Extreme Weather Paralyzes 71 Towns in Santa Catarina, Brazil

State of Emergency Declared in Brazil’s Santa Catarina State

A major storm system has triggered severe flooding, displacing more than 20,000 people in southern Brazil’s Santa Catarina state.

The flooding, hail and landslides have affected 71 counties, destroying or damaging scores of roads, bridges, and much of the state’s infrastructure, as well as thousands of homes.

The governor of Santa Catarina, Raimundo Colombo, has declared  states of emergency in 50 of the state’s municipalities amid a major rainstorm that has been pounding the state since end of last week, said Com informações da Agência Brasil.

The emergency decree shall be in effect for 180 days, the governor’s office said.
Extreme Rain Events triggered widespread flooding in the city of São José (Santa Catarina), Sunday, September 22, 2013. Photo credit: Marcelo Bittencourt / Futura Press.

Suspected Tornado Kills 2, Injures 64 in Taquarituba city,  São Paulo, Brazil

A suspected tornado hit the city of Taquarituba, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, about 320 km from the state capital, “partially destroying the municipality,” said a report.

The city  (population: ~ 24,000) remains without power, the report said.

“Firefighters reported hat the “weather phenomenon” had destroyed more than 100 homes, as well as the industrial hub of the city and the highway.”

Wreckage of Taquarituba houses destroyed by a suspected tornado that swept through Brazilian state of São Paulo. Photo credit: Oslaim Brito/ Futura Press. More images…

Colorado Disaster Zone Spreads across 17 Counties

Death toll reaches 8, as Colorado floods destroy or damage thousands of homes

The disaster zone encompasses 17 Colorado counties, as the historic deluge, called a 500-to-1,000-year flood, forces thousands of evacuations.

The Colorado Office of Emergency Management has now raised the official death toll to eight, up from five over the weekend.

In Boulder County about 2,000 people have been evacuated, most of them airlifted by helicopters.

In Larimer County at least 1,000 people remain to be evacuated.

At least 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 4,500 damaged in Larimer County. Additionally, 200 businesses have been lost and 500 damaged.

More than 100 homes were destroyed in the town of Lyons, Boulder County, but no countywide figures were available, as of posting.

About 600 people remained unaccounted for in Larimer and Boulder counties, many believed to be stranded in remote mountain areas cut off by floodwaters and with no access to telephone, cell phone or Internet service, officials said.

Floodwaters are moving east toward Nebraska, where officials have issued multiple flood warnings.

More than 533mm (21 inches) of rain fell in parts of Boulder city, near Denver, during the week-long deluge, nearly twice the area’s average annual rainfall.

Colorado’s air rescue operations were the largest in the United States since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, said National Guard officials.

Fema and Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced yesterday that 12 additional counties had been added to the September 12, 2013, presidential emergency disaster declaration for the Colorado flooding in Boulder, El Paso and Larimer counties.

The additional disaster counties include Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Fremont, Jefferson, Morgan, Logan, Pueblo, Washington and Weld counties, which were affected by the severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides.

Related Links

• “This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood” September 15, 2013

• N. Colorado Declared as Federal Disaster Area September 14, 2013
• Tens of Thousands Evacuated as Colorado Floods Worsen September 13, 2013
• Deadly Flooding Forces Thousands of Evacuations in Colorado September 13, 2013

• Tri- State Area Rainfall Reports (September 12, 2013)
• Flood Evacuation: overflowing dam forces evacuation of Leyden neighborhood in Jefferson County

Our Shrinking World Series: Deluge in Namibia

Parts of Southern Africa Submerged by Deluge

Flooding has affected Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique. Rainfall was above normal in southern Africa for January to March, 2009, reports said.

Deadly Flooding in Namibia – Earth Observatory Images

Image acquired March 27, 2009

Image acquired October 18, 2002

At least 350,000 people were affected by flooding in Namibia during the annual rainy season in southern Africa in March 2009. According to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 92 people had been killed and 13,000 people were displaced as of April 1.

Among the places affected by the heaviest rains and most severe flooding was the Caprivi Strip, a narrow “peninsula” of Namibia that stretches out along the Zambezi River between Zambia to the north and Botswana to the south. This pair of natural-color images of the area was captured by the Advanced Land Imager sensor on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on March 28, 2009 (top), and the Landsat 5 satellite on October 18, 2002 (bottom).

Flood waters pooled across a wide swath of the Zambezi flood plain on March 28, and numerous towns and villages were either underwater or surrounded by floods. In the dry season, the river meanders in a narrow ribbon across the region. The vegetation is dry, and the land is shades of beige and brown. In the flooded image, the vegetation across the area is greener, which makes the flooded landscape look almost purple in places.

Flooding during the southern Africa rainy season is a normal occurrence, but this year’s rains and flooding were exceptional. Quoting Caprivi Governor Leonard Mwilima, an Agence-France Press news report said that the Zambezi River rose to its highest level in 40 years.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 Team, and Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey Global Visualization Viewer. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. Instrument:  EO-1 – ALI

Southern Africa hit by worst floods in years

The Zambezi River passes the town of Tete in central Mozambique after floods took place in three river basins in 2008. Photo AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

On Mar 27, 2009 AFP reported:

• Southern Afica’s  worst floods in years, has killed more than 100 people, displacing thousands more.
• Record river levels across the region have affected hundreds of thousands of people.
• In March, Namibia’s government declared a state of emergency in areas where floods have affected over 350,000 people, 13,000 of whom were displaced.
• Some 160,000 people have been affected in Angola.
• The Zambezi river, along Namibia’s northeastern Caprivi Region, rose to 7.82 meters last week, its highest level in 40 years.
• Large areas were submerged by water and access to several villages was cut off.
• The death toll stood at 112.
• Nearly 200 schools have closed.
• One hospital and 19 clinics were cut off due to floods.
• “Water engineers are telling us these are the worst floods here since 1965,” an official told AFP.
• In Zambia, 21 districts have been affected by flooding and the army has been called in to assist the worst affected region of Shang’ombo, where they are also helping reconstruct a bridge connecting it to the rest of the country.
• In northern Botswana, rain has caused the Okavango, Zambezi and Chobe rivers to swell, leaving 430 people displaced and submerging eight villages.
• The villages of Satau and Parakarungu (population 1,000), could be swept away by the rising rivers within a matter of days, said a district official.
• In Mozambique,  about 4,000 people were cut off by floods.
• In 2008, heavy rains in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi caused flash flooding in Mozambique displacing tens of thousands of people and destroying 100,000 hectares of crops.
• In 2000 and 2001 about 700 people were killed in Mozambique’s floods caused by torrential rains.
• “We must seriously consider the present floods and those of a year ago as having to do with climate change,” Guido van Langenhove, a Namibian government hydrologist, said.