Floods
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Cloud Precipitation

Best of the Web: 'Fields are completely underwater': UK farmers fear widespread crop failure following wettest year in centuries

Tom Ambrose
The Guardian
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 09:19 UTC
england flooding
© Ben Birchall/PAAccording to the Met Office, 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024, the highest amount recorded for any 18-month period in England... since at least 1836.
Farmers have been dealing with record-breaking rainfall over at least the past year, meaning food produced in Britain has fallen drastically.

Livestock and crops have been affected as fields have been submerged since last autumn on account of it being an exceptionally wet 18 months.

According to the Met Office, 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024, the highest amount record for any 18-month period in England.

Here, British farmers and growers tell us how they have handled the inclement weather conditions and what the heavy rainfall means for their immediate futures.


'We are going to have an appalling harvest this year'

Our farm is mainly arable so it's crops that we grow. The constraints that we are facing this year means we are going to have an appalling harvest. We've hardly got any crops in the ground at all, I've only managed to get 30 hectares [74 acres] of my 170 hectares planted and we have 110 hectares of "croppable" land. That's less than a third.
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Cloud Precipitation

Mudflows hit several settlements in Kyrgyzstan


AKI Press
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 13:27 UTC
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Several settlements in Nooken district, Jalal-Abad region were hit by mudflows in the evening of April 22.

Mudflows hit Boston and Kok-Tash villages, flooding roads and streets.

The Bishkek-Osh road was blocked partially.

The flows of mud washed away the protection facility in Boston village, posing threat to Eski Kochkor-Ata village.

The local authorities made the decision to evacuate people. Residents of 300 houses are evacuated.

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Strawberry

Food shortages and price hikes threaten the UK as extreme weather havoc strikes

Lydia Amazouz
en.econostrum.info
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:08 UTC
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Farmers in several regions of the United Kingdom have been unable to grow crops including potatoes, wheat, and vegetables throughout the crucial spring season due to record rains. The crops that have been sown are of lower quality, with some decaying in the soil.

The ongoing rainy weather has also resulted in a high death rate for lambs on the UK's hills, and some dairy cows have been unable to be moved out onto grass, resulting in less milk production.

Agricultural groups have stated that the UK will become increasingly dependant on imports; however, comparable wet weather in European countries such as France and Germany, along with the drought in Morocco, may result in less food to import.
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Cloud Precipitation

71 percent of crops damaged due to rains and flood in 2023-24 Maha season in Sri Lanka


Daily News (Sri Lanka)
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 12:29 UTC
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Due to the heavy rains and floods that affected the country during the 2023/24 Maha season, 68,131 hectares of land cultivated with vegetables and other crops have been destroyed.

The Department of Agriculture says that the amount of land where crops were damaged is 71 percent of the total cultivated land without paddy cultivation.

In addition to this, 100,000 hectares of paddy fields cultivated during the Maha season of that year were also damaged due to heavy rains and floods.

The Department of Agriculture also mentions that this situation affected the rapid increase in the price of vegetables in the first quarter of this year due to the large amount of damage to the vegetable crops due to the continuous rains received for about four and a half months last year.
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Boat

Kenya Red Cross on high alert as estates, roads flood in Nairobi

Ken Muthomi
capitalfm.co.ke
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 11:52 UTC
Kenya is among countries in East Africa that experienced heavy rains in since January to April 2024.
Kenya is among countries in East Africa that experienced heavy rains in since January to April 2024.
The Kenya Red Cross has mobilized tactical teams to aid in search and rescue efforts in various parts of Nairobi affected by Saturday's heavy rainfall.

Households along the Ngong River bore the brunt as the river overflowed, causing significant damage to properties. Red Cross teams are conducting needs assessments in these areas to provide assistance.

"Last night's downpour has severely impacted hundreds of households along the Ngong River. The situation is dire, with water encroaching onto properties," the Red Cross warned.

The Red Cross said it was closely monitoring other affected areas, including Fuata Nyayo, Kibra, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Kayole Soweto, Lavington, and Kawangware.

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Boat

Best of the Web: China issues 'once in a century' flood warning for Guangdong's Bei River zone - April rainfall records already broken in many places

Xinlu Liang
South China Morning Post
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 12:14 UTC
Shaoguan is one of the areas hardest hit by the rising waters
© WeiboShaoguan is one of the areas hardest hit by the rising waters
Residents in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong are on high alert for flooding, with authorities forecasting water flows in a major river to hit "once-in-100-year" levels on Monday morning.

The provincial flood and disaster prevention department said on Sunday afternoon that floodwaters in the Bei River, a southern tributary of the Pearl River, were expected to peak at 37.3 metres (122 feet) by 1am, or about 5.8 metres above the warning line.

Warning levels had already been exceeded at 20 monitoring stations along the waterway by Saturday evening.

Northern and western Guangdong have been battered by intense rainstorms since Friday, breaking rainfall records for April in many places.

The cities of Qingyuan, Shaoguan, Huizhou and capital Guangzhou have been particularly hard hit, prompting flood alerts and rainstorm warnings for three days in a row.

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Cloud Lightning

Storm-related incidents kill 65 in Pakistan, including 28 by lightning strikes - April rain doubles historical average (UPDATE)

Kaneez Fatima
Fairfield Sun Times
Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:23 UTC
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At least 41 people have died in storm-related incidents across Pakistan since Friday, including 28 killed by lightning, officials said on Monday.

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned of landslides and flash floods because more rain is expected in coming days.

Punjab, Pakistan's largest and most populous province, witnessed the highest death toll, with 21 people killed by lightning between Friday and Sunday.

"I have asked the NDMA to coordinate with the provinces... and for the NDMA to provide relief goods to areas where damages occurred," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday.

People living in open, rural areas are more at risk of being struck by lightning during thunderstorms.

At least eight people were killed in Balochistan province, including seven struck by lightning, where 25 districts were battered by rain and some areas were flooded.


Comment: Update April 17

AFP reports:
At least 65 people have died in storm-related incidents including lightning in Pakistan, officials said, with rain so far in April falling at nearly twice the historical average rate.

People stand beside a makeshift stall set up on the bank of a stream, which is overflowing following heavy rains, on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, April 2024.
© APPeople stand beside a makeshift stall set up on the bank of a stream, which is overflowing following heavy rains, on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, April 2024.
Heavy downpours between Friday and Monday unleashed flash floods and caused houses to collapse, while lightning killed at least 28 people.

The largest death toll was in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 32 people have died, including 15 children, and more than 1,300 homes have been damaged.

"All the casualties resulted from the collapse of walls and roofs," Anwar Khan, spokesman for the province's disaster management authority, told AFP on Wednesday.

Villagers whose homes were inundated with water were forced to seek refuge on higher ground, including on the shoulders of motorways, creating makeshift tents with plastic sheeting and bamboo sticks.

"In April, we have observed highly unusual rainfall patterns," Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, told AFP.

"From April 1st to April 17th, we experienced precipitation levels exceeding the historical average by 99 percent," he added, citing data from the past 30 years as a comparison.

Most of the country experienced a pause in rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, but more downpours are predicted in the coming days.


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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy downpour and flash floods hit southeast Iran

Kamal Iranidoost
Mehr News Agency
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:10 UTC
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After torrential rains and major flooding hit United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the same wave of severe weather arrived in Iran and hit hard the southern and southestern provinces of Bandar Abass, kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan on late on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rivers burst their banks and dams were full of water as huge floods washed away people's properties in some areas in Kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the search and rescue teams saved three people who had been announced missing in the floods earlier today in Kerman Province.

Sistan and Baluchestan which borders Sea of Oman was also hit earlier this year in March by flash floods.

The chairman of roads administration of Sistan and Baluchestan province told reporters that the floods had blocked the roads between twenty villages in the province.

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Cloud Precipitation

Best of the Web: Dubai submerged as United Arab Emirates gets over year and a half's worth of rain in 24 hours


Al Jazeera
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:44 UTC
Desert City Dubai Under Water After Rains
Desert city Dubai under water after rains
Heavy thunderstorms have lashed the United Arab Emirates (UAE), dumping more than a year and a half's rain on the desert city-state of Dubai in just a few hours and flooding major highways and its international airport.

The rains began late on Monday, soaking the sands and roads of Dubai with some 20mm (0.79 inches) of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified at about 9am (05:00 GMT) on Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.

By the end of Tuesday, more than 142mm (5.59 inches) had soaked Dubai. An average year sees 94.7mm (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.


Comment: This is the desert region's heaviest rainfall in at least 75 years - since 1949, when proper record-keeping began there... so, for all we know, it's the Arabian region's heaviest rainfall in the entire modern era.

Elsewhere in the region: Flash floods hit Oman - at least 18 killed

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Cloud Precipitation

Storm leaves 5 people dead and infrastructure flood damaged in Margate, South Africa

Sakhiseni Nxumalo
Times Live
Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:32 UTC
flood
Heavy downpour in Margate saw water gushing through the streets.
Five people died in a storm that lashed Margate on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast on Sunday night.

This was confirmed by Ugu district municipality, which said search and rescue teams have been deployed.

Huge damage has been caused to water and roads infrastructure and an on-site assessment of the damages is under way.

Municipality spokesperson France Zama said a co-ordinated cleanup operation is in progress while the cost of the damage is being consolidated.

Municipality teams were on the ground to establish the extent of the damage.

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