Citizen Journalist: wildfires

Showing posts with label wildfires. Show all posts

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Powerful storm in California as Sacramento County faces a tornado

The powerful storm in California left one person dead and two others missing. Floodwaters in a canal swept them away while a tornado touched down in Sacramento County. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado touched down at 1:40 p.m. a few miles outside the town of Galt. It blew away a tin roof on a barn and downed utility lines. The stormy weather raised concerns because it was Election Day and it could keep people from voting. Moreover, there were warnings of flash flood in some areas. The Ontario Fire Department mentioned about a current in a canal in the city that swept six people away. One of them died while firefighters rescued three others. Search is on for the missing persons. 1 dead, 2 missing after floods, snow, tornado hit California on Election Day.

Heavy rain drenched Orange County. There are very close contests here and the result could play a major role to decide which party controls Congress. The Republican Party of the County urged members to vote early and avoid getting stuck in the rain on Election Day. The storm came on Monday and was forecast to continue through Wednesday. This led to issue of evacuation orders in parts of Southern California. The Met department in Northern California warned about the heavy rainfall with consequent debris flows and flash floods in the areas devastated by wildfires in Colorado. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the greater Lake Tahoe area. It could lead to heavy snow in the region with consequent backups in major highways in the area. The agency cautioned that driving in the region would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Drivers could face whiteout conditions and sub-zero wind chills along ridgelines and near the mountain passes.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Australia in the fury of floods with homes in Melbourne flooded, forecast says rivers will remain dangerously high for days

Melbourne happens to be the second-most populous city of Australia. Its population is around 5 million. The authorities advised some residents to move out of the suburb in northwest of Melbourne. There are similar instructions for hundreds in the Victoria state cities of Benalla and Wedderburn. Hundreds of homes in Victoria were flooded and many more remain isolated by floodwater. In the words of Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews - most of the state was experiencing a “very, very, significant rainfall event and it comes, of course, with the ground completely sodden.” The forecast of the Met department is of more rain throughout the next six-to-eight week period. Obviously, people will have to endure the situation for some more time. Daniel Andrews also mentioned about many homes without power. Homes Inundated by Swollen Rivers in Australian Floods. The State Emergency Service carried out more than 100 flood rescues in Victoria in the past 48 hours.

Last month the Bureau of Meteorology declared that a La Niña weather pattern, usually associated with above-average rainfall in eastern Australia, was underway in the Pacific. It said that the La Niña event may peak during the current Southern Hemisphere spring and return to neutral conditions early next year. Incidentally, La Niña is the cooler flip side of the better-known drying El Niño pattern. It is the third La Niña since 2019 when Australia became the hottest and driest year on record. That year witnessed wildfires fueled by drought that directly or indirectly led to the death of hundreds of people, destruction of hundreds of homes and loss of millions of acres of woods, farmland and city fringes. Sydney, the capital of New South Wales and the largest city of Australia beat its 1950 record last week to make 2022 its wettest-ever year.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

The summer of 2022 was hottest on record in England and it tied with 2018

According to the Met Office, the summer of 2022 was England's joint hottest on record. It was 17.1 C, which was recorded in 2018. The average temperature for the months of June, July and August was the warmest in records dating from 1884. This indicates that most of warmest summers on record for England have occurred since 2003. These are the effects of human-induced climate change. Incidentally, there was the record-breaking heat in July. At that time, the temperature went beyond 40C and was a first in the UK. The heatwave led to a rise in incidents of fire with consequent loss of homes and cars. England just had its joint hottest summer on record - in data that stretches back to 1884. England had to endure its sixth-driest summer on record. It was also the driest since 1995 based on records that go back to 1836.

