Floods
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Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Erika dumps torrential rain on Caribbean islands, now heading for U.S. East Coast

flooding, dominica
© Machel Montano on Instagram
Tropical Storm Erika strengthened as it dumped torrential rain on islands in the Eastern Caribbean and appeared to be headed for the U.S. East Coast early next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday.

Erika could reach hurricane status near Florida's east coast by Monday morning, the Miami-based government forecaster said.

Heavy rains lashed the small, mountainous island of Dominica with almost 9 inches reported at Canefield airport near the capital, Roseau.

Dominica's Tourism Minister Robert Tonge posted photographs and video on Facebook showing widespread flooding in the capital and urged everyone to stay inside.

Cloud Precipitation

Flood waters filmed rushing into Caracas subway station in Venezuela

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A resident of the Venezuelan capital captured video of water rushing into a city subway station amid heavy rains in the region.

Diana Valbuena posted a video to YouTube showing water rushing down the escalators and into a Caracas metro station Tuesday amid heavy rains in the city.

Commuters can be seen in the video sitting atop escalator rails to stay dry while the water flows.

Caracas Redditor frank_13 said the rain waters caused a sewage-bearing river to overflow, leading to water flowing into the subway station and other locations around the city.

The Reddit poster blamed "poor maintenance of the city" for failing to prevent the flooding.


Cloud Precipitation

Floods in North Korea kill 40, strands thousands; 6 inches of rain in just 3 hours

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© ReutersResidents attempt to clear flood debris from under a bridge in the city of Rajin in North Korea. Heavy rain in North Korea killed 40 people, stranded thousands in flash floods and caused "massive" damage on the weekend, the International Federation of the Red Cross and North Korean media said.
Heavy rain in North Korea killed 40 people, stranded thousands in flash floods and caused "massive" damage on the weekend, the International Federation of the Red Cross said and North Korean media said.

More than 11,000 people were forced from their homes or otherwise affected by the floods, which hit the northeastern city of Rajin, near the border with Russia and China, on Saturday and Sunday, Hler Gudjonsson, a spokesman for the Red Cross in Beijing told Reuters.

Rajin is the capital of the Rason Special Economic Zone in North Hamgyong Province.

"It rained really hard, and fast. On Saturday morning the city was flooded. Cars were wading through water like boats," a source who was in area when it flooded told Reuters.

It was not clear what impact the rain would have in a country that said in June it was suffering from its worst drought in a century. South Korea said in July some rain had fallen in the North, easing conditions.

Bizarro Earth

Sewage pollutes Honolulu's Waikiki Beach after floods from Tropical Storm Kilo

sewage spill hawaii
Nearly 2,000 tons of sewage has polluted Honolulu's renowned Waikiki Beach due to heavy downpour brought by Tropical Storm Kilo. Flooded with rainwater, the local sewer system spilled out onto the streets and drained into the surf.

Wastewater erupted in fountains from manholes and streamed down into the ocean through the beach area of the popular tourist destination hosting some of Hawaii's biggest hotels, Lori Kahikina, Honolulu director of environmental services, told reporters according to NBC affiliate KHNL.

The now-closed beach area is nearly 6.5 kilometers long, stretching from Kapahulu Avenue in Waikiki to Point Panic in Kakaako.

Cloud Precipitation

7 dead, 3 missing as floods and mudslides hit northeastern Turkey

Floods in Turkey
© AAArtvin on Aug. 24, 2015
Seven people were killed, 17 were injured and three were lost in floods and mudslides in Turkey's northeastern province of Artvin, the province's governor Kemal Cirit said on Monday.

Kemal Cirit said, one of the lost was a child, and the rescue teams are currently trying to reach the other two.

"Since 12 p.m. today [Monday], our coastal regions, especially Hopa, have received a lot of rain. This terriantial rain has caused mudslides, and 8 people lost their lives in the center of Hopa and its three villages," Cirit had told a private news channel.

But talking at the governorate's press meeting later on the evening, Cirit stated that seven people-not eight- had died in the floods and three had gone missing. The governor also said that 17 people were injured, five of whom were transferred to Rize State hospital.

