It's the worst flooding in 10 years claiming more than 1,000 lives and affecting 40 million people and washing tens of thousands of homes away

Photo nation.com.pk

The torrential monsoon rains paralyzed India's financial capital Mumbai for a third day Thursday as the streets turned into rivers and people waded through waist-deep waters.
By Thursday the city had received almost 300mm of torrential rain in the last four days, reported the Hindustan Times.
Public transport stopped and thousands of commuters were stranded in their offices overnight.
India's monsoon season runs from June through September.
Since its start this year devastating floods have killed more than 1,000 people across South Asia and affected close to 40 million in northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.
The rains have led to wide-scale flooding in a broad arc stretching across the Himalayan foothills in the three countries, causing landslides, damaging roads and electric towers and washing away tens of thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland, Associated Press reported.
According to the Times of India a 117-year-old building also collapsed in Mumbai early Thursday in the deluge leaving at least nine people dead and over 20 believed trapped.
On Thursday morning rescue workers were looking for survivors.
Surrounding houses were also damaged when the building collapsed.
The UK's Guardian reported that the storm reached Pakistan on Thursday, lashing the port city of Karachi.
Local TV footage showed streets were already submerged as the country's meteorological department forecast that the rains would continue for three days in various parts of Sindh province, where authorities closed schools as a precaution.
Windstorms and rain are also expected in the south-western Baluchistan and eastern Punjab provinces.
The meteorological department said rains were also expected in the capital, Islamabad, and in Kashmir.
One third of Bangladesh was believed to be underwater and in Nepal, where 150 people have died, the UN called it the worst flooding in a decade, the Guardian reported.

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Signs and wonders! Katrina, Gustav, Isaac and Harvey all made landfall on the 29th of August

Photo NASA

It is an eery photo, the solar eclipse hovering over the deep south of the US as tropical storm Harvey aims for Texas, making landfall 8 days later causing unprecedented damage and record amounts of rainfall.

And August the 29th , the date Harvey made landfall is not the first time this date caused unprecedented damage to the deep south of the US.

Hurricane Katrina made its third landfall, near the Mississippi/Louisiana border on August the 29th 2005, see below.

 

Approximately 1.5 million people were evacuated from the damaged areas in Louisiana, roughly 1 million have applied for hurricane-related federal aid, 30,000 are in out-of-state shelters, 46,400 are in state shelters and 972 people have perished in the storm.
The official death toll was upgraded to 1,836 with more than 2,500 still missing. State-by-State death tolls: Louisiana 1,577, Mississippi 238, Florida 14, Alabama 2, Georgia 2, Tennessee 1, Kentucky 1.

Hurricane Isaac was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that came ashore the U.S. state of Louisiana during August 2012.
Isaac turned towards the west-northwest and entered a region favorable for intensification; it passed over Haiti and Cuba at strong tropical storm strength.
An intensification of the ridge of high pressure to the cyclone's north caused it to turn westward over the Florida Keys by August 26, and Isaac entered the eastern Gulf of Mexico the following day. Gradual intensification occurred, in which the system reached its peak intensity of 80 mph (130 km/h) prior to making two landfalls, both at the same intensity, on the coast of Louisiana during the late evening hours of August 28 and early morning hours of August 29, respectively.

Hurricane Isaac: Photo NASA

Hurricane Gustav was the second most destructive hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Gustav caused serious damage and casualties in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and the United States.
Gustav caused at least $6.6 billion (2008 USD) in damages.
It formed on the morning of August 25, 2008, about 260 miles (420 km) southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and rapidly strengthened into a tropical storm that afternoon and into a hurricane early on August 26.
Later that day it made landfall near the Haitian town of Jacmel.
It inundated Jamaica and ravaged Western Cuba and then steadily moved across the Gulf of Mexico, it is thought to have made landfall  Cocodrie, Louisiana sometime around August 29th/30th 2008.

Hurricane Gustav Photo NASA

Correction

Dear Gary Walton: I enjoyed and was very informed by your post today regarding the significance of landfalling hurricanes on August 29.
As a south Louisiana resident, this information is very prescient.
I must correct the date for Gustav's Louisiana landfall.
In the article it states that "it is thought to have made landfall Cocodrie, Louisiana sometime around August 29th/30th 2008."
I went through that storm, and I've verified the date of landfall was on 9/1/2008.
It did make landfall in Cuba as a Cat 4 with 155 mph winds on 8/31/08. I just wanted to clear that up for y'all.
Keep up the good work and God bless you!
Will Rossman


'Thank you Will'


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A subtle insight into the state of our planet: 60 % decline of insects in the UK since 1970: Car windscreen no longer covered in dead insects after journey

Photo theage.com.au

A quotation attributed to Albert Einstein claims: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.”
We have known about dying bees and butterflies for years now but you would be shocked to know these two species are just the very tip of the iceberg!
“Moths, hoverflies, wasps, beetles and many other groups are now sparse where once they were abundant.”

