Floods
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Cloud Lightning

Tropical storm in Philippines kills 11, forces 40,000 out of homes


CNN
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:12 UTC
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Children pedal their bicycle down a flooded street after heavy rains in Valenzuela City, north of Manila on June 23, 2011.
Heavy rains and high winds from Tropical Storm Meari lashed the Philippines Friday, killing at least 11 people and displacing 40,000 people, an emergency management agency said.

The storm has been menacing the Philippines since Tuesday, when 11 fishermen went missing along the coast of Luzon, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The storm was forecasted to move Saturday toward Basco, Batanes, the smallest of the Philippine provinces, the council said. By Sunday, the storm was expected to be 370 kilometers (229.9 miles) west northwest of Okinawa, Japan, the agency said.

Flash floods were reported in a number of Philippine communities, including Ligao City where one woman was reportedly washed away by floodwaters, the council said in a statement posted on its website.
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Bizarro Earth

7 killed, 3 missing as bad weather hits Vietnam


The Associated Press
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:04 UTC
Officials and state media say flash floods and whirlwinds have killed seven people, left three others missing and injured 60 in northern Vietnam.

Disaster official Tran Van Nham of Yen Bai province said Friday that authorities have recovered the body of a 20-year-old man and are searching for three people who were swept away by flash flooding while walking across a stream Thursday.

In the northern port city of Hai Phong, a woman was killed Thursday by a falling tree, another person died when a house collapsed and four others were killed when they were struck by lightning, according to a statement from the Hai Phong Department for Flood and Storm Control.

It said the whirlwinds injured 60 people, and high winds destroyed or damaged more than 900 homes.
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Cloud Lightning

Connecticut, US: Heavy Rains Cause West Haven Flooding Issues

Jeff Saperstone
NBC
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:52 UTC
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Afternoon thundershowers caused heavy rain, resulting in several streets, backyards, and businesses to have flooding problems.
Heavy rain on Thursday afternoon caused flash flooding in many spots around Connecticut.

Several streets in the City of West Haven were washed out and some homes and businesses suffered minor flooding.

Richard Booth's backyard was under several feet of water.

"This is twice this year so far," Booth said. "It drowned out the garden and took over the whole backyard."

Thursday was not the first time his yard has flooded. A berm the city installed several years ago causes the water to collect there, he said.

West Spring Street was one of the hardest hit streets. There was at least a foot and half of water in the road as cars and buses tried to drive through and neighbors tried to clear out storm drains as the rain continued to fall.
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Cloud Lightning

New York, US: Heavy rain, flash flooding hit Tier


pressconnects
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:59 UTC
National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for northern Broome County and southern Chenango County until 2:45 a.m. Friday.

According to the NWS, a rainstorm dumped about 1 inch of rain in the immediate Binghamton area by 9:30 p.m. Thursday, with localized rainfall amounts of up to 4 inches in parts of northeastern Broome County.

Serious flash flooding as a result of the heavy rains caused the closures of several state, county and town roads Thursday night, according to the Broome County Emergency Services Office.
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Cloud Lightning

US New York: Heavy Rains Floods, Disrupt Power in Westchester, Putnam

Greg Clary and James O'Rourke
lohud.com
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:31 UTC
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© Vincent DiSalvio / The Journal NewsVehicles were trapped in a municipal parking lot entirely flooded along with Memorial Park in Spring Valley June 23, 2011.
Rockland County took the brunt of Thursday's fierce thunderstorms, but the rest of the region had to withstand waves of rain that washed out local roads and rail lines, popped manhole covers and pushed high school graduations indoors.

Scattered power outages, mostly in northern Westchester and Putnam counties, caused some schools to send students home early.

With a chance of showers and thunderstorms again today after 10 a.m., the weather service has issued a flash flood watch through tonight for the entire tri-state area. Full forecast for today and the weekend.

Downtown Nyack looked like a small version of the Mississippi Delta, with a river running down Broadway faster than cars and trucks usually travel.

"We've been hit pretty hard," Rockland Fire and Emergency Services Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. said of the downpour that started just before 11:30 a.m. Thursday. "The ground being saturated makes matters worse. We're getting pounded."

The rain that fell so ferociously and the flooding that followed was likely the worst since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, leading Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef to declare a state of emergency.
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Attention

More than 53,000 Flee Storm in Philippines


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Noel Celis/Agence France-PressePedicabs pedal customers down a flooded street after heavy rains in Valenzuela City, north of Manila.
More than 53,000 people were in evacuation centres in the Philippines on Friday after fleeing their homes following days of torrential rains caused by Tropical Storm Meari, officials said.

