Unprecedented Rainfall and Major Flooding Around the World

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

Something weird is up there...

I wonder, if some of the fires starting up near Orville dam might be fissures opening up in the ground from the extended drought and methane seeping through and igniting when conditions are right? Some firers seem to be spontaneous and in open fields?

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

Japanese authorities have announced evacuation for 74,000 residents of central Japanese city of Inuyama in Aichi Prefecture amid heavy rains, according to local media.

Evacuation Announced in Central Japanese City of Inuyama Amid Heavy Rains
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201707141055533345-japan-inuyama-evacuation/

Heavy rainfall has hit Inuyama, with 120 mm of rain precipitation falling in a hour increasing the threat of a landslide.

The lasting rainfalls on the Kyushu Island last week caused flooding and mudslides leaving up to 30 people dead.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has begun assessing the damage caused by intense flooding in the northeast part of the country.

Indian Space Agency Studies Flood Damage After Dozens Die in Northeast India
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201707141055547751-india-flooding-space-observation/

Eighty-five people have died and more than 2 million people affected in the ‘unprecedented’ flood which has continued for the last three weeks.

Drownings, electrocutions and mudslides are said to be the reason for the heavy loss of life.

Indian government is currently attempting to restore communication lines in the region amid concerns that the disaster may also lead to epidemics.

The damage caused by the rainfall is unprecedented and a total of 58 districts have been affected due to floods/landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur," Jitendra Singh, India’s Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) said after chairing a review meeting on Thursday to assess the situation.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

At least eight people ended up dead and one went missing due to heavy rains that the Chinese province of Jilin.

At Least 8 Dead After Heavy Rains Hit Northeast China
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201707151055570270-china-rains-casualties-damage/

Heavy rains claimed the lives of at least eight people and one person went missing in China's northeastern province of Jilin, local media reported on Saturday.

The strongest precipitation was recorded in the central county of Yongji, where the disaster reportedly killed five people, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Torrential rains have been reportedly hitting the province starting from Thursday, prompting evacuation of over 120,000 people.

According to the news agency, the continuous rainfalls damaged the infrastructure, including roads, bridges and houses, affecting nearly 320,000 people in 13 counties of the province.

July 11, 2017 - Beginning July 10, U.S. Geological Survey scientists plan to conduct fieldwork along a flood-impacted stretch of New York’s Lake Ontario shoreline, using unmanned aerial systems (also known as drones), pressure sensors that measure water elevation and special water-elevation gages designed for rapid set-up. The fieldwork, supported by the state of New York and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is designed to gather up-to-date information to help emergency managers track and respond to historic levels of flooding, and to collect new scientific data about coastal processes affecting the lake’s shoreline.

USA – USGS Scientists to Track Effects of Historic Lake Ontario Flooding
http://floodlist.com/america/usa/scientists-track-lake-ontario-flooding

High waters on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River have damaged hundreds of residential and commercial properties along the shoreline, leading New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare a state of emergency in six counties around the lake. The flooding was caused by heavy rains that fell on the Lake Ontario basin, a 32,000-square-mile area that stretches between the U.S. and Canada, in April and May.

The Army Corps of Engineers estimated that roughly four trillion gallons of rain water has flowed into Lake Ontario. The lake is now more than 30 inches above normal, the highest it has been since at least the 1950s.

9 June, 2017 - Governor Asa Hutchinson submitted his formal request for a federal disaster declaration to the Trump administration for 31 Arkansas counties affected by severe storms, flooding and tornadoes in April and May.

USA – Arkansas Governor Submits Federal Disaster Declaration for 31 Counties
http://floodlist.com/dealing-with-floods/usa-arkansas-governor-submits-federal-disaster-declaration-31-counties

Governor Hutchinson requested the declaration for Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Cross, Faulkner, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Montgomery, Newton, Ouachita, Perry, Poinsett, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Washington, White, Woodruff and Yell counties.

Governor Hutchinson declared the affected counties as state disaster areas earlier in May. Due to the extensive nature of the flooding and the inaccessibility of certain areas, the in-depth damage assessment for the federal declaration of emergency took longer to complete.

27 May, 2017 - Missouri Governor Eric Greitens requested that President Donald Trump approve a major disaster declaration for the state that would provide federal assistance to a total of 51 counties in response to historic and devastating flooding that began 28 April.

USA – Missouri Governor Requests Federal Disaster Declaration for Historic Flooding
http://floodlist.com/dealing-with-floods/floods-missouri-governor-requests-federal-disaster-declaration

The flooding brought as much as 10-12 inches of rain to some areas, pushed at least a dozen rivers and major creeks to records crests, led to hundreds of flood rescues and evacuations, and resulted in major damage and the destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses.

