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Big Bunny
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« Reply #180 on Sept 30, 2009, 11:29pm » | |
New quake hits stricken Sumatra
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7 has hit Sumatra, a day after another powerful quake devastated much of the Indonesian island.
Officials now say at least 200 bodies have been found from the earlier 7.6 magnitude quake, which triggered landslides and cut power lines.
Hundreds of buildings, including hospitals, collapsed in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province.
Rescue workers said the number of dead is expected to rise.
Thousands of people are thought to be buried under rubble.
Earlier Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Agency, said some 100 to 200 people had died in Padang and more than 500 houses and buildings had collapsed.
"Many people are staying outdoors and some people are staying in public facilities," he told Reuters.
Mr Kardono told the AFP news agency about 150 military personnel, as well as police and Health Ministry workers, were in the affected area, but they urgently needed heavy machinery to lift the rubble.
Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's disaster centre in Jakarta, said there were "thousands of people trapped in the rubble of buildings".
He said a city hospital was among the ruined buildings.
The quake brought down telephone lines, severely affecting communications with the affected area and making it difficult to assess the scale of the damage.
The authorities said heavy rain was hampering the rescue attempt.
Burning buildings
The first earthquake struck at 1716 local time (1016 GMT) on Wednesday, some 85km (55 miles) under the sea, north-west of Padang, the US Geological Survey said.
The second quake was on land and struck at 0852 local time on (0152 GMT) on Thursday, about 225km (95 miles) south-east of Padang at a depth of about 25km (15.5 miles).
There were no immediate reports of damage from the second quake.
Witnesses to the first quake said residents ran out of buildings in Padang - which has a population of 900,000 - and surrounding cities.
Jane Liddon, an Australian businesswoman in Padang, told Australian radio many large buildings in the town had been severely damaged.
"The concrete buildings are all down, the hospitals, the main markets, down and burned," she said.
"A lot of people died in there. A lot of places are burning."
But Ms Liddon said many smaller residential properties had escaped the damage.
Australia has offered to send emergency assistance to Indonesia if needed.
"They are very close friends and neighbours. They know that we are here and available to help. They just have to ask," said international Aid Minister, Bob McMullan.
Indonesian officials have said the quake was one of the biggest in Indonesia in recent years and could have been more powerful than the 2006 Yogyakarta quake which killed more then 5,000 people.
Wednesday's quake was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
That much more powerful earthquake struck roughly 600km north-west of Padang.
Geologists have long warned that Padang could one day be completely destroyed by an earthquake because of its location.
Western Sumatra is a mainly rural area with dense tropical forest.
It has several national parks and many of its beaches are popular with surfers.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8284139.stm
Published: 2009/10/01 02:38:10 GMT
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #181 on Oct 1, 2009, 9:15am » | |
Toll from Typhoon Ketsana rises to 377: official
October 1, 2009 - 2:52PM
The total death toll from Typhoon Ketsana has risen to 377 after more casualties were confirmed in Cambodia and Vietnam.
The death toll in Cambodia rose to at least 14 on Thursday with thousands of people affected by the storm, government officials said.
Three more people were killed in Cambodia on Wednesday, including one crushed when his house collapsed and two who drowned in flash floods in the country's northwest, said Ly Thuch, deputy chief of the National Committee for Disaster Management.
The storm weakened to a tropical depression on Wednesday, but officials said fierce winds destroyed 40 more houses in northwestern Siem Reap and flooded large swathes of the province which is home to the famed Angkor Wat temples.
Nine were killed and 35 injured in central Cambodia while two died in the northeast as the country was battered by the storm Tuesday evening. At least 100 houses were completely destroyed while more than 400 others were damaged.
"Thousands of people are estimated to be affected by typhoon Ketsana although we have not fully collected the figures," Ly Thuch told AFP before meeting with humanitarian agencies to further assess the damage.
He said local authorities and Red Cross officials were working to provide emergency assistance to victims who had lost their homes or been displaced by flooding.
Seth Vannareth, director of Cambodia's department of meteorology, said rains still continued in some parts of the country and warned of flash floods.
Earlier on Thursday the death toll in Vietnam rose to 86, an official said.
The official from the national flood and typhoon control committee said 24 of the deaths occurred in the mountainous inland province of Kon Tum.
Across the central region where Ketsana struck there were 16 missing and 124 injured, the official said.
