Storms
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Arrow Down

Landslide triggered by heavy rain kills at least 500 Afghan villagers


Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 02 May 2014 14:48 UTC
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Villagers prepare to search for survivors of a landslide in the Argo district of Badakhshan, Afghanistan which has trapped more than 2,000 people
* Up to 500 people feared dead following landslide in northern Afghanistan

* Three bodies pulled out of rubble with 100 more being treated for injuries

* More than 2,000 people are still missing after hill collapsed on Hobo Barik

* Landslide buried some 300 homes in area - about third of all houses there

Up to 500 people are feared dead after a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried a remote village in northeastern Afghanistan today.

Three bodies have been pulled out of the rubble in the Argo district already - with at least 100 more being treated for injuries, according to police.

Badakshan province Gov. Shah Waliullah Adeeb said earlier more than 2,000 people were missing after a hill collapsed on the village of Hobo Barik.

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Cloud Lightning

2 dead as hurricane rips through Omsk region, south central Russia


The Moscow Times
Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:08 UTC
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Two people have been killed and more than 20 people injured after a hurricane swept through the Siberian region of Omsk over the weekend.

The death toll increased to two on Monday after an elderly woman died in hospital of a head injury sustained during the hurricane, a law enforcement official said, Interfax reported.

The second victim, a 23-year-old woman, died after a bus stop collapsed on her in the village of Troitskoe, near Omsk, a law enforcement official said.

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A further 20 people were injured as the hurricane blew through 24 districts in the Omsk region, with winds reaching up to 29 meters per second.

In total, 550 buildings were damaged during the storm, including 345 homes, 33 schools and 12 kindergartens.
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Cloud Lightning

Truck carried 27 miles by tornado across Arkansas

Doyle Rice
USA Today
Thu, 01 May 2014 11:53 UTC
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© Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesA police officer walks past an overturned car near a home that was destroyed by a tornado on April 29, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark.
A truck was reportedly carried 27 miles by a tornado Sunday night in Arkansas, according to meteorologist Darby Bybee of KHBS-TV in Fort Smith.

Bybee reported that the truck was carried from Mayflower, Ark., to near Vilonia, Ark., a distance of about 27 miles. A report from the National Weather Service in Little Rock notes that an EF4 tornado - with winds of at least 180 mph - traveled 41 miles on a path that included both Mayflower and Vilonia.

The tornado killed 15 people.

Many cars were tossed around and destroyed, some mangled beyond recognition, Bybee said. He said it can be difficult to make an insurance claim on a car that can't be found or identified.

Long-distance transport of large objects in tornadoes has been reported before, though Randy Cerveny, a geography professor at Arizona State University, said, "I haven't heard of trucks being thrown that far."

In 1877, a tornado in Illinois reportedly carried "the spire, vane and guilded ball of a Methodist church" 15 miles, according to his book Freaks of the Storm.
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Cloud Precipitation

Hundreds caught off guard by the single rainiest day ever recorded - rescued from floodwaters in Florida and Alabama

Melissa Nelson-Gabriel and Michael Kunzelman
Yahoo
Wed, 30 Apr 2014 08:45 UTC
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© AP Photo/Pensacola News Journal, Katie E. King A portion of the Scenic Highway collapsed near Pensacola, Fla., Wednesday April 30, 2014. Heavy rains and flooding have left people stranded in houses and cars in the Florida Panhandle and along the Alabama coast. According to the National Weather Service, an estimated 15-20 inches of rain has fallen in Pensacola in the past 24 hours.
People were plucked off rooftops or climbed into their attics to get away from fast-rising waters when nearly 2 feet of rain fell on the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coast in the span of about 24 hours, the latest bout of severe weather that began with tornadoes in the Midwest.

On Wednesday, roads were chewed up into pieces or wiped out entirely and neighborhoods were inundated, making rescues difficult for hundreds of people who called for help when they were caught off guard by the single rainiest day ever recorded in Pensacola.

Boats and Humvees zigzagged through the flooded streets to help stranded residents. A car and truck plummeted 25 feet when portions of a scenic highway collapsed, and one Florida woman died when she drove her car into high water, officials said.

Near the Alabama-Florida line, water started creeping into Brandi McCoon's mobile home, so her fiance, Jonathan Brown, wrapped up her nearly 2-year-old son Noah in a blanket and they swam in neck-deep water to their car about 50 feet away.

Then, the car was flooded.


Comment:
Almost 24 inches in 24 hours? Places like India and the Philippines receive large amounts of rainfall in short periods during monsoon season and cyclones. Could there be a permanent climate change happening across the North America and the globe? Here is a thorough meteorological report posted by a writer on the Accuweather blog.

