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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Cloud Precipitation

Nepal floods update: Death toll touches 91

A Nepalese man guides his pigs through floodwaters in Janakpur, 300 km southeast of the capital Kathmandu, on August 14, 2017.

A Nepalese man guides his pigs through floodwaters in Janakpur, 300 km southeast of the capital Kathmandu, on August 14, 2017.
Fourteen people were killed in a landslide in Nepal on Monday, taking the death toll in rain-related incidents across the country to 91 even as a group of stranded Indian nationals were rescued from a national park by using elephants.

Incessant rains over the past few days have resulted in massive flooding and landslides at several places, displacing tens of thousands of people. The monsoon rains have wreaked havoc since Friday in districts spanning the eastern, central and western regions of the country.

According to the home ministry, 91 people were killed and 25 more injured.

Another 38 have been reported missing following landslides and floods over the past three days and the death toll is likely to rise, the ministry said.

The bodies of two Indian nationals were found in Parsa district of Nepal, according to police. Their identities have been established, officials said.

A group of 35 Indians stranded at Sauraha, part of Chitawan national park, were rescued by using elephants, an Indian embassy spokesperson told the media. Earlier reports had quoted authorities as saying that 200 Indian tourists were among some 700 stranded people but the Indian mission said only 35 of them were Indians.


Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rains kill 41 across the Indian state of Bihar

Forty-one people have died in floods in Bihar

Forty-one people have died in floods in Bihar
Heavy rains in the last three days triggered flash floods in parts of Bihar, where 41 people have died so far, and inundated large areas in Assam and North Bengal, paralysing normal life and snapping rail link to the northeast from the rest of the country.

In Arunachal Pradesh too, the flood situation continued to be grim in several districts with recurring landslides disrupting road traffic.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas, said Araria was the worst effected district and water has entered the district headquarters.

Flood waters have engulfed areas in Kisanganj, three blocks of Purnea and one block of Katihar damaging roads.

He said heavy rains in Nepal and Bihar in last three days have led to the situation and the state government is carrying out relief operations in flooded areas on a war-footing.

Forty-one people have died in floods in Bihar so far, said the principal secretary, disaster management department, Pratyay Amrit.


Health

Seal bites man in Friday Harbor, Washington

Popeye has been a local fixture for more than 20 years

Popeye has been a local fixture for more than 20 years
Visitors come from far and wide to see the Friday Harbor mascot, harbor seal Popeye.

But on Thursday, Gerald Balmer got an unwelcome greeting from the marina mainstay.

The 71-year-old Smokey Point resident had just finished fishing with friends and was sitting in a 24-foot boat at the Friday Harbor marina in the San Juan Islands, his arm across the top of the boat's wall.

Popeye, recognized by her blind, milky white left eye, emerged from the water and tore into Balmer's arm, about three feet above the sea.

"She just jumped up there and grabbed my arm," Balmer said.

Luckily, a registered nurse was aboard the neighboring boat and cleaned and bandaged Balmer's arm, which suffered a few deep cuts.

Attention

Hunter in Namibia trampled to death by elephant he was trying to kill

Elephant
Namibian media say an elephant trampled and killed an Argentine who was in a group of hunters tracking a herd of elephants.

The Namibia Press Agency said the hunter, identified as 46-year-old Jose Monzalvez, was killed on Saturday afternoon in a private wildlife area 43 miles northwest of the small town of Kalkfeld.

The agency said Monzalvez, who worked for an oil company, was with another Argentine and three Namibians when he was killed. It says one of the elephants charged before the group was able to find a spot to aim and shoot.

The report says Monzalvez had a hunting permit with him and that relatives have been informed of his death.

Source: Associated Press

Fire

Firefighters battle wildfires across Greece

Greece wildfires
© Getty Images
Members of the fire department battled to try and extinguish a forest fire in the Kalamos region of Athens, Greece, on Monday
Firefighters battled more than 90 forest fires across Greece on Monday, an outbreak fed by dry winds and hot weather that saw blazes burning near Athens, in the Peloponnese, and on the Ionian islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia.

The fire near Athens was burning unchecked for a second day, damaging dozens of homes. It had started in Kalamos, a coastal holiday spot some 45 km (30 miles) northeast of the capital, and spread overnight to three more towns. A state of emergency was declared in the area.

