Floods
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Venice 'high water' floods 70% of city

Tom Kington
The Guardian, UK
Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:00 UTC

Venetians direct anger at forecasters after 'exceptional and unpredictable' rise in sea waters floods homes and businesses

Tourists attached plastic bags to their legs or stripped off to take a dip in St Mark's Square in Venice on Sunday as rising sea waters surged through the lagoon city. High water measuring 1.49 metres (5ft) above the normal level of the Adriatic sea came with bad weather that swept Italy at the weekend, causing floods in historic cities including Vicenza as well in the region of Tuscany 250 miles further south.

Venice's high water, or "acqua alta", said to be the sixth highest since 1872, flooded 70% of the city and was high enough to make raised wooden platforms for pedestrians float away. The record high water in Venice - 1.94 metres in 1966 - prompted many residents to abandon the city for new lives on the mainland.

Venetians bombarded Facebook with moans about the city's weather forecasters, who had predicted just 1.2 metres of water on Saturday, before correcting their forecast at dawn on Sunday.

"How come the people from the council who put out the wooden platforms were predicting 150cm?" asked Matelda Bottoni, who manages a jewellery design shop off St Mark's Square, which floods when water reaches 105cm. "Many residents and shopkeepers had gone to the mountains for the day and did not have time to rush back."

Bottoni is so used to floods she has installed waterproof furniture and an angled floor. "I cannot keep the water out, but at least I can make sure it goes straight back out when it recedes," she said.

Floods threaten Eluru, Vijayawada, India

The Hindu
Sat, 03 Nov 2012 22:15 UTC

Long after it has crossed the coast, cyclone Nilam continues to make its impact felt as torrential rainfall under its influence threatens to inundate outlying areas of two cities - Vijayawada and Eluru - in Andhra Pradesh.

Vijayawada received 17 cm of rain since Friday evening, constituting nearly 20 per cent of its annual rainfall. This has forced the authorities to suspend train and bus services.

Flood waters entered Vidhyadharapuram, HB Colony and Kabela in Vijayawada. Although the rain had stopped, water did not recede as Budameru, a stream, was discharging 8,000 cusecs of water. Drains in Vijayawada that empty into Budameru were blocked due to silting. Municipal Commissioner G. Bhaskar said that many areas in One Town were inundated as garbage had blocked the drains.

All the 70 gates of Prakasam Barrage across the Krishna were lifted and 49,000 cusecs of water was being discharged in the morning. The flow, however, came down to 29,000 cusecs by noon.

Venice flooded by highest tide since 2010

RT.com
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:46 UTC

Water levels rose to critical levels overnight in Venice, as a high tide forced tourists to wait it out in knee-deep water. The city was put on high alert as water was not expected to recede for at least 15 hours.

Over half the city was flooded, with water reaching above 140cm, making it the highest tide since December 2010.

Chioggia, a town on the southern edge of the Venice lagoon, was the worst hit, with water levels reaching 160cm.

The flood was caused by wind and rain combined with periodic tidal phenomenon unique to the region, AFP reported.

Superstorm: Part of famed Atlantic City boardwalk on verge of collapse

Aubrey Whelan and Amy S. Rosenberg
Philly.com
Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:26 UTC

New Jersey - Hours before the worst of Sandy was supposed to come ashore, conditions in Atlantic City were already quickly deteriorating on Monday morning, with major street flooding and authorities reporting that the north end of the boardwalk is already on the verge of collapse.However, conditions were poor, making it difficult to travel to the area.

Massive waves pounded the beach and the entrances to the boardwalk were flooded and impassable. Three shelters are already reported full as Atlantic Avenue was already flooded with three feet of water at 7 a.m. and it was increasingly impossible to drive. Strong winds battered the boardwalk making it hard to stand. Emergency workers tried to get some of the homeless to leave but a few stubbornly stayed on their benches, at least until the worst of the storm arrives later today.

Winter floods are on the way to Devon and Cornwall

thisisnorthdevon.co.uk
Sat, 20 Oct 2012 03:16 UTC

The soggy aftermath of Britain's record-breaking wet summer will increase the risk of winter floods, say experts.

Months of monsoon-like weather has left the ground unusually waterlogged for the time of year.

Under the present conditions, any spell of heavy rain might be enough to cause further serious flooding like that which swamped many homes and businesses this summer in the Westcountry and across Britain.

In contrast to last winter's drought, November to April is traditionally the wettest time of year, when soils around most of the country are close to saturation. Much of the land in the Westcountry remains usually waterlogged for the time of year - putting areas of the region under further risk of flooding.

