On April 3, weather conditions caused severe weather in Calabria. The provinces of Cosenza and Crotone were particularly affected, with flash floods, landslides and wind damage. Schools in the municipality of Savelli, located in the province of Crotone, were closed due to the bad weather conditions, with a recorded rainfall of 118.2 mm.
The Italian fire department Vigili del Fuoco reported 13 interventions in the province of Cosenza. They also deployed a helicopter to search for a man reported missing in Corigliano-Rossano, who was eventually found dead. Several roads were closed in the municipalities of Acri and Longobucco due to flooding, falling trees and debris from landslides.
Eastern Canada was affected by an ice storm on April 5-6, 2023, which caused significant damage to property and people. Indeed, at the peak of the storm, more than one million Canadians were without electricity, making it the largest power outage since the one caused by the ice storm in 1998, which had disrupted the Canadian electrical network for several weeks.
The human toll was three deaths and 62 patients treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in the Laval and Montreal areas after lighting charcoal barbecues inside their homes.
Property damage was also visible on the streets, with trees bent and broken by the cold crashing into cars. Residents had not experienced an ice storm of such intensity in 20 years. The social networks have abundantly relayed the impressive images of this storm.
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Since mid-March 2023, flooding and heavy rains have affected or displaced an estimated 240,000 people in several regions of Ethiopia, according to a recent report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA).
The Afar, Oromia, and Somali regions have been particularly hard hit, with loss of life, damage to shelter, agriculture, livestock, and infrastructure.
In Afar region, flooding displaced 12,500 people in the lower and central woredas (districts) of Dubti, Mile, Garani, Awash and Bori Modayto. Hundreds of livestock died and crops were destroyed.
In Oromia region, shelters were damaged in IDP camps set up for people affected by the long-term drought, affecting an estimated 27,000 people in Dire and Dubuluk woredas.
Somali region is the most affected. Flash floods affected 200,000 people in the Shabelle, Afder Liban, and Fafan areas of the region, killing 29 people. The floods destroyed and damaged private homes, farmland, bridges, schools, water sources and other public infrastructure.
Since the beginning of April, several forest fires have broken out in South Korea, mainly due to the drought in some parts of the country.
On Sunday April 3, a fire broke out on Mount Inwang, a popular mountain for hikers, located in central Seoul. High winds spread the flames quickly, forcing authorities to evacuate nearly 120 homes. The main fire was brought under control on Sunday evening, but firefighters continued to monitor the area to extinguish the remaining fires. In South Chungcheong Province, south of Seoul, the fires damaged more than 60 homes and forced 236 people to evacuate in Hongseong District, according to the Korea Forest Service.
More recently, on Tuesday, April 11, another fire broke out in Gangneung on the northeast coast of South Korea, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people. At 9:43 a.m. local time, the National Fire Agency declared a Level 3 fire alert, the highest. High winds fanned the flames, but rain that fell in the afternoon later slowed the fire's progress.
The fire destroyed 70 homes and buildings, as well as more than 200 hectares of forest. More than 500 residents were evacuated from the city's 200,000-plus population. According to the authorities, the fire was caused by a tree falling on a power line, caused by high winds.
The Florida coast has been hit by an episode of heavy rain, causing catastrophic flooding. In Fort Lauderdale, a city of 180,000 inhabitants located north of Miami, more than 635 mm of rain fell in 24 hours, a record according to the U.S. weather service, exceeding the 370 mm recorded in April 1979.
In just 7 hours, more than 500 mm of rain fell, equivalent to one third of the annual rainfall in the region. Rainfall rates reached 3 to 4 inches per hour (76.2 to 101.6 mm/hr), causing 20 to 25 inches (508 to 635 mm) of rainfall in 6 hours, causing extensive damage to hundreds of cars and thousands of homes.
The rain event caused severe traffic congestion, flooded airport access roads and flight cancellations. Coastal areas of metropolitan Miami remain under a flood watch, as soils are saturated with water and more rain is expected.
Impressive floods in video here.
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On Friday, April 14, 2023, Western Australia was placed on red alert due to the approach of a powerful tropical cyclone named Ilsa. This category 5 cyclone made landfall near Pardoo on the Indian Ocean, with record winds of up to 288 km/h.
According to the weather service, the cyclone was accompanied by sustained winds averaging 218 km/h, with gusts of 288 km/h when it made landfall, setting a new record for Australia. The previous record was 194 km/h during Cyclone George in 2007. Cyclone Ilsa was later downgraded to Category 3 with winds of up to 165 km/h.
Although no deaths were reported, significant property damage was recorded in some affected areas. Emergency services maintained a red alert for areas likely to be hit by the cyclone. This region is home to numerous iron, copper and gold mines, some of the largest in Australia.
