Floods & Landslides

10 dead, 3 missing in flash flood at Chinese scenic gorge

CCTV said that 61 people had been rescued. The sudden flood happened Sunday evening.

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State broadcaster CCTV said Monday that tourists were trapped or washed away after heavy rain triggered the flood at Duobi Gorge in Hubei province. (Shutterstock)

BEIJING: August 5, 2019 - Ten people have died and three are missing after a flash flood at a popular scenic site in central China.

State broadcaster CCTV said Monday that tourists were trapped or washed away after heavy rain triggered the flood at Duobi Gorge in Hubei province. The sudden flood happened Sunday evening.

CCTV said that 61 people had been rescued. Though undeveloped, Duobi Gorge has been attracting tourists for boat rides on its crystal-clear water and to enjoy its picturesque scenery. Unlicensed guides take tourists into the area. A search operation was underway for the missing.
 
Floods in India kill 33, displace thousands
FILE PHOTO: Houses are seen submerged in the waters of overflowing river Godavari after heavy rainfall in Nashik, India, August 5, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

Floods brought by heavy rains and overflowing rivers across large swathes of western and southern India have killed at least 33 people and forced the evacuation of 180,000 from their homes, officials said on Thursday.

Rivers burst their banks in some parts of Maharashtra after authorities released water from dams brimming with as much as 670 mm (26.4 inches) of rain received in a week.

“If we get more rainfall, then we have no option but to release water in rivers,” said administrative official Deepak Mhaisekar, adding that many reservoirs around the state’s industrial city of Pune were full.

A boat full of villagers trying to escape the floods capsized on Thursday, killing at least 9 people, with rescuers searching for three or four still feared missing, he added.

Thousands of trucks were stuck on a national highway linking the financial capital of Mumbai with the southern technology hub of Bengaluru, as waters submerged the road in some places, Mhaisekar said.

In Karnataka, officials said some major reservoirs were nearly full, and warned that nearby villages could be hit by large discharges of water.

Taiwan braces for typhoon hours after earthquake strikes
August 8, 2019 - A powerful typhoon will hit Taiwan later on Thursday, bringing the risk of landslides and high seas, weather forecasters said, hours after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the island.

Drought reveals lost temple in Thailand submerged by dam
A family prays near the ruins of a headless Buddha statue, which has resurfaced in a dried-up dam due to drought, in Lopburi, Thailand August 1, 2019. Picture taken August 1, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Thousands are flocking to see a Buddhist temple in central Thailand exposed after drought drove water levels to record lows in a dam reservoir where it had been submerged.

As the reservoir reaches less than 3% of capacity, the remains of Wat Nong Bua Yai, a modern temple submerged during construction of the dam 20 years ago, have became visible in the middle of dry ground.

Some Buddhist monks were among the hundreds of people who walked through broken temple structures on cracked earth littered with dead fish last week to pay respects to a headless 4-metre (13-feet) -tall Buddha statue, adorning it with flowers.

“The temple is normally covered by water. In the rainy season you don’t see anything,” said one of the visitors, Somchai Ornchawiang, a 67-year-old retired teacher.

He regretted the temple flooding but is now worried about the damage the drought is causing to farmland, he added.

Slideshow (4 Images)
Drought reveals lost temple in Thailand submerged by dam
 
Death toll from India floods rises to 95, hundreds of thousands evacuated
Members of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) evacuate flood-affected people to a safer place, in Sangliwadi, Sangli district, in the western state of Maharashtra, India, August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

The death toll from floods in India's states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 95, official figures showed on Saturday, as heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Floods kill at least 28 in southern India, displace thousands
Rescuers help people to cross a flooded area after a landslide caused by torrential monsoon rains in Meppadi in Wayanad district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

At least 28 people have died in the southern Indian state of Kerala after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooding that cut off some areas, authorities said on Friday.

Slideshow (7 Images)
Floods kill at least 28 in southern India, displace thousands

'Everything is gone': Dozens dead, missing after Myanmar landslide
Rescue workers search for bodies under debris and mud after a landslide in Mottama, Mon state, Myanmar, August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Rescue workers pulled bodies from the rubble of homes in a village in Myanmar on Saturday where a landslide a day earlier killed at least 32 people, with dozens still missing.

