We are the world:South Asia floods kill 1,200 and shut 1.8 million children out of school

dhakatribune.com - More than 1,200 people have died across India, Bangladesh and Nepal as a result of flooding, with 40 million affected by the devastation. At least six people, including two toddlers, were among the victims in and around India’s financial capital, the Guardian reports

Heavy monsoon rains have brought Mumbai to a halt for a second day as the worst floods to strike south Asia in years continued to exact a deadly toll.

More than 1,200 people have died across India, Bangladesh and Nepal as a result of flooding, with 40 million affected by the devastation. At least six people, including two toddlers, were among the victims in and around India’s financial capital, the Guardian reports.

The devastating floods have also destroyed or damaged 18,000 schools, meaning that about 1.8 million children cannot go to classes, Save the Children warned on Thursday.

The charity said that hundreds of thousands of children could fall permanently out of the school system if education was not prioritised in relief efforts.

“We haven’t seen flooding on this scale in years and it’s putting the long-term education of an enormous number of children at great risk. From our experience, the importance of education is often under-valued in humanitarian crises and we simply cannot let this happen again. We cannot go backwards,” said Rafay Hussain, Save the Children’s general manager in Bihar state.

On Wednesday, police said a 45-year-old woman and a one-year-old child, members of the same family, had died after their home in the north-eastern suburb of Vikhroli crumbled late on Tuesday, and a two-year-old girl had died in a wall collapse.

The rains have led to flooding in a broad arc stretching across the Himalayan foothills in Bangladesh, Nepal and India, causing landslides, damaging roads and electric towers and washing away tens of thousands of homes and vast swaths of farmland.

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says the fourth significant floods this year have affected more than 7.4 million people in Bangladesh, damaging or destroying more than 697,000 houses.

They have killed 514 in India’s eastern state of Bihar, where 17.1 million have been affected, disaster management officials have been quoted as saying. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, about 2.5 million have been affected and the death toll stood at 109 on Tuesday, according to the Straits Times. The IFRC said landslides in Nepal had killed more than 100 people.

The IFRC – working with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and the Nepal Red Cross – has launched appeals to support almost 200,000 vulnerable people with immediate relief and long-term help with water and sanitation, health and shelter. (ontinueReading

Earth stays on track for the hottest year ever

(japantimes.co.jp) GENEVA – The Earth is on track for its hottest year on record and warming at a faster rate than expected, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.

Temperatures recorded mainly in the Northern Hemisphere in the first six months of the year, coupled with an early and fast Arctic sea ice melt and “new highs” in heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels, point to quickening climate change, it said.

June marked the 14th straight month of record heat, the United Nations agency said. It called for speedy implementation of a global pact reached in Paris last December to limit climate change by shifting from fossil fuels to green energy by 2100.

“What we’ve seen so far for the first six months of 2016 is really quite alarming,” David Carlson, director of the WMO’s Climate Research Programme, told a news briefing.

“This year suggests that the planet can warm up faster than we expected in a much shorter time. … We don’t have as much time as we thought.”

The average temperature in the first six months of 2016 was 1.3 degree Celsius (2.4 degree Fahrenheit) warmer than the pre-industrial era of the late 19th Century, according to space agency NASA.

Under the Paris Agreement, nearly 200 governments agreed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, while “pursuing efforts” for a ceiling of 1.5 degres C — a lower limit already close to being reached.

The last month with global temperatures below the 20th century average was December 1984, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“There’s almost no plausible scenario at this point that is going to get us anything other than an extraordinary year in terms of ice (melt), CO2, temperature — all the things that we track,” Carlson said.

“If we got this much surprise this year, how many more surprises are ahead of us?”

A strong El Nino weather event from 2015/2016 in the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, contributed to the record temperatures in the first half of 2016 before disappearing in May, WMO said.

“Climate change, caused by heat-trapping greenhouse gases, will not (disappear). This means we face more heat waves, more extreme rainfall and potential for higher impact tropical cyclones,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Repeated extremes, such as heat waves, downpours or droughts, could encourage more action to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

“Research shows that for the general public extremes make climate change more tangible, more understandable,” said Joeri Rogelj, a climate expert at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna.

“It could help to motivate people to engage in climate action, and do something.” (FullStory)

Winston the strongest, first Category 5 cyclone to hit Fiji

(FijiTimes) MIGHTY Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston is now the strongest tropical cyclone and first Category 5 storm on record to hit Fiji.

Fiji's strongest cyclone to have been recorded was Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Evan of December 17, 2012 which walloped Fiji with sustained winds of 135 mph.

In a weather bulletin issued earlier this afternoon, FMS said TC Winston is moving west at about 25km per hour.

A hurricane warning remains in force for Vanuabalavu, Yacata, Mago, Cicia, Tuvuca, Nayau, Koro, Gau, Vanuavatu, Taveuni, Qamea, Laucala, Ovalau, Wakaya and Vanua Levu.

A storm warning is in place for Lakeba, Oneata, Moce, Komo, Namuka, Ogea, Moala, Viti Levu, Yasawa and Mamanuca Group.

A gale and heavy rain warning has also been issued for the rest of Fiji.

Islands in the Eastern Division can expect very destructive hurricane force winds with average speed of 220km per hour and momentary gusts to 315km per hour.

Heavy rain can result in flooding, including sea flooding of low-lying areas. (Full Story)

Fiji super cyclone kills 10 and raises fears of health crisis (Reuters)

18 killed as heavy snow and hurricane-force winds bring much of East Coast to a standstill

(latimes) The powerful blizzard that slammed the East Coast on Saturday (23) quickly surpassed forecasters’ dire predictions, claiming at least 18 lives, flooding coasts, unleashing hurricane-force winds and paralyzing life for residents of at least 20 states from Georgia to Massachusetts.

The storm was well on its way to smashing snowfall records.

Mayors and governors said they did not expect their cities to be back in business until next week.

“We are going into uncharted territory here,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned as the heart of the storm hit his state. Visibility was so low that those walking across the Brooklyn Bridge couldn't see the East River beneath or the Manhattan skyline soaring above. Since Thursday night, 25 inches had fallen in Central Park, nearing the city’s record of 26.9 inches, which fell over two days in 2006.

Cuomo took the rare step of banning all travel in the nation’s largest city Saturday. Drivers in New York City who failed to stay off the roads risked being ticketed, and even trains and large segments of the subway system, the lifeblood of the city, were shut down. Minutes before imposing the travel ban, Cuomo said, he saw the risk firsthand when he helped a crew rescue a driver whose car had spun out on Long Island's Cross Island Parkway.

'Extremely Dangerous' Hurricane Patricia Makes Landfall in Mexico

We are the world Mexico, we are the world!

(nbcnews.com) 10/24/15 - Hurricane Patricia weakened to a category 4 storm Friday, hours after slamming into southwestern Mexico and bringing lashing winds and rainfall that has the potential to create life-threatening flash floods.

The U.S. National Hurricane Centre warned that the hurricane, which was once clocking 200 mph winds and was being called the strongest storm ever recorded, remained "an extremely dangerous major hurricane."

The hurricane had winds of 130 mph and was about 85 miles north-northwest of Manzanillo as of 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET), the hurricane center said.

Hurricane Patricia was a category 5 and had 165 mph winds when it made landfall near Cuixmala, west-northwest of Manzanillo, at 6:15 p.m. local time (7:15 p.m. ET). Palm trees bent and rain whipped in sideways as the storm made its first appearance on land.

"The winds are really strong. It's amazing, even the cars are moving," Laura Barajas, a 30-year-old hotel worker from the major cargo port of Manzanillo near where the storm hit, told Reuters.

Patricia's "potentially catastrophic landfall" would affect a stretch of coast between the popular tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, theWorld Meteorological Organization said. Hurricane force winds covered 35 miles, while tropical storm force winds extended 175 miles, according to the NHC.

More than 7 million people were in the storm's path. There were no initial reports of casualties Friday.

About 3,500 people were evacuated from the state of Jalisco, which encompasses Puerto Vallarta and the Guadalajara metro area, ahead of the storm, the government said. Aircraft were prepared to rescue people from the region on Saturday.

