Showing posts with label Flood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flood. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 February 2014

'This may be the worst flood in Beaufort history'

straitstimes2012

'This may be the worst flood in Beaufort history'

 

[caption id="attachment_12369" align="alignnone" width="400"]ximage.png.pagespeed.ic.Ckc782pklQ (Photo NSTP/Roy Goh)[/caption]

 

By Kristy Inus

 

KOTA KINABALU: The gloomy weather at Beaufort district persists and the flood situation is expected to continue for the next few days.

 

District officer Mohd Shaid Othman who is the district natural disaster committee chairman said this may turn out to be the worst flood in Beaufort history.

 

"From what we can see there are areas which have never been submerged before, are now flooded.

 

"The water level at the town area has receded but we see the water moving into villages and rising there," he said.

 

Rescue and relief operations are in full swing to reach out to thousands affected by the floods.

 

"Some villagers were trapped at their own homes when they refuse to leave the house at the first place and could not go anywhere once the water level rises rapidly.

 

"Right now we know about 300 villagers in 70 houses are trapped at Kampung Mantanior.

 

"Meanwhile, some villagers chose to run to higher grounds, like the 138 villagers from 40 families in Kampung Batu 60 to Kampung Batu 63," added Mohd Shaid.

 

(New Straits Times, 15 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Flooded

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Flooded

 

[caption id="attachment_12344" align="alignnone" width="400"]b745738018147eb6158510fe1a2be6bbdaf3f899 (Photo AFP - Geoff Caddick)[/caption]

 

Aquatique

 

Champ de course inondé à Worcester, en Angleterre.

 

Aquatic

 

Flooded racecourse in Worcester, England.

 

(AFP - Geoff Caddick)

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 14 Friday February 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 15 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Flood water

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Flood water

 

[caption id="attachment_12178" align="alignnone" width="400"]babd8f3becc9e9f42c23521849670a70d5aeadc2 (Photo AFP - Ben Stansall)[/caption]

 

Wading through

 

Residents wade through floodwater in the village of Wraysbury in Berkshire, southeast England.

 

(AFP - Ben Stansall)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 11 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Flooded street

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Flooded street

 

[caption id="attachment_12171" align="alignnone" width="400"]f9aa729c1e9b99f947987a6f5dcc748fd4232977_0 (Photo AFP - Fred Tanneau)[/caption]

 

Submersion

 

Un camion de pompiers dans une rue inondée de Redon, en Bretagne.

 

Submersion

 

A fire truck through a flooded street Redon, Bretagne.

 

(AFP - Fred Tanneau)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 11 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 12 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Thursday, 6 February 2014

Après Petra, une nouvelle tempête sur le Nord-Ouest After Petra, a new storm on the North-West

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Après Petra, une nouvelle tempête sur le Nord-Ouest

 

[caption id="attachment_11910" align="alignnone" width="400"]ALeqM5ioI-YzFYMKlfRP_mGRlRhbAI9umQ (Une vague à Ploemeur, en Bretagne, dans la tempête, le 5 mercredi février 2014 le Roman (AFP, Frank Perry)) (A wave Ploemeur, Brittany, in the storm, 5 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman (AFP, Frank Perry))[/caption]

 

De Anne MEYER (AFP)

 

Rennes — Après la tempête Petra mardi, une nouvelle tempête hivernale s'apprête à déferler jeudi et vendredi sur un large quart nord-ouest du pays, où 29 départements sont en alerte orange, le Finistère étant même passé au rouge pour les crues.

 

Ce nouvel épisode tempétueux, avec des vents violents "pouvant occasionner des dégâts", de fortes précipitations sur des "sols déjà saturés" dans certains départements bretons et un phénomène de "vagues submersions" sur le littoral, doit débuter vers 13H00 ce jeudi et se poursuivre jusque vers 11H00 vendredi.

 

La Bretagne, les Pays de la Loire, la Normandie, l'Ile-de-France, ainsi que les départements de la Charente-Maritime, des Deux-Sèvres, de la Vienne, d'Eure-et-Loir, d'Indre-et-Loire, de Loir-et-Cher et du Loiret sont concernés.

 

Des rafales de vent à 90/110 km/h dans les terres et 120 km/h sur les côtes sont attendues par Météo-France, qui prévoit des cumuls de pluie importants, de l'ordre de 30 à 50 mm, et localement 60 à 70 mm sur le nord du Finistère.

 

De fortes vagues et une élévation du niveau de la mer (élévation) risquent aussi de submerger des parties du littoral, fragilisé par les coups de vent qui se succèdent depuis le mois de décembre.

 

Les pluies devraient d'abord s'intensifier jeudi, en particulier sur l'ouest de la Bretagne avant de se décaler vers la Normandie et le Centre vendredi matin.

 

Le vent, lui, se renforcera sur les côtes des Pays de la Loire et du sud de la Bretagne jeudi soir, avant de progresser vers le Nord-Est, la Normandie et l'Ile-de-France en deuxième partie de nuit, relève Météo-France.

 

Tempêtes en rafale

 

A la pointe de la Bretagne, le Finistère a une nouvelle fois été placé en alerte rouge pour les inondations, les prévisionnistes s'inquiétant de crues potentiellement importantes de la Laïta, à Quimperlé, et de la rivière de Morlaix, deux petits fleuves côtiers.

 

"Une réaction hydrologique rapide et importante est attendue" jeudi sur la rivière de Morlaix, prévient le service de prévision des crues, soulignant que les niveaux atteints "pourraient être similaires, voire supérieurs" à ceux de Noël dernier, quand la basse-ville avait été subitement envahie par les eaux.

 

Idem pour Quimperlé où la Laïta, qui traverse la basse-ville, devrait réagir "de façon importante" aux fortes pluies prévues, entraînant "des débordements dommageables".

 

"Tout fonctionne normalement pour le moment", a indiqué jeudi midi la maire de Morlaix, Agnès Le Brun.

 

Mais si la pluie tombe autant qu'annoncé, "ce serait vraiment très embêtant car l'eau monterait jusqu'à 2m10 et la rivière déborde à 1m80", a-t-elle expliqué, ajoutant que le pic était attendu à partir de 16h00.

 

Cette dépression suit de près la tempête Petra qui a déjà frappé la côte Atlantique mardi.

 

Conséquence spectaculaire de cette tempête, un cargo espagnol s'est encastré dans une digue à Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), se coupant en trois et entraînant une fuite de gasoil.

 

Jusqu'à 40.000 personnes ont aussi été privées d'électricité, principalement en Bretagne.

 

Depuis le 15 décembre, cinq épisodes significatifs d'intempéries ont été recensés en Bretagne par la direction interrégionale Ouest de Météo-France à Rennes, selon un rapport provisoire.

 

"On ne décèle pas d'évolution significative du nombre d'événements tempétueux depuis 1950, mais une grande variabilité d'une année sur l'autre", assure le service études et climatologie.

 

"En terme de fréquence et d'intensité de tempêtes, on reste pour l'instant très loin de la période de référence de janvier et février 1990", quand une dizaine de tempêtes majeures s'étaient abattues sur la région, souligne l'organisme.

 

En revanche "les submersions marines répétées lors des grandes marées de début janvier et début février 2014 peuvent d'ores et déjà être considérées comme exceptionnelles".

 

Copyright © AFP 2014. Tous droits réservés.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 6 jeudi février 2014 le Roman)

 

 

After Petra, a new storm on the North-West

 

Anne MEYER (AFP)

 

Rennes - After the storm Petra on Tuesday, a new winter storm is about to break on Thursday and Friday on a wide northwest quarter of the country, where 29 departments are orange alert, Finistère even being turned red for floods.

 

This new episode stormy with winds "that can cause damage," heavy rainfall on "soil already saturated" in some departments of Brittany and the phenomenon of "waves flooding" along the coast, should take place around 13:00 on Thursday and continue until about 11:00 on Friday.

 

Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Normandy, Ile -de- France, as well as the departments of Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, Eure-et-Loir, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Loiret are concerned.

 

Wind gusts to 90/110 km/h in land and 120 km/h on the coast are expected by Météo- France, which provides significant accumulations of rain, 30 to 50 mm, and 60 locally 70 mm in the north of Finistère .

 

Strong waves and rising sea level (elevation) are also likely to submerge parts of the coast, weakened by the gales which follow from the month of December.

 

The rains should intensify first Thursday, particularly western Britain before shifting to Normandy and the Centre on Friday morning.

 

The wind, it will become stronger on the coasts of Pays de la Loire and southern Britain on Thursday evening, before progressing to the North East, Normandy and Ile-de-France in the second half of the night, falls Météo-France.

 

Storms burst

 

At the tip of Brittany, Finistere has once again been placed on red alert for flooding, forecasters worrying about potentially significant flood Laïta to Quimper and Morlaix River, two small coastal rivers.

 

"A rapid and significant hydrologic response is expected" Thursday on the river of Morlaix, prevents flood forecasting servic, noting that the levels "could be similar or superior" to those of last Christmas, when the lower town had was suddenly flooded with water.

 

Ditto for Quimper where Laita, which crosses the lower town should respond "significantly" to heavy rains due, causing "harmful excesses."

 

"Everything works normally for the moment,” said Thursday afternoon the mayor of Morlaix, Agnès Le Brun.

 

But if the rain falls as announced, "it would be really annoying because the water would rise up to 2m10 and 1m80 river overflows," she said, adding that the peak was expected from 16:00.

 

This depression closely Petra storm has already hit the Atlantic coast Tuesday.

 

Spectacular result of this storm, a Spanish freighter is embedded in a dike in Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), intersecting at three and causing a leak of diesel.

 

Up to 40,000 people were also without electricity, mainly in Britain.

 

Since December 15, five of significant weather events were recorded in Britain by the Interregional westbound Météo France in Rennes, an interim report.

 

"We did not detect any significant change in the number of stormy events since 1950, but a large variability from one year to another," says the studies and climatology service.

 

"In terms of frequency and intensity of storms, there remains yet very far from the period of January and February 1990," when a dozen major storms had lashed the region, said the agency.

 

However "marine repeated flooding during high tides early January and early February 2014 can already be regarded as exceptional."

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 6 Thursday February 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 6 Thursday February 2014 The Roman)

Monday, 3 February 2014

Britain faces choice of saving town or country from floods, says agency chief

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Britain faces choice of saving town or country from floods, says agency chief

 

Too expensive to defend both urban and rural areas, says Lord Smith, as forecasters warn worse weather to come

 

[caption id="attachment_11713" align="alignnone" width="400"]0c958cd4-7139-4aea-beb4-ed9c83c82936-460x276 (Flooding has been exceptionally bad in Somerset after the wettest January for more than 200 years. (Photograph Matt Cardy/Getty Images))[/caption]

 

Britain may have to choose whether it wants to save "town or country" from future flooding because it is too costly to defend both, the chairman of the Environment Agency said.

 

Lord Smith said "difficult choices" would have to be made over what to protect because "there is no bottomless purse" to pay for defences.

 

Meanwhile householders have been told to brace themselves as further wind and rain threatens to bring more chaos to waterlogged communities across Britain.

 

Around 180 homes were flooded during during a busy weekend for the emergency services and EA workers up and down the country.

 

But as flood-hit communities enjoyed a break in the bad weather yesterday, forecasters warned there may be worse to come.

 

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Smith defended the EA after a week in which it has come in for heavy criticism over its handling of the crisis, which has left large swathes of the Somerset Levels underwater for more than a month.

 

He said that the sea surge in December reached higher levels than the east coast surge of 1953, which cost more than 300 lives, but without the loss of life because of advances in flood warning and risk-management.

 

But he said that "there are no quick fixes in the face of this kind of extreme rainfall", and tough decisions lie ahead, not just for the EA, about how protection from flooding is managed in the future.

 

Lord Smith said: "Yes, agricultural land matters and we do whatever we can with what we have to make sure it is protected. Rules from successive governments give the highest priority to lives and homes; and I think most people would agree that this is the right approach.

 

"But this involves tricky issues of policy and priority; town or country, front rooms or farmland?

 

"Flood defences cost money; and how much should the taxpayer be prepared to spend on different places, communities and livelihoods - in Somerset, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, or East Anglia? There's no bottomless purse, and we need to make difficult but sensible choices about where and what we try to protect."

 

Following a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee yesterday, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said that 73,000 homes in England had been protected from flooding since Friday, and that the EA continued to protect communities by deploying demountable flood defences, sandbags and clearing waterways.

 

He said: "I have enormous sympathy for those who have been affected again this weekend and the government is working with all local councils to help communities recover. All requests for assistance have been met."

 

Lord Smith's warning comes as it emerged victims of the flooding are having to pay up to 41p a minute to call a government helpline for advice.

 

The Sun said all money from the 0845 premium-rate number, which was set up by the Environment Agency (EA), went to a private firm.

 

News that the EA's Floodline phone number costs 10.5p a minute from landlines and 41p from mobiles was met with fury by residents in flood-stricken communities, The Sun said.

 

Bryony Sadler, a member of Somerset's Flooding on the Levels Action Group, told the newspaper: "We are extremely grateful to the Environment Agency's people on the ground, who are doing their best to help us.

 

"But this is just another example of staggering mismanagement form their pen-pushing bosses."

 

EA staff have been working around the clock to alleviate the flooding that people in the county have endured for five weeks, pumping 1.5 million tonnes of water a day off the Levels.

 

Two all-terrain vehicles have been sent to the county along with extra pumping equipment.

 

But with further rain expected following the wettest January on record in some places, saturated ground and high river levels could lead to further river flooding this week.

 

Weather forecasters are expecting winds of up to 70mph today, and up to 30mm (1.2in) of rain.

 

Officials say fresh flooding could affect the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall today as well as Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

 

As of this morning the EA had three severe flood warnings in place, one covering large parts of Cornwall and Devon, and two for the River Severn in the Midlands.

 

There are also 95 flood warnings and 233 less severe flood alerts.

 

The River Severn in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, the Frome and Avon in Dorset, the river Thames and its tributaries in Oxfordshire, West Berkshire, Reading, Slough and Hampshire and the Medway in Kent are all of concern this week.

 

The agency's flood risk manager, Kate Marks, said that as high tides and large waves threaten the south coast, further rain on already saturated ground could lead to river flooding.

 

She said: "With further severe weather conditions expected in the coming days, the Environment Agency is likely to issue further warnings so people should check their flood risk and get early warnings so they can take action to protect their property."

 

(The Guardian, 3 Monday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Sunday, 2 February 2014

Flooded

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Flooded

 

[caption id="attachment_11671" align="alignnone" width="400"]cf48ee8b6f95c96577bd7966f9ca6d5737968f39 (Photo AFP - Vincenzo Pinto)[/caption]

 

Acqua

 

Des touristes à Venise sur la place Saint-Marc inondée.

 

Acqua

 

Tourists on St. Mark's Square in Venice flooded.

 

(AFP - Vincenzo Pinto)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 2 Sunday February 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 3 Monday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Friday, 31 January 2014

Vagues et submersion : le Finistère placé en vigilance rouge pour les risques d'inondation Waves and flooding: Finistère placed in red alert for flood risk

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Vagues et submersion : le Finistère placé en vigilance rouge pour les risques d'inondation

 

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Météo France a placé le département du Finistère en vigilance rouge aux vagues et submersion, en raison de fortes vagues qui risquent de frapper le littoral au même moment que les grandes marées. Les littoraux de huit autres départements sont aussi placés en vigilance orange.

 

(France Bleu, 31vendredi janvier 2014 le Roman)

 

Waves and flooding: Finistère placed in red alert for flood risk

 

Meteo France placed the department of Finistère in red waves and flooding vigilance, due to high waves could hit the coast at the same time as high tides. Coastal eight other departments are also placed in amber alert.

 

(France Bleu, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Most powerful typhoon to strike Japan in 10 years leaves trail of death and destruction

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Most powerful typhoon to strike Japan in 10 years leaves trail of death and destruction

 

Typhoon Wipha causes widespread damage along Japan's Pacific coast and leads to multiple fatalities
 



 

(By Julian Ryall, Tokyo)

(5:59AM BST 16 Oct 2013)

 

At least 14 people have been killed in Japan as the most powerful typhoon in a decade rolled across the eastern part of the nation.

 

Forewarned of the strength of Typhoon Wipha, Tokyo Electric Power Co. took a series of measures to cushion the impact of the storm, including halting construction work to rebuild sea walls destroyed by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

 

Equipment and tools were secured, while rainwater was pumped out of the protective pools built around the base of storage tanks for radioactive water at the site.

 

A spokeswoman for TEPCO told The Telegraph that rainwater was measured for radioactivity and released into the surrounding land.

 

[caption id="attachment_9418" align="alignnone" width="400"]japan_2703533c (Rescue workers search among collapsed houses following a landslide caused by Typhoon Wipha on Izu Oshima island, south of Tokyo (Photo: Reuters))[/caption]

 

“We had prepared for the typhoon and there have been no abnormalities at the site,” the spokeswoman said.

 

Elsewhere across eastern Japan, hundreds of flights were cancelled, schools were closed, thousands of people were advised to evacuate areas at risk of flooding and railway services were severely affected during the morning rush hour.

 

Thirteen of the dead were on Oshima Island, 80 miles south of Tokyo, which felt the full force of the storm and received more than 4 inches of rain an hour at the peak of the typhoon.

 

Several other island resident are still missing, some beneath 30 houses that collapsed, according to Kyodo News, while two teenagers are reported to have been swept out to sea in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.

 

A women also died in western Tokyo after being swept away in a flooded river.

 

High waves in the Sea of Japan have also been blamed for the sinking of a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship off the south-east coast of South Korea, with nine of the crew killed and two more listed as missing.

 

The typhoon is the 26th of the season and was generating winds of more than 110mph at its centre.

 

Authorities expect the typhoon to ease to an extra-tropical cyclone later on Wednesday as it continues to move up the east coast of Japan.

 

(The Telegraph, 16 Wednesday October 2013 The Roman)

Sunday, 13 October 2013

News: Flood

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News: Flood

 

[caption id="attachment_9346" align="alignnone" width="400"]bbcaedb041086cd1297642e6304a8b2ca27d6eae_0 (Photo AFP, Nicolas Asfouri)[/caption]

 

Floodwaters

 

Two young women walk through floodwaters in Kabin Buri, east of Bangkok.

 

(AFP - Nicolas Asfouri)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 11 Friday October 2013 The Roman)

(Edited: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 13 Sunday October 2013 The Roman)

 

Saturday, 21 September 2013

Nation braces for storm’s onslaught

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Nation braces for storm’s onslaught

 

LAND ALERT:Hualien and Taitung counties have canceled work and classes as the Central Weather Bureau forecast heavy rainfall and strong winds

 

The Central Weather Bureau yesterday warned residents in eastern, southern and central Taiwan to brace for heavy rainfall and strong winds, saying Typhoon Usagi had gathered strength as it approached the nation.

 

The bureau issued a land alert yesterday morning, less than 12 hours after issuing a sea alert late on Thursday night.

 

In view of the potential disasters caused by Usagi, both the Hualien County Government and Taitung County Government yesterday canceled work and classes today.

 

As of 5:30 pm, the center of Usagi was 380 km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), with its radius expanded to 280 km.

 

It was moving northwest at 19 kph.

 

The maximum wind speed near the center of the typhoon was 198 kph.

 

That is the same maximum wind speed recorded for Typhoon Haitang in 2005, Typhoon Zeb in 1998, Typhoon Irving in 1997 and Typhoon Forrest in 1994 — which made them the second-strongest typhoons in the nation over the past 20 years, bureau data showed.

 

The strongest typhoon to hit the nation during the same period was Typhoon Doug in 1994, with the maximum wind speed near the center reaching 208.8 kph.

 

Except for Typhoon Irving, for which the bureau only issued a sea alert, the four other typhoons caused casualties and severe financial damage.

 

Wan-hua Wu (伍婉華), a senior technical specialist at the bureau’s weather forecast center, said the radius of the typhoon reached land last night.

 

The land alert covers Lanyu (蘭嶼), Green Island (綠島), Taitung, thwe Hengchun Peninsula, Pingtung, Hualien, Greater Kaohsiung, Greater Tainan, Nantou and Chiayi, the bureau said.

 

Yilan residents should also prepare for heavy rainfall, although the county is not covered by the land alert, it said.

 

Sea vessels operating in the Bashi Channel, the Taiwan Strait, off the nation’s southeast and northeast coasts or near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙島) were also warned to be on high alert.

 

The bureau forecast that rainfall in the mountainous areas in Hualien and Taitung could hit 1,100 mm, while the Hengchun Peninsula could expect extreme torrential rainfall topping 1,000 mm.

 

Rainfall in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan could reach 800 mm and 900 mm respectively, while downpours in Nantou could hit a high of 600 mm.

 

Lanyu is forecast to experience the strongest wind at level 17 on the Beaufort scale, which refers to wind speeds of 201 kph to 220 kph.

 

Meanwhile, Pingtung, Hengchun Peninsula, Hualien and Taitung are likely to experience strong winds exceeding level 12 on the Beaufort scale, the bureau said.

 

Wu said people on the west coast would start seeing an increase in rainfall this afternoon, while rain in the east coast would continue today.

 

Taipei residents should also watch out for occasional strong winds, she added.

 

Because the typhoon is coming at a time that coincides with the spring tide, Wu said that flooding could occur in some low-lying areas.

 

Those scheduled to travel overseas today are advised to contact airlines for the latest flight information.

 

The typhoon is expected to move away from the nation tomorrow afternoon, the bureau said.

 

(Taipei Times, 21 Saturday September 2013 The Roman)