According to Buglife wiping squished bugs off your windscreen used to be an annoying summertime task for every motorist.
But experts say the decline of insects in the UK has reached such a critical level that drivers have noticed their front window is now fly, gnat, wasp and moth-free.
It's not just the UK, here in Holland, every summer the Dutch head off south to France, Spain and Portugal for their annual break, reaching the destination with the front of the car covered in insect road-kill with the difficult task of cleaning the front of the vehicle but not anymore, my neighbour couldn't wait to tell me a month ago how his camper was bug free arriving in France after a thousand kilometre journey from Holland.

So where have all the bugs gone?
“This is part of the wholesale loss of small animals in recent decades.
“The public know about bees and butterflies, but these are just the tips of the iceberg.
“Moths, hoverflies, wasps, beetles and many other groups are now sparse where once they were abundant.”

We can all remember as a child on hot days the car windscreen being covered in dead insects after a journey.
Not these days.
Nature lovers say the increasing use of pesticides and intensive agriculture over the past 50 years could be to blame.

Beekeepers have lost a third of their colonies every year since 2006 due to these practises, while research into the State of Britain’s Larger Moths, published in collaboration with the charity Butterfly Conservation, showed a fall of insects by 40 per cent in the South of England over the past four decades.
The RSPB’s State of Nature study suggests there has been a 59 per cent decline in insects in the UK since 1970.
While experts say the phenomenon is “near impossible” to prove, the changing shape of cars and increase in traffic on the roads could also be to blame.
Motors are now more aerodynamic, meaning fewer insects are likely to hit the windshield.
While Canadian scientists claim billions of pollinating insects are being killed by vehicles yearly.

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Photo of the day:

Last night while eating dinner in our back yard an air balloon floated above us heading due north which was an exciting photo opportunity.

Holland is now in high summer season and enjoying the weather...

If you was wondering where I was the last week, I was sick, with bacteria in my blood see below!

Thank you

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Exciting week ahead for spaceweather: Massive coronal hole opens up along with enormous sunspot AR2674 larger than Earth and Asteroid Florence fly by

Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth on Aug. 31st. Credit: NASA/SDO

As a massive coronal hole opens up on the Sun’s surface we could be looking at an exciting week ahead for spaceweather.

Spaceweather reports: A big new sunspot is rotating into view over the sun's eastern limb see movie below: AR2674 has two dark cores larger than Earth and sprawls more than 150,000 km from end to end.

The active region is crackling with minor C-class solar flares.

It is too soon to say if bigger explosions are in the offing.

To top things off a massive asteroid estimated to be 2.7 miles wide is set to make a ‘relatively close encounter’ with Earth on September 1, just 10 days after the coast to coast solar eclipse across North America. Dubbed ‘Florence,’ the huge space rock will pass just 4.4 million miles from our planet – or, about 18 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on Sept. 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles, (7.0 million kilometers, or about 18 Earth-Moon distances). Florence is among the largest near-Earth asteroids that are several miles in size; measurements from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and NEOWISE mission indicate it's about 2.7 miles (4.4 kilometers) in size.

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With temperatures approaching 50 deg C or 122 deg F thousands of Los Angeles struggled without power last night during scorching heatwave

Photo laweekly.com
Thousands of Angelenos were left without power Tuesday as scattered outages hit parts of Los Angeles amid a scorching heat wave.
In the Northridge area, 10,500 customers were without power Tuesday night, officials said.
About 3,100 customers went without power earlier in Boyle Heights, but the electricity has been restored there, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Other outages affecting hundreds of customers were also reported in the Sun Valley and North Hills areas.
The outages came after California energy authorities urged voluntary conservation of electricity as a wave of triple-digit heat strained the state's power grid.
The California Independent System Operator issued a flex alert for 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., the period when air conditioners are typically at peak use and consumers should avoid running major appliances. Energy demand for the day was forecast to exceed 48,000 megawatts, which would be the highest demand on the grid so far this year.
The LADWP forecast peak demand of 5,811 megawatts, which would be a record for this year. Numerous locations saw the mercury soar past the century mark.
Woodland Hills topped out at 112 degrees.
Among rural areas, Ocotillo Wells in eastern San Diego County hit 117.
The temperature reached 114 degrees in Lake Elsinore for the second straight day, breaking records for Aug. 28 and Aug. 29, both of which dated back to 1998.
High temperatures in the desert included 116 degrees in Palm Springs, 114 degrees in Thermal and 113 degrees in Indio.
The excessive heat warning is expected to stay in place until 10 p.m. Friday.

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It's like an end of the world disaster movie: Death toll rises to 20 with hundreds of thousands displaced more rain expected in the Texas area

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
There weren't many silver linings to Tropical Storm Harvey's wrath, but if you were outside Tuesday you surely felt one: Tuesday's weather broke a 122-year record for the coldest maximum temperature on Aug. 29 in Houston.
The high on Tuesday was just 75 degrees, following days of record rainfall from Hurricane Harvey, said Kent Prochazka, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
While federal officials said they are expecting a multi-year recovery in Texas and across the south as Tropical Storm Harvey continues its course east into parts of Louisiana, the death toll rose to 20 people, sheriff's said Wednesday.
Montgomery County Sheriff's Capt. Bryan Carlisle said two more Harvey-related deaths were reported north of Houston.
He said 33-year-old Joshua Feuerstein of Conroe died when he disregarded a barricade and drove his pickup into standing water Monday.
Carlisle said witnesses saw the pickup's reverse lights illuminate, indicating that Feuerstein was attempting to back out of the water.
But the pickup was carried into deeper water.
The witnesses swam to help, but Carlisle says he was already dead.
Separately, an unidentified man died as he tried to swim across a flooded roadway Monday.
Carlisle says people nearby saw the man sink under the fast-moving water.
His body was found a day later in the same area.
Earlier in the day, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said Wednesday federal government agencies would help those affected for as long as needed.
"We expect a many-year recovery in Texas and the federal government is in this for the long haul," Duke said.
"We will help the people of Texas for as long as they need."
She added: "This particular storm was unprecedented in terms of volume, of rain, and that's what we're focusing on now."
Duke said while officials were monitoring the situation in Louisiana, the focus remained on the greater Houston area, which saw more than 50 inches of rain after Harvey made landfall Saturday. "Catastrophic flooding is likely to persist days after the rain stops," she added. Wtih at least 13,000 rescued in the Houston area and surrounding cities and counties, more people were still trying to escape from their inundated homes.
FEMA administrator Brock Long said more than 230 shelters are operating in Texas, housing more than 30,000 people. "We're also calling on other states through emergency management assistance compacts," he said. "We're still in lifesaving, life sustaining mode." He added: "Shelters are obviously not ideal and unfortunately people are going to be there for quite some time." Additional rain flooded shelters in parts of Texas overnight as Harvey made landfall again early Wednesday in southwestern Louisiana - potentially putting New Orleans in the path of another devastating storm on the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Some in Houston are climbing into attics to flee rising flood waters, the Houston Chronicle is reporting.
"Have reports of people getting into attic to escape flood waters," tweeted Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, Austin's previous police chief.
"Do not do so unless you have an ax or means to break through onto your roof."
Those reports were coming from areas along Interstate 45 between downtown Houston and Clear Lake, the Chronicle reported. Early Sunday, the Harris County sheriff tweeted that there were reports of several submerged vehicles on Interstate 10 at Lathrop and added that, while it was unconfirmed, crews were investigating reports that one of the vehicles possibly had a deceased woman and child inside.

Photo: THOMAS B. SHEA/AFP/Getty Images
A miles-long string of booming thunderstorms from Tropical Storm Harvey brought torrential rains overnight Saturday that flooded city streets, drowning one person.
The rain came down so hard and fast meteorologists at the National Weather Center here declared four flooding emergencies across the metro area, warning residents of dire danger if they left their homes or shelters for the roadways.
Rain gauges in some West and Southwest Houston neighborhoods reported receiving upwards of 4 inches of rain in just one hour.
Closer to downtown, the rain was nearly as impressive and dangerous, measuring between 2 to 3 inches.

Photo NASA
Former longtime Houston Chronicle science and weather writer Eric Berger, who now runs the respected Space City Weather blog, tweeted the city was on the cusp of a flooding catastrophe. Floodwaters reached the roof lines of single-story homes Monday, and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as Harvey kept pouring rain on the Houston area after a chaotic weekend of rising water and rescues.
The nation's fourth-largest city was still largely paralyzed, and there was no relief in sight from the storm that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast.
With nearly 2 feet of rain still expected, authorities worried whether the worst was yet to come. Gov. Greg Abbott has activated the entire Texas National Guard in response to Harvey, bringing the total number of deployed Guardsmen to roughly 12,000, he said Monday. previously, he had mobilized about 4,000 troops.
Houston police chief Art Acevedo says 2,000 people have been rescued from flooding in the city; 185 requests for help are still pending. FEMA Administrator Brock Long said he expects the storm will drive about 30,000 people into shelters, and 450,000 people will seek some sort of disaster assistance. The National Weather Service warns that flash flood emergencies are in effect for some areas and the rain -- which can be measured by feet rather than inches -- is not letting up. Emergency vehicles made up most of the traffic Monday in downtown Houston.
The normally bustling business district was virtually deserted.
Many traffic signals did not work and most businesses were closed.

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Drought disaster declared in Montana along with neighbors North and South Dakota as hot and dry conditions has caused significant injury to crops

Photo The Nation
Governor Steve Bullock issued an executive order on Friday declaring a drought disaster in 31 counties and six Indian Reservations.
According to a press release, a widespread drought in eastern and central Montana has caused significant injury to crops including livestock forage.
The effects are imposing economic hardships on many farmers and ranchers. "High temperatures, extreme drought, and worsening fire conditions are affecting Montanans in many corners of our state," Governor Bullock said.
"We're doing everything we can to minimize the economic impact of these hot and dry conditions and help folks get back on their feet using all resources available."
The order includes the following counties and reservations: Blaine, Big Horn, Carter, Choteau, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Fergus, Garfield, Golden Valley, Hill, Judith Basin, Lake, Lincoln, McCone, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sanders, Sheridan, Treasure, Valley, Yellowstone, Wheatland, Wibaux Counties, and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, Crow Indian Reservation, Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, and the Flathead Indian Reservation.
This drought disaster declaration continues the temporary suspension of "hours of service" regulations and waives temporary registration, temporary fuel permits, and over-dimensional permit requirements for commercial vehicles providing support for the drought.
The declaration also compels maximum employee assistance and cooperation with the United States Departments' of Agriculture and Commerce to secure timely economic assistance.
As of July 10, 2017, small nonfarm businesses in 16 Montana counties are eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration after Governor Bullock sent a letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting a Secretarial Drought Disaster Designation. Affected counties and reservations are also eligible for the Livestock Forage Program.

Back in July neighbors North and South Dakota proclaimed a statewide fire and drought emergency as extreme drought and late frost has destroyed millions of dollars in crops.
Drought conditions and high winds have created a fire emergency in North Dakota.
The U.S. Drought Monitor report released last week showed 8 percent of the state in extreme drought, 32 percent in severe drought, 27 percent in moderate drought and 33 percent abnormally dry. The conditions have increased the fire risk for North Dakota, with 30 counties issuing emergency declarations, burn bans or other fire restrictions so far.

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Our Sun pops off an M-class flare, the first in more than a month as a massive sunspot opens up in time for the eclipse

As the Sun's total eclipse across North America tonight is on every ones lips our Sun popped off a surprise of it's own yesterday with a M1.1 class flare, the biggest solar flare in more than a month.
Photo Dave Eagle The M-class flare came from sunspot region 2672 which is out on the Sun's eastern limb.

On the 27th of June, NASA announced a new Solar Minimum was coming, every 11 years sunpsots fade away, this event is called a Solar Minimum and this is happening now with 2019, 2020, expected to be the the quietest period.

Sprawling sunspot AR2671 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
However the M-class flare which came from sunspot region 2672 and a remarkably-long sunspot group which is sprawling across the solar disk, namely, AR2671, which stretches 140,000 miles from end to end, almost twice as wide as the planet Jupiter, our Sun is anything but quiet and should provide quite a show tonight.

Spaceweather.com

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Temperatures pushing 50 deg C (122 deg F) to hit Morocco as heatwave strikes for the second time this summer

Earthwindmap
Morocco is having another heat wave this weekend, with temperatures over pushing 50 degrees Celsius in several southern regions on Saturday, according to the Directorate of National Meteorology (DMN).
High temperatures have been forecast for the southern provinces, the extreme southeast of the kingdom, Souss, Chiadma, Saiss and Loukkous.
Temperatures between 44 and 47 degrees Celsius are forecast for the south and the east of the southern provinces as well as on the extreme south-east of Morocco.
Temperatures will range between 44 and 44 in Loukkous, Saiss, Oulmes, Chiadma, Souss and the interior plains, the southfacing slopes and the west of the southern provinces.
The Rif, oriental and coastal plains will see temperatures of 34 and 39 degrees Celsius, while temperatures between 28 and 34 degrees Celsius are forecast for the mountainous regions near the shores.
The sea is expected to be calm to slightly agitated in the Mediterranean, slightly agitated to agitated between Tangier and Casablanca, and agitated to rough elsewhere.

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Another landslide horror claims 200 lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo bringing the week total around the world to more than 1500!

Photo Trending News
As a week of horror comes to a close, another deadly landslide has occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing another 200 and bringing the total number of deaths this week to around 1500 people
A landslide in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is likely to have killed more than 200 people, based on estimates from the number of households submerged, the governor of affected Ituri province said on Friday.
The landslide struck the village of Tora, on the shores of Lake Albert, a seismically active zone in the western Rift Valley, on Thursday.
"There are many people submerged whom we were unable to save," Pacifique Keta, the governor of Ituri province, where Tora lies, told Reuters by telephone.
"The rescue is very complicated because there are mountains everywhere, which makes it very difficult to have access."

This week astonishing figures have been reported where 16 million people have been affected by floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India:
Nepal claimed at least 128 lives and 33 people missing.
Earlier in the week Sierra Leone claimed more than 400 people have been killed with around 600 people still unaccounted for in their landslide horror.

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ISIS step up terror attacks: Russia knife attacker wounds seven in Surgut bringing total of 16 dead and almost 100 injured in 3 horrific days

ISIS terror attacks hit Russian city after attacks in Spain and Finland...
A man armed with a knife has attacked pedestrians in the Russian city of Surgut, injuring seven. Police killed the assailant, the local branch of the Investigative Committee reported.
Yesterday Finland became the latest European country to suffer a terrorist attack as two people were killed and at least 6 others injured after a stabbing incident in the south-western city of Turku.
According to reports Police shot the attacker in the leg and arrested him, he was known to Police.Seven people have been wounded in a knife attack in the Russian city of Surgut, security sources say. The man, who apparently stabbed passers-by on the street at random, was shot dead by police.
The injured have been taken to hospital, where two are in a critical condition, the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reports.
The Islamic State militant group (IS) said on its official news channel that it was behind the attack. Russia's Investigations Committee said it had identified the attacker and was checking his psychological history.
The attacker was a local resident born in 1994, it said.
A spokeswoman for the committee told Reuters news agency she would not comment on the possibility of terrorist motives, calling the attack "attempted murder".
The attack happened at about 11:20 local time (06:20 GMT).
An earlier statement said eight people had been wounded, but that was later revised to seven.
Surgut, about 2,100km (1,300 miles) east of Moscow in the Khanty-Mansiysk area of Siberia, has a population of more than 350,000.

xx

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Huge Asteroid 'Florence' to Safely Pass Earth on Sept. 1

Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on Sept. 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A massive asteroid estimated to be 2.7 miles wide is set to make a ‘relatively close encounter’ with Earth on September 1, just 10 days after the coast to coast solar eclipse across North America. Dubbed ‘Florence,’ the huge space rock will pass just 4.4 million miles from our planet – or, about 18 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on Sept. 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles, (7.0 million kilometers, or about 18 Earth-Moon distances). Florence is among the largest near-Earth asteroids that are several miles in size; measurements from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and NEOWISE mission indicate it's about 2.7 miles (4.4 kilometers) in size.

"While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on September 1, all of those were estimated to be smaller," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Florence is the largest asteroid to pass by our planet this close since the NASA program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids began."

This relatively close encounter provides an opportunity for scientists to study this asteroid up close. Florence is expected to be an excellent target for ground-based radar observations. Radar imaging is planned at NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar in California and at the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The resulting radar images will show the real size of Florence and also could reveal surface details as small as about 30 feet (10 meters).

Asteroid Florence was discovered by Schelte "Bobby" Bus at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia in March 1981. It is named in honor of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing. The 2017 encounter is the closest by this asteroid since 1890 and the closest it will ever be until after 2500. Florence will brighten to ninth magnitude in late August and early September, when it will be visible in small telescopes for several nights as it moves through the constellations Piscis Austrinus, Capricornus, Aquarius and Delphinus.

Radar has been used to observe hundreds of asteroids. When these small, natural remnants of the formation of the solar system pass relatively close to Earth, deep space radar is a powerful technique for studying their sizes, shapes, rotation, surface features and roughness, and for more precise determination of their orbital path.

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Finland is the latest European country to suffer a terrorist attack yesterday as two people are killed and at least 6 others injured

Photo citytoday.news
Finland is the latest European country to suffer a terrorist attack yesterday as two people were killed and at least 6 others injured after a stabbing incident in the south-western city of Turku.
According to reports Police shot the attacker in the leg and arrested him, he was known to Police.

One of the victims, a woman, was stabbed several times in the neck on Friday. The victims were adults and three are in intensive care.Police have raided a flat and made a number of arrests overnight."We are investigating what their role is in this. Whether they had something to do with this act, or if they were just involved with this person," detective superintendent Markus Laine told Finnish news agency SST.The raided flat is in the Varissuo area of Turku, home to a large immigrant population.Earlier, Interior Minister Paula Risikko described the suspect as "foreign-looking" and linked the attack to the murder of 14 people in Barcelona, according to the BBC.

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Astonishing figures:16 million people affected by floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India: Nepal claimed at least 128 lives and 33 people missing

Photo asiancorrespondent.com

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding across large areas in South Asia, with more than 16 million people affected by monsoon floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India.

“This is fast becoming one of the most serious humanitarian crises this region has seen in many years and urgent action is needed to meet the growing needs of millions of people affected by these devastating floods,” said Martin Faller, Deputy Regional Director for Asia Pacific, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

“Millions of people across Nepal, Bangladesh and India face severe food shortages and disease caused by polluted flood waters,” Mr Faller said.

Flood levels have already reached record highs in Bangladesh, according to local authorities. Flooding of major rivers such as the Jamuna has surpassed levels set in 1988 – the deadliest floods the country has ever faced.

“More than one third of Bangladesh and Nepal have been flooded and we fear the humanitarian crisis will get worse in the days and weeks ahead,” Mr Faller said.

In Nepal, many areas remain cut off after the most recent destructive floods and landslides, on 11 and 12 August. Villages and communities are stranded without food, water and electricity.

“This tragic flooding in Nepal has claimed at least 128 lives and 33 people are still missing,” said Dev Ratna Dhakhwa, Secretary General, Nepal Red Cross Society.

“More than 500 Nepal Red Cross volunteers are racing aid to people, including tarpaulins for temporary shelter, food and water. Food crops have been wiped out by the floods in Nepal’s major farming and agricultural lands in the south of the country. We fear that this destruction will lead to severe food shortages,” Mr Dhakhwa added.

In Bangladesh, floods are likely to get much worse as swollen rivers from India pour into the low-lying and densely populated areas in the north and centre of the country. Over 3.9 million people have been affected by the rising flood waters.

In India over 11 million people are affected by floods in four states across the north of the country. India’s meteorological department is forecasting more heavy rain for the region in the coming days.

Volunteers from Indian Red Cross and Bangladesh Red Crescent are working non-stop alongside local authorities to help their communities be safe and prepare for worsening floods.

International Fed of Red Cross
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A second major quake in 24 hours a rare occurrence these days: A mag 6.4 - Fiji has brought up the 6th major quake of August

USGS
A second major quake in 24 hours is very much a rare occurrence these days but a very deep mag 6.4 - 254km SE of Lambasa, Fiji has brought up the 6th major quake of August and the 61st of a very low count for 2017.
A green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.
There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

It is turning out to be an incredible low count for major quakes in 2017, as we move toward Sept, the 9th month, this years count is way down at 60 and does not look like the annual total will reach three figures which is unprecedented in many decades and could be the lowest total since the 1940's...
What is even more remarkable though is the lack of major quakes mag 7 or higher.
2017 has seen so far only 3 quakes at mag 7 or higher, the biggest being the mag 7.9 in Papua New Guinea, way back in January, nothing has been recorded in the mag 8 range which is also highly unusual and could be the lowest mag 7+ count in modern history.

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Incredible amounts of rain kill 27 affecting 1.3 million people and displacing 368,000 in parts of India Bangladesh and Nepal with rivers at record levels

Photo (AP Photo/Manish Paudel)
Authorities in Bangladesh say that 1.3 million people have been affected by flooding over the last 2 days.
Twenty-seven people have died and around 368,000 people have been displaced and are staying in 970 temporary camps set up by the authorities.
Rivers were more than 1 metre above danger levels at 6 different points, as of 15 August.
The Jamuneswari river at Badarganj and the Jamuna at Bahadurabad both recorded their highest ever levels.
River levels increased after heavy rain in catchment areas in north eastern India and Nepal (these areas are also currently affected by flooding), as well as high levels of rainfall in parts of Bangladesh. On 15 August, Chandpur recorded 255.2mm of rain in 24 hours.
Lourergorh recorded almost 400mm of rain in 48 hours from 13 to 15 August.
On 13 August 198.7 mm of rain fell in 24 hours in Dinajpur and 188 mm fell in Durgapur during the same period, according to floodlist.

xx
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A strange unknown disease has killed more than 50 people with many more very ill in parts of Nigeria which have medics stumped

A strange disease, whose symptoms include diarrhea, bloodstained vomiting and high fever has killed 50 people at Okunran, Okoloke and Isanlu-Esa villages in Yagba West Local Government of Kogi. Initial reports had suspected lassa fever, but medics told Dr. Saka Audu, Commissioner for Health, who visited the affected areas on Thursday, that it was a strange disease that was unknown.
"We initially suspected Lassa Fever after getting some misleading reports about people bleeding around, so we made a diagnosis for viral haemorrhagic fever (lassa fever), but the result was negative," Dr. Jannette Hathorn, a Consultant at ECWA Hospital, Egbe told Audu.
She said that the first case was that of a child of two and half years, who died 12 hours after he was brought to the hospital.
"We are sure it is not lassa fever; but our concern is that we do not know exactly what is happening. We have not arrived at a definitive diagnosis.
"Two adult patients were also brought here; one showed symptoms of ulcer-viral illness, but there was no bleeding component of any haemorrhagic symptom.
"We isolated them and both of them were treated for malaria.
When they started improving, we let them go.
"Another parent brought a child to the hospital and pleaded for help.
He said that 50 people had died in their village with similar symptoms of bloodstained vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
"When the child died, we called the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Yesterday (Wednesday), their officials came and took samples of everything; we must know exactly what we are dealing with," she said.
Audu, who described the situation as "serious", said that the visit was to assess the situation "especially since many lives have been lost to the disease".
"We want to determine the cause of these mysterious deaths and then proffer solution to it. "Government is committed to assisting the people irrespective of how remote their settlements may be.
We must ensure that we take healthcare to the door steps of rural dwellers.
"We want to reassure the people that government is with them and will take full responsibility of those who are already ill, so as to arrest the spread of this disease.
"For now, what is clear and confirmed is that it is not lassa fever; but whatever it is, we will carry out further investigation and come up with definitive diagnosis," Audu said.
He said that the information about the outbreak of the strange disease came to government last week and a technical team was immediately sent to take samples which were sent to General Hospital Irrua, Edo State, for definitive investigation.
"We are digging into the real cause of this ailment.
All hands are on deck toward unraveling the definitive cause of the mysterious deaths among the kids," the commissioner assured.
According to him, the Fulani settlers have been reported to be the worst hit by the disease which broke out three weeks ago.
Ardo Damina Ibrahim, leader of the Fulani settlement, told newsmen that the first case was reported three weeks ago, adding that children were worst hit.
"We at first used herbs to treat the patients but had to rush to the hospital after recording several deaths," he said.
He explained that parents became more confused when doctors could not ascertain the cause of the illness, saying that many died in the hospital while others were discharged without any cure.
"We have lost more than 50 people and still have many helpless patients at home,'' he said.
Oba Joshua Ogunyanda, the traditional ruler of the community, who thanked the commissioner for visiting the area in spite of the difficult terrain, said that he ran to the Yagba Local Government when the disease broke out.
"We are confident that the disease will soon be brought under control with the commitment that you have shown," he said.

