NE China Hit by Worst Snowstorm in 50 Years

Heavy Snow Blankets NE China

Blizzard closed expressways and schools bringing traffic to a virtual standstill across northeast China’s Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces.

China’s National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued a yellow alert for blizzards Sunday morning for a second consecutive day, said Xinhua.

Blizzard buffeted NE provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, covering the ground with a 20-cm (8 in) layer of snow, the NMC said.

Heavy snow blankets NE China. Image credit: news.cn/via Xinhua.

Disaster Calendar – August 19, 2013

Hundreds dead or missing as floods and mudslides devastate China

Extreme rain events, flooding and mudslides in northeast and southern China have left hundreds of people dead, injured or missing.

“The Heilongjiang Provincial Hydrological Bureau forecast the stretch of the Heilong River between Tongjiang and Fuyuan County will witness the largest flooding in its history. Authorities in Tongjiang have started a Grade I response preparing for floods,” said a report.

• The deluge has destroyed or damaged at least 210,000 houses in Jilin, Heilongjiang, Guangdong and Liaoning provinces, with the direct economic losses estimated at 18.5 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars), said a report.
• Torrential rains and floods triggered by Typhoon Utor have affected 680,000 people in eight cities in Guangxi. Some 16,660 hectares of crops have been damaged and 1,080 houses have been destroyed.
• In Guangdong Province, TY UTOR has affected more than 2.5 million people destroying or damaging about 19,000 houses and forcing 513,000 people to relocate. The extreme rain has also ruined 173,333 hectares of farmland, according to local authorities.
• “In central China’s Hunan Province, landslides triggered by continuous rainfalls over the past two days have left one dead and 14 others buried or missing,” said a report.

[NOTE: Some of the stats quoted above are already outdated as the  catastrophe continues to unfold in China on an almost hourly basis.]

Original caption: People walk on ruins after the flood in Nankouqian Township, Fushun, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, Aug. 18, 2013. The death toll has risen to 54 as of Monday morning after the worst flooding in decades ravaged Fushun City, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, said the local authorities on Aug. 19, 2013. Extreme rainstorms battered Liaoning from Thursday to Saturday, leaving many rivers flooded in Fushun. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

• In Fushun City, 139,800 houses were damaged and many have collapsed.

• In Guangdong province, 19,000 houses have collapsed or sustained severe damage, forcing  about 513,000 residents to relocate.  The direct economic loss is estimated at 490 million yuan (80 million U.S. dollars).
• “Heilongjiang Province reported [37]  flood-related deaths. The floods have destroyed over 2,500 houses and severely damaged at least 12,500 others, with direct economic losses estimated at 7.13 billion yuan (1.15 billion U.S. dollars).”
• In Jilin Province, at least “35,000 houses were destroyed or damaged with direct economic losses at 2.4 billion yuan (387 million U.S. dollars).”
• “As of 10 a.m. Monday, a total of 1.8 million people in 30 counties in Liaoning Province have been affected and 162,000 have been evacuated from flooded areas. More than 6,100 buildings have collapsed and the total direct economic loss is around 8.5 billion yuan(1.39 billion U.S. dollars), according to the ministry.”

Don’t bring your car to China!

Heping Town in Shantou City, south China’s Guangdong Province devastated by extreme rain events and severe flooding, August19, 2013.  (Xinhua/Yao Jun). More images…

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Philippines’ Cebu declares calamity as sunken ferry leaks oil

The central Philippine province of Cebu has declared a state of calamity as an oil slick from a ferry that sank last week spread to about 20 percent of the coast, said a report.

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16 Counties across three states declared agricultural disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 16 counties in three states as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by frost and freezing temperatures that occurred March 25-29, 2013.

The disaster designations are

• Alabama: Baldwin, Escambia, Mobile, Washington, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and Monroe counties.

• Florida: Escambia, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties.

• Mississippi: George, Greene, Jackson and Wayne counties.

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Beaver Creek Fire Consumes 100,000 acres

As of August 18, 2013 10pm,  the Beaver Creek Fire had grown to at about 100,921 acres with 8% containment.

Beaver Creek Fire. Red Flag conditions, including higher temperatures and wind gusts to 38 miles per hour, increased fire activity on the Beaver Creek Fire. Credit: Sawtooth National Forest/ USFS.

For additional information see

• “Take Your Essentials Belongings and Pets and GO NOW” August 18, 2013

Who Needs Tsunamis!!

Flooding and mudslides in China kill scores of people, destroy tens of thousands of homes

Extreme rain events have triggered widespread flooding and massive mudslides killing scores of people, affecting millions and leaving hundreds of thousands of others homeless.

The scale of the catastrophe is unprecedented. The worst-affected areas are the northeast provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, which are major grain producers in China.

Deadly flooding has also affected Guangdong Province in the south.

