Cuba evacuated 70,000 people in its southern region on Sunday, amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could unleash heavy flooding after battering several Caribbean islands and killing at least three people.
Related: Miami condo collapse: death toll at 24 as search pauses for demolition
Continue reading...Storm kills one person in St Lucia and a 15-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman in the Dominican Republic
Cuba prepared to evacuate people along the island’s southern region on Sunday amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could unleash heavy flooding after battering several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people.
The government on Sunday opened shelters and moved to protect sugarcane and cocoa crops ahead of the storm, whose next target was Florida, where governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 15 counties, including in Miami-Dade County where the high-rise condominium building collapsed last week.
Continue reading...British Columbia reports jump in number of ‘sudden and unexpected deaths’ and links them to extreme weather
Nearly 500 people may have been killed by record-breaking temperatures in Canada’s westernmost province, as officials warn the grim toll from “heat dome” could rise again as more deaths are reported.
On Friday, British Columbia’s chief coroner said that 719 “sudden and unexpected deaths” had been reported over the past week – triple the number during a similar period in a typical year.
Continue reading...Residents recovering from record-breaking temperatures face a new threat, with more than 100 fires burning
On the heels of an unprecedented heatwave that left hundreds dead in British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province is now battling a fresh threat.
More than 100 wildfires are burning across the province, as of late on Thursday, 86 of which started in the past two days. Evacuation orders and alerts have gone out in a dozen communities. The province’s premier, John Horgan, suggested that the crisis could become dire enough to see the Canadian military deployed.
Continue reading...Scientists fear heat domes in North America and Siberia indicate a new dimension to the global crisis
If you were drawing up a list of possible locations for hell on Earth before this week, the small mountain village of Lytton in Canada would probably not have entered your mind.
Few people outside British Columbia had heard of this community of 250 people. Those who had were more likely to think of it as bucolic. Nestled by a confluence of rivers in the forested foothills of the Lillooet and Botanie mountain ranges, the municipal website boasts: “Lytton is the ideal location for nature lovers to connect with incredible natural beauty and fresh air freedom.”
Continue reading...Buildings, cars and trees are shown ablaze in footage taken by a resident fleeing a wildfire in the British Columbia village of Lytton. Flames tore through the settlement 95 miles north-east of Vancouver so fast that officials did not even have time to issue evacuation orders. Within hours, most of the village's buildings had been consumed by flames.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help people who have lost their homes
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Officials didn’t have time to issue evacuation orders while dry conditions make suppressing wildfires in Canada impossible
After three days of unrelenting heat, the people in the British Columbia village of Lytton were hoping for a modest respite.
Temperatures which had shattered longstanding national records – at one point reaching a blistering 49.6C (121.28F) – eased slightly on Wednesday, raising hopes that the worst was over.
Continue reading...A searing heatwave that settled over western Canada has been blamed for contributing to the deaths of dozens of people in the Vancouver area
Continue reading...Police say a spate of sudden fatalities in normally temperate Vancouver is being caused by the unprecedentedly hot weather
A searing heatwave that settled over western Canada for several days has been blamed for helping to cause the deaths of dozens of people in the Vancouver area.
With a new record temperature for Canada of 47.9C (118F) set on Monday, police in the Burnaby area of Vancouver said they responded to 25 sudden-death calls in a 24-hour period starting on Monday.
Continue reading...A rare tornado has hit the south-east of the Czech Republic, razing houses and causing dozens of injuries. Winds hitting 267-322km/h were reported in the towns surrounding Hodonín. Villages were also hit by large hailstones, while the tornado caused widespread power outages
Continue reading...Moscow has been hit by a heatwave this week, with temperatures reaching a 120-year record high due to the effects of the climate emergency, Russia’s weather service has said
Continue reading...Temperatures reach 34.7C in Russian capital as weather bureau blames climate change
Moscow has sweltered through its hottest June day for 120 years after the temperature hit 34.7C with even hotter weather expected over the coming days.
Russia’s weather service, Roshydromet, which blamed climate change for the soaring temperatures.
Continue reading...Research maps the extent of the catastrophic Storegga tsunami 8,200 years ago for the first time
Towns and cities across Scotland would be devastated if the country’s coastline was hit by a tsunami of the kind that happened 8,200 years ago, according to an academics’ study.
While about 370 miles of Scotland’s northern and eastern coastline were affected when the Storegga tsunami struck, the study suggests a modern-day disaster of the same magnitude would have worse consequences.
Continue reading...Hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners at high-altitude, 100km race in Yellow River stone forest in Gansu province
Twenty-one people have died after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100km (62-mile) ultramarathon in a mountainous part of northern China.
More than 700 rescuers and army personnel used thermal-imaging drones and radar detectors to try to find runners caught by the storm in the race in Yellow River stone forest near Baiyin in north-western Gansu province, officials said.