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Mag 6.6 - North of Ascension Island is the 5th major quake in August: Only 3 mag 7 quakes or higher so far in 2017 could be the lowest mag 7+ count in modern history

USGS
A shallow, magnitude 6.6 - North of Ascension Island is the 5th major quake in August and the 60th of 2017.
Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.
There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.
Based on the earthquake location near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a damaging tsunami is not expected.

It is turning out to be an incredible low count for major quakes in 2017, as we move toward Sept, the 9th month, this years count is way down at 60 and does not look like the annual total will reach three figures which is unprecedented in many decades and could be the lowest total since the 1940's...
What is even more remarkable though is the lack of major quakes mag 7 or higher.
2017 has seen so far only 3 quakes at mag 7 or higher, the biggest being the mag 7.9 in Papua New Guinea, way back in January, nothing has been recorded in the mag 8 range which is also highly unusual and could be the lowest mag 7+ count in modern history.

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Terror comes to Barcelona: Van plows into one of Barcelona's main tourist streets killing at least 4 and injuring dozens

Photo Daily Mail
A new terror attack is unfolding in one of Barcelona's main tourist streets in the middle of the tourist season.
A white van jumped the sidewalk in this city's historic Las Ramblas district and crashed into a summer crowd of residents and tourists, killing at least 4 and injuring dozens of people,police said Thursday.
Some reports claimed the terrorists targeted a popular kosher restaurant named 'Maccabi'.
The Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted unnamed police sources as saying that armed perpetrators of the crash were holed up in a bar in Tallers Street with hostages.
There was no immediate police confirmation of the report.
In a photograph shown by public broadcaster RTVE, three people were lying in the street after the afternoon incident and were apparently being helped by police and others.
Police cordoned off the broad, popular street, ordering stores and nearby Metro and train stations to close.
They asked people to stay away from the area so as not to get in the way of emergency services.
A helicopter hovered over the scene.
Las Ramblas, a street of stalls and shops that cuts through the center of Barcelona, is one of the northern city's top tourist destinations.
People walk down a wide, pedestrianized path in the center of the street, but cars can travel on either side. The president of the government of Catalonia has called for "maximum caution" in the wake of the terrorist van attack in Barcelona. He added that "all the attention" should be on the victims of the attack. Around 80 people are currently sheltering in a church in Barcelona near the incident. Witnesses say that the doors are currently locked as reports circulate that there are possibly two armed men in a bar in the local area.

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2017 the year of the rogue tsunami: Tsunami's in strange places...Iran Holland Greenland and more not thought to have been caused by a quake!

A video by DAHBOO777 showing a series of events which took place in South America and South Africa sometime around August 10th was sent into me by Chessie Crow Gartmayer showing a terrifying tsunami along the west coast of Africa which was not caused by a quake.
A drastic amount of sea water receded from several places along the South American coast.
He also claims he caught a huge wave anomaly over this region around this same time shown on a MIMIC Radar System.
On the other side of the ocean, people witnessed huge waves crashes, (Tsunami) crashing into the shores along South Africa's western coast, you can find the video below

The video alerted my attention to the fact that the tsunami along the South African coast is only one of many rogue tsunamis which The Big Wobble has reported this year.

Back in March 2017, reports of a tsunami hitting South Iran on the internet appeared to be incorrect, as no quake large or small has not been registered in the area yesterday. 

However large waves were filmed smashing into the port city of Dayyer in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr where at least one person has lost his life and five others were reported missing.

Search and relief operations were ongoing to establish the fate of the five missing with divers deployed to the scene.

Deputy Interior Minister and Head of the National Disaster Management Organization Esmaeil Najjar told IRNA that the incident in Dayyer and Assaluyeh damaged several residential homes, boats and ships.

He added that the waves were estimated to be more than three meters high.

What caused the waves remains a mystery.

Photo Photo Press Tv showing the devastation after the tsunami...

Back in June and just a few miles from where I live footage emerged of a tsunami hitting the coast of The Netherlands catching beachgoers off guard with a seven foot tidal wave.

According to local media, the phenomenon is so rare that it is the first time it has been so well filmed and documented.
The first reports of an approaching tidal wave of a medium height were at around 5.45am on Monday morning.
In footage shot from the balcony of a flat in the coastal resort of Zandvoort, the wave can be seen sweeping away beach chairs, boats and parasols.
The man filming is heard saying 'a tsunami!' multiple times in disbelief at what he is seeing.

You can see the video below.

Also in June four people are 4 people where reported dead along with 39 homes swept into the sea after a tsunami hit Greenland's west coast, police have said.
The surge of water is also reported to have swept away 11 homes in the village of Nuugaatsiaq. Police chief Bjorn Tegner Bay said he was unable to confirmed there had been fatalities, according to KNR, Greenland's broadcasting corporation.
The authorities were not sure weather a small rare earthquake  caused the tsunami or a landslide.
According to the police chief, it struck off Uummannaq, a small island well above the Arctic Circle. Meteorologist Trine Dahl Jensen told Danish news agency Ritzau that for such an earthquake to hit Greenland was "not normal", as she warned of the risk of aftershocks.
See the video below.

