Earth Changes
Accompanied by gusty winds, heavy rain battered several places in the district on Thursday night, leading to the loss of human lives and damage to houses. A thunder squall with a maximum speed of 96 kmph was reported at the Jaipur International Airport.
Meanwhile, the MeT issued an orange alert at several places in the state on Friday, forecasting heavy rain and strong thunderstorms reaching a speed of 50-60 kmph. Some places could also witness a hailstorm.
Tonk District Collector Chinmayee Gopal said the 12 deaths were reported from across the Tonk district -- three in Tonk city, three in Niwai block, two each in Malpura and Devli and one each in Toda Rai Singh and Uniara. The injured persons have been admitted to different hospitals in the district, Gopal said.
A line of storms developed over Deaf Smith County on Friday night and stayed in the same areas for more than an hour, according to Storm Search 7 Chief Meteorologist Joe Puma.
This caused significant flash flooding around the city of Hereford.
Lightning strikes killed a woman and her daughter at Barwadda area of Dhanbad district, while two people died at Bahragora in Jamdhespur and Chirodih in Gumla district on Friday, the official said.
Another death was reported from Lohardagga. On Thursday seven people were killed. One death each was reported from Chatra, Hazaribag, Ranchi, Bokaro and Khunti districts and two at Hussainabad in Palamu.
The National Weather Service has issued several Flash Flood Warnings for portions of Hitchcock, Hayes, and Red Willow Counties. Other Flood Warnings are in effect for parts of Dundy, Chase, Hayes, Hitchcock, Red Willow, and Frontier Counties in Southwest Nebraska.
Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms have already produced as much as 5 to 10 inches of rain in the warned areas. Some of those areas may continue to receive additional heavy rainfall.
Captain Tyler Schmidt with NSP Troop D said the weather conditions are starting to improve allowing for the water to start to recede.
Reports in the media suggest that at least nine nomads were killed on Saturday and several went missing when a snow avalanche hit them near Shunter Pass of the Astore district of Gilgit Baltistan.
Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan mourned the deaths and directed the local authorities to start the rescue operation.
He called on the secretary interior, Director General of GBDMA, and other officials to rush to the spot.
Reports also suggest that GB Chief Minister will also visit the location.
The strong winds and dust storms are hitting the eastern provinces of Sukhbaatar and Dornod as well as the provinces of Dundgovi, Dornogovi, Govisumber and Umnugovi, with a wind speed up to 26 meters per second, Xinhua news agency reported.
In addition, the central part of the country, including the national capital Ulan Bator, and the eastern province of Khentii are now experiencing strong winds, snow storms and a sudden air temperature drop.
Strong winds, and dust and snow storms started on Thursday in northern parts of the country.
Videos circulating on social media show the impact of the storm. The fronds of palm trees sway dangerously as an entire trash can lays on its side in the middle of a road in a residential area, blown over by the wind.
It is hard to make out what is happening in some videos, as visibility has dropped to a near-zero level.
Residents have taken shelter inside buildings as the conditions outside become increasingly hostile. In the video below, a man holds doors to a store shut as cardboard boxes and other objects tear down the street in the storm.
This footage was captured by Twitter user @Hubery07 who said it was filmed from Anne's Beach in Islamorada on Friday.
"It stayed offshore and disappeared about 15 minutes later," they told Storyful, adding that no boats were nearby.
The NWS forecasted storms could bring up to 5 inches of rain to the area through Friday afternoon. Credit: @Hubery07 via Storyful
The victims was identified as Ji Phally, 24, male, and Chheav Chhean, 28, male, residents of Bangkong village, Ampil commune, Prasat Bakong district.
Sources from Prasat Bakong district authorities and the victim's family said that the victims were killed by lightning while they were walking to catch frogs.
Rasmei News
Comment: Update May 20
Xinhua reports: Update May 26
NewsKannada.com reports: