Floods

Floods reported in 14 provinces of Thailand

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 19:06 UTC

Water up to 1.5 metres deep is flooding villages in six districts of Ayutthaya province, with two more districts preparing for similar flooding

© Sunthorn Pongpao
Water up to 1.5 metres deep is flooding villages in six districts of Ayutthaya province, with two more districts preparing for similar flooding

In a report issued late yesterday, Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) said that 3 people have been killed by floods in Nakornsawan province. Wide areas of farmland have been submerged and 27,000 houses inundated.

Flooding is affecting a total of 14 provinces across the country as the rainy season comes to a peak. Many areas have reported persistent heavy rain over the last 2 weeks.

River levels are high and the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has said it will need to make controlled releases of water from several dams.

Ayutthaya province in particular is seeing some severe flooding, with around 22,000 homes inundated as well as a number of important historical buildings and temples.

Update: Hurricane Matthew leaves 11 dead, flooding in 4 states; record water surges and rainfall

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Sun, 09 Oct 2016 12:24 UTC

Residents in Charleston, S.C., contended with high water Saturday.

Hurricane Matthew has flooded parts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina over the last 3 days after bringing torrential rain and storm surges, as well as high winds.

At least 11 people have died in the USA as a result of the storm. Governor Pat McCrory said that 3 people have died in North Carolina. Local officials in Georgia confirmed three deaths. At least five fatalities in Florida have been attributed to the storm.

Matthew is the most powerful storm to make US landfall in more than a decade. The storm made landfall Saturday morning near McClellanville, South Carolina, as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 120 km/h.

Florida

However, on Friday 07 October, the edges of Hurricane Matthew drenched Florida with heavy rain and flooded coastal areas with high waves and storm surge. The heavy rain prompted the National Weather Service to issue a warning for parts of Nassau County.

"We are seeing impacts right now from St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach. Unfortunately, this is going to continue through the night," Gov. Rick Scott said on Friday.

"Just because the center of circulation is offshore doesn't mean you can't be the center of action (along the coast)," National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb said. "It's going to get a lot worse before it (has) a chance of getting better."

7 dead after Typhoon Chaba drops 11 inches of rainfall in South Korea

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 15:22 UTC

Typhoon Chaba

Typhoon Chaba left a trail of destruction in South Korea on Wednesday, 05 October, after dumping over 280 mm (11 inches) of rain in some areas. Chaba is thought to be the strongest typhoon to hit South Korea since Maemi in 2003.

South Korea's Ministry of Public Safety and Security said that seven people have been killed and four are missing.

The southern cities of Ulsan, Busan and South Gyeongsang province (Yeongnam region), as well as South Jeolla (Honam region), Jeju (Jeju Region) were the worst affected.

Three people died in the city of Busan, three the Ulsan and one victim in Gyeongju. One of the victims is thought to be an emergency worker who was helping with rescue efforts in Ulsan. Most of the victims are believed to have died as a result of flooding.

Rescue workers carry a resident through a flooded street caused by Typhoon Chaba in Ulsan, South Korea

Over 300 hundred homes have been damaged by flooding, with around 14 of them severely damaged or completely destroyed. Shops, businesses and vehicles have also suffered damaged. Power outages were reported across affected areas. Schools and transport, including flights, have been disrupted. The heavy rain has also caused dozens of landslides and major damage to banks along swollen rivers. Huge waves and storm surge has also caused damage along the coastline, including sea walls.

Footage shows vehicles swept away by muddy water racing through city streets. At one point a building was swept away by a swollen river.

Comment: See also: Typhoon Chaba sets new records in South Korea

Residents evacuated as flood levels rise in Victoria, Australia

9news.com.au
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 18:58 UTC

More than 70mm of rain has fallen in the Myrtleford area in the past 24 hours.

Residents in a number of homes and businesses in Victoria's north-east have been evacuated while more than a thousand properties are without power as rivers again swell to major flood levels.

Residents who live in low-lying areas in Myrtleford have been urged to evacuate and seek refuge at a relief centre set up at the Myrtleford Senior Citizens Centre, after more than 70mm of rain fell in the area in past 24 hours.

In the nearby town of Tarrawingee, a man had to be rescued from his back of his truck after he became trapped in rising floodwaters earlier today.

The man, in his 50s, was eventually handed a life jacket from emergency crews before being pulled to safety.

Black Lives Matter protesters chase and punch man in Trump hat, force him to flee rally

RT
Fri, 30 Sep 2016 14:28 UTC

A Donald Trump supporter did not get a warm welcome among grieving Black Lives Matter protesters on Wednesday. His red "Make America Great Again" hat taunted the mob like a matador, sending them chasing after him to administer a beating.

Feras Jabro was marching alongside numerous protesters in El Cajon, California, after police there fatally shot a black man who was believed to have had mental problems.

For Jabro, the rally was peaceful until someone noticed his Trump-slogan hat, reading "Make America Great Again."

