Florida

..where land in the southeastern US will be pulled under to the degree that water may lap at cities high in the Appalachian mountains, along the eastern seaboard, it will surely pull Florida under the water long enough to drown the populace totally. Those in boats will find they must contend with whirlpools and sloshing water that can capsize even large ocean going vessels. And those in skyscrapers likewise should not assume that their foundations will not be undercut and eroded. This is not a safe place.

Florida will lose 150 feet in elevation overall due to the pole shift, but not more than a couple feet prior to the pole shift itself and only inches prior to the week of stopped rotation.   http://www.zetatalk.com/info/tinfx085.htm

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Sea rise threatens Florida coast, but no statewide plan

http://news.yahoo.com/sea-rise-threatens-florida-coast-no-statewide...

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — America's oldest city is slowly drowning.

St. Augustine's centuries-old Spanish fortress and other national landmarks sit feet from the encroaching Atlantic, whose waters already flood the city's narrow, brick-paved streets about 10 times a year — a problem worsening as sea levels rise. The city has long relied on tourism, but visitors to the fortress and Ponce de Leon's mythical Fountain of Youth might someday have to wear waders at high tide.

"If you want to benefit from the fact we've been here for 450 years, you have the responsibility to look forward to the next 450," said Bill Hamilton, a 63-year-old horticulturist whose family has lived in the city since the 1950s. "Is St. Augustine even going to be here? We owe it to the people coming after us to leave the city in good shape."

St. Augustine is one of many chronically flooded communities along Florida's 1,200-mile coastline, and officials in these diverse places share a common concern: They're afraid their buildings and economies will be further inundated by rising seas in just a couple of decades. The effects are a daily reality in much of Florida. Drinking water wells are fouled by seawater. Higher tides and storm surges make for more frequent road flooding from Jacksonville to Key West, and they're overburdening aging flood-control systems.

But the state has yet to offer a clear plan or coordination to address what local officials across Florida's coast see as a slow-moving emergency. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is skeptical of man-made climate change and has put aside the task of preparing for sea level rise, an Associated Press review of thousands of emails and documents pertaining to the state's preparations for rising seas found.

Despite warnings from water experts and climate scientists about risks to cities and drinking water, skepticism over sea level projections and climate change science has hampered planning efforts at all levels of government, the records showed. Florida's environmental agencies under Scott have been downsized and retooled, making them less effective at coordinating sea level rise planning in the state, the documents showed.

The issue presents a public works challenge that could cost billions here and nationwide. In the third-most populous U.S. state, where most residents live near a coast, municipalities say they need statewide coordination and aid to prepare for the costly road ahead.

Communities like St. Augustine can do only so much alone. If one city builds a seawall, it might divert water to a neighbor. Cities also lack the technology, money and manpower to keep back the seas by themselves.

In a brief interview with the AP in March, Scott wouldn't address whether the state had a long-range plan. He cited his support for Everglades restoration and some flood-control projects as progress but said cities and counties should contact environmental and water agencies to find answers — though Scott and a GOP-led legislature have slashed billions in funding from those agencies. Spokespeople for the water districts and other agencies disputed that cuts have affected their abilities to plan.

"We will continue to make investments and find solutions to protect our environment and preserve Florida's natural beauty for our future generations," the governor said in a statement.

In St. Augustine, downtown streets around 19th century buildings built by oil tycoon Henry Flagler often close during nor'easters because of flooding. While the city's proximity to the sea has always made flooding a problem, residents say it's worsened over the past 15 to 20 years.

St. Augustine's civil engineer says that the low-lying village will probably need a New Orleans-style pumping system to keep water out — but that but no one knows exactly what to do and the state's been unhelpful.

"Only when the frequency of flooding increases will people get nervous about it, and by then it will be too late," engineer Reuben Franklin said. "There's no guidance from the state or federal level. ... Everything I've found to help I've gotten by searching the Internet."

Across coastal Florida, sea levels are rising faster than previously measured, according to federal estimates. In addition to more flooding at high tide, increasing sea levels also mean higher surges during tropical storms and hurricanes, and more inundation of drinking wells throughout Florida.

While South Florida water officials have led the charge in addressing sea level rise concerns in their area, their attempt to organize a statewide plan was met with indifference, documents show. The Scott administration has organized just a few conference calls to coordinate local efforts, records show. Those came only after Florida's water district managers asked DEP for help.

In a recent visit to Everglades National Park, President Barack Obama said the wetlands, vital to Florida's tourism economy and drinking-water supply, already are threatened by infusions of saltwater from rising seas.

The list of other problems across the state is growing. Miami Beach is spending $400 million on new stormwater pumps to keep seawater from overwhelming an outdated sewer system.

In St. Augustine, homes built on sand dunes teeter over open space as erosion eats at the foundations. Beachside hotel owners worry about their livelihoods.

Tampa and Miami are particularly vulnerable to rising seas — many roads and bridges weren't designed to handle higher tides, according to the National Climate Change Assessment. Officials say Daytona Beach roads, too, flood more often than in the 1990s.

South Miami passed a resolution calling for South Florida to secede from the more conservative northern half of the state so it could deal with climate change itself.

Insurance giant Swiss Re has estimated that the economy in southeast Florida could sustain $33 billion in damage from rising seas and other climate-related damage in 2030, according to the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force.

Cities like St. Augustine have looked for help, but Scott's disregard for climate change science has created a culture of fear among state employees, records show.

The administration has been adamant that employees, including scientists, not "assign cause" in public statements about global warming or sea level rise, internal government emails show.

"I know the drill," responded Mike Shirley, manager of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve near St. Augustine.

Agency spokeswoman Engel said Phillips was a lower-level staffer whose views didn't necessarily reflect the entire administration. When asked whether staffers are told not to assign cause, Scott's office said "the allegations are not true".

Most towns say they cannot afford the cost of climate change studies or regional coordination.

"For us, it's a reality, it's not a political issue," said Courtney Barker, city manager of Satellite Beach. The town near Cape Canaveral used to flood during tropical weather, but now just a heavy rainstorm can make roads impassable for commuters.

"When you have to listen to that mantra, 'Climate change, is it real or not?' you kind of chuckle, because you see it," Barker said.

Scott administration officials are moving forward on a five-year plan that will provide basic guidance to cities dealing with sea level rise. Scott has appointed the Department of Economic Opportunity as the lead agency overseeing the project.

The DEO has received nearly $1 million in federal grants for the plan. More than half has been spent on staff time and travel or hasn't yet been allocated, according to documents. The rest, about $450,000, went to contract researchers who are helping create the document, due in 2016. Agency spokeswoman Jessica Sims wouldn't comment and refused requests for the program's manager to be interviewed.

In one grant-funded study, Florida State University researchers asked local leaders about sea rise. Some officials complained to researchers about the "poisonous political atmosphere" over climate change hampering progress. The AP obtained the report in a public records request.

"In some cases, especially at the local level, planners are constrained by perceptions among elected officials that there is a lack of reliable scientific information to support the existence of sea level rise," report authors summarized.

As for concerns over drinking water, water district officials said they were happy with the state's funding. But internal emails show frustration among those working behind the scenes to better organize a statewide sea level rise planning group.

"I often worry about the next generations; I think they will survive in spite of us," Dave DeWitt, a staffer at the Southwest Florida Water Management District, said in an email to colleagues. A district spokeswoman wouldn't comment on policy beyond the district.

St. Augustine officials say they need state-level coordination, or in coming decades much of historic downtown could be ankle-deep in water at high tide.

Franklin, the engineer, said, "Are we going to be early to the game in terms of planning for this, or late?"

India: Coastal people at their wits’ end

May 13, 2015

helpless:The sea surging on to the beach at Valiathura in Thiruvananthapuram. The worst affected are the fisherfolk who struggle to find a safe sanctuary for their boats. Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar

Sea erosion is back to haunt the coastal areas of the city with advancing waves taking away several metres of land over the past three days.

But, this time around, the residents are not in a mood to shift to relief camps, even when requested so by officials. They are all staying put, asking for a permanent solution to the problem, in the form of a strong sea wall.

For the past few years, after every episode of sea erosion, construction of seawall is one of the major promises given to them by the visiting politicians.

“The sea wall does not exist in several stretches of the beach and the houses are all at the mercy of the waves. We are forced to shift to relief camps set up in schools several times every year. This situation has to end,” James, a resident here, says.

Last year, after a particularly severe episode of sea erosion, the government promised to build sea walls at Cheriyathura, Kochuthopp, and the surrounding areas. An amount of Rs.48 lakh was allocated from the 13th Finance Commission. But with work not reaching anywhere on this March 31, the funds lapsed.

Earlier this month, the Irrigation Department officials visited the area and submitted a report to the government with a suggestion for a 1,653-metre-long sea wall covering Kochuthopp, Kuzhivilakam, Valiathura, and Cheriyathura at a cost of Rs.12 crore. But the proposal will have to be sent to the Central government.

“The erosion can be controlled to an extent by arranging pulimuttu (groynes) along the coast,” Valiathura ward councillor Tony Oliver says.

Close to 33 families are still staying in various government schools in the area, after they lost their houses in last year’s erosion. A few have shifted to rented houses and with their relatives. A plan to build houses in the 2.65 acres of land of the Valiathura Sewage Farm has not taken off as the land is yet to be handed over to the Coastal Area Development Corporation.

Source

(Over the last two years the ground movement has been causing the tunnel to close, this is just one more example of the havoc earth movements have on our infrastructure)  

Failure of Wash. volcano runoff could be catastrophic

Spirit Lake Tunnel(Photo: Kyle Iboshi, KGW)

PORTLAND, Ore. — A tunnel dug to help drain a lake whose natural outlet was blocked when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980 is narrowing. Experts say if it fails, Interstate 5 in Washington state could be inundated.

The Spirit Lake Tunnel was built after the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, when ash and debris blocked the lake's natural outlet into a local creek.

When lake levels began to rise, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bored a 1.6-mile tunnel through bedrock to provide Spirit Lake a new outlet.

The tunnel opened in 1985. Last fall and spring, inspections found that the tunnel floor was rising. Geologists say shifting rock formations under the surface are to blame.

"The bottom of the tunnel is actually pushing up into the tunnel and deforming the shape," said Chris Budai, project engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In October 2013, the tunnel had an opening of eight feet, six inches. One year later, the tunnel was constricted to seven feet, one inch.

In April of 2015, the uplift reduced the opening to six feet, eight inches.

"That was a pretty gross and significant movement that I had not seen in the 30 years I've been inspecting the tunnel," Budai said.

If the tunnel were to collapse, the lake could fill up and overflow, causing a catastrophe.

In a recent report, the U.S. Army Corps wrote that "this worst case possibility would destroy all transportation routes" to the west of the lake, in southern Washington along the Cowlitz Valley, including Interstate-5 and the main North-South rail lines.

The tunnel still has a ways to go before it can no longer drain the lake, said Budai.

"I don't think that is imminent," he said. "We have time."

The Army Corp of Engineers, which inspects and maintains the tunnel for the U.S. Forest Service, is now working on designs to fix the problem.

It hopes to make emergency repairs to the tunnel by later this year. So far, there is no price tag on the fix.

Two Washington senators and a congresswoman have raised serious concerns about the problem.

"Complete failure of this tunnel in the shadow of Mount St. Helens could be catastrophic to Washington state on multiple levels," Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) wrote in a joint letter to the head of various federal agencies.

Source:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/14/mt-saint-helens-volca...  

Peru declares state of emergency in a district that is being swallowed by the earth
May 17, 2015

Peru authorities have declared a state of emergency in 19 locations Piscobamba district in the province of Mariscal Luzuriaga (department of Ancash, west). The decision is due to a large ground cracks gradually sink.

Source

5.4 magnitude Earthquake took place in Nevada on May 22. Next day there is a drop of 7 ft in Lake Mead's water levels.

this was zetatalk re: the methane hot spot east on the Four Corners are. Perhaps related.

The noted methane “hot spot” lies on the Continental Divide, and is caused by cracking rock under the surface. The steady press of mountain building is one factor, but the cause is two-fold, as that spot also lies along the center of the bow in the N American continent. Draw a line from the central California hot spot through to the methane hot spot in the four-corners region. The line runs dead East, along the most intense bowing stress. Rock is cracking open to release methane from vegetation trapped when the Continental Divide pushed over land in the past.

Did the bowing stress on N American begin in 2003? It began when Planet X entered the inner solar system in 2003 and began to put the globe into its daily Figure 8 wobble. NASA knows this. They are not trying to determine why the methane hot spot exists, but to monitor its progress. They are looking for an increase in these signs. The US government is already alarmed at the many signs that the New Madrid adjustment, long predicted by ourselves, is about to begin. Excuses given, such as coal seams or man-made emissions out in the desert, are absurd.

--ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for April 18, 2015

Philippines:

The barangay hall of Tinumigues in Lambayong town, Sultan Kudarat on Wednesdaay, June 24. Flashfloods brought about by continous heavy rains since Tuesday night temporarily displaced some 25,000 residents in four towns and one city in Sultan Kudarat province on Wednesday. MindaNews photo by Ferdinandh B. Cabrera

RESIDENTS of the village of Concepcion in Koronadal City find themselves cut off from the rest of the city after strong river currents swept away a portion of the village bridge. @AL SALUDO/CONTRIBUTOR

Floods in Cotabato. Source: interaksyon.com

25 June, 2015. No heavy rain, but bridge collapses, 3 dead in South Cotabato floods

Three people were killed, a major bridge was damaged and several areas of South Cotabato were submerged in flood waters following hours of light to moderate rain that started on Tuesday.

Tupi, South Cotabato Mayor Reynaldo Tamayo said separate landslides took place in Barangay Bunao and Lunen and killed three people.

Tamayo did not identify those killed but added that the landslides were triggered by the rain.

“A little rain here causes flood already,” said Sid Samaniego, municipal media relations officer.

Flooding was also reported on Tuesday in Legazpi City, Albay province. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao with Maricar Cinco and Michael Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon. Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

24 June, 2015. 3 die, 800 displaced in SouthCot, S. Kudarat floods

Three people have died while around 800 residents were displaced in parts of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces as flashfloods and landslides hit the area early Wednesday.

Reports from local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) offices said the floods and landslides occurred following the almost non-stop heavy to moderate rains that started on Tuesday evening.

In South Cotabato, severe flooding were reported in the municipalities of Banga, Norala, Tantangan, Tupi and Koronadal City due to the swelling of several rivers and tributaries.

Landslides were also reported in Barangays Bunao and Lunen in Tupi after a portion of a mountain collapsed at the height of heavy rains early Wednesday.

In Banga town, the MDRRMO reported that some 280 families composed of 600 individuals have evacuated due to the flashfloods that affected eight barangays.

An initial 117 hectares of palay farmlands were damaged as a result of the floods in Barangays Yangco, Malaya, Cabuling, Reyes Punong Grande, Rizal, Rang-ay and Cinco.

Arman Palomar, Yangco barangay chairman, said 280 families were forced to leave their homes as early as 2 a.m. after huge volumes of floodwaters from nearby Banga River swept their area.

He said some 75 houses sustained various damages due to the floods that reached about four feet. Source: mindanews.com

India:

The Saurashtra region is the worst-hit by floods. Source: bbc.com

MI-17 V5 helicopters of Indian Air Force carrying out rescue and relief operation in Amreli district. Source: ibtimes.co.in

25 June, 2015. Floods kill 41 in western India

Flash flooding triggered by torrential rains has killed 41 people in India’s western Gujarat state, as the annual monsoon season hits the country, a disaster management official said Thursday.

Authorities have evacuated more than 10,000 residents mainly from coastal areas of Gujarat following heavy rains in the last 24 hours, the state government said in a statement.

The coastal district of Amreli was the worst affected, with 36 people killed in flood-related incidents, a duty officer in the state’s disaster control room said.

“There have been 41 deaths across the state with 36 in Amreli, three in Bhavnagar and two in Rajkot districts,” the official told AFP.

Thirteen of the deaths in Amreli occurred when two houses collapsed in the flooding, local police deputy superintendent Pinakin Parmar told AFP.

India normally sees flooding during the monsoon but the intensity of this year’s rains in Gujarat has surprised many.

The air force has been deployed to help with evacuations, including that of 44 passengers of a bus stuck on a flooded highway near Amreli town, the government’s statement said.

In photos released by the defence ministry, families were shown huddling on rooftops of flooded homes awaiting rescue, along with washed out train tracks and roads.

India’s weather bureau has forecast more heavy rain in Gujarat for the next two days.

As the monsoon sweeps across the country, flood warnings have also been issued in northern Jammu and Kashmir state — hit by floods last year that claimed about 300 lives.

Waters were receding in northeastern Assam following floods there last week. But more than 20,000 people were still waiting to return home after moving to higher ground after the rain hit, the Press Trust of India said.

Nearly 900 hectares (2,223 acres) of farm land was also still under water in that state, the news agency added.

The monsoon is vital for South Asia especially for crop production. India receives nearly 80 percent of its annual rainfall between June to September period. Source: tribune.com

Vietnam:

A man transporting rice cakes for sale on his bicycle, looks at his produce while standing on a flooded street in Vietnam's central ancient town of Hoi An on Nov 18, 2013. Photo: Reuters

24 June, 2015. Flash Floods Kill 7, Leave 4 Missing in Northern Vietnam

A disaster official says flash floods triggered by a tropical storm have killed seven people and left four others missing in a northern Vietnamese province.

Tran Viet Phuong in Son La province said Thursday that authorities are still searching for the four missing, including a four-year-old boy whose house was washed away.

Flash floods washed away more than 20 houses in the province, he said.

Tropical Storm Kujira which slammed northern coast on Wednesday has now dissipated, according to the national weather forecasters.

The storm has dumped up to 20 centimeters (nearly 8 inches) of rain on many parts of northern region over the past two days.

Vietnam is prone to flood s and storms, which kill hundreds of people each year. Source: todayonline.com

Jamaica

3 July, 2015. Sea Floods Rocky Point Community

Residents in Rocky Point, Clarendon, are now on edge as water from the sea has flooded the community.

This morning residents woke up to flooded streets and yards as high tides caused huge volumes of water to flood the entire Shearer Heights area. One resident, who gave her name as Pedro, said the water started flooding houses sometime around 1 a.m. when it was extremely windy.

"A lot of people house flood out and nobody cannot leave them premises and go anywhere, you can’t get nowhere to walk. People furniture and appliances get damaged by the sea water. We are scared man, we can’t come out," she told The Gleaner.

She said the drains are flooded and the situation is getting worse each day.

The affected residents said they have been experiencing the effects of this high tide for the last six weeks and fisher folk have been unable to venture out to sea.

However, one fisherman is feared lost at sea after he braved the weather and went out last night.

