Saturday 25 May 2019

More misery for the Mid-West with more record-breaking floods inundating parts of central US as the relentless deluge continues

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2019 has already been declared the worst agricultural disaster in modern American history with catastrophic flooding, which NOAA warns will continue through to the end of May and into June.
More record-breaking floods are inundating parts of central US as the relentless deluge continues.
Evacuations are underway as flooding is impacting areas across Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and parts of Nebraska and Iowa.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is warning Arkansans about the possibility of historic flooding along the Arkansas River.
Officials in Tulsa, Oklahoma are also urging residents to remain vigilant and heed all warnings.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski, there are rainfall estimates of over 8 inches in the last seven days across northeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas.
"So far this month, nearly 10 inches of rain has soaked Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The city averages nearly 6 inches for the entire month," Pydynowski said.
On Wednesday, two barges became loose during flooding on the Arkansas River. The town of Webbers Falls called for its 600 residents to evacuate.
The current carrying the barges off, slamming them into the Webbers Falls Lock and Dam on Thursday.
They caused "minimal" damage to the dam according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but the structure held sound.
Due to the flooding and rising river levels, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered two Arkansas Guard high-water teams to go to western Arkansas on Saturday. Gov. Hutchinson said he will deploy more soldiers as needed and urges residents to heed warnings and evacuate if needed.
"The area of Ft. Smith has not had exceptional rainfall, yet the Arkansas River stage is already above major flooding and forecast to record crest," AccuWeather Meteorologist James Andrews said.
The Army Corps of Engineers continues to release 250,000 cubic feet of water per second from Keystone Dam into the Arkansas River and this level is expected to hold steady through Sunday, May 26.
Due to the additional release at Keystone Dam, flood water is steadily rising and residents and businesses along the Arkansas River need to heed all warnings and take precautions.
The flood gauge near Ponca City on the Arkansas River recorded water levels of 21.76 ft at 6 p.m. CDT, breaking the 1993 record of 20.11 ft.

2019 set to be a record year for flooding as mind-boggling-statistics blow away previous records for many countries and we are only into April
  • The death toll has risen to almost 1,000 people with tens of thousands without homes in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi after torrential rains in the region 
  • More than 70 dead and 100,000 homes destroyed or damaged in Iran with one-third of all roads damaged.
  • US saw unprecedented, catastrophic flooding with a NOAA warning the flooding will continue through to the end of May and into June. 
  • Indonesia raised the death toll from floods and landslides in the easternmost province of Papua to 80 
  • In March the worst flooding in more than 50 years caused unprecedented damage on the Plains and the Midwest
  • February, California, received a mind-boggling 18 trillion-gallons, enough to fill 27 million Olympic-sized pools
  • February, Heavy rains wreaked havoc in northern Chile causing rivers to overflow and forcing residents from their flooded homes
  • An incredible 2 years worth of rain fell in just 7 days in Australia, February
More than 2 months' worth of rain in just 8 hours as Brazil is the latest victim of severe floods which hit Rio de Janeiro yesterday.
Torrential rain left at least 10 people dead in Rio de Janeiro, officials said Tuesday, as emergency workers rescued people trapped by the downpour and clean-up efforts gathered pace.
The unusually heavy rain began Monday evening and continued into Tuesday, triggering widespread flash flooding that turned some streets into raging rivers, toppled trees and swept away cars as the state emergency agency declared a crisis.
The southern zone of the city, which includes the tourist hot-spots Copacabana and Ipanema as well as several impoverished favela areas, has been hardest hit.
Heavy runoff from neighbouring hills gushed through some apartment buildings and shops, leaving behind mud and debris.
"I've never seen or witnessed anything like this, said one resident."
"I'm really amazed at all of this."
Cars and public buses were crushed by fallen trees, and sections of streets were ripped up by the force of the water.
Torrential rain in February killed at least six people in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is the latest country to suffer incredible downpours in the first 4 months of 2019.


Last week reports from Iran claimed more than 100,000 had been destroyed or damaged in flash floods across Iran amid what authorities said were the heaviest rains ever recorded.
More than 70 people have been killed since March 19, according to official figures, in floods that swept northern, central, and southern Iran and spread to western and southwestern parts of the country in recent days.
More than one-third of all of Iran's roads are said to have been damaged. Full story

At the beginning of April, the US saw unprecedented, catastrophic flooding and NOAA warning us the flooding will continue through to the end of May.
With more than 90% of the upper midwest and great planes are still covered by nearly 11 inches of snow and all that snow is beginning to melt.
That means the US will transform from one of the worst winters in modern history into a flood season that has already taken an apocalyptic turn for farmers across the US.
Millions of acres of farmland are already under water meaning thousands of farmers will not be able to plant crops this summer, with thousands of more farmers who have been financially ruined by the floods and will never return to farming again.
So far, 2019 is already the worst agricultural disaster in modern American history and it is going to get a whole lot worse according to experts. Full story

The death toll has risen to almost 1,000 people as tens of thousands without homes in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi after torrential rains in the region after being hit by Cyclone Idai and was described as a 'disaster on a scale ever experienced' in Mozambique. Full story


In March the worst flooding in more than 50 years caused unprecedented damage on the Plains and the Midwest, dams failed and preparations were made to shut down a nuclear power plant along the rising Missouri River.
According to the Weather Channell, a dam failed in Spencer, Nebraska, and another dam was at high risk of failing in north-central Nebraska.
The Missouri River reached near-record levels after Midwest and Great Plain streams were swelled by a massive storm that soaked fields and dropped heavy snow from Colorado to Canada. Full story

Also in March, authorities in Indonesia raised the death toll from floods and landslides in the easternmost province of Papua to nearly 80 as President Joko Widodo called for the urgent evacuation of victims from devastated communities.
Almost 50 people were reported missing. Full story


Meanwhile in February, California, suffering a drought from last summers heatwaves received a mind-boggling 18 trillion-gallons, enough to fill 27 million Olympic-sized pools, in just 20 days.
The totals increased later in the week as another storm rolled into the region.
According to MSN Weather, the series of storms, including a moisture-packed atmospheric river that slammed the state, had brought consistent rainfall in February that had reached more than half the volume of Lake Tahoe. Full Story

Also in February, Heavy rains wreaked havoc in northern Chile causing rivers to overflow and forcing residents from their flooded homes.
Extreme rainfall in the Andes claimed several lives and destroyed homes and roads.
In the Atacama Desert, normally one of the driest places on Earth, a 60m (196ft) waterfall that had run dry for 10 years has been reactivated. Full story

At the beginning of February, after Australia suffered its hottest month ever in January when heat records tumbled, were then hit with once-in-a-century flooding in part of the eastern Australian state of Queensland according to the nation’s weather bureau.
An incredible 2 years worth of rain fell in just 7 days.
A normal monsoon-burst lasts a couple of days but this one lasted for more than a week. the rains came after Australia had endured a whole month of temperatures in the mid-40s C and have since recorded their hottest Autumn ever. Full story

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