Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt strikes multiple people on beach in Naples, Florida

lightning
A lightning strike leaves one person with moderate injuries and others with minor injuries after being hit by the bolt on Clam Pass beach.

Witnesses say the lightning strike happened around 6 p.m. on Monday. First responders arrived at the Clam Pass State Park in Naples for the call.

A worker at a nearby hotel said he was carrying a chair cushion to keep him from getting wet from the incoming storm when the bolt hit so close to him his hat fell off and he hit the sand.

Monday's lightning strike makes three separate incidents of people getting hit by lightning in the past ten days.


Windsock

At least eight killed in 20-car pileup in Utah sandstorm

The 20-car pileup in Utah
© Utah Highway PatrolThe 20-car pileup in Utah in which at least eight people were killed.
At least eight people have been killed in a 20-vehicle pileup during a sandstorm in Utah, the highway patrol said.

The crashes happened on Interstate 15 near the town of Kanosh on Sunday, the agency said in a news release. Several people were reportedly taken to hospitals in critical condition. Ground and air ambulances were used to transport crash victims.

The pileup occurred during a period of high winds that caused a dust or sandstorm which reduced visibility, the highway patrol said.

Five of the eight people killed were in one vehicle, while two others were in another vehicle, according to a news release. Another fatality was in a third vehicle.


Attention

Best of the Web: Violent hailstorm destroys hundreds of cars on highway in northern Italy

Northern Italy hailstorm
© YouTube/Angkor Insider (screen capture)
A violent hailstorm has brought traffic to a halt on one of Italy's main highways, injuring a number of people and smashing car windows.

The storm hit part of the northern stretch of the road between Milan and Naples, which runs for almost 500 miles.

Hundreds of cars were pelted with hail, forcing drivers to pull up by the roadside and causing authorities to close part of the road for a short time.

Footage broadcast by Italian weather channel Meteo Weather 24, showed vehicles with smashed windscreens, stopped on the road as the storm passed.


Comment: Look at the size of those things! They're practically the size of megacryometeors:


RT further reports that:
The hailstorm not only battered people's homes and property, but also devastated fields, vineyards, and orchards in the area, with the damage to agriculture estimated in the millions.
Crop failures due to natural disasters this year are unprecedented.


Cloud Precipitation

Thousands evacuated in flood-hit Philippines

A man on a bicycle wades through a flooded
© REUTERSA man on a bicycle wades through a flooded street in Manila, Philippines on July 24, 2021.
Typhoon In-Fa left the Philippines last Friday but continues to enhance the southwest monsoon.

Heavy rains over the weekend flooded different parts of the capital Manila and other provinces in Luzon and Visayas region. The disaster agency reported that 44,563 individuals were evacuated and are staying in 81 evacuation sites across the country.

Mary Jay Versoza and her whole family were evacuated from the coastal neighborhood of Baseco Compound in Manila City. Her house was flooded waist-deep and she was worried for the safety of her young children. Her family is staying at the Baseco Evacuation Center along with 277 other families.

Each family was provided with a modular tent, food and other necessities. But Versoza's worries are not yet over.


Windsock

Heavy sandstorm engulfs China's northwest Dunhuang, causing chaos in ancient Silk Road city

storm
Heavy sandstorm with dust clouds towering at least 100 metres (330ft) high hit China's Dunhuang city on July 25, 2021. Home to the Mogao caves, a Unesco World Heritage Site, Dunhuang is located in the Gobi Desert, known for its harsh climate and living conditions.


Cloud Precipitation

Flood kills 19, destroys homes in Kano, Nigeria

flood
No fewer than 19 persons have been feared dead in Doguwa local government area of Kano State after a vehicle conveying them was washed away by floodwaters at the weekend.

The incident followed a torrential downpour in the city that lasted several hours, destroying properties estimated at over N100 million.

"Human beings and domesticated animals, including birds, as well as foodstuff were destroyed, as several homes were submerged in the flood," Saidu, a resident, said.

Village Head of Doguwa settlement, Alhaji Yusuf Umar, confirmed the incident to newsmen, saying 15 bodies have been recovered while search has been intensified to recover the bodies of the remaining four victims.

Umar narrated that the vehicle conveying the dead was washed away by the flood after its engine went off in the middle of a bridge on Friday night.

Windsock

Shanghai cancels flights as Typhoon In-Fa lashes eastern China

typhoon
Two international airports in the Chinese city of Shanghai have cancelled all flights and authorities banned outdoor activities as Typhoon In-Fa lashed eastern China with high winds and heavy rains.

In-Fa landed in the Putuo district of the city of Zhoushan, a major port in the eastern province of Zhejiang, at 12:30pm (04:30 GMT) on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing the China Meteorological Administration.

The storm hit as central China is still reeling from record flooding that killed at least 58, cut off power and forced the relocation of more than 1 million people.

"We will make every effort to ensure the safety of people's lives and property, and do everything to minimise disaster losses, and strive to achieve the goal of no deaths and few injuries and economic losses," said Yuan Jiajun, Zhejiang province Communist Party secretary, during an inspection of preparations on Saturday, official media reported.

Al Jazeera's Sara Khairat reports.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 5, injure 18 in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, India

LIGHTNING
Five persons were killed and 18 others injured in four incidents of lightning strikes in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district, the district officials said on Saturday.

According to district authorities, the incidents took place at Ureha, Pipariya Daun, Choumukha and Simrakhurd villages of Panna district on Friday.

While Ureha, Pipariya Daun and Choumukha villages reported one casualty each, two women were killed in the lightning strike at Simrakhurd, it was stated.

A 70-year-old man was struck by lightning when he ventured into a forest for grazing cattle in Simrakhurd, while another person died in Pipariya Daun and a 65-year-old man was killed in Choumukha, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Rachna Sharma said.

Comment: On the same day (July 23) strikes killed 3 people in the state of Assam.


Tornado1

Two killed as tornado hits Hebei province in China

tornado
Two villagers were killed after a tornado hit Qingyuan district in Baoding, North China's Hebei province, on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report by Hebei Daily.

Donglyu village in the district was slammed by the tornado at around 5 pm, leaving several factories damaged. The district also experienced wind and hail for about 30 minutes.

The local government dispatched rescue teams including firefighters and utility workers to the district immediately after the tornado occurred and repaired some damaged electricity circuits and gas pipelines. Other disaster relief work continues.

Many cities in Hebei have suffered rainy weather for about three days, with some southern and western parts hit by rainstorms.

The province's meteorological bureau issued a red alert for rainstorm on Thursday morning. Some parts in Handan, Xingtai and Shijiazhuang will continue to see heavy rains. Handan borders Henan province, which has been hit hard by rain disasters in the past two days.


Cloud Precipitation

Bridge collapse halts legendary Trans-Siberian Railway in both directions after heavy flooding in Russia's far east

bridge collapse trans siberian raliway
Heavy rains in Russia’s Zabaykalsky Region led to a collapse of a railway bridge located in the section between Kuenga-Ukurey of the Trans-Siberian Railway Network, the regional office of the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported.
The world-famous Trans-Siberian railway has been forced to temporarily cease operations after a torrential downpour caused a bridge to completely collapse under the heavy weight of flooding in the far east of the country.

The local Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that the bridge, located in the country's Far East, fell down after heavy rain early on Friday morning. Luckily, there were no casualties.