Tag Archives: Weather

Nine dead in China as remnants of super typhoon Nepartak strike

Road heavily damaged by Typhoon Nepartak

BEIJING (Reuters) – Nine people were killed and 18 are missing after wind and driving rain bought by the remains of super typhoon Nepartak swept into China over the weekend, the government said on Monday.

The deaths were all in the southeastern province of Fujian, where the typhoon made landfall, the civil affairs ministry said in a statement on its website.

Total economic damage has been put at 900 million yuan ($134.60 million), with 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) of crops destroyed and more than 900 houses wrecked, the ministry said.

In Taiwan, the storm caused at least three deaths and more than 300 injuries.

The storm is expected to worsen already severe flooding in parts of central and eastern China as its remnants slowly make their way inland.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength over warm waters and dissipating over land.

Typhoons used to kill many people in China but the government now enforces evacuations and takes precautions well in advance, which has helped save many lives.

($1 = 6.6864 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Super typhoon hits Taiwan, cutting power and transport

Damage from Typhoon Nepartak

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Super typhoon Nepartak hit Taiwan on Friday, driving thousands of people from their homes, disrupting power supplies and grounding more than 600 flights, authorities said.

Television showed toppled motorcycles and signboards being ripped from buildings and swept across roads in southeast Taiwan, where the year’s first typhoon made landfall.

By afternoon, the typhoon had moved into the Taiwan Strait, weakening as it headed towards China’s southeastern province of Fujian, but flooding and strong winds continued to lash the island’s central and southern areas.

More than 17,300 people were evacuated from their homes, and over 517,000 households suffered power outages, emergency officials said.

“The wind is very strong,” said a resident of Taitung, the eastern Taiwan city where the typhoon landed.

“Many hut roofs and signs have been blown off.”

Three deaths and 172 injuries were reported, bullet train services were suspended and over 340 international and 300 domestic flights canceled, an emergency services website showed.

The typhoon halted work in most of Taiwan. There were no reports of damage at semiconductor plants in the south.

Tropical Storm Risk had rated the typhoon as category 5, at the top of its ranking, but it was weakening and should be a tropical storm by the time it hits Fujian on Saturday morning.

More than 4,000 people working on coastal fish farms in Fujian were evacuated and fishing boats recalled to port, the official China News Service said.

The storm is expected to worsen already severe flooding in parts of central and eastern China, particularly in the major city of Wuhan.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength over warm waters and dissipating over land.

In 2009, Typhoon Morakot cut a swathe of destruction through southern Taiwan, killing about 700 people and causing damage of up to $3 billion.

(Reporting by Faith Hung and J.R. Wu; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Andrew Roche)

At least six dead as rains batter quake-hit southwestern Japan

Search and rescue operations in Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) – At least six people died and a university student was missing on Wednesday as record-breaking rains battered parts of southwestern Japan still reeling from earthquakes two months ago, setting off flooding and landslides.

Hundreds of thousands people were advised to evacuate a wide swathe of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, where 49 people died in earthquakes in April that weakened the ground and left it prone to landslides, NHK national news channel reported.

“I was in such a hurry to leave I don’t have anything more than what I’m wearing,” one elderly woman told NHK at an evacuation center.

Among those killed were a couple in their 80s whose house in Kumamoto was engulfed by mud after some places were hit by more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain in an hour.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Kumamoto on Wednesday to kick off campaigning for an election next month for parliament’s upper house.

Authorities warned of further landslides in areas where the ground was weakened by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in April and several thousand people are still living in evacuation centers.

The area has been shaken by a steady series of aftershocks, including one on Wednesday morning.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

South China floods kill 22, with more rain forecast

China floods 2016

BEIJING (Reuters) – Severe floods in southern China have killed at least 22 people and left 20 missing since Saturday, the government said, with the rains expected to continue for the next three days.

About 200,000 people from eight southern provinces and regions, including Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang and Anhui, had been forced to evacuate, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on its website.

