Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Over 20 dead and 33,000 displaced as flooding continues in Kenya


Floodlist
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 15:25 UTC
Flood rescues in Tana River County, Kenya.
© Kenya Red CrossFlood rescues in Tana River County, Kenya.
Further flooding in Kenya has left over 33,000 people displaced. Local authorities say that more than 20 people have died over the past 10 days.

Several counties have been affected, with Kisumu, Samburu, Turkana and Tana River among the worst hit. Floods have cut major road networks, causing major transport issues. Homes and crops have been destroyed and power supply severely damaged.

In many areas local officials have urged communities to vacate their homes near rivers and flood-risk areas and move to higher ground. Kenya Red Cross were called on to rescue around 50 people from flooded areas in Tana River County.


Comment: For further details of the 2 earlier flooding episodes in March, see: Floods kill 15 people in Kenya, scores of families displaced (VIDEOS)

Heavy rainfall pounds, floods parts of Nairobi, Kenya (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

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Black Cat

Horror as leopard severely mauls tourist dragging him from camper van by his head in Namibia

Chloe Kerr
Express (UK)
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 14:51 UTC
Hardy was badly injured
Hardy was badly injured
A german tourist has been left with horrific injuries after being mauled by a leopard which savaged his head in Namibia.

Hardy Specker, 61, and partner Petra Windmeisser, 60, had pulled over to sleep in the Kuiseb Canyon in Namibia when a scratching noise woke them up.

Mr Specker got up to shut the window at around 1am, but the beast jumped up and gripped his head in his claws and jaws.

Ms Windmeisser engaged in a tug of war with the leopard trying to drag her husband back in through the window by his legs.

She told The Namibian he was screaming as the leopard's claws tore out bits of his skin.
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Attention

Shark attack confirmed at Hua Hin beach in Thailand


The Straits Times
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:42 UTC
Expert believes Norwegian tourist attacked by a bull shark
Expert believes Norwegian tourist attacked by a bull shark
Thai authorities were on Wednesday (April 18) keeping a close watch on popular Hua Hin Beach in Prachuap Khiri Khan after it was confirmed that a Norwegian tourist was attacked by a shark there on Sunday.

Officials had initially tried to pass off the man's severe leg injury as being a gash from sharp rocks, but Jatuporn Buruphat, deputy director general of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department, acknowledged at a press conference at Bangkok Hua Hin Hospital on Wednesday morning that the wound was caused by a shark, most likely a bull shark.

The story changed after the abbot of Wat Tham Khao Tao released video showing four sharks swimming off the beach near his temple. The abbot warned that if no action was taken, someone could be killed.

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Attention

Dead long-finned pilot whale found on shore of South Iceland


Iceland Magazine
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:24 UTC
The carcass has been lying in the beach for several days.
© Ólafur AuðunssonThe carcass has been lying in the beach for several days.
The carcass of a dead long-finned pilot whale was discovered on Monday morning on the rocky shore near Stokkseyri village in South Iceland. The whale has been dead for several days, and is believed to have been lying on the beach for a while.

The carcass was discovered by a local man, Ólafur Auðunsson, who was walking along the shore when he spotted the whale. The whale is ca 6 m (20 ft) long. The fate of the carcass has not been decided.

Stokkseyri and nearby Eyrarbakki are beautiful fishing villages, home to a couple of interesting museums, including the Eyrarbakki heritage museum, a beautiful small museum which provides a picture of life in the region throughout the centuries.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 6, injures 17 in Negros Occidental, Philippines

Marchel P. Espina
Rappler
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:16 UTC
Two of the 6 fatalities in the lightning strike in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, on April 18, 2018.
© Sipalay City Police StationTwo of the 6 fatalities in the lightning strike in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, on April 18, 2018.
Six people, including 5 children, were killed when lightning struck a truck they had taken shelter in during a downpour in Barangay Manlocajoc in Sipalay City on Wednesday, April 18.

Police said 17 others were injured by the lightning strike.

Killed were Seminion siblings Charlyn, 12; Rose Ann, 12; Arbiel, 10; and May-An, 9.

Also killed were Mery Tejoc, 35; and Mariel Montesino, 12.
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Snowflake Cold

US 'winter' storm Xanto brings all time record snow, drifts and white out conditions - in April


Weather.com
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 06:15 UTC
storm xanto
Weary residents dig out from Winter Storm Xanto, which dropped record amounts of snow on the region.

