Floods
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Cloud Precipitation

Hundreds of thousands of fish killed in Australia after rains wash bushfire ash and sludge into Macleay River

Graham Redfearn
The Guardian
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 02:37 UTC
fish kill Macleay River New South Wales
© Larry NewberryResults of a fish kill in the Macleay River in northern New South Wales, which locals said was like ‘cake mix’.
Hundreds of thousands of native fish are estimated to have died in northern New South Wales after rains washed ash and sludge from bushfires into the Macleay River.

Parts of the Macleay River - favoured by recreational fishers - have been turned into what locals described as "runny cake mix" that stank of rotting vegetation and dead fish.

One freshwater ecologist told Guardian Australia the impact of the fish kill might be felt for decades to come, with long-lived species like Australian bass hit hard.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has been receiving reports of "hundreds of thousands" of fish dead in the river since December 2019.

Locals say rain in the past 10 days has seen more ash and mud from the parched and burned landscape running into the river.

The disaster on the Macleay River is one of eight fish kills reported to the department this year, with the cause of most linked to lack of rainfall.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods strike Oman as temperatures sink below zero


The National
Wed, 15 Jan 2020 12:01 UTC
floods
Residents were left stranded as heavy rain and snow have blocked roads
Temperatures in some parts of Oman dropped to below zero on Wednesday as heavy rain caused flooding across the Sultanate and residents are braced themselves for a further downpour.

The Oman Meteorological office said temperatures had dropped to -2°C degrees on Wednesday in Jabal Shams, the tallest peak in the Arabian Peninsula, which is located in the north-eastern region of Oman. The temperature in the same area last year hovered around 5°C.

Residents living near the 3,000 metre peak said heavy rain and snow have blocked roads and left most of them stranded in their homes.

"We will run out of food if the bad weather continues. The lower areas of the town are flooded with rainwater and higher areas are full of snow. We will have to wait and see what happens in the next 24 hours," Firas Al-Ruqaishi, 42, a farmer at Jabal Shams, told The National over the phone.

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Boat

City of Samarinda in Indonesia floods again, thousands affected


Floodlist
Wed, 15 Jan 2020 12:06 UTC
Residents of Bengkuring in Sempaja Timur, Samarinda, flee their homes because of flooding on Tuesday.
© Zakarias Demon DatonResidents of Bengkuring in Sempaja Timur, Samarinda, flee their homes because of flooding on Tuesday.
Over 7,000 people have been affected by floods triggered by heavy rain in the city of Samarinda in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.

Disaster authorities reported flooding in the city on 14 January 2020, with 7,213 residents from 2,529 households affected. Many of those affected have moved to safer areas. No casualties or injuries were reported however.

Heavy rain has been falling in the area over the last few days. In a 24 hour period to 11 January, as much as 82mm of rain fell in Samarinda. A further 61 mm of rain fell between 13 and 14 January, with over 50mm of that total falling in 3 hours.

This is the second major flood event in the city in the last few months. Over 35,000 people were affected by flooding in the city in June last year, when hundreds of homes were damaged.
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Cloud Precipitation

Floods leave at least 3 dead, hundreds rescued in south Iran


Floodlist
Tue, 14 Jan 2020 15:38 UTC
floods Iran
Flooding in Iran
Flooding in southern Iran has now left at least 3 people dead and 1 missing, according to media reports.

Heavy rain from 09 January 2020 caused major flooding in the southern provinces of Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan and Hormozgan. In a 24 hour period to 11 January 2020, 92.7mm of rain fell in Bandarabbass, Hormozgan Province. The following day 76m of rain fell in Chahbahar, Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Parts of United Arab Emirates were also affected.

Flooding in Iran has destroyed houses and displaced hundreds of people. Roads have been rendered impassable by flood water, leaving hundreds of villages isolated.

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Cloud Precipitation

UAE rainfall breaks 24-year record


Gulf News
Sun, 12 Jan 2020 11:52 UTC
UAE floods
The Ministry of Infrastructure Development announced that it has allocated 20 teams to monitor and respond to roads affected by the storm
The UAE is breaking the record for the most amount of rainfall to hit the country since 1996. And it's still accumulating.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said that as of 7.23am on Sunday, the highest amount of rainfall from 9-12 January was reported in Al Shakla, Al Ain, with 190.4 mm.

According to the NCM, the heaviest amount of rain that fell between Thursday and Sunday morning was recorded in the eastern region of the UAE, especially in Mazayd with 172.4 mm, Damtha with 172.2 mm, Al Foah with 156.8 mm, and Falaj Al Muallah with 152 mm.

The last time the UAE witnessed such vast amounts of rain was 24 years ago in Khor Fakkan, which saw 144 mm of accumulated rainfall.

Other areas that were also badly affected by the strong rainstorm were Sweihan and Al Shwaib with 126 mm of rain, Al Arad with 123.6 mm, and Al Raknah with 114.6 mm.

