Risk of unrest rises amid fourth dry year, poor grain harvest, weak economy and likely food subsidy cuts
Tunisia has introduced water rationing as the country suffers its fourth year of severe drought.
The state water distribution company, Sonede, has already begun cutting mains water supplies every night between 9pm and 4am. The agriculture ministry has now banned the use of water for irrigation, watering green spaces and other public areas, and for washing cars.
Continue reading...Experts think snowpack will be either the first or second biggest documented in 70 years after winter of extreme storms
California’s winter of extreme storms has brought the drought-ravaged state one of the largest snowpacks on record, with officials saying on Monday that they expect it could be the greatest documented in 70 years.
As of Monday the state’s snowpack stands at 237% of the annual average, the department of water resources (DWR) announced at a press conference.
Continue reading...Monster storm system struck at least eight states over the weekend, prompting at least 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes
As many as 29 people have been killed after a slew of tornadoes tore through parts of the southern and midwestern US in recent days, leaving immense destruction and debris in its path, according to officials.
A monster storm system struck at least eight states over the weekend, prompting at least 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes. The states affected include Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Delaware and Alabama.
Continue reading...Tornadoes leave devastation across Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Oklahoma, including theatre roof that collapsed during concert
At least 21 people died and as many as 900,000 places were without power after a monster storm system tore through the southern and midwest US on Friday, spawning deadly tornadoes that shredded homes and shopping centers, and collapsed a theatre roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois.
More than 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes were recorded across seven states, with twister-producing conditions continuing into Saturday as the storm system threatened a broad US swath which is home to 85 million people.
Continue reading...The Pine Mountain Animal Safari lost two of its big cats after it sustained weather damage, but found them a few hours later
Two tigers briefly went missing from a Georgia zoo after a tornado struck the state on Saturday night and damaged the facility’s infrastructure.
In a Facebook post on Sunday morning, the Troup county’s sheriff’s office announced that it received a report from the Pine Mountain Animal Safari that a “tiger … is unaccounted for inside the park”.
Continue reading...Search and recovery efforts continue after twister hit hardest in some of the most economically deprived areas of US’s poorest state
Joe Biden declared a federal emergency for swathes of Mississippi hit by a devastating tornado, as rescue workers continued to search for survivors on Sunday morning with a death toll of at least 26 people caused by catastrophic storms in parts of the US’s deep south.
Twenty-five people were killed and dozens injured in Mississippi, throughout the state’s low-lying Delta region and around its north-east portion, with another man dying in the neighboring state of Alabama.
Continue reading...Fatalities from tornado the worst in 50 years, with more severe storms expected in the region on Sunday
Devastating storms and at least one large tornado which ripped through rural Mississippi on Friday night left 25 people dead in the state, dozens injured and rescue workers hauling people from rubble throughout Saturday, as the state reeled from its highest tornado-related death toll in decades.
Severe weather pounded several southern states overnight as the centers of destruction emerged on Saturday morning as the small, majority Black towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City in the Mississippi delta.
Continue reading...Findings reveal level of disruption over three days in July when temperatures reached as high as 40C
Almost a fifth of hospitals in the UK were forced to cancel operations during the three days in July last year when temperatures soared highest, research suggests.
The findings, published in a letter to the British Journal of Surgery, are based on surveys of surgeons, anaesthetists and critical care doctors who were working during the peak of last year’s heatwave, from 16-19 July, when temperatures reached as high as 40C in some parts of the country.
Continue reading...Pacific storm brought damaging winds and more rain and snow to saturated state, as heavy rain and snowmelt could cause flooding
The start of spring offered little reprieve for California as another atmospheric river doused the saturated state with more rain and snow. Five deaths have been linked to the storm across the Bay Area, after thrashing winds toppled trees and branches and thousands were left in the dark across the state due to widespread power outages.
California’s unexpected siege of wet weather after years of drought has loaded mountains with so much snow that roofs have been crushed and crews have struggled to keep highways clear of avalanches. Tuesday’s storm, which came on the first full day of spring following the state’s extraordinary winter, was the result of a Pacific low pressure system interacting with California’s 12th atmospheric river since late December, according to the National Weather Service, which warned that flood risks remain across the region into Wednesday.
Continue reading...Wagga Wagga experiences its hottest March weather yet, breaking a previous high set in 1983
Inland New South Wales sweltered through record-breaking March temperatures on Sunday as fires burned across the state.
While inner Sydney remained relatively cool – the mercury peaked at 28.9C, thanks to a sea breeze – the state’s western districts scorched, with temperatures above 42C in Bourke, Cobar and Brewarrina.
