Floods Threaten Thousands of Towns in Russia

Major flooding expected across Russia

More than 4,700 towns across Russia are threatened by floods, especially in Yakutia, the Maritime, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk Territories, and the Irkutsk region in Siberia, said a report.

“The risk zone includes some 1,900 highway sections, 378 railroad sections and 563 bridges.”

In the past two weeks tens of thousands of homes have been deluged in southern and central Russia affecting tens of thousands of residents; many people have been evacuated.

The worst-hit areas are in “the Republic of Tatarstan, and Saratov and Samara regions, as well as in parts of the Central and Volga Federal Districts, where 45 bridges, two dams and two sections of highways have been flooded.”

In the latest incident, the 803-year-old Kadom village was inundated by floowaters, according to Ryazan’s regional emergencies ministry.

“More than 500 homes have been flooded in the central Russian region of Ryazan after melting snow caused the river Moksha to overflow,” affecting  about 1,200 people.

A state of emergency was earlier declared as floodwaters continued rising in the region, reports said.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Disaster Calendar – 17 April 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,429 Days Left

[17 April 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,429 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Disaster Calendar – 16 April 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,430 Days Left

[16 April 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,430 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

Disaster Calendar – 15 April 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,431 Days Left

[15 April 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,431 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

 

Disaster Calendar – 14 April 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,432 Days Left

[14 April 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,432 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

Disaster Calendar – 13 April 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,433 Days Left

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,433 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

Disaster Calendar – 12 April 2012

Disaster Calendar 2012 – April 12

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,434 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

Flooding and Mudslides Leave Thousands of Filipinos Displaced

Disaster Calendar 2012 – April 10

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,436 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

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Philippine flash floods and mudslides affect thousands, destroy crops

Days of heavy rains have caused flash floods in the towns of Claveria and Sta. Praxedes in the northern Philippine province of Cagayan leaving at least 1,200 families displaced, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

“A total of 31 out of 41 villages were inundated in Claveria, affecting 877 families. Ten villages were also inundated in Sta. Praxedes, affecting 338 families.”

• Mudslides  have destroyed houses and dozens of hectares of rice paddies vegetables.
• Flash floods and landslides have claimed dozens of lives in the Philippines since the begin9ing of the year.

Other Global Disasters

• China. Climate-related disasters left [at least] 66 people dead or missing, and affected about 22 million people in the first quarter of 2012 in the Chinese mainland, according to official sources.  
  • The disasters resulted in direct economic losses of 9.63 billion yuan (1.53 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March 2012.
  • Extreme weather events destroyed or damaged more than 2.4 million hectares of crops  and 200,000 homes, the report said.

Significant Events

U.S.A.  The U.S. has recorded its warmest March since records began in 1895, with  more than 15,000 warm temperature records broken during the month, NOAA reported.

2012 year-to-date temperature evolution for Green Bay, Wisconsin versus the previous four warmest years. Source: NOAA/NCDC

• “The average temperature of 51.1°F was 8.6 degrees above the 20^th century average for March and 0.5°F warmer than the previous warmest March in 1910. Of the more than 1,400 months (117+ years) that have passed since the U.S. climate record began, only one month, January 2006, has seen a larger departure from its average temperature than March 2012.”
•   Preliminary data shows that 15,272 warm temperature records were broken (7,755 daytime records, 7,517 nighttime records).
• 25 states east of the Rockies saw their warmest March on record, with an additional 15 states recording temperatures ranking among their ten warmest, said NOAA.
• In contrast, temperatures in Alaska during March, which are not included in the contiguous U.S. average value, were the tenth coolest on record.
• “The first three months of 2012 were also record warm for the contiguous United States with an average temperature of 42.0°F, 6.0°F above the long-term average.”
• As of April 3^rd, 36.8 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in drought,  an increase from 28.8 percent a year ago on April 5, 2011, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
• SPC received 223 preliminary tornado reports during March, about 3 times the averages of 80 tornadoes for the month. “The majority of the tornadoes occurred during the March 2^nd-3^rd outbreak across the Ohio Valley and Southeast, which caused 40 fatalities. Total losses from this event are estimated to exceed $1.5 billion dollars, making this the first event of 2012 to exceed one billion dollars in damages and losses.”

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background 

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

Mega Heatwaves Could Kill Thousands in the U.S.

Heat: The number one weather-related killer in the United States

Deadly heatwaves of unprecedented intensity could strike the U.S. in 2011 and beyond, claiming tens of thousands of lives and affecting millions more: FIRE-EARTH Climate Model

Please cite FIRE-EARTH as the source for above forecast, if you’re copying/re-writing this information.