Continue reading...Experts warn of a ‘huge ecological disaster’ after blaze in the Geraneia mountains
Hundreds of firefighters battled Greece’s first major forest fire of the summer on Saturday, as experts warned of a “huge ecological disaster” in a nature conservation area near Athens.
The fire, which broke out late on Wednesday in the Geraneia mountains 55 miles (90km) west of the capital, is “one of the biggest in the past 20 to 30 years, and has come early in the season”, fire chief Stefanos Kolokouris told ANT1 television.
Continue reading...Indonesia’s capital Jakarta – plagued by pollution, flooding and heatwaves – tops risk assessment ranking
Of the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and 80% are in India or China, according to a risk assessment.
More than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk due to a mix of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heatwaves, natural disasters and climate change, the report found.
Continue reading...Huge sandstorms swept across areas of Alxa Right Banner in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Sunday. The sand clouds enveloped buildings in many cities, turning the sky an apocalyptic yellow. The local authorities issued a yellow alert for poor air quality, noting that the conditions could persist
Continue reading...Caribbean island blanketed in ash following biggest eruption since 1979, which has forced thousands to flee
A second “explosive event” has been reported by authorities in Saint Vincent, leaving residents of the area around La Soufrière volcano facing power cuts and water outages.
Locals described loud rumbling, lightning and heavy ashfall as conditions deteriorated on the Caribbean island, after the volcano first erupted on Friday, forcing thousands to evacuate, though some remained in their homes.
Continue reading...In Kupang, Indonesia, residents wait for aid after torrential rain, destructive winds and flooding forced thousands into shelters
On Sunday at midnight, Linda Tagie, 29, rested her three-year-old baby on the bed. Linda, who lives together with her husband, 79-year-old mother-in-law and only child in Sikumana, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia, was shocked by a strong wind and heavy rain. The electricity suddenly went off.
“I prayed and prayed in the dark,” she said. The wind eventually stopped on Monday morning. She walked out of the house and found the roof gone from the back part of the house. “Electricity cables, tin roofs, and trees lie on the street in front of our house,” she said.
Continue reading...School closures as more rain, flooding expected on mid-north coast; major flooding expected along the Hawkesbury River in western Sydney, as well as the Macleay River at Kempsey and Smithtown, and the Hastings River. Follow the latest news
• NSW pounded by rain as residents along Hawkesbury brace for worst flooding in 50 years
• Berejiklian says fires and floods may push people to ‘breaking point’
• ‘Never seen anything like it’: locals watch helplessly as floodwaters rise across New South Wales
Morrison warned the damage from the floods could be significant.
This is an ongoing situation that is evolving and is extremely dangerous. And we are meeting regularly to be updated on the events and to direct our response. We are grateful at this point that no lives have been lost so far.
But weakened foundations for buildings, of roads and trees, they all create risk as do downed power lines and rising water levels. So we ask all Australians in these affected areas to please use caution. Check and on your neighbours and those who you know that are alone.
As is appropriate this time, many members supporting their communities are not here in this place. Another deputy premised and the Minister for government services and other ministers are also reaching out and working closely with the mayors and other communities ensuring they receive every support. This will be a very difficult week for hundreds of thousands of Australians if not more as we face the immediacy of the floods, and there will be many difficult months ahead as the cleanup and recovery from this natural disaster gets under way.
We have very competent agencies and our state governments stopping they are very good at dealing with these types of emergencies. They are doing a tremendous job right now and theAustralian government is standing together with them in ensuring they can be delivering on this most urgent of times. But above all, we rely on Australians themselves. They have shown, as we came together, we can get through these things when we work together, and that is what we will do in the hours, days, weeks and months ahead, responding to this disaster like those before and then rebuilding and recovering afterwards.
Prime minister Scott Morrison is addressing parliament about the floods.
Mr Speaker, Australia is being tested once again. The east coast of Australia, predominantly New South Wales but also in south-east Queensland, has experienced an extraordinary deluge over recent days. Rains are expected for at least the next 24 and 48 hours.
In south-east Queensland, there has been intense rainfall with more than 300 SES requests for assistance, over the 24 hours until this morning with crews working through the night.
I want to acknowledge and pay tribute and say thank you on behalf of all of us here in this place Mr Speaker for the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers and the emergency services and responding to this terrible event. And there is a serious risk still ahead. Heavy rainfall is likely to continue up much of the eastern half of New South Wales and into southern Queensland today and tomorrow. Heavy falls will also develop over northern and central inland parts of New South Wales tomorrow, bringing the risk of flash and significant river flooding to several additional catchments. A different low pressure system is also expected to form off the southern New South Wales coast, bringing rainfall they are also.
Thankfully, the current forecast has conditions easing statewide from early Wednesday but we will watch and see. Mr Speaker, I want to assure residents and all storm and flood affected areas that all parts of government are working closely together.
We understand that this is likely to be for recovery support and cleanup operations including personnel, vehicles and machinery stopping the premier and they were discussing that over the weekend. We have also been just advised now in discussions on the potential for heavy lift aerial support but this is also still to be scoped.
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