Euro Floods: Nearly a month of torrential...

Euro Floods: Nearly a month of torrential rain across Central Europe has produced some of the worst flooding the region has ever experienced. the worst inundations have occurred along the German-Polish border, where the Oder River reached its highest recorded level in 300 years. Eroded dikes began to crumble along the German side of the river, forcing 18,000 people from their homes. Throughout Europe, the month-long floods have caused more than $2 billion in damage.

Earthquakes

A weak tremor northwest of Johannesburg triggered a rock-slide in a South African mine that killed 15 miners. The quake was said to be caused by heavy gold-mining activity. A swarm of more than 50 earthquakes occurred near the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, but no damage was reported. Earth movements were also felt in central and southwest Mexico, northwest Argentina, central Peru, central Colombia, the Greek island of Rhodes, the islands of southern Japan, northwestern California, the Aleutian Islands and along the Tennessee Georgia border.

Scandinavian Summer

While much of Central Europe is in the grip of disastrous flooding, Finns to the north are sweating out their hottest summer in decades. Temperatures have soared to 86 degrees Fahrenheit as far north as Pudasjarvi, near the Arctic Circle. Warm water has brought Finns flocking to packed beaches and is blamed for thick blooms of toxic blue-green algae in Finland’s thousands of lakes and coastal waters.

Space Ice

Two large blocks of ice that crashed into Brazil’s Sao Paulo state from clear skies are believed to be part of a meteor, according to Brazilian researchers. The first chunk weighed more than 110 pounds and tore through the tiled roof a bus factory in Campinas on July 11. The second plummeted to the ground on July 15, about 37 miles north of Campinas, causing a small crater. Officials at the local airport ruled out the possibility that the ice may have fallen off passing aircraft, as none were in the area when the two chunks fell. In April 1995, Chinese experts announced that they recovered a chunk of meteoric ice that fell in Zhejiang province.

Tropical Storms

Hurricane Danny lost force over the southeastern U.S., but its remnants produced flash flooding from Mississippi and Alabama to the Carolinas. Typhoon Rosie packed winds of 145 mph and threatened to strike southern Japan by the end of the week. An unnamed and weak tropical cyclone formed briefly over the central Indian Ocean.

Southern Winter

Extremely cold weather has killed at least 22 people in the Andean areas from southern Peru to northwestern Argentina. Temperatures plunging to 5 degrees below zero Fahrenheit have caused a high incidence of colds and bronchopneumonia. Some of the victims died of exposure during the sudden cold wave.

Additional Sources: U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.