Story Highlights

Winter Storm Xanto brought record April snowfall to the upper Midwest and Great Lakes in mid-April 2018.

Xanto was the heaviest April snowstorm on record in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Xanto was the second-heaviest snowstorm of all-time in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Comment: We're seeing similar weather patterns all over the planet:

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Seismograph

Nebraska town buzzing after six shallow earthquakes hit in a week

Elana Glowatz
Newsweek
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 17:23 UTC
Nebraska earthquakes
© NBC Nebraska
A series of small earthquakes have shaken central Nebraska and become the talk of the area.

According to data on the U.S. Geological Survey's website, there have been six quakes since April 9 in the heart of the state, centered on the town Arnold, which is about 225 miles west of capital Lincoln. The first, a 3.3-magnitude tremor, happened early that morning, followed by three on April 10, another on Sunday, and then the most recent earthquake on Monday. The strongest quake was the first one that struck on April 10, which reached a 3.7 on the scale.

The earthquakes were picked up from nearby Stapleton and were detected about three miles below the surface.

There haven't been any reports of human injury or structural damage related to the seismic activity, according to KWBE-TV.
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Moon

Stunning lunar halo seen over Chile's Atacama Desert

Kathryn Prociv
The Washington Post
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 22:39 UTC
Moon halo over Chile
© Yuri Beletsky
Observers at the La Silla Observatory on the border of Chile's Atacama Desert were studying the stars and constellations last week when they saw something spectacular: A bright lunar halo had formed in front of the Orion constellation and Sirius, the brightest star in our sky.

The technical term for a lunar or solar halo is a "circumscribed halo." Similar to sun dogs, lunar and solar halos belong to the family of ice halos, which are optical phenomena formed by the refraction of sun on hexagonal ice crystals suspended high up in the atmosphere, most commonly in cirrus clouds. These are also known as 22-degree halos, because the ring of light forms 22 degrees from the sun.

Cirrus clouds are made up of millions of tiny ice crystals. When the light from the sun or moon hits these crystals in just the right way, the light refracts and reflects. It's this interaction between the light and the hexagonal ice crystals that forms the ring around the moon.
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Cloud Grey

San Francisco battered by unusual hail storm then M3.8 earthquake strikes - the latest in a series of tremors

Lisa M. Krieger
The Mercury News
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 21:48 UTC
san jose quake april 2018
Hello, Monday! A 3.8 magnitude quake jolted the South Bay this morning, in an area notorious for seismic restlessness, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Around 9:40 a.m., just after San Jose residents experienced hail, torrential rain and thunderous dark clouds, the earth beneath them suddenly shifted. The 3.9 quake was centered about nine miles northeast of downtown San Jose, in the Alum Rock region. Tremors were felt in Milpitas, Fremont and Santa Clara, the USGS reported. Office towers shook in downtown San Jose.

"It was snowing and hailing, with thunder, then there was an earthquake. It felt like a big jerk, not rolling," said Angel Barlow, park services attendant at Joseph D. Grant County Park, in the hills east of San Jose. "It was a landslide of weather!"'

Comment: The writer attempts to normalise the events of the day, but then goes on to state that there have been a series of quakes recently, one of them was above average in strength. And it is being recorded by mainstream US media outlets all over the country that this years winter has been unusually brutal dragging long into Spring.

The original title of the article was: 'Earthquake, hail, fierce rain rattle Bay Area - but, nope, there's no link'. So three unusual events strike in a day, but there's no link? It really is obvious when you take into account other unusual events around the world, but so many supposed journalists fail to connect the dots, or even remember what happened yesterday. Yes, they're connected!

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Frog

Thousands of toads appear on the streets of Zigong, China

Tiffany Lo
Daily Mail
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 17:30 UTC
Mobile phone footage shows thousands of toads sitting and hopping on the street in China
Mobile phone footage shows thousands of toads sitting and hopping on the street in China
Like a scene from a horror film, a street in China has recently been taken over by thousands of toads.

Stomach-churning footage has emerged which shows thousands of amphibians hopping on the pavement after spring showers last week.

Local city's earthquake administration bureau has ruled out residents' concern that the unusual phenomenon was a possible warning of impending natural disasters.

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