Category Archives: Extreme weather

Weather tracker: Libya floods caused by Storm Daniel ‘medicane’

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Country hit by record rainfall that followed Mediterranean storm with similarities to tropical cyclone

After battering Greece last week, Storm Daniel caused further devastating floods, this time affecting Libya. As the storm moved across the Sahara, it developed into what is informally known as a medicane, a storm in the Mediterranean that develops characteristics similar to those seen in tropical cyclones, notably a central eye. The particularly warm Mediterranean water fuelled by the extreme heat seen over southern Europe this summer, helped strengthen Daniel as it approached Libya.

By Saturday 10 September, Daniel had reached north-eastern Libya, with winds of 70-80mph, according to Libya’s National Meteorological Centre. The devastation then came from extreme rainfall, as 24-hour totals of 150mm-240mm were widely recorded in the region. One station in the city of Al-Bayda recorded a rainfall total of 414.1mm in 24 hours, a new record for the area. These torrential rains caused two dams to collapse, which resulted in devastating flash flooding that has killed thousands of people.

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Libya’s floods are result of climate crisis meeting a failed state

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Storm Daniel was by no means the only factor behind the devastation wrought on the city of Derna

When the climate crisis meets a failed state, the outcome is the kind of disaster that Libya is witnessing in Derna.

Any city would have struggled with the extraordinary level of precipitation that Storm Daniel visited upon Libya’s northern coast. In its earlier, milder form, the storm caused severe damage in Greece before it crossed the Mediterranean.

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‘Disastrous beyond comprehension’: 10,000 missing after Libya floods

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Neighbourhoods washed away in port city of Derna, where two dams burst, with many bodies swept out to sea

The situation in Derna, the Libyan port city where two dams burst over the weekend, has been described as “disastrous beyond comprehension”, as the Red Cross and local officials said at least 10,000 people were missing after the devastating floods.

The confirmed death toll has exceeded 5,300, Mohammed Abu-Lamousha, a spokesperson for the administration that controls the east of Libya told a state-run news agency late on Tuesday. Tariq al-Kharraz, another representative of the eastern government, said that entire neighbourhoods had been washed away, with many bodies swept out to sea.

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Greek PM under attack over handling of Storm Daniel disaster response

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis faces biggest crisis yet as residents ask where money for ‘immediate’ flood relief has gone

The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is facing his biggest crisis yet as – less than a week after rainstorms left vast tracts of the country’s heartlands under water – his government has come under attack for its handling of the disaster that left 15 dead.

Health experts have described conditions in the flood-stricken Thessaly region – one of Greece’s richest agricultural areas – as ripe for the spread of infectious diseases after a summer of unprecedented heat-induced forest fires.

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Phoenix sets record in hellishly hot summer – but relief is in sight

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The Arizona capital reached 55th day above 110F this year, but forecast says that cooler temps – even rain – are on the horizon

Residents in Phoenix, Arizona, are set to experience some relief from the blistering heatwave following the city’s record of the most days at or above 110F (43.3C) this year despite reaching 112F (44.4C) on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

On Sunday, the NWS announced that temperatures in Arizona’s largest city will finally begin to retreat “closer to the seasonal normal” with highs expected to range between 102F (38.9C) and 104F (40C) between Monday and Friday. Sunday’s temperature broke the daily high record of 111F (43.9C) set in 1990.

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Greek rescuers work through night to locate villagers trapped by flood

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Death toll reaches 12 as hundreds still thought to be marooned after deadly downpours

Rescuers in central Greece were working through the night to locate people trapped in villages deluged by flood waters as the death toll from rainstorms rose to at least 12.

Emergency services, backed by elite commando units and an ever-growing army of volunteers, sought to find hundreds still thought to be marooned in homes five days after downpours, described as the worst in the country’s history, struck.

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Phoenix breaks heat record as city hits 110F for the 54th consecutive day

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Saturday’s temperature had triggered an excessive heat warning across Arizona as lows were expected to range between 80F and 86F

The temperature in Phoenix, Arizona continues to rise as the city broke its previous record of the most consecutive days at or above 110F (43C).

On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service announced that the temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport reached 110F, making it the 54th day this year with temperatures of at least 110F.

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Hundreds of people rescued from flooded villages in Greece

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Officials say many people are still trapped in central areas of the country hit by Storm Daniel

Firefighters backed by the army have rescued hundreds of people from villages in central Greece cut off by floods that have claimed at least 10 lives.

“More than 2,850 people have been rescued since the beginning of the bad weather,” Yannis Artopios, a fire department spokesperson told the broadcaster Mega on Saturday.

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Hawaii fires: number of missing drops from hundreds to 66 amid recovery

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Josh Green, the state governor, approved $25m for business recovery and said Maui will reopen for tourism on 8 October

One month after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, said Friday that the number of missing has dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remains at 115 and authorities will soon escort residents on visits to their property.

Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning 8 October, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors.

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Rescue efforts stepped up after deadly floods in central Greece

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Greek PM tours crisis-hit area amid fears death toll could rise as water levels continue to rise in some places

Helicopters and lifeboats have been deployed to rescue hundreds of villagers stranded by flood waters in central Greece after rainstorms left at least 10 people dead.

Touring the crisis-hit area of Thessaly, 185 miles north of Athens, Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, vowed to do “whatever is humanly possibly” to assist residents in areas deluged by torrential rain that also hit neighbouring Bulgaria and Turkey. A total of 22 people have died across the three countries since Tuesday.

