesterday to find widespread destruction in normally idyllic coastal communities popular among beachgoers.
"I sat inside my house, covering my ears, I didn't dare leave as I was so scared," said Ms Mai Thi Tinh, whose restaurant in Ha Tinh province was completely destroyed.
"The power is still off so we can't do anything.
I don't know how long it will take to recover."
At least four people were killed and eight injured, according to Vietnam's Disaster Management Authority.
Some 123,000 homes were damaged, and trees and power lines were torn down in five hard-hit provinces, the disaster agency said.
"The wind was so bad that I hid under the bed.
I'm old but I'm afraid of death," said 70-year-old retired teacher Tran Ngoc Khang.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Ha Tinh province yesterday to survey the damage.
"We have to quickly mobilise forces to repair houses and damaged schools...
We have to ensure people can get back to normal life," he said on state-run Vietnam Television. Nearly 80,000 people were evacuated as the storm bore down, while the government deployed a quarter of a million troops and a fleet of vehicles and ships.
Forecasters warned of a risk of flooding and landslides as the storm swept through the central and northern parts of the country.
Vietnam's central coast is routinely lashed by storms, especially during the tropical storm season from May to October.
Vietnam has already been hit by severe weather this year, with 140 people dead or missing in natural disasters since January, according to official figures.
Source: www.thebigwobble.org/2017/09/typhoon-doksuri-tore-through-vietnam.html
Sep 18, 2017
KM
https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0918/905534-romanian-storm/
Storm kills eight in Romania
A strong storm killed eight people and injured at least 67 in western Romania as winds of up to 100km/h also brought destruction to parts of Serbia and Croatia, officials said.
Road and rail traffic in parts of Romania was halted by fallen trees.
Several hospitals, schools and apartment buildings had roofs damaged and dozens of towns and villages were left without electricity.
Some of the casualties were people strolling outside or coming out of supermarkets, the emergency services said.
A group of tourists was stranded for an hour in a chairlift in the northern county of Maramures.
In Serbia, a man went missing on his boat on the Danube river near Belgrade and six people, including a five-year-old child, were injured by falling trees.
Arcing from power lines, caused by the high winds, triggered several wildfires.
In Croatia, flooding brought traffic to a standstill in several coastal towns.
"We can't fight the weather," Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose told Antena3 TV. "The entire medical sector is focused on the injured."
He said the government would help support the communities hit by the storm.
Nicolae Robu, mayor of the Romanian city of Timisoara spoke to local TV station Digi24 as he was surveying the scene outside.
"There are dozens of trees on the ground, roads blocked, we are out of electricity and water. There are roofs torn off houses, apartment buildings. There are overturned trucks. I've never seen anything like this."
Sep 18, 2017
SongStar101
Hurricane Maria:Dominica devastated with ’90 per cent of buildings destroyed’
https://youtu.be/Acap3IrCYYk
Bringing you the latest Hurricane Maria path updates, storm track, weather models, forecasts, tracking maps and videos as the storm heads towards the Caribbean.
Here are live updates from the the NOAA, National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the National Weather Service (NWS) as well as the most advanced weather models from around the world. All times EDT.
4.20am: 'Terrifying noises' herald Maria's arrical in Puerto Rico
Several Puerto Ricans have tweeted that "terrifying noises" are marking the arrival of Hurricane Maria.
Strong winds have been reported in Humacao on the southeast coast of the island.
4.00am: Maria's eyewall located over Vieques
The NOAA has released a special 4am update on Maria’s position and intensity.
Maria’s eyewall is currently over Vieques, with the center of the storm located about 20 miles south-southeast of Vieques and about 60 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The update added: “A sustained wind of 68 mph (109 km/h) with a wind gust to 83 mph (133 km/h) was recently reported in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
“A sustained wind of 47 mph (76 km/h) with a wind gust to 63 mph (102 km/h) was recently reported at San Juan International Airport.”
4.00am: Maria to hit Puerto Rico within hours
Keraunos, the French hurricane observatory, has said that Hurricane Maria will hit Puerto Rico within 2 to 3 hours.
Residents across the island, including those in its capital San Juan, are hunkering down ahead of the storm’s impact.
"It looks like a ghost town," 53-year-old psychiatrist Jose Torres said as he walked through the center of Old San Juan.
“We're taking more precautions this time after Irma.”
Puerto Rico avoided a direct hit from Irma, but the storm knocked out power for 70 percent of the island, and killed at least three people. Maria promises to be worse.
"We know that this hit is going to be much more devastating than the previous one," Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello told National Public Radio.
3.30am: Dominica devastated with ’90 per cent of buildings destroyed’
Six people have died on Dominica, according to initial but unconfirmed reports.
Communications are still down on the island, which was hit by Maria on Monday night, meaning that it is impossible to verify the extent of the devastation.
WIC News understands that at least 90 per cent of the island’s buildings have been destroyed, with trees uprooted and power and communications down.
The website has also received reports of severe flooding and landslides blocking several roads.
Levi Peter, the attorney general of Dominica, spoke to Sky News this morning from London.
Sep 20, 2017
SongStar101
Hurricane Maria: 'storm of the century' devastates Puerto Rico - latest news
Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico, bringing "catastrophic" 155mph winds and knocking out power to the island's entire population of 3.5 million.
The "monster" storm was the strongest to hit the US territory in nearly a century.
It made landfall in Puerto Rico at 11.15am BST in the southeast coastal town of Yabucoa and punished the island with life-threatening winds that have torn off roofs and sent doors flying from hinges.
Governor Ricardo Rossello said: "We have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our modern history."
US President Donald Trump described Hurricane Maria as a "monster", adding: "Our hearts are with you."
In the Puerto Rican capital San Juan windows blew out and there was widespread flooding.
Officials warned the power company's already crumbling infrastructure had been decimated and the government would have to rebuild dozens of communities.
Carlos Mercader, spokesman for Puerto Rico's governor, said: "This is total devastation. Puerto Rico, in terms of the infrastructure, will not be the same. This is something of historic proportions."
After crossing Puerto Rico, Maria was due to pass just north of the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night and Thursday.
Maria hit just days after the region was hit by Hurricane Irma, which ranked as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record and left a trail of destruction on several Caribbean islands. Stay with us for the latest updates.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puerto Rico governor: Power could be out for months
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/hurricane-maria-caribbean-is...
(CNN)Puerto Rico's energy grid took such a severe blow from deadly Hurricane Maria that restoring power to everyone may take months, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló told CNN on Wednesday night.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite video shows eye of Hurricane #Maria moving over Puerto Rico. abcn.ws/2yeoj2J
Sep 21, 2017
KM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbai-deluge-second-high...
Heavy rains batter Mumbai, second highest deluge recorded in September
Between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, Mumbai received 303.7 mm, the second highest after the 318.2mm recorded on September 12, 1981
Near-record rainfall left vast areas of Mumbai under water on Wednesday, affecting suburban train services and flights and forcing authorities to shut down educational institutions for a day in the country’s financial capital.
As many as 183 passengers had a narrow escape when a SpiceJet flight overshot a wet runway while landing at the Mumbai airport and got stuck in mud on Tuesday night, officials said. The passengers were safely evacuated but more than 50 flights had to be diverted as a result of the accident.
The latest flooding comes less than a month after the city of 20 million people was pummelled by unusually high rainfall that killed many and brought the metropolis to its knees for at least two days.
Between 8.30am Tuesday and 8.30am Wednesday, the Santacruz weather station, representative of Mumbai and its suburbs, recorded 303.7mm, and Colaba, representative of south Mumbai, recorded 210mm rain, the highest for south Mumbai this monsoon.
The city was just 14.5mm short of the all-time high 24-hour September rainfall of 318.2mm recorded on September 12, 1981. The last days’ rainfall was also the highest in a decade since the September 4, 2012 when the city received 185.3mm rain.
Mumbai’s average rainfall for September is 312.3mm, which was surpassed over the past 24 hours.
Met officials said the city has recorded 536.4mm in September. The total rainfall this season is at 2879.5mm as against the annual average of 2258mm.
“The current satellite images tell us that the thick cloud patch over Mumbai has died down and moved over parts of south Gujarat. Heavy to very heavy rainfall levels are likely to reduce to light to moderate through Wednesday,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD also forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at few places with extremely heavy rainfall in Raigad district adjoining Mumbai in the next 24 hours.
On Wednesday, residents reported waterlogging in many parts of the city, forcing people to wade through knee-deep water to reach their place for work and business.
Waterlogging was reported in Borivali, Sion, Hindmata in Dadar, Goregaon, Andheri, Kandivali, Malad, Kharghar, Mankhurd, and Bhandup.
Suburban train services – the city’s lifeline which carries 70 lakh commuters daily -- on all three lines were suspended on Tuesday night.
Though the services resumed on Wednesday, many trains were suspended due to flooded tracks while several others were running late, officials said.
Western line services, suspended between Nalasopara-Virar stations due to water logged tracks, resumed at 7 am but trains are running at least 15-25 minutes late, sources said.
Officials said Central Railway said trains were running with less frequency on the main and Harbour lines.
Some airlines issued advisories to their passengers about the weather conditions and possible delays.
As many as 56 flights have been diverted to different airports till Wednesday morning as the main runway was blocked by the stuck SpiceJet aircraft, an airport official said.
The Mumbai airport, the country’s second busiest airport, handles 930 flights per day with an average of 48 movements per hour.
Mumbai Police also issued advisories through Twitter, warning people about waterlogged streets and asking them to take alternate routes.
Sep 22, 2017
KM
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/flash-floods-kill-...
Flash floods kill two, block roads to eastern Sudan towns
Flash floods caused the death of two people in El Gedaref in eastern Sudan on Wednesday and blocked off the road leading to and from 27 villages.
The Bandigyo-Simsim road has become inaccessible. A resident in Bandigyo told Radio Dabanga that a pregnant woman died on the road, in Sidra area, as she attempted to travel to El Gedaref on a tractor.
A herder died in a flash flood the same day. “The water washed away the part of the Bandigyo-Simsim road at Khor Sidra a few days ago.
“27 villages, accommodating about 150,000 people have become isolated,” he said. The road interruptions are causing a shortage in food. Meanwhile, numbers of families were forced to leave flooded homes. The resident mentioned the proliferation of snakes and the deteriorating health environment.
An estimated 97,000 people (19,335 families) across the country have been affected by heavy rains and flash floods, according to reports from the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC). The floods have affected 12 states: El Gezira, Central Darfur, East Darfur, Khartoum, River Nile, North Darfur, Northern State, Sennar, South Darfur, South Kordofan, West Kordofan and White Nile, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) reported last week.
Sep 23, 2017
SongStar101
500,000 people were evacuated from Japan and China with heaviest rain in 40 years from Tropical Storm Talim
http://www.thebigwobble.org/2017/09/500000-people-evacuated-from-ja...
Tuesday, 19 September 2017
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite saw Extra-Tropical Storm Talim on Sept. 18 at 0254 UTC over southwestern Japan. Credits: NOAA/NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
Hundreds of thousands were evacuated last Sunday after Tropical Storm Talim made landfall in Japan, packing strong winds and heavy rainfall.
Nearly a foot of rain has already fallen in parts of eastern Kyushu, according to weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce.
The torrential downpours could result in flooding and landslides.
In Kagoshima Prefecture, 230,000 people were evacuated, EuroNews.com reports.
Nearly 60,000 were issued evacuation orders in parts of Oita and Miyazaki prefectures, the Japan Times reports.
"The mountains seem about to collapse," a resident of Asakura told EuroNews.
"I think it will be okay but I am still scared."
A 71-year-old man is reportedly missing in Oita prefecture, where more than 500 people have become stranded, Xinhuanet reports.
Operators of bullet trains reported stoppages due to power outages and the heavy rain, Bloomberg reports.
The storm caused flight cancellations Saturday after bringing high winds and significant rainfall to the country's southern islands.
China Airlines, Tigerair Taiwan and EVA Airways have all cancelled flights, Focus Taiwan reports. The storm will continue to affect Japan with heavy rain and gusty winds as it accelerates northeastward according to Dolce.
Before hitting mainland Japan, Talim caused more than 18,000 homes in the city of Miyako, located about 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo and home to 54,000 people, to lose power.
The highest 24-hour rainfall total in more than 40 years was recorded there Wednesday.
Trees were uprooted and power lines knocked down on Miyako Island and its neighbouring islands, the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper reported to SBS.com.
The Miyako-Jima Island airport clocked a wind gust of 108 mph late Wednesday, local time, and picked up a 24-hour record rainfall of 18.86 inches, notes weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. Over a two-day period, Miyako-Jima picked up 20.30 inches, also a record, there, dating to 1977. Talim pushed high surf toward the coast of China, where more than 200,000 people had been evacuated from the Chinese provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang of Wednesday.
According to UNTV, the storm had already raised the tide more than 30 feet in Yuhuan, in the Zhejiang province. "We've evacuated all the people here, providing them with daily supplies," said Yongxing Community Committee of Sansha City deputy director Zhao Heng.
Sep 25, 2017
KM
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/south-south-regional/244053...
Flood ravages 12 Cross River communities, 3,000 farmlands destroyed
Related News
Twelve communities in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State have been flooded following two days of heavy rain, while more than 3,000 farmlands were equally destroyed.
The incident, which occurred between the late hours of September 18 and the early hours of September 19, has rendered hundreds of residents homeless as properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.
John Inaku, the Director General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told NAN on Sunday, during an inspection of the affected areas that the economic survival of residents of the submerged communities had been seriously affected.
Mr. Inaku stated that more than 1,000 people have been displaced and are taking refuge in nearby communities.
According to him, the state government has promised to address the plight of the people
Some of the communities affected are Bago, Unu, Bagabo, Bakie, Bufua, and Kakwe-Beebo.
“The deluge of Sept. 18 and 19 has caused massive flooding in 12 communities in Cross River.
“Properties worth millions of naira were equally destroyed in the process.
“The flood also destroyed farmlands; crops such as banana, cassava, plantain, yam, cocoa and others were also affected while some bridges were washed away.
“The worst aspect of the flood is that it also destroyed streams which served as the only source of drinking water for the people, while the main access road was washed away as a result of landslide,’’ he said.
One of the victims, Bette Obi, Chairman of Cross River Forestry Commission, said that the flood had wreaked serious havoc on residents of the area.
Mr. Obi, who said his cocoa and plantain farms were destroyed by the flood, appealed to the state and federal government to come to their aid.
“As we speak, our farmlands have been washed away by flood. The streams where we fetch water for drinking has been polluted.
“We urgently need government’s assistance in our communities to ameliorate our plights,’’ Obi said.
Another victim, Gabriel Ofre, traditional ruler of Bago community, said that the flood had displaced his entire household, and that his property and other vital materials destroyed as well.
Mr. Ofre appealed to SEMA and NEMA to come to their aid, saying that residents of the area were peasant farmers, who lived on the meagre earnings from their farm produce.
Sep 25, 2017
SongStar101
Chicago IL: Heat wave set to end — but first, a 7th day of record warmth
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-weathe...
The previous record high for Sept. 26 was 90, set in 1998.
"We're going to continue to see these conditions into the evening hours, when the cooler air will start to filter in," said Kevin Birk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Chicago-area office.
Chicago has never before seen a seven-day stretch of 90-degree days so late in the year, according to the weather service.
Monday's high of 92 surpassed the 90-degree record set in 1933. Sunday's high of 93 beat the old record of 91 set in 1891. And Saturday’s high of 95 beat the previous record of 91 set in 1937. It also tied the hottest day of the year, the latest that's been done.
Some scattered rain is expected to move into the area in the afternoon and evening, but while the cold front should moderate temperatures, it's not expected to provide much relief from recent dryness, Birk said.
"Unfortunately, if you’re hoping for appreciable rainfall, the generally very dry pattern looks to continue through next week," the weather serivce said on its Chicago Facebook page. "Signs are also pointing to a return to above normal temperatures next work week."
Wednesday's expected to be cooler, with highs in the lower 70s and some clouds. Thursday's temperatures should be about the same, with more sun than the day before.
For more details, check the Tribune’s weather page.
Sep 28, 2017
Juan F Martinez
Norway Floods
https://www.facebook.com/alertaperiodismoalternativo/videos/1993817...
Oct 3, 2017
KM
https://globalnews.ca/news/3783019/saskatoon-weather-outlook-foreca...
Saskatoon weather outlook: over half metre of snow in Saskatchewan
Over half a metre of snow falls in Saskatchewan to start October.
Wintry October kickoff
Snow plastered parts of Saskatchewan to start October with over half a metre falling in Cypress Hills.
While the southwest corner of the province was hit hardest with the white stuff, resulting in travel not being recommended in the area, other regions were drenched in rain.
Over half a metre of snow fell in parts of southwest Saskatchewan.
The biggest bullseye of precipitation was just south of Saskatoon in the Watrous area, where up to 72 millimetres was reported.
Saskatoon saw minimal amounts of rain and also escaped without any light snow, which was possible into Tuesday morning, but did fall in areas just south of the city.
All weather alerts in Saskatchewan have now been ended.
Oct 4, 2017
jorge namour
PUERTO RICO - Hurricane Maria
OCTOBER 3 2017
https://www.facebook.com/severeweatherEU/videos/2092372534319170/?h...
Severe Weather Europe
Absolute devastation in the rain forests of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria! Video made by workers of a telecommunication company trying to reach antennas on in El Yunque National Forest to reestablish mobile phone networks. Video: Meteorología Del Caribe
Oct 4, 2017
SongStar101
Tropical Storm Nate: 22 Dead in Central America, States of Emergency Declared in U.S.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/tropical-storm-hurricane-...
A state of emergency was declared in Costa Rica ahead of the storm's arrival.
At least 5,000 are in emergency shelters in Costa Rica.
States of emergency have been declared in Florida, Louisiana and Alabama.
U.S. oil and gas companies have evacuated their production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
At least 22 people were killed Thursday after Tropical Storm Nate moved over Central America with clusters of heavy rain and gusty winds. In the U.S., officials in coastal states declared states of emergency ahead of the storm's arrival.
In Nicaragua, at least 15 were killed, including two women and a man working with the Health Ministry to provide aid were killed after being swept away by a flooded canal in Juigalpa, vice president and spokeswoman Rosario Murillo told the Associated Press.
Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Organism said Thursday that there have been seven deaths in the country and 15 are missing.
Nate and the larger circulation it developed from produced heavy rain over Central America the last few days, according to weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. This rainfall has already caused flooding and more flooding is likely as the storm lifts northward toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late this week.
(FORECAST: Tropical Storm Nate Soaks Central America)
In Costa Rica, at least 5,000 people have been driven into emergency shelters in the country, according to AP. All public schools and offices will remain closed through Friday, the Costa Rica Star reported.
Coastal U.S. States Prepare
Nate will impact the U.S. Gulf Coast this weekend, with landfall mostly likely to occur Sunday between southern Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle.
On Thursday, a release from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said the agency would be evacuating platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm. Six of the 737 platforms in the Gulf were evacuated and one moveable rig was taken out of the path of the storm.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Thursday for 29 counties in response to the storm.
