Le National Weather Service a mis en garde les résidents du Midwest
américain, les sommant de rester chez eux car des tornades très
dangereuses étaient annoncées. A minuit, heure française, près de 50
tornades étaient signalées faisant déjà deux morts et plus de 40
blessés.
Les informations sont aussi alarmantes que confuses. 10 États du Midwest américains, soit 53 millions de personnes, étaient dimanche sous la menace de vents très puissants et de tornades extrêmement rapides et violentes. A minuit, heure de Paris, le premier bilan signalait deux morts dans l'Illinois et une quarantaine de blessés.
«Soyez prêts. Nous sommes face à une situation très dangereuse et cela ne fait que commencer», a prévenu une responsable des services météo américains lors d'une conférence presse plus tôt dans la soirée. Des avis de tornades ont été déclenchés dans des portions de sept Etats du nord et du centre du pays: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio et Wisconsin. Le gouverneur de l'Illinois, Pat Quinn, a appelé les habitants «à prêter attention aux messages d'alerte et à rester chez eux, à l'intérieur si possible». Plusieurs tornades ont touché des bourgades du centre de cet Etat, ont rapporté des médias locaux.
À proximité, la ville de Pekin a également subi le passage d'une tornade, qui a endommagé un complexe d'appartements et quelques maisons. «De fortes tornades se déplaçant rapidement, des orages importants, de la grêle et des vents destructeurs sont à attendre dans ces zones», a prévenu la météo, ajoutant que la situation est «particulièrement dangereuse».
Le match a repris peu avant 14H30 (18h30 à Paris). Le ciel restait très menaçant dimanche sur le stade, à en croire les photos postées sur les réseaux sociaux.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2013/11/17/01003-20131117ARTFIG00177-une-tornade-menace-53-millions-d-americains.php
17/11/13
----------------------------
Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes sweeping through the Midwest Sunday have caused significant damage in parts of central Illinois while an official says around 53 million people in 10 states are at risk of severe weather.
The central Illinois community of Washington appeared particularly hard-hit. A state official says emergency crews raced to the area amid reports that people were trapped in buildings.
“Literally, neighborhoods are completely wiped out,” Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), who said he was in Washington, told Fox News. “I’m looking at subdivisions of twenty to thirty homes and there’s not a home there.”
“The entire town of Washington is devastated,” he added.
Schock said the town has put out a call for physicians and nurses from surrounding areas to come to Washington to help after a tornado swept through the town midday.
“Many of these people thankfully took shelter in their basements but some of them didn’t and so there are some folks needing medical assistance and they have been finding them through the rubbish,” he told Fox News.
Firefighters are going house to house in Washington to look for people who may be trapped.
Patti Thompson of the Illinois Department of Emergency Management says communications in the area are spotty and it's difficult to get information from the scene.
"This is a very dangerous situation," said Russell Schneider, director of the weather service's Storm Prediction Center. "Approximately 53 million in 10 states are at significant risk for thunderstorms and tornadoes."
Washington County coroner, Mark Styninger told The Associated Press that an elderly man and his sister died Sunday afternoon after a tornado hit their farmhouse in the town of New Minden, Ill., about 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Fox News Meterologist Janice Dean said the stormfront could spur one of the top five outbreaks of tornadoes in November on record. The highest outbreak of tornadoes was in 1992, with 105 being reported between Nov. 21-23.
In Chicago, storms raced through the downtown area so powerfully that the rain was not falling as much as it was slamming into the sides of buildings. There were no confirmed reports of injuries. Heavy rain delayed the Chicago Bears-Baltimore Ravens game for around two hours.
"Our primary message is this is a dangerous weathers system that has the potential to be extremely deadly and destructive," said Laura Furgione, deputy director of the National Weather Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Get ready now."
Weather service officials confirmed that a tornado touched down just before 11 a.m. near the central Illinois community of East Peoria, but authorities did not immediately have damage or injury reports. Within an hour, the weather service said that tornadoes had touched down in Washington, Metamora, Morton and other central communities, though officials could not say whether it was one tornado touching down or several. Weather officials said it was moving northeast about 60 mph; East Peoria is about 150 miles southwest of Chicago.
Schneider noted that the storms are moving at 60 mph, which he said will not give people enough time to seek shelter if they're relying on watching the sky alone.
The potential severity of the storm this late in the season also carries the risk of surprise.
"People can fall into complacency because they don't see severe weather and tornadoes, but we do stress that they should keep a vigilant eye on the weather and have a means to hear a tornado warning because things can change very quickly," said Matt Friedlein, a weather service meteorologist.
