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Cloud Precipitation

Sri Lanka disaster update: Foreign aid arrives as flood death toll exceeds 200


Al Jazeera
Wed, 31 May 2017 17:36 UTC
Foreign aid arrives as Sri Lanka flood toll exceeds 200
Foreign aid arrives as Sri Lanka flood toll exceeds 200
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans remained away from their homes on Wednesday, as the death toll from devastating floods and mudslides climbed past 200, officials said.

Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to assist more than 600,000 people who were driven away from their homes following Friday's monsoon deluge.

"We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous response," Karunanayake told reporters in the capital, Colombo.

India and Pakistan have also deployed medical teams on the ground in some of the worst-affected areas, he said.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) confirmed the death toll rose to 202 after the discovery of more landslide victims beneath tonnes of mud in Sri Lanka's hard-hit southwest.

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Cloud Precipitation

Floods and landslides in Brazil leave at least seven dead, 35,000 homeless

Jill Langlois
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 29 May 2017 23:46 UTC
Floods in Pernambuco, Brazil
© Brazil Civil Defence via De Olho No Tempo MeteorologiaFloods in Pernambuco, Brazil on May 28, 2017.
Flooding in Brazil's northeastern states of Pernambuco and Alagoas has left tens of thousands of people homeless and at least seven people dead, authorities said Monday.

About 35,000 have lost their homes in the state of Pernambuco after nearly 12 inches of rain fell over the weekend, causing authorities to declare a state of emergency in 15 municipalities. At least three people died and two others were missing in the region of the state known as Zona da Mata Sul.

Videos sent to the local station TV Globo show a hospital in the city of Rio Formoso flooded with muddy water as employees and patients, including a woman in a wheelchair, try to leave the building.

Pernambuco Gov. Paulo Camara flew over the flooded areas Sunday before issuing the emergency degree. He noted in a post on Facebook that the damage could have been much worse had the Serro Azul dam not been completed just one month ago.

He is expected to meet with National Integration Minister Helder Barbalho in Brasilia, the nation's capital, on Tuesday to discuss federal aid and rebuilding.

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Cloud Precipitation

Update: Sri Lanka deploys thousands of troops as flood toll reaches 169


Business News 24
Mon, 29 May 2017 18:00 UTC
FLOOD
Thousands of Sri Lankan troops battled Monday to get relief supplies to nearly half a million people displaced by the island's worst flooding in well over a decade, which has killed 169 people.

The military said a lull in torrential monsoon rains had allowed it to deploy aircraft, boats and ground troops to evacuate people from flooded areas and deliver food and other essentials.

Almost half a million people have had to abandon their homes after the island suffered its worst flooding in 14 years.

The Disaster Management Centre said 169 people had been confirmed dead, most of them buried by landslides triggered by Friday's intense rains. Another 102 people are listed as missing and 88 are in hospital.

Sri Lanka is regularly hit by flooding at the start of the annual monsoon. But carpenter J. H. Siripala, who lives in one of the areas worst hit, said he had never seen it this bad.

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Cloud Precipitation

Floods bring rush hour chaos to Bangkok; heaviest rainfall event in one Thailand province for a decade

Hannah Masterson
The Guardian (UK)
Sun, 28 May 2017 21:30 UTC
Bangkok floods
© Narong Sangnak/EPAPedestrians brave torrential rain in Bangkok.

Thailand experiences the heaviest rainfall in a decade while in Russia, a prolonged dry spell results in devastating wildfires

The city of Bangkok has been inundated after a massive low pressure system encompassing North, Central and East Thailand produced heavy rainfall and widespread flooding last Thursday morning.

The district of Wang Thong Lang was hit the hardest with 169mm of rain, making it the heaviest rainfall event in the province over the last decade, while 90-130mm of rain fell across the city on average. Twenty three major roads, including Lat Phrao and Ratchada, were under more than 20cm of water, causing rush hour chaos.

In contrast, in eastern Russia and Siberia, a federal state of emergency has been declared as wildfires have been breaking out, destroying more than 8,000 hectares of land. The dry, hot weather together with strong winds encouraged the fires to spread ferociously, killing two people.

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Boat

Sri Lanka floods update: Death toll rises to at least 103 with 113 still missing and nearly 500,000 displaced


BBC
Sat, 27 May 2017 18:34 UTC
flood
At least 103 people have been killed and nearly 500,000 displaced in Sri Lanka following flooding and mudslides triggered by monsoon rains, the government says.

A further 113 people have been reported missing, a spokesman said.

Military boats and helicopters have been sent to help rescue operations.

The flooding is believed to be the worst since May 2003 when a similarly powerful south-west monsoon destroyed 10,000 homes and killed 250 people.

Rescuers had set up 185 camps for displaced people and the town of Matara in the south of the island was being evacuated because of the risk of flooding, the spokesman said.

Earlier, the head of military rescue operations Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe told the BBC that troops had reached all the affected areas and the risk to life had receded.

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Cloud Precipitation

Floods, landslides kill at least 91 in Sri Lanka; over 100 missing


Reuters
Fri, 26 May 2017 10:22 UTC
Sri Lanka landslide
© REUTERS/Dinuka LiyanawatteA military official walks through the mud during a rescue mission at the site of a landslide in Bellana village in Kalutara, Sri Lanka May 26, 2017.
Floods and landslides in Sri Lanka have killed at least 91 people while more than 100 are missing after torrential rain, officials said on Friday, as soldiers fanned out in boats and in helicopters to help with rescue operations.

The early rainy season downpours have forced hundreds of people from their homes across the Indian Ocean island.

"There are at least five landslides reported in several places in Kalutara," said police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody, referring to the worst-hit district on the island's west coast.

"Rescue operations are still taking place."

The disaster management center said 91 people had been killed and 110 were missing.

The center said 38 deaths were reported from Kalutara while 46 were reported from the central southern district of Ratnapura.

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Bizarro Earth

Record snowfall raises fears of flooding in Teton County, Wyoming

Shannon Sollitt
Planet Jackson Hole
Fri, 26 May 2017 14:11 UTC
jackson Hole Lake Dam
If you're not building the next Noah's Ark, you might be in trouble once the weather warms up and the snow melts. That was the sentiment of one audience member at a public meeting with the Bureau of Reclamation and the state engineer's office last Thursday. His worries, though not shared by local officials, at least raised important questions about the consequences of this winter's historically high snowfall.

He pointed to the water levels in Jackson Lake and the Bureau of Reclamation's apparent inaction in the face of imminent flooding. According to his estimations, the lake could fill up in as few as 10 days of heavy runoff. If enough water hasn't already been released from the dam by peak runoff, Teton County will end up under water, he argued. His proposed solution was to release as much water from Jackson Lake as possible now in anticipation of the devastating snowmelt.

But it's not that simple, says Bureau of Reclamation water manager Corey Loveland. His job is a balancing act. Releasing all the water now would deprive essential irrigation systems in Idaho down the road (err, river). They must release enough water, Loveland said, to make room for future snowmelt without running the dam dry. And that's precisely what they're doing. "We're balancing filling the reservoir with not flooding people downstream," he said.
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Cloud Precipitation

At least 25 feared killed, 42 missing due to floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka


Indian Express
Fri, 26 May 2017 12:14 UTC
Locals gather to watch rescue operation in Bellana village in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka, Friday.
© APLocals gather to watch rescue operation in Bellana village in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka, Friday.
At least 25 people were killed and 42 went missing in Sri Lanka due to floods and mudslides caused by torrential rainfall on Friday. A team of 400 soldiers have been rushed to the rescue of over 7,800 people who have been affected by the calamity.

According to a Reuters report, at least five landslides have been reported in Kaluthara, which is the worst-hit district on the west coast of the Lankan island. This is the time of the year when the island nation witnesses highest rainfall, from the month of May to September.

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Cloud Precipitation

50,000 animals dead following 6 months rainfall in just 2 weeks in Corrientes, Argentina


The Big Wobble
Wed, 24 May 2017 11:50 UTC
cow near flood
A tragic dramatic scenario has occurred for livestock farmers of Corrientes, Argentina as 50,000 animals have died due to to flooding in the area.

The province of Corrientes has lost an incredible 2.5 million hectares to the flooding with the northern parts of the province being the most affected.

More than 6 months rain has fallen in the area in the last two weeks.

It is estimated that there are 1.5 million heads of cattle throughout the affected region.

Manuel Garcia Olano, Secretary of Agriculture of Corrientes, was able to fly over the area and told reporters that "the situation is devastating.
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Bizarro Earth

Risk of natural disasters doubles since 1975

Cheyenne McDonald
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 24 May 2017 22:19 UTC
earthquake hazard map
Earthquakes were found to be the largest hazard, with the number of people potentially affected jumping from 1.4 billion in 1975 to 2.7 billion in 2015. Now, they say one in three people is exposed to the risk of earthquakes.
Billions of people around the world are now exposed to devastating natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, according to a new study.

In the last few decades, the risk has dramatically increased; the number of people living in seismic areas, for example, has increased by 93 percent in just 40 years.

The findings, compiled in the Atlas of the Human Planet 2017, reveal the global exposure to natural disasters has doubled since 1975, largely as a result of population growth and development.

Additional images
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