Drone visuals showed the extent of major flooding near the western French town of Redon on Thursday (Jan 30), as the floods were expected to reach a historic peak.
Surrounded by rivers, the town, which is home to ten thousand people, was "almost isolated" according to French media.
Flooding has persisted since storms Ivo, Eowyn, and Herminia, along with heavy rainfall, hit the region over the weekend, submerging streets and homes.
Over a thousand residents of the Ille-et-Vilaine department have been evacuated from their homes but no casualties have been reported.
Hayley Vawter, Emilee Speck, Scott Sistek, Julian Atienza Fox Weather Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:38 UTC
A powerful storm system is pummeling Hawaii with flash flooding, damaging wind gusts, severe thunderstorms and blizzard-like conditions on the high mountain peaks. The storm has left thousands without power, roads blocked by floods and fallen trees and grounded island air traffic.
Flash Flood Warnings persisted late into Thursday evening over Honolulu and Maui. County offices in Maui were closed on Friday due to the downpours. Crews across the state worked to reopen roads that were closed due to downed trees or flooding.
The Big Island declared a State of Emergency on Thursday afternoon.
Video from Honolulu showed heavy rain and urban flooding. One Honolulu resident shared a video on social media of what looked to be a strong river that he said was normally a dry creek.
A sinkhole at an intersection near Tokyo that swallowed a truck collapsed further Thursday and merged with a second opening that had formed nearby, as rescue efforts continued into a third day to save the driver.
The sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, has expanded to roughly 40 meters wide and up to 15 meters deep since first appearing on Tuesday, according to local fire authorities. The prefectural government had estimated its width at around 20 meters.
Firefighters plan to deploy heavy machinery inside the hole to remove earth and rubble.
While the trapped 74-year-old man was initially able to speak, communication has been lost since Tuesday afternoon, with the driver's seat of the truck buried in debris.
A sewer pipe running underground in the area was found damaged, leading the prefectural government to start discharging wastewater into the nearby Niigata River late Wednesday as an emergency step to reduce the water flowing into the sinkhole.
Five skiers were killed in two separate avalanches in the French Alps on Wednesday, local officials have confirmed.
One torrent of snow came in Val-Cenis, in the south-eastern Savoie region, killing four Norwegian skiers, while a Swiss skier died further north in the Haute-Savoie region, near Chamonix.
Three of the Norwegians were killed instantly while a fourth, a woman, died in a nearby hospital after suffering severe hypothermia and a cardiorespiratory arrest.
They were part of a larger group of seven skiers and the remaining three were unharmed.
Jacques Arnoux, mayor of Val-Cenis, told AFP each member of the group had been carrying an avalanche beacon as they were off-piste skiing.
Aamir Latif and Berk Kutay Gokmen Anadolu Agency Thu, 30 Jan 2025 14:19 UTC
The condition of houses affected by the landslide in Kampung Lereng Bukit, Miri
At least five people were killed and thousands displaced due to heavy floods and landslides in Malaysia, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
It said some 5,000 people were displaced by raging floods in Sarawak and Sabah states on Borneo Island.
Affected people have been evacuated to temporary relief centers as raging floods struck the two Malaysian states.
According to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee Secretariat, Serian city has the most displaced people, with hundreds of people and families seeking refuge in relief camps.
Landslides were reported in the town of Miri, where people were also displaced.
The Kota Marudu district of Sabah remains the worst hit, with 673 displaced people.
Bethanie H Outdoors.com Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:12 UTC
Snow in the Mojave Desert is a beautiful and rare sight. Yesterday, January 27, there was snow on the ground at Joshua Tree National Park, and the photos and videos coming from the southern California park are stunning.
The Instagram account @visit_joshuatree shared several videos of snow covering the ground and coating the famous Joshua trees. The captions say all footage was from yesterday, Monday, January 27, 2025.
"Joshua Tree National Park is in the high desert with peaks above 4000 feet elevation, so it typically gets snow once a year in January / February," says @visit_joshuatree in one of its posts. "[The park] had an especially dry year with very little rain in the last six months, so snow is a welcome sight in the park, and is a good indicator for Joshua Tree blooms and wildflowers in the spring time. Joshua Trees need a 'cold snap' to start their annual clock which then produces Joshua Tree blooms in February."
See footage from a rare snow day at Joshua Tree National Park here:
Necva Tastan Sevinc Anadolu Agency Wed, 29 Jan 2025 14:23 UTC
An aerial view of flooded area as record-breaking water levels prompted authorities to extend major flood alerts following the aftermath of Storm Herminia in Ile-et-Vilaine, France on January 28, 2025
Storm Herminia has unleashed heavy rains and strong winds across Italy and France, leading to flash floods, landslides, and widespread disruptions.
French authorities issued red weather alerts for three provinces late Tuesday, while Italian emergency services have been responding to damage in multiple regions.
The French city of Rennes has seen severe flash floods, forcing residents to evacuate.
The storm has brought torrential rain and high winds to western France, with Ille-et-Vilaine, Morbihan, and Loire-Atlantique placed under red alert due to rising floodwaters.
Heavy snow blanketed South Korea for the second consecutive day Tuesday, disrupting transportation services and causing traffic congestion for people heading to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday.
As of 4 p.m., 130 centimeters had piled up on Mount Halla on the southern resort island of Jeju since Monday, while some counties in the eastern province of Gangwon had 40 cm of snow over the same period. Cities of Anseong and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul, had received about 25 cm of snow. In Seoul, the southwestern ward of Gwanak had 13.7 cm of snow.
For Wednesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration forecast an additional 5 to 15 cm of snow in the mountainous areas of Jeju and about 5 to 10 cm of snow in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces.
Perhaps only people who are capable of real togetherness have that look of being alone in the universe. The others have a certain stickiness, they stick to the mass.
- D.H. Lawrence
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Moscow rejects Trump's Gaza plan. So does most of the world. I don't know if he was trolling Netanyahu or what when describing the destruction....
Comment: Earlier report: Swimming pool-sized sinkhole swallows truck in Japan, trapping driver inside