Extreme weather across the globe

Signs Of Change July/August 2014 - Concerns Of Uncertainty

Japan landslides kill 36

Natural disaster on the outskirts of Hiroshima leaves at least seven others missing

al-Jazeera,

20 August, 2014

Rain-sodden hillsides collapsed in torrents of mud, rock and debris Wednesday on the outskirts of Hiroshima, killing at least 36 people and leaving seven others missing, the prefectural police said.

Public broadcaster NHK showed rescue workers suspended by ropes from police helicopters pulling victims from the rubble. Others gingerly climbed through windows to search for survivors in crushed homes.

Hillsides caved in or were swept down into residential areas in at least five valleys in the suburbs of Hiroshima, in western Japan, after heavy rains left slopes unstable.

In addition to the dead and missing as of Wednesday night, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 15 people were injured, two seriously.

"A few people were washed away, and it is hard to know exactly how many are unaccounted for," said local government official Nakatoshi Okamoto, noting that conditions in the area were hindering rescuers.

Authorities issued warnings that additional rain could trigger more landslides and flooding.

The land collapsed so quickly that evacuation advisories came an hour after the first mudslide, officials acknowledged.

"It's so regrettable," Kyodo News service quoted Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui as saying. "We'll find out what went wrong and take the necessary measures."

Landslides are a constant risk in mountainous, crowded Japan, where many homes are built on or near steep slopes. Torrential rains in the early morning apparently caused hillsides to collapse in an area where many of the buildings were newly constructed.

Damage from landslides and mudslides has increased over the past few decades because of more frequent heavy rains, despite extensive work on stabilizing slopes. In the past decade there have been nearly 1,200 landslides a year, according to the Land Ministry, up from an average of about 770 a year in the previous decade.

In October 2013, multiple mudslides on Izu-Oshima, an island south of Tokyo, killed 35 people, four of whose bodies were never recovered. Those slides followed a typhoon that dumped a record of more than 32 inches of rain in a single day.

The Associated Press

A comment on my timeline -

"I live about 28 miles from Oakhurst in another mountain community. Extreme drought has escalated the fire season and we were having conditions in May that we normally do not get until late August through September. Had another very serious fire even closer about a month ago. Wells are drying up and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada last winter was less than half of normal, so water reserves are way down. Hard times."

Wildfire Burns Near Yosemite National Park, Prompts Evacuation Of Thousands

A wildfire burning near Yosemite park has forced the evacuation of thousands of people, destroyed buildings, and has closed a road leading into the park.

Think Progress,

19 August, 2014

The blaze, which is known as the Junction Fire, encompasses nearly two square miles and is burning near the town of Oakhurst, which sits about 16 miles from an entrance to Yosemite Park. More than 600 firefighters are fighting to control the blaze, which is being driven by strong winds has forced evacuation orders for 13,000 people.

“There is nothing you can do when a fire is raging,” Clement Williams, a resident of Oakhurst who was forced to evacuate, told the AP. “You just have to flee. It’s a real sinking feeling.”

Two firefighters battling the fire have been injured, and the fire has destroyed eight structures and threatens another 500. Cal Fire’s incident page states that the “extreme” conditions of the fire, which has yet to be contained, are being driven by the extreme drought in California.“Firefighters are hopeful that lower temperatures, a rise in humidity and less wind will provide them with the ability to establish containment lines, utilizing hand crews and dozers,” the page states.

Right now, 99.8 percent of California is experiencing “severe” drought conditions, the third-most severe ranking by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Nearly 82 percent of the state is in extreme drought, the second-highest drought ranking, and 58 percent of the state is in the most severe ranking of drought.

Rhonda Salisbury, marketing director for the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau, told the Fresno Bee that a fire that large hadn’t been seen in Oakhurst in more than 50 years.

“We’re all ready to get out our hoses,” she said. “We love this town and community and these firefighters have had such a hard time in the last couple years. We want to do what we can to help, but there’s not a lot of water and it’s hot and dry.”

The Junction Fire comes a few weeks after another fire that burned near Yosemite, one that also forced evacuations. The fire prompted a state of emergency declaration in Tuolumne County. The fire also comes about a year after the Rim Fire, which burned near Yosemite and was the third-largest fire in California’s history. Right now, the Junction Fire is one of more than 10 fires burning in California.

Earlier this month, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in his state, due to the dozens of wildfires that were burning across the Golden State at the time. Dennis Mathisen, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the LA Times in at the time that the fire behavior witnessed in California usually isn’t seen until September.

“With warmer weather conditions, low humidity and some wind, and all you need is a spark, and a series of dry lightning strikes, and that’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.

Soon after California’s emergency declaration, the White House released a video that linked worsening wildfires across the country to climate change, noting that the number of wildfires in the West have “increased several-fold in the last decade.”

“While no single wildfire can be said to be caused by climate change, climate change has been making the fire season in the U.S. longer and on average more intense,” White House science adviser John Holdren says in the video. “Climate change is also bringing us more dead trees — kindling in effect — killed by a combination of heat stress, water stress and attacks by pests and pathogens that multiply faster in a warmer world,” he continues.

Storm Drops Feet of Hail on Mexico City

Accuweather

20 August, 2014

A long-lived and intense thunderstorm dumped hail that ended up being measured in feet in some parts of Mexico City Sunday afternoon and evening.

City tunnels and roadways became impassable in some locations and emergency workers were forced into action to free vehicles and open roads. Heavy equipment was needed to clean up the hail, similar to the clean-up efforts needed after a blizzard.

According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Mark Paquette, storms of this nature are not uncommon for Mexico City around this time of year.

"It's hail season for them," he said.

Mexico City sits at an elevation of roughly 7,000 feet which creates conditions where intense storms can barrel through the city, dropping heavy rains and even hail. Paquette likened the city to Denver, Colorado, which has a lower elevation but a similar setup in the late summer that allows powerful storms capable of spawning hail to form.

Unique to Sunday's storms was the extreme amount of hail that pounded the area. There were reports of hail stacking to the point where plows had to shovel the roads in efforts to make them clear.

In addition to the hail, torrential rain caused flash flooding adding to the travel woes. Storms hit other regions of Mexico as well as Loreto faced heavy storms that brought intense rain.

Swedish floods spread wider 

as rain continues

the Local,

19 August, 2014

UPDATED: The flood in southern Sweden spread further on Wednesday, with forecasters predicting rain all week. With the defence minister on the scene, officials have warned that up to 8,000 households risk evacuation.

• Floods move into second day
• Rain predicted to continue all week
• Emergency workers say floods at "catastrophic levels"
• Floods have moved from Getinge to Bohuslän
• Defence Minister on the scene on Wednesday afternoon

Rain in the small south-western town of Getinge continued to bucket down throughout Wednesday, and forecasters warned that it showed no signs of stopping.

The floods moved on from the town in Halland and into neighbouring county Bohuslän on the west coast.

Sweden's Defence Minister Karin Enström was on the scene on Wednesday,

"What you're struck by is the enormous power of the water," she told the TT news agency.

"When it rains like this and the water has nowhere to go then the effects are huge."

She added that emergency efforts have been prompt and effective, and that the incident highlighted the need for a "well-oiled system".Even if the floods can be contained, forecasters said the prognosis looked grim with continued storms expected.

Emergency services said 8,000 homes in the town of Halmstad risked being evacuated. Around 50 households in nearby Getinge have already been evacuated, including two retirement homes.

Sweden's weather agency SMHI issued a class 3 warning - the most severe on its three-level scale, adding that the rain would not subside until "early next week".

The home guard has been on hand to held build water barrier using sandbags, although many streets have already flooded, leaving dozens of cars underwater.

Many homes in the area have been left without electricity, and local train lines and some highways have been closed down.