Earth Changes
Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe (MSD) reported record rainfall of 203 mm in 24 hours, 13 to 14 February, breaking the previous high of 98 mm set in 1977. MSD had issued heavy rainfall warnings for Masvingo, Manicaland, Midlands Provinces and surrounding areas on 12 February.
Around 50 homes have been damaged or destroyed in the floods in Chiredzi, affecting approximately 300 people. The government has started mobilising support for the flood victims according to media reports.
"Rain has triggered fresh landslides on the highway in Panthal. The operation to remove the debris has started and the highway is likely to be restored for one-way traffic in the afternoon," an traffic department official said.
"There are around 1,700 trucks carrying essential supplies stranded on the highway. Once the highway is restored, only stranded traffic will be allowed to move from Jammu to Srinagar," he said.

Owen Green, left, and Michael Goerne were killed in an avalanche near Crested Butte on Saturday.
Crested Butte Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post the two backcountry skiers were reported missing on Saturday night near the town of Crested Butte, and tracks were discovered leading into a fresh avalanche field near the area known as "Death Pass."
"No tracks exiting the slide were found and faint beacon signals were located in the slide area," the group said.
A search and rescue group determined shortly after midnight that conditions were too dangerous, and the search was called off for the night, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. On Sunday, a team of six Crested Butte Search and Rescue members found the men's bodies.
The totals may be measured in inches, but the ski resorts have received several feet, much to the delight of skiers and snowboarders seeking fresh powder.
ABC7 news meteorologist Drew Tuma looked at the numbers on Sunday night and they are incredible.
These are 7-day totals. Squaw Valley leads the way with a whopping 109 inches of snow! That's about 15-and-a-half inches of new snow every day. Homewood Mountain Resort is right on Squaw's heels with 108 inches. Northstar comes in with 95 inches. Heavenly follows with 91 inches. Then comes Kirkwood Mountain Resort at 88 inches. Sierra-at-Tahoe received 79 inches.

A cropland lies ravaged at a field of Sijakmukh village in Saroatoli union of Baghaichhari upazila under Rangamati hill district after a hailstorm lashed the area yesterday.
Besides, at least 15 to 20 tin-roofed houses were completely damaged as the hailstorm lashed through Baghaichhari, Saroatoli, Amtoli and Khedarmara unions in the upazila.
The affected villagers claimed that the extent of loss caused by the storm is around Tk 50 lakh.
The affected villages include Sijakmukh, Mohish Pujje, Baghaichhari, Kedarmara and Battola village.
Breeding along the coasts of Eritrea and Sudan, the swarms are spreading farther afield, with at least one having crossed over the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia in mid-January and more a week later.
Swarms also went north along the Red Sea towards Egypt.
In January, Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra area was covered in a cloud of the flying insects.
"A number of dead manatees have recently been reported in the park. Necropsies are inconclusive, but biologists are considering environmental factors such as red tide and cold weather," said a Facebook post from the park.
Four bodies have been recovered, but nine manatee deaths have been reported in the park, the Miami Herald reported. Cold weather was cited as the cause in two of the deaths, but biologists have yet to learn what killed the other two.
Michelle Kerr, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, told the Herald the bodies have been found in remote locations that make it more difficult to determine the cause of death.
The 6.4-magnitude quake was reported at around 14:35 GMT with the epicentre located 47 km from the city of Namatanai, New Ireland. There is no official information about any victims or damage caused by the earthquake at the moment.
The report comes just a few months after another powerful quake struck 148 km (92 miles) south of the island of Rabaul.













Comment: NASA releases image of massive February snowpack in the Sierra Nevada compared to that of same month in 2018