Jalisco Gov. Aristóteles Sandoval said Friday night that 6,333 people were in shelters and there was no loss of life reported.

Rainfall amounts of up to a foot in a short span of time between Friday night and Saturday over the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán and Guerrero could trigger "life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," according to the hurricane center.

A strong storm surge, accompanied by massive waves, near the coast could intensify the flooding. The Mexican national water commission, CONAGUA, said waves could swell to up to 40 feet.

Hurricane Patricia quickly grew in intensity Thursday, and on Friday data from Air Force planes measured wind speeds of more than 200 mph, making it the strongest storm ever recorded.

At that point, the World Meteorological Organization compared the storm to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013.

The storm weakened as it made landfall, but it was still the strongest to ever hit Mexico's west coast. Patricia is the third strongest storm in Mexico's history, said NBC meteorologist Bill Karins. (Full Story)

Cruel Summer: Mideast Hit With 165F Heat, 'Highest Ever Recorded'

(newsmax.com) - Scorching heat has put temperatures as high as 165 degrees in the Middle East, as a "heat dome" passes its way through the region.

"That was one of the most incredible temperature observations I have ever seen — and it is one of the most extreme readings ever in the world," AccuWeather meteorologist Anthony Saglia told The Telegraph of the 165-degree heat-index reading in the western Iran city of Bandar Mahshahr.

Saglia said the heat index — the "feels-like temperature" — in the city was among the highest ever recorded.

The index was recorded by weather experts, who also predicted that the country could be enduring some of the hottest urban temperatures ever, the Telegraph reports.

The dew point, which measures the moisture in the air, reached 90 degrees, Popular Science reports. The figure is very unusual and very high, indicating that a lot of moisture is in the air.

However, the temperature figure was just a few degrees lower than the heat index ever recorded: 178F in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on July 8, 2003, according to the Telegraph.

The National Weather Service says that with a heat index over 125 degrees, "heat stroke is very likely."

In Iraq and other neighboring countries, the government has urged residents to drink lots of water and stay out of the sun amid fears they could be struck down by what weather officials called a "heat dome."

The dome is a high-pressure ridge that is passing over the region. It has exacerbated electricity and water supplies, making the heat even more unbearable.

Last month in Pakistan, a heat wave killed more than 1,200 people, Al Jazeera reports.

The temperatures in the Middle East are expected to remain high for the next few days, according to The Weather Channel, leading some countries to order mandatory days off to keep people from venturing into the heat.

Read more HERE

Spring heat wave kills more than 1,100 in India

We are the world India!

(CNN) 05/26/15 = Stifling heat has killed more than 1,100 people in India in less than one week.

The worst-hit area is the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, where authorities say 852 people have died in the heat wave. Another 266 have died in the neighboring state of Telangana.

India recorded its highest maximum temperature of 47 degrees Celsius -- 117 degrees Fahrenheit -- at Angul in the state of Odisha on Monday, according to B.P. Yadav, director of the India Meteorological Department.

Hot, dry conditions are being made worse by winds blowing in from Pakistan's Sindh province across the northern and central plains of India. "This extreme, dry heat is being blown into India by westerly winds," Yadav said.

The high temperatures are expected to continue for another two days before any respite, the meteorological department warned Tuesday. However, the agency said that another hot spell would likely soon follow.

Among the worst-hit states are Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the south. The northern states of Rajasthan and Haryana are also reeling from the intense summer as is India's capital, New Delhi, Yadav said. Full Story

Huge Pacific cyclone devastates Vanuatu, at least eight dead

(Reuters) - One of the Pacific Ocean's most powerful ever storms devastated the island nation of Vanuatu on Saturday, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees and killing at least eight people with the toll set to rise, aid officials said.

The United Nations was preparing a major relief operation and Australia said it was ready to offer its neighbor whatever help it could.

With winds up to 340 kph (210 mph), Cyclone Pam left Vanuatu cut off, with little power, poor communications and a looming threat of hunger and thirst.

