At least 17 people have died and over 10,000 homes damaged in floods in the state of Odisha, eastern India.
Days of heavy rainfall affected the state from 25 August, with several areas recording more than 200 mm of rain in 24 hour period. Marshaghai in Kendrapara District recorded 234 mm in 24 hours to 26 August, according to India Meteorological Department.
The heavy rainfall pushed rivers above the danger mark in 5 locations, including the Subarnarekha river in Baleshwar which reached record levels of 6.94 metres on 27 August, well above the danger mark of 5.5m and beating the previous high of 6.8m, according to India's Central Water Commission (CWC).
Disaster authorities report over 1.4 million people have been affected by flooding across floods in 3,256 villages across 20 districts of the state. The affected districts include: Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Puri, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Sundargarh.
Four shelters have been opened for flood victims in Cihuatlán.
Faced with the flooding of homes and roads due to Tropical Storm Hernán, now downgraded to a tropical depression, municipal governments of Cihuatlán and La Huerta in Jalisco and Manzanillo in Colima have installed shelters to evacuate residents at risk.
In, the municipal government opened four shelters to house evacuees, Mayor Fernando Martínez Guerrero announced, and was preparing to declare a state of emergency Friday morning as clean-up begins.
The El Pedregal arroyo in Melaque overflowed its banks, causing heavy flooding, as did the Río Purificación. A sinkhole partially closed the Santa Cruz-Melaque highway and in Emilio Zapata the Cuixmala River breached its banks leading to the closing of Highway 200 in both directions.
Fear of flood looms large in the Mahanadi river system in Odisha following heavy rainfall in its upper catchment areas in Chhatisgarh and a rise in the water level of Hirakud Dam, a senior official said.
Five more people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the state on Friday, raising the deaths to nine, while 415,817 people in 10 districts are affected, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), PK Jena, said.
Forty of the 64 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam, built across the Mahanadi near Sambalpur in Odisha, were opened by the authorities on Friday to discharge excess water.
The flood in the Mahanadi river system is likely to affect coastal districts such as Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Nayagarh, another official said.
Many other rivers are in spate submerging low-lying areas and snapping road connectivity.
10 more die in Karachi, Punjab reports 13 deaths, KP 16
In Karachi 19 more people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents on Friday, bringing the total number of causalities in the port city up to 50. Nearly all major roads of the city, including I.I.Chungrigar Road, University Road, Shahrah-e-Faisal remained underwater, hampering routine life in the provincial capital.
Nine more people lose their lives in Punjab and at least six were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as unprecedented rainfall across the country has continued to cause devastation in all provinces.
In Kot Radha Kishan, five people were killed as a roof of a house collapsed in Bhotan Poroman area, said rescue sources. The bodies were retrieved from the debris and were shifted to a nearby hospital for autopsy.
A total of 251 people have died due to excessive flooding in 33 districts across Bangladesh till now.
Health Emergency Operation Center and the Control Room of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) disclosed the figure in a media statement on Friday, reports Bangla Tribune.
After analysing the control room data from the last two months, it appears that most of the deaths were caused by drowning.
Thousands of people have been displaced by flooding from lakes in Kenya and Uganda, eastern Africa.
In Uganda, the government reported that rising water levels on Lake Albert and Lake Kyoga had displaced over 8,700 people in Buliisa, Nakasongola and Amolatar districts. Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda visited affected areas on 23 August. He said:
"The devastation caused is immense. The Government of Uganda has provided initial relief to the people affected by floods and will do more. I salute our people for the resilience they have shown in the face of this natural disaster at a time when we are also battling COVID-19."
Buliisa Heritage and Information Centre said flooding from Lake Albert has been causing havoc in Buliisa for over 3 months.
Red Cross Society of Niger (RCSN) reported that as many as 868 houses were destroyed by flooding of the Niger river in Niamay that began 23 August.
A total of 2,283 households (approximately 15,981 people) have been affected with many of them displaced and taking refuge in local schools or host families. One fatality was reported.
The Niger river at Niamey reached 6.69 metres on 28 August 2020. Danger mark here is 6.2 metres and the previous record high was 6.4 metres.
At least 84 people have died and 381,770 affected by heavy rains and flooding in Sudan since the start of the rainy season in July this year.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), quoting preliminary data from the Sudan Government's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), said that more than 37,000 homes have been destroyed, forcing most of the families affected to seek shelter with relatives and host communities. Another 39,000 houses 34 schools and 2,671 health facilities have been damaged.
Seventeen of the country's 18 states have been affected. The states with the highest numbers affected are North Darfur (90,505), Sennar (42,325), West Kordofan (35,780) and Kassala (32,510).
The death toll from the recent flash floods in Afghanistan has increased to 151, as search and rescue operations continued in the affected areas on Friday.
The floods hit Parwan, Kapisa, Panjshir, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Paktia, Paktika, Nuristan, Nangarhar, Laghman, Khost and Ghazni provinces, reports TOLO News.
The worst-hit province of Parwan has so far reported 93 deaths and 110 injured.
Robert W. Felix Ice Age Now Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:23 UTC
Only a small amount of this year's wheat crop is high quality
Shades of the Maunder Minimum and the Little Ice Age.
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The UK's worst wheat harvest in about 40 years has prompted fears of higher prices of flour, and subsequently of bread and other flour-based products.
Due to heavy rain last October, only 60% of what would normally be planted went into the ground. Add in the sunniest spring since 1929, substantially drier than usual, followed by the wettest February ever recorded, and you get the picture.
Recent droughts, with the longest period of temperatures above 34C since records began in 1961, followed by August downpours and thunderstorms have reduced the quality of wheat, according to the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and reports by Sky News.