Floods and landslide kill more than a dozen people in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island

Officials say a landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday after torrential rain pounded the area

A flood and a landslide have hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people, according to officials.

The landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Landslide reduces LA home to rubble and leaves two other houses on edge

Slide occurred in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood, where the fire department evacuated several people from a residence

A landslide in a wealthy neighborhood reduced a Los Angeles house under renovation to a jumble of lumber, pulled the pool and deck away from a second home, and left the pool at a third residence on the edge of a huge fissure early Wednesday.

The slide occurred just before 3am in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood of expensive homes about 12 miles (19km) north-west of downtown. An initial search found no victims, but several people were evacuated from one house, the Los Angeles fire department said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Shasta: two children killed in hillside collapse following California storms

Sheriff’s office said victims, pronounced dead at the scene, were caught in debris and fell down the northern California hillside

Two children were killed when a hillside collapsed along a river in northern California, which has been hit by a series of winter storms.

The Shasta county sheriff’s office said in a statement that the two victims were caught in debris that came down from a hillside near Shasta dam on Thursday morning and had fallen down the hillside. They were pronounced dead at the scene, the office said.

Continue reading...

Philippines rescuers find girl alive 60 hours after landslide

Three-year-old has given fresh hope of finding more survivors in a gold-mining village where death toll has climbed to 27

The rescue of a child nearly 60 hours after a landslide hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has been hailed as a “miracle” after searchers had given up hope of finding more survivors.

The girl, who the Philippine Red Cross said was three years old, had been among scores of people missing after the rain-induced landslide hit the village.

Continue reading...

China landslide kills eight and buries dozens in Yunnan province

Preliminary investigations show 47 people missing in mountainous region, state broadcaster reports

Forty-seven people were buried in a landslide, with eight reported dead, in south-western Yunnan province, Chinese state media reported.

China Central Television said on Monday that about 18 households were buried, and more than 200 people evacuated.

Continue reading...

Alaska landslide: girl, 11, confirmed as fourth victim with two still missing

Crew recovers body of Kara Heller, whose parents and sister found dead, and look for third child of family and their neighbor

Authorities recovered the body of an 11-year-old girl Saturday evening from the debris of a landslide in south-east Alaska that tore down a wooded mountainside days earlier, smashing into homes in a remote fishing village.

The girl, Kara Heller, was the fourth person confirmed killed by last Monday night’s landslide.

Continue reading...

Victims of deadly landslide in Alaska include five members of same family

The Heller family was at home when the rockslide buried their home on Friday; neighbor Otto Florschutz was also killed

The deadly landslide in south-east Alaska early this week killed five family members and their neighbor, a commercial fisher who made a longshot bid for the state’s lone seat in the US House last year, authorities said on Friday.

Timothy Heller, 44, and Beth Heller, 36 – plus their children Mara, 16; Derek, 12; and Kara, 11 – were at home on Monday night when the landslide struck near the island community of Wrangell. Search crews found the bodies of the parents and the oldest child late on Monday or early Tuesday; the younger children remain missing, as does neighbor Otto Florschutz, 65, the Alaska public safety department said in a statement that identified the victims of the disaster.

Continue reading...

Three dead and three missing after Alaska landslide

Slide estimated 450ft wide occurred near Wrangell, a small fishing community, and cut off power to about 75 homes

A landslide that ripped down a sopping, heavily forested mountainside in south-east Alaska killed three people, injured a woman and left three other people missing as it smashed into three homes in a remote fishing community, authorities said Tuesday.

Rescue crews found the body of a girl in an initial search and late Tuesday the bodies of two adults were found by a drone operator.

Continue reading...

Remote Scottish community still cut off a month after 6,000-tonne landslip

Teacher now travelling by boat to educate children at two different school sites on either side of impasse

Businesses in a remote peninsula of Scotland are fighting to survive and children are unable to attend their local school nearly a month after record-breaking rainfall caused a severe landslip, which cut off a vital road link to the wider peninsula.

The Craignish peninsula in Argyll was battered by heavy rain in early October, causing a landslip on the A816 near Ardfern which left 6,000 tonnes of debris covering the road and rendered it impassable.

Continue reading...

Floods and landslides kill at least 49 people in northern India

Dozens missing after days of heavy rain wash away vehicles and destroy buildings in Himalayan region

At least 49 people have been killed and dozens are thought to be missing after intense rain caused floods and landslides in the Indian Himalayan region.

Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s monsoon season but experts say the climate crisis is increasing their frequency and severity.

Continue reading...

Geological mystery in California as homes slowly slide into canyon

Cause of landslide that destroyed a dozen homes remains unclear as officials say nothing can be done to stop descent

Three days after a landslide destroyed a dozen hillside homes in southern California, the cause of the disaster is still unclear, even as the homes continue their slow descent into a canyon.

Sixteen people have been displaced since the land between the homes began shifting and sliding over the weekend.

Continue reading...

‘Heaviest rain ever’ causes deadly floods and landslides in Japan

Mud engulfs houses and cars as island of Kyushu bears brunt of annual rainy season that is worsening with climate change

Six people died and three others were missing after the “heaviest rain ever” triggered floods and landslides in south-west Japan.

The Japan meteorological agency warned residents in Kyushu – one of the country’s four main islands – to stay alert for more landslides, a common hazard in mountainous areas after heavy rainfall.

Continue reading...

Brazil: flooding and landslides kill dozens in São Paulo state

Cities cancel carnival festivities as rescue workers search for victims and clear roads

At least 36 people have died and dozens are missing after torrential rain brought flooding and landslides to coastal areas of south-east Brazil over the weekend as the country geared up for its annual carnival celebrations.

Rescue efforts continued in São Paulo state on Monday as more than 500 workers searched for victims, cleared roads and tried to reconnect isolated communities.

Continue reading...

Floods and landslides kill scores of people in Kinshasa

Dozens of people injured after heavy rain destroys houses and ruins roads in DRC’s capital

At least 100 people have been killed and dozens injured in widespread floods and landslides caused by heavy rain in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kinshasa.

The prime minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, said officials were still searching for more bodies.

Continue reading...

Anger grows as illegal construction partly blamed for landslide deaths on Italian island

Seven confirmed dead and search continues for people missing after Saturday’s disaster on Ischia

As rescuers continued to search for five people still missing after a catastrophic landslide in Ischia, anger was growing on the southern Italian island on Sunday over the years of rampant illegal construction that contributed to the disaster.

Seven people, including a three-week-old baby and a pair of young siblings, are confirmed to have died in Saturday’s landslide, which was triggered by a violent storm that sent mud and debris from Monte Epomeo, a 789-metre (2,590ft) peak, crashing into the hamlet of Casamicciola Terme. One victim – 32-year-old Eleonora Sirabella – has been named. The others, who include the infant boy’s parents, a five-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother, a 31-year-old island resident and a Bulgarian tourist, have not yet been officially identified.

Continue reading...

A woman dies and 10 people missing after landslide on Italian island of Ischia

Island near Naples was engulfed by heavy rain, causing a landslide that flooded homes and swept away cars

A woman has died and 10 people are missing after a severe storm triggered a landslide on the Italian island of Ischia.

The island, in the Gulf of Naples, was engulfed by heavy rain overnight, with the landslide hitting the hamlet of Casamicciola Terme early on Saturday morning, flooding homes and sweeping away several cars.

Continue reading...

Refugees hit hardest as deadly floods sweep across continents

Death toll rises as storms continue to rip through communities, destroying homes and livelihoods

As heavy rains and floods dominate headlines around the world, displaced people and those living in conflict zones are among the worst affected.

Wind and heavy rain from monsoons and typhoons has bombarded much of Asia. There have also been downpours and flash floods in parts of Latin America and Africa.

Continue reading...

India monsoons: at least 112 dead in Maharashtra state

Torrential rains cause landslides as military personnel assist with rescue operations in coastal regions

At least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities have said, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages.

Parts of India’s west coast received up to 594mm (23 inches) of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing authorities to evacuate people from vulnerable areas as they released water from dams that were threatening to overflow.

Continue reading...

Death toll rises and thousands flee homes as floods hit China

Torrential rainfall and burst rivers swamp Henan cities, with commuters trapped on subway trains

Days of torrential rain and massive flooding have hit China’s Henan province, bursting the banks of rivers, overwhelming dams and the public transport system and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

At least 25 people have been killed and seven are missing in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou. The provincial authorities issued its highest level of weather warning. A year’s worth of rain – 640mm – fell in just three days. The city’s weather bureau said more than 552mm of rain had fallen between 7pm on Monday and 7pm on Tuesday, including 202mm between 4pm and 5pm on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Japan: rescuers search for survivors in town hit by deadly landslide – video

More than 1,000 rescuers have arrived in Atami, a Japanese town hit by a landslide on Saturday that killed two people. The rescuers climbed on to cracked roofs and searched cars thrown on to engulfed buildings, as more rain lashed the area.

About 20 people are still missing after the huge landslide, which was caused by days of heavy rain that swept away homes in central Japan. Television footage showed a torrent of mud crushing some buildings and burying others in Atami, a resort town south-west of Tokyo, while residents ran as it crashed over a hillside road

Continue reading...