SEVERE #FLOOD IN #AZORES, #PORTUGAL
Violent #Thunderstorm And #Hailstorm Pounds SE #France
Firefighters in France’s southeastern Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region have been inundated with hundreds of emergency calls after a violent hail storm pounded nine departments on Saturday afternoon. In Haute-Savoie, a woman was killed by a falling tree.
The 51 year-old German woman was killed when a tree fell on her caravan parked at a campground in Taninges in Haute-Savoie.
Elsewhere in Savoie, the storm caused flooding and some material damage. The firefighters were called out to assist at least 30 times.
Several trees fell on SNCF train lines, in particular between Chambéry and Montmélian.Police opened a nearby gymnasium for people to shelter as they waited out the delays.
The departments of Haute-Savoie along with Haute-Loire, Loire, Rhône, Drôme, l’Ardèche, l’Ain, l’Isère, and Savoie were placed on an ‘orange’ storm warning category which was lifted late afternoon on Saturday.
France’s agricultural minister Didier Guillaume announced on Sunday that a natural disaster zone would be declared in the coming hours.
“The zone will be outlined in the coming 48 hours,” Guillaume told France Info, referring to the damage in the Drome area.
Firefighters were called some 200 times to assist people in the area around the town of Romans-sur-Isère, where farmers were particularly affected by the storm.
A dozen people were treated for minor injuries and 2,300 households were left without electricity until the evening.
“It was apocalyptic,” Marie-Hélène Thoravaldes, mayor of the town, told France Info.
The bad weather also struck western Switzerland on Saturday afternoon, bringing hail and winds reaching up to 110 km/h, according to the national forecaster MeteoSwiss.
A woman drowned in Lake Geneva when her sightseeing boat sank, police said.
A man who was in the same boat was able to swim to another vessel from where he fired “two flares”, Joanna Matta, police spokeswoman for the canton (region) of Geneva, told AFP.
The victim, whose nationality remains unknown, was then taken to a hospital in Geneva where she was declared dead.
In a separate incident, the storm also damaged some of the 465 boats taking part in the 81st edition of the Bol d’Or, an annual regatta on Lake Geneva, the event’s press service said.
Courtesy of en.rfi.fr
Very Rare #June #Snowfall In Kashmir
As the plains of Northern India reeled under the much-documented heat this week, the higher elevations of Kashmir were receiving super-rare June snow, with the lower regions inundated with heavy rains.
The unexpected June snowfall was received at the Sonamarg resort in central Kashmir, over its adjoining higher reaches and also in Drass, Kargil, Zanskar, towns in the Ladakh division, and in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
The nation’s weather department deemed the snowfall a “rare” meteorological event.
“I have never witnessed snow in summer. For me it was a miracle of watching snow in June when the heat wave is continuing in northern parts of the India,’’ said Rajesh Kumar, a tourist from Rajasthan.
Jalal Jeelani, an environmentalist and renowned film maker on environmental issues said this was no cause for celebration: “For us it is a warning and sign of the global warming. The snowfall is dangerous to our horticulture and agriculture sector. We should ponder why this is happening in our region.’’
That’s right, snowfall is now a sign of global warming, too.
There’s no illogic off limits.
And while higher elevations received rare (?warm?) snow, plains of the Valley saw heavy rainfall overnight which triggered flash floods in several areas and also sharply increased the level of water bodies.
The catchments of south and north Kashmir received more than 2 inches (50 mm) of rain in the past 24 hours, according to the area’s Irrigation and Flood Control department.
“50 mm plus rainfall in a catchment results in a flood-like situation in the tributary. The people residing along the tributaries in south and north Kashmir are advised to remain alert and not go too close to these tributaries,” the department warned.
The sun is continuing it’s relative shutdown, as it enters it’s next Grand Solar Minimum cycle:
The cold times are returning.
Prepare.
Courtesy of electroverse.net
#RAF Called In As Nearly 600 #Homes Ordered To #Evacuate Due To #Flooding In #Lincolnshire, #UK
An RAF Chinook that was deployed to try and stem the flow of water
Evacuations in Lincolnshire continue after a river burst its banks following heavy rain which has battered the UK this week.
A total of 580 homes north and south of the River Steeping in the town of Wainfleet All Saints have been told to evacuate.
Military helicopters were deployed to the area yesterday, after the river burst its banks at Thorpe St Peter.
Temporary repairs on the river have started to deteriorate, officials have said.
A Sky News crew on the ground was told there is a problem with the original breech, which is now slowly seeping, and there is another crack that has appeared further down the bank.
Rescue workers in Wainfleet All Saints, Lincolnshire
A Chinook helicopter was deployed to drop sand in Wainfleet All Saints yesterday to try and stop the flow of water from the River Steeping and a Puma was also being used.
Officials say the next 24 to 48 hours will be crucial, depending on the amount of rainfall, as they wait for the waters to subside.
As of 12 June, Britain saw rainfall of 2.6 inches (6cm) since the beginning of the month, but that is not a record amount for June.
The River Steeping breached its banks at Thorpe St Peter. Pic: @Richardesty
The Met Office says June 2012 remained the wettest ever with 5.9 inches (15cm).
Spokesman Grahame Madge said: “Although we are at a point where some areas have seen their full amounts of monthly rain, so far we don’t think we’re on track to beat the 2012 record as a wet June”.
“It’s something we do get now and again, which is obviously unwelcome for those people who have wanted to enjoy nicer weather.”
Elsewhere, a landslip near Corby, Northamptonshire, stopped an East Midlands Train from London to Nottingham – and then a second train that came to help also became stuck.
Around 400 passengers were stranded for up to eight hours before being evacuated and one person was treated at the scene in an ambulance by paramedics.
The train operator apologised to customers involved, calling it a “challenging situation” due to rubble and serious flooding hampering rescue efforts.
It also said it was “working hard” to reunite people with their luggage, which it said was being held safely in Kettering.
Forecasters predict more showers over the weekend but say conditions are expected to settle down and it will become milder.
Warmer air building over Europe will see higher temperatures in parts of the South East next week, with the potential of sunny spells hitting the mid-20s.
The Met Office says no further weather warnings have been issued.
Courtesy of Sky News
Double the typical #June #rainfall in 2 days triggers #flooding, #travel #chaos in the #UK
As heavy rain threatens to trigger more flooding in parts of the United Kingdom into Thursday morning, some areas have already recorded double the typical June rainfall earlier this week.
Bouts of heavy rain caused areas in the central U.K. to record twice the amount of rain that typically falls each June in two days earlier this week.
In the 48 hours ending on Wednesday morning, a total of 107.2 mm (4.22 inches) inundated Holbeach in Lincolnshire. Rainfall at the town for the entire month averages 53.2 mm (2.09 inches).
Other rainfall totals during this time in Lincolnshire included 122.8 mm (4.83 inches) at Stenigot and 99.2 mm (3.90 inches) at Tetford, according to data from the Met Office.
Runoff from heavy rain completely covered the rails of a Network Rail line on 11 June 2019. (Twitter photo/@NetworkRailSE)
Hawarden in northeastern Wales averages 59.2 mm (2.33 inches) each June, but recorded 66.8 mm (2.63 inches) from Monday night to Wednesday morning.
Ham Hill and Eynsford were among the wettest locations in Kent from Monday into Monday night as 94.6 mm (3.72 inches) and 90.1 mm (3.55 inches), respectively, poured down.
The number of flash flooding incidents continued to mount across the U.K. as rainfall totals increased.
Flooding covered a road in Snodland, Kent, on 10 June 2019. (Twitter photo/@Mickyfuller)
From Tuesday into Tuesday night, the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue responded to more than 100 flood-related calls.
Kent Fire and Rescue Services were called to rescue a woman in her 80s and her dog from a flooded property near Sevenoaks on Monday night. No injuries were reported.
As the River Waring overflowed its banks, low-lying land and roads were flooded in Horncastle. The level of the river at Horncastle Banks Road crested at 1.33 meters (4.36 feet) during the early afternoon of Tuesday. Minor flood stage is 0.68 of a meter (2.23 feet).
The M25 in Kent was closed in both directions from Monday night into Tuesday morning after two sinkholes opened, according to BBC News. Travel chaos also extended to railways.
Many rivers throughout the Midlands, Wales and England rose above minor flooding stage.
A total of 34 mm (1.34 inches) of rain was recorded at London’s Heathrow Airport in the 24 hours ending on Tuesday morning. More than 400 flights were delayed on Monday, FlightAware reported.
As the rain soaked the Midlands and into Wales and South West England, the Cricket World Cup fixture between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Bristol was called off on Tuesday.
The heaviest rain into Thursday morning is expected to spread from the East Midlands to North East England, threatening to aggravate ongoing or trigger new flash flooding. There can also be a period of downpours over the West Midlands and eastern Wales.
The U.K. is expected to remain in the midst of an unsettled weather pattern with showery spells Friday into this weekend.
By Kristina Pydynowski / accuweather.com
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