The rivers are overflowing! Severe flooding in Savona, Italy!

Russia’s Crimean Bridge closed for first-ever time due to heavy snow and state of emergency declared

For the first time since its completion in 2018, Europe’s longest bridge has been closed due to a heavy snowfall. The Black Sea region is currently going through an uncharacteristic cold spell.

On Thursday night, Crimea saw a snowstorm cover the peninsula, prompting warnings from local authorities to refrain from travel. The bridge itself was shut due to “lack of visibility, heavy snowfall, and strong side winds.”

Construction of the Crimean Bridge started in 2016 and was completed two years later. The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project connects Taman in Krasnodar Region, on the Russian mainland, to Kerch in Crimea. As well as cars, the structure allows for trains to cross. At 19km, it is the longest bridge in Europe.

As of Friday afternoon, around 280 vehicles were stuck on the crossing, with many more in a traffic jam on either side of the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the neighbouring Krasnodar Region. Although it was initially shut in both directions, the traffic police have opened travel towards mainland Russia but won’t allow cars to pass over to the Black Sea peninsula.

According to Taman, the local highway management agency, traffic will be restored after the evacuation of vehicles damaged by the snowfall.

Southern Russia has seen uncharacteristically chilly temperatures in recent weeks. While Moscow is known for its cold winters, Crimea and other parts of the region are normally above zero in February. On Thursday, Kerch saw 27mm of snowfall overnight, almost reaching the month’s norm of 31mm in just one day. However, temperatures are expected to be positive next week.

On Friday afternoon, the peninsula’s authorities decided to declare a state of emergency in four areas.

Courtesy of rt.com

https://tinyurl.com/14yzcghk

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Flash floods, landslides displace 2,000 residents in Cagayan, Philippines

MORE than 2,000 residents have been evacuated in 30 barangay (villages) in three northern Cagayan towns, with a 60-year-old male farmer missing and believed to have drowned during widespread flooding brought about by heavy downpours Maj. Stanley Banan, Sanchez Mira town police chief, said teams conducted rescue operations in flooded areas and for Artemio Bumiltac, who reportedly was trying to save his carabao from his rice field when he was swept by a flash flood on Saturday around 5 p.m. in Barangay Santiago.

Banan added that Bumiltac’s carabao had been rescued but its owner has not yet been seen by Santiago residents where more than 100 of them were also evacuated to higher grounds and brought to five evacuation areas in Sanchez Mira.

He said the rescue teams transferred more residents from 14 villages and low-lying areas in the town where houses were already submerged by floodwaters.

Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said the towns of Claveria, Pamplona and Santa Praxedes had been affected by flash floods and landslides, making roads and bridges not passable.

Most of the more the 2,000 evacuees were from 30 villages in Claveria with 1,400 individuals, followed by Santa Praxedes with 850 and the rest from Sanchez Mira and Pamlona towns.

The provincial Task Force Lingkod Cagayan (TFLC) reported that a bridge in Santa Praxedes had been damaged by floodwaters, which submerged parts of the national highway in Claveria, Pamplona and Sanchez Mira.

The task force said Daang Maharlika (national road) in Calvaria going to Santa Praxedes remained not passable as of Monday.

Mamba said the TFLC had teamed up with the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Marine Battalion Lan­ding Team-10 in the rescue operations of residents and livestock in the province.

Courtesy of manilatimes.net

https://tinyurl.com/y6q432vx

Floods submerge 350 homes in Indonesia

Heavy rains in Tolitoli Regency in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi Province caused flooding Friday in the villages of Silondou and Janja, according to the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB).

A total of 350 homes were damaged and a bridge was closed to traffic due to the risk of collapse.

Officials said necessary units are working in coordination to meet flood victims’ needs.

They are currently trying to find out whether other settlements were damaged due to the floods.

The meteorology agency warned that there may be floods due to showers in various regions tomorrow, including Palu, Sigi, Donggala, Parimo, Poso, Buol and Morowali.

Indonesia is located near the equator, and floods and landslides often occur, especially from October to April.