Vietnam suffers annually from tropical storms and typhoons but this year's toll exceeds the deaths recorded in 2006, when Tropical Storm Durian killed at least 70 in the country's south, and Typhoon Xangsane left more than 70 dead in central Vietnam.
Ketsana killed 277 people in the Philippines before smashing into Vietnam and Cambodia.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/toll-from-ty....91001-ge50.html
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #182 on Oct 3, 2009, 8:05am » | |
Typhoon Parma slams into the Philippines
By Manny Mogato in Manila
Reuters
October 03, 2009 08:04pm
A POWERFUL typhoon has slammed into the northeastern tip of the Philippines, tearing roofs off houses and uprooting trees, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Officials said Typhoon Parma, the strongest typhoon to hit the country since 2006, may not be as destructive as feared since it had made landfall in the sparsely-populated Cagayan province and would weaken over land.
The system brought rain across the main island of Luzon but not as much as feared, especially along the densely-populated west coast where floods in and around Manila from Typhoon Ketsana last week killed nearly 300 people.
"The eye of the typhoon is looping right now in the eastern portion of Cagayan province," chief weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz told local radio, adding that the typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h near the centre and gusts of up to 210 km/h.
In Manila, a storm signal posted for the capital region overnight was lifted, but officials warned nearly half a million people living in shelters after their homes were flooded last week to stay put.
"There is still a risk of rain," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on national television.
"We ask the evacuees to stay one more night in evacuation centers."
Authorities in Taiwan issued a sea warning as Parma was likely to enter its southern waters in the next few days.
On the Philippines' east coast, about 2600 people were left stranded because of impassable roads in the Bicol region and on the island of Catanduanes, relief officials said.
Fallen trees and landslides had blocked roads in Cagayan and neighbouring Isabela province as well.
"So many trees have been uprooted, blocking roads," regional police chief Robert Damian told reporters.
"Galvanised iron sheets from houses are flying all over and power and communications are also down."
Some areas had been flooded, but there were no reports of deaths, he said.
Troops are evacuating entire communities from the east coast and almost 100,000 have already been shifted to safer areas, officials said.
President Arroyo declared a nationwide calamity on Friday to allow local governments to access emergency funds and cap the prices of essential goods.
Officials said some 5.5 billion pesos ($115 million) in crops, mostly rice about to be harvested, were damaged by Ketsana last week. The damage to bridges and roads was estimated at 1.6 billion pesos.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26159606-401,00.html
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #183 on Oct 3, 2009, 11:57am » | |
Dozens perish in mudslides
MESSINA, ITALY
October 4, 2009
![[image]](http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/5861/mudslides2crop420x08979.jpg)
Devastation ... the damage to parts of the small town of Giampilieri is clear. Photo: AP
MUDSLIDES in Sicily, triggered by 24 hours of heavy rain, have killed more than 20 people and authorities fear for the safety of dozens more.
About 60 people have been taken to hospital as rescue efforts continue around the port city of Messina.
Some were carried aboard dinghies because the roads were impassable, while those with serious injuries were taken by helicopter.
City officials said they feared a heavier toll as some parts of the southern island remained inaccessible.
Torrential rain started on Thursday afternoon on the north-eastern side of the island.
Mud flows up to seven metres deep caused two buildings to collapse and swamped streets and houses in the villages of Galati, Giampilieri and Molino.
The town of Scaletta is completely isolated, the civil protection service said.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was expected to visit the area yesterday amid fears the death toll could rise to 50.
"There are some 20 dead and 30 missing but at the end there will be at least 50 deaths," Mr Berlusconi said early yesterday.
Rescue workers and sniffer dogs searched for survivors in the rubble of the two buildings and in numerous communities in the region cut off by mudslides, but searches were halted on Friday night due to dangers to rescuers.
Sicily emergency services spokesman Giampiero Gliubizzi said: "Most of the dead and seriously injured were in two buildings that collapsed in mudslides."
Mr Gliubizzi said several hundred people suffered some form of injury.
Local officials said the disaster was predictable, citing inadequate storm drainage systems.
"The area is already very fragile, and we have seen total negligence, especially with the lack of drainage," said Gian Vito Graziano, president of the regional association of geologists.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/dozens-perish-in-mudslides-20091003-gh8i.html
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #184 on Oct 3, 2009, 11:58am » | |
India flood toll rising
October 4, 2009
The death toll from the worst flash floods and heavy rains in decades in southern India rose to at least 172 people on Saturday, officials said, as authorities stepped up rescue efforts.