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Continue reading...Hundreds killed in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi in what may be longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record
Cyclone Freddy, which developed over the Indian Ocean more than a month ago, has dissipated this week, after making landfall a second time in southern Africa. The death toll had exceeded 300 across Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi by Thursday, with more than 700 people injured, 40 missing and 80,000 displaced.
The devastation was caused by severe flooding and landslides, which swept away roads and buried homes in mud. Power outages in Mozambique have affected small villages since last weekend, hindering rescue efforts as people await food and medical assistance.
Continue reading...Major rivers were overflowing in 16 locations in the state, including in central California where a levee on the Pajaro River failed
A powerful atmospheric river pummeling California could cause even more flooding and mudslides in regions already waterlogged after weeks of back-to-back storms.
The National Weather Service declared a high risk of excessive rainfall across the state, in both coastal and mountainous communities. “Lives and property are in great danger from Tuesday into Wednesday,” the agency warned.
Continue reading...Since Christmas the state has faced an exceptionally wet winter after being plagued far more by drought in recent years
Californians are bracing for the arrival of another “atmospheric river” storm on Monday after a weekend of heavy rainfall and flooding forced thousands to evacuate, washed out roads and knocked out power.
Rains are expected to ramp up on Monday night, and “impact increasingly sensitive portions of central California that were hit hard by the rainfall on Friday and early Saturday”, according to the national weather prediction center.
Continue reading...Storm expected to hit Monday after weekend of destruction and flooding left thousands without power and two people dead
Another “atmospheric river” storm was expected to hit California on Monday, after thousands of residents were left without power following a weekend of heavy rainfall, powerful floods and deadly destruction.
Atmospheric rivers, streams of moisture that transport water vapor from the tropics following evaporation of warm water in the Pacific, are often accompanied by powerful winds and destructive flooding.
Continue reading...Authorities say community still in town could be isolated for up to two weeks with water levels continuing to rise
About 70 people are holding out in the stranded Queensland town of Burketown, as the swollen Albert River to the town’s east continues to rise, and authorities warn that flood waters are likely infested with crocodiles.
Ahead of the expected peak of flood waters, the ranger in charge of the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Zachariah Sowden, said there had already been reported sightings of crocodiles swimming in flood waters.
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Continue reading...Major flood warning issued in north-west Queensland after Burketown residents evacuated overnight. Follow the day’s news live
Control of submarines will remain with Australia: Courtney
Courtney appears confident that control of the submarines will remain with Australia, saying “no one wants to be in a situation where there is any conflict of who is in charge or who is giving orders or who is taking orders”.
We understand that that is precious for every nation, to be able to control and make their own decisions.
We have such a carve-out for Canada today. Again, the defence sectors are much more free-flowing and seamless because of the fact that we made that adjustment, and that is going to be a focus.
No one will be foisting off clunkers on good friends and allies.
We need to train up the Australian sailors and officers in terms of nuclear propulsion which is all we’re talking about here, not nuclear weapons. And when the time comes for the deeds, the title to be handed to the government of Australia of a vessel, that again is going to be totally with the full understanding that it is going to be under Australian control.
Continue reading...Gulf of Carpentaria town’s elderly residents airlifted and supplies flown to nearby Indigenous community as rivers reach peak levels
Vulnerable people will be evacuated from an outback town by air amid widespread record-breaking floods across Queensland’s vast north-west.
Small helicopters and planes will be used to airlift elderly people from Burketown near the Gulf of Carpentaria to Mount Isa, about 400km to the south, on Friday.
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Continue reading...Rural Fire Service says blaze north of Hill End could burn for weeks as locals struggle to save properties
An out-of-control bushfire in New South Wales’s central west has blazed through properties and scorched bushland, with the NSW Rural Fire Service warning it could be “burning for weeks”.
Dozens of fires have been burning across NSW since Sunday as gusty winds and vegetation growth from last year’s high rainfall make it easier for flames to catch, according to Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.
Continue reading...Heatwave continues along the coast and extreme fire danger forecast inland as windy weather picks up
Hot and windy conditions were expected to drive up the fire danger in New South Wales on Tuesday, as the autumnal heatwave continues in parts of the state and more than 30 fires burn.
Extreme fire danger is forecast in the central ranges and greater Hunter areas, where total fire bans are in place.
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Continue reading...Temperatures could plummet to -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas with snow cutting off some rural areas
Tuesday night could be the coldest this year so far, the Met Office has warned, with fears that Arctic air could cut off some rural communities and cause power and transport chaos.
Temperatures could fall as low as -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas, with locations that have seen snowfall especially vulnerable.
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