Earth ChangesS


Attention

Shark severs leg of 61-year-old US surfer in attack off Hawaii

Great white shark
A man's leg has been completely severed below the knee after he was attacked by a shark while surfing in Hawaii.

The 61-year-old man was surfing off Waiehu Beach Park on the island of Maui on Friday morning when a shark bit him.

Police officers who arrived at the scene first tried to control the bleeding with tourniquets.

His right leg was "completely severed just below the knee," Maui County said in a statement.

The man was alert while being treated on shore and then taken to Maui Memorial Medical Centre in critical condition.

Lightning

Lightning strike kills 14 children at Uganda refugee camp

Palabek refugee camp is home to more than 80,000 people
© OxfamPalabek refugee camp is home to more than 80,000 people
A lighting strike at a refugee camp in Uganda had killed 14 people, police say.

They say the victims were attending a church service on Saturday evening when the lightning struck. Another 34 people were injured.

An official told local radio that all those who died were children.

The incident occurred at Palabek Refugee Settlement in the north-west of the country. The area has recently seen heavy rains with thunder and lightning.

Palabek Refugee Settlement is home to more than 80,000 refugees and asylum seekers, according to the UN's refugee agency. Many are from neighbouring South Sudan.

Four years ago, lightning killed 10 children in the city of Arua, also in north-western Uganda.

The children were struck while taking a break from a game of football.

Cloud Lightning

Norway hit by floods and landslides following overnight storms

Overflowing river hits bridge in southern Norway
Overflowing river hits bridge in southern Norway
Overnight storms have triggered floods and landslides in south-western Norway, local media reported on Friday, the latest country in Europe to be hit by severe weather.

The rainfall subsided on Friday morning, meteorologist Julie Solsvik Vågane told broadcaster NRK, but flood and landslide warnings remain in place.

So far no one has been reported missing or injured due to the storms, according to police.

Access to the town of Odda - home to some 5,000 people some 60 kilometres south-east of Bergen - was cut off on Friday morning after a bridge collapsed. All other access roads to the town were closed due to the storms.

The mayor of Odda described the situation as "dramatic" when speaking to news agency NTB on Thursday evening.


Cloud Lightning

Swathes of Cyprus battered by storms

Fallen trees in Paphos
Fallen trees in Paphos
Large swathes of Cyprus were battered by storms on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, with strong winds felling trees and heavy rain sending water cascading down roads across the island.

Electricity was cut off in 13 villages and suburbs in the Limassol district on Saturday, with some areas not being reconnected until the early hours of Sunday morning, while similar difficulties were suffered by numerous villages and suburbs in Paphos.

Fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kettis said a total of 54 callouts were received on Saturday, most of which concerned matters such as trees falling into roads or requests for rainwater to be pumped away.

Meanwhile, in the Paphos district village of Konia, the fire brigade were called to rescue two people who were trapped inside vehicles on a flooded road, while it is estimated that 40 properties in the Paphos district suffered flooding.

Elsewhere, metal objects were blown onto the motorway linking Paphos and Limassol, and landslides were reported near the villages of Pedoulas and Kampos.


Tsunami

Storm Trami floodwaters near rooftops in central Vietnam - 17 inches of rainfall in 24 hours - 12 killed (UPDATED)

Floodwaters in the Kien Giang River have reached rooftop levels in Loc Thuy and An Thuy communes, Le Thuy District, causing widespread damage.
Floodwaters in the Kien Giang River have reached rooftop levels in Loc Thuy and An Thuy communes, Le Thuy District, causing widespread damage.
As of Monday afternoon, over 28,340 households in Quang Binh have been affected by the flooding, with 15,800 households in Le Thuy District, 11,540 in Quang Ninh District, and 1,000 in Dong Hoi City.

The floods have isolated 58 villages.

Floodwaters have submerged 84 locations along the province's roadways, including five points on National Highway 1, where flood depths have reached up to 60 cm. An 800-meter stretch of the Ho Chi Minh Highway, runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, passing through Truong Thuy Commune in Le Thuy District is also underwater, with the deepest point reaching 80 cm.

