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Cloud Lightning

Deadly storms swamp Mexico and Guatemala

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© Marco Ugarte / APFloodwaters from Hurricane Jova swamp a main intersection in Villa de las Garzas, Mexico, on Wednesday.
Beach areas get swamped, while mountain towns see flash floods

Hurricane Jova slammed into Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 2 storm early Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring six, while a tropical depression hit farther south and unleashed steady rains that contributed to 13 deaths across the border in Guatemala.

Jova came ashore west of the Mexican port of Manzanillo and the beach town of Barra de Navidad before dawn with 100 mph winds and heavy rains, before moving inland and weakening to a tropical depression by afternoon. It continued to dump rain over a large swath of northwest Mexico, including Jalisco state where rainfall this year had been low.

A 71-year-old woman drowned in Colima state after a strong current swept away the car in which she and her son were riding. Her son survived, Colima Gov. Mario Anguiano said.

In the neighboring state of Jalisco, Jova triggered a mudslide in the town of Cihuatlan, just inland from Barra de Navidad, that swept away a house on a hillside, killing a 21-year-old woman and her daughter, Jalisco civil protection officials said in a statement.

Farther northwest along the Mexican coast in the town of Tomatlan, about 12 miles from where Jova landed, a man and a teenage boy were killed when a wall of their home softened by heavy rains fell on them, officials said.

Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Jova swamps Mexican towns, slides feared inland

Hurricane Jova flooded the streets of Mexico's main Pacific port with torrential rain Wednesday, and inundated several popular beach resorts along the coast.

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© Marco Ugarte / APFloodwaters from Hurricane Jova swamp a main intersection in Villa de las Garzas, Mexico, on Wednesday.
Streets in the port city of Manzanillo were underwater, communities along the coast were flooded and roads were blocked due to fallen trees and washouts after Jova hit the coast as a Category Two storm late Tuesday.

Highways leading northwest from Manzanillo along the coast were closed and the beach towns of Zihuatlan, Melaque and Barra de Navidad were swamped with floodwaters, according to the Red Cross. However, there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

"The streets of Manzanillo are impassable, as are the highways connecting Manzanillo with the south of Jalisco," national Red Cross coordinator Isaac Oxenhaut said.

Cloud Lightning

US: Severe weather leads to power outages, wrecks in North Texas

Thousands in North Texas woke up this morning to find their homes without power after severe weather blew through the area overnight.

As of 6:30 a.m., there were about 5,000 outages in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to Cristi Ramon, a spokeswoman for Oncor. While Occupy Dallas protesters donned ponchos and took shelter in their tents as rain fell down on Pioneer Plaza, drivers across North Texas reported accidents and high water.


Cloud Lightning

Philippines: Rain-induced floods hit Misamis Oriental

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© UnknownMisamis Oriental
Some areas in Misamis Oriental went under knee-deep floods as Tropical Depression "Ramon" started pounding Mindanao provinces with heavy rains.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that based on reports from its regional office in Caraga, zones 1, 2, 3 and 28 and Barangay Amoros in El Salvador city have been submerged in floodwaters since 5 a.m. today.

The NDRRMC added that barangays Igpit and Malanang in Opol town are experiencing knee-deep floods. Areas in Cagayan de Oro City were also flooded.

The agency said that flooding in Misamis Oriental is caused by the overflowing of Agusan River due to rains brought on by Tropical Depression Ramon.

It said that at least 74 families have been evacuated to higher ground in Barangay Canitoan, Cagayan de Oro City and 150 more families were evacuated from Barangay Amoros.

The NDRRMC added that residents of Barangay Bulua and Sitio Calacala in Barangay Macasandig, both in Cagayan de Oro City have also been alerted and prepared for evacuation as the water level in Cagayan de Oro River has started to rise due to continuous rains.

Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Jova bears down on southwest Mexican coast

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© NOAA.gov5 day forecast for Hurricane Jova from NOAA.gov
Hurricane Jova bore down on southwest Mexico Tuesday, prompting warnings along the coast, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Jova, a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, was about 150 miles southwest of Manzanillo and about 200 miles south of Cabo Corrientes, heading north-northeast at 6 mph, the center said in its 5 a.m. EDT advisory.

A hurricane warning was in effect from Punta San Telmo north to Cabo Corrientes. A tropical storm warning was posted for Lazaro Cardenas north to south of Punta San Telmo and north of Cabo Corrientes to El Roblito.

