Police officers pulled a woman from icy waters in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on January 15, with bodycam footage capturing the dramatic rescue.According to a press release sent to Storyful by the Prairie du Chien Police Department, the 72-year-old woman had fallen through the ice while attempting to save her dog, struggling in the water until a passerby called 911.Body cam footage shared by the police department shows the officers using rescue tools to pull the woman and her dog to safety. Credit: Prairie du Chien Police Department via Storyful
Heavy lake effect snow fell across central New York state on January 22.Footage taken by Twitter user @patrickmillwx shows snowfall and deep snow drifts. “It’s easy to forget how dangerous lake effect snow can be with how pretty it is!” wrote @patrickmillwx.The National Weather Service reported the snow would move south from Oneida County into the northern Finger Lakes region on January 22, with least 4 to 8 inches anticipated in the Syracuse area. Credit: @patrickmillwx via Storyful
Drivers in Morgan County, Alabama queued for coronavirus vaccine shots, footage posted by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office on January 21 shows.On Friday, the state’s department of public health announced 3,550 new cases, bringing Alabama’s total to over 436,000 confirmed cases. At least 6,486 people are assessed to have died in the state after contracting the virus.On January 21, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced current orders, including mask requirements in public settings would be extended at least until March 5.Alabama residents aged 75 and over are currently eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Credit: Morgan County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful
A cold front brought snow squalls to north-central Vermont on Friday, January 22, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Burlington reported.Footage shared by Glenn Ericksen show snowy scenes in Brookfield and Randolph on Friday.The NWS warned drivers of potentially dangerous travel conditions. Credit: Glenn Ericksen via Storyful
Tinker Bell needed a little more than pixie dust to get down from her parade float at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, as maintenance staff extended a ladder to help her down.Footage taken by Manisha O’Donnell Williams in the Magic Kingdom section of the park shows the Peter Pan character receiving assistance with her climb down from her parade float. Williams said she took the video on January 18.Storyful contacted Disney World for comment but had not heard back by the time of publication. Credit: Manisha O’Donnell Williams via Storyful
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived at the Pentagon for his first day of work on Friday, January 22, shortly after the Senate approved his nomination by President Joe Biden, making Austin the first black person to ever hold the office.Austin was greeted by General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The pair, both wearing masks, exchanged an “elbow bump.”Austin told members of the press he “looked forward to working” with them. “See you around campus,” he said, as he stepped up toward a doorway. Credit: US Dept of Defense via Storyful
Sightings of newborn North Atlantic right whales off the Georgia and Florida coasts in January were welcomed by wildlife officials and conservationists as an encouraging sign for the critically endangered species.Footage from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division shows one calf – the 13th of the season – accompanied by its 14-year-old mother near Wassaw Island on January 19, the division said.A 14th calf was spotted off Florida’s Amelia Island on Wednesday, the division later wrote in a Facebook update.The non-profit Defenders of Wildlife said the births represented the best calving season in years for the imperilled whales. Credit: Georgia DNR – Wildlife Resources Division via Storyful
An energetic Canadian harbor seal squirmed in the snow at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 15 after a blizzard hit the region.Footage shared by the Blank Park Zoo shows Ross the seal burrowing his body into a pile of snow. “Anyone else enjoying their snow day as much as harbor seal Ross?” the zoo wrote in a Facebook caption.Ross was found on the coast of British Columbia and rescued when he was five days old. The seal was nursed back to health at a Vancouver aquarium before finding a permanent home in Iowa, according to the Blank Park Zoo. Credit: Blank Park Zoo via Storyful
The European Space Agency (ESA) shared on January 20 a visualization of types of upper atmospheric lightning, including what’s known as a blue jet.The visualization is based on data gathered by the International Space Station.“A blue jet is a form of lightning that shoots upwards from thunderstorm clouds. They can reach as far as 50 km into the stratosphere and last less than a second,” ESA said.The blue jet was observed in a storm over the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Nauru in February 2019, Science News reported.Optical cameras, photometers, and an X- and gamma-ray detector installed on the space station observed the blue jet, ESA says.According to the agency, this visualization shows a blue flash, which lasts only 10 micro seconds, followed by the blue jet lasting 400 milliseconds. The blue flash also generated a phenomenon called ELVES (an acronym of Emission of Light and Very Low Frequency perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources), which is also visualized in this video. ELVES are “rapidly expanding ring[s] of optical and UV emissions at the bottom of the ionosphere,” ESA said on YouTube. Credit: ESA via Storyful
