Floods

Flooding, landslides and power outages hit Washington state

Eric M. Johnson
Reuters
Tue, 06 Jan 2015 04:16 UTC

© Reuters/Jason Redmond
Elevated water levels of the Tolt River pass near a residence after heavy rains caused the river to rise in Carnation, Washington January 5, 2015.

An unusual burst of heavy rainfall in western Washington state caused landslides and flooding early on Monday, knocking three homes off foundations and forcing the evacuation of a nursing home, officials said.

Several landslides in rain-soaked coastal Grays Harbor County pushed muddy floodwater and debris across key state highways, county and rural roads, most of which remained closed at nightfall in and around Aberdeen and Hoquiam, the county's largest cities.

"It's not one of these snow-melt events, it's the inundation of rain over the last 24 hours," said Dave Porter, a spokesman for the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office, adding no injuries have been reported.

Drier forecasts for Monday night and Tuesday could aide emergency crews working to clear roadways, although it was uncertain when roads would be re-open, Porter said.

Comment: Devastating floods have been increasing around the globe. These bizarre weather events seem to be indicative of worldwide swings that will in all likelihood continue to become more extreme in the future. See the SOTT topic on floods for a listing of recent flood events.

Uruguay suffers severe flooding with much of Montevideo under water

Everton Fox
aljazeera.com
Wed, 30 Dec 2015 21:07 UTC

Montevideo suffers its worst flooding in more than 50 years.

Several days of torrential rain has led to widespread flooding across Uruguay. Among the worst hit is the capital city, Montevideo, much of which has been left under water.

Thousands of homes and businesses have been damaged in the process. This has been described as the worst flooding in almost a century.

Friday saw an incredible amount of rainfall with 63mm of rain falling in around half an hour. The average rainfall for the entire month of December is 78mm.

31 dead, 7 missing after Tropical Storm Jangmi triggers floods, landslides in Philippines

CTVNews.ca
Tue, 30 Dec 2014 23:09 UTC

© AP / Fruhlein Econar
Motorists drive past a fallen marker which was toppled by Tropical Storm Jangmi at Alcantara township, Cebu province in central Philippines Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014.

Flash floods and landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Jangmi left at least 31 people dead and seven missing in the Philippines, including in areas still recovering from last year's Typhoon Haiyan, officials said Tuesday.

Jangmi, packing winds of 65 kilometres (40 miles) per hour and gusts of 80 kph, dumped heavy rains Monday on southern Mindanao Island, where floods destroyed bridges and highways, sending thousands of residents to evacuation centres. The storm then pushed its way through eastern and central islands, where most of the deaths occurred Tuesday.

The government weather bureau said that as of late Tuesday afternoon, the eye of the storm was 140 kilometres (87 miles) southwest of central Iloilo City, moving west at 19 kph toward western Palawan Island.

Mayor Stephanie Uy-Tan said 12 people died when a landslide buried two vans and six houses near a mountainside highway in eastern Catbalogan City. She said voices could still be heard from one of the vans and that rescue efforts were ongoing.

14 killed and 750,000 affected by flooding, mudslides in Sri Lanka

economictimes.indiatimes.com
Fri, 26 Dec 2014 20:21 UTC

At least 14 people have been killed and 750,000 affected in Sri Lanka due to floods and mudslides caused by heavy rains across the country in the past three days as the air force deployed helicopters for rescue operations in the central hills today.

"At least 14 people are dead while 11 remain missing in Badulla," police said.

Helicopters were deployed after flash floods caused mudslides and several roads were rendered impassable due to incessant rains.

The worst affected was Rilpola town in the central hill district of Badulla where five people were killed as mounds of earth fell on homes.

100,000 flee worst flooding in decades in Malaysia

Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 26 Dec 2014 05:38 UTC

© Agence France-Presse
A boy plays in floodwaters near a petrol station in Pengkalan Chepa, near Kota Bharu on December 26, 2014

Malaysia's worst flooding in decades forced some 118,000 people to flee as premier Najib Razak came under fire after photos showed him golfing with US President Barack Obama during the storms.

At least five people have been killed by the rising waters and there appeared little respite on the way on Friday, with forecasters predicting further heavy rainfall across previously unaffected southern parts of the country.

As local media carried photographs of people wading through flood waters as deep as two metres (6.5 feet) and entire houses submerged by rising water, the government faced criticism for not declaring a state of emergency to help devastated communities.