On its current track, the center of Jova was expected to be near the coast in the hurricane warning area Tuesday afternoon or evening, the center said.

Bizarro Earth

Turkey: Five missing, three killed in raging floods in west

Continuing heavy rain in western and southwestern provinces of Turkey causes deaths of three people while five are reported to be missing. Another 10 people in Balıkesir province are wounded due to a hurricane.

Three people were killed and five were missing after raging floods in the southwestern provinces of Manisa, Antalya and Denizli yesterday caused significant damage and broke off lines of communication and transportation.

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© DHA1000 decares of land was damaged in in Antalya’s Serik district due to continuing rain in the city. Agricultural fields were also reported to be damaged.
Rescue crews were searching for Hasan Bulut, Hulusi Kutlu, Fatma Kutlu, Süleyman Çelik and Meryem Çelik from the village of Haskızılören in the Mediterranean province of Antalya. Helicopters were dropping food supplies into the village as road access had been broken off when three bridges collapsed in the area.

Attention

Tourists warned as floods continue to wreak havoc in Thailand

Bangkok braces for floodwaters following word from officials that the worst yet to come

Bangkok is bracing for the worst flooding it's seen in decades as waters from the flooded central plains continue to rush in.

Rising water levels on the Chao Phraya river and city canals have left some riverside restaurants, shops and homes submerged, while public piers are covered in makeshift platforms and sandbags to keep ferry passengers dry.
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© Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty ImagesA Thai employee of a riverside restaurant sits idle on a stool as water from the Chao Phraya River floods low-lying areas of Bangkok.
For now, major city tourist areas such as Sukhumvit Road, Khao San Road and Silom are unaffected by the floods.

Thailand's Flood Relief Operations Command (FROC) says the critical dates are October 14-16, as a high spring tide will prevent the Chao Phraya River from draining into the sea, leaving Bangkok and its surrounds fighting to keep waters from flooding the city.

For a graph outlining the city's flood risk areas, check out this Bangkok Post article. The United States Embassy in Thailand has also issued an emergency message to U.S. citizens via its website.

Cloud Lightning

US: As record rainfall floods Central Florida, high winds batter the region, too

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© Joshua C. Cruey, Orlando Sentinel / October 9, 2011Workers from CSX and Orange County work to clear the roadway of water and repair the railroad near United Way after prolonged heavy rains caused flooding in Orlando on Sunday.
The weekend's wet, windy weather was a record-setter, and some of it is lingering this morning. Rain and wind battered Central Florida early today, leading to floods in low-lying areas, hazardous road conditions and power outages. Today's forecast calls for overcast skies, windy conditions and scattered showers.

Sunday's storms came after a soggy Saturday broke a nearly 60-year-old record for daily rainfall in Orlando, officials said. Saturday's rainfall totaled 6.16 inches at Orlando International Airport, beating the previous record of 3.29 inches set in 1954, according to Tony Cristaldi, a senior meteorologist at the weather service.

"That's a lot of water," Cristaldi said. Late Sunday and early today, Volusia, Brevard and Indian River counties faced tropical-storm force winds, with some areas getting 70-mph gusts.

Cloud Lightning

Mexico: Hurricane Jova becomes a major storm in Pacific

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© wunderground.com
Hurricane Jova has strengthened to a major storm in the Pacific as it heads toward Mexico's coast.

Jova's maximum sustained winds have increased early Monday to near 120 mph (195 kph) with some additional strengthening forecast in the next day or so.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Punta San Telmo northward to Cabo Corrientes. Also, a tropical storm warning is in effect for Lazaro Cardenas northward to south of Punta San Telmo.

Jova is centered about 265 miles (430 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and is moving east near 5 mph (7 kph).

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Irwin is swirling farther out in the Pacific with winds near 50 mph (85 kph).

Arrow Up

Thailand's Floods Death Toll Rises to 260

Thailand's devastating floods have reportedly claimed the lives of at least 261 people, while leaving another four people missing.
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© unknownThailand flood death toll hits 260
On Sunday, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported the rise in the death toll and warned that the flooding situation is to continue in 30 different provinces, Xinhua reports.

The flooding has affected approximately 2.34 million people in 10,130 villages, which have been hit by the flood waters. Officials warn that the flood could be heading towards the capital Bangkok.

After water levels exceeded one and a half meters, hundreds of prisoners were evacuated from a prison in the Ayutthaya town, about 105 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital, Bangkok, on Thursday.