Severe weather including heavy rain and strong winds affected the state of Victoria, Australia, from 09 June 2021. Wind gusts of over 100 km/h were reported. More than 200mm of rain fell in 24 hours in several locations. Police said one person died in a vehicle caught in flood water.

The heavy rainfall caused rivers to rise, in particular the Traralgon Creek in Traralgon where State Emergency Services (SES) issued an evacuation notice for more than 200 homes. SES said:

"If you live, work, or are holidaying in the Traralgon Creek area you should evacuate now. Flood waters are currently sitting above major flood level."

Levels of the creek jumped from under 1 metre to 5.78 metres in the space of around 12 hours between 09 and 10 June 2021. Major flood level here is 4.80 metres.

The Southwest Monsoon arrived in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, with dramatic effect on 09 June, 2021. More than 200mm of rain falling in less than 12 hours. Roads were inundated with flood water up to 50cm deep, causing widespread traffic disruption. Train services were also interrupted.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the coming 3 or 4 days. Fifteen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed to various parts of Maharashtra state in response.

The government of Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), reported a building collapsed in Malvani, Malad West. At least 11 people have died in the incident, with 17 injured and 15 rescued. More are feared buried in the rubble and firefighters are conducting rescue operations. Three other buildings nearby are in "dangerous condition" and the residents have been evacuated, the BMC said.

Torrential rain caused flooding and landslides in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil from 08 June 2021.

The government of Santa Catarina said teams from the Military Fire Department of Santa Catarina (CBMS) responded to calls for assistance in several municipalities.

The municipality and city of Canelinha was one of the hardest hit, where dozens of homes were flooded and 146 people evacuated to temporary shelter. Other rescues and evacuations were carried out in Brusque, Tubarão and Itajaí. CBMS also responded to calls in Balneário and Camboriú. In total at least 16 municipalities have reported incidents of flooding and severe weather impacts, with further heavy rain fall forecast.

More than 280mm of rain fell in Canelinha in the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil in 24 hours to 09 June 2021. At least 7 other locations in the state saw more than 150mm of rain during the same period.

Flash floods swamped areas around the city of Ankara, Turkey, on 09 June 2021. Worst affected was the metropolitan district of Mamak, Ankara Province. Videos shared on Social Media showed flood waters racing through streets, dragging vehicles and debris. Media reported dozens of buildings and roads damaged.

Turkey's meteorological agency Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü wanred of further heavy rainfall in the south of the country, in particular the provinces of Adana, Osmaniye and Kahramanmaraş.

A man was reportedly struck and killed by lightning on a golf course in Burlington County.

The man was seeking shelter from a popup storm at the Burlington Country Club on Burrs Road in Westampton Township when lightning struck a tree near him, CBS 3 reports.

The lightning strike happened between the course's 6th and 7th hole at about 3:45 p.m., according to Fox 29. The man, who has not been identified, later died of his injuries, NBC 10 reports.

Food prices continue to rise as extreme weather around the world strikes production, adding to the significant damage caused by the Covid lockdowns.

Snow and record cold temperatures for summer took the lead this month. The US, Canada, China, Russia and parts of Europe were caught by surprise despite mass media trying to normalize the unseasonable weather. This weather is far from normal and perhaps a sign that we are on the threshold of a new ice age.

An apocalyptic mouse plague in Australia is causing millions of dollars of damage to crops and farming machinery in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Local farmers continue to lose crops and grain while they have to pay thousands of dollars to contain the plague.

The damage to crops continues in East Africe and the Middle East. After three years of drought followed by record rain and floods, the area faces record-breaking swarms of crop-eating locusts that threaten the crops and the food security of millions. A one-square-kilometer swarm can consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people. The governments of the affected countries are spending billions of dollars to avoid further losses, but it has proved to be quite a challenge so far.

Major flooding also caused a lot of trouble around the world this May. Cyclone Yaas lashed coastal areas of India and southern Bangladesh with strong winds, rain and floods causing widespread damage. More than one million were evacuated.

Cyclone Yaas also came at a time when India struggles to deal with a new wave of Covid infections, most probably caused by a combination of poor infrastructure, heavy levels of pollution, and mass vaccination campaigns.

In South America, severe floods caused by Amazon rivers reaching record highs affected more than 450 thousand people in Manaus. Peru and Colombia were also hit by severe flooding that triggered the relocation of thousands.

Many countries of the Middle East are facing an unprecedented amount of summer rain and floods while China braces for a heavy flood season with 71 rivers already exceeding warning levels.

Not a pretty picture but all this is part of natural cycles caused by our sun's activity and other cosmic factors. Pay attention, network and prepare accordingly if needed.

All this and more in our SOTT Earth Changes Summary for May 2021:

A Florida diver was searching for prehistoric shark teeth but found himself on the receiving end of an alligator's teeth instead.

CNN reported that 25-year-old Jeffrey Heim sustained a skull fracture from an alligator attack last Sunday on Florida's Myakka River, in Sarasota County. The wound to the back of his head required 34 staples to close, and Heim also had puncture wounds on his hand from the alligator's bite.

Initially, the Tampa man thought he'd been hit by a boat propeller, the report said, but then saw the alligator looking at him.

Heim described the attack to CNN, saying, "It felt very heavy and it really felt like it was moving very fast." He added, "It felt blunt. It felt like a blunt force. I didn't feel the cutting, I felt a pulling."

You don't see this in the Florida panhandle often.

NOAA officials are looking into the death of a sub-adult sperm whale found at a popular local hotspot, Shell Island.

According to officials with NOAA, this species of whale is considered endangered. It's primarily found in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

They say this is one of three sperm whale strandings along the Gulf over the last 10 years.

Officials are unsure what caused the whale's death. They do say the whale was very thin when it beached itself.

A necropsy will be conducted Tuesday morning to determine the cause of death.

Ed Smith has walked Wells Beach for years but has never seen anything like it: A mysterious black substance that settles on the sand near the shoreline and stains the feet of anyone who ventures too close.

He first noticed it Sunday night. When he went back out Monday, it was there again. He talked to about a dozen beachgoers who all said they noticed it too.

"I sat on the edge of my tub with blue Dawn (dishwashing soap) and a scrub pad, and I still couldn't remove the stain from my feet," Smith said.

It took a few inquiries to local and state officials, and some help from a retired scientist who lives nearby, but Smith got his answer Tuesday. It only raised more questions.

A vast underwater avalanche sent mud and sand more than 1,000km out into the ocean over the course of two days, rupturing submarine cables and disrupting internet traffic on Africa's western coast, scientists have revealed.

The avalanche, the longest sediment flow ever recorded, travelled more than 1,100km from its source at the mouth of the Congo river along a deep ocean canyon, according to a new study.

It took place in January 2020 but the data on it has only just emerged. The slide may have gone unnoticed on land had the telecommunications cables not been broken, slowing data traffic between Nigeria and South Africa.

The event was also captured on devices that researchers had placed in the south Atlantic to measure the speed of currents and sediments. The sensors showed a flow of mud and sand accelerating from five metres per second to eight metres per second as it flooded out to sea.

"We had a series of oceanographic moorings that were hit by the event, which broke them from their seafloor anchors so that they popped up to send us an email," Professor Peter Talling from Durham University told the BBC.