Typhoon in eastern China causes landslide, killing 18 people
People walk in the rainstorm as typhoon Lekima approaches in Shanghai, China August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

Eighteen people were killed and 14 missing in eastern China on Saturday in a landslide triggered by a major typhoon, which caused widespread transport disruptions and the evacuation of more than one million people, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Some 200 houses in six cities in Zhejiang had collapsed, and 66,300 hectares (163,830 acres) of farmland had been destroyed, CCTV said.
 
Death toll rises to 44 as typhoon Lekima wreaks havoc in eastern China
A wave brought by typhoon Lekima breaks on the shore next to a pedestrian in Qingdao, Shandong province, China August 11, 2019.  REUTERS/Stringer

The death toll from typhoon Lekima in eastern China rose to 44 people on Monday morning, according to official data, as the storm continued up the coast, racking up billions of dollars in economic losses and widely disrupting travel.

Man, girl missing after violent storm in Switzerland: police
The wreckage of a car is pictured in  the Losentze river after a flash flood in Chamoson, Switzerland, August 12, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

A man and six-year-old girl are missing after their car was swept away by a torrent of mud triggered by a flash flood in southwestern Switzerland, police in Valais canton said on Monday as dozens of rescue workers continued to search.
 
India floods kill more than 270, displace one million
FILE PHOTO: Rescuers carry a victim of a landslide caused by torrential monsoon rains in Meppadi in Wayanad district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

FILE PHOTO: Rescuers carry a victim of a landslide caused by torrential monsoon rains in Meppadi in Wayanad district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

Floods and landslides have killed more than 270 people in India this month, displaced one million and inundated thousands of homes across six states, authorities said on Wednesday after two weeks of heavy monsoon rains.

The southern states of Kerala and Karnataka, and Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west, were among the hardest hit by floods that washed away thousands of hectares of summer-sown crops and damaged roads and rail lines.

At least 95 people were killed and more than 50 are missing in Kerala, where heavy rainfall triggered dozens of landslides last week and trapped more than 100 people.

India monsoon floods kill more than 200
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In this handout photo taken and released by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Communication Department on August 11, 2019, Indian National Congress Party president Rahul Gandhi (unseen) visits the landslide site at Kavalappara-Bhoothanam, in Malappuram district of Kerala state, where many people are still trapped and rescue operations still going on. (AFP)
 
Mudslides isolate 300 tourists in Alaska national park
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Above, a tourist bus near Polychome Pass on the only road inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska in this 27, 2016 photo. (AP)

August 17, 2019 - The National Park Service said in a news release it anticipates reopening the road Saturday.

DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska: Three hundred tourists are stranded in a national park in Alaska after heavy rains triggered mudslides and caused excess water from a culvert to damage a road.

The superintendent of Denali National Park and Preserve closed Denali Park Road to all traffic at mile 30 on Friday. The road is the only one inside the vast park.

The National Park Service said in a news release it anticipates reopening the road Saturday. But on Friday evening, a park official said the road could re-open sooner.

"The main area they're focusing on is Polychrome Pass", Paul Ollig, acting public information officer, told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. “We are confident conditions are improving, and we should be able to get a lane clear this evening to get buses out of Toklat and evacuated through.”

The park service says officials are working to ensure the safety and comfort of those effected. Shuttle buses are gathering people at the Toklat Rest Area temporarily while road crews continue to address hazard areas.

Similar debris flows led to daylong traffic restrictions last week. Continued heavy rains since kept the road and surrounding tundra saturated with water.
 
Torrential downpour in Turkey triggers deadly flooding
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weat...r-in-turkey-triggers-deadly-flooding/70009103 (Video)
Eminonu underpass

Heavy downpours inundated Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, August 17, flooding the Eminonu Underpass and damaging merchandise from stores. (Twitter/@byzantinologue)

A torrential downpour inundated Istanbul, Turkey, and other northwestern cities of the country on Saturday, Aug. 17, resulting in the death of at least one person.

The rain started to fall around noon local time, tapering off around 6 p.m., according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis. The downpour came just a few days after a heatwave that brought temperatures about four degrees C (six to seven degrees F) above normal. There had been previous flash flood warnings over the past few days, according to the Turkish news outlet Daily Sabah.

Lower and seafront areas of the city reported flash floods, according to the news source. It also reports that the pedestrian underpass in Eminönü Square was filled with flood waters, severely damaging the shops inside.

Videos from euronews show shopkeepers trying to save their merchandise from the nearly waist-deep floodwaters that had filled the Grand Bazaar, a 558-year-old complex. Another video shows torrential river from rain water sweeping through an old town street, tearing a cobblestone up from the road.

