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Flooding, Avalanche Threat Continues Across Northwest
Drenching rainfall from the latest in a series of storms will continue to cause flooding across parts of the Pacific Northwest today.
Another 1 to 3 inches of rain will fall today along the Pacific coast and in the valleys of western Washington and Oregon, including Seattle and Portland. Heavy rain will also douse areas well to the east of the Cascades, across parts of western Washington and Oregon, as well as parts of Idaho.
The rain will fall heaviest during the morning hours before becoming more showery-in-nature by tonight.
Regardless of intensity, any additional rainfall will only exasperate ongoing flooding, which could make for slow travel along the I-5 corridor south to Medford. Motorists should always avoid driving through areas where water is ponding.
Higher rainfall totals are likely in the upslope areas of the Cascades. River flooding is already ongoing along rivers flowing off the mountains, including the Cowlitz, Nisqually and Puyallup Rivers. Read more…
Brazil flood and mudslide deaths rise
More than 420 people have now been killed by flooding and mudslides in south-eastern Brazil, officials say.
About 200 people have died in the town of Nova Friburgo, some 175 in Teresopolis and dozens more in Petropolis, media report. Thousands of people have been made homeless.
Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral blamed local governments for allowing poor building and illegal occupations.
President Dilma Rousseff has toured damaged areas in Nova Friburgo.
She vowed that there would be “firm action” by the government.
Ms Rousseff was accompanied by Mr Cabral and other politicians and later left for a press conference in Rio, where she spoke of the “dramatic” scenes she had seen.
Expressing solidarity with the victims, she said: “The suffering of the people is very great.”
‘It was hell’
Heavy rain fell early on Thursday as rescuers resumed their search but l Read more…
Sri Lanka flooding forces more than 300,000 to flee homes
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 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…
Queensland Flood cost $5 Billion in Damages: Wheat and Coal Prices go up
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.
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