severe weather - The African Mirror

Feb

2023

Thousands without power as California storms bring rain, snow and cold

NEARLY 85,000 households and businesses were without power in the Los Angeles area on Saturday, as storms continued to pummel parts of California, bringing snow to higher elevations and dumping rain and hail in the flatlands. Interstate 5, the largest highway leading north out of the city, remained closed at the steep grade known as the Grapevine due to heavy snow, while several more southern points of the freeway in and around Los Angeles were closed due to flooding, the California Department of Transportation said. In Northern California, San Francisco was expected to experience record cold temperatures on Saturday, and…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Merkel heads to flood zone facing questions over preparedness

WORLD

HOLGER HANSEN GERMAN authorities have faced a mounting outcry over deadly floods that engulfed large parts of the country last week, catching Europe's richest economy flat-footed in a disaster that had been predicted days earlier. As Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to the disaster zone for the second time, there were growing questions about how well prepared local and national authorities were for the floods that swept through defenceless towns and villages last week. "There were warnings about the masses of debris and floodwaters that were rolling towards these people and these warnings were not handled at all in the way…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

At least 44 dead, dozens missing as floods sweep through western Europe

WORLD

WOLFGANG RATTAY and DAVID SAHL AT least 42 people have died in Germany and dozens were missing as swollen rivers caused by record rainfall across western Europe swept through towns and villages, leaving cars upended, houses destroyed and people stranded on rooftops. Eighteen people died and dozens were unaccounted for around the wine-growing region of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate state, police said, after the Ahr river that flows into the Rhine broke its banks and brought down half a dozen houses. Another 15 people died in the Euskirchen region south of the city of Bonn, authorities said. People in the region…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Hurricane Sally weakens to tropical storm, leaves massive floods on U.S. Gulf Coast

WORLD

DEVIKA KRISHNA KUMAR and CATHERINE KOPPEL HURRICANE Sally has moved northeast, where it was expected to bring more than a foot of rain to some areas, one day after it flooded streets and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Sally made landfall early on Wednesday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. As of late Wednesday, it was moving north at 9 mph (15 km per hour) after being downgraded to a tropical depression, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, with…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Hanna pummels Texas coast with strong winds, heavy rain

WORLD

ADREES LATIF HANNA, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season, left a trail of destruction along the Texas coast on Sunday, downing power lines, flooding streets and toppling 18-wheeler trucks as torrential rains threatened the area. Hanna came ashore on Padre Island on Saturday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity and later made a second landfall in Kenedy County, Texas. It swept through a part of the state hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. By Sunday, it had weakened to a tropical depression. Powerful winds from Hanna knocked over at least three…