At least 145 people died in the state of Karnataka where army troops and air force helicopters were rescuing marooned villagers and 26 were killed in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh where dams were overflowing, authorities said.
Army boats were also deployed in the rescue efforts.
One more person was killed in the popular southern seaside resort state of Goa in heavy rains that resulted in the collapse of 250 houses, police said.
Officials said the death toll had jumped from 76 to 172 people in 24 hours and warned that number of deaths could rise.
"The toll may go up as we try to reach those areas and villages that remain cut off," HV Parashwanath, secretary of Karnataka's disaster monitoring agency, told Agence France-Presse in Bangalore.
"We are seeing some of the worst flooding since 1972 in the northern part of the state," Parashwanath said, referring to where the Krishna River burst its banks.
Four days of intense rain have submerged villages, destroyed crops and disrupted transport and communication links in parts of the states.
Karnataka's chief minister BS Yeddyurappa said the northern part of the state was "reeling" from the heavy rainfall.
Authorities in both states were rushing to shift people living in low-lying areas to school buildings and temples on higher ground.
"We are concentrating on relief operations and evacuation to a safer place," Andhra Pradesh state revenue minister D Prasad Rao told reporters in state capital Hyderabad.
"The flood is of an unprecedented magnitude," S.A.M. Rizvi, a local administrator in Andhra Pradesh, told the Press Trust of India.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/india-flood-toll-rising-20091003-ghdt.html
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #185 on Oct 7, 2009, 6:42pm » | |
Dozens killed in landslides in Nepal
Agence France-Presse
October 07, 2009 09:30pm
AT least 45 people have been killed by landslides and flash floods triggered by torrential rains in remote western Nepal.
"Landslides killed 21 people whose homes were buried by landslides in four villages in Accham district,'' Rudra Khadka, joint-secretary at the home ministry said.
Yesterday at least 12 people including seven children, were killed after a landslide buried two houses in Dadeldhura district, 480 kilometres west of Kathmandu.
The official said another 12 people were killed in three neighbouring districts today in landslides and flash floods.
"Rescue teams have been mobilised to assess the damage and look for survivors,'' said Mr Khadka, adding that heavy rain was hampering relief operations and hundreds of displaced families had taken refuge on high ground.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26181258-401,00.html
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #186 on Oct 7, 2009, 6:45pm » | |
Japan on alert as powerful typhoon hits
Agence France-Presse
October 08, 2009 12:01am
![[image]](http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7484/07044112009002159.jpg)
Typhoon Melor has hit Japan's southern islands, cutting power and destroying homes / AP
JAPAN braced today for a direct hit from one of its strongest typhoons in years as heavy rain and strong winds cut power to thousands of homes and tore roofs from buildings on its southern islands.
Typhoon Melor, on course to batter the main island of Honshu, would be the first to make landfall in Japan since 2007.
"We are issuing storm and high-wave warnings as the typhoon is seen as one of the strongest for the past decade,'' said Shinichi Nakatsukasa, a weather forecaster at the Meteorological Agency.
The storm was packing gusts of up to 216 kilometres an hour, moving south of Shikoku, one of Japan's four main islands, late Wednesday, the agency reported.
The typhoon was predicted to make landfall in western Japan before dawn today, and then roar over densely populated Honshu, the industrial heartland of the world's number two economy.
Toyota Motor ordered production to be suspended at all 12 of its domestic plants while railway operators in western Japan said they would cancel some services of special express trains.
"Rain will be very heavy and winds will also be fairly strong on land. It is likely to make landfall with a violent force,'' another weather agency official said.
A total of 10,600 households were without electricity Wednesday on islands in Japan's far South, according to local power companies.
Some roofs were blown off while trees and power poles were toppled, but there were no reports of injuries, according to local officials, who urged residents to be on alert.
"We have advised people who plan to evacuate to do so during daytime, before winds become any stronger,'' disaster management official Koki Ishino said.
More than 200 flights, four of them international, were grounded due to strong winds in western Japan, affecting some 15,000 passengers, while most ferry services were suspended in the region.
A 46-year-old surfer drowned in rough seas in Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo.
