Mass Evacuations Forced by MAN-YI in Japan

Up to two million people under mandatory evacuation or advised to evacuate: Report

Authorities in Japan have issued mandatory evacuation orders for an estimated 800,000 people in 205,000 households in seven prefectures, and advised an additional 1.2 million people in 346,000 residences in 18 prefectures to evacuate their homes due to the massive Tropical Cyclone MAN-YI.

The cyclone is currently racing up in a northeasterly direction in the northeastern Japan, including the Tohoku region, having made landfall in Aichi prefecture on Monday morning.

The cyclone has already dumped in excess of 550 millimeters (20 inches) of rain in western and central Japan, with eastern and northern regions told to expect more than 80 mm per hour.

Tropical Cyclone MAN-YI. IR/WV Difference Image 2013-09-16 @ 07:32UTC. Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

Weather officials issued special warnings for Shiga, Kyoto and Fukui prefectures.  The warning is reserved for events when there is a significant likelihood of a major natural disaster “of a magnitude observed only once every few decades,” said NHK.

The storm has killed at least one person, left five people missing and injured 671 others, reports said.

More than 360 homes have reportedly been damaged, many of them severely.

• About 74,000 households have been left without electricity.

• More than 500 domestic flights have been cancelled.

• Bullet train services have partially been suspended after wind speeds exceeded the safety limit, said NHK.

There are reports of widespread flooding and numerous mudslides in the affected regions, according to reports.

Related Links

• UPDATE: Tropical Cyclone MAN-YI September 15, 2013
• MAN-YI Eying Tokyo, Fukushima  September 15, 2013
• FEWW New Hurricane Scale September 3, 2008

Armyworms Force Disaster Declarations in Arkansas, Missouri

Armyworms devastate crops across 23 U.S. counties 

USDA has designated 19 counties in Arkansas and 4 counties in Missouri as agricultural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by armyworms that began April 1 and continues.

• The primary disaster areas in Arkansas: Boone, Fulton, Izard, Madison and Sharp counties.
• Contiguous disaster areas in Arkansas:  Baxter, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Independence, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Newton, Randolph, Searcy, Stone and Washington counties.
• The disaster areas in Missouri: Howell, Oregon, Ozark and Taney counties.

A county is designated an agricultural disaster area when the crop losses exceed 30 percent.

Fall armyworm damage corn cobs. –USDA

Fall armyworm cause extensive damage to whorls of corn. Source: Purdue Cooperative Extension Service

Four stages of armyworm development. Image Source: NCSU.

Description (Source: NCSU)

• Adult– The true armyworm moth has grayish-brown forewings, each with a white spot near the center, and grayish-white hind wings. The wingspan averages 38.5 mm.
• Egg – The minute, greenish-white egg is globular in shape.
• Larva – The young armyworm is pale green. The mature larva is basically yellowish or brownish-green with a tan or greenish-brown head mottled with darker brown. The smooth, practically hairless body is marked with three dark longitudinal stripes, one along each side and one down the back. A full-grown armyworm is 30 to 35 mm long.
• Pupa – The reddish-brown 13-mm-long pupa darkens gradually until it is almost black.

See also:

• ARMYWORMS MARCH ACROSS NEW YORK Posted on June 17, 2012
• Disaster Declared as Little Bear Fire Grows Posted on June 10, 2012

Other Global Disaster, Significant Events

• Vermont, USA. The Disaster President has declared 3 Vermont counties—Addison, Lamoille and Orleans—as major disaster areas due to severe storms, hail, flooding, high wind and a tornado that struck the region on May 29.
  • The extreme weather event caused widespread damage to private property as well as public infrastructure.
  • Vermont has now experienced extreme weather events destructive enough to warrant major disaster declarations for the sixth successive year.

• See also: Obama Presidency: Thousand Days of Disaster

[NOTE: This blog endorses neither of the two political mafia families!]

• Gulf of Mexico

Tropical Storm DEBBY. Image source: CIMSS

• TS DEBBY, currently quasistationery,  located about 210 miles SSE of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with winds of about 50MPH, and is expected to intensify into hurricane strength before slamming into Texas/Louisiana/Florida coasts.
• DEBBY could dump up to 10 inches of rain along the Gulf Coast from southern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
• Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches have been issued for coastal waters of SE Louisiana and S Mississippi.

• Colorado.  Waldo Canyon Fire, which flared up on Saturday, has grown to more than 2,000 acres, and is expected to remain active throughout the night.
  • The fast-moving blaze near Colorado Springs has forced more than 5,000 people to flee their homes.
  • The fire was zero percent contained, as of posting.
  • Mandatory Evacuation Orders:
    • “Cedar Heights Subdivision and Mountain Shadows south of Chuck Wagon are under mandatory evacuation. Boundaries are Rampart Range Road to the west and everything west of 30th and Centennial from Gateway Road north to Chuck Wagon. City of Manitou Springs and Crystal Park Subdivision as well as The north side of Hwy. 24 east from the County line to Waldo Canyon. There are no evacuation orders in place at this time for Mountain Shadows other than those south of Chuck Wagon Road. Garden of the Gods Park and Garden of the Gods Visitor Center are closed. Pikes Peak Hwy. is closed.” USFS reported.

• Colorado. Woodland Heights fire, another explosive blaze that ignited near the mountain community of Estes Park, has destroyed about two dozen structures.

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