Floods
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Cloud Grey

Heavy rain in Japan forces about 1million to evacuate


Press TV
Thu, 11 Sep 2014 14:24 UTC
Heavy rain in Hokkaido
© UnknownA road is covered in mud and fallen trees after heavy rain triggered a mudslide in Tomakomai, Hokkaido on September 11, 2014.
Heavy rain has hit the Island of Hokkaido in northern Japan, forcing officials to order the evacuation of nearly one million people living near rivers.

On Thursday, the torrential rain flooded roads across the prefecture, causing all transport to come to a standstill and grounding flights.

According to Satoshi Ebihara, an official in Japan's Meteorological Agency, at least 100 millimeters of rain per hour poured overnight in some parts of Hokkaido.

He said at a news conference that unstable weather is anticipated to continue throughout Thursday due to low pressure systems.

"It is a situation where landslides, flooding, and serious calamities may occur at any time," Ebihara added, calling on residents in affected areas to follow the local authorities' instructions for safe evacuation.

More than 60 people were killed in western Japan last month after heavy rain and torrential downpours triggered landslides on August 20, which swallowed dozens of homes.

Landslides are common in Japan's populated mountainous areas, where there is frequent rainfall and many of the houses are built on or near steep slopes.

Last October, multiple mudslides killed 35 people, four of whose bodies were never recovered, in the volcanic island of Izu Oshima. The slides followed a typhoon that dumped a record 824 millimeters of rain in a single day.


Comment: The following video shows JR Shinkoiwa station in eastern Tokyo being flooded Wednesday eve due to heavy rain.


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Bizarro Earth

Raging monsoon floods inundate Pakistan and India: 700,000 people told to evacuate


Miami Herald
Tue, 09 Sep 2014 19:46 UTC
floods pakistan sept 2014
Kashmiris hang on to a tree to prevent being swept away by floodwaters in Srinagar, India, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. The death toll from floods in Pakistan and India reached 400 on Tuesday and have put more than half a million people in peril and rendered thousands homeless in the two neighboring states.
Raging monsoon floods sweeping across India and Pakistan have killed more than 440 people, authorities said Tuesday, warning hundreds of thousands more to be prepared to flee their homes as helicopters and boats raced to save marooned victims.

Authorities in Pakistan say the floods, which began Sept. 3, are the worst since massive flooding killed 1,700 people in 2010. Pakistan's minister for water and power, Khwaja Mohammad Asif, warned parliament that some 700,000 people have been told to leave their homes, which could be inundated in the next four days.

Pakistani and Indian troops have been using boats and helicopters to drop food supplies for stranded families and evacuate victims. However, the challenge of the situation grows as more than 1.5 million people are now affected as the rushing waters have destroyed the homes of thousands of families.
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Cloud Precipitation

1 dead and 1 missing after flash floods hits Puglia, Italy

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Sun, 07 Sep 2014 08:09 UTC
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Severe flooding caused by several days of heavy rain in the southern Italian region of Puglia left one person dead and another missing.

The victim was in his car which was swept away by flood water near Varano Lake, in the Gargano area. The body of the victim - a 24 year old man - was found on Saturday 06 September although it is understood that the victim had disappeared on Wednesday 03 September. An elderly man was swept away by flood water in Peschici, in the province of Foggia, also in Puglia and remains missing.

Several areas in Gargano saw severe flooding after 2 to 3 days of heavy rain last week. Some reports claim the rainfall is the heaviest in 80 years, with 60cm (two feet) or rain falling in the last few days.
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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rains cause flash flooding - Coachella Valley, CA receives 2 inches of rain in one hour

Matt Stevens
LA Times
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 20:08 UTC
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© Jeff Forgeron
A destructive storm stemming from Hurricane Norbert sent flash floods cascading through Coachella Valley on Monday, trapping vehicles in water 5 feet deep and forcing dozens of rescues, officials said.

Between 7 and 8 a.m. - part of a two-hour window weather officials say was the peak of the storm - the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection made 43 water-related rescues in areas the agency covers such as Thousand Palms, Indian Wells and La Quinta. More than a dozen of those rescues dealt with residential floods, but spokeswoman Jennifer Fuhrman said she was not aware of any injuries.

Meanwhile, near the western edge of Riverside County, several vehicles were stuck at the intersection of Varner Road and Bob Hope Drive in Thousand Palms, California Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Radford said. Some were abandoned in water that stood as deep as 5 feet.

The intersection was one of several he mentioned where vehicles were trapped in water that had moved "like a white-water rapid." He estimated that at least 50 vehicles had stalled, and at least 25 collisions had occurred as some tried to drive through the standing water.

In one case, Radford said, a pickup truck was traveling through flowing water that "just took that vehicle and washed it into the desert." Pictures on local news websites and social media showed water up to car doors and a woman kayaking down a street.

"This is probably one of the worst storms I've seen since I've been here, in terms of affecting roadway," Radford said.
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Cloud Lightning

Heavy rain floods Las Vegas valley roads - cars 'floating down the I-15 freeway'


8NewsNow
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:21 UTC
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U.S. 95 at Jones Boulevard
People are being evacuated from their homes in the Moapa River Indian Reservation and Nevada Highway Patrol is reporting that cars are floating down I-15 near Moapa. There are reports of multiple swift water rescues. That area has been hammered by rain. The National Weather Service is saying there is "life-threatening" flooding.

Local law enforcement officials are reporting one dam is within three inches of overfilling. This could be the worst flooding in Moapa and the Muddy River area since 1981. The National Weather Service is reporting that Moapa has received more than three inches of rain in an hour. Moapa is around 50 miles north of Las Vegas.

