Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Mexico Sunday over the northern Baja California Peninsula, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned of "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" as the storm makes its way into Southern California and the southwestern US.
Hilary has maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour as it barrels north-northwest at a speed of around 25 mph, according to the center. It was about 215 miles south-southeast of San Diego as of about 11 a.m. local time Sunday.
At least one death is already attributed to the storm. A person died when their vehicle was swept away near Santa Rosalía in Mexico, along the Baja California Peninsula, Mexican officials said in a news release Saturday.
A man has described the terrifying moment he was attacked by a shark while cooling off in the sea in Spain.
He entered the ocean for a dip as temperatures soared to 31C on Thursday in the Oliva municipality, around 50 miles south of Valencia on the east coast.
But while relaxing within metres of the shoreline in the shallow water, which was no more than knee deep, he saw a 'shadow' nearby.
Within seconds, a blue shark lashed out and went for him, sinking its teeth into his foot.
LA and San Diego brace for first tropical storm to make landfall in 84 years on Sunday.No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since September 25, 1939
The National Hurricane Center said Hilary's maximum sustained winds had risen to 140mph at midnight and was expected to intensify through Friday morning.
No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since September 25, 1939, according to the NWS. World War II had started just 24 days earlier.
Rural areas near California's border with Oregon were under evacuation orders Wednesday after gusty winds from a thunderstorm sent a lightning-sparked wildfire racing through national forest lands, authorities said.
The blaze in Siskiyou County, dubbed the Head Fire, was one of at least 20 fires - most of them tiny - that erupted in the Klamath National Forest as thunderstorms brought lightning and downdrafts that drove the flames through timber and rural lands.
Forest Supervisor Rachel Smith told The Associated Press:
"This has been a fire that has moved extremely quickly. Just in a matter of a couple of minutes yesterday afternoon the fire grew from just 50 acres (20.2 hectares) to nearly 1,500 acres (607 hectares). This is the kind of growth that historically we have not experienced on our forest prior to the last couple of years."
An overflight late Tuesday measured the fire at 4.2 square miles (10.8 square kilometers), slightly smaller than initial estimates after it grew rapidly in just a few hours. A forest statement said fire behavior also decreased during the night.
Firefighters were working to protect homes near the confluence of the Scott and Klamath rivers, a very lightly populated area about 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) from the California-Oregon state line and about 50 miles northwest of Mt. Shasta.
Maui residents say the actual wildfire death toll so far is likely closer to 480 and reveal the MPD's morgue office (pictured) ran out of body bags in the early days of the ongoing search and recovery operation in Lahaina
Maui authorities are dramatically underplaying the number of people known to have died in the inferno that ripped through Lahaina last week - with locals telling DailyMail.com that the actual death toll is at least 480 and that morgues had run out of body bags.
The figure is quadruple that of the official number of 111 - and some of the relatives of the victims have been left to uncover the remains of their loved ones themselves due to the glacial progress of the search and recovery operation.
On Tuesday, Maui mayor Richard Bissen said just 25 per cent of the stricken town had been searched, although he expected that figure to increase to 85 per cent by Saturday.
But DailyMail.com photos taken on Wednesday showed hundreds of cars and vehicles still unsearched - with just a handful marked with an orange X to show they'd been looked at.
The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, citing what he described as the worst wildfire season ever as thousands of individuals have been evacuated from cities to the east of Vancouver.
David Eby said on Friday night: "Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead."
He continued: "We are facing the worst wildfire season in our province's history. This unprecedented situation has come to a head this evening. In just the last 24 hours, the situation has evolved and deteriorated quite rapidly."
Amidst blustery conditions in the hills and mountains above West Kelowna, firefighters are battling the uncontained McDougall Creek wildfire, which has spread over 10,500 hectares of land. This volatile situation has prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents.
West Kelowna, a municipality with a population of 36,000, is situated approximately 300 kilometres [180 miles] east of Vancouver. Evacuations were also being carried out north of nearby Kelowna, a city with a population of about 150,000 also on Okanagan Lake, the local media reported.
A popular part of France is the latest area to be hit by devastating wildfires with more than 3,000 tourists evacuated from a holiday spot.
The blaze ripped through 500 hectares of land in the holiday region of Pyrenees-Orientales, close to Spain's border.
The fire broke out on Monday afternoon at 5pm and spread rapidly near the villages of Saint-Andre, Sorede and the seaside resort of Argeles, due to the 'extremely hot weather, drought and strong winds of up to 180km/hr'.
It has so far gutted around 30 homes, incinerated cars and destroyed a campsite in the commune of Saint-Andre.
ClickHeart TV 4 YouTube Sat, 19 Aug 2023 11:12 UTC
Rare New England tornado lifts car from a highway as strong storms damage homes and flood roads
A rare Rhode Island tornado lifted a car off a highway Friday as severe weather swept already storm-weary New England, damaging homes, flooding roads and toppling trees.
Tornadoes were reported in several spots in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts. The National Weather Service said there were at least four tornadoes in the two states, and it was investigating a potential fifth in eastern Connecticut. No injuries were reported.
Footage on social media showed the deluge of rain in Frankfurt.
Heavy rain in parts of Germany has caused flooding that deluged streets and toppled trees, and led to dozens of flight cancellations at Frankfurt airport, the country's busiest and a key European hub.
The storm swept over southwest Germany on Wednesday evening, dumping huge quantities of water and reportedly unleashing more than 25,000 bolts of lightning in about an hour.
Frankfurt airport said on Thursday it was forced to axe 90 flights while 23 more were re-routed to land at other airports.
Some passengers slept on camp beds while many spent the night at the airport hotel.
"Today, the situation will probably stabilise again," a spokesman told the AFP news agency. "There are still passengers here who need to be booked onto new flights."
Thousands of people fleeing a wildfire on the outskirts of Yellowknife, one of the largest cities in Canada's north, have crowded into the local airport and the road out of town.
Hundreds have also lined up for emergency military evacuation flights.
Local officials have given the 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, a deadline of noon Friday (18:00 GMT) to leave.
As of Thursday, the fire was within 16km (10 miles) of the city.
The Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency late on Tuesday as it battles nearly 240 wildfires.
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