Major Disasters/ Significant Events – Sep. 11, 2014

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC HAZARDS
NATIONAL DISASTER DECLARATION
STATES OF EMERGENCY
MAJOR CATASTROPHES
EXTREME RAIN EVENTS
DEADLY FLOODING
MASS EVACUATIONS
SCENARIOS 900, 444, 111, 078, 070, 066, 023, 09, 02
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Death toll tops 500 in Kashmir’s worst flood in half century

Kashmir’s worst flood in 50 years has left about 500 people dead, hundreds of thousands displaced and millions of others severely affected.

More than 2,500 villages and several major cities on both sides of Kashmiri heavily militarized divide have been inundated.

The worst-hit cities include Srinagar, the capital of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is almost completely submerged by floodwaters, and city of Jhnag [population: ~ 400,000,] the capital city of Jhang District, in the state of Punjab, Pakistan.

Floodwaters have swept away everything, officials said. Many people have lost their homes and livelihoods.

American Samoa Declared Major Disaster Area

The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the Territory of American Samoa in the areas affected by severe storms, flooding, and landslides during the period of July 29 to August 3, 2014.

Nevada Gov. Declares State Of Emergency due to Destructive Floods

Nevada Gov.  Sandoval has declared a state of emergency after extreme rain events, a combination of monsoon rains  combined with remnants of Tropical Storm Norbert inundated the Southwest earlier this week.

The town of Moapa received nearly 110mm of rain in just two hours, NWS reported. Dozens of homes were also flooded in nearby town of Overton.

Flooding destroyed a 80-km section of a Interstate 15 north of Las vegas and inundated large swathes of Clark County and the Moapa Paiute Reservation.

Six U.S. Fisheries to Receive Disaster Relief

Fishery Disasters caused by tsunami,  river flood, drought … and Hurricane Sandy

Six fisheries across the U.S. that were declared fishery disasters in 2012 and 2013 will receive $75 million in disaster relief funds, announced NOAA.

The allocations from the disaster relief fund will go to

• Commercial fisheries in American Samoa (damaged by the tsunami of 2009)
• Commercial fisheries in Mississippi (affected by the Mississippi River flood of 2011)
• The New England multispecies groundfish fishery for the 2013 season
• Alaska’s Chinook salmon fishery for 2011 and 2012 (near collapses)
• The Florida oyster fishery in the Gulf of Mexico (damaged by  drought in 2012)
• Fisheries in New York and New Jersey (destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012)

Cyclone RENE Update 3 (13 Feb)

RENE Heading West

Tropical Cyclone RENE has slowed down and consolidated; it’s intensifying and pummeling American Samoa as it heads west.

Background:

• RENE Hovering Near PAGO-PAGO
• Slow Forward Motion May Help RENE to Strengthen

Tropical Cyclone RENE – IR-WV Difference Satellite Image – Source: UW-CIMSS. Click image to enlarge.

Tropical Cyclone RENE – NOAA GOES JSL2 IR CH4 Satellite Image- Date as inset. Click image to enlarge. Click here for the most recent update.

Tropical Cyclone RENE (TC 15P) Details

• Date/Time: 12 February 2010 –  13:00 UTC
• Position:  Near 14.3ºS, 169.8ºW
• Sustained Movement: 280 degrees
  
• Forward speed: 10 km/hr (~ 6 kt)
• Tropical Cyclone RENE has been tracking  WEST over the past 6 hours.
  

Current Wind Distribution:

• Maximum Sustained winds: ~ 157 km (~ 85 kt)
• Maximum Gusts:  ~ 195 km/hr (~ 105 kt)

Wave Height and Location:

• Maximum significant wave height: ~ 9m (26 ft)
  
• Location: TC RENE was located about 120 km (~ 70 NM) ENE of Pago-Pago
• Rene could intensify to a Cat 2B Hurricane [probability of 65 percent] possibly a Cat 3A Hurricane [probability of 45 percent] within the next 72 hours.
  
• Sources: CIMSS, JTWC and Others

Additional Satellite Imagery

NOAA East Pacific Floater 1 GOES Satellite Imagery – Cyclone FIFTEEN (TC 15P)

• Visible  Image – Java – Flash
• IR AVN  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Shortwave  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Dvorak*  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Unenhanced  Image – Java – Flash
• IR JSL  Image – Java – Flash
• IR RGB  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Funktop  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Rainbow  Image – Java – Flash
• Water Vapor  Image – Java – Flash

See also: UW- CIMSS Cyclone Portal

Recent Disasters in Samoa Islands Region

In September 2009, the Samoa tsunami killed more than 200 people in the Samoan islands and Tonga, destroying dozens of villages.

In January 2004, Cyclone Heta struck Samoa Islands and American Samoa, destroying or damaging more than 4,500 homes in American Samoa. Heta also  destroyed 90 percent of the crops in the region.

Related Links:

• Cyclone RENE (TC 15P) Update 2 (13 Feb)
• Cyclone RENE (TC 15P) Update 1 (12 Feb)
• Introducing Tropical Cyclone Fifteen (Cyclone RENE)
• FEWW Satellite Imagery Links Page