Major flooding continues in USA’s South as Northeast hit with cold blast
There is major to near historic river flooding in parts of the Mid-South, especially in Kentucky on Tuesday.
Locally, 7 inches of rain fell over the weekend in the Mid-South helping local rivers to rise quickly and flooding entire towns. A state of emergency has now been declared for these areas.
Damaging thunderstorms moved through Georgia on Monday, killing one person when a tree feel on a home.
These storms also produced an EF-1 tornado with winds of 90 mph, not related to the victim’s death.
There are flood warnings from Texas to Ohio on Tuesday and 26 states from Texas to Maine are under flood, high winds and wind chill alerts.
The heavy rain has ended in Mid-South but some rivers are still rising or will remain in major to moderate flooding through over the next few days.
The heaviest rain shifted closer to the Gulf Coast from Mississippi to Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina where over the next few days 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected with locally higher amounts possible.
Meanwhile, in the Northeast, arctic cold air is moving through with very gusty winds that are producing power outages.
Wind will continue to gust in the Northeast from New Jersey to Maine at 40 to 60 mph through this morning and will subside in the afternoon.
Wind Chills this morning are below zero from upstate New York to Boston and into New England.
This bitter blast will not last and already by Wednesday most of the Northeast will see temperatures quickly rebound into the 40s and even 50s.
But it is still early March so the cold will be back end of the week as wind chills are expected to fall into the teens and single digits for the I-95 corridor and below zero in upstate New York and into New England.
Courtesy of abcnews.go.com
Queensland, Australia battered by wild weather as Tropical Cyclone Niran intensifies off Cairns coast
Wild weather has lashed Queensland overnight as severe storms hit the south-east and a cyclone rampages off the north-east coast.
More than 70 millimetres of rain has been dumped on Brisbane’s CBD and surrounding regions.
In the state’s far-north, Tropical Cyclone Niran has been upgraded to a Category 2 system as it continues to bring gale-force winds and heavy rainfall.
The slow-moving system is hovering about 280km north-east of Cairns.
There’s still a possibility conditions intensify before they ease.
“Tropical cyclone Niran is expected to remain off the north Queensland coast while intensifying over the next day or two,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“Although a coastal crossing is not expected, it may extend gales westward over coastal and island communities tonight or on Wednesday.
“In the longer term, tropical cyclone Niran is expected to meander off the north Queensland coast before moving southeastward away from the east coast from Thursday onward.”
The tropical cyclone brings with it gusts up to 100km/h and heavy rain.
Exposed coastal and island communities between Cape Melville and Innisfail, including Cooktown, Cairns and Port Douglas, are most at risk.
The BoM recommends residents listen to advice from the weather bureau and local emergency services over the next two days.
Courtesy of 7news.com.au
Avian influenza A(H5N8) infects humans in Russian Federation
Russian authorities have reported 7 poultry farm workers aged 29 to 60 years infected with the A(H5N8) strain of avian influenza, also known as bird flu. This is the first reported detection of this strain of avian influenza in humans. The human infections occurred on a poultry farm in Astrakhan, Russian Federation, and were reported to WHO by Russian health officials via channels of the International Health Regulations (2005).
Concerns were raised when 101 000 out of 900 000 egg-laying hens on the farm died in early December 2020. An investigation by Russian veterinary public-health authorities detected avian influenza A(H5N8), which was then confirmed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Reference Laboratory and the Federal Centre for Animal Health in the city of Vladimir, Russian Federation.
Follow-up tests on the 7 workers from the poultry farm suggested recent infection with the virus, though they showed no symptoms. There was no clinical evidence of onward transmission to families or close associates of the workers. Further information on serology among contacts of the positive cases is required to fully assess the risk.
Dr Richard Pebody, who leads the High Threat Pathogen Team at WHO/Europe, was quick to reassure: “The people who were reported to be infected did not develop symptoms and they were all exposed to an infected poultry flock in the course of their work. The infection does not appear to have come from other human beings – which is good news.”
Dr Pebody added, “The poultry flock has been culled and no further infections in humans have been found. It is also encouraging that this incident shows the system that alerts local and international authorities is working. However, this underlines the ongoing importance of global surveillance in the face of constantly evolving influenza viruses. Changes to the influenza virus must be closely monitored in animals and humans alike; this is a good example of the One Health approach, recognizing that human and animal health are intertwined and depend on each other.”
Based on available information, the risk of human-to-human transmission remains low and WHO recommendations have not changed as a result of the incident. When avian influenza is circulating in an area, farms and contact with live animals, for example in markets, should be avoided. Precautions must be taken by those working with poultry.
WHO is now following up with public health authorities in the Russian Federation and other relevant organizations. Although this strain of influenza has not previously been known to affect humans, it has been detected in farmed and wild birds in countries across the European Region, including Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and now the Russian Federation.
Courtesy of euro.who.int
China reports 3 human H9N2 avian influenza cases
The World Health Organization (WHO) is reporting three new cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H9N2) virus in China.
The first case is a one-year-old female from Sichuan Province, China, with onset of illness on 30 November 2020. The patient had exposure to backyard poultry.
The second case is a five-year-old female in Anhui Province, China, whose date of onset was 17 January 2021.
The third case is a 2-year-old female in Jiangxi Province, China whose date of onset was 18 January 2021.
All three cases had developed mild illness and recovered, and no additional cases suspected among contacts by the time of reporting.
In most human cases of H9N2 avian flu, the associated disease symptoms have been mild and there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Influenza A(H9N2) viruses are enzootic in poultry populations in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Most human cases are exposed to the A(H9N2) virus through contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments. Human infection tends to result in mild clinical illness.
A total of 43 cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H9N2) in China have been reported since December 2015.
Courtesy of http://outbreaknewstoday.com/
Impossible travel across parts of Newfoundland as winter storm hangs on
March certainly roared in like a lion across the East Coast on Monday, with a powerful winter storm that delivered strong winds, heavy snow, and rain across the Maritimes. The storm left behind frigid temperatures and wind chills throughout the Maritimes Tuesday, as well as intense wind gusts, while northern parts of Newfoundland and Labrador are still dealing with heavy snow and howling winds through Tuesday night. This will make for dangerous blizzard-like conditions and treacherous travel. Peak wind gusts have come down, but parts of the Maritimes could see them in the 90 km/h range, with 60-80 km/h gusts for Newfoundland. More on the impact and timing, below.
The intense winter storm that powered through the Maritimes and Newfoundland to kick-start the first week of March is on winding down Tuesday after bringing a healthy dose of snow, powerful winds and rain.
“It’s the winter storm that does not want to quit,” says Weather Network meteorologist Jessie Uppal. “It continues to show signs of strengthening as it spins and sits over the Gulf of St. Lawrence.”
What’s left of the storm will see lingering impacts through Tuesday evening along the northern coast of Newfoundland, as well as along the Gulf St. Lawrence.
Courtesy of ca.news.yahoo.com
MAGNITUDE 5.1 GREECE
Depth: 14 km
Distances: 30 km W of Lárisa, Greece / pop: 144,000 / local time: 20:24:07.6 2021-03-03
MAGNITUDE 5.1 GREECE
Depth: 10 km
Distances: 19 km W of Lárisa, Greece / pop: 144,000 / local time: 13:45:45.5 2021-03-03
MAGNITUDE 5.0 GREECE
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=954372
Depth: 10 km
Distances: 19 km WNW of Lárisa, Greece / pop: 144,000 / local time: 13:35:57.4 2021-03-03
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