Tag Archive | heavy rain
Violent storm damages homes and topples trees in Nebraska, USA
Melanie Kelsay wasn’t sure what caused the loud noise that shook her house and woke her up early Thursday.
Kelsay, 36, said it sounded like a semitrailer truck had hit the house — but then, she said, “I thought it was a tornado, so I woke everyone up and we went to the basement.”
It wasn’t a tornado, but a storm packing high winds, heavy rain and hail blew through the southeast Nebraska town of about 1,500 people around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. It took down trees and branches, knocked out power, plugged storm drains and damaged homes and buildings, said Mark Meints, assistant fire chief for the Wymore Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department.
“It left a path right through the middle of town,” he said.
After speaking with Wymore town officials and reviewing radar data, officials with the National Weather Service office in Valley said they had determined that the damage was caused by 80-plus mph winds from a microburst.
Becky Kern, a meteorologist with the weather service, said a microburst occurs when a storm collapses, hits the ground and then spreads quickly.
Toss in pea- to dime-size hail and heavy rain, she said, and severe damage will result.
Meints said hail piled up about 2 inches deep in most parts of town.
Firefighters, he said, were unplugging storm drains early Thursday.
No injuries were reported.
City crews worked after the storm blew through and had restored power to the town by late morning. The opening of school was delayed two hours.
Wymore Police Chief Jay Welch said the rain gauge at his house on the south end of town registered 1.8 inches. Some locations outside town received up to 2.5 inches, he said.
Elsewhere, the weather service issued a flood advisory for the east-central Nebraska counties of Hamilton, York and Merrick after the area received 1 to 3 inches of rain Wednesday night and early Thursday.
Omaha’s Eppley Airfield reported .13 of an inch of rain, while Offutt Air Force Base and Millard had .14, Valley .17 and Council Bluffs .11.
Beatrice, which is about 15 miles northwest of Wymore, reported 1.11 inches of rain.
The rain and hail early Thursday woke up Cari Emerson. She and her husband, Zack, went and checked on their daughters Marlee, 7, and Piper, 4. The “loud roaring” hadn’t awakened them.
Cari, 35, said she could feel pressure in the house and thought the windows would break, but she didn’t think it was a tornado, because Wymore’s sirens weren’t going off.
The Emersons’ mailbox ended up in the street after the storm, and a large tree branch took down part of their fence and smashed their car’s windshield.
Roger Davidson was in his yard Thursday, the day before his 77th birthday, picking up and raking piles of sticks. He already had a pickup bed full of branches. It could have been worse, Davidson said.
When Kelsay’s family came up out of the basement 10 minutes after hearing the big crash, she discovered that a large tree branch had slammed into the side of her two-story house.
Four men, one on the ground and three on the roof, were cutting up the branch Thursday.
Another large branch was lying in her yard.
“It was scary and loud — shook the whole house,” Kelsay said, “but at least no one got hurt.”
