Heat/Flooding
July 23, 2004

Shanghai to Seed Rain Clouds in bid to Extinguish Heatwave

Meteorologists in China's economic hub Shanghai plan to seed clouds this weekend to try to create rain and cool scorching temperatures blamed for overloading the city's power generators, state media reported Friday. Temperatures in Shanghai have recently hovered above 35 degrees Celsiusdegrees Fahrenheit), ramping up electricity demand as people turn air conditioners on high. To date there is no evidence to show the technology is effective.

China Flood Death Toll Nears 400

China is warning of more floods and typhoons as the death toll from the summer rains approaches 400. Official figures say more than a million people have been relocated from their homes so far this year because of extreme weather conditions. The north of China has suffered severe droughts, while heavy rains have caused flooding in southern and central areas. Already, more than 350,000 people are thought to have been left stranded by rising rivers and lakes in Hunan province.

 

 

 

Tokyo Temperature Hits Record High as Heat Wave Continues

The temperature in central Tokyo hit a record 39.5 degrees Celsius (103.1 Fahrenheit) Tuesday as a heat wave continued to scorch many parts of Japan, the Meteorological Agency said.

In JAPAN, Fukui county, heavy rain flood, while in 4 hours, this 4 hours rain amount is equal 1 year! 42,500 homes took refuge in.

 

 

Indian Monsoon Shows no Signs of Recovery

India's southwest monsoon rains continue to be tardy and there are no signs of a rapid recovery in the remaining days of July, a crucial month for the flowering of most crops. The annual monsoon, which runs from June to September, is vital to India's agriculture. The farm-sector accounts for about 22 percent of the country's gross domestic product and supports about 60 percent of its billion-plus population. Groundnut and soybean, the season's main oilseed crops, have been affected by insufficient rain in the key central and western regions and need immediate rainfall to stop further damage. An official of a state-run research body on Wednesday said rains in the next week would be crucial for India's winter crop output and any further delay was likely to severely hit yields.

Death toll in Bangladesh Floods rises to 185, more than 19 million affected

The death toll in flooding that has submerged half of Bangladesh and affected more than 19 million people rose Friday. The number of people affected had risen from 11 million to more than 19 million out of a total population of 140 million.

 

 

Italy Breaks its Electricity Consumption Records during Hot Weather

A heat wave caused Italy to break its electricity consumption record Friday, after seasonal records were broken on Thursday, the operators of the Italian electricity network GRTN said. Italians used 53,500 megawatts of electricity by 0900 GMT, breaking the previous record of 53,400 megawatts, which was registered in December 2003 and caused by a cold snap.

Dangerous Drinking Water Quality after Flooding in Sweden

Heavy rain and flooding in recent weeks have greatly diminished the quality of drinking water in some parts of Sweden, Swedish public radio reported on Friday. In some areas of the Scandinavian country, known for sparkling clean drinking water straight from the tap, chemicals are being added to make the water safe enough to consume, according to Sveriges Radio. Bertil Sandberg, technical chief of the badly flooded Alvesta county in southern Sweden interviewed by the radio, blamed the contamination on sewage that had seeped into wells swamped by all the excess water. Since the beginning of July, torrential rains have flooded large parts of southern and northern Sweden, cutting off roads, hindering rail traffic.