MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“Quebec Premier Jean Charest appealed for people to get themselves to safety as forecasts called for more high winds and rising levels in the Richelieu Valley, south of Montreal.

‘It is very important we keep in mind that we can fix a house and we can repair them and lose it, but life is something that can not be replaced, so that’s what we’ll continue to focus on,’ said Charest in a news conference on Saturday

Officials say 50 millimetres of rain are expected in the next 24 hours and the showers will continue, meaning 75 millimetres could fall by Sunday.” Read more.

“JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — There are now 39 people who remain unaccounted for, plus four others whose families have reported them dead a week after a massive tornado hit Joplin.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety said Sunday that 39 people are unaccounted for, but that there are four more people who family members have reported as deceased. DPS says those four haven’t been officially confirmed dead, however.

More than 130 people have been reported killed in the storm that hit Joplin a week ago.

The tornado – an EF-5 packing 200 mph winds – injured more than 900 people.” Read more.

2011 Deadliest Year for Tornadoes Since 1950 – “The death toll from the monster tornado last week in Missouri has risen by three to at least 142, Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said during a news conference Saturday. That makes this the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950, based on an assessment of figures from the National Weather Service. The tornado death toll for 2011 is now 523. Until now, the highest recorded death toll in a single year was 519 in 1953. There were deadlier storms before 1950, but those counts were based on estimates and not on precise figures.” Read more.

If a picture can be worth a thousand words, then the words in the first video below are worth a thousand pictures…

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By Jill Colton – “Sinkholes are mysteriously appearing in an neighbourhood in Quebec City, prompting an evacuation order.

Some are big enough to swallow a full car.

Sinkholes are forming in a Quebec City neighbourhood, collapsing the earth and leaving experts baffled.

The city has issued an evacuation order. People in 15 homes and one business have been ordered to leave.

There are about 40 holes and they range between six metres wide and five metres deep in the north end neighbourhood of the city.

City officials are concerned about the sinkholes and their potential for danger.

They started to appear over the last week and soil experts are taking samples to try and find out what’s behind the collapses.” Read more.

Flashback:

“PDT Chico, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say at least three tornadoes have been reported in a rural area outside of Chico.

After the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning Wednesday evening for the area, a California Highway Patrol spokesman says three twisters hit a sparsely populated area of dairy land south of Chico.

The CHP says no significant damage has been reported, though there were four minor accidents in the area.

The National Weather Service says around 6:41 p.m. Wednesday radar showed the a storm associated with at least one tornado about 13 miles south of Chico, or about 90 miles north of Sacramento.” Read more.

“Violent thunderstorms that roared across the Midwest killed 13 people in three states, while toppling trees, crushing cars and destroying a whole town in Arkansas.

Rescue crews began the desperate search for the missing on Wednesday, which included a three-year-old boy, after a tornado destroyed his home in Piedmont, northwest of Oklahoma City, injuring his mother and siblings.” Read more.

Violent storms kill 13 in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas – “KANSAS CITY, Mo (AP) — A violent storm system rumbled through the central U.S. on Wednesday, spawning tornadoes that turned homes into splintered wreckage, killing at least 14 people over two days and hampering rescue efforts in a city slammed by a massive twister days earlier… Several tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma City and its suburbs, killing at least eight people and injuring at least 70 others, authorities said. Among those killed was a 15-month-old boy, and searchers were looking for his missing 3-year-old brother. The storms killed two people in Kansas, four in Arkansas and possibly one in Texas.” Read more.

Biggest storm system in years hits Dallas-Fort Worth – “Reports of large hail, damaging winds and minor to moderate structural damage were trickling into the National Weather Service Fort Worth office early this morning after three rounds of storms swept through North Texas on Tuesday night. At least one tornado was spotted in Denton, and 70 mph wind gusts were recorded in the Loop 820 and U.S. 377 area, while Arlington spotters reported wind gusts of up to 75 mph.” Read more.

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“CBC – The number of Canadian soldiers helping flood victims along Quebec’s Richelieu River doubled to about 500 in the past day as water levels hit a record high.

Winds from the south of up to 80 kilometres an hour forced water from Lake Champlain to spill into the Richelieu southeast of Montreal.

Premier Jean Charest toured the region Monday afternoon for a third time since the flooding began five weeks ago. He then asked the Canadian Armed Forces for more help.

‘They will be used for different tasks,’ Charest said. ‘Be it security, sandbagging … we will be responding to requests as quickly as possible.’

About 3,000 homes have been flooded and nearly 1,000 people have been forced out since the start of the floods.” Read more.

Winds show no mercy to Richelieu River flood victims – “High winds are playing havoc with attempts to contain water levels along the Richelieu River as hundreds of exhausted and demoralized residents brace themselves for several more days of flooding. Officials warned that more evacuations may be required as water levels are expected to peak again this week and may surpass the records reached on May 6.” Read more.