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Cloud Precipitation

Devastating floods in northern Afghanistan kill 127; thousands homeless


Reuters
Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:46 UTC
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© Unknown
More than 100 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by flash floods in north and west Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, prompting desperate pleas for help from the impoverished provincial authorities.

Thousands of homes have been engulfed by flood waters in four provinces after three days of heavy rain in what is traditionally a wet period at the start of spring.

In the northern province of Jawzjan, police chief Faqer Mohammad Jawzjani said 55 bodies had been recovered, and that the number of dead would increase over the coming days.

"Providing aid or help from the ground is impossible," he told Reuters. "We have carried 1,500 people to safe areas of neighboring districts by helicopter. We need emergency assistance from the central government and aid agencies."
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Cloud Precipitation

Record rains cause flooding in mid-Atlantic region of U.S.


MyFoxDC.com
Thu, 01 May 2014 12:22 UTC
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© AP
Record-breaking rainfall overflowed creeks and streams, causing flooding throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

Heavy rains slowed overnight, but officials warned motorists on Thursday to keep watching for flooded roads. Downed trees on overhead lines interrupted MARC Penn line service.

The National Weather Service says Dulles International and Reagan National airports broke 2005 rainfall records on Wednesday. Dulles got 3.99 inches and Reagan received 2.7 inches. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport tied a 1947 record of 3.06 inches.
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Cloud Precipitation

Massive flooding caused by deadly storms in Florida and Alabama - over a foot of rain in both states


RT
Wed, 30 Apr 2014 15:27 UTC
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© Photo from Twitter/@IndianaWxOnline
As a deadly weather front continued to make its way across the Southern United States late Tuesday and early Wednesday, both Florida and Alabama were struck with severe flooding that's left at least one person dead.

According to the Associated Press, rainfall in the Florida Panhandle - especially the area around Pensacola - and the coast of Alabama has been relentless, dropping well over a foot of rain in both states. Houses have been flooded to the point where residents have had to seek higher ground, and overflowing roads have stranded drivers waiting to be picked up by rescue squads.

In Pensacola, where 15-20 inches of rain fell in a one-day period, at least one woman has been reported dead due to driving in perilously high waters. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in 26 counties.
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Cloud Lightning

Up to 20 inches of rain in 24 hours soaks Florida's Panhandle


Associated Press
Wed, 30 Apr 2014 06:46 UTC
Pensacola flooding
© UnknownPhoto reportedly shows flooding in Pensacola, Fla., amid severe storms.
Heavy rains and flooding killed at least one person and left others stranded in their houses and cars in the Florida Panhandle, the latest area of the country to be pummeled by a dayslong chain of severe weather.

Escambia County spokesman Bill Pearson told The Pensacola News Journal that at least one person died and several others were stranded by floodwaters in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The circumstances surrounding the death were not immediately known.

Pearson said fire rescue crews aren't able to respond to some calls early Wednesday because of road flooding around Pensacola. He said some people have climbed into their attics because of rising waters.

"We are asking people to stay off the roads," Pearson told the newspaper.
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Cloud Lightning

Massive storm system: 70 million Americans under threat of severe weather

Michael Pearson
CNN
Tue, 29 Apr 2014 14:24 UTC
US massive storm system
© NOAAA massive storm system moves across the United States.
From Missouri to New York, Michigan to Florida, forecasters urged millions of Americans to keep an eye on the weather Tuesday, warning of tornadoes, high winds and hail spawned by the storm system that's killed 31 people in the last two days.

Roughly 70 million people are being warned of a slight to moderate risk of severe weather in the eastern half of the United States, according to the National Weather Service. That was a slight downgrade from an estimated 75 million people earlier in the day.

Mississippi and Alabama -- where tornadoes Monday caused widespread destruction and several deaths -- were again in the bull's-eye for the worst of Tuesday's forecast.

Tens of thousands were without power in those two states, where suspected tornadoes chewed through homes and businesses late Monday. At least 13 people were killed in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee on Monday. Those deaths are in addition to 18 others reported in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa from storms Sunday.
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Cloud Lightning

At least 16 dead, 1,000 homeless in Bangladesh storm


Agence France-Presse
Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:21 UTC
Lightning
© Getty Images
A severe storm has left at least 16 people dead and 1,000 homeless in northern Bangladesh, officials say.

The storm tore through scores of villages overnight on Sunday, uprooting trees and electricity poles and derailing a train in an incident that injured dozens of passengers.

Nine people were killed in the worst-hit district of Netrokona, six died in neighbouring Sunamganj, and one person died after being struck by lightning in nearby Naogaon, police in all three districts said.

Among the nine killed in Netrokona was a pregnant woman and her three children, district police official Rashel Miah said.
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