Floods

Lae MP addresses flooding concerns

Lae MP John Rosso raised this issue after seeing numerous comments regarding the flooding in the Top town area last week.

“If you are in Lae, we have experienced heavy rainfall day and night for the last few days and its excessive and above average,” he stated.

“The drainage is clogged up by people who have no regard and just throw rubbish on the streets.

“Road and drainage reserves have been occupied by unscrupulous people who have obtained land titles over these reserves, resulting in the Lae City Authority being unable to access them to work.

NCDC works on minimizing flooding

City Manager, Ravu Frank, commended the positive outcome, but is emphasizing on the need for further work to address the issue permanently.

Measures taken include clearing encroachments, scaling up cleaning and unblocking drainages, and engaging hydrology engineers for lasting solutions.

An establishment for a demolition exercise was located in 26 areas in the city allowing the flow of drain waters. The exercise has already taken place and is currently in process in some areas where residents have encroached on reserves.

Australia floods kill seven as severe weather pummels Queensland

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk compared the weather to a cyclone event, as Brisbane, the Queensland capital, was bracing for flooding on Sunday, before the rainfalls ease by Monday.

Floods and landslides hit France and Italy

Named Alex, the storm brought fierce winds and torrential rain.

A number of villages north of Nice in France suffered serious damage from floods and landslides, with roads, bridges and homes destroyed.

In north-western Italy, flooding was described as "historic". A section of a bridge over the Sesia river collapsed.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex has deployed the army and released emergency funds to tackle the worst floods for decades in south-eastern France.

Up to 20 people are either missing or have not checked in with relatives.

Many feared dead in Japan in flooded care home

Fourteen victims were found in the same flooded nursing home while the other was pulled from a landslide. The deaths have yet to be formally certified.

The authorities have ordered more than 200,000 to evacuate and 10,000 soldiers are being sent to help rescuers.

Heavy rain is predicted to continue overnight into Sunday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged people to be on "maximum alert".

The prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima have been worst hit.

Bialla bridges washed off

Three bridges have been washed off in the Biala LLG, cutting off road access to Kimbe town.   

On Saturday night, the third bridge got washed away, forcing people to resort to wet crossing.

Abel Taukuro told this newsroom from Biala that two bridges, in Soi and Kolai river, were washed away last Thursday.

On Saturday night, the bridge at Imule, that separates central and east Nakanai, also gave way to floods.

People are now doing wet crossing, while PMVs wait on either sides of the highway.

 

Rescue and evacuation efforts ongoing in Hawaii after floods

It has also caused damage to parts of neighbouring Oahu.

The state's Red Cross is busy delivering emergency aid to people, many of whom are in evacuatiion centres.

Record flash flooding and severe thunderstorms over the weekend turned roads to waterways and triggered mudslides, while there were widespread power and water shut downs.

In some cases access to emergency shelters was blocked.

Houston flood: Trump visits Texas amid 'epic' rainfall

He and First Lady Melania Trump flew to Corpus Christi, where Hurricane Harvey first made landfall on Friday.

Governor Greg Abbott said he wanted the president to understand the enormous challenges that Texans faced.

Unprecedented flooding has driven thousands of people from their homes, particularly in the Houston area where two dams are overflowing.

At least 15 people are reported to have died, including six members of the same family whose van was swept away by rising floodwater, and a man in his 60s who apparently drowned while trying to swim to safety.

Devastated artists pull together for flood recovery

Many of the wooden frames were buckled and the canvases shredded. All of them were covered in a thick film of pungent mud.

"I had to walk away from it, I was that upset, I couldn't handle it," Mr Moran said.

"I told my friends to leave me alone and I took a knife and ran the knife through some of them that couldn't be saved."

Mr Moran's studio had been completely submerged by floodwaters in the northern New South Wales city of Lismore.

And, like many local business owners, Mr Moran was uninsured.

How to escape a sinking car

After the car was pulled from the water and it became apparent that Stephanie King had died trying to save her children, that pang of fear grew into a need for answers.

What would they do if they found themselves in that situation with their children strapped into the backseat? What could they do?

Videos began appearing on social media feeds of parents who had searched the internet for answers.