Several hundred thousand acres of rich Midwestern farmland and even some urban areas near the Missouri River are at risk of flooding this summer during months of historically high water that experts fear will overwhelm some levees, especially older ones.
Engineers who have studied past floods say the earthen levees in rural areas are at greater risk.
"Most of the levees are agricultural levees. They're not engineered. They're just dirt piled up," said David Rogers, an engineering professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
So far, most levees have held along the 811 miles the Missouri travels from the last dam at Gavins Point in South Dakota to its confluence with the Mississippi River near St. Louis. The flooding thus far has covered more than 560,000 acres of mostly rural land, including nearly 447,000 acres of farmland. The water has forced some evacuations, but the extent of the damage to may not be clear until it recedes.
That's not expected to happen until the fall as the Army Corps of Engineers says it needs to continue releasing substantial amounts of water from upstream reservoirs inundated with heavy spring rains and melt from an above average Rocky Mountain snowpack.
Earth Changes
Forecasters have predicted that this summer could be accompanied by the worst flooding the United States has seen in its history, as rivers continue to run higher than flood levels and the soil is still saturated from the spring's rising waters.
The last record-breaking floods were in 1993, when $25 billion in damages occurred between the months of April and August within nine states.
According to the National Weather Service, this year, the water levels haven't receded much and the soil remains soaked so that it would take only a little bit of rain to send regions back into a state of flooding that would break the records that have already been set in 2011.
The high-risk factors for flooding are predicted to continue throughout the summer months and may break the flooding records that have been set over the last twenty years.
Heavy downpours drenched South Korea 's southern and central areas over the weekend, leaving at least 12 people dead and four others missing, said the disaster control center on Sunday.
The latest round of seasonal rains started on Friday. According to Seoul's weather agency, more than 400 millimeters of rain pounded South Jeolla Province, especially the Qunsan area, with 300 millimeters rainfall on Sunday alone.
Several rain-triggered landslides took place in South Jeolla, North Jeolla and South Gyeongsang Provinces, leaving four elders and two children dead.
A 68-year-old woman and two of her grandchildren were killed on Sunday when a landslide destroyed their home in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. The landslide also killed two other old women, aged 92 and 86, who lived in a mountain hermitage.
The latest round of seasonal rains started on Friday. According to Seoul's weather agency, more than 400 millimeters of rain pounded South Jeolla Province, especially the Qunsan area, with 300 millimeters rainfall on Sunday alone.
Several rain-triggered landslides took place in South Jeolla, North Jeolla and South Gyeongsang Provinces, leaving four elders and two children dead.
A 68-year-old woman and two of her grandchildren were killed on Sunday when a landslide destroyed their home in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. The landslide also killed two other old women, aged 92 and 86, who lived in a mountain hermitage.
A flood warning has been issued for B.C.'s Central and Southern Peace Region as persistent rainfall causes the area's rivers to rise steadily.
The B.C. River Forecast Centre upgraded the region from a "flood watch" to a "flood warning" Saturday afternoon, after 36 hours of torrential rain pummelled the area in northeastern B.C.
A flood warning is also in effect for the Upper Fraser River at Prince George, where showers are expected again on Sunday.
Saturday's downpour caused extensive damage to parts of Peace Region, an area flanked by the Rocky Mountain foothills to the west and the Alberta plains to the east.
Several major routes in the area were washed out and eventually closed, the B.C. Transportation Ministry confirmed Saturday.
A massive flood of meltwater poured out of Iceland's Myrdalsjoekull glacier Saturday, raising fears of an eruption from the powerful Katla volcano underneath, but experts said a large blast was unlikely.
"At around 3:00 am (0300 GMT) ... we had a glacial meltwater runoff from underneath the glacier," Evgenia Ilyinskaya, a volcanologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told AFP.
The giant flood took out a bridge and part of the main road that circles Iceland and prompted evacuations, but there were no reports of injuries.
The flooding sparked fears of an eruption at Katla, known to be one of Iceland's most powerful volcanoes and located just southeast of Eyjafjoell, notorious for last year's flight-halting gigantic ash cloud.
But experts said geothermal heat, and not an eruption, might be the culprit behind the flow of meltwater.