“Tropical Storm Nate is headed north toward our state and Florida must be prepared," said Scott in the release. "I have declared a state of emergency for 29 counties in Florida to make certain that state, federal and local governments are able to work together and ensure resources are dispersed to local communities. By declaring an emergency in these counties, we can also ensure that there is no hindrance in the transportation of supplies and assets.”
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Thursday, according to the AP. He announced 1,300 National Guard troops are being mobilized and 15 are heading to New Orleans to monitor the pumping system. A flood in early August revealed the malfunctioning pumps across the Big Easy.
"We do anticipate a direct hit in Louisiana," Edwards said in a statement obtained by the AP. "The bottom line for people is: You need to be where you want to be and in the posture you want to be by dark on Saturday."
Thursday city officials met to discuss the status of the drainage systems. Repairs have been made, NOLA.com reported, but not all of the turbine generators are fully operational yet.
Evacuations were ordered in part of St. Bernard Parish Thursday, the AP reported.
Officials in Grand Isle, a barrier island south of the Big Easy, called a voluntary evacuation for residents.
Thursday New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced a Coastal Flood Advisory is in effect until noon Sunday and urged residents to make a plan and stock up on at least three days' worth of supplies, according to a release. He says the city is working with local, federal and state partners to identify the risks and vulnerabilities of the city and determine how to keep residents safe.
The city has almost 40 boats and more than 20 high-water vehicles and other rescue supplies staged at fire and police stations, and four high-water vehicles and two boats that the Emergency Medical Services headquarters, states the release. The New Orleans Police Department has placed 146 barricades in flood-prone areas to keep motorists from driving into areas with high water.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency Thursday in order to free up personnel and resources in case responders need to be dispatched for any storm-related activity, the AP reported.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Lee Smithson said people living along the Gulf Coast should pay attention to reports from emergency officials and start making their own storm preparations.
Oct 6, 2017
jorge namour
Berlin, Germany. OCTOBER 6 2017
Severe Weather Europe
More damage photos from last night severe windstorm in Berlin, Germany.
https://www.facebook.com/severeweatherEU/posts/2094154267474330
-----------------------------------------------------
Rio Grande do sul- BRASIL OCTOBER 6 2017
severe damage caused by severe storms in the afternoon of last Sunday (01/10) in the region region. The winds of 120 km / h tore trees, downed posts, destroyed roofs of dozens of homes, covers, silos and sheds.
https://www.facebook.com/tornadosnobrasiloficial/posts/129852406694...
Oct 6, 2017
KM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4958262/Gulf-Coast-braces-H...
Hurricane Nate makes second landfall slamming into the Gulf Coast leaving thousands without power and bringing up to 11-feet of flooding
Hurricane Nate made its second landfall near Biloxi late Saturday as a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 miles per hour, threatening parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with torrential rain and flooding.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm surge along the Mississippi coast could reach 11 feet, according to AL.com.
On social media, people posted photos of flooding in Biloxi and other locations along the Gulf Coast.
Widespread power outages were also reported throughout the coastal regions of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and the Florida panhandle.
The center of the storm will move across the Deep South, Tennessee Valley and central Appalachian Mountains through Monday.
Earlier Saturday, Nate passed to the east of New Orleans, sparing the city its most ferocious winds and storm surge.
And its quick speed lessened the likelihood of prolonged rain that would tax the city’s weakened drainage pump system.
The city famous for all-night partying was placed under a curfew, effective at 7 p.m., but the mayor lifted it when it appeared the storm would pass by and cause little problems for the city.
Still, the streets were not nearly as crowded as they typically are on a Saturday night and Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked people to shelter in place.
This satellite image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Nate just moments before making landfall Saturday evening
This enhanced infrared satellite image made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Nate approaching the mouth of the Mississippi River on Saturday
A handout photo made available by NASA shows the system approaching the Gulf Coast earlier in the day on Saturday
Oct 8, 2017