Category Archives: Extreme weather

Weather tracker: deadly rainstorm hits Crete

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At least two people dead on Greek island after torrential rain. Elsewhere, cold snap grips swathe of US

At least two people have been killed and more injured after torrential rain hit the popular holiday destination of Crete on Saturday morning. Heavy, thundery rain turned streets into rivers. The worst effects were felt in the Heraklion part of the island where there was huge damage. Cars were washed into the sea while beaches were covered in all sorts of debris, with the resort of Agia Pelagia on the north coast particularly affected.

An area of low pressure moving south-eastwards from Italy brought torrential downpours and thunderstorms to the island, which continued through the afternoon and evening in places before easing. Northern and eastern parts of the island received the highest rainfall totals, with 130mm recorded in 30 minutes and about 300mm seen within three hours.

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Second person found dead after flash flooding in Crete

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Body of a woman, who was in car with a man who also died, discovered off resort of Agia Pelagia on Greek island

Rescue workers have recovered the body of a woman who is the second person to die in flash floods caused by severe storms that swept across the Greek island of Crete.

With the aid of drones, the fire service’s special disaster unit found the body of the 49-year-old on Sunday in the Mediterranean off Agia Pelagia, a seaside resort north-west of Crete’s capital, Heraklion.

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Australia news live: 120 schools to be closed on Monday amid Victorian flood crisis

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Residents in Victoria’s north told to move to higher ground; Anthony Albanese and 100 ADF personnel on the ground as situation worsens. Follow live

Federal government ‘in conversation’ with NSW about Warragamba dam wall

King is asked about how the infrastructure spend is being divvied up with New South Wales clearly getting less than Labor-lead states. King says the decisions were based on the projects that had been submitted to the federal government ahead of the budget.

We will work with the New South Wales government as we lead into the May budget.

Of course we will look at it. At this stage we don’t have enough information from the New South Wales government on which to make a decision.

There is back and forth between Infrastructure Australia and the New South Wales department and I haven’t seen any of that yet.

This is for the early works of this project. We haven’t made any further commitments. We will talk to the Victorians around that as we go forward. They have an election they are facing and this will be a contested project, I’m sure, but something we have confidence in.

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One dead and two missing after Greek island of Crete hit by flash flooding

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A man in his 50s dies while trapped in car as extensive damage in seaside villages reported

A man was found dead and two people were missing on Saturday after torrential rain brought major flooding to the Greek island of Crete, emergency workers said.

A man in his fifties died while trapped inside his car as the rains began to fall in the southern Greek island, a popular holiday destination. Local media reported extensive damage in seaside villages, where streets have become rivers carrying away everything in their path.

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Covid quarantine centre to reopen for flood evacuees – as it happened

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Daniel Andrews says 500 homes have been flooded and another 500 have been isolated. This blog is now closed

An estimated 500 homes are flooded in Victoria with number expected to grow: Daniel Andrews

Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, has been on ABC radio Melbourne this morning, providing listeners with an update on the floods.

Obviously this has been a very, very significant flood event and it’s far from over. There’s a little bit more rainfall but as that weather event passes through, the real challenge is waters continuing to rise and more and more houses being inundated, more and more communities being closed off, becoming isolated, then of course we move to clean up and all of those issues.

We think there’s about 500 homes that are flooded, we think there are another 500 that have been isolated across the state. But I would just say they’re very early estimates and the aerial intelligence gathering choppers are up in the air now ... they’ll be doing all their reports back to the state control centre. So I’d say those numbers are absolutely certain to grow. And indeed, we’re still asking people to leave in some areas. There have been important, important evacuation notices have been issued in a number of communities. So those numbers will go up. That’s why we’ve got nine important relief centres opening and 50 sandbag collection points. There’s an enormous amount of work going on.

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Venezuela floods kill 25 after month’s worth of rain falls in eight hours

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At least 52 missing as military and rescue personnel searched for survivors

At least 25 people died and 52 were missing after five small rivers in central Venezuela flooded due to heavy rains, the government said.