According to government officials, the body of a homeless man under the Unkapanı Bridge during draining operations. No other fatalities or injuries have been reported at this time.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu tweeted that Istanbul had been receiving rainfall above the seasonal norms as it had for many years. The average amount of rainfall for the month of August is 23.6 millimeters (0.9 inches).
The storm also brought cancellations to ferry services and caused the Kabataş-Bağcılar trams to temporarily suspended services due to flooded tracks, according to the Daily Sabah. Services have since resumed.

"The storm that brought the heavy downpours to Istanbul will move away from Turkey, allowing for dry conditions and sunshine for both Sunday and Monday," Travis said.
 
Japan issues emergency warning after life-threatening rains in south
An aerial view shows submerged houses and facilities at a flooded area in Takeo, Saga prefecture, southern Japan August 28, 2019, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN.

An aerial view shows submerged houses and facilities at a flooded area in Takeo, Saga prefecture, southern Japan August 28, 2019, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN.

Japan's meteorological agency issued an emergency warning to residents of Kyushu as the southern island suffered record levels of rain early on Wednesday that threatened to cause landslides, floods and other natural disasters.

Public broadcaster NHK said one man was killed when his car was washed away in Saga prefecture, where some areas were hit with more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rainfall in an hour.

Television footage showed cars with their tyres underwater and people wading knee-deep in flooded streets after several rivers broke their banks.

About 240,000 residents of Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Saga prefectures in northern Kyushu have been ordered to evacuate, Kyodo news reported.

The weather agency said parts of northern Kyushu were experiencing torrential rains only seen once in a few decades. It assigned the highest alert level of 5.
 
7 football fans die in flash flood at Morocco match

Wednesday’s flash flood suddenly caused a nearby river to swell suddenly, pushing torrents of water over the football field in Tizert.

Spectators scrambled for their lives, some climbing on roofs, but at least seven people died, including a 17-year-old boy.

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Moroccan authorities look for bodies in a river near the southern village of Tizert in the Taroudant region. Seven people were killed on August 28 when a river burst its banks and flooded a village football pitch. (AFP)

RABAT, Morocco: At least seven people watching a local soccer match in a southern Moroccan village have died in a flash flood that swept across the football field, the official MAP news agency said Thursday.

Wednesday’s flash flood suddenly caused a nearby river to swell suddenly, pushing torrents of water over the football field in Tizert, in the Taroudant region, where an amateur match was being played.

Spectators scrambled for their lives, some climbing on roofs, but at least seven people died, including a 17-year-old boy, MAP reported. An elderly man was injured.

Among the victims was recently married Hanafi Hilali, 35, who was seeking refuge on top of a dressing room but was swept away by the roaring waters, his brother Mohamed Hilali told The Associated Press.

The two had become trapped on the field, but Mohammed raced to rescue his son and his cousin, both young children.

“What happened was horrific, shocking. I could not return to rescue my brother,” he said in a phone interview, weeping as he recounted the scene. An official investigation has been opened.

Morocco’s national weather service had warned of risks of bad weather in several regions of the country.


Published on Aug 28, 2019 (0.38 min.)


Morocco flood kills seven at football match: Officials
Aug 29, 2019 - RABAT (AFP) - At least seven people were killed on Wednesday (Aug 28) when a river burst its banks and flooded a village football pitch where a game was being played in south Morocco, local authorities said.

The victims included a 17-year-old boy and six elderly men attending the match in the village of Tizert, in Taroudant region.

Searchers had rescued one man who was injured by the flood and were looking for another missing person, officials said.

The river overflowed and submerged the pitch where an amateur football tournament was underway, a resident told AFP.

Eight men who took refuge in the changing rooms were swept away by the floodwaters, the witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're in shock. I'm 64 years old and I've never seen such a downpour," the witness said.

Photographs and videos shared on social media showed muddy waters carrying away people who had clambered on top of a building flattened by the flooding.

Morocco's national weather service had warned of the risk of stormy rains on Wednesday afternoon in several provinces.

The heavy downpour followed a dry spell, making the floods more violent, local media reported.

Floods are common in Morocco. In late July, 15 people died in a landslide caused by flash floods on a road south of Marrakesh.
 
Spain - September 12, 2019
#DANAsetembre : images of the river Clariano overflown as it passes through #Ontinyent , in the neighborhood of Canterería (Vall d'Albaida, Valencia). It continues raining very intensely, in some areas of Ontinyent they already exceed 250mm.