25 May, 2017 - Over the past century, the Northeast has experienced an increase in the number of storms with extreme precipitation.

Study Finds Heavier Precipitation in the Northeast USA Began in 1996
http://floodlist.com/america/usa/heavier-precipitation-northeast-began-1996

A Dartmouth-led study finds that the increase in extreme Northeast storms occurred as an abrupt shift in 1996, particularly in the spring and fall, rather than as a steady change over several decades. The findings were published in an early online release of the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Hydrometeorology. (A pdf of the study is available upon request).

“Looking at where the increases in extreme precipitation are occurring across the Northeast, interestingly we find that it’s not just one part of the Northeast, say the coast, that is experiencing more heavy rainfall events, it’s relatively uniform across the region,” says Jonathan M. Winter , assistant professor of geography at Dartmouth, who served as one of the co-authors of the study.

For the study, the Northeast is defined as Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mass., Conn., R.I., N.J., N.Y., Pa., Md., DC, Del., and W.Va., and draws on weather station data from the Global Historical Climatology Network, which is compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association National Climatic Data Center. The threshold for extreme precipitation events depends on the station but regionally averaged is about 2 inches or more of rain in a day.

The study also looks at changes in precipitation across all seasons, finding that the increases in extreme precipitation were driven by extreme storms particularly in the spring and fall. The amount of heavy rainfall from 1996 to 2014 was 83 percent and 85 percent higher in the spring and fall, respectively, than from 1901 to 1995. Tropical cyclones and nor’easters may be the possible key drivers for such changes in the spring and fall.

With tropical cyclones in the fall, nor’easters in the winter and spring, and frontal changes in the summer, the Northeast’s weather is largely affected by such seasonal systems. Through future work, the researchers plan to study what is driving the increases in total and extreme precipitation since 1996, and will look at the specific weather events associated with these changes.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

Floodwaters from sudden rainstorm wash away people at swimming area.

At least 9 dead after flash flood hits Arizona
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/arizona-flash-flood-1.4207925

At least nine people were killed and at least one other was believed missing after floodwaters from a sudden rainstorm barrelled through a normally tranquil swimming area in Tonto National Forest in Arizona where more than 100 people were taking refuge from summer heat, authorities said Sunday.

Some of those washed downstream clung to trees until rescuers reached them.

The flash-flooding hit Saturday afternoon at Cold Springs canyon, about 160 kilometres northeast of Phoenix, and some people were washed several kilometres downstream.

Disa Alexander was hiking to the swimming area where Ellison Creek and East Verde River converge when the storm hit and the water suddenly surged. She was still about four kilometres away when she came up a man holding a baby and clinging to a tree. His wife was nearby, also in a tree.

'Like a really big mudslide' - Alexander and others tried to reach them but couldn't. Rescuers arrived a short time later.

"We were kinda looking at the water; it was really brown," she said. "Literally 20 seconds later you just see, like hundreds of gallons of water smacking down and debris and trees getting pulled in. It looked like a really big mudslide."

The U.S. National Weather Service, which had issued a flash flood warning, estimated up to 96 millimetres of rain fell over the area in an hour.

The thunderstorm hit about 13 kilometres upstream along Ellison Creek, which quickly flooded the narrow canyon where the swimmers were.

"They had no warning. They heard a roar, and it was on top of them," Water Wheel Fire and Medical District Fire Chief Ron Sattelmaier said.

Deaths include 1 child - Three bodies were pulled out Saturday and five more Sunday. The deaths include at least one child. Four people rescued by helicopter Saturday were taken to the hospital for hypothermia.

There had been thunderstorms throughout the area, but it wasn't raining where the swimmers were at the time. But it happened during monsoon season, when strong storms suddenly appear thanks to the mix of heat and moisture in the summer months.

"I wish there was a way from keeping people from getting in there during monsoon season. It happens every year. We've just been lucky something like this hasn't been this tragic," Sattelmaier said.

The flooding came after a severe thunderstorm pounded down on a nearby remote area that had been burned by a recent wildfire, Sattelmaier said.

The "burn scar" was one of the reasons the weather service issued the flash-flood warning.

"If it's an intense burn, it creates a glaze on the surface that just repels water," said Darren McCollum, a meteorologist. "We had some concerns. We got a lot worse news."

PAYSON, Ariz. — A flash flood at a popular swimming hole north of Payson killed nine people from an extended Phoenix family Saturday, and left one missing, officials said Sunday.