The downpour on Saturday night swept large tree trunks and debris from surrounding mountains into the town of Tejerias, 67km south-west of the capital, Caracas, damaging businesses and farmland, according to the vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez.

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NSW weather: rain subsides but heavy falls expected midweek

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Dozens of rivers still flooding and evacuation orders in place across state as reprieve from rain set to be short-lived

Rain has eased over much of New South Wales but dozens of rivers are still flooding and evacuation orders are in place as authorities forecast another rain system to arrive midweek.

People across the state were forced to flee their homes over the weekend amid rising flood waters and thousands of others are poised to leave if ordered as dams spill and river peaks move downstream.

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Nigerian boat accident death toll rises to 76, president says

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Vessel capsized in Ogbaru area of Anambra state, one of 29 to have experienced heavy flooding this year

The death toll from a boat accident in Nigeria’s south-eastern state of Anambra has risen to 76, the president has said.

The vessel capsized on Friday amid heavy flooding in the Ogbaru area of Anambra, according to officials on Saturday, when they said at least 10 people had died and 60 were missing.

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Extinction Rebellion protesters glue hands to prized Picasso – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Dutton on his answer to filling the gap should stage-three tax cuts go through

Dutton:

If you look at even post lockdowns on a month by month basis, you can see months where we’ve gone back into surplus, so the settings we have in government, our instinct as Liberals, as a Coalition when it comes to budget management are vindicated.

When you look at where we are with a 50-year low unemployment, when you look at the strength of the underlying indicators here in Australia, that is a very significant contrast to where the UK or US budget is, and this government inherited a very strong position after nine years of Coalition management.

David, we went to the last election with a promise and I’m not in the business of breaking promises. The prime minister can contemplate it. He looked the Australian public in the eye and it seems he wasn’t so genuine and that he was prepared to make that statement.

I want to see the prime minister honour his commitment and not lie to the Australian people.

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Rescuers pull people from cars stuck in flood water as more NSW residents told to evacuate

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NSW SES commissioner Carlene York says it is ‘very dangerous out there’ and the rivers are still rising

Communities across large parts of New South Wales were on flood alert on Sunday afternoon, with a saturated landscape and swollen rivers in line for a further drenching on Wednesday.

By 1pm on Sunday, the NSW State Emergency Service had received more than 340 requests for help and carried out 28 flood rescues over the previous 24 hours – many were rescued from vehicles as they tried to drive through flood water.

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Hurricane Julia: Nicaragua braces amid flash flood and mudslide warnings

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Nicaraguan soldiers assist evacuations as up to 38cm of rain forecast across Central America after tropical storm strengthened into hurricane

Hurricane Julia swept by just south of Colombia’s San Andres island on Saturday evening soon after strengthening from a tropical storm, as Nicaraguans rushed to prepare for the storm’s arrival on their coast overnight.

After gaining power throughout the day, Julia’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 120km/h (75mph) by Saturday evening, the US National Hurricane Center said.

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Phoenix could see deadliest year for heat deaths after sweltering summer

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With 22 days hitting 110F or higher, suspected heat deaths in the Arizona capital topped 450

Extreme heat contributed to as many as 450 deaths in the Phoenix area this summer, in what could be the deadliest year on record for the desert city in Arizona.

The medical examiner for Maricopa county, which includes Phoenix, has so far confirmed 284 heat-related deaths, while investigations into 169 more suspected heat fatalities are ongoing. The highest number of deaths – and emergency hospital visits – coincided with the hottest days and nights.

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Weather tracker: how record monsoon rain devastated Pakistan

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A heatwave that began in March led to the country receiving almost triple its average rainfall from June to August

Traditionally, the Asian monsoon is a time to celebrate. But after devastating floods in Pakistan, people in the country may feel differently. At their greatest extent in September, floods covered one-third of Pakistan’s surface. About 15% of the population have been displaced or otherwise affected, and an estimated 1,700 have died.