Unconfirmed reports said the number of dead could run into dozens but aid workers said it would be days or weeks before the full impact was known.

"It felt like the world was going to end," Alice Clements, a spokeswoman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said from Vanuatu.

"It's like a bomb has gone off in the center of the town. There is no power. There is no water."

Tom Skirrow, country director for the Save the Children aid group, told Reuters that Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office had confirmed eight dead and 20 injured. He said he expected those figures to rise substantially.

Aid workers in Papua New Guinea said at least one person had been killed by the storm there.

Satellite photographs showed the storm covering virtually all of Vanuatu, a sprawling country of 83 islands and 260,000 people 2,000 km (1,250 miles) northeast of the Australian city of Brisbane.

The president of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, told a disaster risk conference in Japan he had no confirmed report of the impact of the storm but he appealed to the world to "give a lending hand".

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Canberra would be willing to offer Vanuatu whatever help it could.

Malaysia: Floods Leave at Least 10 People Dead, 130,000 Displaced

(wallstreetjournal.com) - Malaysia is facing its worst flooding in a decade, which has killed at least 10 people and displaced more than 130,000 others.

The flooding has also threatened exports of important commodities such as palm oil and rubber.

State news agency Bernama reported that eight people were missing after the boat they were traveling in was trapped a whirlpool and capsized. Malaysia’s national disaster agency said Sunday the confirmed death toll had reached 10, including five fatalities in Kelantan state.

Meteorologists expect the floods to spread as unseasonably heavy rains move toward southern parts of the country, potentially curtailing palm oil output, which is an important economic driver for many parts of Malaysia. Local benchmark prices posted their largest rise in two months on Friday, rising to 2,249 ringgit, or $643, a metric ton. Continue Reading

20 dead, 88 missing after mudslide in central Indonesia

BANJARNEGARA, Indonesia (AP) -- Heavy rains in central Indonesia loosened soil and collapsed a hill, setting off a landslide that killed at least 20 villagers and left 88 others missing under piles of mud, officials said Sunday.

Residents of Jemblung village in Central Java province's Banjarnegara district said they heard a roaring sound followed by the rain of red soil that buried more than 100 houses late Friday.

Read more: HERE

Powerful ocean storm blasts Alaska's Aleutian Islands, will chill much of US mainland

(foxnews) - ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Near hurricane-strength winds blasted parts of Alaska's Aleutian Islands as the remnants of Typhoon Nuri moved through the remote region hundreds of miles from the mainland.

Sustained winds of 70 mph and gusts up to 96 mph were recorded Friday morning on Shemya Island, where 120 people had locked themselves indoors to wait out the storm.

The island is home to the U.S. military's Eareckson Air Station, which serves mainly as an early warning radar installation. Acting manager Don Llewellyn said no one was going outside, but people can see light poles waving.

But toward evening, the winds had eased enough to allow personnel to get outside and check for any storm damage, said Tommie Baker, public affairs officer for the Alaskan Command. Full Story

Hawaii braces for Hurricane Iselle, with Julio right behind

(yahoonews) - HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hurricane Iselle barreled west across the Pacific Ocean toward the Hawaiian Islands on Wednesday, where officials warned residents and tourists of possible flooding and mudslides and ordered schools closed.

The storm was about 700 miles (1,130 km) east of Hilo, on the Island of Hawaii, at 7 a.m. Hawaiian Standard Time on Wednesday and heading west-northwest at 15 miles per hour (24 km per hour) with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (137 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.

Iselle was expected to weaken into a tropical storm before reaching the islands sometime on Friday morning but forecasters said it could still bring high winds and 10-to-15-foot (three-to-4.5-meter) surf to the tourist haven.

At least one dead, 16 injured by tornadoes in Nebraska

(Reuters) - A swarm of tornadoes, some appearing two at a time, struck several farming communities in northeastern Nebraska on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 16 others in one town that was especially hard hit, officials said.

The tornadoes, part of a super-cell thunderstorm system, appeared to be class EF-2 or EF-3 twisters, meaning they packed cyclonic winds of up to 165 miles per hour (265 kph), said Rich Thompson, the lead forecaster for the National Storm Prediction Center.

