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Heavy rains lash Himachal Pradesh, India causing landslides at many places - over 300 roads closed

Srishti Jha
India Today
Sun, 13 Aug 2023 11:42 UTC
The situation will continue to be concerning as the weather department has predicted more rainfall
© ANIThe situation will continue to be concerning as the weather department has predicted more rainfall
Heavy rain wreaked havoc at many places in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, causing floods and landslides and forcing the closure of over 300 roads, as Monsoon bounced back in the hill state.

The local MeT office has issued an orange alert of heavy to very rainfall on Sunday and a yellow warning of heavy rain on Monday.

Twelve passengers were injured when a Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus met with an accident following a caving-in of the road near Kango on the Mandi-Shimla highway in Mandi district in the wee hours, officials said.

The passengers had a narrow escape as the bus stopped over the sunken stretch of the road and did not roll into a khud, they said.

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Attention

6 dead dolphins found on beach in New Zealand

Brodie Stone
New Zealand Herald
Sun, 13 Aug 2023 09:57 UTC
Six dolphins were found deceased on Ruakākā Beach near the refinery on Sunday morning.
© Angel AddisSix dolphins were found deceased on Ruakākā Beach near the refinery on Sunday morning.
A mixture of low clouds and dense mist prevented a pod of dolphins from being seen on Ruakākā Beach, resulting in a heartbreaking discovery.

Six deceased dolphins were found stranded on the northern point of Ruakākā Beach on Sunday. Locals suspect they went unnoticed due to the dense cloud covering the beach that morning.

Richard Addis discovered the dolphins around 10.30am on Sunday as he drove along the popular fishing spot in his 4WD with his two children.

Addis said the six dolphins, between six and eight feet long, were dead upon their arrival. He described himself and his children as feeling "sorry to see" such a sight.
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Cloud Precipitation

Funnel clouds, huge hail reported as severe summer storms hit southern Ontario


The Weather Network
Sun, 13 Aug 2023 09:29 UTC
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Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms moved across southern Ontario through the day Saturday, hitting communities with large hail and high winds. We've even seen a few reports of funnel clouds and a possible tornado on Saturday.

Saturday's storms hit the region in two waves. The first round of thunderstorms swept toward the Golden Horseshoe during the morning hours, bringing widespread severe thunderstorm warnings to the region.

Communities in the path of those early storms saw high winds, large hail, and rotation. A funnel cloud was reported north of Caledonia, and experts are surveying damage in the area to see if a tornado touched down.

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Attention

Dead whale washes ashore at Smith Point County Park, New York

Cecilia Dowd
longisland.news12.com
Fri, 11 Aug 2023 12:57 UTC
Chopper 12 was over the scene at Smith Point County Park’s outer beach where a dead humpback whale washed ashore early Friday.
Chopper 12 was over the scene at Smith Point County Park’s outer beach where a dead humpback whale washed ashore early Friday.
Officials say the whale was a male, believed to be around 5 years old.

Atlantic Marine Conservation Society Chief Scientist and Executive Director Rob DiGiovanni Jr. says the whale was over 35 feet long and looks to have been dead for a while.

He says this is the 13th deceased whale this year to wash up in the tri-state area.

"We are currently in the middle of an unusual mortality event for three species of large whales - the humpback whale, the right whale, as well as the minke whale," DiGiovanni says.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike kills teenage girl swimming with her friends in Oklahoma

Richard Perrins
Yahoo! News
Fri, 11 Aug 2023 12:48 UTC
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A teenage girl in Oklahoma died this week from her injuries after being struck by lightning over the weekend, KOAM reported.

The girl and three others were swimming in Blue Hole Park in Mayes County on Saturday when lightning struck at about 10:45 a.m., local time. The girl died on Wednesday, according to KOAM. Her three companions were injured but have since been released from the hospital.
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Cloud Precipitation

Major summer flood in 'Wadi Al Hajar' in Oman disrupts traffic amid heavy rains


Gulf News
Fri, 11 Aug 2023 12:58 UTC
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A dramatic video that has gone viral on social media captures the moment a major wadi in Oman, known as "Wadi Al Hajar," in the Wilayat of Ibri, witnessed a sudden soil collapse and subsequent flood, blocking roads and affecting traffic. The flood was a result of heavy rains experienced in various parts Oman by the end of last week.

"Wadi Al Hajar", located in the Al-Dahra region and approximately 50 kilometres from the city centre of Ibri, is a renowned valley visited by locals and tourists alike during the rainy season.

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Fire

Best of the Web: At least 55 killed with 1,000 people still missing as fire devastates Lahaina town in Hawaii (UPDATE)

Oliver Holmes, Edward Helmore
Guardian
Thu, 10 Aug 2023 08:25 UTC
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At least 36 people have died in wildfires that have ravaged the historic town of Lahaina in Hawaii, local authorities have said, adding that the fires remained active.