#DANAsetembre : Situation of the train track at Font de la Figuera (the coast, Valencia), converted into a real river. In this area they have accumulated up to 10h more than 200mm.

In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, nearly 900 houses were flooded: https://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i
It is noted at the same time that the level of the Amur River in the city is 829 centimeters with a dangerous mark of 650 centimeters and does not change for the second day.

 
Floods kills at least five in southeast Spain, thousands evacuated (Video)
Rescue workers on a boat rescue a person stranded inside a flooded tunnel after heavy floods in Pilar de la Horadada, Spain, September 13, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Perez
September 13, 2019 - At least five people have been killed and some 3,500 evacuated in two days of torrential rains in southeastern Spain, with many roads, railways and an airport closed on Friday and emergency services rescuing people stuck in flooded highway tunnels.

Floods swept away cars and debris in the regions of Valencia, Murcia and eastern Andalucia. Motorway tunnels in some areas were flooded almost up to the tunnel lighting, with some vehicles partly or fully submerged.

A man who had been missing since leaving his home on foot earlier on Friday was found dead in the village of Redovan in Valencia. Another was found in Granada province after his car was swept off a motorway and a third man in Almeria after trying to drive through a flooded tunnel, rescue services said.

Two siblings died on Thursday when torrential rain dragged their car away.

A total of 74 roads were closed, as was the entire Murcia regional railway service, and the Murcia airport. The railway link between Alicante and Spain’s two main cities - Madrid and Barcelona - was shut, acting Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska said, calling the floods “a serious tragedy”

Some affected areas saw record daily rainfall for the month of September and remained flooded throughout Friday. “The situation is critical, all the municipality is full of water,” Mario Cervera, mayor of the town of Alcazares, one of the most affected in Murcia, told Spain’s state-run TVE channel.

Rescue workers, including over 1,500 army troops, were using helicopters and boats in various areas. “This man was holding onto a traffic sign. ... The officer and I jumped to take him out,” one emergency worker told Reuters.

In addition to some 1,500 people evacuated earlier, another 2,000 residents of the town of Santomera in Murcia were removed from their homes pre-emptively due to a controlled release from a local dam to avoid its overflowing, the interior minister said.

“The forecasts are now more positive than around midday. ... We have reports that point to diminishing dangers and risks of further flooding,” he told reporters while visiting the affected areas, warning though that residents and authorities had to remain cautious.

Authorities have recommended citizens stay at home in the affected areas and avoid using their cars. Tourists were left stranded in Alicante airport as many flights were delayed or canceled.

“We’ve been in the queue here four or five hours, it’s very difficult to get to the toilet, impossible to get anything to eat,” Haydn Harding, a 78-year old diabetic tourist from Northern Ireland, said at the airport.
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Slideshow (42 Images) (WoW!)
Floods kills at least five in southeast Spain, thousands evacuated

Two killed as torrential rains sweep away cars in Spain
A car is stuck on a flooded street as torrential rains hit Orihuela, near Murcia, southeastern Spain, September 12, 2019. Picture taken September 12, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

A car is stuck on a flooded street as torrential rains hit Orihuela, near Murcia, southeastern Spain, September 12, 2019. Picture taken September 12, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Sept. 12, 2019 - ORIHUELA, Spain - Two siblings died on Thursday when floodwaters caused by torrential rain dragged their car and flipped it over in eastern Spain, local emergency services said, as authorities warned residents to brace for further storms across large parts of the country.

The victims, aged 51 and 61, were killed in the region of Castilla La Mancha, a spokesman for the government delegation in the region said. In the neighboring Valencia region, at least two rivers burst their banks, forcing the evacuation of dozens of people.

Authorities had earlier said the victims were an elderly couple, both aged 70. Severe weather warnings have been issued for Friday for much of southeastern Spain.

Torrential rains swept cars away and blocked roads in Orihuela, in the province of Alicante in southeastern Spain. On Thursday afternoon, military emergency services teams arrived in the town and other affected areas.

The Clariano river flooded parts of Ontinyent, south of the coastal town of Valencia, while television footage showed a deluge tumbling through the streets of nearby Mogente, sweeping debris along with it.

“We had 300 millimeters of rain. We haven’t seen that for a century,” Jorge Rodríguez, the mayor of Ontinyent, told state broadcaster TVE.

Schools in Valencia and the Murcia region suspended classes, expecting the heavy rains to continue. Local authorities recommended people stay in their homes in the worst-affected areas, where the weather interrupted traffic on roads and railways and at ports.
 
Thailand’s northeast inundated after tropical storm
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Since August 29, 32 people have been killed in the deluge. (File/AFP)

September 14, 2019 - Floods in northeastern Thailand have submerged homes, roads and bridges, leaving more than 23,000 people in evacuation shelters as anger grows over the government’s “slow” emergency response.

Torrential rain has lashed the country for the last two weeks, causing flash floods and mudslides in almost half its provinces, with families evacuated from their homes in boats or makeshift rafts.

Since August 29, 32 people have been killed in the deluge, said a statement from the disaster department on Saturday that also gave the number of people staying in emergency shelters.

Two weather events are behind the widespread floods, the department said - Storm Podul and a tropical depression that formed over the South China Sea called Kajiki.

Local media reports from the worst-hit province of Ubon Ratchathani showed people wading through chest-deep water and rescuers in boats trying to steer buffalo to higher ground.

Flooding in the province, which borders Laos and Cambodia, has been exacerbated by rising water levels in the Moon and Chi rivers.
“It will take three weeks to drain the floodwater” from up to 90 percent of inundated households, said provincial governor Sarit Witoon.

Spanish PM visits flood-hit areas
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A handout picture released by the press office of the Spanish premier on September 14, 2019 shows a helicopter flying over flooded areas near Orihuela. (File/AFP)

September 14, 2019 - MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday visited the country's flood-stricken southeastern regions, where five people have died and 3,500 forced to flee their homes, as train and air services were disrupted for yet another day.

Since Wednesday, areas here suffered some of the heaviest daily rainfall on record, which caused chaos on the roads, cutting public transport and prompting rivers to burst their banks.

Flash floods swept away cars and swamped homes in the regions of Valencia, Murcia and eastern Andalusia. Five people died in separate accidents as they tried to cross flooded roads in cars, including a man whose vehicle got stuck in a tunnel on Friday in the center of the coastal city of Almeria.

After observing the damage from a helicopter flying over the city of Orihuela in the region of Valencia, Sanchez visited a command center for emergency operations, his office said.

In addition to some 1,500 people who were evacuated earlier, officials on Friday removed another 2,000 residents of the town of Santomera in the region of Murcia as a precaution due to a controlled release from a local dam to avoid overflowing, the interior ministry said. Spain’s King Felipe VI lamented the loss of life and the damage.

The storm moved further west on Saturday, causing a flash flood in the village of Alhaurin el Grande in the province of Malaga that washed away about a dozen cars, local officials said.

The airport in Murcia, which was closed on Friday due to the flooding, re-opened on Saturday, although two flights that were due to land on the holiday island of Ibiza were diverted to another Spanish airport and another two flights were canceled due to the bad weather, Spanish airports operator AENA said.

Rail services across southeastern Spain remained disrupted on Saturday, with several routes in Valencia and Murcia suspended, state-owned train operator said in a statement.

Almost 80,000 homes still without power a week after Japan typhoon
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Residents gather near lights from a generator as the struggle to recover power systems damaged by Typhoon Faxai continued in Chiba prefecture, south of Tokyo. (Shinji Kita/Kyodo News via AP)

September 16, 2019 - TOKYO: Almost 80,000 homes are still without power a week after a powerful typhoon battered eastern Japan, authorities said Monday, with sustained heavy rain prompting evacuation orders and hampering recovery efforts.

Typhoon Faxai powered into the Tokyo region in the early hours of Monday last week, packing record winds that brought down power lines, disrupted Rugby World Cup preparations and prompted the government to order tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.

The storm killed two people, with at least three elderly later confirmed dead due to heatstroke as temperatures soared to above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in areas affected by a post-typhoon blackout.

Some 78,700 households were still without power in Chiba, southeast of the capital, Tokyo Electric Co. (TEPCO) spokesman Naoya Kondo said. “A complete recovery is still unlikely until September 27 as we have difficulties in mountain areas,” he added.

Some 16,700 households were also without water because several water purification plants had no power, a local official said.
With help from the military, officials were dispatching water tanker trucks to the affected areas.

The national weather agency Monday issued new warnings for heavy rain in Chiba, while local authorities issued non-compulsory evacuation orders to 46,300 people due to the risk of landslides.

“A delay in recovery work is expected due to heavy rain,” said Kenta Hirano, a disaster management official in Futtsu in Chiba, where more than 1,000 houses were damaged by the typhoon. Local media showed residents in Chiba hurriedly covering broken roofs with blue tarps.
 