Another boat left in search of him at daybreak. Fishing equipment including huts and boats have also been damaged as a result of the strong winds.

Councillor for the Rocky Point Division, Winston Maragh, who visited the community this morning, said the main roads are inaccessible as they are flooded. He added that a senior citizen’s home and a basic school are also severely affected by the flood waters.

"Many persons have to park their vehicles in a yard on the hill and walk home, so it’s a serious problem," he said.

Maragh said based on the assessments carried out, 25 per cent of Rocky Point is currently flooded.

He has suggested a temporary solution of covering the area with river shingle and marl to give residents access to their homes.

However, he said the National Works Agency says a sea wall may be needed to solve the problem on a more long-term basis. Source: jamaica-gleaner.com

India: Over 4,500 people died in floods in last 4 years

23 Jul, 2015

Pakistan: Old problems, unresolved- Floods in Bhudni nullah leave locals stranded

July 27, 2015

People stranded and traffic suspended in Bhudni Pul area. PHOTOS: MUHAMMAD IQBAL/EXPRESS

“Residents in Usmania Colony on Warsak Road have placed sand-filled bags on the sides of the nullah to protect houses from flooding,” said a local government councillor, Manzoor Ali. Four days ago on Thursday, the same colony had flooded with waste when garbage and rainwater mixed and seeped into houses and shops. However, the problem repeated itself on Sunday when the nullah flooded.

Some residents also took shelter on roofs. Standing water caused traffic to suspend on Peshawar-Charsadda Road, disconnecting parts of the district.

According to DC Riaz Mehsud, the district government diverted traffic from the route, and asked transporters to use the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway instead to go to Charsadda. Ambulances were also deployed in vulnerable areas.

Rescue efforts and encroachment

Rescue 1122 teams have so far helped 40 people evacuate houses. The teams faced difficulties in evacuating the residents as encroachments blocked their access. Some people were also reluctant to leave their houses despite the flooding.

When contacted, Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Bilal Faizi said the teams included divers who were on the run—visiting flooded houses in rescue boats—to ensure timely evacuation and avoid loss of life.

Faizi added mostly children and older adults were the ones stranded

Minister for Information Mushtaq Ghani also visited Bhudni Pul and monitored the situation. He directed the district government, police, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Rescue 1122 to forcibly evacuate people even if they refuse so that loss of life can be avoided.

Source    

Sea wall along coastal road could lead to more floods in Mumbai.

July 27, 2015

Experts say it will stop channels of water entering the sea and cause flooding.

If there is one thing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has consistently shown when it comes to providing civic amenities and infrastructure congruous with the environment, it is that it never learns to do so.

While Sunday marked the completion of 10 years since the 26/7 Mumbai floods, it has now come to light that two of the BMC’s most ambitious plans Development Plan (DP) and coastal road will not do anything to prevent flooding in the city.

While the DP makes no specific provisions to arrest flooding, a sea wall to be constructed for the coastal road may actually cause more flooding, since it will stop channels of water entering the sea.

Wall of problems
Well-known architect P K Das has criticised the DP as well as the coastal road in public forums. He said, “A sea wall has been envisaged along parts of the coastal road. But construction of such walls is banned in the US and Europe.

Officials’ assumption that it will prevent storm surges is archaic. It will in fact lead to flooding, since the wall will prevent floodwater entering the sea. If a natural drainage channel underground is severed, it will result in a counter action and cause flooding in the city.”

Environmentalist Rishi Agarwal also said that it was possible that the sea wall might lead to what retaining walls along some of Mumbai’s rivers led to. “Retaining walls were built for Dahisar, Poisar, Mithi rivers, which actually caused rain water to head towards the land. So I am unsure of the impact of the sea wall on flooding.”

Road to troubles
Hussain Indorewala, assistant professor at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture, who has been studying the coastal road project, said, “The 2005 floods were mainly caused because of the intensity of rain, which was 125 mm/hour while our drainage systems are equipped to handle only 25 mm/hour.

The recent June 19 rains had an intensity of only 38 mm/hour and, even then, there was flooding. This means 26/7 may happen again. Besides, the coastal road will destroy mangroves which act as a natural absorption channel for flood water, on a large scale.”

According to Indorewala, the coastal road will further reduce the width of the Juhu nullah and Malad creek. “Mangroves near the Malad creek will be destroyed for the road to be constructed there. This means all areas adjacent to the Malad creek (upstream) will be flooded during monsoons,” he said.

The coastal road’s environment impact assessment report states that mangroves should not be destroyed. Raghavanand Haridas, an architect from Santacruz, also criticised the coastal road for its tremendous costs to the public exchequer. “In the erstwhile development plans, a ring road was proposed between Bandra and Borivli.

Why can’t that concept be developed? Why do we need the coastal road at all?” Today (July 27) is the last date for submitting suggestions and objections for the coastal road. The civic body has received around 60 of them so far. The draft development plan released by the civic body in February, also makes no separate provisions to prevent flooding.

Only broad outline
“We have made provisions for additional pumping stations in the DP. Besides, the Development Control Regulations (DCR) stipulate certain things such as distance of a building from a nullah and plinth height. But no other provision was made.

After all, the DP only gives a broad outline for the city. The specific departments should deliberate on this,” said V K Phatak, consultant to the BMC for the original draft DP. The DP is now being revised and suggestions/ objections are supposed to be incorporated.

Source

Banglades: Tidal surge, heavy rains trigger flooding in coastal areas

July 27, 2015

Myanmar

Sagaing is one of four districts in Myanmar to be declared a disaster zone by the government. Source: bbc.com

An aerial view shows flooding in Kalay, a town in north-west Myanmar. The toll from flash floods and landslides in Myanmar after days of torrential rain is likely to spike, the UN warned. Ye Aung Thu / AFP Photo. Source: thenational.ae

Flood victims have been receiving supplies from local aid groups. Source: bbc.com

Villagers walk through flood waters in Myawaddy in southeastern Myanmar's Kayin state, July 31, 2015. Source: rfa.org

Many in Myanmar said the rains are the worst in many years. Source: bbc.com

A woman and her child look out from their residence half-submerged in floodwaters in Bago, 80 kilometers northeast of Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Aug 1, 2015. Source: voanews.com

Source: ReliefWeb in pdf

2 August, 2015. Myanmar floods leave at least 47 dead

WEEKS of heavy rain in Myanmar have left at least 47 people dead and damaged farmland, government officials and media report.

MORE than 212,000 hectares of farmland in 12 out of 15 states and divisions across the country were seriously affected by floods as the heavy rain continues, the Ministry of Agriculture and said.

Floods and landslides destroyed more than 20,000 homes and affected some 200,000 people in the Sagaing and Mandalay regions as well as in the Kachin and Shan states, local media reported.
Ko Ko Kyaw of the Myanmar Red Cross Society estimates the death toll is much higher.
"Almost all parts of the country were facing the flood," he said.
The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has also warned the death toll is expected to be rise.
Myanmar's government has been criticised for a slow and inadequate response. Source: theaustralian.com.au

India

The MeT department recorded 143.2 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 5.30 pm today and has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal for another two days. (Photo: PTI). Source: deccanchronicle.com

Floods inundate village in West Bengal in India, at least 25 dead, Al-Alam News Network reports. Source: en.alalam.ir 

Crucial bridges in Chandel have been damaged, which is hampering rescue operations. Source: ndtv.com

More than 40 killed in West Bengal; heavy rainfall in Odisha, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Source: india.com

2 August, 2015. Around 70 Die as Floods, Landslide Hit Bengal, Manipur, Odisha

The aftermath of Cyclone Komen has hit large parts of Bengal, Odisha and Manipur, causing floods and landslides in which around 70 people -- 48 of them in Bengal alone -- have died so far.

The depression has reached Gangetic West Bengal. Rain will continue but intensity likely to be less. Heavy rains have been predicted for the next 24 hours.

Incessant rain has not only sunk large parts of capital Kolkata but also 12 districts, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Five of the districts are on high alert.

Over 2 lakh people have ended up in relief camps after 1.8 lakh houses were damaged. Farmland of over 21 lakh hectare has been submerged, she said.

Manipur is suffering from what people say are the worst floods in 200 years, In which an estimated one lakh people have been affected. Source: ndtv.com

2 August, 2015. Over two million people affected by floods in West Bengal

The flood situation in south Bengal turned grim on Sunday as more than two million people in 5,600 villages across 12 districts were affected by the heavy rains.

“Several districts — including North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Burdwan and Howrah — have been severely affected. Disaster management teams are working on a war [-like] footing,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told media.

Banerjee, who is already touring districts to monitor the relief operations, added: “The situation is getting worse with every passing day as more and more areas are getting inundated. So far 966 relief camps have been set up all across the affected districts, sheltering 1.18 million affected people. As per our initial reports, 180,000 houses have been damaged and crop was lost in over 210,000 hectares [518,921 acres] due to the floods.”

“We have opened 124 medical camps and the government is working on a war footing,” the chief minister added.

The death toll crossed more than 50 after seven more deaths, including those of four children, were reported from various districts. Buildings with weak structures collapsed in several areas, including in the city, due to the overnight downpour.

Source: gulfnews.com

1 August, 2015. 45 dead as West Bengal fights the worst floods after many years

Kolkata: Severe rain lashed southern Bengal throughout Friday night and the whole of Saturday as cyclone ‘Komen’ made landfall in Bangladesh, and weakened into a depression and progressed inland.

Until now, 45 people have died and over 700,000 people have been left homeless as several districts of the state are reeling under the worst floods that the state has faced in several years. Source: gulfnews.com

Pakistan

2 August, 2015

6 June, 2015

Pakistan Navy team rescuing the flood affectees at various areas of district Khairpur, Ghutki , Sukkar , Larkana, Rani pur , and Pannu Aqil on August 1, 2015. PHOTO: PAK NAVY. Source: tribune.com.pk

2 August, 2015. Floods kill more than 100 in Pakistan

THE death toll from three weeks of flooding in Pakistan has surpassed the 100 mark.
FLASH floods killed 109 people and some 700,000 have been affected, the National Disaster Management Authority said on Sunday.
Military engineers repaired roads and bridges in the mountainous north to help rescuers reach people cut off for weeks, the authority said.
River Indus, which flows down from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, flooded at several points in southern Sindh province, meteorological department chief Ghulam Rasool said.
More rain is expected, Rasool said.
Around 350,000 people have been evacuated from the banks of the Indus in past two days. Source: news.com.au

Vietnam

 People search at a landslide site caused by violent floods in Ha Long city, northern province of Quang Ninh on July 28. Photo by Vietnam News Agency/AFP

28 July, 2015, Flooding near Vietnam's Halong Bay kills at least 14

At least 14 people have been killed in the worst flooding for 40 years in Vietnam's northern Quang Ninh province, home to the UNESCO-listed Halong Bay tourist site, officials said Tuesday, July 28.

Three more people were missing and a number of local tourists remained stranded on nearby Co To island, which is cut off from the mainland due to torrential rain, according to a local disaster relief official.

"We have no information on any foreign tourists that may have been stuck in affected areas," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Of the 14 dead, a woman and two children were discovered drowned in a flooded house, he told Agence France-Presse, with many residential areas in Halong City still under water after the province was hit by more than 500 millimetres (20 inches) of rain on Sunday alone.

Thousands of soldiers have been mobilized to help local residents evacuate flooded areas as well as districts hit by landslides trigged by the rains, Quang Ninh province's official website said.

The recent torrential downpour has been the heaviest and caused the worst flooding in more than 40 years, it said. Source: rappler.com

India

Villagers paddle a small boat through floodwaters in Bherampur Block, Murshidabad District, some 220kms north of Kolkata as the remnants of Cyclone Komen carrying heavy monsoon rains cross the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. (AFP PHOTO). Source: hindustantimes.com

A cyclone struck the state of West Bengal, killing 48 people in flood-related incidents. Source: bbc.com

More than 100 killed in India floods. Source: thedailybangladesh.com

An Indian hand rickshaw puller makes his way through a flooded street in Kolkata. (Source: AP). Source: indianexpress.com

Children use big cooking pots as floats in a flooded area in Murshidabad district of West Bengal on Sunday. (Source: PTI) Source: indianexpress.com

3 August, 2015. Floods kill at least 160 across India, situation grim in Bengal

Flooding has brought chaos to several Indian states killing at least 160 people and affecting lakhs after heavy rainfall lashed West Bengal, Odisha, Manipur, Rajasthan and Gujarat, officials said on Monday.

The death toll could rise as many people are still missing even as personnel of the Indian Army are out in several areas for rescue and relief efforts, officials added.

The situation remained grim in West Bengal's southern districts after fresh water was released from different barrages, compounding the woes of over 37 lakh people in 12 affected districts.

"Flood situation in the state still remains a matter of concern after fresh water was released from different barrages since last (Sunday) night. High tides worsened the situation," state irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee told PTI.

Among others, the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has released 90,000 cusecs of water since midnight on Sunday, the minister added.

The death toll due to the floods remained at 48 while 2.14 lakh people were sheltered in 1,537 relief camps in the 12 districts. According to the disaster management department's report, 47 municipalities across the state have been affected by floods.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who stayed at state secretariat Nabanna overnight to personally monitor the flood situation, would visit Habra and Ashoknagar areas of North 24 Parganas to monitor the relief and rescue operations. Besides, Banerjee four of her cabinet ministers would also visit other affected districts to review the situation.

The government has issued an appeal to all the affected in the districts to move to their nearest relief camp before the situation worsens. Source: hindustantimes.com

3 August, 2015. 81 Dead, 80 (8 million) Lakh Affected In Floods In Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal And Odisha

At least 81 people died and more than 80 lakh people were affected in fresh floods due to excessive rains in worst affected Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Odisha.

In Gujarat, 14 districts and population of about 40 lakh were affected in recent floods due to heavy rainfall in the last few days. More than 10 lakh food packets have been airdropped or distributed to the flood victims, an official statement said here today.

Temporary relief camps have been set up in affected areas and peoples are accommodated on need basis. A total of 17 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed for rescue and relief operations in Gujarat. In Rajasthan, so far 28 people have lost their lives, out of which 12 people died during past few days owing to very heavy rainfall and flood like situation in many parts of the state.

Rajasthan has experienced excessive rainfall in most of its districts. The situation is grim particularly in districts of Jalore, Jhalawar, Baran, Sirohi, Barmer and Dungarpur. Apart from State Disaster Response Force, Police, RAC etc., at present eight teams of NDRF were deployed for rescue and relief operations. Source: huffingtonpost.in

3 August, 2015. Floods in West Bengal: CM Mamata Banerjee says situation ‘beyond control’

While dark clouds hovered over the state and intermittent rains lashed different areas, the authorities’ immediate worry was heavy discharge of water from reservoirs, both in Bengal and Jharkhand.
The Durgapur barrage in Bengal was scheduled to release about 65,000 cusecs of water on Sunday, with authorities warning that the release may go up to 90,000 cusecs.
There were scores of other dams releasing water simultaneously like Tilpara, Hinglo, Kangshabati, Massanjore, Maithon and Galudi in Jharkhand. The rivers in these areas like Subarnerekha , Kangshabati, Damodar were swollen and the reservoirs full.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had often described floods during the Left regime as “man made” because it was caused largely due to release of water from dams, regretted that her government was watching vast areas getting submerged as water was being released from dams.

Speaking to mediapersons at Nabanna on Sunday, Mamata said: “In the last four years, there has been no flood like this. So far, we have witnessed man-made floods and we have restricted them quite successfully. But the situation at present is rendered beyond control.” Source: indianexpress.com

29 July, 2015. Millions at risk from rapid sea rise in swampy Sundarbans 

Seas are rising more than twice as fast as the global average here in the Sundarbans

The tiny hut sculpted out of mud at the edge of the sea is barely large enough for Bokul Mondol and his family to lie down. The water has taken everything else from them, and one day it almost certainly will take this, too.

Saltwater long ago engulfed the 5 acres where Mondol once grew rice and tended fish ponds, as his ancestors had on Bali Island for some 200 years. His thatch-covered hut, built on public land, is the fifth he has had to build in the last five years as the sea creeps in.

Tens of thousands like Mondol have already been left homeless, and scientists predict much of the Sundarbans could be underwater in 15 to 25 years."Every year we have to move a little further inland," he said.

Seas are rising more than twice as fast as the global average here in the Sundarbans, a low-lying delta region of about 200 islands in the Bay of Bengal where some 13 million impoverished Indians and Bangladeshis live.

In this February 1, 2015 photo, villagers help a fisherman couple push their boat to the water at Satyanarayanpur village in the Sundarbans, India. Photo: AP

That could force a singularly massive exodus of millions of "climate refugees," creating enormous challenges for India and Bangladesh that neither country has prepared for.

"This big-time climate migration is looming on the horizon," said Tapas Paul, a New Delhi-based environmental specialist with the World Bank, which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars assessing and preparing a plan for the Sundarbans region.

"If all the people of the Sundarbans have to migrate, this would be the largest-ever migration in the history of mankind," Paul said. The largest to date occurred during the India-Pakistan partition in 1947, when 10 million people or more migrated from one country to the other.

Mondol has no idea where he would go. His family of six is now entirely dependent on neighbors who have not lost their land. Some days they simply don't eat.

In this January 31, 2015 photo, a bird sits on a tree near a newly built embankment at Bijoynagar village in the Sundarbans, India. Photo: AP

"For 10 years I was fighting with the sea, until finally everything was gone," he says, staring blankly at the water lapping at the muddy coast. "We live in constant fear of flooding. If the island is lost, we will all die."

On their own, the Sundarbans' impoverished residents have little chance of moving before catastrophe hits. Facing constant threats from roving tigers and crocodiles, deadly swarms of giant honeybees and poisonous snakes, they struggle to eke out a living by farming, shrimping, fishing and collecting honey from the forests.

Each year, with crude tools and bare hands, they build mud embankments to keep saltwater and wild animals from invading their crops. And each year swollen rivers, monsoon rains and floods wash many of those banks and mud-packed homes back into the sea.

Most struggle on far less than $1 a day. With 5 million people on the Indian side and 8 million in Bangladesh, the Sundarbans population is far greater than any of the small island nations that also face dire threats from rising sea levels.

Losing the 26,000-square-kilometer (10,000-square-mile) region - an area about the size of Haiti - would also take an environmental toll. The Sundarbans region is teeming with wildlife, including the world's only population of mangrove forest tigers. The freshwater swamps and their tangles of mangrove forests act as a natural buffer protecting India's West Bengal state and Bangladesh from cyclones.

With rising temperatures melting polar ice and expanding oceans, seas have been rising globally at an average rate of about 3 millimeters a year - a rate scientists say is likely to speed up. The latest projections suggest seas could rise on average up to about 1 meter (3.3 feet) this century.

That would be bad enough for the Sundarbans, where the highest point is around 3 meters (9.8 feet) and the mean elevation is less than a meter above sea level. But sea rise occurs unevenly across the globe because of factors like wind, ocean currents, tectonic shift and variations in the Earth's gravitational pull. The rate of sea rise in the Sundarbans has been measured at twice the global rate or even higher.

In addition, dams and irrigation systems upstream are trapping sediments that could have built up the river deltas that make up the Sundarbans. Other human activities such as deforestation encourage erosion.

A 2013 study by the Zoological Society of London measured the Sundarbans coastline retreating at about 200 meters (650 feet) a year. The Geological Survey of India says at least 210 square kilometers (81 square miles) of coastline on the Indian side has eroded in the last few decades. At least four islands are underwater and dozens of others have been abandoned due to sea rise and erosion.

Many scientists believe the only long-term solution is for most of the Sundarbans population to leave. That may be not only necessary but environmentally beneficial, giving shorn mangrove forests a chance to regrow and capture river sediment in their tangled, saltwater-tolerant roots.

"The chance of a mass migration, to my mind, is actually pretty high. India is not recognizing it for whatever reason," said Anurag Danda, who leads the World Wildlife Fund's climate change adaptation program in the Sundarbans. "It's a crisis waiting to happen. We are just one event away from seeing large-scale displacement and turning a large number of people into destitutes."

West Bengal is no stranger to mass migration. Kolkata, its capital, has been overrun three times by panicked masses fleeing violence or starvation: during a 1943 famine, the 1947 partition and the 1971 war that created today's Bangladesh.

India, however, has no official plan either to help relocate Sundarbans residents or to protect the region from further ecological decline.

"We need international help. We need national help. We need the help of the people all over the world. We are very late" in addressing the problem, said West Bengal state's minister for emergencies and disaster management, Janab Javed Ahmed Khan. He said West Bengal must work urgently with the Indian and Bangladeshi governments to take action.

Bangladesh is supporting scientists "trying to find out whether it's possible to protect the Sundarbans," said Taibur Rahman, of the Bangladesh government's planning commission. "But we are already experiencing the effects of climate change. The people of the Sundarbans are resilient and have long lived with hardship, but many now are leaving. And we are not yet prepared."

A network of concrete dykes and barriers, like those protecting the Netherlands, offers limited protection to some of the islands in Bangladesh's portion of the Sundarbans. The World Bank is now spending some $200 million to improve those barriers.

Experts worry that politicians will ignore the problem or continue to make traditional promises to build roads, schools and hospital clinics. This could entice more people to the region just when everyone should be moving out.

"We have 15 years ... that's the rough time frame I give for sea level rise to become very difficult and population pressure to become almost unmanageable," said Jayanta Bandopadhyay, an engineer and science professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi who has studied the region for years.

Bandopadhyay and other experts say India and Bangladesh should be creating jobs, offering skills training, freeing lands and making urbanization attractive so people will feel empowered to leave.

Even if India musters that kind of political will, planning and funds, persuading people to move will not be easy.

Most families have been living here since the early 1800s, when the British East India Company - which then governed India, Pakistan and Bangladesh for the British Empire - removed huge mangrove forests to allow people to live on and profit from the fertile agricultural land.

Even those who are aware of the threat of rising seas don't want to leave.

"You cannot fight with water," said Sorojit Majhi, a 36-year-old father of four young girls living in a hut crouched behind a crumbling mud embankment. Majhi's ancestral land has also been swallowed by the sea. He admits he's sometimes angry, other times depressed.

"We are scared, but where can we go?" he said. "We cannot fly away like a bird." Source: dhakatribune.com

2 August, 2015. Saline water invasion looms large for AP capital city

Amaravati, the proposed mega capital city of Andhra Pradesh, is now facing the threat of sea water intrusion. Already sea water has intruded into the groundwater table up to the outskirts of Vijayawada and Guntur cities, and experts warn that there will be further ingress in the future. The groundwater table in the entire area between Vijayawada and Guntur, where the state capital has been planned, will turn salty if immediate remedial measures were not initiated.

The sea water ingress has been recorded in areas as far away as 58 km from the coastline in Krishna district. In case of Guntur district, the sea water has made inroads up to 50 km through underground channels. Experts attribute the sea water ingress to over-exploitation of the groundwater table and poor monsoon over the years.

"Amaravati, Vijayawada and Guntur together will put further pressure on the groundwater table as the population is likely to increase significantly once the administrative capital is ready. Monsoon has been playing truant in the last two decades. Failure of monsoon and over-exploitation of the groundwater will lead to further ingress of the sea. Already the sea water has entered Kankipadu, which is hardly 10 km away from the proposed capital," warns Prof KSR Prasad of the department of civil engineering, VR Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada.

Prof Prasad along with Prof TS Ramaiah Chowdary has analysed about 50 water samples collected from various villages in Krishna delta. The analysis revealed that there is severe fresh water crisis in the delta. The problem is felt more in Krishna district than in Guntur district. The result of the study was published in the recent issue of the International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences.

He said about 75 percent of the population in Krishna delta depend on groundwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural needs. The pressure on groundwater will go up tremendously once Amaravati city takes the final shape. "The current annual groundwater draft in Krishna Eastern delta is 115.60 million cubic metre and 99.50 MCM in Krishna Western delta. Over the years the transformation of fresh groundwater to saline water is taking place in the delta at a faster rate due to intensive increase of sea water intrusion," the study pointed out.

Prasad told TOI that the groundwater has become highly saline in places like Kaza, which is 20 km away from the sea. Even Thadanki which is 41 km from the sea coast is experiencing salinity. What is worrying is that Kankipadu in Vijayawada, which is 58 km from the sea, has also been affected. This is evident from the presence of concentrations of chlorides and total dissolved solids in Kankipadu.

The survey revealed that there is excess exploitation of water from bore wells to meet the agricultural demand. The chloride content in the groundwater varied from 123 mg/l to 6029 mg/l in Krishna district and 98.31 mg/l to 1346 mg/l in Guntur district.

The researchers suggested measures like artificial recharge, reduced use of groundwater and restriction on use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers to check salinity of groundwater and prevent ingress of sea water. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Vietnam:

A seriously submerged area in Thanh Son Ward, Uong Bi City, the northern province of Quang Ninh. Source: tuoitrenews.vn

3 August, 2015. Floods kill 22 in Vietnam

Twenty-two people have been killed in a week of record floods in northern Vietnam, authorities said Monday, warning that more rains and floods would hit the area in the coming days.

Among the dead were 17 victims from Quang Ninh province, the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control said.

The province has received more than 800 millimetres of rain in the past seven days, the most in the past 40 years.

Nearly 2,500 hectares of rice were submerged while more than 11,500 head of cattle and poultry were killed.

Total damage was estimated at about 100 million dollars, of which Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group lost 57 million dollars, the authorities said.

Electricity of Vietnam has warned of a possible shortage of power, as coal mining and transportation have been halted due to torrential rains and floods, the Viet Nam News reported. Source: nationmultimedia.com

Nepal:

At least 90 people have been killed across Nepal in the past two months due to floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains, authorities have said. Source: ibnlive.com

3 August, 2015. In Nepal, floods, landslides kill 90 in two months

At least 90 people have been killed across Nepal in the past two months due to floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains, authorities have said.
Representational photo-Image courtesy-ReutersRepresentational photo-Image courtesy-Reuters
According to a report presented in the Parliament, 117 houses, four bridges, five suspension bridges and one school have been destroyed in the various natural calamities.
At least 90 people have been killed in the recent monsoon-induced natural disasters, the report said.
Presenting the report in Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam said the most loss of human lives and property occurred in the landslides in Taplejung and Kaski district. Source: firstpost.com

Myanmar:

3 August, 2015

2 June, 2014

An aerial view photograph shows the roofs of flooded buildings in Kale township of Sagaing Region, Myanmar, August 2, 2015. Lynn Bo Bo/EPA. Source: rappler.com

An aerial view of a flooded village in Kalay township at Sagaing division, August 2, 2015. Storms and floods have so far killed 21 people, with water levels as high as 2.5 metres in Sagaing and 4.5 metres in western Rakhine state, according to the government, which on Friday declared four regions disaster zones. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY. Source: ca.finance.yahoo.com

Villagers walk through flood waters in Myawaddy in southeastern Myanmar's Kayin state, July 31, 2015. Source: rfa.org

Local residents wade through a flooded road in Bago, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Aug 1, 2015. (Source: AP). Source: indianexpress.com

At least 20 people were killed in flash floods in several parts of Myanmar over the past week that also affected thousands of others, an official here said on Tuesday. Source: udaipurkiran.com

3 August, 2015. 'Catastrophic' floods in Myanmar hit most vulnerable, including children – UN agencies

Myanmar has suffered heavy rains, winds and flooding since Cyclone Komen made landfall in Bangladesh on 30 July, causing landslides and damage in different parts of the country, United Nations agencies have warned.

“The floods are hitting children and families who are already very vulnerable, including those living in camps in Rakhine state,” said Shalini Bahuguna, from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). There are 140,000 displaced children and families in Rakhine alone.

“Beyond the immediate impact, the floods will have a longer term impact on the livelihoods of these families,” she warned.

According to the Myanmar Government, 39 people have died and over 200,000 people across the country are in need of lifesaving assistance. Twelve out of Myanmar's 14 states and regions have been affected by the rains. On 31 July, President U Thein Sein issued a statement declaring natural disaster zones in four regions, including Rakhine, where access is limited due to flooding, road blockages and landslides.

“Initial reports indicate that there is extensive damage to shelters and other infrastructure in camps around Sittwe [Rakhine's capital], where some 100,000 displaced people are staying,” stressed the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in an update from 30 July. Source: un.org

3 August, 2015. Myanmar rescuers race to flood zones, 46 dead

Rescue workers in Myanmar raced on Monday (Aug 3) to help tens of thousands of people in remote areas enduring roof-top high floods, as the death toll climbed to at least 46.

Relentless monsoon rains have triggered flash floods and landslides, destroying thousands of houses, farmland, bridges and roads - with fast-flowing waters hampering relief efforts.

Hundreds have also perished in recent days in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam following floods and landslides triggered by heavy seasonal rains.

In Myanmar, "46 people have died and more than 200,000 have been affected by the floods across the country", an official at the Relief and Resettlement Department told AFP.

"We are speeding up assistance and relief work," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Myanmar is a vast and poor country, where communications and infrastructure are already weak, prompting the United Nations to warn that a full picture of the scale of the disaster may not emerge for days.

Authorities have declared the four worst-hit areas in central and western Myanmar "national disaster-affected regions".

In the impoverished northern Sagaing Region, residents said the flood waters caught them off guard as they swept into villages, swamping homes and fields.

"There was no warning; we thought it was normal seasonal flooding," Aye Myat Su, 30, told AFP from a monastery being used as a temporary shelter in the regional capital of Kalay.

"But within a few hours, the whole house was underwater. My husband had to get onto the roof as there was no way out.". Source: channelnewsasia.com

2 August, 2015. Myanmar floods worst in decades

A state of emergency has been declared in several regions of Myanmar after the worst flooding in decades.
Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed.
The country's president has visited people living in temporary shelters and the army is leading relief efforts. Source: bbc.com

Pakistan:

3 August, 2015 (lance-modis.eosdis.nasa.gov)

5 May, 2015

A sign board in Sindhi language reads the name of Village Muhammad Hasan in the delta region of River Indus in southern Pakistan. After the submersion of the village, the residents have moved.Many villages in the Indus delta came under water due to the sea level rise. Photo by Amar Guriro/News Lens Pakistan. Source: upi.com

Pakistani villagers wade through floodwaters caused by heavy rains at a village on the outskirts of Nowshera near Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2015. (AP/Muhammad Sajjad). Source: ctvnews.ca

6 July, 2015. Encroaching sea levels endanger Pakistan's Indus Delta

Shah Murad, a fisherman in Sajan Wari village in the delta region of River Indus in southern Pakistan, said the ancestral village where he grew up was submerged by seawater. Photo by Amar Guriro/News Lens Pakistan

From its start in the Himalayas, the Indus River flows almost 2,000 miles to the Arabian Sea, ensuring there is fertile land for farmers along the way and sustenance for Pakistan's wildlife.

The river is in trouble, though. Its 17 major creeks, which in the past helped push seawater back, have almost dried up, allowing the Arabian Sea to flow upstream, poisoning the Indus River Delta with salt water and fouling farmland.

Meanwhile, sea levels are rising, swamping entire villages along the river and threatening a way of life for thousands of families.

"There were many villages in our area, which are now completely submerged and the residents had moved somewhere else," said Shah Murad, a fisherman in Sajan Wari, who lost his ancestral village four years ago to the rising waters.

Once the fifth-largest in the world, the Indus River delta stretches 130 miles inland and covers 16,000 square miles, according to WWF-Pakistan.

According to the 1929 gazette of the Indian government, which quoted a survey by the Indian Botanical Society, the Indus River Delta in the 1920s was equal to the Sundarbans, another important South Asian delta located in Bangladesh, in terms of area, variety of trees, diversity of fauna and flora and general ecosystem.

Since the 1940s, however, the Indus has changed dramatically, according to the Sindh provincial government's 2011 gazette, dropping in volume by more than half.

Commercial fishing vessels are anchored at Sajan Wari village in the River Indus delta in southern Pakistan. Some 10 years ago, this huge channel was part of River Indus, but is now filled with seawater. Photo by Amar Guriro/News Lens Pakistan

The delta has been especially hard hit, with researchers projecting it is only about 10 percent of its original size.

Satellite images from between 1979 and 2015, collected by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, clearly show that "a vast area in the Indus Delta has been engulfed by sea," said Solangi Sarfraz Hussain, a professor at the Center for Pure and Applied Geology at the University of Sindh.

The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which advocates for Pakistani fishing communities, said much of that loss in recent years has been due to rising seas. It found that 2 million acres of fertile land has been inundated with seawater, forcing 800,000 residents of Indus Delta to migrate.

Local residents say that until the early 1970s, the area was famous for bananas, red rice, sugarcane and wheat. Most of these farmers, however, have abandoned their fields and switched to fishing.

"Since the river water reduced, and seawater submerged vast areas, the lands became saline, which destroyed agriculture. We have no other option than to switch to fishing," said Subhan Bakhsh, a fisherman of Sajan Wari, whose father was once a famous grower in the area.

The government has responded to the rising seas with a proposal to build a series of levees to protect the remaining river communities. Local residents, however, say this does not solve the problem or help those already harmed by the seas.

"Levees are not a permanent solution to this problem. We need to restore River Indus," said Muhammad Ali Shah, who heads the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. Source: upi.com

3 August, 2015. Monsoon floods kill 118 in Pakistan, thousands evacuated

The death toll from flash floods triggered by seasonal monsoon rains in various parts of Pakistan has risen to 118 and floodwater has inundated vast areas, leaving tens of thousands homeless, authorities said Monday.
The National Disaster Management Authority said the flooding has affected more than 800,000 people in 2,275 villages. About 2,900 houses have collapsed or are partially damaged.
The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is the worst affected, with 59 deaths reported there, according to NDMA's statement. The Pakistani part of Kashmir and southern part of eastern Punjab province each reported 22 deaths. Source: ctvnews.ca

Floods hit Myanmar

Aug 4, 2015

In Myanmar, 200,000 people hit by floods as flood waters sweep into villages, swamping homes & fields. UN says full extent of damage not known yet due to poor communications & infrastructure in the poor country.

Source

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=...;

India and Myanmar

Men use inner tubes to travel along a flooded street in Kalay, Sagaing division, Myanmar(Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters). Source: ibtimes.co.uk

Roofs stick out of the floodwaters in Kalay(Ye Aung Thu/AFP). Source: ibtimes.co.uk

An aerial view shows floodwaters inundating houses in Kalay, in upper Myanmar's Sagaing region(Ye Aung Thu/AFP). Source: ibtimes.co.uk

Myanmar floods, 250 000 affected. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP) Source: ibtimes.co.uk

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (centre) rides a boat as she leaves after visiting a monastery where flood victims are sheltered in Bago, 80 kilometres northeast of Yangon, Myanmar. A report issued Saturday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs cited Myanmar disaster officials estimate 200,000 people have been affected by flooding. (SOURCE: AP) Source: bangkokpost.com

Heavy rain is said to have sent a flash flood into the small bridge. Source: bbc.com

Indian people walk through flooded street at Beri Gopalpur village, some 200 km away from Kolkata, capital of eastern Indian state West Bengal, Aug. 4, 2015. At least 215 people died of wall collapses, electrocution, landslide and drowning brought by heavy rain and accompanying floods in India over the past week, Home Ministry officials said Tuesday. (Xinhua/Tumpa Mondal). Source: news.xinhuanet.com

3 August, 2015

1 June, 2015

4 August, 2015

31 July, 2015

Start of floods

30 July, 2015

26 July, 2015

26 July, 2015

Normal 28 June, 2014. Source of images: earthdata.nasa.gov; worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov

5 August, 2015. Millions Affected as Widespread Flooding Inundates Swaths of Southern Asia

Flooding brought on by torrential monsoon rains has left large swaths of land across parts of southern Asia underwater, and has affected an estimated 10 million people in India alone.

The usual monsoon rains have been made worse this year by Cyclone Komen, which made landfall in Bangladesh last Friday.

In India, 200 people have died and more than 1 million have been moved to relief camps in West Bengal, which has taken the brunt of the damage, reports Agence France-Presse. Flash floods and landslides have swept away homes, farmlands and livelihoods in Manipur, Gujarat and Rajasthan states as well.

On Tuesday, two passenger trains derailed off a bridge into a river in Madhya Pradesh. It is believed the heavy rain had caused the river levels to rise and partially submerged the track, reports the BBC.

Meanwhile, flooding in neighboring Burma has caused widespread devastation in several western states, prompting the government to appeal for international assistance on Tuesday.

More than 200,000 people have been affected and at least 47 people have died.

Burma’s President Thein Sein has declared four areas in the country, formally known as Myanmar, as disaster zones and many remote areas are still cut off by floodwaters, landslides or damaged roads, leaving thousands of people without aid. Aid agencies are particularly concerned with the 140,000 people already living in displacement camps in the country’s western Rakhine state.

“The floods are hitting children and families who are already very vulnerable, including those living in camps in Rakhine state,” said Shalini Bahuguna, from the U.N. Children’s Fund UNICEF.

Flooding has claimed 150 lives and affected 800,000 people across several Pakistan provinces including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and the disputed region of Kashmir.

In northern Vietnam, flooding has left more than 12,000 people without electricity for days and record rainfall has affected the power supply to 27 cities and provinces nationwide. Since July 26, Quang Ninh province saw a total rainfall of 1,500 mm, considered to be the worst in 40 years.

