Earth Changes

US, Maryland: Heavy Rain Floods Buildings, Roads in City of Frederick

Pam Rigaux
WTOP
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 06:18 UTC

© Bill Green/Frederick News-Post
Two girls brave the rushing floodwaters Friday afternoon to walk along the path and through the covered bridge in Baker Park. Much of the park was covered by the heavy rain.

More than 2 inches of rain fell on the Frederick area Friday afternoon, flooding basements and streets in downtown Frederick, authorities said.

The brunt of the rain, 1.2 inches, fell between 3 and 3:30 p.m., said Paul Walker, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.

The sudden rainfall overloaded the city's drainage system and flooded streets, said Chip Stitley, superintendent of stormwater and sanitary sewer for the city's Department of Public Works.

The floods were concentrated in the City of Frederick, said Steve Leatherman, technical services bureau chief for the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services. Parts of Highland, East Church, Patrick and Market streets, among other roads, were closed for short periods, he said.

"It was a situation where water flooded the roads and then receded," Leatherman said.

Scotland: Panic stations as flash floods hit the Capital

V. Raimes, A. McEwen & C. Mortimer
The Scotsman
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:21 UTC

Residents and businesses describe how downpour turned streets to rivers in a matter of minutes

Flash floods brought chaos to the streets of Edinburgh as almost a quarter of the average monthly rainfall for July fell in just three hours leaving cars floating away, homes ruined and residents stranded.

The downpour turned streets in Morningside, Colinton and Oxgangs into rivers and caused an estimated £100,000 worth of damage to vehicles at a car showroom.

Emergency council workers joined firefighters to deal with the flooded areas while a number of bus services had to be diverted.

One of the worst hit areas was Balcarres Street in Morningside, where the flooding began just after 2.40pm. Shaun Robertson, 22, and Lee Craig, 26, both painters and decorators, were trapped in their van in the middle of the road for over an hour.

US, New York: Rockland storm downs trees, floods roads, cuts power to 4,000

James O'Rourke
lohud.com
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:56 UTC

Another round of thunderstorms wreaked havoc in Rockland on Friday, downing trees, flooding roadways and causing damage to power lines and a utility substation that left about 4,000 homes and businesses without power.

The thunder could be heard and the lightening seen as early as 2:30 p.m. in some areas, but the brunt of the storm didn't move across the county until about 4 p.m.

Heavy rains caused flash floods in some places, and heavy winds downed trees in others. That left some county roads impassable.

Friday evening, hours after the rains eased and the flood waters receded, Melvin and Marilyn Israel stood at the entrance to their Mill Creek Road home in New City, listening as workers pounded nails into their roof to secure a tarp.

Beneath the tarp, a gash had been left by a massive tree that had fallen.

US: Heavy Rains Soak Eastern Philadelphia, Strand Motorists

LDNews
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:10 UTC

Philadelphia - Heavy rains soaked eastern on Friday, washing out numerous roads as well as a fireworks display and a minor league baseball game.

The National Weather Service warned of flash floods in Philadelphia and its suburbs for several hours following torrential midday downpours. The storm flooded streets and stranded motorists in Delaware County, where lightning split a large tree in Ridley Township, WPVI-TV reported.

Two inches of rain fell within an hour during the late afternoon in Bechtelsville, according to the weather service.

A weekly fireworks show in New Hope was postponed because of the weather, as was the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game against the Buffalo Bison.

The rain delayed the start of the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Atlanta Braves by nearly two hours.

PECO reported scattered power outages in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

In northeastern Pennsylvania, reports from western Wayne County indicated flooding west of Honesdale near campsites. The weather service said up to 5 inches of rain may have fallen since early Friday afternoon.

Some communities in Monroe County were still cleaning up from a strong storm Thursday that downed trees and left more than 10,000 people without power.

Most customers had their electricity restored by Friday, the Pocono Record reported.

Quake jolts northeast Japan, nuclear workers evacuated

Kevin Krolick
Reuters
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 22:48 UTC

Tokyo - A strong earthquake jolted northeastern Japan on Sunday, triggering an evacuation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant but there was no sign of further damage at the facility or reports of casualties along the coast.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued, and then lifted, a tsunami alert after the 7.1 magnitude quake which hit the same area that was devastated by a massive quake and tsunami on March 11. Officials said a 10 cm wave had been recorded.

