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Top 10 Deadliest Natural Disasters in History

Remy Melina
Life's Little Mysteries
Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:44 UTC
Image
© wisconsinart / dreamstime
Violent natural disasters have devastated humanity over the centuries, but because some of them struck long ago, scientists have been unable to estimate a death count. The Mediterranean island of Stroggli, for example, is believed to have been completely wiped out by a volcanic eruption and ensuing tsunami that eradicated the entire Minoan civilization around 1500 B.C., although the death toll remains uncertain.

The 10 deadliest natural disasters - which involve mostly earthquakes and floods - for which historians can provide accurate death tolls, however, have killed an estimated total of 10 million people. Here, the 10 deadliest natural disasters, from fewest casualties to most, starting with an earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in Syria.
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Cloud Lightning

Pennsylvania, US: Storm Drops 2 Inches of Rain on Stroudsburg Area - in a Half-Hour


Pocono Record
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© David Kidwell/Pocono Record
Come hail or high water: Heavy rain Wednesday afternoon created a deluge on some area roadways, including Broad St. (Route 191) in south Stroudsburg.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon led to ponding on roadways in low-lying and poor drainage areas across the southern Poconos.

The area caught a small but potent storm cluster that developed over the Pocono Front and moved to the east, just south of Interstate 80, after 4 p.m., said Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber.

The storm brought drenching rains and severe lightning as it moved through. A total of 2.06 inches of rain was recorded in East Stroudsburg, most of it falling within a half-hour period. That brings the June rainfall total there to 4.54 inches inches, Gelber said.

Wednesday's rains created problems on some area roads. A car was reported stalled in water on Lincoln Avenue near the Walmart in East Stroudsburg. Normal Street in the borough was shut down briefly due to ponding.

Some cars were also stalling in high waters on Broad Street (Route 191) in south Stroudsburg and on McConnell Street in downtown Stroudsburg.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Storm Leaves Thousands Without Power, Damages Racetrack in Kentucky

Maggie Schneider
CNN
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:22 UTC

A powerful storm system that ripped through the Louisville, Kentucky, area left thousands of people without power and forced the closing of the internationally famous Churchill Downs racetrack on Thursday.

The National Weather Service said damage from the Wednesday night system, which also struck the University of Louisville campus, likely resulted from tornadoes. However, Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Sharp said that cannot be confirmed until a storm survey is completed later Thursday.

A storm survey confirmed that an F-1 tornado touched down in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, east of Louisville, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado uprooted trees and blew debris across short distances, but no injuries or fatalities occurred, according to the survey.

A separate survey was still on-going in the Churchill Downs area, said the Weather Service.
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Dollar

Economic Cost of Weather May Total $485 Billion in US


Science Daily
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:21 UTC
Image
© ©UCAR/Carlye Calvin
Rain, snow, and hot or cold temperatures can all have economic impacts.
Everything has its price, even the weather. New research indicates that routine weather events such as rain and cooler-than-average days can add up to an annual economic impact of as much as $485 billion in the United States.

The study, led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), found that finance, manufacturing, agriculture, and every other sector of the economy is sensitive to changes in the weather. The impacts can be felt in every state.

"It's clear that our economy isn't weatherproof," says NCAR economist Jeffrey Lazo, the lead author. "Even routine changes in the weather can add up to substantial impacts on the U.S. economy."

This is the first study to apply quantitative economic analysis to estimate the weather sensitivity of the entire U.S. economy. The research could help policymakers determine whether it is worthwhile to invest in enhanced forecasts and other strategies that could better protect economic activity from weather impacts.
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Cloud Lightning

Florida, US: Get ready for summer rain pattern in Tampa Bay area

Rob Shaw
The Tampa Tribune
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:20 UTC
You can't quite set your watch to them just yet, but the summer rains have begun to arrive in a more widespread fashion.

Showers and thunderstorms broke out across more of the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, packing heavy rain and lightning in several locations. Much of the same is expected this afternoon and for the next few days.

"I would say we are looking at the beginning of the rainy season," said Richard Rude, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.