Heavy rains and flooding have damaged 10,000 houses and ruined 4,000 hectares of rice and other crops in the province. Seventeen people have died.

And in disaster-hit Nepal, at least 90 people have died in the past two months as a result of floods and landslides. Source: time.com

5 August, 2015. 69 die in Myanmar floods, 250,000 affected

The death toll from severe flooding in Myanmar has risen to 69, with 259,799 people affected by the disaster, the ministry of social welfare said on Wednesday.

The flooding has submerged vast areas, and four states and regions: Rakhine, Chin, Sagaing and Magway have been declared "natural disaster affected areas", reports Xinhua news agency.

Flooding has begun to move southwards and was likely to expand and affect more areas, the meteorology and hydrology department warned. Source: daijiworld.com

5 August, 2015. Official flood relief yet to reach hard-hit Kalay township in Sagaing Region

Amid criticism that the government has not done enough to relieve devastation caused by heavy monsoon downpours, including by those supposedly receiving the assistance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed yesterday for international aid to help bolster its efforts.

Flood victims taking refuge in Taungphilar Monastery in flood-battered Sagaing Region’s Kalay township had a harsher interpretation of the official handling of the crisis. They told The Myanmar Times they didn’t receive any advance warning from the government. Flash floods unexpectedly inundated their homes in the low-lying area in what some described as the worst natural disaster they’ve seen in decades. Source: mmtimes.com

5 August. 2015. Burma On High Alert As Floods Move South

Rohingya children walk in front of a damaged shelter in Rakhine state.

Flood warnings for some parts of the Irrawaddy River have been raised from "be alert" to "be prepared to move".

At least 46 people have died and more than 200,000 are badly affected by flooding in Burma.

While flooding in northern and central Burma has lessened, water has been flowing downriver to more populous regions, UN officials have warned. The damage caused by the monsoon rains was made worse by the effects of a cyclone last week.

Official flood warnings for downriver sections of the Irrawaddy River - also called the Ayeyarwaddy - have been raised from yellow status - "be alert" - to orange - "be prepared to move".

A number of dams are also holding back swollen waters, adding to the flooding threat. Source: news.sky.com

5 August, 2015. India rail crash: Trains derail in Madhya Pradesh flash flood

Two passenger trains in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have derailed minutes apart on a flooded bridge, killing at least 24 people, officials say.
The trains were passing each other near the town of Harda when a flash flood triggered by heavy rain struck the bridge, reports said.
The tracks collapsed and some of the carriages were submerged.
Officials say at least 25 people have been injured and another 300 rescued.
The Kamayani Express travelling to Varanasi from Mumbai derailed first, while the Janata Express travelling in the opposite direction derailed shortly after. It was not clear how many people were on both trains.

Speaking to a local TV station, one passenger described the scene just after the accident. "Water filled the coach till here," he said, pointing to his waist.
Another passenger said there had been "a sudden jerk" and "the carriage broke apart and people were crushed". Source: bbc.com

Vietnam

5 August, 2015

Normal

Source: disasterscharter.org

5 August, 2015. Territorial rains and floods: Natural or human disaster?

Floods in Tuan Giao District, Dien Bien Province.

According to some experts, the heavy consequences suffered by Quang Ninh province after the recent torrential rains and floods were caused by natural disasters but also by man.

North Vietnam is undergoing very rainy days, which has caused flooding in many provinces and cities. At least 28 people have died, six others are missing, and 40 injured. Material damage has reached hundreds of millions USD.
Quang Ninh province suffered the worst territorial rains and floods in 40 years, which killed 17 people and caused losses worth VND2 trillion (nearly $100 million).

The coal industry of Vietnam, based in Quang Ninh, has been paralysed. The Vietnam Coal and Minerals Corporation said that it will take the coal industry 3-5 months to resume operations.

After heavy rains, many areas in Quang Ninh province were submerged deeply. Boats could move on the roads.
Prof. Ph.D Nguyen Duc Ngu, Director of the Center for Hydrometeorological and Environmental Sci-Tech said the territorial rains in Quang Ninh was not abnormal because it occurred in the rainy reason but it was abnormal because it turned suddenly from dry weather and drought to heavy rains.
Prof. Ngu said climate change has made the earth warmer. At sea, the humidity is higher. The earth surface is hotter so convection activities are stronger, forming huge clouds, especially vortexes. The low furrow causing heavy rains in North Vietnam, particularly Quang Ninh, previously existed in the southern China. When it moved to North Vietnam, it caused heavy rain.
"The volume of water converging in that furrow was huge. This is climate change and there have been repeated warnings," said Prof. Ngu.
He also said that climate change would continue to create extreme weather phenomena like heavy rain, drought, cold weather. And the consequences will be more severe.
However, Duc said that the severe consequences in Quang Ninh were not only caused by natural disasters but mainly by man-made factors. Particularly, deforestation has caused less water retention, increasing landslides.
Quang Ninh is the largest coal mining region in Vietnam, with many slag dumps as big as hills. The structure of these waste dumps is not solid, so when it rains heavily, sludge streams are formed.
The terrain in this region is complex with hills and depressed areas. Houses are usually built on the side or at the foot of the mountains so when it rains, the houses on the mountain sides can be swept away and those at the bottom of the mountain can be submerged. Source:english.vietnamnet.vn

Philippines

5 August, 2015. Five dead, three missing in southern Philippines floods

A file photo of a Filipino man wading along floodwaters from a swollen creek at a coastal village north of Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Five people have died and three more are missing as floods hit two southern Philippine cities, forcing about 400 residents to flee their submerged homes, officials said Wednesday.

Swollen rivers burst their banks and unleashed waist-deep floods on shanty towns in the cities of Malaybalay and Valencia on Mindanao island this week, provincial civil defence chief Ana Caneda told AFP. Heavy rains have swamped the region since late last month and the government warned residents of vulnerable areas, including riverbank shanties, to evacuate, but some refused, she said.

"They may not have relatives to go to and don't want to go to the evacuation centres so they... (chose) to sit it out," Caneda said, adding that some had refused to leave their properties unguarded. Source: channelnewsasia.com

Pakistan

5 August, 2015. Floods kill 169 people across country, says NDMA

Floods in different parts of Pakistan have left at least 169 people dead and injured 126 others, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Wednesday.

With high floods in the River Indus at Chashma, Taunsa, Guddu and Sukkur, very high at the latter two barrages, the raging waters have affected 917,719 people.

Giving a regional breakdown of the damage caused by the floods, the NDMA said at least 79 people were killed and 70 others were injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) — where Chitral is the worst hit region. As many as 3,320 houses have been damaged by the floods in the province, Pakistan Today reported. Flooding in Punjab has left at least 48 dead where 368,863 people have been affected so far. As many as 2,025 houses have also been damaged with 496 villages being affected.

Rain related incidents caused deaths of at least 22 people and five have been injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) where 237 houses have been damaged in 17 villages. Gilgit-Baltistan has also been hit by floods with seven reported deaths and six injuries so far with 136,000 people affected in 286 villages with over 800 houses damaged.

In Balochistan, at least 13 deaths were reported with 33 injuries with 798 houses damaged. Source: en.dailypakistan.com.pk

Floods in Myanmar, the president: leave areas under sea level [PHOTOS]

August 6, 2015

The Irrawaddy River increasingly menacing, its banks could break at any moment: after the 74 victims of the floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains, now it is feared the occurrence of another catastrophe

http://www.meteoweb.eu/2015/08/alluvioni-in-myanmar-il-presidente-a...

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La Presse / Reuters

The President of Myanmar, the former Burma, called on the people who live in areas below sea level in the country, ravaged by floods, to leave their homes, as the Irrawaddy River threatens to break its banks.

The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains has risen to 74, while more than 330 thousand people are involved, authorities explained. In four areas it was declared a state of natural disaster, with widespread flooding. The government, which recognized his weakness in response to the disaster, has appealed to receive aid from the international community. In a message released on the radio,

President Thein Sein said that the areas near the Irrawaddy River because it is enlarging above "the level of danger." Since, the president added that "we can not predict disasters natuali, invitation compatriots to move to safer areas ... is the best solution." He then explained that the city of Hinthada and Nyaung Don, along the river, are in immediate danger. Many areas then are de facto segregated for the high level of the water or to the unavailability of the roads.

Myanmar Sinking: Villages submerged as flood water rises

Myanmar's president urged people to leave a low-lying southern delta region on 6 August with rain water flowing into the area as rivers reached dangerously high levels. The widespread floods, triggered last week by heavy monsoon rains, have killed 81 people, according to Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

About 6.2m people, 12% of Myanmar's population, live in the region, a south west area where the Ayeyarwady and other rivers branch out into a delta leading to the sea. Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, has not experienced flooding, despite being near the delta .

In Nyaungdon, a town in the Ayeyarwady region, villages were flooded so badly that only roofs of buildings were visible above the water. One flooding victim said he feared the water would continue to rise.

"The water has been rising everyday and has flooded everything. I don't know what is going on.

This has never happened before. It rises 3-4 feet a day and is still rising," said Tin Win, a farmer in the region.

"During previous floods, people could stay in their houses. They could use boats to go everywhere. This year is difficult for both the people and animals. We cannot feed them," said Htay Lwin, the head of a village.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 101,000 acres of paddy in the Ayeyarwady region have been flooded, but just 180 acres were destroyed.

Countrywide, the impact on agriculture has been far greater. According to the ministry, 1.17m acres of paddy field have been flooded, with 152,500 acres destroyed.

The government appealed for international assistance on 3 August and supplies have started to arrive from abroad.

The call for help marked a change from 2008 when the then-military government shunned most outside aid after a cyclone killed 130,000 people, most in the same delta region.

Source

The giant landslide cut RoSSiyu South Ossetia

Aug 10, 2015

Debris blocked the weight of the roadway 60 m

South Ossetia was temporarily cut off from RoSSiyskoy Federation due to the closure of the Transcaucasian highway, he said РИА Новости RIA News. representative of the main emergency department of North Ossetia. "Came down with a full overlap rural roadway two kilometers from the customs post" Zaramag. "According to preliminary information, the victims eventually landslide there," - said in the MOE.

Also roSSiyskie media report that completely stopped traffic in both directions.Today was planned to finish clearing the roadway - descended debris blocked the weight 60 m of the roadway.

Recall, in the east of India in the landslide killed 20 people.

Source

Landsat 8 satellite show floods in Myanmar

click to view full resolution

12 August, 2015

10 August, 2015 Sinking?

10 August, 2015. Sinking?

Landsat 8 show floods in India 

click to view full resolution

6 August, 2015

6 August, 2015

6 August, 2015

6 August, 2015

6 August, 2015

Source:  landsatlook.usgs.gov; earthexplorer.usgs

MODIS Myanmar floods

6 August, 2015

8 August, 2015

2014 September wet season

MODIS India floods

6 August, 2015

13 August, 2015. At least 103 people have been killed and more than a million critically affected by the flooding in Myanmar

Myanmar was evacuating parts of a city on Wednesday after mudslides wiped away hundreds of houses and torrential rain threatened further damage in the worst floods to hit the country in decades.

The government in Hakha, the capital of impoverished Chin state in northwest Myanmar, was moving nearly 4,000 people to safety after landslides caused by rains destroyed 375 houses, Chin Finance Minister Nan Zamon told Reuters.

At least 103 people have been killed and more than one million "critically affected" by the flooding, according to the government and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

It is the worst natural disaster since Cyclone Nargis killed nearly 140,000 people in May 2008.

Five out of six townships in Hakha, population 50,000, had been hit by landslides and another 900 houses were in danger of being damaged, Nan Zamon said. Source: ewn.co.za

7 August, 2015. The hungry tide: Bay of Bengal's sinking islands

Salt water inundation has increased salinity of the soil to an alarming limit, making agricultural harvesting extremely difficult. Betel vine cultivation is one of the major sources of income on the island. However, rising water levels have washed away acres of plantation land, leaving behind financial difficulties. [Swastik Pal/Al Jazeera]

Ghoramara island is known as the "sinking island". Located 150km south of Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal's Sunderban delta, the island, once spanning more than 20sq km, has been reduced to an area of merely 5sq km.

"Over the last two decades I've lost 1.2 hectares of cultivable land to the Muriganga river and had to shift my home four times. There has been no resettlement initiative from the government," said Anwara Bibi, 30, a resident of Nimtala village on the island.

Global warming has caused the river to grow. Flowing down from the mighty Himalayas the river brings more and more snowmelt along as it empties into the Bay of Bengal.

High tides and floods play havoc on the fragile embankments, displacing hundreds of islanders every year.

"Most men have migrated to work in construction sites in the southern part of India," Sanjeev Sagar, the head of the local council of Ghoramara Island, told Al Jazeera.

More than 600 families have been displaced in the last three decades, leaving behind 5,000 odd residents struggling with harsh monsoons every year.

"A large-scale mangrove plantation could prevent tidal erosion," suggested Sugata Hazra who is a professor at the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University. "With every high tide a part of the island is getting washed away."

Only those without any means to migrate are left on this island.

Amid this crisis, basic services such as education are being neglected by authorities.

"The nearest senior secondary school is across the river at Kakdwip," said Sourav Dolui, 16, a 9th grade student at the Ghoramara Milan Bidyapeeth. Source: aljazeera.com

Unseasonal floods in Argentina

Troubled times: Argentina

We have already stated that the Cordoba range would be a safe zone, safe from the tidal waves rushing in from the Atlantic. Hot springs appear in many places around the world, where the crust is thin, primarily due to stretching. Argentina, at Buenos Aires, will experience stretching as the top part of S America is pulled to the west while the tip of S America is nailed firmly at the Antarctic Plate. The bay at Buenos Aires will rip open, as we have stated. Thus inland, in San Luis, there are hot springs. This will not result in volcanic eruptions during the pole shift.

ZetaTalk ™ May 4, 2011

15 August, 2015

3 August, 2015

Click to view

Landsat 8 floods in Argentina

16 August, 2015

16 August, 2015

Unseasonal heavy rain has caused rivers to overflow in the province of Buenos Aires. Source: diariocol.com

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Mercedes suffered its worst flooding since 1985.Source: eldolorense.com

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Floods in Durazno. Photo: Victor Rodriguez. Source: elpais.com

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More than 10,000 people were evacuated from the province. Source: aljazeera.com

Worst-hit were the cities of Luján, Mercedes, Salto, Lobos, Areco and Arrecifes. Floodwaters in the middle of town reached a height of 1.8 metres in some cases.Source: tvn-2.com

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Buenos Aires is one of the most affected by floods / Photo: Courtesy. Source: radiomundial.com.ve

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12 August, 2015. Unseasonal heavy rain has caused rivers to overflow in the province of Buenos Aires.
At least three people have died and 11,000 have had to be evacuated from their homes in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina following heavy rain. The evacuations have been necessitated by rising river levels following unseasonal torrential rain across the province. Up to 350mm of rain fell in just a few days - this compares with an average for the entire month of August of just 60mm. The Lujan, Areco and Arrecifes rivers have all overflowed. The Arrecifes reached a record level of nine metres, nearly twice its normal level.

The flooding has submerged the rich soils of the pampas. Argentina is one of the world’s largest producers of soybeans, corn and wheat and this unseasonal rainfall is expected to hamper the planting of the wheat crop. Source: aljazeera.com

17 August, 2015. High and dry after Argentina floods
Looking across the skyline of Mercedes in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, the first thing to strike your eye is the number of tents perched on people’s roofs. After the worst flooding to hit the city in decades, the tents aren’t just a refuge from the murky water below, they’re also a good idea if you want to ensure no one helps themselves to your belongings. The sun is shining again in the Pampas. The Luján, Salado and Arrecifes river basins are finally receding after weeks of torrential rain filled them three or four times above their normal levels. More than 10,000 evacuees from around the province are returning home. They will not be able to simply resume their lives as before. If not lost entirely, their properties will be severely damaged, and they face the added challenge of keeping their families healthy in far from sanitary conditions.

In early August, more rain fell in just two days in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe than normally falls in an entire month. Worst-hit were the cities of Luján, Mercedes, Salto, Lobos, Areco and Arrecifes. Floodwaters in the middle of town reached a height of 1.8 metres in some cases. At least three people died, more than 10,000 were evacuated and 20,000 affected.

More than 10,000 people were evacuated from the province. Photo: Friends of the Belgrano Railway

Mercedes suffered its worst flooding since 1985. The civil defense authority received its first emergency calls as dawn broke on 10 August. By eight o’clock in the morning, there had been more than 100 requests for assistance. It was left to volunteer firefighters to rescue those trapped by the rapidly rising water. Strong currents made it impossible to use anything else but motorised boats. “People know what to do when we arrive. They have learnt from previous catastrophes,” Alfredo Gutiérrez, the deputy head of the firefighters, tells IRIN ironically.
Another firefighter, Sebastián Cossi, recalls how difficult it was to reach those who had actually dialled in for help because the rescue teams kept finding other people in need along the way. After 15 hours, the teams had rescued some 200 people. Source: irinnews.org

19 August, 2015. Google translate. Floods: the field lost $ 1 billion

Source: reliefweb.int

More than 4 million hectares of Cuenca del Salado (32%) still underwater

At least a third of a large agricultural region of Buenos Aires, comprising the basin of the Salado River and north and east of the province, continues underwater with serious prospects of losses from recent floods. There are 4.1 million hectares, ie 32.8% of the total surface of the area (12.5 million hectares). Buenos Aires has 30 million hectares, bringing the area with serious problems reaches almost 14% of the territory.

The losses are huge in livestock and will continue to accrue, according to experts. In Las Flores, Rauch, Ayacucho, Dolores stack Tordillo producers and other parties they are reporting animal mortality, with calving cows calves in the water.

Although there is no official estimate, as the national government and the Buenos Aires not yet occurred and agro institutions are gathering information, producers warned that this situation continues it may lose not less than 50,000 calves (worth around 200 million pesos).

Furthermore, since they give unrecoverable 259,000 hectares of wheat (other $ 750 million). Thus, between livestock and wheat round economic impact, according to preliminary calculations, the $ 1 billion.

While the crisis by flooding began slowly overcome in the cities, in the countryside the problem does not yield.

According to a public image of Terra satellite, which analyzed Paul Ginestet, president of the Rural Association of Henderson and Rip specialist firm, which among other things is dedicated to working with satellite imagery, multispectral and drones, the impact of flooding is tall.

