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Up to 100,000 people may be evacuated from flood-hit regions in Russia's Far East. Water levels at local reservoirs have already reached historic highs, and officials say the floods raging in the area are expected to continue rising even further. Floods are currently affecting over 32,500 locals living in over 5,000 homes. Over 17,000 residents have already left the area over the disaster. Viktor Ishayev, Russia's Minister for the Far East, said that "in the worst-case scenario up to 100,000 people could be evacuated" from the Amur, Khabarovsk and Jewish Autonomous Regions. The water level in the Amur River near Khabarovsk has risen 17 centimeters in one day and now stands at 657 centimeters, the regional office of the Emergency Ministry reported. Authorities fear that by August 25, the water level will reach the seven-meter mark. Dozens of bridges have been swamped by the waters, complicating the evacuation.
At least three people have died in the Philippines after torrential rain engulfed parts of the main island of Luzon including Manila where neck-deep water swept through homes forcing thousands into emergency shelters. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said mountainous areas to the north of the island were experiencing floods of 1.8 metres (six feet), following persistent rain that began at the weekend.
One person was killed in a storm-related car accident in the northern Apayao mountain region while a child was crushed by a collapsing wall and a man drowned in towns just outside the capital. Four other people are missing including three washed away by floods and overflowing rivers and a local female tourist who got lost while exploring a cave in the northern resort town of Sagada.
In the capital Manila, a megacity of 12 million people, schools, government offices and the stock exchange were closed as a red alert was raised in the morning -- the highest level of a warning system in which widespread floods are predicted.
One person was killed in a storm-related car accident in the northern Apayao mountain region while a child was crushed by a collapsing wall and a man drowned in towns just outside the capital. Four other people are missing including three washed away by floods and overflowing rivers and a local female tourist who got lost while exploring a cave in the northern resort town of Sagada.
In the capital Manila, a megacity of 12 million people, schools, government offices and the stock exchange were closed as a red alert was raised in the morning -- the highest level of a warning system in which widespread floods are predicted.
A Swedish man's video of a liquid tornado, known as a waterspout, in front of a rainbow over the Baltic Sea has gained him international attention.
Lars Lundqvist, 54, said he woke early Wednesday at his home on the island of Gotland and decided to photograph the unusual weather, The Local.se reported Wednesday.
"It was very dramatic out there and I thought I'd take a few stills, but then after 15 minutes I saw a weird, grey pillar and I thought: 'What the hell is that?'" Lundqvist said.
He soon realized the pillar was a liquid tornado.
"I was surprised. I've never seen one over the sea before. It was impressive, particularly so with that rainbow there. It was great scenery, magnificent really," he said.
Lundqvist said the waterspout was not filled with sharks, as in the recently released cult film "Sharknado."
"I was looking for sharks," he joked. "But I didn't see any. I didn't see any flounders or cod either actually. Nothing. I felt very safe."
"About 90 percent of our agriculture was destroyed or damaged, particularly rice and corn crops and coconut plantations," Aurora governor Gerardo Noveras told ANC television, adding that the full extent of damage was still unknown. "We have restored power and communications in some towns, and we're ready to deliver relief goods to affected families." But Casiguran and another coastal town were still isolated, he said. Television showed images of devastation ranging from uprooted trees and fallen lamp-posts to tangled power lines and flattened houses. Most mountain roads were blocked by boulders and loosened soil. By Tuesday, the typhoon, the twelfth tropical cyclone this year, will have crossed Philippine borders and head for southern China, officials said.
© NASANASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of Typhoon Utor approaching the Philippines on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013.
Heavy rain, flash flooding, storm surge over 20 to 30 feet, and damaging winds are likely for the Philippines as the storm bears down on the northern island of Luzon.
Devastation: An aerial view shows the mudslide site at a hamlet where people are still missing, in Senboku, Akita prefecture, Japan. At least eight houses are believed to have been swept away by the floods which hit the area yesterday
At least eight buildings were destroyed by one mudslide in Senboku, Akita prefecture, which was triggered when about four inches of rain fell in an hour yesterday - a local record.
The Japanese Meterological Agency has issued evacuation warnings to residents and it's understood that at least 300 people have been forced out of their homes.
Severe hailstorms hit the Bordeaux region on August 2 completely destroying entire vineyards
Vineyards owners described the hail as being the size of 'pigeon's eggs'
Comes weeks after much of Burgundy's wine crop was destroyed by storms
Many wine-makers are now facing ruin as they have no grapes to make wine
Wine-makers in France are facing ruin after hail storms decimated vineyards in Bordeaux just a few weeks after summer storms destroyed up to 90 per cent of crops in Burgundy.
The torrential hail storm which struck on August 2 ravaged around 20,000 hectares of land in the region - leaving many vineyards completely barren.
Many wine-makers in the region have been left with no crops by freak hail the size of 'pigeon's eggs' while others have seen theirs severely reduced.
Vineyards owners described the hail as being the size of 'pigeon's eggs'
Comes weeks after much of Burgundy's wine crop was destroyed by storms
Many wine-makers are now facing ruin as they have no grapes to make wine
uined: Vineyards which were left seriously damaged after a summer hailstorm in Burgundy
The torrential hail storm which struck on August 2 ravaged around 20,000 hectares of land in the region - leaving many vineyards completely barren.
Many wine-makers in the region have been left with no crops by freak hail the size of 'pigeon's eggs' while others have seen theirs severely reduced.
Up to 10 inches of rain pounded southern Missouri overnight. A woman died near Jane, Mo., in the far southwestern corner of the state where creek water washed over a highway, sweeping away her car.
"Early this morning it just unleashed," said Greg Sweeten, emergency management director in McDonald County, Mo.
Authorities in the south-central Missouri town of Waynesville continued to search for 23-year-old Jessica D. Lee, whose car was swept up in a flash flood early Tuesday. The body of her 4-year-old son, Elyjah, was found Tuesday, hours after his mother made a distress call from her cell phone.
Flash flood warnings were common in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. And things could get worse: Heavy rain is in the forecast into the weekend.
National Weather Service meteorologist Drew Albert in Springfield, Mo., said the rain is the result of a storm front that has stalled over the plains.
Heavy thunderstorms early Wednesday hit already saturated areas of south-central Missouri, where one child has been reported killed and a woman remains missing in flooding that also has forced the closure of major highways and a handful of evacuations.
The Missouri Department of Transportation closed Interstate 44 south of Rolla along the Gasconade River, and U.S. 63 in Maries County after about 6 inches of rain fell in the area early Wednesday. Traffic was being rerouted several miles around the flooded sections of the highways, said Sgt. Dan Crain, spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Rolla.
The National Weather Service said the Gasconade River at Rich Fountain was about 4 feet below flood stage, the point at which water is high enough to cause flooding, early Wednesday. It was expected to reach its 20-foot flood stage later Wednesday and rise to near 32 feet early Thursday, depending on how much more rain hits the area.
"It's a real mess," Crain said. "We're encouraging folks to be really careful. When there's water over the roads, don't take the chance. Don't take the risk. Please turn around."
The Missouri Department of Transportation closed Interstate 44 south of Rolla along the Gasconade River, and U.S. 63 in Maries County after about 6 inches of rain fell in the area early Wednesday. Traffic was being rerouted several miles around the flooded sections of the highways, said Sgt. Dan Crain, spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Rolla.
A boat in a flooded yare is tied to a mailbox in front of a home Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013, in Waynesville, Mo.
"It's a real mess," Crain said. "We're encouraging folks to be really careful. When there's water over the roads, don't take the chance. Don't take the risk. Please turn around."
