Return To The Source of All Life

World's Natural/Unnatural Disasters, which are Caused by the constant Implosions of Parallel Universes into our Original Universe!

You are not Your Physical Body; You are Not the Physical Matter: You are Energy! And Everything what happened to You, happened for One Good Reason: to Merge Your Energy with the Energies of Others, with the Energies of Earths, with the Energies of Universes! The Culmination of this Mixing Process for this Universe will be in December 2013: the Final Stage of the Universal Shift!

Old and New Earth!

This symbolic picture shows an Old Earth and a Colorful New Earth, this is the Moment of Separation with the Old Earth, a Giant Leap in Consciousness, which we are about to make! The New Earth of 5th Level of Consciousness is the New World, which we are creating, our next Home, where 500 million people of the same high Violet Vibration are going to! The best place to see this New Planet and to take photos of it are South and North Poles, but it is not easy to get there through the barrier, created by the Negatives!  Because our Universe is Holographic in nature, whatever we dream about is effecting the whole Universe! The more we all dream about our Universe being Balanced, the sooner it will become Balanced and the more Balance will be around you!
And if you want to know how Balance looks like, then look at the Sun!



Link to Site Map listing other articles, books and useful websites:  SITE MAP


Any material inc. pictures can be taken from this website!

Everything physical is slowly turning into Plasma inc. our bodies, LM!

Tzunamis-Earthquakes-Fires-Floods-Explosions-Crack-Sinkholes in Japan, March 2011
Floods Power Blackouts Worldwide
Bushfires
Storms/Hurricanes/Tzunamis/Typhoons Landslides, Avalanches, Sinkholes
Earthquakes Volcano Eruptions Implosions
Global Cooling Melting of South and North Poles Droughts
Train-Plane-Boat Disasters Cranes/Chimneys/Buildings Collapse Shootings

Violet Sky and Rainbow Corona of the Sun!

Rainbow Corona of the Sun in Violet Sky!

Violet Sky and Rainbow Corona of the Sun!

Rainbow Corona of the Sun in Violet Sky!

Violet Sky and Rainbow Corona of the Sun!

Pentagon Sun. Invisible Sun with artificial pentagons superimposed on it. Picture is taken in the garden of our Centre by me in Feb. 2010.


Invisible Sun pictured in Elliott Heads on 24th Jan 2011!

Invisible Sun pictured by me in Elliott Heads on 24th Jan 2011! I deliberately didn't let the Sun into the viewfinder by taking the picture below the Sun and to my surprise, the Sun turned up on the picture! You can try it too and see what would happen! We are going to see 2 Suns in the sky permanently pretty soon and behind Arctic Circle it is a common thing to see 2 Suns! Some pictures on this site are showing 2 Suns!

End Game: the Closing Ceremony of Olympic Games organised by secret societies in Australia in 2000! Symbols of Fire and Water were to indicate future fires and floods everywhere in the Wolrld!

End Game: the Closing Ceremony of Olympic Games organised by Secret Societies in Australia in 2000!
Symbols of Fire and Water were to indicate future fires and floods everywhere in the Wolrld! There are a few Orbs watching the event!

End Game: the Closing Ceremony of Olympic Games organised by secret societies in Australia in 2000! Symbols of Fire and Water were to indicate future fires and floods everywhere in the Wolrld!


Old funny pictures have been moved to:  New Earth and Old Earth  ,  Old Funny Pictures  ,  Humour around the WorldFun and Entertainment

Fire whirls are causing bushfires to spread with enormous speed. People don't cause bushfires by lighting a cigarette, but Gamma Rays in a form of Blue Jets and Sprites do, as well as the use of Microwave weapon from the Moon! More info on: Anomalous Events  !

"The Convoluted Universe", part 2, written by Dolores Cannon in 2005, p.638:

"The Earth will remain within this UV beam (this event has already happened, LM) for approximately 17 hours of your time, and it will interpenetrate every electron of precious Life energy. This beam is radiant fluorescent in nature, blue/magenta in color (magenta is dark pink, LM). Although it resonates in this frequency band, it is above the color frequency spectrum of your universe, so it will not be seen. However, due to the nature of your soul it will have an effect. The effect is that every thought and emotion will be amplified intensely one million-fold. Every thought, every emotion, every intent, every will, no matter if it is good, bad, ill, positive, negative, will be amplified one million times in strength (get ready for that: it is already taking place! My son Robert has been going crazy from all normal sounds of our household, like running water from the tap, for instance. The feeling is like someone put sound amplifiers into his ears. He's been going crazy for many months and driving us crazy. That could be familiar for many people out there, LM).
Since all matter manifest is due to your thoughts, i.e. what you focus on, this beam will accelerate these thoughts and solidify them at an accelerated rate, making them manifest a million times faster than they normally would. The ultraviolet Light will bathe every person on the planet. It has the potential of transforming the way Humanity thinks and feels. It will create a new, easier pathway for Earth’s Ascension into the next dimension (why not next Density, which is 4th? There is a big difference in vibration between dimension and density. I might be wrong, but as far as I know physical 3rd Density Universe has many physical dimensions, where Physical Parallel Universes/Earths are located, next level is non-physical 4th Density, which has non-physical dimensions,  LM). This is the beginning of awesome influxes of Light that will move this planet up the Spiral of Evolution by quantum leaps and bounds! So it appears that it has begun!"

Sprites in Violet skies, Toulouse, France1

Sprites in Violet skies, Toulouse, France!

Robert Monroe described one of unusual disasters he experienced in one of Parallel Worlds, which reminds a Tidal Wave! The extract is from his "Far Journeys", p84-88:

CLICK!
I was in a city, or what appeared to be a city. There were buildings in all directions, fairly uniform, none over three or four stories high. They were not particularly attractive or unusual, had openings in the sides that my percept took as windows and doors. The streets or spaces between buildings were not unusually wide, but contained only people, percept beings like me or what I was temporarily. No cars, trucks, vehicles of any type. No utility poles or overhead wires, no sidewalks. It was bright daylight, but I couldn't find a Sun overhead. As I walked and mingled with the population, people noticed me but didn't seem to react as if I were an alien. With each step, I felt more at ease and the population seemed more human. Each inhabitant was very purposeful and closed, as if preoccupied on a job to be done with not much nonsense in the process. If there was any body language present, no percept showed. Point of fact was I couldn't tell the males from the females, which was unusual for me, so I assumed there was no such difference. Unable to attract the attention of those moving on the street, I entered one of the buildings and found myself in a large room which greatly resembled the lobby of a medium-sized hotel. There were people standing around, apparently in conversation. I approached a man (?) who appeared to be standing behind a desk. He looked at me expectantly. I knew I needed a reason.
"Do you, uh, do you have a restaurant here?" I tried to make it casual, but as he blanked I knew I had done it wrong.
I turned to my rudimentary NVC. (Do you have the means for me to recharge?)
The man lighted brightly, waved me off to the right. As I walked in the indicated direction, I felt smug. I had passed one test. They didn't vocalize but they understood me. Even my weak, nonverbal communication. From here on, it would be easy. I began to speculate as to the food they consumed. It was sure to be unusual. An archway, rounded, was in front of me, and it appeared dark beyond—no, not dark, just lit differently in a mixture of colors. I strode confidently through the archway and into the colors. Just inside, the radiation hit me like a sheet of hot flame and I staggered back. This wasn't the restaurant, the man got it all wrong. From all sides came the overwhelming attraction of female sexuality, inviting, asking, offering, promising—it was too much. With great effort, I backed out through the archway, breathing heavily and trying to calm down. I had just about smoothed out when I looked up and the room clerk (?) was in front of me, accompanied by two other men—percept police, authority, KGB, etc. One KGB moved in. (Your ident, please?)
86
I began fumbling in my pockets for my wallet, only there were no pockets in the one-piece cover I was wearing. But there was a belt on me
with a small pouch attached to it. I reached in the pouch and there was a card in it. I pulled it out and it resembled nothing so much as a typical credit card. KGB took it from me, examined it carefully, then looked up.
(From Earth, huh? Never heard of that city. Over on the other side of the ocean?)
I smoothed. (Why, uh, yes, you see . . .)
KGB waved the card at me. (Well, we don't particularly like you visiting here, but you got to obey the rules.)
I brightened. (Sure, I understand.)
(Here, we don't go into private space and take without paying first. Always pay first.) KGB turned to the desk clerk, handing him my card. (How much of it do you want? He hasn’t got very much.)
The desk clerk dropped the card into the pouch on his belt. (That ought to about cover it.)
I started to protest. (But that's all I got, I can't . . .)
(In that case we'II have to flag you.) The second KGB stepped forward and took my hands. (Can't have you walking around upsetting things without any ident.)
I flickered. (What are you going to do?)
The second KGB pulled a small flat box out of his pouch and opened it. (Hold still, this won't hurt.)
He took one hand and pressed my fingertips into the box. I thought, fingerprints, they're taking my fingerprints. But I was wrong. A black dye spread quickly up my fingers until it covered my entire hand. As I stared at it, bewildered, they stuck the fingers of my other hand into the box and I had two black hands. I tried to rub it off, but it had penetrated the skin.
The first KGB looked at my hands, satisfied. (That ought to do it. At least the people will see you coming.) (And be warned,) the second KGB added. (I'd advise you to go back home. Not much action for you here, the way you are. No ident to play with.) The first KGB looked at me hard. (We'll be keeping an eye on you.) Then the two turned and walked across the room and out into the street.
I smoothed at the desk clerk. (Sorry, I didn’t know it was a private space.)
The desk clerk vibrated. (What other kind is there!)
I flickered. (You mean all of these buildings are private?)
The desk clerk dulled.
(Then what are all these people doing here? There must be a hundred!) I hit it strong enough to catch his attention.
(It's their private space, naturally.)
(All one hundred?)
The desk clerk waved me over to the desk and I followed. He pointed to the drawing on the wall behind him. It showed some five rows of large black dots that looked like holes, twenty to a row.
(That's our personal space.) He gestured proudly. (Best in the city.)
I stared at the drawing. (You go into those?)
He nodded. (Only when the Surge takes place. They’re this big across the middle.) He indicated a width of about two feet with his arms.
He was about to continue when there was a sound like thunder in the distance and the floor began to rock. Immediately, everyone in the room turned and hurried out through exits in the back. The room clerk ran to join them. (That's the surge starting up,) he called over his shoulder. (I suppose that's what you came to witness, but you better get to your personal space fast.)
Then the room was empty and I tried to keep my footing as the floor heaved rhythmically. I staggered over to the entrance as the roar grew
louder. In the distance and approaching fast was a mighty wave, not water but in the ground itself, lifting buildings and streets into a tumbling flotsam hundreds of feet high. Behind the first wave, I could see a second and a third wave, each larger than the first. There may have been more, but I didn't have a chance to find out, as the first wave came surging into where I was, and the building lifted and tumbled, me in it, bouncing, rolling, twisting, jarring . . .desperately, I tried to focus, ident what? ident . . . ident Z-55/LOU . . . Z-55/LOU . . . reach and stretch, reach and stretch . . . closed tightly . . . tightly.
CLICK!
It was quiet, the pounding had stopped. I tried to keep from shaking long enough to open. I finally made it. I was in front of Z-55/LOU, and
I got a percept of his polite expectation. I smoothed somewhat. (That's home for you? Where you were before starting human?)
He plied. (It's not Kentucky.)
(And you’re going back there?)
Z-55/LOU opened wide. He glowed very brightly, almost white. (No, not there.)
There was a sudden urgent signal to go back, and before I could reply, I moved away automatically and he faded..."

Most of the Natural/Unnatural disasters are connected to water, like: Heavy Rains/Snow, Flash Floods, Tzunamis, Tidal Waves, Typhoons, Mudslides, Snow Avalanches, Volcano Eruptions underwater, Tornados above the seas and explosions of Dams (mostly caused by Red Sprites and Blue Jets, the forms of Gamma-Rays). And they are happening all over the World every day.
Water is the best plasmic media for travelling from one dimension to another from one Parallel Universe to another one, from the Original Earth to one of the Parallel Earths and back. The oceans, lakes and rivers are the most popular places for these activities, but in the places where there is no water, flash floods and heavy rains or moist fog are created by different world governments or from the underground by negative beings. They use their Negative Holographic Power Structure. A lot of humans (our other parts or Alters) are transported to the original Earth and there is nothing bad about travelling to other dimensions or to higher vibrational Worlds this way. It only helps your Higher Self to get more of necessary information/experiences and mix different energies more thoroughly. Evacuations of population is just helping the process!
Within the last 40 days of Jan-Feb. 2010 a considerable part of (Advanced) Humanity has been taken a few steps up to a higher vibration (while we were all asleep) and this way making the gap between Old Earth and the New Earth wider. The best indicator for that is the brightness of our Suns (visible and nonvisible), which I monitor and take pictures of almost every day.
Deluge of flash floods and heavy snow or fog (water as well) has been used for the transportation of the people , some with physical bodies, some without them. It was heavy snowing and fogging in USA, Canada, England and Europe, Russia and China, Japan and Korea, Mongolia and Kazahstan for the last 40 days
of Jan-Feb. 2010, but at the same time in the Southern hemisphere, we had frequent flash flooding in Australia (esp. coastal regions), in countries of South America and in South Africa etc.
I never read the Bible (never was religious), but from other books I've read about 40 days of Deluge in the past and I know, that it was similar situation then, that whoever was alive at that time was taken a few steps up to a level of a higher vibration with or without their physical bodies using water of Deluge (rain, floods, mudslides, heavy snowstorms, hail, fog etc. and it is also a good Cover-Up). Water is the best environment for these actions, the transition to higher vibrations is easier. The same as a waterbirth is easier, than a birth on dry land: the transition from the higher, lighter vibrations of non-physical level you were in before been born, to the lower and heavier vibrations of the physical level, physical Earth you ended up in after been born are made easier through the water. And don't forget that fetus develops inside woman's body in a liquid for the same reason. Water provides a cushioning effect in transitioning much like a step-up/step down transformer for electrical energy.
With every heavy flood, rain, snow or fog we move one frequency up, one step up to non-physical 5th Level of Consciousness and there will be much more of it in the nearest future. No Pain, No Gain!  
So, please, change your trivial Thoughts for Advanced ones, because your Thoughts are affecting the movement of our planet to Higher Vibrations and us moving to 5th
Level of Consciousness!


Giant toilets in the sea? The earth going back to its origin
April 12, 2011
What does it remind you of?
It reminds me of a flushing toilet. Could there be a giant hole at the bottom of the sea creating this whirling water? Could the sea drain in this hole? Scientist can not expalin the creation of whirlpools. But, every time I've seen something looking like the image I see there, it was draining water. Like a flushing toilet.
It was once said that originally and at the beginning. Water was only found from underground water sources. There was no sea, no rivers, no lakes, but many underground water sources which would nourish life on earth from under. After the big flood this all change. Continents where separated and division started reigning. Creating the world we know now.
What if 2012 is all about the earth going back to its original state? What if we are going back to the paradise this earth once was.
I think 2012 is all about going back to ourselves, remembering who we are and going back to our spiritual self.
US scientists discovered two giant whirlpools in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Guyana and Suriname. It became a sensational discovery because this part of the ocean has been studied thoroughly, and no one expected anything like that to appear in the area. More importantly, no one can understand where the whirlpools came from and what surprises they may bring to people.
According to Brazilian scientist Guilherme Castellane, the two funnels are approximately 400 kilometers in diameter. Until now, these were not known on Earth. The funnels reportedly exert a strong influence on climate changes that have been registered during the recent years.
"Funnels rotate clockwise. They are moving in the ocean like giant frisbees, two discs thrown into the air. Rotation occurs at a rate of one meter per second, the speed is sufficiently large compared to the speed of oceanic currents, on the border hoppers is a wave-step height of 40 cm," Castellane said.
Even during the dry months, when the movement of oceanic currents and the flow of the Amazon River practically comes to a standstill, the funnels do not disappear. Therefore, the nature of the funnels does not depend on the flow of water, which one of the world's biggest rivers brings into the ocean. The natural phenomenon, which creates the whirlpools, is unknown
As a matter of fact, the phenomenon of giant whirlpools in the World Ocean is not new to science. In most cases, the craters, or rings, as scientists call them, are formed as a result of so-called vertical currents. The latter, in their turn, appear because of differences in water density which appear because of difference in temperatures of water layers. It is an open secret that cold water is thicker and heavier, so it goes down, underneath the masses of warm water, which is lighter. This is the reason why warm currents in the World Ocean always flow closer to the surface, whereas colder currents flow closer to the bottom.
However, such movement of water may not always depend on the difference of temperatures of the water column. The difference in salinity can also be a reason. The mechanism here is the same. The density of saltier water is higher, this water is heavier and it moves closer to the bottom, pushing less saltier water up. This type of vertical fusion occurs frequently in the tropics because high temperatures lead to the evaporation of water from the surface. The salt does not evaporate with water, though. It stays in the ocean, which raises the level of salinity on the upper layer of water. This layer "drowns" and gives way to less saltier waters of the depth.
Such vertical movements of water create giant whirlpools. The whirlpools, tens and even hundreds of kilometers in diameter, may last for months and even years, scientists say. The vertical movement of waters is a slow process, though. Why do those whirlpools exist for such a long time? This is partially the effect of Earth's magnetic field. In addition, marine water contains many charged ions, Na and Cl for example. To crown it all, water molecules are dipoles that are charged both positively and negatively.
Any dipole starts spinning when moving in the magnetic field. An oceanic ring gathers millions of billions of molecules together. That is why the giant circle movement triggered by the vertical movement of water may last for months and years mechanically. Ions also give more power to the craters. Natrium and Chlorum are charged as well, and their movement in the magnetic field of the Earth also leads to the appearance of the circle movement.
It is not ruled out that the reason for the appearance of the whirlpools off the coast of South America is the same as in other parts of the World Ocean. Scientists are currently studying the influence of those giant funnels on the climate of Latin America and Africa. Such whirlpools show influence on the atmosphere and form cyclonical air mass. They can also affect the movement of air mass formed in other places. For the time being, scientists do not know how the newly discovered water craters can affect the climate of Central and South Americas."

Tzunamis-Earthquakes-Fires-Floods-Explosions-Crack-Sinkholes in Japan, March 2011

120 Earthquakes, Tzunamis, Fires, Floods and Nuclear Plant Explosion in Japan on  10, 11, 12, 13 March 2011!

Japan, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan Airport, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan Airport, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan Sendai Airport, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan Sendai Airport, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan Sendai Airport, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan , Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Japan Sendai Airport, Earthquake-Tzunami, 2011

Millions without food, water in Japan

Sunday, March 13, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/03/13/Millions_without_food_water_in_Japan_588503.html

Millions of Japanese were without drinking water or electricity on Sunday, surviving on instant noodles and rice balls, two days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami hammered the northeastern coast, killing at least 1,000 people and up to 10,000.
Although the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000, it seemed overwhelmed by what's turning out to be a triple disaster. Friday's quake and tsunami damaged two nuclear reactors at a power plant on the coast, and at least one of them appeared to be going through a partial meltdown, raising fears of a radiation leak.
'First I was worried about the quake, now I'm worried about radiation. I live near the plants, so I came here to find out if I'm OK. I tested negative, but I don't know what to do next,' said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker, at an emergency centre in Koriyama.
The death toll is likely to exceed 10,000 in coastal Miyagi prefecture alone, a regional police chief told reporters on Sunday.
The toll includes 200 bodies found on Sunday along the coast - and 678 were missing in the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that hit with breathtaking force and speed, sweeping away everything in its path.
The US Geological Survey calculated the quake to have a magnitude of 8.9, while Japanese officials raised their estimate on Sunday to 9.0. Either way it is the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan.
Teams searched for the missing along hundreds of kilometres of the Japanese coast, and thousands of hungry survivors huddled in darkened emergency centres that were cut off from rescuers and aid. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 2.5 million households were without electricity.
Large areas of the countryside were surrounded by water and unreachable. Fuel stations were closed and people were running out of fuel for their cars.
Public broadcaster NHK said around 380,000 people have been evacuated to emergency shelters, many of them without power.
In Iwaki town, residents were leaving due to concerns they over dwindling food and fuel supplies. The town had no electricity and all stores were closed. Local police had taken in about 90 people and given them blankets and rice balls but there was no sign of government or military aid trucks.
In the small town of Tagajo, near the hard-hit port city of Sendai, dazed residents roamed streets cluttered with smashed cars, broken homes and twisted metal.
Residents said the water surged in and quickly rose higher than the first floor of buildings. At Sengen General Hospital the staff worked feverishly to haul bedridden patients up the stairs one at a time. With the halls now dark, those that can leave have gone to the local community centre.
'There is still no water or power, and we've got some very sick people in here,' said hospital official Ikuro Matsumoto.
One older neighbourhood sits on low ground near a canal. The tsunami came in from the canal side and blasted through the frail wooden houses, coating the interiors with a thick layer of mud and spilling their contents out into the street on the other side.
'It's been two days, and all I've been given so far is a piece of bread and a rice ball,' says Masashi Imai, 56.

Quake-hit Japan nuclear plant explodes

Saturday, March 12, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/03/12/Blast_smoke_at_Japan_nuclear_plant_588179.html


A Japanese nuclear power plant exploded on Saturday, television footage showed, a day after a massive earthquake damaged the facility's cooling system, as nearby residents were warned to stay indoors.
Nuclear authorities had earlier warned that the Fukushima No 1 plant, located about 250km northeast of Tokyo, an urban area of 30 million people, 'may be experiencing a nuclear meltdown'.
The plant's cooling system was damaged in the quake that hit on Friday, leaving the government scrambling to fix the problem and evacuate more than 45,000 residents within a 10km radius.
Public broadcaster NHK Saturday reported that a blast had been heard at about 3:30pm local time and showed delayed footage of smoke billowing from the site, also reporting that the reactor building had been destroyed.
TV channels warned nearby residents to stay indoors, turn off air-conditioners and not to drink tap water. People going outside were also told to aviod exposing their skin and to cover their faces with masks and wet towels.

UK airlines cancel flights to Tokyo

Friday, March 11, 2011
UK airlines cancelled flights to Tokyo on Friday following the devastating Japanese earthquake.
A British Airways plane heading for Tokyo's Hareda airport had pushed back off the stand at Heathrow when the airline decided it would not be leaving.
BA also cancelled its daily Heathrow service to Tokyo's Narita airport.
Virgin Atlantic, which operates daily services to Narita from Heathrow, also cancelled its Tokyo flight on Friday.
A Virgin spokeswoman said: 'Narita is about one hour from central Tokyo and we've cancelled our flight VS900 and the return flight VS901 today.
'We do have a flight from Tokyo that left before the earthquake and that will arrive back this evening.'
A BA spokesman said: 'We decided that we would not operate the Haneda-bound flight (BA007) as a precaution and have also cancelled our flight to Narita.'

Kiwi tells of quake horror in Japan

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/JapanQuake/2011/03/12/Kiwi_tells_of_quake_horror_in_Japan_588105.html
Saturday, March 12, 2011

A pregnant New Zealander living near a nuclear power plant in quake-stricken Japan says she fears the plant will explode. A magnitude- 8.9 earthquake struck off the Japanese coast on Friday, causing widespread devastation and a death toll expected to be more than 1000. The quake, 8000 times stronger than the magnitude-6.3 quake which struck Christchurch on February 22, and subsequent tsunami have wreaked havoc in Japan. Oil refineries erupted in flames, cars, bridges and entire villages were washed away and nuclear power plants are on emergency alert. Jayne Nakata - Jayne Lark until she married a Japanese man - said the Fukushima Nuclear power plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, was about 50km from her home. 'If there was a large explosion we would be affected here,' she told NZPA. The plant's cooling system shut down following the quake and radiation levels have increased 1000 times their normal levels as a result. Authorities had evacuated thousands of people living in a 3km radius of the plant but she feared she and her husband would still be in danger. It would be difficult to leave the area as most of the region's highways were closed, Nakata said. Japan had regular earthquakes but Friday's quake was incomparable, the former Te Anau woman said. 'As I was waiting with some other people for the shaking to stop, people around me were shouting 'It's just like New Zealand'. 'New Zealand has very much been in the minds of people here for the last few weeks since the Christchurch earthquake,' she told NZPA in an email. Nakata, 31, was driving out of a parking lot when the earthquake struck. 'The power poles were rocking and people around me were rushing out of the shopping centre screaming. 'Buildings were groaning, the road was going up and down in waves. 'At one point I got out of the car as I thought it would tip over from the shaking and had to hold on to the side mirror to stay upright.' After the shaking stopped, she managed to drive to her husband and they drove home, 20 minutes away, in convoy, braving the relentless aftershocks. She was relieved to find her house undamaged and her dog safe: 'We are very, very lucky.' Christchurch's quake had prompted her to get her emergency kit ready but she had no idea she would need it so soon. Nakata said all her friends and husband's family were accounted for apart from one friend, who lived in the tsunami-wrecked Ishinomaki city. 'Here in my city, I think most people are on edge because the aftershocks just keep coming. 'I am still working on adrenalin a bit and hoping that the worst is over but as I write this there has just been another big shake,' she told NZPA. Nakata, who is due to give birth in June, said she lived in a fairly new neighbourhood and the houses were built to withstand earthquakes. The New Zealand Embassy in Japan has estimated at least 6000 New Zealanders could be in Japan, with about 3500 registered with Japanese authorities as living in Japan and at least a further 3000 visiting the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 756 New Zealanders were registered with the ministry as travelling in Japan but not all travellers chose to register with the embassy.

Tsunami-swept ship found, all 81 rescued

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/JapanQuake/2011/03/12/Tsunami-swept_ship_found_all_81_rescued_588091.html

Japanese naval and coastguard helicopters have found a ship that was swept out to sea by a massive tsunami and airlifted all 81 people aboard to safety, Jiji Press reported. The ship was owned by a shipbuilder in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture. Friday's massive quake struck just under 400km northeast of Tokyo, creating a 10-metre tsunami wave that hit the Pacific coast of Honshu island near Sendai city. The monster wave wreaked vast destruction, smashing ships into towns and tearing away entire houses. Television footage on Friday shot from a helicopter showed a large whirlpool offshore created by the tsunami that tossed around ships. The quake was the largest ever to hit Japan, the fifth strongest tremor worldwide since 1900 and the seventh strongest in history, according to the US Geological Survey and Japanese seismologists.

Japan quake shakes yen

Friday, March 11, 2011
The yen slid Friday after a major earthquake struck north eastern Japan with withering force. Even before the quake world stock markets were skidding lower, driven by a large drop on Wall Street and unexpectedly high inflation in China.
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Finance/2011/03/11/Japan_quake_shakes_yen_587885.html

Tsunamis zones abound in the Pacific

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/JapanQuake/2011/03/12/Tsunamis_zones_abound_in_the_Pacific_588079.html

Saturday, March 12, 2011
The tsunami caused by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake off the eastern shores of Japan was triggered at a site called a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate is slowly pushing beneath another. These powerful waves, which are caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanoes, can travel across the sea at 800km/h at ripple-height, then pile up into powerful towers of water when they hit land. Earthquake-caused tsunamis occur regularly in the Pacific Ocean, where subduction zones abound, said Robert Weiss, a tsunami scientist with Texas AM University in College Station. When the pressure building between the two plates finally releases, one of the plates gets distorted and pushed very quickly into a tiny little mountain, perhaps a metre in height. That upward movement disturbs the water, much as a pebble does when tossed into a pond. Just as a pebble causes many ripples, the disturbance sends a series of waves away from the fault line. The rate at which the wave travels depends on the depth of the water, said Thomas O'Rourke, a geotechnical engineer at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The deeper the water, the less resistance there is to the wave's movement, and the faster the wave travels. A wave moving across the 4000-metre-deep Pacific Ocean will typically move at a rate of about 700km/h - 'airline speeds,' said David Applegate, senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards at the US Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia. In the open sea, the wave may appear shallow: perhaps a few inches in height. But when it approaches a shore and the ocean grows more shallow, the increased water resistance slows it down, causing a pile-up - much like a car pile-up - of all the energy moving behind the wave front. With no way to go forward, all that water mass (and the energy it carries) gets pushed up and up, making the wave taller and taller. Tsunami, translated from Japanese, means 'harbour wave' - because it isn't seen until it's already too close to shore to do much about it. The effects of this tsunami are less devastating than those from one generated by the 2004 Sumatra earthquake, which killed more than 200,000 people, for several reasons. Japan is well-prepared for seismic disasters, but circumstances were also in their favour, Weiss said. The Sumatra earthquake was of magnitude 9.1-9.3 - significantly more powerful than Japan's 8.9, Weiss said. In addition, the fault line in the Sumatra earthquake stretched for about 1200km compared to 350km long for Friday's quake. It generated 30-metre-high waves in some places when they hit land. The waves reaching the shores of Japan following Friday's quake were six-10 metres high. The damage done by the tsunami depends on the topography of the sea bottom and land, said Jody Bourgeois, a geologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, who currently is in Sapporo, Japan. In California, Crescent City at the northern tip of the state suffered more damage than other parts of the West Coast; the city is notorious among tsunami scientists because of ridges under the ocean that act as a lens, focusing the waves on the city.

