Richard Davies Floodlist Sun, 18 Mar 2018 11:28 UTC
A landslide triggered by heavy rain left at least 6 people dead and 3 injured in Burundi.
The incident occurred early on 16 March near the Gasenyi river in the east of the capital, Bujumbura, where heavy rain caused a hillside to collapse.
Burundi police said the landslide was near National Highway 1 in the city. Police later confirmed that search teams had found 6 bodies and 3 injured. It is thought that the victims were construction workers who were working on engineering projects along the river.
Saturday was the coldest March 17th in the Netherlands since records began. According to Weeronline, at the weather station in the Dutch district De Bilt, the daytime temperature was below zero.
The lowest maximum temperatures were measured in the provinces Flevoland, Gelderland, and Overijssel. At the weather station Hupsel in the area Achterhoek, the maximum daytime temperature was -0.7 °C. Due to the strong east to northeast wind, the wind chill factor was around -5 °C to -10 °C.
A temperature slightly above zero was however measured in some areas of the Netherlands. Accompanying the cold, a light snowfall hit the southern part of the country.
Maggie O'Neill Daily Mail Fri, 16 Mar 2018 19:56 UTC
The breeder brought this two-headed boa to a veterinarian's office where it was discovered that the animal has two different hearts. Additionally, the animal has two separate digestive systems
A Floridian snake-breeder recently ended up with a two-headed boa that has two separate hearts.
The snake, at two weeks old, was featured on a National Geographic program.
The creature was born with two heads, which emerge from a shared body, National Geographic reported.
Both heads check out their surroundings separately and flick their own tongues.
The snake was presented to the office of Veterinarian Dr Susan Kelleher for examination.
Emily Pidgeon Daily Mail Sat, 17 Mar 2018 14:26 UTC
Darwin was ripped apart after Tropical Cyclone Marcus tore through earlier today
Darwin has been battered by 130km/h winds as Tropical Cyclone Marcus sent trees flying through the streets and brought down powerlines, prompting the rescue of people from a sinking boat near the city.
The eye of the category two storm has now moved past the city but emergency services say it's still not safe to go outside.
Marcus is now headed towards the Timor Sea and is expected to hit Western Australia's Kimberley Coast on Sunday, bringing wind gusts of up to 150km/h.
The storm brought down hundreds of powerlines and trees and damaged property across Darwin and also affected the city's drinking supply.
Residents have been told to boil drinking water as a precaution until further notice.
Meanwhile, water police were called out to rescue two people from two boats that collided after one of them slipped its moorings in Sangove Creek as the storm struck.
Ben Hill and Claudia Poposki Daily Mail Sat, 17 Mar 2018 14:02 UTC
'We'll see fires move around in the night with levels of intensity and fire behaviour that'll be quite erratic,' Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said
Residents near raging fires west of Melbourne have been told it's not safe to leave their homes and to take shelter immediately.
A warning has been issued by the Country Fire Authority said people should stay within their homes as it is 'not safe for you to leave'.
Dramatic video footage shows massive flames and explosions emerging from a substation in Terang, while a grassfire burns out of control in Boorcan, 199km west of Melbourne.
Nearby resident Brett Gasper told the Herald Sunthe scene of the fire caused a 'red sky and smell of smoke' which was 'daunting'.
A CFA spokesperson said people had been evacuated from nearby homes.
A downtown building that's been part of Edmundston for at least 115 years collapsed early Friday, and city police say it was probably because too much snow had piled up on its flat roof.
Insp. Alain Lang of the Edmundston police said there were no injuries, and no one was near the empty building when it came down around 4 a.m.
The building at Church and Hill streets is owned by Downtown Edmundston, which used it for storing tents chairs, tables and other equipment for a farmers market.
She said the building was initially bought in 2012 and was supposed to be bought to be a tear down and rebuild a farmers market with that lot and the two next to it.
What caused the death of a 50-foot sei whale found on the bayside of Marathon Wednesday and how it ended up in the warm waters of the Florida Keys is a mystery.
Its stop at the Marathon Yacht Club caused quite a stir. Shanna Shroeder, officer manager of the club, said it was brought to the 33rd Street boat ramp, where biologists took samples and eventually removed it from the property and reportedly disposed of it offshore.
It had "quite the smell," she said.
It didn't actually wash up at the yacht club, but was found dead on the bayside of Marathon and "secured" at the 33rd Street boat ramp next to the club until biologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrived, said Lt. Andy Cox with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
A Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) weighing more than 10 tonne washed ashore dead at Thondi in Ramanathapuram district on Friday morning. Local fishermen, who spotted the huge carcass floating one km away from the shore, alerted wildlife officials from Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (GoMMNP).
Based on the information, wildlife officials deployed fishing boats and towed the carcass to the beach. Veterinary doctors inspected the carcass and found that performing an autopsy was very difficult.
Forest range officer S Sathish said that the stomach cavity has been exposed and it should have been dead for more than 20 days. Looking at the carcass, they deduced that it should have been hit by a ship, Sathish said.
However, samples have been collected from the carcass. The whale, a fully grown female, weighed more than 10 tonne, he said.
Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban AfricaNews Sat, 17 Mar 2018 10:31 UTC
The southern African country of Lesotho experiences a devastating hailstorm earlier this week, which incident left in its wake death and destruction of public and private properties.
The event which took place in the southern Quthing district left the windows of cars, homes and other facilities smashed. People caught in the storm were also bruised by the impact as the hailstones left them with cuts on their heads and other parts of the body.
Local media reported that emergency personnel treated a number of school children who were caught out in the open during the storm.
Comment: See also: Another roof collapses due to snow weight in Nakusp, British Columbia - 200 inches of snow in some areas this year