"In Buenos Aires, in 52 games analyzed, some 12,500,000 hectares, there are 4,100,000 hectares with water, 32% of the surface," said Ginestet. According to the expert, this area would have to add about 150,000 to 200,000 hectares that are not easily detected by the satellite. The spectral bands used for calculations are 1-2 and 7. According Ginestet in Santa Fe only party in the south, General Lopez, Constitution and Caseros, there are 65,000 hectares flooded. And in Córdoba, in the departments of Marcos Juarez and Union, there are 35,000 hectares affected.

In Buenos Aires there are parties who are in a high percentage underwater according to satellite image analysis. For example highlights stack and flowers, with 70%, and Dapple, with 61%. Meanwhile, General Guido has 56%; Rauch and General Belgrano, 55%, and General Alvear, 54 percent.

"Livestock producers lose pastures and forage reserves to feed their farm. The farm drowns because it weakens the physical state, the absence of food," said Ernesto Ambrosetti, chief economist for the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) . "Calves are being born and everything is complicated by lack of food," agreed Joaquin Lascombes, an expert in satellite images. A lack of food illnesses such as pneumonia are added. Preliminary calculations of producers are saying that there is a risk that 50,000 animals were lost.

Another point is the shortage of machinery. According to producers in the region, hydraulics Dolores, an area with 80 percent fields under water, has not a single machine backhoe worked for. Break there the municipality ordered an embankment of a canal to prevent the city from flooding. Source: lanacion.com.ar

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Myanmar:

19 August, 2015. Floods cause acute water shortage in hundreds of Myanmar villages

Authorities are racing to clean contaminated water sources in flood-hit parts of Myanmar, while distributing bottled water, chlorine powder and purification tablets as they struggle with diarrhea outbreaks. Torrential rains since late June triggered floods and landslides across central and western Myanmar, killing more than 100 people and affecting 1.3 million, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In four hard-hit states and regions - Rakhine, Sagaing, Magway and Ayeyarwady - tens of thousands of people lack access to clean water for bathing, washing and drinking, officials and aid organizations told Myanmar Now. Ponds and wells have been contaminated by floodwaters, including seawater in coastal Rakhine state, as well as faeces from farm animals that have sought safety on embankments around ponds, officials said. Source: news.yahoo.com

Pakistan:

Landsat 8 click to view high resolution

17 August, 2015

17 August, 2015

17 August, 2015

17 August, 2015

19 August, 2015

4 August, 2015

18 August, 2015. Floods wreaking havoc  

With the onset of the monsoon season, massive floods have engulfed major parts of the country. While taking a heavy toll on the lives of the poor people dwelling in the densely populated rural areas of the country, the onslaught of floods, as reported by the media, has so far razed more than 2,700 settlements to the ground. In the process, as reported in the media, roughly 0.7 million innocent people have so far been rendered homeless, and are passing sleepless nights under the open sky. Source: dailytimes.com

Incredible aerial pictures show US and European tectonic plates in Iceland pulling apart leaving dramatic 200ft water-filled crevices that divers can explore

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-3207774/Incredible-aerial...

A strange ghost town that spent a quarter century under water is coming up for air again in the Argentine farmlands southwest of Buenos Aires."

a particularly heavy rainstorm followed a series of wet winters, and the lake overflowed its banks on Nov. 10, 1985. Water burst through a retaining wall and spilled into the lakeside streets. People fled with what they could, and within days their homes were submerged under nearly 10 meters (33 feet) of corrosive saltwater.

People come to see the rusted hulks of automobiles and furniture, crumbled homes and broken appliances. They climb staircases that lead nowhere, and wander through a graveyard where the water toppled headstones and exposed tombs to the elements.

From:
http://www.disclose.tv/news/strange_argentina_ghost_town_that_was_u...

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Folding Pacific (Mariana Plate)]

* MI.ANSV; ANSW, Northern Marianas Islands; 16.34 N, 145.67 E

[2014/11/10 - 2015/09/29] 

* MI.HTSP; HUB; 15.23 N, 145.80 E

[2014/11/03 - 2015/10/03]

* IU.GUMO; Guam, Mariana Islands; 13.59 N, 144.87 E

[2014/11/05 - 2015/10/04]

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Tearing of the north Atlantic Rift]

* IU.KONO; Kongsberg, Norway; 59.65 N, 9.60 E

[2015/02/01 - 2015/10/04]

* BE.UCC; Uccle, Brussels, Belgium; 50.80 N, 4.36 E

[2014/11/01 - 2015/10/04]

* GB.ELSH; ELHAM, ENGLAND; 51.15 N, 1.14 E

[2014/11/01 - 2015/10/04]

* GB.HTL; HARTLAND, ENGLAND; 50.99 N, 4.48 W

HTL-1) [2014/10/31 - 2014/12/10]

HTL-2) [2015/01/10 - 2015/01/27]

HTL-3) [2015/01/28 - 2015/10/04]

* GB.BIGH; UPPER BIGHOUSE, SCOTLAND; 58.49 N, 3.91 W

[2015/02/05 - 2015/10/04]

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Folding Pacific (Hawaii)]

Troubled Times: Pacific Islands

The Pacific Plate is assumed to be a single plate, but it is not. Hawaii, which rides higher after every major adjustment in the area, is rising, and this can only be the case if there is subduction of a plate somewhere, pushing the plate that Hawaii rides on up. 

* HV.HUAD; Hualalai, Hawaii Digital; 19.68 N, 155.84 W

[2015/10/06 - 2015/10/09]

* IU.KIP; Kipapa, Hawaii, USA; 21.42 N, 158.01 W

[2014/12/10 -12/12, 2015/06/18 - 06/22, 2015/08/31 - 09/01]

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[North American Rip (Greenland)]

ZetaTalk: N American Rip

The stress on the N American plate will resolve by ripping. Ripping the St. Lawrence Seaway open.

* DK.TULEG; Thule Air Base, Greenland; 76.54 N, 68.82 W

TULEG-1) [2015/06/13 - 07/05]

TULEG-2) [2015/07/12 - 09/23]

TULEG-3) [2015/09/28 - 10/08]

* GE.SUMG; GEOFON Station Summit Camp, Greenland; 72.57 N, 38.46 W

[2015/04/14 - 09/22]

* DK.ISOG; Isortoq, Greenland; 65.55 N, 38.98 W

ISOG-1) [2014/11/03 - 2015/04/20]

ISOG-2) [2015/04/21 - 04/26]

ISOG-3) [2015/07/03 - 10/05]

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Folding Pacific (West Pacific Plate)]

Folding Pacific

We addressed the fact that the Pacific plate is not one plate, as assumed. In fact, it is at least four plates. The rise and incident of islands from Kamchatka to Hawaii to the Society Islands shows this to be a plate boundary, down the center of the Pacific. Call that land to the east of this plate boundary the East Pacific Plate. There is also a triangle of a plate between the points of Hawaii, West Samoa, and the Society Islands. Call this the West Pacific Plate. Below the Society Islands is a plate which could be called the South Pacific Plate. And the portion of the Pacific Plate pushing under Japan and pushing under the Philippine Plate could be called the North Pacific Plate. All these plates are folding now, as a close examination of the live seismographs shows. Take a look at where magma sloshing is ongoing!

What we refer to as the folding Pacific is more than this, however. It is primarily the plates abutting Asia. The Mariana Trench will collapse against the tiny Mariana Plate which will tilt and fold to push under the Philippine Plate. The Philippine Plate is likewise tilting to fold and push under the tongue holding Indonesia, which is itself buckling and sinking. Where the Pacific plates are almost constantly adjusting, the north and west Pacific plates riding over the east and south Pacific plates, this is silent and virtually unnoticed by man, who cannot place his monitors under the deep sea. Hawaii is known to be steadily rising, however, as a result of this. Thus, when we refer to a folding Pacific, we are referring to the plates tilting and folding against Indonesia and Japan.

* IU.KNTN; Kanton, Kiritibati; 2.77 S, 171.72 W

KNTN-1) [2014/08/05 - 09/10]

KNTN-2) [2014/10/11 - 11/12]

KNTN-3) [[2014/11/14-16]

KNTN-4) [2014/11/20 - 2015/10/08]

[Folding Pacific (West Pacific Plate)]

*IU.FUNA: Funafuti, Tuvalu; 8.53 S, 179.20 E

FUNA-1) [2014/07/01 - 09/12]

FUNA-2) [2015/04/06-30]

FUNA-3) [2015/05/01-31]

FUNA-4) [2015/06/01-30]

FUNA-5) [2015/07/01-31]

FUNA-6) [2015/08/10-15]

FUNA-7) [2015/09/09-30]

FUNA-8) [2015/10/01-10]

[Folding Pacific (West Pacific Plate)]

*IU.AFI; Afiamalu, Samoa; 13.91 S, 171.78 W

[2014/11/11 -2015/10/10]

* II.MSVF; Monasavu, Fiji; 17.74 S, 178.05 E

[2014/11/03 - 2015/10/10]

Philippines floods:

The Philippines is sinking! Certainly the buoys to the east of the Philippines indicate action, as the sea flood is dropping there, water on the rise! The buoys above New Guinea, in the Pacific, likewise indicate a rising sea level. What could this mean?

There is indeed a relationship between the high waves and flooding in the Philippines in those towns along the eastern coastline and inland with access to the sea. The Philippines have begun to sink, though such sinking is never such that an entire land mass or large island sinks uniformly, so can be deceptive. There is an additional influence from the tilting of the Philippine Plate and continued compression out in the Pacific, so that water is heaped to the east of the Philippine Islands, and is washing over their eastern shores during equalization of the water level. However, this latter is a relatively small influence. The issue with flooding is absolutely due to a dropping in elevation for some parts of the Philippines.

ZetaTalk: Philippines Sink

In this photo provided by the Philippine Air Force, floodwaters inundate homes and rice fields in northern Philippines Tuesday Oct. 20, 2015. Tropical Storm Lando (international name Koppu) finally blew away from the main northern Philippine island Tuesday, after leaving several dead over the weekend and forcing tens of thousands of villagers into emergency shelters and destroying rice fields ready for harvest. Staff Sgt. Roldan L. Medina, Philippine Air Force - PIO 410th maintenance wing via AP. Source: philstar.com

An aerial shot taken with a drone helicopter by Bayan Patroller John Ryan Domingo shows the extent of the flooding on Macapagal Avenue, Diversion Road in Tuguegarao City on Monday. Photo by John Ryan Domingo, BMPM. Source: abs-cbnnews.com

‘Lando’ submerges ricefields in Pangasinan and Tarlac towns. Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

After typhoon ‘Lando’ left a swath of destruction in Northern and Central Luzon, government authorities and local residents have started to pick up the pieces with bulldozers starting to clear a path at a highway in Carangalan, Nueva Ecija, that has been inundated with mud and rocks. Source: mb.com.ph

20 October, 2015

16 September, 2015

11 September, 2015. Enhanced flooding in Metro Manila: Water rising, ground sinking according to scientists

Flooded areas brought by the heavy downpour in the past few days left traffic at a standstill along major roads in Metro Manila.

Could Metro Manila be sinking?

Possibly, scientists are saying that over-pumping of groundwater can cause some areas to sink 5 to 6 centimeters yearly.

“Ang pagkuha ng sobrang tubig, the faster that it can’t be replenished.. ang lupa naging compact which causes subsidence,” said Narod Eco of University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman National Institute of Geological Sciences.

Land subsidence or sinking can produce higher tides that reach farther inland and floods that recede more slowly.

For cities in Metro Manila - Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela - areas are sinking fast, reason why flood waters rise and flow inland quickly.

Areas in Muntinlupa and nearby provinces like Cavite, Pampanga, Bulacan and Laguna are also sinking because most of their soil is made of clay.

If the sinking continues, what could be the worst case scenario?

“In 10 to 20 years most likely mga lugar na coastal areas ngayon maging permanently underwater like sa Venice,” said Eco.

Climate change is making problems worse. As the world's glaciers melt and oceans expand, water levels are rising.

Manila Bay is now higher than Manila, which has areas that are already below sea level. Source: cnnphilippines.com

30 September, 2011. Sinking lands behind worsening floods

Aside from global warming causing stronger cyclones and rising oceans levels, sinking lands in Metro Manila and Central Luzon are causing floods to worsen, scientists have warned.

Lands are sinking because of the natural compaction of soil and rapid withdrawal of groundwater, according to Dr. Fernando Siringan of the Marine Science Institute at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Siringan, in a post-"Ondoy" assessment paper, said land subsidence is the least understood but very important cause of flooding.

Typhoons, southwest monsoon not to blame

The study said typhoons should not be immediately tagged as the cause of worsening floods in the areas.

"The southwest monsoon and typhoons annually deliver approximately 2,000 millimeters of rain to the region, but the amounts have been decreasing since 1900 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 1995; Jose et al., 1996) and cannot be blamed for the worsening floods," the paper said.

Dr. Greg Bankoff, an associate professor in the School of Asian Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, also identified sinking lands as one of the primary causes of severe flooding in northern Metro Manila and parts of Pampanga and Bulacan.

"The extent of flooding has also been considerably aggravated in recent decades by land subsidence," he said in a study published by the International Institute for Asian Studies.

"Sediments that underlie river deltas have a high water content that is 'squeezed' by the weight of succeeding deposits, a process that is greatly accelerated when groundwater is extracted faster than it can be replenished by natural recharge from rain seeping back into the ground," he explained.

Sinking land, higher sea level

"As the land around Manila Bay sinks and the level of the sea rises, flooding has become more prevalent not only in the city but also in the surrounding provinces," Bankoff said. Source: abs-cbnnews.com

13 August, 2012. Kelvin Rodolfo, an eminent Filipino geologist, gave a good perspective of what happened last week. Here is Dr. Rodolfo’s reaction to a New York Times account of last week’s floods:

“Just finished reading 35 comments...this abnormal rainfall event may be blamed on climate change induced by global warming, but sea level rise from global warming is not to blame. Far too few people know that a major cause of Metro Manila’s worsening floods is that the land there is sinking several inches a year -- more than ten times faster than sea level rise.

“Meanwhile, pious Catholic politicians are saying that God is punishing the Philippines with the floods because its congress is considering a Reproductive Health bill. How very sad...” Source: philstar.com

21 October, 2015. 246 villages still submerged

At least 246 villages in four Central Luzon provinces and in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, remain submerged in floodwater even as typhoon ,” now downgraded to a tropical storm, finally blew away from the landmass of Northern Luzon yesterday, leaving at least 20 people dead and forcing 70,000 villagers into emergency shelters and destroying rice fields ready for harvest.

Likewise, disaster officials said floodwaters also swamped 15 towns in Cagayan, affecting 20,000 people.

Disaster-response agencies also warned that there was still a danger that rains dumped by “Lando” (international name: Koppu) in mountain areas may flood rivers and put hundreds of downstream villages at risk.

President Aquino had earlier warned that a lot of this rainfall that fell on the northern portion of Luzon will be coming down and will be affecting all of these barangays near the major river systems.

Aquino, who flew to hard-hit Nueva Ecija last Monday to check on the flooding and distribute food packs, said there were still worries that up to 800 villages could be threatened if rivers become overwhelmed by rainwater flowing down from northern mountain provinces.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said “Lando” will continue to bring moderate to heavy rains, and to at times intense rains over Northern Luzon, particularly the western section until today, while Central Luzon will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rains. Source: mb.com.ph

19 October, 2015. Lando floods 'worst in this lifetime' for Nueva Ecija

Residents of flooded farming villages in the Philippines were trapped on their rooftops on Monday and animals floated down fast-rising rivers, as deadly Typhoon Lando (international name: Lando) dumped more intense rain.

Lando, the second strongest storm to hit the disaster-plagued Southeast Asian archipelago this year, has killed two people and forced more than 60,000 people from their homes, authorities said. After making landfall on Sunday morning on the east coast of Luzon, the Philippines' biggest island, the slow-moving typhoon has brought heavy rain to some of the nation's most important farming areas.

"I've never seen anything like this. It's the worst flood I've seen in my entire life," farmer Reynaldo Ramos, 68, told AFP as he walked through knee-deep water in Santa Rosa, about two hours' drive north of Manila.  Military, government and volunteer rescue units equipped with rubber boats were trying to help residents in dozens of flooded villages, according to Nigel Lontoc, a regional rescue official.

"The floods are rising fast and some people are now on their rooftops," Lontoc told AFP, but added there were not enough rescuers and he did not know how many have been rescued.

Lontoc said many thousands of people may be stranded in those villages, although it was too early to determine an exact number Source: gmanetwork.com

19 October, 2015. Typhoon Lando: 'Worst floods' in Cabanatuan history

STRANDED. Many Cabanatuan City residents spent the night of Monday, October 19, sleeping on roofs. Photo by Naoki Mengua/Rappler

The morning of Monday, October 19, saw Cabanatuan City slowly rising from the depths of muddy flood waters brought by Typhoon Lando (international name Koppu).

“First time ever sa kasaysayan ng Nueva Ecija. Akala ko nga 4 years ago yung Pedring na yung pinaka mataas pero hindi pala, ito talaga,” said Joanne Guevarra, a resident of barangay Aduas Norte

(This is the first time ever in the history of Nueva Ecija. I thought 4 years ago Pedring had the highest floods but no, it’s this storm.)

This sentiment was among the first to be voiced out by rescued residents as they boarded the truck.

“We never experienced these kinds of floods before,” said 59-year-old Anna Mateo of Aduas Centro village in Filipino.

Though rescue operations began the previous night amid heavy downpour, rescue teams were still rushing the next morning to heed requests for help in villages that remained submerged.

Those still under head-high floods as of Tuesday morning include the barangays Aduas Norte, Aduas Centro, Aduas Sur, Sumakab, and Isla.

Separated, reunited

Thirteen-year-old Raprap Guevarra spent the entire night on top of a metal roof on the second floor of his friend’s house in Aduas Norte.

His mother, Joanne, was up all night as well, desperately contacting rescue teams from the Padre Gregorio Crisostomo Elementary School evacuation center. She had been separated from Raprap and had no means to fetch him herself.

“Talagang naghi-hysterical na nga ako kasi nga syempre ang bilis ng taas ng tubig, baka abutin na yung tinutungtungan nila, wala nang kakapitan,” she told Rappler.

(I was hysterical because the water was rising fast, it could reach where they were standing, they would have nothing to hold on to.)

She almost lost hope when by 11 pm, she noticed there were fewer rescue personnel. She had been told that a team was sent to the area where her son was stranded but they were not able to cut through because of the strong floods.

Unexpected flood heights

Residents said they were not prepared for the speed at which flood waters rose.

Areas which before could expect floods to subside after reaching the knee were inundated by waters that went beyond their heads.

This lack of preparation was one reason why many got stranded in their homes.

“Hindi nga siya nakabalik dahil napakabilis ng pagtaas ng tubig. Within 30 minutes, hanggang dibdib,” said Guevarra, referring to Raprap who had promised to follow her to the evacuation center.