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Deadly humid heatwaves to spread rapidly as climate warms – study

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Small rise in global temperatures would affect hundreds of millions of people and could cause a sharp rise in deaths

Life-threatening periods of high heat and humidity will spread rapidly across the world with only a small increase in global temperatures, a study has found, which could cause a sharp acceleration in the number of deaths resulting from the climate crisis.

The extremes, which can be fatal to healthy people within six hours, could affect hundreds of millions of people unused to such conditions. As a result, heat deaths could rise quickly unless serious efforts to prepare populations were undertaken urgently, the researcher said.

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Weather tracker: Omega block brings torrential rain to Greece and Spain

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Europe-wide formation is partly responsible for Storm Daniel, while the north of the continent has high temperatures

An Omega block has been in place over Europe this week, leading to some extreme weather for many. An Omega block is a synoptic setup consisting of a high-pressure region sandwiched between two low-pressure regions, creating a shape resembling the Greek letter omega.

Storm Daniel developed over the Ionian Sea partly due to this setup, causing devastating flooding across central and eastern Greece. The region’s warm seas at this time of year also helped produce the moisture needed for this storm.

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Two dead after Hong Kong’s heaviest rain in at least 140 years

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More than 200mm of rain recorded on Hong Kong’s main island and there is also disruption in Shenzhen

Hong Kong’s heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago has left two people dead and more than 100 injured, as unusually wet weather caused by typhoons brought more disruption to southern China.

Videos showed water cascading down steep hillsides in the former British colony, causing waist-deep flooding in narrow streets and inundating malls, railway stations and tunnels.

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‘Sleeping giant’ drought threatens more disasters after record Canada wildfires

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Unprecedented drought in British Columbia could usher in a fresh set of natural disasters, including devastating floods

A season of record-breaking wildfires in British Columbia is nearly over, but officials in the Canadian province have warned that a persistent drought in the Canadian province is a “sleeping giant” which could usher in a fresh set of natural disasters, including devastating floods in the coming months.

Bowinn Ma, British Columbia’s emergency management minister said this week the unprecedented drought has the full attention of senior government officials as the region enters the “home stretch” of the province’s unprecedented wildfire season. Hundreds of blazes tore across the province this summer, leaving crews exhausted and broken, and scorching an estimated 2.2m hectares of land.

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Climate adaptation finance to Africa must increase tenfold, research shows

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Countries forced to choose between climate resilience, fighting poverty and paying debts, says Ban Ki-moon

The flow of climate adaptation finance to Africa must increase up to tenfold by 2035 to meet the deepening effects of the climate crisis, according to research.

As the Africa Climate Summit continued in Nairobi, campaigners spoke of the desperate need to get funding to people who are already being affected by climate change. Africa, the region most impacted by the climate emergency, receives only 3% of global climate finance.

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Extratropical cyclone kills at least 31 in Brazil and leaves over 1,600 homeless

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More than 60 cities battered by storm since Monday night as more heavy rains expected but sparing worst-hit areas

An extratropical cyclone in southern Brazil has caused floods in several cities, killing at least 31 people and leaving more than 1,600 homeless.

More than 60 cities have been battered by the storm since Monday night, and Rio Grande do Sul’s governor, Eduardo Leite, said the death toll was the state’s highest due to a climate event.

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Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria hit by fatal flash floods

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At least 12 people die across three countries as torrential rainstorms cause severe damage to buildings, roads and bridges

At least 12 people have died in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria as flash floods from torrential rainstorms turned rivers into torrents, swept away bridges and inundated streets, homes and public buildings.

Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, said after an emergency cabinet meeting: “This is the most extreme phenomenon in terms of the maximum amount of rain in a 24-hour period since records began in the country.”

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Weather tracker: looking back as summer ends in northern hemisphere

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The season was a mixed bag in Britain, but Japan has had its hottest summer on record

Entering September brings the arrival of meteorological autumn in the northern hemisphere, officially drawing the summer of 2023 to a close.

In the UK, the summer was a mixed bag. We started with a fairly pleasant June before entering into a wet and windy July caused by multiple consecutive weekend low pressure synoptic situations. A relatively unusual August followed in which we had two named storms, Antoni and Betty, before a pleasant warm spell.

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More than 40 people injured as Typhoon Haikui sweeps across Taiwan

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Tens of thousands of homes left without power and more than 7,000 people evacuated after storm makes landfall

Typhoon Haikui moved across Taiwan on Sunday, unleashing torrential downpours, accelerating winds and plunging thousands of households into darkness after the first big storm to hit the island directly in four years made landfall.

More than 7,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas, while hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses closed in preparation for the storm.

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Typhoon Saola makes landfall in southern China as nearly 900,000 evacuated

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Storm hit overnight as business, transport and schools suspended in Hong Kong and Guangdong

Typhoon Saola has made landfall in southern China after nearly 900,000 people were moved to safety and most of Hong Kong and other parts of coastal southern China suspended business, transport and schools.

Guangdong province’s meteorological bureau said the powerful storm churned into an outlying district of the city of Zhuhai, just south of Hong Kong at 3.30am local time. It was forecast to move in a south-westerly direction along the Guangdong coast at a speed of about 10mph (17km/h), gradually weakening before heading out to sea.

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