Earth ChangesS


Arrow Down

Landslide causes mini tsunami on Chinese river

A van was hit by a wave of water created by a landslide Friday in central China's Hubei Province, leaving two people injured and damaging the Zhaojun Bridge, which temporarily suspended traffic.

The van was driving down the middle of the Zhaojun Bridge at around 10:00 when strong wave pushed the van back about one meter. It was fortunate that no one on the van itself was injured, and that the two people crossing in the bridge were not injured seriously.

"I was driving when I saw the rocks falling ahead. Then my van was pushed about one meter back by the splash. It was like the earthquake, and tsunami," said Liu Maoqing, the van's driver.

Arrow Down

Three people dead in West Sumatra landslide

Three people are dead after a landslide buried a house in a village in the West Sumatra district of South Solok on Tuesday morning.

The landslide happened at 1:30 a.m., several hours after heavy rains hit the area.

The victims were identified as 61-year-old Nurbaiti and her granddaughters Yosi Fitrani, 12, and Tri Yulia Nanda Sari, 8.

Heavy rains also triggered a landslide and floods in there more West Sumatra districts - namely Pasaman, Agam and Tanah Datar, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported on Tuesday.

"Luckily there no victims [in the three districts]," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Sutopo added that at least 15 houses were flooded or buried by landslides, forcing 15 families in Pasaman to evacuate.

Arrow Down

7 injured, 20 missing in recurrence of landslide in southern Colombia

At least seven people were injured and some 20 others went missing in a landslide reoccurred Saturday in southern Colombia, relief agencies said.

The incident occurred when a bulldozer was removing earth that blocked a driveway below the Andes Mountains in the aftermath of a previous landslide, and about 20 cars were waiting in a queue to pass at the time, said the Risk Management Department.

The injured have all been sent to the University Hospital of Neiva.

Due to the unstable terrain, light and weather conditions, rescuers have decided to wait until Sunday to resume the search for the 20 missing persons.

Source: Xinhua

Snowflake Cold

Record-breaking snowfall hits Rochester, New York

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Many of us who had to get out today had to do some digging first. Some say it was only a matter of time before Rochester was heavily hit with snow this winter.

"We saw it last night but I wasn't expecting it to be quite this bad this morning when I got out here," said Sara Granger of Rochester.

All this snow created a lot of work for Granger and Cruz, who spent nearly an hour just digging out.

"It took me almost a half hour just to dig from my door to here and now we just started on the car," said Cruz.

Neighbors on Comfort Street off South Avenue came together to help Jackie Fannin, who found herself stuck on the way to work.

Cloud Lightning

Rare California tornado damages greenhouses in Monterey Bay

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© National Weather ServiceDamage from Saturday's tornado in Watsonville is seen.
One of only 7 tornadoes to hit Bay Area counties over the last decade

A small tornado in Santa Cruz County near Watsonville last Saturday lasted only three minutes but knocked down walls of some greenhouses
and uprooted trees in its path, a spokesman for the National Weather Service
said.

The tornado started as a waterspout on the surface of Monterey Bay at 6:59 a.m., crossed over Sunset State Beach and grew to 20 yards wide with winds reaching 75 mph as it swept east to inland areas, said Logan Johnson, a weather service spokesman in Monterey.

The swirling winds crossed over a large farm, sent fiberglass and plastic sheeting flying off of the walls of some greenhouses and caused the metal support structure of one to cave in and damage crops growing inside, Johnson said.

The twister also blew out fiberglass windows in two other greenhouses and propelled debris into a field 30 to 50 yards from the greenhouses, Johnson said.

Airplane

United flight skids off runway at Albany County Airport, no injuries reported

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© Albany County Airport
Albany, New York - A spokesman for the Albany County Airport Authority says a regional jet skidded into a snow bank and became stuck, stranding passengers. No injuries were reported.

The United flight was leaving the gate in Albany en route to Chicago Saturday when it slid off the paved road. The 65 passengers and crew were uninjured and were evacuated from the plane, put on a bus and sent back to the airport.

Airport authority spokesman Doug Myers says the accident didn't case any other airport delays. The plane was removed from the snow bank and will be inspected for any problems.

