Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods hit East, Central Trinidad

Kim Boodram
Trinidad Express
Fri, 29 Dec 2023 13:52 UTC
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As heavy flash floods hit several parts of the country yesterday afternoon, firefighters were called to rescue people stranded in a car at Eleanor Street in Chaguanas.

Flooding was reported in East and Central Trinidad after rain descended around 2 p.m. for more than an hour, with lesser showers eventually creeping to other parts of the country.

Heavy street and some residential flooding was reported in Chaguanas and environs, and the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Tunapuna, including along the Priority Bus Route, Macoya and Maracas, St Joseph.

Around 3 p.m., the Fire Service was called out after a vehicle attempting to enter Eleanor Street from Chaguanas Main Road stalled in the flooded roadway.

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Attention

Teenage boy killed in South Australia shark attack

Fiona Nimoni
BBC
Thu, 28 Dec 2023 13:24 UTC
Great white shark
A teenage boy has been killed in a shark attack at a popular holiday and surfing spot in South Australia, police have said.

The body was recovered from the water after the attack, near Ethel Beach in the Innes National Park on the Yorke Peninsula, officers said.

A local resident told ABC News Thursday's attack was the first fatal one at the resort that he was aware of.

The attack is the latest of several in South Australian waters recently.

In a statement, South Australia Police said its officers were first alerted about the attack on Thursday at 13:30 local time (02:30 GMT).

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Cloud Lightning

Saudi Arabia: Lightning strikes 4 dead at landmark mountain

Ramadan Al Sherbini
Gulf News
Fri, 29 Dec 2023 12:57 UTC
Screenshots of corpses of the victims.
© X@EsmailBaherScreenshots of corpses of the victims.
The incident happened at Jabal Thawr near Mecca

Lightning struck an area famed for a mountain near the Saudi holy city of Mecca, killing four people, according to social media reports.

A fifth person was hurt by the lightning that struck the five while they were at the Jabal Thawr or Mount Thawr famous among Muslims for housing the Ghar or Cave of Thawr.

An online video showed the dead bodies of four people lying on the ground allegedly after their death due to the lightning.

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Windsock

Massive California waves injure some onlookers and bring flooding, treacherous beach conditions up the West coast

Elizabeth Wolfe, Robert Shackelford and Cindy Von Quednow
kake.com
Fri, 29 Dec 2023 12:15 UTC
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A powerful offshore storm is driving towering waves into the California coastline, triggering flooding and warnings of dangerous and damaging swells after several people were injured by a wave along Ventura beach on Thursday.

The wave crashed over a barrier along the southern California beach, tossing a wall of fast-moving water at a group of onlookers who rushed to escape the deluge, witness video shows. Seawater quickly knocked some people off their feet and pummeled cars as drivers tried to speed away.

Nearly 20 people were briefly swept away in the incident and eight people were taken to the hospital, Ventura officials said.

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Attention

Pedestrian bridge vanishes in Argentina's flash flood fury


India Today
Tue, 26 Dec 2023 14:04 UTC
mmmmmmm
Argentina is currently grappling with severe flooding, leading to the collapse of a bridge in Catamarca.

The video was captured in a widely circulated YouTube video.

The situation has been exacerbated by intense rainfall in recent days.

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Tornado2

Tornado damages homes in Greater Manchester as Storm Gerrit batters Britain


Guardian
Thu, 28 Dec 2023 13:22 UTC
Damage to properties caused by a localised tornado in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
© Ioannis Alexopoulos/LNPDamage to properties caused by a localised tornado in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
Thousands of homes without power and rail travel in chaos after strong winds, heavy snow and rain

A major incident has been declared in Greater Manchester, where a "localised tornado" has swept through the Tameside area, damaging about 100 properties and leaving thousands of homes without power.

Storm Gerrit, the latest named storm to reach the UK, has also caused heavy snow, high winds and rain in parts of Scotland, where fallen trees, branches and other debris have brought down power lines.

Flood waters have risen in areas across the UK, with 20 warnings in place for expected flooding in North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Midlands.

A further 124 flood alerts, where flooding is possible, are in place in England, particularly in the north and west. There are nine flood warnings and 18 flood alerts in Scotland, and one flood warning and 17 alerts in Wales.

