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In Sumbawanga, lightning struck and burnt to ashes, a Standard Four pupil, Maria Pangani (14) from Swaila Primary School in Mkwamba Ward, Nkasi Distrct, Rukwa Region on Tuesday evening.
The deceased was studying through the Memkwa programme at the school.
In Bukoba two children from the same family died on the spot when they were struck by lightning in Kumubuga village, Murusagamba ward, in Ngara District.
Rukwa Regional Police Commander (RPC), Mr Jacob Mwaruanda, confirmed that the incident occurred on March 22, this year, at around 5:00 pm at Swaila Village in Nkasi District in the region.
Reports from the scene of incident had it that disaster struck when the deceased's mother threatened to punish her daughter after discovering that she was secretly possessing a Techno smartphone.
It was further alleged that the deceased's mother grilled her daughter seeking to know where she got that expensive phone. However, her daughter refused to reveal the person who had given her the device.
Narrating the incident, the Swaila Village Chairman, Mr Juvernary Mmanzi, said that on that material evening the deceased's mother demanded an explanation from her daughter who had given her the smart phone.
According to the deceased's mother, she was baffled and greatly shocked after discovering that her daughter was in possession of a smartphone. She declared that she (the mother) could not afford to purchase it.
"The perturbed mother grilled her daughter who refused to disclose where she got the phone. It was at that juncture the the mother threatened to accuse her to the village local government.
© Blaine McCartney/Wyoming Tribune Eagle
According to the local National Weather Service office, snow began falling on Cheyenne around 1 a.m. today, and conditions rapidly deteriorated between 2 and 3 a.m. as snow began accumulating and wind picked up speed.
By 6 a.m., seven inches of snow had already fallen on the Capital City, and winds had reached sustained speeds of 30 mph or more, with gusts of up to 50 mph.
What had been a winter storm warning in effect for the region was upgraded to a blizzard warning at 4 a.m. as a result of the strong winds combined with snowfall. A blizzard warning takes effect anytime visibility is reduced to one-quarter mile or less for three consecutive hours and is accompanied by gusts of 35 mph or more.
The blizzard warning remains in effect through 6 p.m. today.
© A Bola
The six dead, members of three different families, are all female, and were struck by lightning in their homes in the Manhene area, administrative post of Messica. A minor was admitted to Chimoio provincial hospital with serious injuries caused by lightning over the same weekend.
PRM spokesperson in Manica Elcidia Filipe said the police were unaware of any particular circumstance behind the six women being struck.
Source: A Bola
© Trevor Hughes/USA TODAYDowntown Denver on Wednesday afternoon, March 23.
Denver International Airport halted all air traffic shortly after noon as a result of the conditions. There was no estimated time for flights to resume.
Hundreds of flights at Denver International Airport were canceled or delayed, in part due to gusting winds that also created blizzard conditions on the state's eastern Plains.
Several interstates and major roadways in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska were closed.
Across the Denver metro area, schools and government offices closed and power flickered as the heavy, wet snow rapidly accumulated. More than 80,000 customers are without power from Denver to Fort Collins, AccuWeather said.
Blizzard warnings are in effect for much of eastern Colorado, including the Denver area, as well as small portions of Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.
© NZTADouglas Drive at Franz Josef, just before daybreak today
Heavy rain caused the Waiho River on the West Coast to breach its bank, the upper North Island has been hit by strong winds and MetService said the bad weather was expected to continue into the afternoon.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch includes #Auckland, has been expanded to include BOP & Hamilton https://t.co/9OBa2V63zz pic.twitter.com/rvlVqhkjkC CL
— MetService (@MetService) March 23, 2016
A local state of emergency was declared early this morning on the West Coast, after flooding forced the evacuation of nearly 200 people in Franz Josef.
The chair of the Glacier Country Tourism Group, Rob Jewell, said 80 of the tourists were staying in a welfare centre.
Ensuring the welfare of the town's guests was key, he said.
The Waiho River breached its bank near the town about 11.50pm last night.
Authorities said 186 people were evacuated at different stages as the river first made its way to the Scenic Circle Hotel, and moved towards the Top Ten Holiday Park and the Westwood Lodge.
© AccuWeather
Severe weather will erupt as a cold front slices into surging warm air.
Storms will initiate across eastern Texas to part of the central Plains and spread eastward into part of the Mississippi Valley.
A small number of severe storm will extend as far north as southeastern Nebraska and near the Iowa/Missouri border.
"Storms will be capable of producing mainly large hail and damaging winds," AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions Storm Warning Meteorologist Alex Avalos said. "However, a tornado or two cannot be ruled out."
© Jared L. ChristopherSevere thunderstorms pounded Tarrant County with hail Thursday morning, covering roadways in west Fort Worth and south Arlington, busting out windshields and killing some exotic birds at the Fort Worth Zoo.
But it wasn't sleet. It was hail, so thick at times it looked like snow.
The surprise hailstorms busted in windshields from Fort Worth to Arlington, killed exotic birds at the Fort Worth Zoo and made for a chaotic Thursday morning commute.
The hailstones varied in size from blueberries to tennis balls.
"The main ingredient was instability in the atmosphere," said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley. "We definitely had been advertising that there could be a few severe storms but they were more widespread than we anticipated."
© BNPBFloods in Padang, Indonesia, March 2016.
Meanwhile, floods in Magelang Regency in Central Java have left at least 1 person dead and several injured.
Padang, West Sumatra
As much as 370 mm of rain was recorded in Padang in 24 hours between 21 and 22 March 2016. The heavy rain resulted in the Batang Arau river overflowing.
Three districts - Koto Tangah, Padang Utara and Padang Selatan - have been severely affected by floods. BNPB say that as many as 9 villages are under water up to 1 metre deep.
There have been no reports of casualties, although houses, schools and a bridge have been damaged.
Teams from emergency agencies are carrying out evacuations using inflatable boats. However, BNPB says that given the wide areas flooded, not all flood victims could be reached and estimate that there are hundreds who are trapped and not been evacuated, particularly in Koto Tangah district.
A MYSTERIOUS bolt of lightning fatally struck a female teacher and a Form One pupil at Chivata Secondary School in Zaka under Chief Nhema last week, a government official confirmed the incident yesterday.
The two have since been buried.
"We have received the shocking reports. One other teacher was also struck and admitted at Ndanga Hospital, but has since been discharged," Chitiga said.
A teacher at the school who requested anonymity said the incident had left them dumbfounded as there was no drop of rain that fell on the day save for a few clouds that formed and disappeared afterwards.
"She was handing fees receipts to pupils as we were about to end the day, while other pupils were doing general work. Suddenly, as she handed the pupil his receipt, a bolt of lightning struck from nowhere. There were just a few clouds," said a teacher who declined to be named.