"You are at an event where people don't support Donald Trump at all," a woman in a yellow headdress is seen telling him in a video that Jabro recorded. In a short moment, the crowd starts chanting "get out," and someone off camera hits the Trump supporter on the head.

Comment: The "mob" has been primed. The age-old strategy of divide and conquer is in place and working well.

Flooding leads to state of emergency in Windsor, Ontario, Canada

CBC News
Thu, 29 Sep 2016 19:59 UTC

© Stacey Janzer/CBC
Mayor Drew Dilkens has declared a state of emergency for the City of Windsor and said damage to homes and businesses will be overwhelming.

Mayors in Windsor and Tecumseh, Ont., declared a state of emergency for their communities after massive flooding hit the region Thursday.

More than 190 millimetres of rain fell in Tecumseh, while 80.8 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in Windsor between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 5 p.m. Thursday.

Another 70 millimetres is expected to hit the region Thursday evening and into Friday, and a flood warning remains in effect.

"This is beyond the reasonable capacity of the city to handle," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. "It's beyond the capacity of the residents to handle."

Dilkens said damage to homes and businesses will be overwhelming, and he plans to ask senior levels of government for help.

Basements and streets in Windsor and Tecumseh flooded as rain pummelled the region. Dilkens and Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara said they have never seen a storm like this one.

"This wasn't a one-in-10-year storm. It wasn't even a one-in-100-year storm," Dilkens said.

"I've never seen anything that intense in the 35 years I've been in this region," McNamara said. "This is unprecedented."

1 dead, 26 missing after landslide in East China

Global Times
Thu, 29 Sep 2016 14:57 UTC

Fifteen people have been rescued, but more than 20 are missing after a landslide in east China's Zhejiang Province Wednesday, authorities said Thursday.

One body was found around 1 p.m. Thursday, and rescuers are racing against time to dig out another victim, after Typhoon Megi brought landslides to Sucun Village, Suichang County at 5:28 p.m. Wednesday.

Ten people are receiving treatment in hospital, according to a statement issued by Suichang county government.

"Roughly 400,000 cubic meters of debris slid down the mountains and buried 20 houses. Seventeen other homes were flooded. A township official who went to help villagers is among the missing," said county official Zhou Ruichen.

Zheng Quanwei, 56, was having dinner 200 meters away from the scene when he heard a loud noise and ran outside. "It was getting dark, but I could see some collapsed houses on the hillside," he said. "There were still some noises."

Photo taken on Sept. 29, 2016 shows the accident site after a landslide hit Sucun Village of Suichang County, east China's Zhejiang Province.

© Xinhua/Han Chuanhao
Photo taken on Sept. 29, 2016 shows the accident site after a landslide hit Sucun Village of Suichang County, east China's Zhejiang Province.

Video footage from the scene shows debris cascading down the hill around 5:28 p.m. as a landslide engulfed the hillside and people screamed in terror.

70,000 people displaced by severe flooding in North Korea after Typhoon Lionrock

The Gulf Today
Wed, 28 Sep 2016 20:13 UTC

More than 70,000 people displaced by severe flooding in North Korea nearly a month ago are urgently in need of supplies and shelter before winter sets in, a Red Cross official in Pyongyang said Wednesday.

The floods were caused by a typhoon that hit the country's northernmost province late last month. Officials estimate that more than 130 people died and another 400 are missing. Typhoon Lionrock, amplified by a low-pressure system in the area, created floods that submerged, severely damaged or destroyed 30,000 homes and displaced 70,000 people.

"The disaster was pretty horrendous for the people affected," Chris Staines, head of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in North Korea, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "About 600,000 people have some level of immediate effect from the disaster."

Mythical Saraswati river did exist claim Indian scientists

Prithviraj Singh
Hindustan Times
Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:29 UTC

Scientists at the Dehradun-Based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) have debunked established belief that river Saraswati is just a 5,000-year-old myth.

They claimed to have found after extensive research that the river did exist during ancient times, but got buried because of tectonic changes in the Himalayas.

The mythical Saraswati forms the Hindu holy triumvirate along with the Ganga and Yamuna, and the hypothetical confluence of these three rivers in Allahabad is the source of humanity's biggest gathering every 12 years during the Kumbh Mela.

Scientists said the Saraswati flowed from its origin at Adi Badri in the Shivalik range of Haryana's Yamunanagar to its meeting point with Chautang river in the plains.

This is the course the river followed when it flowed in the Vedic era.

They confirmed that tectonic activities along the Shivalik Himalayas separated the river course from Adi Badri and it was never recharged because of a series of climatic disasters.

The river died eventually. But rainwater collected at scattered hollow locations above the buried river gives proof of Saraswati's existence and the course it took.

Physical and chemical analysis of nearly 22 samples from a 60-km buried water stream confirmed that of it was indeed the ancient Saraswati, now entombed by five feet of top soil, the scientists said.