Storms
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Cloud Precipitation

Torrential rains trigger flooding across Taiwan - 60mm of rainfall in an hour

Motorcycles partly submerged in floodwaters are pictured on Nanshan Road in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District on Monday.
© Taoyuan City GovernmentMotorcycles partly submerged in floodwaters are pictured on Nanshan Road in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District on Monday.
Torrential rains triggered flooding in many parts of Taiwan on Monday night, but no serious injuries were reported.

Flooding was reported in 16 locations in Tayouan as of midnight, after a large amount of rain fell in a relatively short duration, the Taoyuan Department of Water Resources said.

The situation in Lujhu District (蘆竹) was the most severe, with floodwaters reaching knee-high by 9:30pm, the department said.

The Taoyuan City Government issued a level 3 flood alert at 10:30pm, but lowered it at 2am yesterday after the rain weakened, it said.

Yangmei District (楊梅) on Monday received 60mm of rain in an hour, while five other districts received 40mm of rain, the department said.


Snowflake

Raining and snowfall reported in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan for 3 consecutive days - snow accumulated up to a meter deep

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It has been raining in Issyk-Kul for three consecutive days and snowfalls have been reported in remote parts of the region, Turmush reports.

Bakyt Barktabasov, the head of the Issyk-Kul regional department of the Road Department under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, reported that the Bokonbaeva-Tosor-Jyluu-Suu road is currently covered in snow. The Tosor Pass, in particular, has seen snow accumulate up to a meter in certain areas.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike kills man in Deltona, Florida

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A lightning strike. (File)
A man reportedly lost his life after being struck by lightning while working on a roof in Deltona, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The incident occurred on Sterling Pointe Drive, prompting response from local authorities.

Co-workers reported to officials that the man was on the roof of a house when a lightning bolt hit him, causing him to fall to the ground below.

The victim, identified as 24-year-old Edvin J. Velasquez Cinto, was taken to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

Officials say preliminary investigations indicate that the cause of death was likely a lightning strike, although a formal determination will be made by the medical examiner.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 2 while playing football in Bangladesh

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Lighting strike killed two youths while playing football in Sunamganj's Dharmapasha. The incident took place in the playground in front of Shantipur village of Jayashree Union of the upazila on Sunday afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Palash, son of Shafiqul of Haripur village and Toasin, son of Shamsul Haque of Shantirpur village of the upazila.

Locals said that Palash and Toasin were playing for two sides in the football game between Haripur and Shantipur village on the field in front of Shantipur village on Sunday afternoon. At that time, lightning struck on them suddenly leaving them seriously injured. Later they were rescued and taken to the Upazila Health Complex where the doctor on duty declared them dead.

Dharmapasha Upazila UNO Shithesh Chandra Sarkar has confirmed the truth of this incident.

Comment: Elsewhere recently another strike killed a father and son on May 21 in Telangana, India while 2 farm workers died after a bolt struck them on May 19 in the Philippines.


Tornado2

Dust devil appears in middle of home plate during baseball game in Florida

The incident occured at the Minor League Fields at Ed Auston Park, Fort Caroline in Florida during a Mother's Day tournament
The incident occured at the Minor League Fields at Ed Auston Park, Fort Caroline in Florida during a Mother's Day tournament
A 7-year-old child was caught in the middle of the dust devil.


Attention

Italy: Floods claim lives and cause enormous damage to farms - thousands of hectares of crops flooded

The Santerno River breached its bank, flooding Ca' di Lugo - San Lorenzo in the province of Ravenna.
© Leandra Ricci Bitti on Meteo Emilia RomagnaThe Santerno River breached its bank, flooding Ca' di Lugo - San Lorenzo in the province of Ravenna.
"We've lost a colleague, an acquaintance, a friend. The loss of life is the worst result of the catastrophe that struck Cesena and the regions of Emilia-Romagna and De Marche [in Italy] on May 16," Matteo Evangelisti, Biondi Giulio's manager, told FreshPlaza on Wednesday. This cultivation company has a stall at the Cesena wholesale market, where Sauro Manuzzi was a mainstay. Everyone knew this aromatic herb seller. His wife, who went missing first, was also found lifeless in Cesenatico, 20 km from their farm.

The state of emergency is still in effect in Italy. The area around Lugo began flooding early yesterday morning, May 18. "In the hills of Romagna, entire villages are isolated because the roads have been washed away. People have no electricity or water. The civil defense department is trying to reach them," says Matteo.

Comment: See also: Italy - 14 dead after more flooding in Emilia-Romagna


Cloud Precipitation

Italy - 14 dead after more flooding in Emilia-Romagna (UPDATES)

Floods in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, 16 May 2023.
© Civil Protection Emilia-RomagnaFloods in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, 16 May 2023.
Firefighters in Italy have rescued dozens of people trapped in flooded areas of the Emilia-Romagna Region. As of 17 May Civil Protection reported at least 2 people have lost their lives and 3 more were missing. Parts of the neighbouring Marche Region have also been severely impacted.

Floods in the Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy

Communities in the region of Emilia-Romagna are still recovering from catastrophic flooding earlier this month when at least 2 people lost their lives. At the time, the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Stefano Bonaccini, described the situation as unprecedented.

Further heavy rain fell in the region from 15 May 2023, increasing river levels and triggering landslides. Italy's fire and rescue service, Vigili del Fuoco, said 500 firefighters were working in the affected areas of Ravenna, Forlì-Cesena, Rimini and Bologna Provinces.


Comment: Update May 18

From the same source:
Update:
In a statement of 17 May, the regional government of Emilia-Romagna reported 8 people have now died as a result of floods and landlsides in the region since 16 may. Six fatalities occurred in the province of Forlì-Cesena, one in the province of Ravenna and another in the Bologna area. Several people are still thought to be missing and thousands have evacuated their homes.

Over twenty rivers and streams have broken their banks, causing flooding in 37 municipalities. Authorities reported 250 landslides, including 120 severe landslides, in 48 municipalities.
Update May 20

Agence France-Presse reports:
The toll from floods that have devastated the Emilia Romagna region in Italy rose to 14 Friday, amid calls for the government to revive an abandoned project to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

Authorities in Ravenna ordered the immediate evacuation of two small towns and issued an "extremely urgent" call for residents to reduce their movements to a minimum in the region, which was still subject to a red weather alert.

"The death toll has risen to 14," a spokeswoman for the region told AFP.

The latest victim to be found was a man recovered from a flooded house in Faenza, a picturesque city usually surrounded by green pastures and vineyards, left largely underwater after the fierce downpour earlier this week.

Nearly half of the 10,000 people evacuated from their homes spent the night in local refuge centres set up in gyms or hotels, with others receiving hot meals from mobile kitchens deployed in several cities.

Locals in Faenza shovelled mud out of their homes, piling sodden mattresses, clothes and furniture together in mountains of waste.

In Ravenna, rain was still falling and mayor Massimo Isola described a "disastrous situation" in hamlets up in the hills surrounding the city.

As rescue workers searched for people still cut off by the waters, details emerged of the final moments of some of those who died.



Tornado2

Video shows waterspout in Key Largo, Florida

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A witness shared a video recorded on Friday morning in Key Largo that shows a water spout.


Cloud Precipitation

Severe hailstorms hit Spain

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A 15-minute hailstorm causes great damage in Los Palacios, The tremendous storm of water and hail unexpectedly burst on the town shortly after 5:30 p.m. and is doing a lot of damage.

Rain and hail in various parts of Andalusia. The storm has hit the Sierra de Cádiz with force, especially in Zahara de la Sierra and El Bosque. We find a similar situation in Ronda, Málaga, and in some municipalities of Seville. In places some crops have become waterlogged.


Windsock

Cyclone Mocha: Deadly storm hits Myanmar and Bangladesh coasts - at least 130 dead (UPDATE)

Three dead as Cyclone Mocha makes landfall in Myanmar
Three dead as Cyclone Mocha makes landfall in Myanmar
A powerful cyclone has hit the coastlines of Bangladesh and Myanmar after intensifying into the equivalent of a category-five storm.

Cyclone Mocha did not make landfall at the sprawling refugee camp in Cox's Bazar as earlier feared, but still tore apart hundreds of makeshift shelters.

At least six people have been reported dead in Myanmar.

Up to 90 per cent of the western Rakhine state's capital city Sittwe has been destroyed, residents told the BBC.

The Burmese military has declared the whole of Rakhine as a natural disaster area.


Comment: Update May 17

Laprensalatina.com reports:
At least 130 dead in Myanmar due to Cyclone Mocha

Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall in western Myanmar during the weekend, has left at least 130 dead in camps for displaced Rohingya people near Sittwe, in the western state of Rakhine.

"I haven't experienced such a situation in my life. It is as if the city has been bombed. The roofs of the houses are no longer there. There is nothing left," Sittwe U Aung Aung, secretary of the Rakhine State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told EFE on Wednesday.

The official, in his mid-fifties, said he had not been able to leave his home, while "the army and police clean the roads," and reiterated that "there is a lot of damage, although aid programs have not yet arrived. We have to fix the house ourselves."

According to nonprofits and UN agencies, Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State and home to some 150,000 people, is the city most affected by Mocha.

However, the majority of the dead are expected to be concentrated in the displacement camps around the city, where more than 100,000 members of the Rohingya muslim minority reside.

Although three days have passed since its impact, the exact number of victims and the situation on the ground remains uncertain.

Sources from the Alin Yaung volunteer group, who are working in the area, told EFE that at least 130 Rohingyas from 11 displaced camps have died due to the cyclone, with the numbers expected to increase further as hundreds remain missing.

The nonprofit Partners Relief & Development, which operates in the area, tweeted that the Rohingya fields have been "decimated" by the storm and that roads remain blocked and electricity cut off.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) an estimated 5.4 million people were in the area impacted by the cyclone.

The violent storm that made landfall on Sunday destroyed telecommunications and access to the affected area in Rakhine, home to hundreds of thousands of members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, who are persecuted by the army and not recognized as citizens in Myanmar.

Ko Thar Shay, secretary of the Sittwe-based Metta Raya Foundation, told EFE that the distrust of the military may have led many Rohingyas to decide against evacuation before the cyclone hit.

Mocha made landfall on Sunday between the southern coast of Bangladesh and the western part of neighboring Myanmar, with sustained winds of more than 150 kilometers per hour, marking the largest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in more than a decade.