Tag: weather

Papua New Guinea floods, landslides leave at least 23 dead | Floods News

Mountain and coastal provinces have been flooded, with one coastal village considering relocating due to rising sea levels.

At least 23 people have been killed as torrential rain and king tides wash away roads, homes and food gardens in Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) highland and coastal regions.

The dead, including a mother and her child, died in landslides in the highlands province of Chimbu, Lusete Man, the acting director for the National Disaster Centre, told the AFP news agency.

“The 23 were buried under tons of mud in three separate landslides,” Man said on Monday.

“We are still experiencing heavy rains, landslips, flooded rivers, that have caused extensive damages in the highlands.”

Coastal communities in the Gulf province south of Chimbu were also inundated.

King tides flooded the coastal village of Lese Kavora, causing “extensive damage to food gardens and contaminating fresh water sources”, PNG’s public broadcaster, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), reported on Wednesday.

Community members have since discussed potential options for relocating the village, NBC added, “as this is not the first time the village has been pooled under king tides due to climate change, causing the rise in sea level”.

Heavy flooding also spread to the highlands province of Enga, with the community leader of Wapenamanda, Aquila Kunzie, telling RNZ Pacific the community was rationing its food supply.

“Constant continuous rainfall in Wapenamanda district has caused rivers to flood,” Kunzie said.

He added that more than 100 women and children had taken refuge in his village following nearby tribal warfare.

“[We are eating] only one meal per day, we can’t afford breakfast and lunch with all of them,” he said.

“We have no way to call out for help.”

Papua New Guinea is ranked as the world’s 16th most at-risk country to climate change and natural hazards, according to the 2022 World Risk Index.

Its mountainous highlands are home to the third largest rainforest on earth, after The Amazon and the Congo Basin rainforest.

But logging from palm oil plantations and foreign timbre companies has seen large areas of the rainforest cleared.

PNG is the world’s fifth-largest exporter of palm oil with most of its exports going to India, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Malaysia in 2022.

Clearing rainforests contributes to climate change but also causes local environmental degradation that can make floods and landslides worse.

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Photos: Record heat index of 62.3C scorches Rio de Janeiro | Weather News

A heatwave stifling Brazil has set new records with Rio de Janeiro’s heat index hitting 62.3 degrees Celsius (144.1 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest in a decade, weather authorities say.

The heat index measures what a temperature feels like by taking into account humidity. The actual maximum temperature in the city was 42C on Monday, the Rio Alert weather system said.

The 62.3C record was notched in western Rio at 09:55am (12:55 GMT) on Sunday, and was the “highest mark” since Alerta Rio began keeping such records in 2014.

The Ipanema and Copacabana beaches were packed with people as authorities published tips on coping with the heat.

“I am very afraid it will get worse because the population is increasing a lot and deforestation is very high due to the increase in housing,” 49-year-old administrative assistant Raquel Correia lamented in a park in central Rio.

The previous heat index record was set in November when it hit 59.7C (139.5F).

Meanwhile, extreme rains were wreaking havoc in the south of the country and are forecast to continue next week, according to authorities.

“The week will be of very high risk in the centre-south of Brazil due to intense rains and storms. The most worrisome system is a very intense cold front that will arrive with torrential rains and possible gales,” the weather information agency MetSul warned.

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At least 19 killed, 7 missing in flash floods in Indonesia | Weather News

Disaster management agency says more than 80,000 people have fled to temporary government shelters.

Flash floods and a landslide on Indonesia’s Sumatra island have left at least 19 people dead and seven others missing, officials have said.

Mud, rocks and uprooted trees rushed down a mountainside and engulfed villages in the Pesisir Selatan district of West Sumatra province late on Friday following torrential rains, Doni Yusrizal, who heads the local disaster management agency, said on Sunday.

Yusrizal said rescuers recovered seven bodies in the village of Koto XI Tarusan and three others in two neighbouring villages.

“Relief efforts for the dead and missing were hampered by power outages, blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris,” Yusrizal said.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency said six bodies were found in Pesisir Selatan and three bodies were found in the neighbouring district of Padang Pariaman, bringing the death toll so far to 19.

