Storms
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Cloud Lightning

4 killed by lightning bolt in Afar, Ethiopia; 13 such deaths in last 3 weeks

Liangyu
Xinhua
Mon, 14 Aug 2017 13:57 UTC
Lightning
Four people died in lightning strike Sunday in Afar regional state in northeastern Ethiopia, police said Monday.

Afar regional state Police Sergeant Ali Buto said five other people who were injured in the lightning strike are being treated for their injuries at nearby medical centers.

The lightning strike also killed several livestock in the area.

Ethiopia's arid Afar regional state has been experiencing a spate of deadly lightning strikes as the rainy season which starts from June and continues until early September seems to increase incidences of lightning strike, according to Afar regional state office of Disaster Risk Management and Food security.

In the last three weeks alone, a total of 13 people have died as a result of lightning strikes, with the latest fatalities pushing up the death toll to 17 so far in Afar regional state.
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Cloud Lightning

Mountain biker killed by lightning strike near Telluride, Colorado


cbslocal.com
Sun, 13 Aug 2017 12:44 UTC
lightning
A 24-year-old man died Sunday while mountain biking near Telluride.

A tweet from the San Miguel County Sheriff indicates the man suffered fatal injuries due to a lightning strike.
24yom mtn biker struck & killed by lightening strike E. Fork Trail near Telluride. Deputies, EMS, SAR, attempted life saving efforts. More. pic.twitter.com/CB4jonSfri

— San Miguel Sheriff (@SheriffAlert) August 13, 2017
The rider was with his girlfriend in the Lizard Head Wilderness, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
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Cloud Lightning

Severe thunderstorm hits southern Finland; wind gusts too strong for measuring equipment to record says meteorologist


YLE News
Sun, 13 Aug 2017 11:10 UTC
Downed trees in the Helsinki district of Pirkkola
© Markku SipiDowned trees in the Helsinki district of Pirkkola.
Rescue services were kept busy cleaning up damage incurred by high winds and heavy rain from a severe thunderstorm, but report no deaths or serious injuries.

A severe thunderstorm that hit southern Finland Saturday evening brought gusts of wind up to 32.5 meters per second to the capital city region, proving too strong for the Finnish Meteorological Institute's (FMI) measuring devices.

"The gusts were very strong in Helsinki and its coastal area in particular. Our automated observation equipment rejected the measurements because the readings were so severe," says FMI meteorologist Henri Nyman.

FMI says its website crashed last night, due to the overwhelming amount of people who were checking in on the progress of the storm. The servers couldn't handle the surge in traffic.

Hundreds of 112 calls

In a story that was last updated at 11 pm Saturday evening, Yle interviewed rescue service representatives that said fires, downed trees and water damage kept them busy in the evening - but at the time it appeared that no one had been killed or badly hurt in the storm.

Comment: Severe storms have caused havoc across Poland and other parts of Europe in the last few days.

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Cloud Precipitation

Landslide kills 45 people in northern India

Harriet Agerholm
The Independent (UK)
Sun, 13 Aug 2017 17:41 UTC
India landslide
© Shailesh Bhatnagar / APSoldiers used shovels and pickaxes to remove rocks, boulders and debris covering the buses and pull out the bodies
Two buses, two cars and a motorbike buried in mud

A landslide that swept two passenger buses off a hillside in northern India has killed 45 people, officials have said.

The landslide in Urla village in Himachal Pradesh state, which was triggered on Sunday by heavy monsoon rains, buried part of the road, trapping two cars and a motorbike as well as the buses.

Soldiers used shovels and pickaxes to remove rocks, boulders and debris covering the buses and pull out the bodies.

Rescue efforts were hampered by intermittent rain, said Ashok Sharma, a police officer who was at the site.

"One of the buses is buried under nearly 15 metres of mud," Mr Sharma said. "It will take us many hours to extricate the bus."

Mr Sharma said he did not hold out much hope of any survivors.

Dozens of houses were washed away in the torrential rain that hit the Mandi region in the Himalayan foothills.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences: "Pained by the loss of lives due to landslide related accidents in (Himachal Pradesh's) Mandi district. My condolences with the families of the deceased."

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Cloud Lightning

Five dead as violent bow echo storm system hits Poland (UPDATE)


RTE.ie
Sat, 12 Aug 2017 20:29 UTC
Poland storm damage
© REUTERSA roof destroyed by a storm hangs from an apartment building in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Aug 12, 2017.
Five people, including two Girl Guides, have died in freak accidents as violent storms hit Poland amid a heatwave.

The two girls, aged 13 and 14, were crushed by falling trees while sleeping in a tent when a storm hit the campground for Girl Guides and Boy Scouts in the northern village of Suszek.

Another 20 children were said to have been injured.

A woman died when a tree hit her house in the northern village of Konarzyny.

In a nearby village, a man sleeping in a tent also perished after being hit by a tree brought down by high winds.

