The Royal Oman Police is responding to several reports of families and children trapped in Wadis due to the inclement weather conditions
Schools and colleges in Oman have been directed to function in distance mode on Monday, April 15, after heavy rainfalls resulted in flash floods in various parts of the country.
An order in this regard was issued by the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation on Sunday.
The order followed the National Committee for Emergency Situations Management's warning regarding the escalation of unstable weather conditions in the country.
Heavy rainfall has caused widespread flash flooding in parts of Oman where authorities report at least 12 people have died.
According to figures from Oman's National Committee for Emergency Management, 90 mm of rain fell in Al Mudhaibi in the North Al Sharqiyah Governorate in a period from 14 to early 15 April. Figures from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) show 64 mm of rain fell at Marmul Airport in 24 hours to 15 April, while 59.2 mm fell in Qalhat, South Ash Sharqiyah Governorate.
Teams from Royal Oman Police (ROP) and Oman's Civil Defence and Ambulance Department Authority (CDAA) were called on to carry out multiple high water rescues. Many of those rescued were in vehicles trapped or swept away by fast-flowing wadi waters.
The Royal Oman Police rescued around 35 people stranded in the Wilayat of Ibra. Around 21 people were rescued after a school bus was trapped in flood waters in the Wilayat of Nizwa.
CDAA teams rescued 1,200 people from a school surrounded by flood waters in the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi, North Al Sharqiyah Governorate. CDAA said all those rescued are in good health.
According to CDAA, at least 12 people have lost their lives in floods in Samad al Shan. A further five people were reported missing after being swept away by floods across areas of the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi. As of 15 April the body of one of the missing, believed to be a young child, was found.
A two and half-year-old girl was mauled to death by stray dogs while she was playing outside an under construction apartment building at Gayatri Nagar.
According to police, the victim and her sister were attacked by two dogs while they were playing at the construction site where the children's father, a native of Chhattisgarh, has been working. The incident took place on April 12. The family originally from Chhattisgarh had shifted to Hyderabad five months ago for livelihood.
Police said the sisters were playing on the road when the two stray dogs attacked them. The child was rescued and taken to a local hospital. However, due to the severity of the injuries, she was referred to another government hospital here, where she was declared dead. A case was registered and investigation is on, they said.
Eighteen people were killed, two others injured and several others missing after a landslide struck South Sulawesi province in central Indonesia on late Saturday night.
The Head of Operational Unit of the provincial Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency Amson Padolo confirmed the incident to Xinhua via phone on Sunday.
The search and rescue team was still looking for victims who might be trapped in the landslide.
Sulawesi has been hit by several dangerous landslide over the last few months.
In February, landslides hit a section of road connecting Luwu regency and Palopo city in South Sulawesi trapping at least 23 people with five victims found dead.
Illinois 185 southeast of Hillsboro is closed due to the formation of a 50-foot-wide sinkhole at Deer Run Mine.
The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that Illinois 185 between Hillsboro and Coffeen is closed due to the sinkhole in a farmer's field adjacent to the road.
The sinkhole is located southeast of the John A. Graham Correctional Center.
This mine has had a long series of problems including underground fires, mine roof collapses, and the ongoing longwall mining sinking of land unevenly over what will be thousands of acres of really good farmland.
In a rare incident, heavy snow blanketed the Almas Road in the northwestern Iranian town of Khalkhal nearly one month into the spring.
Reports say the snow is 50 centimeters high and local authorities tried to open the routes after the heavy snowfall.
As a result of the snowfall, temperatures fell in northwestern Iran and even in distant areas.
The region is considered one of the agricultural hubs of the country and the sudden cold snap has caused concern among local farmers during the spring season.
Scott Sistek Fox Weather Sat, 13 Apr 2024 13:08 UTC
Flooding rains batter Kauai, triggering rescues and closing all the island’s public schools
Torrential storms dumped nearly a foot of rain on the Hawaiian island of Kauai late Thursday into Friday morning, leading to widespread flash flooding that shut down roads and closed schools.
A deep area of low pressure has draped a stationary front across Kauai, leading to stubborn rounds of heavy rain through much of Friday.
The National Weather Service reported rain falling at 2-3 inches per hour along Kauai, prompting Flash Flood Warnings lasting into Friday morning. In addition, a rare Severe Thunderstorm Watch was in effect until 10 a.m. Friday for thunderstorms with possible quarter-sized hail and/or wind gusts of 58 mph or stronger. It's the islands' first Severe Thunderstorm Watch in nearly 500 days, and it's the first for Lihue since December 2022.
The Hawaii Department of Education canceled all classes across the island Friday due to flooded roads and unsafe conditions. All bus service on the island was suspended as well until conditions improved.
Officials have reported multiple rescues from cars and houses due to flooding, the Kauai Emergency Management Agency said.
Taal Volcano in Batangas exhibited increased volcanic activity with five phreatic eruptions occurring within a 24-hour period, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
In its latest bulletin, Phivolcs reported that between 12 a.m. Friday and 12 a.m. Saturday, Taal experienced five phreatic eruptions, with one event lasting for 13 minutes.
A phreatic eruption, according to Phivolcs, is a steam-driven explosion that occurs when water, either below the ground or on the surface, is heated by magma, lava, hot rocks, or fresh volcanic deposits.
During the same monitoring period, a total of fifteen volcanic earthquakes, including six volcanic tremors, with durations ranging from two to four minutes each, were recorded.
Plumes reaching heights of up to 2,400 meters were observed drifting southwest and northwest.
An X-class flare that split into two simultaneous explosions - known as a sympathetic solar flare, triggered a coronal mass ejection that slammed into Earth, causing the biggest disruption to our planet's magnetic field in more than six years. The last time the Earth experienced such a strong geomagnetic disturbance was in September 2017.
It's worth noting that this peak in the solar cycle has come earlier than originally predicted, and as solar activity decreases, so do temperatures on Earth.
As we have mentioned many times before, the climate and Earth changes are strongly influenced by solar activity and the electrical interaction between our star and the Earth. And it's interesting to observe that even when the sun is at its peak, we see record snow and low temperatures around the world:
Perth faced chaos as a severe thunderstorm brought heavy rain and hail, submerging cars and prompting dramatic rescues of drivers trapped in their vehicles.
The storm struck areas like Kingsley, Two Rocks, and Wangara before moving to Pinjar and Yanchep, with more regions expected to be affected by flash flooding.
Comment: Update April 15
Floodlist reports: Update April 16
AFP reports: