Floods
S


Cloud Precipitation

Flash-flooding hits northern Afghanistan, killing over 50 people


Voice of Russia
Sat, 07 Jun 2014 04:11 UTC
Flooding in Afghanistan
© Youtube

Flash floods have killed more than 50 people in northern Afghanistan, washing away hundreds of houses and forcing thousands to flee, provincial authorities said on Saturday.

"Heavy torrential rains followed by flash floods have killed more than 50 people in Guzargah-e-Nur district of Baghlan province," Mahmood Haqmal, spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

"We have recovered more than 50 bodies from the rubble, including the bodies of women and children, but many others are still missing," Haqmal said.

It was an initial death toll, he said, warning it could rise.

Guzargah-e-Nur district governor Noor Mohammad Guzar told AFP the death toll was 66.

"Yesterday's floods have destroyed four villages, and washed away 2,000 residential houses, agricultural fields and also killed thousands of cattle," Guzar added.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Following record-breaking late May heatwave, hail, record rainfall and landslides destroy crops, damage thousands of homes and kill 27 people in northeast China


Voice of Russia
Sat, 07 Jun 2014 04:04 UTC
Floding in China
© East News/Shen shi - Imaginechina/FOTOLINK

Alerts were raised for southern and north-eastern China Saturday after the death toll reached 27 with two missing from this week's heavy rains.

Ten people died in the southern province of Guizhou and nine in the south-western city of Chongqing. Neighboring Sichuan province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region suffered three deaths each.

The National Meteorological Center warned students taking college entrance exams to leave home early to make sure they arrive on time, as up to 80 millimeters of rain was expected over the weekend in certain regions.

Hail, floods and landslides wreaked havoc across southern areas. The weather bureau also expanded its warnings to include northern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Comment: All this following a record spring heatwave in May...

Beijing sees record high temperatures in May

Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

2014 is UK's 'wettest year ever'

Becky Barnes
BT.com
Fri, 06 Jun 2014 00:00 UTC
Image
As the Met Office issues a severe weather warning for the weekend, meteorologists say the first five months of 2014 had the most rain on record.

If you thought news of a stormy, wet weekend was disappointing here's more grey news - weather experts believe that in some parts of the country, the start of 2014 has been the wettest on record.

While the Met Office is yet to release figures, more rain than ever has been recorded in Reading, Berkshire, in the first five months of the year, say experts at the town's university, where records go back to 1908.

"The start of 2014 has been the wettest first five months of any year on record," said meteorologist Dr Roger Brugge.

"Following the wet winter, spring (March to May) has also seen more rain than normal this year.

"At the University of Reading's observatory 194mm of rain fell - about 50% more than normal - also making it the wettest spring here for six years."

Comment: 2012 was England's 'wettest year ever':

Downpours make 2012 England's wettest year on record
The Met Office said yesterday that at 1,095.8 millimetres the average rainfall across England in 2012 had already breached the previous high of 1,093mm in 2000.

With a further deluge expected over the final few days, it is also likely 2012 will be the third wettest in the UK as a whole since records began in 1910, and it still could be the wettest.
And now, just two years later, the overall UK record for annual rainfall looks set to be broken.

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Colorado: Spring flood cuts off road to Montezuma

Bob Berwyn
Summit County Voice
Wed, 04 Jun 2014 21:41 UTC
Montezuma Road in Summit County, Colorado.
© Photo courtesy Summit County Road and BridgeFlood waters caused a major washout of Montezuma Road in Summit County, Colorado.
High runoff taking a toll on roads

Frisco - Spring runoff is starting to take a toll on high country roads, with a major washout reported along Montezuma Road and minor flooding in other areas, including a partial washout on the Meadow Creek trailhead road in Frisco.

East of Keystone, Summit County officials reported a 45-washout of Montezuma Road, leaving Montezuma residents with out vehicular access. According to the county, the road is washed out 15-feet deep near the Peru Creek trailhead.

Summit County Road and Bridge Department currently has a team in Jackson County retrieving a temporary bridge, with no definite schedule for its arrival. The road and bridge team onsite is also working on alternate solutions if the bridge cannot restore access.

Currently, the only access to and from the Town of Montezuma by Montezuma residents is by foot. The hike is about 30 minutes long. Montezuma currently has power and limited Internet access. Excel Energy is onsite and monitoring the situation.

On Tuesday afternoon at 2:15 pm the Summit County Sheriff's Office ordered a voluntary evacuation of the Town of Montezuma. An estimated 10 - 12 people have evacuated from the town. Approximately 20 people have chosen to stay in Montezuma.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Images of heavy flooding in China


The Economic Times
Wed, 04 Jun 2014 06:23 UTC
Image
Residents wade through flood water along a street amid heavy rainfalls in Zengcheng, Guangdong province on May 23, 2014.

