About 130,000 Spaniards protest against perceived failings by Carlos Mazón’s regional government
Spaniards have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional president who led the emergency response to the recent catastrophic floods that killed more than 200 people.
Floods that began on the night of 29 October have left 220 dead and nearly 80 people still missing.
Continue reading...Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua also reeling after fifth major hurricane of season causes landslides and flooding
Hurricane Rafael became the 17th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season this week, reaching the minimum expectation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Back in May, Noaa warned of an above-average level of activity, predicting 17-25 named storms, in comparison with the average of 14.
Of these 17-25 storms, Noaa predicted that eight to 13 would become hurricanes, four to seven of which would be classified as “major”, meaning category 3 or higher. Both of these predictions are also above average, and these thresholds have already been reached, with Rafael being the 11th hurricane and fifth major hurricane of the season.
Continue reading...More than 70,000 people reportedly evacuated and military mobilised with hurricane close to making landfall
Hurricane Rafael has intensified into a category 3 hurricane as it nears the coast of western Cuba, which is still reeling from a recent blackout and Hurricane Oscar.
Early on Wednesday it was about 160 miles (260km) south-east of Havana and packing winds of 99mph (160km/h), making it a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Five is the strongest.
Guardian staff contributed reporting
Continue reading...Valencia authorities say search efforts continue as prime minister announces €10.6bn fund to help victims of disaster
At least 89 people remain missing after deadly floods in eastern Spain, regional judicial authorities in Valencia have confirmed, as the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he was earmarking €10.6bn (£8.9bn) to help victims.
The number includes only those who have been reported missing by family members who have also provided personal information and biological samples to allow for their identification, the superior court of justice of the Valencia region said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that there could be more cases of people who have disappeared whose details have not yet been registered.
Continue reading...Storm expected to reach hurricane status but should weaken before it hits the US Gulf coast
Tropical Storm Rafael has grown more powerful in the Caribbean Sea and is poised to reach hurricane strength on Wednesday, carrying the risk of damaging wind and rainfall. But it should weaken as it approaches the US Gulf coast, where several states have not been hit by a hurricane in November, according to records maintained since the early months of the US civil war.
Portions of the Florida Keys could see tropical storm conditions starting on Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Continue reading...Storm expected to bring heavy rain to US Gulf coast later this week
Forecasters posted a hurricane warning in the Caribbean on Monday afternoon after a late-season disturbance south of Cuba strengthened into Tropical Storm Rafael and set its sights on the US Gulf coast.
The 17th named storm of an overactive Atlantic hurricane season will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and probably hitting Cuba, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Continue reading...Day after king and PM pelted by angry residents, search focuses on areas where people could have been trapped
Hundreds of civil and military emergency workers are searching shopping centres, garages and underground car parks for more victims of floods in the Valencia region that have killed at least 214 people, as public anger mounts over Spanish authorities’ handling of the disaster.
Yellow and amber weather warnings were in place for parts of Valencia and neighbouring Catalonia on Monday, with people in the affected areas advised to stay off the roads and keep away from the coast and rivers.
Continue reading...Media reported stories of survivors including the woman trapped in her car in a flooded underpass for 72 hours
Her car was among the scores that were swept up in Spain’s deadly floods, tossed about by the mud-coloured waters that surged on to streets. But after 72 hours spent trapped in an underpass, the woman was hailed as one of the lucky ones.
“After three days, we found someone alive in their car,” Martín Pérez, the head of Valencia’s civil protection service, told volunteers on Saturday. The announcement prompted hearty applause.
Continue reading...King Felipe heckled in Paiporta, one of the municipalities worst affected by last week’s floods
Hundreds of people have heckled Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, as well as the prime minister and the regional leader of Valencia – throwing mud and shouting “murderers” – as the group attempted an official visit to one of the municipalities hardest hit by the deadly floods.
The scenes playing out in Paiporta on Sunday laid bare the mounting sense of abandonment among the devastated areas and the lingering anger over why an alert urging residents not to leave home on Tuesday was sent after the flood waters began surging.
Continue reading...The devastating flooding should spur this month’s Cop29 climate conference to press for immediate action, not look away
Move on. Nothing to see here. Just another ordinary, everyday apocalypse.
If past experience is any guide, the world’s reaction to the floods in Spain last week will be similar to that of motorway drivers at a crash scene: slow down, take in the horror, outwardly express sympathy, inwardly give thanks that fate picked someone else – and foot on the accelerator.
Continue reading...Pedro Sánchez orders largest peacetime troop deployment to deal with flooding that has killed 211 people
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has ordered the country’s largest peacetime military deployment, announcing that 10,000 troops and police officers will be drafted in to help deal with the aftermath of this week’s devastating floods, which have killed at least 211 people in eastern, southern and central regions.
Speaking after chairing a meeting of the flood crisis committee, Sánchez said the government was mobilising all the resources at its disposal to deal with the “terrible tragedy”, which stuck hardest in the eastern region of Valencia. He also acknowledged that much of the help still wasn’t getting through and called for unity and an end to political bickering and blame games.
Continue reading...A ‘typhoon day’ has come to mean one thing for many – a chance to indulge their favourite pastime
The winds of typhoon Kong-rey howled through the streets of the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, inside a brick and glass building people similarly wailed down the corridors of a branch of the Partyworld karaoke chain.
Through the poorly soundproofed door of one room voices warbled a song by the Taiwanese rock band Mayday, and through another came the sounds of a song by Coldplay. In room 330, someone made an exasperated search through the song list – “where is Kylie? What the hell! ” – as friends screamed lyrics from a Linkin Park track.
Continue reading...Heightened risk Cádiz river could overflow, with yellow and orange rainfall warnings for southern regions
The low-pressure system responsible for Spain’s most devastating floods in decades in Valencia also set new rainfall records across south-eastern Spain. In Jerez de la Frontera, 115mm of rain fell in 24 hours on Wednesday – the wettest day on record for the southern Spanish city. The deluge caused widespread flooding and road closures, and there is a heightened risk that the River Barbate in Cádiz could overflow as more rain is forecast through Friday and into the weekend.
While the rare red warning issued on Thursday for Valencia has expired, Spain’s national meteorological service, Aemet, has maintained yellow and orange rainfall warnings for southern and Mediterranean regions as storms continue to push in.
Continue reading...People urged to stay at home as more bad weather forecast, with number of dead expected to rise further
The death toll from devastating floods in eastern Spain has risen to 158, regional authorities and emergency services have said, as the country began three days of mourning and the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, urged people to stay at home.
With forecasts of more bad weather prompting storm alerts farther north, Sánchez urged residents on Thursday to “please, follow the calls of the emergency services … Right now the most important thing is to save as many lives as possible.”
Continue reading...Scores of people have died as country is hit by deadliest floods in decades
At least 150 people have died in Spain after torrential rains triggered the country’s deadliest floods in decades, unleashing a deluge of muddy water that turned village streets into rivers, destroyed homes and swept away bridges, railways tracks and cars.
An unknown number of people remain missing, while thousands of others are without electricity or phone service. The majority of those killed were in the coastal region of Valencia, where the state-run agency said that nearly a year’s worth of rain had fallen in just eight hours.
Continue reading...People warned to stay inside because of high risk of storm surges, flooding and landslides as typhoon crosses island
The biggest typhoon to hit Taiwan in decades has crossed over the island, leaving behind a path of destruction but minimal reported deaths or injuries.
Typhoon Kong-rey was the largest in size to make landfall in Taiwan since 1996, and also struck later in the typhoon season, which typically stretches from May to October, than any other typhoon since record-keeping began in the 1950s.
Continue reading...Victims say ‘water was already here’ by the time warning was issued, as military prepares to start searching worst-hit areas
Rescue workers in Spain are searching for more victims after deadly floods, as questions are raised about how one of the world’s most developed nations failed to respond adequately to such an extreme storm.
Torrential rains that began at the start of the week led to flooding that has left at least 95 people dead, the deadliest such disaster in the western European country since 1973.
Continue reading...Soldiers aid search for dozens still missing as prime minister warns extreme weather may not be over
At least 95 people have died in eastern, central and southern Spain after torrential rains triggered the country’s deadliest floods in three decades, unleashing torrents of muddy water that surged through cities, towns and villages, trapping people in their homes, bringing down trees, and cutting off roads and railway lines.
As the search for dozens of missing people continued, motorists were urged to stay off the roads and away from swollen rivers amid warnings that the severe weather was not over and that the number of deaths could still rise.
Continue reading...Scientists say violent weather battering Mediterranean is a harbinger of what the rest of Europe can soon expect
Residents of Chiva, a small town on the outskirts of Valencia, can expect a grim future of worsening drought as the planet heats up and the country dries out. But on Tuesday, they also witnessed a year’s worth of rainfall in a matter of hours.
The torrential rains that flooded southern and eastern Spain on Tuesday night, ripping away bridges and tearing through towns, have killed scores of people. Fossil fuel pollution plays a role in warping both extremes of the water cycle: heat evaporates water, leaving people and plants parched, but hot air can hold more moisture, increasing the potential for catastrophic downpours.
Continue reading...Rescue workers continue to search for missing after storm brings two months’ rainfall to some areas in 24 hours
The number of dead and missing after tropical storm Trami caused extensive flooding and landslides in the Philippines has exceeded 100, as the president said many areas remained isolated.
Trami blew away from the north-western Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 81 people dead and 34 others missing in one of the south-east Asian archipelago’s deadliest and most destructive storms so far this year, the government’s disaster response agency said. The death toll was expected to rise as reports come in from previously isolated areas.
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