Homeowners and businesses have been warned to prepare for more flooding misery in the region. About a month's worth of rain has already fallen in Devon and Cornwall during the first half of October.

Helen Chivers, of the Exeter-based Met Office, said: "The ground is very saturated following the unusually wet summer. Therefore at the moment there is a heightened risk of flooding.

"But things can change very quickly and we are expecting a lot of dry weather over the next week."

She said the Met Office does not expect an "unusual" period of rain over the month.

Average rainfall nationwide in November is 144mm.

Rail line closed for second time as floods hit Cumbria

BBC News
Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:33 UTC

Heavy rain has caused a landslip on a stretch of rail line in west Cumbria where a train was derailed six weeks ago. Services were halted after part of an embankment collapsed on to the Sellafield to Whitehaven line near St Bees. No-one was hurt. Concrete barriers put in place after a similar incident in August failed to prevent the line being damaged.

Elsewhere, Whitehaven and Egremont are among areas to have suffered flooding. Network Rail said buses were being used for passengers travelling between Sellafield and Whitehaven, with the line expected to remain closed until Thursday. Spokesman Keith Lumley said: "Unfortunately we're in exactly the same situation as we were last time.

"The earth has slid down from the top of the embankment, the majority of which has been caught by concrete barriers we put in after the last slip.

Commuter hell as flood chaos sweeps Dublin, Cork

Conor Feehan and Niall O'Connor
Herald.ie
Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:27 UTC

Chaos reigned this morning after the country downpours and high winds lashed overnight. Torrential rain and high winds caused havoc in Dublin and Cork -- but conditions were expected to improve by this evening. Heavy rain from around 3am was too much for the drainage systems to cope with, causing water to build up on several major roads, particularly in south and west Dublin.

And it was a similar story in Cork this morning where city streets were under as much as two-feet of water as high tide blighted the city.

Impassable

In Dublin, AA Roadwatch reported serious flooding around the Tallaght area, with the road impassable at the Jobstown Inn, and from the Old Bawn junction on the N81 Tallaght Bypass down to the M50 junction.

Several cars stalled on the N81 after driving through flooded areas. Traffic in the area was heavy inbound during morning rush hour as motorists queued to try to negotiate the floods by driving one-by-one on the higher footpaths beside the affected roads.

Further west on the N81 there was heavy flooding from Brittas to Tallaght.

Flash floods, tornadoes in southern Spain claim nine lives

Jennifer Cockerell, David Mercer
The Independent
Mon, 29 Oct 2012 00:00 UTC

A 52-year-old British woman has been reported missing in severe floodingwhich has so far claimed nine lives in southern Spain, authorities saidtoday.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes after torrential rain led to flash flooding in the Andalucian provinces of Malaga, Almeria and Murcia.

The woman, who has yet to be named, was reported missing in Almeria, a spokeswoman for the regional government of Andalucia said.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was looking into the reports as "a matter of urgency".

Heavy downpours and resulting high waters have killed five people in the province of Murcia, three in Almeria and one in Malaga. Five people originally declared missing had been found alive.

Spain floods: Eight die in Malaga, Almeria and Murcia

BBC News
Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:08 UTC

At least eight people have died after heavy rains triggered flash floods in southern Spain, officials have said.

The strength of the floods overturned cars, closed roads, damaged homes and forced hundreds to leave their properties.

The hardest hit areas were the provinces of Malaga and Almeria, and the Murcia region.

Further north in the town of Gandia, a tornado struck a temporary fairground, injuring 35 people, 15 seriously.
'Hit hard'

At least 600 people had to be evacuated from their homes in the Andalucia region, which contains Malaga and Almeria, officials said.
Map

Britain experiences month's worth of rainfall in 24 hours (again)

Huffington Post, UK
Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:29 UTC

The wet and windy start to week has persisted into Wednesday with more than a month's worth of rain falling in some places across the UK. Britain has been hit with the most extreme September weather for decades, with hundreds evacuated from their homes and fire and rescue teams battling against the floods to help residents of some of the worst-hit areas.

Beautiful but dangerous: flood waters in the fields around Tewkesbury Abbey

Cars sailed down streets after being abandoned by motorists, and a block of flats in Newburn, Newcastle were left with their foundations exposed as the town struggled with another day of heavy rain.

Additional images

Comment: Tewkesbury again?!

30 April 2012: Ferocious storm closes wettest April ever in UK