Indonesian rescuers search for nearly three dozen people after landslides
AKARTA, Indonesia—Rescue workers dug through tons of mud and rubble on Nov. 17 as they searched for 34 missing people after two separate landslides in two different regions on Indonesia’s main island of Java killed at least 18 people.
Rescuers recovered more bodies since landslides triggered by torrential rains on Nov. 13 evening that hit dozens of houses in three villages in the Cilacap district of Central Java province, increasing the death toll to 16, said Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB.
More than 500 rescue personnel, including police and soldiers, supported by 22 excavators and 18 sniffer dogs, have been deployed in five devastated areas in Cilacap to search for seven villagers reportedly still missing as search efforts continued for a fifth day on Nov. 17, Muhari said in a video statement.
A similar landslide had struck Central Java’s Banjarnegara district just before dusk on Nov. 15 when tons of mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried at least 30 houses, prompting more than 800 residents to flee to safety, some of them to even higher ground prone to further landslides, Muhari said.
Heavy rain triggers landslides and floods in central Vietnam
HANOI, Vietnam—Heavy rain swept central Vietnam on Nov. 17, triggering landslides and floods, killing at least seven, injuring dozens and stranding thousands.
The deluges have wreaked widespread destruction across a region already battered weeks ago by floods from record rainfall and the powerful typhoon Kalmaegi.
Rainfall through Nov. 19 was expected to reach 12–24 inches in parts of central Vietnam, with some areas likely to exceed 33 inches.
The hard-hit province of Khanh Hoa, a coastal region with hilly inland terrain, recorded one of its heaviest rainfall in years on Nov. 16 night when earth and rocks collapsed on a bus traveling through the Khanh Le pass in the central highlands, state media reported.
The landslide crushed the front of the bus at around 9:30 p.m. local time, killing six people and trapping many passengers. Rescuers struggled for hours to reach the scene as heavy rain had also caused landslides on both sides of the pass, cutting off access. Rescue teams were only able to reach the bus after midnight, according to state media.
The rains have triggered multiple landslides on major routes in Vietnam’s Central Highlands and traffic on several hilly passes has been suspended, state media said.
Flooding also hit the port city Cam Ranh and the coastal district of Cam Lam Nov. 16 night, submerging more than 328 feet of railway lines under water and debris.
Flood waters inundated the Du Long Industrial Park on Nov. 16, which houses several factories, including German and South Korean companies. Rains submerged factories by 3.2 feet of water and forced the power cuts, forcing thousands of workers to halt operations.
Torrential rain also flooded a national highway in the province of Dak Lak, prompting police to block the road and redirect traffic.
Dozens rescued or evacuated in Wales as Storm Claudia floods Monmouth
LONDON—Dozens of people were rescued or evacuated from homes in Wales after a river overflowed and swamped the town of Monmouth during heavy rains from Storm Claudia that drenched parts of the UK and Ireland.
Aerial footage showed roads under muddy brown water, submerged cars and businesses along its main street flooded after the River Monnow rose to a record level and spilled over its banks.
Nearly 4.7 inches of rain fell in southeast Wales overnight (Nov. 15) and there was also some flooding in England from the storm that brought damaging winds that downed trees. Several rail lines were disrupted by high water or toppled trees.
The center of the town near the border of England is just upstream of where the Monnow joins the River Wye, the fourth-largest river in the UK.
Flooding was also reported in Portarlington, Ireland, and further damage was possible with some rivers not yet reaching their peaks. The high winds also knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses and trees blocked roads.
Lingering thunderstorms bring flooding risk after atmospheric river drenches much of California
LOS ANGELES—A powerful atmospheric river had mostly moved through California after causing at least six deaths and dousing much of the state, but lingering thunderstorms brought the risk of mudslides in areas of Los Angeles County that were recently ravaged by wildfire.
“Due to the abundant rainfall the past couple of days, it will not take as much rainfall to cause additional flooding/rockslide conditions,” the National Weather Service said in a Nov. 16 update.
Off the coast of San Diego, a wooden boat believed to have been ferrying migrants toward the U.S. from Mexico capsized in stormy seas, leaving at least four people dead and four hospitalized, the Coast Guard said Nov. 15.
The long plume of tropical moisture that formed over the Pacific Ocean began drenching the San Francisco Bay Area on Nov. 12 and then unleashed widespread rain over Southern California on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15.
More than four inches 10 centimeters of rain fell over coastal Santa Barbara County as the storm approached Los Angeles. Parts of the Sierra Nevada received more than a foot of snow.
(Compiled by Associated Press reports.)