High radiation in Japanese nuclear plant

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/JapanQuake/2011/03/12/High_radiation_in_Japanese_nuclear_plant_588104.html

Saturday, March 12, 2011
A Japanese nuclear safety panel says radiation levels are 1000 times above normal in an atomic plant's reactor control room after a huge earthquake damaged the cooling system. Public broadcaster NHK, quoting the safety officials, said there was 'no immediate health hazard' to nearby residents from a possible minute leakage, and people were urged to evacuate the area calmly. A total of 45,000 people living within a 10-kilometre radius were told to evacuate - raising the number from the nearly 6000 people living within three kilometres who were told to leave on Friday. The elevated reading was taken in the control room of the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, said the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Kyodo News said the discovery suggested radioactive steam could spread around the Tokyo Electric Power facility, about 250 kilometres northeast of greater Tokyo, an urban area of 30 million people. Prime Minister Naoto Kan stressed early on Saturday that residents living within 10 kilometres of the plant must evacuate, before stepping onto a helicopter to head for the area for a personal inspection tour. His government had on Friday declared an atomic emergency and told thousands of residents living within a smaller radius of three kilometres, to evacuate, warning a small amount of radiation could be released. Trade minister Banri Kaieda had said authorities were nearing a decision to release radioactive steam from the reactor in a bid to ease a pressure build-up after its cooling system was damaged by the massive earthquake. 'Pressure has risen in the container of the reactor and we are trying to deal with it,' a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said. Kan had at first said no radiation leaks were detected among the country's reactors after the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck triggering huge tsunamis. The Fukushima nuclear plant shut down immediately after the country's worst quake on record - as Japan's atomic facilities are designed to do - but the reactor's cooling system failed, the government said. The US Air Force delivered coolant to a Japanese nuclear plant, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday, without specifying which plant. Japan on Friday had dispatched around 160 military personnel there, sending its chemical corps and an aircraft on a 'fact finding mission'. Japanese authorities had told the UN atomic watchdog there had been no release of radiation from a number of nuclear power plants affected by the tremor, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday. Earlier, the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre had said that the four nuclear power plants closest to the quake which occurred near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, had been 'safely shut down'. According to the industry ministry, 11 nuclear reactors automatically shut down at the Onagawa plant, the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants and the Tokai No. 2 plant after the strongest earthquake. A fire that broke out in the turbine building of Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture had been extinguished, the government said. Operator Tohoku Electric Power said there were no indications of a radioactive leak. Japan - located on the 'Pacific Ring of Fire,' where several continental plates meet and create a string of volcanoes and seismic hot spots - records 20 per cent of the world's major earthquakes. As an industrial powerhouse nation poor in energy resources, Japan also draws about 30 per cent of its total power from its 53 nuclear plants.

Tsunami and earthquake havoc in Japan

Friday, March 11, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/03/11/Tsunami_and_earthquake_havoc_in_Japan_587847.html

Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, unleashing a four metre tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicentre. There were reports of injuries in Tokyo.
In various locations along Japan's coast, TV footage showed massive damage from the tsunami, with dozens of cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters. A large ship swept away by the tsunami rammed directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, according to footage on public broadcaster NHK.
Officials were trying to assess damage, injuries and deaths from the quake but had no immediate details.
The quake that struck at 2:46 pm was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later. The US Geological Survey upgraded the strength of the first quake to a magnitude 8.9, while Japan's meteorological agency measured it at 7.9.
The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan. NHK was warning those near the coast to get to safer ground.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the U.S. state of Hawaii.
The quake struck at a depth of 10km about 125km off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 380km northeast of Tokyo.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. A huge fire has also engulfed an oil refinery in lichihara near Tokyo.
In central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms.
The ceiling in Kudan Kaikan, a large hall in Tokyo, collapsed, injuring an unknown number of people, NHK said.
Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. It also showed a glass shelter at a bus stop in Tokyo completely smashed by the quake and a weeping woman nearby being comforted by another woman.
Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.
Thirty minutes after the quake, tall buildings were still swaying in Tokyo and mobile phone networks were not working. Japan's Coast Guard has set up task force and officials are standing by for emergency contingencies, Coast Guard official Yosuke Oi said.
'I'm afraid we'll soon find out about damages, since the quake was so strong,' he said.

Tsunami waves reach Kuril Islands

Friday, March 11, 2011
The first tsunami waves reached the Kuril Islands chain on Friday after a powerful quake struck off Japan, prompting Russia to evacuate 11,000 people, officials said.
Small tsunami waves reached two of the archipelago's four southernmost islands, with waves at Shikotan Island reaching one metre and waves at Kunashir Island 95cm, a representative of the Sakhalin Tsunami Centre told AFP.
"The second and third waves may be bigger," she said by telephone from Sakhalin Island, where the centre is based.
Along with Iturup and Habomai, Kunashir and Shikotan are the Kuril chain's southernmost islands that are at the heart of Russia's territorial dispute with Japan.
Earlier on Friday, Russia declared a tsunami warning for the entire Kuril Islands and ordered the evacuation of 11,000 people, officials said.
The natural resources ministry said in a separate statement that all economic activity had been suspended on the islands.
Emergencies ministry spokeswoman, Yekaterina Potvorova, speaking to AFP earlier in the day, played down the potential threat of the tsunami, saying that waves were expected to reach around two metres.
The tsunami warning does not include Sakhalin Island that lies close to the Kurils, she added.
Russia's territorial dispute with Japan surrounds the Kuril chain's southernmost four islands -- known in Russian as Iturup, Shikotan, Habomai and Kunashir -- which are still claimed by Tokyo and collectively known in Japan as the Northern Territories.
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/03/11/Tsunami_waves_reach_Kuril_Islands_587863.html

Floods


Southern China Flood 2008

Villagers pass the river embankment destroyed by the flood in Longhua Village on June 19, 2008 in Wuzhou of Guangxi Province, China. Since June 6, torrential rains in China's southern provinces have killed 176 people, and forced the evacuation of 1.66 million residents.


Queensland in for more severe storms

Brisbane urged to prepare for flooding

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 » 05:44am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/28/Brisbane_urged_to_prepare_for_flooding_557064.html

"People in Brisbane are being urged to prepare for possible flooding as wild weather continues to plague the state. Brisbane City Council issued a warning to residents late on Monday, with more rain predicted for the coming days. Sandbags are being offered to those in low-lying areas and the council is also advising that possessions and equipment be moved off the ground. It also recommends downloading a flood map for their suburb from www.brisbane.qld.gov.au to see how individual properties may be affected. 'More rain (is) expected overnight and tomorrow to already sodden catchments,' the council said in a statement..."

Disasters declared in flood-hit Queensland, Australia

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 » 01:06pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/28/Disasters_declared_in_flood-hit_Qld_tow_557224.html

The whole Australia (on the external side) seems to be under Gamma-Rays attacks and under water! It's high Time to wake everybody up! Soon it would probably be another Atlantis!

Lightning rips through Melbourne roofs

Monday, December 20, 2010 » 08:43am
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/20/Lightning_rips_through_Melbourne_roofs_554161.html

Lightning strikes have ripped four-metre holes in roofs in Melbourne's southeast. About 40 people in bayside Aspendale called for State Emergency Service (SES) assistance after storms wreaked havoc in the area about 11pm (AEDT) on Sunday. Six callers, all from Birdwood Street, Aspendale, reported lightning damage to their roofs, including two whose roofs had holes four metres wide ripped through them. SES spokesman Lachlan Quick said volunteer crews had been out attending to damage in the suburb throughout the night and expected to be there most of the day..."

Violet Skies with Sprites during Wild Storms!

Violet Skies with Sprites during Wild Storms!

Gamma-Rays create numerous Portals on our Earth and in our Universe to better mix all different Energies of different frequencies!

Violet Skies with Sprites during Wild Storms!

Violet Skies with Sprites during Wild Storms!

Gamma-Rays create numerous Portals in Brisbane to better mix all different Energies of different frequencies!

Friday, December 17, 2010 » 09:01am

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/17/SE_QLD_spared_more_severe_storms_553021.html

Energex recorded nearly 60,000 lightning strikes on Thursday and wind gusts of nearly 100km/h.
Spokesman Danny Donald described it as 'rapid fire' lightning that saw 90,000 customers lose power - more than the 43,000 who lost supply in Wednesday night's storm.
Hundreds of Energex crews would continue to work through the day restoring supply to about 9000 homes still without power.
Police warned motorists in Toowoomba to drive with care on the Toowoomba Range, with a small landslide and storm debris closing the eastbound right lane.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Brett Harrison told ABC Radio hail, flash flooding and damaging wind gusts were possible as more storms developed from midday on Friday.
The Gold Coast could expect an early afternoon storm, while the Sunshine Coast would likely be the worst hit by a later storm, he said.
More than 90,000 homes across south-east Queensland were hit by power cuts after the storms yesterday.
Meanwhile, in New South Wales, a clean-up has continued after yesterday's extreme weather that left a man dead after being struck by lightning north of Newcastle.
On the other side of the continent, in Western Australia, a bushfire which threatened homes in eastern Perth has been brought under control.
The weather bureau cancelled a severe weather warning for the region late last night, but more than 500 people have sought help from Queensland's State Emergency Service (SES) after 'rapid fire' lightning strikes hit the state's southeast.
The region is now headed for a third consecutive day of severe storms, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting another bout of wild weather on Friday afternoon.
An SES spokeswoman said 312 volunteers were called out to 530 jobs after the storm hit around midday on Thursday (AEST), about 60 of which would be finished off on Friday.
Many residents in the Brisbane area reported trees that had fallen on powerlines, while the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore and Coolum also suffered damage and more storms were expected on Friday.
'Residents are urged to be vigilant and take the appropriate steps to ensure they are prepared by listening to warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology,' the spokeswoman said. Queenslanders in the state's south-east have been spared predicted heavy weather overnight after super storm cells blasted parts of the area yesterday.

More than 170,000 without power, Queensland

Cyclone Yasi, Qld!

Endgame: Cyclone Yasi!

Endgame: Cyclone Yasi!

Tully after CycloneYasi!

Tully after CycloneYasi!

Cyclone Yasi, Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Tully, Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Tully, Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Tully Hospital, Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Tully Hospital, Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Tully Flooded Banana Plantation , Qld!

Cyclone Yasi, Tully Flooded Banana Plantation , Qld!

Map of the root of Cyclone Yasi.

Map of the route of Cyclone Yasi.

Friday, February 04, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/02/04/Huge_troop_deployment_in_north_Qld_573187.html

All troops based in Townsville will help clean up cyclone-hit north Queensland in the biggest deployment since Cyclone Tracy.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard made the announcement in Townsville on Friday.
'Here in the region there are 4000 troops in total here in Townsville which is home to Lavarack Barracks,' Ms Gillard told reporters.
'We have a large standing presence here in Townsville and in this region and so there's 4000 soldiers being able to assist during the cyclone recovery.
'It's a very big deployment.
'In the Brisbane flooding recovery, when people were battling with filth and mud, we had 1500 soldiers in Brisbane doing that work and that was the biggest deployment for a natural disaster since Cyclone Tracy.
'So there's a lot of boots on the ground making a difference ... and they're doing it with a great deal of spirit and enthusiasm and that's great to see.'
Defence said they were relying on troops based locally at the moment but if they needed more, could call extra troops to the region!

Thursday, February 03, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/02/03/More_than_170000_without_power_572420.html

More than 170,000 properties are without power across north Queensland, and more could be cut off as Cyclone Yasi continues to create havoc. Ergon Energy said areas from Cairns, inland to the Tablelands, and south to the Burdekin area and the Whitsundays were without power. A spokesman told Sky News they included about 45,000 in Cairns, 72,000 in Townsville/Ingham, at least 27,000 in the Burdekin/
Whitsundays area, and at least 15,000 in the Tablelands west of Cairns. He said more people could have supplies cut as Yasi, now a category three storm, headed west towards Georgetown. He said every effort would be made to reconnect customers as soon as it was safe to do so. A storm providing cool relief to a sweltering Canberra has torn down branches and damaged roofs overnight.
Rain and strong winds began about 8pm (AEDT) on Wednesday, prompting 42 calls for help, most to remove fallen trees and debris across roads. Leaking roofs, damaged skylights and a collapsed ceiling in Bruce were also reported. Most of the damage was confined to the Belconnen area. A second major evacuation centre in Cairns is riding out the cyclone without power, but the worst of the ferocious winds from cyclone Yasi appears to be over for the city. Two police cars have patrolled parts of the city following the category five cyclone overnight and officers have reported minimal damage at this stage in parts of the city. 'There's no major structural damage, just  vegetational,' a spokesman for Cairns Regional Council Mayor Val Scheir told AAP. 'We just heard reports that one garage door has buckled indoors from the force of the wind. 'But we're sure there will be more in the morning.' Power is out across parts of the city, including evacuation centres. The Stockland Shopping Centre in Earlville lost power about 11pm (AEST) throwing darkness over the 2500 evacuees camped out there. Stockland centre manager Paul Kelsey said he believes there has been damage to the centre, but they won't know until first light. 'We don't know what level of damage of level we've sustained but where we've got the evacuees it's safe,' he said. He said everyone was being patient and police and security guards were patrolling the centre to calm nerves. 'Everything is fine, we've got guard out on the floor no drama,' he said. The couple hundred people bunkered down at the Woree state high school evacuation shelter also do not have power. QRFS Station officer Russell Thompson said the power went out around midnight but the building's emergency lighting was working. He said the numerous roller doors that had been shut in the gymnasium had been blocked by cars on the outside to lessen the blow of the winds.  'The doors are holding up,' he said. 'There's still a bit of wind but the heaviest is over.'
There are a few newborn babies and a man with emphysema in the shelter, but Mr Thompson said there have been no major incidents to this stage.


Yasi 'most severe storm' in Qld history (It wasn't really that bad, 3 Feb. 2011, LM)

Wednesday, February 02, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/02/02/Yasi_most_severe_storm_in_Qld_history_571909.html

Cyclone Yasi is the most devastating storm ever to hit Queensland, Premier Anna Bligh says.
Ms Bligh says the expected arrival of category five Yasi on a high tide about 10pm (AEST) on Wednesday is the worst possible news.
She says the storm surge is likely to be devastating along a vast stretch of the north Queensland coast.
'This is the most severe, most catastrophic storm that has ever hit our coast,' she told the ABC.
'We've seen a number of worst case scenarios come together.'
She said Yasi was still expected to come in on the coast between Cairns and Townsville.
The Bureau of Meteorology site puts one of the more likely landfall sites at Innisfail, south of Cairns, which was devastated in 2006 by Cyclone Larry.
'We are facing an event that will be terrifying,' she said.
She said a very large stretch of highly populated coastline was at risk.
She said there was still a very narrow window of opportunity for people in areas at risk of storm surges to move, and they must do so immediately. Cyclonic winds will start from mid-morning and will become more extreme about 8pm or 9pm (AEST), Ms Bligh said.
'They'll be more than 280km an hour and last to lunchtime tomorrow,' she said.
'Whether it's cyclonic, storm surge or torrential rain, we are facing an extreme event that won't be over in 24 hours but will take several days before the full flooding effect is felt across the region - potentially right through to Mount Isa.'
Additional paramedics, fire and rescue officers and police have been sent to the region.
Ms Bligh said charter flights with SES and fire and rescue staff are on standby and will be deployed as soon as it's safe for aircraft to fly in that region again.
'We have also established another medical site (in Cairns) because we had to evacuate the hospital overnight,' she said.
'I think all Queenslanders thought we had been tested to the limit of our ability in the last five weeks but it seems there's another test yet to go through and we will face it like we have with every other with resolve and resilience.
'Frankly, I don't think Australia has ever seen a storm of this size, this intensity in an area as popular as this stretch of our coast.'
Ms Bligh is urging residents to be battle ready.
'They need to prepare themselves mentally, this is not an event that'll be over in an hour sometime tonight,' she told Sky News.
'It will start being terrifying sometime around lunchtime, with very high gale force winds and they will persist right through until lunchtime tomorrow.'
Electricity and mobile phone coverage is likely to go out.
'People do need to prepare themselves for a very tough 24 hours.'


Friday, December 17, 2010 » 09:01am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/17/SE_QLD_spared_more_severe_storms_553021.html

Energex recorded nearly 60,000 lightning strikes on Thursday and wind gusts of nearly 100km/h. Spokesman Danny Donald described it as 'rapid fire' lightning that saw 90,000 customers lose power - more than the 43,000 who lost supply in Wednesday night's storm. Hundreds of Energex crews would continue to work through the day restoring supply to about 9000 homes still without power. Police warned motorists in Toowoomba to drive with care on the Toowoomba Range, with a small landslide and storm debris closing the eastbound right lane.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Brett Harrison told ABC Radio hail, flash flooding and damaging wind gusts were possible as more storms developed from midday on Friday. The Gold Coast could expect an early afternoon storm, while the Sunshine Coast would likely be the worst hit by a later storm, he said. More than 90,000 homes across south-east Queensland were hit by power cuts after the storms yesterday. Meanwhile, in New South Wales, a clean-up has continued after yesterday's extreme weather that left a man dead after being struck by lightning north of Newcastle. On the other side of the continent, in Western Australia, a bushfire which threatened homes in eastern Perth has been brought under control. The weather bureau cancelled a severe weather warning for the region late last night, but more than 500 people have sought help from Queensland's State Emergency Service (SES) after 'rapid fire' lightning strikes hit the state's southeast. The region is now headed for a third consecutive day of severe storms, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting another bout of wild weather on Friday afternoon. An SES spokeswoman said 312 volunteers were called out to 530 jobs after the storm hit around midday on Thursday (AEST), about 60 of which would be finished off on Friday. Many residents in the Brisbane area reported trees that had fallen on powerlines, while the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore and Coolum also suffered damage and more storms were expected on Friday. 'Residents are urged to be vigilant and take the appropriate steps to ensure they are prepared by listening to warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology,' the spokeswoman said. Queenslanders in the state's south-east have been spared predicted heavy weather overnight after super storm cells blasted parts of the area yesterday.

Qld floods hit more than 200,000 people

Flooded Bundaberg!
 
Friday, December 31, 2010 » 02:27pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/31/Qld_floods_hit_more_than_200000_people_558487.html

Forced evacuations are underway in the Queensland city of Rockhampton as the flood crisis that's already affected 200,000 people escalates.
At Emerald, directly west of Rockhampton, the full scale of the damage remains unclear after about 80 per cent of the town was inundated overnight.
Premier Anna Bligh, who is touring flood hit communities with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, says flooding had affected an area bigger than France and Germany combined.
'This disaster is a long way from over,' the premier told the Nine Network on Friday, saying 22 towns or cities were inundated or isolated.
Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said there was no question the Fitzroy River would rise beyond nine metres this weekend, a level that would see 200 homes inundated and 4000 parcels of land affected by flooding.
It's tipped to rise to 9.4 metres, and possibly beyond, on Tuesday.
Mr Carter told AAP the sheer volume of water in the catchment meant he could not rule out the prospect of a flood to rival the 10.11 metres seen in 1918.
He said essential supplies, including bread, milk and fresh meat, had already sold out in many stores in the city, and efforts were underway to ship in more food before roads are cut.
Road and rail links are expected to be severed as early as Saturday, and the airport is also expected to be shut down this weekend.
Woolworths said it was rushing new stock to Rockhampton and it would act as a distribution point for other communities.
Regional manager Gary Boyer told reporters 43 trucks were hauling supplies into the city, and other areas to the north.
'We've got around 700 crates of fresh milk, crates of long life product including long life milk, our bread vendors are working around the clock and will supply around 14,000 loaves into (Rockhampton) today,' Mr Boyer said.
'Around 120 pallets of produce went into Rocky today and another 80 pallets are en route at the moment.
'There are also various grocery products heading in as well as an emergency stock of items like long life milk, flour and sugar.'
Mr Carter said one evacuation centre had been set up in Rockhampton and a second could be opened if needed.
'You talk to the western graziers, second and third generation people of the land, and they keep saying it's the biggest volume of water they've ever seen,' he said, adding all that water was headed for Rockhampton.
That included the 16-metre peak seen in the Nogoa River at Emerald overnight, which would take a week to reach Rockhampton, Mr Carter said.
'This is going to take some time to play out,' he said.
At Emerald, food drops are being planned after more than 1200 people were forced from their homes.
Central Highlands Mayor Peter Maguire told AAP water levels had peaked in most parts of the community but were still rising on the north side of town.
He said it would be Saturday before waters started to recede, and the town faced the prospect of food shortages, blackouts, and sewage contaminating flood waters.
The local disaster management group was arranging food supplies for evacuation centres and isolated properties, he said.
The prime minister toured the city of Bundaberg on Friday, where water is slowly receding after the worst flooding in almost four decades.
She described as 'humbling' the moment when North Bundaberg resident Sandy Kiddle wished her a happy new year after sharing her stories of personal loss.
'It's amazing that someone who is here in these circumstances would actually be concerned about my welfare,' she told reporters outside an evacuation centre.
'My concern is for the people in these very difficult times.'
Ms Gillard, who is due to tour Rockhampton later on Friday, said communities were pulling together.
'This is the Queensland way, coming together, pulling together in times of difficulty. We are seeing, on display, the best of that community spirit,' she said.
A national relief fund set up for flood victims has broken through the $6 million mark, after a million dollar donation from the Commonwealth Bank.


Catastrophic floods continue in Qld

Endgame Roads!

Endgame Roads!

Sinkholes in Flooded Bundaberg!

Sinkholes in Flooded Bundaberg!

Thursday, December 30, 2010 » 07:50pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/30/Catastrphic_floods_continue_in_Qld_558100.html

Queensland's flood crisis will cost billions of dollars, with major flooding yet to hit at Emerald, Bundaberg and Rockhampton.
Premier Anna Bligh says flooded communities could remain underwater for up to 10 days, and says the crisis is unprecedented in Queensland's recorded history. 'The recovery ... is going to require literally billions of dollars from federal, state and local governments (and) insurance companies,' she told the ABC on Thursday. 'It's an enormous disaster. 'What we've never seen is so many towns, so many communities, so many regions all affected at once. It is a miserable and heart-breaking event.' Mass evacuations will be carried out in Emerald with floods expected to hit 80 per cent of the inland Queensland town on Friday. To the east, flood waters have split the coastal city of Bundaberg in two, inundating 120 properties and forcing about 400 evacuations, and the crisis there is not over yet. At Rockhampton, north of Bundaberg, up to 500 homes are at risk of flooding and the mayor fears a repeat of the devastating 1991 floods.
On Thursday morning, flood levels in Emerald's Nogoa River exceeded all previous records, rising beyond the 2008 level of 15.36 metres when almost 3000 people were forced from their homes. It's expected to peak beyond all earlier expectations at 16.2 metres on Friday, and Central Highlands Mayor Peter Maguire said a dire scenario awaited the town. About 200 people spent the night in evacuation centres in Emerald, with hundreds, possibly thousands, more expected to head to the safe havens on Thursday, ahead of the flood peak. 'The best advice we have now is that 80 per cent of the town will have water around it, in it,' Mr Maguire told the ABC. Residents have been warned to prepare their homes for evacuation and to know where to go when the waters start to rise.
The premier is due to visit the town later on Thursday. In Bundaberg, the Burnett River peaked at 7.9 metres overnight, it's highest level since 1942 when it reached 8.4 metres and the river remains high. 'Bundaberg is now split in two,' acting Mayor Tony Ricciardi told AAP. He said 100 homes and two dozen businesses had water above the floorboards. About 400 people were evacuated overnight, with most staying with family and friends but about 100 headed to evacuation centres for the night. 'We've been evacuating all night. This is a one-in-100 year event. We won't see this again in our lifetime. Well, I hope,' Mr Ricciardi said. Mr Ricciardi said the town was facing a massive clean-up bill, and farmers in the region had been very hard hit.
He said Bundaberg was Queensland's largest tomato growing region and many macadamia, avocado and sugar cane farmers would also be severely affected. The next danger spot is Rockhampton where the Fitzroy River is expected to reach major flood levels, beyond 8.5 metres in coming days.
Levels could remain at about eight metres for up to 10 days, the Bureau of Meteorology says. Up to 500 homes are at risk after vast amounts of rain fell in the river's catchment, and it's feared the city could be cut off by road and air. Rockhampton mayor Brad Carter fears it could rival the 1991 flood when the Fitzroy River reached 9.3 metres as a result of rain from a cyclone. 'It's becoming very serious,' Mr Carter said. 'We urge residents to prepare for self-evacuation to friends living in higher areas, and don't forget to take your pets and medications with you,' he told residents in an alert on the council's website. 'River levels will stay high ... for an extended time so make sure your properties are prepared and help out your neighbours.' Bureau hydrologist Jimmy Stewart said it was too soon to say where the Fitzroy River would peak. Water from Emerald and Theodore as well as the Don and MacKenzie rivers will affect its levels in coming days and into next week. 'We expect the Fitzroy River to exceed 8.5 metres, but we don't know exactly yet. There's just so much going on upstream,' Mr Stewart told AAP. It will be into the weekend before an initial assessment of the peak can be made. Vast swathes of southern and central Queensland have already faced the full force of the flood, which has devastated prime cropping lands and caused extensive damage to vital infrastructure including roads, bridges and water treatment plants. In the state's north, where another weather system has also caused flooding, police have retrieved a man's body from a swollen creek. Police said the 50-year-old man's body was plucked from floodwater near a foot bridge over Granite Creek in Mareeba, west of Cairns, about 9am (AEST) on Wednesday."


No end in sight for Qld flood residents

Sinkholes in Flooded Bundaberg!
 

Thursday, December 30, 2010 » 01:47pm
Parts of Queensland continue to be ravaged by record-breaking floods, with more residents evacuating as floodwaters continue to rise.
More residents were expected to evacuate the state's worst hit areas as record-breaking floods continued to devastate parts of central and southern Queensland on Wednesday.
It is feared the floods have claimed their first victim after the body of a man was found in a swollen creek in north Queensland.
Police retrieved the 50-year-old Mareeba man's body around 9am (AEST) Wednesday from flood waters near a foot bridge over Granite Creek in Mareeba.
It's believed the man was last seen on the weekend.
Mareeba District Inspector Rolf Straatemeier said early indications point to drowning as the cause of death.
At Bundaberg, on the coast, the Burnett River reached 7.7 metres by 9pm (AEST) Wednesday and was rising at a rate of 5cm an hour, according to acting chair of the local disaster management committee, David Batt.
The river was expected to reach 7.8 or even 7.9 metres before midnight, with about 180 houses isolated for the next few days.
It is the highest level the river has reached in 50 years.
People in the town were evacuated as dozens of homes went underwater, with about 60 people spending the night at an evacuation centre in Bundaberg.
'It's absolutely amazing to see the amount of water that is out there,' Mr Batt said.
'It's caused major damage to homes and roads.
'This is going to take us some time to get through.'
At Emerald, inland from Rockhampton, flooding from the Nogoa River cut off the town, Lord Mayor David Maguire said.
About 80 per cent of Emerald is expected to be inundated tomorrow when a record flood peak hits the central Queensland town.
Authorities have revised the expected peak for the Nogoa River to 16.2 metres which is 0.8 metres above initial forecasts and well beyond the 2008 flood level which forced almost three thousand evacuations. Rockhampton, on the coast north of Bundaberg, is expected to be hit next, but with so much water flowing towards the city, forecasters can't say how high the water will rise next week. Amid conservative estimates of a $1 billion infrastructure damage bill, Premier Anna Bligh on Wednesday launched a donations fund for victims. 'This is an unprecedented situation in Queensland and we ask Australians to give what they can,' she said.
Julia Gillard says the federal government will match Queensland's one million dollar donation to a fund to help victims of the state's devastating floods.
Emergency Management Queensland boss Bruce Grady said the state was in the grip of an extraordinary weather event and the crisis would not pass quickly. 'These floodwaters are likely to remain high for a long period of time, in some cases that might be measured by weeks, rather than days,' he told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday. Eight areas across southern and central Queensland are now the subject of disaster declarations, which give police the power to force people to evacuate their homes."


