Storms
S


Bizarro Earth

Record rainfall from Hurricane Florence causes spill at Duke Energy coal ash landfill near Wilmington, NC

Jason Linkins
Think Progress
Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:40 UTC
coal ash ponds north carolina
Coal ash, the toxic byproduct of burning coal, poses an environmental threat to areas in the path of Tropical Storm Florence.
The intense rainfall from Tropical Depression Florence has caused the collapse of a slope at a coal ash landfill managed by Duke Energy near Wilmington, North Carolina late Saturday.

The slow-moving storm which made landfall on Friday as a Category 1 hurricane has dumped record amounts of rain - potentially up to 40 inches in some areas - and continues to flood rivers and highways. In Florence's path are also numerous coal ash ponds from power plants - the waste can contain toxins such as mercury, arsenic, and lead.

As Michael Biesecker of the Associated Press reported:
Duke [Energy] spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said Saturday evening that about 2,000 cubic yards (1,530 cubic meters) of ash, enough to fill roughly 180 dump trucks, have been displaced at the Sutton Plant and that contaminated storm water likely flowed into Sutton Lake, the plant's cooling pond.

The company hasn't yet determined if the weir that drains the cooling pond was open or whether any contamination may have flowed into the swollen Cape Fear River.
In a statement Saturday, Duke Energy said "the company does not believe this incident poses a risk to public health or the environment. The company is conducting environmental sampling as well."

Comment: Duke Energy has a history of contaminating North Carolina's waterways:
Last year's huge coal ash spill in North Carolina may cost Duke Energy $100M or the cost of a permit

Duke told North Carolina regulators that more than 3 million gallons of toxic chemicals were leaking near local rivers and lakes every day. The leaks have been traced to 200 different seeps at 14 coal-fired plants. Two seeps in particular leak almost 1 million gallons of waste a day.


Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Tropical Storm Florence leaves 11 dead as it dumps 'epic' amount of rainfall on North Carolina

Sharon Marris
Sky News
Sun, 16 Sep 2018 07:26 UTC
New Bern floods
There are still rescues underway in the North Carolina town of New Bern

Towns have endured more than two feet of rain and forecasters say that more than three feet of water could bring more flooding

Tropical Storm Florence has left at least 11 people dead as it continues to dump an "epic" amount of rainfall on North Carolina.

Rivers are rising towards record levels as thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate the US state.

President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration amid fears North Carolina will experience its most destructive bout of flooding in history.

Some towns have endured more than two feet of rain and forecasters say that more than three feet of water could bring major flooding further inland in the coming days.

A mother and her baby are among those who have been killed by Florence, which was initially categorised as a hurricane with 120mph winds.

By Saturday morning the winds weakened to 50mph but the storm's slow speed means that communities in North Carolina are receiving a prolonged battering by torrential rain.

Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Walnut-sized hail and flash floods hit Turkey's northern provinces


Daily Sabah
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 06:38 UTC
Walnut-sized hail hammered Turkey's northern Kastamonu province
© IHAWalnut-sized hail hammered Turkey's northern Kastamonu province on Sept. 13, 2018.
Provinces across Turkey's Marmara and Black Sea regions were hit with flooding and hailstorms on Thursday afternoon and evening, as rain and thunderstorms are predicted to continue into Friday.

In northern Turkey near the Black Sea, the city of Kastamonu was hit with walnut-sized hail for 20 minutes, smashing windows of vehicles and buildings, and puncturing walls and roof tiles.

The city lost electricity amid the storm. Downed trees blocked road transport.

Firefighters and Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) were working to assess and respond to the damage.

The Marmara city of Bandırma in Turkey's northwestern Balıkesir province experienced disastrous flooding, as social media users shared videos of streets that were turned to rivers.

Numerous businesses and homes were flooded by the deluge. Several houses were also struck by lightning, city officials said.

Read More...
Tornado1

Typhoon Mangkhut heading for China as Philippines death toll rises to 28

Hannah Ellis-Petersen
The Guardian
Sun, 16 Sep 2018 05:47 UTC
Typhoon Mangkhut damage
© Armed Forces of the PhilippinesRescue workers clear debris from the road after Typhoon Mangkhut swept through the Philippines.

Storm moving towards Hong Kong and China's heavily populated south coast with winds of more than 177km/h

Typhoon Mangkhut killed at least 28 people in the Philippines as it obliterated homes and crops and caused massive flooding, and is now on course to plough into China's coast.

The storm, which was the strongest the world has seen this year, was not as ferocious as feared, though due to the remote areas where the typhoon hit, the full death toll and extent of the destruction is still unknown.

