Southern Brazil is grappling with severe flooding, with further storms and heavy rains forecasted, causing widespread displacement and damage.
Environmentalists say the latest flooding may have sent radioactive substances into the river, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of people living near the banks of the Tobol downstream. State nuclear agency Rosatom, whose subsidiary operates the mines at the Dobrovolnoye uranium deposit, denied that its mining facilities were impacted by the flood.
Floodwaters in Tomsk region threatens to submerge the river banks in Seversk where highly radioactive liquid waste from the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons program for decades were injected into two unprotected underground reservoirs.
The swelling Tom River in southwestern Siberia has led to a partial dam collapse in the city of Tomsk. This year’s heavy rainfall, combined with abnormally warm spring weather, has led to severe flooding in Russia’s Urals and western Siberia. So far, the floods have submerged around 15,600 homes and 28,000 land plots in 193 Russian towns and cities across 33 regions.
The mayor of the southern Russian city of Orenburg urged residents to evacuate immediately on Friday as water in the nearby Ural River reached critically dangerous levels and was not expected to recede until next week.
"The river was iced over for less then 6 weeks! As opposed to 5 months of ice 2 to 3 feet thick before climate change."
Powerful storm surges, coinciding with the monthly astronomical high tide, are flooding low-lying streets in Portland and other coastal communities.
El Nino and climate change led to an unusually warm December in Łutsël, N.W.T., affecting Christmas plans and ice-related activities due to Great Slave Lake not freezing over as expected.
Over 300 people were rescued from severe flooding in northeast Australia, with many stranded on rooftops and infrastructure damaged, including a closed Cairns Airport.
Bethel Search and Rescue advises against travel on the Kuskokwim River due to dangerous conditions of open water and thin ice identified in their annual aerial survey.
Above normal temperatures in the month of November followed by a series of storms makes varying ice conditions.
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