Extreme weather - 04/01/2015

Giant storm viewed from space

From space its beauty is beguiling, hiding the terror being created below

RadioNZ,

2 April, 2015

Cyclone Maysak seen from the International Space Station. Photo: ESA / NASA / Samantha Cristoforetti

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti captured the above image of super typhoon Maysak from the International Space Station on Tuesday.

At its height, the typhoon caused havoc in the Federated States of Micronesia, with serious damage in Chuuk state where five people were believed to have been killed. The small atolls of Fais and Ulithi in Yap state were directly hit.

The wind gusts from the typhoon reached 300 kilometres an hour.

Storm Niklas kills 9 in north, central Europe

A storm in northern and central Europe has killed at least nine people and injured dozens of others as the severe natural disaster battered through the region, causing travel chaos and destruction.

Press TV

1 April, 2015

Authorities said on Wednesday that the chaos, which hurricane-strength Storm Niklas brought to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for much of Tuesday, claimed the lives of seven people in Germany.

Storm Niklas, with wind strengths of above 190 kilometers per hour (118 miles per hour), is believed to be one of the strongest storms that has hit Germany since 2007. Niklas began to rage through Europe as of late March 29.

In Germany, three of the victims died in weather-related car crashes, while another three were killed after trees fall onto their cars by the sudden snow and hail storms in the country’s worst-hit southern region of Bavaria. Another man died when strong hail caused a wall to collapse.

In Austria, a 63-year-old man was crushed to death as a concrete wall collapsed onto him. Meanwhile, a nine-year-old girl was severely injured when a tree fell on her.

Niklas claimed a 75-year-old’s life in Switzerland, as trees fell onto his car.

The severe weather conditions affected road and rail traffic. A spokesman for rail operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), said, “The hurricane hit our rail lines with full force,” adding, “Not all of our personnel can be at the stations where the schedule calls for them to be.” 

Similarly, aerial transportation has been affected with Frankfurt Airport announcing that a large number of scheduled flights for Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled due to the storm.

According to Germany’s National Meteorological Service (DWD), Niklas has lost its strength in Germany. However, weaker storms would probably carry on throughout Wednesday.

The gale, which spread across Scotland, Poland, northern and eastern France before reaching Germany on Tuesday, has left many homes roofless and tens of thousands of households without electricity.

Mega-drought in Colorado and South-west