Floods affect over 1 million in the Balkans, destruction 'terrifying'

- Areas primarily affected include the former Yugoslavia.

(Reuters) - Bosnia said on Monday that more than a quarter of its 4 million people had been affected by the worst floods to hit the Balkans in living memory, comparing the "terrifying" destruction to that of the country's 1992-95 war.

The extent of the devastation became apparent in Serbia too, as waters receded in some of the worst-hit areas to reveal homes toppled or submerged in mud, trees felled and villages strewn with the rotting corpses of livestock.

The regional death toll reached more than 40, after the heaviest rainfall since records began 120 years ago caused rivers to burst their banks and triggered hundreds of landslides.

China to Philippines: Here, Have a Measly $100,000 in Aid

 The world's second largest economy off-loads insultingly small change on a storm-battered Philippines

world.time.com

- The U.S. has promised $20 million in aid for victims of Supertyphoon Haiyan in the Philippines and has mobilized an aircraft carrier for the relief effort. Britain is also sending a warship and has pledged $16 million. The Vatican is dispatching $4 million, Japan $10 million and New Zealand $1.7 million. And China, the world’s most populous nation and second largest economy?

It’s handing over $100,000.

China’s relations with the Philippines have frayed over the past year, as tensions rise over bits of rocks in the South China Sea that both nations have declared their own. While disputes in the resource-rich waterway have simmered for decades and involve other regional neighbors, China has, in recent months, more assertively staked its maritime claims and last year blocked Filipino fishermen from contested waters.

Full Story

Canada Floods Claim Approximately 3 Lives & Force Evacuation Of Downtown Calgary.

-At least three people were killed when floodwaters that devastated much of southern Alberta led authorities to evacuate the western Canadian city of Calgary’s entire downtown. Inside the city’s hockey arena, the waters reached as high as the 10th row.

(telegraph.co.uk) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday called the level of flooding “stunning” and said officials don’t know yet if it will get worse, but said the water has peaked and stabilised and noted that the weather has got better.

Overflowing rivers washed out roads and bridges, soaked homes and turned streets into dirt-brown waterways around southern Alberta. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Patricia Neely told reporters three were dead and two bodies were recovered. The two bodies recovered are the two men who had been seen floating lifeless in the Highwood River near High River on Thursday, she said.

Harper, a Calgary resident, said he never imagined there would be a flood of this magnitude in this part of Canada.

“This is incredible. I’ve seen a little bit of flooding in Calgary before. I don’t think any of us have seen anything like this before. The magnitude is just extraordinary,” he said.

“We’re all very concerned that if gets much more than this it could have real impact on infrastructure and other services longer term, so we’re hoping things will subside a bit.”

Full Story.

Awkward: Memorial Day Snow Covers Upstate New York In 3 Feet.

Nature gets drunk at BBQ, drops 3 feet of snow on upstate NY

- Ah, Memorial Day: barbecues, beach trips and … frolicking in the snow? We usually think of the holiday as the unofficial start of summer, but a weekend storm deposited 3 feet of snow on upstate New York's Whiteface Mountain, near Vermont. The unseasonable snowfall, which began Saturday and continued until late Sunday, prompted the closure of the popular ski slope's Veteran's Memorial Highway. The storm also coated Mount Mansfield in Stowe, Vt., with more than a foot of snow — the latest in the season that's ever happened. It’s really not a big deal, if you think about it: Snow cones totally go with burgers and dogs. [Source]

The 5 Most Hilariously 'Offensive' Attempts To Cash In On Hurricane Sandy.

From Donald Trump to sodomites the ridiculousness takes on a whole new level.

Driest September In 130 Years May Bring Spring Struggle.

(myfoxtwincites) - Farmers nationwide have been struggling with drought this year, but next year could be even worse now that fields are facing winter without the six to nine inches of rain they'll need to be ready for a good spring planting.

So far, only about 0.3 inches of rain has fallen this month, which is two inches below average.

While few homeowners are complaining about the unusually dry September, their landscaping could languish next year.

Read The Rest Here.