Floods
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Bizarro Earth

Philippine Tropical Storm Kills 9 People; 100,000 Residents Flee From Floods, Landslides

Jim Gomez
Associated Press
Sun, 08 May 2011 07:21 UTC
Philippines Flood
© AP Photo / Bullit MarquezMotorists negotiate a flooded portion of a highway at suburban Makati city, east of Manila, in the Philippines Sunday May 8, 2011 following a heavy downpour spawned by tropical storm Aere. The storm, with winds of 53 miles (85 kilometers) per hour and gusts of 62 mph (100 kph), has lashed the northeastern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least three people and forcing more than 100,000 villagers to flee from farming towns threatened by landslides about a month before the end of the summer vacation season.
Manila - Tropical storm Aere lashed the northeastern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least nine people and forcing more than 100,000 villagers to flee from farming towns threatened by landslides.

The storm slammed into Catanduanes province with winds of 53 miles (85 kilometres) per hour and gusts of 62 mph (100 kph). It triggered landslides and floods, disrupted transportation and knocked out power in some towns.

More than 4,700 commuters were stranded in several seaports after ferries suspended trips and roads were closed due to floods and the danger of landslides, officials said. Several domestic flights were cancelled.

A landslide buried a house in Camarines Sur province's Balatan township at dawn, killing three people, including a baby, regional disaster-response director Bernardo Alejandro said.
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Ambulance

Massive Flooding in Memphis - Mississippi at all-time high


Before It's News
Sun, 08 May 2011 03:38 UTC
Second highest river crest ever expected in Memphis. Massive flooding already occurring. Worse to come.

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Cloud Lightning

Barbados: Heavy Flood Losses for Farmers


Stabroek News
Fri, 06 May 2011 17:49 UTC
Farmers have been left with flooded fields, damaged crops and profits washed down the drain after heavy rains over the past few weeks.

From St Lucy to St Philip, tonnes of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and watermelons lay destroyed in the fields as some farmers faced financial crisis and bleak futures.
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Cloud Lightning

Torrential Rains Threaten Colombia's Coffee Crop

Diana Delgado and Mica Rosenberg
Reuters
Thu, 05 May 2011 17:35 UTC
Colombian coffee grower
Colombia's rainiest April on record drenched Ismael Garcia's hillside coffee farm, causing a landslide that wiped out thousands of his trees in one swoop.

The loss would sting any year but hurts more now that coffee prices hit their highest levels in more than three decades this week.

Damage to farms like Garcia's from months of heavy rains in Colombia, the world's No. 1 producer of top-quality washed arabica beans, may threaten to push coffee prices even higher -- bad news for drinkers around the world.
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Cloud Lightning

Nearly 3 Million Colombians Affected by Heavy Rains

Kathryn Thompson
Colombia Reports
Thu, 05 May 2011 17:31 UTC
Colombia floods
© AFPThe intense rainy season has caused heavy rains to beat down in Colombia for over a year.
Some 3 million Colombians, 6.4% of the population, have been affected by the heavy rains wreaking havoc across Colombia, revealed a study conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (DANE), Semana reported Thursday.

The official figure equates to just under 3 million people, with the greatest concentration of victims in the Caribbean region, where 1,479,434 people are affected, representing 3.2% of the Colombian population.
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Bizarro Earth

Levee blast means lost year for Missouri farmers


The Associated Press
Fri, 06 May 2011 02:36 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press / Jeff RobersonIn this photo made May 3, 2011, a farm is seen surrounded by floodwater near New Madrid, Mo. When the Army Corps of Engineers intentionally broke a clay levee holding back the rising Mississippi River, muddy water came pouring over Missouri farmland and raised fears that the fertile soil would be rendered unusable for months if not years. But soil experts say the long-term damage may not be so bad for farming and some land could even get planted with soybeans later this summer.
Blasting open a levee and submerging more than 200 square miles of Missouri farmland has likely gouged away fertile topsoil, deposited mountains of debris to clear and may even hamper farming in some places for years, experts say.

The planned explosions this week to ease the Mississippi River flooding threatening the town of Cairo, Ill., appear to have succeeded - but their effect on the farmland, where wheat, corn and soybeans are grown, could take months or even years to become clear. The Missouri Farm Bureau said the damage will likely exceed $100 million for this year alone.

"Where the breach is, water just roars through and scours the ground. It's like pouring water in a sand pile. There is that deep crevice that's created," said John Hawkins, a spokesman for the Illinois Farm Bureau. "For some farmers, it could take a generation to recoup that area."

The issue is vital to farmers and the state of Missouri, whose attorney general repeatedly tried to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan to break the levee. Opponents of the move argued it would leave the farmland buried under feet of sand and silt, rendering it useless for years.

It's still not clear how much damage the intentional flooding will cause and how farmers will be compensated for losses to the land and roughly 100 houses scattered through the area. Experts said the extent of the damage can't be accurately assessed until the floodwaters recede, and that likely will take months.
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Bizarro Earth

U.S.: Corps keeps fighting flood waters


WPSD
Fri, 06 May 2011 21:44 UTC
Image
Sinkeston, Missouri, - The floodway is open, but the fight isn't over for the Corps of Engineers.

Following the completion of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway at 2:35 p.m. May 5, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said they will continue to monitor the floodway and fight rising waters along the Mississippi River watershed.

"This floodfight is not over," Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, Mississippi River Commission President, said. "We have hundreds of engineers working right now in the field fighting floods. Our goal is to reduce risk to people living behind our levees."
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Cloud Lightning

US: Mississippi floods force evacuations near Memphis

John Branston
Reuters
Fri, 06 May 2011 21:37 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Mark Wilson/U.S. Navy/HandoutAn aerial photograph shows flooding at Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tennessee, in this photograph taken May 2 and released May 3, 2010.
The rising Mississippi river lapped over downtown Memphis streets on Thursday as a massive wall of water threatened to unleash near record flooding all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Water lapped over Riverside Drive and onto Beale Street in Memphis, and threatened some homes on Mud Island, a community of about 5,000 residents with a river theme park. The island connects to downtown Memphis by a bridge and causeway.

Emergency officials in Millington near Memphis were "going door-to-door, asking people to leave," according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Tennessee mayor tries to avoid panic in flood zone


The Early Show
Fri, 06 May 2011 21:26 UTC
Residents from Illinois to Louisiana are bracing for flooding as high water keeps rolling down the Mississippi River, threatening to swamp communities and farmland.

Among the places already affected by the rising flood waters is Dyersburg, Tenn.

On "The Early Show" Friday, John Holden, the town's mayor, said it's preparing for what could be the worst flooding since 1927.

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Arrow Up

Canada: 2,000 homes flooded in southern Quebec


CBC News
Tue, 03 May 2011 08:37 UTC
Image
© CBC NewsThousands of homes are affected by flooding south of Montreal.
Emergency officials in Quebec are closely watching water levels in the Champlain Lake and Richelieu River.

Several towns and villages in the Montérégie region have experienced flooding, evacuations and damages in recent weeks.

The weather forecast calls for heavy rain overnight, leaving emergency officials worried.

"We have 2,000 houses flooded right now, and we have more than 300 people evacuated, mostly in Henryville, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ste-Anne-de-Sabrevois," said Yvan Leroux, head of emergency preparedness for the region.

The Richelieu River could rise another 20 centimetres by Wednesday morning, he warned.

Evacuations are voluntary, and about half of residents in the area have refused to leave their homes.
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