Storms
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Cloud Lightning

US: Seven killed as storms hit Southeast


MSNBC.com
Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:14 UTC
Atlanta - Fast-moving spring storms packing high winds, hail and lightning blew through the Southeast, uprooting trees, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and leaving at least seven people dead.

The strongest storms walloping the region carried with them dangerous wind gusts and the possibility of isolated tornadoes.

More than 125,000 people were without power early Tuesday around Atlanta and 147,000 across Georgia, according to Georgia Power.

The storms were moving across the Carolinas early Tuesday, knocking down trees and causing power outages.

Forecasters predicted the storms would move off the coast by mid-morning but that they would linger over central and southern Florida.

The Weather Channel also said a line of thunderstorms was heading to large parts of the mid-Atlantic region, from New Jersey to Virginia, where there was also the possibility of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes in the strongest sections of the storm.

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Bizarro Earth

Thailand flood toll reaches 40


Terra Daily / Agence France-Presse
Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:21 UTC
The death toll from heavy flooding in southern Thailand has risen to 40, the government said Sunday, with thousands of people forced to live in temporary shelters.

More than a week of heavy rain -- in what is usually one of the hottest months -- has caused floods in 10 of Thailand's 77 provinces, submerging homes, triggering landslides and washing away roads and bridges.

Image
© Unknown
As of Sunday, the death toll stood at 17 in hard-hit Nakhon Si Thammarat province, 10 in Surat Thani, seven in Krabi, and two in each of Phatthalung, Chumphon and Trang, the department of disaster prevention and mitigation said.

A mudslide swamped at least one whole village in Khao Phanom district, Krabi province.
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Igloo

Winter Storm Blankets New England


Wall Street Journal
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:21 UTC
Portland, Maine - An April Fools' Day storm brought heavy snowfall to parts of New England on Friday, giving thousands of kids a reprieve from school but also causing power outages and slippery driving conditions.

The storm was expected to last through the day Friday, dropping as much as a foot of snow around parts of northern New England.

Across coastal Maine and New Hampshire, snow covered road signs, blanketed the pavement and clung to trees, which drooped under the weight.

By late morning, falling tree limbs knocked out electricity for 30,000 homes and businesses in southern Maine and New Hampshire, officials said. Scores of cars and trucks slid off roads, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Montgomery said the storm tracked farther east than some models predicted, sparing the region's most heavily populated areas of heavy snow.
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Bizarro Earth

Unseasonal Heavy Rain Floods Thailand


Earth Observatory
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:37 UTC
Thailand Floods
© Earth Observatory, NASANASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using near-real-time data provided courtesy of TRMM Science Data and Information System at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Normally the end of March brings dry weather to tropical Thailand. In 2011, however, a powerful storm settled over the Malay Peninsula, bringing up to 1,270 millimeters (50 inches) of rain in little over a week. The intense rain flooded 8 provinces, killing 13 and affecting 842,324 people as of April 1, said the government of Thailand.

This image, made from the Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, shows rainfall for March 23 - 30, 2011. Rainfall totals range from 200 millimeters (8 inches) to more than 1,200 millimeters (47 inches) across the Malay Peninsula. TRMM measured the most rain immediately south of the city of Surat Thani.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Collapsing Roads Lead to Emergency Declaration


KRCRTV
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:17 UTC
Collapsing Road
© KRCRTV
Oroville, California -- Butte County has declared a local emergency after saturated soil caused the ground to literally slide out from under two of the county's roads.

Oro Quincy Highway and Bardees Bar Road have been closed since Tuesday when public works crews discovered sections of the road had developed cracks and started to drop.

Once the declaration is approved by state and federal officials the county will be eligible to receive funding for the repairs which could total more than half a million dollars.

Nobody has been stranded by the closure of the roads.
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Cloud Lightning

Thirteen Dead in Vietnam Rockslide


AFP
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:16 UTC
Image
© AFP/Vietnam News AgencyA victim is seen buried in rubble after a rockslide at a stone quarry in Yen Thanh district, north-central province of Nghe An, Vietnam, on April 1. At least 13 people were killed and several others trapped beneath large boulders after the rockslide.
At least 13 people were killed and several others trapped beneath large boulders after a rockslide at a quarry in Vietnam, an official said Friday.

Troops were helping the rescue efforts but the chances of survival for the five missing "is very low," said Ho Duc Phuoc, chairman of the provincial People's Committee, the local government.

"The search is very difficult because there are several huge rocks and we have had to mobilise soldiers to help," Phuoc said.

The accident happened when hundreds of tonnes of rock fell onto workers at Len Co quarry in Nghe An province, north central Vietnam, a district policeman told AFP, refusing to be named.

"Continuous rains over the past few days might have been the reason for the rockslide," he said, adding that hundreds of rescuers had joined the search for the remaining victims.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Tornadoes, Storms Bruise Tampa Bay Area

Neil Johnson and Ray Reyes
The Tampa Tribune
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:12 UTC
Image
About 40 planes were damaged at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.
Small planes in St. Petersburg and Lakeland were flipped and scattered like toys.

Trucks toppled over on roads, and cargo containers at the Port of Tampa fell like a child's set of wooden blocks.

Somehow, a large trampoline from a Riverview home went airborne, snagging on a tree branch and hanging there like a holiday ornament.

Everyone knew about Thursday's forecast: A swath of thunderstorms was bearing down on the Tampa Bay area and the threat of tornadoes would hover over the region for most of the day.

No one expected this.

"I was rattled out of my brains," said Karen Scheidt, who saw sycamores and oaks snap near her Temple Terrace home. "I'm all jiggly all over still."

Damage from Thursday's massive storm was spread over a wide region. No county in West Central Florida was spared from flooding, road closures, downed electrical lines, wind damage and power outages. Dozens of homes and businesses were seriously damaged, particularly along Interbay Boulevard in South Tampa and in a small neighborhood in Progress Village.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Winds, floods damage homes


DNN
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:51 UTC
Image
Dozens of homes were damaged Tuesday and Wednesday following a severe weather system that blasted across the central part of the Mississippi and by Thursday afternoon, residents in central Florida were also picking up the pieces of severe weather there as well.

According the the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, one Simpson County home was destroyed and at least 40 others were damaged by severe winds. In addition, at least eight homes were flooded in Scott County.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said winds of 110 miles per hour were reported near Old Pearl in Simpson County
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Cloud Lightning

25 dead in Thai floods; rains finally ease


The Seattle Times
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:44 UTC
thai floods
© Associated PressA Buddhist monk paddles through a flooded temple
Bangkok- Heavy rains have finally eased in southern Thailand, where flooding and mudslides over the past week killed 25 people.

Flood relief center official Vittayen Muttamara warned Friday that residents in hillside areas must remain alert, because the flood runoff from the mountains could still inundate villages.

The government disaster agency says nearly 1 million people in eight southern provinces have been affected by the floods.

Vittayen said access to some villages by land was still difficult because of damage to roads and bridges, but rescue workers were able to reach them by helicopter. The state news agency TNA quoted Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat saying more than 1,246 schools suffered damage.
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Cloud Lightning

Wintry Storm Aims April Fool's Day Punch at U.S. Northeast

Brian K. Sullivan
Bloomberg Businessweek
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:26 UTC
A winter storm watch has been issued for eastern New York, parts of northern New Jersey and most of New England, where much as 12 inches of snow may fall by week's end, according to the National Weather Service.

The system will be the second to move through the area this week, said Lauren Nash, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York. The first will arrive tonight and may bring light snow to areas north of New York City, she said.
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