Brisbane urged to prepare for flooding

Sinkholes in Flooded Bundaberg!
 

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 » 05:44am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/28/Brisbane_urged_to_prepare_for_flooding_557064.html

People in Brisbane are being urged to prepare for possible flooding as wild weather continues to plague the state. Brisbane City Council issued a warning to residents late on Monday, with more rain predicted for the coming days. Sandbags are being offered to those in low-lying areas and the council is also advising that possessions and equipment be moved off the ground. It also recommends downloading a flood map for their suburb from www.brisbane.qld.gov.au to see how individual properties may be affected. 'More rain (is) expected overnight and tomorrow to already sodden catchments,' the council said in a statement. Localised flooding has occurred over the past few days on a number of roads across Brisbane, many of which remain affected. Motorists are encouraged not to attempt to cross flooded roads, with authorities warning floodwaters can be fast-moving and dangerous. The State Emergency Service (SES) reiterated that message after rescuing at least three people from trapped vehicles across the state within a matter of hours on Monday night. There has also been instances of retaining and rock walls on private property failing because of the saturated ground, and caution is urged around such structures, the council said. The local SES unit attended more than 30 jobs on Monday, mostly for leaking roofs and sandbagging, and 48 volunteers are assisting residents. Flash-flooding is affecting a large swathe of central, southeast and southwest Queensland and a severe weather warning remains in place, with heavy falls expected to drench southern and inland areas over the next few days. The Bureau of Meteorology says the immediate concern is for Chinchilla in the state's southwest, Dalby, Warwick and further north at Theodore and Rockhampton in central Queensland. Residents in some of those rural areas are on evacuation alert and towns have been cut off by near record-breaking flood levels.


Queensland floods hit more than 200,000 people (Australia)
 
Friday, December 31, 2010 » 02:27pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/31/Qld_floods_hit_more_than_200000_people_558487.html


Forced evacuations are underway in the Queensland city of Rockhampton as the flood crisis that's already affected 200,000 people escalates.
At Emerald, directly west of Rockhampton, the full scale of the damage remains unclear after about 80 per cent of the town was inundated overnight.
Premier Anna Bligh, who is touring flood hit communities with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, says flooding had affected an area bigger than France and Germany combined.

Bundaberg port closed amid floods

Friday, December 31, 2010 » 10:51am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/31/Bundaberg_port_closed_amid_floods_558394.html

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has arrived in the flood hit Queensland city of Bundaberg to some good news.
Deputy Mayor Tony Ricciardi has told the prime minister the Burnett River has peaked and is slowly receding.
Ms Gillard said residents would be relieved as they looked to the clean-up job ahead.
'It's good news that it's going down quicker than anticipated,' the prime minister told reporters before heading into a briefing with emergency services.
Premier Anna Bligh is touring the city alongside the prime minister, and said there had been generous donations to a relief fund set up for flood victims 

Queensland braces for more storms

Super cell storm.

Updated 6 hours 26 minutes ago
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/18/3096590.htm

Energex crews have worked through the night to restore power to homes and businesses during a third day of storms across southern Queensland, which have left 175,000 without power. Severe storms have eased after the region was hit by more than 12,000 lightning strikes, but the weather bureau warns there will be more storms across the region later today. More than 30,000 homes and businesses were without power last night due to the "rapid fire" lightning storms, with electricity workers working to restore power. The Bureau of Meteorology cancelled severe thunderstorm warnings for Beenleigh and Jimboomba last night and said conditions were due to ease throughout the night. The storms in the afternoon brought wind gusts of 104 kilometres per hour and heavy rainfall. Three centimetre hailstones were reported at Biddeston and 2cm stones at Highfields. Earlier yesterday, commuters faced delays getting home after public transport provider TransLink warned of major disruption to the Ferny Grove train line and minor delays on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast rail links. A severe thunderstorm warning remains in place in parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West, Capricornia and Wide Bay and Burnett districts, with further storms expected on Saturday. Energex's Danny Donald says crews are still on stand-by.
"Last night we saw 17,000 lightning strikes affect the network plus winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour and crews are now taking a well-deserved break for whatever the weather throws at us tonight," he said. The weather bureau's Brett Harrison says there is likely to be more storms today and tomorrow, along with rain. "We do have a weak surface trough moving through the Gold Coast at the moment, so the chances of storms are reduced south of that trough and that trough will move slowly northwards," he said. "So it'll be the Sunshine Coast in particular that will see storms into this afternoon." The bureau says Brisbane is also expected to be hit.


SE Queensland braces for night of wild storms

Wild Storms in Queensland, Australia!

Wild Storms in Queensland, Australia!

Wild Storms in Queensland, Australia!

Wild Storms in Queensland, Australia!


Updated Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:23pm AEDT
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/16/3095403.htm

Super storm cells are continuing to blast pockets of south-east Queensland, with emergency crews bracing for a hectic night, particularly on the Sunshine Coast. Thursday's storms, which also lashed parts of New South Wales, caused widespread damage and blackouts and left three people dead. The weather bureau says severe thunderstorms battering south-east Queensland are likely to persist until the early hours of Friday morning. The bureau says major storm cells keep popping up on the radar and they are all capable of producing large hail, damaging wind gusts and heavy rain. It has issued severe thunderstorm warnings for people living in Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Moreton Bay, Somerset and South Burnett Council areas. Esk, Hervey Bay and Roma are also being battered with damaging winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and hailstones. Senior forecaster Michael Knepp says some of the storms that have persisted across the region for hours are losing momentum, but new storms are appearing in their place. "The one near Esk has died off and it is not severe any more, the one approaching Hervey Bay has hit Hervey Bay," he said. "We have got a lot of thunderstorms popping up right now around the place, another one north-east of Stanthorpe. "Tonight's going to be fairly active for the next four or five hours and hopefully it will quieten down after that." An Energex spokeswoman says 94,000 homes across south-east Queensland experienced power cuts on Thursday.
"The worst hit areas are the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane's Bayside and Ipswich," she said. "There's been 35,000 lightning strikes, the most since the November 2008 storms." ( No, it was more than 60 000 Sprites, LM)! Andrew Wyatt from Emergency Management Queensland said the State Emergency Service (SES) had 80 jobs in Sunshine Coast towns on Thursday evening until 8:00pm (AEST). Most jobs were leaking roofs and fallen trees over houses, roads and driveways. Mr Wyatt said Maroochydore and Buderim were among the hardest hit. Tens of thousands of Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast commuters faced long delays getting home as the wild weather disrupted the train network. NSW cleans up!
In New South Wales, one man died and two others are being treated in hospital for burns after they were struck by lightning while playing golf at Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle. Around 250 State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers are working late into the night to repair the damage from wild storms in the Sydney area. The SES received more than 360 calls for assistance in the Sydney metropolitan area, with 190 of the calls coming from the Penrith area, in western Sydney. Thirty millimetres of rain fell in 15 minutes across the Penrith area just after 2:00pm (AEDT), causing the roofs of the Penrith courthouse and a nearby shopping centre to partially collapse. The SES says a motorist had to be rescued from his car after it became stranded in localised flash flooding. SES spokesman Phil Campbell says the storm threat has eased. "Those storms don't appear to have caused significant damage in other locations," he said. The storms left trains to Newcastle and the Central Coast running more than a hour behind schedule! Hailstones and high winds have caused damage from Beaudesert to Wynnum as a storm front rolls through the South East. Vision: Bruce Long. Hail as big as tennis balls!


Wild Storms in Queensland, Australia!    Wild Storms in Queensland, Australia!

Crews clean up after 'super cell' storm

Updated Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:04am AEDT
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/16/3094454.htm?section=justin

State Emergency Service (SES) crews are still responding to hundreds of calls after yesterday's fierce storm in and around Brisbane in south-east Queensland. Around 1,200 properties were still without power this morning after the storm super cell left a trail of destruction where large hailstones pelted cars, homes and businesses, and injured three people. A motorcyclist was killed in the dangerous conditions on Brisbane's bayside. The SES responded to more than 200 calls yesterday and worked through the night. Energex says thousands of lightning strikes and falling trees damaged the network and cut power to about 35,000 customers. Weather bureau spokesman Brian Rolstone says there will be more storms across the state this week and they could be just as severe as yesterday's. "It's what we call a super cell but fairly intense - it did have hail in it when it went through the Logan area - five-centimetre hail," he said. "This activity is going to continue for the south-east into Friday as well. "It doesn't really ease off thunderstorm wise until the weekend. "Today the storms will start earlier - probably near close to midday [AEST] over the south-east."These super cells, which are rotating, often produce big hail and strong winds and heavy rain and out of about five thunderstorm cells that develop in the afternoon, one might be severe towards a super cell."

Storms knock out power to thousands

Super cell storm.

Updated Fri Dec 17, 2010 7:29pm AEDT
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/17/3096402.htm

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says severe thunderstorms stretch from the far north to southern Queensland, but the main activity has been around Toowoomba and the Gold Coast this afternoon. BOM senior forecaster David Grant says the storms have dumped some hail at Biddeston and Highfields near Toowoomba but the State Emergency Service (SES) says no-one has been asking for help. "We had a couple of large thunderstorms develop and we did have reports of some two to three-centimetre hail around Toowoomba," he said. "Currently we have a line of thunderstorms from pretty much up around Mt Isa all the way down to the Gold Coast. "We do have a severe thunderstorm warning current for eastern parts of the Darling Downs, southern central highlands and western parts of Wide Bay and the south-east coast." The weather bureau says Brisbane may escape the severe thunderstorms sweeping the south-east. Senior forecaster Brian Rolstone says the heaviest activity is to the north of Brisbane. "The heavier storm activity is actually moving quite rapidly now through Redcliffe and Caboolture," he said. "[It was] previously a severe thunderstorm, but that is weakening now and it is just about off the coast."
Power cuts

No major storm damage has been reported on the Gold Coast, but Energex spokesman Nathan Hatch says power supplies have been cut on the southern end of the coast. "It is quite ferocious if it's been able to knock out 10,000 customers in a short amount of time," he said.
"We really want everyone to be as safe as possible and stay away from any fallen powerlines." Energex says another 1,000 customers are without power at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and surrounding areas. Regional electricity provider Ergon Energy says the storms have caused blackouts on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland. Ergon says about 6,000 customers have lost power and crews are out trying to restore supply. In northern Brisbane there are about 2,000 power outages. Police say landslides on the Toowoomba Range will continue to cause traffic problems over the weekend. The slides were started by yesterday's severe weather. Police have closed one lane of traffic on the Warrego Highway as the clean up continues. The road is expected to remain partially closed over the weekend.

Severe storms ease in southeast Qld

Saturday, December 18, 2010 » 07:43am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/18/Severe_storms_ease_in_southeast_Qld_553379.htm

Severe storms that caused thousands of lightning strikes have eased in southeast Queensland. More than 8000 homes and businesses remain without power due to the 'rapid fire' lightning storms, with electricity workers working through Friday night to restore power. The Bureau of Meteorology cancelled severe thunderstorm warnings for Beenleigh and Jimboomba on Friday evening and said conditions were due to ease throughout the night. Only 'a very slight' chance of storms remained in southeast Queensland, a spokesman said. The storms in the afternoon brought more than 12,000 lightning strikes, wind gusts of 104 km/h and heavy rainfall. Three-centimetre hailstones were reported at Biddeston and 2cm stones at Highfields. The region was hit by more than 12,000 lightning strikes from midday on Friday. It came after more than 35,000 lightning strikes were recorded during a series of storms on Thursday. Homes in Beenleigh, northern Brisbane suburbs and Brisbane Valley were the worst hit in terms of power loss. Energex said 160 crews would work through the night to reconnect electricity supplies after power lines were brought down by the strong winds. Queensland's State Emergency Services (SES) said they expected a quiet night on Friday due to conditions easing. They had responded to 530 jobs since Thursday, mostly in relation to minor storm damage, a spokesman said. Earlier on Friday, commuters faced delays getting home, after public transport provider TransLink warned of major disruption to the Ferny Grove train line and minor delays on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast rail links. A severe thunderstorm warning remains in place in parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West, Capricornia and Wide Bay and Burnett districts (Bundaberg areas), with further storms expected on Saturday."


Qld's dirty tide marches on and on (Australia)

Sinkholes in Flooded Bundaberg!

Monday, January 03, 2011 » 07:36pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/01/03/Qlds_dirty_tide_marches_on_and_on_559655.html

More than 150 homes have been inundated in Rockhampton as the military races the rising tide to deliver food and other essentials before the city is entirely cut off. Every stage of the disaster cycle is still playing out across Queensland amid its worst flood crisis on record. Rockhampton is currently in the grip of the destructive tide, while devastated communities including Emerald and Bundaberg are mopping up. Others, including Surat and St George to the west of Brisbane, are yet to be hit amid forecasts of record floods.
On Monday, Acting Defence Minister Warren Snowdon said the military had provided all the help Queensland authorities had asked for.
He said the defence force may expand its response, possibly to include recovery operations, if additional help was sought.
In Rockhampton, about 1,000 residents are expected to take shelter in an evacuation centre as large parts of the city are swamped.
Police said about 500 homes had been evacuated by Monday afternoon, with more likely as the Fitzroy River swells towards its expected peak of 9.4 metres on Wednesday. At that level the city will be completely isolated, 400 homes flooded and thousands of other properties affected by floodwaters.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is flying tonnes of food and medical supplies to Mackay so they can be trucked south before the last road link to Rockhampton is cut, likely by Tuesday afternoon.
Premier Anna Bligh, who was in Rockhampton on Monday, said at least 150 homes had already been flooded, with about 1,000 properties affected by floodwaters.
She said she had called an emergency cabinet meeting for Wednesday to deal with the multi billion dollar disaster and what is expected to be weeks of flooding before waters recede.
'The affected area is greater than the size of NSW, with the worst still to come in communities like Rockhampton,' Ms Bligh said.
'The long-term impact will still take some time to determine but there are literally thousands of Queenslanders who need our support.'
Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said the 9.4 metre flood peak was expected to remain for one to two days, and the waters would take a long time to recede.
'... we expect to have our airport closed for the best part of three weeks,' he told reporters on Monday.
Once the Bruce Highway to the north is cut, three ADF Black Hawk helicopters sent to Rockhampton from Emerald will provide a critical lifeline.
Mr Carter said the city was not in any danger of running out of food, drinking water or other essential supplies, thanks to the restocking missions.
He said efforts were underway to resolve fuel shortages, and warned sewage may have to be discharged into flood waters if the 9.4 metre peak eventuates.
The premier said she was shocked by what she saw when she flew into Rockhampton, saying it looked like it was 'in the middle of an inland sea'.
'The amount of water coming down these river systems is nothing short of astonishing,' she said.
'It is little wonder we're seeing so much heartbreak and so much tragedy in many of our major towns and our smaller regional centres.'
In Queensland's southwest, Surat and St George are on flood alert as the swollen Balonne River purges the deluge that's fallen in its catchment.
Extra police have been sent to both communities, and a 25-bed tactical medical centre has been set up at St George to deal with the relocation of some aged care residents and other medical cases.
The river is expected to reach 12 metres at St George on Monday, rising to 13 and beyond by later this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology believes the peak could be close to the 13.39 metres seen in March last year, when the town suffered major flood damage.
Maranoa Regional Council Mayor Robert Loughnan said Surat expected to see a 13 metre peak overnight or early on Tuesday, with the last road link to be cut in the next day or so.
He said the town would likely be isolated for a couple of weeks, but it was well supplied and only a handful of homes would be flooded.
Colonel Luke Foster, who is coordinating defence efforts, said that in addition to the three Black Hawks now servicing Rockhampton, a Chinook helicopter and three Sea King naval helicopters were also on standby.
Mr Snowdon said the ADF would consider all requests from Emergency Management Queensland for additional help.
'We'll continue to monitor the circumstances as they emerge and as they change,' he told reporters at Brisbane's Enoggera barracks.
Police repeated warnings on Monday for motorists not to try to cross flooded routes after the body of a man was recovered from a vehicle at Aramac, west of Emerald.
Chief Superintendent Alistair Dawson said the man was the 10th person to die since the state's floods began.
She said corporate donations to date totalled more than $5 million, with personal donations yet to be tallied.
Mr Ricciardi said the city was now making recovery plans, and an update on flood damage would be provided later in the day.
'We've got a great community here in Bundaberg. They're all chipping in and working hard and there's no real problem with looting,' he told reporters.
He said 60 people has spent the night in evacuation centres.
Bundaberg's main shipping port has been closed indefinitely after floodwaters washed debris into the shipping channel and damaged navigational beacons.
Port of Bundaberg manager Jason Pascoe told AAP the port would be closed for several days.
An assessment will be made next week to decide when it can be re-opened.
'The major flooding has caused a number of our navigational beacons to have been lost and also, because of the current, a lot of debris is coming from upstream,' Mr Pascoe said.
'We will make an assessment with Maritime Safety Queensland next week, once the current has subsided.
'It's the next three or four days (that it will be closed) but it depends on how quickly the flood waters subside.
Mr Pascoe said shipping agents had been warned of the closure and advised to alter their schedules.
A hydrographic survey would need to be carried out before the port could be re-opened, he said.
There had been no accidents, he added.
Queensland's flood crisis has hit the state's coal industry hard, with rail lines and mines also closed.
It's estimated the flooding has cost the industry more than $2 billion in lost production.
Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Anglo American have been forced to shut down production at dozens of mines, The Australian reports.

127,000 without power in South-East Queensland, Australia

Wednesday, January 12, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/AustralianFloodsCrisis/2011/01/12/127000_without_power_in_SE_Queensland_563631.html

Around 127,000 flood-affected Queensland residents are without power, and it's unlikely many will be reconnected before the weekend.
Energex began cutting power on Wednesday morning to homes and businesses in the Brisbane CBD.
A number of buildings in the city's inner-city suburbs are also currently without power, as are residents in nearby Ipswich.
Homes in the Lockyer Valley, which was inundated by floodwaters earlier in the week, are also still without electricity.
Energex spokesman Bill Lyon said it was highly unlikely that most buildings would be reconnected before the weekend.
'We're not expecting to have power back on to the vast majority of the people until at least the 12 to 14 hours after the flood water goes down, so that's probably another two to three days,' he told Sky News on Wednesday afternoon.
'The reason we've been switching off the power is to get as much of our equipment up out of the water, similar to the householders, so that when we go back in there we don't have to get a whole heap of new gear in there because that would be expensive, and (lead to) delays of weeks.'
Mr Lyon said all Energex crews were mobilised and that they would be installing generators in parts of the CBD over the next few days


Brisbane streets to go under in floods
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/AustralianFloodsCrisis/2011/01/12/Brisbane_streets_to_go_under_in_floods_563601.html
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The south Brisbane suburb of Yeronga is just one area of the city likely to be completely under water as floodwaters rise in the Brisbane River.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says new flood modelling now indicates that 19,700 residential properties and 3,500 commercial premises in 2,100 streets are likely to be flooded in the city.
And 6,500 homes on the first flood warning list, issued on Tuesday, are likely to be severely affected.
'For the low-lying areas, for the ones that were on the original list, those properties are going to under to a significant extent,' he told the Seven network on Wednesday morning.
'In 1974 there were properties in Yeronga, for example, that went completely under. That's what we're staring at.
The river was at 3.1 metres, he said, but would go up to 4.5 metres by mid-afternoon.
A second evacuation centre had been set up at the ANZ stadium (formerly the QE2 stadium) on the city's southside, Mr Newman said.
He praised the efforts of volunteer workers.
'The big thing that I was seeing last night, when I was going around to council depots where sandbags are being filled, is the hundreds of volunteers, many young people who've turned up, and people want to help,' he said.
'There's a great spirit in the town,' Mr Newman said.
There were enough people filling sandbags but volunteers were needed to help get possessions out of peoples homes and commercial premises.
In the coming days, the council would need people to turn up with shovels and utes to help people clean their homes, he said.
'We're doing as best we can in the circumstances ... I've got a big job ahead of me and I need the support of the community for us to all get through this.


Three thousand evacuate in northern NSW

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 » 08:18pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/AustralianFloodsCrisis/2011/01/12/Three_thousand_evacuate_in_northern_NSW_563617.html

Premier Kristina Keneally says it may be weeks before the full impact of the flooding across NSW is known, with 3000 people now evacuated.
Premier Kristina Keneally made an emergency visit to the flood-stricken NSW north coast on Wednesday, witnessing first hand the devastation wreaked by the rising Clarence River.
'There is an extraordinary flood event occurring here and the impact on the community is significant,' she told reporters at Grafton on Wednesday.
'But what struck me in particular is the residents here, even though they are facing a significant flood event, were constantly inquiring as to the status of the floods in Queensland...
'I was struck by the resilience of this community but also their generosity.'
During a helicopter flight over townships near Grafton, Ms Keneally saw residents standing beside their cars, roads disappearing into the brown murky waters of the swollen Clarence River.
'The total bill won't be known for some time, indeed it may be several weeks,' Ms Keneally said.
At Grafton the river hit 7.6 metres about midday (AEDT) just 40 cm below the levy.
The river is expected to subside before a tidal surge later on Wednesday which will come dangerously close to the 8 metre levy.
'I think it will come close, we'll get a scare, but it won't hit the 8m mark,' Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell told AAP.
The State Emergency Service (SES) said there had been no problems with the evacuation of three centres close to Grafton - Brushgrove, Ulmarra and Cowper - from where more than 2500 residents were asked to leave on Wednesday morning.
SES Commissioner Murray Kear said that while evacuations in the area were going well, rescues continued.
Two youths were plucked from the Clarence River after wading through floodwater to get to another road, expecting the footpath to be there.
Mr Kear said rain was forecast in different strengths for the remainder of January and into February and March.
There are some 200 SES volunteers in the Grafton region aiding with flood control, many of whom have travelled to the area from other parts of NSW.
Farmers are among the hardest hit by the floodwaters.
From the air, livestock can be seen huddling on peaks of land while nearby stockyards are underwater as hay bales float by.
At Boggabilla, northwest of Grafton, the town's 650 residents and the mostly indigenous town of Toomelah, with 200 people, are expected to be inundated when the Macintyre River peaks on Wednesday.
Ms Keneally said the agricultural sector was looking at a half billion dollar loss as a result of rains in November, and that the current event would send that figure upwards.
Sugar cane crops in the Grafton area have been completely swamped.
Property owner Geoff Ottaway left his home some 2km from Grafton on Tuesday.
'I picked up everything yesterday and just went home this morning to drive the tractor down the road out of harm,' he told AAP.
'It won't flood there until tomorrow but I'd rather be out of it.

Flood clean-up could take two years

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/AustralianFloodsCrisis/2011/01/12/Flood_clean-up_could_take_two_years_563602.html
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
At least two years will be needed to repair and rebuild Queensland infrastructure after flood damage.
Roads, sewage systems and parks are among the assets destroyed as the state experiences the worst flooding in more than a century.
Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) CEO Greg Hallam said even with an organised approach, restoring the state's infrastructure would take a couple of years because some of it had been wiped out.
'In some instance we won't rebuild it exactly as it was. We might build it better or smarter,' he told AAP on Wednesday.
'But we could never build anything that would withstand what we've seen.
'That's not comprehensible, it can't be done.'
Mr Hallam said the biggest damage will be to the state's roads.
Local government in Queensland is responsible for 80 per cent of the road network.
'It's going to be a massive job,' Mr Hallam said.
'If the damage to the roads is so immense that the pavement has been underwater for weeks, then you don't just go and put a reseal on top of it, you got to go right back to your base.'
LGAQ estimated that between 70,000km to 90,000km of council roads have been damaged by floods.
Queensland's sewage system, another local government responsibility, has also been badly damaged.
While the flood waters continue to rise, public parks, swimming pools and traffic lights are also a major concern for the LGAQ.
'A lot of projects that were going to be built won't be built in the short term or the next two or three years, simply because all of our efforts will be about restoration,' Mr Hallam said.
Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser says he expects the flood damage bill to cost billions of dollars, while Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin says a hit to the economy of one per cent is 'not out of the question'.
Coal producers in the state have suffered an estimated $2 billion in lost production.
Ratings agency Moody's says Queensland has lost eight to 15 million metric tonnes of trade as open-cut pits flooded and transport routes were cut off.
Resources giant New Hope Corp became the latest miner to suspend operations at its Queensland mines on Tuesday, joining some of the world's largest miners in shutting down production in the state.
Queensland is the world's largest producer of metallurgical coal, shipping 120 million tonnes a year for use in steel-making furnaces.
The state's public transport authority Translink suspended bus services from 1pm (AEST) on Wednesday. CityCat and CityFerry services had already been cancelled.
Trains have also been seriously disrupted, with only limited services operating as of midday.
QR National stopped rail services to coal mines west of Brisbane because of flooding and the closure of a rail line on the Toowoomba Range following a landslide on Tuesday night.
Flood damage to rail lines and the public transport system is not yet known.