Drought has gripped much of England. This was the result of insufficient rainfall. In addition, the hot, dry conditions dried up rivers, damaged crops and fueled wildfires. These led to destruction of properties in the form of homes and land. The warnings by the Met Office are clear – England might have to face longer and drier summers. The reason would be climate change. Forecasters have cautioned that the duration of summer-like conditions would increase with corresponding reduction in rainfall. The Environment Agency has already declared a drought in the South West region of England. This could be a matter of concern.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

California wildfires destroy more than 1400 homes with at least 6 deaths

It was one of the worst wildfires and more than 1,400 homes have been destroyed in these wildfires currently burning in California. As per officials, these were among the worst ever in the state. The death toll rose to six after a person was killed in a new fire south of Monterrey.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 21 September 2015.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), which said 10,500 firefighters were currently deployed to contain the Valley fire and the Butte fire, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Each of the fires in the Valley and Butte are believed to have burned more than 70,000 acres (28,000 hectares) – the fires were approximately half and 70 percent contained, respectively.
Mandatory evacuations for the Butte fire which was burning about 100 miles east of Sacramento, were lifted Sunday. Similarly, for some areas affected by the Valley fire, north of Napa Valley`s wine country.
The Valley and Butte fires had become the sixth and seventh worst, respectively, in the state`s history. The fires has razed parts of small, rural towns. In contrast, the most damaging fire was the 1991 Tunnel fire that tore through the heavily populated hills above Oakland. 25 persons were killed and some 2,900 homes and apartment buildings were destroyed.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Warning - global warming is continuing and the world is on fire

According to a scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, there are positive signs that the planet is heating up, and even 'on fire.' On his opinion, the global warming 'pause' is now over.
Some people had said that since the temperature of Earth's surface has increased by just 0.06°C in the past 15 years, there was no global warming as such. These figures had been quoted by some groups as evidence that climate change is not happening.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 17 August 2015.

But, the actual picture was different.
In support of his stand, the scientist has argued that natural variability in weather patterns has masked the upward trend in temperatures, and that variability would soon end. The western region of North America is facing prolonged drought and the high temperatures have led to many wildfires.
In the Pacific, there have been hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones that have caused havoc in Japan, China and Taiwan. All over the world, surface temperatures have been setting record high values and in the US, the temperatures this year are well above average.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Britain battered by heavy rains - parts of England saw 40mm rain in an hour

Sri Lanka get the better of a star studded India – Rangana Herath wreaks havoc

Controversy around Maggi, the 2-minute noodle: Bombay HC lifts ban, orders fresh tests

60-years of Pather Panchali – the Bengali movie of Satyajit Ray that was a pathbreaker

Spider-Man will be seen in his traditional costume in ‘Captain America: Civil War’

Big-B and Deepika Padukone’s ‘Piku’ gets best movie award at Indian Film Festival, Melbourne

ISIS planned to carry out ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks, target the Queen and the Royal family

Terrorism a family affair in London – 5 of a family arrested by counter-terror police

At least 60 killed in truck bomb explosion by ISIS in a Baghdad food market

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Monday, August 17, 2015

Tourists leave Lake Chelan as wildfires rage through Western United States

Wildfires raging through western United States have compelled the authorities to call up 200 active-duty soldiers to fight dozens of wildfires. This the first time in nine years that such a step has been taken as reported in foxnews.com dated 18 August 2015.

The National Interagency Fire Center has made the announcement that these active-duty military troops are being roped in to help. The teams would comprise 10 crews of 20 soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division. The crews would train on Aug. 19 and leave on their mission the next day.
Their duties would most probably be in Washington State, Oregon, California, or Idaho. Incidentally, several large fires have threatened the Lake Chelan resort region of central Washington. Tourists are leaving as well as residents and fires have destroyed a warehouse filled with nearly 2 million pounds of apples.
The fires have come in the midst of the summer tourist season in the scenic town located along Lake Chelan in the Cascade Range and the economic impact of tourists leaving has yet to be assessed.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Britain battered by heavy rains - parts of England saw 40mm rain in an hour

Sri Lanka get the better of a star studded India – Rangana Herath wreaks havoc

Controversy around Maggi, the 2-minute noodle: Bombay HC lifts ban, orders fresh tests

60-years of Pather Panchali – the Bengali movie of Satyajit Ray that was a pathbreaker

Spider-Man will be seen in his traditional costume in ‘Captain America: Civil War’

Big-B and Deepika Padukone’s ‘Piku’ gets best movie award at Indian Film Festival, Melbourne

ISIS planned to carry out ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks, target the Queen and the Royal family

Terrorism a family affair in London – 5 of a family arrested by counter-terror police

At least 60 killed in truck bomb explosion by ISIS in a Baghdad food market

Independence Day as I have seen it

The days of mughlai parathas

Khichudi – the favorite monsoon recipe for Bengalis

Friday, August 7, 2015

Wildfire in Spain burns down over 5,000 hectares of land

It was a wildfire of no mean proportions which broke out in the Sierra de Gata mountain range of Spain due to scorching temperatures – it has burned down more than 5,000 hectares of land.
As a result of the wildfire, nearly 1,400 residents of the villages of Acebo and Perales del Puerto, apart from holidaymakers from a number of mountain campsites, have been shifted to safer places in nearby towns of Caceres and Moraleja.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 8 August 2015.

Teams of 300 firefighters, backed by water-bomber aircraft, continue to battle the blaze which is being fanned by strong winds.
How the fire started is still not clear but, in the opinion of Guillermo Fernandez Vara, the head of the regional government, there are indications that it was manmade, it was arson.
As per statistics, wildfires have destroyed over 54,000 hectares of agricultural and forest land in Spain this year. This is in excess of the amount burned during all of the last two years combined. Most of these wildfires were in July, which was the hottest month of Spain on record according to national weather agency AEMET.
Incidentally, the average temperature in Spain last month was 26.5 degrees Celsius (79.7 Fahrenheit). Earlier, August 2003 had been the hottest month on record with an average temperature of 26.2 degrees Celsius.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Friday, July 24, 2015

Wildfire playing havoc with America – tourism affected in Montana

America is in the grip of a wildfire and tourists are fleeing to safety and hundreds of homes in Montana and northern California are under threat. Both these states have been ravaged by drought and rising temperatures and the string winds are hindering fire crews from battling the blazes in the northern Rocky Mountains.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 24 July 2015.

One blaze has apparently burnt down more than six square miles along the eastern edge of Glacier National Park in Montana and this is the height of tourist season there. The fire broke out and has swept along ridges near the park's most popular roadway called as the 'Going To The Sun Road'. 21 miles of this road have been shut.
Approximately 700,000 people had visited the park in July last year and nearly 95% of them had made use of at least some part of the road.
Moreover, campers numbering more than 600 campers have had to leave a site near the small town of St Mary because officials have converted the camping ground to serve as a staging area to tackle the fire.
The blaze in California has threatened 200 homes and ranches outside the Napa Valley and has spread to more than 10.5 square miles. As a result, US Highway 50 has been shut in both directions between Sacramento and Reno, Nevada.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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You don’t need wads of money to travel like the moneyed – use an Uber-style phone app

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Controversy over water cannons procured for London Police by Boris Johnson

FAO Schwarz, America’s oldest toy store, closes its doors in Manhattan

Egypt unsafe for British tourists – ISIS attacks patrol ship off coast of Sinai

Chinese police shoot dead three knife wielding Xinjiang terrorists

Police foil al-Qaeda terror plot in Britain – hold three men

Grandmothers doubled up as baby sitters and chaperons

Some Prime Ministers ride to office on bicycles, why not we?

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Chile faces another natural disaster – flash floods leave nine people dead, 19 missing

#Antofagasta #AtacamaDesert #climatechange #chilefloods Torrential rains in the Atacama Desert in Chile has left behind a trail of disaster and communities in Chile's northern desert region had to retrieve their houses and cars out of the mud and work to re-open roads and communication links as floods devastated a number of cities and left nine people dead. Another nineteen people were also reported to be missing.
This has been confirmed by Sub-secretary Mahmud Aleuy. He also anticipates the number of dead and missing to go up. This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 29 March 2015.

Initial information would suggest that roads had been cut to more than 40 communities and, many of them did not have access to potable water or electricity. The heavy rains had swelled the rivers and led to flash flooding in cities including Copiapo, Chanaral, Tierra Amarilla and Taltal, all hundreds of kilometres north of Santiago.
The precipitation in Antofagasta, 1376-Km north of Santiago, provided a stark example of the abnormal rain as indicated by the met department. It normally receives hardly 1.7mm of rain annually and, in this case, it received 24mm within two days.
The deluge has come following several days of high temperatures and a drought that stoked raging wildfires in Chile's south-central regions. These fires have burned nearly 93,000ha in the 2014-15 season – this is much above the annual average of 59,300ha over the previous five years.
Obviously, such drastic changes in the surroundings could be a result of climate change, global warming and environment degradation and authorities would need to address themselves to solve such problems on a long term basis.

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