Earth ChangesS


Windsock

Storm Nils batters southern France, leaves 850,000 homes without power

Necva Tastan Sevinc
Source
Thu, 12 Feb 2026 19:23 UTC
In Alps, authorities raise avalanche risk to level 5, highest warning, describing situation as exceptional and unseen in 17 years
storm nils france
A truck driver died and nearly 850,000 households were left without electricity as Storm Nils battered southern and southwestern France with violent winds, flooding and avalanches on Thursday.

The man was killed in the Landes department near the town of Mees after a tree branch fell onto his truck, BFMTV reported.

France's national weather agency, Meteo-France, placed four departments, Savoie, Aude, Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne, under red alert for risks ranging from avalanches and high winds to severe flooding.

Power grid operator Enedis said around 850,000 homes were without electricity as of early morning, including 485,000 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and 318,000 in Occitanie, the regions hardest hit by the storm.

Overnight, wind gusts reached up to 162 km/h (101 m/h) in Biscarrosse in the Landes region. Gusts of 157 km/h were recorded in Lege-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), 132 km/h in Millau (Aveyron) and 125 km/h in Toulouse, levels described by forecasters as unprecedented for the month of February in some areas.
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Tsunami

Severe flooding in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 9 and 11

Nature in Fury
YouTube
Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:39 UTC
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On Monday, February 9, 2026, Rio de Janeiro entered stage 3 of alert due to severe storms that caused widespread flooding, landslides on Avenida Niemeyer, and serious accidents involving electric shocks in Copacabana. Public transportation collapsed, with trains and BRTs affected, forcing passengers to wade through flooded areas such as Bonsucesso.

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Attention

Bear kills 3 people in Telangana, India

S Raja Reddy
New Indian Express
Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:53 UTC
Image used for representative purpose.
Image used for representative purpose.
A wild bear attack claimed the lives of three persons who had entered the Maharashtra - Adilabad interstate forest area on Wednesday. Forest officials have alerted residents living along the border not to enter the forest area, which is about two km from the district border.

The incident caused serious concern in forest-fringe villages along the border. District Forest Officer Prashanth Bajirao Patil issued a statement urging residents to remain cautious.

Villagers have been strictly instructed not to enter forest areas until further notice. Activities prohibited include firewood collection, cattle grazing, Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) collection, MGNREGS works inside forests, and any other personal or commercial activities within forest limits.

Forest officials are conducting combing operations and closely monitoring the bear's movement in coordination with Maharashtra Forest officials. Necessary precautionary and safety measures are being taken to control the situation.

Village heads, public representatives and local authorities have been asked to spread awareness and ensure compliance. Any information about the bear should be reported immediately to the Forest Range Office, Boath.

Comment: Another individual was killed a day earlier in the region.

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Ice Cube

An 80-mile crack splits Lake Erie's ice as the lake nears a rare milestone

Brian Lada
AccuWeather
Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:07 UTC
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Lake Erie is almost completely iced over, and over the weekend, the frozen surface split open in dramatic fashion.

A crack stretching more than 80 miles formed Sunday, running from near the Canadian side of the lake toward the Cleveland area. The break opened up after strong winds swept across the Great Lakes Friday and Saturday, pushing and pulling the lake's ice as another blast of Arctic air poured into the region.

The striking split isn't unheard of when Lake Erie is heavily frozen. As winds shift or ease and temperatures fluctuate, large sheets of ice can drift, collide and separate, creating long, jagged openings across the lake.

Those same winds also shoved ice toward parts of the shoreline, where it can pile up into ridges and create hazards, including the risk of property damage in vulnerable coastal areas.

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Tornado1

'Monstrous': Cyclone Gezani hits Madagascar, leaving at least 31 dead

Lyndal Rowlands and News Agencies
Al Jazeera
Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:45 UTC
Trees were uprooted and some districts left without power
© AFPTrees were uprooted and some districts left without power
At least 31 people have been killed as Cyclone Gezani left a trail of destruction in Madagascar.

Authorities issued red alerts for several regions warning of possible floods and landslides as the storm made landfall late Tuesday with wind speeds of more than 195km/h (121 mph). It then roared across the large island of 31 million people, many of whom live in poverty and have inadequate shelter from storms.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said building collapses caused some of the at least 31 deaths, and at least 36 other people were seriously injured as Gezani made landfall in the eastern city of Toamasina. The agency said four people were missing and more than 6,000 people were displaced from their homes.

