The US has seen a record number of hurricanes make landfall this year; Hurricane Delta, a category 4 hurricane at one stage, was the most recent storm to strike land. Delta made an initial landfall in the north of Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, before turning north and striking Louisiana on 9 October. The storm took an identical track to Hurricane Laura only six weeks earlier, which had already severely damaged many buildings in its path.
Meanwhile, much of South America has experienced a severe heatwave over recent weeks. Heat records have been set in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina; Brazil and Argentina both set national heat records for September, with 44.1C and 43.5C respectively. Brazil then set a new October monthly heat record the next day, while the heatwave has caused water shortages and blackouts across parts of Paraguay.
In south-east Asia, there has been severe flooding across parts of Vietnam and Cambodia, with over a month’s worth of rain falling in the first 10 days of October. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, with rainfall accumulations of 300-400mm in one day being recorded in a few places. With the arrival of the north-east monsoon, further extremely heavy rainfall is expected over the next few weeks.
