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Rescuers struggle to reach storm-hit area in Nepal; 28 dead

Published

6 years ago

3 minute read

BHARWALIA, Nepal — Villagers who survived a powerful rainstorm that killed at least 28 people and injured hundreds in southern Nepal searched for food and shelter Monday as rescuers struggled to reach remote areas.

High winds during the storm Sunday night flipped cars and blew a bus carrying at least 40 people off a highway, killing some.

Police said most of the deaths were caused by collapsing walls and falling bricks in homes and toppled trees and electrical poles.

The storm swept through villages in a farming region in Bara and Parsa districts. The government administrator in Bara, Rajesh Poudel, said 27 were killed there. One person died in neighbouring Parsa, administrator Narayan Bhattarai said.

The area is about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of the capital, Kathmandu.

Police officers and soldiers were helping people injured by the rainstorm. Villagers from neighbouring districts were also distributing food to the victims.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli cancelled a visit to western Nepal and was flying to the area to observe rescue efforts, his office said.

The National Emergency Operation Center in Kathmandu said 612 people were injured and teams with tents and other material were sent to the area.

Villagers salvaged what they could from what was left of their homes in Bharwalia village, where most people live in huts made of mud and bricks with straw and stone roofs.

Most of the huts were blown down by the strong winds, leaving people without shelter or food.

“The storm took everything we had, including all the goods we had. We have no food to eat or any roof over our heads,” said Jebeda Khatung, who was digging through the debris in hopes of finding some of her belongings. All four members of her family survived.

“It began with a hailstorm and rain and the wind picked up. The roof was shaking and when I went to check if the roof was damaged, the door was blown open and I was thrown on the ground and hit my head,” said Mamata Devi Patel, whose head was wrapped in a bandage.

Local television showed the injured being taken to a hospital in cars, ambulances and even on motorcycles, but roads in many villages were blocked by fallen trees and electricity poles.

Pre-monsoon storms with strong winds and rain are common in March and April.

The provincial government announced 300,000 rupees ($2,725) in financial assistance for families of each of the dead.

Upendra Man Singh, The Associated Press

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Daily Caller

Fatalities reported Wednesday evening: Hurricane Milton Makes Landfall In Florida

Published on October 9, 2024

By

From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

 

By Hailey Gomez

Hurricane Milton officially made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday night as local residents have either bunkered down or fled from the areas expected to be hit, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Dropping from a Category 4 to Category 3 storm right before landfall, the devastating storm had 120 mph sustained winds and higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center reported. Warnings about Hurricane Milton began early in the week, with lawmakers and officials urging residents within Florida’s Gulf Coast area to flee from their homes or be prepared for disastrous impacts, according to The Associated Press News.

“As Hurricane Milton makes landfall near Sarasota county, now is the time to shelter in place. First responders are staged and ready to go, as soon as weather conditions allow. Search and rescue efforts will be well underway to save lives before dawn, and they will continue for as long as it takes,” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted to X.

An estimated 2 million people, including those within the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, area, were under a flash-flood warning from the Tampa National Weather Service, as “between 6 and 12 inches of rain” had already fallen.

Violent videos of the storm have began to circulating on X showing powerful winds tearing apart homes, trees and power lines.

Early reports indicated fatalities occurred due to tornado touchdowns prior to landfall on Florida’s Atlantic coast, according to West Palm Beach-based affiliate WPTV. While details remain unclear about the deceased, St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed to the outlet “multiple people” have been killed.

The storm comes on the heels of Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, which resulted in the deaths of over 200 people as it ripped through North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia after first making landfall in Florida on the evening of Sept. 26.

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International

Evacuations urged in Tampa Bay ahead of Hurricane Milton

Published on October 7, 2024

By

From The Center Square

By 

“We’re talking about storm surge values higher than the ceiling,”  “Please, if you’re in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate.”

Florida residents in and near Tampa Bay are strongly urged to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm that could increase its intensity.

In the Atlantic Basin, Milton at 18 hours is the second-fastest storm to go from Category 1 to 5. Wilma in 2005 needed just 12. Milton’s maximum sustained winds measured Monday morning were 160 mph.

Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie in Tallahassee on Monday said the ceilings in the state’s emergency operations center were 10 feet, 8 inches tall. The surge forecast for Tampa Bay from the National Hurricane Center is from 8 to 12 feet.

“We’re talking about storm surge values higher than the ceiling,” Guthrie said. “Please, if you’re in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate. If they have called for your evacuation order, I beg you, I implore you, to evacuate. Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave. We had situations where people died of drowning in Hurricane Ian. Had they just gone across the bridge from Estero Bay, Sanibel Island and so on, just across the bridge to the first available shelter that had capacity, they’d still be alive today.”

According to the National Hurricane Center’s 8 a.m. advisory, the storm is packing winds of 160 mph and is predicted to make landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. If the storm continues to intensify, it could become a Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Helene landed in the Big Bend region on Sept. 26. While Florida took a wallop, the remnants did the most severe damage in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. At 236, the death toll is fourth most from a hurricane in America since 1950.

Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed Hurricane Helene debris removal from the Tampa Bay area after workers found one of the gates locked and unmanned at the Pinellas County landfall despite the two-term Republican’s executive order that required landfills to remain open 24 hours to accept wreckage.

The Florida Highway Patrol, according to DeSantis, “took matters into their own hands,” fastened some rope to the gate and ripped it open so trucks carrying debris could dump their cargo there. He said crews already hauled 500 truckloads with 9,000 cubic yards of Helene debris from the barrier islands in Pinellas County and 180,000 cubic yards statewide.

“We need as much of this debris picked up as possible, this creates a safety hazard, and it also will increase the damage that Milton could do with flying debris,” DeSantis said. “All local entities should comply with this order and work around the clock to accomplish this mission. We don’t have time for bureaucracy and red tape.”

DeSantis said 800 National Guardsmen have been activated for debris removal in coastal areas affected by Helene, with 5,000 already on duty and 3,000 mobilized prior to Milton’s landfall. He also said the state suspended all tolls in west and central Florida such as the tolled part of Interstate 75 known as Alligator Alley, which connects Naples on the Gulf Coast with Fort Lauderdale on the Atlantic Coast.

DeSantis issued an emergency declaration on Saturday for Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie Sumter, Suwanee, Taylor, Union and Volusia counties.

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