More Flooding

UK flood alerts abound as heavy rain continues

South-east and Midlands worst hit as government cuts blamed for 300 unbuilt flood-defence schemes

the Guardian,

15 July, 2012

Britain's miserable summer continued on Saturday with flood warnings and alerts issued across England.

Thundery showers hit many parts of the country, with the south-east the worst hit. The Environment Agency issued 15 flood warnings and 65 flood alerts on Saturday, coming amid claims that nearly 300 flood defence schemes have been left unbuilt because of government cuts. The government insisted its "absolute priority" was protecting homes and businesses from floods and the Environment Agency said 364 new flood-risk management schemes had been completed in the past three years.

"There will always be more schemes than funds available and no one can prevent flooding entirely," said the agency's chief executive, Paul Leinster.

The Met Office kept a yellow warning in place on Saturday, alerting the public to heavy rain and floods in parts of the south-east and the Midlands.

An agency spokesman said: "We are urging people across central and eastern England to remain vigilant as heavy thunderstorms are forecast to affect large swaths of the country. Locally intense showers falling on already saturated ground could lead to surface water flooding and possible river flooding from fast responding rivers, particularly across parts of the Midlands and East Anglia."

The wettest April-June quarter on record, and further heavy rain in July, has resulted in repeated flooding in many parts of Britain.

Torrential rains kill 20 and displace 3 million in China

The Extinction Protocol,

14 July, 2012

July 14, 2012 – CHINA – 

 

Heavy storms battered many parts of China over the last two days, killing 20 people and affecting more than 3 million others, officials have said.

The storms swept across 15 counties and cities, causing floods and landslides.

In eastern province of Shandong, four people have died, and more than 100,000 forced to evacuate from low lying areas, Xinhua reported.

More than 3 million people have been affected in the province. Floods have inundated crops, damaged houses and killed livestock.

The disaster has caused an economic loss of more than 1.5 billion yuan (around USD 240 million).

Eight people were killed on Friday after rainstorms triggered landslides in the city of Liupanshui in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, the city government said.

–Indian Express, Novosti