Myers said the airline would determine what happened with the jet. It was snowing lightly at the airport Saturday.

Snowflake

Record-breaking snowfall in Montreal: 47 centimetres of snow in one day

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© CTV NewsMontreal's massive snow clearing operation will start on Friday morning. Claudine Nicol took this photo of parked cars entombed in snow in Villeray on Thursday.
The City of Montreal said snow removal is going to take longer than expected following Thursday's record snowfall.

Michel Frenette, a spokesman for the city, said snow removal will take about nine days to accomplish.

The nine days also includes a break period for workers.

"We will stop operations on the evening of the 31st and come back 36 hours later on the morning of Jan. 2," said Frenette.

He said it is taking longer because snow blowers have to go over the same area multiple times to remove all of the snow.

Three thousand people are working to clear the snow.

Igloo

Atlantic Canadians brace for 2nd winter wallop

As much as 40 centimetres of snow expected from 'significant nor'easter'.
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© CBC NewsAtlantic Canada is bracing for more harsh winter weather set to hit Saturday night.
With another blast of winter weather headed for Atlantic Canada, people are being urged to prepare for a lot of snow throughout the Maritimes and up to 140 km/h wind gusts in Newfoundland.

The storm is expected to start Saturday night in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.

Nova Scotia may see 40 centimetres of snow by Sunday night in the province's north and the Annapolis Valley.

Meteorologist Andy Firth said the nor'easter would bring snow, blowing snow and rain to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, as well as southern and eastern New Brunswick.

"This is a significant nor'easter storm," Firth said from Dartmouth, N.S., on Saturday. "We have warnings out for snowfall, blowing snow and storm surges."

Firth said parts of New Brunswick and P.E.I. would see around 15 to 30 centimetres of snow.

Flurries were expected to begin over the western Maritimes on Saturday evening, with heavy snow beginning around midnight and continuing until around noon Sunday.

Snowflake Cold

Heavy snow in South Korea breaks December record

Korean Blizzard
© NEWSISSoldiers are mobilized yesterday morning to remove snow from roads in front of tollgates near the Baekyang Tunnel in Sasang District, Busan. As snow was not cleared in time, dangerous roads caused traffic jams during rush hour. Heavy snowfall is rarely seen in the southern port city.
Yesterday's rush hour was a nightmare for a 47-year-old civil servant surnamed Roh who commutes from Gimhae to Changwon, South Gyeongsang, every day.

He left home at 6:15 a.m. and reached the Changwon Tunnel that connects the two cities in 10 minutes, but soon had to turn his car around as the tunnel was closed due to snow.

Roh then passed through Jangyu and Dongmasan IC (interchange) and finally arrived at his office in Changwon at 9:40 a.m.

It usually takes only 25 minutes if he takes the tunnel route, but it took 3 hours and 25 minutes.

On his way to the office, many vehicles were waiting for assistance after being damaged in car accidents due to the slippery roads.

"It doesn't snow much in Gimhae," Roh told the JoongAng Ilbo. "Not many drivers have tire chains. It was terrible to drive because many roads are icy due to the early morning snow."

Snowflake Cold

Coldest winter in decades for Russia with snow as much as 5 meters (16½ ft) deep - Plows cannot reach roads to clear them

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© ReutersA homeless woman has a charity meal distributed by volunteers in Russia's southern city of Stavropol on Dec. 25, 2012.
As temperatures plummet to -50 Celsius in some parts of Russia, thousands have been evacuated from their homes in the country's Far East and Siberia. More than 120 people have died from the severe cold -- at least seven in the last 24 hours.

Meteorologists say the country is experiencing one of its coldest winters in decades.

In the Far East region of Magadan, 300 kilometers of roads remain blocked by heavy snow. Plows and machines can not reach those roads to clear them. In some places, snow is as much as five meters deep.

Irina Bryarkina lives in the Tyva region of Siberia where temperatures have been -40 C for several days. It is so cold that many heating pipes have frozen and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes.

Comment:
"One change to occur in 21st Century is sudden glacial rebound, over Eurasia first, then North America. Ice ages develop much, much, much faster than thought."
We're seeing it right now.