9 killed in Arizona flash flooding were family celebrating a birthday (Video)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/16/arizona-flash-flooding-deaths/482948001/

Officials have not released the names of the dead, but family members, who drove to Payson to help search told The Arizona Republic that 14 family members were at the swimming hole to celebrate one of their birthdays when the flood struck around 3 p.m. MT.

Dead are Miguel Garnica, 27, and his wife Maria Raya, who would have turned 26 Sunday, and their children Emily, 3, and Mia, 5; Maria's sister Maribel Raya, 24, her daughter Erika Raya, 2, and Maribel's brother Javier Raya, 14; Celia Garcia, 60, the mother of Maria, Maribel and Javier; and Jonathan Leon, 13, Celia Garcia's grandson. All are from Phoenix.

Hector Garnica, 27, was still missing.

The Gila County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday about flooding at a swimming hole known as Cold Springs near the Water Wheel campground in the Tonto National Forest.

Water Wheel Fire and Medical District Fire Chief Ron Sattelmaier said more than a hundred people were in the Cold Springs swimming hole Saturday afternoon when a severe thunderstorm pounded down on a nearby remote area that had been burned over by a recent wildfire.

Three bodies were recovered Saturday and six others were found Sunday. Two adults and two children rescued by helicopter Saturday were taken to the hospital for hypothermia.

The thunderstorm hit about 8 miles upstream along Ellison Creek, which quickly flooded the narrow canyon where the swimmers were enjoying a cool dip a on a hot summer day.

"They had no warning. They heard a roar and it was on top of them," Sattelmaier said.

One of the first responders told the Arizona Republic that it was a "6 foot tall, 40 foot wide black wave" moving at 45 mph through a narrow canyon. It took down trees and boulders and soot and ash from the fire scar.

There had been thunderstorms throughout the area near Payson, about an hour and half's drive from Phoenix, but it wasn't raining where the swimmers were. It happened during monsoon season, when weather like this can strike furiously.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

Thousands ordered to evacuate as heavy rains hit northeast Japan July 23 2017
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/557592/Thousands-ordered-to-evacuate-as-heavy-rains-hit-n

Tens of thousands of people in northeast Japan were told to evacuate their homes on Sunday as heavy rain caused major flooding and cut some rail links, authorities said.

The storm follows freak rains in southwestern Japan earlier this month that left at least 25 people dead.

Almost 25,000 people in Akita prefecture were ordered to evacuate and around 65,000 more people were advised to leave or told to prepare to leave the area, an official at Akita prefecture told Reuters.

Several rivers were flooding and more than 100 houses had been inundated by floodwaters, the official said. No injuries or deaths have been reported, but the authorities were still investigating, he added.

Some bullet trains running to and from Akita have been suspended because of the heavy rains, East Japan Railway said on its website.

"There is a significant amount of water accumulating in the land. Even if the heavy rains stop, we will continue to warn people to stay vigilant," the Akita prefecture official said.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

At least 180 people have been killed and more than two million people have been affected by the heavy monsoon rains, accompanied by flooding over the last week in western and eastern India. The Indian armed forces have been working on a war-footing to save lives across the region.

At Least 180 Dead, Two Million Affected as Heavy Rains Lash India 26.07.2017 (Videos)
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201707261055897983-india-heavy-rains-victims/

In the last week, the maximum damage has been wrought by the monsoon in the western state of Gujarat which has a number of tourist destinations and other industrial areas.

​In Gujarat alone, 94 people and 1,089 animals have lost their lives while more than 60,000 people have been shifted to safer locations in the last four days. In the eastern part of the country, the Brahmaputra river, which flows from China down to India, caused maximum damage in the state of Assam. Some 90 people and hundreds of endangered species in Kaziranga national park have been killed due to drownings, electrocutions, and mudslides.

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken an aerial survey of his home state of Gujarat and announced $75 million for relief work while $30 million will be provided to Assam.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rains in the eastern parts of the country, which may cause flood-like situations in Odisha.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

New Orleans braces for more rain, flooding August 10, 2017
https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/new-orleans-braces-for-more-rain-flooding

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has requested the resignations of four top officials, including the director and the top engineer at the municipal water utility, after a historic rainstorm flooded homes and exposed critical weaknesses in the city's unique drainage pumping operation.

Meanwhile, with more heavy thunderstorms predicted through the weekend, property owners cleared damage from the deluge and braced for another potential onslaught.

