At least six dead after record rains cause mudslides and force thousands to flee in California

By Max Golembo and Matt Gutman 9 January 2018 (ABC News) – At least six people are dead in California from weather-related incidents, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said today. The southern part of the state has been drenched with severe rain just weeks after several fires tore through the area.Flash flooding, debris flow […]

Evacuations ordered below Santa Barbara burn zones as area braces for rainstorm

By Alene Tchekmedyian 7 January 2018 (Los Angeles Times) – head of a strong winter storm that could trigger flash flooding and mudslides, authorities have ordered evacuations of Santa Barbara County neighborhoods that sit below areas recently burned by wildfires.Residents who live in the following areas were told to evacuate by noon Monday: north of […]

Bushfires in South Australia amid severe heatwave in south-eastern states – “Take shelter inside a solid building. Do not leave or enter this area in a vehicle or on foot. It is too late to leave, and the roads will not be safe.”

5 January 2018 (The Guardian) – Residents of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia are facing a scorcher of a weekend, and have been advised to drink plenty of water, take care in the surf and prepare properties for bushfire risks. An “extremely dangerous” bushfire was burning out of control in South Australia’s southeast […]

Munich Re: Series of hurricanes makes 2017 year of highest insured losses ever – “Our experts expect such extreme weather to occur more often in future”

4 January 2018 (Munich Re) – The hurricane trio of Harvey, Irma, and Maria will cost the insurance industry a record amount in 2017: the final insurance bill for those and other natural catastrophes, including a severe earthquake in Mexico, is expected to come to US$ 135bn – higher than ever before. And overall losses […]

Thomas fire becomes largest wildfire on record in California

By Javier Panzar and Michael Livingston 22 December 2017 VENTURA (Los Angeles Times) – The Thomas fire on Friday became California’s largest wildfire on record, burning 273,400 acres during its destructive march across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The fire eclipsed the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County, which burned 273,246 acres. The milestone […]

California fire continues to grow as strong, shifting winds bring new dangers – “This is the worst fire condition I’ve seen in the last 32 years”

By Melissa Etehad and Ben Poston 17 December 2017 (Los Angeles Times) – The massive Thomas Fire continued to grow Sunday morning even after an epic battle to protect homes along the Santa Barbara County coast Saturday proved successful despite intense winds.The third-largest fire in California history was burning a massive swath from Santa Barbara […]

2017 on track to be third worst year for wildfires in U.S. – Top ten years are all after the year 2000

17 December 2017 (Desdemona Despair) – The year 2017 is on track to be the third worst year on record for wildfires in the United States.Driven by California’s deadliest wildfire season on record, including the third-largest wildfire in state history, 2017 is making a run at the Number Two spot, as California’s wildfire season stretches […]

Raging Thomas Fire triggers new evacuation orders in California – “To see this kind of fire activity in the middle of December, it’s just unprecedented”

VENTURA, California, 10 December 2017 (CBS News) – The raging Thomas Fire triggered new evacuation orders Sunday for the Ventura-Santa Barbara county lines, authorities said. Overnight, new orders were sent out for the Carpinteria and Montecito areas as one structure was lost, CBS Los Angeles reports.In addition, the Thomas Fire is now the sixth largest […]

Photo gallery: Natural disasters and severe weather in 2017

The Eagle Creek wildfire burns as golfers play at the Beacon Rock Golf Course in North Bonneville, Washington, 4 September 2017. [more] Pictures of the year: Natural disasters Extreme heat in Indonesia: A freshly-scorched landscape in Pekanbaru, Indonesia in August 2017, after a fire caused by hot temperatures and lack of rain. [more] The impact […]

California fires rage into second week as massive blazes are expected to spread – “This is kind of the new normal”

By Rob Kuznia, Mark Berman, Max Ufberg, and Soo Youn 10 December 2017 VENTURA, California (The Washington Post) – Raging wildfires continued to burn through Southern California on Sunday, stretching into a second week as authorities warned that the blazes could still spread and pose new dangers. The fires have been blamed for one death, […]

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