A man carries relief supplies in flood-battered Nankouqian County, Fushun City in northeast China’s Liaoning Province, Aug. 18, 2013. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong). More images…

Floods Kill Dozens in NE China

China Plagued by Extreme Weather Events

Flooding in the northeast, drought and extreme heat in the south, central and the southwest affecting about 20 percent of China’s population, FIRE-EARTH models show.

Flooding in northeast China’s Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces has left dozens of people dead, millions affected and at least a million others relocated.

• The deluge has destroyed or damaged at least 55,000 houses in Jilin and  Heilongjiang provinces, with the direct economic losses direct economic losses estimated at 10 billion yuan (1.6 billion U.S. dollars), said a report.
• Torrential rains and floods triggered by Typhoon Utor have affected 680,000 people in eight cities in Guangxi. Some 16,660 hectares of crops have been damaged and 1,080 houses have been destroyed.
• In Guangdong Province, TY UTOR has affected more than 2.5 million people destroying about 4,000 houses and forcing 321,500 people to relocate. The extreme rain has also ruined 173,333 hectares of farmland, according to local authorities.
• “In central China’s Hunan Province, landslides triggered by continuous rainfalls over the past two days have left one dead and 14 others buried or missing,” said a report.

Flood-devastated Shachang Residential Compound in Hongshi Town, Huadian City, NE China’s Jilin Province, Aug. 17, 2013. (Xinhua/Xu Chang). More images …

Drought, heatwave affecting half the population in SW China’s

Guizhou province

The heat wave has spread across the province since July, causing rivers and reservoirs to dry up and affecting 16.67 million people, or about 48 percent of Guizhou’s total population, according to the headquarters.

“Half of the 88 counties in our province are on the ‘worst-hit’ list, with more than 2.98 million people facing drinking water shortages,” said an official with the headquarters.

In Wumian, a village some 240 kilometers southeast of Guiyang, the provincial capital, villagers have had to queue up at the only well in the village to get water.

Villager Yang Aduo told Xinhua that he waited two hours before getting a bucket of water, and he had to wait several hours for the sediment to settle before drinking.

Drought leaves 13 million thirsty in China’s south

“A drought that has parched since last month has left nearly 13 million people without easy access to drinking water, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Thursday.”

• Drought ‘Orange Alert’ Issued in E China

Related Links

• Extreme heat kills at least 40 people in south China August 13, 2013
• Drought, Extreme Heat Cripple China, Japan, S. Korea August 11, 2013

• Major Catastrophe Unfolding in China
• China’s Latest Drought Disaster Figures
• Shanghai Sets Yet Another Record High Temp August 7, 2013

Heavy Snowstorms Hit NE China

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,216 Days Left 

[November 12, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,216 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

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Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Snowstorms affect millions in China

Major snowstorms have cut off power and water supplies to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in northeast China’s Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces as well as Inner Mongolia and northwest Xinjiang, forcing many schools and highways to close, a report said.

• “Most parts of northeast China and east part of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have undergone intense snowfall on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12. A yellow alert on blizzard was issued by the National Meteorological Center on Monday.”
• In eastern Inner Mongolia scores of buildings have collapsed under the weight of snow.
  
• The temperature fell sharply in East China’s Shandong Province.

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
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!

China’s Coastal Waters Are Terminally Polluted

China would be lucky to find a single healthy fish swimming in its coastal waters by 2011.

A Shrinking World Series

China’s wetlands, coral reefs and mangroves are rapidly disappearing: expert

According to a Chinese specialist, Luan Weixin, a professor at the Economics and Management College at Dalian Maritime University:

• About 50 percent of inland coastal wetlands in china have disapperaed because of excessive reclamation.

• Some 80 percent of coral reefs and mangrove forests had been destroyed over the past 50 years.

• Worst affected areas include estuaries of the Yangtze, Yellow and Zhujiang rivers, and water bodies near East Liaoning, Bohai and Hangzhou bays.

• A total of 145,000 square kilometers of shallow waters along China’s coast are substandard.

• Some 29,000 square kilometers of seawater is heavily contaminated by chemicals including fertilizers, which contain nitrogen and phosphate.

A child clears water from his boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, in east China’s Anhui province October 14, 2007. Blue-green algae has caused water pollution in Chaohu Lake, China’s fifth largest fresh water lake, where the rare whitebait production is on the decline, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Jianan Yu (CHINA). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

“Over the past 20 years or so, China’s marine economy has been developing at a staggeringly rapid pace and marine resources are being widely tapped. As a result, the condition of China’s inshore environment is deteriorating and the ocean ecology has been seriously damaged,” he said. (Source)

A man carrying lotus roots walk through an algae-filled pond in Yingtan, east China’s Jiangxi province, October 12, 2007. China’s pollution woes will form the smoggy backdrop to a key Communist Party gathering in October as leaders, who long treated nature as a foe to conquer, now fear that dirty air and water threaten stability and growth. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA) CHINA OUT. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Related Links:

• FACTBOX-Cross-border pollution strains ties in Asia
• China using up natural resources fast: report

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