The agency said at least two villagers were injured and seven others were still missing, with more than 80,000 people fleeing to temporary government shelters.

Flash floods and landslides are a common occurrence in Indonesia, where millions of people live near floodplains, especially during the rainy season.

In December, at least two people were killed when a landslide and floods swept away dozens of houses and destroyed a hotel near Lake Toba on Sumatra.

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Heavy rains kill 29 in Pakistan as houses collapse, landslides block roads | Weather News

The majority of deaths reported in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At least 29 people have been killed and 50 others injured due to heavy rains that swept Pakistan in the past 48 hours, causing several houses to collapse and landslides to block roads, particularly in the northwest.

At least 23 rain-related deaths were reported in various areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan since Thursday night, the provincial disaster management authority said in a statement on Sunday.

Five people died in the southwestern Balochistan province after the coastal town of Gwadar got flooded, forcing authorities to use boats to evacuate some 10,000 people.

Casualties and extensive damage were also reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the National Disaster Management Authority said in a separate statement.

Emergency relief was being provided to people in affected areas and heavy machinery was being used to remove debris blocking highways, the agency added.

The country’s Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan with China, is still blocked in some places due to landslides, according to the spokesperson for the northern Gilgit Baltistan region, Faizullah Faraq.

Authorities advised tourists against travelling to the scenic north due to weather conditions. Last week, several visitors were stranded there because of the heavy rains, which came as Pakistan witnessed severe snowfall.

Pakistan is among the 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change despite the South Asian nation’s almost zero contribution to global carbon emissions, according to the United Nations.

This year, Pakistan is witnessing an unusual delay in winter rains, starting in February instead of November. Monsoon and winter rains cause damage in Pakistan every year.

In 2022, climate-induced unusual monsoon rains and flooding devastated most of the areas in impoverished Pakistan, killing nearly 1,800 people, affecting about 33 million people and displacing nearly eight million.

The rains and floods in 2022 also caused billions of dollars of damage to the country’s economy and some of the areas people who lost their homes are still living in makeshift homes.

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On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring in the US | Weather News

More than 40,000 people gathered to see the Pennsylvania prognosticator as part of a tradition dating back to 1887.

Pennsylvania’s primo prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow during annual Groundhog Day celebrations on Friday, meaning that, according to legend, there will be an early spring.

The US state’s tradition of using a large rodent to predict the seasons dates back to the Pennsylvania Dutch belief that if a groundhog left its burrow and saw its shadow, it would scurry back inside and winter would go on for six more weeks.

Groundhog Day is now a major yearly event in Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, complete with top-hatted comperes, cheering crowds and a full-court press.

Phil and his predecessors, also called Phil, have been forecasting since 1887, and this year more than 40,000 people camped out in a festival atmosphere to wait for sunrise and the groundhog’s emergence.

“Another winter slumber paused so I could meet the crowd, it’s hard to sleep anyway when the party is this loud,” said Dan McGinley, vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, reading from a scroll “selected” by the groundhog.

A crowd watches the festivities while waiting for Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, to come out and make his prediction [Barry Reeger/AP Photo]

McGinley even raised the prospect of voters writing in Punxsutawney Phil’s name on ballots as the US enters a presidential election year.

In the past 10 years, Phil has been accurate only 30 percent of the time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In 2023, Phil saw his shadow but temperatures that February were above average and in March only slightly below, leading the NOAA to declare that the furry forecaster had got it wrong.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro took the stage before Phil to urge people around the world watching the festivities to come to Punxsutawney next year. Shapiro also announced the famed groundhog is the new official meteorologist for Pennsylvania.

“Punxsutawney is the centre of the universe right now and I love that you’re all here,” Shapiro said.

Eager to cash in on the craze of animal forecasters, other states have adopted their own meteorological soothsayers, including Wisconsin’s Sun Prairie Jimmy, Woody the Woodchuck in Michigan, and Scramble the Duck in Connecticut.

Businesses did not miss a trick, with potato chip maker Frito Lay preparing to air advertisements showing actor Stephen Tobolowsky enduring a scenario similar to the plot of the popular movie, Groundhog Day.

The cult 1993 film, in which Tobolowsky played a relentlessly upbeat salesman, saw leading man Bill Murray stuck in a never-ending 24-hour loop after Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.

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Flash floods in Mauritius | Climate News

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Cyclone Belal brought flash floods to Mauritius, submerging cars along roads in the capital, Port Louis, and causing widespread flooding. About 100 vechicles were abandoned by their owners. One person has died and warnings for environmental risks on the island remain in place.

Published On 16 Jan 2024

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Dozens killed in Colombia landslide, including children | Climate News

Officials say at least 33 people have died in mudslides brought on by heavy rains in the province of Choco.

At least 33 people have been killed in a landslide brought on by heavy rains in northwestern Colombia, officials have said.

“I deeply regret the death of 33 people in this tragedy, mostly children, according to preliminary reports from the territory,” Vice President Francia Marquez wrote on the social media platform X on Saturday.

“At this time, search and rescue actions continue for the people who remain trapped,” she said.

The mudslide, which happened on Friday afternoon, covered a roadway that connects the cities of Quibdo and Medellin in the Pacific province of Choco, authorities said.

Dozens were also injured on a busy highway, and some people were missing after mud engulfed several cars on the road.

A specialised rescue group from the Colombian police rescued survivors and retrieved bodies on Saturday.

Authorities in Medellin said that, as of early Saturday, 17 bodies had been transported there and that forensic examiners had identified three of them, the AFP news agency reported. No names were released.

With several road closures, rescue crews and firefighters struggled to reach the hardest-hit area.

“Since last night, we have been working hand-in-hand with emergency and relief organisations on the Quibdo-Medellin road,” the police said. “We deployed all our capabilities to rescue and help those affected.”

About 50 soldiers also arrived to assist, and images released by the army showed mud-covered men struggling through swampy terrain.

“All the help available [is being sent] to Choco in this horrible tragedy,” President Gustavo Petro said on social media on Friday.

The landslide in Choco, which lies on the Pacific Ocean and is home to a vast tropical forest, followed more than 24 hours of intense rain.

Images on social media showed the moment a large piece of land dislodged from a mountain and fell on top of several cars that were moving along the flooded road below.

The road has been closed by Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).

A landslide in the same part of Colombia in December 2022 killed at least 27 people, trapping people in a bus and other vehicles.

While much of Colombia is suffering a period of drought, the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies has warned of the risk of heavy rains in the Amazon and in several departments bordering the Pacific.



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At least eight killed after severe storms batter eastern Australia | Floods News

The dead include a nine-year-old child who was swept into a surging storm drain on the outskirts of Brisbane.

At least eight people have been killed with one still missing after severe storms battered Australia’s eastern states over the Christmas holidays, bringing down trees and power lines and leaving tens of thousands of households without power.

Police and rescue services in the states of Victoria and Queensland confirmed the deaths of eight people, the youngest a nine-year-old girl who was reportedly swept away in a flooded storm drain on the outskirts of Brisbane, Queensland’s capital.

In Gympie, some 180km (111 miles) north of the city, three women were swept into a storm drain when floodwaters surged through the rural town.

One of the women survived, a 40-year-old woman died and emergency services said there were now “grave concerns” for the other woman. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services deputy commissioner Kevin Walsh said rescue teams would continue scouring the area on Wednesday.

“It’s absolutely tragic news for families in this region at Christmas time,” Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig told ABC News.

Severe thunderstorms hit the country’s eastern coast on December 25 and December 26, bringing large hailstones, high winds and torrential rain. Rivers flooded and high winds blew off roofs and brought down trees in some of the worst-affected areas.

Eleven people were tossed into the ocean when their boat capsized at sea off Brisbane. Police said on Wednesday that three people had drowned, while eight were rescued from the water and rushed to hospital.

“It has been a very tragic 24 hours due to the weather,” Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll told reporters.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that coastal regions in Queensland were still at risk of “dangerous” storms as well as “life-threatening” floods, “giant” hail and “damaging” winds.

Queensland’s power company Energex said the storm brought down more than 1,000 power lines and about 86,000 households remained without electricity.

It was expected to take days to restore power to some people, the company said.

Meanwhile, in Victoria, a woman was found dead late on Tuesday evening after flash floods swamped a regional campground in Buchan, 350km (217 miles) east of the state capital Melbourne.

Two people were also killed by falling trees.

The wild weather also took a toll on the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Less than 24 hours after the 95 boats left Sydney Harbour on December 26 on their way south to the Tasmanian capital, eight entrants had pulled out.

The Sydney to Hobart race got underway on December 26 [David Gray/AFP]

SHK Scallywag, a Hong Kong-owned ship that had been contesting for the lead, was damaged and crew member Geoff Cropley said the sailors had endured “lightning and thunder for hours”.

They were now “hunkered down”, he added, with the weather slowly beginning to improve.

First held in 1945, this year marks the 25th anniversary of a violent storm that tore into the 1998 race fleet, with wild winds whipping up mountainous seas in which six people died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued.

The east coast storms come after former Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall earlier this month, causing flooding and widespread damage in Queensland.

In the country’s west, meanwhile, several regions are fighting fires. A volunteer firefighter was killed while responding to a bushfire, media reported.

Australia is currently in an El Nino, which can cause extremes ranging from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.

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Tens of thousands affected as severe flooding hits Thailand’s south | Floods News

Schools closed, roads and railways submerged and people forced onto their roofs amid torrential rain.

Tens of thousands of people in southern Thailand have been affected by severe flooding that has submerged roads and railways, forced schools to close and left some residents trapped in their homes.

The province of Narathiwat in the country’s far south near the border with Malaysia was most seriously affected, with some districts submerged for days, according to broadcaster Thai PBS.

It said that “scores of people” had requested assistance and some were sitting on the roofs of their flooded homes.

At least a dozen schools in the provinces of Narathiwat and neighbouring Yala have been forced to close, while footage from the region showed homes and shops inundated with water.

A woman wades through thigh-deep waters with some of her belongings [Madaree Tohlala/AFP]

Days of torrential rain have also caused problems at sea, with at least seven boats sunk in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea since Friday.

The kingdom’s state railway company said track subsidence meant that trains heading south to Malaysia were stopping at Yala, 100km (62 miles) away from the border.

Authorities have warned residents in the provinces to be ready to evacuate if the floods get worse.

Serious floods in the region in December last year killed at least three people.

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IMD Tests Use of AI in Weather Forecasts Amid Rise in Floods, Droughts

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is testing artificial intelligence (AI) to build climate models to improve weather forecasting as torrential rains, floods and droughts proliferate across the vast country, a top weather official said.

Global warming has triggered more intense clashes of weather systems in India in recent years, increasing extreme weather events, which the independent Centre for Science and Environment estimates have killed nearly 3,000 people this year.

Weather agencies around the world are focussing on AI, which can bring down cost and improve speed, and which Britain’s Met Office says could “revolutionise” weather forecasting, with a recent Google-funded model found to have outperformed conventional methods.

Accurate weather forecasting is particularly crucial in India, a country of 1.4 billion people, many impoverished, and the world’s second-largest producer of rice, wheat and sugar.

The IMD provides forecasts based on mathematical models using supercomputers. Using AI with an expanded observation network could help generate higher-quality forecast data at lower cost.

The department expects the AI-based climate models and advisories it is developing to help improve forecasts, K.S. Hosalikar, head of climate research and services at IMD, told Reuters.

The weather office has used AI to generate public alerts regarding heatwaves and such diseases as malaria, Hosalikar said. It plans to increase weather observatories, providing data down to village level, potentially offering higher-resolution data for forecasts, he said.

The government said on Thursday it wants to generate weather and climate forecasts by incorporating AI into traditional models, and has set up a centre to test the idea through workshops and conferences.

“An AI model doesn’t require the high cost involved in running a supercomputer – you can even run it out of a good quality desktop,” said Saurabh Rathore, an assistant professor at Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi.

Better data is also needed to make the most out of AI, experts say.

“Without having high-resolution data in space and time, no AI model for location-specific magnification of existing model forecasts is feasible,” said Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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