Wildfires, fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, have destroyed homes and businesses in Lahaina, a beachfront town on the island of Maui that was once the capital of the kingdom of Hawaii. Dozens more people have been injured, and there have been 13 evacuations for three fires in the area.

Flames roared throughout the night and day, forcing adults and children to dive into the ocean for safety.

"As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire," a Maui county statement said. "No other details are available at this time."


Comment: Update August 11

The Independent (UK) reports:
The death toll from the devastating wildfires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, has now climbed to 55 - as officials warned that the loss of life is expected to rise further.

Another 17 fatalities were confirmed on Thursday, taking the toll to 53 victims. By Thursday night, another two people had been found dead, Maui County confirmed.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green said on Thursday evening that around 1,000 people are still unaccounted for, as he said that the Aloha State is headed for its deadliest disaster in state history.



Mr Green said that those unaccounted for are not presumed dead but that hundreds have been left without communications and so their safety is unclear.

"Here's the challenge: there's no power, no internet, no phone, no radio. You compound some of that. So when we're speaking to our officers, we need them to get a sat phone," he said.

The wildfires continue to devastate Lahaina, with more than 1,700 buildings and billions of dollars in property destroyed.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said that the historic town has been totally wiped out.

"It's all gone. None of it's there. It's all burnt to the ground," he said.


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Fish

Great Barrier Reef coral growth holds on to recent record gains - defies ongoing doomsday predictions

Chris Morrison
The Daily Sceptic
Thu, 10 Aug 2023 20:52 UTC
great barrier reef
The Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Coral at the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) faces another year of exile from the climate scare headlines with news that the record levels reported in 2021-22 have been sustained in the latest annual period to May 2023. A small drop in the three main areas of the reef was well within margin of error territory, with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) reporting that regional average hard coral cover in 2022-2023 was similar to last year at 35.7%. Most reefs underwent little change during the year.

Coral at the reef has been bouncing back sharply for a number of years, with a record 36-year high reported in 2022. But the news of this spectacular recovery has been largely ignored in most media since it had previously been a go-to poster scare story for collectivist Net Zero promoters. But connecting the fate of tropical corals to global warming was always a difficult ask since they grow in waters between 24-32°C. Short boosts in local temperatures can cause temporary bleaching, but it is scientifically impossible to pin it on human-caused climate change, although pseudoscientific 'attribution' computer models try very hard.

In the latest year, there was a short local temperature rise, but little bleaching was reported during the 2023 summer. No cyclones hit the reef and crown-of thorns starfish attacks were limited. Nevertheless, natural stresses will always affect the eco-system and AIMS states that these paused the growth of hard coral on some of the reefs.

Comment: Let's give Mother Earth a little credit regarding her cycles of growth and decline. To quote George Carlin: "The planet is fine, the humans are f****d!"

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Cloud Precipitation

Tropical Storm Khanun pounds South Korea's coastal regions

Kim Tong-Hyung, Yong Jun Chang and Ahn Young-Joon
AP
Thu, 10 Aug 2023 18:40 UTC
High waves crash a shore as the Tropical Storm Khanun approaches to the Korean Peninsular, in Busan, on Aug. 10.
© AHN YOUNG-JOONHigh waves crash a shore as the Tropical Storm Khanun approaches to the Korean Peninsular, in Busan, on Aug. 10.
Tropical Storm Khanun poured intense rain on South Korea on Thursday, turning roads into chocolate-colored rivers and leaving at least one person dead, before weakening as it reached major urban centers near the capital.

More than a foot of rain fell in eastern and southern areas after the storm made landfall on the mainland in the morning. Emergency workers responded to increasing reports of flooding and landslides by the afternoon.

More than 15,000 people, mostly in southern regions, were evacuated from their homes as emergency workers responded to landslides, flood-damaged homes and rising rivers and streams. As of Thursday night, workers managed to restore electricity to 38,000 of the 40,300 homes that experienced power outages.

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Wolf

Two women bitten by a dingo in separate incidents in Queensland, Australia

Robyn Wuth
7news.com.au
Thu, 10 Aug 2023 18:33 UTC
The incident is just the latest in a string of dingo attacks on the island.
© AAPThe incident is just the latest in a string of dingo attacks on the island.
A woman is recovering from being bitten on the thigh after collared dingoes stalked a group of adults in the lead-up to two separate attacks on Queensland's K'gari island.

The two collared dingoes were involved in the separate attacks on Thursday, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said.

The dangerous canines approached and circled seven adults at Eli Creek just before midday.

One dingo attacked, lunging at a woman and "mouthing" her on the thigh, before a member of the group threw a stick to scare the animals off.

Within minutes, the animal stalked a second woman at Eli Creek, on the island's eastern side, approaching her from behind.
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