Kashish Tandon, Nandan Mandayam and Varunvyas Hebbalalu Reuters Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:23 UTC
Schools were shut and people worked from home in India's tech hub of Bengaluru on Wednesday after the heaviest rains in nearly three decades again brought the city to a standstill.
Bengaluru has become hostage to the monsoon rains in recent years, with flooded roads, uprooted trees and choked drains becoming an annual feature in the city of 14 million.
This year, a weather station in the northern part of the city recorded rainfall of 186 mm (7.3 inches) on Monday, the highest in a single day recorded in the city since 1997.
As of Tuesday, Bengaluru had received 211.7 mm of rain this month, nearly double the rain normally seen during this period, according to data from the India Meteorological Department.
The resulting disruption has renewed concerns about unplanned development of "India's Silicon Valley", which is home to thousands of startups and global companies from Walmart (WMT.N), to Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), Google.
"If it rains for even half an hour, flooding happens," said Saurabh Kumar, a Wipro (WIPR.NS), employee who resides in an apartment complex that uses tractors to ferry residents to and from the entrance when it rains.
A waterspout suddenly appeared in the sea of Nhon Hai commune, Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province
On October 22, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nhon Hai Commune (Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh) Do Cao Thang said that at around 10:7 a.m. the same day, a waterspout appeared on the sea in the locality.
According to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nhon Hai commune, the waterspout phenomenon appeared at sea but did not affect or damage the fishing boats of local fishermen.
According to the Binh Dinh Province Hydrometeorological Station, on October 22, there will be scattered rain in Binh Dinh province, with level 10 winds and level 3 gusts in the sea.
Temperatures have plummeted, and many cities have been covered in white
In many parts of Turkey, temperatures have dropped below zero. While Rize, Kastamonu, Erzurum, Kars, Bolu, and Düzce have been covered in white, the expected snowfall has also begun in Uludağ.
After the warnings from the meteorology, temperatures dropped across Turkey. Many cities experienced the first snow of the season.
With the drop in air temperatures in the Eastern Black Sea region, snow fell on the high-altitude plateaus and villages in the area. The Yukarı Kavron, Huser, and Palovit plateaus at an altitude of 2,300 meters in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize, along with the villages in the region, were covered in white. The snow thickness, reaching between 5 and 20 centimeters in places, covered the green areas with a white blanket.
Winter arrives early as snow blankets parts of country
Various regions of Türkiye have welcomed the relatively early arrival of winter as high-altitude regions of several provinces around the country witnessed the season's first snowfall.
Some regions of the northern province of Kastamonu experienced snow depths exceeding 50 centimeters after the recent snowfall. Teams worked diligently with graders to clear the roads in those areas.
Snowfall similarly paralyzed life in the highlands located in the Black Sea provinces of Trabzon and Giresun.
A shepherd was stranded on the snow-covered Beypınarı Plateau in the Düzköy district of Trabzon, prompting teams from the municipality to come to aid.
Similarly, the country's disaster and emergency teams rescued citizens stuck in their cars because of severe snowfall in the Alucra district of Giresun.
Heavy snowfall blanketed high regions of another Black Sea city of Rize, transforming Ayder Plateau, one of the most important tourism centers in the country's northeast, into a snowy wonderland.
Snowfall also affected the country's eastern regions, with the Digor district in the northeastern province of Kars experiencing its first snowfall on the morning of Oct. 21, blanketing high-altitude settlements in white.
In the upper reaches of Kartalkaya Ski Resort, one of the northern province of Bolu's major winter tourism destinations, the snow depth reached 15 centimeters. In the vicinity of the facilities, it came closer to 10 centimeters.
Snowfall covered high regions of Mount Erciyes, located in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri, with Erciyes Ski Resort, one of Türkiye's leading ski centers, also experiencing light flurries.
Mount Yıldız Ski Resort in the central Anatolian province of Sivas, located 58 kilometers from the city center and featuring ski and sled runs of varying lengths, also experienced its first snowfall of the season on Oct. 18 this year.
Parts of Gqeberha and Kariega have experienced severe flooding following heavy rain in the Eastern Cape.
Gift of the Givers Foundation operations manager Ali Sablay said calls were pouring in for humanitarian assistance.
"Community members are being transported to school halls and churches. KwaNobuhle is without drinking water as the water plant is flooded," he said.
"We are currently in contact with the local disaster management teams who are identifying and trying to evacuate residents. Our teams will be assisting, and an urgent list has been sent to us for blankets, mattresses, personal hygiene items, and hot meals to assist flood victims, who will be accommodated in school halls and churches."
A middle-aged man has became the latest casualty of the devastating floods which wreaked havoc in Nelson Mandela Bay this week, bringing the death toll to four.
The municipality on Wednesday confirmed that at least three people had died, though The Herald knows of four incidents.
Weather experts recorded more than 30 waterspouts on the Great Lakes over a span of five days this October.
Waterspouts are whirling columns of air and water mist above bodies of water and can take two forms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They occur as tornadic waterspouts or fair weather waterspouts.
Tornadic waterspouts move from land to water or form over water, often with severe thunderstorms, and typically feature high winds, hail and lightning, according to NOAA. Fair weather waterspouts form along the base of clouds, starting on the water's surface and don't typically include high winds or thunderstorms, according to NOAA.
At least two people died as Tropical Storm "Nadine" in Southeast Mexico, reported France Press, quoted by BTA.
The storm caused floods, overflowing rivers and landslides in the state of Chapas, which borders Guatemala. Roads, homes and various facilities were damaged by the storm.
This is at least the fourth such event in Mexico this hurricane season. The most devastating was Cyclone John, which claimed the lives of 16 people in the state of Guerrero, in southern Mexico, and caused numerous material damages in the resort of Acapulco, devastated last year by the powerful hurricane Otis.
Two people were confirmed dead and hundreds have been rescued in Roswell and surrounding areas after a record-breaking deluge of rainfall led to "dangerous" flooding in the Eastern New Mexico town over the weekend.
New Mexico State Police confirmed two people died as a result of a storm that on Saturday brought 5.78 inches of rain to the town — the most ever recorded in a single day in Roswell, breaking a record set in 1901.
Police did not offer any additional details about the deaths by late Sunday night.
The heavy rainfall caused the Spring River channel to overflow, leading to flash flooding in Roswell which meteorologists described as "extreme." The National Weather Service in Albuquerque predicted a 40% chance of additional rainfall overnight Sunday.
The New Mexico National Guard had rescued nearly 300 people from floodwaters by Sunday morning, the agency said. Of those rescued, 38 were taken to nearby hospitals.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Sunday evening in Cuba, where residents were preparing for more chaos and misery as the country grapples with a nearly nationwide power outage in its third day.
The arrival of Oscar, after the Friday collapse of Cuba's largest power plant crippled the whole national grid, piles pressure on a country already battling sky-high inflation and shortages of food, medicine, fuel and water.
Cuba's government said power would be reinstated for the majority of the country by Monday evening, with President Miguel Diaz-Canel warning his government would not tolerate public disturbances during the outage.
Oscar, a Category 1 storm, made landfall in eastern Cuba at 5:50 pm local time (2150 GMT) on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Oscar causes at least 6 deaths in Cuba amid days-long power outage
Cuba's capital remained largely paralyzed on Monday and the rest of the island braced for the fourth night of a massive blackout that has generated a handful of small protests and a stern government warning that any unrest will be punished.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall Sunday before crossing the island's eastern coast as a tropical storm Monday with winds and heavy rain, leaving at least six dead after a night that saw protests by several dozen people in urban neighborhoods like Santos Suárez and central Havana.
Some banged pots and pans in the streets, while others demonstrated from their balconies. Protesters who said they have no water blocked at least one street with garbage.
"The country has completely halted," said homemaker Mayde Quiñones, 55. She cares for her mother-in-law, who is in her 80s. "This hurts everyone, but the elderly most of all."
People laughed and cheered as high tide sent waves crashing onto a street in Saint-Malo, after weather warnings of strong waves in parts of western France.
"The purpose of GLADIO was to attack civilians, the people - women, children, innocent people, unknown people, far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple: to force the public to turn to the State and demand greater security. Under a strategy of tension, you 'destabilize in order to stabilize', to create tension within society and promote conservative, reactionary social and political tendencies."
~ Italian neo-fascist whose prosecution led to the discovery of NATO's 'Gladio' networks across Western Europe
- Vincenzo Vinciguerra
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Comment: Update October 23
The Hürriyet Daily News reports: