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3 killed by flashfloods and landslide after heavy rainfall in the Philippines

Bong Garcia
Sun Star
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 18:44 UTC
Floodwater in Zamboanga Sibugay
Floodwater in Zamboanga Sibugay
Three people, including two children, died when a flashflood and landslide hit three towns in Zamboanga Sibugay province on Thursday, October 19, the police reported Friday.

One of the three fatalities was identified as Ariel Villaronte, 15, while the other two were only described as a girl and a boy.

The police said Villaronte, a Grade 9 student, drowned after he accidentally fell into a drainage and was swept by strong current around 5 p.m. Thursday in Sitio Kahayagan, Barangay La Dicha, Malangas, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Members of the Malangas Municipal Police Station retrieved the remains of Villaronte at 8:35 p.m. Thursday.

Zamboanga Peninsula Region has been experiencing heavy rains since Sunday due to the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).
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Three dead and 11 missing after landslide in Penang, Malaysia

Opalyn Mok
Malay Mail
Sat, 21 Oct 2017 18:22 UTC
Rescue officers will have to excavate a 35m heap of earth in order to rescue those trapped.
© SIN CHEW DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORKRescue officers will have to excavate a 35m heap of earth in order to rescue those trapped.
Rescuers have unearthed three bodies at the construction site hit by a massive landslide in Tanjung Bungah here today.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Mokhtar said the search was ongoing for 11 more people believed to be still buried underneath the muddy soil.

"We found the first two bodies at 9.15am and 10.45am while we found the third one at about 1pm," he told reporters at the site.

The three dead were among 14 construction workers including a local who were buried by the landslide.

He cautioned that efforts to locate the remaining victims would be slow and arduous as the slope is unsteady while soil conditions were muddy.

"We believe some of the victims are buried deep underneath the muddy soil, as deep as 35m below the surface," he said.

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Fish

World's deepest lake in peril, scientists warn

Maria Antonova
Yahoo! News
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Lake Baikal algae
© UnknownLake Baikal's high biodiversity includes over 3,600 plant and animal species, such as this Spirogyra algae
Lake Baikal is undergoing its gravest crisis in recent history, experts say, as the government bans the catching of a signature fish that has lived in the world's deepest lake for centuries but is now under threat.

Holding one-fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh water, Baikal in Russia's Siberia is a natural wonder of "exceptional value to evolutionary science" meriting its listing as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Baikal's high biodiversity includes over 3,600 plant and animal species, most of which are endemic to the lake.
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Attention

Rampaging wild boars attack people in Heide, Germany


Deutsche Welle
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 14:20 UTC
Four people have reportedly been left injured in Germany after two wild boars went on the rampage
Four people have reportedly been left injured in Germany after two wild boars went on the rampage
Four people were injured after squealing boars descended on the small city of Heide in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein on Friday morning.

Two fully-grown, "aggressive" wild boars - a male and a female - stormed into the city center shortly after 9 a.m. according to local police statements.

The male then entered the building of a local bank and began attacking people inside before a local hunter was able to shoot and kill the animal. The second boar managed to escape amid the commotion.

Before the shot was fired, emergency services had used ladders to evacuate people from the building's upper-story windows.

Earlier in the day, the male boar had injured a woman after entering an optician's. Christina Norden, a local journalist, shared on Twitter a video of the boar roaming the shop.

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Attention

Reports of ashfall as Tinakula volcano erupts in the Solomon Islands


RNZ
Sat, 21 Oct 2017 14:02 UTC
A satellite image of Tinakula, Solomon Islands, taken in 2012
© NASA Earth ObservatoryA satellite image of Tinakula, Solomon Islands, taken in 2012
Authorities in the Solomon Islands are trying to work out if there's been any damage after a remote volcano erupted early this morning.

The volcano, Tinakula, which forms an uninhabited island in the northern Temotu province, roared to life at about 2am today.

Villages on nearby islands have reported heavy ashfall.

The director of the National Disaster Management Office in Honiara, Loti Yates, said a police patrol had been deployed from the provincial capital, Lata.

He said information had been slow to trickle out of the remote area, and it could be some time before the full situation was known.

An aviation warning has been issued for the Santa Cruz area.
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Attention

25ft whale washes up on beach in East Yorkshire, UK

James Campbell
Hull Daily Mail
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 13:39 UTC
The whale was washed up on a beach close to Flamborough on October 20, 2017
The whale was washed up on a beach close to Flamborough on October 20, 2017
Walkers were left shocked after discovering a whale washed up on a beach close to Flamborough.

The carcass of 25-foot animal, possibly a minke whale, was discovered by a member of the public who alerted the Flamborough RNLI who, in turn, notified Bridlington Coastguard.

The marine creature was discovered at Truckway, between South Landing and the lighthouse, shortly after noon on Friday.

While still intact, the animal was already dead prior to washing up on the beach and is already in a state of decomposition.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills family of three in Rwanda; total of 18 fatalities in 2 weeks


The New Times
Sat, 21 Oct 2017 13:28 UTC
LIGHTNING
As the rainy season sets in, entities charged with safety have called on the public to be conscious of lightning and also re-echoed extra safety precautions.

Incidents of lightning strikes have been experienced in different parts of the country, with Police recording a number of human and livestock deaths.

In the last two weeks, lightning has claimed 18 people in different parts of the country.

Recent among those was at Gitega Cell, Rurembo Sector in Nyabihu District, where lightning struck and killed a mother and her two children at their home.

The victims were identified as Albertine Nyiransengimana, 28, and her two children James Uwihirwe, 6, and Obed Habineza, 2.
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Seismograph

North Alabama records strongest earthquake this year

Paul Gattis
AL.com
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 13:59 UTC
Alabama earthquake
© USGSThe star marks the epicenter of the earthquake detected Friday morning near Scottsboro.
What's believed to be the strongest earthquake to be detected in north Alabama this year occurred Friday morning near Scottsboro.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was detected about 10:38 a.m.

While that's a minor earthquake likely not to be noticed, it's the strongest one of the year so far. The previous strongest quake was magnitude 2.7 near Decatur.

It's also the fourth quake this year detected in northeast Alabama. Two were near Fort Payne in DeKalb County and another near Scottsboro in Jackson County.

It's at least the eighth earthquake in 2017 detected in the northern half of the state.

Friday's quake was detected nine miles northeast of Scottsboro and 24 miles north northwest of Fort Payne, according to the USGS. It occurred more than 5.6 miles below the earth's surface, the USGS said.
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Windsock

Storm Brian: UK braced for gale-force winds and transport disruption


BBC News
Sat, 21 Oct 2017 03:06 UTC
Storm Brian
© WXCHARTS.EUStorm Brian approaching UK
The UK is facing gale-force winds and possible flooding from Storm Brian - days after three people died in Ireland in the aftermath of Hurricane Ophelia.

Gusts of up to 70mph are predicted from Saturday morning, with forecasters warning of the potential for flooding, power cuts and transport disruption.

Strong wind warnings are in place across much of Britain, including Wales, south England and the Midlands.

Six flood warnings are in place across England, urging "immediate action".

It comes after three people were killed and hundreds of thousands of people - mostly in the Irish Republic - were left without power after the remnants of Ophelia battered the British Isles.

Strong winds and high seas have already reached the western coast of Ireland.

Gusts could reach 130km/h (80mph) there, Irish weather agency Met Éireann said.
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Cloud Lightning

Elephant killed by lightning bolt in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Ian Dickinson
Earth Touch News Network
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 19:36 UTC
The carcass of the elephant quickly attracted a crowd.
© LowvelderThe carcass of the elephant quickly attracted a crowd.
South Africa has been hit by some unusually violent weather of late. Recent storms surged through the country claiming at least 16 lives and leaving in their wake a trail of flooded homes and damaged infrastructure. But while Durban residents battled the deluge, further north, in the Kruger National Park, the stormy weather proved fatal for one of the reserve's tusked inhabitants.

Tourists out on a morning game drive earlier this month were met with the grim sight of a mutilated elephant carcass lumped in the middle of the road near Satara rest camp. While many speculated that the animal had been killed by poachers, evidence suggested otherwise. "It is suspected that the animal was hit by lighting," Reynold Thakuli, general manager for media, public relations and stakeholder relations of South African National Parks (SANParks) told us via email. "On inspection nothing more was picked up suggesting another cause of death. This follows a violent storm the previous night."

Wildlife officials were quick to arrive on the scene and the massive carcass was hoisted onto a truck and hauled away for further investigation. "The tusks were removed, registered and stored according to the SANParks Standard Operating Procedure," explained Thakhuli.

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