Earth ChangesS


Tsunami

Flash flooding in Ladysmith and Bergville, South Africa

Rod Skinner
Citizen.co.za
Sat, 10 Jan 2026 14:30 UTC
Flash flooding in Ladysmith.
Flash flooding in Ladysmith.
Heavy rains hit most of Northern KZN on Friday evening (January 10), causing flash flooding in Bergville and Ladysmith.

Bergville flooding

According to Okhahlamba Chief Fire Officer Fred Halgreen, no fatalities were reported, with flooding lasting about an hour and a half. The flash flood, caused by storm-water, poured down the main street and flooded several shops.

Halgreen confirmed that a damage assessment is being conducted today (January 11).

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Cloud Precipitation

Record-breaking rainfall leaves hundreds of streets and basements flooded in the Chicago area

Mohammad Samra and Alden Loury
Chicago Sun-Times
Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:17 UTC
A car passes through a flooded viaduct Thursday night on Western Avenue under the Metra tracks just south of Grand Avenue.
© Rob Wildeboer/For the Sun-TimesA car passes through a flooded viaduct Thursday night on Western Avenue under the Metra tracks just south of Grand Avenue.
Record-breaking rainfall left hundreds of streets and basements flooded in the Chicago area by Friday morning.

O'Hare Airport, the official climate site of Chicago, recorded 1.92 inches of rain — shattering the daily record of 1.18 inches for Jan. 8 set in 1935, according to the National Weather service.

Further south, Midway Airport recorded 2.06 inches and southwest suburban Bridgeview and Homer Glen recorded 2.58 inches and 2.77 inches of rain, respectively, the weather service said. Winds reached 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts reaching as high as 50 mph.

Most of the rain fell in a roughly four-hour window, between 6 and 10 p.m., and caused widespread flooding in streets and basements throughout the metro area.

"Climatologically, this is quite an anomaly," Todd Kluber, a meteorologist with the weather service, said of the heavy rainfall rates. "Also, the ground is already saturated, so we're not necessarily able to absorb some of that precipitation because of the snow that we've had recently."

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Arrow Down

Huge new sinkhole appears in the Konya Plain, Türkiye


en.Haberler.com
Sat, 10 Jan 2026 13:17 UTC
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A new sinkhole has been added to the 700 sinkholes observed in the Karapınar region, particularly in the Konya Plain. The sinkhole, which formed approximately 30 kilometers from the city center, has a diameter of 30 meters and a depth of 15 meters.

In previous years, sinkholes that formed only in the Karapınar district have also appeared in recent years in the districts of Ereğli, Halkapınar, Emirgazi, Çumra, Cihanbeyli, Kulu, Yunak, Çeltik, and Altınekin in the same region, and their number has reached 700 day by day. Most recently, a sinkhole formed in the Çaltı neighborhood, located 30 kilometers from the city center of Konya. The diameter of the sinkhole was determined to be 30 meters, and its depth was 15 meters. Municipal officials placed warning signs around the sinkhole and surrounded it with a wire fence.

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Doberman

60-yr-old killed after stray dogs attack him in Delhi, India


Millennium Post
Sat, 10 Jan 2026 12:31 UTC
MMMMMMMM
An elderly man was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Delhi's Dwarka Sector 19, after he was chased and attacked near a park, police said on Friday.

The man, identified as Raju, aged around 60 years, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but succumbed to his injuries during treatment, they said.

The incident occurred when a group of stray dogs attacked Raju on a road in the area late Tuesday night. In an attempt to save himself, he jumped into a nearby park, but the dogs surrounded him, pulled him to the ground and mauled him, tearing his clothes and inflicting severe injuries, police said.

On receiving information from passersby, police reached the spot and shifted him to a hospital, where he died during treatment. As he was not carrying any identity documents, his identity could not be established initially.
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Attention

Minnesota woman loses arm, life in U.S. Virgin Islands shark attack

Mike Heuer
UPI
Sat, 10 Jan 2026 12:25 UTC
Shark attacks
A shark attacked and killed a Minnesota woman while she swam in waters along Dorsch Beach in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Thursday afternoon.

The Virgin Islands Police Department received an emergency call reporting the shark attack at 4:28 p.m. local time, and marine units and fire and emergency medical services personnel responded.

They found a woman who lost an arm in the attack and searched for a possible second victim, but found no one else.

The woman later was identified as Arlene Lillis, 56, of Minnesota, and she eventually died from her injuries.
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Fire

Best of the Web: Wildfires rage out of control in Patagonia, Argentina, as thousands of tourists evacuated

Holly Bishop
Independent (UK)
Fri, 09 Jan 2026 21:41 UTC

Comment: Is there a 'hidden hand' behind these fires?


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Argentine authorities have evacuated some 3,000 tourists from a sparsely populated Patagonian district ravaged by wildfires for days, officials said Wednesday.
Wildfires have raged through Patagonia, forcing the evacuation of at least 3,000 tourists.

Several forest areas near the Andes mountains in Chubut province have been blazing since Monday (5 January), with video footage showing billows of smoke and flames rising from the trees.

More than 2,000 hectares of vegetation across various points in the Argentine Patagonia have been affected by the blazes. "Comarca Andina", a popular tourist destination, has been hit by the flames.

At least one of the fires was the result of arson, officials said.

It comes a year after the country was hit by its worst wildfires in three decades, which saw tens of thousands of hectares razed to the ground and left one person dead.


Comment: Social media in Argentina is rife with reports of evidence of arson at more than one of the fires:


And Argentine media is reporting the discovery of 'grenades' of some type being found 'around a lake' somewhere in Patagonia:


DD Geopolitics has a whole theory as to what may be happening here: preparation for partitioning Argentina into another 'Jewish state'?

Unmasking the Flames: Israel's Shadow Over Patagonia and Milei's Betrayal of Argentina

The Grayzone also finds the theory to have merit:



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Cloud Precipitation

Germany braces for more heavy snowfall as Storm Goretti hits northern Europe

Jon Henley and Deborah Cole
The Guardian
Fri, 09 Jan 2026 20:58 UTC
France and Germany battered by strong winds and plunging temperatures, as schools closed and travel disrupted
snow storm germany goretti
© Daniel Reinhardt/AFP/Getty ImagesWorkers clear snow from the platforms at Hamburg's main railway station during heavy snowfall on Friday.
Germany is expecting heavy snowfalls of up to 20cm after record winds of more than 210kph left almost 400,000 homes in France without electricity, as Storm Goretti battered north-western Europe.

No major or widespread damage to property was reported in France on Friday but one man was seriously hurt after slipping from his roof while trying to replace fallen tiles and 27 others suffered minor injuries, several requiring hospital treatment.

France's national weather service, Météo-France, had issued severe weather warnings urging residents to remain home. Gusts of 213kph (132mph) and 216kph (134mph) were recorded overnight at Gatteville and Val-de-Saire in Normandy.

Windspeed records were also broken in Brittany, and a gust of 148kph (92mph) was registered at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. More than 380,000 homes mainly, in Normandy and Brittany, were without power on Friday lunchtime.

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SOTT Logo Media

SOTT Focus: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - December 2025: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


Sott.net
Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:21 UTC
secs1225
December 2025 witnessed escalating solar activity within Solar Cycle 25. Early in the month, a full-halo coronal mass ejection from an M8.1 flare on December 6 led to a strong G3 geomagnetic storm on December 9, enhancing auroral displays. Mid-month featured an X1.1 flare on December 8 — the most intense of the period — along with multiple C- and M-class flares.

Activity intensified late, with an M5.1 flare on December 27, an M4.2 on December 28, and peaking at an M7.1 on December 31, accompanied by potential Earth-grazing CMEs. Sunspot clusters and coronal hole high-speed streams contributed to minor geomagnetic disturbances throughout the period.

We can anticipate additional extreme weather, earthquakes, and increased solar activity over the next few months.

December 2025 was marked by severe flooding and landslides in Southeast Asia, resulting in over 1,500 fatalities across Sri Lanka and Indonesia, alongside notable seismic activity, including a 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Japan's east coast that prompted a tsunami warning.

Volcanic eruptions occurred at Mount Semeru in Indonesia and mud volcanoes in India and Trinidad, while unseasonal snowfalls and cold snaps affected regions from Australia to Canada. Multiple meteor fireball sightings were reported globally, and extreme weather events like atmospheric rivers and storms caused widespread disruptions in North America and Europe.
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Windsock

Storm Goretti SLAMS UK, 90 mph winds leave thousands without power in South-West


Mirror
Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:53 UTC
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An extremely rare red warning has been issued for a 'weather bomb' as snow is causing carnage across the UK. Two airports have stopped a number of flights as Storm Goretti sweeps across the country, bringing up to 30cm of snow.

Dozens of flights are currently not arriving or departing from London Heathrow and Birmingham airports due to the weather conditions. The Met Office has issued several alerts across the country for snow, wind, rain and ice, including the red warning for strong winds in south-west England and an amber for heavy snow in central parts of the country.

Travel chaos is also hitting the roads with trees falling and road closures due to thick blankets of snow. As well as travel disruption the weather has also led to power outages. Met Office chief forecaster Neil Armstrong described Storm Goretti as "a multi-hazard event", with the most significant impacts from snow in parts of Wales and the Midlands and very strong winds in the south-west.

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Volcano

Heightened activity at Mayon Volcano in the Philippines raises safety concerns

Kanyshai Butun
Anadolu Agency
Thu, 08 Jan 2026 13:44 UTC
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The Philippines' most active volcano, Mayon, is showing signs of escalating activity, prompting authorities to reinforce exclusion zones and warn of potentially dangerous eruptions, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Thursday.

Phivolcs said entry into the six-kilometer (3.7-mile) Permanent Danger Zone around the volcano is strictly prohibited, while aircraft have also been advised to avoid flying close to the summit.

Nearly 50 pyroclastic flows -- fast-moving currents of hot gas, ash and volcanic debris -- were recorded over a 24-hour period, the agency added.

Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol warned of the deadly potential of such flows, recalling they killed 77 people during Mayon's 1993 eruption, according to the Philippine News Agency.

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