Madagascar is especially vulnerable to cyclones blowing in off the Indian Ocean and was battered by another deadly cyclone less than two weeks ago.

"It's monstrous. Everything is devastated, roofs have been blown off, floors are flooded, the walls of solid houses have collapsed," a resident of Toamasina, which has a population of 400,000 people, told the AFP news agency by telephone when communications briefly returned.

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Snowflake Cold

Six all-time cold records broken in one day as death toll from record snow climbs to 46 in Japan

Rishav Kothari
The Watchers
Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:59 UTC
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At least six locations in Japan recorded record-breaking cold on the morning of February 9, 2026, as temperatures fell below -3°C (26.6°F) for the first time since 1984. The death toll from the record-breaking snowfall since January 20 has climbed to 46 as of February 10.

Record-breaking cold has struck parts of Japan following deadly heavy snowfall since late January.

At least six all-time cold records were set on the morning of February 9, as temperatures in Tokyo fell below -3°C (26.6°F) in February for the first time in 42 years, reported Sayaka Mori, broadcast meteorologist at NHK.

"Narita and Haneda Airports both logged their coldest mornings on record, with sub-zero temperatures covering over 90% of Japan," Mori said.

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Volcano

Indonesia's Mount Semeru records multiple eruptions


News.az
Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:59 UTC
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Indonesia's Mount Semeru in East Java erupted five times on Wednesday, sending volcanic ash up to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above its summit.

The first eruption occurred at 12:28 a.m. local time (1728 GMT Tuesday), producing an ash column that rose about 600 meters above the peak. The white-to-gray plume was of moderate intensity and drifted northward, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The most powerful eruption was recorded at 5:36 a.m. local time, when ash reached 1,000 meters above the summit and moved toward the northeast, according to Liswanto, an officer at the Mount Semeru Observation Post.

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Attention

Three women killed, three injured in elephant attack in Odisha, India

Chinmaya Dehury
prameyanews.com
Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:36 UTC
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In a tragic incident, three women lost their lives and three others sustained serious injuries after being attacked by a wild elephant while collecting firewood in Lochapali village under the Patpuri Forest of the Sadar range in Dhenkanal district on Tuesday.

The deceased have been identified as Indu Pradhan, Tuni Behera, and Kuntala Pradhan. The injured women—Rama Dehury, Rasmita Pradhan, and Jhili Pradhan—were rescued by forest department personnel and rushed to the district headquarters hospital, where they are undergoing treatment in critical condition.

According to reports, the six women entered the forest to collect firewood when they unexpectedly came face to face with the elephant. The animal reportedly attacked them, killing three women on the spot and seriously injuring the others.

Forest officials reached the site soon after receiving information about the incident and have initiated an investigation. Patrolling in the area has been intensified to prevent further incidents.

Confirming the incident, Dhenkanal Range Officer Uchhaba Chandra Pradhan said that the forest department team was already on patrol when the tragedy occurred.
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Seismograph

Magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Fiji


en.apa.az
Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:55 UTC
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A magnitude 6.2 earthquake was recorded off the coast of Fiji, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said, APA reports.

According to him, the epicenter of the tremors was located 467 km southeast of the island republic's capital, Suva, home to approximately 77,000 people. The epicenter was located at a depth of 511 km.
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Windsock

Near-record chill hits Bermuda as storm puts thousands in the dark

Jonathan Bell and Stefano Ausenda
The Royal Gazette
Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:11 UTC
All bundled up: after the mercury dropped to 45.1F this weekend, Scott Holder of the Bermuda Book Store wrapped up to survey conditions in Hamilton yesterday
© Jonathan BellAll bundled up: after the mercury dropped to 45.1F this weekend, Scott Holder of the Bermuda Book Store wrapped up to survey conditions in Hamilton yesterday
Thousands lost power as storm-force winds also delivered a plunge to unprecedented, near-record low temperatures over the weekend, with the deepest chill witnessed on the island in decades.

Instead of a typical winter gale, the punishing storm, likened by Bermudians to a winter hurricane, led to several flight cancellations, stopped buses Saturday night and halted the ferry service.

The Bermuda Weather Service reported that gale-force winds and 0.34 inches of precipitation, including rain and hail on Saturday. Bermuda spent the weekend under a severe weather warning, with gale-force gusts expected to linger into today.

The Causeway remained open, but the Ministry of National Security urged drivers to avoid non-essential travel.
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