"The shaking lasted rather long and became gradually stronger," an official at Iwaki City, Fukushima told national broadcaster NHK. "I saw a book shelf shaking but nothing fell off. We are advising people not to go near the coast."

At least 21,000 people were killed or went missing during the March disaster, which also cut power to the Fukushima nuclear plant and triggered a radiation crisis.

Calvin Expected To Weaken Over The Weekend

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 21:07 UTC

Hurricane Calvin, the third hurricane of the 2011 eastern Pacific hurricane season, continued to pick up strength as it neared the west coast of Mexico late on Friday.

At 4 p.m. GMT, Calvin's maximum sustained winds had already grown to 70 mph, just 4 mph under hurricane strength. By 9.30 p.m maximum sustained winds had reached 75 mph (120 kph).

The National Hurricane Centre confirmed at 9 p.m. GMT that Calvin had achieved the minimum strength to be classified a Category One hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. However, the system is expected to weaken during Saturday. Calvin is then forecast to weaken further as it passes over slightly cooler water and dissipate to a remnant low on Monday, July 11, 2011.

The centre of Hurricane Calvin is located about 210 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and is moving toward the west near 14 mph.

US: Lake Hauto, Pennsylvania storm uproots trees, knocks out power

Jim Dino
The Republican Herald
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:58 UTC

© Eric Conover/Staff Photo
Crews work to restore power Friday on Route 54 near Lake Hauto. The storm knocked out power to more than 700 PPL customers.

Ermano Agosti described the storm as sounding "like a train" blasting through his Lake Hauto neighborhood Thursday night.

The wind uprooted trees with root bags 6 feet tall - some of which landed on homes and power lines - cut a path about 50 feet wide into a wooded area, and knocked out electricity that won't be completely restored until late this afternoon.

The storm brought heavy winds and hail into the lake development, which straddles the Schuylkill-Carbon County border and is partially in Rush Township and partially in Nesquehoning, but injured no one.

While the storm had characteristics of a tornado, it likely would not be designated as one, according to Pete Young, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in State College.

"We didn't get any indications of a tornado on the radar last night, or any indications from people there this morning," he said. "It was probably a strong line, what we call a downburst. There was severe, localized damage, and winds probably were between 60 and 80 mph, considering the way the trees were damaged."

While most residents in the development have electric service restored, some don't.

Paul Canevari, a spokesman for PPL, said crews will be working into today, as they did Thursday into Friday, to get all customers back on line.

"The outage affected 700 customers," he said. "We have restored approximately 530 customers as of 2 p.m. (Friday). The remaining 170 will be restored by 5 p.m. (today)."

On Friday, trees were either uprooted or split along nearly every street in the development. The scene looked like a log-cutting contest, with sawdust and the sound of chain saws everywhere.

US: More on the Haboob dust storm that covered Phoenix, Arizona

Jonathan DuHamel
Tuscon Citizen
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:46 UTC

The National Weather Service and AccuWeather both have post-mortems on the massive dust storm that swallowed Phoenix on July 5, 2011.

AccuWeather says, "The dust storm was estimated to reach a peak height of at least 5,000 to 6,000 (about a mile) with an aerial coverage on the leading edge stretching nearly 100 miles, according to the National Weather Service. The storm traveled at least 150 miles, much farther than the average 25 to 50 miles that dust storms typically travel." (See report and videos here. and another report and videos here.)

The National Weather Service provides a report and charts here. Some excerpts:

Scientists monitor Iceland's Katla volcano amid flooding

The Washington Post
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:39 UTC

Scientists are monitoring Iceland's Katla volcano amid signs that a small eruption may be taking place.

The acting head of the Civil Protection Agency Iris Marelsdottir, says flooding is taking place near the volcano, caused by the melting of its ice cap.

But she says the flooding may have other causes - such as high geothermal heat - so it not yet clear whether there is an eruption.

Katla typically awakens every 80 years or so, and last erupted in 1918.

Iceland, in the remote North Atlantic, is a volcanic hotspot. In April 2010 ash from an eruption of its Eyjafjallajokul volcano grounded flights across Europe for days, disrupting travel for 10 million people.

Katla sits beside Eyjafjallajokul.

Source: The Associated Press