The Exxon-Mobile refinery in Beaumont, Texas is shutting down production because of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda. I wonder, if this is the oil refinery that the Saudi's purchased in Texas about two years ago? If not, I would suspect that other refinery's in the area would be likewise affected? It would put the Saudi's in a tight spot - considering what just happened in Yemen? Saudi's have asked Iraq for help with oil deliveries.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/...aumont-texas-refinery-due-to-flooding-sources
Sept. 19, 2019 - HOUSTON - Exxon Mobil Corp is preparing to shut down production at the 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery because of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda, sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday. An Exxon spokesman did not have information immediately available about refinery operations on Thursday morning.
 
Floods kill 113 in north India in late monsoon burst, jail, hospital submerged
A man and a boy ride a scooter through a flooded road after heavy rains in Prayagraj, India, September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash

A man and a boy ride a scooter through a flooded road after heavy rains in Prayagraj, India, September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash

September 30, 2019 - LUCKNOW, India Heavy rains have killed at least 113 people in India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states over the past three days, officials said on Monday, as flood waters swamped a major city, inundated hospital wards and forced the evacuation of inmates from a jail.

India’s monsoon season that begins in June usually starts to retreat by early September, but heavy rains have continued across parts of the country this year, triggering floods.

An official said that at least 93 people had died in most populous Uttar Pradesh since Friday after its eastern areas were lashed by intense monsoon showers.

Rising water levels forced authorities to shift 900 inmates from a prison in eastern Ballia district, police officer Santosh Verma said.

In neighboring Bihar, an impoverished agrarian region that was hit by floods earlier this year, the death toll from the latest bout of rain had reached 20 on Monday, a state government official said.

Bihar’s capital city of Patna, home to around 2 million, has been badly hit, with waist-deep flood waters across many streets, and entering homes, shops, and even the wards of a major hospital. In some parts, authorities deployed boats to rescue residents.

“The rains have stopped but there is waterlogging in many areas,” Bihar’s Additional Secretary in the Disaster Relief Department Amod Kumar Sharan said.

In its bulletin on Monday, India’s Meteorological Department said the intensity of rainfall over Bihar was very likely to reduce. Showers in Uttar Pradesh are also expected to abate this week.

Weather department officials said this month that monsoon rains were likely to be above average for the first time in six years.

Late monsoon fury kills 100 in north India
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Patna, above, has recorded some 226 millimeters (8.9 inches) of rainfall since Friday. (AFP)

September 30, 2019 - PATNA, India: At least 100 people have died in northern India over the last three days in unusually heavy late monsoon rains which have submerged streets, hospital wards and houses, officials said Monday.

Dozens of boats were pressed into service on streets overflowing with gushing rain water in Patna, the capital of the eastern state of Bihar, after torrential downpours far stronger the normal.

At least 27 people have lost their lives across the state and another 63 in neighboring Uttar Pradesh since Friday, authorities said. With more rain predicted, weather experts say September could end as the wettest in more than a hundred years.

“Patna alone has recorded some 226 millimeters (8.9 inches) of rainfall since Friday,” Bihar disaster response official M. Ramachandru said.

Photos showed patients lying on hospital beds in dirty rain water at the state-run Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna. It has also been raining heavily in southern India and in the western state of Gujarat.

The annual monsoon usually lasts from June to September. With the Indian Meteorological Department Monday predicting excess rainfall across 15 states, this year’s monsoon will end as the wettest since 1917, the mass-circulation Times of India said.

“There are no signs of withdrawal for at least four-five days,” senior IMD officer Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told the daily. The monsoon, which is vital for farmers across the South Asian region, killed some 650 people in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan in July this year.

Torrential rains kill another 42 people in India
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Indian officials said they have moved thousands of people to relief shelters. (File/AFP)

September 28, 2019 - NEW DELHI: Officials say monsoon rains continue to batter parts of India, with at least 42 more people dying. They said Sunday that in the past 24 hours, at least 35 people died in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and seven in the eastern state of Bihar.

Sunday's toll came days after reports of at least 59 fatalities in the past week amid forecasts that heavy rains would continue until Monday.

More than 350 people have been killed by rain-related causes in India, Nepal and Bangladesh this monsoon season, which runs from June through September.

India’s monsoon set for delayed retreat
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September 27, 2019 - NEW DELHI Senior Indian weather department officials said this month that monsoon rains were likely to be above average for the first time in six years. (AFP)
 
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