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Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Europe AP
'In Britain, powerful winds were a factor in the deaths of at least seven people,
including three children, authorities said. Utility workers were trying to restore
power to about 280,000 homes...Association of British Insurers estimated wind damage to buildings, electricity supplies and road infrastructure could cost the country up to $80 million. In France, two people died while driving on a highway north of Paris when a tree fell on their car, and a man was killed when a roof collapsed on top of him in the town of Caumont, authorities said. Two deaths were reported in Belgium, where a 13-year-old boy went roller-skating on an embankment in the seaside resort of Wenduine and was killed when high winds slammed him into a truck. In the northern town of Lommel, a man was killed when he fell off a ladder while trying to repair his roof. In Poland, two people were killed and several others injured when gale-force winds uprooted trees, toppled
billboards and damaged buildings. Firefighters answered more than 1,000 calls for help overnight. Six hundred Austrian firefighters were clearing toppled trees from roads in the hard-hit province of Upper Austria, where winds reached speeds of 103 mph. In Eisenstadt, just south of Vienna, the winds were powerful enough to hurl tractor-trailer rigs into roadside ditches, police said. Police in southern Sweden said the storm appeared to be a factor in a head-on collision that killed a 65-year-old woman and seriously injured four others Sunday night.
In Denmark, a 51-year-old motorist was killed when a tree fell on his car near Varde, about 200 miles southwest of Copenhagen.'
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 China, Willd Weather 'Eastern China has been on the receiving end of heavy rain in recent days as a slow moving front remains stalled. The city of Ganzhou, located 200 miles north of Hong Kong, has collected 4.5" of rain in forty eight hours. This doubles its average rainfall for the month of October.' Saturday, October 28, 2002 Europe, BBC 'More than 30 people have been killed by storms and high winds that have left a trail of destruction across north-west Europe. Winds reaching speeds of up to 180 km/h (114 mph) wreaked havoc on roads and railways, uprooting trees, smashing cars and damaging buildings late on Sunday and overnight.' Saturday, October 23, 2002 Australia, Willd Weather 'A gigantic dust storm is rolling across parched areas of central Australia. The storm should make its way to densely populated eastern cities later this evening. One senior Australian meteorologist says he had never seen such a massive dust storm in his 30 years of weather forecasting. The white-red cloud has reduced visibilities to less than 200 feet in some cities. People with respiratory problems have been advised to remain indoors.' Saturday, October 20, 2002 Afganistan Nearly all of Afganistan's cattle, sheep and goats have perished in the north of Afganistan in a drought that is now in its 4th year according the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Thursday, October 17, 2002 Argentina 'Powerful thunderstorms unleashed torrential rain in northwest Argentina overnight. The city of Santiago del Estero received an impressive 5" of precipitation in less than 12 hours. No word on injuries.' Sunday, September 29, 2002 KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) 'A violent thunderstorm rolled through Khartoum, Sudan late Friday leaving 33 people dead. Many of the victims died after a Ferris wheel in which they had been passengers collapsed in gusty winds. In a separate accident Friday night, 13 people drowned when their pleasure boat sank in the storm. Quoting local officials, the radio said an unspecified number of people were injured in Khartoum as a result of the storm, which also uprooted trees and caused other damage in parts of the capital. Sand storms, known as haboub, followed by thunder and torrential rain are common in the Sudanese capital between April and October.' Saturday, September 21, 2002 NIZHNY KARMADON, Russia By YURI BAGROV, Associated Press Writer 'A 500-foot-high chunk of glacier crashed down a Caucasus mountainside, burying a village in ice, rocks and mud and leaving as many as 100 people missing and feared dead Saturday among them, a popular Russian action star who was filming a movie. The chunk of glacier broke off Friday night from a peak in the rugged Caucasus Mountains and slid 15 miles down the mountain, pulling up trees and dislodging mud and rocks along the way. It stopped on the Gizel-Karmadon highway about 6 miles from the regional capital of Vladikavkaz. The village, home to about 50 people, was almost entirely covered in ice, leaving little chance of finding anyone alive there, an emergency official at the scene said.' Saturday, September 21, 2002 MARTINSVILLE, Indiana, USA By RACHEL KIPP, Associated Press Writer 'Severe storms, and at least one tornado, ravaged parts of Indiana and Ohio, destroying homes and businesses, flipping cars and blowing off rooftops. Friday's violent weather raked parts of a 150-mile stretch in the southwestern corner of Indiana, dumping 5 inches of rain in some places. The storms were the most severe in Indiana since 38 tornadoes were confirmed across the state on June 3, 1990, said Alden Taylor, a spokesman for the State Emergency Management Agency. In Greenwood, just south of Indianapolis, police reported at least 40 cars were flipped over by strong winds as the storm struck Greenwood Park Mall, damaging several stores.' Wednesday, September 18, 2002 SPAIN & PORTUGAL 'Heavy rains caused flooding across Spain and Portugal yesterday as a pesky area of low pressure stalled in the region. The rain caused serious street flooding in Seville. Rainfall totals included 4.05" in Moron de la Frontera over 3" above its average monthly total for all of September.' Sunday, September 15, 2002 DENVER, USA (AP) 'A 30-minute torrent dropped more than an inch of rain Friday afternoon, flooding Interstate 25 with waist-deep water and backing up traffic during rush hour. Rescue crews in life jackets pushed rafts through the flood to rescue people from stranded cars. No injuries were reported.' Saturday, September 14, 2002 PERTH, Australia 'A raucous storm unleashed heavy rain and 60 mph winds across Perth, Australia on Saturday. The winds damaged several buildings and knocked down trees. Forty-five thousand homes remainwithout power.' Friday, September 13, 2002 GUATEMALA ( By SERGIO DE LEON, AP) 'Heavy rains loosened a mountainside in western Guatemala, burying 60 homes and killing at least 27 people half of them children. Officials said late Friday that 11 people were missing and feared dead. The avalanche of water and mud buried much of El Porvenir, 100 miles west of Guatemala City, late Thursday, sending panicked residents fleeing for higher ground and burying those who could not escape in time. Guatemala's disaster prevention office said deforestation and erosion contributed to the disaster, making it easier for the swollen river to loosen earth, rocks and trees and carry them down the mountain.' Friday, September 13, 2002 USA ( By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP) 'It isn't the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, but serious drought is afflicting nearly half the country after the hottest summer since then. Moderate to extreme drought affected more than 45 percent of the country during each of the last three months, the National Climatic Data Center reported Friday. The Climatic Data Center, in Asheville, N.C., reported that the average temperature for the 48 contiguous states this summer was 73.9 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 1.8 degrees warmer than normal and the third hottest on record. Nationwide, the summer June through August was the third hottest on record, following only 1936 and 1934, the agency said. Heavy rainfall eased drought but led to severe flooding in southern and central Texas in early July, with damage estimates as high as $1 billion. Strong thunderstorms also brought widespread flooding to western Minnesota and North Dakota and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses in June. The 12 months that ended with August were the driest on record for North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Nevada. They were the second-driest 12 months in South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware and Wyoming.' Tuesday, September 10, 2002 ONTARIO (Reuters) 'As a rare late summer heat wave bakes Ontario, the province's Independent Electricity Market Operator asked residents and industries to trim their energy use on Tuesday to ease the strain on the power system.' Tuesday, September 10, 2002 NIMES, France By JEAN-MARC AUBERT (AP) 'Torrential rains that battered southeastern France for two days killed at least 19 people, authorities said Tuesday. Rescuers were searching for dozens of others reported missing. Rescuers in the village of Aramon, swamped by floodwaters after a dam gave way, said 30 people were unaccounted for there. Twelve other people also were reported missing. Hundreds of thousands of homes remained without electricity or telephone service. Train service was being re-established among major points like Nimes, Montpellier and Avignon, the state-run railroad authority said. Many rivers in the Gard, Vaucluse and Herault regions overflowed their banks and dikes burst as torrential rains began pounding the area on Sunday. Waves of water flushed the streets of villages, leaving them submerged. As the rain eased Tuesday, the cleanup began.' Monday, September 09, 2002 NIMES, France 'Violent rainstorms sweeping across southern France killed two people and forced hundreds to evacuate their homes, authorities said early Monday. Heavy wind and rain battered the southern Gard region on Sunday, where two people apparently drowned. Flooding forced 700 residents of Fons-outre-Gardon, northwest of Nimes, and about 10 other towns to leave their homes. More rain was predicted in the region for Monday. Thursday, September 05, 2002 BEIJING China 'Flooding has killed 1,532 people this year in China and caused $8.2 billion worth of damage, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday. More than 1 million homes had been destroyed by flooding by the end of August and some 2.4 million people forced to flee their homes. However, damage was even worse in 1998 when summer flooding killed more than 4,000 people.' Tuesday, September 03, 2002 USA 'In Washington, DC the month was the third-hottest August recorded since the city began keeping records in 1871. Hotter Augusts occurred in 1980 and1988. In New York City's Central Park, it has been 90 degrees or hotter on 30 days so far this year, double the annual average of 15 days. It was so hot throughout the east that freight trains operating in 23 states east of the Mississippi River were ordered to run at slower speeds after investigators determined that heat-warped tracks may have contributed to an Amtrak derailment outside Washington on July 29. And it was worse in the sizzling west. Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Flagstaff, Ariz., set new records for the warmest Julys on record. August offered little relief. Grand Junction, Colo., experienced 21 days of 100 degrees. It was so hot and dry in Montana that the nitrate levels in plants have risen to toxic levels. That prompted a warning to ranchers to be on the lookout for hay poisonous to cattle. In Utah, heat and drought shrunk the Great Salt Lake to its lowest level in 22 years. Salt Lake City had its hottest July since record-keeping began in 1874. The story of the summer's weather was the drought. The parched West was so dry that huge wildfires scorched five states: Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon and Colorado. And the mid-Atlantic, from the Carolinas to New England, suffered from such a severe lack of rain that water restrictions were imposed and crops failed in counties that are usually abundantly green.' Monday, September 02, 2002 SEOUL, South Korea 'After spending two nights by candlelight, tens of thousands of South Koreans heaved shovels Monday to clear mud and debris from homes devastated by the worst typhoon to hit the country in 40 years. At least 88 people were killed and 70 missing in flash floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Rusa over the weekend.' Monday, September 02, 2002 Central Europe BERLIN (AP) 'Areas of Germany hit hard by last month's flooding were back under water Sunday after rainstorms deluged the east of the country and parts of Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland. The overnight downpour flooded Dresden, Chemnitz and other parts of the German state of Saxony, where thousands of people are still cleaning up from the overflowing Elbe River. In southwestern Poland, dozens of people were evacuated from their homes Sunday after torrential rain swelled mountain rivers and flooded villages, firefighters said. Poland hadn't been affected by the high water that caused billions in damage across Europe last month. Rain turned the Strzegomka, Lesko and Pelcznica rivers into roaring torrents, causing flooding near the city of Walbrzych, 260 miles southwest of Warsaw, and nearby Swiebodzic. Many people in the area fled their farms as the water levels rose Sunday, flooding roads and rail tracks. Firefighters strengthened dikes around a lake which threatened to overflow and flood the city of Dobromierz.' Sunday, September 01, 2002 ZURICH Switzerland (Reuters) 'A young couple and their baby son died when a mudslide washed over their home in eastern Switzerland as heavy rains ravaged the region, causing local roads and railway lines to be closed, police said on Sunday. In the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell-Ausserrhoden and Thurgau, local rivers breached their banks, covering village roads with sediment and flooding cellars in scenes reminiscent of the large-scale floods seen recently in central Europe.' Sunday, September 01, 2002 Mid-Atlantic, USA 'Salisbury, Maryland was inundated by 8.09" in the 24-hr period ending at 8 o'clock this morning.' Saturday, August 31, 2002 India 'In India, floods continue in Assam and Bihar. In these two states, the situation remains grim, with nearly 42 million people affected, according to federal and local government officials. Since the onset of the floods, 549 people have lost their lives and more than 500,000 houses have been damaged, leaving many people shelterless with no basic amenities, such as safe drinking water, health and sanitation facilities. Breaches in embankments have led to the flooding of large non-flood prone areas. In Bihar, the flood situation has worsened as major rivers are flowing above danger level. More than 1.3 million people are currently living in relief camps, embankments or on roads and rail tracks on higher ground. The Indian Relief and Rehabilitation Department has allocated US$3.3 million for relief work, and the Armed Forces have air dropped or distributed by boat more than 50,000 food and non-food relief packets.' Saturday, August 31, 2002 Asia 'The major Cambodian rivers, fed by watersheds in China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, are flooding at least three provinces. Along the Mekong River, water levels are now at levels similar to 2000, when prolonged floods caused massive damage.' Saturday, August 31, 2002 Asia 'Heavy rain and strong winds caused by a storm formed in the South China Sea, which weakened as it moved westward through Vietnam and Thailand, affected the southeastern region of Myanmar last week. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) says the systematic gathering of official information on the present floods situation has been difficult, apart from activities of the Myanmar Red Cross Society. Floods and landslides have killed 422 people in Nepal during this monsoon season, and 70 people are missing. Roads and highways have been damaged in different parts of the country, and diseases, such as encephalitis, typhoid and dysentery are reported. "The intensity of the rains this year have been much greater than usual and more lives have been lost because of landslides," says Dev Ratna Dhakwa, secretary general of the Nepal Red Cross.'
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