Updated on Dec 19
Devastating Floods and Landslides
(Dec 18) Pounding rain from Tropical Storm Washi, the 19th storm to hit the Philippines this year, swelled rivers and sent walls of water crushing into two southern Philippine cities in the thick of night, killing more than 600 people while 900 remain missing. (Source) Most of the dead were asleep Friday night when raging floodwaters tore through their homes from swollen rivers and cascaded from mountain slopes following 12 hours of pounding rain in the southern Mindanao region. The region is unaccustomed to the typhoons that are common elsewhere in the archipelago nation. (Source)
(Dec 17) Hundreds in New Zealand are being evacuated as widespread flooding caused by the worst rain fall in 40 years continues. Supplies are being delivered to residents in Cable Bay, near Nelson at the top of the South Island, who are expected to be isolated by road for weeks. (Source) (Dec 15) Parts of New Zealand were bracing for further chaos after what the government called a “weather bomb” which caused destruction across the north of the South Island. (Source) (Dec 13) High winds blasted sand dunes, sending clouds of grit to cover homes and gardens up to 200m inland along the Hibiscus Coast Highway in New Zealand. (Source)
(Dec 17) At least 11 people have died and four others reported missing after heavy rains inundated rivers and caused major landslides in Colombia. September marks the beginning of the rainy-season in Colombia, which has so far seen a wave of fatalities, with a total of 159 dead, and more than 878,000 people being affected by the rains. (Source) (Dec 6) Heavy rains set off a landslide that swept over a home in central Colombia, flattening it and killing seven members of the same family. (Source) The landslide destroyed water pipes between water treatment plants, leading to water rationing in the city. (Source)
(Dec 15) The swelling of the river waters, flooding of many areas and continuing rains in Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast are the results of instability in the weather, hitting hard the Caribbean and Northern zone and to a lesser extent the rest of the country. (Source)
(Dec 13) High tides have destroyed many houses in central Vietnam. The sea of Binh Dinh Province has been violently rough while its coastal areas have been suffering a northwest wind of 45-62 kph with gusts of 75kph. (Source)
(Dec 12) Hundreds of houses in 20 villages are flooded due to overflowing rivers in North Sumatra, Indonesia. (Source) (Dec 5)Flash flood swept through Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, leaving five people dead, one person missing, and 412 villagers had to be evacuated. (Source) (Dec 1) Three days of heavy rains triggered the landslide on Indonesia’s Nias island, burying at least 37 houses in a 115-family village. (Source)
(Dec 12) Heavy storms and localised flooding in Australia’s New South Wales state cut off roads and caused havoc on Monday, Heavy rain also lashed Sydney’s metropolitan areas and the bureau of meteorology is forecasting more rain and lower than normal temperature throughout December. (Source) (Dec 7) More natural disaster zones have been declared in northern NSW after heavy rain and flooding. (Source)
(Dec 10) Severe thunderstorms produced damaging winds and heavy rainfall around Queensland in Australia. (Source) (Dec 7) Extreme weather conditions have left thousands of passengers stranded at Perth Domestic Airport and 12,000 homes across Western Australia without power. At the domestic terminal, Qantas planes have been grounded since mid-morning yesterday as storm activity made conditions dangerous for flying. (Source)
(Dec 7) As a result of seven hours of heavy rain that fell in Caracas, Venezuela two people died and 1,613 were evacuated due to widespread flooding. (Source)
(Dec 6) There were over 13 early-morning landslides in north east Trinidad after heavier-than-usual rainfall over the weekend with at least one death. (Source)
(Dec 4) Kenyans are counting millions of shillings worth of damage to crops, livestock, roads and bridges after torrential rains pounding various parts of the country left a trail of death and destruction, and left hundreds of families homeless. At least 10 people are feared dead and over 15,000 have been rendered homeless as heavy rains and landslides, paralysed transport and washed away crops in parts of the country leaving passengers stranded due to impassable roads, and farmers with nothing to harvest. (Source)
(Dec 3) At least 21 of state’s 30 districts in Odisha, India were devastated by two successive floods since September. (Source)
(Dec 2) Heavy rains continue to cause flooding and land subsidence in Barbados. (Source)
Monster Storms in Europe
United Kingdom
(Dec 17) Much of the United Kingdom was under threat of wind-whipped freezing rain, sleet and snow through the weekend, forecasters said. The Met Office said the severe weather was expected to last until Monday morning. The storm also caused flights to be delayed at Liverpool, Manchester and Luton airports Friday. (Source)
(Dec 15) Wintry weather conditions – heavy rainfall overnight, combined with snow and gales – continue to cause disruption, including a landslide, to travel plans across Northern Ireland. (Source) The most northerly tip of the country, Malin Head, experienced winds gusting at 140km/h (87mph). The result was a historic wave off the Donegal cast that came from a force ten storm. (Source)
(Dec 12) Britain was told to brace itself for the worst weather in 30 years – with forecasts of gale-force winds, snow, sleet and torrential rain. The Met Office issued a weather warning of gales as strong as 100mph and a freezing wind chill factor bringing the coldest week of the winter so far. Experts said there will be little respite until the New Year with more brutal weather during the run-up to Christmas. (Source) Two huge storms are forecast to batter many parts of the UK this week with London and the south of England set to bear the brunt of the severe conditions from today. Scotland is likely to receive a second storm battering (Source)
(Dec. 9) Forecasters Friday predicted another round of high winds would hit Britain just days after hurricane-force gusts of 165 mph caused chaos. The huge weather system that slammed into Scotland on Thursday was very constrained; its damage was limited to Scotland but the next storm is likely to cover the whole of the U.K. – it is tremendously wide and has a much broader scope to it. (Source) A £2million, 100metre-tall wind turbine caught fire in hurricane-force winds at Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland, during severe weather. (Source)
(Dec 8th) Scotland: Police are warning that people should avoid all travel in the central belt in an unprecedented move as 100mph winds batter Scotland and left thousands of homes without power, closing bridges, rail lines and roads.. The Met Office issued its first-ever “red alert” Wednesday. Meteorologists said the wind was caused by an “explosive deepening,” a sharp drop in atmospheric pressure within a span of 24 hours that is also known as a “weather bomb,” (Source) Crushed: The Ford Ka is completely destroyed as the gable end of a block of flats was blown on top of it as high winds hit Aberdeen. (Source)
(Dec 16) A storm has battered north-western France, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, disrupting rail traffic and grounding a ship that spilled oil off the coast of Brittany. (Source)
Extreme Weather in North America
(Dec 12) Hurricane-force winds in a blizzard roared up the suburban neighborhood street in Anchorage, Alaska and caused power outages. The power of the wind was registered between 97 and 105mph. (Source)
(Dec 8th) New figures indicated that a total of 643,000 households and businesses in the region had lost power during the ferocious storm on Nov. 30 that unleashed winds approaching 100 mph. The storm, which pummeled parts of California, produced some of the strongest wind gusts in more than a decade. (Source)
Fierce Winds Wreak Havoc in Southern California, Utah, and Scotland on Dec 1
(Dec 6) Monday’s storm in Yukon, Canada broke a variety of weather records around the territory. High winds and rain sent temperatures up to 14 degrees in Burwash Landing – the warmest December day ever. (Source)
(Dec 8th) Power outages are reported across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick due to pounding rain, high winds and the threat of heavy snow as a so-called “weather bomb” rolls in. As well as the high westerly winds, northern New Brunswick is expected to see an estimated 20 centimetres of snow. Coastal regions in eastern New Brunswick are also being warned of winds that could reach 100 km/h. (Source)
(Dec 5) In Alberta, Beiseker’s streets looked like a scene from a movie after a wicked windstorm blew through the town on Nov 27. Wind speeds reaching close to 100 km/h ripped the roofs off several buildings, brought down power lines and sent debris flying in the village. (Source)
Droughts
(Dec 16) The worst drought in Texas’ history has led to the largest-ever one-year decline in the leading cattle-state’s cow herd, raising the likelihood of increased beef prices as the number of animals decline and demand remains strong. (Source) So far, the state’s worst drought in history has caused over five billion dollars in damage to Texas’ agriculture industry and has dried up forty percent of it’s reservoirs. Climatologists think if the extreme drought in Texas, and now Oklahoma, does begin to migrate North it could spread all the way into the Dakotas. (Source)
(Dec 2) The sun-baked northern states in Mexico are suffering under the worst drought since the government began recording rainfall 70 years ago. Crops of corn, beans and oats are withering in the fields. About 1.7 million cattle have died of starvation and thirst. Dusty fields and dangerously low water reserves are a common sight. (Source)
(Dec 2) A lack of rain has triggered the worst drought in decades for this time of year across the Balkans, dropping river levels to record lows and sounding an alarm in parts of central and eastern Europe. If the drought continues, the wheat crop will be down by at least 20 percent. (Source)
Updated News Watch
Global Disaster Watch: Nov 2011
Global Disaster Watch: Dec 1-7
Global Disaster Watch (Dec 8-12)