Incredible huge tsunami waves rolled into Durban beachfront, South Africa, freak waves rolling into Durban beachfront on Sunday 12 March 2017… as rough seas battered the KwaZulu-Natal coastal resort in South Africa.
Locals could be seen fleeing the beach as huge wave broke onto the shore front, see below.

Photo Craig Dove

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2016 is once again the warmest year on record topping 2015: Extreme weather is 'climate changed' and will increase month by month for ever and ever

NOAA Click on image to enlarge


The 27th annual State of the Climate report has confirmed that 2016 topped 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping.
The report found that most indicators of climate change continued to follow trends of a warming world, and several, including land and ocean temperatures, sea level and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere broke records set just one year prior.
Now if you are leaning to the left and pushing global warming or leaning to the right and screaming ' lies lies lies,' you have to come together and agree, something is wrong with our weather.
If you are in tune with just your local news on TV well then you might just wonder what I'm talking about, it's only when we see the whole picture, on a daily global report, week in week out can we see just what is going on with our wonderful planet.

For example just this week The Big Wobble has reported almost 1,000 dead or missing after a massive landslide caused by unprecedented rainfall in Sierra Leone.

Yesterday nearly 300% the monthly ave, 184 mm, or almost 7 inches drenched Bangalore overnight the highest recorded rainfall ever recorded

Nunavut locals were cooling off in the Arctic ocean as warm records tumbled in the High Arctic islands, a few years ago these islands would have been covered in snow and not basking in near tropical temperatures.

Another landslide killed at least 50 after a cloudburst on hill-top at Himachal Pradesh India.


Greenland covered mostly by ice is the latest country to be hit by wildfire in a summer dominated by heatwaves and fires...

This summer has seen incredible temperatures around the Northern Hemisphere with heatwaves all over with temperatures often hovering over 50 deg C or 122 deg F.

Wildfires, droughts, freak storms, flooding has now become the normal, as every monthly climate report now leans towards the extreme, in short our planet has reached a tipping point and I believe the runaway weather extremes are here for ever and...they will increase month by month and it is a problem which can't now ever be fixed, in my humble opinion of course.

Below is highlights of the recent International report which confirms 2016 was the warmest year on record for the globe as last year marked the 3rd consecutive year of record warmth.

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The 27th annual State of the Climate report has confirmed that 2016 topped 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping.
The report found that most indicators of climate change continued to follow trends of a warming world, and several, including land and ocean temperatures, sea level and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere broke records set just one year prior.
Last year’s record heat resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and a strong El Nino early in the year.

This annual check-up for the planet, led by researchers from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, is based on contributions from more than 450 scientists from nearly 60 countries.
It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events and other data collected from land, water and space. It’s published as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.  

State of the Climate Report 2016 (AMS)

Notable findings from the report include:

• Greenhouse gases were the highest on record. Major greenhouse gas concentrations, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide, rose to new record-high values in 2016. The 2016 average global CO2 concentration was 402.9 parts per million (ppm), an increase of 3.5 ppm compared with 2015 and the largest annual increase observed in the 58-year record.
• Global surface temperature was the highest on record. Aided in part by the strong El Nino early in the year, the 2016 combined global land and ocean surface temperature was record-high for a third consecutive year, according to four global analyses. The increase in temperature ranged from 0.81–1.01. degrees F (0.45°–0.56°C) above the 1981-2010 average.
• Average sea surface temperature was the highest on record. According to four independent datasets analyzed, the record-breaking globally averaged sea surface temperature for 2016 was 0.65–0.74 degrees F (0.36–0.41 degrees C) higher than the 1981–2010 average and surpassed the previous mark set in 2015 by 0.02–0.05 degrees F (0.01–0.03 degrees C).
• Global upper-ocean heat content neared record high. Heat in the uppermost layer of the ocean, the top 2,300 feet (700 meters), saw a slight drop compared to the record high set in 2015. The findings are consistent with a continuing trend of warming oceans.  
• Global sea level was the highest on record. The global average sea level rose to a new record high in 2016, and was about 3.25 inches (82 mm) higher than that observed in 1993, when satellite record-keeping for sea level began.
• Arctic sea ice coverage was at or near record low. The maximum Arctic sea ice extent (coverage) reached in March 2016 tied last year as the smallest in the 37-year satellite data record, while the minimum sea ice extent in September tied 2007 as the second lowest on record.
• Tropical cyclones were above-average overall. There were 93 named tropical cyclones across all ocean basins in 2016, above the 1981-2010 average of 82 storms. Three basins – the North Atlantic and Eastern and Western Pacific basins – experienced above-normal activity in 2016.

For more, see the full State of the Climate 2016 report, offsite linkhighlights and downloadable visuals.

 Media contacts:Brady Phillips, 202-407-1298John Leslie, 301-713-0214

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