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Archive for the ‘Flood’ Category

South Africa: Floods kill 120 and destroy crops

January 29, 2011 Comments off

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa is reeling from unusually heavy rainfall that has caused flooding in many parts of the country, wiping out crops in what is the continent’s main breadbasket.

More than 120 people have been killed in the thunderstorms and flooding since mid-December, and some 20,000 people are in need of assistance. The South African government has declared disaster areas in eight of its nine provinces.

And it’s not over yet. Above-average rainfall is forecast for South Africa and neighboring countries for the next few months.

Much of southern Africa is now on flood alert, including Mozambique, where at least 13 people have died from floods and thousands have fled their homes for higher ground. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia are also on alert for flooding.

While this is the annual rainy season in southern Africa, the heavier than usual rainfall has been blamed on La Nina, the weather pattern behind the severe flooding in other southern hemisphere countries including Australia, Brazil and the Philippines.

In South Africa, the government has put the flood damage at $211 million, but this is an early estimate and expected to rise. At least Read more…

Categories: Africa, Flood, Weather Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sri Lanka flooding forces more than 300,000 to flee homes

January 13, 2011 Comments off

Mudslides bring death toll to 21 as government says more than 1 million people affected by rains

    Sri Lankan rescuers evacuate residents of the eastern district of Batticaloa by boat as floods rise Sri Lankan rescuers evacuate residents of the eastern district of Batticaloa by boat as floodwaters rise. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesMore than 300,000 people have been forced out of their homes by flooding in Sri Lanka, with no sign of a let-up in the torrential rain on the island nation’s east coast. 

    Three more people were killed by mudslides today, bringing the death toll to 21, officials said.

    The government’s Disaster Management Centre said more than 1 million people had been affected by the rains, with 325,000 made homeless.

    Many villages remain cut off from supplies despite a huge relief effort i Read more…

Categories: Flood, Natural disasters, Odd Weather Tags: , , , ,

Queensland Flood cost $5 Billion in Damages: Wheat and Coal Prices go up

January 5, 2011 Comments off

Queensland is roughly the size of France and Germany, however the catastrophic floods of Australia will be felt worldwide. Queensland premier Anna Bligh said the flooding was unprecedented in the state and had now directly affected 40 towns, raising the number from 22 and affecting 200,000 people. “We are unable to move anything by rail or, of course, road,” David Ginns, corporate affairs manager at GrainCorp told Reuters, adding that transport of grain to port elevators from inland areas had effectively ceased, and the domestic distribution network had also been impacted.  Ten people have died during the disaster.

Australia’s record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its coal mines, which fuel Asia’s steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland’s premier said on Wednesday.  “Seventy-five percent of our mines are currently not operation because of this flood,” Premier Anna Bligh told local television. “So, that’s a massive impact on the international markets and the international manufacturer of steel.” Queensland state is the world’s biggest exporter of coal used in steel-making and contributes more than 40 percent of the global seaborne trade.  Steelmakers in Asia may be forced to pay as much as 33 percent more for hard coking coal after the flood.  Full-year sales of metallurgical coal has been revised down from 6-6.5 million tonnes to 5.8-6.2 million tonnes.

Queensland’s winter grain crop has been totally destroyed by flooding. It is estimated that it will cost the industry about $400 million.  Australia’s wettest spring on record have damaged the crop quality in the world’s fourth largest wheat exporter, stoking supply concerns and pushing up already high global wheat prices.  It is possible that half of the national crop or about 10 million tonnes could be downgraded to animal feed or low-grade milling grains.

The floods will have a devastating impact on summer crops of sorghum and cotton greatly reducing yield. Prices began to surge last summer after a drought in Russia and the Black Sea region decimated the crop there and shut off exports. In recent months, wet weather in Australia and dryness in U.S. wheat areas have raised fears over supplies.

Categories: 2010, Australia, Flood Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,