Storms had pushed water levels in rivers to dangerous levels, leading to crop damage and the collapse of 10,500 houses, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Estimated economic losses were 7.34 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), it said.

Three days of heavy rain last week had already killed 14 people, Xinhua said on Friday.

China has frequently been devastated by natural disasters, particularly by floods and earthquakes. Flooding, an annual problem, has been exacerbated by urban sprawl and poor drainage infrastructure in many cities.

Chinese officials had warned of the potential for record floods this year due to a strong El Nino weather pattern, which warms sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific and has been linked to serious crop damage, forest fires and flash flood and drought around the world.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Record heat sparks warnings, boosts fires in western United States

Sun, Smoke, Sherpa Fire

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Wildfire warnings were posted across parts of three Western U.S. states on Sunday as a heat wave baked the region in record, triple-digit temperatures, stoking flames in California from the coastal foothills outside Santa Barbara to desert brush near the Mexican border.

Excessive heat advisories and “red flag warnings” for extreme fire conditions were in effect across southern portions of California, Nevada and Arizona, the National Weather Service reported on the eve of the first official day of summer.

In the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, the mercury topped out at 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 Celsius), shattering the prior record high for the date of 104 degrees set in 1973. In Phoenix, Arizona, the temperature climbed to 118 degrees, 3 degrees above the previous high mark for the date reached in 1968.

With rising demand for air conditioning expected to test the region’s generating capacity, the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid, urged consumers to conserve daytime electricity on Monday.

Forecasters said record-breaking heat would persist through Tuesday, especially in the Desert Southwest, where temperatures could reach as high as 120 degrees.

“These extreme temperatures can be life-threatening,” the Weather Service said on its website.

Fire officials said the heat was a major factor in worsening a wind-driven blaze roaring through dry brush and chaparral about 50 miles east of San Diego, north of the Mexico border, forcing evacuations of dozens of homes in the desert community of Potrero.

The blaze, which erupted Sunday morning, had blackened about 1,500 acres and was still burning unchecked over steep terrain and drought-parched vegetation by evening, San Diego County Fire Captain Kendal Brotisser said.

About 200 miles to the north, excessive heat also continued to plague crews battling the so-called Sherpa Fire, burning for a fifth day in the canyons and foothills near Santa Barbara.

That blaze, which has charred nearly 7,900 acres and forced hundreds of people from their homes, was 51 percent contained as firefighters took advantage of abating “sundowner” winds that had initially propelled the flames.

A much smaller brush fire flared briefly beneath a freeway interchange near downtown Los Angeles, destroying three storage sheds, damaging two homes and snarling traffic in the vicinity as firefighters rushed to douse the blaze.

Meanwhile, in New Mexico, local authorities declared a state of emergency due to a five-day-old timber fire that has consumed some 17,615 acres (7,129 hectares) and destroyed about two dozen homes southeast of Albuquerque.

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Himani Sarkar)

Wildfires in California, New Mexico trigger hundreds of evacuations

Sherpa fire

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hundreds of people have evacuated to escape a wildfire in coastal Southern California and a larger blaze in rural New Mexico as hot weather feeds the flames, raising health concerns in other regions, officials said on Thursday.

Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown told a news conference his deputies had asked occupants of 400 homes and businesses to evacuate structures in areas threatened by flames from the California fire. Campers, and horses on ranches have also been forced out, officials said.

The blaze, which ignited on Wednesday in a wilderness area northwest of Santa Barbara, has consumed chaparral and tall grass in the Los Padres National Forest, blackening some 1,200 acres (490 hectares), according to tracking website InciWeb.gov.

About 500 firefighters were trying to hold it from exploding out of control as airplane tankers and helicopters dropped water, officials said.

“There isn’t a lot of marine layer (ocean humidity) so not great conditions for firefighting,” Diane Black, a joint incident command manager, said in a phone interview.

Winds drove the so-called Sherpa Fire, named after a ranch near where it started, toward the Pacific coast, leading authorities to evacuate two state beaches and some ranch land, according to information from InciWeb.gov and the Santa Barbara County website.

The blaze also approached the 101 Freeway overnight, forcing authorities to close it until Thursday morning.

In New Mexico, the so-called Dog Head Fire which broke out on Wednesday about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of the town of Tajique has forced evacuations and grown to more than 12,000 acres (4,900 hectares).

It has burned through timber in central New Mexico, pushing heavy smoke toward cities more than 100 miles (160 km) away as flames spread through a largely unpopulated area, fire information officer Peter D’Aquanni said in a phone interview.

Torrance County Sheriff Heath White said his office was evacuating about 200 people.

D’Aquanni said that, as more than 600 firefighters tackle the blaze, winds could shift the flames to the east.

“There’s not many structures in front of that direction if it goes where we think it’s going,” he said.

The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories for Missouri and southwest Iowa, with temperatures in the mid-90s Fahrenheit (35 Celsius), climatologist Bryan Peake said in a phone interview.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Tropical Storm Colin hits Florida, threatens southeastern U.S.

A NASA satellite image showing the Tropical Storm Colin over Florida and the U.S. South-East coast

By Letitia Stein

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Colin lashed Florida with bands of thunderstorms, floods and 50 mile-per-hour winds as it headed through the Gulf of Mexico toward the state’s northwest coast on Monday, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency in dozens of counties.

The storm, about 165 miles (265 km) from the Florida coast as of 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), was forecast to dump as much as 8 inches (20 cm) of rain in some parts of the state. The combination of the storm surge and high tides threatened to bring flooding to coastal areas from Florida up through North Carolina, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The storm was forecast to make landfall below Florida’s panhandle late on Monday afternoon, on a track that would take it over the state and through southern Georgia and then along the Atlantic Ocean coast over South Carolina and North Carolina, the center said.High school graduations were canceled in Tampa while residents across Florida stacked sandbags to guard against floods.

Rip tides, lightening, tornado and hail posed dangers to communities far beyond Colin’s immediate path, Florida Governor Rick Scott said.

“It’s going to impact pretty much our entire state,” Scott told a news conference. His emergency order extended across 34 of the state’s 67 counties.

In the St. Petersburg beach town of Gulfport, roads were already flooded. One resident used a kayak to float down a thoroughfare past a waterfront cafe that stayed open, allowing people used to severe weather to witness the storm.

“This is a mild tempest,” said Trace Taylor, a local writer lunching on onion rings. “What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just water and it’s not that bad.”

The storm also threatened crops in Florida, the country’s biggest citrus producer, which sent U.S. orange juice futures on Monday to their highest level in more than two years.

Concerns about storm surges exacerbated by high tides prompted voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas of Franklin County, Florida, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Tallahassee.

Flooding and isolated tornadoes threatened densely populated communities from south of the Tampa Bay region through Jacksonville on the east coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Waters could rise by 1 to 3 feet (30 cm to 90 cm) along the state’s western coast from the storm surges.

Colin is part of a brisk start to the Atlantic hurricane season that runs through Nov. 30. Over the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, the Carolinas were lashed by heavy rain and winds from Tropical Storm Bonnie.

(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, South Carolina; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Chris Reese and Frances Kerry)

Tornados, storms hit U.S. Great Plains, injure two in Kansas

A man fights the wind and rain during the morning commute in New York

By Suzannah Gonzales

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Two people were critically injured and buildings were damaged on Tuesday in southwest Kansas as several tornados and storms hit the U.S. Great Plains, a local official and a meteorologist said on Wednesday.

The two injured people in Ford County, Kansas were brought to a local hospital for treatment and had been released as of Wednesday morning, according to J.D. Gilbert, interim county administrator and spokesman for the county.

As many as six unconfirmed tornados hit an area west of Dodge City, Gilbert said, destroying some homes and a county building with offices and landfill equipment. Farms and ranches were also damaged, he said.

A tornado was also reported in Oklahoma, just west of Tulsa, along with severe storms in the area on Tuesday evening, said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

There were also preliminary reports of tornados across northeast Colorado associated with storms late on Tuesday afternoon and early evening, Cohen said.

In addition, severe storms with large hail and damaging winds hit central and eastern Wyoming and as far north as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Cohen said.

There is risk of intense storms across the Great Plains on Wednesday and increased potential for severe weather heading into Thursday, Cohen said. Isolated storms, large hail and damaging winds are possible primary hazards, he said.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Fiona Ortiz and Meredith Mazzilli)

Better weather expected to damp down Canadian wildfire

A flock of birds fly as smoke billows from the Fort McMurray wildfires in Kinosis

By Nia Williams and Eric M. Johnson

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Firefighters battling a wildfire that has threatened oil sands facilities north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, looked to cooler weather, a change in winds and the promise of rain to help them on Thursday.

A shift in wind direction from west to east is expected to push the fire back toward areas it has already burned, limiting its growth, wildfire information officer Travis Fairweather said on Thursday.

“That should hopefully result in a little less activity than we’ve seen in the last couple of days,” he said.

The fire, which hit Fort McMurray in early May, destroying entire neighborhoods, surged north on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of 8,000 oil sand workers, destroying a work camp and prolonging a shutdown that has cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day.

Fairweather did not expect the fire to damage any oil sands facilities on Thursday.

The fire covered 483,084 hectares (1.2 million acres) as of Thursday morning, up some 61,000 hectares from the day before. Fairweather said cooler weather and the chance of rain on Thursday also would help contain the fire.

Some of the 90,000 evacuees who fled Fort McMurray as the massive blaze breached the city may be allowed to return as soon as June 1, officials said on Wednesday, if air quality improves and other safety conditions are met.

Some oil sands operations directly north of the city remained shuttered, although firefighters held the blaze back from Suncor Energy and Syncrude Canada facilities on Wednesday.

The fire destroyed a 665-room lodge for oil sands workers on Tuesday but officials said on Wednesday they were not aware of further industry damage.

Tuesday’s evacuations were a setback for producers, suggesting production may be suspended for longer than companies and analysts had previously anticipated.

The province’s plan to gradually allow residents back into the city offered hope but also trepidation.

“It’s exciting news but you are also scared to see what you get when you get back,” said Fort McMurray resident Ria Dickason, adding that she was concerned about smoky air.

The air quality health index, which usually stands between 1 and 10, hit 51 on Wednesday morning, before improving to 11.

“We won’t go back if it’s anything close to the levels it’s at now,” Dickason said. “My daughter has asthma so we are more alert to it.”

(Additional reporting by Allison Martell and Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Bill Trott)

Severe Weather in the Central United States Through Monday Night

By Kami Klein

Severe storms are expected throughout the afternoon and night, Monday into Tuesday, heading through the central states and eastward.  This same storm system produced severe thunderstorms with tornadoes and large hail in Colorado on Saturday and has been steadily advancing eastward according to the National Weather Service.

Accuweather.com and the National Weather Service are both reporting that the storms are expected to begin in the early afternoon along a dryline from eastern Kansas into Oklahoma.  The severe weather will journey eastward into Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and eastern Texas Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service warns that the main tornado risk appears to rise considerably once the system tracks into eastern Oklahoma in the late afternoon and into Arkansas during the evening.

Because of the substantial low level vertical shear over this area there is a good potential for strong tornadoes to develop.  Intense supercells will most likely be possible as well.

Accuweather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski advises, “The storms will bring the potential for frequent lightning strikes, flash flooding and a few isolated tornadoes, along with the ongoing risks of large hail and damaging wind gusts.”

Thunderstorms will continue to push eastward late Monday night into Tuesday morning.  Although there still will be capabilities of gusty winds and flooding downpours, the severe weather systems are expected to lower in intensity.

A few strong storms could redevelop during the day on Tuesday across part of the Ohio Valley as this system slowly drifts eastward.

Please stay tuned to local forecasts and take all precautions for your safety.  Motorists should plan on checking frequently on weather reports to stay clear of active and dangerous weather.