Billion Dollar Weather Disasters 1980 – May 2011

Billion Dollar Weather Disasters 1980 – May 2011. Source: NOAA. Click image to enlarge

Heat-Related Fatalities

• Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States
• More than 1,250 people died in the heatwave of 1980.
• In the heatwave of 1995 at least 700 deaths in the Chicago area were attributed to heat.
• A record heatwave in Europe claimed about 50,000 lives in August 2003.
• The Moscow heatwave claimed an estimated 15,000 lives in August 2010.

Map of Billion Dollar Weather Disasters 1980 – 2010. Source: NOAA. Click image to enlarge

The U.S. has sustained 99 weather-related disasters over the past 31 years in which overall damages/costs topped $1 billion, with the total normalized losses exceeding $725 billion. ~ NOAA

Table of Disasters by Type and Frequency

Source: NCDC/NOAA. Click image to enlarge.

Map of Disasters by State

U.S. South has experienced the highest numbers of billion-dollar disasters since 1980. Image Source: NCDC/NOAA. Click image to enlarge.

Billion-Dollar Disasters 2011 (Preliminary List)

2011 is already highest damage cost-to-date in the U.S. for any year since 1980 when NOAA started  tracking billion-dollar disasters.

8 billion-dollar disasters have occurred in the U.S.  so far this year:

• Groundhog Day Blizzard Jan 29-Feb 3 . Total cost: at least $3.9 billion; 36 deaths.
• Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes April 4-5. Total cost: $2.0 billion; 9 deaths.
• Southeast/Midwest Tornadoes April 8-11. Total cost: $2.2 billion; numerous injuries, no known deaths,  (59 tornadoes).
• Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes April 14-16. Total cost:  $2.0 billion; 38 deaths (160 tornadoes).
• Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest Tornadoes April 25-30. Total cost: $10.0 billion; 320 deaths (305 tornadoes).
• Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes May 22-27: Total cost: $7.0 billion; 172 deaths [180 tornadoes reported; at least 18 more people have since died as a result of Joplin tornado, raising the official toll to 159.]
• Texas Drought & Wildfires Spring-Summer 2011. Fighting/suppression costs are around $1 million /day; total losses to agriculture and cattle are estimated to range between $1.5-3.0 billion. This cost estimate reflects losses as of 16 June, and will likely rise as the event continues.
• Mississippi River flooding Spring-Summer 2011 Estimated economic loss ranges from $2.0-4.0; the flooding continues. Preliminary cost as of 6/16:
• $500 million to agriculture in Arkansas
• $320 million in damage to Memphis, Tennessee
• $800 million to agriculture in Mississippi
• $317 million to agriculture and property in Missouri’s Birds Point-New Madrid Spillway
• $80 million for the first 30 days of flood fighting efforts in Louisiana [Source of data: NOAA/NCDC]

Max Heat Index and Probability Forecast – July 13, 2011

Image Source: NOAA/HPC. Click image to enlarge.

Related Sites

• Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters, 1980 – 2010 – The Narrative [PDF File]
• Heat: A Major Killer

Related Links

• Moscow Heat, Smog Claim Many Lives
• Another Wild Weather Day Across the U.S.
• 2011-2012:  A TIME FOR MEGADISASTERS

Updated July 12, 2011

Recent Climate-Related Disasters

Philippines:

November 28, 2009 – Tropical depression Urduja

Four people were killed and 13 others injured when tropical depression “Urduja” pummeled several provinces in Mindanao, Philippines according to disaster officials.

Three of the fatalities occurred as a result of landslides triggered by heavy rain and flooding.

“A total of 82,324 families or 404,623 persons were affected in 93 barangays, four cities and 23 municipalities in the provinces of Camiguin, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental in Northern Mindanao and Agusan del Norte and Dinagat Island in Caraga Region,” the NDCC reported.

“At the height of Tropical Depression ‘Urduja,’ 3,293 persons, 110 vehicles and 99 vessels were stranded in various ports in Southern Tagalog, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao.”

Northeast Monsoons

In the first week of November,  Northeast Monsoons and strong winds affected up to 120,000 people in 165 districts throughout Mindanao, northern and eastern Luzon and other regions in the Philippines.

Argentina, Uruguay:

Severe flooding caused by the “heaviest rains in 50 years” have killed at least 10 people and forced 15,000 people to evacuate in northern parts of Argentina and Uruguay. The fatalities were caused by drowning and mudslides.

The recent heavy rain in the regions follows months of drought in NE Argentina. Extensive deforestation in the country’s northern regions has impacted the regional climate resulting in  extreme of  droughts and deluge.

The land use change, transforming forests  to agricultural land for growing soybeans, has negatively affected the soil’s water-carrying capacity, environmentalists say.

The local weather service has warned that a severe storm front could bring additional heavy rainfall, wind gusts and  hail this week.

Related Links:

• Storms, Extreme Rain Events, Floods, Landslides
• Drought and Deluge
• 500 Weather-Related Disasters A Year
• Environmental Disasters: Too Close for Comfort?
• Early “Dividends” of Climate Change