Jeff Masters - Landslide in Guatemala Kills 86, Leaves 500+ Missing

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http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3140
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One of the deadliest weather disasters of 2015 occurred in a suburb of Guatemala City, Guatemala on Thursday night, October 1, when a massive landslide of waterlogged earth and debris tore through the village of El Cambray II, in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, destroying or damaging 125 homes. At least 86 were killed, and over 500 people were feared missing as of Sunday morning. According to Norman Avila of climaya.com, who maintains a personal weather station a few miles from the disaster site, the rains over the past three weeks in the region were not exceptional--6.72" during the period September 12 - October 1, and only 0.02" the day of the disaster. This is not an unusual amount of rain for a 3-week period during the May - October rainy season. In fact, conditions during this year's rainy season have been on the dry side, due to the influence of the strong El Niño event underway in the Eastern Pacific. The disaster seems to be primarily attributable to the location of the town, which is at the bottom of a canyon. According to a news report from Yahoo News, municipal authorities had urged the community, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) east of the capital Guatemala City, to relocate several times, most recently in November of 2014. According to EM-DAT, only three weather-related disasters have killed more than 400 people in Guatemala: floods in October 1949 that killed 40,000, Hurricane Stan of 2005 (1513 killed), and flooding from Pacific Hurricane Paul of 1982 (620 killed.) According to Aon Benfield, only two weather-related disasters have killed more than 200 people this year: a May heat wave in India (2,500 deaths), and a June heat wave in Pakistan (1,265 deaths.)

[malaise]

1. Meanwhile 19 feared dead after storms sweep French Riviera

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/04/heavy-flooding-in-french-riviera-leaves-more-than-a-dozen-people-dead
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Nineteen people are feared dead after violent storms and severe flooding swept the French Riviera, including three people who drowned in a retirement home after a river broke its banks.

Heavy flooding along the Côte d’Azur on Saturday saw the river Brague burst its banks close to the city of Antibes, flooding a home for elderly people.

The French president, François Hollande, confirmed at least 16 people had died and three were missing. The interior ministry said earlier in the morning there was little hope of finding the missing people alive.

“It’s not over,” Hollande said as he arrived at the flooded retirement home and met emergency service workers. “The toll is not yet finalised. In times like this, we must be fast, efficient and coordinated.” He warned locals to take care on local roads, which are covered with slippery mud.