In a statement, the Ministry of Infrastructure Development announced that it has allocated 20 task forces to monitor the situation of roads across the country, and is ready to respond to any developments may arise as a result of damages caused by the rains.

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Snowflake

Severe storm, flooding and heavy snowfall strike Hawaii - 22 inches of rain in 24 hours, snowdrifts at least 4 feet deep

Max Dible
Big Island Now
Sun, 12 Jan 2020 20:02 UTC
Maunakea
The weekend's weather events are producing rainfall totals and river peak values not experienced on the Big Island since Hurricane Lane stormed through in August 2018.

Tom Birchard, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, said the 24-hour rainfall total at the Hakalau gauge on the Hāmākua Coast measured just shy of 21 inches as of 7 a.m. Sunday. The Saddle Quarry gauge, upslope of Hilo Bay, registered roughly 22 inches during the same period.

And rain has continued to fall steadily in those areas into the afternoon.

"I've heard several people comparing impacts to what they've seen from Hurricane Lane, even some folks from Civil Defense," Birchard said.

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Snowflake

14 die as heavy snowfall, flash floods wreak havoc in Balochistan, Pakistan - snow up to 4 feet deep

Saleem Shahid, Aamir Yasin
Dawn
Mon, 13 Jan 2020 12:18 UTC
snow
Heavy snowfall and showers claimed at least 14 lives in different parts of Balochistan and suspended road and air links of the country's largest province with rest of the world on Sunday, as the unusually extreme weather system entered Pakistan.

With a strong westerly wave affecting most parts of the country, snowfall is also expected in Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir, besides heavy showers have been forecast for Islamabad as well as upper and central Punjab from Monday till Tuesday morning, according to the meteorological department.

Met officials said heavy snowfall in Quetta had already broken the 20-year record. "In Qilla Saifullah, the Met Office recorded three- to four-foot snow, which was [more than] double the usual one- to 1.5-foot snow," said Chief Meteo­rologist Dr Azmat Hayat Khan.

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Tornado1

Eleven dead and hundreds of thousands without power as storms and tornadoes sweep across US

Jane Dalton
The Independent
Sun, 12 Jan 2020 07:21 UTC
The trailer home of an elderly couple in Louisiana was demolished in high winds
© APThe trailer home of an elderly couple in Louisiana was demolished in high winds
At least 11 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes hit by power cuts as storms sweep across parts of the US south and east, bringing snow, hail and hurricane-force winds.

More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled as unrelenting rain and gales lash seven states along the east of the country from Texas.

Forecasters warned more than 18 million people remained at risk of tornadoes and flooding, and more snow was on its way.

Golfball-sized hail and up to 5ins of snow fell on Friday night and early Saturday as the storms pushed through the southeast and Great Lakes into Maine, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Firefighters found the bodies of an elderly couple near their demolished trailer in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Their home had been carried 200ft from its foundations amid 135mph winds.


Comment: More than 1,000 Chicago flights canceled due to severe winter weather

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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy torrential rains kill 41 people in Luanda, Angola


AfricaNews
Sat, 11 Jan 2020 11:23 UTC
floods
41 people have died following heavy torrential rains in the Angolan capital, Luanda on Friday.

The government said 12 out of 18 provinces were hit by a violent downpour which began in the early hours of Monday and caused widespread destruction.

"Here in our area it's not going well, the rain came down hard. Many houses are flooded. We have no means of transport, everything is bad. We ask the authorities to come and see this situation. Many representatives are passing through but everything is really bad, we don't know how to do it", Hernani João Panda, a resident of Cazenga said.

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Cloud Precipitation

Historic flooding in Israel kills 7 as 50-year rainfall record broken in North, 76 years in South

Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman
The Jerusalem Post
Thu, 09 Jan 2020 08:13 UTC
Flooding in Nahariya
© Flash90Flooding in Nahariya

Israel broke a more than 50-year record for the highest amount of rainfall in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Israel Meteorological Service, as the heavy rains that have swept the nation over the last two weeks are expected to continue through Friday.

Emergency services remain on high alert across the country, and municipalities have put special measures in place, from positioning sandbags in key areas to clearing drainage systems, in an effort to prevent further casualties or damage.

In the northern coastal plain and Ramot Menashe, some 350 to 400 millimeters have accumulated over the last two weeks, and more than 400 mm. fell in the Western and Upper Galilee - in some areas reaching as much as 450 mm.

The service reported that this amount of rainfall over a two-week period is highly unusual. Since it began taking official rain measurements 80 years ago, such large quantities of rain have been measured in northern Israel only twice: in December 1951 and January 1969.

A record was also broken in southern Israel where, according to the meteorological service, some 122 mm. fell, breaking a 76-year-old record.

According to the Israel Insurance Association, about 45,000 claims have been made so far, totaling more than NIS 1.5 billion in damages. On Thursday, Interior Minister Arye Deri said that the government would invest NIS 5 million to assist with immediate needs.

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