Authorities in the same region also confirmed the death of a fifth victim, a 48-year-old man, crushed by a tree.

A total of 28 people were reported injured.

Power was cut to around half a million homes and businesses as violent winds downed trees and ripped off roofs in northern and southern regions.


Comment: Severe storms hit Europe

Update (14.08.2017): According to tvnmeteo the deadly storm system which caused devastation in parts of Poland was a phenomenon called a bow echo. Severe straight-line winds can be produced by these systems, which can be seen on radar imagery shaped like an archer's bow. Wind speeds were recorded of 112 km / h in Chojnice, 125 km / h in Gniezno and 151 km / h in Elblag.

Bow echo storm over Poland
© radar-opadow.pl/IMGWBow echo storm system over Poland.
Huge swathes of trees in the forests of Chojnice County in northern Poland were destroyed by the storm system.



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Tornado2

Tornado kills 5, injures over 50 in northern China


Sputnik International
Sat, 12 Aug 2017 06:52 UTC
China tornado damage
A powerful tornado has swept through several villages in northern China, flattening homes and killing at least five people, local media said on Saturday.

The storm hit the prefecture-level city of Chifeng in China's Inner Mongolia region on Friday, according to the People's Daily newspaper. The number of those injured has passed 50, it said.

A relief operation is reportedly underway. Photos posted by the newspaper on social media networks showed rows of devastated houses and large trees snapped in two.

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Cloud Precipitation

Storm buries neighborhood in hail up to 2 feet deep in Evans, Colorado


kdvr.com
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 08:18 UTC
Crews from Denver Public Works help neighbors dig their cars out from several feet of hail
Crews from Denver Public Works help neighbors dig their cars out from several feet of hail
Strong storms blew across the Denver area and many locations up and down the Front Range on Thursday.

One neighborhood in Evans in northern Colorado was buried in hail. Cars were stuck and children were playing in it like it was a winter wonderland.

By some counts, more than 2 feet piled up in neighborhoods as the storm turned August into December.

All of the hail piled up in 10 to 15 minutes. Some neighbors could only hope they'd get help trying to clean it up.

"It just came," a resident said. "It was blowing really hard. We just moved here. We went to the basement and stayed for five minutes, and it was all gone. We came out side and it was a winter wonderland."

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Cloud Lightning

Severe storms hit Europe

Rebecca Perring
Daily Express (UK)
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 13:36 UTC
Poland storm damage
© EPAA fallen tree sits on a damaged car after a heavy storm hit Lodz, Poland on Thursday.

THE hellish heatwave Lucifer that ripped across Europe has now brought rainstorms and howling gales to British tourist destinations.

The surge in temperatures has seen the mercury top 110F (44C) in the south of Spain and parts of Greece and Italy.

And as hospitals report a spike in admissions for burns and heatstroke, British tourists are now facing heavy rain and thunderstorms in Spain, the Balearic Islands, Poland and Germany.

The Spanish party island of Ibiza was drenched by 20mm of rain in one hour yesterday, while it was hit by an estimated 3,000 lightning bolts.

Greek and Macedonia were forced to declare a state of emergency as out of control wildfires continued to spread, destroying around 5,000 hectares of land.

The freakish weather conditions have already claimed the lives of at least ten people in Italy and Romania, with the latest person killed by a tree which fell in as a violent storm hit northern Italy.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 children and injures 3 others in Uttar Pradesh, India


The New Indian Express
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 13:31 UTC
lightning
Three minors were killed and as many others sustained serious injuries when they were struck by lightning in Satrikh area here, the police said today.

Some persons were rearing cattle in Muhammadpur village last evening when they were struck by lightning, In charge of Satrikh police station, Ajay Kumar Singh said.

Anil Kumar Kannaujia (16), Abhishek (12) and Hema (11) were killed while Chhavinath, Shiv Prakash and Bablu have sustained burn injuries, he said.

The injured have been admitted to the district hospital, Singh said.

District Magistrate Akhilesh Kumar Tiwari announced that Rs four lakh each will be given to the kin of the deceased.

He also visited the hospital to inquire the well being of the injured persons.

Source: Press Trust of India
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Cloud Lightning

Motorcyclist struck by lightning filmed in Guilin City, China

Sophie Williams
Daily Mail
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 13:03 UTC
Video footage shows the moment the lightning hits the scooter rider in Guangxi province
Video footage shows the moment the lightning hits the scooter rider in Guangxi province
Video footage has caught the shocking moment a motorcyclist is struck by a bolt of lightning while traveling over a bridge during a thunderstorm.

The incident took place in Guilin City, southern China's Guangxi province.

According to reports, the 57-year-old rider surname Tang was hurt but did not suffer any life-threatening injuries.

Video footage shows the moment the bolt of lightning struck the rider as he was nearing the end of Xinyi bridge in Guilin.

Pictures show the damage caused to the seat of the man's scooter.

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