Floods
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Tornado1

Eleven dead and hundreds of thousands without power as storms and tornadoes sweep across US

Jane Dalton
The Independent
Sun, 12 Jan 2020 07:21 UTC
The trailer home of an elderly couple in Louisiana was demolished in high winds
© APThe trailer home of an elderly couple in Louisiana was demolished in high winds
At least 11 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes hit by power cuts as storms sweep across parts of the US south and east, bringing snow, hail and hurricane-force winds.

More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled as unrelenting rain and gales lash seven states along the east of the country from Texas.

Forecasters warned more than 18 million people remained at risk of tornadoes and flooding, and more snow was on its way.

Golfball-sized hail and up to 5ins of snow fell on Friday night and early Saturday as the storms pushed through the southeast and Great Lakes into Maine, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Firefighters found the bodies of an elderly couple near their demolished trailer in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Their home had been carried 200ft from its foundations amid 135mph winds.


Comment: More than 1,000 Chicago flights canceled due to severe winter weather

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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy torrential rains kill 41 people in Luanda, Angola


AfricaNews
Sat, 11 Jan 2020 11:23 UTC
floods
41 people have died following heavy torrential rains in the Angolan capital, Luanda on Friday.

The government said 12 out of 18 provinces were hit by a violent downpour which began in the early hours of Monday and caused widespread destruction.

"Here in our area it's not going well, the rain came down hard. Many houses are flooded. We have no means of transport, everything is bad. We ask the authorities to come and see this situation. Many representatives are passing through but everything is really bad, we don't know how to do it", Hernani João Panda, a resident of Cazenga said.

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Cloud Precipitation

Historic flooding in Israel kills 7 as 50-year rainfall record broken in North, 76 years in South

Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman
The Jerusalem Post
Thu, 09 Jan 2020 08:13 UTC
Flooding in Nahariya
© Flash90Flooding in Nahariya

Israel broke a more than 50-year record for the highest amount of rainfall in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Israel Meteorological Service, as the heavy rains that have swept the nation over the last two weeks are expected to continue through Friday.

Emergency services remain on high alert across the country, and municipalities have put special measures in place, from positioning sandbags in key areas to clearing drainage systems, in an effort to prevent further casualties or damage.

In the northern coastal plain and Ramot Menashe, some 350 to 400 millimeters have accumulated over the last two weeks, and more than 400 mm. fell in the Western and Upper Galilee - in some areas reaching as much as 450 mm.

The service reported that this amount of rainfall over a two-week period is highly unusual. Since it began taking official rain measurements 80 years ago, such large quantities of rain have been measured in northern Israel only twice: in December 1951 and January 1969.

A record was also broken in southern Israel where, according to the meteorological service, some 122 mm. fell, breaking a 76-year-old record.

According to the Israel Insurance Association, about 45,000 claims have been made so far, totaling more than NIS 1.5 billion in damages. On Thursday, Interior Minister Arye Deri said that the government would invest NIS 5 million to assist with immediate needs.

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Cloud Precipitation

All-time record as Cyprus dams overflow

Evie Andreou
Cyprus Mail
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 17:30 UTC
The main road in Kalavassos where water from the overflowing reservoir is following the original course of the river from before the dam was built
© Christos TheodoridesThe main road in Kalavassos where water from the overflowing reservoir is following the original course of the river from before the dam was built
The island's dams have never overflowed so early in the year, the Water Development Department said on Wednesday as two more of the largest reservoirs reached full capacity and water flooded over the dam walls.

Kouris and Evretou reservoirs overflowed between Tuesday and Wednesday while Kalavassos residents woke up to find a river where a road had been and more than 10 homes had to be evacuated.

Τhe Polemidia reservoir overflowed on Wednesday for the second year in the row.

Several smaller reservoirs, mainly in Paphos, have also reached capacity in recent days.

According to senior engineer at the WDD Marios Hadjicostis this is the first time that water reserves have been so high in January, forcing dam after dam to overflow. This is down to a combination of factors: the heavy rainfall this year, but also the existing high water levels at the start of the rainy season in October.

"Usually the dams overflow around March or April but this year because of the high water reserves due to last year's rainfall we had overflows in January," Hadjicostis told the Cyprus News Agency.

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Cloud Precipitation

Storms, floods and heavy snowfall strike across Turkey, 2 dead


Daily Sabah
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 19:15 UTC
Floods hit the southern province of Mersin
© AAFloods hit the southern province of Mersin at the beginning of the week.
Storms, strong winds and heavy rain have battered Turkey for the past two days, disrupting daily life everywhere from Istanbul to Mersin, where two people were killed in floods

A harsh winter has arrived in full force across Turkey this week with no improvements to the bad weather expected until at least Friday in most regions.

A mix of storms, strong winds, rain and snow took its toll on daily life from the western to the southern regions. In the Mediterranean province of Mersin, two people were killed in floods and landslides.

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Cloud Precipitation

Two die in flooded elevator in Tel Aviv after record rainfall hits central Israel


Yahoo News UK
Sat, 04 Jan 2020 07:07 UTC
Cars submerged on a Jaffa street after central Israel is battered by downpour, January 4, 2020
© Screen grab via Ruthi Lerer via Channel 13Cars submerged on a Jaffa street after central Israel is battered by downpour, January 4, 2020
The Israeli city of Tel Aviv was severely flooded on Saturday (January 4th) after record rainfall.

A video showed severely flooded streets in the city centre and one restaurant in which staff were wading through water.

