Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

2 dead and 5,000 homes damaged following floods and landslides in Indonesia

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Mon, 02 Feb 2015 13:28 UTC
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© JP/Jerry AdigunaA girl rides her bike through a flooded street in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, on Saturday, following heavy rain in the capital and surrounding areas.
Heavy rainfall across Indonesia has caused flooding and landslides, resulting in the death of at least 2 people and damage to over 5,000 homes.

Bali

Floods and landslides killed two people in Karangasem district, Karangasem, Bali on 31 January 2015. Two others were injured in the landslide which occurred after heavy rainfall in the region.
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Wolf

Feral dogs kill 5-yr-old in Bareilly, India: Third fatality in a month of 10 attacks

Priyangi Agarwal
The Times of India
Sun, 01 Feb 2015 20:03 UTC
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In what is becoming a serious menace, wild dogs attacked and killed a child on Saturday afternoon in Baheri tehsil, making him the third fatality of such an attack in almost a month. Over 10 children have also been injured in wild dog attacks in the past month. Ironically, while the attacks are continuing, district authorities continue to quibble over jurisdiction issues.

According to reports, daily wage labourer Anis Ahmed and his 15-year-old son Mujammil, residents of Lakhanpur village of Baheri, had gone to work at a local brick kiln. After some time, Anis went to his fields. When Mujammil did not join him after a long time, Anis went out to search for him.

That was when he saw Mujammil being attacked by a pack of dogs near the brick kiln. He somehow managed to chase away the dogs by attacking them with a spade but was not able to save his son, who was declared brought dead at a hospital.

Comment: Other recent notable attacks by packs of feral dogs on people -

Denison, Texas woman attacked and severely injured by dog pack

Man likely to have died from a dog pack attack in Madison, North Carolina

Pack of feral dogs attack 2 children, killing one, Nanfang, China

Feral dog pack found to have killed woman on Wyoming Indian reservation

Man found dead near New Mexico reservation may have been attacked by dog pack

Pack of stray dogs maul 17-month-old boy outside his house in Bangalore, India

Nine people killed by feral dog attacks in Rumbek, Sudan

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 6 in South Africa


The Citizen (South Africa)
Sun, 01 Feb 2015 19:03 UTC
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© Thinkstock
Three people died after being hit by lightning near Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, paramedics said. Another three were killed in Colenso.

Two women, aged between 70 and 80, and a man, believed to be in his sixties, were confirmed dead at the scene, said Emergency Medical Services spokesman Robert McKenzie.

They were believed to have been in a house at the time.

Three other women sustained serious injuries when they were struck by the lightning.

"Paramedics stabilised them on the scene before transporting them to the local eDumbe Community Health Centre," said McKenzie.
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Black Cat

Cougar attacks pipeline worker near Grande Prairie, Canada

Alexa Huffman
Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune
Sun, 01 Feb 2015 18:49 UTC
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Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers are currently investigating a cougar attack involving a pipeline worker south of Grande Prairie Friday.

According to Dan Laville, an Alberta Justice and Solicitor General spokesperson, at around 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, a cougar attacked a male pipeline worker, approximately 90 kilometres south of Grande Prairie.

Laville says a co-worker came to the victim's aid and was able to stop to the attack. The workers called 9-1-1. RCMP officers responded to the call and shot a cougar near the scene of the attack.

The Fish and Wildlife officers that are investigating the incident are using DNA analysis to confirm the cougar shot is the same animal involved in the attack.

Both workers sustained injuries and Laville says the injuries did not appear to be life threatening.

Comment: See also these other reports of cougar attacks on humans in 2014: A third cougar attack within a month leaves six-year-old California boy injured

Some wild animals are losing fear of humans: Biologist recovering after cougar assault in Grand Prairie, Alberta

Teenager attacked by cougar in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

From 2013: Man fights off cougar with skateboard; Parks Canada tracking animal

Cougar attack in British Columbia leaves woman in critical condition

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Cloud Precipitation

Floods and mudslides strike Peruvian Amazon


BBC
Sat, 31 Jan 2015 18:17 UTC
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Large parts of the Peruvian Amazon are under water after torrential rains caused rivers to burst their banks.

More than 3,000 families have been affected and a state of emergency has been declared.

