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Wed, 27 Oct 2021
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Cloud Precipitation

Tropical cyclone kills 19 on Indonesian island of Java

Java flooding
© AFP Photo/National Disaster Mitigation Agency
This handout picture released by the national disaster mitigation agency shows the flooding that killed at least 11 people in Pacitan, East Java province, Indonesia, Nov. 28, 2017.
A tropical cyclone killed 19 people on the Indonesian island of Java, officials said on Wednesday (local time), with most of the victims caught under a landslide.

Video footage showed rivers overflowing and roads and villages submerged in brown water after the storm struck on Tuesday.

"Nineteen people have died, thousands of homes have been flooded and other damage has been caused," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the Disaster Mitigation Agency, said on Twitter.

Two nearby airports were briefly closed but had since reopened. Flights around Indonesia have been disrupted due to the eruption of a volcano on the neighbouring holiday island of Bali to the east.

Comment: Earlier this month a rare tornado and other deadly flash floods hit Indonesia.


Attention

Mount Agung eruption: Indonesian authorities expand evacuation zone, close airport

Bali volcano
© Reuters
A villager walks as Mount Agung volcano erupts in the background in Kubu, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia.
Indonesian authorities on Monday expanded the established danger zone around an erupting volcano that is hurling ash 9,800 feet into the atmosphere and whose explosions could be heard over seven miles away.

Experts said lava is welling up in the crater, sometimes reflected as a reddish-yellow glow in the ash plumes. The agency raised the volcano's alert to the highest level early Monday and expanded the danger zone to six miles. It said that a larger eruption is possible.

Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. He said about 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don't want to abandon their livestock.

"Authorities will comb the area to persuade them," he said. "If needed we will forcibly evacuate them." About 25,000 people were already living in evacuation centers after an increase in tremors from the mountain in September sparked an evacuation.

Question

Loud, house-shaking boom heard in northern Illinois

Mystery boom in IL
© townsquare media photo
Besides talking about turkey, shopping and football, over the Thanksgiving weekend, Rockfordians were also trying to figure out what were those loud noises that a lot of people heard heard early Sunday morning. We now have some possible explanations.

Around 2:00 a.m. early Sunday morning my social media feed was filled with people asking "what's that noise?" Many described the noise as a crazy loud 'boom.' Many people reported that houses and windows shook, as a result.

So what was it? No one is absolutely certain as to the cause. Rockford was not alone as these loud 'booms' were heard around the world over the long weekend.

Eye 2

Thousands of snakes overwhelm homes in Bangkok, Thailand

Surapong Suebchai, a firefighter and snake handling trainer, demonstrating how to capture a king cobra. Bangkok’s fire department has answered tens of thousands of calls for snake removal this year.
© Amanda Mustard
Surapong Suebchai, a firefighter and snake handling trainer, demonstrating how to capture a king cobra. Bangkok’s fire department has answered tens of thousands of calls for snake removal this year.
Panarat Chaiyaboon was using the toilet in her downstairs bathroom in July when she felt a sharp bite on her thigh. She jumped up to see a scene straight out of a nightmare: an 8-foot python emerging from her toilet.

She rushed to the hospital, bleeding heavily, and still bears the marks from eight tooth punctures that were around half an inch deep.

That snake was captured. But a week later, Ms. Panarat's 15-year-old daughter found a second python in the same toilet. The daughter was so shaken, she went to stay with relatives.

It could be argued that snakes have always owned this corner of Thailand, and that the people of Bangkok are merely borrowing it from them. The main airport, Suvarnabhumi, was built in a place called Cobra Swamp, and the city itself took shape on the Chao Phraya River delta — a marshy reptile paradise.

But this year, the Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department, which removes snakes from homes, has been busier than ever.

As of Monday, the department had received 31,801 calls this year for help in removing snakes. That is more calls than for all of last year (29,919),
and more than three the number in 2012 (10,492).

Snowflake

Winter storm covers Hawaii summits in snow

snow
Snow fell Monday on the summits of Mauna Loa and Maunakea after the National Weather Service declared a winter storm warning.