According to the Ynet news site, 71 millimetres of rain fell in Tel Aviv over the course of a two-hour period.

One person was killed in a parking garage after becoming trapped in a flooded elevator, according to local media.


Comment: The Times of Israel reports that a man and a woman were killed in the basement level of a residential building in the south of Tel Aviv on Saturday, after becoming trapped in a flooded elevator during heavy storms. The two apparently drowned.

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Ice Cube

Ice builds along the rushing Missouri River in Bismarck, North Dakota


MSN
Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:10 UTC
ice river
North Dakota resident Mike Odegaard captured video of an ice jam that formed through Hoge Island on the Bismarck side of the Missouri River on New Year's Day.

The video shows ice sheets piling on the shores of the river bank.

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Cloud Precipitation

At least 5 dead and thousands affected by floods in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique


Floodlist
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 21:27 UTC
bridge over Montepuez river in Cabo Delgado destroyed by the floods
© Zenaida MachadoBridge over Montepuez river in Cabo Delgado destroyed by the floods
Severe weather including heavy rain and flooding has left 5 people dead in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique.

Local media, quoting officials from Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades (INGC), said that Cabo Delgado Province saw heavy rain and strong winds from around 26 December, 2019. As of 31 December, at least five people had died, 51 injured, 1,700 houses damaged and around 8,600 people affected. Schools were also damaged, affecting around 1,500 students.

Local TV reported that the Messalo, Megaruma and Montepuez rivers were all above flood alert, endangering over 60,000 people living close to the river banks.
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Cloud Precipitation

Back-to-back wettest years on record for the Tennessee River basin

Robert W. Felix
Ice Age Now
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 20:55 UTC
damn
© TVA
Wettest year on record two years in a row.

It's official, 2019 was the second wettest year on record for the Tennessee River basin with 66.47 inches - 2018 was the wettest with 67.02 inches.

Previously, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said 2018 was the wettest on record for the 41,000 square-mile Tennessee River Valley.

When you realize that the entire state of Vermont has only 9,263 sq miles, you begin to realize how big an area we're talking about here.

The two wettest years on record, back-to-back!
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Cloud Precipitation

'Not ordinary rain': Indonesian capital Jakarta inundated, death toll hits 53, 170,000 people displaced - UPDATES


The Express Tribune
Wed, 01 Jan 2020 11:17 UTC
A woman paddles through flood waters on an inner tube in Bekasi, near Jakarta.
© AFPA woman paddles through flood waters on an inner tube in Bekasi, near Jakarta.
Four people died as Indonesia's capital was hit by flooding, a disaster agency official said Wednesday, while local media reported landslides sparked by torrential rain on New Year's Eve had killed several more residents.

Electricity was switched off in hundreds of waterlogged neighbourhoods across Jakarta, home to about 30 million, with some train lines and one of the city's airports also shut.

A 16-year-old was electrocuted by a power line, while three more people died of hypothermia, said Jakarta disaster management agency head Subejo.



Comment: Update 2 Jan

The BBC reports:
At least 21 people have died in flooding in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, after the city had its most intense rainfall for at least 24 years.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) measured 377 millimetres of rainfall in a day at an airport in East Jakarta.

That's the most most rain in a single day since at least 1996, when records supplied by the agency began.

"The rain falling on New Year's Eve... is not ordinary rain," said the agency.

The agency said the intensity of the rain was due to several factors including the monsoon season as well as a high amount of water vapour in the air affecting cloud formations over Java island.

The heavy rainfall is expected to continue until the weekend.

Elsewhere in East Jakarta, 335mm was recorded, while in Bekasi, further east, 259mm fell.

Rainfall above 150mm per day is considered extreme by the agency.

Maximum rainfall intensity during major Jakarta floods
jakarta rain
© Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG)
The intense rain began on New Year's Eve and continued through the night leading to parts of the city being submerged and landslides on the outskirts.

The victims ranged in age from 8 to 82. Some died of hypothermia, while others drowned or were killed by landslides. Two of the dead are from Lebak, south-west of the capital.

One 16-year-old boy was electrocuted by a power line.
Update 3 Jan

Floodlist reports:
As many as 47 people have now died as a result of the massive flooding in Jakarta Metropolitan Area in Indonesia on 01 January, 2020. Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that 409,000 people have been affected by the floods, with over 366,000 of them in Bekasi City.

Thousands have been displaced after massive flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia, 01 January 2020.
© BNPBThousands have been displaced after massive flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia, 01 January 2020.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported 11 deaths in Bogor City, 11 in Bogor Regency, 7 in East Jakarta, 7 in Lebak Regency, 3 in Depok City and 3 in Bekasi City. Other fatalities occurred in Tengarang, South Tangerang, Bekasi Regency and Central and West Jakarta. One person is still missing in Lebak Regency. BNPB said the deaths were a result of hypothermia, electric shock, landslides and drowning in flood waters.


Dozens of locations across Jakarta Metropolitan Area were flooded. As of 02 January, authorities reported that flooding had started to recede in some areas. The number of displaced has fallen from an estimated 62,000 people to around 22,000. Meanwhile search and rescue teams continue to rescue dozens of people trapped in flooded buildings in affected areas.

BNPB said that Indonesia's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi - BPPT) plans to use weather modification technology in an attempt to reduce the rainfall in the Greater Jakarta area to prevent additional flooding.
Update 4 Jan

The death toll has reached 53, with 170,000 displaced.

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