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Strong Monsoons
Hurricane Francine barrelled toward Louisiana on Wednesday as residents made last-minute trips to stock up on supplies and forecasters warned of potentially deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern US Gulf coast. In Morgan City, gas stations had already put plywood on the windows and moved trash cans inside, with a few pumps still serving the trickle of cars passing through shortly after dawn. Retired boat captain Pat Simon, 75, and his wife, Ruth, had loaded all their possessions in garbage bags and tied them down in the back of a rented U-Haul pickup truck as they evacuated their home near the banks of the Atchafalaya River near Morgan City. Hurricane season typically peaks around this time of year, but Pat Simon wasn't overly concerned about Francine. I don't think it's going to be that bad, like some of the other ones like Ida and Katrina, he said. I mean, we've had some bad ones. Morgan City, home to around 11,500 people, sits on the banks
Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has said the coastal state is prepared to tackle the upcoming monsoon season, with the disaster management authorities ready to act. Sawant was talking to reporters after chairing a meeting tied to disaster management ahead of rains. He said the disaster management authorities in the state are ready to act in case of emergencies in Goa. We had prepared a Goa heatwave action plan for prevention and mitigation of heat in which we provided timely advice to people, Sawant said. In the wake of the monsoon season, Sawant said an airport emergency response plan has also worked out. This plan covers both airports (in Goa), he added. An emergency response support system in association with the National Disaster Management Authority is in place and various municipalities and panchayats have been allocated special funds for pre-monsoon works. The Panaji corporation has been given Rs 1 lakh, while Rs 50,000 has been given per municipality and Rs 25,000 per
After delivering a warm 2023, El Nino conditions are set to dissipate by June this year raising hopes of "bountiful monsoon" rains this season, meteorologists have predicted. At least two global climate agencies announced last week that El Nino, the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that impacts weather across the world, has started to weaken and there is a probability of La Nina conditions setting in by August. Weather scientists in India, tracking the developments closely, have said that La Nina conditions setting in by June-August could mean monsoon rains would be better this year than the last year. However, they also struck a word of caution citing the 'spring predictability barrier', considered a forecasting headache as weather models have a harder time making accurate forecasts. Madhavan Rajeevan, former secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said there is a good probability of La Nina developing by June-July. "Even if El Nino transitions into ENSO-neutral ...
A 100-metre stretch of the Gauchar-Badrinath highway at Kamera was washed away on Monday following heavy overnight rainfall, disrupting the pilgrimage to the Himalayan temple. The route will remain closed for Badrinath pilgrims for two-three days, according to an official statement issued here. Efforts are underway on war footing to repair and open the route to traffic at the earliest, it said. A part of a road also caved in at Bhattnagar near Gauchar and five vehicles parked along the roadside got buried in the debris, the state emergency operation centre here said. The rubble is being cleared, it said, adding no one was hurt in the incident.