A powerful "super storm" is has hit the Pacific Island, nation of Fiji this evening, bringing with it destructive, hurricane-force winds, flooding and massive waves.
The severe category five Cyclone Yasa was carrying wind speeds of, up to 240 kilometres per hour, when it made landfall on the island of Vanua Levu, with wind gusts of up to 345kph, Fiji's meteorological service said.
More than 1,000 evacuation centres, have been prepared across Fiji's two main islands, and the Government has declared, a "State of Natural Disaster" for the next 30 days to respond to the crisis.
It is urging residents to stock up on food and water, board up windows and move to higher ground if safe to do so.
Comment: Update: Xinhuanet.com reports on December 19:
Fiji reports 4 deaths due to tropical cyclone Yasa
Fiji has reported four deaths in total as of Saturday as a result of the tropical cyclone Yasa which battered the island nation over the past two days.
According to a statement by Fiji's National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) on Saturday, the latest cases are a 50-year-old man from the western side of Viti Levu, the main island, and another person from Ba also in one of the provinces in the western side of the main island.
This is in addition to the two cases that were confirmed dead by the National Disaster Management Office on Friday.
A reconnaissance flight left for Labasa, Vanua Levu on Saturday to carry out initial damage assessment in the outer northern maritime islands.
In a briefing at the Northern Emergency Operation Center, Fiji's Minister for Defence and Disaster Management Inia Seruiratu said on Saturday they need to know the situation on the ground in these islands so they can determine the volume of assistance.
Seruiratu added that the aerial survey will also cover areas in the northern side which were badly affected.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Office will deploy teams consisting of disciplined forces, essential workers and civil servants to distribute food rations and non-food items to villages and communities in the most affected areas of Vanua Levu, Fiji's second largest island.
NDMO Director Vasiti Soko said that they are sending 10,000 food packs for people in evacuation centers and for those in need as they conduct the initial damage assessments.
Soko added that in the meantime, they are prioritizing deployment of food and availability of non-food items to Vanua Levu.
The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji is reminding shipping companies that restrictive travel remains in force for some islands such as Kadavu in the southern part of the country.
Soko said that any travel to these islands must be approved by the NDMO.
Meanwhile, all other maritime transport involving passengers and cargoes have resumed services from Saturday.
The tropical cyclone season in the South Pacific region runs between November and April every year and Fiji is expected to experience up to three tropical cyclones during the current season.
Hourly Snowfall totals termed "Unfathomable" occurring in the USA during Winter Storm Gail, Japan with its seven foot storm and Europe with 6+ feet in two days. The media tells us it a fluffier type of snow that stacks higher than regular snow, so what is really happening across the N. Hemisphere?
Kenneth Garger New York Post Thu, 17 Dec 2020 19:47 UTC
The roof of an athletic dome in Binghamton — one of the largest in the state — collapsed Wednesday night as the area was pummeled with over three feet of snow.
Bahij Kashou, the owner of The Greater Binghamton Sports Complex, told WICZ the roof couldn't handle the reported 40 inches of snow that fell in the area.
"Usually, you know depending on how the snow comes, if it comes around two or three days it's different," Kashou said.
Pamela Gardner necn.com Thu, 17 Dec 2020 19:21 UTC
This week's big storm dropped anywhere from 9 to 15 inches of snow across Greater Boston
The big winter storm continues to wind down this evening across New England, with some very impressive snow totals.
A whopping 44 inches of snow fell just 3 miles south of Ludlow, Vermont, at 1,800 foot elevation. Ludlow reports 41 inches at 1,500 feet, Windsor was the next highest total with 39 inches of snow, according to the fire department at 10:25 Thursday morning.
Times are changing. The mid-latitudes are cooling. The snowpack is building. Thanks, in no small part, to a slumbering Sun.
Record-busting snow buried the Northeast United States Wednesday and Thursday this week as a mass of brutal Arctic air rode south on the back of a weak and wavy "meridional" jet stream flow.
Centre County, Pennsylvania was overwhelmed Wednesday by more than a foot of unprecedented pow-pow.
State College was hit by 15 inches of global warming goodness, which broke the 24-hour December snowfall record by 2.5 inches in weather books dating back to 1893 (the previous record being the 12.5 inches set Dec. 11, 1992). In fact, more snow fell Wednesday than during the entire 2019-20 winter season.
Comment: The signs are coming faster and faster now.
Heavy rain has triggered floods and landslides in Samoa, in particular in areas around the capital of Apia.
Apria recorded around 85 mm of rain in 24 hours to 17 December. Media reported the Vaisigano river broke its banks. Flooding swamped roads, causing severe disruption to traffic in the city. The Disaster Management Office called for extreme caution as the heavy rain continued and urged residents of some low-lying areas to evacuate their homes.
Samoa's Public Service Commission advised all employees except for essential services employees to stay home.
Officials say 25 buildings were damaged, but no injuries had been reported in parts of northern Pinellas County after a possible tornado moved over the north part of the city Wednesday.
The Civil Defense of Santa Catarina reported that at least 11 people died, 10 in Presidente Getúlio and one in Ibirama, Santa Catarina, due to a heavy rain that hit the state as of Wednesday night (16 ).
The storm caused floods and landslides in cities in the Itajaí Valley. Until around 10 am, 20 people were missing.
There are also damage caused by rain in Greater Florianópolis and in the West of the State.
Access to Presidente Getúlio, a city with 14 thousand inhabitants and is about 80 kilometers from Blumenau, is blocked due to landslides.
The Authoritarian Follower believes that those in authority have the right to live by their own rules, and lying, cheating, stealing and murder in high places can thus be tolerated with a shrug of the shoulders. They will also willingly engage themselves in the same lying, cheating, stealing and murder if it is presented to them as necessary to protect their status quo.
- Laura Knight-Jadczyk
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All this is in the pants of the shorts - what I heard is if you drop the levels too low then the salt caverns begin to collapse upon themselves -...
Comment: Update: Xinhuanet.com reports on December 19: