Khitam Al Amir Gulf News Fri, 11 Oct 2024 13:30 UTC
Flash floods hit Mecca following dust storm.
Heavy rains lashed Mecca on Thursday, bringing thunderstorms and torrents that swept through the holy city and surrounding areas.
Videos shared widely on social media captured the intensity of the downpour, which followed a wave of dust that had earlier reduced visibility across the region.
The National Meteorological Centre had previously issued alerts warning of moderate to heavy thunderstorms, with potential flooding and hail in parts of Mecca, Jizan, Asir, Al Baha, and Medina. The forecast also called for strong winds carrying dust, with thunderstorms expected across parts of the Eastern Province and fog likely in some coastal areas of Tabuk.
Have you ever heard anyone say that "Mother Nature is undefeated?" This video below is a rather good representation of that. A mother bald eagle was trying to protect her nest (perched in a tree in the Stearns Lake area) from a stalking red-tailed hawk, and little did she know, there was an even bigger threat that she could do nothing about.
In the blink of an eye, a lightning strike burst down and it sure seemed to be a direct hit on the nest. Bald eagle nests are known to be sizable, with some being more than four to five feet wide and two to three feet deep. And as you'll see in the clip that was captured by a wildlife camera set up to monitor the nest, the bald eagle home was disintegrated in an explosive fireball after being struck by the lightning.
The Logone river in Chad's capital has risen to its highest level in 30-40 years, the authorities said on Wednesday, threatening further turmoil to a country that has been battling devastating nationwide floods for weeks.
West and Central Africa's annual monsoon has swept parts of the region with above-average downpours this rainy season, triggering widespread floods. Chad is the worst-hit with 1.9 million people affected across much of the country as of Oct. 5, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.
By Wednesday morning, the Logone river had swelled even higher than forecast, hitting 8.18 meters. "This is a record not seen for at least 30 to 40 years," said the head of the National Meteorology Agency, Sakine Youssouf.
Prime Minister Allah Maye Halina chaired a meeting of the national flood management committee on Wednesday to agree an action plan to respond to the floods, which he said had hit eight of the capital N'Djamena's 10 districts and 17 out of 23 of Chad's provinces.
A hailstorm, accompanied by heavy rains, has hit parts of UAE. A yellow alert had earlier been issued by the nation's Met Department earlier on Thursday.
Fujairah is experiencing heavy rains, causing water to pool on roads. Cars can be seen wading across the shallow floods, spraying water as they drive past. Authorities across the emirate have also geared up, helping residents on the road by directing traffic.
In a video shared by Storm Centre, heavy rains can be seen as the person recording greets others driving by. Watch the video below:
The worst of the low pressure system seems to have passed, but officials remain alert as further rainfall and high water levels remain.
One person has been killed as low pressure system, formerly storm, Kirk swept across France, according to local media reports. The Isle de France region saw severe flooding and record high water levels, as did the Alpes-Maritimes region.
The departement Seine-et-Marne in Isle de France was most severely impacted by the heavy rainfall, flooding houses and blocking several roads. A red flood alert announced on Thursday remains in place there as further rainfall and potential flooding is expected in the coming days.
The Seveso river's anti-flood storage tank was activated while the Lambro river overflowed its banks early on Thursday due to torrential rain in Milan and in the Lombardy region.
Local authorities said an estimated 35-40 millimetres of rain had fallen since 3 in the morning in Italy's financial capital.
The park around the Lambro river was flooded and two communities living in the area were evacuated.
The weather is expected to improve in the afternoon, according to forecasts.
Hurricane Milton has left a trail of destruction in Florida as it whipped up tornadoes and brought torrential rains and raging winds that destroyed homes and knocked out power for millions of people in the US state.
While the National Hurricane Center said on Thursday that the storm, which made landfall on the state's western coast hours earlier, had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, it was still hurtling through Florida with wind speeds of 150 km/h (93mph).
Milton made landfall at about 8:30pm (00:30 GMT) on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 195km/h (121mph) near Siesta Key, Florida.
The storm is expected to maintain hurricane strength as it crosses the Florida peninsula and emerges into the Atlantic on Thursday, forecasters said, despite it running out of steam.
At least 19 tornadoes ripped across the southern part of Florida, hundreds of miles from the centre of the storm, as it neared land.
More than 3 million people in Florida were left without power power as of 3:58am (07:58 GMT), according to Poweroutage.us, which tracks supplies, with the state's west coast worst affected.
Hurricane Milton plowed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after cutting a destructive path across Florida that spawned tornados, killed at least 10 people and left millions without power, but the storm did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared.
Governor Ron DeSantis said the state had avoided the "worst-case scenario," though he cautioned the damage was still significant. The Tampa Bay area appeared to sidestep the storm surge that had prompted the most dire warnings.
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a White House briefing the government had reports of at least 10 deaths from Milton, adding it appeared they were caused by tornados.
In St. Lucie County on Florida's east coast, a spate of tornados killed five people, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes Communities, county spokesperson Erick Gill said. Search-and-rescue teams there are combing through hard-hit areas, including a mobile-home park.
There were 19 confirmed tornados in Florida as of 8 pm Wednesday, about the time Milton made landfall, DeSantis said. Some 45 tornados were reported throughout the day, mostly in the central and eastern parts of the state, the National Weather Service said.
More than 80 Tornado Warnings had already been issued as of Wednesday afternoon. The NWS Miami office has broken its record for the most Tornado Warnings issued in a single day.
A dangerous tornado outbreak has emerged from the outer bands of Hurricane Milton, posing a significant threat to Florida as the massive storm approaches.
More than 80 Tornado Warnings had already been issued as of Wednesday afternoon. This comes following the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center's (SPC) issuance of a Tornado Watch for parts of Central and South Florida.
The NWS Miami office has broken its record for the most Tornado Warnings issued in a single day, with more than 40 issued as of Wednesday afternoon. The previous record for that office was set during Hurricane Ian.
Last week, category 4 Hurricane Helene hit the eastern coast of North America causing massive flooding and devastation across the region, leaving people stranded and homeless.
This week, Hurricane Milton - a category five hurricane - is predicted to hit Florida's west coast after forming in the Gulf of Mesico and moving eastwards.
Two such storms in less than ten days have fueled online talk of "Weather modification" from Republican politicians and alternate media personalities:
Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.
- John Lennon
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