The breakdown Saturday in the drainage system, which led to the flooding of "a couple hundred" properties, highlighted the challenges posed by New Orleans' aging infrastructure -- a problem mirrored in roads, bridges, water pipes and sewer plants across the nation, Landrieu told CNN.

"Because of the visuals of (Hurricane) Katrina, people keep thinking New Orleans is different than everybody else," the mayor said. "It is absolutely true that the infrastructure in this country is crumbling at a scary pace, and what you just witnessed was infrastructure ... that was unable to keep up with our threats."

Flooding early this year in Houston and just this week in San Antonio offers proof New Orleans is not the only major city that faces a flood threat, Landrieu said. He drew a distinction between Saturday's rain and 2005's Hurricane Katrina, during which breaches in federal levees led to the flooding of some 200,000 properties.

Pumping out the water - Because of New Orleans' unusual topography -- with many areas below sea level -- it takes about 100 pumps spread across every neighborhood to suck water out of storm drains and canals and push it into a nearby lake or other water bodies. The pumps vary in size and capacity; some are as big as a garage and more than a century old.

Saturday's storms dropped several inches of rain in just a few hours in a handful of neighborhoods. In those places, six of the city's most powerful pumps were offline for routine maintenance or because they'd broken down, said Ryan Berni, the deputy mayor of external affairs.

That meant the system's capacity to drain those areas was cut nearly in half, causing rainwater to pile up like traffic behind a wreck -- and ultimately causing it to push into homes, restaurants and offices, said Berni, whose own home sustained minor flooding. "We just got really smacked in the wrong place at the wrong time," Landrieu said.

Even so, Landrieu acknowledged that his city's pumps are not all up to par, the result of limited federal funding and a tight local budget. Indeed, the six pumps that were unavailable Saturday -- plus two similar ones in farther flung parts of the city -- are still offline, said Berni, who did not know when they'd be back in action.

More problems, as storms loom - And in yet another setback, New Orleans' Sewerage and Water Board lost service Wednesday night to one of its power turbines, which run the city's oldest and most powerful drainage pumps. It reduced the system's ability to drain street water on the east bank of New Orleans, where areas that flooded Saturday are located, the mayor said.

The city is urging residents in the affected area to move their vehicles to higher ground, take necessary actions to protect personal property, and stay off of roadways during rainstorms unless an emergency makes it absolutely necessary to do so," Landrieu said in a statement.

It was the latest example of repeated equipment failures that have led to boil-water advisories and similar flooding from heavy rain since the deadly 2005 flood.

"It's a system that was broken before (Katrina) and that was more broken after," said Landrieu, a Democrat who leads the US Conference of Mayors, which begins its summer meeting today in New Orleans. Plans are in the works for about $2 billion in repairs and improvements, Landrieu added, though the sum amounts to less than a quarter of what experts have said is needed.

"The amount of money they're talking about isn't going to come close to meeting the need, so the public can set their expectations, because you can't have something for nothing," the mayor said.

President Donald Trump has vowed to ask Congress to approve a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, a nod to his campaign pledge to rebuild the country's physical foundation. The President so far has proposed $200 billion in tax cuts that the White House predicts would spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment.

'We have been told lies' - New Orleanians expect street flooding during storms. But even lifelong residents expressed confusion and frustration at the length of time water lingered on streets after Saturday's deluge, especially when city leaders at first said the drainage system was "operating at its maximum capabilities," CNN affiliate WDSU reported.

Anger boiled over during a five-hour hearing Tuesday, when some of those same city leaders admitted key pumps that serve flooded neighborhoods were broken.

"We have been told lies, and that's the truth," City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell said, CNN affiliate WVUE reported. "We are so sick and tired of not being told what the facts are in order for us to create real solutions to address the infrastructure problems that we have in the city of New Orleans."

Landrieu said he did not know before Saturday's storms that drainage capacity was far below its maximum level in affected neighborhoods. That oversight, along with the misinformation his underlings initially shared, pushed him to demand they step down, he said.

"You cannot speak mistruths to the public because they can't then protect themselves and then you can't fix it for the future," Landrieu said.

Pumps that drain rainwater from New Orleans' streets are not the same pumps that the US Army Corps of Engineers built after Katrina as part of a $14 billion effort to fortify the city against tropical events.

The federal pumps are designed to mimic the city's own rainwater pumping capacity when enormous gates at the mouths of key drainage canals close to stop storm surges from pushing Lake Pontchartrain back into neighborhoods. Those gates remained open Saturday.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

At least 46 were killed in a massive landslide in northern India that swept away a stretch of a highway on Sunday, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

At Least 46 Killed in Massive Landslide in Northern India - Reports (Video) 13.08.2017
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201708131056428539-india-massive-landslide-casualties/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iCsGFlFG_4 (0:27 min.)

