Tag Archives: Flood

Rare flash flood emergency, NWS’s highest flood alert category, issued for parts of Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania-Flood

Important Takeaways:

  • Heavy, relentless rains flooded Pittsburgh-area streets and prompted water rescues Thursday night, as a severe storm system threatened parts of the eastern U.S. into Friday.
  • The heavy rains were triggered by the same storm system that unleashed tornadoes and heavy rains across much of the South and Southeast this week, with flood emergencies declared in three other locations.
  • The National Weather Service received over 200 reports of severe weather from Tuesday night to Thursday evening — with reports of at least 14 tornadoes striking Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
  • Flood watches were in effect in northern New Hampshire and central Maine due to the threat of flash and river flooding.

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Libyan flood death toll on the rise exceeding 11,000

Libya-Flood-Damage

Important Takeaways:

  • Death toll from Libyan floods tops 11K, threat of waterborne illnesses looms
  • More than 11,000 people have been killed by devastating floods in Libya, with more than 10,000 still missing and survivors now facing the threat of waterborne diseases.
  • National and international rescue workers continue to sift through the rubble for bodies after two massive dams burst in the northern African country Monday, killing thousands and leaving 40,000 homeless, authorities said.
  • Health officials now worry that diseases arising from the tainted waters could bring another wave of deaths.
  • Mediterranean storm Daniel sparked the mayhem, with heavy rains bursting dams and sending a wall of water over two stories high raging across eastern Libya, with the worst damage in the port city of Derna.

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Devastating flash flooding in Libya leaves 5,000+ dead

Deadly-Lybia-flood

Important Takeaways:

  • The number of people killed by the devastating flash flooding in northern Libya remained unclear Thursday, due to the daunting scale of the catastrophe…but it was undoubtedly well into the thousands.
  • An enormous surge of water, brought by torrential downpours from Storm Daniel over the weekend, burst two upstream river dams and reduced the city of Derna to an apocalyptic wasteland where entire blocks and untold numbers of people were washed into the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Hundreds of body bags lined its mud-caked streets Thursday, awaiting mass burials, as traumatized and grieving residents search mangled buildings for the missing and bulldozers worked to clear streets.
  • More than 3,000 bodies had been buried in Derna alone, while another 2,000 were still being processed. He said most of the dead were buried in mass graves outside the city, while others were transferred to nearby towns and cities.
  • An official with the U.N.’s World Health Organization in Libya told the AP the number of fatalities could reach 7,000, given how many people were still missing, adding that “the numbers could surprise and shock all of us.”
  • Speaking to the Al Arabia television network, Derna’s Mayor Abdel-Raham al-Ghaithi said the final death toll could even be as high as 20,000.

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Typhoon brings Historic Rain to China

China Flood

Important Takeaways:

  • Biblical flooding in Beijing after heaviest rain in 140 years
  • Torrents of water gushed through streets in China as moisture from former Typhoon Doksuri triggered catastrophic flooding over the weekend and into the start of August.
  • Doksuri made landfall last Friday in the Chinese province of Fujian, located roughly 1,000 miles (1,609 km) south of Beijing, and lost wind intensity over the weekend as it pushed inland. However, the tropical moisture fueled extreme rain across the country for days.
  • More than 800,000 people were forced to relocate in and around Beijing after nearly 30 inches of rain triggered some of the worst flooding in the city’s history.
  • At least 26 people have died due to the flooding. The death toll may continue to climb as officials assess the damage and as floodwaters gradually recede.

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Flooding, Landslides, and Snow as the 9th storm brings more rain to a soaked California

California Flood

Luke 21:25-26 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Important Takeaways:

  • More Rain, Snow in California from Ninth in Series of Storms
  • The ninth atmospheric river in a three-week series of major winter storms was churning through California on Monday, leaving mountain driving dangerous and the flooding risk high near swollen rivers even as the sun came out in some areas.
  • The University of California Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab tweeted Monday morning that it had recorded 49.6 inches (126 cm) of new snow since Friday.
  • A backcountry avalanche warning was issued for the central Sierra, including the greater Tahoe area.
  • The sun came out Monday in San Francisco, where 20.3 inches (51.5 cm) of rain
  • The average for the “water year” is 19.6 inches (49.8 cm), “so we’ve surpassed the yearly total with 8 more months to go”
  • In Monterey County, the swollen Salinas River swamped farmland over the weekend and officials said Monday that it was still rising.
  • Across the bay in Berkeley, 10 homes were evacuated Monday when a sodden hillside collapsed
  • Forecasters were keeping their eyes on a storm forming in the Pacific to see if it gains enough strength to become the state’s 10th atmospheric river of the season

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Fires, Flooding, Extreme Heat, a year of extremes and it isn’t over yet

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • As Fires and Flooding Turn Deadly Across the Country, Soaring Temps Raise Fire Risk for Millions
  • At least two people have been killed by wildfires that are devastating parts of northern California.
  • At least 132 homes and buildings have been destroyed in the town of Weed.
  • The nearby Mountain Fire in Siskiyou County has burned through more than 8,400 acres.
  • Searing temperatures in the triple digits from California to Idaho have raised the fire risk for an estimated 50 million people.
  • More than 2,000 miles to the east, it is severe flooding that has turned deadly.
  • An elderly woman’s body was found five miles downstream from her home after flash flooding hit southern Indiana and Kentucky.
  • Up to 14 inches fell in just 24 hours in parts of Tennessee.

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Drought or Deluge all at the same time

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • The great drought and the great deluge, all at the same time
  • Last week, receding water levels in a Serbian stretch of the Danube, Europe’s second-largest river, surfaced a flotilla of Nazi-era German warships that were still packed with ammunition and unexploded ordnance. They were exposed at a time when Europe is experiencing what appears to be the worst dry spell in half a millennium, with two-thirds of the continent under some form of drought warning.
  • Other ruins and wrecks are popping up as waterways shrink. A submerged 1st century A.D. Roman bridge possibly constructed under the orders of Emperor Nero emerged from the Tiber River last month; further to the north
  • Scorching high temperatures left the Iberian Peninsula drier than any time in the last 1,200 years.
  • In France, which is experiencing its worst drought on record, wine makers are harvesting their grapes earlier than ever.
  • On this front, too, Europe’s rivers are turning up bleak omens — the receding waters in parts of central Europe have revealed old “hunger stones,” markers placed along riverbeds that locals centuries prior left as guides to earlier droughts.
  • Five 1,000-year rain events have struck the U.S. in five weeks.
  • In South Asia, searing heat earlier in the summer gave way to an erratic and intense monsoon season
  • Pakistan is experiencing a “climate catastrophe”

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Gov. Youngkin declares State of Emergency after Virginia flooding

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Authorities Report No Deaths in Southwest Virginia Flooding, Clean Up Expected to Take Months
  • Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued a State of Emergency declaration for impacted areas. Residents said their neighborhoods look like a war zone.
  • “Well, it’s just mudslides. Trees in the road. Water in the road. Houses on the road. It’s just a mess,” said Archie White, a flood victim.
  • Flash floods were seen gushing through city streets. Buildings were washed from their foundations and roads were left impassable. In total, more than 100 homes were damaged. The clean-up is expected to take months as crews are still surveying the damage.

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After the flood, Germany battles to clear mountains of trash

By Andi Kranz and Leon Kuegeler

BAD NEUENAHR, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s most devastating floods in 60 years have created mountains of trash, from broken fridges to wrecked cars, piled up on roadsides and in makeshift dumps. Disposing of it could take weeks and local leaders have appealed for help.

Amid the stench and fear of disease, the country that pioneered modern waste management is struggling to cope with the tens of thousands of tonnes of wreckage strewn across the towns and villages of its western Rhinelands after the heaviest 24-hour deluge on record.

The flooding claimed at least 180 lives.

A week on, much of the trash has been heaped into piles so that streets are passable or carted off to makeshift dumps.

For resident Hans-Peter Bleken in Bad Neuenahr, a wine-growing hub in Rhineland-Palatinate that was one of the towns worst hit, a clean-up operation led by the fire brigade and army has been a “brilliant help”.

“The next big problem is going to be the huge piles of household rubbish,” he told Reuters, saying the stench from rotting food waste was everywhere.

“We have beaten corona but if we now get the bacteria, the rats and more viruses then that will be our problem.”

Germany pioneered modern waste management in the 1970s, introducing the concept of separating rubbish to go for recycling, incineration or into landfill.

Yet the sheer amount of trash is far more than the waste-management industry can cope with. Construction firms and farmers are helping to shift wreckage, but with storage facilities full up, temporary dumps are having to be found.

“The greatest challenge is the huge amounts of bulky waste,” said Anna Ephan, a spokesperson for Remondis, the largest private waste management company in Germany. “The amounts are inconceivable.”

EXPORTING TRASH

In Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, governor Armin Laschet told a news conference on Thursday: “It won’t be possible to dispose of all the waste locally. We need wider help.”

Laschet is the conservative candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel at a general election in September. A poll this week for Spiegel magazine found 60% of Germans considered Laschet to be a poor crisis manager.

The cathedral city of Cologne, the state’s largest city with a population of more than a million, has issued an appeal on Facebook for help to clear “unimaginable quantities” of trash.

“The districts and households affected need urgent support to quickly cope with this task, as our existing infrastructure is already exhausted,” read the appeal, which included a hotline number for helpers to call.

Most of the rubbish will have to be incinerated, but with municipal and commercial facilities running more or less flat out before the flood catastrophe, there is scant spare capacity.

“This is coming on top of all the rubbish that we already process – and it’s unexpected,” said Bernhard Schodrowski of the BDE waste-management industry association.

There are huge challenges to safely store the rubbish to minimize the risk of disease, said Schodrowski, while many companies in the sector are also battling to restore supplies of clean water and repair sewage systems.

“We’re hopeful but it will be a question of weeks before we are able to master this challenge,” said Schodrowski.

(Additional reporting by Anneli Palmen in Duesseldorf, Writing and additional reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Hurricane Isaias heads toward Florida with 75-mph winds – Hurricane Center

By Zachary Fagenson

MIAMI (Reuters) – Heavy rains from Hurricane Isaias could hit Florida late Friday night before the powerful storm moves up the East Coast into early next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned, prompting the closure of COVID-19 testing sites.

The hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles (120.7 km) per hour, is currently lashing the southeastern part of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Miami-based forecaster posted on its Twitter feed on Friday.

“Heavy rains associated with Isaias may begin to affect south and east-Central Florida beginning late Friday night, and the eastern Carolinas by early next week, potentially resulting in isolated flash and urban flooding, especially in low-lying and poorly drained areas” the NHC said on its website.

Miami-Dade County officials closed drive-through and walk-up testing sites for COVID-19. Public beaches, parks, marinas, and golf courses were also set to close on Friday as Isaias strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane and forecasters predicted it would reach Category 2.

Broward County Mayor Dale V.C. Holness had on Thursday also announced testing sites would close, with plans to reopen on Wednesday morning.

As of Friday morning the storm was predicted to most impact Florida’s central, eastern region before moving north.

At full capacity Florida had 162 test sites in all but two of the state’s 67 counties. Some counties will continue testing through their individual health departments.

“We have thousands of tests that will not be conducted until we get these test sites up and running again,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a virtual news conference on Friday morning.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)