Ipswich under water

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/AustralianFloodsCrisis/2011/01/12/Ipswich_under_water_563326.html
Whole blocks of the CBD of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, are under floodwaters metres deep.
Early on Wednesday morning, the Coles supermarket was inundated to a depth of eight feet deep (2.44 metres), with just the awning and store logo showing above the floodwaters which continue to rise.
Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale has told the residents to hang strong.
Mr Pisasale said the 1974 flood was a turning point for the city, and one that would stand the city in good stead now.
'It created a sense of community that survives to this day and we'll emerge from this disaster better and stronger, as we did then,' he said.
A flood peak of 22 metres is expected about 11am (AEST) on Wednesday.
The devastating 1974 flood reached a peak of 19.4 metres inundating between 2500 and 3000 homes.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011


Hundreds of birds found dead in Italy
 

Hundreds of dead turtle doves have been found in a town in northern Italy.
An Italian association for bird protection said on Saturday more than 700 dead birds have been picked up since January 1 from the streets of Faenza, about 50km southeast of Bologna.
Scientists are carrying out tests to figure out why the birds died, but Nadia Caselli of the bird association said they appear to have overeaten sunflower seeds, which damage their livers and kidneys. The seeds are mostly waste from a nearby oil factory.
Unlike stronger birds like pigeons, turtle doves are also debilitated by cold weather.
The mass deaths follow similar cases recently in the United States and Sweden
Sunday, January 09, 2011
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/01/09/Hundreds_of_birds_found_dead_in_Italy_562029.html

Unstoppable tide hits Brisbane
 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Brisbane River has broken its banks with evacuations underway in the heart of the city amid fears Brisbane will see its worst flooding since the 1974 disaster.
Office towers on Eagle Street are being emptied, along with businesses in Fortitude Valley, and flood waters are creeping into the inner-city suburb of West End, where residents have been told to get to higher ground.
Evacuations are also underway on Brisbane's northside at Albion and Bowen Hills, the ABC reported.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is due to brief the media at 1pm (AEST).
It's feared Brisbane could be about to experience its worst flood since the catastrophic 1974 event, when at least 6700 homes were partially or totally flooded in the Brisbane metropolitan area.
The Wivenhoe dam was subsequently built to the protect city's west.
The Brisbane City Council has released a list of 32 at-risk suburbs.
On Monday it warned 200 properties could be flooded, most in the areas of Rocklea, Albion, Milton and Auchenflower.
But the situation has worsened since then, and that warning was issued before flash flooding tore through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane.
Premier Anna Bligh on Tuesday said urgent modelling was being carried out to determine how the Toowoomba deluge would affect the situation in the capital, and west at Ipswich where evacuation alerts are also in place.
She said the water that fell in the Toowoomba area would move into the catchment of the Wivenhoe dam, and from there it must be released, at a controlled rate, into the Brisbane River.
Releases from the dam are being ramped up to cope with the enormous volume of water its holding back.
'Releases from Wivenhoe are not optional, there is no discretion here,' the premier told reporters on Tuesday.
Some residents at Ipswich were also evacuating areas close to the rising Bremer River on Tuesday.
'I'm told by the experts we are likely to see levels similar to the dreadful 1974 floods,' Mayor Paul Pisasale said.
The floods of '74 flooded 1800 homes and businesses in Ipswich, and 41 homes were washed away.
On Tuesday, the Wivenhoe Dam was at 173 per cent capacity. It can take up to 200 per cent. Somerset dam, which feeds into Wivenhoe, was at 160 per cent, the SEQ Water Grid said.
It said controlled releases from Wivenhoe would need to be increased further on Tuesday.
'These releases are being made in consultation with the Bureau of Meteorology and local councils and aim to limit downstream impacts where possible,' it said.
'Note, these large releases are necessary for the safe management of the dam.'
It said water levels in Somerset were expected to continue to rise on Tuesday and areas around Kilcoy were likely to be impacted by the rising dam levels.
Residents in the upper Somerset townships of Kilcoy, Jimna and Linville are being urged to conserve water due to the impacts of local flooding on water infrastructure.
Water Grid spokesperson Dan Spiller said vital water infrastructure in those areas had been damaged by flood waters, cutting off the raw water supply.
'We have a limited supply in local reservoirs that is expected to last one to three days. However, we will ensure that critical supplies are maintained. In the meantime, we are asking people to conserve water while we repair equipment and organise alternative supplies,' he said.
In Jimna and Linville, rising waters have impacted infrastructure that supports the region's supply.
Approximately 1,000 residents on town water across these three areas were affected, it said.
'We are asking people to restrict non-essential water use ...,' Mr Spiller said

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/01/11/Unstoppable_tide_hits_Brisbane_563074.html


Aussies survive boatwreck in Earthquake!
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2010/10/26/Aussies_survive_boatwreck_in_quake_530847.html

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 » 11:12am

A group of Australians on a surf charter boat off Sumatra jumped into the water when a three metre high wave, generated by an undersea quake, forced another boat into their craft, causing an explosion.
The major 7.7-magnitude undersea quake hit Kepulauan Mentawai, off the west coast of Indonesia, at 9.42pm (0142 AEDT) on Monday, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. A tsunami warning was issued, before being cancelled.
Australian man Rick Hallet, who has a charter boat operation in Sumatra, told the Nine Network 15 people, including nine Australians, were on the back deck of the boat in the bay off Mentawai Islands when they felt what they thought was a quake.
' Within several minutes a large wall of white water came through the bay and took us out essentially,' he said.
' It was night time around about 10pm a two to three metre wall of white water came into the bay and there was another boat anchored out the side of us the wave picked that boat up and brought it towards us and ran straight into us and our boat exploded, caught on fire, we had a fireball on the back deck and right through the saloon within seconds,' he said.
He said the group had been on the back deck, relaxing and playing music before the wave hit.
' I ordered everyone up to the top deck to get as high as possible, then the boat exploded and we had to abandon ship,' Mr Hallett said.
' We threw whatever we could that floated - surfboards, fenders - then we jumped into the water.
He said the jumped into the water and several of them were swept 200 metres inland by the wave and sheltered in high trees until they were rescued by another boat 90 minutes later.
' We stayed up in the trees until we felt there was no more risk of waves or big surges coming through,' he said.
He said all 15 people on the boat had been accounted for.
The undersea quake hit Indonesia's Kepulauan Mentawai region at a shallow depth of 20km, the US Geological Survey said.
The area is 240km west of Bengkulu on Sumatra island and 280km south of Padang - an area popular with tourists.
The quake was followed by a powerful 6.1-magnitude aftershock about five hours later in the same area.
Mr Hallett later told Fairfax Radio Network he wasn't sure at first whether he had felt an earthquake, because the motion wasn't quite like other quakes he has experienced.
' We felt a bit of a shake underneath the boat then within several minutes we heard an almighty roar, I immediately thought of a tsunami and looked out to sea and that's when we saw the wall of white water coming at us,' he said.
' The bay we were in was several hundred metres across and the wall of white water was from one side to the other, it was quite scary.'
Mr Hallett said he ordered all his guests up to the top deck, and told them to hold on as tight as possible and brace for the impact of the waves.
' When the boat caught afire we tried to extinguish it but it was just uncontrollable within seconds so we just threw surfboards and whatever else we could get hold of ... we threw as much as we could overboard and we had to abandon ship,' he said.
' A group of about six or seven guys got swept up to 200 metres inshore, several others of us didn't go quite that far, but as soon as the surge stopped, we all climbed up whatever we could get as high as we possibly could.
' Then we had another possibly four surges go under us over the next 20 minutes, half an hour.
' I actually had one of the boat fenders, which I think saved my life, I was able to fend off trees and not smash into them.'
Mr Hallett feared at first that two people had been lost.
' We could only account for 13 out of 15 in the first two hours,' he said.
' (But) the charter boat that actually hit us had managed to get out to sea and they had picked up two of my guests.'


Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!


Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Vietnam, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Queensland, Australia, Oct. 2010!      Floods in Queensland, Australia, Oct. 2010!

Floods in Queensland, Australia, Oct. 2010!
Floods in Indonesia
Floods in Indonesia

Floods in Indonesia

Floods in Indonesia

Floods in Indonesia

Floods in Indonesia

Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne, water is running inside ABC TV studio, 6 March 2010

Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne, hail is outside window, 6 March 2010

Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne's streets, turning into streams, 6 March 2010

Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010

Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010
Hail in Melbourne's ABC TV Studio, 6 March 2010

Hail in Melbourne, 6 March 2010

Hail in Melbourne, broken car windows, 6 March 2010

Australia, Melbourne Hail


Australia, Melbourn, Hail, March 2010

Hail and Flood, Melbourn Australia, March 2010

At least 13 dead in Haiti flooding

Weekend flooding in a part of Haiti untouched by January's devastating earthquake has claimed 13 lives and forced the evacuation of 3000 people, emergency service officials told AFP.
Another three people are listed as missing after the heavy rains on Saturday in and around Haiti's third biggest city of Les Cayes, 160 kilometres southwest of the quake-ruined capital Port-au-Prince.
The natural disaster put added strain on humanitarian aid distribution in Haiti because the 3000 people evacuated from their homes were in need of water and food, officials said.
Crops and roads were badly damaged by the downpour and flooding. Several mudslides also occurred.
Monday, March 01, 2010 » 05:12pm

Qld floodwaters gush into North NSW, Australia

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/03/16/Qld_floodwaters_gush_into_Nth_NSW_440466.html

Floodwaters from Queensland have entered northern NSW, cutting off roads and isolating farms and small communities.
Following torrential rain that deluged southern parts of Queensland in late February and early March, the State Emergency Service (SES) is warning residents in the Weilmoringle and Goodooga communities, in Brewarrina Shire, to leave their homes because of a risk of property damage.
Road access in and out of Goodooga is likely to be cut off by floodwaters by the weekend, while the village's Bokhara River is expected to peak near 4.3 metres on Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said.
Residents there could be isolated for up to six weeks, the SES warned.
Towns already cut off by floodwaters include Paroo, Wanaaring and Angledool.
Residents of Lightning Ridge are likely to be surrounded by floodwaters later this week, potentially isolating the town for about a week, the SES said.
Swollen rivers - including the Paroo, Warego, Darling, Bokhara, Culgoa, Birrie and Narren Rivers - may inundate tens of thousands of hectares, from Walgett to the Queensland boarder and west towards Bourke, Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan said.
People living in affected areas need to make sure they either evacuate ahead of the rising waters, or be prepared to be isolated for some time
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 » 05:49am

More flooding install for southern US
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2010/05/04/More_flooding_install_for_southern_US_458124.html

Officials in Nashville braced for more deaths on Monday as the flooded Cumberland River continued to swell, sending muddy water rushing through neighbourhoods and threatening the historic heart of Music City after a destructive line of weekend storms killed 21 people in the US South.
Using motor boats and canoes, authorities and volunteers rescued scores of residents trapped in flooded homes, some which looked like islands surround by dark river water. The downtown - home of a historic warehouse district that dates back to the 1800s and is now occupied by bars and restaurants - was nearly deserted after authorities evacuated residents and tourists.
Floodwater spilled into some streets near the riverfront, and restaurants and bars in the warehouse district were closed. A few blocks away, the historic Ryman Auditorium, longtime former home of the Grand Ole Opry, was in no immediate danger.
'It's shocking to see it this way, but it was an incredible storm,' Mayor Karl Dean said as he surveyed the downtown flooding. The Cumberland River was expected to crest Monday afternoon at 3 1/2 metres above flood stage, and officials worried they may find more bodies in the rising floodwaters.
Thousands of people took refuge in emergency shelters, including about 1,500 guests at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Centre who spent the night at a high school to escape the flooding. The resort's hotel, located northeast of downtown along the river, had 'significant water' inside and would remain closed indefinitely, said hotel spokeswoman Kim Keelor.
German tourists Gerdi and Kurt Bauerle, both 70, said resort staff suddenly started rushing people out of the area on Sunday night.
'We had just finished eating and suddenly they said: 'Go! Go! Go!'' said Gerdi Bauerle, who was visiting from Munich. 'And we said 'Wait, we haven't even paid.''
The storms, which also spawned deadly tornadoes, killed at least 12 people in Tennessee, six in Mississippi and three in Kentucky.
Eleven in Tennessee drowned, including at least six in Nashville, and one was killed by a tornado in western Tennessee.
Three of the people killed in Mississippi died when high winds believed to be tornados hit their homes; the other three were killed in what authorities said were weather-related traffic accidents. Three weather-related deaths were also reported in Kentucky, including one man whose truck ran off the road on Sunday into a flooded creek.
The weekend deaths came on the heels of a tornado in Arkansas that killed a woman and injured about two dozen people Friday. A week ago, 10 people were killed by a tornado from a separate storm in western Mississippi.
Bredesen said officials hoped for the best, but knew there might be more deaths reported on Monday as authorities got their first real look at the damage after a weekend filled with frantic rescues.
'This is going to go on for a while,' Bredesen said. 'It's going to take a while for the water to recede and us to get down into this. It's going to take several days for this to get back to anything near normal.'
The Cumberland River already reached record levels since an early 1960s flood control project was put in place. With so much water inundating its tributaries, it was difficult to gauge whether the river would stop at 15 metres deep, or 3 1/2 metres above flood stage.
The rain ended on Monday but there will likely be weeks of cleanup for residents and public works employees alike. Though there was no official estimate, it was clear thousands of homes had been damaged or destroyed by flooding and tornados.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010 » 09:35am

Toll from Rio floods tops 100 (Brazil)

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/04/08/Toll_from_Rio_floods_tops_100_448851.html

Rescuers searched for flood and landslide survivors Wednesday in southeastern Brazil after the heaviest downpours in almost half a century left at least 113 people dead.
The state of Rio de Janeiro was in mourning as the extent of the disaster became clear and a third day of rains compounded the misery for 5,000 municipal employees trying to clear streets turned to mud.
The situation 'is better than it was yesterday', Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes told a news conference, although he maintained the maximum alert level and urged people in high-risk areas to evacuate their homes.
'During the night, fortunately, there were no new landslides, but the risk still exists.'
Rain fell intermittently on Wednesday amid sunny spells, providing hope that the worst was over.
But the toll could rise further as dozens were reportedly still missing following the rains, which displaced more than 1,400 people and destroyed scores of homes.
Emergency officials said most fatalities were in hillside slums around the city of Rio de Janeiro, where torrents of water triggered devastating mudslides and scenes of chaos since Monday.
Dozens were killed in Rio itself but hardest hit was Niteroi, a city on the other side of the bay from the state capital where at least 54 people lost their lives.
The flooding was so intense that authorities urged Rio residents to remain indoors and not venture downtown, where streets were impassable.
Some motorists abandoned their partially submerged cars, while others were stranded for hours inside stalled vehicles.
'All the major streets of the city are closed because of the floods,' said Paes. 'Each and every person who attempts to enter them will be at enormous risk.'
Most of the casualties were trapped in landslides in the hillside slums that ring Rio, a city of some 16 million people that will host the World Cup football tournament in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Paes ordered schools in Rio closed Wednesday for a second day in order to keep people off the streets, while state governor Sergio Cabral decreed three days of mourning.
The killer floods also wreaked havoc with air traffic, delaying most international flights in and out of Rio's Antonio Carlos Jobim airport and forcing the cancellation of many domestic services.
In a neighbourhood close to the mountain where Rio's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue is located, the local weather service said the recent rainfall was twice the amount normally registered for the whole month of April.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticised decades of administrative neglect which allowed shoddy home construction in high-risk zones of the city's shantytowns.
'All we can do is pray to God to hold back the rains a little, so that Rio can return to normal, and so that we can set about fixing the things in the city that need fixing,' the Brazilian leader told local radio on Tuesday.
The heavy rains began during Monday evening rush hour, catching workers heading home for the day off-guard.
Brazil had already seen deadly deluges in Sao Paulo earlier this year after the wettest summer in the region in more than six decades.
National weather service Inmet said Tuesday's rainfall was the heaviest in 48 years.
Thursday, April 08, 2010 » 07:21am
Huge waves kill two on cruise ship (France)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/03/04/Huge_waves_kills_two_on_cruise_ship_435768.html

Greek and Cypriot officials say 8-metre waves have crashed into a cruise ship with nearly 2,000 people on board off France, smashing glass windshields and killing two passengers.
Another six people suffered injuries, a Greek coast guard statement says.
It says the accident occurred near the French Mediterranean port of Marseilles on Wednesday as the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty was sailing from Barcelona to Genoa in Italy with 1,350 passengers and 580 crew.
The victims were only identified as a German and an Italian man.
Louis Cruise Lines spokesman Michael Maratheftis said the ship was hit by three 'abnormally high' waves up to 8 metres high that broke glass windshields in the forward section. It is heading back to Barcelona.
Thursday, March 04, 2010 » 12:06pm
 
Deadly wave caught on film
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2010/03/05/Deadly_wave_caught_on_film_436527.html

Dramatic video footage of the moment a killer 26ft high wave smashed into the side of a cruise liner in the Mediterranean has been released.
The amateur footage shows the ship in heavy seas before a monster surge strikes the side of the vessel.
Smashed glass, debris and seawater flood into the public lounge in the Louis Majesty, causing chaos.
The accident left two tourists dead, injured 14 and forced the liner to dock in Barcelona for repairs.
Most of the 1,300 tourists on board have asked to end their cruise holidays early and head back to their home countries following the tragedy.
A German woman passenger said: 'It was a monster wave... it smashed all the windows. Everything happened so quickly.'
Images filmed by a passenger showed screaming people fleeing, as a wall of water crashed through a window and then swept into a lounge area, knocking over furniture.
'We didn't know what was happening, if there were dead or injured, only that we were going back to Barcelona,' an Italian passenger said.
One 64-year-old woman was in 'very serious' condition, a spokeswoman at Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron Hospital said.
Spanish media said the woman's legs were broken in the accident. A 59-year-old man was also taken to hospital with multiple injuries.
Louis Cruise spokesman Michalis Maratheftis said there would be no investigation.
'This was a natural, unforeseen and unpredictable phenomenon because we are talking about three big waves, higher than eight metres, striking the vessel,' he said.
'This is not an incident which we could have prevented, therefore there will be no investigation.'
Friday, March 05, 2010 » 09:39pm

Record flooding in northeastern US

Floods in USA  Floods in USA  Floods in USA
Floods in USA
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2010/04/01/Record_flooding_in_northeastern_US_446612.html

The worst floods in decades washed over large areas of the northeastern United States on Wednesday as authorities mobilised emergency services to brace for more to come.
In one of the worst hit states, Rhode Island, Governor Donald Carcieri told all non-essential government employees to stay at home on Wednesday, recommending that businesses, schools and local government buildings also close.
Government officials said the flooding, which started on Monday, was the worst in Rhode Island since 1955.
Another 50mm-100mm of rain was expected there and across much of the northeastern United States on Wednesday, the state's government said.
Total rainfall during the week's storms in the northeast was expected to reach 150-250mm.
In Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency this week and ordered out National Guard troops to aid in evacuations, sandbagging, and security.
'Residents of flood zones should closely monitor the storm and prepare for the possibility of needing to evacuate quickly,' Patrick said.
People were warned away from coast and told that flooded roads posed life-threatening risks.
Most of Maine was put on flash-flood watch, the government there said. The National Weather Service also declared large areas of New York state at risk of flooding.
Thursday, April 01, 2010 » 08:43am

 
China blames mine flood on poor safety

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/03/31/China_blames_mine_flood_on_poor_safety_446382.html

China's work safety watchdog has blamed lax standards at a coal mine in the north for a huge flood that has trapped 153 workers underground, as hopes faded on Wednesday for their rescue.
Three days after water gushed into the vast Wangjialing mine being built in Shanxi province, nearly 1,000 rescuers racing to save the workers still had not had any signs of life from the pit.
'The main problems the accident exposed were that construction work on the mine violated some regulations,' the nation's work safety administration said on its website, adding there had been too many workers in the mine at once.
'When signs of water leaks appeared, workers were not evacuated in time and efficient measures were not taken ... Since March, leaks were found several times but no efficient measures were taken to eliminate hidden dangers.'
At the site in Xiangning county, rescuers continued to pump out the 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water that flooded the mine, where more than 100 policemen, some of them heavily armed, were deployed to keep order.
The water level in the shaft had dropped only 15cm, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Workers watching the rescue efforts expressed bitterness as they recounted the management's apparent lack of concern for their colleagues' safety as they pushed staff to finish building the mine to meet an October deadline.
'They have been working us too hard. The regulations say we should be working eight hours a day but they have been working us 16 hours a day and won't let us come out,' one worker surnamed Dao told AFP.
'These people have black hearts,' he added, standing at the entrance of the mine shaft where a slogan read: 'Dare to be first, let's make a new record in building the mine.'
If the missing are not rescued, the accident will be the deadliest in China's notoriously dangerous coal mines in more than two years. In August 2007, 172 workers died in a mine flood in the eastern province of Shandong.
Safety standards are often ignored in China's collieries in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal -- the source of about 70 per cent of the country's energy.
The Wangjialing mine, which covers 180sq/km, belongs to the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Company.
The colliery, presented as a model of safety and efficiency on Huajin's website, was due to produce six million tonnes of coal a year.
'The company will build a first-class, safe and efficient, large modern mine,' the company said.
But for another worker who would only give his name as Li, the claims were a sham.
'The management doesn't care about the miners, they only care about money,' he said.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 » 02:57pm


Greater Hume Shire natural disaster (Australia)
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/03/12/Greater_Hume_Shire_natural_disaster_439208.html

Greater Hume Shire in southwestern NSW has become the fourth area of the state to be declared a natural disaster area this week following recent floods.
Torrential rain and flooding last weekend caused significant damage to infrastructure and for primary producers in the region, the NSW government says.
Forbes Shire in western NSW, Wagga Wagga in the Riverina and Central Darling Shire were declared disaster zones earlier this week.
The declaration means a range of people who have suffered property damage, including residents, primary producers and business owners, can seek assistance.
Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan said flooding from heavy rain between March 5 and 7 had damaged roads, bridges and other infrastructure in Greater Hume, particularly north of the shire bordering Wagga Wagga and Lockhart Shire.
For information on flood relief assistance visit www.community.nsw.gov.au or call 1800 018 444.
Friday, March 12, 2010 » 05:16p


Floods and Storms in France, March 2010

 
Flood in France 2010 Flood in France 2010 Flood in France 2010

Flood in France 2010   Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010

Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010

Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010  Flood in France 2010

We had almost for a month of non stop rain, which is unusual for this region, 18 Feb. 2010, LM.
 
Brisbane flash floods 'no surprise': Mayor (Australia)

Australian floods, 2010

Australian floods, 2010
Australian Outback floods, 2010
Australian Outback floods, 2010

Miracle escape for St George community (Australia)

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/03/06/Miracle_escape_for_St_George_community_436860.html

The southwest Queensland community of St George has been spared from a massive flood, with the river peaking lower than expected.
The community had been preparing for the Balonne River to reach 14 metres tonight, and fears that 80 per cent of the town could be flooded.
But the town's escaped the worst .. with the river today reaching its peak at 13.5m , still the highest level since recordings began in 1890 .. but lower than the catastrophic levels feared.
About 25 homes were inundated tonight and about 40 of the town's 2800 residents are staying at a make-shift evacuation centre at the showgrounds.
Several residents from the Warrawee Aged Care Facility were evacuated earlier today and flown to Brisbane as flood waters encroached
Saturday, March 06, 2010 » 09:46pm

More severe storm warnings for Victoria (Australia)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/03/07/More_severe_storm_warnings_for_Victoria_436950.html

Victorians have been warned to brace for more violent storms on Sunday, with torrential rain expected across the state.
Crews from the NSW state emergency service have been called in to help their Victorian counterparts deal with the damage caused by the mini-cyclone storm that lashed the city on Saturday.
The storm cell unleashed itself on Melbourne at 2.40pm (AEDT), dumping 26mm of rain in less an hour.
On Saturday night, the rain continued up to the Murray River, out to East Gippsland and across the west of the state.
There is more nasty weather forecast for Sunday, with downpours expected to be up to 100mm in some areas.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Scott Williams said the worst-affected areas will likely be those in the two eastern thirds of the state.
'There will be torrential rain areas and thunderstorms over very large areas of the state,' he told AAP.
'This is a fairly major, large-scale low pressure system that is interacting with tropical air, so we are going to have locally heavy rain and thunderstorms, potentially severe thunderstorms again (on Sunday) over much of the state.'
The peak of the storm activity is again expected to be in the afternoon.
Mr Williams said rainfalls are likely to reach up to 100mm in some parts of the state and he expects many areas will receive 20-50mm, including Melbourne.
The weather bureau has issued a flood warning for the Upper Murray, Mitta Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens and King catchments.
By 10pm on Saturday, the SES had received more than 3100 calls for help, with almost half coming from the Knox area, and about 1,000 of the jobs had been cleared.
NSW SES crews will begin helping their Victorian counterparts on Sunday.
On Saturday, wind gusts exceeding 100km/h lashed Melbourne Airport, and Southern Cross train station was evacuated as rain tore a hole in its roof and a deluge splashed down on the train platforms.
The city's Moomba festival was abandoned and several thousand people were stranded waiting for limited trains and replacement bus services after Super Saturday at Flemington Racecourse was washed out.
The storm also forced the cancellation of the NAB Cup AFL football game between Brisbane and Geelong.
Sunday, March 07, 2010 » 09:25am

Updated Wed Feb 17, 2010
Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says he is not surprised that parts of the city were flooded by yesterday's downpour.
Cars, homes, and businesses were damaged as up to 120 millimetres of rain fell on the region.
Councillor Newman says council officers have been out in force today cleaning up.
He has also defended the city's drainage system.
"Brisbane is a flood prone city," he said.
"It experiences extremes of climate.
"We've been through a very dry drought period for some years and now we're seeing the way the city operates.
"January and February are our wet season - there are low-lying areas of Brisbane that have always flooded and unfortunately they always continue to flood."
Dam levels rise
Meanwhile, south-east Queensland's combined dam levels have risen by 1 per cent with the floodgates at North Pine now opened.
SEQ Water spokesman Mike Foster says the dams had their largest overnight increase this summer.
"We had some pretty significant rainfall across our catchments overnight," he said.
"Sunshine Coast got the best of it - Baroon Pocket Dam jumped by about 4.5 per cent.
"In terms of Brisbane's dams, North Pine and Somerset certainly got the best of it."
Central Qld warning
Emergency services are warning Central Queensland residents to be prepared for possible flash flooding, with severe storms expected through the region.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a warning.
Rockhampton, Gladstone and Yeppoon are among the areas that might be affected.
Heavy rain has been falling through the day in Rockhampton.
Robbie Medlin from Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) says people should take precautions and not try to walk or drive through floodwaters.
http://www.abcscience.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/17/2822573.htm

Floods and Mudslides in ecsotic island of Madeira, Portugal, Feb. 2010   Floods and Mudslides in ecsotic island of Madeira, Portugal, Feb. 2010 
Floods and Mudslides in exotic island of Madeira, Portugal, Feb. 2010

Floods and Mudslides in ecsotic island of Madeira, Portugal, Feb. 2010   
Floods and Mudslides in ecsotic island of Madeira, Portugal, Feb. 2010


Floods kill at least 32 on Madeira

http://www.allturk.net/?mno=45297

FUNCHAL, Portugal (Reuters) – 6 pictures
At least 32 people have been killed by torrents of water and mud unleashed by a violent rainstorm on the Portuguese resort island of Madeira, officials said on Saturday. The deluge felled trees, washed away bridges, blocked roads with rocks and mud and cut off parts of the Atlantic island, a popular tourist destination about 1,000 km (625 miles) southwest of Lisbon. "The areas of Funchal and Ribeira Brava suffered from major floods and mudslides, and that's where we have most of the 32 dead. Some people are also unaccounted for," said Pedro Barbosa, deputy chief of the regional civil protection service in Madeira's capital Funchal. "Now the weather conditions have improved and we are starting to evaluate the damage," he told Reuters. Alberto Joao Jardim, the leader of the regional government , said 68 people were in hospital emergency wards and the government was making temporary shelters available for several hundred people left homeless. Roaring streams of water and mud from the hills above Funchal coursed through the streets of the town, dragging and overturning cars and vans. Three underground parking levels at a shopping mall were completely flooded, but it had been evacuated in time. "I am absolutely saddened and shocked with the images, with the consequences of this calamity," Prime Minister Jose Socrates said. Socrates and Interior Minister Rui Pereira were traveling to Madeira to assess the damage and coordinate aid. "The problem requires a response on the national level," Pereira said.
Meteorologists said no heavy rainfall was expected on Madeira in the next few days after the violent downpour that capped an unusually rainy February.
It was not immediately clear whether any tourists were among the victims, said Barbosa from the civil protection service. Rescue workers are seen next to a car that was hit by floodwaters on a road outside Funchal, the Madeira Island's capital, Saturday, Feb. 20 2010. Heavy rain caused flash floods all around the Portuguese island and the local government has confirmed at least two dozen dead
Reuters - Portuguese rescue workers using bulldozers searched Sunday for more bodies under debris after violent floods and mudslides killed at least 38 on the resort island of Madeira. People look at cars carried down a hillside by floodwaters outside Funchal, the Madeira Island's capital, Saturday, Feb. 20 2010. Heavy rain caused flash floods all around the Portuguese island and the local government has confirmed 32 dead.

Flood in Indonesia

A man on a wooden boat passes a flooded housing complex at the Baleendah district in Bandung. A man navigates the rooftop of his house to reach a wooden boat at the Baleendah district in Bandung.  Residents use a wooden boat to reach their houses at the Baleendah district in Bandung.

Hundreds of calls as rain deluges NSW (Australia)

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Environment/2010/02/13/Hundreds_of_calls_as_rain_deluges_NSW_428303.html

Emergency services are again on alert after responding to hundreds of calls for help across NSW on Friday night, with heavy rain causing flooding.
The State Emergency Service (SES) responded to 734 calls across the state on Friday night, most in northern Sydney, spokeswoman Erin Pogmore said.
Incidents included six flood rescues, five in Sydney and one in the central west town of Parkes, several roof collapses and a tree fall.
In Sydney's north, Hornsby received 71mm in just over an hour on Friday evening, while Mona Vale recorded 73mm over the same period.
On Saturday morning, Gosford, on the Central Coast, had received 75mm since 9am (AEDT) on Friday, while Parkes, in the central west, recorded 91mm.
The Bureau of Meteorology website said isolated thunderstorms and rain are predicted for the northwest and southeast of NSW on Saturday.
Flood warnings are in place for the Warrego and Paroo rivers, and the Darling River at Wilcannia.
Ms Pogmore said SES volunteers would again be on alert on Saturday.
'We'll have crews back out on the road today ready to respond to any further requests that do come through,' she said.
The rain also flooded a small underground substation in Sydney's CBD, cutting power to the area around Castlereagh Street, EnergyAustralia said.
Crews were working on restoring power by mid-Saturday morning.
Saturday, February 13, 2010 » 04:32pm

People missing after Queensland flood (Australia)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/02/07/Four_may_be_missing_after_Qld_flood_426051.html

Four teenagers have been rescued but a woman is still missing after being swept away at a popular swimming and picnic spot in Central Queensland.
It is feared other people are also missing with police unable to located the owners of two cars.
A Department of Community Safety (DCS) spokesman told AAP emergency service crews rescued the stranded teenagers and located two men, who were thought to be missing, following the flash flood about 3.40pm (AEST).
However, they are still searching for the mother of four children who had escaped the flood and at least one other person.
There are several search and rescue crews in the area south of Rockhampton.
'A large and sudden storm came through which has dumped a lot of water and they've been caught by surprise by the flow of the water from the storms,' the DCS spokesman said.
'That's what we believe has happened and we are trying to get more details.
'It's hard to work out how many people are missing as there two cars in the park which are unaccounted for.
'The mother of the children is missing and definitely one other but there could be more.'
Sunday, February 07, 2010 » 07:53pm  
 
Buenos Aires flood chaos (Argentina)

Argentina, flood in Buernos Aires, 20 Feb. 2010
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/02/20/Buenos_Aires_flood_chaos_431163.html

Heavy rain has caused flooding in the Argentina capital city of Buenos Aires.
The flooding hit the capital in peak hour, where residents struggled to make their way home from work.
Police had to use canoes to assist residents at intersections and some authorities used rope to guide pedestrians through thigh-high water.
Electricity was cut to certain areas of the city over safety concerns.
Heavy rain is expected to continue over the weekend.
Saturday, February 20, 2010 » 07:16pm

Mexico hit by flooding

Part of Mexico experiences flooding, but not all Mexico
Part of Mexico experiences flooding, but not all Mexico

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/02/06/Mexico_hit_by_flooding_425726.html
Central Mexico has been hit by deadly floods after unseasonal winter rain.
At least fifteen people have been swept away, many of them children.
Thousands headed for higher ground before the roads were inundated.
The rain also caused flooding and power outages in the capital Mexico City.
Saturday, February 06, 2010 » 07:50pm

   2010, Jan. Queensland's king tides
                                2010, Jan. Queensland, ocean's 'King tides' (Australia)

Heavy rain in Victoria cause havoc (Australia)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/02/11/Heavy_rain_in_Victoria_cause_havoc_427681.html

Thousands of commuters were stranded at Melbourne Airport after a car crash forced a road closure and caused traffic chaos during a storm that swept Victoria.
Following Thursday afternoon's storm, a severe thunderstorm warning remained in force for a wide section of Victoria, east of a line running from Geelong in the south to Kerang in the north.
Forecasters warned of flash flooding, damaging winds and large hailstones.
A man was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after being freed from his car which crashed into a tree off Sunbury Road at Greenvale about 4.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday as a severe electrical storm deluged the metropolitan area.
Sunbury Road leads to the Tullamarine Freeway, which feeds the airport and distributes traffic to Melbourne's northwest.
The road was closed in both directions, causing traffic to bank up quickly.
'The airport is in gridlock,' one traveller told AAP.
'People are waiting up to three-quarters of an hour just to get out of the airport.
'There were at least 800 people waiting for cabs when I was there and thousands of passengers are stuck there.'
Airport spokeswoman Sara Currie said the crash had caused traffic chaos.
'The accident has happened away from the airport but obviously it has caused heavy traffic congestion that has built very quickly.
'I believe the accident is being cleared but it will take a long time to clear the build-up.'
The State Emergency Service (SES) had received more than 500 calls for assistance from across Victoria by 7pm (AEDT) on Thursday, with the vast majority from Melbourne's north and west and related to flash flooding.
Worst-affected areas included Brimbank (104 calls), Melton (74), Bacchus Marsh (47) and Footscray and Essendon (30 calls each), SES spokeswoman Kate Millar said.
A woman was injured after the roof of her inner-city office collapsed during the wild storm in Melbourne.
The 24-year-old woman and a colleague hid under desks when the plasterboard gave way and the roof caved in on Thursday afternoon.
'She has her neck in a brace as a precaution and was taken to the Epworth Hospital, but the injuries are not considered serious,' Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman Susannah Wilson told AAP.
More than 20,000 customers in Melbourne and Victoria's west lost power during the severe thunderstorms and lightning.
The storms also caused chaos on train lines for peak hour commuters.
VicRoads has urged drivers to take extra caution while driving on the wet roads, with more than 100 sets of traffic lights knocked out across Melbourne, flash flooding and other hazards.
Thursday, February 11, 2010 » 10:23pm

Floods in England
Floods in England, in 2004

Fogs are playing a very important role throughout our lives. They happen all over the Original and
Parallel Earths and they are the sign of some Change in us (in relation to change of our Alters in the body) or the environment around us (in relation to changing Universes). It is easily manufactured and sent to where something needs to be hidden. It is the usual sign of change in dimensions. C.Castaneda was writing a lot about the functions of Fog in relation to changing dimensions:


Mirage of Skyscrapers in China, 2009

Mirage of Highrise Buildings in China in 2009!
 

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 » 07:43pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/25/Fog_blankets_China_as_winter_nears_398450.html

Thick fog has blanketed parts of China, as cold weather begins to settle in. The icy conditions caused accidents and transport problems in several provinces. Local authorities were forced to close major highways, adding to the traffic issues. The heavy fog is expected to continue over the coming days."


Families stranded in Uruguay floods
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2009/11/28/Families_stranded_in_Uruguay_floods_399548.html

Thousands of people have been evacuated in northern and central Uruguay as rain continues to cause extensive flooding.
The Uruguay River water levels are currently 40 feet over its seasonal average.
Some residents complained that the government is not doing enough and should have known the disaster was on its way.
Social workers have provided some relief to stranded families, many of whom took to their rooftops as waters flooded their homes.
But the support provided may not be enough for distraught victims who can't even survey to see how bad the damage is until the water recedes.
One family was living on their roof and was unable to save much in terms of supplies as the flood waters quickly rose forcing them out of their home.
Residents are trapped in a waiting game as authorities fear the river could continue to rise due to thunderstorms threatening the area throughout the weekend
Saturday, November 28, 2009 » 06:23pm


El Salvador Raises Death Toll

  flooding in Salvador   Flood in Salvador 
flooding in Salvador. Refugee Camps

floods in Salvador   flooding in Salvador, Refugee camp 

Salvador (floods)

  Refugee Camp in Salvador (floods)   Refugee Camp in Salvador (floods)
Flood in Salvador

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/09/El_Salvador_raises_death_toll_392008.html

Monday, November 09, 2009 » 05:19pm
Mud and boulders loosened by heavy rains swept down a volcano and partly buried a small town on Sunday, swallowing up homes as flooding and landslides across El Salvador killed at least 124(135 is the latest figure) people, authorities said.
Hundreds of soldiers, police and residents dug through rock and debris in Verapaz looking for another 60 people missing from the mudslide, which struck before dawn Sunday while residents were still in their beds.
Matias Mendoza, 26, was at home with his wife Claudia and their year-old son, Franklin, when the earth began moving.
'It was about two in the morning when the rain started coming down harder, and the earth started shaking,' Mendoza recalled. 'I warned my wife and grabbed my son, and all of a sudden we heard a sound. The next thing I knew I was lying among parts of the walls of my house.'
'A few minutes later, I found my wife and my son in the middle of the rubble, and, thank God, we're alive,' said Mendoza, who suffered cuts on his cheek that emergency workers stitched up.
Almost 7,000 people saw their homes damaged by landslides or cut off by floodwaters following three days of downpours from a low-pressure system indirectly related to Hurricane Ida, which brushed Mexico's Cancun resort on Sunday before steaming into the Gulf of Mexico.
President Mauricio Funes declared a national emergency and said he would work with the United Nations to evaluate the extent of the damage.
'The images that we have seen today are of a devastated country,' Funes said. He called the damages incalculable.
El Salvador's Civil Protection agency raised the death toll by to 124 late Sunday, with another 60 people missing.
It didn't break down the deaths by location, but under the previous toll, officials had listed 61 deaths in San Salvador, 23 in San Vicente province, including 10 in Verapaz, and seven other fatalities spread across the country.
Red Cross spokesman Carlos Lopez Mendoza said 60 people were missing in Verapaz.
Some of the worst damage was in Verapaz, where mudslides covered cars and boulders two metres wide blocked streets.
The rain loosened a flow of mud and rocks that descended from the nearby Chichontepec volcano and buried homes and streets in Verapaz, a town of about 3,000 located 50 kilometres east of San Salvador, the capital.
'It was terrible. The rocks came down on top of the houses and split them in two, and split the pavement,' recalled Manuel Melendez, 61, who lived a few doors down from Mendoza. Both their homes were destroyed Sunday morning.
'I heard people screaming all around,' Melendez said.
Amid a persistent drizzle, rescuers dug frantically for survivors with shovels and even their bare hands.
But the search was made difficult by collapsed walls, boulders and downed power lines that blocked heavy machinery.
'What happened in Verapaz was something terrible,' said Interior Minister Humberto Centeno, who flew over the city on Sunday to survey the damage. 'It is a real tragedy there.'
San Vicente Governor Manuel Castellanos said workers were struggling to clear roadways and power and water service had been knocked out.
At least 300 houses were flooded when a river in Verapaz overflowed its banks, Lopez Mendoza said.
Hurricane Ida's presence in the western Caribbean may have played a role in drawing a Pacific low-pressure system toward El Salvador, causing the rains, said Dave Roberts, a Navy hurricane specialist at the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami.
He added, however, that 'if there were deaths associated with this rainfall amount in El Salvador, I would not link it to Ida.'


UK PM visits scene of massive floods (England)

Sunday, November 22, 2009 » 10:33am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Politics/2009/11/22/UK_PM_visits_scene_of_massive_floods_396964.html

British PM Gordon Brown has visited the scene of massive floods that killed one person and stranded hundreds in the heaviest rainfall on record in England.
Brown met flooded-out residents in Cockermouth, northwest England, and emergency services workers who have been battling to cope with the freak downpours.
About 314mm of rain fell in 24 hours over scenic Cumberland county in northwest England earlier in the week, causing floods that swept a policeman to his death and destroyed bridges. Hundreds of stranded residents were airlifted out.
Brown, who pledged an extra STG1 million ($A1.81 million) of government money to help flood-hit communities, met people unable to return home at a reception centre set up at the Shepherd's Hotel in Cockermouth on Saturday.
'This is the second time I have been flooded out, in 2005 I was out for six months. This time its hopeless. I don't know when I will get back home,' said 88-year-old Doris Studholme.
'I've lost everything again. Last time they had to carry me out, this time they came quickly and got us out before the flood.
'But I've got family and the people here could not do any more for us.'
Earlier, Brown praised the 'superb response' of the emergency services.
'What you have done over the last few days is tackle one of the greatest rainfalls we've seen in our country and you've done it with such superb organisation that I wanted to tell you on behalf of the whole country how proud we are of you,' he said.
Four bridges collapsed in the area, with an estimated 1,100 homes affected by flooding and several hundred people displaced.
In Cockermouth, the town worst hit by the floodwaters, helicopters winched people to safety and rescue boats negotiated streets turned into canals after the Derwent and Cocker rivers burst their banks.
More than 200 people were forced to leave their homes as the bridges collapsed into the raging rivers and main roads were blocked.
The market town was the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth and Fletcher Christian, who led the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty.
Cockermouth sits on the edge of the Lake District, a picturesque national park containing England's highest mountains.
The Queen sent a message saying she was 'deeply concerned and saddened' by the flooding and thanked emergency workers for their 'selfless efforts'.
'My thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected and whose homes and livelihoods have been damaged,' she said.
The Environment Agency said four severe flood warnings remained in place in the area.
Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK, said: 'What happened was at least a one in 500 year event. It was an historic day which broke all records.'
Policeman Bill Barker, who would have been 45 on Saturday, was directing motorists away from a bridge over the Derwent in the coastal town of Workington on Thursday when he was swept away.
The bridge collapsed into the surging river and his body was recovered on a beach.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Ireland battled its worst floods in decades on Saturday, with the government rushing to provide shelter and drinking water to those affected and soldiers dispatched to assist.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen was to chair an emergency task force meeting on the crisis, the government said.
Troops were sent to assist emergency services in six cities and towns in the south and west after days of sustained rainfall.
A number of rivers burst their banks, roads were closed and trains cancelled in the worst-hit areas.
Cork, Ireland's second city, was particularly badly hit."
 
Floods devastate UK Lake District
 

Saturday, November 21, 2009 » 06:24am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/21/Floods_devastate_UK_Lake_District_396533.html

Military helicopters winched dozens of people to safety and emergency workers in inflatable boats rescued scores more as floods swamped northern England's picturesque Lake District. One police officer was missing and feared dead after a bridge was swept away.
British soldiers conducted house-to-house searches for those trapped by floods as deep as 2.5 meters on Friday. Troops also dropped down on lines from air force helicopters, breaking through rooftops to pluck people to safety.
Emergency services said more than 200 people were rescued in the hardest-hit town, Cockermouth. At least 960 homes were flooded after a day of unprecedented rain, police in the northern region of Cumbria said.
Heavy rain and gales also brought widespread flooding to Ireland, as more than 1 meter of water shut down the centre of the country's second-largest city, Cork, and more than a dozen towns and villages.
Cockermouth, a market town 530km northwest of London, lies at the junction of the Cocker and Derwent rivers and is known for being the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth.
'It has devastated the town,' said Michael Dunn, manager of the Bitter End pub in Cockermouth. 'There is a lot of properties in Main Street, private shops, that have had their windows smashed in by the force of the water and by debris in the water.
'There were cars floating down the street. It will be a long time before Cockermouth recovers from this.'
The rain stopped and floodwaters began to ease on Friday, giving rescuers a chance to reach trapped people by boat. Debris swirled around the boats as they pulled people to safety.
Tony Walker of Cockermouth told BBC radio he was on the top floor of his house and the water on the ground floor was chest-high.
'I've had better mornings,' Walker said. 'I've been here all night and I've run out of water now, so I'm thinking of making a break for it, really. The water is still pretty deep, it's going down, but at this rate it's going to be hours before it's clear.'
Forecasters said the rainfall was unprecedented. The Environment Agency recorded 314.4 mm of rain in 24 hours in one spot - one of the wettest days ever recorded in England.
'It looks like a very historical event,' said Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told the BBC flood defences were meant to withstand a one-in-100-years flood but could not cope with the volume of water.
'What we dealt with last night was probably more like one-in-a-1,000, so even the very best defences, if you have such quantities of rain in such a short space of time, can be over-topped,' Benn said.
Police urged people not to travel, as many roads were impassible. Two bridges collapsed in the town of Workington, including a main one over the River Derwent. Cumbria Police said Constable Bill Barker, 45, was swept into the water as he stood on the bridge. The force said rescuers searching for him had found a body.
'This is a stone bridge - to wash away a bridge of that size and dimension is incredible,' said lawmaker Tony Cunningham.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he had spoken to Cumbria Chief Constable Craig Mackey to offer help.
'Our thoughts are with all those who have been impacted by these floods,' Brown said.
The Irish army deployed more than 100 soldiers, two dozen trucks and several flat-bottomed boats to evacuate people trapped by waist-deep floodwaters in cars and homes. A helicopter also winched to safety a County Galway family of five, including the 87-year-old grandmother.
The floods caused transport chaos along Ireland's western coast, with many major roads blocked and train services cancelled.
The River Suck burst its banks in County Leitrim near the Northern Ireland border, flooding the town of Ballinasloe and cutting off major roads to Ireland's northwest. About 40 families had to be evacuated by boat.
The Irish weather forecasting service, Met Eireann, said parts of southern and western Ireland suffered their most intense and sustained rainfall in 30 years.
The day was mostly sunny but more rain and gales were forecast for the weekend.

Crews rescue hundreds from UK floods
 

Friday, November 20, 2009 » 10:24pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/20/Crews_rescue_hundreds_from_UK_floods_396468.html

Hundreds of people have been rescued by emergency service workers after rising floodwaters caused chaos in England's northwest.
Five Royal Air Force helicopters were called in to rescue about 50 people stranded in Cockermouth after floodwaters swept through the Cumbrian town on Thursday night amid torrential rain.
Some were airlifted after being forced to break through the roofs on their homes to escape, while many others fled in lifeboats.
Emergency service workers estimated that more than 200 people were rescued overnight on Thursday, with some residents still trapped in their homes early on Friday as rain continued to fall.
A search has begun for a missing police officer after a bridge collapsed in the nearby ancient market town of Workington.
The officer was believed to have been helping save local people from the floodwaters when he disappeared.
Meanwhile, flooding has been reported in northwest Wales as well as Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, where dozens of roads have been closed due to heavy rain.
The Met Office has issued several severe flood warnings across northern England, Scotland and Wales after days of steady rain caused several rivers to break their banks.
Some areas received more than 170mm of rain in 24 hours, with more rain forecast for Friday and the weekend.
Cockermouth, known as the birthplace of English poet William Wordsworth, became submerged after two rivers overflowed and sent a torrent of water through local streets.
Cumbria Police said water levels in some part of the town had reached more than 2.5m while hundreds of buildings were without power.
Pub owner John Carlin described the heavy rain as 'staggering'.
'I have lived here for 15 years and have never seen anything like it,' he told the BBC.
'At two o'clock it was raining heavily, but there was nothing here. But now there is four feet of water outside my front door.
'It's desperate. The town centre is completely flooded, the only people out there at the moment are the emergency services. The water is up to the waists of the firefighters.'
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered Cumbria Police all the help needed for the clean-up operation across the region."


Clean-up after Flooding Rescues (Great Britain)

floods in England
2 Nov 2009
Mopping-up is continuing after heavy rain brought flooding across Wales and led to at least 10 people being rescued from homes and cars.
Mid and West Fire Service crews dealt with five rescues in Swansea and Carmarthenshire as crews attended more than 100 incidents.
Station manager Sandy Powell said there were no reports of anyone needing hospital treatment.
As the clean-up continues, 16 flood watches are in place.
Ms Powell said two adults and a baby were were rescued from a house in Meidrim, Carmarthenshire, while a person was rescued from a house in Tenby, Pembrokeshire.
Two women were stranded in flood water in a car in Landore, Swansea, while four people were stuck in two cars near Newcastle Emlyn.
Ms Powell said: "The majority of the people that called in were all very, very calm.
"The majority of people were just sitting and waiting for the crews to help the people out. There were no reports of people being conveyed to hospital.
"We do have highly skilled crews in water rescue. We keep in touch closely with the environment agency."
Kati Crome from Gelliwen near Meidrim, Carmarthenshire, said the annexe where her mother Juliet, 77, and her partner, Brian, were sleeping on Sunday morning was flooded with minutes.
She said: "The wooden floor was floating and the river had flooded the neighbouring field over the bank into our garden and out of the front gate like a tidal wave.
The neighbours had sandbags ready as they had experienced the flood before.
"All our neighbours were so kind in helping us with buckets and brooms when the water eventually subsided a few hours later."
Meanwhile, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service attended flooding calls at Maesteg, Merthyr, Aberdare, Treorchy and Tonypandy.
The A4061 Rhigos Road in Rhondda has remained closed after a landslip involving several tonnes of earth.
An inspection is due to take place at the scene between Hill Street and the A4059/A465.
South Wales Police said there were reports of localised flooding in the Swansea area.
Gwent Police say they have had reports of localised flooding in the Blaina and Blaenavon areas, involving drains being blocked.
North Wales Fire Service have been called to nine flooding incidents on Sunday, with a few in the Wrexham area, one at Mancot, Deeside and two on Anglesey, at Bodedern and Amlwch.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8337293.stm


Rain isolates many on mid north coast (Australia)

Flash Flood Australia!

Flash Flood, Australia!

Sunday, November 22, 2009 » 03:16pm
A month of rain hits Melbourne
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2009/11/22/A_month_of_rain_hits_Melbourne_397053.html

Virtually a month's worth of rain has been dumped on Melbourne in about 17 hours over the weekend after a hot and dry November.
About 53mm of rain has fallen on the city between about 6pm (AEDT) on Saturday and 11am on Sunday, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Peter Blake said.
Before this weekend just 6.6mm of rain had fallen in Melbourne in the first 20 days of the month.
The current torrential rain has brought November's rainfall total to nearly 60mm, which is above the 57mm average for the month, Mr Blake told AAP.
Flash flooding might also hit some Victorian regions as heavy rain falls.
'It is incredible when last week it was so parched and everybody was complaining about the heat. Now it's very much the opposite,' he said.
'In terms of flooding we are getting some stream rises and we are monitoring that and whether we need to issue warnings.
'The ground dried out so much in the heat last week that we would need a lot of rainfall before there was any significant run-off.'
Unfortunately not as much rain has fallen around many of Melbourne's catchments, including the Thomson Dam, which provides much of Melbourne's water, he said.
The highest level of rainfall recorded so far is 103mm at Trentham, northwest of Melbourne.
Mildura, which is at the top northwest corner of Victoria and was sweltering in temperatures above 40 degrees last week, recorded 35mm of rain, Hamilton in the southwest had 15mm, Wangaratta in the northeast had 28mm and Bairnsdale in the east had 16mm.
The rain is expected to ease on Sunday afternoon with temperatures in the early 20s or lower and motorists have been warned not to drive through floodwaters.
***************************

Saturday, November 07, 2009 » 07:17am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2009/11/07/Rain_isolates_many_on_mid_north_coast_391222.html

State Emergency Service workers are bracing for a long night following heavy rain on the mid north coast
forcing residents to evacuate their homes.
At Coffs Harbour 40 properties were evacuated on Friday night, SES spokesman Phil Campbell told AAP.
By midnight 37 people had been rescued from flood waters, while 4000 people were isolated in the towns of Bellingen, Bowraville, and on the upper Bellinger River and the upper Kalang Rivers.
The SES is urging people in Coffs Harbour to stay within their homes this evening and to delay all non essential travel, Mr Campbell said.
The Bureau of Metrology said an average of 170 millimetres of rain fell over the Bellinger River Valley during the 30 hours to midnight, while the Bellinger River at Thora reached 3.5 metres at 11.30pm (AEDT) on Friday.
A severe weather warning continues for heavy rain and flash flooding on the mid north coast and northern rivers.
For emergency help in floods and storms, the SES can be contacted on on 132 500.

Floods displace millions in India

floods in India

Wednesday, October 07, 2009 » 10:10am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/AsianDisasters/2009/10/07/Floods_displace_millions_in_India_380333.html

A huge rescue and relief operation is continuing in southern India, where severe flooding has displaced millions of people. At least 250 people are thought to have been killed. The flood waters have swamped much of India's cropland in the south, raising fears of a drop in sugar production at one of the country's largest plantations.."

Toll in South India Floods rises to 102

Toll in south India floods rises to 102

Friday, Oct. 02, 2009
http://www.fresnobee.com/world/story/1659793.html?storylink=mirelated

NEW DELHI -- At least 35 more people died Friday after flash floods washed away thousands of homes in southern India, pushing the death toll from this week's heavy rains to 102, officials and media said.

In worst-hit Karnataka state, floods have destroyed at least 26,000 houses, submerged roads and snapped communication links in many areas.
On Friday, district officials in Karnataka reported the deaths of 35 people, pushing the death toll over the past two days to 86, with many more people reported missing, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
Army troops have begun rescue operations and helicopters are dropping food and drinking water packets in the worst-affected areas, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) north of the state capital, Bangalore.
Scores of villages in 11 districts in northern Karnataka were submerged and people had fled to higher ground, a top official said.
"Northern Karnataka is reeling from unprecedented rainfall. At least 26,000 houses have collapsed," Karnataka's chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said.
Late monsoon flooding has hit a large swathe across southern India. On Thursday, torrential rains and widespread flooding killed at least 16 people in neighboring Andhra Pradesh state.
AP Photo - People look at an overflowing dam in Dindi, in Andhra Pradesh state, India, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. Torrential rains destroyed hundreds of homes and caused heavy flooding in southern India, killing at least 15 people and forcing thousands to flee to higher ground, an official said Thursday. The late monsoon flooding in the past two days also damaged roads and inundated rice crops over an area of nearly 120 square miles (300 square kilometers) in Andhra Pradesh state."

Flood torn Philippines Appeals for Aid

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 » 09:07am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/09/29/Flood_torn_Philippines_appeals_for_aid_377367.html


The Philippines has appealed for international aid as it struggles to cope with floods that have killed at least 140 people and displaced nearly half a million.
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro says the country needs goods, funding, medicine and heavy equipment to clear debris from the roads and has sought assistance from the UN and may also ask for international rescue teams.
Philippine rescue workers have been struggling through knee-deep mud and putrid water in a desperate effort to help nearly half a million people displaced by the disaster.
Reaching people still stranded after Saturday's disaster in the capital Manila and surrounding areas, preventing disease outbreaks and getting aid to survivors were all big concerns, authorities said.
'We are concentrating on massive relief operations. (But) the system is overwhelmed, local government units are overwhelmed,' the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, Anthony Golez, told reporters on Monday.
'We were used to helping one city, one or two provinces but now, they are following one after another. Our assets and people are spread too thinly.'
Another 451,000 people had been forced out of their homes with 115,000 in evacuation centres.
Soldiers, police, medics and a huge number of volunteers were involved in the effort to help flood victims, authorities said.
Saturday's disaster saw tropical storm Ketsana pound the heaviest rain in more than 40 years on Manila and neighbouring areas of Luzon island.
The nine-hour deluge left some areas of Metro Manila, a sprawling city of 12 million people, under six metres of water, with poor drainage systems and other failed infrastructure exacerbating the problem.
Eighty per cent of the city was submerged and, with parts of Manila remaining underwater on Monday, local television reported that some people remained stranded on the second floors of their homes.
Vast areas where flooding had subsided also remained covered in knee-deep sludge.
Adding to the chaos, telephone and power services in some parts of the city remained cut, while local government officials said survivors in makeshift evacuation camps were desperately short of food, water and clothes.
Meanwhile, there were fears the number of dead could soar past the official tally.
Radio station DZBB quoted local officials as saying that 58 more bodies had been recovered from a flooded area in the Manila suburb of Marikina.
The chief of a riverside village in Quezon city, part of Metro Manila, also told AFP that 29 bodies had been recovered and 108 people remained missing from his community.
Armando Endaya, captain of Bagong Silangan village, said those deaths had not been reported to national government officials.
Endaya was overseeing a makeshift evacuation camp set up at a gymnasium, where more than 3,000 people were sheltering on the concrete floor alongside 11 white coffins containing the bodies of their neighbours.
'We are waiting for more aid to arrive. We are trying to mobilise our own relief operations here. But we need more help,' Endaya told AFP from the gymnasium, which had a roof but no walls.
The home of Edgar Halog, 44, a jeepney driver, was destroyed in the floods and he was sheltering at the centre with his wife and seven children aged between three and 12.
'We do not have any money, we do not know what to do. We don't have any other relatives. We are waiting for food rations,' Halog said.
With sanitation services across the city in disarray, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said authorities were working to prevent disease outbreaks.
'Our health teams are bringing in water and (products for) sanitation and hygiene at evacuation centres to make sure that disease does not spread,' he said.
Initial frantic rescue efforts saw military helicopters and rubber boats fan out across the city to pluck people from houses and car roofs.
The government said more than 7,900 people had been rescued.

