Weekly wrap-up: Historic deluge floods over 13,000 homes in Quebec; Fire rages along Georgia-Florida border

By Katy Galimberti, AccuWeather staff writer

May 13,2017, 3:23:08AM,EDT

 

 A massive wildfire continues to rage near the Georgia-Florida border, prompting evacuations.

Known as the West Mims Fire, the blaze in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was sparked by a lightning strike on April 6 and has burned more than 148,000 acres. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of Chartlon County in Georgia early in the week. Some local schools were forced to close.
Smoke from the wildfires has been observed on satellite, and the skies around northern Florida and southern Georgia have turned a hazy orange.

The West Mims Fire forced some communities to evacuate this week as the blaze raged on the Georgia-Florida border. (Facebook photo/Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge)

More than 13,000 homes in Quebec flooded this week as the region experienced torrential rainfall.
A state of emergency was declared in Montreal on Sunday after three dikes gave way in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough, near the Rivieres des Prairies, the AP reported.
Quebec's Environmental Minister David Heurtel said officials haven't seen water levels this high in 55 years.
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Canadian Primer Minister Justin Trudeau toured hard-hit area Gatineau, near Ottawa along the Ottawa River. Lawns were submerged.
Trudeau said the federal government contributed $1 million to the Red Cross, and has assistance programs in place to aid flood victims, according to a press release.
A severe thunderstorm slammed Denver on Monday afternoon with large hail, causing damage and travel delays across the city.

Patrick Clark inspects his damaged car after a strong spring storm moved through the metropolitan Denver area Monday afternoon, May 8, 2017. (AP Photo/P. Solomon Banda)

Enough hail coated roadways that it appeared as if snow had fallen. Travel was delayed at times. Tennis-ball sized hail was reported around Denver, smashing car windows, stripping trees of leaves and damaging some houses.
The first eastern Pacific tropical system formed days before the official start to the season on May 15.
An area of showers and thunderstorms became the earliest tropical depression and tropical storm on record in the eastern Pacific Ocean since reliable data began in 1966. Named Adrian, the system spun off the coast of Mexico and posed no threat to land.