Courtesy of nptelegraph.com
Major landslide hits areas of Kohima town, Highway block continues; Low Pressure area over Jharkhand, India
Continuous heavy rainfall, coupled with improper drainage system had caused major landslide and subsidence to around 140 feet, totally cutting-off the approach road of lower Naga bazaar area of Kohima town yesterday while a low pressure area lay over Jharkhand and its neighbourhood today. Official sources in Kohima said the road leading to Leprosy colony, LP school, cemetery and some houses was affected. Around 15 buildings under construction and five RCC buildings were totally damaged by the landslide yesterday. Several of the houses under construction, which had sunk, were gradually buried. A woman was injured when the house began to sink. Residents of the colony had to rebury a body when a grave was exposed by the landslide. The Gaon Burha of Naga Bazaar Khriengulie Rio expressed unhappiness with the authorities for not taking up adequate measures despite being informed about the impending landslide. He also said that after the landslide only the SDO(C) visited the site. The entire area of Poufii and nearby, with around 60 household plots had sunk down some 50 to 60 feet towards a stream. Due to the mudslide from the upper side, the open stream along with retaining wall, which flowed between the two colonies, Lower Naga bazaar and Kezieke, has created a artificial lake, accumulating water measuring around 12 feet deep in the middle. In Phesama, the National Highway 29 continued to be blocked for the 10th day today, cutting off the Southern Angami areas of Nagaland and the entire State of Manipur. The mudslide continued to flow from the hilltop, flowing over the Highway to the valley areas, gradually covering the standing paddy fields one after another. Due to the pressure of the mudslides, about five square kilometer areas of the both sides of the mudslide, continued to sink, forcing the residents to evacuate and demolish their house to re-construct in safer places. So far a total of 60 families had to evacuate from their houses and the paddy fields of around 200 villagers were covered by mudslide. The BRO workers are working to clear the mud along with debris, but due to uninterrupted mudslide, the highway could not be open till today. A report from Hyderabad said the Low Pressure Area over north Odisha and adjoining Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh now lay over Jharkhand and neighbourhood. Under its influence, moderate to rather heavy rain or thundershowers would occur at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 24 hours. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers would occur at isolated places over Rayalaseema during the same period. The outlook for the next two days indicated there would be no large change, Met Office sources said. The report also said that South West Monsoon also been active over Telangana and added that under the influence of low pressure area, heavy rain would occur at isolated places in the districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Khammam and Warangal during the next 24 hours. A report from Lucknow said the weather has turned pleasant following drizzle being experienced since the last 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh. The Met department said that heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places and rainfall of 12 centimeters was experienced in Ayodhya, Seven centimeters in Maharajganj, six centimeter in Allahabad, three centimeter each in Chandradeep Ghat and Agra. Meanwhile, several acres of farm land were flooded by the swelling Ghaghra, Rapti, Sharda and many other rivers at different places. Similar weather conditions are predicted in the next 24 hours by the Met department. Reports from Pune said heavy rain would occur at few places with very heavy rain at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. Heavy to very heavy rain is also expected at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim. Heavy rain at isolated places would occur over Jharkhand, Bihar, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Chattisgarh during the next 24 hours. The southwest monsoon has been active over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Vidarbha and Telangana. It has been subdued over Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat State. Rayalaseema and south interior Karanataka. Rain or thundershowers have occurred at most places in Arunachal Pradesh, Konkan and Goa and Lakshwadweep and at many places in Assam and Meghalaya, Gangetic West Bengal, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Telanagana and Andaman and Nicobar islands. It also occurred at a few places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Odisha, Jharakhand, east Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, coastal Andhra Pradesh and coastal Karnataka and at isolated places in Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, west Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat region, Saurashtra and Kutch, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, interior Karnataka and Kerala. Mainly dry weather has prevailed in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, the report said.
Courtesy of netindia123.com
State of emergency declared after landslides hit Alaska coastal town of Sitka following heavy rain
Four people were missing Tuesday from a neighborhood in the Alaska coastal town of Sitka after heavy rain caused several landslides and flooded homes, emergency responders said.
The landslides were reported in the southeast Alaska town after 2 1/2 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. One sinkhole also was reported.
Gov. Bill Walker planned to tour Sitka on Wednesday to observe the damage.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing and all the people affected by the disasters in Sitka today,” Walker said in a written statement provided by his office.
The people who were unaccounted for were believed to be workers at a residential construction site, Sitka fire spokeswoman Sara Peterson said. Because of the instability of the site, a search had not yet started.
One of the newly built homes was destroyed in the landslide and another was damaged, Peterson said. Some other homes in the area were evacuated, but Peterson did not know how many residences or people were affected.
An office building just outside town also was evacuated because it is near one of the landslides.
Some homes in town have been flooded and there were reports of residents not being able to reach their homes or leave their neighborhood, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Longtime Sitka resident Nolan Simpson said he toured parts of town and saw one home where the driveway was gone, replaced by a stream washing through it. He passed the Indian River and said it was roaring.
The construction site incident was especially heartbreaking, he said.
“It’s pretty devastating on how fast something like this can happen,” Simpson, a retired commercial fishermen, said in a phone interview from a saloon.
The city of more than 9,000 people declared a state of emergency because of the landslides.
Sitka, almost 600 miles southeast of Anchorage, sees heavy rain throughout the year. More rain was expected.
Heavy rain was blamed for a major landslide in September near the town that wiped out hundreds of thousands of dollars in watershed restoration projects.
The rain also damaged a footbridge and trails, including one that had been repaired after flooding in January 2014.
A year earlier, two people at a U.S. Forest Service cabin near Sitka escaped moments before part of a mountain slid down.
Courtesy of startribune.com
Severe thunderstorm with heavy rain and damaging winds causes mayhem to parts of western Nebraska, USA
A severe thunderstorm packing heavy rain and damaging winds raced through parts of western Nebraska Thursday night.
Residents and city officials in North Platte and other communities reported downed trees, power outages and rain runoff that accumulated more than axle deep in some spots on Thursday night.
The National Weather Service says nearly 1.4 inches of rain fell on North Platte in about 70 minutes.
Hail 2 inches in diameter was reported about 15 miles north of the city, and 1.5-inch hail was reported seven miles west of Thedford in Thomas County.
No injuries have been reported.
Courtesy of starherald.com
Tornado rips through Katikati, New Zealand
A tornado tore through the Katikati area yesterday as wild weather lashed the Western Bay of Plenty
Heavy rain and strong winds also caused surface flooding and poor driving visibility around the region
A twister left a trail of destruction with roofs damaged and trees ripped from roots in the Katikati area.
Tuapiro Point resident Juliet Buyn says a barbecue sitting under one of her windows ended up being blown into her garden and the spa pool cover was completely ripped off.
“On the lawn Jack and Jill seat was also sitting under window and a tree was ripped out of the neighbours.
“We were lucky we had no damage to our house but there is a lot of damage to the property.”
Northern Fire Communications shift manager Jaron Phillips says firefighters were called to a number of tiles pulled off roofs and there was reports of flooding on State Highway 2, between Te Puna and Whakamarama.
More rain is expected in the Bay today before easing later this afternoon.
The MetService is forecasting fine weather tomorrow.
Courtesy of sunlive.co.nz
Catastrophic Flooding And Landslides; Death Toll To Rise In Burma
At least 27 people have been killed by flash floods and landslides
The death toll from flash floods and landslides in Burma is set to spike, the United Nations has warned, with more heavy rain forecast for the coming days.
Government figures suggest at least 27 people have been killed and a further 156,000 people affected by the heavy flooding, which has hit large areas of the country.
However many of the worst-hit areas have not yet been reached by assessment teams, meaning the number of people affected may be “significantly higher,” the UN’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
Waters levels are as high as 4.5 metres Pic: Democratic Voice of Burma
As further information becomes available, the death toll is also “expected to increase,” it said.
Burma’s President Thein Sein has declared four of the worst-hit areas – the Magway and Sagaing regions and Chin and Rakhine states – disaster zones.
There is particular concern surrounding Rakhine state, which is home over 100,000 people displaced by civil war and living in poorly built camps.
More heavy rain is forecast in the coming days
Water levels in the western state are said to be as high as 4.5 metres.
Much of Burma – also known as Myanmar – has been hit by flooding and landslides over the last few weeks, resulting from monsoon rains throughout July.
Conditions worsened considerably after Cyclone Komen brought strong winds and heavy rains when it made landfall earlier this week.
Images have circulated of one journalist for Democratic Voice of Burma, a non-profit media organisation, who was forced to do a live news report while standing in chest-high water earlier this week.
Further heavy rains have been forecast for the next few days.
Courtesy of Sky News
Please Donate To Support My Work
Earth Extremities 
Comments