Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Record breaking snowfall in Sioux Falls, SD


Associated Press
Thu, 07 Nov 2013 04:53 UTC
Sioux Falls
© UnknownSioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- weather system that crossed southern South Dakota set snowfall records in Rapid City and Sioux Falls. The National Weather Service says 3.1 inches of snow fell at the Rapid City airport on Tuesday, breaking the 2008 record for the date of 1 inch.

Sioux Falls got 5.7 inches of snow, breaking that city's record for the date of 1.5 inches set in 1959. Some parts of southern South Dakota got even higher amounts of snow, but it was expected to start melting on Wednesday.

The weather service forecast called for high temperatures from the mid-30s to the mid-40s.
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Windsock

Typhoon Haiyan: Philippines deadliest recorded natural disaster


The Times of India
Sun, 10 Nov 2013 08:59 UTC
Image
© NASASuper typhoon Haiyan, seen from NASA's Aqua satellite.
A super typhoon that destroyed entire towns across the Philippines is believed to have killed more than 10,000 people, authorities said on Sunday, which would make it the country's deadliest recorded natural disaster.

The horrifying new feared death toll from Super Typhoon Haiyan came as the United States pledged military help in the relief effort and as countless survivors across a huge swathe of the country remained without aid for a third day.

Ten thousand people were believed to have been killed in the worst-hit province on Leyte, regional police chief Elmer Soria told reporters in Tacloban, the devastated provincial capital.

"We had a meeting last night with the governor and, based on the government's estimates, initially there are 10,000 casualties (dead). About 70 to 80 percent of the houses and structures along the typhoon's path were destroyed," Soria said.
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Cloud Lightning

'It's like the end of the world': Typhoon Haiyan feared to have killed ten thousand Filipinos in one of the most powerful storms ever recorded

Becky Evans
The Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 10 Nov 2013 08:45 UTC
  • Typhoon Haiyan was a maximum category-five storm with ground winds of up to 235mph
  • Authorities say the death toll could be 10,000 in the city of Tacloban, Leyte, alone
  • Around four million people are said to have been affected, according to the the country's national disaster agency
  • Bodies were seen floating in flooded streets and survivors said the aftermath is like the 2004 Tsunami
  • 800,000 evacuated before gales whipped up 19ft waves that battered the islands of Leyte and Samar
  • Hundreds of thousands of people in South East Asia have been evacuated and moved to shelters
  • UN says 2.5m people are in need of food aid and UNICEF have estimated 1.5 m children live in affected areas
  • Vietnam authorities moved 883,000 people in 11 central provinces to safe zones, government said
  • Trees and billboards blown down in China on Sunday when the typhoon landed

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10,000 people have been killed in super typhoon Haiyan that hit the central Philippines on Friday, according to a police chief in the area
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Cloud Precipitation

Super-typhoon Haiyan leaves "at least" 10,000 dead in Philippines

Kate Hodal
The Observer, UK
Sun, 10 Nov 2013 06:49 UTC
Image
© Dennis Sabangan/EPA Residents search for belongings in the wreckage of Tacloban.
Estimated death toll soars as path of destruction leaves many parts of Philippines inaccessible to government and aid officials

At least 10,000 people are thought to have died in the central Philippine province of Leyte after Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall, lashed the area, swallowing coastal towns, a senior police official said early on Sunday morning.

About 70-80% of the buildings in the area in the path of Haiyan in Leyte province was destroyed, said chief superintendent Elmer Soria. "We had a meeting last night with the governor and the other officials. The governor said based on their estimate, 10,000 died," he said.

Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said that the death toll in that city alone "could go up to 10,000". Tacloban is the provincial capital of Leyte, with a population of more than 200,000. The Philippine Red Cross said in Tacloban bodies had been found "piled up around the roads" and in churches. Between 300 and 400 bodies had been recovered, Lim said.

Comment: Update 10 November 2013:

The wind speed was not recorded at 395km/h, as we previously reported. At least, we have found no independent confirmation of that. Instead it appears that some broadcasters such as the BBC mistakenly translated 235km/h into '235mph' and the storm suddenly became something bigger than it actually was.

Anthony Watts has more on this here.

Nevertheless, the storm does appear to have wrought severe destruction on another defenceless country whose leaders are more concerned with appeasing the CEO Gods of Multinational Corporations than developing infrastructure to mitigate Nature's forces and improve the people's well-being.

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Snowflake Cold

Three killed as winter snow and rains lash Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Pakistan


The News International
Fri, 08 Nov 2013 04:40 UTC
At least three persons were killed and many others injured as rain and snowfall continued to play havoc in several areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas for the second consecutive day on Thursday.
Three siblings were killed and another three persons injured when the roof of a house collapsed at the Chinary area of the Safi Tehsil in the Mohmand Agency. The Mohmand administration officials said the roof of the house of Mukammal Khan fell down as a result of the two days rain.

Three children, who were guests and had come from Hyderabad were killed on the spot. The victims were identified as seven years old Qadir, three-year- old Halima Bibi and two-year-old Adnan, all children of Abdus Samad. The three injured were identified as Mukammal Khan, his wife and a daughter, Sameera.