Problems at the Reid Gardner generation plant has resulted in a power outage in Overton that could last until Monday evening, NV Energy reports. The flash flood emergency is also extended to Mesquite, Bunkerville, Littlefield, Virgin River campground and Coyote Springs.

Flooding has also occurred in several areas around Clark County. Firefighters responded to three swift water rescues due to flooding on Monday afternoon.

The first rescue took place at Russell Road and Jones Boulevard where a woman was trapped in her car. Another rescue happened on Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road where a man was pulled from the flood channel. Firefighters also responded to Tropicana Avenue and Torrey Pines Drive where a van was stuck in floodwaters. By the time firefighters arrived, the people were no longer in the vehicle.
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Cloud Lightning

More crazy Arizona weather - heavy rains cause one death in Tucson floods


Arizona Public Media
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:14 UTC
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© Mackenzie GreerFlooding at La Cholla Bridge
A woman has died after the car she was driving was swept away by heavy floods on the east side of Tucson, according to the Tucson Fire Department. Tucson Fire Spokesman Barrett Baker said rescue units responded to a residential area near 22nd Street and Kolb Road at around 9:30 a.m. Monday. When they arrived, the car was submerged and couldn't be reached.

The car was then swept away and traveled about two blocks before it became trapped against a bridge in a wash that had flooded over onto a major street. The water was about 10 to 15 feet high, Baker said.

Firefighters have retrieved the woman's body but have not been able to pull the car out of the wash.

Comment: 'Wettest day on record' - Phoenix suffers more major flooding from former Hurricane Norbert

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Cloud Precipitation

Flood rescue effort expands in India, Pakistan as death toll tops 350

Shashank Bengali, Parth M.N.
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:16 UTC
Inida floods
© Arif Ali / AFP/Getty ImagesPakistani villagers gather on higher ground as floodwaters enter in the Hafizabad district in Punjab province on Monday.
The death toll from nearly one week of heavy monsoon rains in India and Pakistan has surpassed 350, officials said Monday, as elite Indian troops joined an urgent rescue effort to reach residents marooned on rooftops and stranded in submerged homes.

The floods in the Himalayan region of Kashmir and eastern Pakistan, described as the worst in decades, have left thousands without food and water and destroyed homes across a wide swath of both countries.
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Cloud Precipitation

3 dead after Bulgaria sees yet more flooding

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:09 UTC
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A day of mourning has been declared in the city of Burgas, Bulgaria, today 08 September 2014, after three people were killed in floods there in the last few days. This is the fourth time in four months that Bulgaria has been hit by deadly floods.

Bulgaria was battered by heavy rainfall from Wednesday 03 September. Floods were soon to follow and by Friday 05 September 2014 as many as 80 municipalities had been affected. The heavy rain continued through Saturday 06 September.

Three people died in the floods in the Burgas district on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. All three were drowned in the overflowing Ropotamo River. Two of the victims were in their vehicles at the time.

The areas around Harmanli and Simeonovgrad were also badly affected and authorities declared a state of emergency on Saturday 06 September. Several other cities soon followed, including Primorsko, Dimitrovgrad, Radnevo and Misia. Local media say that more than 1,000 people were evacuated in Haskovo province during the floods.

In a response to the recent floods, caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov suggested that local authorities in Bulgaria have done little to prevent floods, such as improving drainage. According to local media, he said that sanctions could be imposed on those municipalities failing to carry out prevention activities against floods.

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Cloud Precipitation

'Wettest day on record' - Phoenix suffers more major flooding from former Hurricane Norbert


KPHO.com
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 09:57 UTC
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© Michael Chow/The RepublicCars are stuck in flood waters on Interstate 10 east at 43rd Avenue after monsoon rains flooded the freeway in Phoenix Sept. 8, 2014.
Record-breaking rainfall in the Valley of the Sun played havoc with early morning commuters, closed schools and caused extensive power outages. Heavy downpours early Monday morning brought freeway traffic to a crawl, closed many surface street intersections and placed the state on a flash flood watch for the rest of the day.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport reported 3.06 inches of rain since midnight, breaking the record for the date by nearly 2 inches, Ken Waters of the National Weather Service said. It marked the wettest day on record for Phoenix since record keeping began in 1895, Waters said.

Buckeye received nearly 5 inches, according to the Maricopa County Flood Control District. The National Weather Service extended a flash flood warning until 10:30 a.m. for Maricopa, Pinal and Yavapai counties.

Interstate 17 was closed at Indian School Road and U.S. Highway 60 (Grand Avenue) was closed between 51st and 59th avenues because of heavy flooding, the Arizona Department of Transportation said.

Traffic was brought to a crawl on Interstate 10 in the Buckeye area and water was up to the hoods of several vehicles and at least 27 vehicles were stalled in the standing water at 43rd Avenue and I-10, Bart Graves of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

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Cloud Lightning

More than 200 dead from floods caused by heavy monsoon rains in India & Pakistan


The Extinction Protocol
Sat, 06 Sep 2014 10:06 UTC
pakistan floods
More than 200 people have been killed in flooding caused by heavy rain across large swathes of India and Pakistan, reports say.

At least 110 people were killed by downpours in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Punjab, officials said. About 100 people also died in Indian-administered Kashmir, as the floodwaters washed away houses and triggered landslides, officials said. The region is suffering from its worst flooding in two decades.

On Thursday, a bus carrying about 50 members of a wedding party in Indian-administered Kashmir was swept into a gorge, killing dozens. The bride and groom were among those feared dead.

The full extent of the region's death toll is not clear. On Saturday, Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, told local media that "close to 100 lives" had been lost. However, local media reported that up to 120 people in the state had been killed in the floods, including at least 14 killed by landslides. Mr. Abdullah said that the army had been requisitioned to help in rescue efforts. "Now that the rain has eased, we hope that water levels will start going down," he said.
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