Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Canada: Tornadoes Hit Southern Alberta

Angelique Rodrigues
Toronto Sun
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:31 UTC
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© QMI Agency / Darren MakowichukA massive thunderstorm that dropped a tornado near Sundre, Alta., hovers just west of Olds causing strong winds that knocked over numerous trees before heading north towards Red Deer on Thursday July 7, 2011
Edmonton- Several tornadoes swept through southern Alberta Thursday, causing significant damage from Sundre to Red Deer.

A tornado warning was in effect for the area from just after 5 p.m. until around 9:15 p.m. when the main storm began to dissipate over Red Deer.

It was still a tornado as it moved towards Red Deer, but it dissipated quickly over the area," said Stuart McKay with Alberta Environment. "There were several fairly thin tornadoes, but we have received reports of damage, including significant wind and hail damage across the area.
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Bizarro Earth

Italy: Eighty Evacuated as Landslides Hit Picturesque Lake Como


Adnkronos International
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
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© stillthelovely.com
Como - Firemen evacuated 80 residents late Thursday after after a series of landslides hit Italy's picturesque northern Lake Como, where movie star George Clooney has a holiday villa. The cause of the landslides was not immediately clear.

The residents were removed by boat after roads were blocked by no less than seven landslides. The biggest occurred in the Brienno area of the lake, where passengers inside a bus and a car escaped unharmed after a landslide hit their vehicles causing them to veer off the road.

An ancient Roman bridge and an abandoned house were reduced to rubble by the landslides and another dwelling and several vehicles were reported to have been damaged.

Authorities closed a local highway in both directions after the landslides, causing tailbacks over 10 kilometres long.
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Cloud Lightning

US Colorado Monsoon Floods Denver-area


The Washington Post/ Associated Press
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
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© CBS DenverDoug Clark took this photo of a car that either plunged into or was swept into a swollen viaduct on July 7 after heavy rain
Denver - A fast moving storm has dumped heavy rain in the Denver area, causing minor street flooding and trapping some people in their cars in high water.

Denver fire officials tell KUSA-TV that some people were rescued from submerged cars in north Denver Thursday afternoon. Tornado sirens went off, but it wasn't clear if a funnel cloud was spotted. The National Weather Service said up to 2 inches fell in less than an hour in the northeast Denver area.

South of Denver, lightning knocked out power for about an hour to 240 utility customers in Colorado Springs. The Gazette reports lightning also ignited a small fire at a house in Fountain in El Paso County.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. Heavy rains were also reported in southern Colorado.
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Cloud Lightning

US Baltimore: Heavy rains Cause Hazardous Conditions

Jessica Anderson
The Baltimore Sun
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
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© CBS13 WJZ
A series of heavy storms that formed over the Mason Dixon line Thursday night caused numerous hazards and power outages, mainly in Baltimore city and county.

A roof was blown off a Dundalk apartment building; a driver had to be rescued from an SUV, and non-working traffic signals and downed trees and wires were reported during the storms, Baltimore County police said.

The roof was torn from an apartment building in the 3100 block of Four Seasons Court just before 7 p.m., while another roof was ripped from a house in the 900 block of Catawba Court in Halethorpe in the southwestern part of the county, police said. In the 1900 block of Halethorpe Avenue, fire crews had to rescue a driver from an SUV around 8:30 p.m., police said.
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Cloud Lightning

Australia: Commuters Face Day of Chaos as Wind Blasts State

Amy Corderoy
The Sydney Morning Herald
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Rachel MurdoloPassengers injured ... a tree causes huge damage to a train at Medlow Bath, in the Blue Mountains, last night. Three people needed to be treated at the scene.
Sydneysiders are preparing for more extreme weather after 33,000 people were left without power and three people were injured when two trains were hit by falling trees last night.

Gales of up to 140km/h brought down trees, power lines and traffic lights, caused commuter chaos and delayed domestic arrivals at Sydney Airport.