Laura Westbrook reports.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash flooding hits Greece and Albania forcing evacuations

Demetris Nellas and Llazer Semini
Houston Chronicle
Sun, 01 Feb 2015 17:22 UTC
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© APView of a flooded house in southern Gjirokastra city, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of captial Tirana, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. Heavy rain and snow have swollen rivers, flooding thousands of hectares (acres), hundreds of homes and blocking many roads in southern Albania, which borders Greece
Flash floods caused by heavy rains have hit northwestern Greece and southern Albania, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers Sunday and destroying a famous 18th-century stone bridge.

No casualties were reported in either country.

Heavy rains began Saturday in the northwestern Greek province of Epirus, prompting authorities to evacuate four villages and several isolated farmhouses close to the city of Arta.

By Sunday, at least four rivers had overflowed their banks, three of them near Arta and another closer to Greece's border with Albania. The Plaka Bridge near Arta also collapsed.

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© Yorgos Karahalis/APHuge waves hit a promenade at Floisvos suburb, west of Athens, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015.
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Attention

Elephants attack tourists' car in Thailand

Leon Siciliano
Daily Telegraph
Wed, 28 Jan 2015 16:58 UTC
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© Newsflare
A dramatic video has been posted online of a group of elephants charging towards a car in Thailand.

In the footage, captured by a Thai tour guide near Nakhon Ratchasima province late last month, a family of three elephants appear from trees at the side of the road and begin charging.

Who knew elephants could move so fast? Certainly not the tourists who seemed very calm until the huge animal was bearing down on them.

Tourists inside the car can be heard speaking in German and urging the driver to move quickly.

According to the filmer, the elephant was trying to defend its calf from the cars that were on their territory.

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Wolf

3-year-old child attacked by family dog in Kaikohe, New Zealand

Peter de Graaf
The New Zealand Herald
Sat, 31 Jan 2015 16:04 UTC
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A child has been injured in a dog attack in Kaikohe.
A 3-year-old child has been injured in a dog attack at a Kaikohe home.

The child was attacked by the family pet and rushed by family members to Kaikohe's St John Ambulance station on Tuesday evening. Police and animal control were called to the Tui St address.

St John Far North manager Ben Lockie said the child, whose injuries were described as moderate, was taken to Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa and from there to Whangarei Hospital.

Far North District Council field compliance manager Barry Webb said the dog, a registered American bulldog, was chained up and police were at the scene when the animal control officer arrived.

"It is now in the council pound while we await the family's return. We will then have an opportunity to get statements and discuss with them where we go to next," he said.

Source: The Northern Advocate
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Airplane

Heavy snowfall closes down Bratislava international airport in Slovakia


Yahoo! News
Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:41 UTC
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An official in Slovakia says heavy snow has forced the closure of the international airport in the capital.

Veronika Sevcikova, spokeswoman for Bratislava's M. R. Stefanik Airport, says all outgoing flights have been canceled, while the incoming flights have been diverted to airports in neighboring Austria and Hungary.

Sevcikova says one incoming flights have been diverted to Linz, Austria, and three others to Budapest, Hungary.

She says it is not clear when the airport might be reopened.

The snow has caused traffic disruption and road closures all across the country Friday.


Source: Associated Press
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Arrow Down

Huge sinkhole opens up in riverbed, India

Hoskote Nagabhushanam
Deccan Chronicle
Sat, 31 Jan 2015 15:22 UTC
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A 15 feet deep and 31 feet wide sinkhole has formed in the Chitravathi riverbed near Lakshumpalli in Yellanur mandal of Anantapur district, confirming fears that groundwater in the area has been exploited to alarming levels.

The groundwater department, after a thorough study, noticed that cavities of limestone deposits beneath the riverbed had become brittle due to pumping of groundwater by drilling borewells even at depths of 800 feet.

The sinkhole formed near Lakshumpalli on Thursday with a loud sound and residents of surrounding villagers feared that it was an earthquake. The Yellanur mandal, near Pulivendula of Kadapa district, depends on the Chitravathi river's water.

With poor rainfall for the last 12 years in it's upstream, the river hasn't even been flowing at its minimum level in Yellanur mandal. Farmers thus have been dependant on borewells that they have been digging near the riverbed, leading to over exploitation of groundwater.
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