"At around 3:00 am (0300 GMT) ... we had a glacial meltwater runoff from underneath the glacier," Evgenia Ilyinskaya, a volcanologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told AFP.
The giant flood took out a bridge and part of the main road that circles Iceland and prompted evacuations, but there were no reports of injuries.
The flooding sparked fears of an eruption at Katla, known to be one of Iceland's most powerful volcanoes and located just southeast of Eyjafjoell, notorious for last year's flight-halting gigantic ash cloud.
But experts said geothermal heat, and not an eruption, might be the culprit behind the flow of meltwater.
In neighborhoods nationwide, millions of dollars worth of Norway spruce and white pine trees are mysteriously turning brown and dying this summer, and the chief suspect is a new lawn chemical.
State officials and lawn care professionals say they think Imprelis, an herbicide introduced last year for commercial use by DuPont, may be attacking pines and spruces as if they were weeds.
DuPont has sent its own teams across the country to check out complaints and, for the moment, has recommended not spraying Imprelis near those types of trees. The company says the herbicide may not have been handled properly.
So many trees have died -- from the East Coast west to Iowa -- that the damage is projected to be in the millions of dollars, and now many states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the possible link to Imprelis.
State officials and lawn care professionals say they think Imprelis, an herbicide introduced last year for commercial use by DuPont, may be attacking pines and spruces as if they were weeds.
© Martha Thierry/Detroit Free Press
So many trees have died -- from the East Coast west to Iowa -- that the damage is projected to be in the millions of dollars, and now many states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the possible link to Imprelis.
Despite this summer's record of most rainy days, the amount of water to hit the ground so far falls on the last decade's median. The record was set in 2003 when a few downpours totaled 71.1 mm of rain.
But 2011 brought with it the most rain since 2005.
Making this year seem even worse are record temperature highs that marked the summer season in 2010 and 2009.
This day last year set a record high in Terrace since the 1970s at 32.6 C.
And although summer 2009 kicked off its first few days with showers and highs of around 16 C, July 2nd brought with it a high of 25 C - the first of a five day heat wave, ending summer's second week at 28 C.
And while there's little hope for a quick turnaround in the next few days - as forecasts show chances of rain until Monday, and mostly clouds until Wednesday - not all is lost.
Based on a 10-year trend, the hottest, driest days are yet to come.
The first heat wave that comes to stay historically starts in the middle weeks of July.
But 2011 brought with it the most rain since 2005.
Making this year seem even worse are record temperature highs that marked the summer season in 2010 and 2009.
This day last year set a record high in Terrace since the 1970s at 32.6 C.
And although summer 2009 kicked off its first few days with showers and highs of around 16 C, July 2nd brought with it a high of 25 C - the first of a five day heat wave, ending summer's second week at 28 C.
And while there's little hope for a quick turnaround in the next few days - as forecasts show chances of rain until Monday, and mostly clouds until Wednesday - not all is lost.
Based on a 10-year trend, the hottest, driest days are yet to come.
The first heat wave that comes to stay historically starts in the middle weeks of July.
© suntreat
David Mixon, chief marketing officer for Seald Sweet LLC, Vero Beach, Fla., said Chile's citrus-growing areas had an unseasonable cold snap over the July Fourth weekend. Until the industry can measure the damage done to its crop, which can take a week or even 10 days, the forecast of exports to the U.S. is clouded.
Mixon said the temperatures recorded there indicate an "extremely high" likelihood of damage to the citrus, but "it's hard to predict how the fruit will react, and there's a lot of variables."
Chile's cold snap is just the latest weather hurdle for the industry. South Africa, which exported a record 1.5 million metric tons of citrus last season, dealt with a yearlong draught and hailstorms that will limit the nation's citrus exports by 5% from last year's record.
© euronews
The warning has now been lifted and there are no reports of significant damage.
Hours of torrential rain in Pinellas County began to take its toll Friday afternoon. One canal along Ulmerton Road in Largo began spilling into the Mariner's Cove mobile home park, and when it did, the water rose quickly.
Largo Police and Fire issued mandatory evacuation orders for the community of nearly 150 people. By the time the last few residents made it out, the water had already risen waist-deep in some places. People filled backpacks, grocery bags, whatever they could find, to take a few valuables with them.
