Richard Davies Floodlist Mon, 21 Feb 2022 14:24 UTC
One person is missing after flash floods swept through areas of San Pablo in in the department of Nariño, Colombia.
Heavy rain fell from around 18 February 2022, affecting the municipalities of Santacruz, Túquerres, Los Andes and San Pablo.
One person was reported missing after being swept away by the overflow of the La Brisa stream in San Pablo. The municipal government said small landslides were also reported in the area. Roads have been blocked and drinking water supply interrupted in the area.
Almost 800,000 hectares of the province of Corrientes in northwestern Argentina has been devastated by wildfires.
According to a report by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) released on Friday, 785,238 hectares of land had been burned due to the blazes, which represents 9% of the province's area.
According to the INTA, the fires have affected a great deal of wildlife in the country's northeast.
Many animals have been burned by flames or poisoned by smoke, while others have been run over on roads trying to escape the fires.
Firefighting teams were continuing operations to extinguish the flames.
Heavy snow hit northern Japan on Monday, disrupting air and railway traffic, with weather authorities warning of more blizzards as well as high waves for the region and also some eastern parts of the country.
Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. canceled more than 140 flights to and from Hokkaido and elsewhere, while Hokkaido Railway Co. suspended all train runs to and from JR Sapporo Station.
More than 970 train runs were suspended in Sapporo and other areas of Hokkaido in the morning, accounting for over 70% of the some 1,230 daily train services on average in the region.
With areas near Sapporo expected to receive up to 50 centimeters of snow by Tuesday morning, more train services may be affected. The Hokkaido capital had seen snowfall of 11 cm in 24 hours through 6 a.m. Monday, according to the Meteorological Agency.
Richard Davies Floodlist Mon, 21 Feb 2022 11:02 UTC
Heavy rain and flash flooding caused severe damage in Gauteng Province, South Africa. One person died and 3 people are reported missing.
Flooding struck areas of Ivory Park close to the Kaalspruit river in Tembisa (also Thembisa) north east of Johannesburg late on 18 February 2022. Damage to houses left at least 187 people homeless. Local authorities said the victims would be moved to temporary shelters.
Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse visited affected areas on 19 February. The mayor said Search and Rescue teams were deployed after learning that there were four people missing. "Regrettably one body was recovered this morning. The family were informed, and subsequently identified the deceased. On behalf of the City, I convey my condolences to the family. The Search and Rescue Teams are continuing the search for the remaining three people," the mayor added.
City and Provincial Disaster Management teams, charities and NGOs are all working in the area to provide relief and shelter for the victims.
This is the moment a wild elephant attacked two tourist vehicles at a national park in Sri Lanka.
Footage captured by Sanjaya Madushan Wickrasami in Yala National Park earlier this month shows the massive bull elephant, Nandimithra, chasing the guide's jeep.
"Go, go, go!" screams a passenger moments before the elephant catches up to the off-road vehicle and rams it.
Much of northwestern Europe is counting the cost of Storm Eunice on Sunday, after it swept onto the continent from the British Isles, leaving death and destruction in its wake as well as massive power cuts.
On Saturday night 16 deaths had been blamed on Eunice: four in the Netherlands, four in Poland, three in England, two in Germany, two in Belgium, and one in Ireland. Many were caused by trees falling on vehicles.
After developing over Ireland, the storm passed on Friday over part of the United Kingdom then northern France and the Benelux countries, before continuing its route towards Denmark and Germany.
The storm struck a large part of northern Germany, where a state of red alert was declared before being lifted later.
More than 1,000 kilometres of railway lines were damaged, a spokesperson for Deutsche Bahn said, mainly caused by fallen trees.
Snow (blue), rain (green), and ice (pink) accumulations across the contiguous US Sunday through Tuesday this week.
After a mild end to the weekend for many states, Old Man Winter will make a comeback as we start off the new workweek.
"Temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below average over the northern tier states by Monday morning," the Weather Prediction Center said Saturday.
And that's just the beginning. The thermometer will slip to 30 to 40 degrees below normal by Tuesday and Wednesday, as a strong high pressure system begins to spread Arctic air farther south and east.
Many cities will see a sharp polar plunge in a 48-hour span.
Denver will go from a high temperature in the low 60s Sunday all the way down to 15 for the peak Tuesday, with snow showers.
Rapid City, SD will slide from a high of 50 degrees Sunday to 0 degrees for a high Tuesday. By Tuesday night, the bottom will drop out in the Black Hills to 17 degrees below zero.
At least 18 people have died in mudslides and floods after a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro saw almost a month's worth of rain fall in just three hours.
The state fire department said more than 180 soldiers were involved in a rescue mission in the city of Petropolis where 25.8cm (just over 10in) fell on Tuesday - close to the same quantity that fell during the previous 30 days combined.
Footage posted on social media showed cars and houses being dragged away by landslides and water swirling through the city and neighbouring districts.
The death toll from devastating mudslides and floods that swept through a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state has reached 38, local authorities said Wednesday.
The city of Petropolis was slammed by a deluge on Tuesday, and Mayor Rubens Bomtempo said the number of dead could rise as searchers picked through the wreckage.
Rosilene Virgilio, 49, was in tears as she recalled the pleas for help from a woman she couldn't save.
"Yesterday there was a woman screaming, 'Help! Get me out of here!' But we couldn't do anything; the water was gushing out, the mud was gushing out," Virgilio told The Associated Press. "Our city unfortunately is finished."
Petropolis is a German-influenced city named for former emperor Dom Pedro I. Nestled in the mountains above the coastal metropolis, for almost two centuries it has been a refuge for people escaping summer heat and tourists keen to explore Brazil's "Imperial City." It features stately mansions along its waterways, but its mountainsides are covered with homes packed tightly together, some of which lack proper foundations.
Gov. Claudio Castro said that he was mustering all the state government's heavy machinery to help dig out the buried area. He told journalists that soldiers were already working in the stricken region, which saw almost more than 900 deaths from heavy rainfall in January 2011.
The state fire department said late Tuesday the area got 25.8 centimeters (just over 10 inches) of rain within three hours Tuesday -- almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined.
Video posted on social media showed cars and houses being dragged away by landslides, and water swirling through Petropolis and neighboring districts. The Globo television network showed houses buried beneath mud in areas firefighters hadn't yet been able to access.
Several streets remained inaccessible Wednesday as cars and household goods piled up, blocking access to higher parts of the city.
"The neighbors came down running and I gave them shelter," bar owner Emerson Torre, 39, recalled.
But under torrents of water, his roof collapsed. He managed to get his mother and three other people out of the bar in time, but one neighbor and the person's daughter were unable to escape.
"It was like an avalanche, it fell all at once. I've never seen anything like it," Torre told the AP as rescue helicopters hovered overhead. "Every neighbor has lost a loved one, has lost two, three, four members of the same family, kids."
Petropolis' city hall declared three days of mourning. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on a trip to Russia, said on Twitter that he instructed his ministers to deliver immediate support to the afflicted.
"May God comfort the family members of the victims," he wrote.
Southeastern Brazil has been punished with heavy rains since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths recorded between incidents in Minas Gerais state in early January and Sao Paulo state later the same month.
Update:The Guardian has this AP report on February 17th:
Devastating floods and mudslides leave at least 94 dead in Brazil
At least 94 people have died after heavy rains sent devastating mudslides and floods through a mountainous region of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state.
Petrópolis, the "imperial city" which was the summer getaway of Brazil's monarchs in the 19th century, was directly in the path of the deluge when it hit on Tuesday.
The city's mayor, Rubens Bomtempo, said the number of dead could keep on rising as searchers picked through the wreckage. Twenty-one people had been recovered alive.
Rio de Janeiro state governor, Claudio Castro, told reporters in Petrópolis: "The situation is almost like war ... Cars hanging from poles, cars overturned, lots of mud and water."
Civilians joined the official recovery efforts on Wednesday. Among them were Priscila Neves and her siblings, who looked through the mud for any sign of their disappeared parents, but found only clothing. Neves said she had given up hope of finding her parents alive.
Rosilene Virgilio, 49, was in tears as she recalled the pleas for help from a woman she couldn't save.
"Yesterday there was a woman screaming, Help! Get me out of here!' But we couldn't do anything; the water was gushing out, the mud was gushing out," Virgilio told the Associated Press. "Our city unfortunately is finished."
Governor Cláudio Castro said that he was mustering all the state government's heavy machinery to help dig out the buried area. He told journalists that soldiers were already working in the stricken region, which saw about 900 deaths from heavy rainfall in January 2011.
The state fire department said late on Tuesday the area received 25.8cm (just over 10in) of rain within three hours on Tuesday - almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined.
Video posted on social media showed cars and houses being dragged away by landslides, and water swirling through Petrópolis and neighboring districts. The Globo television network showed houses buried beneath mud in areas firefighters had not yet been able to access.
Several streets remained inaccessible on Wednesday as cars and household goods piled up, blocking access to higher parts of the city.
"The neighbors came down running and I gave them shelter," bar owner Emerson Torre, 39, recalled.
But under torrents of water, his roof collapsed. He managed to get his mother and three other people out of the bar in time, but one neighbor and the person's daughter were unable to escape.
"It was like an avalanche, it fell all at once. I've never seen anything like it," Torre told the AP as rescue helicopters hovered overhead. "Every neighbor has lost a loved one, has lost two, three, four members of the same family, kids."
Petrópolis city hall declared three days of mourning. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on a trip to Russia, said on Twitter that he instructed his ministers to deliver immediate support to the afflicted. "May God comfort the family members of the victims," he wrote.
South-eastern Brazil has been punished with heavy rains since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths recorded between incidents in Minas Gerais state in early January and São Paulo state later the same month.
Brazilian flooding, landslide death toll rises to over 150
The death toll from landslides and floods that occurred Tuesday in the city of Petropolis in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state has risen to 152, with 165 people still unaccounted for as of Saturday night, local media Globo reported.
Several hills collapsed during the heavy rains, carrying away homes and vehicles as residents continue to dig through the mud to search for their missing loved ones.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the region on Friday and described what he saw as a "war scene."
In the heart of the disaster zone, rescue workers occasionally blew loud whistles to call for silence and listen for signs of life.
But authorities say there is little hope of finding survivors at this point.
A Globo's report said the rescue operations are understaffed and lack adequate equipment. Only 110 firefighters are searching on-site now, wildly short of the about 500 personnel the local government has previously announced.
The 555 firefighters only joined the search in Petropolis on Wednesday, it said.
According to the local authorities, only 24 people have been rescued alive so far. But that came mostly in the early hours after the tragedy.
Comment: ABC News has this updated AP report: Update:The Guardian has this AP report on February 17th: Update 2: CGTN reports on February 20: