Storms
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Peru Declares State of Emergency Amid Plunging Temperatures

Annie Kelly
The Guardian
Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:00 UTC
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© Enrique Castro-Mendivil/ReutersA doctor checks a child in Lima, where temperatures have also plunged and a vaccination project is now under way.
Hundreds die from extreme cold in remote mountain villages also struggling with severe poverty

Peru has declared a state of emergency after hundreds of children died from freezing conditions that have seen temperatures across much of the South American country plummet to a 50-year low. In 16 of Peru's 25 regions, temperatures have fallen below -24C.

Reports from the country say 409 people, most of them children, have already died from the cold, with temperatures predicted to fall further in coming weeks.

Worst hit are Peru's poorest and most isolated communities, which are already living on the edge of survival in remote Andean mountain villages more than 3,000 metres above sea level.

Although those living at such high-altitude would expect temperatures to drop below zero at this time of year, NGOs and government officials say many are unable to withstand the extreme cold which they are now experiencing.
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Ambulance

Pakistan floods death toll rises to 1,100


UK Guardian
Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:32 UTC
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© KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex FeaturesThe death toll from the Pakistan floods is set to rise even further.
Access blocked to areas in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa as authorities try to rescue 27,000 people trapped after heavy rains

The death toll from floods in north-west Pakistan has risen to 1,100 people, an official said today.

Adnan Khan, a disaster management official, said the toll could rise further, as there were areas in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province that rescue workers had not been able to access.

Authorities are struggling to save more than 27,000 people still trapped by flooding after heavy monsoon rains. Khan said more than 20,000 people had been rescued so far.

Efforts have been aided by an easing of the rains, but as flood waters recede authorities are seeing the full scale of the disaster.

"Aerial monitoring is being conducted, and it has shown that whole villages have washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have washed away," said Latifur Rehman, a spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. "The destruction is massive and devastating."
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Bizarro Earth

More than 800 dead in Pakistani floods

Nabeel Yusuf and Riaz Khan
Associated Press
Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:26 UTC
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© AP Photo/Mohammad SajjadA woman sits outside her house flooded by heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. Boats and helicopters struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of villagers cut off by floods in northwest Pakistan on Friday as the government said it was the deadliest such disaster to hit the region since 1929.
Flooding in Pakistan has killed more than 800 people in a week, a government official said Saturday as rescuers struggled to reach marooned victims and some evacuees showed signs of fever, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases.

The flooding caused by record-breaking rainfalls caused massive destruction in the past week, especially in the northwest province, where officials said it was the worst deluge since 1929. The U.N. estimated Saturday that some 1 million people nationwide were affected by the disaster, though it didn't specify exactly what that meant.

The information minister for the northwest province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said reports coming in from various districts across the northwest showed that more than 800 people had died due to the flooding. Many people remain missing.

Floodwaters were receding in the northwest, officials said, but fresh rains were expected to lash other parts of the country in the coming days.
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Igloo

Giant South Dakota hailstone breaks US records


Associated Press
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:24 UTC
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© AP Photo/National Weather ServiceThis photo taken July 24, 2010 provided by the NOAA National Weather Service shows a hailstone that was found by a ranch hand in Vivian, S.D., on June 23, 2010. The hailstone has set U.S records. It measured 8 inches in diameter and weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces. The previous record for diameter was 7 inches for a hailstone found in Aurora, Neb., in 2003. The previous record for weight was 1.67 pounds for a stone in Coffeyville, Kan., in 1970.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a giant hailstone that fell in central South Dakota has broken U.S. records, even though the man who found it says it melted somewhat while waiting to be evaluated.

The NOAA's National Climate Extremes Committee says the hailstone found in the town of Vivian on July 23 measures 8 inches in diameter and weighs 1 pound, 15 ounces. The committee says the South Dakota ice chunk breaks records set by hailstones discovered in Nebraska and Kansas.

Ranch hand Leslie Scott says the hailstone was about 3 inches larger when he found it. Scott says he put it in the freezer but that he couldn't prevent some melting because of an hours-long power outage that followed the storm.
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Bizarro Earth

More than 30,000 trapped by floods in China's northeast


Terra Daily / Agence France-Presse
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:09 UTC
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© Unknown
More than 30,000 people are thought to be trapped by floodwaters in a town in northeast China, state media said Wednesday, as torrential rain that has killed over 300 in two weeks continues.

China is struggling with its worst flooding in a decade tat has left 1,405 dead or missing since the beginning of the year and caused at least 26 billion dollars in damage, and authorities have warned of more to come.

In the central city of Wuhan, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated as authorities brace for flood crests from the Yangtze River and one of its tributaries to converge there.

More than 200 rescue workers have been sent to northeastern Jilin province's Kouqian town to reach 30,000 residents thought to be trapped after a nearby reservoir overflowed, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The local train station was also surrounded by water with over 80 people trapped inside, it said.
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Cloud Lightning

China landslide leaves 21 missing amid floods

Chi-Chi Zhang
MSNBC
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:24 UTC
china landslide
© ReutersResidents examine the site of a rain-triggered landslide in Shuanghe, China, on Tuesday.
Worst rainy season in a decade has already killed hundreds

A landslide caused by rains in southern China left 21 people missing Tuesday, adding to a growing death toll from China's worst flood season in a decade, which is expected to worsen with heavy rains forecast across the country.

Rescuers searched for 21 people missing after a landslide in Hanyuan County in China's southern province of Sichuan on Tuesday morning, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Rocks and mud buried 58 homes and about 4,000 villagers were evacuated from their homes.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Heat Wave, Storms Continue Amid Flood Cleanup

James Kelleher
Reuters
Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:31 UTC
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© Jonathan Ernst/ReutersA tourist mops the sweat from his brow as he stands in the heat outside the White House in Washington, July 24, 2010.
Large parts of the United States faced another day of extreme weather on Sunday, with temperatures in the capital and on the Southeast coast forecast to be near or above 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) and more storms likely in the mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley regions.

"It's going to be another steamy day in the Southeast with thunderstorms to the north," AccuWeather said on its website.

Powerful thunderstorms will stretch from the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia region on the Atlantic Coast into Kentucky, Accuweather said.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where heavy rains shut the city's main airport on Thursday, local media reported the body of a 19-year-old man who disappeared as floodwaters peaked had been recovered from a creek.
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Arrow Down

Miraculous escape for driver as car falls 20ft into sinkhole at traffic lights during storm


The Daily Mail
Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:52 UTC
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© APGaping hole: A Cadillac Escalade sits at the bottom of a sinkhole in Milwaukee after a section of road collapsed during torrential rain yesterday
He's thanking his lucky stars that he was pulled out alive.

Yet, miraculously, the driver of this SUV only suffered minor cuts and bruises when his vehicle plummeted 20ft into a sinkhole as he approached traffic lights.

Lance Treankler was driving his black Cadillac Escalade during torrential rains in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, yesterday, when the road opened up beneath him.

'The road just went out from under me,' Mr Treankler said.

'When I landed, my head snapped back. I went unconscious for a few seconds.

'When I looked up, I saw water run over me.'

Mr Treankler was rescued by a passer-by, 46-year-old Mark Pawlik, who was walking along when he saw the vehicle disappear and a traffic light land on its roof.

Mr Pawlik said: 'The Escalade just went "wham". Everything went down.

Comment: Tropical storm leaves more than 115 dead and a huge sinkhole in Central America

July: Florida Sinkhole Swallows Car, Endangers Condominium

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Cloud Lightning

Heavy Wisconsin Rains Close Milwaukee Airport


The Reno Gazette-Journal
Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:00 UTC
sinkhole
© Mike ThielA SUV sits in a sink hole Friday, July 23, 2010, in Milwaukee. Powerful thunderstorms caused widespread flooding in southern Wisconsin, closing down Milwaukee's airport and opening up a giant sink hole, and two people were hospitalized after being struck by lightning, authorities said.
Stranded travelers weary from an overnight stay in a Milwaukee airport were hoping to be allowed to fly out Friday after powerful overnight storms pounded southeastern Wisconsin, halting flights and causing widespread flooding.

Storm water flooded the runways at Mitchell International Airport during the Thursday night storm. Airport officials said they hoped to clear away leftover debris and reopen the runways on Friday, but further disruptions were possible because of a new round of showers and thunderstorms that was expected to pass though the region.

Brian Kulpin, a spokesman for Reno-Tahoe International Airport, said he doesn't expect that the Milwaukee closure will affect air traffic in Reno.
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Padlock

Floods Close Chicago Highways, Damage Dam


Associated Press
Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:37 UTC

Standing water on Chicago-area expressways turned what should have been an easy Saturday morning drive into a soggy, snarled mess after heavy rains across the Midwest closed roads, stranded residents and punched a hole through an Iowa dam.

In Chicago, officials say more than 7 inches of rain fell early Saturday, inundating the sewer system and overwhelming waterways. Water covered portions of several Chicago interstates and the commuter train tracks that run along them, leading crews to divert traffic and call in bus shuttles. Portions of Interstate 290 west of downtown were closed for several hours.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and other officials urged residents to call for help if they need it.
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