Tropical Cyclones
The most powerful cyclone to strike Australia in 30 years
unleashed widespread damage to structures and crops across the
northeastern state of Queensland. Cyclone Larry roared into the
community of Innisfail, a popular jumping-off point for the Great
Barrier Reef. Marine biologists said the Category 5 cyclone’s
powerful waves inflicted severe damage to the reef, which could
take decades to heal.
By Steve Newman
Tropical Cyclones
The most powerful cyclone to strike Australia in 30 years unleashed widespread damage to structures and crops across the northeastern state of Queensland. Cyclone Larry roared into the community of Innisfail, a popular jumping-off point for the Great Barrier Reef. Marine biologists said the Category 5 cyclone’s powerful waves inflicted severe damage to the reef, which could take decades to heal.
Cyclone Wati formed quickly off the coast of Queensland as Larry lost force inland. But the storm gained only Category 1 strength and passed well offshore.
Cyclone Floyd churned the Indian Ocean off Australia’s northwestern coast.
Prairie Drought
Parts of the Canadian Prairie grain belt have been left so parched by a dry winter they will need regular rains during the next month to allow for spring planting. Surveys show soil moisture is below average across much of Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan, where winter precipitation was spotty. Aston Chipanshi, climate specialist for the federal Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, cautioned that farm water supplies for livestock could also be threatened in the western Prairies.
Dust Storm
Fierce winds across Mongolia and interior parts of China created a huge cloud of dust that blew as far away as the island of Taiwan. Health officials on the island warned the elderly, children and those with respiratory problems to stay indoors to avoid inhaling fine dust particles in the air.
Serbian Slide Disaster
More than a thousand people in central and western Serbia were evacuated from their homes after heavy rain and melting snow caused over a hundred landslides. The country’s RTS television network reported that dozens of houses were destroyed or damaged by the slides. The disaster has left many villages without water or electricity, and destroyed or damaged houses and roads.
Eruptions
Mount Bulusan, the Philippines’ most active volcano produced an explosion that sent a cloud of ash soaring almost a mile into the sky above Sorsogon province, 280 miles southeast of Manila. Officials ordered all people living at the foot of the volcano to stay out of a 2.5-mile danger zone due to the threat of additional explosions. Bulusan’s last explosion was recorded in early 1995.
A violent eruption of a volcano in New Zealand’s remote Kermadec island group left one researcher feared dead and sent the remaining five members of the team fleeing the island. It was the first time the volcano on Raoul Island had erupted since 1964.
Earthquakes
A sharp tremor near Algeria’s northeastern coast killed four people and injured 68 others near the town of Laalam. Officials said 38 homes collapsed during the shaking.
A moderate aftershock of last October’s South Asia temblor spread panic among residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The latest shaking jolted people out of their beds just before midnight.
Earth movements were also felt in southwest Pakistan, eastern Turkey, Serbia, northwest Sumatra, northeast Japan, northwest Montana, far northern Quebec and interior parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Drought-Breaking Rains
A winter of regular rainfall in Spain has prompted the country’s meteorological office to say a second year of severe drought is becoming less likely. “Broadly speaking, it’s rained about twice as much as last year,” said meteorologist Antonio Mestre. The amount of water held in the country’s lakes and rivers is now only about 19 percent below the average for the same time during the last 10 years. Severe drought and heat waves last summer sparked a record number of wildfires across the Iberian Peninsula and caused widespread water shortages.
Deadly Feast
Brief periods of heavy rain broke the scorching drought in parts of Kenya, but scores of starving wild animals died after gorging on too much vegetation, which had sprung up due to the rain. Wildlife officials in Hell’s Gate National Park in the Rift Valley province said at least 100 animals – mostly gazelles, zebra and buffaloes – had died due to overgrazing. At least 40 people have perished in northern Kenya during the recent drought, and livestock are also dying at an alarming rate. The U.N. warns that at least 11 million people across East Africa are in danger of starvation due to the failure of seasonal rains.