Flooding in China over the past week has left many dead and many more missing, leaving almost half a million people homeless. The seasonal rains have fallen especially hard on the country's manufacturing hub of Guangdong province near Hong Kong and more recently, on southwest China's Images of heavy flooding in China.

China's worst floods in recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, most of them along the Yangtze River, China's mightiest.

Here is a medley of some of the most astounding images from the floods that has swept southern China.

Image
Commuters and a pedestrian manoevering their way through floods water in Liling, central China's Hunan province after heavy storms hit the city on May 25, 2014.

Image
A taxi is trapped by flood water that washed away parts of a road in Pingba county in southwest China's Guizhou province on June 3, 2014.
Read More...
Blue Planet

Best of the Web: Signs of change: Video round-up of extreme weather and seismic activity in May 2014

HawkkeyDavis
YouTube
Sun, 01 Jun 2014 08:59 UTC
Image
Record flooding in the Balkans last month
Large scale disasters continue to strike with regularity, causing catastrophic damage to multiple areas around the globe, and leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced. Rare, strange, unusually extreme and 'biblical' weather conditions have taken place the past week or so. Also included are some dramatically breathtaking weather events caught on video last month.

Thanks for watching and stay safe! Have a plan in order!

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Unusual flood images as heavy rain pounds İstanbul


Today's Zaman
Mon, 02 Jun 2014 15:24 UTC
Istanbul Flooding_1
© Photo taken from Twitter
Thousands of social media users posted unusual photos of floods in İstanbul as heavy rain wreaked life havoc in Turkey's financial heartland.

Üsküdar and Ümraniye coasts in Anatolian side of İstanbul inundated with water and people were seen walking and vehicles swimming through the water.


Heavy rain also significantly disrupted traffic and daily life in İstanbul.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

4,000 houses are flooded and 7,600 people evacuated in Siberia after 4 days' worth of excessive precipitation


The Voice of Russia
Sat, 31 May 2014 13:45 UTC
siberia flooding
© RIA Novosti
An emergency situation regime has been issued in the Republic of Altai on Friday over floods caused by excessive precipitation in the past four days, the republic's branch of the Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass. Nearly 4,000 residential houses are partially flooded in Siberia, with over 7,600 people evacuated from dangerous areas, said the head of the National Crisis Situation Management Center under Russia's Emergencies Ministry, Oleg Voronov.

Rescue teams of the Russian Emergencies Ministry (EMERCOM) and local authorities have organised evacuation of the population from flooded houses with 119 people taken to temporary shelters and 406 housed at their relatives'.

"The floods have destroyed 12 bridges - seven for vehicles and five for pedestrians, thus transport communication with eleven villages has been disrupted," the EMERCOM said.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Images of Altruism: Risking lives to save animals from Balkans floods


RT
Sat, 24 May 2014 00:00 UTC
Image
© AFP/Andrej IsakovicA Serbian emergency services worker evacuates a dog from floodwaters in the town of Obrenovac, 40 kilometers west of Belgrade, on May 16, 2014
Unprecedented floods have raged across the Balkans affecting over a million people. Fleeing in panic, in packed boats and trucks, many owners could not bring their animals along - but others courageously risked their own lives to save beloved pets.


Comment: See also:

Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Floods wipe out entire towns in Balkans


Newsweek
Wed, 21 May 2014 12:35 UTC
Image
© Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Flooding and landslides destroyed homes in Krupanj, Serbia. At least 49 people have been killed already by the worst floods in central Europe for a century.
Serbia on Tuesday declared three days of national mourning and reported another death in the worst rainfall to hit the Balkan region in living memory, even as the rising River Sava threatened more havoc.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the death toll in the town of Obrenovac, southwest of Belgrade, alone had reached 14.

At least 40 people have died in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, after days of the heaviest rainfall since records began 120 years ago caused rivers to burst their banks and triggered hundreds of landslides.

On Serbia's border with Bosnia, the mayor of Mali Zvornik said an "entire hill" was threatening to slide into the River Drina and flood the town and neighbouring Zvornik. Obrenovac was almost deserted, evacuated by police and soldiers on fears of a new flood wave.

In northern Bosnia, the Sava broke sandbag defences overnight and flooded several villages near the town of Orasje.

The government in Bosnia says more than 1 million people, or a quarter of the population, have been affected by the flooding and landslides, comparing the destruction to that of the country's 1992-95 war.

Comment: The floods have been unprecedented since records began almost 120 years ago. Homes have been submerged and many destroyed by landslides. People are worried they not be able to return to their villages.
Balkans floods trigger Bosnia's worst exodus since war - deathtoll rises to at least 47
Bosnia, Serbia hit by worst flooding in 120 years
Bodies pulled from submerged homes, thousands evacuated in Balkans 'worst ever' flooding

Read More...