Earth ChangesS


Tornado2

3 waterspouts seen over north Auckland, New Zealand

A waterspout surprised Whangaparaoa residents
© Margay Property ManagementA waterspout surprised Whangaparaoa residents
A procession of waterspouts in north Auckland has wowed and alarmed residents.

Sir Peter Blake Marine Education & Recreation Centre operations manager Chris Robertson said staff spotted three waterspouts from their Long Bay centre.

Two were on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula coast and one headed towards Long Bay, he said.

Waterspouts get their energy from the sea but don't typically come ashore, MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said.

Because Whangaparaoa is a thin strip of land they will come close to the coast. But they'll dissipate as soon as they come to shore."

"Most of their energy is in that nice warm water underneath."



Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike casualties on the rise in Nepal: At least 553 killed in 5 years

Lightning
- 28 deaths, 60 injuries in a month - At least 553 killed in five years

In recent years, lightning has emerged as one of the deadliest natural disasters with 28 deaths and 60 injuries recorded from April 13 to May 31 in this year alone.

According to Nepal Disaster Report 2015 released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, it may be due to climate change or increasing population.

If the 8,979 deaths and 23,302 injuries caused by the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake of April 25, 2015 and its subsequent aftershocks are excluded from the data of the last five years (2068-2072 BS) ,casualties from lightning outdo all other types of natural disasters.

A five-year figure maintained by the National Emergency Operation Centre under the MoHA shows that as many as 553 persons were killed and 1,132 other injured by lightning strikes during the period.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 and injures another 3 in Bhubaneswar, India

Lightning strike
In a tragic incident three persons were killed and as many sustained injuries after lightning struck at the Labanagiri hill at Panchagaon on outskirts of the Capital City on Wednesday.

Fire Services personnel shifted the injured persons to Capital Hospital. There condition is stated to be critical. The incident occurred at around 4.10 pm when the six persons were engaged in construction of a thatched house at Jagannath Mutt on the footsteps of Labanagiri hill.

As a thunderstorm accompanied by downpour started at 4 pm the people took shelter in the half completed hut. Few minutes later they were struck by a bolt of lightning in which the hut was charred. A rescue team rushed to the spot from Kalpana Fire Station and shifted the injured to hospital.

The deceased have been identified as Ram Patra, Santia Harichandan and Tutu Ojha. Till last reports came in, the injured - Saroj Samantara, Santia Behera and Mitu Sahu are undergoing treatment.

Cloud Precipitation

Parts of Central and Northern France see worst flooding since records began

River Seine flooding
© AFPThe River Seine in Paris burst its banks
Scenes in parts of France looked like something straight out of a Jules Verne novel, with cars and houses under water after a deluge of rain.

Parts of Central and Northern France have been drenched by the downpour with water levels rising to over one and a half metres in some areas, in what is reported as the most rainfall for this time of year since records began.

A total of seven departments across the country had issued severe weather warnings, with the Loiret, one of the worst affected areas, being placed under red alert, an extremely rare event.

Firefighters and rescue services were only able to make patrols by boat, looking out for those stranded by the muddy water.

In other parts of the country, traffic was disrupted, coming to a complete standstill in some areas and large stretches of motorway have been closed in others.


Comment: Elsewhere in Europe this week torrential rain has caused devastating flash flooding to parts of Germany and Italy.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill four in Noakhali and Barisal, Bangladesh

Lightning strike
Four people, including three members of a family, were killed in separate lightning strikes in Noakhali and Barisal districts on Tuesday, reports news agency UNB.

In Noakhali, three members of a family were killed as a thunderbolt struck them at Gucchhagram in Companyganj upazila in the afternoon.

Locals said Shahidul Islam, 35, along with his wife Parveen Akter Laizu, 25 and son Antar, 2, was going to his in-laws' house at Musapur riding a motorcycle.

