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200 feared trapped in Brazil landslide

Zhanna Nurmaganbetova
en.inform.kz
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 12:28 UTC
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Some 200 people may have been buried after a landslide occurred Monday in a port area of Manacapuru, Brazil's Amazonas state, according to official sources, Xinhua reports.

The Military Firefighters Corps of the State of Rio de Janeiro said that the land supporting part of the Terra Preta Port, located on the banks of the Amazon River, slid due to unknown reasons. Although the area was under construction, the port continued to operate as a key transportation point.

It is estimated that over 200 people were loading and unloading goods at the site when the accident occurred. Initial reports confirmed that an entire family on a floating boat was buried. Additionally, debris from boats, pipes, houses, and vehicles has been found in the waters of the Amazon River.

The landslide could be related to riverbank erosion, which has been worsened by the severe drought affecting the Amazon region.

The Manacapuru's city council issued a statement, deeply regretting the accident, and detailed that teams of the Civil Defense, the Military Firefighters Corps and other sectors are working intensively at the site to rescue those trapped.


Comment: Some observations from The Landslide Blog:
There are also some news reports about the event, both in Portuguese and in English.

The site of this landslide appears to be [-3.2950, -60.6374]. This is a Google Earth image of the location, collected in February 2024:-

Google Earth image of the site of the 7 October 2024 landslide at Porto da Terra Preta, in Manacapuru, Brazil.
Google Earth image of the site of the 7 October 2024 landslide at Porto da Terra Preta, in Manacapuru, Brazil.
This image does not give any obvious indications as to why a landslide might have occurred. However, many of the local reports suggest that construction work was under way at the site. But, significantly, the Solimões River is at a historically low level currently, and the banks of the rivers in the Amazon region suffer a phenomenon known locally as "terras caídas" (fallen lands), which describes river bank landslides. There is a literature on this type of failure - a good starting point is Bandeira et al. (2018). These failures can occur in periods when the river level is falling, and under such circumstances are generally caused by toe erosion.

I am reminded also of the riverbank failures that occurred on the Murray River in Australia during the severe drought of 2010.

A search operation is ongoing at Porto da Terra Preta - it is to be hoped that those on the site managed to escape. But this event illustrates the risks of landslides along rivers, and highlights that failures are not always due to rainy conditions.


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Attention

Five sperm whales dead after stranding on Australian island


thehansindia.com
Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:38 UTC
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Five sperm whales have died after becoming stranded on an island off Australia's south coast.

The whales were found on a beach on the coast of Flinders Island, which is located between the Australian mainland and the island state of Tasmania, on Sunday night and were reported to Tasmania's Marine Conservation Program, according to Xinhua news agency.

Authorities arrived at the beach on Monday morning to inspect the whales and found three of them dead.

The remaining two were administered palliative care and died on Monday night.
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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy hailstorm damages crops, orchards in Shangla, Pakistan


Dawn
Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:28 UTC
A view of heavy hailstorm in Alpuri, Shangla, on Tuesday.
© DawnA view of heavy hailstorm in Alpuri, Shangla, on Tuesday.
Heavy rain lashed Shangla, Bajaur and Kohat districts on Tuesday, inundating roads and streets and damaging vegetable crops and fruit orchards.

A hailstorm damaged vegetable crops and orchards of red persimmon in Shangla district.

The growers said red persimmon orchards were damaged at a time when the fruit was ready to be harvested.

Mohammad Miraj of Kuz Kana area said the hailstorm extensively damaged his orchard of red persimmon. He said he was expecting a handsome profit this season.

He said he never saw such a hailstorm in his lifetime.

Miraj said the recent years had seen a change in weather patterns with unprecedented rains causing huge losses.

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Tornado2

Several waterspouts form over Lake Ontario

James Gilbert
RochesterFirst.com
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 11:00 UTC
A waterspout was seen forming over Lake Ontario Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
© Andrew VowlesA waterspout was seen forming over Lake Ontario Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. This picture was taken in Greece.
Several waterspouts were spotted over Lake Ontario this morning as cold air continued to pour over the warm waters of the lake.

These storms helped trigger a marine warning as waterspouts can cause major problems for boaters along the water.

These waterspouts paired with several showers that passed along Lake Ontario and dumped heavy rain over Oswego County.

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Bizarro Earth

Careful, talk of 'weather modification' could be a trap

Kit Knightly
Off-Guardian
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 02:25 UTC
Hurricane Milton
© NOAA
Last week, category 4 Hurricane Helene hit the eastern coast of North America causing massive flooding and devastation across the region, leaving people stranded and homeless.

This week, Hurricane Milton - a category five hurricane - is predicted to hit Florida's west coast after forming in the Gulf of Mesico and moving eastwards.

Two such storms in less than ten days have fueled online talk of "Weather modification" from Republican politicians and alternate media personalities:



Personally, I see reason to be cautious here.

Comment:

Latest article at Cassiopaea Substack; - Hurricanes, Weather Modification and 4D Battles

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Ice Cube

Arctic shipping ends early due to growing ice

Ron Clutz
Science Matters
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 18:33 UTC
Arctic shipping in ice conditions
Ice-strengthened supramax Kumpula (Arc 4) on the NSR being escorted by nuclear icebreaker Vaygach.

The report comes from Malte Humpert at gCaptain Early Winter Ice Halts Arctic Shipping Traffic Weeks Ahead of Schedule. Excerpts in italics with my bolds.

The summer shipping window on Russia's Northern Sea Route is coming to a rapid close weeks ahead of schedule. A number of vessels and convoys are rushing to complete their transits before the route shuts down in the next three weeks.
Northeast Passage
Northern Sea Route Information Office

Unlike the last couple of summers when Russia's Arctic coastal waterways were fully clear of sea ice, residual winter ice persisted in the eastern section this year. This has resulted in the early onset of ice formation especially in the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas.

Comment: More signs of apparent cooling?

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Cloud Precipitation

Flooding hits Sahara Desert after extremely rare rainfall in Morocco

Sam Metz, Baba Ahmed
Independent (UK)
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:13 UTC
Rare flooding in the Sahara Desert in Morocco
© APRare flooding in the Sahara Desert in Morocco
Rare rainfall has hit some of the most arid places on earth.

The deluge has left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its most drought-stricken regions with more water than many had seen in decades.

Southeastern Morocco's desert rarely experiences rain in late summer.

The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September had exceeded yearly averages in several areas that get an average of less than 250 millimeters (10 inches) annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit hardest. In Tagounite, a village about 450 kms (280 miles) south of the capital Rabat, more than 100 mm (3.9 inches) was recorded in a 24-hour period.

The storms provided more rainfall than had been seen in decades, leaving striking images of bountiful water gushing through the Saharan sands amid castles and desert flora.


Comment: Thunderstorms are bringing unprecedented greening to the southern Sahara desert

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Tsunami

At least three killed as floods swamp Thailand's Chiang Mai


Al Jazeera
Mon, 07 Oct 2024 12:41 UTC
At Least Three Killed as Floods Swamp Thailand’s Chiang Mai
At Least Three Killed as Floods Swamp Thailand’s Chiang Mai
At least three people have been killed after flash floods swamped Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai.

The city, a popular tourist destination, was inundated by torrential rain as the Ping River swelled to 5.30 metres (17.4 feet), its highest level in 50 years, on Saturday night. The river runs along the eastern edge of the city,

Residents were forced to wade through thigh-high brown waters, and some tourists evacuated from their hotels in trucks. Some shops were forced to close, while the central train station was shut after floodwaters poured inside. Train services to the city were also suspended.

Saritdet Charoenchai, a public health official, said that three people had been killed, including a 44-year-old man who was electrocuted and a 33-year-old woman who died in a mudslide.

More than 80 people have moved into shelters, he said, as almost a dozen medical centres were closed due to the high water.

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Doberman

1-year-old who was mauled by pit bulls dies at hospital in Converse, Texas - 2nd such attack for city within week


Thenationaldesk.com
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 12:05 UTC
A toddler died after being attacked by pit bulls early Monday morning.
© SBG San AntonioA toddler died after being attacked by pit bulls early Monday morning.
WOAI was at Animal Control Services as three dogs were taken off the property on Monday at Spruce Ridge Drive near Kitty Hawk in Converse.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Heather Rodriguez, 36, who was babysitting, left the toddler with her 13-year-old daughter when one of the pit bulls forced its way into a bedroom and attacked the baby.

"The 13-year-old was able to maintain control of the baby, but at this point, it was being described to me as almost a tug-of-war for the baby between at least one of the dogs and the little girl," he said.

Investigators noted other dogs joined in the attack on the baby, also biting the 13-year-old. She managed to break away to call 911 then came back to protect the baby from the dogs.


Comment: This is the second attack within a week by a pit bull type in Converse, a 3- year-old boy was injured on October 2, see report:



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Tsunami

Devastating storm, flash flood in the town of Podgora, Croatia


Croatia Week
Sat, 05 Oct 2024 11:21 UTC
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The Croatian coastal town of Podgora was hit by a severe storm on Saturday afternoon, during which an astonishing 143 litres of rain per square metre fell in just over an hour.

On the third day of the Mediterranean cyclone, the most unstable weather conditions affected the Dalmatian region, with the strongest impact recorded south of Makarska.

While heavy thunderstorms and even hail hit various parts of the region, the town of Podgora has suffered the most damage.

According to Dalmacija Danas, the rain continues to pour, and all available firefighting units are on the ground.

Floodwaters have engulfed streets, courtyards, basements, and promenades. Unofficial reports suggest that floodwaters even swept several cars into the sea.

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