By Sunday morning, it was hurtling towards China's heavily populated southern coast with winds of 177km/h (110mph). It will first pass by Hong Kong, where storm warnings have been raised to their highest level and hundreds of people have been evacuated to storm shelters, with businesses boarded up and most flights cancelled.

The category 5 "super" typhoon hit the northern end of the Philippine island of Luzon early on Saturday morning, with the high winds ripping the roofs off houses and pulling down trees and electricity pylons, and the rains causing fatal landslides and flooding. More than five million people were in its path.

The island is a key agricultural area in the Philippines, producing most of the country's rice, corn and others vegetable crops, and the storm left them ruined a month before harvest, damaging the livelihoods of thousands in the region.


Comment: The Day After Tomorrow? A record 7 named storms are whirling across the globe

Read More...
Tornado1

The Day After Tomorrow? A record 7 named storms are whirling across the globe

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Fri, 14 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
7 storms

Is something extremely unusual happening to our planet? At this moment, Hurricane Florence is just one of seven named storms that are currently circling the globe. That matches the all-time record, and it looks like that record will be broken very shortly as a couple more storms continue to develop. Back in 2004, a Hollywood blockbuster entitled "The Day After Tomorrow" depicted a world in which weather patterns had gone mad. One of the most impressive scenes showed nearly the entire planet covered by hurricane-type storms all at once. Of course things are not nearly as bad as in that film, but during this hurricane season we have definitely seen a very unusual number of hurricanes and typhoons develop. As our planet continues to change, could this become "the new normal"?

As I mentioned above there are currently seven named storms that are active, but an eighth is about to join them, and that would break the all-time record...
The Hurricane season is causing devastation from the Pacific to the Atlantic as seven active storms are currently swirling across the globe - with high chances an eighth powerful storm will soon develop to break an all-time record.

Comment: See also: Unseen in 35 years: Veteran weather reporter on oceans 'exploding with cyclonic activity'

Read More...
Tornado2

Tornado and waterspout hit Southeast Taiwan during Typhoon Mangkhut

Matthew Strong
Taiwan News
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 17:22 UTC
waterspout
As Typhoon Mangkhut left the Philippines heading for China, a tornado and a waterspout hit different stretches of the Taitung County coastline Saturday afternoon.

A waterspout is a spinning column of air filled with water which forms over the sea, while a tornado is its land-based counterpart.

As the waves grew weaker later Saturday, a tornado moved ashore at the fishing harbor of Shangwu , throwing rafts on land which had escaped the worst of the waves earlier in the day and ripping apart the roofs of homes, the Central News Agency reported.
Read More...
Tornado1

Typhoon Mangkhut makes landfall in Philippines with winds of 205km/h


RT
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 15:06 UTC
Typhoon Mangkhut Luzon September 2018
© Erik De Castro / ReutersStranded commuters stand on flooded road after Typhoon Mangkhut hit the main island of Luzon, September 15, 2018
12 people have already died as one of the strongest typhoons in the history of the Philippines makes landfall. Super Typhoon Mangkhut is expected to affect up to five million people.

Mangkhut, known locally as Ompong, has recently been downgraded to a category-4 Atlantic hurricane. It is essentially a huge 900km (560-mile) rain cloud which could, when mixed with seasonal rain, create waves of up to six meters (20ft) on the coasts of Cagayan, weather experts have warned.

Staggering winds of 205kph and extreme rainfall caused some structural damage and cut power to more than four million people across the Cagayan province on Luzon Island, around 300km north of Manila.

"It can lift cars, you can't stand, you can't even crawl against that wind," warned Philippines government forecaster Rene Paciente, who also cautioned that even if the typhoon weakens after making landfall, it will still be incredibly destructive.
Read More...
Tornado2

'More dangerous than Florence': Typhoon Mangkhut is about to make landfall in the Philippines

Mihai Andrei
ZME Science
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 14:13 UTC
Mangkhut typhoon Asia
© CNNTyphoon Mangkhut
While the world's eyes are zoomed in on the US East coast, where 1.7 million people are told to evacuate in order to avoid Hurricane Florence damage, a much stronger storm is lashing out at Southeast Asia: Mangkhut.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut deserves all the superlatives it can get. By far the strongest storm of the season, it is already causing sustained winds of up to 127 mph (204 km/h) and gusts of up to 158 mph (254 km/h). In terms of total intensity, Mangkhut is more dangerous than Florence, but the overall damage will depend on what it hits. If it hits land directly, it could cause tremendous damage.
Read More...
Tornado1

Typhoon Mangkhut lashes the Philippines, strongest storm this year

James Griffiths, Steve George and Jo Shelley
CNN
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 04:11 UTC
typhoon Mangkhut
© AFPA government official said some roofs had been ripped off and electricity lines downed in Tuguergarao
Super Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into the Philippines in the early hours of Saturday, bringing ferocious gale-force winds and pounding rains, as aid agencies warned millions are at risk from rising flood waters and landslides.

Mangkhut was the strongest storm anywhere on the planet in 2018, carrying gusts of up to 325 kilometers per hour (200 mph) before it made landfall in Cagayan province, on the northern tip of Luzon, about 1:40 a.m. local time.

When it crossed land, Mangkhat was packing winds of up to 270 kph (165 mph), 120 kph (75 mph) stronger than Hurricane Florence that hit North Carolina on the same day.

After the center of the storm passed the Philippines, Mangkhut's winds slowed enough for the typhoon to lose its "super" status, but it remains a very powerful storm system with maximum sustained winds of 215 kph (134 mph), equivalent to a category 4 hurricane.

It's now pounding the Philippines with heavy rain, and heading west into the South China Sea toward Hong Kong and southern China.


Comment: Unseen in 35 years: Veteran weather reporter on oceans 'exploding with cyclonic activity'

Read More...
Tornado1

Hurricane Florence: Five dead as storm downgraded, warnings of 'catastrophic' flash flooding to Carolinas - UPDATE


BBC News
Fri, 14 Sep 2018 15:35 UTC
Hurricane
© NOAA/GOES-EastHurricane "Florence" at 11:45 UTC on September 14, 2018.
Hurricane Florence is ravaging the US East Coast, knocking out power to half a million homes, causing buildings to crumble and stranding residents.

The centre of the storm made landfall at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, with gales of up to 90mph (150 km/h).

Rains and surging seas have already inundated coastal areas. Dozens of people were rescued from a collapsing hotel in North Carolina.

Evacuation warnings are in place for 1.7 million people.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news conference that whole communities "could be wiped away".

"This is an uninvited brute that just won't leave," he told NBC.

The state's transportation secretary, James Trogdon, said the state may see "flood events" that normally only occur once every 1,000 years.

National Weather Service forecaster Brandon Locklear said North Carolina is likely to see eight months of rain in two to three days.

Comment: Unseen in 35 years: Veteran weather reporter on oceans 'exploding with cyclonic activity'

UPDATE: BBC on 15th Sept. reports:
Weather forecasters warn of the risk of life-threatening flash flooding in parts of North and South Carolina, and Virginia, from storm Florence.

It has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm but continues to soak the East Coast area with rain, downing trees and damaging homes.

It is slowly grinding over the eastern states, with winds of 65mph (105km/h).

Five deaths have been linked to the storm and thousands of people have been staying in emergency shelters.

Evacuation warnings were issued for 1.7 million people in the region.

All five deaths linked to the storm are in North Carolina:
  • A mother and her infant were killed in Wilmington when a tree fell on their home on Friday. Officials say the child's father was also transported to hospital for injuries
  • Two men in their 70s were killed in Lenoir County. One was killed when connecting an electrical generator, and family members say another man was killed in a wind-related death when checking on dogs outside his property
  • A woman died from cardiac arrest in the town of Hampstead after emergency responders had their route to her blocked by downed trees, a county official said
What is the latest on the storm?

The storm originally made landfall at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on Friday morning as a category one hurricane.

Volunteers are helping to rescue residents from flooded homes
© GETTY IMAGESVolunteers are helping to rescue residents from flooded homes
"Catastrophic fresh water flooding" is expected in parts of both the Carolinas, the National Hurricane Center said late on Friday local time.

Some parts of North Carolina have already seen surges as high as 10ft in places.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said the hurricane was likely to "continue its violent grind for days" and described the severity of the downfalls as a "1,000 year event".

Florence is expected to dump 18 trillion gallons of rainwater on US soil, meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted.

Almost 800,000 people are reported to be without power already in North Carolina, and officials have warned restoring electricity could take days or even weeks.

How are residents coping?

More than 20,000 residents have packed into North Carolina emergency shelters, and officials have told those still in the storm's path to stay in place.

In Jacksonville, North Carolina, officials had rescued more than 60 people overnight on Thursday from a hotel that was collapsing in the storm.

Parts of New Bern, North Carolina, which is home to 30,000 people, were 10ft underwater on Friday after local rivers flooded their banks.

Scores of residents in the riverfront city were plucked to safety, local reports say.

The Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue group, were among those travelling by boat around the town to help people who were trapped.

Officials have warned residents against entering attics, so as to avoid drowning, unless they have a means to cut through to the roof.

The White House said on Friday that President Donald Trump would travel to the region next week unless his trip would disrupt clean-up and rescue efforts.


Read More...