Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Update: Over 10,000 remain displaced by floods as further heavy rainfall hits Uruguay

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Fri, 22 Apr 2016 10:30 UTC
Floods
© Montevideo Portal
Over 10,000 people remain displaced by flooding currently affecting all 19 departments of Uruguay.

At least 10 people have died as a result of severe weather in the country in the last 10 days. Five people died after a tornado hit the town of Dolores. A further five victims have drowned in floods.

Yet more heavy rainfall over the last 2 days is likely to prevent people from returning to their homes for the next few days. However, emergency authorities in Uruguay say the situation is under control and victims are being provided with food and health care.

According to the latest reports from Uruguay emergency authorities ( Sistema Nacional de Emergencias - SINAE), 10,097 people remain displaced by the flooding that has affected the country since 15 April 2016.

SINAE say that roads and highways have been blocked in over 30 locations.

Floodwater in Rocha, Uruguay
© MelissaFloodwater in Rocha, Uruguay

Comment: See also this earlier report: Severe weather leaves 7 dead and over 3,000 displaced in Uruguay

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Fish

Mass fish deaths investigated in Vietnam


The Guardian
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 10:17 UTC
A villager shows dead sea fish he collected on a beach in Phu Loc district, in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.
© STR/AFP/Getty Images A villager shows dead sea fish he collected on a beach in Phu Loc district, in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.
Vietnam said on Thursday it was investigating whether pollution is to blame for a spate of mysterious mass fish deaths along the country's central coast after huge amounts of marine life washed ashore in recent days.

Tonnes of fish, including rare species which live far offshore and in the deep, have been discovered on beaches along the country's central coastal provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Hue.

"We have never seen anything like it," aquaculture official Nhu Van Can told AFP on Thursday.

The strange situation first came to light when farmed fish in the area began dying in great numbers, he said, with locals later discovering huge numbers of dead fish on beaches.

Local fishermen told state-run media that they are burying hundreds of kilograms of fish everyday.
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Attention

10 dolphins die after stranding of 50 on beach in Panama


wdam.com
Wed, 20 Apr 2016 09:34 UTC
Dolphins were found stranded and dead on a shore in Panama.
© AUTORIDAD DE LOS RECURSOS ACUATICOS DE PANAMA/CNNDolphins were found stranded and dead on a shore in Panama.
In Panama, 10 dolphins were found dead on a beach this Wednesday after a group of approximately 50 were stranded on the shore.

Residents of Cambutal village, in the province of Los Santos, alerted authorities about the presence of the dolphins stranded on the shore of the Ostional Beach.

Twenty-five dolphins were returned to the sea in stable condition, while others are receiving treatment by environmental authorities, representatives of the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama, and the environment ministry.

The species were identified as bottlenose dolphins, the most common in the region.
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Fire

Yet another huge explosion and fire at chemical facility - This time in Jingjiang, eastern China


RT
Fri, 22 Apr 2016 05:04 UTC
China chemical plant explosion
© YouTube/新闻ING_tencent
A powerful blast has struck a chemical storage in eastern China's Jingjiang province, causing a massive ongoing blaze. A plume of black smoke is rising from the storage reservoir engulfed in flames. The factory stores chemicals and petrol.

China's media outlet 163.com says there are a total of 42 reservoirs at the oil processing facility where the explosion occurred.


Comment: A couple of days ago there was a huge explosion at a petrochemical plant in Mexico resulting in 24 fatalities. See also:

Mexico oil plant explosion: 3 dead, dozens injured, hundreds evacuated as huge toxic cloud released

Chemical plants are exploding all over the place!

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Bizarro Earth

Another earthquake of magnitude 6.0 hits Ecuador


RT
Fri, 22 Apr 2016 03:46 UTC
Ecuador Quake
© Henry Romero/Reuters Soldiers stand guard next to a collapsed buildings at the village of Manta, after an earthquake struck off Ecuador's Pacific coast, April 21, 2016.
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Ecuador, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has reported. The new tremblor comes just days after a devastating 7.8 quake killed at least 587 people in the South American country and amid internationally-assisted recovery efforts.

The earthquake was centered some 33.0 kilometers (20.5 miles) north-northwest of Bahia de Caraquez and some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the city of Portoviejo. It hit at a depth of 10 kilometers.
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Arrow Down

New sinkholes drain 2 more rivers in Mexico


Latin American Herald Tribune
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 18:22 UTC
Atoyac river
Almost completely dried up…
Two rivers in the mountains of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz have started to dry up following the appearance of sinkholes, bringing to three the number of rivers in the region that have drained into the subsoil in less than two months, officials said.

Residents and officials said the flow of the Tliapa and Tlacuapa rivers has been reduced by half, with the water streaming into sinkholes.

The rivers start in the mountain cities of Chocaman and Calcahualco, and flow into the Seco River in Cordoba, a city in central Veracruz.