Police said they were investigating whether the death was caused by high waves brought by the approaching typhoon.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26181106-401,00.html
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #187 on Oct 17, 2009, 4:37am » | |
Hurricane Rick strengthens to Category 3
October 17, 2009 - 8:34PM
AFP
Hurricane Rick, churning in the Pacific Ocean, reached Category 3 strength early on Saturday to become a large storm, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
Rick was gathering strength off Mexico's southern coast, with maximum sustained winds at nearly 185km/h.
At 0900 GMT (2000 AEDT) Rick's centre was about 402km southwest of the seaside resort town of Acapulco.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-wor....91017-h25h.html
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #188 on Oct 17, 2009, 7:16pm » | |
Hurricane Rick ugraded to Category 5
From correspondents in Miami, USA
Agence France-Presse
October 18, 2009 09:36am
![[image]](http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8444/203517123sm4834553.gif)
HURRICANE Rick has reached Category 5 status - the top of the Saffir-Simpson scale - as it barrels up Mexico's Pacific coast, US forecasters said today.
The storm's top winds were roiling at 260km/h overnight, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26226014-23109,00.html
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #189 on Oct 31, 2009, 10:52am » | |
Fresh storm batters Philippines
The fourth storm in a month to hit the Philippines has lashed the eastern coastal province of Quezon, bringing heavy rain and winds to the region.
Typhoon Mirinae followed a similar route to a September storm, Ketsana, which dumped the heaviest rains in 40 years on Manila.
At least seven people have been killed and several others are missing.
Many regions are still reeling after the worst storm-related floods in decades, which have left hundreds dead.
Mirinae, with winds of 150 km/h (93mph) and gusts of up to 186 km/h (115mph) made landfall on Quezon around midnight Friday, sweeping west, south of the capital and weakening into a tropical storm on Saturday afternoon.
It is thought to be heading in the direction of Vietnam.
'High as rooftops'
One man was found dead and his one-year-old baby was missing after they were washed away while trying to cross an overflowing creek in Pililla township in Rizal province, east of Manila.
Six people were reported dead in Laguna province, just south of the capital. At least four others are believed to be missing.
In the town of Santa Cruz, hundreds of residents were seen wading through stagnant waters after the storm hit. Surrounding roads were flooded and naval boats sent to help with rescue efforts.
"The waters were really high. It was like a flashflood. It was waist deep in our area but in other areas it went as high as the rooftops," local official Marlon Albay was quoted as saying.
RECENT PHILIPPINES STORMS
# 30 Oct: Typhoon Mirinae hits Quezon, killing at least seven
# 3 Oct: Typhoon Parma's floods and landslides kill at least 200
# 26 Sept: Tropical Storm Ketsana wreaks havoc, kills more than 300
# 7 Aug: Typhoon Morakot hits the north, killing at least 10
Earlier, the authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 115,000 people in provinces south of the capital.
Flights cancelled
At least 10,000 left their homes in areas near rivers and the active Mayon volcano in Albay province, which the authorities feared might unleash rivers of mud and loose volcanic rock.
Officials also closed schools and grounded ferries, and trucks loaded with relief supplies were sent to northern areas in the storm's path.
About 180 flights from Manila were cancelled.
Before the storm arrived, residents in the city were told to prepare supplies to last 72 hours and stay indoors.
Vanessa Tobin, the representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in the Philippines, told the BBC that the rain had been very heavy in the capital early on Saturday, but that it had been replaced by strong winds.
"The reports from Manila are not as bad as had been expected," she said. "But we are getting reports from the south... - particularly around Bicol, which was hit in 2006 by mudslides - that there has been heavy rain and has been significant damage there," she added.
More than 900 people have been killed in the multiple storms, including Typhoon Parma, which have battered the Philippines over the last month.
More than 100,000 people are sheltering in government-run evacuation centres and some communities in Manila remain flooded with residents using makeshift rafts to move around.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8334659.stm
Published: 2009/10/31 15:12:34 GMT
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #190 on Nov 4, 2009, 6:17pm » | |
At least 90 dead as storm batters Vietnam
From correspondents in Hanoi
Agence France-Presse
November 05, 2009 07:24am
AT least 90 people have been killed in flooding in central Vietnam sparked by Tropical Storm Mirinae, which slammed into the country after pummelling the Philippines, officials said today.
A further 22 people were reported missing after the storm struck on Tuesday, destroying hundreds of homes, according to regional officials who asked not to be named and local reports.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying members of the Danish royal family, including Princess Mary, was forced to make a diversion during a visit to Vietnam after being hit by strong winds from the storm, Danish media reported.
