Tag: Floods

Death toll rises to 66 in India’s monsoon mayhem

NEW DELHI, July 12, 2023 (AFP) – Days of relentless monsoon rains have killed at least 66 people in India, government officials said Wednesday, with dozens of foreign tourists stranded in the Himalayas after floods severed road connections. Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity. Torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and torn down bridges […]

Continue Reading →

At least 29 killed in India monsoon floods: officials

NEW DELHI, July 10, 2023 (AFP) – Days of intense monsoon rains across northern India have left at least 29 people dead, rendering many areas inaccessible with bridges smashed and roads blocked, officials said Monday. Television footage showed flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain, washing away vehicles, demolishing buildings and ripping down bridges in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh, the worst affected area. “In the last two days, the death toll due […]

Continue Reading →

Two dead in southwestern Japan after ‘heaviest rain ever’

KURUME, Japan, July 10, 2023 (AFP) – At least two people were killed in torrential rain in southwest Japan on Monday, with fears the toll could rise, as tens of thousands of residents were told to evacuate their homes. Downpours after a week of steady rain have caused rivers to burst their banks and sodden earth to collapse in deadly landslides, including one that killed a 77-year-old woman. The woman’s home was engulfed overnight in […]

Continue Reading →

Heavy rains and flooding pummel US northeast, one dead

NEW YORK, July 10, 2023 (AFP) – The northeastern United States was inundated Monday with heavy rain and flooding across several states a day after storms and flash floods washed out highways and killed one person in New York state. Parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont were under flood warnings as of 6:00 am (1000 GMT) Monday, with states in the region recording rapid rainfall and “life threatening” flash floods, […]

Continue Reading →

At least 42 dead in Haiti floods, landslides

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — At least 42 people were dead and 11 missing in Haiti afer heavy rains at the weekend triggered flooding and landslides, civil protection oficials said Monday. The bad weather hit seven of the 10 departments in the country which is already plunged into a protracted humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence, political collapse and economic stagnation. According to the UN, the severe rains afected 37,000 people and displaced 13,400. The town […]

Continue Reading →

Toll from DR Congo floods rises to nearly 400: official

BUKAVU, DR Congo, May 7, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to nearly 400, an official said on Sunday. At least 394 bodies have been recovered after last week’s floods, said Thomas Bakenga, administrator of Kalehe territory where the affected villages are located. He had announced a toll of at least 203 people on Saturday. Heavy […]

Continue Reading →

Rwanda counts cost after floods, landslides kill 130

RUBAVU, Rwanda, May 4, 2023 (AFP) – Rwandans grieved Thursday for lost loved ones and destroyed homes after powerful floods and landslides tore through the country killing at least 130 people and leaving many thousands homeless. The government was still counting the cost as families prepared to bury their dead in the aftermath of a natural disaster caused by torrential rains in the steep and hilly country. Rivers of mud swept away homes and other […]

Continue Reading →

Flooding triggers emergency in Auckland, forces cancellation of Elton John concert

  Wellington, New Zealand | AFP | Friday 1/27/2023  A state of emergency was declared in Auckland on Friday after torrential rain caused widespread flooding in New Zealand’s largest city, closing the airport and forcing the cancellation of an Elton John concert. Auckland mayor Wayne Brown told a news conference late on Friday he was “deeply saddened” after a body was found in a northern suburb. Police have not confirmed whether the death was a […]

Continue Reading →

Floods sweep future from Pakistan schoolchildren

by Ashraf KHAN Agence France-Presse CHANDAN MORI, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistani three-year-old Afshan’s trip to school is a high-wire balancing act as she teeters across a metal girder spanning a trench of putrid floodwater, eyes fixed ahead. After record monsoon rain flooded her classroom in the southeastern town of Chandan Mori, this is the route Afshan and her siblings now traverse to a tent where her lessons take place. “It’s a risky business to send […]

Continue Reading →

Displaced by flooding, Nigerians in desperate need of help

Ahoada, Nigeria | AFP | by Alexandre MARTINS LOPES It was pitch black when the waters came, forcing mother Fortune Lawrence and her eight children to jump on a makeshift boat and flee their house. For the past two weeks, they have been living in dire conditions near Ahoada, in Rivers state, in a school now crowded with more than a thousand people displaced by Nigeria’s worst floods in a decade. “I was afraid to die […]

Continue Reading →

Floods swallow cars, swamp houses in ‘major’ Australian emergency

Melbourne, Australia | AFP | Flash floods swamped hundreds of homes in southeastern Australia Friday with waterlogged residents now facing a “nerve-wracking” wait to assess the damage. A major flooding emergency was declared in Victoria — Australia’s second-most populous state — where rapidly rising waters forced evacuations in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong. Cars left on the streets of the suburb were almost completely swallowed by the floods, while some stranded residents had to be […]

Continue Reading →

Floods force evacuations in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Thousands were warned to flee their homes in southeastern Australia on Friday to escape surging floodwaters threatening towns across three separate states. The flooding emergency was the worst in Victoria — Australia’s second most populous state — where on Friday morning rapidly rising waters swamped the Maribyrnong suburb of Melbourne, forcing evacuations. The Victorian government was preparing to reopen a Covid-19 quarantine center to shelter those whose homes were uninhabitable, state […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 30