Courtesy of http://www.aa.com.tr

https://tinyurl.com/y5ckhpru

Eight killed as #storm #Elsa batters southern #Europe

Worst #storm in over a century hits #Spain – Severe #Flooding

#RAF #RoyalAirForce called in to help efforts to stop #dam bursting at #WhaleyBridge, #Derbyshire, #UK

STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED DUE TO MAJOR FLOODING IN NIGER, KOGI, ANAMBRA AND DELTA

As many as 100 people have died in flooding in Nigeria over the past two weeks, according to disaster management authorities. Thousands are thought to have been displaced, particularly in communities along the country’s major rivers.

 

Over the past few weeks many areas have experience localized flash flooding due to storms bringing high intensity rainfall, including in Jigawa, Niger, Kano and Nasarawa states.

 

However, wide areas of the country now face flooding from the country’s major rivers after long-term rainfall in Nigeria and river catchments in neighbouring countries caused the Niger and Benue rivers to rise to danger levels.  Earlier this week Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) declared a state of emergency for flooding in the four states of Niger, Kogi, Anambra and Delta.

 

Other affected States have been placed under close watch, including the states of Kebbi, Kwara, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa.

 

NEMA has set up 5 Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) to facilitate prompt search and rescue operations as well as humanitarian supports in the states worst affected by flooding. According to NEMA, the Emergency Response Centres will be responsible for planning, organizing, directing and supervising deployment of resources with the affected state governments and local authorities and communities. “The primary objective is to localize the responses and expedite intervention to save lives and facilitate quick recovery,” NEMA Director General Mustapha Maihaja said.

 

In late August Nigeria’s Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) warned communities in Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Anambra, Delta and Bayelsa states that increasingly high river levels could cause major flooding. Major dams had already begun releasing water as high flow from the upper catchment of the Niger basin moved downstream to Nigeria.

 

As of 30 August, the Niger river at Lokoja stood at 8.84 metres, above the 8 metre warning level and rising towards 10 metre red alert. Lokoja is the capital of Kogi State and lies at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers and downstream of the Kainji and Jebba dams.

 

As of 07 September the Niger river at Lokoja stood at 10.01 metres and by 18 September had reached 11.06 metres. NIHSA says that rivers are at similar levels to those seen in the lead up to the devastating floods of 2012. On 29 September 2012 the Niger river at Lokoja reached a record high of 12.84 metres.

 

The River Benue is also rising, though it is not yet at levels similar to those of 2012. NIHSA says that water releases from the Shiroro, Kainji and Jebba Dams is contributing to the rise in river levels. The Lagdo Dam in Cameroon however is not releasing water, according to NIHSA.

 

According to forecasts from NiMet, further heavy rain can be expected over the next 3 weeks, particularly in northern areas of the country.

 

NIHSA said that flash flooding is also likely to continue in some areas and communities should prepare.

 

“Localized urban flooding incidents being witnessed in some cities and communities in the country are expected to continue due to high rainfall intensity of shorter duration, rainstorms, blockage of drainage system and poor urban planning, as well as coastal flooding resulting from sea rise and storm surges. States and Local Governments should endeavour to remove structures built within the floodplains, clear blocked drainages, culverts and other waterways,” NIHSA added.

Courtesy of floodlist.com

https://tinyurl.com/y7vfkwjf

MAJOR FLOODING KILLS DOZENS AND DISPLACES 100,000 PEOPLE IN NORTHERN GHANA

Long-term heavy rainfall combined with water releases from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso, have caused severe flooding in northern Ghana over the past few weeks.

 

Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) said that at least 34 people have died. The country’s northern regions – Upper West, Upper East and Northern – have all been affected. Local media reported that as many as 100,000 people have been displaced.

 

Much of the flooding is a result of the overflowing White Volta river. Releases from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso over the last few weeks have increased levels of the river in northern Ghana. SONABEL, the power utility in Burkina Faso with responsibility for the Bagre Dam, started releases in late August after heavy rainfall in catchment areas had increased dam levels.

 

Ghana’s NADMO said that water in the dam rose by about 80 percent in the month of August 2018, as compared to a 50 percent rise in August 2017. In late August the Volta River Authority (VRA) warned communities along the White Volta river to prepare for flooding and take necessary precautions.

 

By early September the rate of water release had increased and the flood situation had worsened. Local media reported at least 7 dead and 100,000 displaced. Since then the death toll has increased significantly and flooding has caused widespread damage to farmland, roads and infrastructure including bridges, leaving many communities cut off.

Courtesy of floodlist.com

https://tinyurl.com/y77hzuee

Monsoon brings landslides and flash floods to southern Myanmar