Environment Canada has confirmed the first tornado of 2016 in Canada touched down Wednesday afternoon near Mount Forest, Ont., about 70 kilometres northwest of Guelph, leaving snapped trees and a damaged barn in its wake.

"There was a confirmed tornado that occurred that afternoon around 3:50 p.m. or so and it was confirmed as a high-end EF 1. The EF scale goes from zero through 5," said Mark Schuster, a severe-weather meteorologist with Environment Canada.

EF stands for Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is used to classify a tornado's strength based on wind speed.

"From the damage caused, we estimate that the winds were about 170 kilometres an hour with the gusts, and so this is the first tornado confirmed for the 2016 season and it is also the earliest confirmed tornado in the province of Ontario," said Schuster.

As far as Environment Canada knows, this is the earliest in the calendar year that a tornado has been reported.

"There's never been a tornado in January or February before — that we know of, anyway, that's ever been reported — and none has ever been reported earlier in March than this one," Schuster said. "I think that part of the reason too is, if you go back 20 or 30 years ago or even farther back, it's possible that tornados, there may have been an earlier occurrence of one, it's just people didn't have their smartphones to take pictures."

Environment Canada said the tornado's path stretched over 3.5 kilometres and was 200 metres wide.

At least 15 were confirmed dead in the Brazil’s financial capital and largest city, São Paulo, according toReuters. Half a dozen people died as a result of the flooding elsewhere in São Paulo state after 24 hours of steady rain, local media report. Most died as a result of mudslides and building failure in the city’s poorer peripheral neighborhoods, where houses are often built on or along hillsides. State and local government agencies scrambled to address the crisis. Some local news outlets captured footage of drivers marooned on the roof of their cars being rescued by helicopters.

“The priority is to locate missing people and remove [everyone] from hazardous areas. We have more than 150 firefighters working,” said São Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin Friday afternoon, after announcing an emergency fund to pump millions of dollars into communities affected by the floods.

The city of São Paulo froze all day, as commuters stayed home. Flooding spoiled stocks of fruits, forcing warehousers to fill dump trucks with watermelons and pineapples, according to Folha . Police stations filled up with brown water. Some residents lost power. Others found themselves stuck at the São Paulo airport, which closed for 12 hours overnight.

Ted Weber, a technologist in his twenties was returning from a domestic business trip, was diverted to another airport a few hours away. He posted images of the flooded streets on Instagram, calling it the tensest trip of his life.

“It's still chaos for the most part,” said Weber in an online chat with the Latin Times. “Rocks falling off cliffs, houses tearing down -- I read a child died uptown. The rain is just neverending. No one in my team got to work today.”

Comment by KM on March 31, 2016 at 2:06pm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3515564/Deep-South-bracing-...

Trapped in the eye of the storm: Oklahoma is battered by multiple tornadoes while Arkansas is hit by 'life-threatening' flash floods as dangerous weather causes havoc across the South and Midwest

At least nine people were injured and authorities were evaluating the damage in northeastern Oklahoma
A NWS meteorologist said a tornado touched down and lifted up numerous times as it swept through the northern Tulsa and Owasso areas
Public Service Company of Oklahoma reports more than 5,800 customers without power in the area
Nearly nine million people in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas were in an enhanced area of risk, the national Storm Prediction Center said
The area of highest risk included the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area

At least nine people were injured and authorities were evaluating the damage in northeastern Oklahoma after severe storms spawned multiple tornado touchdowns and flooding which is feared to be 'life threatening'.

National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Jankowski said a tornado touched down and lifted up numerous times as it swept through the northern Tulsa and Owasso areas. The service said the rapidly growing floods could be life threatening and people were warned to stay off the roads.

The City of Tulsa said in a statement that several roads were closed and police and fire crews were canvassing the city. The Streets and Water Departments are assisting with road barricades and debris removal.

Jankowski said the Weather Service received reports of lofted debris, trees down and some structural damage. NBC News reported that nine were injured in the storms.

A tornado was caught on camera north of the Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma

At least nine people were injured and authorities were evaluating the damage in northeastern Oklahoma after severe storms spawned multiple tornado touchdowns Wednesday night, authorities said

A tornadic storm passes over north Tulsa on Wednesday. The National Weather Service is confirming multiple tornado touchdowns in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area

Little Rock Fire Capt. Steve Kotch, right, and an unidentified woman stumble and fall into the water as Kotch uses a cable safety line to rescue her from her flooded car in Boyle Park in Little Rock, Arkansas

Lightning and heavy rains hit central Arkansas during the evening rush hour. Here the trapped woman is led to safety

Comment by KM on March 24, 2016 at 2:47am: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/299765/flooding-hits-west-co...

Flooding hits West Coast, Nelson, Tasman

A local state of emergency has been declared on the West Coast after flooding forced the evacuation of nearly 200 people in Franz Josef.

Flooding has also hit Nelson and Tasman, and trees have brought down power lines in Auckland as wild weather lashes the country.

Douglas Drive at Franz Josef, just before daybreak today Photo: NZTA

The Waiho River breached its bank near Franz Josef about 11.50pm last night.

Glacier Country Helicopter pilot Gus Gordon, who surveyed the area this morning, said the main flow of the river was now going through the Mueller Scenic Hotel, north of Franz Josef.

What you need to know

He said the Franz Josef Glacier had uncovered a lot of gravel as it retreated, which had washed into the river and left nowhere for the water to go when in flood.

Flooding on a road near Franz Josef todayPhoto: NZTA

Mr Gordon said locals had known such a flood was likely.

"It's something that everybody's well aware of, it probably was just a matter of when and how much rainwater it would take to do it."

In recent weeks, he said, the council had been doing work on the river bank but had not reached the area where the breach occurred.

Glacier Country Tourism Group chair Rob Jewell said 80 of the evacuated tourists were staying in a welfare centre.

Ensuring the welfare of the town's guests was key, he said.

Authorities said 186 people were evacuated at different stages as the river first made its way to the hotel and then moved towards the Top Ten Holiday Park and the Westwood Lodge.

Westland Civil Defence public information manager Andy Thompson told Morning Report it was not a normal flooding, with the river potentially creating a new channel through the area.

Some cars in the hotel car park had been submerged and there was water flowing through the hotel and grounds, he said.

Comment by Howard on March 23, 2016 at 3:02am: Huge Dust Storms Like 'Deja Vu' in South Australia (Mar 17)

Rolling walls of dust have swept through the Barossa Valley and Mid North in recent months.

Charmaine Holland, of Nain in the Barossa Valley, said the red dust storm on March 17 was “the most impressive” she had seen. Her farmland was ravaged by the Pinery fire last November and yesterday’s winds stirred up loose topsoil from the damaged properties, causing low visibility in the area.

Travis O’Callaghan, of Travis Earth Wines in the Barossa Valley, said he spotted the dust storm as he was heading home, about 4.30pm.

“Two minutes after I took (a) photo, I could barely see 20m in front of me,” he said.

“We had so many dust storms here in the last few months it’s not funny,” Charmaine Holland said.

She said seeing the latest dust storm approach was “nerve-racking”.

“It was like deja vu,” she said. “Everything was going blood red.”

Source

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/storms-forecast-...

Comment by jorge namour on March 22, 2016 at 5:40pm: Storm in Russia

News - Published Tuesday, March 22, 2016 by The Weather Channel - LA CHAINE METEO

A violent storm hit Russia last weekend. The damage was extensive with many roofs flew as well as urban infrastructure.

http://actualite.lachainemeteo.com/actualite-meteo/2016-03-22-12h50...

https://translate.google.com.ar/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtMAkQ4Z4E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esr7VNALXmw

Late last week, a broad low pressure system moved from Scandinavia to western Siberia. Several secondary depressions have followed from the Urals to the Yenisei and caused significant damage.

First damage in southern Russia

The first storm hit southern Russia between 18 and 19 March. Roofs were hurled into the air by the violent storms in the city of Labinsk. At this time, the depression was digging phase. She was only accompanied by an active rainy path tracking moderate snowfall.

The storm strengthens

Thereafter, the depression has widened rapidly to 975 hPa entering in phase with the jet stream. She took a full path north in the Arctic direction. There she proved the most dangerous and the cities of Norilsk and Dudinka to have been particularly affected with many roofs flew and extensive damage to roads.

After the passage of the cold front winds remained strong all day sometimes blowing passersby in the streets as in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Further east, the snow was continuous and caused accumulations of more than 1 meter with drifts exceeding 2 meters in Kamchatka.

Comment by KM on March 22, 2016 at 12:47pm: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/pics-durban-deluge-and-flash...