More than 7,000 people fled their homes overnight in the capital Manila alone as the storm added to seasonal monsoon rains, bringing massive flooding to city streets, the civil defence agency said.

The swift evacuation of Manila residents as the waters rose overnight prevented any deaths, said Benito Ramos, executive director of the official National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

"It is a good thing we pre-positioned rubber boats. Thankfully, people reacted well. When we told them to evacuate, they evacuated," Ramos said.

However 11 people were still missing in or near the less-developed Bicol peninsula southeast of Manila, which bore the brunt of Meari as it brushed past the eastern side of the country, the council added.
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Cloud Lightning

Pennsylvania, US: Storm Drops 2 Inches of Rain on Stroudsburg Area - in a Half-Hour


Pocono Record
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
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© David Kidwell/Pocono RecordCome hail or high water: Heavy rain Wednesday afternoon created a deluge on some area roadways, including Broad St. (Route 191) in south Stroudsburg.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon led to ponding on roadways in low-lying and poor drainage areas across the southern Poconos.

The area caught a small but potent storm cluster that developed over the Pocono Front and moved to the east, just south of Interstate 80, after 4 p.m., said Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber.

The storm brought drenching rains and severe lightning as it moved through. A total of 2.06 inches of rain was recorded in East Stroudsburg, most of it falling within a half-hour period. That brings the June rainfall total there to 4.54 inches inches, Gelber said.

Wednesday's rains created problems on some area roads. A car was reported stalled in water on Lincoln Avenue near the Walmart in East Stroudsburg. Normal Street in the borough was shut down briefly due to ponding.

Some cars were also stalling in high waters on Broad Street (Route 191) in south Stroudsburg and on McConnell Street in downtown Stroudsburg.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Platte River in Grand Island nears flood stage

Robert Pore
The Independent
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:48 UTC
The Platte River at Grand Island was at 6.1 feet Wednesday morning, with flood stage at 6.5 feet, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

According to the National Weather Service in Hastings, at 5.87 feet, water ponds around the Quality Inn at the junction of Interstate 80 and Highway 281; at 6.22 feet, water approaches property at 14570 S. 190th Road; at 7 feet, a few farmsteads may be threatened by overflows, but the city is not threatened by floodwaters; at 7.4 feet, minor flood fighting or sandbagging will occur in Hamilton County.

In light of flooding concerns, the Grand Island/Hall County Emergency Management Department has received a number of public inquiries about where sandbags can be purchased, said Wendy Meyer-Jerke, public information officer for the city.

So the department has begun to compile a list of local vendors who can supply sandbags to residents, Meyer-Jerke said.
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Cloud Lightning

Floods kill 24 as rains pound north Nigeria city

Aminu Abubakar
Agence France-Presse
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:54 UTC
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© AFP/File, Issouf SanogoPeople in Kano say rain has been the most torrential in 30 years
Twenty-four people died overnight when unusually heavy rains flooded a neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest northern city of Kano, a local government chief said on Thursday.

Dozens of others were injured, 300 displaced and about 100 houses destroyed in the densely populated Fagge neighbourhood of Kano when rains pounded and inundated the city while residents were asleep.

"For now we have confirmed the deaths of 24 people from the floods that occurred Tuesday night through Wednesday following torrential rain in the city," Fagge local government administrator, Abdulmalik Ismail Rogo told AFP.

Rogo said local elders had told him the "area has never witnessed such torrential rains in the past 30 years."

"Some of the victims were buried alive when their (house) roofs collapsed on them, while others were washed away by the floods and deposited along a major sewer in the area," he said.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Missouri River crests, breaking records of 1993 floods

Matt Pearce
The Kansas City Star
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:46 UTC
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© Brian GehringA home broke apart as it was engulfed by Missouri River floodwaters Wednesday in the Hoge Island area of Bismarck, N.D. In some parts of northwest Missouri, meanwhile, the river hit historic highs.
The Missouri River hit historic highs around northwest Missouri on Wednesday as officials prepared to unleash even more water into the area.

National Weather Service measurements taken near Big Lake and Phelps City, both about two hours northwest of Kansas City, showed crests beating every mark on record - even 1993's peaks.

"Missouri River water will remain dangerously high for the foreseeable future," said Col. Anthony Hoffman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Kansas City office.

Residents in Holt County in northwest Missouri are already facing advancing floodwaters, which have defeated at least one levee there and are nearing the tops of others.
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