At Medlow Bath in the Blue Mountains, paramedics were called to treat three people when a train reportedly carrying 20 passengers had its front carriage crushed by a falling tree.
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Cloud Lightning

Global warming? Chile's Atacama Desert hit with record snowfall


Huffington Post
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:54 UTC
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One of the driest places on the planet has just experienced its heaviest snowfall in almost two decades.

As the BBC is reporting, the Atacama desert region in Chile was virtually buried with an estimated 31.5 inches of snow after a cold front brought subzero temperatures to much of South America, including Argentina and Uruguay.

Officials from Chile's Directorate of Meteorology said the area had not seen this amount of snow in close to 20 years. Local media reports said authorities rescued a total of 36 people who had been caught in the storm, the Associated Press reports.
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Cloud Lightning

Storm shuts down nuclear reactor in central Russia


RIA Novosti
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:12 UTC
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© Viktor ChernovRadiation levels around the NPP remain unchanged and the work of the fourth reactor will resume after the repairs on two damaged power lines have been done.
A powerful thunderstorm forced the shutdown of one of the reactors at the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant (NPP) in central Russia, the plant's press service said on Friday.

"A thunderstorm on the border of the Saratov and the Samara regions in the late evening of July 7 damaged two power supply lines serving the fourth reactor at the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant, causing an automatic safety shutdown," the plant's press service said in a statement.
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Attention

32 inches of snow falls in driest place on Earth!

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:14 UTC
Atacama snow
Emergency services were forced to rescue stranded motorists following heavy snowfall
One of the driest spots on earth has experienced its heaviest snowfall in almost two decades, according to the Chilean Directorate of Meteorology (DMC).

A cold front brought up to 80 centimetres (31.5 inches) of snow to the Atacama desert region of South America forcing emergency services to close local roads and rescue dozens of motorists from their vehicles. The temperature in the Chilean capital, Santiago, dropped below minus 8c on Wednesday. Neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay are also experiencing subzero temperatures.
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Cloud Lightning

Landslide Kills At Least 12 People in Bangladesh


Mercury News
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:25 UTC
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© AP Photo/Shinku DharVolunteers and firefighters look for bodies at the site of a landslide in Chittagong, 216 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, July 1, 2011.
A landslide triggered by days of incessant rain killed at least 12 people Friday in southeastern Bangladesh, a fire official said.

A big chunk of earth from a hill buried the victims' thatched huts as they slept in Chittagong city's Tigerpass area, fire official Farid Ahmed said. A concrete wall built to prevent landslides collapsed, he said.

Ahmed said rescuers recovered 12 bodies and two survivors from the rubble and were searching for others believed to be trapped. According to residents, at least 15 people lived in the huts, he said.

He said many other families are living in the area despite warnings. They mainly work as day laborers or housemaids.

Manjurul Alam, mayor of Chittagong city, visited the area and ordered the immediate evacuation of the remaining residents to avoid further casualties.
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Cloud Lightning

Rain-Triggered Landslide Covers Building, Killing 18 in China


China Daily
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:57 UTC
More than 400 rescuers battled to find people among debris

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© Zhang Hongzhong/China DailyRescue workers search for survivors at the site of a landslide in Lueyang, Shaanxi province, on Tuesday.
Xi'an - Eighteen people were confirmed dead and four were injured when a rain-triggered landslide hit Lueyang county in northwestern Shaanxi province on Tuesday, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Torrential rain pounded Lueyang from 3 am to midday on Tuesday, triggering the 5,000-cubic-meter landslide that engulfed a two-story building in the county seat at 11:15 am, the government of Hanzhong city, which administers Lueyang, said in a statement.

The local government sent more than 400 people to the site to carry out rescue operations.

The teams reached 22 trapped people but 17 were already dead. One died after treatment failed. The four who were injured were treated in hospital.

Also in Lueyang, 80-year-old villager Sun Guiying remains missing after she was swept away while crossing a fast-moving river on Tuesday.
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