PICS: Durban deluge and flash floods

Water surges down Che Guevara Road in Glenwood during heavy rains in Durban

Durban - Residents of Durban dealt with a deluge on Wednesday night, with many areas reporting cases of flash flooding.

Roads across the city remain closed by downed trees and other debris that is obstructing thoroughfares.

eThekwini metro police spokesperson Sbonelo Mchunu said officers had had a busy night.

“We went to many accidents that were flood related and also had to deal with the closure of many roads because of the rising water levels. Even now [on Thursday morning] we are assisting personnel from the Durban Solid Waste Department as they clear debris from the roads. This has prompted widespread road closures,” he said.

KZN EMS spokesperson Robert McKenzie said that while many cases of flooding had been reported, there had been no recorded fatalities.

Crisis Medical spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said that paramedics “had their hands full”.

“Excessive rains caused flash floods throughout the greater Durban area. One incident on the N2 near the M25 saw three people sustain minor to moderate injuries in a collision involving two light motor vehicles. They were attended to on scene before being taken to hospital for further care.

“Roads within the Durban North area were severely affected, with storm water manhole covers lifting, causing serious danger to motorists. Crisis Medical's scene safety crew hand their hands full in efforts to prevent potential motor vehicle collisions,” he said.

“We advise the public to please heed caution when travelling today as roads are still very wet, with reports of flooding in certain intersections. Traffic lights have also been affected by the rain in certain areas and we remind motorists to please treat these intersections as four way stops,” Van Reenen added.

A bakkie partially submerged in Pinetown.

A bakkie partially submerged in Pinetown.

Comment by KM on March 18, 2016 at 1:34pm: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/canada-tornado-201...

Canada's first tornado of 2016 confirmed in Wellington County, Ont.

Barn damaged, trees snapped, Environment Canada says

Environment Canada says the first tornado of 2016 was confirmed 7 km outside of Clifford, Ont., on Wednesday, though this image is of a past tornado.

Environment Canada has confirmed the first tornado of 2016 in Canada touched down Wednesday afternoon near Mount Forest, Ont., about 70 kilometres northwest of Guelph, leaving snapped trees and a damaged barn in its wake.

"There was a confirmed tornado that occurred that afternoon around 3:50 p.m. or so and it was confirmed as a high-end EF 1. The EF scale goes from zero through 5," said Mark Schuster, a severe-weather meteorologist with Environment Canada.

EF stands for Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is used to classify a tornado's strength based on wind speed.

"From the damage caused, we estimate that the winds were about 170 kilometres an hour with the gusts, and so this is the first tornado confirmed for the 2016 season and it is also the earliest confirmed tornado in the province of Ontario," said Schuster.

As far as Environment Canada knows, this is the earliest in the calendar year that a tornado has been reported.

"There's never been a tornado in January or February before — that we know of, anyway, that's ever been reported — and none has ever been reported earlier in March than this one," Schuster said. "I think that part of the reason too is, if you go back 20 or 30 years ago or even farther back, it's possible that tornados, there may have been an earlier occurrence of one, it's just people didn't have their smartphones to take pictures."

Environment Canada said the tornado's path stretched over 3.5 kilometres and was 200 metres wide.

Comment by SongStar101 on March 17, 2016 at 9:31am: Nearly two dozen killed as rains, floods hit SW Pakistan

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/03/12/455356/Pakistan-torrential-...

March 12, 2016

At least 20 Pakistanis have lost their lives when torrential rains accompanied by flashfloods hit several districts in the troubled southwestern province of Balochistan, disaster management officials say.

Local authorities said at least 12 people have died and scores of others sustained injuries over the past two days in Chagai and Zhob districts of the province as the roofs of several homes caved in due to heavy rainfall and hailstorms.

Zahid Saleem, chief of the province’s disaster management authority, said four children and a woman were also killed in Sheerani district on Friday after the roof of a house collapsed.

Saleem added that one person also died after being struck by lightning in Dalbandin district. Three people were also killed in two districts of Mastung and Loralai.

Video footage showed flood waters inundating homes in Chagai, Chaman, Loralai, Mastung, Pishin, Quetta, Taank, Zhob and other districts, with residents taking refuge on rooftops.

Local residents in affected areas have grabbed whatever they could salvage, and waded through knee-deep water in search of higher ground.

Meteorologists say more rain is expected to hit the province over the weekend.