On Zakynthos, an island popular with foreign tourists, several fires continued to burn for a fourth day and authorities declared a state of emergency. One minister said those fires had been set deliberately.

"It's arson according to an organized plan," Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis, who is the MP for Zakythnos, told state TV when asked to comment on the dozen fires burning on the island. "There is no doubt about it."

It is not clear what caused the fires, and no investigation has begun into possible arson. Late July and August often see a outbreaks of forest and brush fires in Greece, where high temperatures help create tinder-box conditions.


Comment: Record number of 220 wildfires recorded in one day for Portugal


Attention

'Mutant piglet' with two bodies and EIGHT legs dies minutes after birth in China

Deformed pig
© AsiaWire
The 'mutant' pig with two bodies and eight legs.
A 'mutant pig' born with two bodies and eight legs has died just minutes after being born.

Farmer Gao Baiqi, who owns the sow, said the piglet appeared to have been joined to a parasitic twin.

Gao said he had "never ever seen anything like it" after the pig was born with underdeveloped skin and numerous extra limbs.

Gao, who lives in Fe County in Linyi City in China's eastern Shandong Province, spotted the little piglet among the rest of the sow's litter after they were born.

Comment: See also:


Arrow Down

Breaking News: At least 300 killed by huge mudslide after heavy rainfall in Sierra Leone

At least 300 have been killed after a mudslide (pictured) sparked by heavy rain crashed through part of Sierra Leone's capital

At least 300 have been killed after a mudslide (pictured) sparked by heavy rain crashed through part of Sierra Leone's capital
At least 300 have been killed and 2,000 left homeless after a mudslide sparked by heavy rain crashed through part of Sierra Leone's capital.

Homes were swept away in Regent, in the outskirts of Freetown, while roads turned into rampaging rivers as the mudslide struck.

Relatives dug through the mud in search of their loved ones and a morgue overflowed with bodies after heavy rains and flooding.

Shocking pictures on social media have emerged online showing bodies piled up in the mud and people wading through mud.


Cloud Precipitation

Worst flood in 29 years hits the state of Assam, India

Floods Assam

Floodwater in Assam
In what seems to be the state's worst deluge in three decades, the death toll in the second wave of floods rose to 15, with 10 more deaths reported on Sunday. With over 10 *lakh people affected in the last 24 hours, the total number of flood victims shot up to 15 lakh across 21 districts in Assam. Over 85% of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) was inundated.

More than 1.83 lakh displaced have taken shelter in 439 relief camps. Rescue operations by the Army, Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force personnel are underway, said state project co-coordinator of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) Rajib Prakash Baruah. About 3,000 villagers were rescued and shifted to relief camps on Sunday, said defence PRO Lt Col S Newton.


Cloud Lightning

4 killed by lightning bolt in Afar, Ethiopia; 13 such deaths in last 3 weeks

Lightning
Four people died in lightning strike Sunday in Afar regional state in northeastern Ethiopia, police said Monday.

Afar regional state Police Sergeant Ali Buto said five other people who were injured in the lightning strike are being treated for their injuries at nearby medical centers.

The lightning strike also killed several livestock in the area.

Ethiopia's arid Afar regional state has been experiencing a spate of deadly lightning strikes as the rainy season which starts from June and continues until early September seems to increase incidences of lightning strike, according to Afar regional state office of Disaster Risk Management and Food security.

In the last three weeks alone, a total of 13 people have died as a result of lightning strikes, with the latest fatalities pushing up the death toll to 17 so far in Afar regional state.

Cloud Lightning

Mountain biker killed by lightning strike near Telluride, Colorado

lightning
A 24-year-old man died Sunday while mountain biking near Telluride.

A tweet from the San Miguel County Sheriff indicates the man suffered fatal injuries due to a lightning strike.
24yom mtn biker struck & killed by lightening strike E. Fork Trail near Telluride. Deputies, EMS, SAR, attempted life saving efforts. More. pic.twitter.com/CB4jonSfri

— San Miguel Sheriff (@SheriffAlert) August 13, 2017
The rider was with his girlfriend in the Lizard Head Wilderness, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.