Television pictures from the provinces of Phu Yen and Gia Lai, which were among the worst hit regions along with Binh Dinh, showed rescuers in boats helping desperate residents escape some of the worst flooding there in decades.
Water in places reached the rooftops of buildings, where some residents had sought refuge.
"It is the most devastating flooding in more than 30 years in Phu Yen," the national disaster committee said in a statement, after part of the province's system of dykes was overwhelmed.
Vietnamese television reported today that thousands of people were stranded in pagodas, schools and other public buildings in Phu Yen, unable to reach their homes.
Local authorities in the province had asked Hanoi for thousands of instant food sachets as food and drinking water started to run low. Two thousand soldiers had been deployed to help with the rescue effort.
Mirinae destroyed 900 homes and damaged more than 14,000 others while some 18,000 hectares of rice land was flooded, according to a UN report that cited Vietnamese authorities.
More than 50,000 people fled the coastal provinces before the storm, which battered the Philippines as a typhoon, was downgraded to a tropical depression and made landfall on Tuesday.
Mirinae also killed two people in Vietnam's neighbour Cambodia and left 27 people dead in the Philippines, where almost 16,000 people were living in evacuation centres.
Danish media reported that Queen Margrethe of Denmark's aircraft was forced to make a diversion during a visit to Vietnam after being hit by strong winds.
The queen and her family, who arrived in Vietnam on November 2 for a five-day state visit, were on their way to the old imperial town of Hue.
But the aircraft they were travelling in was unable to land due to strong winds and it was forced to head instead to Da Nang, the Ritzau news agency and the TV2 News channel reported.
Queen Margrethe, Prince Consort Henrik and their son, Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian-born wife Princess Mary then continued their journey to Hue by bus.
Vietnam and the Philippines are frequently hit by tropical storms and flooding at this time of year and both were hit hard by Typhoon Ketsana in September.
Ketsana caused one of communist Vietnam's worst disasters in recent years, leaving more than 170 dead and hundreds injured. It caused devastating floods, inundated hundreds of thousands of homes and damaged tens of thousands of hectares of rice and other crops.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26307804-401,00.html
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #191 on Nov 7, 2009, 11:24pm » | |
Storm Ida revives, churns towards Gulf of Mexico
Posted 2009/11/07 at 10:01 pm EST
MEXICO CITY, Nov. 7, 2009 (Reuters) — Ida strengthened back into a tropical storm early on Saturday off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and was moving north toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it could again become a hurricane.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ida, which had weakened to a depression on Thursday, now carried maximum sustained winds of 60 mph/95 kph and was located about 255 miles/410 km southwest of Cozumel, Mexico.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Grand Cayman Island and for the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, the Miami-based NHC said.
Mexico issued a hurricane watch for the Yucatan peninsula from the resort of Tulum to Cabo Catoche, north of Cancun.
Ida, which dumped heavy rain along Nicaragua's Caribbean coast earlier in the week, is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico Sunday night, by which time it could be reaching hurricane strength, the NHC said.
The Mexican government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the Yucatan peninsula and imposed restrictions on coastal shipping.
U.S. energy companies said on Friday they were monitoring the storm's progress but had not yet begun evacuating any production platforms.
The Gulf of Mexico accounts for a quarter of U.S. domestic oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output. The Gulf Coast is also home to 40 percent of the nation's refining capacity.
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5a60yd-us-storm-ida/
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #192 on Nov 8, 2009, 11:59am » | |
Hurricane Ida strengthens, 42 dead in Salvador
By Michael O'Boyle
Posted 2009/11/08 at 10:24 am EST
CANCUN, Mexico, Nov. 8, 2009 (Reuters) — Hurricane Ida strengthened off the Mexican resort city of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday as the storm's heavy rains killed at least 42 people in El Salvador.
El Salvador's interior minister said more victims were expected to be found as rescue workers moved into areas cut off by mudslides in the Central American nation.
Ida was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico later on Sunday and could gain additional strength as it churns toward the oil and gas production facilities of the central Gulf before weakening as it nears the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.
Mexican authorities had no plans yet to evacuate foreigners from the beach resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, popular with American tourists, but were moving residents of coastal areas into shelters.
The Mexican government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the Yucatan Peninsula and imposed restrictions on coastal shipping.
The Miami-based hurricane center set a hurricane watch, meaning hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours, from Grand Isle, Louisiana to the border between the states of Mississippi and Alabama. The watch did not include the city of New Orleans.
Ida reached hurricane status again late on Saturday and packed top sustained winds of near 90 mph, the hurricane center said in its 9 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) advisory.
Ida is a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, and forecasters said it could strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane later on Sunday. Gradual weakening was expected to begin by late on Monday.
The center of Ida was 75 miles northeast of the Caribbean resort island of Cozumel, Mexico, and about 80 miles west-southwest of the western tip of Cuba, the hurricane center said.
It was moving northwest near 10 mph and was forecast to turn toward the north over the next two days.
Energy companies active in the Gulf of Mexico, including Mexico's state oil monopoly, Pemex, are actively monitoring the storm but have not yet evacuated any production platforms or curtailed output of oil and gas.
The Gulf of Mexico accounts for a quarter of U.S. domestic oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output. The Gulf Coast is also home to 40 percent of the nation's refining capacity.
Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua before weakening over that country. It strengthened again on Saturday.
The storm's heavy rains left forced more than 5,000 people into shelters in Nicaragua but the authorities said there were no reports of fatalities.
The country's coffee crop was not directly affected by the storm, according to the local coffee council.
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5a60yd-us-storm-ida/
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #193 on Nov 10, 2009, 1:23am » | |
Hurrincane floods, landslides kill 136
From correspondents in Verapaz, El Salvador
Agence France-Presse
November 10, 2009 03:11pm
RESCUE workers combed through mud, rubble and debris in search of survivors from raging floods and landslides that killed at least 136 people, after a late-season hurricane devastated swathes of Central America.
Landslides and overflowing rivers swept away entire homes, while a raging torrent ripped through an large section of the town of Verapaz, where bodies - covered in mud-caked sheets - were stored in a local chapel, waiting to be identified.
Rescue efforts focused on eastern San Vicente department, where 72 people were still missing after three days of driving rain, 60 of them in Verapaz alone, officials said today.
"The problem here in finding bodies is removing all these rocks and trees," Carlos Arce, 27, said in what remained of his town of 6,800 after the storm.
"The floods took away people, houses and destroyed the crops," said Javier Martinez, a local farmer.
A civil protection official updated the death toll from the storm from 130 to 136, adding that more than 13,000 people fled their homes, some 1800 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 18 bridges and many roads were washed away by the floods.
Although Hurricane Ida did not hit the country of some seven million people directly, it brought heavy rain that affected the entire region.
President Mauricio Funes visited Verapaz, where he vowed that "this time, the government will not leave the people alone".
He has requested the national assembly to reallocate $US150 million ($161.13 million) from an international loan of $US300 million ($322.27 million) designed for anti-crisis measures.
The National Assembly has declared a "public catastrophe and national disaster" and decreed three days of national mourning for the flood victims.
"There is no doubt that this is a town that has been severely hit by a natural disaster, but it also shows the lack of preventive measures and risk mitigation that could have been carried out years ago," said Mr Funes. "We must overcome the tragedy ... I know that those lives lost can hardly be replaced."
Help for the flood victims was coming from across the Americas: the United States has donated $US100,000 ($107,423) in aid, Brazil $US80,000 ($85,938), and Guatemala has sent rescue workers to help the recovery effort.
The UN World Food Program warned that over the next few days around 10,000 people in El Salvador will need emergency food assistance.
Teams would shortly begin the challenging work in this hilly and mountainous land of evaluating the flood damage, according to Interior Minister Humberto Centeno.
Ida, now weakened to a tropical storm, was crossing the Gulf of Mexico ahead of expected landfall in Alabama in the United States tomorrow, although tropical force winds ahead of the storm were already lashing Louisiana and Florida.
Heavy downpours have hit El Salvador since Frisday, causing mudslides and flooding. Most of the deaths have occurred in the areas of San Salvador, La Libertad, Cuscatlan, La Paz and San Vicente.
Not even the country's only zoo was spared: a stream running alongside it burst its banks, damaging some installations and killing a number of animals, National Zoo director Raul Miranda said.
Torrential rains have also hit neighbouring Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. No victims or major damage have been reported either in Honduras or Mexico, but about 100 homes have been damaged by flooding in Guatemala, prompting the evacuation of at least 200 people there.
Ida also struck neighbouring Nicaragua last week, destroying around 930 homes and leaving some 13,000 people homeless.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26330895-401,00.html
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: "Severe Weather" II
« Reply #194 on Nov 14, 2009, 9:54pm » | |
Storm brings flooding and 70mph winds
Roofs damaged and trees uprooted as strong winds, lightning and rain lash southern England and Wales
* David Batty
* guardian.co.uk, Saturday 14 November 2009 16.46 GMT
![[image]](http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/825/hugewavesbreakoverthe00.jpg)
Huge waves break over the lighthouse on Newhaven harbour. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Severe gales and heavy rain caused flooding and damaged property today, with strong winds uprooting trees and blowing off roofs.
Coastal regions in southern England and Wales were lashed by strong winds, lightning and driving rain in the worst storm of the year, with winds reaching up to 100mph on the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight.
Weather forecasters said average wind speeds were closer to 70mph in exposed inland areas as storms swept the country. Daniel Adamson, of the forecast service MeteoGroup UK, said: "It's quite rare for the winds to be that strong inland, it certainly doesn't happen very often."
The worst of the gales will have passed over most of the country by early evening, and the storm is expected to move out to the North Sea and lose intensity overnight, making way for calmer weather tomorrow. But northern England, which escaped much of the today's storm, will get a lashing on Monday, with winds of up to 60mph, and some areas of western Scotland will see gusts reaching 70mph.
Heavy rain overnight and today led to coastal flooding and damage to homes across southern England and Wales. The Environment Agency had 28 flood warnings in operation in England and Wales this morning, and seven remained by the afternoon. Sixty-eight areas were on flood watch alert.
Toby Willison, the agency's southern regional director, said: "People should be aware that there will be a lot of water around, avoid trying to drive or walk through any flooding and be sensible out and about the coast."
Firefighters said about 60 homes had been damaged in Benfleet, Essex, over an area of about half a square mile. "A severe storm hit The Fairway area of Benfleet this morning and what is believed to have been a tornado had ripped through the street and surrounding area," said station officer Simon Dedman.
"Approximately 60 houses in total were affected, with mainly roof tiles and TV aerials coming off. Eight of those houses were seriously affected, with some of their roofs being blown off. Fallen debris scattered the streets. Fortunately no-one suffered any injuries."
Workers stranded by floodwater in four industrial units on an estate in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, were rescued by boats. A fire and rescue service spokesman said: "There has been a hell of a lot of water, amounting to about two foot in total."
He said the service had dealt with nearly 40 weather-related calls in the Haywards Heath area alone, with residents reporting flooding to properties. Firefighters were called out after a tree was brought down on power lines and caught alight.
Fire crews across mid and west Wales had attended 141 separate callouts by midnight last night. Pembrokeshire was the hardest hit, with widespread flooding of the county's road network trapping people in their cars.
Firefighters using a boat and a Land Rover rescued a woman stranded by floodwater in Milford Haven. In Haverfordwest, 12 people were rescued from a coach trapped in floodwaters. Floods in Tenby affected roads around the resort, and 14 people were rescued from vehicles.
In Dorset, five people, including a pregnant woman and two small children, fled their car when it was enveloped by floodwater at Whitchurch Canonicorum, near Bridport. A fire and rescue service spokeswoman said the water was up to the car bonnet by the time crews arrived. Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service said it had attended a number of reports of roofs being blown off properties.
The wild weather caused travel disruption in some areas. Passengers faced delays and cancellations after the heavy rain caused rocks to slide on to rail tracks, closing a busy line in the Chepstow area of south-east Wales. Services running between Newport and Gloucester were affected, along with cross-country trains between Nottingham and Cardiff.
Some cross-Channel sailings were disrupted due to the rough seas and winds gusting up to force 10, the Port of Dover said. SeaFrance crossings from Dover to Calais and LD Lines services to Boulogne were subject to some delays. Brittany Ferries cancelled sailings from Plymouth to Roscoff and Poole to Cherbourg because of the severe weather.
The AA urged drivers to take extra care on the roads in the difficult conditions and said dedicated Land Rovers would be on patrol in the worst-hit areas to help drivers stuck in floodwater. Mark Peacock, of the AA, said: "Torrential rain and standing water will expose drivers to the dual hazards of poor visibility and possible aquaplaning – add to this sudden wind gusts and conditions will be quite challenging in some areas. Even experienced drivers can be caught out, so it's important to drive more cautiously and allow extra time for your journey."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/14/storm-flooding-high-winds
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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