That is good news for an area that has been thirsting for rainfall the last couple of months.
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Bizarro Earth

Eritrean opposition asks for international support as volcano kills seven

Tesfa-Alem Tekle
Sudan Tribune
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:49 UTC
An exiled Eritrean opposition group on Wednesday called on the international community to immediately act to provide urgent assistance to the thousands of Eritreans it said are affected by the Narbo volcano that erupted over a week ago in the country's south.

The Addis Ababa-based Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) said the volcanic eruption has killed at least seven people, injured many others and displaced thousands of people.

"We call on the international community to swiftly use diplomatic pressure over the Eritrean government to allow an international humanitarian aid to the thousands of volcano-hit people'' reached by phone Yasin Mohamed Abdela, RSADO spokesperson told Sudan Tribune from the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.

Independent news about the eruption is hard to come by as Eritrea does not allow independent local journalists or foreign correspondents into the the Red Sea nation.

The RSADO official accused the Eritrean government of hiding the level of the disaster. He said that his party holds the Eritrean government accountable for the loss of life and other related damage caused by the volcanic activity.
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Bizarro Earth

Iceland: Eruption At Grímsvötn Volcano Leaves Behind Lake

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:47 UTC
After covering a large portion of Iceland with ash in late May 2011, Grímsvötn Volcano in Iceland left behind a small lake filled with melt water and a hole in the Vatnajökull Glacier.

The below natural-color satellite image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) on June 11, 2011.

The lake covers much of the site of the eruption, with the possible exception of the crescent-shaped feature along the southern shore of the lake. This may be a tephra cone left behind by the eruption. Gray ash covers the ice of Vatnajökull Glacier near the vent. Further away, the ash layer itself is obscured by snow.
Image
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Bizarro Earth

US: Platte River in Grand Island nears flood stage

Robert Pore
The Independent
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:48 UTC
The Platte River at Grand Island was at 6.1 feet Wednesday morning, with flood stage at 6.5 feet, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

According to the National Weather Service in Hastings, at 5.87 feet, water ponds around the Quality Inn at the junction of Interstate 80 and Highway 281; at 6.22 feet, water approaches property at 14570 S. 190th Road; at 7 feet, a few farmsteads may be threatened by overflows, but the city is not threatened by floodwaters; at 7.4 feet, minor flood fighting or sandbagging will occur in Hamilton County.

In light of flooding concerns, the Grand Island/Hall County Emergency Management Department has received a number of public inquiries about where sandbags can be purchased, said Wendy Meyer-Jerke, public information officer for the city.

So the department has begun to compile a list of local vendors who can supply sandbags to residents, Meyer-Jerke said.
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Bizarro Earth

Chile: Red alert as 'cork' plugs Puyehue volcano


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:03 UTC
Image
© AP
Puyehue volcano erupted on June 6, causing about 3,500 people in the nearby area to be evacuated and spewing enough ash to cause global problems for airlines.
Chilean experts have warned that a ''cork'' of lava could lead to another explosion at the Puyehue volcano, which has caused major flight disruptions from Argentina to Australia.

Seismic activity has declined, with two tremors of a magnitude of about 2.5 recorded every hour on Tuesday, compared with several hundred of a magnitude four or five in the hours preceding the initial June 4 eruption.

But Chile's National Service of Geology and Mining said on Wednesday that the volcano had to be kept on red alert because of the possibility of another explosion.
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Cloud Lightning

Floods kill 24 as rains pound north Nigeria city

Aminu Abubakar
Agence France-Presse
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:54 UTC
Image
© AFP/File, Issouf Sanogo
People in Kano say rain has been the most torrential in 30 years
Twenty-four people died overnight when unusually heavy rains flooded a neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest northern city of Kano, a local government chief said on Thursday.

Dozens of others were injured, 300 displaced and about 100 houses destroyed in the densely populated Fagge neighbourhood of Kano when rains pounded and inundated the city while residents were asleep.

"For now we have confirmed the deaths of 24 people from the floods that occurred Tuesday night through Wednesday following torrential rain in the city," Fagge local government administrator, Abdulmalik Ismail Rogo told AFP.

Rogo said local elders had told him the "area has never witnessed such torrential rains in the past 30 years."

"Some of the victims were buried alive when their (house) roofs collapsed on them, while others were washed away by the floods and deposited along a major sewer in the area," he said.
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