Cloud Precipitation

Floods wash out crops worth $850 millions in Sindh, Pakistan

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The ready to harvest major and minor crops, including cotton, paddy, chilly and vegetables worth almost Rs85bn ($0.85bn) have been completely washed out by the rain and floods in Sindh, an official of Sindh Abadgar Board said yesterday.

"Almost all the summer crops planted on 2.1 million acres of riverine land on two sides of the Indus River were ready for the harvest," the president of Sindh Abadgar Board Abdul Majeed Nizamani told, adding that rains and floods wiped out the standing crops completely.

The average value of the washed out crops comes to around Rs40,000 acre, which brings the total cost to around Rs85bn.

A part of the crops planted on mainstream agriculture lands in the province have also been impacted, the farmers added.

Cloud Precipitation

Downpour pummels İstanbul, leads to flash floods

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© Cihan/ DHA/Today's ZamanPeople in Üsküdar, which was inundated with water, had difficulty walking in the streets.
A continuous downpour that began late on Saturday in Istanbul caused flash floods and disrupted traffic and daily life in some parts of the city up until Sunday afternoon.

The downpour started on Saturday evening, and the rain continued throughout the night, after which the temperature in the city returned to the seasonal norm. While some parts of Istanbul witnessed light rain, others were heavily affected by the showers.

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People who were caught out in the rain without umbrellas in Taksim took shelter under shop canopies.

Heavy rain paralyzed traffic and daily life in some areas. One of the districts hardest hit by the rain was Üsküdar on the Asian side of Istanbul. People in the district, which was inundated with water, had difficulty walking in the streets and in moving their vehicles.


Cloud Precipitation

Up to 5 inches of rain floods Bel Air, Maryland

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© Mark EnsorA swift water rescue team from the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company prepares to help a motorist stranded in high water during Thursday evening's massive rainstorm that caused an unusually heavy amount of street flooding in the Bel Air area.
A massive rainstorm that hit Harford County during the evening rush hour Thursday led to multiple rescues of motorists caught in high water at intersections in Bel Air and the surrounding areas.

More than 20 swift water rescue calls were reported around the area between 5 and 9:30 p.m.

Luis Rosa, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Friday that the heaviest rainfall was over Bel Air, which received nearly 5 inches.

He said 3 to 4 inches fell in areas such as Fallston, Darlington, Hickory and Pleasant Hill.

Rosa said radar images at the NWS' Baltimore-Washington Forecast Office in Sterling, Va. showed much of the rain falling north of I-95 between Fallston and the east bank of the Susquehanna River.


Cloud Precipitation

13 dead, 13 missing in central China floods, mudslides; one million affected

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© AFPRescuers distribute drinking water to residents along a flooded street in Wenling, eastern China's Zhejiang province, August 10, 2015.
Flooding in three central Chinese provinces has left at least 13 people dead and 13 others missing and disrupted the lives of nearly 1 million people, state media reported Thursday.

Heavy rains and flooding struck Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces starting Sunday, causing widespread damage, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Worst-hit was Sichuan's Xuyong county, where mud and debris filled streets up to the second floor of some buildings and about half a million people were affected.

Mudslides also destroyed dozens of homes and cut power and communications to the area, which lies in a flood plain at the base of steep mountains.



Cloud Precipitation

Roads closed, cars submerged as flash floods hit Union County, New Jersey

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Scotch Plains flooding
Cars were submerged and a major roadway was shut down due to flooding in the Scotch Plains, New Jersey area Wednesday afternoon.

U.S. 22 was shut down between County Road 55, Bonnie Burn Road and Park Avenue in Scotch Plains Township and Mountain Avenue in Mountainside, officials told CBS2.

All lanes were closed in both directions. Parts of the road later reopened, 1010 WINS reported, but the closure at the Park Avenue overpass in Scotch Plains remained in effect as of 9:35 p.m.

By 11 p.m., the westbound lanes of Route 22 had reopened, but the eastbound side remained closed.
Route 78 was also affected by flooding.