New Zealand, Madagascar, Brazil Pummeled By Separate Intense Storms

Destruction in New Zealand after recent
 Cyclone Gabrielle 

The United States isn't the only place experience strong, dangerous storms lately. Intense storms have also hit New Zealand, Brazil and parts of eastern Africa. 

NEW ZEALAND

In New Zealand, at least eight deaths have been reported after Cyclone Gabrielle struck earlier this week, (MONDAY 2/13)

Reports the BBC:

"New Zealand's prime minister says he expects there to be more deaths from the violent storm which killed eight people and cut off hundreds of communities.

More than 4,500 people have yet to be contacted after Cyclone Gabrielle hit on Monday, causing significant flooding and landslides across the North Islands.

Many cities and towns are also without power and clean drinking water. A national state of emergency has been declared, only the third in New Zealand's history. 

"This is undoubtedly the biggest natural disaster that we've seen probably this century," Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said."

Most of the 4,500 people who haven't been found are almost surely alive, but are cut off from the rest of the world by cell towers and equipment that have damaged by the storm. Still, Hipkins told the nation to be prepared for the death toll to rise.

At least one body was found in an attic crawl space. The person tried to get as high as possible to avoid the water, but the inundation was so incredible it reached the attic

New Zealand's new prime minister did not mince words describing the chaos. As The Guardian reports: 

"'Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century. The severity and the damage that we are seeing has not been experience in a generation,' the prime minister, Chris Hipkins, said on Tuesday. 'We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold. But what we do know is the impact is significant and it is widespread.'"

Just to make matters worse, a 6.0 earthquake was felt in New Zealand in the immediate aftermath of the storm, though damage from the earthquake was light. 

Before Gabrielle, Northern New Zealand, including Auckland, had its wettest day and wettest month on record in January, with serious flooding in an area usually known for its calm summer weather. (It's summer in the Southern Hemisphere, as you are probably aware). 

As Bob Henson and Jeff Masters wrote in Yale Climate Connections earlier this month: 

"Climate change is exacerbating the wet setup, as a freight train of rainmaking systems from the tropical western Pacific draws on unusually high seas surface temperature.. associated with a marine heat wave. Intensified short-term rains and warming oceans are two of the most clearly established effects of a human-warmed planet."

Speaking of those intensified short-term rains..........

BRAZIL

Flooding in parts of Brazil in the past few days have led to at nearly four dozen confirmed deaths, and at least 40 people remained missing at last report. 

Photo shows extensive damage from flooding and landslides
in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil. 

As the AP tells us: 

"Precipitation in San Sebastiao had surpassed 23.6 inches during a 24-hour period over the weekend, among the largest such downpours ever in such a short period in Brazil." 

The flooding hit a scenic area with ocean beaches flanked by mountains. The torrential downpours created walls of water that swept down the hillsides. Other slopes collapsed into landslides amid all the water. 

Many others were evacuated from near saturated hillsides as more landslides threatened amid continued downpours. 

CYCLONE FREDDY

Small but intense Cyclone Freddy shown here in a 
satellite photo heading toward Madagascar this week. 

An intense cyclone named Freddy traversed east to west across the Indian Ocean and smacked into Madagascar this week, (Hurricanes in the Indian Ocean are called cyclones). Freddy was a category 5 hurricane when it was out in the open Indian Ocean. That's the strongest possible hurricane with winds of 157 mph or more.  

Luckily, Freddy weakened to a strong Category 2 with winds of 110 mph when it made landfall in Madagascar.  Despite the fact that Madagascar averages at least one tropical cyclone per year, the infrastructure can't handle these storms all that well. 

So, Cyclone Freddy has created a path of destruction across central Madagascar, killing at least four people, creating a storm surge and blowing roofs off of numerous homes. This comes a few weeks after another cyclone killed 33 people on the island off the east coast of Africa, according to the BBC.

In one hard hit town, deaths were minimized because people living near a river were ordered out before the storm hit. 

Cyclone Freddy was at last report heading westward across the Mozambique Channel. It was expected to lash Mozambique and Zimbabwe with floods in the coming days.