A wind-driven wildfire has forced evacuations north of San Francisco in Sonoma County. The blaze near Geyserville had grown to 15 sq miles (39 sq km) by early Thursday, according to the state firefighting agency Cal Fire. Winds around the county's highest areas were blowing at speeds of up to 70mph, and elsewhere in the region between 30mph and 50mph, the National Weather Service said
Continue reading...Category Archives: Natural disasters and extreme weather
Auckland fire: thousands evacuated as huge blaze takes hold – video
A fire burned in the heart of New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, starting from the roof of the SkyCity centre, which is still under construction. Thousands of people were evacuated. Workers on the site were sent away immediately, but as the fire continued to rage, other areas – including New Zealand's tallest building, Sky Tower – were cleared.
The New Zealand fire service asked residents to stay clear of the city centre and a spokesperson said it was 'a very, very difficult fire to extinguish'
Continue reading...Japan’s PM pledges to act after homeless men denied typhoon refuge
Shinzo Abe says pair should have had access to shelter in Tokyo during Typhoon Hagibis
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has promised to take action after two homeless men were refused access to a shelter as Typhoon Hagibis barrelled into Tokyo.
The powerful storm hit Japan’s main island on Saturday with strong winds and heavy rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power.
Continue reading...‘This place was like a sea’: survivors rescued after Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan – video
Residents and survivors were picked up in central and eastern Japan after Typhoon Hagibis hit the country on Saturday 12 October. The super-typhoon has already claimed 40 lives.
Record rainfall caused at least 25 rivers across the country to burst their banks leaving people stranded. By Monday at least 16 people were still missing and 200 were confirmed injured
- Typhoon Hagibis: 110,000 join rescue effort as survivors tell of 'incredible' storm
- Typhoon Hagibis: death toll rises in Japan as ‘worst storm in 60 years’ roars through
The aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis – in pictures
Japan’s Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday evening with heavy rain, which flooded the city and surrounding areas. The death toll has reached 36 and many people are still missing. Emergency workers swung into action, with helicopters plucking people from flooded buildings and police swimming through waters looking for missing people
Continue reading...Rescue efforts under way after Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan – video report
Rescue efforts have begun in Japan following Typhoon Hagibis, which flooded Tokyo and surrounding areas and left at least 25 dead and 15 missing.
Hagibis, one of the strongest storms to hit Japan in decades, made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday evening and moved northward. It brought torrential rain and ferocious winds, causing widespread damage
Typhoon Hagibis: death toll rises in Japan as ‘worst storm in 60 years’ roars through
Threat of widespread flooding and landslides compounded by earthquake in Chiba prefecture
At least seven people have been killed and 15 left missing after the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in decades paralysed Tokyo, flooding rivers and putting millions under evacuation warning before it ploughed up the north-eastern coast.
Authorities lifted rain and flood warnings for the Kanto region around a becalmed Tokyo before dawn on Sunday but imposed them on areas further north after super-typhoon Hagibis blasted through the capital.
Continue reading...Typhoon Hagibis: millions across Japan advised to evacuate
Tokyo braced for arrival of storm and up to 60cm of rain as flights and trains cancelled
More than 1 million people in Japan have been ordered to leave their homes as Typhoon Hagibis bears down on Tokyo, having already caused power outages, flooding and widespread travel disruption.
The storm is 870 miles (1,400km) wide, with winds of 100mph (162km/h) at its centre and gusts of up to 134mph. Hagibis is being compared to a typhoon in 1958 that killed 1,200 people and caused destruction across the Tokyo area and Shizuoka prefecture.
Continue reading...Torrential rain causes flooding as Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan – video
Japan has been engulfed by heavy rain and strong winds as what is feared to be the worst storm for six decades batters the country and approaches Tokyo. Rivers swelled, boats flipped over and seas were whipped up by Typhoon Hagibis. The storm is expected to hit the capital later on Saturday
Continue reading...Police order evacuations as fast-moving wildfire spreads near San Francisco
Cal Fire said flames consumed about 60 acres in little more than two hours in the hills of a Bay Area community, Sanders Ranch
Police ordered evacuations early on Thursday as a fast-moving wildfire spread in the hills of a San Francisco Bay Area community.
The flames surged despite the area being part of a large parcel of northern California where more than 1.5 million people have had their power deliberately cut off to try to prevent the kind of blazes that have devastated parts of the state in recent years.
Continue reading...Hurricane Lorenzo: Ireland braces itself for powerful storm
Damage expected from the largest recorded storm to make it so far east in north Atlantic
Ireland is bracing for strong winds, downed power lines and coastal flooding when Storm Lorenzo barrels in from the Atlantic before hitting Britain.
Met Éireann, the national meteorological service, issued a status orange wind warning on Wednesday for six counties on the west coast and a yellow warning nationwide for Thursday night and Friday morning.
Continue reading...India floods: hospital and homes submerged as more than 100 die during heavy rains – video
Videos shared on social media show submerged roads and heavy flooding at one of the big hospitals in Patna, the state capital of Bihar, where patients lie on beds barely above dirty water. More than 100 people have died in flooding in eastern India, where vast areas have been inundated by delayed monsoon rains. In Uttar Pradesh, 93 people have died as the rains cause homes to collapse and lead to an increase in snake bites. Dozens of people have also died in Bihar, where boats have been deployed to rescue stranded residents
Continue reading...Pakistan earthquake leaves 19 dead and 300 injured in Kashmir region
A shallow earthquake near Mirpur has struck north-eastern Pakistan, tearing huge cracks in roads
At least 19 people have been killed and 300 injured after a shallow earthquake struck north-eastern Pakistan, tearing car-sized cracks into roads and heavily damaging infrastructure.
The quake sent people in Lahore and Islamabad running into the streets. With rescue operations expected to continue overnight, residents in the worst-hit areas described their horror as walls collapsed and houses fell.
Continue reading...Indonesian forest fires burn causing toxic haze across south-east Asia – in pictures
Forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have been spewing toxic haze across south-east Asia, forcing the closure of schools and airports, and prompting Indonesian authorities to deploy thousands of firefighters to tackle them. There has been an increase in reports of respiratory illnesses
• Red skies cover parts of Indonesia as rainforest fire haze crisis worsens – video
Continue reading...Tropical Depression Imelda hits south-east Texas – in pictures
Tropical Depression Imelda has flooded south-east Texas, a region that had only just started to recover from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some areas have received almost 30in of rain, with Governor Gregg Abbott declaring a state of disaster for 13 counties
Continue reading...Climate strike in Australia: everything you need to know about Friday’s protest
Time and location for the 20 September school strike for climate change in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart and more
Thousands of Australian school students are again preparing to walk out of classrooms across the country to demand action on the climate crisis.
The global mass day of action will take place on Friday 20 September, three days before the United Nations climate summit in New York.
Continue reading...Reporting on Hurricane Dorian: ‘It was a scene of complete devastation’
New York reporter recalls challenges of covering a disaster as huge as the category 5 storm that ripped through the Bahamas
How do you start an interview with someone who has just lost everything?
With the floodwaters just receded, the stench of mould beginning to creep into the hollowed-out buildings that survived two days of pummelling winds, and bloated corpses still being recovered, that was a question I was forced to grapple with last week in the Bahamas.
Continue reading...Bahamas: new storm threatens Hurricane Dorian relief efforts
Tropical Storm Humberto expected to drop up to 15cm of rain as operation to provide food and shelter continues
A tropical storm carrying heavy rain and strong winds is nearing the already devastated Bahamas, threatening to complicate Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts as the UN secretary general arrived in the islands in a show of support.
The new weather system, known as Tropical Storm Humberto,is expected to drop up to 15cm (6 inches) of rain through the weekend in areas of the islands inundated by Dorian, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre.
Continue reading...Bankrupt California utility blamed for deadly wildfires agrees to $11bn payout
PG&E to pay insurers of claimants from two years of blazes, including Paradise fire that left 86 dead, in tentative deal
A utility company with a history of sparking wildfires has agreed to pay $11bn to a group of insurance companies representing claimants from deadly northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018.
The tentative agreement includes insurance claims from the town of Paradise, where 86 died last November, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) said in a statement Friday.
Continue reading...Extreme rainfall triggers flooding in parts of Spain – video
Parts of eastern Spain have received what in some places was the heaviest rainfall on record, as storms wreaked widespread destruction and killed at least two people. One of the first places to be hit was Ontinyent, south of Valencia, where almost 300mm fell in 24 hours, the heaviest rainfall recorded there since 1917
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