flooding

The police commanders from the three zones in NCD reported no major incidents this week due to police presence in hotspot areas within the city.

According to NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Silva Sika, the city was quiet on Wednesday 25th January 2023, during the heavy downpour, where there were reports of flood along the road.

He said Erima, Waigani, Hohola were flooded and police officers were present and kept opportunists away from the traveling public.

The Cuban weather service said the downpours would last until Saturday afternoon, bringing more than 20cm (8in) of rain to some places.

Western and central areas of the country, including Havana, are the worst affected.

Hurricane Agatha hit Mexico last Monday, killing nine people.

Nearly 2,000 people have evacuated their homes in Havana, and around 50,000 people in and around the city are without electricity.

Evacuation centres have been prepared to shelter people from the rain, the state-affiliated Cuban News Agency reported.

Conditions were rapidly deteriorating by mid-afternoon on Wednesday as the effects of an east-coast low, which caused deadly floods in Queensland and northern NSW, hit the state's capital.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Dean Narramore said catchments already drenched by weeks of consistent rain were being bombarded with 50 to 100mm of fresh downpours, and it was expected to continue into the morning.

"A dangerous situation is evolving," he warned.

The dangerous weather left tourists stranded, including several who canceled wedding plans, and some of the islands' most iconic beaches barren as the threat of dangerous flash floods, landslides and crashing tree limbs persisted. It also brought as much as 8 inches of snow atop some of the state's highest summits. The conditions forced Gov. David Ige to issue a state of emergency for all of the state’s islands Monday night.

Air Niugini and PNG Air flights into the province have been cancelled for a day while most people were warned to stay indoors.

Provincial Administrator, Trevor Magei has confirmed that the epic centre was at Ubo, Safia local level government areas in Ijivitari district on the border of Oro and Central provinces.

He said the Rabaul Volcano Observatory centre, GEO Observatory Hawaii, National Disaster Centre and the Oro Provincial Disaster Centre, confirmed the earthquake measuring 5.3 magnitude on the Richter scale.

Continuous heavy rain has wreaked havoc on the village, which is located in one of the remote parts of Kewabi LLG in Siwi-Utame area.

“The continuous rainfall had caused the River Mambu to flood, covering the houses and gardens along the river bank and locals who live along the Mambu River have lost much of their food gardens, homes and the footbridge,” said a young community leader at Tiri village, Julius Kimba.

“They have lost more than two hectares of their food gardens in the flooding and they were left homeless and hungry after fleeing to safety on higher ground.

The storm's sluggish speed, roughly 5mph (7km/h), increases its capacity for destruction, pummelling coastal states with heavy rain.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported flooding from Tallahassee, Florida to Mobile Bay in Alabama.

It also warned of a "life-threatening" storm surge and river flooding inland as far as Georgia.

Hurricane Sally is one of several storms in the Atlantic Ocean, with officials running out of letters to name the hurricanes as they near the end of their annual alphabetic list.

He was returning from a betelnut supply run to remote Tekadu, in the Wau Rural LLG of Morobe Province.

Local authorities confirmed that the man was swept away by the river’s strong currents after he lost his footing on a log connecting the riverbanks.

Eyewitness and police reservist, Ben Bowney, who was with the man and 40 other locals who travelled to remote Tekadu, witnessed the incident.

Bowney said they mobilised and conducted a search, but were unsuccessful in locating the man.

Severe weather warnings for rain, winds and flooding have been issued for coastal areas of the eastern state.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warned of "dangerous conditions" on Saturday and Sunday.

There has already been flooding in Sydney and other areas along the coast.

Friday was the wettest day recorded in well over a year in Sydney, where roads were closed and public transport delayed.

Other NSW towns faced flood waters as well, including Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour, where 280mm and 250mm of rain fell respectively.

Cyclone Kenneth struck with winds of 220km/h (140mph) barely a month after a previous cyclone killed hundreds and devastated large areas.

Heavy rain continued to fall on Friday, raising fears of more floods.

Authorities have advised people to move to higher ground amid concern that thousands may be trapped in remote villages.

Mozambique was still recovering from Cyclone Idai, which killed more than 900 people across three countries in March.