The landslide in India's Himachal Pradesh state was triggered by heavy monsoon rains.

Two buses were buried under the debris on the national highway, the newspaper said, citing Deputy Commissioner of the town of Mandi Sandeep Kadam.

Moreover, many houses were washed away in the torrential rain that hit the region in the Himalayan foothills.

Indian police said earlier in the day more bodies of victims of the disaster may still be found in the debris. The continuation of the search and rescue operation has been suspended until the morning.

Earlier in the day, media reported that seven people were killed and dozens were considered missing.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already expressed his condolences to the victims of the landslide.

A day after at least forty-six people were killed by a massive landslide in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh, landslides triggered by a cloud burst in neighboring Uttarakhand have claimed at least a dozen more lives.

Heavy Rains Continue to Lash Himalayan Foothills; Thirteen More Deaths Reported 14.08.2017
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201708141056448208-india-landslides-uttarakhand/

Rescue workers have dragged out ten dead bodies, six belonging to soldiers of the Indian Army and four civilians from a landslide at Pithoragarh district in the northern state of Uttarakhand. Twenty-six people are still missing.

Six army jawans of Kumaon regiment are feared washed away by a swollen local rivulet in Ghatiyabagad after a cloudburst lashed the area," Ajay Joshi, a senior police official of Pithoragarh told Sputnik.

In Mangti area of the state, three people were buried when a landslide engulfed three shops.

"Rescue operations are underway at both disaster affected places. District police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have reached the spots to take control of the relief and rescue operations," Ajay Joshi added.

Uttarakhand's Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat confirmed massive damage and loss in affected areas.

Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, rescue teams are searching for scores of persons who are still missing and feared dead.

Hundreds of people are feared dead in Sierra Leone mudslide, country's vice president Victor Foh said Monday.

Hundreds Feared Dead in Sierra Leone Mudslide - Vice President (Photos) 14.08.2017
https://sputniknews.com/africa/201708141056446212-sierra-leone-mudslide-casualties/

"It is likely that hundreds are lying dead underneath the rubble," Foh told Reuters at the scene of the mudslide in the mountain town of Regent.

After heavy rains a hillside in the Regent area in Sierra Leone collapsed on Monday morning. The mudslide buried many houses. Hundreds of people feared trapped inside.

Meanwhile, more than 200 unidentified bodies, of which include 60 children, were taken to the Connaught Hospital mortuary in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, following landslides caused by heavy rain, local media reported on Monday.

According to The Sierra Leone Telegraph newspaper, more than 100 people are presumed dead in the landslide in the town of Regent, located near Freetown.

Local media and witnesses posted images of flooded streets and local residents trudging through water mixed with mud.

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Dam failure and flooding

Floods in India, Nepal, Bangladesh Leave 250 Dead
http://en.farsnews.com/imgrep.aspx?nn=13960526000292

More than 250 people have died after relentless monsoon rains caused flooding in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Millions of people have been marooned and the authorities are struggling to reach some areas. [PHOTOS]

As many as 586,000 people in 20 districts were affected in the second round of floods during the monsoon this year, said the disaster management ministry.

Over Half Million People Affected in Bangladesh Floods
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960525001141

Speaking to the media, Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury said that the shelters in the flood-hit areas have taken in a total of 368,586 people so far, BdNews reported.

The government has been making preparations since the severe flooding in upstream countries like, China, India, Nepal and Bhutan, he said.

“We have been carefully monitoring the situation in those countries,” he said. “After all, the water will naturally flow downstream to us.”

Fresh floods have waterlogged 356 Upazilas in 20 districts, including northeastern districts of Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrokona, northern districts of Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Bogra, Sirajganj and the hill tract districts Rangamati and Khagrachari.

So far, 27 flood-related deaths have been reported from the northern part of the country, 13 in Dinajpur, 11 in Kurigram and three in Lalmonirhat.

Highway traffic has been severely hampered due to the floods. Rail service to Dinajpur has been shut down.

Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury said 10,630 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 31 million will be distributed to the affected districts and those at risk from the floods.

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Dam failure and flooding

Bodies of the victims are tranferred out of the site of the mudslides in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, on Aug. 18, 2017. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday said that more than 400 people had lost their lives in the mudslides that had occurred on Aug. 14 and that several hundred people were still missing, meaning that the death toll could still increase.

Over 400 killed in mudslides in Sierra Leone: UN
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/19/c_136537643.htm

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday said that more than 400 people had lost their lives in the mudslides that had occurred on Aug. 14 and that several hundred people were still missing, meaning that the death toll could still increase.

OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told a press briefing here that a UN Disaster and Assessment Coordination mission has been mobilized and will start their job Friday.

Alessandra Vellucci, head of the UN information service at Geneva, told reporters that after the disaster, there had been an immediate response by the UN system. The World Food Programme, for example, had responded within hours following the mudslide and had delivered food for 7,500 survivors.

The UN Children's Fund said that it is providing emergency sanitation and safe drinking water, including by installing rain harvesting facilities and building latrines.

The International Organization for Migration said that the organization, with its partners, had developed a standard shelter and kitchen set distributed to the 1,100 households of nearly 4 000 people, whose homes had been destroyed.

Floods caused by a week of torrential rains have killed ten people and displaced over 11,000 in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi, known for its many rivers, Chinese state television reported Saturday.

Floods Kill 10 People, Displace 11,000 in South China
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201708191056596361-floods-south-china/

Rains have been pounding the region since last weekend, causing rivers to burst their banks and damage the property of almost 193,000 residents.

The storms have also caused disruption in power supply in some areas. Meteorologists say the downpour is expected to continue for several more days.

Heavy rains have caused blackouts in the southern Russian region of Crimea, leaving dozens of towns and villages without power, the Energy Ministry has said.

Heavy Rain Cuts Power to Dozens of Settlements in Crimea
https://sputniknews.com/world/201708191056594693-rain-crimea-power-cut/

Torrential rains have been pounding the Black Sea peninsula since late afternoon, shutting parts of a regional power grid run by the Krymenergo utility firm. Emergency crews are working to restore power supply.

"Households in 27 settlements have been left without electricity (around 10,700 people)," the ministry said in a statement issued Friday.

Separately, the regional emergencies ministry has told Sputnik that a mudslide has swept away and overturned dozens of cars on a road near the southern town of Sudak. There were no casualties.

 

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Re: Dam failure and flooding

Eight people are missing and several villages have been evacuated after a landslide in southeast Switzerland, police said.

Switzerland landslide: Eight people missing after rockfall near Italian border (Video)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/switzerland-landslide-latest-news-missing-bondo-val-bondasca-italy-border-southeast-a7909786.html

Nationals of Germany, Austria and Switzerland among those lost.

Around 100 people were evacuated from the village of Bondo yesterday. Rolling rocks reached the entrance of the village and police in Graubuenden canton said some buildings were damaged.

Police said they are yet to be able to reach eight people who were in the Bondasca valley at the time of the slide – nationals of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Six of those people have been reported missing by relatives, prompting an “intensified” search overnight.

A Swiss army helicopter was deployed as part of the search.

An emergency warning system was set up in the village after a massive landslide in 2012.

Eight people are still missing after a landslide in an alpine valley in south-eastern Switzerland, police say.

Switzerland landslide: At least eight missing in Val Bondasca (Photos - Video)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41036851

The incident in a remote valley popular with hikers and climbers forced the evacuation of a village in the Val Bondasca region, officials said.

German, Austrian and Swiss citizens are among those missing, Graubünden cantonal police said in a statement.

Six others initially reported missing were later found safe across the border in Italy, AFP news agency reports.

A rescue operation is under way with army helicopters circling above equipped with infrared cameras and technology to detect mobile phone signals.

On the ground, some 120 rescuers with dogs are searching for survivors of Wednesday's massive landslide.

"Six people have been found in Italy," local police told AFP, adding: "There are still eight people whose whereabouts remain unknown."

Early on Wednesday, millions of cubic metres of rock and mud flowed down into the Bondasca valley, stopping just feet from the tiny village of Bondo.
The slide area is over 5km (3 miles) long and is "tens of metres" high in places, police said.

About 100 local residents were immediately evacuated, with rescue workers initially reporting that everyone was safe.

Pictures from the scene show rocks and debris scattered across roads and properties surrounded by mud flows.

The landslide happened at about 09:30 local time (07:30 GMT) on Wednesday when four million cubic metres of mud and rock cascaded down the side of the Piz Cengalo mountain, the authorities said.

The village of Bondo near the Italian border, which narrowly escaped being hit by the landslide, has been completely evacuated, and will remain closed until at least Friday.

Residents fled after alarms sounded in the village, and hikers staying in mountain huts were airlifted to safety. Several farm buildings were destroyed.

Geologists have warned that further landslides in the remote area cannot be ruled out.

The Graubünden region of Switzerland is known to be at risk of landslides when water overflows from the high alpine lakes.

Warning sirens alert local residents and some communities have constructed barriers. But Wednesday's landslide, the biggest in decades according to police, took Bondo by surprise.

The alarm system in Bondo was installed after a huge landslide on the slopes of Piz Cengalo in 2012 which crashed into an uninhabited valley.

In 2014 a mudslide in Davesco-Soragno in the southern Canton of Ticino swept into a block of flats, killing two people and injuring four others.

In 2000, 13 people died when a landslide struck villages in the canton of Valais.

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Dam failure and flooding

The death toll from monsoon floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal climbed above 1,200, as rescue workers scramble to provide aid to millions of people stranded by the worst such disaster in years.

Floods Kill Over 1200 in India, Nepal, Bangladesh
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960605001380

All three countries suffer frequent flooding during the June-September monsoon season, but international aid agencies say things are worse this year with thousands of villages cut off and people deprived of food and clean water for days, World News reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit Bihar state on Saturday and has pledged a relief fund of $78m.

Government officials in India's Eastern state of Bihar told Reuters news agency on Friday that at least 379 people had been killed over the past few days, with thousands sheltered in relief camps away from their inundated homes.

"This year farming has collapsed due to floods and we will witness a sharp rise in unemployment," according to Anirudh Kumar, a disaster management official in Patna - the capital of poor Bihar state known for mass migration to cities in search of jobs.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, at least 88 people were killed when floods swamped nearly half of the vast state of 220 million people.

Rajan Kumar, a federal interior ministry official in New Delhi overseeing the rescue and relief operations, told Reuters news agency that at least 850 people had been killed in six flood-affected states in the past month.

"A second wave of floods led to widespread destruction," he said, adding that "We will have to provide immediate rehabilitation aid to help millions affected directly."

In Nepal, 150 people have been killed and 90,000 homes destroyed in what the United Nations is calling the worst flooding there in a decade.

In Bangladesh, at least 134 people have died and more than 5.7 million been affected directly as monsoon flooding submerged more than a third of the low-lying and densely populated country.

Crops on 10,583 hectares of land have been washed away while another 600,587 hectares of farmland have been partially damaged, according to the disaster ministry, in a big blow to the farm-dependent country which lost around one million tonnes of rice in flash floods in April.

"I could not find a single dry patch of land," Matthew Marek, the head of disaster response in Bangladesh for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, who made an aerial assessment of the worst affected parts of the country.

"Farmers are left with nothing, not even with clean drinking water."

 

[angelburst29]

Re: Dam failure and flooding

A landslide hit China's southwestern province of Guizhou, killing at least two people, while 25 remain missing, Xinhua reported Monday, citing local authorities.

Landslide in China's Southwest Province Reportedly Turns Deadly (VIDEO)
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201708281056847617-landslide-china-dead-missing/

The natural disaster occurred at 10:40 a.m. local time (03:40 GMT) in the city of Bijie, hitting 34 households, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the city’s publicity department.

The Chinese rescue service has reportedly managed to save four people.

Authorities have provided camp beds and tents for the affected locals.

 

[Ca.]

Re: Dam failure and flooding

Houston Airport & Highways Flooded After Hurricane Harvey (19:22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6xLvJftDK0

08-29-2017 Friendswood TX - Historic Flooding Day 5 (1:33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RrBpGrh3nQ

08-26-2017 Refugio, TX - TOWN DESTROYED, DIRECT HIT from HARVEY

http://<iframe width="560" height="...1U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Late Saturday night into the early Sunday morning hours of 08-26-2017, the extreme force of Hurricane Harvey destroyed the entire Texas town of Refugio, TX. This video shows the full brunt of the major hurricane hitting land. 125mph sustained winds and gusts near 140mph, virtually every structure in town was destroyed or damaged. You'll see how violent the winds were, debris flying, a gas station destroyed and video of many structures that have been destroyed including Refugio High School.

Refugio is located 20 miles north of Rockport, TX where Harvey made first landfall. In between the towns is Copano Bay. After the hurricane made first landfall, it fed on the waters of the bay and maintained its major hurricane status.

08-28-2017 Topical Storm Harvey Spring, Texas Record Level Cypress Creek Overflow (1:27)
https://www.youtube.com/user/LiveStormsNetwork

Cypress Creek has gone 11 feet over banks inundating any structure in its path also it has increased its flow acros Interstate 45.

Harvey causing levee to fail south of Houston
Officials in Brazoria County, Texas are urging residents to "get out" as waters at Columbia Lakes are breaching a levee.
http://www.wcpo.com//weather/harvey-causing-levee-to-fail-south-of-houston?utm_source=SilverpopMailing

"NOTICE: The levee at Columbia Lakes has been breached!! GET OUT NOW!!"

the county posted on Twitter at 10:30.

Brazoria County is located just south of the city of Houston, and includes cities like Pearland, Angleton and Lake Jackson.

According to CBS Houston, the levee in question is protecting residents from flood surge near the Brazos River near Sweeny, Texas.

https://twitter.com/CBS11JeffJam/status/902545881555234816/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wcpo.com%2Fweather%2Fharvey-causing-levee-to-fail-south-of-houston

Officials in south Texas had previously warned residents to shelter in place and that travel was unsafe.

According to the 2010 Census, more than 350,000 people live in Brazoria County. It's unclear how many people are in the path of danger due to the levee failure.

More on this as it develops.

 

[angelburst29]

About 1.8 million children in South Asia cannot go to school due to floods that have recently hit the region's countries, according to the international non-governmental organization Save the Children.

Some 1.8Mln Children Unable to Attend School Due to Floods in South Asia
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201708311056974730-asia-children-floods-school-attend/

"At least 18,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed by South Asia’s worst flooding in years, which is putting children’s education and long-term well-being at risk, warns Save the Children. Thousands more schools have been used as evacuation centres and about 1.8 million children cannot go to class as flooding continues to ravage large swathes of Bangladesh, Nepal and India’s northeast. The regional death toll now stands at over 1,200 with more than 40 million people affected," the statement said.

According to Save the Children, over 12,000 schools had been damaged in India, 2,000 in Nepal and 4,000 more in Bangladesh.

Heavy rains hit the north of India, Nepal and Bangladesh this month. The disaster has already claimed lives of hundreds of people and prompted evacuation of thousands.

Two people, including a baby and a woman, were killed by a landslide in the Vietnamese province of Yen Bai.

At Least Two Killed, Seven Injured in Landslide in Vietnam
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201709041057057943-vietnam-landslide-yen-bai/

At least two people were killed and seven more were injured in a landslide that hit northern Vietnam, local media reported Monday.

An 8-month old child and a woman were killed by the Sunday landslide in the Asian country's Yen Bai province, the VnExpress National news website said.

The news outlet added that the country's authorities provided the families of the deceased victims with five million Vietnamese dongs ($220 at current exchange rates), while those injured received three million Vietnamese dongs.

According to the website, in August Yen Bai was also hit by deadly natural disasters as rains and floods claimed lives of 14 residents of the province.

More than 500 people, including over 130 foreigners are cut off by a mudslide in the mountains of Russia’s Kabardino-Balkaria region, a source in the emergency services told Sputnik on Friday.

Over 500 People Cut Off by Mudslide in Russia's South (PHOTO, VIDEO)
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201709011056988725-tourists-russia-mudslide/

The tourists were cut off after the Baksan River increased in the region and the mudslides came from the slopes of the Adyl-Su mountain.

“As many as 27 tourist bases and 49 registered tour groups comprising over 500 people including 133 foreigners were cut off,” the source said t Sputnik.

​The source noted that citizens of 14 foreign countries were among those affected by the mudslide. The foreign tour groups include citizens of France, England, South Korea, India, Egypt, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, the source added.

​Initially it was reported that nationals of the United States, Germany, China, Poland, Slovenia and Malaysia were among the foreigners trapped.

Some eight sections of Russia's federal route A-158 were damaged as a result of the mud flows. The mudslides have also resulted in five villages in the area with a total population of over 6,000 being completely cut off.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday spoke to the head of the southwestern Kabardino-Balkaria Republic Yury Kokov and tasked him with extending all the necessary aid to residents and tourists in the areas that had been cut off by a mudslide in the mountainous Elbrus area, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin Orders Head of Russian Region Hit by Mudslide to Provide People With Aid
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201709021057025860-putin-mudslide-aid/

Peskov noted that Kokov had informed Putin of measures taken to tackle the consequences of the mudslide.

"The president asked Kokov, to provide, in cooperation with the Emergencies Ministry, [Russian] citizens, residing in the affected area, as well as tourists, with all the necessary assistance," the spokesman stressed.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that helicopters evacuated some 114 tourists, including 50 foreign, from the areas of Russia’s Kabardino-Balkaria region.

The representative of the operational staff at the site added that the road traffic with five settlements, where 5,200 people were living, had been disrupted due to the mudslide.