Many reported dead in Rwanda and Uganda, as heavy rain also devastates western regions of continent
May is the end of the rainy season for many parts of east Africa. However, this does not mean the devastation has ended.
Last week heavy rainfall, which started in the late afternoon on 2 May, led to flash flooding in parts of Rwanda and Uganda. These heavy downpours continued through to 4 May, with further wet weather following later in the week.
Continue reading...Dead are mainly elderly people unable to flee, Russia media report
At least 21 people have died in wildfires in Russia’s Ural mountains, state media reported.
Wildfires have raged in the Kurgan region of the Urals and in Siberia all week. Local media reported that most of the dead were older people unable to leave their homes. According to local authorities, many of the deaths occurred on Sunday in the village of Yuldus, in Kurgan province on the border between the Urals and Siberia.
Continue reading...About 5,500 people still missing after intense floods and landslides with thousands also left homeless
At least 411 people are now known to have died in intense flooding and landslides that hit the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s South Kivu province last week.
Efforts to rescue inhabitants and recover bodies in Kalehe, where the flooding happened, are continuing. Some houses, schools and hospitals have collapsed or become dilapidated or unsafe. Others were entirely swept away.
Continue reading...Records for countries broken just weeks after temperature in Thailand rose above 45C for the first time
All-time temperature records were broken in Vietnam and Laos last week. On 6 May, Hoi Xuan in Vietnam reached a scorching 44.1C, breaking the previous record for the country of 43.4C, set in 2019. On the same day, Laos recorded its highest-ever temperature, , which reached 43.5C in Luang Prabang. These records were set just a few weeks after temperatures in Thailand rose above 45C for the first time.
A breakdown of the heat in south-east Asia is expected to occur in the next few days as a tropical disturbance is likely to develop nearby. Forecast models suggest that, over the coming days, the Bay of Bengal will have the perfect conditions for cyclogenesis to occur. By later this week, several factors, including enhanced vorticity and very high sea surface temperatures, will enhance the chance that a tropical storm will edge north-eastwards into parts of Myanmar. This will bring some strong winds and significant rainfall to south-east Asia, including the areas that have recently seen their temperature records broken.
Continue reading...State-run broadcaster says flood waters still rising in northern and western provinces and warns death toll may rise
At least 115 people have died as floods and mudslides swept through northern and western Rwanda after torrential rains, according to the state-run broadcaster, which warned that the toll could rise.
“The rain that fell last night caused disaster in the northern and western provinces,” the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) said on its website on Wednesday.
Continue reading...While seasonal floods aren’t unusual for the national park, this spring could see a deluge from winter snowpack melt
Most of Yosemite valley – the tourist center of the famed national park – will close this weekend as warming temperatures threaten the region with a surge in snowmelt that’s expected to push the Merced River beyond its banks. Forecasters have warned that runoff from California’s historic snowpack, set high along the peaks of the Sierra Nevada range, could cause widespread flooding.
“Downslope there will be problems,” said the National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector, adding that the area around the Pohono Bridge just east of the park’s central entrance would reach flood stage by Friday. “Only parts of the valley are expected to be impacted for now,” he said. “But it may become worse by Sunday or Monday.”
Continue reading...Continent set for further drought in 2023, scientists say, as unstoppable impacts of climate crisis mount
The climate crisis had “frightening” impacts in Europe last year, with heatwaves killing more than 20,000 people and drought withering crops, an EU report has found.
Its writers said drought was already baked in for many farmers in 2023. The only way to limit the rising damages of global heating was rapidly to cut carbon emissions, they said.
Continue reading...Extreme temperatures described as ‘worst April heatwave in Asian history’ as records threatened in India, China, Thailand and Laos
A severe heatwave has swept across much of Asia, causing deaths and school closures in India and record-breaking temperatures in China.
Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian, described the unusually high temperatures as the “worst April heatwave in Asian history”.
Continue reading...Makeshift camp of Indonesian crew spotted by a surveillance plane in the Rowley Shoals, about 300km west of Broome
Eleven Indonesian fishers have been rescued from a remote island off Western Australia after their vessel was destroyed by Cyclone Ilsa.
The men were shipwrecked without food and water for six days on a remote island in the Rowley Shoals, about 300km west of Broome.
Continue reading...Indians warned to stay vigilant during spell of very hot weather. Elsewhere, sandstorms plague China
The heatwave that has been plaguing the states of West Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in India is forecast to continue through the coming week. Daytime temperatures of 40C have been recorded for several consecutive days in these regions, about 5C above the seasonal average.
This excessive heat is linked to a north-westerly flow of air, which is also bringing much drier than usual conditions. The authorities have advised people to be vigilant about their health by staying hydrated, wearing breathable clothing and avoiding street food, which could easily go off in these conditions. They have also closed schools and universities for a week in response to schoolchildren complaining about headaches.
Continue reading...Tropical cyclone set to strengthen to category 4, bringing gusts of 250km/h when it makes landfall between Broome and Port Hedland
A tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall in Western Australia on Thursday, bringing winds strong enough to damage roofing, knock over trees and caravans and cause widespread power outages, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Category 3 tropical Cyclone Ilsa is about 370km north-west of Broome, but is expected to strengthen to a category 4 by the time it makes landfall between Broome and Port Hedland on Thursday, making it the first storm of such magnitude to strike the region in more than a decade.
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Continue reading...Residents of New Zealand’s largest city say people are ‘heartbroken’ at fresh damage wreaked by storm
Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, has been hit by a tornado, two months after the wider region was devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle and three months after the city was struck by deadly flooding.
Auckland Emergency Management said it began receiving reports of “localised havoc” around 9pm on Sunday, according to the NZ Herald. Authorities received more than 30 calls, with roofs lifted off homes and trees toppled.
Continue reading...Twister is part of a system of extreme storms and severe weather that has already battered areas of Michigan, Illinois and Iowa
A tornado that tore through south-eastern Missouri overnight has caused widespread destruction and killed at least five people.
The twister that struck overnight is part of a system of extreme storms that is spawning tornadoes and threatening more death and destruction across the central US.
Continue reading...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.
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