(He was not able to go back because because the water rose so fast. Within 30 minutes, it reached the chest.) Source: rappler.com

Philippines 

Click to view full resolution - Landsat 8 (Source: earthexplorer)

24 October, 2015

[22 October, 2015]

[23 October, 2015]

[18 August, 2015] (Source: MODIS Subsets; worldview.earthdata)

25 October, 2015. Ground swallows 4 houses in Itogon

Four houses crumpled and fell into a gaping hole that gave way beneath a community in Benguet’s mining town of Itogon on Thursday, a day after Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) left the country.

Results of initial geological investigation, however, discounted speculation that the hole was part of an old tunnel once used for a mining operation there.

Fay Apil, a geologist and Cordillera director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said the houses were dragged down the side of a hill and swallowed by the hole in Virac village.

Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said the families living in the collapsed houses managed to flee after they felt their houses were shaking.

He said the hole gave way gradually. The first evidence of subsidence was detected by residents at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The hole began to grow wider in the afternoon.

The displaced families, as well as 32 other people, were relocated to Virac Elementary School.

Apil said at least 100 families were evacuated from the area. “The police worked quickly to clear these houses,” she said, after she and a team inspected the ground subsidence and helped identify the endangered houses.

Palangdan said engineers of the mining company came to check on the ground movement on Saturday. “But they did not show us any plans of action yet,” he said.

Apil said geologists and the mining company’s engineers inspected two underground mine structures which run beneath the subsidence area in Virac.

She said the old “Vegas” tunnel was the closest, having been part of the company’s tourist-drawing mine tours. But the team found no evidence of collapse there when it visited the tunnel.

Apil said the team also inspected the old “Diversion Tunnel No. 1,” which is being used to discharge water. On the surface, the length of this diversion channel is equivalent to an 80-meter stretch from the road.

But the team, accompanied by Virac village chief Noel Bilibli, checked the tunnel outlet and concluded that the volume of discharge was unhampered and the quality of water was clear, she said.

The diversion tunnel had not been compromised, she said, adding that the team and local officials would enter the tunnel on Oct. 27.

She said the MGB is working on another theory: The void underneath might be the result of operations of illegal small-scale miners. She did not elaborate.

Itogon is home to some of the country’s first mining companies, most of which were established when the country was ruled by the American colonial government. Vincent Cabreza and Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon. Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Philippines

28 October, 2015. After ‘Lando,’ Pampanga, Bulacan fight floods

WITHOUT rain for days, much of Central Luzon has turned dry land more than a week after Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) made landfall in Casiguran town in Aurora province on Oct. 18.

In the coastal towns of Pampanga and Bulacan, however, people still battle with floods as water from 30 or so major rivers in Central Luzon—starting from Pantabangan River in Nueva Ecija province to the waterways along the 260-kilometer meandering route—drains downstream of the Pampanga River before emptying into Manila Bay.

People in Candelaria have no dike to run to for safety whenever the Pampanga River overflows. Far down are six communities of Masantol town or what survived of these when the government widened the mouth of the river from 75 m to 750 m in 1998. Farther south are the Hagonoy and Calumpit towns of Bulacan.

Geologists and engineers refer to this area as the Pampanga Delta or downstream of the Pampanga River.

“It’s been almost a week now,” Pangilinan, a councilman, said of the flood. Thirty families in his neighborhood evacuated to the second floor of San Francisco Elementary School in Candelaria. They buy food in nearby Calumpit by banca.

“They don’t want to go to the other side of the river [to get to Macabebe town proper]. They’re afraid [because] water is high and the current is strong,” said Pangilinan, 53, an owner of a small fishpond.

But as floodwaters rise and linger—citing the successive Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” in 2011, the “habagat”-triggered rain in 2012 and Lando of late—Pangilinan does not harbor any thought of leaving Candelaria although the risks of living there have grown.

But engineering interventions are not enough to minimize the risks of flooding, according to geologists Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo and Dr. Fernando Siringan.

In a paper published in 2006, they said groundwater extraction should be slowed down and regulated to curtail subsidence that worsens flooding.

“Unlike an earthquake or volcanic eruption, the worsening floods are gradual and permit temporary, stopgap solutions. Optimism is rampant during the flood-free half of the year when people want to forget the wet and discomfort,” they said. Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

27 October, 2015. Rising tides in Brunswick  Brunswick Police Department. Source: firstcoastnews.com

Flooding in Brunswick. Submitted to First Coast News. Source: firstcoastnews.com

Flooding in Charleston, South Carolina, during the morning high tide on October 27, 2015.  (Steve Petyerak/The Weather Channel). Source: weather.com

Source: nbcmiami.com

28 October, 2015. Relief comes slowly to flood-weary coastal residents

For a third day in a row, what locals call "Lake Road" in Madisonville lived up to its name.

Lake Pontchartrain and the Madisonville boat dock became one as the lake spilled over the newly-built seawall and poured into the marsh. A no-name storm system - not quite tropical in nature - flooded Madisonville and other South Louisiana coastal towns with persistent south winds.

Finally, on Tuesday, relief started to come as winds shifted direction and water slowly receded.

"I think we had maybe four or five feet of surge out here," said Mike Benjamin, owner of T-Rivers Bar on the Tchefuncte River. "It filled up everything pretty good."

Benjamin uses an old military vehicle to access the bar during the frequent periods of high water. However, seldom does the water rise to the level experienced since Sunday. A couple of tourists from Boston hopped a ride, hoping to snap a picture of the Tchefuncte River Lighthouse.

"The lighthouse is beautiful, but the flooding is amazing, nothing like we'd ever see in Boston," said Nicole Giambro.

Floods along low-lying areas are more commonplace, as portions of the coast experience subsidence and rising sea levels.

"People underestimate the power of the lake and the wind," Benjamin said, "and how much the tide and the lake will affect the North Shore." Source: fox8live.com

27 October, 2015. “King Tide” floods parts of the peninsula

Unusually high tides made a mess of the peninsula Tuesday.

Many road closures were lifted as the water receded, but the intersection of Wentworth and Barre street still remained flooded even in the evening.

Residents in Harleston Village are no stranger to flooding and call this week’s the highest they had seen in decades. “This one block where I live is the one block in this area where it doesn’t flood,” said Will Schutze while picking up garbage spilled out from floated trash bins. “It finally got us today.”

Schutze along with other Harleston Village neighbors spent their day cleaning up debris. “It felt like it was a little bit of a sneak attack,” said Ham Morris, another resident. “The last couple of days it’s been getting higher and higher than all of the sudden it came in like a river.”

Morris with other neighbors anticipate Wednesday’s king tide will be the worst of the week and are taking the precaution of putting sandbags around their entryways. “It’s a good time to be in the sandbagging business,” laughed Henry Fielder of Hughes Lumber.

Wednesday morning’s high tide is expected to peek at 9:03 AM.

The city of Charleston has opened up its city owned garages to residents wishing to avoid the tidal flooding. Neighbors can park in the garages for free until Thursday, October 29. Source: counton2.com

27 October, 2015. Police: 'This is one of the highest tides we've seen in Brunswick'

9th Street this morning in Brunswick  Viewer Stephanie Allen McIntyre.

Rising tides have caused wide spread flooding in and around Brunswick on Tuesday.

According to One Hundred Miles, a coastal conservation group for Georgia's 100-mile coastline that's based in Brunswick, the unusually high tides and strong winds are to blame for the floods now troubling the low-lying regions of the Georgia town.

Employees for One Hundred Miles reportedly had to wade through calf-deep water just to get to work.

The Brunswick Police Department reported the tide to be 9.7 feet high.

Be sure to take care when driving through these waters. Remember as well that the water on the roads is salt water and can damage your car. Source: firstcoastnews.com

27 October, 2015. Homes Damaged From Highest Tides in Decades Along Parts of Georgia, South Carolina

Incredible images from Sean Compton of the coastal flooding out on HWY 80. Source: twitter.com

Persistent onshore winds coupled with the monthly spring tides led to the highest tides in decades Tuesday morning along the South Carolina and Georgia coasts, driving coastal flooding into Charleston, South Carolina, among other areas.

At least 20 homes, including two businesses, were damaged by the high water at Edisto Beach, South Carolina, according to a local storm report from the National Weather Service.

Coastal flooding closed several streets and intersections on the Charleston peninsula Tuesday morning, according to the Charleston Police Department.

Tide levels at Charleston's harbor topped out at 8.686 feet above mean lower low water level, the location's fourth highest tide on record, dating to 1921.

Only three events produced higher tides at Charleston Harbor: Hugo on Sep. 21, 1989 (12.56 feet), an August 11, 1940 hurricane (10.27 feet) and a New Year's Day 1987 coastal storm (8.84 feet) produced higher tides at Charleston Harbor.

Tuesday's tide level was 4-5 inches higher than the peak measured during the historic South Carolina flooding and coastal flooding event earlier in October. Fortunately this time, there wasn't 17-27 inches of rainfall occurring at the same time.

Flooding inundated roads in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, including Palm Boulevard, 41st and 25th Streets. Water flowed under waterfront homes and a condominium complex, according to the National Weather Service.

Tidal flooding was also reported in Folly Beach, Hilton Head, Beaufort, Edisto Beach, Kiawah Island and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

A restaurant was flooded on Hilton Head Island and a golf course was partially submerged.

Floodwaters swamped several homes on Fripp Island, between Charleston and Hilton Head Island. The nearby Hunting Island State Park campgrounds were flooded, as well. Traffic was not allowed on the island due to widespread flooded roads, there.

Along the Georgia coast, tidal flooding at Ft. Pulaski National Monument east of Savannah was the highest since the 1940s and third highest on record dating to 1935, topping out at 10.427 feet.

Again, only two hurricanes -- Oct. 15, 1947 and Aug. 11, 1940 -- produced higher tides above mean lower low water level at Ft. Pulaski.

U.S. 80, the only road from Savannah to Tybee Island and Ft. Pulaski was flooded and closed Tuesday.

We mentioned earlier, there was no tropical storm, hurricane, or even bullish coastal low-pressure system associated with this event.

Instead, the pressure gradient between strong high pressure centered over the Northeast U.S. and low pressure over the northern Gulf Coast set up the persistent east to northeast winds driving water ashore.

Together with that were the monthly spring tides, the highest tides of the month corresponding to this month's full moon, known as the Hunter's Moon.

South Carolina and Georgia weren't the only ones dealing with coastal flooding. Minor flooding inundated some streets around high tide Tuesday morning in Miami Beach, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach.

High tides swamped docks on Perdido Key, Florida, Monday. Source: weather.com

27 October, 2015. King tide causes flooding in parts of South Florida

Earler this month, high tides left Northeast 32 Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, just east of the Intracoastal, under water. Robert Owen Courtesy of. Source: miamiherald.com

Julian Cohen watched the water rise Tuesday morning from the backyard of his Miami Beach home with his dog Kimbo.

Kimbo couldn't go for his usual morning walk because their house, which is on a canal, was marooned after the king tide swamped his street and driveway.

"It's double-waterfront," Cohen said, peering out from his front porch as cars splashed by just north of the Miami Beach Golf Club.
Tidal floods were expected Tuesday morning and will continue through Wednesday as the annual king tide causes saltwater to seep up in low-lying areas of South Florida.

From Fort Lauderdale to the Keys, flood-prone areas should plan for soggy conditions at high tide.

In Hollywood, where Robin Rorapaugh stacked 150 sandbags to keep her house dry, water bubbled up from storm drains to flood Buchanan Street and into her yard. Rorapaugh, who has lived in her 1923 house since 2000, said flooding has gotten progressively worse, with streets flooding after two inches of rain.

Miami Beach officials are entering the second year of a five-year plan to install dozens of pumps through the city to push water out into Biscayne Bay.

It's an aggressive push to combat high tides and the long-term effects of sea level rise. Miami-Dade County and other governments are in the planning stages to develop a strategy for contending with future sea rise.

This week's rising tides are commonly known as the king tide, which occurs every fall. South Florida got a preview of this in late September, when a supermoon-fueled high tide caused similar flooding. Another seasonal high tide is forecast for Nov. 24 through Nov. 27. Source: miamiherald.co

If in the beginning of October were storms and Supermoon event (when the tides were held in many parts of the world), now it is inexplicable.

Southeast U.S.

The media is blaming tropical storm Debby but what is the real reason that caused all these sinkholes in Florida? 
http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/florida-sinkhole-opens-up-...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhW2jwiPSk8
http://www.zetatalk7.com/info/tinfx085.htm [and from another]Sinkhole Opens up at Ocala Townhome Complex June 25, 2012 http://www.local10.com/news/Sinkhole-opens-up-at-Ocala-townhome-com...A sinkhole at a Florida apartment complex forced the evacuation of several families Monday morning.

We have described the bowing process for S America, during the 7 of 10 S American roll, as one where the east coast of S America is pulled taut, stretched, and thus drawn down, losing elevation. This also happens in Africa, during the 7 of 10 African roll, where elevation is lost in the African Rift Valley. This is certainly the case then in N America, where the N American continent is bowing under the stress of having Mexico pulled west during the compression in the Pacific, while the top part of the continent remains firmly in place. The southeast of the US is being pulled down as the Atlantic Rift pulls apart. It is being pulled down due to the bowing of the N American continent. It is absolutely in the stretch zoneand this is being expressed in many ways.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for July 7, 2012

Severe flooding in Louisiana. Associated USA flood around Gulf of Mexico with 7 of 10? I do not know why but I think it is a loss of height. [and from another] http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=4510 Flood waters submerged parts of southern Louisiana Tuesday after heavy rains caused flash flooding and forced hundreds of rescues. The National Weather Service estimated 12 to 18 inches of rain fell across the region, with totals reaching up to 20 inches in some areas. Among the hardest hit areas in Lafayette Parish was Carencro, where reports indicated water was as high as high as 8 feet on some roads.

Just as the bowing in the S American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking in the swath of land from Rio to Buenos Aires, the bowing in the N American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking along the eastern seaboard and land bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Stretched land has only so many options. It can rip open to form a crevasse or a landslide or a sinkhole, or rock layers can pull apart so that train rails zip and zag and cause derailments and bridges pull from their moorings. In this case there is an adjustment in certain places, a pulling apart, which relieves the stress. 

Stretched land also almost invariably drops in elevation, because the crust is thinned. This may not be apparent on the surface if the rock layers are pulling apart deep underground or under a river bed. But the underlying rock cannot spread out and thin without some evidence of this process above. For Florida, this evidence is the increasing number of sinkholes swallowing houses. Lopsided buildings, drooping roadways, and swamps extending their borders are other such symptoms. Drainage is invariably affected, as water lingers where it formerly drained. Rains and tides thus confuse the issue, with high tides blamed for much flooding, when sinking due to stretching is the cause.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for March 17, 2012

ZetaTalk blog - THE STRETCH ZONE, THAT SINKING FEELING

13 January, 2014. The Flood Next Time

Rising Sea, Sinking Land

Tide gauges along the East Coast show a long-term increase in relative sea levels, in part because the ocean is rising and in part because areas of the coast are sinking.

Sources: American Geophysical Union; Rutgers University; NOAA; USGS The New York Times

The little white shack at the water’s edge in Lower Manhattan is unobtrusive — so much so that the tourists strolling the promenade at Battery Park the other day did not give it a second glance.

Up close, though, the roof of the shed behind a Coast Guard building bristled with antennas and other gear. Though not much bigger than a closet, this facility is helping scientists confront one of the great environmental mysteries of the age.

The equipment inside is linked to probes in the water that keep track of the ebb and flow of the tides in New York Harbor, its readings beamed up to a satellite every six minutes.

While the gear today is of the latest type, some kind of tide gauge has been operating at the Battery since the 1850s, by a government office originally founded by Thomas Jefferson. That long data record has become invaluable to scientists grappling with this question: How much has the ocean already risen, and how much more will it go up?

Scientists have spent decades examining all the factors that can influence the rise of the seas, and their research is finally leading to answers. And the more the scientists learn, the more they perceive an enormous risk for the United States

Much of the population and economy of the country is concentrated on the East Coast, which the accumulating scientific evidence suggests will be a global hot spot for a rising sea level over the coming century.

The detective work has required scientists to grapple with the influence of ancient ice sheets, the meaning of islands that are sinking in the Chesapeake Bay, and even the effect of a giant meteor that slammed into the earth.

The work starts with the tides. Because of their importance to navigation, they have been measured for the better part of two centuries. While the record is not perfect, scientists say it leaves no doubt that the world’s oceans are rising. The best calculation suggests that from 1880 to 2009, the global average sea level rose a little over eight inches.

Tide gauges along the East Coast show a long-term increase in relative sea levels, in part because the ocean is rising and in part because areas of the coast are sinking.

That may not sound like much, but scientists say even the smallest increase causes the seawater to eat away more aggressively at the shoreline in calm weather, and leads to higher tidal surges during storms. The sea-level rise of decades past thus explains why coastal towns nearly everywhere are having to spend billions of dollars fighting erosion.

The evidence suggests that the sea-level rise has probably accelerated, to about a foot a century, and scientists think it will accelerate still more with the continued emission of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the air. The gases heat the planet and cause land ice to melt into the sea.

The official stance of the world’s climate scientists is that the global sea level could rise as much as three feet by the end of this century, if emissions continue at a rapid pace. But some scientific evidence supports even higher numbers, five feet and beyond in the worst case.

Scientists say the East Coast will be hit harder for many reasons, but among the most important is that even as the seawater rises, the land in this part of the world is sinking. And that goes back to the last ice age, which peaked some 20,000 years ago.

As a massive ice sheet, more than a mile thick, grew over what are now Canada and the northern reaches of the United States, the weight of it depressed the crust of the earth. Areas away from the ice sheet bulged upward in response, as though somebody had stepped on one edge of a balloon, causing the other side to pop up. Now that the ice sheet has melted, the ground that was directly beneath it is rising, and the peripheral bulge is falling.

Some degree of sinking is going on all the way from southern Maine to northern Florida, and it manifests itself as an apparent rising of the sea.

A look at the growing threat of coast flooding in a time of climate change; the stenographer in the doctor's shadow; reconstructive surgery of all kinds for what ails your pet.

The sinking is fastest in the Chesapeake Bay region. Whole island communities that contained hundreds of residents in the 19th century have already disappeared. Holland Island, where the population peaked at nearly 400 people around 1910, had stores, a school, a baseball team and scores of homes. But as the water rose and the island eroded, the community had to be abandoned.

Eventually just a single, sturdy Victorian house, built in 1888, stood on a remaining spit of land, seeming at high tide to rise from the waters of the bay itself. A few years ago, a Washington Post reporter, David A. Fahrenthold, chronicled its collapse.

Aside from this general sinking of land up and down the East Coast, some places sit on soft sediments that tend to compress over time, so the localized land subsidence can be even worse than the regional trend. Much of the New Jersey coast is like that. The sea-level record from the Battery has been particularly valuable in sorting out this factor, because the tide gauge there is attached to bedrock and the record is thus immune to sediment compression.

Perhaps the weirdest factor of all pertains to Norfolk, Va., and points nearby. What is now the Tidewater region of Virginia was slammed by a meteor about 35 million years ago — a collision so violent it may have killed nearly everything on the East Coast and sent tsunami waves crashing against the Blue Ridge Mountains. The meteor impact disturbed and weakened the sediments across a 50-mile zone. Norfolk is at the edge of that zone, and some scientists think the ancient cataclysm may be one reason it is sinking especially fast, though others doubt it is much of a factor.

Coastal flooding has already become such a severe problem that Norfolk is spending millions to raise streets and improve drainage. Truly protecting the city could cost as much as $1 billion, money that Norfolk officials say they do not have. Norfolk’s mayor, Paul Fraim, made headlines a couple of years ago by acknowledging that some areas might eventually have to be abandoned.

Up and down the Eastern Seaboard, municipal planners want to know: How bad are things going to get, and how fast?

One of the most ambitious attempts to take account of all known factors came just a few weeks ago from Kenneth G. Miller and Robert E. Kopp of Rutgers University, and a handful of their colleagues. Their calculations, centered on New Jersey, suggest this is not just some problem of the distant future.

People considering whether to buy or rebuild at the storm-damaged Jersey Shore, for instance, could be looking at nearly a foot of sea-level rise by the time they would pay off a 30-year mortgage, according to the Rutgers projections. That would make coastal flooding and further property damage considerably more likely than in the past.

Even if the global sea level rises only eight more inches by 2050, a moderate forecast, the Rutgers group foresees relative increases of 14 inches at bedrock locations like the Battery, and 15 inches along the New Jersey coastal plain, where the sediments are compressing. By 2100, they calculate, a global ocean rise of 28 inches would produce increases of 36 inches at the Battery and 39 inches on the coastal plain.

These numbers are profoundly threatening, and among the American public, the impulse toward denial is still strong. But in towns like Norfolk — where neighborhoods are already flooding repeatedly even in the absence of storms, and where some homes have become unsaleable — people are starting to pay attention.

“In the last couple or three years, there’s really been a change,” said William A. Stiles Jr., head of Wetlands Watch, a Norfolk environmental group. “What you get now is people saying, ‘I’m tired of driving through salt water on my way to work, and I need some solutions.’ ” Source: nytimes.com

4 September, 2014. Reuters great analysis. As the seas rise, a slow-motion disaster gnaws at America’s shores

Part 1: A Reuters analysis finds that flooding is increasing along much of the nation’s coastline, forcing many communities into costly, controversial struggles with a relentless foe.

Tidal waters worldwide have climbed an average of 8 inches (20 cm) over the past century, according to the 2014 National Climate Assessment. The two main causes are the volume of water added to oceans from glacial melt and the expansion of that water from rising sea temperatures.

In many places, including much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, an additional factor makes the problem worse: The land is sinking. This process, known as subsidence, is due in part to inexorable geological shifts. But another major cause is the extraction of water from underground reservoirs for industrial and public water supplies. As aquifers are drained, the land above them drops, a process that can be slowed by reducing withdrawals.

WATER EVERYWHERE (from left): Seepage of seawater into coastal marshes is believed to cause ghost forests like these on Assateague Island, Virginia. “Nuisance flooding” inundated the historic City Dock in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, several times this spring. NASA has had to invest tens of millions of dollars into seawalls and replenished beaches to protect launch pads and other infrastructure at its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque; Mary F. Calvert; Kevin Lamarque

The coastal flooding is often minor. Its cumulative consequences are not. As flooding increases in both height and frequency, it exacts a toll in closed businesses, repeated repairs, and investment in protection. In effect, higher seas make the same level of storm and even the same high tides more damaging than they used to be.

In Charleston, a six-lane highway floods when high tides prevent storm water from draining into the Atlantic, making it difficult for half the town’s 120,000 residents to get to three hospitals and police headquarters. The city has more than $200 million in flood-control projects under way.

In Annapolis, home to the U.S. Naval Academy, half a foot of water flooded the colonial district, a National Historic Landmark, at high tide on Chesapeake Bay during rainstorms on April 30, May 1, May 16 and Aug. 12. Shopkeepers blocked doorways with wood boards and trash cans; people slipped off shoes to wade to work in bare feet.

Tropical storm flooding has worsened, too, because the water starts rising from a higher platform, a recent study found.

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When Tropical Storm Nicole struck Maryland in 2010, it was no stronger than storms in 1928 and 1951 that were “non-events,” said the study’s author, David Kriebel, a Naval Academy ocean and coastal engineer. Nicole, by contrast, swamped downtown Annapolis and the Naval Academy. “It’s partly due to ground subsidence,” Kriebel said. “Meanwhile, there’s been a worldwide rise in sea level over that period.”

In tidal Virginia, where the tide gauge with the fastest rate of sea level rise on the Atlantic Coast is located, a heavy rainfall at high tide increasingly floods roads and strands drivers in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.

Coastal flooding already has shut down Norfolk’s $318 million light rail system several times since it opened in 2011. Mayor Paul Fraim said he needs $1 billion for flood gates, higher roads and better drains to protect the city’s heavily developed shoreline.

Source: Reuters.com - Interactive graphics

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The latest wave of explosive seaside growth has occurred in the four decades since the state enacted laws to temper coastal development, protect the beaches that are Florida’s most treasured natural resource, and curb the rising costs of damage from tropical storms. During that time, the need to protect the coastline has only intensified.

As Reuters detailed in the first installment of this series, rising sea levels are not just a future threat: They are already here, a documented fact. The oceans have risen about eight inches on average over the past century worldwide. The rise is two to three times greater in spots along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean because of subsidence, a process whereby natural geological movements and extraction of underground stores of water, oil and gas cause the ground to sink.

Higher water levels compound the effects of storms and regular flooding, hastening erosion. Hurricanes slam into Florida more than anywhere else in the nation; more than a dozen of them have resulted in major disaster declarations since 1990.

Yet, as Huckabee’s example in Walton County shows, the law has done little to discourage growth in harm’s way. Out of 3,302 applications for permits to build residential structures on Florida’s 825 miles of beaches since Jan. 1, 2000, just 114 have been denied, a Reuters analysis of state records shows.

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Even without storms, rising seas are chewing away at the island’s unprotected beaches at a rate of two to 11 feet a year. The tide gauge at the city’s Pier 21 has shown a rise in relative sea level of 25 inches since 1908 – the largest increase over the past century at any of the scores of gauges monitored by NOAA.

About one-third of that rise was from oceans rising globally as water warms and polar ice melts. The remaining two-thirds resulted from land sinking due to subsidence, which happens when the removal of underground water, oil and gas causes the land to pancake.

Galveston Island is far from the only thing at stake. Between it and the mainland is Galveston Bay, connected to Houston by the 50-mile Houston Ship Channel, home to one of the world’s busiest ports. The entire area, once marshy wetlands, is lined with suburbs and at least $100 billion in oil refineries, chemical plants and related infrastructure. Metro Houston accounts for about 26 percent of U.S. gasoline production, 42 percent of base chemicals production, and 60 percent of jet fuel output.

A 25-foot storm surge pushing into the bay and up the ship channel would cause “economic catastrophe” to the nation and poison the bay in “the worst environmental disaster in United States history,” according to Rice University’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters Center. The Ike surge was just shy of that scenario.

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Source: reuters.com

Around the world, the biggest increases were in Asia, reflecting the greater impact in that region of subsidence, the process by which geological forces and the extraction of groundwater cause the land to sink. Near Bangkok, Thailand, a tide gauge showed an increase of nearly 3 feet since 1959. In Manila, the Philippines, the sea level rose about 2.7 feet.

As the rising waters take a worsening toll, European governments and local authorities are forced to ask: What’s our coastline worth? And can we afford to defend it all?

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Flooding from overflowing rivers and canals in the area is at least an annual event that forces Rahmawati and the rest of the kampong to evacuate to public buildings nearby. High-water marks from the last big flood, in 2013, are still visible on the walls of the kampong.

“WORST SINKING CITY”

Jakarta is sinking because of a phenomenon called subsidence. This happens when extraction of groundwater causes layers of rock and sediment to slowly pancake on top of each other.

The problem is particularly acute in Jakarta because most of its millions of residents suck water through wells that tap shallow underground aquifers. Wells also provide about a third of the needs of business and industry, according to city data.

“It’s like Swiss Cheese underneath,” the World Bank’s Fook said. “Groundwater extraction is unparalleled for a city of this size. People are digging deeper and deeper, and the ground is collapsing.”

The effect is worsened by the sheer weight of Jakarta’s urban sprawl. Economic development in recent decades has transformed the city’s traditional low-rise silhouette into a thickening forest of high-rise towers. The weight of all those buildings crushes the porous ground underneath.

Previous articles in this series have focused on rising seas, which are climbing as the warming atmosphere causes water to expand and polar ice to melt. Ocean levels have increased an average of 8 inches globally in the past century, according to the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

But in many places – from metro Houston, Texas, and cities on the U.S. East Coast to the megacities of Southeast Asia – the impact of subsidence, due mainly to groundwater extraction, has been greater. Manila is sinking at a rate of around 3.5 inches a year. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is subsiding 3 inches a year, and Bangkok around an inch.

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Source: reuters.com

2 February, 2015. Letter: It's not global warming that's causing floods

EDITOR: Recent letters to the editor on climate change have been one-sided. There have been none that give an opposing or skeptic view. Why is that?

The L.A. Times refuses to publish articles that provide a skeptical view of climate change or that claim that man-made global warming is not significant. Its reasoning is that the science is settled. Science is never settled. Is the Daily Herald of the same mindset?

A recent article stated that warming is causing the oceans to rise at an alarming rate. It is currently causing flooding of multiple areas of Florida and other coastal areas. While it is true that the oceans are rising, warming is not the major cause along most of the East Coast states. Instead, the cause is the subsidence of the land. That means the coastal lands are sinking faster than the oceans are rising. Some of the causes of subsidence include the fact that the high population density along the coasts has required a high demand for water. When water is drawn from underground aquifers it creates a zone of depression. That means sinkholes and other land movement takes place.

There have been numerous articles written about sinkholes in the Florida area. There are 17,000 square miles affected by subsidence in 45 states of the U.S. and the sea level rise is 3 to 4 times faster along the East Coast due to subsidence than in other U.S. coast lines Source: wausaudailyherald.com

25 June, 2012. Sea rise faster on East Coast than rest of globe. Source: finance.yahoo.com

Jakarta Flood threat and Promises Ahok

November 12, 2015

Last week, heavy clouds began to envelop Jakarta and surrounding areas. After a long wait, the rain began to fall. Uninvited guests began to arrive, and Jakarta to be ready. Although only a momentary rain, flooding began to greet the citizens of Jakarta.    According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), the potential for rain of moderate intensity will begin to occur in all regions of Jakarta began..........

More info

India floods (Tamil Nadu)

IAF officials said the evacuation was done from Ashok Nagar and another adjoining area of the city. Source: ndtv.com

A bird view of the flooded farmlands. Source: ibnlive.com

An aerial view and a local view.. Chennai floods. Source: twitter.com

Food is delivered to people in pallikaranai through boats. Source: twitter.com

Scene at Thaiyur, OMR near PSB college. OMR can be seen as a line. Source: twitter.com

17 November, 2015. Tamil Nadu floods claim 95 lives

Source: facebook.com

Incessant rains continued to disrupt normal life in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu, with the death toll rising to 95.

Many areas in Chennai have been inundated, road traffic has been severely hit and schools and colleges are shut across Chennai as a result of the inclement weather. Boats are being used in flooded areas to rescue stranded people.

"It has been raining heavily in Tamil Nadu. 11 NDRF teams have been deployed in Tamil Nadu with boats and lifesaving equipment to handle flood situation there," Director General of National Disaster Response Force O.P. Singh told the media.

Director of Regional Metrological Department S R Ramanan had earlier said that since the cyclone currently rests near Sri Lanka, heavy rains will continue for the next three days in Tamil Nau.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture out to sea along and off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram districts of south Tamil Nadu. Source: kaumudiglobal.com

14 November, 2015. Subways: The first to go under when skies open up

A compelling, though cliched, image of a Chennai monsoon is that of an MTC bus stuck in a flooded subway. Earlier this month, the video of a man rescuing an old woman from the Thillai Ganga Nagar subway went viral. While the man's bravery was lauded online, many lambasted the city corporation's inability to prevent water-logging in the subways.

Though it is a given that subways are prone to flooding because they are 15ft to 20ft below the surface level, the corporation is yet to figure out ways to contain the menace.

A former planner with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority said subways were inundated because unplanned development and encroachment of small lakes to build residential neighbourhoods have left the city with very few storage points where rainwater can flow in. "The main three drainage channels in the city, Cooum, Adyar and the Buckingham Canal can't drain out the water because of high tide in the sea. In this situation, the water flows into the subways because the lakes have vanished," he said. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Heavy rain and floods have killed at least 45 people in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Officials say up to 56,000 people have been displaced and moved to relief camps. Most people were killed when flash floods destroyed their homes. Any comment here? Another sign, perhaps, of the upcoming changes leading to the Shift?

India is sinking, the Indio/Australian plate tipping up at New Zealand and plunging under the Himalyas. This is disguised as a rising sea, an increasingly inundating tide, but the land is sinking. This will get far more serious before the pole shift, with sudden adjustments forcing massive evacuations. 

ZetaTalk: GodlikeProduction Live written on Jun 23, 2007

Red 2007; Orange 2008; Purple 2009; Yellow 2012; Green 2013; The map shows the sum of all flooded areas. 

18 November, 2012. Land subsidence confirmed

Severity of the situation will increase in the next few years, expert warns

A spell of heavy rain that followed the Neelam cyclone which resulted in heavy damage to agriculture fields, particularly paddy, has confirmed that exploitation of natural gas has caused land subsidence in the Krishna and Godavari deltas, says a former professor of geology of Andhra University and member of Movement for People Centred Development G. Krishna Rao.
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Coastal area is getting water logged even with a rainfall of 5 cm to 10 cm and for several days. Severity of this situation will increase in the next few years as the land is sinking, Prof. Krishna Rao warned.

Sea water is encroaching on the deltas with further sinking of the land and they would turn into wet lands, a stage preceding complete submergence into sea.

Land subsidence has also affected the canals and made the irrigation system defunct in the delta areas. The solution is to evaluate the changed topographic conditions and establishing the gradients in the entire region.

Appropriate designs are to be prepared for the changed topography for effective flow, suggested Prof. Krishna Rao.

“Stopping the sinking process of the deltas is a pre-requisite”, he asserted. Source: thehindu.com

25 July, 2011. Ganga inundates Sangam
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Similarly, Jayant Kumar Pati another associate professor of the department said that plate tectonics owing to the fallout by the construction of Tehri Dam. "Our observations show that the course of Ganga is shifting towards the north side of Allahabad i.e. towards the Jhunsi side. As a direct implication, it is more unlikely that the annual phenomena of the inundation of the temple would cease to occur. But things do not remain constant, as far as level of water in any given river in concerned and if it has inundated the temple, there is no reason to get surprised," added Pati.

Sharing his view on the issue, Prof S S Ojha of the department of Geography, AU had also said that because of the Plate Tectonic theory, the western part of India is in the on the rise, while the eastern part (lying towards Bay of Bengal), is getting submerged. As an impact, the gradient of rivers flowing in west-east direction will become steep and vice-versa.

He adds that since Ganga in Allahabad flows in the direction of west to east, the river has slightly meandered towards its eastern bank, in this case towards Jhunsi. As a fallout, erosion towards the western bank is showing marginal decrease which would continue in the coming years. "This year too, the volume of water towards the west side of the river is far less than the east bank, which could be easily understand by the fact that the bank towards Jhunsi gets inundated every year, whereas Bade Hanumanjis temple has got inundated after five years," said Prof Ojha. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

9 April, 2014. Indian deltas are sinking

Indian deltas are sinking, and no, it is not because of sea level rise. “Humans are sinking deltas four times faster than the sea level is rising,” says American professor of oceanography and geology at the University of Colorado, James Syvitski.
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Here, groundwater mining has led to a significant compaction and subsidence of land over the last 15 years. He concurs with the concept of ‘Anthropocene,’ a term suggesting that human impact on the environment has been so large post industrial revolution that this era can be counted as an entirely new geological epoch. And the submergence of deltas is indeed a case in point, he said. Source: thehindu.com

Malaysia

17 November, 2015. Vehicles submerged and damaged in JB flash floods

Source: nst.com.my

A two-hour heavy downpour caused massive flash floods in the city here, which resulted in dozens of cars and motorcycles being submerged.

Many of the vehicles belonged to Malaysians working in Singapore, who had parked their vehicles indiscriminately around the city.

The badly-hit areas in the flash floods, which started at about 11.30am yesterday, were Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Meldrum, Jalan Siu Koon, Jalan Siu Chin, Jalan Siu Nam and Jalan Skudai along Danga Bay. Traffic came to a standstill at all major roads leading into the city.

Some basement carparks in the city centre were also submerged.

In a statement, Iskandar Regional Development Authority said that the floods were not caused by work on the Sungai Segget Rejuvenation Project.

It said the floods were caused by a combination of two factors – the high tide flows into the Johor Baru City Centre coupled with the heavy flow of rainwater as a result of the prolonged rain over the past few days as well as the downpour earlier yesterday. Source: thestar.com.my

17 November, 2015. Flash floods hit Shah Alam

Due to flash floods following heavy rain, several parts of Shah Alam are currently submerged in water. Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) in a tweet confirmed that water levels have increased at KM 15.7 from Sungai Rasau heading to Batu Tiga.

“Both the middle and left lanes of the highway are blocked (due to high water),” tweeted LLM. Some Twitter users also tweeted pictures of Section 13, Shah Alam showing numerous cars submerged by the mud-filled waters.

Today’s episode follows similar ones after the heavy rain yesterday which saw flash floods in several parts of the Klang Valley.

Many were caught in traffic jams for hours after key roads were flooded.

Yesterday’s floods in Shah Alam at 1pm witnessed water rising at Section 13, Section 9, Section U8 and Batu Tig. Source: malaysiakini.com

18 November, 2015. Two dead in flash floods in Jeddah

At least two people have died in flash floods in Saudi Arabia's second city of Jeddah after heavy rain, the country's civil defence said on Tuesday.

It urged residents to stay indoors and said schools would remain closed on Wednesday.