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Seismograph

Two earthquakes of magnitudes 6.5, 5.0 near Japan coast in quick succession


India Today
Thu, 28 Dec 2023 12:27 UTC
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Two earthquakes of magnitudes 6.5 and 5.0 struck near Japan's coast in quick succession on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The first quake of magnitude 6.5 struck at 2:45 pm and had its epicentre off the southeast coast of the Kuril Islands, followed by the 5.0 magnitude jolt at 3:07 pm.

According to the USGS, the two quakes hit at a depth of 23.8 km while the second one occurred at 40 km around the same region.

A series of powerful quakes have occurred in Japan throughout the year and earlier this month, tsunami warnings were issued along the southwestern coast after an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

On May 5, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck off Japan's western prefecture of Ishikawa, leading to the injuries of several people and the collapse of some buildings.

Powerful earthquakes also struck the northern island of Hokkaido in February, March and August.
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Boat

Severe floods hit Europe, inhabitants evacuate their homes on Christmas Day


Euronews
Tue, 26 Dec 2023 13:17 UTC
The Saale river has flooded between Halle and Roepzig. Pic: AP
© APThe Saale river has flooded between Halle and Roepzig, Germany.
On Christmas Day, residents in parts of Germany were forced to evacuate their homes due to heavy rains and saturated ground, resulting in widespread flooding and high water levels. Particularly affected were areas in the regions of Thuringia and Lower Saxony.

Footage from the village of Windehausen in Thuringia depicted homes, fields, and streets submerged in floodwaters, with displaced individuals seeking refuge at an emergency shelter. Bodo Ramelow, the governor of Thuringia, cautioned from the shelter on Monday that it might take several days before people could safely return home.

He stated, "They will only be able to return when the cellars have been pumped out, when the electricity is back on, and when the connection to the sewage system has been restored."

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Boat

Floods in Democratic Republic of Congo kill at least 62 people (UPDATE)


Africanews.com
Wed, 27 Dec 2023 12:55 UTC
The hourslong rainfall in the district of Kananga in Kasai Central province destroyed many houses
The hours-long rainfall in the district of Kananga in Kasai Central province destroyed many houses
Flooding triggered by heavy rains in central Congo killed at least 22 people, including 10 from the same family, a local official said Tuesday.

The hours-long rainfall in the district of Kananga in Kasai Central province destroyed many houses and structures, the province's governor, John Kabeya, said as rescue efforts intensified in search of survivors.

Five more deaths were confirmed later on Tuesday in addition to the initially reported death toll of 17, he said.


Comment: Update

Reuters reports:
At least 40 more people have died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said, after heavy downpours overnight Tuesday unleashed floods and landslides that left residents digging through the mud to find bodies.

In the city of Bukavu, onlookers gathered to watch on Wednesday as a group of men hauled a car out of the mud to recover a woman's body from underneath, a Reuters witness said.

At least 20 people died in Bukavu and at least 20 more were killed in the village of Burinyi, 50 kilometers from Bukavu, according to officials in the two places.

Bukavu resident Yvonne Mukupi, who was able to stay clear of the deluge, said her neighbor was swept away by the flood waters.

"We have managed to recover three bodies under the trees, but others have not been found yet," she said.

Poor urban planning and weak infrastructure make communities like Mukupi's more vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which is becoming more intense and frequent in Africa because of warming temperatures, according to United Nations climate experts.

"When rain falls, the main waterway gets clogged sometimes because of the waste, so it gets flooded and it affects the houses," Bukavu official Emmanuel Majivuno Kalimba told Reuters at the scene, as residents worked to salvage belongings from their damaged homes.

The overnight devastation follows the deaths of at least 22 people in Kasai-Central province on Tuesday when a landslide swallowed houses, churches and roads, killing entire families and leaving people homeless.


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Cloud Lightning

Australia: Child among 10 killed after severe summer storms hit country's east

Kathryn Armstrong
BBC
Wed, 27 Dec 2023 12:37 UTC
Roofs were torn off homes and electricity poles ripped from the ground in Queensland
© ABCRoofs were torn off homes and electricity poles ripped from the ground in Queensland
At least 10 people, including a nine-year-old girl, have died in eastern Australia during severe thunderstorms on Christmas and Boxing Day.

Most of the deaths were in the state of Queensland, where tens of thousands of people are still without power.

Victoria and New South Wales were also hit by widespread flooding and destructive winds.

Further thunderstorms have been forecast but conditions are expected to improve over the next day.

The winds were so strong in places, they tore roofs off buildings, felled trees and ripped concrete-based electricity poles from the ground.

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