The rain and snowfall continued in various areas of the Malakand division. The tourist resorts of the Swat district such as Kalam, Malam Jaba and other adjoining areas received snowfall. The snowfall and the rainfall confined the people to houses. The mountains in Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Buner, Shangla, Malakand Agency and Chitral received more snowfall.
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Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall hits Russia

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Sat, 09 Nov 2013 04:33 UTC
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Translated from here

Highways closed. Residents asked not to leave their settlements.

Federal highway between Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur closed on Thursday due to heavy snowfall. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in Khabarovsk region , the movement of vehicles will be prohibited until further notice.

Due to blowing snow and icy conditions on the roads, MOE has asked residents not to leave their settlements, drivers and pedestrians to be extra careful on the roads, observe speed limits, not to violate the rules of the road .

Meanwhile in Khabarovsk on some highways were formed congestion due to numerous accidents.

Also because of the snowstorm observed disruptions Khabarovsk Airport.

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link.
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Snowflake Cold

India: Heavy snowfall in Himachal Pardesh traps hundreds in their vehicles

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Fri, 08 Nov 2013 04:21 UTC
Image
Snowfall at Rohtang Pass, Himachal Pradesh
Rohtang Pass is under over 100cm (39 inches) of fresh snow, making it difficult for the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to clear the highway.

Higher reaches of Dharamshala, Shimla, Kinnaur and Chamba also received heavy snowfall in the last 48 hours.

Most popular tourist places in Himachal Pradesh received two feet thick snowfall on Thursday, reported India TV.

At present, even pedestrians are not being allowed to cross Rohtang (13,050 feet) where high velocity cold winds and blizzards may kill people. Eight people were killed in a similar attempt to cross Rohtang in November 2009.

A resident of Keylong, Kumari Anita, said, "We had come to Kullu to buy rations and woollens before the closure of Rohtang Pass for the next six months. But the sudden snowfall has forced us to take shelter at a relative's house. We have a jeep full of essential commodities which we need to take home soon after opening of the road."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Heavy-snowfall-in-Himachal-Pardesh-disrupts-normal-life/articleshow/25461934.cms

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/520562/20131108/himachal-pradesh-manali-rohtang-pass-snowfall-weather.htm

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for these links
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Attention

Piles of dead oysters at Khairan beach, Kuwait


Kuwait Times
Fri, 08 Nov 2013 03:18 UTC
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The rate at which oysters are dying at the Khairan beach has doubled since the incident was first reported last Wednesday, an environmental organization warned in a statement yesterday in which they demanded extensive investigation to find the reasons behind this phenomenon. "The Kuwait Dive Team found piles of dead oysters in numbers that vastly exceed those first reported on Wednesday", team leader and President of the Environment Voluntary Foundation Waleed Al-Fadhel said yesterday. He further indicated that other marine species such as crabs were found dead at the same site.

This comes as a government body rejected concern about a potential environmental phenomenon behind the massive number of dead oysters reported recently at the Khairan beach. "The dead oysters were likely disposed by people who caught them for consumption or to look for pearl", said Dr Muna Husain, head of the biodiversity protection department at the Environment Public Authority. She further added in a statement Thursday that "dead oysters naturally do not float to the surface, but remain attached to the seafloor or rocks near the beach".
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Ambulance

10,000 feared killed in Philippines by super typhoon Haiyan


RT
Sun, 10 Nov 2013 01:34 UTC
Typhoon Haiyan
© Reuters / Erik De CastroA view of destroyed houses after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 9, 2013
An estimated 10,000 people might have been killed in the central Philippine province of Leyte alone, which was almost completely destroyed by the powerful typhoon Haiyan, local authorities said.

The typhoon has devastated up to 80 percent of the Leyte province area as it ripped through the Philippines, Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria told Reuters.

"We had a meeting last night with the governor and other officials. The governor said based on their estimate, 10,000 died," Soria said.

The Red Cross said earlier that 1,200 people we confirmed dead in the Philippines.
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Cloud Lightning

Typhoon Haiyan death toll climbs to 1,200 in the Philippines

Conal Urquhart and agencies
Theguardian.com,
Sat, 09 Nov 2013 17:05 UTC
Typhoon Haiyan
© EUMETSATSuper Typhoon Haiyan has battered the Philippines with ferocious winds of up to 320 km/h (199mph). Although not the most powerful storm to have ever formed in recorded history, it could be the strongest at the time of landfall.
The Philippines Red Cross said it has received reports of 1,200 deaths in two areas devastated by typhoon Haiyan.

The agency said that at least 1,000 had been killed in Tacloban and 200 in Samar province. The typhoon has passed over the Philippines and is expected to hit Vietnam later today. Communication and transports links have been disrupted by the storm making it difficult to assess damage and offer assistance.

Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said the numbers came from preliminary reports by Red Cross teams in Tacloban and Samar, among the most devastated areas hit by typhoon Haiyan on Friday.

"An estimated more than 1,000 bodies were seen floating in Tacloban as reported by our Red Cross teams," she told Reuters. "In Samar, about 200 deaths. Validation is ongoing."

The death toll from typhoon Haiyan is expected to rise sharply as rescue workers reach areas cut off by the fast-moving storm, whose circumference eclipsed the whole country and which late on Saturday was heading for Vietnam.
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