Flooding is politically sensitive in Jeddah, where previous incidents have prompted widespread anger over the perceived failure of local and national government to build suitable defences and to prevent illegal housing developments in risky areas.

Footage and photographs shown on Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television pictured cars being swept along Jeddah streets and people using boats to navigate districts of the city.

The two deaths were caused by electrocution from a lamp post as people attempted to cross a flooded street. Two children have also been reported missing in northern Saudi Arabia.

Heavy rain struck other western, northern and central parts of Saudi Arabia, including Mecca and Medina, Hail and Arar, the civil defence said. Wet weather is forecast to continue in coming days. Source: thestar.com.my

22 November, 2015. Sinkholes in Nayanoripalle, Govt. evacuates villagers

Kadapa District Collector K.V. Ramana inspecting a large sinkhole formed in Nayanoripalle village in Kadapa District on Sunday.

Kadapa District Collector K.V. Ramana and Geological Survey of India officials of Hyderabad visited Nayanoripalle village on Sunday and inspected the multiple sinkholes.

The revenue and police officials of Kadapa exhorted the villagers of Nayanoripalle in Chintakommadinne mandal in Kadapa District to vacate the village and move over to safer places and large sinkholes formed in the village could endanger lives.

Kadapa District Collector K.V. Ramana and Geological Survey of India officials of Hyderabad visited Nayanoripalle village on Sunday and inspected the multiple sinkholes. Earlier, officials of the mining and groundwater departments conducted a survey on the Collector’s directions and detected limestone deposits at a depth of 30 feet.

Heavy rains since a week resulted in dissolving of the limestone and soil sunk to depths of 30 feet, the officials deduced. The villagers were panic-stricken with the formation of sinkholes of a diameter of 25 metres at several places in Nayanoripalle.

Nearly a dozen large sink holes were formed near Sri Bugga Malleswara Swamy temple and a mini-water tank atop a 15-foot high cement concrete pedestal sunk into the ground. A sinkhole was formed in front of the mandal parishad school in Nayanoripalle and the school compound wall, a surface-level water tank and a couple of trees fell into it. The sinkhole formation was coupled with defeaning sounds spreading panic among the villagers.

As sinkholes were forming with deafening sounds, the officials called upon the residents to vacate the village, as continuing to live there could endanger lives. Already over a dozen families left the village to take shelter in the houses of their relatives elsewhere. The revenue and police officials are proposing to evacuate the villagers who are continuing in Nayanoripalle.
Geologist Alok Kumar of GSI told TOI that a detailed study need to be conducted to arrive at the exact reason. "Preliminarily we have noticed the existence of an extinct river. A river once passed through the region. It is now extinct. Moreover, the area has carbonate deposits. The torrential rains led to the dissolution of limestone causing cavities or sinkholes in the ground," he added.

The Cuddapah (Kadapa) super basin is an ancient geological formation with a number of minerals including uranium. According to AP mines department, limestone reserves are about 1000 million tonnes. It also has superior grade clay. Source: thehindu.com

Chennai flood — Adrift, as agencies flounder

November 23, 2015

People playing on the Marina beach service road flooded with sea water on the Bay of Bengal. (Photo courtesy: B A Raju)

Life has been thrown out of gear. Schools and colleges have been closed for two weeks now . Floods had invaded many people’s homes, and the spotlight has been on the last wave of construction boom happening in low-lying areas where buildings should not have been allowed, according to some experts.

Source

Flood-prone river banks to be raised

November 24, 2015

KLANG: The Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) is increasing the height of riverbanks in Kuala Selangor in anticipation of a second wave of heavy flooding.

Kuala Selangor district officer Shamsul Shahril Badlisza Mohd Noor said this was to prevent water flowing out of the river into low lying areas.

He said the authorities believed a second bout of flooding might occur in the district due to unusually high tides that would be hitting its coastline. These were expected to beginsoon and would last until the end of the month.

This phenomenon is caused by the Northeast Monsoon winds that will start this Thursday or Friday, he said.

Floods hit parts of the district last week.

Shamsul advises residents of other low lying areas to be cautious and to prepare for the situation.

He said that wave forecasts by the Malaysian Meteorological Department could reach a minimum of 5m in height.

On the situation in Kuala Selangor, Shamsul said that water was being pumped out of the area into the rivers with eight pumps.

Close to 600 people were being housed in temporary flood relief centres in schools, mosques and community halls in the district.

“We are waiting for the water levels to recede and once this happens we will send them home,” Shamsul said.

In Pasir Puteh, the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) said it would monitor tide control gates at Geting, Tumpat and Tok Bali because of the high tides, which can cause flooding, Bernama reported.

“High tides which coincide with heavy rainfall on the mainland can prevent river water from flowing to the sea, thus causing floods,” Kelantan DID director Shahimi Sharif said.

The Meteorological Department warned about the possibility of heavy rain on Nov 26 or 27 in the east coast states.

In Sungai Petani, 60 flood victims were evacuated to the Kampung Jerung relief centre here following floods that began on Sunday.More than 10 areas around the Kuala Muda district here were inundated by flash floods yesterday following heavy rain in the afternoon.

Among the areas affected were the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, Taman Nuri, Taman Serindik, Jalan Air Mendidih and Jalan Batu Lintang Kampung Hutan Gelam.

Source

Tamil Nadu Sinking:  stagnant water had not been drained even after 13 days.

November 30, 2015

The court has asked for providing shelter, water, food and restoration of  power in the affected areas. (File Photo)

India unseasonal floods

People wade through the flood waters in Chennai on Dec. 2.(EPA/STR). Source: qz.com

A man carries a dog and wades through a flooded street in Chennai on Dec. 2.(AP Photo). Source: qz.com

Indians help a man carry his two-wheeler on a cycle cart as they wade through a waterlogged subway in Chennai, India, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K.). Source: accuweather.com

A view of a residential area flooded following heavy rain in Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. Incessant rain that lashed the city since Saturday night flooded several parts of Chennai. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K). Source: accuweather.com

Heavy rains caused flooding in and around Chennai, India, on Dec. 2. Photo by Reuters stringer. Source: pbs.org

People travel by boat to safer places through a flooded road in Chennai, India, on Dec. 2. Photo by Reuters stringer. Source: pbs.org

In view of the water logging, Chennai Airport authorities have shut operations till 6 AM tomorrow. Chennai rains as well as those across Tamil Nadu have virtually broken a 100-year-old record with one day’s rainfall covering a month’s average have flooded areas in Vadapalani, Valasaravakkam and Nandamvakkam as nearby lakes overflowed into the city. (Photo courtesy: Twitter). Source: financialexpress.com

2 December, 2015. Rains, floods devastate Chennai, army rescues people

Soldiers joined the rescue and relief work and rescued 65 men and women till Wednesday afternoon, officials said, adding that more troops were on their way to Chennai from Bengaluru.

Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said in New Delhi that the situation in Chennai was "unheard of and unprecedented", and promised all help to the beleaguered city and other area.

Residents and officials admitted that almost everyone in Chennai, a sprawling city with over 4.6 million people, had been affected one way or the other by the devastating floods caused by torrential rains. <...> Source: business-standard.com

25 November, 2015. Unseasonal rain takes toll on health

Not just dengue, but cases of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, viral fever and allergies too have gone up following unseasonal rain in the last two days.

"Besides cases of viral fever and body ache, I have been seeing quite a few cases of diarrhoea and nasal allergy . People who are mainly dependent on outside food and water are the ones who are more at risk of getting water-borne infections," said senior physician Prakash Mahajan, who runs a clinic in Model Colony .

Mahajan said, "We are experiencing two seasons in a day . In the morning, it is winter but as the day progresses, we get rain.This wide fluctuation in temperature boosts growth of micro organisms. Schools and colleges have re-opened post Diwali vacations; hence transmission or person-to-person spread of infection has become very easy .Besides, cases of dengue will rise now as the water accumulated may act as breeding ground for mosquitoes." <...> Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

2 December, 2015. Flights cancelled as floods strike Chennai airport

Met office has said that the weather patterns are due to a slow moving depression over southwest Bay of Bengal. Photograph: PTI. Source: rediff.com

All flights into and out of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, have been cancelled following floods at the airport. Airport director Deepak Shastri said floodwaters at the airport had reached the undercarriage of aircraft.

He was quoted as saying that flights would be unable to take off till the water level recedes. Meanwhile, army and navy personnel were deployed early today in low-lying areas of Chennai where thousands of people are reportedly stranded in their homes due to the worsening floods.

The authorities have intensified search and rescue operations. According to officials, schools and colleges were forced to shut down and these premises were being used as relief centres.

Domestic and inter-state train services were crippled after water flooded rail tracks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi contacted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.

Jayalalithaa late last night and assured her of central government assistance. Source: thestar.com.my

2 December, 2015. How Army, Navy and Air Force have responded to the deluge

Chennai is witnessing its worst crisis in decades. Large parts of the capital city and other parts of the coastal Tamil Nadu are inundated with continuous rains pounding the region. Water level at several lakes and dams has gone above the danger level mark. With the weather department predicting more rains in the coming days, the situation is alarming.
The Army, Navy and Air Force have launched a massive rescue and relief operation in what is being described as a war-like situation.

Three C-130s of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have flown from the Hindon air base in Ghaziabad to Tirupati along with NDRF personnel and relief material.
Air Force and Army choppers have also been pressed into the relief and rescue mission. Several people stranded in waterlogged areas have been rescued during regular sorties conducted by the Air Force and Army helicopters. Food packets, ration and other items of daily needs have been air dropped the worst-hit areas. Source: indiatoday.intoday.in

2 December, 2015. Rains flood Chennai again: airport shut, army joins rescue operations

The rain-ravaged southern Indian city of Chennai was Wednesday crawling with air and road traffic severely hit as Army, Navy and NDRF teams stepped up rescue operations in worst-hit localities of the city that is also witnessing power outages.

People move from their waterlogged houses with the help of Indian Army teams following heavy rains in Chennai

The rains pounding the city since Tuesday night showed some let-up Wednesday morning but the inundated streets left commuters stranded.

In view of the water-logging, Chennai Airport authorities have shut operations till 6 am Thursday. All airlines, including Air India, have cancelled their operations from Chennai airport.

The Airports Authority of India has issued a notice to all air operators in this regard <...>
However, “we are facing difficulty in bringing them (forces) there as the airport is not operating,” he said.

Areas in Vadapalani, Valasaravakkam and Nandamvakkam have been flooded as nearby lakes overflowed into the city.

The situation has worsened in suburban areas of Tambaram and Mudichur after the Chembarakam lake overflowed and an unprecedented 26,000 cusecs of water was released resulting in floods in downstream areas. These areas had already suffered heavily during earlier spells of rains. Source: http://atimes.com/2015/12/rains-flood-chennai-again-airport-shut-ar...;

2 December, 2015. Chennai turns virtual island; road, rail, air links disrupted

 
People stand on a flooded road in Chennai. (Reuters Photo)

Chennai on Wednesday turned a virtual island and several coastal areas of Tamil Nadu were marooned by flood waters after unprecedented rains in 100 years pounded the city, its suburbs and neighbouring districts destroying crucial road and rail links, shutting the airport and rendering thousands homeless.

Chennai, which received 49 cm of rain and Chembarambakkam, where the reservoir surplussed about 25,000 cusecs of water into Adyar river, received 47 cm of rains in the last 24 hours that flooded the city and the suburbs, uprooting people from their homes.

Flood waters reached upto even the second floor of the Housing Board colonies on the banks of Adyar river as people reached roof tops looking for rescue and relief in several parts of the city and suburbs.

The death toll in the rains that have lashed the city and other parts of state has gone up to 197, officials said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke to chief minister J Jayalalithaa last night and promised all assistance, held discussions with his cabinet colleagues Rajnath Singh (Home), Arun Jaitley (Finance) and M Venkaiah Naidu (parliamentary affairs) in the morning to take stock of the situation.

The National Crisis Management Committee headed by cabinet secretary P K Sinha reviewed the situation and assured the state of all support from the centre.

A boy wades through a flooded street in Chennai (AP Photo)

All modes of transport--air, road and rail services-- remained suspended due to the unprecedented deluge, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at the airport and various rail terminals. Suburban rail services also remained suspended.

Adding to the worry of the citizens and administration, the weatherman has forecast rainfall over the next three days with the next 48 being very critical under the influence of a trough of low pressure and upper air circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal and Sri Lankan coast.

Thereafter, the state will see an anti-cyclone activity which will be associated with "heavy rains" at some places.

"The phenomenon will continue for the next seven days, but the next 48 hours are very crucial. Neighbouring states will also see rainfall activity," L S Rathore, Director General of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) told reporters in Delhi.<...> Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

2 December, 2015. Overnight rain batters Chennai, worst ever flood situation in Tamil Nadu

Many parts of the city and the suburbs have been flooded from the incessant rains that have hit Chennai in the past 24 hours, amidst the worst ever flood situation in Tamil Nadu.

The water has entered inside houses in the low-lying areas of Anna nagar and there is water-logging in almost every part of the city.

The flight operations at the Chennai Airport have been closed for the whole day because of the flooded water on the runway.

“All operations at Chennai Airport have been stopped for rest of the day and all flights stand cancelled. <...> Source: ibcworldnews.com

2 December, 2015. Chennai floods: Worst disaster since tsunami? Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com with video

India unseasonal floods

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Thursday that he was leaving for Chennai to take stock of the flood hit city. Modi tweeted: "Leaving for Chennai to take stock of the situation arising due to the devastating floods. Source: indiablooms.com

Stranded travellers look an as floodwaters lap at the end of a highway in Chennai on December 2, 2015. (AFP photo)

Army personnel rescuing people during their flood relief operations in rain-hit areas in Chennai on Wednesday. PTI. Source: english.manoramaonline.com

Thousands of people have been rescued by the army and police. Source: bbc.com

The federal weather office has predicted three more days of torrential rains. Source: bbc.com

3 December, 2015. Chennai floods: Death toll crosses 260, Home Minister says situation ‘very alarming’

Terming the situation in flood-hit Chennai as “very alarming”, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that the Centre will extend all possible assistance to the state governments in dealing with natural calamities.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that Chennai has become an island as it has been cut off from all national and state highways,” he said, responding to a discussion on the flood situation in Tamil Nadu, Pudducherry and Andhra Pradesh.
Sharing concern of members on the magnitude of the calamity, he said the megapolis was witnessing an unprecedented emergency situation with unrelenting rains which was a record in the last 100 years. <...> Source: indianexpress.com

3 December, 2015. Rain Stops, But Flood Waters Rising in Parts of Chennai. Here's Why.

There has been little rain in Chennai today and the sun is finally out, but the water level in many of its residential areas is increasing, owing to the excess water released from the dam at Chembarambakkam.
For the residents, what is worse is that the release is being done without warning - in what is understood to be a violation of procedure.

In areas like Kotturpuram, where the waters have receded, residents are living in fear that another bout of water will be released from the dam later today.

"What worries us is most is if the worst is over or it is yet to come. The water level is increasing every hour," said a resident in Mylapur, one of the posh areas of Chennai.

"We do not know when the reservoirs are overflowing or how much water is discharged. We do not know when more water will be discharged... We have no power, no internet, or essential items," he added.
<...>
On Wednesday, commissioner of Chennai corporation, Vikram Kapur, said the rivers were still at the danger level and the surplus water was being released into Chennai. "None of the drains can work with such heavy rain. If this kind of rain happens again we are in for a tough time," he had said. Source: ndtv.com

3 December, 2015. Andhra Pradesh rain: 54 dead; losses pegged at Rs 3,000 crore

An aerial view of the flood affected areas of the Andhra Pradesh on Nov 18, 2015. [Representational Image] IANS. Source: ibtimes.co.in

Torrential rainfall in some parts of southern India has wreaked havoc in Andhra Pradesh, where at least 54 people have been reported dead.

Rain lashed the Nellore, Chittoor and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh, bordering Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday.

The heavy downpour in the last two days has caused flooding in low-lying areas of Nellore, Chittoor and Prakasam. Streams and tanks were reportedly overflowing.

Normal life in some parts of the three districts has been crippled due to the heavy rain. At least 5,000 people in the Nellore district have been shifted to 50 relief camps.

The showers damaged crops and disrupted road and train services in the affected regions, an IANS report quoted officials as saying. <...> Source: ibtimes.co.in

3 December, 2015. India’s Tamil Nadu grapples with worst floods in a century

The heaviest rainfall in more than 100 years has devastated swathes of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with thousands forced to leave their submerged homes and schools, offices and a regional airport shut for a second day Thursday.

At least 269 people had been killed in the state since heavy rains started in the beginning of November, said India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh, although no deaths have been reported in the latest deluge.

“I can’t even believe that this much water was possible in Chennai,” one woman told NDTV channel as she stood in waist-deep water in the state capital.

“We don’t have any food. We don’t have any milk,” she said, adding that she had stepped out to see if she could find a shop selling some food. “But I’m scared to walk down this road. The water comes up almost to my hips.”

Chennai has received more than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain over the last 24 hours, which is significantly higher than the regional average for the entire month of December, Singh said.

While the downpour eased early Thursday, the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted more heavy rain in several parts of the state through the rest of the week. The rains have been caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, the agency said.

Separately, news reports said that flood waters released from a lake on the outskirts of Chennai inundated more neighbourhoods in the city. The Adyar river, which runs through Chennai before draining into the Bay of Bengal, was flowing above a danger mark. Source: globalnews.ca

Unseasonal floods Chennai

4 December, 2015

4 December, 2014 [ Source: earthdata.nasa.gov ]

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Tipping Indo-Australia Plate]]

* II.DGAR; Diego Garcia, Chagos Islands, Indian Ocean; 7.41 S, 72.45 E

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=II.DGAR

[2015/12/03 -12/07]

Etna earthquakes, moves the fault of Pernicana: all connected to the eruption, lesions in the streets SICILY ITALY

8 December 2015

Etna earthquakes, tremors associated eruption: hypocenters very shallow seismic resentment particularly significant

http://www.meteoweb.eu/2015/12/terremoti-etna-si-muove-la-faglia-de...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&js=y&...

The 'movement' of the fault of Pernicana, on the north-northeast of the 'Etna, is causing an earthquake swarm with - total - twenty shook the volcano. Three events of greater intensity ', in magnitude, measured by INGV Catania: magnitude 3.8 at 10:28, magnitude 2.9 at 10:32, and magnitude 3.2 at 11:53.

The depth 'epicenter, almost superficial, between 0 and 2 kilometers of events linking earthquakes of the attivita' of eruptive 'Etna. Experts from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Catania are monitoring the phenomenon and also checking the deformations to the ground.

There have been reports of roads of the 'Etna presenting the' injuries'. The events were felt in some countries on the slopes of 'Etna, but, at the moment, are not reported damage to property or persons.