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Doberman

Stray hyena attacks villages, injures 4 in Kenya

The carcass of a hyena shot dead by police
© Bruhan Makong
The carcass of a hyena shot dead by police reservists after attacking villagers and injuring four people in Wajir North sub-county. Cases of hyena attacks are rampant in the area
A 70-year-old man is fighting for his life after being attacked by a stray hyena on Monday evening.

The marauding animal descended on two villages at Ingirir and Malkagufu locations in Wajir North sub-county, in an incident that left four people seriously injured.

PANIC

Area chief Abdikadi Omar Dayib confirmed the incident, saying that the elderly herdsman was coming from grazing his goats in Fulo area before the attack that threw the two villages, which are several kilometres apart, into a panic.

Mr Dayib said that the victim suffered more than 20 bites on his hands and legs after trying to free himself from the hyena before scurrying off.

"Instead of the hyena going for the goats it went straight for the herder," said the chief.

He added that the hyena also bit another man, 31 years, injuring his left hand.

A group of women and some boys, however, escaped unhurt after they ran for their lives on seeing the beast.

Attention

Red tide suspected as 22 dead dolphins wash up on Collier, Lee beaches in Florida

A dead dolphin is washed up on the beach south
© Roger Jacobsen
A dead dolphin is washed up on the beach south of Lowdermilk Park close to North Lake Drive in Naples on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018.
Dolphins appear to be the latest victim of red tide in Southwest Florida, as 22 have washed up dead on beaches in Collier and Lee counties since last Wednesday, one official said.

Blair Mase, a marine mammal stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said tests need to be completed but that it seems the dolphins are being killed by brevetoxin from red tide.

Officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were testing water at beaches and collecting the bodies of dead dolphins and other marine life across Lee and Collier counties Monday.

When water testing results come in Wednesday morning, Mase said she expects to see a spike in red tide counts.

Dolphins aren't the only animals affected by the suspected spike. Mase said dead sea turtles have been found on beaches in Lee and Collier counties and that there are reports of birds dying as well.


Windsock

Massive unseasonable sandstorm engulfs Gansu in northwestern China

A massive sandstorm is seen sweeping through the city of Zhangye in northwest China's Gansu province
© AP
A massive sandstorm is seen sweeping through the city of Zhangye in northwest China's Gansu province.
A massive sandstorm rolled through China's northwestern province of Gansu on Sunday, enveloping office blocks and apartment buildings.

The People's Daily posted footage of the sandstorm advancing through Gansu's Zhangye city to its social media accounts on Sunday. The mass reached 100 metres and blotted out the blue sky as it moved through the city, according to the newspaper and the footage.

Wu Ping, a 58-year-old retiree living in Zhangye, said the sandstorm hit the city around mid-afternoon Sunday.

"The dust storm reached when I was just walking out of my home so I ran back and stayed at home for the rest of the afternoon. I could not see anything through my window. Visibility was very low," he told Bloomberg News by phone from Zhangye.

"Usually we have dust storm here in spring, not in winter. This is probably the worst dust storm I have seen in 10 years."


Cloud Precipitation

Tropical Storm Usagi hits southern Vietnam - Longest and heaviest ever recorded rainfall in Saigon history

Ho Chi Minh City floods
© Dtinews/VNA
Huynh Tan Phat Street in Ho Chi Minh City is deeply submerged on the evening of November 25
Many areas in HCM City and some neighbouring southern provinces have been submerged due to heavy rains as Typhoon Usagi weakened into tropical pressure over the weekend.

Torrential downpours that lasted pretty much the entire day caused serious flooding in many districts including District 4, 7, Binh Thanh, Binh Tan, Go Vap by 10pm on Sunday. Electricity was cut in these areas to ensure safety.

According to a report from the HCM City's Department of Transport, 39 streets had been deeply submerged by Sunday afternoon.

"The high floods have caused accidents and knocked down trees," the report said. A tree fell onto Nguyen Van Tan, 60, while he was driving a motorbike on Nguyen Van Linh Street in Binh Chanh District. He died in hospital soon after that due to serious injuries, the report said.

Heavy rains and strong winds have also been reported in some other southern provinces including Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ninh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa.


Comment: It was reported that rainfall of more than 350 mm (14 inches) fell around Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon) causing widespread flooding and travel disruption.

According to Le Dinh Quyet from the Southern Hydro-Meteorological Center, the bout of rain caused by Usagi was the longest and heaviest ever recorded in Saigon history.

See also: Falling tree kills man as severe floods again hit Saigon, Vietnam


Snowflake Cold

Snowmageddon: 6,000 flights grounded or delayed in US as Thanksgiving storm rages on

airplane grounded snowstorm
© GettyImages / John Moore
Snow chaos: 6,000 flights grounded or delayed as Thanksgiving storm rages on. A cancelled flight waits in a snow storm at the Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey.
After a record-cold Thanksgiving, temperatures continued to plummet as heavy snowfall across the Midwest grounded or delayed over 6,000 flights, wreaking havoc on Americans' holiday travel plans.

The Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend is usually the busiest travel day of the year, as millions of Americans return home from visiting relatives. However, much of the country was snowed in this year, leading to over 1,200 flight cancellations and 5,000 delays, according to FlightAware.com.

Comment: With a grand solar minimum on the way, storms like this are becoming more and more commonplace.


Cloud Precipitation

November to remember: This year's was wettest on record in Washington DC

A car drives through the pouring rain on Sunday,
© WTOP/Dave Dildine
A car drives through the pouring rain on Sunday, July 22, 2018, in Annapolis, Maryland.
If you got rained on walking into work today, here's some cold comfort for you: Those were record-breaking raindrops.

With four days in the month left to go, November 2018 is now officially the rainiest November on record in D.C., breaking a 141-year-old record, according to the National Weather Service. And the unusually wet month means D.C. is now sitting at the No. 3 spot in terms of the rainiest year on record.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Monday, D.C. hit 7.31 inches of rain for the month, breaking the previous record of 7.18 inches of rain set in November 1877. The rain data is recorded at Reagan National Airport.

Cloud Precipitation

Seven killed, thousands displaced in flash flooding in Iraq - Death toll reaches at least 25 (UPDATE)

Some 3,000 Iraqis were left homeless after floods hit the Shirqat region. 23 November 2018

Some 3,000 Iraqis were left homeless after floods hit the Shirqat region. 23 November 2018
At least seven people, including children, have been killed and thousands have been forced to flee their homes after heavy rains triggered flash floods in northern Iraq.

Officials told the dpa news agency on Friday that the seven people were killed when floods hit the al-Houreya village in Salahuddin province.

Ali Dodah, the mayor of Shirqat, a town 260km northwest of Baghdad and around 80km south of Mosul, said rains had flooded houses and farms with "some 3,000 people now homeless".


Comment: Update: The Gulf Times on the 26th November reports:
At least 21 people have died and nearly 180 have been injured after heavy rains accompanying sweeping floods battered Iraq over two days, the Iraqi Health Ministry said yesterday.

Women and children were among the dead, the Health Ministry said.

While some drowned, others died in car accidents, were electrocuted, or were trapped when their houses collapsed.

Local media reported that as many as 300 homes have been badly damaged by the floods, especially in Nineveh and Kirkuk provinces. The country's north has borne the brunt of it, and the UN office in Iraq said that the downpour had forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes.

An estimated 10,000 people in Salahaddin province and 15,000 people in Nineveh are in desperate need of help, including families living in displacement camps, the UN said.

In the Al-Sharqat district in Salahaddin, about 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, thousands of homes were left totally submerged by the rains.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi announced in statements earlier that he was establishing a "crisis cell" of security forces and local authorities to co-ordinate a response.



Cloud Precipitation

Eleven provinces in Iran hit by flood, 4 gone missing

Four have, unfortunately, gone missing in floods

Four have, unfortunately, gone missing in floods hitting 11 provinces across the country over the past three days, Rescue and Relief Organization head Morteza Salimi said on Sunday.
Provinces of Isfahan, Ilam, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Khuzestan, Fars, Kermanshah, Gilan, Lorestan, Mazandaran, and Sistan-Baluchestan are inundated by flood, YJC quoted Salimi as saying.

Some 307 received relief services in the aforesaid provinces, Salimi, said, adding that sadly 4 individuals have gone missing in the northern province of Gilan.

Salimi went on to say that in seven provinces including Ardebil, Isfahan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Zanjan, Fars, Qazvin and Markazi are covered with snow as well.

Eleven rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the areas affected by snow storms, he concluded.


Comment: Just 2 weeks prior: Flash floods hit 10 provinces of Iran


Cloud Precipitation

Cyclist is swept to his death by flash flood in São Paulo, Brazil as record rainfall hits the city

Horrific moment cyclist is swept to death by flash flood in Brazil

Horrific moment cyclist is swept to death by flash flood in Brazil
This is the horrific moment a cyclist is swept to his death in flash floods in Brazil as witnesses form a human chain in a desperate bid to save him.

Marcelo da Silva, 43, was trapped with his bike in swirling waters as a torrential downpour hit São Bernado do Campo, a suburb of São Paulo, on Friday afternoon.

Footage shows him clinging to his bike even as horrified onlookers scream at him to let it go.

He tries to stand but the force of the water knocks him over and drags him under before strong currents rushing down the main street pull him further away.


Fire

Queensland bushfires: Hundreds evacuated amid 'unprecedented' weather conditions

Queensland bush fire
© Facebook/Shaz Morris
Queensland bush fire.
Hundreds of Australians have evacuated their homes due to bushfires amid "unprecedented" weather conditions in the state of Queensland, officials say.

About 40 bushfires are burning across the state following a heatwave, said Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

The most serious blaze, 450km (280 miles) north of Brisbane, has destroyed at least two homes, damaged four others and prompted evacuation orders.

The conditions have been described as "highly unusual" for this time of year.

The largest bushfire is about 50km long and has burnt through approximately 11,000 hectares in the Deepwater National Park.

It began on Saturday and is expected to remain a threat in coming days. Most of the other bushfires are being contained, authorities said.

Unlike in Australia's drier south, intense fire conditions are unusual in Queensland in late November because it is the wet season.


Comment: Thundersnow, bushfires, heatwaves, dust storms: What is going on with Australia's weather?