• Historic floods hit Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    A powerful atmospheric river began affecting Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on April 29, 2024, resulting in massive flooding across the region. By early May 6, 2024, the storm affected 334 of the state’s 496 cities, including the capital Porto Alegre, claimed at least 75 lives, left over 100 people missing, and impacted more than 1 million residents. This severe weather event is described as the most disastrous in the state since 1941, surpassing previous records in terms of both scope and damage.

  • Major flooding and mandatory evacuations in southeast Texas

    Southeastern Texas experienced severe flooding this week, affecting areas from College Station to Houston. The flooding has led to the overflowing of rivers, including the Trinity and San Jacinto, causing significant disruptions and leading to urgent evacuations. Heavy rain and flooding continued into Friday, May 3, 2024.

  • Tropical Cyclone “Hidaya” heading toward Tanzania and Kenya

    Tropical Cyclone “Hidaya” formed on May 1, 2024, north of Madagascar, Comoros, and Mayotte as the 9th named storm of the 2024/24 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. The cyclone peaked around 00:00 UTC on May 3 at 148 km/h (92 mph) but is now starting to come down, albeit slowly. Widespread heavy rainfall is forecast in Tanzania, starting this evening, May 3, and continuing until Sunday morning, May 5. Severe flooding is likely.

  • Major eruption at Ruang volcano, ash to 19.2 km (63 000 feet) a.s.l., Indonesia

    Another high-level eruption started at Indonesia’s Ruang volcano at 18:15 UTC on April 29, 2024 (01:15 LT, April 30), producing an ash column to an estimated height of about 19.2 km (63 000 feet) above sea level. Authorities raised the Alert Level to 4 and the Aviation Color Code to Red. This powerful eruption comes just 2 weeks after a similar eruption on April 16.

  • Multi-vortex tornado strikes China’s Guangzhou megacity, leaving 5 fatalities, 141 buildings damaged

    A destructive multi-vortex tornado, accompanied by heavy rain and large hail up to 12 cm (4.72 inches) in diameter, struck the Guangzhou megacity (population 18.6 million) at approximately 15:00 LT on April 27, 2024, leaving at least five people dead, 33 injured and 141 commercial building damaged. Guangzhou is located in south China’s Guangdong province and is one of the country’s three largest cities.