The warning extends through 6 p.m. today. Summits could see up to six inches of snow in total, although NWS meteorologist Leigh Anne Eaton said any significant accumulation is unlikely.

"It's probably going to be a snow-rain mix," Eaton said.

She said the storm is the result of a weather front of "enhanced moisture," which will sweep across the windward side of the Big Island, causing heavy showers throughout the island's east side and snowfall at higher altitudes.

Snowfall is expected to continue on the mountains throughout the week, with the weather service predicting an 80 percent chance of snow showers each day through Thursday night.


Cloud Precipitation

Hailstorm kills 2, injures 15 in Zimbabwe; one victim battered to death by large hailstones

One of the Mangwe District homesteads destroyed by hail

One of the Mangwe District homesteads destroyed by hail
Two people died while 15 others were hospitalised following a hailstorm that swept through Mangwe District, destroying several homesteads.

A 53-year-old man from Mangwe died after a hut he was sleeping in collapsed while a 10-year-old boy was struck to death by huge hail stones during a storm which hit the area on Saturday night.

Mangwe acting District Administrator who is also the acting chairperson of the Civil Protection Committee, Mr Onismo Zvogara, said about 15 people had been admitted to Brunapeg Hospital after sustaining injuries.

He said the number of affected homesteads was yet to be established as the assessment was still ongoing.

Attention

Dead whale washes ashore near Melbourne, Australia

A whale carcass beached at Jubilee Point in Sorrento.
© AAP
A whale carcass beached at Jubilee Point in Sorrento.
A shark warning has been issued for a popular beach on the Mornington Peninsula after a whale carcass washed ashore.

Stunned beachgoers at Jubilee Point discovered the massive whale about midday.

Photos from the scene show a bloodied carcass up against rocks near the base of a cliff.

Emergency Victoria advised swimmers to "stay out of the water" at the popular Sorrento Beach, as sharks may appear to feed on the dead whale.

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said nearby walking tracks were also closed while the carcass was removed.

Attention

Humpback whale carcass found on coast of the United Arab Emirates

The whale was found motionless and floating in the water by fishermen
© M. Sajjad
The whale was found motionless and floating in the water by fishermen
A dead whale carcass measuring 16 metres has been found floating off shores near Khor Fakkan port, an official said on Monday.

The carcass was spotted by a fisherman who reported the find to UAE Coast Guard around 6am.

Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah, told Gulf News that they are working to tow the whale's body to the shore.

Al Suwaidi said the humpback whale is found in waters stretching from Asia toward the Horn of Africa.

Initial examination is leading marine authorities to speculate the whale died from injuries sustained from collision with a tanker.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 women in Tamil Nadu, India

lightning
Three women agriculture labourers died on the spot after being struck by lightning near Thirumanur in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu on Monday.

The incident happened while a group of nine women agriculture labourers were involved in paddy cultivation activities in Karuppur village. It was raining, and lightning struck six of them.

Three women, identified as Unnamalai, 48, Senthamizhselvi, 40, and Anjalai, 50, died on the spot.

Three others, identified as Ponnarambu, Annakodi and Selvi, sustained injuries. They were rushed to Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.

The Thirumanur police retrieved the dead bodies with the help of villagers. The bodies were sent to the Ariyalur Government Hospital for postmortem.

The police registered a case.

Comment: Another woman was also killed by lightning elsewhere in Tamil Nadu a day prior to the above incident.


Attention

150,000 people to evacuate Bali's erupting Mount Agung, airport closes for another day

Bali's Mount Agung erupting
© AP
Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano's alert to the highest level Monday and expanded an exclusion zone to 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the crater in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometers.
About 150,000 people will leave their homes on the slopes of Mount Agung, Bali's Governor says, as the volcano's eruptions grow more powerful, while the island's main airport will close for another 24 hours due to ashfall.

Governor Made Pastika said the evacuation period for people living within 10 kilometres of the crater could easily last as long as a month.

Indonesia's disaster management agency said the evacuation is so far orderly and without panic.

Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash about 3,000 meters into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater, sometimes reflected as a reddish-yellow glow in the ash plumes.

Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometres away.


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