Pakistan is hit by severe weather patterns every year, which have affected millions of people, claimed hundreds of lives and wiped out millions of acres of farmland in recent years.

Monsoon, a rainy season that starts from mid-July and lasts till end of August, strikes Pakistan hard each year.

Torrential downpours and flooding killed 81 people and affected almost 300,000 Pakistanis across the country during the rainy season last summer.

In 2010, flooding also killed 1,200 people and impacted one-fifth of the population of 180 million.

Comment by SongStar101 on March 15, 2016 at 10:49pm: Thousands of Homes Damaged in Southern Floods; 6 Killed

https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-flooding-south-impacts

Six have been confirmed dead after severe flooding swamped cities in the South over several days, with parts of the Mississippi Valley seeing historic water levels. All over the region, rivers quickly rose near record flood stages and homes were submerged.

Emergency officials told the Associated Press that at least 4,958 homes in Louisiana were damaged by flooding, and more than 800 homes in Mississippi suffered flood damage. Those numbers are expected to climb as floodwaters recede in some areas.

In Louisiana, the National Guard said it had evacuated more than 3,295 people and hundreds of pets from flooded areas.

More than 24 inches of rain fell in the hardest-hit places, and the impacts are expected to continue for days or even weeks as rivers continue their rise.

"Typically, it will come up and drain off," Bossier City, Louisiana, resident Michael Konnovich, Jr. told the AP. "But not this time. The water is just over my 5-foot chain link fence. I just don't know where this water is coming from."

Here's how each state has been affected.

Louisiana

Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for the entire state and sent the National Guard to help with water rescues.

Louisiana National Guard spokesman Col. Pete Schneider called it the most widespread non-hurricane flooding the guard has ever dealt with, reports the AP. According to him, about 1,000 soldiers and air crews were at work in 25 of Louisiana's 64 parishes.

As many as 200 people had to be rescued from the floodwaters in Hammond early Friday morning, according to local reports. More than 30 roads in Tangipahoa Parish were closed by flooding, WWL-TV said.

Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said Friday that close to 50 roads were shut down due to floodwaters, report the AP. According to Edwards, there have been 300 to 400 evacuees in his parish alone, many in neighborhoods that have never had trouble with flooding before.

According to a separate WWL-TV report, residents in Washington Parish were stranded on the roofs of their homes as floodwaters continued to rise Friday morning, and a Coast Guard helicopter was being sent to rescue them. In Bogalusa, a curfew was in place until at least 5 p.m. Friday in an attempt to keep people off the roads, the report added.

"I've never seen rain this bad in 30 years," Bogalusa Police Chief Joe Culpepper told WWL-TV.

The Washington Parish Fairgrounds were also flooded Friday morning, and a local reporter said at least one structure collapsed into the floodwaters.

In Bienville Parish, a man drowned Wednesday afternoon while attempting to drive across a flooded highway before his vehicle was swept into the nearby Saline Creek, said Bienville Sheriff John Ballance. Driving with him was a female passenger who needed to be pulled to safety, as she was suffering from hypothermia. Her condition is unknown.

(MORE: The Lower 48 Just Had a Record-Breaking Winter)

One Natchitoches Parish man, identified as 78-year-old Harold Worsham, drowned in the severe flooding after his boat overturned while attempting to cross a flooded section of Highway 1226 near Clarence, the local sheriff department told the National Weather Service. The two other occupants traveling in the capsized vessel were rescued.

Two more deaths were reported Wednesday in Ouachita Parish, the AP reported. One was a 22-year-old man who drowned after his car was swept off the road by floodwaters, and the other victim was a 6-year-old girl who died after her mother lost control of the car, the report added.

The Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office and personnel with the Fort Polk air evacuation unit used a helicopter and watercraft to evacuate residents that were st... Thursday in the Hunter Town Road area in Burr Ferry, according to the sheriff's department.

Authorities ordered mandatory evacuations of 3,500 homes near the Red Chute Bayou in Bossier City due to concerns that the waters could top its levees and ravage the densely populated area, according to KTBS.com.

Mississippi

Emergency officials fear the Pearl River will continue to rise, leading to additional flooding.

The river along the Mississippi-Louisiana border could reach 21 feet, according to NWS forecasts, the height of the waterway during the 1983 flood, the AP said.

Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Thursday to assist the areas of the state affected by flooding, which worsened in parts of western and northwestern Mississippi that morning, leaving some roads flooded.

