Tropical Depression Imelda has flooded south-east Texas, a region that had only just started to recover from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some areas have received almost 30in of rain, with Governor Gregg Abbott declaring a state of disaster for 13 counties
Continue reading...Category Archives: Flooding
Storm Imelda lashes Texas with ‘life-threatening’ amounts of rainfall – video
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated after tropical storm Imelda brought chaos to Texas with up to 40 inches of rainfall and flash flooding. Governor Greg Abbott declared 13 counties disaster zones as the National Weather Service warned 'life-threatening amounts of rainfall' had fallen, with more expected over Thursday
Continue reading...Torrential rains flood south-east Spain – in pictures
Five die in devastating storms that produce some of the heaviest rainfall in years
Continue reading...Extreme rainfall triggers flooding in parts of Spain – video
Parts of eastern Spain have received what in some places was the heaviest rainfall on record, as storms wreaked widespread destruction and killed at least two people. One of the first places to be hit was Ontinyent, south of Valencia, where almost 300mm fell in 24 hours, the heaviest rainfall recorded there since 1917
Continue reading...Spain braces for more rain after hail piles up during violent storms
Cold front heads towards east of country and Balearics as Madrid reels from flash-floods
Parts of eastern Spain and the Balearic islands are bracing for heavy rains after Madrid and the surrounding area were battered by violent storms, torrential hail, and flash flooding.
Roads around the Spanish capital were flooded, flights diverted from Barajas airport and underground services affected on Monday night as an isolated depression at high levels moved across the centre of the Iberian peninsula.
Continue reading...The rain in Spain: how an ancient Arabic technique saves Alicante from floods
To protect itself from destructive flooding, the city has built a park designed to store and recycle rainwater
In Alicante it never rains but it pours. The city in southeast Spain goes without rain for months on end, but when it comes it’s torrential, bringing destructive and sometimes fatal flooding.
Or at least, it used to. In San Juan, a low-lying area of the city, authorities have built a new park with a twist. Called La Marjal, it serves as a typical recreation area and a nature reserve – but its primary purpose is to store, and then recycle, rainwater.
Continue reading...Peak District town evacuated as dam threatens to burst
Residents told to leave Whaley Bridge after heavy rains damage reservoir above town
Hundreds of homes were evacuated in a Derbyshire town on Thursday when a dam threatened to burst after being damaged during extreme rainfall.
Around 1,400 people in 400 houses in Whaley Bridge were told to leave their properties with just minutes’ notice due to “an unprecedented, fast-moving, emergency situation” caused by heavy downpours.
Continue reading...UK weather: thunderstorms set to cause further flooding
Roads closed in north-west after Manchester area gets two weeks’ worth of rain in 24 hours
Thunderstorms are expected to hit parts of the UK this week with a risk of more flooding following a weekend of heavy downpours.
Commuters woke up to road closures and diverted trains after parts of Greater Manchester were hit with two weeks’ worth of rain in 24 hours.
Continue reading...Indian navy rescues more than 800 people from train stranded in floodwaters
Mahalaxmi Express stuck for about 12 hours near Mumbai when river burst its banks after torrential rain
Indian navy helicopters and emergency service boats came to the rescue of more than 800 people stranded on a train in floods near Mumbai on Saturday. Some reports have the number of people affected at over 1,000.
The Mahalaxmi Express left Mumbai late on Friday for Kolhapur but travelled only 60 kilometres (37 miles) before it became stranded after a river burst its banks in torrential rain, covering the tracks.
Continue reading...Death toll from floods in south Asia rises to more than 100
Millions displaced in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with Assam and Bihar among the worst-hit regions
More than 100 people have been killed and millions more affected by devastating floods and landslides across India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
In the Indian state of Assam, among the worst hit areas, agencies were working on a war footing to deal with the situation, the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, said.
Continue reading...Storm Barry makes landfall in Louisiana – video
Thousands of homes have been left without power after Storm Barry battered parts of Louisiana early on Sunday. The storm flooded highways, forced people to scramble on to rooftops, and dumped heavy rain as it made landfall 160 miles west of New Orleans. Authorities have warned of disastrous flooding across the Gulf Coast
Continue reading...Deadly monsoon floods and landslides hit Nepal – video
The death toll in Nepal from flash floods and landslides in the past three days rose to 47 on Sunday, with dozens more injured or missing. Incessant monsoon rains have pounded many areas in the mountainous country, submerging large portions of land, inundating homes, and destroying bridges and roads across the country
Continue reading...UK’s preparation for climate crisis ‘like Dad’s Army’
Government’s official climate advisers say the lack of proper plans to cope with heatwaves and flash floods is ‘shocking’
The government’s own advisers have declared themselves shocked that the UK has no proper plans for protecting people from heatwaves, flash flooding and other impacts of the climate crisis.
The Committee on Climate Change said the UK’s climate crisis preparations were being run like Dad’s Army and left the population at real risk, adding that funding for programmes to tackle problems resulting from global heating had been cut.
The CCC’s annual progress reports, published on Wednesday, also found that just one of the 25 emissions-cutting policies it said were vital in 2018 had been delivered in full. Lord Deben, who chairs the committee, said ministers could be sued in court if the failure to act continued.
Lincolnshire flooding: hundreds of homes evacuated
Military helicopters are drafted in to repair broken bank of River Steeping in Wainfleet
Hundreds of homes have been evacuated in a Lincolnshire town following severe flooding as the local MP warned that residents are “by no means out of the woods yet”.
Residents in at least 590 homes in Wainfleet and Thorpe Culvert were told to leave as waters continued to surge on Saturday.
Continue reading...Global heating to inflict more droughts on Africa as well as floods
New UK research predicts extremes of weather will hit food production
Global heating could bring many more bouts of severe drought as well as increased flooding to Africa than previously forecast, scientists have warned.
New research says the continent will experience many extreme outbreaks of intense rainfall over the next 80 years. These could trigger devastating floods, storms and disruption of farming. In addition, these events are likely to be interspersed with more crippling droughts during the growing season and these could also damage crop and food production.
Continue reading...Extreme weather in the US: tornadoes, floods and snow – in pictures
Severe weather has spawned multiple tornadoes, flooding and even snow across America’s Midwest and Northeast
Continue reading...Memorial Day: sweltering heat and storms follow tornadoes and flooding
- 100F forecast from Florida to South Carolina
- Two dead and 29 injured in Oklahoma tornado
Sweltering heat, storms and possible twisters were expected to hit the southern plains and south-eastern states on Memorial Day, on the heels of deadly tornadoes and flooding.
Related: Are hurricanes getting stronger – and is the climate crisis to blame?
Continue reading...Seas rise, hope sinks: Tuvalu’s vanishing islands – in pictures
One of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries is already suffering floods, droughts and coral bleaching
All photographs by Sean Gallagher
Continue reading...Climate crisis: flooding threat ‘may force UK towns to be abandoned’
Environment Agency calls for urgent action to protect country from river and coastal floods
Entire communities might need to be moved away from coasts and rivers as the UK takes urgent action to prepare for an average global temperature rise of 4C, the Environment Agency warned.
The agency said on Thursday that difficult decisions would have to be taken in the coming years to make sure the UK was resilient amid flooding that would not be held back by higher land defences.
Continue reading...Mozambique: people trapped in rising floods as Cyclone Kenneth batters country – video report
Five people are dead and aid workers have reported scenes of destruction in the wake of Cyclone Kenneth, the second tropical cyclone to lay waste to swathes of Mozambique in five weeks. Rescuers have moved in to help people trapped by rapidly rising flood water in the northern city of Pemba, a United Nations spokesman said, as the storm dumps more rain on the region
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