A “spectacular” storm brought strong wings and hail to the Spanish province of Catalonia on the morning of Friday, January 22, local media reported.Meteo Catalonia shared radar images of what they called a “whirlwind line” and said the storm crossed Catalonia in the space of just two hours with wind speeds as high as 73 mph (117 km/h).Carles Rabadà captured the dark clouds rolling over Balaguer, a city in the Lleida province of Catalonia, on Friday. Credit: Carles Rabadà via Storyful
The northern lights blazed across the night sky in Senja, Norway, earlier this month as an English photographer and his girlfriend walked along a beach.Footage captured by Matt Robinson on a road trip shows him and his partner, Jacqueline Garellick, holding hands as they observe the stunning colors from the aurora borealis overhead.Writing on Twitter on January 15, Robinson said, “As we walk off together into the aurora, our Arctic adventure comes to an end … The biggest thank you to everyone who has supported us.” Credit: Matt Robinson via Storyful
A severe thunderstorm swept Spain on Friday afternoon, January 22, treating Catalonians to a vibrant show of lightning and thunder.Antoni Velimelis shared footage from Balaguer, a city in the Lleida province of Catalonia, showing the strong wind, dark skies, and flashing lightning on Friday.Meteo Catalonia shared radar images of what they called a “whirlwind line” and said the storm crossed Catalonia in the space of just two hours with wind speeds as high as 73 mph (117 km/h).According to a translation by Google, Velimelis wrote on Twitter, “The clouds came from Aragon very fast, at the end it hailed, in just 10 minutes it flew by. Incredible!” Credit: Antoni Velimelis via Storyful
A “spectacular” storm brought strong wings and hail to the Spanish province of Catalonia in the morning of Friday, January 22, local media reported.Meteo Catalonia shared radar images of what they called a “whirlwind line” and said the storm crossed Catalonia in the space of just two hours with wind speeds as high as 73 mph (117 km/h).Video shared by Marco Cos Gracia shows rain and hail falling in the Catalonian city of Reus, before a loud thunder crack is heard. Credit: Marco Cos Gracia via Storyful
A woman was caught on a security camera lying down and posing for photographs on a railway track in Sussex, England, video released by Network Rail shows.This clip, taken from CCTV footage at Tidemills level crossing, shows a woman walking onto the train tracks before lying on her back while another woman takes photos.Network Rail said they were concerned about a rash of risky behavior at the crossing recently. The railway said this was the 17th incident at the crossing in the last nine months, with 15 recorded near-misses, compared to four incidents in the whole of 2019.British Transport Police Inspector Jonathan Pine said the two women were oblivious to the dangers of level crossings.“This is unthinkably stupid behavior … Trains pass through this line at speeds of up to 70 mph, so they could quite easily have been moments away from a catastrophic incident. We’ve seen first-hand the consequences of this sort of recklessness and no photo opportunity is worth risking your life for,” Pine said.Other concerning events recorded at Tidemills include level crossing users filming the emergency stop of an oncoming train, bicyclists narrowly missing a train, a funeral procession using the crossing, and “large groups of pedestrians” having close calls while trying to beat approaching trains, the railway said. Credit: Network Rail via Storyful
Residents of Shrewsbury, England, had to be moved from their homes and roads were closed as the River Severn burst its banks and flooded parts of the town on January 22, local media reported.Vulnerable Shrewsbury residents were moved from their homes to shelters away from the water and provided with lateral-flow coronavirus tests, the Shropshire Star said.The River Severn peaked in Shrewsbury at Welsh Bridge at 4.9 meters on Friday morning, January 22, with the river likely to rise even more, Shropshire Council said.Videos shared by Richard Tisdale show a flooded boathouse on the River Severn and a flooded street that runs into the town’s retail center. Credit: Richard Tisdale via Storyful
Long lines formed in parts of Beijing, China, on January 22, as mass COVID-19 testing was launched following consecutive days of new cases..Chinese state media reported that two Beijing districts – Dongcheng and Xicheng – had begun testing on Friday, with the aim of testing more than 2 million residents over the weekend.This footage shows long lines of people on Friday. The National Health Commission reported a total of 103 new cases of coronavirus on mainland China on the same day.This weekend marks one year since the Chinese city of Wuhan was placed under a two-and-a-half month lockdown in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus. Credit: Olivia Siong / CNA via Storyful
This adorable dog's spontaneous bum-wiggling dance routine to a 90's hip-hop classic has gone viral - as the pint-sized pooch is 'pawfectly' in sync with her human dance partner.
Heavy rain and windy conditions were seen across parts of England and Wales on Thursday, January 21, as Storm Christoph continued to impact parts of the UK, the Met Office reported.This footage shows flooding in Cheshire near Farndon Bridge. Local reports said Cheshire officials helped evacuate four residents in Farndon and almost 150 from Northwich and Warrington due to flooding from the storm.The Environment Agency said on Friday that there was still a risk of flooding in some areas following the storm, and warned people to remain alert to the dangers. Credit: @FarndonCheshire via Storyful
A winter halo can be seen surrounding the moon on the night of January 21, as seen in the outskirts of London, Kentucky.Weather enthusiast Johnnie Nicholson recorded the footage of the moon surrounded by what he calls a “high level” of ice crystals, in the video uploaded to his YouTube channel.Speaking to abc7news meteorologist Drew Tuma said that the phenomenon was caused by “ice crystals suspended high above in thin wispy cirrus clouds refract the moon’s light to form a perfect circle”. Credit: Johnnie Nicholson via Storyful
Long lines formed in parts of Beijing, China, on January 22, as mass COVID-19 testing was launched following consecutive days of new cases..Chinese state media reported that two Beijing districts – Dongcheng and Xicheng – had begun testing on Friday, with the aim of testing more than 2 million residents over the weekend.This footage shows a long queue of people on Friday. The National Health Commission reported a total of 103 new cases of coronavirus on mainland China on the same day.This weekend marks one year since the Chinese city of Wuhan was placed under a two-and-a-half month lockdown in a bid to quarantine the coronavirus outbreak. Credit: Joshua Dummer via Storyful
Long lines formed in parts of Beijing, China, on January 22, as mass COVID-19 testing was launched following consecutive days of new cases.Chinese state media reported that two Beijing districts – Dongcheng and Xicheng – had begun testing on Friday, with the aim of testing more than 2 million residents over the weekend.This footage shows a long queue of people on Friday. The National Health Commission reported a total of 103 new cases of coronavirus on mainland China on the same day.This weekend marks one year since the Chinese city of Wuhan was placed under a two-and-a-half month lockdown in a bid to quarantine the coronavirus outbreak. Credit: Luke Giles via Storyful
A severe storm lashed Norway on Thursday, January 21, and Friday, January 22, with authorities warning of gusts of up to 90 mph.This clip, posted on Instagram by Helene Valnumsen, shows waves crashing over a harbor wall in Sørevågen in the Utsira municipality.Warnings were downgraded on Friday by Norwegian authorities but the storm, dubbed Frank, continued to batter parts of the country. Norway’s Meteorological Institute warned that very strong gusts of up to 90 mph were still expected locally. Credit: Helene Valnumsen via Storyful
This is the dramatic moment a driver lost control of his vehicle on a snowy road, sending his car through a barrier and plummeting off a bridge. Miraculously, everybody survived the harrowing crash.
A major incident was declared in Skewen, Wales, after flooding saw dozens of residents spend the night in temporary accommodation on January 21, local media reported.South Wales Police declared a major incident after at least eight streets were flooded and a large number of properties evacuated.There were no reported injuries and the cause of the flooding was being investigated, police said. Credit: Robert Melen via Storyful
A beer truck crashed into a home in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday afternoon. Aerial footage shows the truck's cab lodged into the side of the residence.