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Cloud Lightning

Torrential rains leave 21 dead in Venezuela

Fabiola Sanchez
Salon.com
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:37 UTC
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© Carlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersA woman cries after being rescued from her house, which had collapsed during torrential rains, in the Tamanaquito area of Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday. At least 21 people have died and thousands have been forced from their houses after weeks of downpours.
Flooding and landslides unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 21 people in Venezuela, forced thousands from their homes and idled an oil refinery.

The death toll rose on Tuesday as authorities confirmed eight additional deaths in Caracas and nearby states. Vice President Elias Jaua said there had been 21 deaths nationwide since Thursday and about 5,600 people fled their homes.

Gov. Henrique Capriles decreed a "state of alarm" in Miranda state, which includes parts of the capital, aiming to speed aid to flood victims. Capriles, speaking to Venezuelan television station Globovision, called on President Hugo Chavez to declare an emergency in the state.

Chavez has already declared an emergency in the western state of Falcon, which has been particularly hard hit, and the military has been dispatched to aid victims.
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Igloo

The Ice Age Cometh: Ireland records coldest November temperatures since 1947

Tim O'Brien
Irish Times
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:29 UTC
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© John FahyA rare sighting of a bottlenose dolphin breaching at Killiney Bay in front of a snow-covered Dalkey Island, Co Dublin.
Record low November temperatures are set to be broken again today with very cold easterly winds and further heavy snowfalls. Met Éireann said that a wind chill factor would combine with heavy snowfalls of up to 25cm (10in) in east Leinster by tonight, making travel difficult and reducing temperatures.

Met Éireann said the wind chill "will make it very much colder than recent days" and added there was no sign of a thaw this side of the weekend.

Water authorities have warned of disruption to supplies which they say would "almost inevitably" follow the current cold spell.

Record low November temperatures were broken at weather stations in recent days, while Dublin airport recorded the lowest November temperatures since 1947 on Sunday.

The heaviest snowfalls today are expected to be in Wicklow, Dublin and Louth but snow is also expected to be heavy in Ulster, Connacht and, by tonight, in Waterford and the south coast. Scattered snow showers are predicted for the midlands.

The Government's emergency planning taskforce met yesterday to co-ordinate information on public transport and travel arrangements as well as efforts to keep key national and strategic routes open and clear city footpaths of ice.
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Igloo

Arctic conditions paralyse Scotland


STV
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:36 UTC
snow plow
© STVNew danger: police have warned drivers to take care on the roads.
As the snow continues and black ice warnings are issued, the country faces another day of travel chaos and school closures.

Scotland woke up to yet more snow on Tuesday morning, as severe weather warnings were issued for widespread black ice and temperatures as low as minus eight.

By midday on Tuesday most towns and cities were experiencing sub-zero temperatures with Inverness reaching a record low for November overnight - at minus 14.

Plunging temperatures meant untreated roads froze up, leaving many commuters struggling to get to work and schools facing closure for a second day running.
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Snowman

Schools And Transport Hit As Snow Blankets UK

Alison Chung and Jo Couzens
Sky News Online
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:07 UTC
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© naTraffic comes to standstill in heavy snow on M8 near Harthill services in Scotland
Heavy snowfall has caused major disruption to Britain's transport networks and forced hundreds of schools to close, as forecasters warn of more wintry weather to come.

Almost every corner of the UK woke up to between 2cm and 10cm of snow this morning, with the East Coast worst hit by flurries and sub-zero temperatures.

The freezing conditions that have paralysed much of Scotland and the North East spread overnight to the Midlands before moving on towards the South East and London.

Severe weather warnings of heavy snowfall and widespread road ice have been issued by the Met Office across almost every part of the UK.

All airports are currently open but some flights are being delayed or cancelled. Gatwick, Luton and London City Airports have reported cancellations.
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Igloo

Snow Spreads in Europe, Disrupting Germany, U.K. Air Services

Renee Lawrence
Bloomberg
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:55 UTC
snow-covered bicycles
© AFP Photo DDP / Joerg Koch Germany Out
Air services across Europe were disrupted today, as snow and bad weather led to flight cancelations and delays at airports including in Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.

In Frankfurt, 266 flights were canceled as of 2:45 p.m., airport owner Fraport AG said in an e-mailed statement. Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's second-largest carrier, said Fraport had made "insufficient de-icing and handling capacities" available. Fraport spokesman Thomas Uber said "clumpy, coagulated" snow meant de-icing took longer than usual.

Cold temperatures and snow are forecast for Germany over the next five days, according to AccuWeather.Com, with temperatures in Munich expected to dip as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) today. The earliest widespread snowfall of a British winter since 1993 has led to "icy roads and heavy snow" across most parts of the country, the Met Office said on its website.

"The winter weather we will experience this week will be such as many people, especially in eastern Germany, have never experienced in their lives," German weather service Wetter24.de said on its website.
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Cloud Lightning

US: 15 hurt as storms, possible tornadoes hit Mississippi, Louisiana


ABC News
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:52 UTC
Severe storms ripped through central Mississippi, bringing further misery to an area already decimated by a line of tornadoes that killed 12 people in April. Tornado watches were posted across southern Louisiana, much of Mississippi and Alabama and into Tennessee as the storms moved east Tuesday.

Authorities in Mississippi reported 15 people hurt and homes and businesses badly damaged, but no deaths. On Battle Street in Yazoo City, a twister late Monday ripped the tarp off 63-year-old Clarence Taylor's roof, which had been damaged by the April tornado.

"It looks like a war zone now," he said Tuesday morning, pulling a slow drag off a cigarette, then looking around at the power lines dangling from broken poles and pieces of tin scattered about from nearby buildings.

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Igloo

The Ice-Age Cometh! Coldest November Night on Record in Parts of UK

Rona Dougall
BBC News
Sun, 28 Nov 2010 05:23 UTC
Image
© North News & Pictures Ltd.A shepherd looking for his flock wades through deep snow on Commondale Moor in North Yorkshire as freezing temperatures grip Britain
Temperatures plummeted to the coldest on record for November in parts of the UK overnight.

Northern Ireland reached a new low of -8.6C (17F) at Aldergrove, in Belfast, and in Wales, a record minimum of -18C was recorded at Llysdinam.

Heavy snow is still falling in much of Scotland and north-east England, bringing travel disruption, and is set to last until Tuesday.

Forecasters says Siberian winds from Monday will make it feel even colder.

Met Office severe weather warnings for heavy snow and widespread ice remain in place for eastern Scotland, and north east England, down to Yorkshire and Humber.

Although there will be some sunshine in many parts of the UK, including East Anglia and North Wales later on Sunday, Northumberland, Durham, Nottingham and the Chilterns are set to get further snow showers.
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Cloud Lightning

South Africa: Seven killed in lightning strike in KwaZulu-Natal

Genevieve Quintal
Mail and Guardian
Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:42 UTC
lightning
© Unknown
The KwaZulu-Natal disaster management unit was on Saturday providing support to the families of seven people who died -- including a two-year-old girl -- when a marquee was struck by lightning.

"We are visiting the seven families and offering them support. Tomorrow [Sunday] we will go visit the hospitals," said Mthokozisi Duza, the head of the province's disaster management unit.

Sixty-seven people were also injured. Fourteen of were receiving treatment in local hospitals.

He said details about the incident were sketchy and an inquest docket had been opened.

Parents and children had gathered for a Christmas party on Friday afternoon at the Inkosiyethu crèche when the lightning struck.
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Umbrella

Rains in Venezuela Cause 3 Deaths in Caracas, 2 in Miranda State


Latin American Herald Tribune
Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:06 UTC
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© Unknown
Caracas - The ceaseless rains that have fallen for several weeks in Venezuela caused three deaths in Caracas on Friday and two earlier in Miranda state, while authorities in the northwestern state of Falcon were forced to declare a state of emergency.

Before dawn Friday a mudslide in a poor neighborhood near the capital's downtown area buried three children ages 11, 8 and 2, while leaving four people injured.

The bodies of the three young victims were recovered by firefighters, while the injured - two adults and two minors - were hospitalized.

On Thursday the downpours in Miranda state in the northern part of the country left two people dead and more than 1,000 families affected, the regional director of Civil Protection, Victor Lira, said.

The official said that the swollen Cupira River in the eastern part of the state swept away and drowned one person, while another was buried in a mudslide.

Streets were flooded in the Barlovento region of Miranda state, where "631 homes are flooded more than a meter (3 feet) deep in water," Lira said.
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Bizarro Earth

1,000 Herdsmen Trapped in Inner Mongolia's Snowstorm


Deccan Herald
Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:00 UTC
One of the heaviest snowstorms in 30 years has led to at least 1,000 herdsmen being trapped in the interior of China's Inner Mongolia region, a media report said Saturday.

The snowstorm hit Xing'an prefecture, 1,500 km northeast of Inner Mongolia capital Hohhot, last week. Snow piled up to 30 cm in most parts of the region and a metre in some areas, the China Daily reported.

The snow was 40 days earlier than its usual arrival time and was the heaviest in 30 years, officials said. At least 700 livestock are believed to have perished in the storm.

The winds have so far hampered efforts to start a rescue operation in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which has been cut off since a major snowstorm a week ago.

The lives of the herdsmen were not threatened as they have enough stocks of food and no casualties have been reported, said Qiu Feng, a government official.
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