Cyclone in Myanmar

YANGON (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without shelter and drinking water in military-ruled Myanmar after a devastating cyclone tore through the Irrawaddy delta, a United Nations official said on Monday.

Aid agencies scrambled to deliver plastic sheeting, water and cooking equipment from stockpiles in the former Burma. The government says at least 351 died in the cyclone, which slammed into the delta region on Saturday before devastating Yangon.

That death toll is likely to climb as the authorities make contact with hard-hit islands and villages in the delta, the rice bowl of the impoverished Southeast Asian nation of 53 million.

“It’s clear that this is a major disaster,” Richard Horsey, of the United Nations disaster response office in Bangkok, told Reuters after an emergency aid meeting.

“How many people are affected? We know that it’s in the six figures. We know that it’s several hundred thousand needing shelter and clean drinking water, but how many hundred thousand we just don’t know,” he said.

The International Federation of the Red Cross said teams were trying to assess the damage and aid requirements in the five declared disaster zones where 24 million people live.

“We are issuing water purification tablets, clothing, plastic sheeting, cooking utensils and hygiene items. We’re trying to mobilise portable water from local businesses,” Michael Annear, head of Red Cross Southeast Asia disaster management unit.

“We’re preparing to send more stuff into the country. We have not been restricted,” he said.

 

Storms Batter the UK

Reported in The Guardian today:

The storm that battered large sections of the UK today originated high above Newfoundland late last week, deepening as it moved across the Atlantic.

While the winds that hit the south and east coasts early today saw gusts peaking at just over 80mph, such speeds are not in themselves that exceptional, according to the Met Office.

“We probably get wind speeds that high around the UK about once or twice a year,” Dave Britton, a Met Office meteorologist, said.

“What is more unusual about this is the low pressure, at 940, which we only see about once every five years or so.

“Again, this is not a completely exceptional figure, but it is a very large area of low pressure. It is also the gradient it approaches at which is so important.”

The severe flood warnings in place throughout Devon and Cornwall were caused by a combination of yet more factors, Britton said.

“What is happening is that you have the spring tides, which are particularly high near the equinox.

“Then you have the low pressure, which you could say sucks the water further upwards.

“Then you have the extremely strong winds pushing the water towards the shore. All this is combing to cause the flood risk.”

The flood risk peaked around the morning high tide, between around 6am and 7am – but as winds increase again over the course of the day there is a renewed risk of more flooding with the next tide.

One positive for meteorologists, Britton added, was that they had anticipated the scale of the storm more or less exactly.

Snow in China

Millions of Chinese faced a humanitarian crisis on Friday, as petrol and food reserves dwindled and yet more bad weather was forecast for a country paralyzed by record-breaking cold and snow.

More than 160 counties and cities in central China were suffering blackouts and water shortages, Xinhua news agency said, including Chenzhou, in Hunan province, a city of 4 million that has been without power and water for more than a week.

“Many trees are severed and power lines have collapsed. It’s like we have experienced an air raid or lost a battle,” a Chenzhou hotel worker told Reuters by telephone. “It is a complete mess. We are hungry and cold.”

Death Toll for Bangladesh Cyclone Rises

Today’s news stated that the number of deaths has risen to 3100.

Bangladesh Cyclone

At least 600 people are reported to have died after a powerful cyclone smashed into Bangladesh’s coast, levelling villages and uprooting trees.Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated or sought safe shelter before the storm hit the coast from the Bay of Bengal, but some were left behind. The true extent of the devastation remains unclear as the storm has blocked access to the affected areas. The storm weakened on Friday as it passed through the capital, Dhaka. As it was downgraded to a tropical storm, attention turned to assessing the devastation and distributing aid. Crops destroyed The damage from Cyclone Sidr, which has now moved well inland north-east of Dhaka, was worst on Bangladesh’s southern coastal strip. The government’s disaster agency estimated the confirmed number of dead at 606 on Friday. Tens of thousands of homes are thought to have been damaged and the recent crop harvest has also probably been destroyed.

Britain’s Biggest Storm

Do you remember October 1987?…..OK so maybe you were not around then. Britain had an enormous storm that has become legendary. Watch ITV at 9pm tonight (

16 October 2007) to find out more!

Gale force winds caused extensive damage to many properties. On this day 20 years ago it was known that at least 13 people had died and many more were injured. Here are a few links for you to read about it:

P     The Met Office 

P     BBC News 

P     BBC Weather  

Tornadoes!!!!!

Tornadoes ripped through parts of Britain today, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

Reports suggested that as many as 11 twisters formed separately early this morning as a cold front moved north-eastwards across England.

Dozens of homes have been damaged, rooves ripped off and trees uprooted by seven freak tornadoes that battered parts of Britain today.

The 80 mph winds, which were not predicted by forecasters, caused thousands of pounds to houses in Luton, Farnborough, Nuneaton, Northampton, Derby and Nottingham.

The first twisters hit in the midlands at about 6.30am before moving southwards, leaving a trail of damage in their wake.