In Hancock County, a sheriff's deputy was hospitalized after his patrol car skidded into a ditch Friday night, but is now recovering at home, Chief Deputy Don Bass told the Sun Herald.

"We had a lot of nasty weather Friday, so he probably hit a slick spot and lost control of the car in that curve," Bass said. "He's sore but he's at home. He kept going in and out of consciousness Friday night and it scared us. But he's hard-headed and he made it."

Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett declared a state of emergency Friday, estimating that at least 100 homes have been flooded after more than 10 inches of rain soaked the area, according to the AP.

Homes in Bolivar, Coahoma, Tunica and Washington counties were flooded and three dams have been breached in DeSoto County, according to a release from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Roads throughout the state were flooded, and some sustained damage due to floodwaters.

Oklahoma

In rural southeastern Oklahoma, officials confirmed a 30-year-old man drowned in his SUV Tuesday night after attempting to cross a bridge covered in floodwaters, the AP reported. The victim was identified as Michael Liles of Broken Bow. A passenger in the SUV was able to swim to safety, the report added.

Arkansas

Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a disaster declaration Thursday for 11 counties that have been hit hardest by heavy rainfall, according to the AP. Emergency personnel reported multiple water rescues and prepared to evacuate several neighborhoods after more than 14 inches of rain fell.

Roads had to be closed due to flooding and a roadway was washed out in a least one county. According to an Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department spokesman, a 20-foot span of Arkansas Highway 334 had been washed out by flood water flowing in a trough underneath the road.

Tennessee

Ten people had to be evacuated from four Shelby County homes that were surrounded by water overflowing from the nearby flooded Loosahatchie River Friday, according to the AP. Using an amphibious vehicle, rescuers maneuvered through the neighborhood's roads, which were swallowed by floodwater.

"The water had been rising all night to the point that they could not get out of their homes," Shelby County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mickey Keaton told AP.

Three women had to be evacuated by the Jackson Fire Department from two homes near an overflowing creek Thursday, the AP also reports. According to Madison County emergency management director Marty Clements, officials were monitoring two subdivisions where high water was becoming an issue.

Dozens of roads in Shelby, Tipton and Madison counties were shut down Thursday. Downed trees in Memphis blocked roads and a small mudslide partially closed a busy road running along the Mississippi River, the AP also reported.

Streets were flooded in Memphis as heavy rain persisted Thursday, and in other parts of western Tennessee, some residents had to be rescued from floodwaters. In Union City, where at least 4 inches of rain fell Wednesday, crews had to rescue a driver who got stranded in flooding along Knox Daniel Road, according to NWS storm reports.

Texas

Nearly 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the Lone Star State, and in some areas, the impacts were even worse than the catastrophic flooding that occurred in Texas last May.

Newton County Judge Truman Dougharty ordered a mandatory evacuation of all residents living along the Sabine River..., reports 12 News. The evacuation went into effect at 7 a.m. Saturday. A midnight curfew will be implemented tomorrow for residents in flooded areas.

The Panola-Harrison Electric Co-Op said it would be suspending service to areas along Big Cypress Bayou to avoid short circuiting and power-line arcs that could cause fires, the AP reports.

(PHOTOS: Severe Storms, Flooding Hit the South)

In Bexar County, a school bus flipped after sliding off a slick road Wednesday morning, the AP also reported. The driver and another adult suffered minor injuries, but two special-needs children on board were not injured, Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesperson James Keith told the AP.

Severe storms caused big problems in North Texas earlier in the week. In Hood County, southwest of Fort Worth, a confirmed EF1 tornado left damage near Tolar, destroying six mobile homes and damaging several others, emergency manager Ray Wilson told The Weather Channel. Two people were transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries, he added.

Tuesday morning, straight-line winds caused damage in Stephenville, where a narrow EF1 tornado was also confirmed by the NWS.

During the height of the storm Tuesday, the awning of a gas station in Saginaw was blown off by strong winds, according to CBS DFW. Store clerk Tanya Jackson said two vehicles were parked at gas pumps underneath the awning and the drivers managed to escape just before it came down. Jackson was able to hit the emergency stop on the pumps before the awning collapsed, but some phone and cable lines were knocked down and trapped underneath. The store's driveway was left impassable.

In the town of Denton, a school bus was trapped in floodwaters Tuesday morning, and crews had to pull six children and the driver to safety, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. There were no injuries, and the children were dropped off at Hodge Elementary School, the report added.

To the southeast, a man was injured Tuesday morning in Garland when strong winds tore the roof off a building and threw it into the van in which he was sitting, according to the Dallas Morning News. The man had serious injuries, and after emergency responders pulled him from the van, he was transported to a local hospital, Lt. Pedro Barineau told the Dallas Morning News.

Monday night, the NWS reported several structures and vehicles were damaged by a possible tornado in Cool near Highway 180. The Parker County Sheriff announced that as a result of the storm, an entrapped man was rescued but wasn't hurt, and one horse suffered a broken leg. No other injuries were reported.

Following a damage survey, the NWS confirmed a tornado hit the area and assigned it a rating of EF1. Cool is located about 45 miles west of Fort Worth.

In all, six tornadoes were confirmed in Texas from this round of severe weather.

In southeastern Texas, a man was killed Monday night when his kayak capsized as strong storms moved into the Houston area, the AP also reported. The body of 22-year-old Francisco Ruben Garza, of Hidalgo, was found in Dickinson Bayou, near Galveston Bay, after he and another man went kayaking, police spokesperson Tim Cromie said in a statement. The men were fishing as the storm moved in, but Garza was not wearing a life jacket, he also said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zicxfiSC-TY

Comment by KM on March 13, 2016 at 1:43pm: http://www.latintimes.com/sao-paulo-flooding-leaves-21-dead-latin-a...

São Paulo Flooding Leaves 21 Dead, Latin America’s Largest City Paralyzed

Heavy rains paralyzed Latin America’s largest city and damaged other municipalities in the region. Above: firefighters and other first responders search for survivors at houses destroyed by landslides in in Mairipora, in the north of São Paulo state, Brazil, March 11, 2016. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

At least 15 were confirmed dead in the Brazil’s financial capital and largest city, São Paulo, according toReuters. Half a dozen people died as a result of the flooding elsewhere in São Paulo state after 24 hours of steady rain, local media report. Most died as a result of mudslides and building failure in the city’s poorer peripheral neighborhoods, where houses are often built on or along hillsides. State and local government agencies scrambled to address the crisis. Some local news outlets captured footage of drivers marooned on the roof of their cars being rescued by helicopters.

“The priority is to locate missing people and remove [everyone] from hazardous areas. We have more than 150 firefighters working,” said São Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin Friday afternoon, after announcing an emergency fund to pump millions of dollars into communities affected by the floods.

The city of São Paulo froze all day, as commuters stayed home. Flooding spoiled stocks of fruits, forcing warehousers to fill dump trucks with watermelons and pineapples, according to Folha . Police stations filled up with brown water. Some residents lost power. Others found themselves stuck at the São Paulo airport, which closed for 12 hours overnight.

Ted Weber, a technologist in his twenties was returning from a domestic business trip, was diverted to another airport a few hours away. He posted images of the flooded streets on Instagram, calling it the tensest trip of his life.

“It's still chaos for the most part,” said Weber in an online chat with the Latin Times. “Rocks falling off cliffs, houses tearing down -- I read a child died uptown. The rain is just neverending. No one in my team got to work today.”

Comment by KM on March 13, 2016 at 1:23pm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3488753/Life-threatening-st...

'Life-threatening' storm hammers Gulf Coast as more than 23 inches of rain is expected flood rivers to historic levels in days ahead

Three people have been killed in Louisiana and two other weather fatalities were reported in Oklahoma and Texas
More than 1,000 people have been forced from their homes and 3,500 houses face mandatory evacuation
Rescuers fear that levees in Louisiana could fail as flood waters in some areas continue to rise dramatically
More than 750 members of the Louisiana National Guard have been deployed to help police and firefighters
Storm may trigger destructive flash flooding and may drive some rivers to historic levels in the days ahead
Record flooding is already occurring in some parts of Louisiana and is expected to continue throughout next week

A 'life-threatening' storm continues to hammer the Gulf Coast as more than 23 inches of rain is expected to trigger destructive flash flooding and drive some rivers to historic levels in the days ahead.

Three people have been killed in Louisiana and more than 1,000 have been forced from their homes after record breaking floods swept through the state.

Some 750 members of the National Guard have been deployed to assist in the rescue of families and animals stranded by the flood waters as roads are impassable and cars are submerged.