On the way, when they took shelter in a cowshed due to heavy rainfall a thunderbolt struck them around 1:00pm, leaving the trio dead on the spot.

In Barisal, farmer Abu Akand, 45, received injuries as lightning hit him when he was working in the field around 11:00am.

Later, he was whisked off to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital where physicians declared him dead.

Fire

Another huge chemical plant fire in China - black smoke engulfs Yichangon in central Hubei Province

Yichange chemical fire
© Stringer / ReutersSmoke raises from a site of fire at a chemical company in Yichang, Hubei Province, China, May 31, 2016.
A massive fire at a chemical plant in China's central Hubei Province has injured at least three people, while covering the area with dark, thick clouds of smoke.

The fire, which reportedly started in the city of Yichangon on Tuesday afternoon, has been successfully extinguished, according to China's CCTV agency.

Video footage from the scene shows extremely dark, heavy clouds of smoke spreading to nearby areas as people run from the huge blaze.

Dozens of firefighters were dispatched to battle the fire as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the local environmental department said that the air pollution was being controlled and is currently at a relatively safe level.


Comment: Chemical plants continue to explode or burn all over the place! Recently there have been huge blasts and fires at chemical facilities in China, Mexico and India.


Attention

Dead whale washes ashore on beach in Marske, UK

The Coast Guard received reports of a “deceased whale” on the beach at 9am
© Gazette LiveThe Coast Guard received reports of a “deceased whale” on the beach at 9am
People are being warned to stay away from a breach after the body of a dead whale washed up on the sand.

The Humber Coast Guard said the small mammal is thought to have been dead for some time as it was starting to decompose on Marske beach, East Cleveland.

Tim Burns, from New Marske, spotted the whale, which is about 12 to 15 foot long, in the water at around 7am as he was walking his dog.

He said: "We were just walking along when I noticed something floating in the shallow water.

"I wasn't sure what to think at first, I thought it might have been a small overturned boat, but as I got closer I could see the colours and shape of a whale.


Cloud Precipitation

Severe storms and flash floods causes havoc in Milan, Italy

Flooded Milan
Flooded Milan
Flash floods wreaked havoc in Milan on Monday morning after a violent storm caused 90 litres of water to fall per each square metre of ground in just three hours.

Immediately after the storm began at around 10am some 200 calls were made to emergency services from citizens struggling to cope with the huge volume of rainwater, Ansa reported.

No casualties were recorded during the storm but emergency services were forced into action when more rain fell in a matter of hours than it had throughout the whole of May.

As drains and gutters overflowed, the accident and emergency room of Milan's Policlinico hospital needed to be evacuated.

Staff and students at Pascoloi secondary school were also forced to leave the building after the lashing rain started coming through the roof.


Attention

Panic as 3 earthquakes hit Umbria, Italy

 quake
© El Comercio/AP
An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale struck the central Italian region of Umbria on Monday night, and was followed by two smaller quakes this morning, creating panic among residents and closing schools in the hilltop town of Orvieto.

The first quake, which was also felt in Tuscany and Lazio, was registered by the National Institute of Geophysics just before 10.30pm.

The epicentre was in the town of Castel Giorgio at a depth of 14.8km.

Nobody was injured and there were no reports of damage to property.

But strong tremors could be felt in Perugia, Trasimeno and Orvieto, as well as the Tuscan provinces of Arezzo and Grosseto.

Cloud Lightning

Update: Lightning fatalities increase to six in Gazipur and Jhenaidah, Bangladesh

Lightning strike
The casualties occurred during thunderstorms on Monday, police said.

Three men died on the spot in Gazipur's Kaliganj Upazila after being struck by lightning. Another man died in Sreepur Upazila.

A woman and a 12-year old boy were also killed on the spot after being hit by lightning at Jhenaidah's Maheshpur Upazila.

Between May 12 and 13, 81 people died in lightning strikes in 26 districts across Bangladesh during a spell of thunderstorms, according to the disaster management ministry.