Much discussion on changing weather patterns is taking place on various Forums and one is left in no doubt that something is not what it used to be – alternatively, weather information has become so rapid these days that one forgets that many years ago, it took much longer for one to hear or read about strange phenomena!
Be that as it may, the fact is that the reports of disasters due to floods are definitely on the increase and the last week or so is no exception!
Looking at Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, GDACS, during the past 4 days we had the following around the globe – starting with weather related items first:-
Tropical Cyclones:-
‘Twentyone’ – situated north of Australia and East of Papua New Guinea.
‘Doksuri’ – off the East coast of China – more specifically near Hong Kong.
‘’Debby’ – which caused a tremendous amount of rain over North Florida and Alabama!
Flooding:-
Bangladesh – Afghanistan, Florida (USA), Canada and India!
Earthquakes:-
China – as recent as Friday afternoon, Vanuatu, Greece, Indonesia and Iran!
But it is the weather that is cause for concern. As mentioned before, it appears that storms or downpours are becoming more severe and intense and in South Africa, the appearance of ‘twisters’, tornado's or funnel type wind formations, is also a cause for concern.
We do occasionally see the odd picture of a minor tornado but during the past few weeks, some have actually caused severe damage and death among citizens. Informal settlements are the most vulnerable to these types of strong winds and can cause a severe amount of damage as seen earlier this week in Bethlehem.
With the summer season still a few months away, it will be interesting to see if this phenomenon of mini or minor tornadoes is on the increase and what precaution we should take.
Again, like in the USA, should we not consider reporting such incidents so we can ascertain if this is on the increase!
Reporting for Hamnet, this is Francois Botha – ZS6BUU.
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