Earth Changes

Floods in Tabasco, Mexico affect 50% of the state's banana plantations

Fresh Plaza
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 13:49 UTC

The serious floods in Tabasco have caused important losses to the agricultural sector, mainly impacting banana production.

"Producers estimate that 50% of their plantations were affected, so we are developing a plan to establish measures to strengthen the banana strains once the flood subsides," stated Victor Villalobos, the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).

Villalobos also stressed that it will be necessary to grant credits to producers in the region and provide technical assistance to avoid pests and diseases derived from floods.

Storm Iota death toll rises to 40 in Central America as Honduran leader pleads for help

Gustavo Palencia, Ismael Lopez
Reuters
Fri, 20 Nov 2020 13:26 UTC

© Jorge Cabrera
Vehicles are submerged at a plot flooded by the Chamelecon River due to heavy rain caused by Storm Iota, in La Lima, Honduras November 19, 2020.

Authorities in Central America recovered more bodies on Thursday from landslides triggered by hurricane Iota, which battered the impoverished region this week, the second deadly storm to roar through this month.

The number of reported deaths rose to more than 40 across Central America and Colombia, and the toll is expected to rise as rescue workers reach isolated communities. Most of the deaths occurred in Nicaragua and Honduras.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez issued an urgent plea for international help.

"We are in a situation of great calamity and we need the world to help us rebuild our country," he told a news conference.

The strongest storm on record to hit Nicaragua, Iota struck the coast late on Monday as a Category 4 hurricane. It inundated low-lying areas still reeling from the impact two weeks ago of Eta, another major hurricane that killed dozens of people in the region.

UN says over 1 million people affected by floods in South Sudan

Ahram Online
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 13:13 UTC

The UN humanitarian agency said an estimated 1.03 million people have been affected by flooding across South Sudan since July.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Jonglei region has been the worst affected with 404,000 people, followed by the Greater Pibor Administrative Area which has more than 125,000 people and Lakes area with 147,000 people.

At least 1,034,000 people have been affected by flooding, according to OCHA's latest humanitarian report released on Wednesday evening.

Man killed by pack of wild dogs in Jackson County, Florida

Jeff Burlew
Tallahassee Democrat
Fri, 20 Nov 2020 12:43 UTC

A Florida man was attacked and killed by a pack of stray dogs that still remain on the loose, say police

A man was found dead Wednesday along the side of the road in rural Jackson County, the victim of an apparent dog attack.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said it received a report at 7:48 a.m. Wednesday of a man lying next to Kirkland Road, around the Bascom area not far from the Alabama line.

Deputies and troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the area and confirmed the man was deceased, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

He was identified as Donald Ray Allen, 65, of Bascom.

Russia's Klyuchevskoy volcano erupts sending ash nearly 10,000 feet into the air

Volcano Discovery
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:09 UTC

The effusive-explosive eruption of the volcano continues at moderately high levels.

A larger and stronger explosion than the average and usual size of explosions at the volcano occurred yesterday. This event is characterized as vulcanian-type explosion.

Large amount of ash with area of 65x70 km rose 9,842 ft (3,000 m) above the summit crater and extended about 50 km to the south-southeast of the volcano.

The lava flow on the southeast flank along the Apakhonchich chute remains active, currently about 2,000 m long.

South Korea's capital Seoul records heaviest daily rainfall for November

Korea Times
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 05:11 UTC

People wearing face masks try to manage their umbrellas in the rain in Seoul

Seoul and central South Korean regions were soaked with unseasonable heavy rain Thursday, with the capital receiving the heaviest daily precipitation on record for November, the local weather agency said.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), 68.2 millimeters of rain fell in Seoul as of 8 a.m., surpassing November's previous daily record of 67.4 mm set on Nov. 7, 1916. It is the heaviest daily precipitation recorded in the capital during the month of November since modern weather observation began here in 1907.

Precipitation is forecast to further increase for the rest of the day, as Seoul and central regions, including parts of Gangwon and South Chungcheong provinces, are being hit by strong rain of about 20 mm per hour, accompanied by thunder and lightning, the KMA said.

For the rest of the nation, the rainfall amounted to around 5 mm, it added.

Russian Antarctic station rattled by shallow M6.0 earthquake

TASS
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:52 UTC

The Russian polar station Bellingshausen in the Antarctic is registering tremors with a magnitude of up to 6.0, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the country's sole operator of Antarctic research, reported on Thursday.

"At the Bellingshausen station... tremors with a magnitude of 4.7 - 6.0, with their epicenter located at a distance of 40-50 km southeast of the station in the Bransfield Strait at depths in the earth's crust from 1.5 to 10 km," the Institute's press office said in a statement.

The Russian polar stations in the Antarctic are now carrying out preparatory work under the program of the 66th Russian Antarctic expedition. In particular, the Vostok station has completed the work to prepare the runway 3,700 meters long. The Progress and Mirny stations have also finished the work to put runways into operation. The Novolazarevskaya station is carrying out emergency work to clean and restore the runway after a recent blizzard. The first flight of an Il-76 plane from Cape Town is scheduled for November 19.

Storm dumps up to 16 inches of snow in 24 hours on Tahoe-area ski resorts

KTVU
Wed, 18 Nov 2020 14:05 UTC

© Brandon Skinner
The upper mountain at Squaw Valley received 16 inches of fresh snow overnight, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

The strongest weather system so far this season brought a healthy supply of snow to the Sierra, with multiple ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe-area receiving over a foot in a 24-hour stretch.

Heavy snow developed over the mountains on Tuesday afternoon and snow showers continued into Wednesday morning, causing traffic delays for unprepared drivers while producing solid snow totals.

On the upper mountains at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, 16 inches fell as the resort prepares to open both mountains on Nov. 25.

"The storm came in wet and dropped heavy, saturated snow that is perfect for this time of year, as it creates a strong base layer that thoroughly coats the ground," Public Relations Specialist Alex Spychalsky said in a release.

Power plant in Russia's Vladivostok halts operation due to snow cyclone

TASS
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 13:43 UTC

Over 90,000 residents of the city are left without electricity

The Vostochnaya Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHPP) in Vladivostok has halted electricity generation because of heavy ice with wind, press service of the Russian Energy Ministry told TASS on Thursday.

"The Energy Ministry exercises special control over power supply in the Primorsky Region: a portion of power transmission line turned off due to heavy snow with wind; Vostochnaya CHPP halted electricity generation, and power supply to a portion of consumers has been disrupted," the press service says.

Couple and their 7-month-old baby crushed to death after cliff collapses in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Berny Torre, Claire Gilbody-Dickerson
Mirror
Wed, 18 Nov 2020 12:49 UTC

Witnesses said the mum tried to wrap her body around her son to shield him when she saw the cliff coming down

A whole family was tragically killed when a cliff collapsed on top of them while they were enjoying the afternoon on the beach.

A young couple, their seven-month-old baby and their pet had no time to escape when the cliff came down on Tuesday.

The mum had reached for her son and had wrapped her body around him to protect him as the debris started falling in Pipa Beach in Tibau do Sul, in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte.

But before they could flee the beach, the cliff came tumbling down and crushed the entire family, the Daily Star reports.