Heavy rains in Niger have killed at least 55 people and left 53,000 homeless.
The worst-hit regions are Maradi in the southeast, Agadez in the northern part of the desert and the capital Niamey.
Earth Changes
Heavy rains in Niger have killed at least 55 people and left 53,000 homeless.
The worst-hit regions are Maradi in the southeast, Agadez in the northern part of the desert and the capital Niamey.
Lightning struck MacRae Peak at 12.05pm Friday, as a storm passed over it abruptly. Pictured: Satellite image of the storm in the northern part of the state
Lightning struck MacRae Peak on Grandfather Mountain, located in the northern part of the state, at 12.05pm Friday, as a storm passed over it abruptly.
One victim had fallen and had to be airlifted to a hospital with a head injury, while another suffered from burns.
The other victims of the strike had minor injuries, according to the National Weather Service.
Date & time: 12 Aug 2021 18:35:20 UTC - 1 day 16 hours ago
Local time at epicenter: Thursday, 12 Aug 2021 4:35 pm (GMT -2)
Magnitude: 8.1
Depth: 48.3 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 58.4157°S / 25.3206°W (South Atlantic Ocean, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands)
Nearest volcano: Montagu Island (59 km / 37 mi)
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
The incident was reported at Orchard Beach just before 5:30 p.m.
Beachgoers abandoned their belongings and ran for their lives when a vicious storm cell blasted through -- seemingly out of nowhere.
Officials say a total of six people were struck by lightning while sitting on the sand, including a 13-year-old boy who is in critical condition.
All of the victims were taken to Jacobi Medical Center. The other victims are said to be stable.
Comment: Update: From the same source:
Teen dies after lightning strike at Orchard Beach
A teenage boy has died after being struck by lightning during a fast-moving, pop-up thunderstorm that rolled over Orchard Beach late Thursday afternoon.
Carlos Ramos, 13, of the Bronx died at Jacobi Medical Center.
His friends of his family are devastated.
"If lightning struck one of my children, I don't know what I'll be doing. The thing is, he was a kid, he was a good kid. Really, really good one," family friend Jamila Banks said.
Six other people were hospitalized after the incident including 13-year-old, Stacy Saldivar.
Outside the hospital Friday, Saldivar, who was at the beach with her parents and two siblings, said she and her family saw the storm clouds, left the water and gathered their things and were running to escape a downpour of rain when lightning struck just in front of her.
"I passed out and then I was shaking and blood started coming out of my mouth," Saldivar said. "There was this man that was giving me compressions."
Saldivar said her dad screamed for help.
She said she was told the lightning struck the ground in front of her, but miraculously didn't leave a mark on her body.
"Like a little tingle that really hurt a lot," Saldivar said. "I feel lucky to be alive still."
Saldivar said she and her family were not at the beach with Ramos and that they don't know each other.
Lightning strikes are very rare, but what happened Thursday in the Bronx is a reminder they can happen.
The storm dumped heavy rain and brought thunder and lightning, forcing lifeguards to clear the beach.
But several people got caught in that storm.
In addition to Ramos and Saldivar, those struck were a 41-year-old man; a 33-year-old woman; a 14-year-old boy; a 12-year-old girl; and a 5-year-old boy.
All were taken to the hospital. All are expected to survive.
Beach goers described the scary scene.
"One lightning came down, and next thing you know the cloud came above us and lightning just started falling everywhere all around us," said Ralph Gonzalez.
"You can't there's no rationalizing it. It's just Mother Nature, if you want to call it that."
The thunderstorms came with the intense heat that gripped at the Tri-State area on Thursday, heat which is expected to continue Friday.
Lightning has injured 17 people in New York City since 2001, not including Thursday's incident.
In Aug 2018, two men were struck while playing soccer in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, we covered that. During the same storm, a man was struck while standing next to a car in Jamaica, Queens.
Three people were struck by lightning, also at Orchard Beach, back in August 2014.
In August 2002, a 25-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning on the roof of a building on Broome Street in Chinatown, likely the last known lightning death in the city.
Nationwide, lightning has killed six other people this year, including a 70-year-old man on a golf course in Westhampton, New Jersey.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the highest level 5 risk alerts in Hiroshima
A landslide struck in the city of Unzen in Nagasaki prefecture early on 13 August following heavy rainfall. Two houses collapsed, burying 4 residents. As of 13 August rescue workers had located the body of one of the victims, while another was found alive but seriously injured. Two people are still missing. Search and rescue teams, including members of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, are working at the site. Areas of Unzen city are also flooded.
Record Rainfall and Evacuation Orders
Mount Unzen, near Unzen City, recorded 80.5 mm of rain in 1 hour on 13 August. A record 571.5 mm of rain fell in 24 hours and 743.0 mm in 48 hours to 13 August. The previous 24-hour high was 486 mm set in 2006, and the 48 hour was 510 mm, also set in 2006.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued heavy rain and mudslide warnings for several areas. Authorities have issued evacuation orders in 13 prefectures, affecting around 1.7 million households or 3.4 million people. The prefectures include Niigata, Toyama, Gifu, Shizuoka, Shimane, Hiroshima, Ehime, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita and Kagoshima.
© AFP 2021 / FREDERICK FLORIN
6.3 magnitude earthquake
UTC time: Friday, August 13, 2021 10:34 AM
Your time: Friday, August 13, 2021, 11:34 AM GMT+1
Magnitude Type: mww
USGS page: M 6.3 - South Sandwich Islands region
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 0 people
Gomostapur Police Station officer-in-charge Dilip Kumar Das told New Age that the deceased—Yasin, 18, son of Imran Ali of Borodadpur village, and Hridoy Oraw, 52, of Sherpur Kothadanga village—were struck by lightning while they went to work in their fields.
At least 17 people of a wedding procession were killed and 12 others injured in a lightning strike at Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj on August 4.
After being alerted, the forest officials reached the spot, gave the family an instant relief of Rs 25,000, and told them the rest of the amount would be given post-completion of necessary formalities.
This is not the first case of elephant attack in the lush green forests of northern Chhattisgarh. Including Mohitram, at least eight people have succumbed to Jumbo-attacks, and two elephants have lost their lives due to electrocution in the Dharmajaigarh forest area alone this year.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says a male and a female were walking on the beach when lightning struck.
St. Pete Beach Fire Chief Jim Kilpatrick said the pair, a 16-year-old and a 60-year-old, were behind the Tradewinds Island Grand Resort.
The male was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies performed CPR on the female until emergency personnel arrived. She was taken to a hospital where she was stable Thursday night.
The cause of the mass deaths has not yet been established and some of the cadavers have now been sent away for post mortem in an effort to find the cause.
Vlissingen council is urging people to find a dead duck not to touch it, and to keep dogs on a lead while walking on the beach.
The birds have all been found on beaches close to the port town.
Shelduck are a semi-terrestrial water fowl which eat small shore animals such as winkels and crabs, as well as grasses and other plants.
Comment: Additional information from the USGS: