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Saturday, January 18, 2003 CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — 'Wildfires raged out of control on the outskirts of Australia's capital Saturday, destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands of people
to evacuate. At least one person was killed, police said. A state of emergency
was declared in Canberra as temperatures soared and powerful winds fanned blazes in mountains to the city's north, south and west. Australia is in the grip
of a yearlong drought that has left much of the countryside parched and highly vulnerable to fire. Once fires start, they roar through dry undergrowth and into
oil-filled eucalyptus trees, creating infernos that are all but impossible to put out.'
Thursday, January 11, 2003 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — 'Mudslides touched off by torrential rains killed at least 16 people early Saturday in a mountain resort city outside Rio de Janeiro, civil defense authorities said. Authorities said more than 7 inches of rain fell on the city in an hour, flooding the city's main street and square with 5 feet of water. More rain was forecast through Wednesday. Civil defense authorities said about 60 cars had been swept away by the powerful currents. Mudslides are a chronic problem in Rio de Janeiro state during the summer rainy season as poor people, without anywhere else to go, build precarious shantytowns on the abundant hillsides with little interference from authorities.' Tuesday, January 07, 2003 AFRICA (Michael Grunwald) (Washington Post) — 'Scientists say 40 million facing starvation may be first human victims of climate change. Climate expersts say "extreme weather events that have plagued cuntries like Lesotho in recent years are remarkably consistent with predictions for a warmer world".' Saturday, January 04, 2003 SYDNEY, Australia (AP) (USA TODAY) — 'For 12 hours last Sunday, cyclone Zoe lashed their tiny volcanic outcrop, one of the southernmost of the Solomon Islands. The storm, the most powerful Pacific cyclone ever recorded, uprooted trees, destroyed houses and flooded entire villages under 33-foot waves. The first foreigner to visit the island since the storm said Saturday that though the island "looks like Hiroshima," none of the more than 1,000 islanders was hurt.' This storm is said to have had winds up to 225 miles per hour. Thursday, January 02, 2003 BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) —'More rain on Thursday pushed water levels in many parts of Belgium to critical levels and raised fears flooding would even get worse by the weekend. For the past week, near unabated rain has soaked the countryside, spilled rivers and canals over their banks and flooded hundreds of homes. One man drowned and two women have gone missing, presumed drowned. The meteorological service said 2002 was the wettest year since records began in 1833. Since the countryside across Belgium is already saturated with water, any new downfall immediately ends up in the swollen waterways.' Tuesday, December 31, 2002 Pakistan (Wild Weather) — 'Unusually heavy rain moved across eastern Pakistan Monday afternoon. Rainfall totals in the city of Jacobabad exceeded 1.35 " nearly fifteen times the normal rainfall for the entire month of December. The heavy rain caused street flooding but no reports of injuries.' Tuesday, December 24, 2002 BEIJING, China (Wild Weather) — 'For the past six days residents of Beijing have been enjoying snow which has transformed the city into a winter wonderland. Chinese authorities claim its been the longest consecutive snowfall for the city in the past 128 years. Newspapers report 500,000 people have volunteered to help sweep roadways and sidewalks.' Saturday, December 21, 2002 WORLD (USA TODAY) — 'Scientists for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expect this to be the world's second-warmest year on record, with an average temperature of 57.9 degrees. Only 1998 was warmer, at 58 degrees. ... It's part of a record-breaking cycle in which the 10 warmest years have occurred since 1987, nine of them since 1990. Global averages were first compiled in 1880.' Saturday, December 21, 2002 PERTH, Australia (Wild Weather) — 'Sunny skies and light winds boosted temperatures in Western Australia on Friday. Perth reached a sweltering 105° F(40.8°C) twenty degrees above normal. The hot, dry conditions are exacerbating one of the worst droughts in the country's history.' Thursday, December 19, 2002 USA (USA TODAY) — 'Major weather events for the United States this year included: Flooding: Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in June in Minnesota and North Dakota; also millions in damage in July on the Gulf Coast. Drought: More than 50% of the country in extreme to moderate drought in summer. Wildfires: More than 7 million acres burned. Warmth: Warmest year on record in Delaware; warmest fall on record in Alaska; record warm winter on Northeast; record warm summer in Southwest. Snow and ice: Heavy snow in January, major ice storm in December along Atlantic coast, especially North Carolina; record lake-effect snowfall in Great Lakes area in winter 2001-2002. Tropical storms: Seven storms made landfall; wettest fall on record in Louisiana; easing of drought in Southeast.' Wednesday, December 18, 2002 Bermuda (Wild Weather) — 'Residents of the island of Bermuda can't believe that it was a small twister that caused an estimated $100,000 dollars damage to a large hotel this weekend. Several guest cottages and the hotel's roof suffered damage. Locals cannot remember the last time a tornado hit the island.' Tuesday, December 17, 2002 SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — 'A deadly weather system that lashed the Pacific Coast with record rainfall, flooding and wind up to 100 mph may have been just the beginning of a stormy holiday period. At least nine deaths were blamed on the rough weather that started during the weekend — six in California, two people killed in their bed by a falling tree in Oregon and a snowboarder killed by an avalanche at a Nevada ski resort. The latest to die were three women whose car was swept down a flooded creek Monday evening at Carlsbad, south of Los Angeles, said Fire Battalion Chief Tom Dana. Two other women with them were rescued.' Thursday, December 12, 2002 MOJOKERTO, Indonesia (Reuters) — 'The death toll from a mudslide at a hot springs resort in Indonesia's East Java has reached 24, eight of them children, and up to 30 others may be trapped in debris and are feared dead, police said on Thursday. Mudslides are common in the rainy season in Indonesia, where deforestation is rife.' Wednesday, December 11, 2002 Berlin, Germany (AP) — 'The German government on Wednesday officially estimated the cost of damage caused by devastating floods in August at 9.2 billion euros (US$) — a figure that fell far short of the amount originally feared.' Monday, December 09, 2002 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — 'Mudslides triggered by torrential rains killed at least 26 people early Monday in a Brazilian coastal city, a firefighter said. The mudslides struck Angra dos Reis, 100 miles west of Rio de Janeiro, burying several houses, said firefighter Soldado Paulina. About 50 people were reported missing. Most of the houses were little more than shacks built on hillsides in the city of 60,000 overlooking the Atlantic. Rescue operations were hampered by mudslides blocking major roads, Paulina said. "The number of dead will certainly rise because lots of houses were buried, we don't even know how many houses were buried yet," she said.' Sunday, December 08, 2002 Alaska (USA TODAY) — 'Temperatures have soared far above normal for two months in Alaska, causing heavy rain and floods, not to mention antsy skiers and snowmobilers. This week, rain fell on still-green lawns in Anchorage, and on Friday one Alaskan town set a new high temperature record in the middle of the night.' Thursday, December 05, 2002 Japan (Wild Weather) — 'A slow moving depression has dumped heavy rain in northeast Japan. Choshi, Japan received nearly 5" of rain in an 18 hour period on Wednesday. The rain caused minor flooding and scattered power outages.' Tuesday, December 03, 2002 SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — 'Thousands of firefighters battled through the night Wednesday to contain fires raging through suburban bush land on the outskirts of Sydney, destroying at least 25 homes. Emergency services believed some of the fires could have been set. "We've really got to attribute these fires to some sort of human action ... whether that be deliberate or accidental," said Winter. Temperatures Wednesday afternoon reached 97 degrees in western Sydney and the city of 4 million is experiencing one of the worst droughts in memory — factors that made firefighting nearly impossible. A year ago, fires — many deliberately lit by children on school vacation — ringed Sydney over Christmas, destroying dozens of homes. No people were injured, but thousands of animals were injured or killed.' Monday, December 02, 2002 Alaska (Wild Weather) — 'After an unseasonably warm November, temperatures remain well above normal for much of Alaska. High temperatures reached 38° F in Fairbanks, Alaska on Saturday, nearly 20° F above normal for early December. Temperatures in the city averaged 17 degrees above normal for the month of November.' Mondlay, December 02, 2002 Ireland (Wild Weather) — 'Eighty mile per hour winds and driving rain continue to push across Ireland leaving emergency officials on alert. Thousands remain without power after an earlier pulse of energy knocked down power lines on Saturday.' Saturday, November 30, 2002 Indonesia (Earthweek) — 'At least 8 people in Indonesia's Aceh province were killed in floods and landslides that followed days of torrential rains. The widespread flooding also forced 16,000 residents to flee their homes and seek shelter on higher ground. Flooding also damaged hundreds of buildings and swept away at least 15 bridges.' Wednesday, November 27, 2002 Italy (Wild Weather) — 'Weeks of relentless rain across Northern Italy has forced the evacuation of thousands of people as several major rivers in the region are cresting above their banks. The worst hit area has been in Pordenone, 40 miles north east of Venice. Genoa has received over 9" of rain in November nearly 300% of normal for the month.' Tuesday, November 19, 2002 RABAT, Morocco (AP) — 'Floods caused by heavy rains in Morocco have killed at least 37 people, collapsed homes, shut down rail travel and damaged the country's huge oil refinery, officials said Tuesday. Heavy rain Sunday and Monday, which came amid a four-year drought in Morocco, caused flooding that left 30 people dead in the rural farming area of Settat, the official MAP news agency said. Eight others were reported missing in the Settat region, about 45 miles southeast of Casablanca. A father and his four children were crushed to death when their house collapsed in the village of Tamra, in the Fez region, roughly 125 miles east of Rabat, the north African country's capital, the news agency said.' Tuesday, November 26, 2002 Southern Australia (Wild Weather) — 'Drought busting rain failed to materialize over southern Australia on Tuesday and instead was replaced by a short burst of flood producing thunderstorms. Flash floods were widely reported across Melbourne after nearly .5" of rain fell in less than 10 minutes. The thunderstorms unleashed 50 mph winds that damaged homes and downed power lines.'
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