World Events News YouTube Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:24 UTC
A severe storm hits the city of Lyon on Wednesday, August 17, 2022. "After hitting Saint-Etienne and its region, a very violent storm has reached Lyon and its environs! Hail and storm possible at 100 km/h. Roads were flooded by rain and hail and trees fell.
The stormy episode that hit the Saint-Étienne agglomeration was short-lived, but at maximum intensity at 14:30 this Wednesday, 17 August. Heavy rains fell on the city.
Streams of mud swept the streets, as in this video shot in l'Étrat, near Saint-Étienne. After long weeks of intense heat, even heat waves and drought, Lyon experienced a "flood" this Wednesday afternoon. The sky darkened within a few minutes and was replaced by storm and rain.
The Governor of West Virginia, USA, declared a state of emergency for two southern counties after floods from heavy rainfall on 15 August 2022. The city of Charleston recorded 112.8 mm (4.44 inches) of rain in 24 hours on 15 August, with over 42 mm (1.7 inches) of that falling in 1 hour.
Flooding caused damaged to dozens of homes in Fayette and Kanawha counties. Some residents had to be rescued and evacuated from flooded premises. Roads and bridges were also damaged.
In a statement of 15 August, Governor Jim Justice said he declared the state of emergency "due to excessive rainfall that occurred overnight on Monday, August 15, 2022, which caused significant flooding that damaged over 100 homes, bridges, and roads throughout the counties. The storm also resulted in downed trees, power outages, and disruption to potable water systems. Over 20 people had to be rescued from their homes."
Rain flooded Spader Way near the Broomfield Library, temporarily closing the road, Tuesday, August 16, 2022.
Rain storms are soaking the Denver metro area for the second day in a row, causing flash flooding and temporary road closures.
In Broomfield, the National Weather Service recorded more than 3.5 inches of rain in less than two hours at one of its monitors. The rain has already had an impact, with a flash flood shutting down a community park and closing Spader Way from 1st Ave to DesCombes Drive for several hours.
Local authorities have reported no injuries so far. A flash flood warning for Broomfield lifted at 11 a.m. and no evacuations have been ordered.
Weather forecasters warn storms will move through the south-central metro area this afternoon and evening, which could lead to more flash flooding in communities around Denver.
There are warnings of thunderstorms in many parts of France on Wednesday, in an abrupt interruption to the heatwave the country has been experiencing for weeks.
Violent storms and flooding was forecast for much of southern France, where an "orange" alert — the second highest level — was issued in five Mediterranean departments.
Paris was already struck by intense storms on Tuesday evening, dumping a large proportion of the French capital's average monthly rainfall in an hour and a half.
By 7 pm, more than 40 millimetres of rain had fallen in the space of 90 minutes, according to the French national meteorological service Météo-France. This was almost "70% of what normally falls in a month altogether", a spokesman told AFP.
The tornado-like phenomena appeared amid the ever-changing weather
A giant tornadic waterspout has emerged off the south coast as the UK is warned about further flooding and thunderstorms.
The rare weather phenomena was captured by eagle-eyed witnesses Martin Jezard and Mark McCartney near Fowey, Cornwall, on Tuesday.
They can occur when cold air moves across a body of water and results in a large temperature difference, and can last for several minutes, moving at speeds of up to 15 knots.
Waterspouts have similar characteristics to land tornadoes and are often accompanied by severe thunderstorms as well as high winds.
Stunning footage captured a towering waterspout off the coast of Destin, Florida on Tuesday during a "seriously wicked" thunderstorm.
A witness said the waterspout, similar to a tornado over water, travelled to the East through the stormy skies for about 20 minutes before dissipating and did not make landfall.
Sasha Vella Loving Malta Thu, 11 Aug 2022 12:03 UTC
A dramatic waterspout was spotted circling around the three Maltese islands earlier this morning.
Footage and photographs sent to Lovin Malta show the waterspout going around various locations around the Maltese islands, at around 10am this morning.
The waterspout was spotted from Comino's Blue Lagoon, on the way to Ramla Bay from Xagħra, Gozo, Paradise Bay, and other localities in the north of Malta.
Waterspouts occasionally form when cold air moves across and results in large temperature differences between the warm water and the overriding cold air.
Three farmers were killed by lightning in Wagan town and three canals and their tributaries in Qambar-Shahdadkot district developed breaches, which destroyed recently planted paddy saplings on hundreds of acres during heavy rain on Tuesday.
In Larkana, it started raining heavily in the morning, inundating low-lying areas and main roads. The Met office recorded 35 millimeter rainfall in the city within 55 minutes, which caused gutters to overflow and pool rainwater before trade centres and hospitals.
The rainwater also accumulated in two underpasses connecting the city with healthcare facilities and district and divisional offices.
Comment: Also a day earlier: Floods in Paris as city hit by 'near-monthly rainfall in 90 minutes'