According to agency officials, parts of Illinois, Indiana, southern Michigan and western Ohio are at the greatest risk of seeing tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds throughout the day Sunday. Strong winds and atmospheric instability were expected to sweep across the central Plains during the day before pushing into the mid-Atlantic states and northeast by evening. Many of the storms were expected to become supercells, with the potential to produce tornadoes, large hail and destructive winds.
In McHenry County, northwest of Chicago, funnel clouds were spotted late Sunday morning, dropping out of the clouds and then retreating again, said Bob Ellsworth, the assistant director of the county's emergency management agency. Ellsworth added that none had touched the ground or caused any damage.
The weather service also issued a tornado warning for parts of Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties in Wisconsin.
Friedlein said that such strong storms are rare this late in the year because there usually isn't enough heat from the sun to sustain the thunderstorms. But he said temperatures Sunday are expected to reach into the 60s and 70s, which he said is warm enough to help produce severe weather when it is coupled with winds, which are typically stronger this time of year than in the summer.
"You don't need temperatures in the 80s and 90s to produce severe weather (because) the strong winds compensate for the lack of heating," he said. "That sets the stage for what we call wind shear, which may produce tornadoes."
He also said that the tornadoes this time a year happen more often than people might realize, pointing to a twister that hit the Rockford, Ill., area in November 2010.
Friedlein said that the storm will move across northern Illinois from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., meaning Chicago could see the brunt of it about the time the Bears-Ravens gets underway.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/11/17/midwest-under-high-storm-threat/
17/11/13
Les informations sont aussi alarmantes que confuses. 10 États du Midwest américains, soit 53 millions de personnes, étaient dimanche sous la menace de vents très puissants et de tornades extrêmement rapides et violentes. A minuit, heure de Paris, le premier bilan signalait deux morts dans l'Illinois et une quarantaine de blessés.
«Soyez prêts. Nous sommes face à une situation très dangereuse et cela ne fait que commencer», a prévenu une responsable des services météo américains lors d'une conférence presse plus tôt dans la soirée. Des avis de tornades ont été déclenchés dans des portions de sept Etats du nord et du centre du pays: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio et Wisconsin. Le gouverneur de l'Illinois, Pat Quinn, a appelé les habitants «à prêter attention aux messages d'alerte et à rester chez eux, à l'intérieur si possible». Plusieurs tornades ont touché des bourgades du centre de cet Etat, ont rapporté des médias locaux.
À proximité, la ville de Pekin a également subi le passage d'une tornade, qui a endommagé un complexe d'appartements et quelques maisons. «De fortes tornades se déplaçant rapidement, des orages importants, de la grêle et des vents destructeurs sont à attendre dans ces zones», a prévenu la météo, ajoutant que la situation est «particulièrement dangereuse».
Un match de football interrompu à Chicago
Les avis de tornades comprenaient les villes de Chicago, de Detroit ou encore d'Indianapolis. 75.000 personnses sont sans électricité à Chicago, selon les informations de CBS. A l'aéroport international Chicago O'Hare, l'un des plus importants des Etats-Unis, une partie des vols accusaient un retard de près de trois heures à l'arrivée en raison de la tempête, selon la Direction fédérale de l'aviation (FAA).A Chicago, le match de football américain entre les Chicago Bears et les Baltimore Ravens a été suspendu pendant près de deux heures durant le premier quart-temps, en raison du vent et de la pluie. Les spectateurs ont été priés de quitter les gradins et de s'abriter à l'intérieur du stade.Le match a repris peu avant 14H30 (18h30 à Paris). Le ciel restait très menaçant dimanche sur le stade, à en croire les photos postées sur les réseaux sociaux.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2013/11/17/01003-20131117ARTFIG00177-une-tornade-menace-53-millions-d-americains.php
17/11/13
----------------------------
- Millions at risk as tornadoes, damaging storms hit Midwest...
Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes sweeping through the Midwest Sunday have caused significant damage in parts of central Illinois while an official says around 53 million people in 10 states are at risk of severe weather.
The central Illinois community of Washington appeared particularly hard-hit. A state official says emergency crews raced to the area amid reports that people were trapped in buildings.
“Literally, neighborhoods are completely wiped out,” Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), who said he was in Washington, told Fox News. “I’m looking at subdivisions of twenty to thirty homes and there’s not a home there.”
“The entire town of Washington is devastated,” he added.
Schock said the town has put out a call for physicians and nurses from surrounding areas to come to Washington to help after a tornado swept through the town midday.
“Many of these people thankfully took shelter in their basements but some of them didn’t and so there are some folks needing medical assistance and they have been finding them through the rubbish,” he told Fox News.
Firefighters are going house to house in Washington to look for people who may be trapped.
Patti Thompson of the Illinois Department of Emergency Management says communications in the area are spotty and it's difficult to get information from the scene.
"This is a very dangerous situation," said Russell Schneider, director of the weather service's Storm Prediction Center. "Approximately 53 million in 10 states are at significant risk for thunderstorms and tornadoes."
Washington County coroner, Mark Styninger told The Associated Press that an elderly man and his sister died Sunday afternoon after a tornado hit their farmhouse in the town of New Minden, Ill., about 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Fox News Meterologist Janice Dean said the stormfront could spur one of the top five outbreaks of tornadoes in November on record. The highest outbreak of tornadoes was in 1992, with 105 being reported between Nov. 21-23.
In Chicago, storms raced through the downtown area so powerfully that the rain was not falling as much as it was slamming into the sides of buildings. There were no confirmed reports of injuries. Heavy rain delayed the Chicago Bears-Baltimore Ravens game for around two hours.
"Our primary message is this is a dangerous weathers system that has the potential to be extremely deadly and destructive," said Laura Furgione, deputy director of the National Weather Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Get ready now."
Weather service officials confirmed that a tornado touched down just before 11 a.m. near the central Illinois community of East Peoria, but authorities did not immediately have damage or injury reports. Within an hour, the weather service said that tornadoes had touched down in Washington, Metamora, Morton and other central communities, though officials could not say whether it was one tornado touching down or several. Weather officials said it was moving northeast about 60 mph; East Peoria is about 150 miles southwest of Chicago.
Schneider noted that the storms are moving at 60 mph, which he said will not give people enough time to seek shelter if they're relying on watching the sky alone.
The potential severity of the storm this late in the season also carries the risk of surprise.
"People can fall into complacency because they don't see severe weather and tornadoes, but we do stress that they should keep a vigilant eye on the weather and have a means to hear a tornado warning because things can change very quickly," said Matt Friedlein, a weather service meteorologist.
According to agency officials, parts of Illinois, Indiana, southern Michigan and western Ohio are at the greatest risk of seeing tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds throughout the day Sunday. Strong winds and atmospheric instability were expected to sweep across the central Plains during the day before pushing into the mid-Atlantic states and northeast by evening. Many of the storms were expected to become supercells, with the potential to produce tornadoes, large hail and destructive winds.
In McHenry County, northwest of Chicago, funnel clouds were spotted late Sunday morning, dropping out of the clouds and then retreating again, said Bob Ellsworth, the assistant director of the county's emergency management agency. Ellsworth added that none had touched the ground or caused any damage.
The weather service also issued a tornado warning for parts of Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties in Wisconsin.
Friedlein said that such strong storms are rare this late in the year because there usually isn't enough heat from the sun to sustain the thunderstorms. But he said temperatures Sunday are expected to reach into the 60s and 70s, which he said is warm enough to help produce severe weather when it is coupled with winds, which are typically stronger this time of year than in the summer.
"You don't need temperatures in the 80s and 90s to produce severe weather (because) the strong winds compensate for the lack of heating," he said. "That sets the stage for what we call wind shear, which may produce tornadoes."
He also said that the tornadoes this time a year happen more often than people might realize, pointing to a twister that hit the Rockford, Ill., area in November 2010.
Friedlein said that the storm will move across northern Illinois from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., meaning Chicago could see the brunt of it about the time the Bears-Ravens gets underway.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/11/17/midwest-under-high-storm-threat/
17/11/13
ΗΠΑ: Πέντε νεκροί από σφοδρή καταιγίδα....
ReplyDeleteΤουλάχιστον 5 άνθρωποι έχασαν τη ζωή τους εξαιτίας σφοδρής καταιγίδας που έχει σαρώσει τις δυτικές πολιτείες των ΗΠΑ με ισχυρούς ανεμοστρόβιλους, χαλάζι και έντονες βροχοπτώσεις, μεταδίδουν τα αμερικανικά μέσα ενημέρωσης.
Η Εθνική Μετεωρολογική Υπηρεσία ανακοίνωσε ότι έλαβε 76 αναφορές για ανεμοστρόβιλους και ακόμα 40 για χαλάζι.
Η καταιγίδα κινούνταν μέσα από τις πολιτείες της Αϊόβα, Μιζούρι, Ουισκόνσιν, Ιλινόις, Ιντιάνα και Μίσιγκαν το απόγευμα της Κυριακής πλήττοντας αργότερα στο Οχάιο την Πενσιλβάνια, τη Νέα Υόρκη το Τενεσί, τη Δυτική Βιρτζίνια, τη Μέριλαντ και το Κεντάκυ.
Η Ομοσπονδιακή Υπηρεσία Διαχείρισης Καταστάσεων Έκτακτης Ανάγκης (FEMA) ανέθεσε σε ειδική ομάδα την υποστήριξη των αξιωματούχων στο Ιλινόις, όπου η κατάσταση είναι ιδιαίτερα σοβαρή.
Ο Μπαράκ Ομπάμα ενημερώθηκε σχετικά από τη βοηθό του προέδρου σε θέματα εσωτερικής ασφάλειας και αντιτρομοκρατίας, Λίσα Μονακό, ανακοίνωσε ο Λευκός Οίκος, προσθέτοντας ότι ο Ομπάμα θα συνεχίσει να λαμβάνει τακτικές ενημερώσεις.
Τρεις θάνατοι σημειώθηκαν στο νότιο Ιλινόις, δήλωσε στο δίκτυο CNN ο διευθυντής των υπηρεσιών εκτάκτου ανάγκης της περιοχής, Τζοναθαν Μόνκεν.
Τριάντα επτά άνθρωποι που υπέστησαν τραυματισμούς διακομίστηκαν σε νοσοκομείο στην πόλη Πεόρια.
Η καταιγίδα κατέστρεψε τουλάχιστον 70 κατοικίες, δήλωσε ο Μόνκεν. Τα σωστικά συνεργεία κάνουν προσπάθειες προκειμένου να απεγκλωβίσουν ανθρώπους που βρίσκονται παγιδευμένοι στα υπόγεια των σπιτιών τους.
Μεγάλες καθυστερήσεις και ματαιώσεις πτήσεων σημειώθηκαν επίσης εξαιτίας της σφοδρής καταιγίδας στα αεροδρόμια του Σικάγο και της Ινδιανάπολης, ενώ εκκενώθηκε και ένα γήπεδο ποδοσφαίρου λίγο μετά την έναρξη του παιχνιδιού. Οι φίλαθλοι αναγκάστηκαν να αναζητήσουν καταφύγιο στις εσωτερικές εγκαταστάσεις του σταδίου μέχρις ότου εξασθενίσει η καταιγίδα.
http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22769&subid=2&pubid=63920503
18/11/13
Dutzende Tornados wüten im Mittleren Westen...
ReplyDeleteSechs Menschen sind bei Tornados im Mittleren Westen der USA ums Leben gekommen, etwa 40 weitere wurden verletzt. Im kleinen Ort Washington (Illinois) zerstörten die Stürme Hunderte Häuser.
Dutzende Tornados haben in den USA mindestens sechs Menschen getötet und rund 40 verletzt. Besonders stark betroffen war die kleine Stadt Washington im Bundesstaat Illinois, 233 Kilometer südwestlich von Chicago gelegen.
"Es sieht in unserer Gemeinde wie in einem Kriegsgebiet aus", sagte der Bürgermeister der Stadt, Gary Manier. "Ich blicke auf Straßenzüge mit einst 20 bis 30 Häusern, und es ist keines mehr da", zitierte der Fernsehsender Fox News einen weiteren Augenzeugen.
Per Telefon sagte der Einwohner Michael Perun, seine ganze Nachbarschaft liege in Trümmern. "Die Mauer meines Kamins ist alles, was von meinem Haus übrig ist." Ein örtlicher Beamter, Tyler Gee, sagte dem Fernsehsender WLS-TV, er könne nicht einmal sagen, in welcher Straße er sich gerade befinde. "Alles einfach komplett eingeebnet – einige Viertel hier in der Stadt, Hunderte Häuser." Washington hat 16.000 Einwohner.
Dem nationalen Wetterdienst zufolge wurden bis zum Sonntagabend (Ortszeit) fast 80 mögliche Tornados gemeldet. Hinzu kamen vielerorts schwere Gewitter, Regenfälle und heftiger Hagel.
Tornadowarnungen in sieben Bundesstaaten
Die zwei größten Flughäfen von Chicago wurden geschlossen. In der Innenstadt fiel wegen starken Windes zeitweise der Strom aus, ein Sportstadion wurde deswegen evakuiert.
Die für die Jahreszeit ungewöhnlich schwere Sturmfront war am Sonntag über mehrere Bundesstaaten in Richtung Nordosten gezogen. Tornadowarnungen wurden unter anderem für Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin und Michigan ausgegeben.
Heftige Stürme verursachen in den USA immer wieder riesige Schäden. Sie belasten oft die Versicherungsbranche sehr stark.
Reuters/dpa/jw
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article121994826/Dutzende-Tornados-wueten-im-Mittleren-Westen.html
18/11/13