Malaysian national park receives heaviest rainfall in more than 40 years

Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah
Reuters
Wed, 24 Dec 2014 05:48 UTC

Nearly 60 foreign tourists are among almost 100 people stranded at a resort in a Malaysian national park lashed by its heaviest rainfall in more than four decades, staff said on Wednesday, and authorities are sending boats and a helicopter to rescue them.

About 84 guests, including travelers from Canada, Britain, Australia and Romania, and 10 staff members at the Mutiara Taman Negara Resort, in the East Coast state of Pahang, were marooned after riverbanks overflowed, a resort official told Reuters.

The local fire and rescue department was sending boats and looking for a safe spot for a helicopter to land, he said.

Flash floods in Sri Lanka displace 46,000

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:34 UTC

Three days of heavy rainfall have caused flash floods in northern and central areas of Sri Lanka. Eastern, North-Central, Northern and North-Western provinces have all seen heavy rain since Saturday 20 December 2014. Sri Lanka's Disaster management Centre (DMC) say that as many as 452,960 people have been affected by floods or landslides in the past 3 days.

Evacuations

DMC say that around 46,000 people have evacuated their homes and are currently staying in temporary accommodation, including local schools and community centres. Some of the latest TV news reports in Sri Lanka have the total number displaced as being much higher at over 200,000. This as yet has been unconfirmed by Sri Lanka authorities.

Eastern province is thought to be the worst affected. According to the latest situation report from Sri Lanka's Disaster management Centre (DMC), over 30,000 people from the districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara. DMC also say that 3 deaths have occurred in the province as a result of the recent floods. One person was reported as injured in the floods in Anuradhapura, North Central Province.

The huge amounts of rain have increased river and reservoir levels across the provinces, forcing the authorities to open flood gates. Xinhua report that 29 of the big dams and 83 of the medium ones have reached spill level, forcing sluice gates to be opened, threatening people living downriver.

4 dead and 14,000 evacuated after flooding on the Thailand - Malaysia border

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Fri, 19 Dec 2014 19:18 UTC

Heavy rain and flooding has continued in southern Thailand and is now also affecting areas along the Thailand-Malaysian border. At least 4 states in Malaysia have suffered from severe flooding. Several southern provinces in Thailand have been under water for the last week.

Across the region a total of four people have been reported as killed in the floods and 14,000 people evacuated (12,000 in Malaysia). Two people remain missing in the floods in Thailand.

California storm drops 3 inches of rain in an hour

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Fri, 12 Dec 2014 15:29 UTC

The storm dubbed the Pineapple Express by some media outlets hit wide areas of northern and central California yesterday, 11 December 2014.

US National Weather Service (NWS) say that 2.91 inches (73 mm) of rain was recorded in just one hour on the Big Sur coast yesterday. During the 24 hours of 11 December, 3.55 inches (90 mm) of rain fell in the San Francisco Bay Area. For San Francisco, it was the second wettest 11 December on record:

@NWSBayArea

#SF calendar day rainfall Dec 11th was 3.40" & now 2nd wettest daily total ever for the 11th. Dec 11th '95 daily record 3.61" holds. #CAwx

Comment:

Similar to Sao Paulo, Brazil, California had been suffering from extreme drought. In both, cases extreme rains have arrived within the past week causing severe flooding. These changes in weather seems to be indicative of worldwide weather swings that will in all likelihood continue to become more extreme in the future.

Brazil drought crisis deepens in Sao Paulo and other areas

Extreme flooding in Sao Paulo, Brazil

New study finds California drought worst in 1,200 years

Extreme flooding in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Chillymanjaro
The Watchers
Fri, 12 Dec 2014 22:38 UTC

Violent storms and heavy rainfall hit Sao Paulo in Brazil on December 10, 2014, causing flooding and traffic chaos as authorities announced a state of alert in some parts of the city.

Comment: Sao Paulo has gone from one extreme to the other.

See: Brazil drought crisis deepens in Sao Paulo and other areas

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Floods

Flooding, landslides and power outages hit Washington state

Uruguay suffers severe flooding with much of Montevideo under water

31 dead, 7 missing after Tropical Storm Jangmi triggers floods, landslides in Philippines

14 killed and 750,000 affected by flooding, mudslides in Sri Lanka

100,000 flee worst flooding in decades in Malaysia

Malaysian national park receives heaviest rainfall in more than 40 years

Flash floods in Sri Lanka displace 46,000

4 dead and 14,000 evacuated after flooding on the Thailand - Malaysia border

California storm drops 3 inches of rain in an hour

Extreme flooding in Sao Paulo, Brazil

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