Residents of the community of Tecolotla told officials that the first sinkhole formed in a place called Puente de Piedra, where water from one of the rivers began draining into the subsoil.

A second sinkhole appeared about one kilometer (0.62 miles) downriver, beyond where the two rivers join, residents said.

"The Tliapa and Tlacuapa rivers have now reduced their flow by up to 50 percent," Tomatlan emergency management chief Tobias Carrillo Morales said.

Comment: See also: Segments of Atoyac River in Mexico disappear overnight after giant crack opens

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Windsock

Waterspout filmed near Simberi Island, Papua New Guinea

Breaking Disaster
You Tube
Tue, 19 Apr 2016 17:51 UTC
waterspout
Amazing Waterspout near Simberi Island, Papua New Guinea | 19 04 2016

Check this Large Tornadic Waterspout near Simberi Island..

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Fish

93% of Australia's Great Barrier Reef suffering from coral bleaching


The Japan Times
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 08:27 UTC
Great Barrier Reef bleaching
© AFP-JIJIA turtle swims over bleached coral at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists said Wednesday, as they revealed the phenomenon is also hitting the other side of the country.

After extensive aerial and underwater surveys, researchers at James Cook University said only 7 percent of the huge reef had escaped the whitening triggered by warmer water temperatures.

"We've never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before," said Terry Hughes, convenor of the National Coral Bleaching Task Force.

The damage ranges from minor in the southern areas — which are expected to recover soon — to very severe in the northern and most pristine reaches of the 2,300-km-long (1,430-mile-long) site off the east coast.

Hughes said of the 911 individual reefs surveyed, only 68 (or 7 percent) had escaped the massive bleaching event which has also spread south to Sydney Harbor for the first time and across to the west.

Researcher Verena Schoepf, from the University of Western Australia, said coral is already dying at a site she had recently visited off the state's far north coast.

"Some of the sites that I work at had really very severe bleaching, up to 80 to 90 percent of the coral bleached," she said. "So it's pretty bad out there."

Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it is "absolutely clear that there is a severe coral bleaching event occurring not just in the Great Barrier Reef but throughout many parts of the Pacific."


Comment: With so many volcanoes erupting recently, a comparable escalation in activity of their underwater counterparts seems logical. It is estimated there are up to one million submarine volcanoes on our planet.

Effects from this volcanic activity, combined with increased methane outgassing and radiation from the Fukushima disaster are probably creating the 'abnormal environmental conditions' contributing towards this devastating coral bleaching and the ongoing devastation of marine life, mass fish die offs and strange migratory behaviour we are currently witnessing.

See also: Australia's Great Barrier Reef on brink of collapse

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Fish

Giant oarfish emerges after being woken by earthquake off Taiwan

Siba Jackson
Daily Star (UK)
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 11:29 UTC
The appearance of an oarfish could suggest an earthquake is imminent
© CENThe appearance of an oarfish could suggest an earthquake is imminent
A monster sea creature has surfaced from beneath the deep after being disturbed by earthquake tremors.

This giant oarfish measures a massive five metres (16ft) long - almost three times to height of the fisherman who landed the catch.

And the so-called "earthquake fish" is freaking locals out after emerging just two hours after seismic activity struck island nation Taiwan.

According to folklore, it is said to appear just before a quake hits - sending people into a panic.

Also dubbed the "king of herrings", oarfish can reach a mammoth 11 metres (36ft) in length.

Oarfish
© CEN

Comment: See also: Rare oarfish: New Zealand sea serpent maybe a harbinger for natural disaster, says scientist

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Cloud Precipitation

Tropical cyclone Fantala brings heavy rainfall and flooding in coastal Kenya; 5 inches of rain in 4 hours

Benard Juma
Floodlist
Thu, 21 Apr 2016 11:03 UTC
Cumulative rainfall forecast for between 14 to 23 April 2016 .
© ICPACCumulative rainfall forecast for between 14 to 23 April 2016 .
Tropical cyclone Fantala, the strongest on record in the Indian ocean, triggered spiralling winds that caused an insurgence of moist air from the Indian ocean to the adjacent coastlines of Kenya and eastern Tanzania.

Prolonged heavy rainfall occurred as a result, lasting days from Wednesday, 13 April to 18 April 2016. This near week-long rainfall event saturated soil that had been dry since the start of the year. As a result, several areas of coastal Kenya have suffered severe flooding.

At least 131mm of rainfall was recorded in Kwale on Friday, 15 April in 4 hours. Several villages were cut off from the rest of the country due to flooding after the River Umba, which flows from Tanzania, burst its banks.

According to Kenya Red Cross Regional Manager of Kwale County, many families suffered in the floods which caused widespread damage to property. Kenya Red Cross say several houses have been completely destroyed. The worst affected villages include Kiwegu, Bondeni, Mwarongo, Yogon and Matoroni. Many people have been displaced by the floods, although the exact figure is as yet unknown.


Comment: See also: Cyclone Fantala: Indian Ocean's most powerful storm on record

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