This year’s monsoon was the wettest on record. The numbers are mind-boggling. Between June and August, Pakistan received almost triple its average rainfall. The province of Sindh received more than eight times the usual amount. However, the situation is far more complicated than just extreme downpours.

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Pakistani PM says he should not have to beg for help after catastrophic floods

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Shehbaz Sharif says he wants ‘climate justice’ from rich polluting countries after monsoons put a third of his country under water

Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, has said Pakistan should not be forced to go out with a “begging bowl” to rich polluting nations after the floods that have devastated the country and said he would be seeking “climate justice” from the international community.

Speaking from his home in Lahore, Sharif warned that Pakistan is facing an unprecedented crisis of health, food security and internal displacement after the “apocalyptic” monsoons which put a third of Pakistan’s regions under water. Some areas were hit by 1.7m of rainfall, the highest on record.

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Son saves mother trapped in flooded home after Hurricane Ian

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Johnny Lauder swam through half-mile of flood waters in Naples, Florida, to pull his mother, a double amputee, out of her home

Every time flood waters inundate a community, forecasters admonish their viewers not to swim through them because of countless perils potentially hidden under the surface – but Johnny Lauder ignored those warnings after Hurricane Ian’s storm surge trapped his mother, a double amputee, inside her Florida home.

Lauder swam through a half-mile of neck-deep, rapidly moving, debris-filled flood waters that swamped his 84-year-old mother’s neighborhood in Naples to pull her out of the home that she couldn’t flee from ahead of Ian.

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Biden pledges $60m to stormproof Puerto Rico during visit

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The US territory has been frequently battered by hurricanes but is often overlooked by the federal government when it comes to aid

Joe Biden announced on Monday that his administration will allocate $60m in funding for Puerto Rico specifically to help coastal areas become more storm-resilient, as he admitted, following the hit from Hurricane Fiona last month, that the island territory had faced much in the last five years and had not received enough timely assistance.

The US president said the new funding would go toward strengthening flood walls, creating a new flood warning system and other projects.

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Hurricane Orlene strikes Mexico’s Pacific coast with 80mph winds

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Nearby ports are closed and emergency shelters open as 10in of rain and dangerous surf are expected

Hurricane Orlene has made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast near the tourist town of Mazatlán, with winds of more than 80mph (130km/h).

Electrical cables swayed and sent off showers of sparks in the town of El Rosario, about 40 miles (65km) south of Mazatlán, close to where the hurricane hit.

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DeSantis’s pleas for hurricane aid raise hackles amid vast partisan divide

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The Florida governor, having spent millions on migrant stunt, now passes the hat for disaster relief

Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has become a familiar, and to some a reassuring, face on numerous television channels through the traumatic aftermath of Hurricane Ian’s rampage through the state.

But the near-constant presence of the Republican, who in less chaotic times limits his on-screen appearances largely to the Fox News faithful, is not sitting comfortably with others, nor are his appeals for public contributions for hurricane relief while he is using taxpayers’ money for “political stunts”.

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‘Our entire community is wiped out’: low-income Americans likely to be hit hardest by Hurricane Ian

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After the storm knocked out power and destroyed property, people scramble for shelter, funds and news of the missing

For Connie Irvin, 82, and her partner, Cheryl Lange, the cost of Hurricane Ian’s devastating tear across Florida was clear. “Our entire community is wiped out,” said Irvin.

The pair lost their mobile home on Sanibel Island off the state’s west coast and are now homeless, staying in a motel inland about 35 miles away near Naples, Florida, that currently has no electricity.

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Weather tracker: Typhoon Noru wreaks havoc across south-east Asia

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As Hurricane Ian hits the Americas, Noru has been ripping through the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand

Hurricane Ian has been in the headlines but it is not the only storm that has been causing havoc in the past week.

On Tuesday, Typhoon Noru struck south of the city of Da Nang in Vietnam, heading westwards to Thailand. Initially a tropical storm, Noru originated in the Philippine Sea on 23 September, propagating westwards while gathering moisture and strengthening.

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