Flood News

Flooding News Headlines

More rain, snow, National Guard troops for Montana

The governor of flood-plagued Montana ordered more National Guard troops to join the anti-flood effort, while states downstream along the bloated Missouri River strengthened levees and laid sandbags ahead of the release of waters from dams and reservoirs. More …

Lake Champlain inching again toward destructive level

Lake Champlain, responding to the immense volume of rainfall that struck northern Vermont and the Adirondacks last Thursday, has risen to 102.75 feet above sea level as of 2 p.m. Sunday and will keep rising toward a potentially destructive level, the U.S. Geological Survey and National Weather Service reported. More …

Storms cause flooding in Chicago, suburbs

Severe storms with intense downpours caused flooding on roads and in basements throughout the city and suburbs Sunday. More …

Dakota Dunes braces for rising river; Sioux City put on alert

Rising waters all along the Missouri River mean flooding problems in Siouxland this spring. More…

Flash flooding hits Sydney – One Dead

Torrential rain caused chaos across Sydney on Monday, with city motorists rescued from flash floods and one man dead in a major freeway pile-up. More …

Floodwaters in Quebec’s Richelieu Valley expected to peak today

For the third time in 45 days, floodwater in the Richelieu Valley southeast of Montreal is expected to peak today. But, unlike other high water marks this spring, flood forecasters are finally promising better days ahead. More…

B.C., Alberta prepare for floods as Manitoba, Quebec prepare for cleanup

As the flood waters recede in Manitoba, parts of Alberta and British Columbia are being threatened by overflowing rivers and Quebec’s Richelieu River valley remains submerged. More …

From 2011 Disaster Calendar – May 30

Mass die-offs resulting from planetary response to the harm caused by humans could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,752 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• South Dakota, USA. Clay County Commission has issued a countywide State of Emergency “to prepare for significantly higher water levels as the Corps of Engineers increases releases from the dams,” a report said.
• Alberta, Canada. The Municipal District of Foothills in Alberta has declared a state of emergency because of widespread flooding.
• China.  At least one million people died of tobacco-related diseases (10 percent of them from secondhand smoke), accounting for 13 percent of China’s total of 9.43 million of deaths in 2010, a report said.
• “China has more than 300 million smokers, and those smokers are not only damaging their own health. Second-hand smoke attacks about 740 million people, including 180 million children and teenagers, according to the 2011 China Tobacco Control Report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) Thursday in Beijing.”

2011 Disasters

• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2010 Disasters [Includes Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters: 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

China’s Drought Turning Critical

Drought: Turning up the heat in E China

No rain for East China anytime soon: Forecasters

Drought is wreaking havoc across Central, South and East China. Many of the vast regions lakes, stricken by the worst drought in living memory, have dried up affecting tens of millions of people and millions of their livestock. There’s no prospect for early rain, forecasters say.

The drought that has affected 35 million people across 5 provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to the country’s Meteorological officials.

“Among them, about 4.23 million are experiencing difficulties in finding drinking water and 5.06 million are in need of assistance,” said a report.

China Drought Monitor – Worsening Drought Conditions (January 10, 2011)

Source: Division of Climate Impact Assessment/NCC/CMA

“Since early January, precipitation in Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces has been about 40 percent to 60 percent less than the same period last year, causing a 60-day drought, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.”

“China’s two largest fresh water lakes – Dongting Lake in Hunan and Poyang Lake in Jiangxi – are both drying up dramatically and, by Friday, 34.83 million people had been affected in the five provinces, the ministry said, citing reports from local civil affairs departments.” The report added.

The drought has affected about 4 million hectares (10 million acres) of crops, pushing up the vegetable prices by  “19 percent from May 23 to May 27,” according to the Baishazhou Market in Wuhan, capital of drought-hit Hubei in Central China.” The report added. 

Once A Lake!

Dried lake near Shijiao town of Qingyuan City, south China’s Guangdong Province.  (Xinhua/Li Zuomiao). Image may be subject to copyright.

The central government has ordered the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River to discharge more water to help irrigate some of the drought stricken croplands downstream; however, the  dam will run out of water if there is no rainfall before June 10, the Three Gorges Corporation has told China Daily.

Related News

• Provinces in southern China brace for drought
• No rain expected to ease China’s Yangtze drought  
• Drought hitting Chaohu Lake in E China
• China’s “land of fish and rice” parched by drought