Displaying items by tag: floods

A massive new flood defence system called MOSE, aimed at protecting Venice's lagoon during high tide, was finally installed in October. This week St Mark's Square was again under water, after MOSE did not activate due to human error. Residents, long accustomed to perennial high water events, pulled on their rubber boots once more to deal with flooding that reached a high of 4.5 feet above sea level. Waters drowned the square and invaded the famous basilica as shopkeepers blocked their entrances with wood panels to keep the water out. The MOSE project began in 2003 but was plagued by cost overruns of $6 billion, corruption scandals and delays.

Louisiana and Mississippi were hit by two hurricanes and two tropical storms already this year; before recovering they are being hit again, by Hurricane Zeta, which is intensifying into a stronger-category storm as it moves north. Pray for five million residents preparing for the eye of the storm and the repair of damaged voting sites with the election days away. Across Indonesia high tides caused by the La Nina phenomenon in the Pacific has caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across most of 17,000 islands where millions of people live who are also bracing for further monsoon floods. Pray for emergency workers and residents, already battling the new coronavirus. May God assist them in responding to crises. A landslide at a coal mine on Sumatra killed 11 miners. After heavy rainfall over Vietnam a landslide killed 14 at an army barracks, burying many more. Typhoon Molave has now made landfall in Vietnam. 

Hundreds of people near the Florida-Alabama border were being rescued from floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Sally on 16 September. Authorities fear many more could be in danger in the coming days. ‘We had four months of rain in four hours’, said the Pensacola fire department. Sally has weakened since making landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, but the devastation was visible across Southern states by nightfall. Sally continues to slowly move northwest causing torrential rain over eastern Alabama and western Georgia. Pensacola and parts of Florida and Alabama are submerged, with rivers approaching dangerous levels. Numerous counties are under curfews to keep residents safe. A commissioner in Florida said they are still in evacuation and lifesaving recovery missions, as historic and catastrophic flooding threatens more communities. There could be thousands of evacuations. Pray for the families and businesses in areas looking like war zones. 

Severe flash floods closed schools, caused rivers to burst their banks, flooded homes, blocked roads, disrupted train services, and caused a train crash. Lightning, heavy rain showers and large hailstorms are forecast for Scotland, with a ‘danger to life’ warning over the entire country for the next two days. Pray for strength and resolve to be poured out on those experiencing flooded properties, for the safety of vulnerable and elderly in dangerous situations, and for the various rescue services. A passenger train was derailed by a landslide in Aberdeenshire, in what was described as a ‘major incident’. The train driver, conductor and a passenger were killed when the front carriage plunged down an embankment bursting into flames, then the other carriages piled on top of each other. The train had avoided a similar incident minutes earlier when a landslip was reported to be blocking the line. See

On 4 August, Typhoon Hagupit struck while the Yangtze flood levels were still high (see). Two months of heavy continuous rain had caused 433 river levels to rise above flood control lines, devastating 27 of the country's 31 provinces. Thirty-three rivers reached record highs. Economic losses are about 86 billion yuan (£9,404 million) to date. Pray for God to release ongoing support and humanitarian aid to all of the affected areas. Pray for the millions of displaced people to be safe in their shelters, and for a stable future for countless families whose homes and livelihoods are affected.

Last week you prayed for South Asia’s humanitarian crisis with 9.6 million people affected by monsoon floods (three times more deaths than last year). This week floods took a turn for the worse in Nepal. In China relentless heavy rains have pummelled areas for a month. Yangtze River areas are overwhelmed, causing anxiety along the world's largest hydroelectric power plant, the 2.3-km Three Gorges Dam Already, 40 million people have been uprooted and 400+ rivers have overflowed. The dam, 300 km west of Wuhan, threatens to flood the first city to have been hit by coronavirus. In Texas, Hurricane Hanna has left some areas ‘totally under water’ and knocked out power across a region already reeling from a surge in coronavirus cases. Pray for communities with strained health care systems caused by coronavirus now airlifting patients to larger cities or areas away from floods.

A humanitarian crisis is deepening in South Asia as new figures reveal that over 9.6 million people have been affected by monsoon floods, devastating large areas of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Pray for the millions of people marooned in their homes, with crops destroyed by the worst floods in recent years. This year’s monsoon has come at the height of a deadly global pandemic. Tragically, already 550 people have lost their lives. Close to one third of Bangladesh has already been flooded, with forecasts of worse flooding in the coming days. Pray for God's comfort to be over those living in fear of worsening weather and deadly pandemic enemy. Pray for those mourning the death of friends and family killed by landslides, drowning and sickness. Pray also for the aid agencies and the various ministries of disaster management to have clear communication strategies to work in united support of the vulnerable.

Forest fires have ravaged several villages in Luhansk in areas held by Russian-backed separatist forces. Water-bombing planes, the national armed forces and hundreds of firefighters are battling high winds and soaring temperatures that are spreading the fires. The governor of Luhansk region suspects the fires were started by arsonists. He hopes that separatists nearby are not attacked as they tackle the blazes but ‘cannot give any security guarantees’. Luhansk is currently divided between Ukrainian control and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) amid an ongoing conflict in the east of the country. More than 13,000 people have been killed so far. Also, recent heavy flooding hit nearly 300 towns and villages in the west of the country. Climate change, illegal logging, and deforestation have all been blamed.

Super Cyclone Amphan, the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, has devastated Bangladesh and India with sustained winds of 165 mph - equivalent to a category 5 hurricane. Up to 300,000 people in coastal areas are in immediate danger from deadly storm surges and flooding. Thousands are homeless. India’s worst damage is in West Bengal's coastal districts that were ‘pulverised’. Nearly every coastal district in Bangladesh was damaged. Evacuations across the region were complicated by the pandemic, as authorities tried to maintain social distancing rules. Pray for the thousands left homeless as Amphan heaps misery on coronavirus-hit communities, particularly the 14 million in Kolkata - situated in its direct path. Pray for those in mourning, the injured, and those clearing debris from impassable roads, rescuing flood victims and organising aid as heavy rains continue to fall on hard-hit areas.

Torrential rains causing floods and landslides displaced 100,000 people and killed about 200 in Kenya. Floods destroyed 8,000 acres of crops, and the extreme rainfall will continue until the end of May. In Uganda, a river burst its banks, causing people to flee for safety. The waters of Lake Victoria have risen to unprecedented heights, forcing shoreline communities to abandon their homes. Rwanda, too, has seen houses, roads, and crops destroyed, and many killed by mudslides. At the same time, trillions of locusts have descended on the region. They can travel over 100 miles a day. There are 18 separate swarms in Kenya at present, and weather conditions are expected to favour breeding, so that a third generation could hatch in June and July. Added to these two tragedies, coronavirus is spreading among huge numbers of displaced people and closed borders are delaying delivery of pesticides to locust-affected areas.