This marks the second major flood to hit Quang Binh, home to world's largest cave Son Doong, in the last four years, following a similar incident in October 2020.

Le Thuy, in southern Quang Binh, is the hardest hit, with over 15,800 homes submerged.


Comment: Update October 31

VnExpress reports:
12 dead, thousands evacuated amid widespread flooding in Vietnam's central province

Flooding triggered by heavy rains from Storm Trami and a cold spell has claimed 12 lives, injured seven, sunk five ships, and flooded 34,000 homes in Quang Binh Province.

According to authorities in the central province, as of Thursday, Le Thuy District reported seven deaths, Quang Ninh District four, and Dong Hoi City one. Among the injured, five are from Le Thuy and two from Quang Ninh.

By Thursday afternoon, floodwaters had receded in some residential areas, but at the Kien Giang River station in Le Thuy, water levels remained at 2.35 meters. More than 1,500 homes in Le Thuy and Quang Ninh districts remain submerged, with one village still isolated.

Over the past four days, intense rains and flooding have forced the evacuation of over 9,290 families and submerged nearly 34,500 homes across the province, with Le Thuy District suffering the heaviest damage, affecting nearly 20,000 homes.



Cloud Precipitation

Extreme hailstorms in Saudi Arabia

Snow blankets northern Saudi region
© SPASnow blankets northern Saudi region of Al Jouf
Intense hailstorms hit Saudi Arabia, creating inconvenience and many floods, "everything was whitewashed as if it had snowed very heavily"!!


Attention

Dozens of octopuses swarm harbor in Monterey, California

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Onlookers glimpsed an "incredible sighting" in a California harbor, a business said.

About 25 octopuses surfaced over the course of an hour near shops by the wharf in Monterey on Oct. 28, according to a Facebook post by Monterey Bay Whale Watch.

Employees said even after 20 years of working at the shop, they've never seen a "sight like it," the company said.

The whale watching company's guess as to why the cephalopods all came swarming to the harbor is simple - oxygen.

Millions of anchovies in the water recently have been "depleting the oxygen supply," forcing these octopuses to seek oxygen at the surface, the agency said.


Doberman

Girl, 10, dies after being attacked at home by her family's dog in North Yorkshire, UK

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A 10-year-old girl has died after being mauled by her family's dog.

The attack took place inside the youngster's home in the Malton area of North Yorkshire just after 4pm on Friday.

Neighbours rushed inside to help the girl while a relative locked the dog inside a car.

But despite paramedics trying their best to help her, she died at the scene having suffered serious injuries.

The dog has been seized and remains in secure kennels.

Cloud Precipitation

Severe hailstorm hits Capilla del Monte, Argentina

mmmmm
Shocking hail accompanied by strong storms fall in Capilla del Monte, Cordoba, Argentina.

shocking hail fall in Capilla del Monte. The phenomenon was recorded in the department of Punilla, accompanied by strong storms. On Thursday morning, towns in the Punilla area of ​​Córdoba experienced a sudden change in weather. In Capilla del Monte and on the road to Alta Gracia, hail was recorded, which anticipates storms with low to moderate precipitation in the region. The provincial Hydro-Meteorological Observatory has indicated a high probability that the rains will continue, so the population is advised to take precautions.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) issued a yellow alert on Thursday for storms affecting the north and center of the province. The agency warned that rainfall could come with occasional hail and electrical activity, especially in the departments of Colón, Punilla, Santa María and Totoral. In this regard, Capilla del Monte already registered an intense storm with hail after 9 in the morning.


Arrow Down

At least 6 killed in landslide after heavy rain in Konta, Ethiopia

The landslide scene in Konta Zone
© PDThe landslide scene in Konta Zone
At least six people are reportedly killed in Konta zone of South West Ethiopia due to a landslide.

According to the region's police commission the accident occurred in Ameya district of Konta, Chare locality.

The area reportedly received heavy rain on Thursday evening. The landslide occurred around 8 a.m. local time on Friday.

All the victims from the accident belong to two family members. One family lost four while the other one lost two family members

Five bodies have been recovered so far and a search operation is underway to recover the missing body. The Police commission did not say if there are more missing people.