Philippine storm leaves 86 dead

Monday, September 28, 2009 » 09:35am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/09/28/Philippine_storm_leaves_86_dead_377059.html

At least 86 people are confirmed dead and 32 remain missing two days after massive flooding in the Philippines.

More than 435,000 people were displaced after tropical storm Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in more than 40 years on the Philippine capital, Manila, and surrounding areas on Saturday, Teodoro told reporters.
The death toll was expected to climb.
Radio station DZBB quoted local officials as saying that 58 more bodies had been recovered from a flooded area in the Manila suburb of Marikina, but had not yet been included in the official tally.
Teodoro, who is also head of civil defence operations, said the government was looking into those reports.
'This has not been reported to us so we still cannot confirm this. We are going to call the (local) official so we can confirm this,' he said, adding that search and relief operations were continuing.


50 dead in Philippines flooding

floods in Philipines

Sunday, September 27, 2009 » 07:55am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/09/27/40_dead_in_Philippines_flooding_376653.html

More than a month's worth of rain fell in just 12 hours as Tropical Storm Ketsana slammed ashore in the Philippines, killing at least 50 people and stranding thousands on rooftops in the capital's worst flooding in more than 42 years.

The government declared a 'state of calamity' in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces on Saturday. Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who heads the National Disaster Coordinating Council, said this allows officials to withdraw emergency money for relief and rescue.
A landslide and flash flooding in nearby Rizal province killed 35 people, provincial government spokesman Tony Mateo said. Most of the fatalities in Rizal drowned, said Loel Malonzo, chairman of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council.
Three people were also reported killed in Manila's southern suburb of Muntinglupa and two others in Quezon city, said Anthony Golez, deputy presidential spokesman and acting head of the Office of Civil Defence.
Malonzo said those who died did not live near creeks and were unaccustomed to flooding. 'It has been about 40 years since something like this has happened here and many who migrated to the province were unfamiliar with the flooding,' Malonzo said.
Mateo said 27 people were missing.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had to take an elevated commuter train to the disaster council office to preside over a meeting because roads were clogged by vehicles stuck in the floodwaters.
The mayor of Cainta, also in Rizal, who was stranded atop a dump truck on a road that was neck-deep in water, told ABS-CBN television by phone that many residents climbed onto roofs to escape.
'The whole town is almost 100 per cent underwater,' Mayor Mon Ilagan said.
About 42.4cm of rain fell on metropolitan Manila in just 12 hours on Saturday, exceeding the 39.2cm average for September, said chief government weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz. The rainfall on Saturday also broke the previous record of 33.4cm, which fell during a 24-hour period in June 1967, he said.
'However good your drainage system is, it will be overwhelmed by that amount of rainfall,' he told The Associated Press.
He said poor maintenance of drains and waterways clogged with garbage compounded the problem.
ABS-CBN television showed a dramatic video of more than a dozen people perched on roofs of damaged houses being swept away by the suburban Marikina River. They smashed against the pillars of a bridge and were separated from each other in the rampaging river. It was unclear whether they were rescued.
Cruz said seasonal monsoon rains were intensified by Ketsana, which packed winds of 85km/h with gusts of up to 100km/h when it hit land early on Saturday. By the evening, the storm maintained its strength as it moved over the coast of western Zambales province and headed west toward the South China Sea.
Stranded residents called radio and television stations for help.
Popular actress Cristine Reyes tearfully appealed on ABS-CBN television from the roof of her two-storey home, saying she and her mother and two young children had been waiting there for rescue for over six hours.
'If the rains do not stop, the water will reach the roof. We do not know what to do. My mother doesn't know how to swim,' she said.
Manila airport operations chief Octavio Lina said the runway had been flooded, delaying international flights for hours. Floodwaters also caused some electrical outages.
Hundreds of vehicles were stalled in flooded streets around the capital, and nearly 2,000 passengers were stranded in ports in several provinces south of Manila after the coast guard suspended ferry operations.
The rains also caused the water in two dams near Manila to overflow, the national disaster agency said. It said water was waist-deep in some communities in northern Bulacan province near one dam.
Power distributor Meralco cut off electric service to some flooded areas in metropolitan Manila to prevent accidents, spokesman Joel Zaldarriaga said."


Heavy rain leads to flooding in Lima (Peru)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2010/01/09/Heavy_rain_leads_to_flooding_in_Lima_415664.html

Heavy rain has led to serious flooding in the Peruvian capital Lima.
Sandy water is causing problems with the city's transport network, with sections of some roads completely washed away in the floods. Meteorologists say the country's seasonal rains have come earlier, and with more intensity than anticipated.
Some experts believe the heavy rainfall is due to a mild El Nino effect, caused by shifting Pacific Ocean currents.
Saturday, January 09, 2010 » 06:19pm

Turkey Floods (Istambul)

Turkey 2009 floods  Turkey 2009 floods

Turkey 2009 floods  Turkey 2009 floods

Turkey 2009 floods   Turkey 2009 floods

Turkey 2009 floods

Turkey 2009 floods

Turkey 2009 floods

Friday, September 25, 2009 » 10:44am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2009/09/25/Turkey_floods-ST_LVO_45415_376123.html

Five people have died in north-east Turkey after torrential rain triggered flash flooding.
A building on a stream collapsed in the Artvin province, sweeping five residents to their deaths.
Rescue crews have been hampered in their efforts to get to those injured, as many connecting roads have been flooded.
The deaths come two weeks after flash floods claimed 32 lives in Istanbul and the neighboring province of Tekirdag.


Floods in Atlanta, USA

floods in Atlanta  floods in Atlanta
floods in Atlanta
floods in Atlanta


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/weather/09/22/southeast.flooding/index.html

21 September 2009
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Dry skies over parts of Atlanta brought welcome relief to many residents Tuesday, but the impact of widespread flooding continued to take its toll on surrounding areas.
At least eight people have died in Georgia from the flooding, and one person is missing and presumed dead in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
A car trying to navigate a flooded road was swept away during the Tuesday morning commute in Douglas County, west of Atlanta, county emergency official Jason Milhollin said.
Four other people who tried to rescue the driver were also swept away, and all five were later rescued by emergency workers, Milhollin said.
"They were fine. No one went to hospital," he said. "Luckily, they had a fence to hold on to, and we got the boat to them."
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue pleaded with residents to stay off the roads, noting that nearly all the fatalities were drivers and passengers swept away by the floodwaters.
"Stuff is important, but it's not nearly as important as your life," he said. "Please give these waters time to recede."

******************************

Heavy rain, flooding in Atlanta, USA, causes school closings, mudslide and closed roads

September 21, 9:59
http://www.examiner.com/x-3958-Atlanta-Northside-Family--Parenting-Examiner~y2009m9d21

Quite simply, it’s a mess in Atlanta. Residents awoke this morning to school closures, a mudslide on Highway 78 and closed roads. The school systems in Carroll, Douglas, Paulding and Stevens counties announced school closures today. Atlanta's largest school system Gwinnett County announced that its schools would remain closed for the entire day, as opposed to a 2-hour delay as originally reported.
All creeks and streams in metro Atlanta were spilling out of their banks or approaching flood levels. Officials issued a boil water advisory in Douglas County due to broken water lines. Local fire departments report they are rescuing people from their flooded homes. A trailer was swept off its foundation in Douglas County. Fox 5 News reports that the first fatality of the storms is a 39-year-old Gwinnett County woman whose mini van was swept away by the floodwaters. It also reports that a second weather-related fatality is a Douglas County man who was also swept away. Neighbors are taking boats around neighborhoods to rescue people from their flooded Powder Springs homes.
The National Weather Service estimated that as much as 15-20 inches of rain has already fallen across areas of Atlanta and its suburbs in the last three days. Strong storms hit the area on Friday, and "trained" one after the other all weekend long. More rain is expected today. According to The Weather Channel, there is a 90% chance of thunderstorms today, an 80% chance tonight, and a 60% chance on Tuesday. Rain chances decrease to 40% on Wednesday and 30% on Thursday. Flood watches and warnings will remain in effect through Tuesday morning."


*****************************

Flooding and power cuts in Tasmania

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 » 02:02pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Regional/2009/09/23/Flooding_and_power_cuts_in_Tasmania_375522.html

Heavy rain in Tasmania is causing flooding and has cut power to more than 1,000 homes.
Up to 120 millimetres has fallen in some areas in the 24 hours to 9am (AEST) on Wednesday.
A range of road weather alerts have been activated across the state due to flooding.
Aurora Energy says about 1,000 customers have lost power on the Tasman Peninsula.
The rain is forecast to ease on Wednesday afternoon.
Tasmania was already saturated after one of the wettest winters on record."


Floods in Minsk, Belorussia

flood in Minsk , July 2009 

flood in Minsk , July 2009

Flood in Minsk , July 2009


Flood in Minsk, Belorussia
Flood in Minsk, Belorussia    Flood in Minsk, Belorussia
Flood in Minsk, Belorussia

Flood in Minsk, Belorussia


Flood in Minsk, Belorussia

Flood in Minsk, Belorussia
Flood in Minsk, Belorussia
Flood in Minsk, Belorussia

Flood in Minsk, Belorussia
Flood in Minsk, Belorussia
Flood in Minsk, Belorussia

Flood in Minsk, Belorussia

Broad streets of Minsk city turned into Venice styled channels full of water channels when suddenly the 20% of annual raining amount happened in one day. A few days ago a big storm clouds brought by a strong wind covered Moscow. People don’t know what was the reason for this, nor nothing was in the news. A few people managed to make a photos like this ones of the sky.
http://englishrussia.com/?p=1626


South China floods see 50,000 evacuated

floods in China

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/07/04/South_China_floods_see_50000_evacuated_349067.html

Saturday, July 04, 2009 » 08:52pm
More than 50,000 people were evacuated in south China after the heaviest rains in years led to flooding and swollen rivers in recent days, state media reported.
More than 47,000 people were evacuated in Rongshui county of Guangxi region after the Rong river flooded its banks, inundating farmlands and destroying homes, Xinhua news agency said.
Another 7,500 people were evacuated from below Guangxi's Kama reservoir, where workers were furiously trying to repair damaged dykes that were threatening to burst, it said.
Torrential rains have pummelled south central China over the last week leaving dozens dead or missing and leading to the evacuation of over 100,000 people, media reported Friday.
Xinhua also reported on Friday that nine people were killed and eight were missing in flooding in the provinces and regions of Jiangxi, Guizhou and Guangxi, while 11 were pronounced dead there on Thursday.
Water levels on some rivers in Guangxi were the highest since 1998 when torrential downpours led to the worst flooding in over 100 years and resulted in over 3,600 fatalities nationwide, China Central Television said.
According to a report issued on Wednesday by the state flood headquarters, 95 people have been killed and 21 people were missing in flooding throughout China in the first six months of the year.
South and central China are prone to major flooding during the annual summer rainy season that every year leaves a trail of death and destruction."


Storm!

Storm!

Storm!

Storm!

Storm!

Storm!

Flooding in NSW  

Flood in NSW, Australa

Relief in sight for flood-ravaged NSW, Australia

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/05/24/Relief_in_sight_for_flood-ravaged_NSW_335234.html

Sunday, May 24, 2009 » 03:10pm
Heavy rain has eased across flood-ravaged northern NSW but thousands of people remain isolated and more evacuations are expected.
There are nine flood warnings current for northern NSW, with a severe weather warning for abnormally high tides and damaging surf on the mid-north coast and northern rivers.
The State Emergency Service (SES) estimates 21,500 people have been isolated across the northern part of the state since the start of the flood emergency.
An SES spokeswoman said volunteers had performed 147 flood rescues, medical evacuations, assisted evacuations, resupply runs to isolated communities and animal rescues.
'Many of these communities are used to the isolation,' she said.
'The focus is right across the northern part of the state today.
'We'll be continuing to monitor the situation at Kempsey and further north.'
The Macleay River at Kempsey, where the town centre is shut down, peaked at 6.90 metres at around midnight (AEST) with major flooding.
The mid-north coast town of Maclean has been evacuated, while Yamba, Bellingen, Thora, Darkwood, South West Rocks and Smithtown are isolated.
Residents of Iluka is expected to be isolated while the northern rivers community of Cabbage Tree Island is facing evacuation later on Sunday.
The communities of Coraki and Woodburn, near Lismore, are also isolated after the Richmond River peaked at 6.6 metres on Saturday.
Residents at Lismore have been given the all clear to return home but people evacuated from their homes at Grafton are still unable to go home, with flood waters remaining above major flood level.
The NSW government disaster declaration has been extended to areas on the mid-north coast, which have been buffeted by the same storms that wreaked havoc from Queensland to Coffs Harbour.
Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca and the Port Macquarie-Hastings areas had been declared disaster zones after declarations for The Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley on Friday.
The flooding on Friday claimed the life of a 70-year-old man, whose body was found near his submerged car south of Coffs Harbour."

Flooding in Australia

Flooding in Australia


NSW, Australian Government extends disaster zone

Saturday, May 23, 2009 » 02:38pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/05/23/NSW_Govt_extends_disaster_zone_334948.html

The New South Wales government's extended its disaster declaration from the north coast down to the mid-north coast which is now being buffeted by the same storms that've wreaked havoc in southeast Queensland.
Flooding has prompted the evacuation of thousands of people and claimed the life of a seventy-year-old man whose body was found near his submerged car.
Officers were alerted to the car at Raleigh south of Coffs Harbour yesterday evening but couldn't retrieve the man's body until midnight.
Meanwhile the SES estimates 21 thousand 500 people have been isolated including 16 thousand in Grafton where about two thousand people have been evacuated the town could be cut off for days.
The weather bureau expects the Macleay River at Kempsey to reach seven metres breaching the levee and flooding the town and surrounding towns as happened at Grafton overnight.
The SES is urging Kempsey residents to follow evacuation orders.
Meanwhile all beaches between Sydney and the Queensland coast have been closed as the storms whip up huge seas.
Evacuation orders have been issued for Grafron, the Kempsey CBD, Smithtown, Gladstone, Kinchela and Jerseyville.
The towns of Hat Head and South West Rocks are isolated, along with Maclean, Yamba, Iluka, Bellingen, Darkwood and the Kalang Valley."

Wild storms continue for NSW north (Australia)

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Regional/2009/05/23/Wild_storms_continue_for_NSW_north_334868.html
Saturday, May 23, 2009 » 10:10am
Wild storms along Australia's east coast are wreaking havoc on two states this weekend, with close to 15-thousand people at one stage being told to leave homes in northern New South Wales.
Large swathes of northern New South Wales were declared disaster areas yesterday, after more torrential rain and winds lifted roofs off buildings and brought down trees and powerlines.
New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees has declared the Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley local government areas disaster zones.
Lismore was worst affected, with five-thousand residents told to evacuate yesterday but the ABC has since reported the city was spared the worst last night and people are returning to the city centre.
The ABC also reports that thousands of residents have had their electricity supply interrupted by the floods."

Evacuations underway on NSW north coast
Friday, May 22, 2009 » 06:36pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/05/22/Evacuations_underway_on_NSW_north_coast_334740.html

A mass evacuation of some 6,000 people is underway on the flood-ravaged north coast of NSW, following a deluge of up to 350mm of rain in 10 hours.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a flood warning for the Clarence River near Grafton, which is expected to peak at almost eight metres by midnight (AEST) Friday.
'The local authorities here are well-advanced in their plan to evacuate Grafton and south Grafton which is a significant operation,' Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson said on Friday.
'Early this morning we announced the evacuation of Ulmarra and Brushgrove - two small riverside villages of about 350 people.'
While it was difficult to put a precise figure on the number of evacuations, Mr Williamson said he expected some 6,000 people will have to be relocated.
'We are encouraging self-evacuation but if people are able to go to friends and family on higher ground, that's good,' he said.
Otherwise, community centres such as the Grafton High School multi-purpose centre will be used to accommodate the evacuees.
'As a council we are grappling with two issues. One being flood ... the other is significant wind damage and coastal erosion,' Mr Williamson said.
'Yamba recorded a wind gust of 99km/h last night. We know that there will be damage as a result of that, we are just waiting to hear how severe that damage is.'
He said residents of the region were reporting massive rainfalls, including several claims of about 350mm between 8pm (AEST) on Thursday and 6am (AEST) on Friday.
Mr Williamson said Clarence Valley residents welcomed NSW Premier Nathan Rees' declaration of a natural disaster area for the north coast of NSW.
Evacuations began at Lismore, further north, early on Friday.
The disaster declaration covers the Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley local government areas.
Mr Rees says his government is ready to provide for the communities.
'The declaration will provide for a range of assistance to cover personal hardship and distress as well as funding for those who have suffered property damage, including residents, councils, business owners and primary producers,' Mr Rees said.
Mr Rees inspected flood damage in the area on Friday, accompanied by Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan and State Emergency Service (SES) director General Murray Kear.
The wild weather has lifted roofs off buildings, and brought down trees and powerlines.
Electricity supplies to homes and businesses have been interrupted, as well as some water supplies and sewerage systems.
In Lismore, much of which is isolated, Wilsons River was expected to peak at 10.4 metres on Friday afternoon. Emergency crews were hopeful it would not overflow.
Residents in communities further south are isolated by floodwaters, with Bellingen, Darkwood and Thora cut off.
The Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM) severe weather warning remains in place for the area, with very heavy rain, high winds and large waves predicted throughout the day.
Destructive wind gusts exceeding 125km/h are also possible along the coastal fringe, the BoM website says.
Since Tuesday, the SES has received 1,560 calls for assistance from the border to Coffs Harbour.
They have conducted about 15 flood rescues and a number of medical rescues to help sick people leave their homes, along with other rescues conducted by police and fire brigades.
Mr Rees congratulated the SES crews for their efforts.
'Our volunteers and emergency workers are doing a fantastic job,' he said.
NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal said the natural disaster declaration could be extended to other areas if needed, with BoM predicting the weather system is moving further south.
The SES is urging people to stay off the roads and drivers can check the RTA traffic information line on 131 700 or www.rta.nsw.gov.au for the latest information.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has urged residents in flood-ravaged areas to stay away from dangerous waters.
Mr Rudd said it was critical for locals in Lismore and surrounding areas to avoid flooded roads and stay indoors as far as possible.
'I understand local Emergency Management Authorities issued evacuation orders for Lismore and an evacuation centre has been established at Southern Cross University,' Mr Rudd said.
'It is critical residents follow the instructions of local authorities and as far as possible stay indoors and avoid the roads.'
Mr Rudd said the federal government was ready to assist if needed.
'We stand ready to assist in whatever way he commonwealth can.'
People who need emergency assistance can contact their local SES on 132 500. For life-threatening emergencies, call triple-zero.
NSW boat users are being warned to take extra care over the weekend with wild weather whipping up dangerous conditions.
NSW Maritime said boaters on the north coast should avoid waterways and those heading elsewhere should check weather conditions before hitting the water.
'Safety is paramount when boating, so we would urge anyone who is thinking of heading out on the water in the next couple of days to check the weather first and if in doubt, don't go out,' spokesman Brett Moore said in a statement.
Boats on moorings must be properly secured and moorings serviced to reduce the risk of craft breaking free, Mr Moore said.
The Bureau of Meteorology warning warns of high winds and large waves on the northeast coast until Saturday morning.
Dangerous surf conditions are also expected in Sydney well into Saturday.
More information about boating safety is available on the web at www.maritime.nsw.gov.au


Philippines' typhoon toll rises to 43

Monday, May 11, 2009 » 08:12pm

The death toll from a typhoon that ravaged the northern Philippines last week has risen to 43, the government says.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said 13 people were missing and more than 160,000 were adversely affected when Chan-Hom pummelled more than 30 northern provinces.
The agency said damage to agriculture and infrastructure was estimated at 781.7 million pesos ($A21.21 million) and could go up as rescuers reached areas isolated by the typhoon.
The NDCC added that power has been restored in most of the areas hit by the typhoon, although some rivers remained swollen and roads impassable.
The worst-hit provinces were Pangasinan and Ifugao, where most of the casualties were reported. At least 21 people were killed in Pangasinan, while 16 fatalities were reported in Ifugao.
Most of the fatalities drowned in swollen rivers or were buried in landslides.
Chan-Hom made landfall in the northern Philippines on May 7, toppling trees and electrical posts, damaging more than 20,000 houses and causing widespread floodings.
Chan-Hom struck just one week after typhoon Kujira slammed the eastern Philippines, killing 27 people and causing damages worth more than $US9 million ($A11.73 million).

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/05/11/Philippines_typhoon_toll_rises_to_43_331042.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Floods wreak havoc in West Virginia, USA

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/05/11/Floods_wreak_havoc_in_West_Virginia_330969.html
Monday, May 11, 2009 » 03:42pm
As fires rage in the US state of California, floods are causing damage in the eastern state of West Virginia.
Hundreds of residents have been unable to return to their homes, after flash floods destroyed 100 buildings and damaged 1,500.
A state of emergency has been declared by the state's governor.
The national guard has been called in to help emergency workers deliver food and water supplies to the area."

******************

There was a tornado in Kasan, Russia and here is the flooding that the city had few days ago…

flooding in Kasan, Russia


*****************************

flooded venice     venice under water

Venice flooded by highest water levels in 22 yrs

December 2, 2008 - 7:41AM
Source: ABC
http://www.bigpond.com/news/world/content/20081202/2434978.asp


Heavy rains and high winds left Venice almost completely flooded on Monday after surrounding sea levels rose to their highest in 22 years.
Ferry and water taxi services in the lagoon city were suspended and the mayor urged people to stay indoors. Tourists and residents waded across streets and popular sites like St Mark's Square in thigh-high water.
Chairs of outdoor cafes could be seen almost fully submerged, while some luxury stores were also flooded.
Officials said more than 99 per cent of the city was under water and that sea levels in the Adriatic rose 1.56 metres - a level not seen since 1986. It was the fourth-highest level recorded over the past century.
"These are exceptionally high waters," Venice's Mayor Massimo Cacciari was quoted as saying by the Ansa news agency. "Don't venture out unless it is necessary."
The city will not ask for a state of disaster to be declared since the flooding did not cause any deaths or trigger the collapse of buildings, Cacciari said.
But the official overseeing Venice's architectural heritage warned the city was reaching its limits and said the water was receding at a worryingly slow rate.
The entire city -- founded on a collection of marshy islands in the 5th century and criss-crossed by canals -- suffers from periodic flooding caused by high tides.
A massive high tide swamped the city in 1966, destroying the homes of 5,000 people.
Italy has begun a floodgate project aimed at stopping rising sea levels from destroying the city and the infrastructure minister on Monday promised 800 million euros will be allocated next year to the 4.13 billion euro project.
The project is expected to be completed by 2012 or 2013.
-Reuters


*************************

Heavy Rains in Central part of Azerbaijan Causes Floods

28 September 2009
http://today.az/news/society/55973.html

The minister said staff members of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were eliminating consequences of the natural disaster.
Mardanov said all education centers would be provided with necessary conditions not to interrupt the lessons.
“Pupils will move to other school temporarily and then damaged schools will be overhauled," the minister said.
Heavy rains, which began last night in the Barda region, have caused significant damage.
Growth in the water level of the Tartar River has caused a flood. Some houses near the river, where IDPs lived, were destroyed.
Railways and motor road bridges are in poor condition.
The Barda Region Emergency Situations Commission involved a large number of vehicles to the territory to eliminate consequences of natural disasters.
Over the past 30 years, such increase was not observed in the Tartar River, said Yashar Zamanov, the head of the Barda Region Construction and Architecture Department.
As Armenians in the occupied territories opened up barriers of the Sarsang reservoir, the situation became even more dangerous.
Recent floods have damaged several schools in Masalli and Lankaran regions of Azerbaijan, Minister of Education Misir Mardanov told reporters.
Azerbaijan will pay compensation to local people in Hajigabul region for the damage caused by mudslides and floods after a heavy rainfall.
Chingiz Farajov, Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, said floods killed 30 head of cows,300 head of sheep and 9, 000 head of domestic poultry.
He said compensations will be paid after the damage is calculated by Emergency Situations Committee and a report is sent to the government.
On Sept. 21 heavy rainfall caused flooding of hundreds of houses and roads in central parts of Azerbaijan.
The Hajigabul region is most affected and some 70 percent of the territory was flooded. Latest information suggests that more than 5,000 people have been affected, and more than 2,300 houses have been damaged or destroyed."


Tuesday, September 29, 2009 » 03:05pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/09/29/Maldives_to_meet_underwater_377577.html

Maldives comprises 1,192 coral islets that lie on average just 1.5 metres above sea level. A warmer sea will translate into higher water levels, through thermal expansion of the ocean and storm surges. It will also damage coral, on which the islands depend for fishing and tourism. The danger is so acute that the Maldives has even been thinking aloud about buying a 'homeland' in Australia or in neighbouring India or Sri Lanka for its 330,000 people

Get tough on refugees, says Joyce

The Global governments have no idea that boat people are the people coming from Parallel Earths, same as homeless people, and nobody can stop it, only natural/unnatural disasters, which we have plenty of. In Russia they are called
'bumzhi'. What we need to do is to understand the problem and to try to help. The movement of people is constant: they either gone missing or they would turn up like these ones. It is an exchange of energies and it needs to be done
Today, 2nd of October 2009, I've been watching on Russian News a story that happened a few days ago about a not young pilot, dressed in civi clothes, got out of the forest near the village "Romanovka" and went to the police station to report, that he doesn't know what happened to him. He had just a few memories of been in a few Russian cities and nothing else. He had a small siutcase with him with tidy clothes and a few pictures of him as a pilot with other men and women. He looked and talked normal, but nevertheless was taken to a psychiatric institution for life, because he doesn't have any other memories. The calls have been made to the places were he was working as a pilot, but noone remembered him, inspite of an excellent knowledge of planes/helicopters and how to pilot them;
 ntv.ru/lost   the organizers of the programm, made an announcement for the whole country of Russia about the search of people knowing this guy. And maybe there will be someone in that country who knows that wonderful guy!
This is an excellent example of people getting to us from Parallel Earths and what we do? Transfering them to jails
and psychiatric institutions in Paranormal places, where they are disappearing elsewhere, instead of embracing them and  give them the opportunity to stay with us!


Tuesday, September 29, 2009 » 06:46am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/09/29/Get_tough_on_refugees_says_Joyce_377337.html

Outspoken Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce has reopened the asylum-seeker debate, claiming a large proportion of the boat people now on Christmas Island appear to be economic migrants rather than refugees facing persecution.
In a provocative interview with The Age newspaper while on a parliamentary visit to the island, Senator Joyce said he was concerned that all the people he had seen 'seem very happy here, which is a concern'.
He said the line that differentiated refugees from economic migrants had been blurred.
'Unfortunately the government needs to toughen policy,' Senator Joyce told The Age.
His comments came after two more boats were intercepted at the weekend, bringing the arrivals this year to 128 boats and nearly 1500 people.
Senator Joyce said the people he saw on Christmas Island were 'very health conscious - many have arrived with their multivitamin tablets.
'They don't fit the general picture of refugees under pressure. No doubt there is a proportion who are refugees by dispossession and persecution,' he said. 'But a majority appeared to be economic migrants.'
He said the economic migrants were 'very decent people' but the government had to clamp down because there are hundreds of millions of people who are potential economic migrants.
All boat arrivals are being taken to Christmas Island as part of the government's policy of retaining mandatory detention and offshore processing.
Senator Joyce's comments came as figures showed Victoria has become home to more than a third of refugees processed on Christmas Island this year.
Of those granted permanent residence, 229 went to Victoria, 173 to South Australia, 131 to Queensland and 68 to NSW.

Floods wreak havoc across SE Qld (South-East Queensland, Australia)

November 20, 2008 - 9:46AM
Source: ABC
http://www.bigpond.com/news/national/content/20081120/2424600.asp

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has activated the State Disaster Management Group as the state's south-east faces its second major storm incident in a week. The weather bureau says the heaviest rain of up to 250 millimetres was at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and 150 millimetres in parts of Brisbane itself. In Brisbane and Ipswich, major highways and suburban roads are cut, with water on the Centenary Highway and the Warrego Highway in several places. Police are advising people not to drive anywhere unless it is essential. The torrential rain fell for seven hours from about 10pm AEST, causing major flooding at Ipswich where a number of homes have been inundated. Weather bureau senior forecaster Geoff Doueal says some of the heaviest falls have occurred over Brisbane's three major dams. Electricity supply is cut to more than 2,600 homes and businesses. Parts of Brisbane, the bay islands, the Fassifern and Lockyer valleys, Logan, Ispwich, Gympie and the Sunshine Coast hinterland are without power. A woman who was missing at Downey Park at Newmarket has been found. Ms Bligh says the State Emergency Service (SES) was activated at 2:30am AEST and received more than 1,200 calls for help. She says the damage is spread throughout the south-east. "The worst affected areas to date are in the Ipswich, Bundamba, Gatton, Lockyer area," she said. "We've also seen very heavy rainfall in Toowoomba and early reports of some damage at the Gold Coast. "We could expect to see, at worst, damage in the next few hours as some of the creeks maybe break their banks." She says people need to be aware that river levels are still rising and further flooding is possible. "But as people clock up the damage this morning I think we'll get a much clearer picture of how widespread this is," she said. "We will now be activating the State Disaster Management Group. "This is now spread across a number of local government areas in the south-east. "Our emergency resources will no doubt be stretched but we'll be getting out there to help people all day today." Ms Bligh says anyone who has experienced severe flooding or damage overnight and needs assistance should call the SES on 132 500. Emergency crews had to rescue a number of stranded drivers in Brisbane as the flood waters rose rapidly overnight. Ms Bligh says several major and suburban roads are cut as well. "We expect to see Oxley Creek flood mid-morning as a result of rain in the catchment overnight," she said.
"There is a lot of water damage out there, the Inner-City Bypass was closed overnight and is still closed. "The Centenary Highway has floodwater on it. "Anybody who doesn't need to be out and about in their car today should avoid being out, particularly in those western corridor and Ipswich areas."

Trains.

The Ipswich line is closed between Rosewood and Dinmore. There will be no trains in this section in the morning peak hour, and possibly the afternoon peak hour (to be advised). There is damage to signalling and track washed out in several places. There is also water over the line between Ipswich and Toowoomba. Translink says that rail buses (in place of trains) are operating this morning. Buses will operate between Ipswich and Rosewood. Buses will also operate between Ferny Grove Station and Keperra due to track damage. All buses services are expected to keep running, although routes will be affected by closed roads. Motorists are advised to not attempt to drive through flood waters as the depth may be deceptive and conditions may be dangerous. The Moggill ferry is also out of service. Phenomenal rain. Mr Doueal says there has been a phenomenal rain rate in some parts of the south-east.
"Gatton had 164 millimetres, then at Glenawe they got 171, the highest one is at Tallegalla that had 243 millimetres - just south of that Rosewood had 208 millimetres," he said. "The heavy rain really occurred in a period of about two to three hours." Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale says the township has been inundated. "It really dumped on us nearly up to 250 millimetres rain overnight - it really has affected the city," he said. "We've got crews out there and cars have been washed off the roads. "It's going to affect people coming to Brisbane - Bundamba Creek peaked and flooded in two areas at Bundamba there and we have had people evacuated from houses at Marburg, Rosewood and Minden. "The sort of water that came down overnight caught us all by surprise." The SES has been using boats to patrol the roads around Newmarket, in Brisbane's north-west. Peter Healy from the Western group says people need to stay away from the floodwaters. "For those people who want to go in and have a look - go on the website - that's the safest way to do it," he said. "Leave the roads open for the emergency services. "We're having a difficult enough time getting to these places, let alone having sightseers on the road. "The other message is when there's a lot of floodwater and flowing water around parks and drains, please stay out of brown running water, it's terribly dangerous stuff." Landslide threatment. Meanwhile, a landslide which threatened a dozen homes at the Gap on Brisbane's northside has held steady overnight. Soil and rocks slipped behind homes at Kimruska Place late yesterday and the Brisbane City Council, engineers and geologists worked to prevent further slippage. Police Inspector David Richards says last night's heavy rainfall made it too dangerous to continue sandbagging and emergency services had to pull back. "There was landslide incident at The Gap, but SES attended and covered the landslide with plastic and it has held firm overnight," he said. "There is no worries about that area - heavy rain did occur throughout the night and that led to localised flash flooding and a number of residents evacuated from a number of houses in the Ashgrove area and roads were closed too." Paddington street hit. Emergency crews are helping residents of an inner Brisbane Street which was ripped apart in last night's storm. The stunned residents of Beck Street emerged from their battered houses this morning to find scenes of widespread destruction. Nearly every house in the hilly Paddington street has been damaged. Iron that has peeled from rooftops hangs in trees, powerlines lay limp across the road and cars have been smashed by falling debris. Margot Wallace's family have lived in Beck street since the 1920s and for her it has been a double shock. "Mainly because we've come from The Gap that's just suffered exactly the same," she said. Another resident says he feared for his life and that the howling wind was 'like a bomb going off'. Emergency crews are helping with the clean-up.

November 18, 2008 - 11:33AM

Source: ABC

http://www.bigpond.com/news/breaking/content/20081118/2422317.asp

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described storm-ravaged Brisbane suburbs as a "war zone", pledging to divert more troops immediately if they are needed to help.
Mr Rudd joined Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman on a tour of the worst-affected areas this morning and announced further Centrelink payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child for houses where there has been "significant damage".
Joint Federal and State assistance had already been announced under the banner of the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements.
More than 4,000 homes were damaged, 300 of them seriously and at least 30 are beyond repair after savage storms lashed Brisbane on Sunday night.
The worst hit areas include The Gap, Kenmore, Arana Hills, Albany Creek and north-west of Brisbane, towards Samford and Dayboro, during storms that have been described by authorities as the worst in 25 years.
"It looks like a war zone, and it feels like a war zone, and what's good about it is the people pulling together and neighbours looking after each other," Mr Rudd told reporters this morning.
"If we need more troops to clean this mess up they will be provided immediately and we'll respond immediately to the requests of the Disaster Management Coordination Authorities."
Hundreds of SES volunteers are working to clear away the damage, and they are being assisted by 350 soldiers from the nearby Enoggera Barracks.
Residents in The Gap and surrounding areas are still being forced to drink boiled or bottled water because of contamination fears. The storm blew the roof of The Gap Reservoir into the water supply.
"This is just the beginning of what's going to be a long-term clean-up and I think the important thing for us all is to keep faith with the people who have been horribly affected by this, at a few minute's notice in many cases," Mr Rudd said.
"This is a real assault on the soul this storm and the families it's affected."
He says the Government and the community must work hard now and for the next few weeks to make sure families can enjoy a Christmas that is as close to normal as possible.
"Problems will arise in this, they always do in natural disasters when the aid hasn't gone through in the hour that it's promised," he said.
"Our job is to make sure that each of those problems is addressed."
He says the Housing and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin will go into more detail about the Centrelink assistance later in the day.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she understands many residents have been frustrated by the progress of assistance efforts.
"There's no doubt that all of our resources were overwhelmed when the damage from the storm was first realised but I think it's fair to say that many of our workers, the Energex workers, the SES, the council workers have really pulled together, all the levels of Government, local and state, the army, the Federal Government, they're all out there pulling together and that's what happens in circumstances like this," she said.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said under the circumstances the relief work had been amazing.
"Could we have done better? Well maybe if we all had cell phone implants in our ears, or something like that and we could have got the message out then maybe," he said.
"But I'd say there's been a superhuman effort."

*********************************
Power Blackouts and Water Crises Worldwide


Blackouts hit Adelaide after heavy rain (South Australia)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/04/06/Blackouts_hit_Adelaide_after_heavy_rain_448472.html

Flash flooding and power blackouts have hit Adelaide and its surrounds after heavy rains.
The State Emergency Service (SES) was summoned to more than 200 jobs early on Tuesday as the city recorded its biggest downpour of this year.
The Adelaide Hills and the city's western suburbs were hardest hit, with most calls for assistance relating to roofs, drains and gutters, a SES spokesman said.
Some 73mm of rain had fallen as of 9am (CST) on Tuesday at Crafers in the Adelaide Hills, with 43mm recorded at Adelaide Airport in the western suburbs and 33mm at Kent Town on the city fringe, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
More than 7,500 properties in Adelaide's north have been without electricity as a result of a thunderstorm which swept across the city early on Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010 » 10:50pm

3000 left without power in QLD, Australia
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/01/03/3000_left_without_power_in_QLD_413417.html

Some 1,600 lightning strikes have been recorded as storms rolled across a wide area of southeast Queensland on Sunday.
An Energex spokeswoman said more than 3000 customers were left without electricity, but work crews were working to restore power.
'We have had a couple of explosions reported, which usually means lightning has struck somewhere,' the spokeswoman told AAP.
'There were also 1,600 lightning strikes.
'A mixture of lightning strikes and power lines being brought down is the reason for the loss of power.'
A spokeswoman for the Department of Community Safety said they have had relatively few calls, mostly for water penetration.
'We've had 18 calls and they are mainly for leaking,' she told AAP.
'They have been spread throughout the area so it's not like one area was seriously affected.'
Sunday, January 03, 2010 » 04:12pm


 27,000 without Power in South East Queensland Storm, Australia
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/12/22/27000_without_power_in_SE_qld_storm_409613.html

 A severe storm has ripped through southern Queensland, cutting electricity to more than 27,000 homes and dropping the temperature by 14 degrees Celsius.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the storm passed through St George and surrounding areas just before 1pm (AEST) on Monday, with gusts up to 132km/h lashing the towns and 54 millimetres of rain falling in three hours.
Trees were uprooted and homes and powerlines were damaged.
The temperature also dropped significantly during the storm, from 33 to 19 degrees Celsius.
Brisbane was affected by the storm about 4.30pm (AEST) and power was cut to more than 22,000 homes in the state's southeast.
An Energex spokesman said more than 24,700 homes had their power supply affected by the damaging winds and more than 700 lightning strikes.
Meanwhile, Ergon Energy said it was working to restore power to 2,500 homes in St George, Dirranbandi, Thallon and Bollon.
Severe thunderstorm warnings are current for Brisbane's surrounds stretching to Gympie, as well as the Gold Coast and Ipswich.
Destructive winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones are also forecast for the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Maranoa and Warrego and Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 » 07:17pm


Massive Brazil Blackout Hits Millions, 2009

Brasil, Rio-De-Janeiro, Copacabana, Blackout 2009

Brasil, Rio-De-Janeiro (50 mil. people) Blackout, 2009

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 » 04:10pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2009/11/11/Massive_Brazil_blackout_hits_millions_392801.html

A massive blackout across the southern half of Brazil on Tuesday night plunged tens of millions of people into darkness and prompted a major police mobilisation amid fears of an opportunistic crime wave.
The country's largest cities, including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro among others, were left with no illumination or traffic lights due to the outage, which the energy ministry said was caused by an undetermined problem at the country's biggest hydroelectric plant, Itaipu, on the border with Paraguay.
One radio station, Bandnews, said an estimated 50 million people - one quarter of Brazil's population - were affected.
The blackout hit at 10:15pm (1115 AEDT Wednesday).
The southern states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul and parts of the central state of Goias and the federal district of Brasilia were plunged into night.
Police in Sao Paulo and Rio called on the cities' residents to not go out into the darkened streets to avoid the risk of accidents and an upsurge in already prolific street crime.
Off-duty and vacationing officers were told to report to their posts.
In Sao Paulo and its suburbs, an agglomeration of 20 million inhabitants, streets were illuminated only by the lights of cars and from a few buildings -- including hospitals -- that had their own generators.
Traffic lights were extinguished, causing most motorists to nose carefully through intersections.
Taxis, normally numerous, were hard to flag down by stranded residents walking the suddenly darkened streets. Some of the drivers said they were wary of armed robbers taking advantage of the emergency.
Along Sao Paulo's main Avenue Paulista police and traffic wardens were deployed to ensure security and manage cars.
The Brazilian news website Abril said the new blackout occurred because 17,000 megawatts -- the amount required to power the city of Sao Paulo -- suddenly dropped out of the national electricity grid, according to the National Electric System Operator.
Energy Minister Edson Lobo confirmed that the problem originated with the Itaipu plant, whose output is shared with Paraguay.
There was a 'complete paralysis' of that facility, the exact cause of which was still unknown.
Lobo said 'atmospheric problems' could be to blame, perhaps a high-altitude storm with lightning that hit one of the plant's five high-tension lines.
The hydroelectric plant had been restarted, the minister said.
The head of Itaipu, Jorge Sanek, told Globo news that there was 'no generation problem, the problem was with the transmission' of electricity.
The blackout occurred two days after US network CBS aired a report claiming massive power outages in Brazil in 2005 and 2007 were caused by cyber hackers attacking control systems.
Although Brazilian media were sceptical of that assessment, the US channel said those incidents should serve as a wake-up call to the United States, which a former Chief of US National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, warned could be about to take place.
RIO DE JANEIRO — A massive power failure blacked out Brazil's two largest cities and other parts of Latin America's biggest nation for more than two hours late Tuesday, leaving millions of people in the dark after a huge hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline. All of neighboring Paraguay also lost power, but for only about 20 minutes. The huge Itaipu dam straddling the two nations' border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least several other big Brazilian cities, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said. He said outages hit nine of the 27 states in a country of more than 190 million people. The company in charge of the dam, Itaipu Binacional, said the blackout did not start at the hyrdoelectric complex. It said the most likely cause was a failure at one or more points in the transmission system..."

Massive Blackout Hits Brazil's 2 Largest Cities

Brasil, Rio-De-Janeiro, Copacabana, Blackout 2009   Brasil, Rio-De-Janeiro, Copacabana, Blackout 2009
Brasil, Rio-De-Janeiro, Copacabana, Blackout 2009


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573827,00.html

RIO DE JANEIRO  —  A massive power failure blacked out Brazil's two largest cities and other parts of Latin America's biggest nation for more than two hours late Tuesday, Nov 10, leaving millions of people in the dark after a huge hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline. Paraguay was also affected when the Itaipu dam straddling the two nations' border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least several other big Brazilian cities, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said.
The cause of the failure had not been determined, but Lobao said strong storms uprooted trees near the Itaipu dam just before it went offline and could be to blame. Rio was the hardest hit city, he said. At 12:37 a.m. Wednesday, the lights in Rio's Copacabana neighborhood roared back to life, prompting cheers and thunderous car honking. "It's sad to see such a beautiful city with such a precarious infrastructure," said Igor Fernandes, a shirtless 22-year-old law student peddling his bike down a dark Copacabana beach. "This shouldn't happen in a city that is going to host the Olympic Games." Lobao said the hydro plant at the dam itself was working, but there were problems with the power lines that carry electricity across Brazil. Brazil uses almost all of the energy produced by the dam, and Paraguay consumes the rest.The blackouts came three days after CBS's "60 Minutes" news program reported that several past Brazilian power outages were caused by hackers. Brazilian officials had played down the report before the latest outages, and Lobao did not mention it. Brazil's official Agencia Brasil news agency said Tuesday's outage started about 10:20 p.m. (1220 GMT), snarling streets in Rio, where traffic that is normally chaotic turned riotous. Cars, taxis and buses zoomed through dark intersections, honking to let their presence known as they zoomed through. Pedestrians scampered across avenues, and tourists scurried back to a handful of luxury beach hotels, the only buildings with light. Flavia Alvin, 37, a shopkeeper in Copacabana, waited with her co-workrs for the blackout to end before making the long bus ride home to western Rio. Asked if she was worried about violence or looting, she shook her head and pulled her young daughter closer. "I've heard of problems like rioting in other places with blackouts, but Brazilians are more relaxed," she said. "All I can do is wait here and drink a beer." That was what a crowd was doing at the Eclipse restaurant, a block from Copacabana beach. Drinking quickly warming beer beat sitting in a sweltering apartment, said Paulo Viera, 35, a graphic designer. But he worried about how the outage might look for a city that last month was picked to host the 2016 Olympics and will be the showcase city for soccer's World Cup in 2012. "The image of Brazil, of Rio, is bad enough with all the violence," he said. "We don't need this to happen. I don't know how it could get worse." Subway service was knocked out in both Rio and Sao Paulo, and G1 said Sao Paulo subway users were forced to abandon train cars. In the city of Taguatinga near the national capital of Brasilia, a second division Brazilian league soccer game was halted after lights illuminating the field went dark. No power outages happened in Brasilia. Utility companies that provide electricity for Rio and Sao Paulo did not immediately offer explanations for why the power went off or when it would be restored, Agencia Brasil said. Sao Paulo is South America's largest city, with 12 million residents. Rio has 6 million citizens. But the metropolitan area of both cities are much larger. Also affected was Belo Horizonte in central Brazil and the northeastern city of Recife. The Itaipu dam is the world's second biggest hydroelectric producer, supplying 20 percent of Brazil's electricity. China's Three Gorges dam is the largest."

Brasilia/Paraquay's Itaipu Dam

Cyber hackers cause Brazil blackout

Sunday, November 08, 2009
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Technology/2009/11/08/Cyber_hackers_cause_Brazil_blackout_391518.html

Massive power outages in Brazil in 2005 and 2007 that impacted millions were caused by cyber hackers attacking control systems, the US network CBS says.
The CBS news program 60 Minutes to be aired on Sunday said it had learned that the 2007 blackout in Espirito Santo State, which affected over three million people, and a smaller incident in Rio de Janeiro in 2005, were perpetrated by hackers.
The program included the revelations as part of an investigation into the threat of cyber attacks on the United States.
Former Chief of US National Intelligence Mike McConnell told the 60 Minutes that he thought a similar attack is poised to take place on US soil.
If cyber hackers were able to infiltrate the US power grid, he said, 'the United States is not prepared for such an attack.'
Earlier this year the White House, State Department and Pentagon websites were among US government entities targeted in cyber attacks, amid suspicion that North Korea or its supporters are to blame.
In May South Korea and the United States agreed to cooperate in fighting cyber attacks against their defence networks.
Jim Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, emphasised to 60 Minutes that US cyber security has come under significant attack from foreign nations in the past few years, including a breach of the CENTCOM Network, the US command post heading the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
'We know it was a foreign country. We don't know which one - this was a very sophisticated set of skills,' Lewis told CBS

77 killed by Burst Dam (Implosion) in Indonesia

Saturday, March 28, 2009 » 05:30pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/03/28/Dam_bursts_near_Jakarta_dozens_drown_316376.html

Soldiers and police have been digging through piles of mud and debris in search of survivors after a dam burst outside Indonesia's capital, demolishing hundreds of houses and killing at least 77 people.
More than 100 others were missing and feared dead.
Days of torrential downpours filled a large lake bordering the low-lying residential area of Cirendeu to flood level.
A huge section of the Dutch colonial-era dike tore away before dawn on Friday, sending more than two million cubic metres of water gushing through the gaping hole.
Some residents said it felt like they'd been hit by a tsunami.
They accused authorities on Saturday of ignoring warning signs and failing to repair damage to the dam, claiming it had been weakened in several places over the years because of prior flooding caused by blocked spillways.
National Disaster Coordinating Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said at least 77 were killed and that more than 100 others were missing.
'We've evacuated almost all of the survivors from their houses,'he said.
'Now we're focusing on digging through the mud and debris in search of bodies. We fear most of the 102 reported missing have been killed.'
Hundreds of people gathered at the nearby Muhammadiyah University, pressed into service as an emergency centre and makeshift morgue.
Mothers wailed as they were asked to identify their dead children, and medical workers treated the injured for cuts and bruises.
Nearby hospitals filled up with the more seriously wounded.
The images of destruction rekindled memories of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people, half of them in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, where western coastlines were transformed into a barren moonscape.
The Ministry of Public Works said an investigation would be carried out.
Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in heavy-populated Indonesia."


 Bushfires

DEVASTATING FIRES IN RUSSIA- August 2010

Fires in Russia

Huge areas of Russian forests have been hit by prolonged viciously devastating fires. For weeks Moscow has been engulfed in extreme levels of smoke and resulting smog that has been causing unbearable conditions for people. What has been especially difficult is that these fires were not just on the surface but went some depth into the ground. It has been reported  that it required a ton of water per square metre of ground to extinguish! There is even a risk that fires in the Bryansk region, which already has nuclear contamination from the Chernobyl disaster, could release harmful radioactivity into the atmosphere."

"HEAT  WAVE" or ADS? My personal Experience!

From reading about  microwave" Active Denial System " ( ADS) is not difficult to make a connection to forests/city fires in modern/ancient times and all kinds of fires at all wars and at the time of "Peace", since Atlantis. This technology has been also used from the underground and from planes/drones a lot. Fires are engulfing the whole world.
More than 400 "bush" fires were reported by the weather people in Siberia and Far East last April in 2008 alone (with + 27C), which is hard to reach without the use of ADS in cold places like Siberia in spring.
Australia is famous for "bush fires/heat waves" and "flooding/strong winds" and that's about all natural/technology made disasters you'll find in  Australia.
It seems like a favorite destination of you know who, especially Pine Gap. And now is the same in Florida, China, California, Greece. Almost every "natural disaster" is accompanied by "fire", sometimes " bush" fires in  the snow.
Human spontaneous combustion could happen when a person is sitting in a chair and leave nothing else burned except the living body. What do you think is used?
Microwave ovens have been used to cook the insides of a chicken faster than a conventional oven
for years and made many people to tolerate Microwaves better. Active Denial System tends to be used more in  summer (no surprise), which is what Southern Hemishpere experiencing then. Maybe "Global warming" is an excuse for ADS (microwave) attacks?
When I lived in Bendigo, State of Victoria, I personally found that  the best way to get through ADS attacks ("heat wave") is to wrap a wet cotton sheet around the body inc. head or to wear wet clothes even in bed/couch overnight (preferably without use of telephone/computer/tv at the time of the attack). I used icy water from the fridge for the sheets/clothes and showers and survived at +45C for a couple of weeks without airconditioner. I didn't have any place to swim there: Bendigo was far away from ocean!
Here are some extracts from websites on Mind Blasting Active Denial System:

"... Often " Active  Denial  System" is used on large masses of people (whole cities or Targeted Persons)
...driving  millions of people crazy";

"the  imbalance  occurs, a  fundamental change in a person's psyche, he loses self-control and becomes easily led.. either  from Earth or from a command centre lost in space .
"What it does: " ...It produces enourmous pain by  allegedly boiling the  molecules of  water in the human skin  from  sudden heating  of  the  skin without damaging the skin itself. "A shortage of  breath and  panic could occur!

about ADS "...directed-energy weapon ...directs ,or pulses ...at frequency of 95 GHz ."

from: http:// www.specialsol.com/electr5.GIF

Some articles and pictures from internet below describe the extent of these devastating fires:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/06/russia-fires-moscow

Smoke from Russian fires blankets Moscow
Russian wildfires continue


Wild fires around Moscow

Moscow Red Square Smog and smoke

As the death toll hits 50, the worst wildfires in Russia in 40 years show no signs of being contained
Landmarks reduced to outlines in thick pollution and visibility down to 50 metres in some areas
Tom Parfitt in Moscow Friday 6 August 2010 15.36 BST
A thick acrid smog enveloped Moscow today as scores of fires blazed and peat bogs smouldered outside the city.
Emergency officials said they were beginning to tame the fires which have spread across western and central Russia, but the capital woke to its worst bout of pollution yet after smog that dispersed yesterday returned with a vengeance.
Famous landmarks like the Ostankino television tower and St Basil's cathedral were reduced to outlines and the sun was a pale yellow orb. Visibility was down to 50 metres in some areas as coils of pungent smoke threaded into apartment buildings, offices and metro stations. Dozens of flights were cancelled at Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports in the south of the city.
Doctors advised Muscovites to stay home as the Department of Nature Protection and Environmental Management warned that carbon monoxide in the air was at five times acceptable levels.
Many of those who did venture out wore masks or clutched handkerchiefs to their faces. "It's unbearable, God knows what it's doing to our health," said Yulia Novikova, 25, who was hurrying home with groceries in Frunzenskaya district near the Moscow river. "I was just reading about the Great Smog of London in 1952. This looks a lot worse."
Vladimir Stepanov of the National Crisis Management Centre said fires were abating in the Urals and in the Volga region, but the situation remained tense around Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. "Firefighters and rescuers did not let the fires approach populated areas," he said. "Not a single person has died over the past 24 hours."
The wildfires have so far claimed 50 lives and left more than 3,000 people homeless, prompting criticism of the official response to the crisis.
Earlier this week the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, promised he would personally monitor the reconstruction of destroyed homes via video images beamed to his home. State television showed the cameras being installed at building sites today.
Government officials said they could not have anticipated the heatwave that provoked the fires, the hottest in 140 years. The temperature in Moscow was above 36C all week. But critics have blamed complacent officials for ignoring warnings of blazes near villages.
United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party which dominates parliament, has boasted of sending volunteers to help extinguish the fires. But that claim was thrown into doubt yesterday when the party was accused of doctoring a photograph placed on its website.
A sharp-eyed blogger noticed that the picture showing volunteers apparently wrestling with a piece of timber in a smoky wood had been created in 2008 and altered in Photoshop last Saturday. The smoke, he claimed, had been added for effect.
United Russia immediately removed the picture but did not respond to requests for comment."

Fires in Russia

Fires in Russia

Fires in Moscow, 2010

Fires in Moscow region, 2010!

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6741EQ._CH_.2400

Russia fires pose nuclear threat, death toll hits 50

Thu Aug 5, 2010 12:59pm EDT
 Death toll rises to 50 from forest fires
Emergencies Ministry warns of nuclear threat
By Amie Ferris-Rotman

MOSCOW, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Russian government warned on Thursday that the country's deadliest wildfires in nearly four decades posed a nuclear threat if they are not contained, as the death toll rose to 50 and the blazes continued to spread.
The worst heatwave in more than a century is set to intensify on Friday, with record temperatures of 40 celsius (104 fahrenheit) expected and to continue into the next week, weather forecasters said.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced a ban on exports of grain and grain products from Aug. 15 until December, and his spokesman said it would apply also to contracts already signed.
Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said heat from fires in the Bryansk region, which already has nuclear contamination from the Chernobyl disaster more than 20 years ago, could release harmful radioactive particles into the atmosphere.
"In the event of a fire there, radionuclides could rise (into the air) together with combustion particles, resulting in a new pollution zone," he said on state television, without going into detail.
Shoigu added two fires had already broken out in the Bryansk region, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Moscow, but they were quickly contained.
Forest and peat bog fires have burned hundreds of homes, leaving thousands homeless in the hottest summer since records began 130 years ago, prompting leaders to declare a state of emergency in seven of the worst-hit regions.
The territory covered by wild fires increased to 756 sq miles on Thursday from 730 sq miles a day ago, according to the Emergencies Ministry website.
Health Minister Tatyana Golikova told a government meeting that 44 people across the country had died in the fires themselves, while six had died in hospitals, taking the death toll to 50, two more than the day before.
Temperatures in Moscow topped 36C but a change of wind direction provided some respite in the capital by blowing away oppressive and toxic smoke that had blanketed the city.
Health officials said on Thursday that Moscow's air had become relatively clean again, Interfax reported.
The temperature may beat last week's 38C absolute record on Friday, topping 40C, and remain at 35-38C throughout next week, the deputy director of Rosgidromet meteorological service, Gennady Eliseev, told Itar-Tass news agency.
The extreme heat may only abate after Aug. 23, he said.
The military prosecutor for the Moscow region gave orders to protect military sites in the Moscow region after there were widespread reports that a communications centre belonging to the country's General Staff was burned down in the Moscow region.
The Ministry of Defence denied the reports. However, it also denied last week that fire had ravaged a naval base. President Dmitry Medvedev sacked several senior navy officers on Wednesday after it was revealed that the blaze had indeed occurred."

Smog in Moscow due to fires

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/08/russian-fires-approach-nuclear-plants/

Russian Fires Approach Nuclear Plants

By Duncan Geere, Wired.co.uk
August 10, 2010
Russia is, at the time of writing, being consumed by wildfires caused by the worst heat wave the country has endured in a millennia. A state of emergency has been declared in 35 regions of the country — seven for the fires themselves, and another 28 for crop failures caused by the drought and heat wave.
UK media has largely ignored the disaster, but the web is alive with eye-witness accounts, photographs, videos and maps of how the flames are spreading. Most of the information is coming through blogging siteLive Journal, which has a large Russian population.
Following the July heat wave in the country, peat fires — which can smoulder for years underground — ignited forest fires in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, the Voronezh Oblast, and across central and western Russia. A few days later, an area of 500,000 hectares was ablaze, with Moscow shrouded in a dense, thick smoke.
Since then, the area of the fires has been brought under control, with now only about 200,000 hectares ablaze, but there are much bigger problems looming. The fires have approached the Red Forest, an area that suffered the worst of Chernobyl’s fallout in 1986, with the soil still heavily contaminated by cesium-137 and strontium-90.
Similarly, the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in Chelyabinsk Oblast is also threatened by the flames, as is a nuclear research center in Sarov, which was formerly known as the secret town Arzamas-16. If any of the structures succumb, then radionuclides could be spread widely afield, generating new zones of radioactive pollution and displacing the population of those areas.
Severe health risk
The effects of the smoke on public health could also be severe. In central Moscow, pollutants have reached 6.6 times the normal level for carbon monoxide, and 2.8 times that of suspended particulate matter. Deaths in the city have doubled, hitting about 700 people per day, and at least 53 people (and possibly hundreds) have been killed directly by the fires in other parts of the country.
To see the current status of the fires, you can view a Google Earth layer (which obviously requires Google Earth to be installed) or there’s also a web version, but that’s in Russian. On LiveJournal, user i-cherski has been blogging extensively about the disaster, and there are a few impressive photos of the damage on Boston.com's Big Picture. One YouTube user videoed himself driving through the inferno, which makes for some grim viewing.
However, there could be a silver lining to the disaster. In an abrupt U-turn on previous policies, Russian officials have begun linking the heat wave with climate change. President Dmitry Medvedev said in a speech published on the Kremlin's website: “Unfortunately, what is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past. This means that we need to change the way we work, change the methods that we used in the past.”
That contrasts dramatically with the president’s previous rhetoric on the matter, which included a statement that “we will not let anyone cut our development potential,” vowing not to cut carbon emissions. If this U-turn is permanent, and not just an attempt to keep the blame for the disaster away from the government’s peat bog-draining policies and cuts in rural fire services, then perhaps global climate change legislation may finally be able to make some progress.

Sinkhole

Sinkhole on the shore!

Sinkhole on the shore!

Fire whirls are causing bushfires to spread with enormous speed. People don't cause bushfires by lighting a cigarette, but Blue Jets and Sprites do! There is also a lot of Exposure of microwave weapon from the Moon!

fire-whirls
Fire-Whirls, Fire Tornadoes and Lightning Rods are the actions of Blue Jets and Sprites !

Sprite and Jet
Red Sprite and Blue Jet


Double Rainbow
Double Rainbow, Tornadoes and Fire Whirls are caused by Red Sprites and Blue Jets!

"A fire whirl, also known as fire devil or fire tornado, is a rare phenomenon in which a fire, under certain conditions --depending on air temperature and currents--, acquires a vertical vorticity and forms a whirl, or a tornado-like effect of a vertically oriented rotating column of air. Fire whirls often occur during bush fires. Vertical rotating columns of fire form when the air currents and temperature are just right, creating a tornado-like effect. They can be as high as 30 to 200 ft tall and up to 10 ft wide but only last a few minutes, although some can last for longer if the winds are strong (on Youtube)."

There is no need to fear of what is happening these days. At the time of natural/unnatural disasters or wars big portions of people are moved from one Parallel Earth to another Parallel Earth or from the Original Earth to one of the Parallel Earths or the opposite may occur: the move of the masses of people/animals/plants from the Parallel Earth to the Original one.
Some people/Et's are moved to another Physical Universe, another Earth like planet to start a new Planetary Game there. Some people had enough of 3 D experience and moving out of physicality for good - Graduating. Why does it happen?

There is a need to mix different energies, different frequencies of one Earth with another one for the future merging of all the Earths, for the participating in the Shift and for the Graduation of Earth's Planetary Spirit/Earth's population from the physicality. There are those, who are graduating at the time of the disasters.  

Earth Changes Media Newsletter

With Mitch Battros
...but at this time, I believe it is better to be "aware and prepared". In fact, there are studies which state clearly, it is the action of being "aware and prepared" which will minimize the affects of shock, denial and bewilderment... It is my belief we will need to practice our innate skills and powers of adaptability. It is for this reason,  I have foretold of not placing the importance of "where" you live, but "who" you live with. As my FEMA instructor taught us on my third day of training: "You need to let people know it will not be the police who come to their aid. It will not be the fire department who will come to their rescue. It will not be the Red Cross and it won't be us (fema) who can save them. ---- IT WILL BE THEIR NEIGHBOR.
August 24, 2009
http://www.earthchangesmedia.com

It makes me wonder: "How do they know about  fires or other 'disasters' or just weather in advance, unless they manipulate weather? More about modification of weather in Nov 2009 article about "Artificial Snow" in Beijing, China.

Fire on Philippines, Jan. 2010

Fire in Philippine'sShanty Town!

Fire in Philippine's Shanty Town!

Fire of flats in London
Fire of flats in London

30 evacuated from shopping centre blaze (Implosion in Australia, LM)
 
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/04/25/30_evacuated_from_shopping_centre_blaze_454802.html

About 30 people were evacuated from a shopping centre in Victoria's east after a fire broke out at a Kmart store on Saturday.
A fire alarm alerted firefighters to the blaze at Traralgon Centre Plaza in Gippsland at 8.05pm (AEST), a Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokesman said.
Shortly after the alarm sounded, emergency services received a call from someone at the centre.
'Somebody rang up to say that they heard a loud bang then all the power went out,' CFA communications controller George Ellis told AAP.
About 30 people were evacuated from a Coles supermarket, which was open at the time.
Regional duty officer Len Scheetz said the blaze was confined to a storage area at the rear of the Kmart building but the smoke had clogged the entire shopping centre.
'The vast majority of it is smoke logged,' he told AAP.
'It's not a very big fire but it's done significant damage to electrical switchboards and the like,' he said.
A large amount of stock belonging to Kmart was also damaged, Mr Scheetz said.
Ten fire trucks from surrounding areas were called in to battle the blaze, which was brought under control at 10.30pm.
Fire investigators would try to determine the cause of the blaze.
Sunday, April 25, 2010 » 06:44am

Fires in Western Australia
Fires in Western Australia

fires in Australia 2010
Fires in Australia 2010

fires in Australia 2010
Fires in Australia 2010
 

Saturday, December 05, 2009 » 12:26pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Rural/2009/12/05/Fire_eases_outside_Bathurst_402238.html


Residents flee as fire engulfs flats in London, UK

Fire in London, Perkham 2009  
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2009/11/27/Residents_flee_as_fire_engulfs_flats_399070.html

More than 300 people have fled their homes after a huge blaze at a building site spread to two blocks of flats in south east London.
More than 125 firefighters battled the inferno in Peckham, which was first reported at about 4.30am.
Eyewitness Beatrice Ghartey told Sky News: 'Cars were blowing up. It was just really scary.
'The blaze was moving towards us. I called the fire brigade and I could not even talk. I was literally screaming, 'Fire.'
Pictures of the blaze showed flames bursting from the top floors of a four-storey building.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the building site in Sumner Road first caught light, with gas cylinders possibly involved.
The blaze then spread to two nearby blocks of flats called Carisbrooke Gardens and Oak Court - both suffered major damage.
Brigade assistant commissioner Steve Turek said: 'The ferocity of the fire was a challenge when we first arrived because all the buildings were simultaneously burning.'
Despite the early morning panic, there were only 10 reported casualties. The victims, who included two police offices, suffered minor injuries like smoke inhalation.
A total of 310 people were evacuated. Many, including mothers with babies, had sheltered in the street as fire crews battled the flames.
The Southwark Council was arranging emergency accommodation for those who are unable to return to their homes.
MP Harriet Harman said the local community was in a 'state of shock' but praised the courage of the emergency services.
She said: 'They have been incredibly brave to go into these buildings, you can see they are incredibly unsafe and it is still so hot.
'The heat of the blaze must have been unimaginable. It's really a miracle that nobody lost their life.'
The blaze comes nearly five months after six people died when a fire ripped through a block of flats in nearby Camberwell.
The tragedy at Lakanal House on July 3 led to concerns about the design of the building.
Friday, November 27, 2009 » 01:54pm


Fire in Oil Rig, Australia, Nov 2009
Fire in Oil Rig, Australia, Nov 2009


Crews work to contain fires across NSW, Australia

fires in Australia

Saturday, November 21, 2009 » 11:28am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/21/Crews_work_to_contain_fires_across_NSW_396654.html

Fire crews are working to contain a number of fires on a day of total fire bans across most of New South Wales.
Record-breaking hot temperatures .. storms and wild winds have sparked and fuelled more than 60 bushfires, mostly in remote and inaccessible terrain in the Blue Mountains, the Hawksbury region and the state's northeast.
A number of fires are burning in remote and rugged terrain in the Blue Mountains and the Lithgow area where crews will be deployed to a blaze north of Hazelbrook .. if conditions allow .. supported by water bombing aircraft.
The Blue Mountains National Park has been closed until further notice.
In the state's north firefighters are trying to contain a fire that's burnt about three thousand hectares of scrub and grass about 10 kilometres south of Inverell.
And a fire's burnt about 450 hectares of bush around Bingara Road about 40 kilometres northeast of Narrabri.
Near the Queensland border firefighters are working to contain two fires at Silent Grove and Flagstone Creek in the Torrington area
Firefighters continue to battle up to 100 fires burning across NSW as a large swath of the state wakes to a day of total fire bans.
Record-breaking hot temperatures, storms and wild winds on Friday sparked and fuelled a series of bushfires, mostly in remote and inaccessible terrain in the Blue Mountains, the Hawksbury region, and the state's northeast.
The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) says more extreme heat is on the way, propelling the 'difficult and challenging' conditions for firefighters on Saturday.
The blazes of most concern are within the Hawksbury region, near Mt Irvine, Bilpin, St Albans, Bowen Hill and Mountain Lagoon, the RFS says.
The fires were moving slowly late on Friday as crews worked with heavy machinery to establish containment lines.
No homes are under threat at present, but residents of Bilpin and Mountain Lagoon are advised to activate their bushfire survival plan.
Community meetings will be held at Bilpin Public School on Bells Line of Road and the Mountain Lagoon Rural Fire Brigade station at 10am (AEDT) on Saturday.
St Albans residents are urged to monitor the RFS website for updates on the Webbs Creek fire, burning about 11km to the west of the town.
A number of fires are also alight in remote and rugged terrain within the Blue Mountains and Lithgow areas, including one about 1km northeast of Bell, and another 4km west of Mount Wilson.
Firefighters worked overnight to construct containment lines which will be strengthened with the use of heavy machinery and aircraft on Saturday.
A community information point will be established at the Mt Wilson Rural Fire Brigade station, where residents can receive updates and advice on Saturday.
The extreme conditions forced the closure of the Blue Mountains National Park, which will remain shut until further notice.
Further north, near the Qld border, two fires are burning at Silent Grove and Flagstone Creek in the Torrington area.
No properties are under threat from these fires, which have razed about 350 hectares of bushland.
Crews are also working to contain a fire at Bingara Road, about 40km north east of Narrabri, and another scrub and grass blaze 10km south of Inverell.
A total fire ban has been issued for Saturday in the Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney, central ranges, northern slopes, north western, upper central west, lower central west, far western and central ranges regions.
'Basically it's very hot and very dry ... it will be a trying day,' RFS spokesman Mark Sullivan said.
'It doesn't look like there will be any reprieve for the Sydney basin until Sunday.'
Temperatures in the Hawksbury region are expected to top 37 degrees on Saturday, with the mid-30s forecast for the Blue Mountains area.
Extreme conditions of about 38 degrees are expected for Inverell, Mr Sullivan said."


More heat on the way
 

Friday, November 20, 2009 » 05:51pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2009/11/20/More_heat_on_the_way_396421.html

Firefighters are battling more than 80 fires across New South Wales while storms have blacked out nine-thousand homes and businesses on Sydney's northern beaches and the Central Coast.
The fires of most concern are at Bilpin in the Hawkesbury region .. burning through about 150 hectares of inaccessible national park.
Rural Fire Service Assistant Commissioner Rob Rogers says they'll burn for some time .. and crews are working hard to keep them as small as possible.
A lightning storm passing over the Blue Mountains has started an unknown number of new fires .. and Sydney crews are fighting house fires believed started by lightning at Castle Cove and Campbelltown.
An extension of fire bans leaves only the Far North Coast .. New England and the North Coast free of restrictions.
On Sunday coastal New South Wales looks set to get a dose of the record-breaking heatwave experienced in much of the state's inland.
The Weather Bureau says Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and the eastern quarter of the state will experience very hot conditions without any sea breeze meaning it could be close to 40 degrees on the coast on Sunday."

Truck factory burns in Darra, Australia
 

http://www.bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2009/12/15/Truck_factory_burns_in_Darra_406329.html

A truck factory at Darra in Brisbane's south west has been severely damaged by a fire overnight.
The blaze broke out at around quarter to 8, with flames coming from the roof.
Thankfully no one was inside at the time but it took firefighters several hours to bring the blaze under control.
Detectives will try to determine the cause of the fire today.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 » 07:51am


Adelaide records first November heatwave (Australia)
 

Thursday, November 12, 2009 » 07:20pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/12/Adelaide_records_first_November_heatwave_393249.html

Bales of hay went up in smoke, zoo animals need help to keep their cool and politicians argued over water, the heat was getting to everyone in Adelaide.
Health concerns were also mounting as the city sweltered for a fifth day in a row, its first official November heatwave on record.
The scorching 39 degree conditions were set to continue into the weekend before a cooler change on Monday and a return to hot weather by the middle of next week.
Meteorologists called the hot streak unprecedented while environment groups dubbed it classic climate change weather.
But the owners of a Yorke Peninsula hay production company were too busy counting their losses after spontaneous combustion was thought to have sparked a major blaze that could burn for the next five days and leave a damage bill of $3.5 million.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) was called to the fire in a large haystack near Paskeville about 9pm (CDT) on Wednesday.
Crews backburned a perimeter around the fire and said 50 CFS staff would monitor the blaze overnight before a reassessment on Friday morning.
Only last July a deliberately-lit fire at the same property destroyed $10 million worth of hay.
Adelaide's hot weather also caused problems for the city's zoo on Thursday when a power failure forced it to close for several hours.
Zoo chief executive Chris West said a power cable was accidentally cut by earthmoving equipment.
Staff worked hard to keep animals that needed cooler conditions comfortable using sprinklers and misters.
Water was an equally hot topic for the state's politicians with the government rejecting calls from the state opposition for an easing of water restrictions to allow home owners to douse their gardens.
Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond said Adelaide's reservoirs were near capacity and an easing of the level three restrictions would have little impact on the long-term outlook and no impact on the River Murray.
'Five days into the worst spring heatwave to hit Adelaide this century, the government seems paralysed about making a decision to temporarily ease water restrictions,' she said.
But Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald said the government would listen to the experts on water use and urged the opposition to back the government's conservation message.
'Before last summer the government listened to the experts and the garden professionals and introduced greater flexibility to allow people to manage their watering times during the hottest months of the year,' Ms Maywald said.
'As this summer approaches we are doing the same thing.'
Adelaide has never before had five days or more above 35 degrees in November, the technical definition of a heatwave.
Its previous longest hot streak for the month was four days in 1894.
Weather Channel meteorologist Tom Saunders said the heatwave was remarkable for its longevity.
'Typically hot spells in spring only last one or two days,' he said."


Dozens of bushfires burning across NSW, Australia
 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/11/22/Dozens_of_bushfires_burning_across_NSW_396952.html

A third emergency warning has been issued for a fire in New South Wales with residents near Orange in the state's central west coming under threat.
The warning is for residents along Kangaroobie Road nine kilometres west of Orange where strong winds are blowing a grass fire towards the eastern side of the Mitchell Highway.
The Rural Fire Service says numerous rural properties along Kangaroobie Road are under threat from the fire, and residents are being urged to check and follow their bushfire survival plans.
RFS spokesman Antony Clark says a couple of properties are in the line of the fire and crews are working with property owners to protect them.
Emergency warnings have been issued for the townships of Rylstone, Kandos and Clandulla in central western New South Wales where a fire has jumped containment lines.
The RFS says with strong westerly winds and temperatures heading into the 40s, there's potential for the fire to spot over the escarpment into Glen Davis.
Residents of Rylstone, Kandos, Clandulla and Glen Davis have been urged to leave their properties early if they're not ready to defend them.
ABC radio reports Rylstone hospital is being evacuated as a precaution.
But an emergency warning has been lifted for Gunnedah residents in Tara Stock Road where crews have managed to bring a fire started by fallen powerlines under control.
The Rural Fire Service says a thousand firefighters are battling as many as 100 outbreaks across the state this afternoon.
In Sydney users of a major motorway are being warned to expect visibility problems as a result of a grass fire.
The Rural Fire Service (RFS) says the grass fire at Blacktown in Sydney's west started on the median strip at Symonds Road nearby the M7 motorway.
No properties are under threat as a result of the fire, but road users are asked to slow down and watch out for fire crews working in the area and there is a risk of reduced visibility.
Sunday, November 22, 2009 » 03:07pm

Fire destroys Philippines Shanty Town

Philippine's Shanty Town's Fire, 2009

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 » 11:26am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2009/11/03/Fire_destroys_Philippines_shanty_town_389870.html

16 people have been killed in a fire in a shanty town in Central Philippines.
The blaze spread rapidly through Bacolod City as people were sleeping.
More than 60 homes have been destroyed."

Hundreds Evacuated in School Fire, South Australia

Friday, October 30, 2009 » 10:05pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/10/30/Hundreds_evacuated_in_school_fire_388581.html

"Hundreds of students have been evacuated after fire broke out in a South Australian school this morning. Students from the Eastern Fleurieu School in Strathalbyn east of Adelaide were rushed to safety, as fire tore through a science laboratory.
Forty firefighters in eight trucks were called in to fight the blaze which is believed to have been caused by an air conditioning fault. HAZMAT crews have now been called to the scene amid fears chemicals pose a risk to public safety."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Evacuations as Queensland Fires Burn

fire in Bundaberg, Oct 2009   fires in Queensland   
Fires near Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, Oct 2009

Fire Crews Monitor Large Blaze in Queensland (not too far from us, LM)

Monday, October 26, 2009 » 11:07am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Regional/2009/10/26/Fire_crews_monitor_large_blaze_in_Qld_386946.html

"Fire crews continue to monitor a large blaze that has burnt more than 35,000 hectares of bush near Bundaberg, in southern Queensland. The fire at Geata, west of Bundaberg, is burning within containment lines on Monday.  A Department of Community Safety spokeswoman told AAP nine crews, including NSW firefighters, were patrolling the blaze and putting out hot spots.  She said winds had lessened and no homes were under threat, but crews would continue to monitor the fire over the next couple of days. NSW fire crews are due to fly home on Tuesday. A bushfire is also burning north of Bundaberg, at Watalgan. Fire crews have been fighting the blaze throughout the night since it started on Sunday morning. The fire has burnt about 10 hectares of bush but has now been contained. No homes are under threat."

Sunday, October 18, 2009 » 08:11am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2009/10/18/More_tough_times_for_firefighters_384149.html

"Residents in Queensland's Mt Archer National Park area near Rockhampton have been told they can return to their properties after firefighters successfully held off a major bushfire.
Officials say early indications are that one property has been destroyed.
Nearly 600 firefighters are battling 52 blazes in the state with some emergency crews in desperate need of reinforcements after being on the fire front for weeks.
Blazes also threatened homes and property in Springsure just west of Emerald earlier today.
Firefighters say they've also contained a blaze at nearby Mt Perry but have had more trouble at Gaeta where more than 16-thousand hectares have been destroyed this week."

More tough times for firefighters

Sunday, October 18, 2009 » 06:51pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/10/18/More_evacuations_as_Qld_fires_burn_384259.html

Residents are again being evacuated from their central Queensland homes as a 'terrifying' bushfire that has already destroyed one house continues to threaten properties.
The unoccupied home was lost at Lakes Creek in the Mt Archer area, east of Rockhampton, in a bushfire that has been burning in Mt Archer National Park for several days.
About 11am (AEST) on Sunday, residents of Rockhampton suburb of Frenchville were again told to leave their homes.
They, along with hundreds of residents in Koongal and Lakes Creek and in other Mt Archer areas on Saturday had been told to evacuate their homes if safe to do so.
The fire service said it expected structures to be lost and 'strongly advised' residents to leave the area.
Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul Adcock on Sunday said the wind had changed, putting homes in the Bloxsom Street area of Frenchville in danger.
'People who live in those particular areas, if they feel safe to leave, they should do so now,' Mr Adcock told ABC Radio.
'That's the safest option and that's the option we recommend people should take.
'Those fires are expected that they could easily impact up to an hour from now.'
QFRS Commissioner Lee Johnson said the fire was moving with erratic winds and was 'terrifying'.
Mr Johnson said the blaze could have been deliberately lit.
'We do have suspicions about its origin, but at this stage we can't pinpoint it exactly,' he told reporters in Brisbane on Sunday.
Acting Premier Andrew Fraser said it was remarkable more homes were had not been lost.
'There is every reason for all of us to be hugely grateful for the fantastic efforts of the fire service and the volunteers in central Queensland,' Mr Fraser said.
'It is a miracle that more homes weren't lost.'
Mr Fraser urged people to observe the fire bans in place and said that because conditions were so dry, any spark could start a major blaze.
With up to 50 fires burning around the state and 27 days straight of firefighting, crews were already being pushed to the limits, he said.
'We need to absolutely reinforce to everybody that this is a situation in many parts of the state that does not need another idiot to start another fire,' Mr Fraser said.
Water bombing and backburning will continue in the Mt Archer area on Sunday, and reinforcements have been sent from Brisbane.
Arrangements are also being made for the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) to relieve Queensland crews this week if necessary.
Other serious fires around the state include blazes in the Bundaberg and Maryborough hinterlands, but no homes there are threatened.
A third of the state is under fire bans until midnight Monday, October 19, which may be extended if dangerous fire conditions continue."

New 'catastrophic' bushfire alert

fires in Queensland

Sunday, October 11, 2009 » 11:17am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Regional/2009/10/11/New_catastrophic_bushfire_alert_381694.html

Victorians will be told to leave their homes on days when the fire threat approaches that of Black Saturday and is deemed to be 'catastrophic'.
Under a new national fire danger rating system unveiled on Sunday, residents will be given a 'Code Red' or 'Catastrophic' fire danger warning on such days.
The Victorian government advises anyone living in bushfire prone areas under such conditions 'to leave the night before or early in the morning'.
There is no advice to stay in a home under the highest rating - even if it is well-prepared and residents plan on actively defending it.
While authorities still can't force evacuations, the move is a major step away from the state's stay or go policy.
That policy has been under continued scrutiny following the death of 173 people in the February 7 fires.
Victorian Premier John Brumby says the new six-tiered fire warning system is aimed at giving the best advice for preserving life.
'Clear warnings and clear directions are the best possible protection for Victorians in the face of a fire threat,' he said in a statement.
Mr Brumby said the most dangerous days like Black Saturday would carry an additional warning that 'people may die or be injured' while thousands of homes could be destroyed even if they were well constructed.
The Bureau of Meteorology will be issuing a fire danger rating in advance of each day, based on predicted weather, temperature, humidity, wind speed and dryness in a particular area.
The national system's six tiers are:
- Low-Moderate: Check your bushfire survival plan.
- High: Check your bushfire survival plan.
- Very High: If you live in a bushfire-prone area and your bushfire survival plan is to leave, the safest option is to leave at the beginning of the day.
- Severe: The safest option is to leave early in the day if you live in a bushfire-prone area and your bushfire survival plan is to leave. Only stay if your home is well prepared and you can actively defend it.
- Extreme: The safest option is to leave early in the day if you live in a bushfire-prone area and your bushfire survival plan is to leave. Only stay if your home is well prepared, well constructed and you can actively defend it.
- Code Red (Catastrophic): If you live in a bushfire prone area the safest option is to leave the night before or early in the morning."

Bushfire in Tin Can Bay military training area (Australia)

fires in Tin Can Bay, Queensland, Australia
Fires in Tin Can Bay, Queensland, Australia

(This is a very nasty place. I know it from personal experience, LM.)

Friday, September 18, 2009 » 06:36pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/09/18/Fire_crews_battle_blaze_in_military_area_373939.html

Firefighters are battling a bushfire at Tin Can Bay, north of Gympie, in south-east Queensland.
The fire was burning on a 1.7 kilometre wide front in the Tin Can Bay military training area, a spokeswoman for Emergency Services Queensland said.
'It's burnt approximately 5.5 square kilometres,' she said.
'We've got an aircraft up there doing air surveillance.'
'We're also using two bulldozers to create firebreaks and we've got firefighters doing back-burning as well.'
Fire crews from Veteran, Rainbow Beach, Goomboorian and Neerdie were on site, the spokeswoman said."

US wildfires Force Evacuations

Sunday, August 30, 2009 » 11:56am

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/30/US_wildfires_force_evacuations_367741.html
Hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes after dreaded wildfires erupted across central and southern California.
A late summer siege of heat and low humidity saw blazes develop around the Golden State late on Thursday.
Structures burned in the wealthy communities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, south of Los Angeles, amid evacuations from suburbs to the north of the city.
Some 500 homes were cleared in La Canada Flintridge as the flames travelled slowly down from the San Gabriel Mountains, a local fire spokeswoman said.
At least 500 acres of heavy undergrowth was reported scorched in steep and narrow canyons about 12 miles north of downtown LA.
TV news footage showed structures on fire and at least one entirely engulfed in flames as dozens more homes were evacuated in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Three days of low humidity and temperatures as high as 99F (37C) before noon sapped the surrounding undergrowth of moisture.
For a second day, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning of extreme fire conditions for many of the state's central and southern mountain ranges.
In Monterey County, in the central coastal region of the state, 100 homes were evacuated about four miles from the community of Soledad.
The fire had consumed more than three square miles of steep grasslands, a local fire chief said, describing the blaze as '0% contained'.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters, aided by bulldozers and air equipment, tackled the fire's north-eastern edge.
Firefighting helicopters swooped over the blaze to drop water as temperatures neared 100F in some areas.
It is believed the blaze was sparked on Tuesday by people - either by accident or deliberately - near a reservoir in San Gabriel Canyon, six miles above the city of Azusa

Australia, New South Wales

Sunday, August 30, 2009 » 05:32pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/30/Wind_change_pushes_fires_towards_homes_367668.html

Firefighters have worked through the night to protect more than 30 homes from an out-of-control bushfire in the Shoalhaven area on the NSW South Coast, with erratic winds making conditions difficult for them.
Properties in two separate areas at Wyoming Crescent, Burrill Lake and Dolphin Point came under threat for several hours as strong north westerly winds fanned the flames on Saturday night.
But the Rural Fire Service says fighters are still on high alert with strong west to south west winds forecast for Sunday.
'The winds changed yesterday evening which pushed the fire in a new direction and some properties did come under threat from the fire so our crews were out throughout the night conducting property protection as the fire moved though those areas,' the RFS spokesman said.
'We were assisted about 3am when a light rain fell over the fire ground and that dampened the fire activity a little bit and enabled them to more effectively protect the properties.'
It was not clear what the fire would do on Sunday but lower temperatures and higher humidity would assist firefighters, the spokesman said.
'The west south westerly winds will actually keep blowing in that direction.
'The winds were quite erratic last night which was hampering firefighters efforts at one stage because they were switching quite rapidly.'
Residents should still maintain an awareness of the fire, keep up to date with the local radio and follow the advice of firefighters.
In total the outbreaks have blackened about 2,400 hectares of national park, state forest and private property.
Outbreaks at Termeil Creek, about four kilometres north of Termeil and at Burrier, about 14 kilometres west of Nowra, are also burning out of control but no properties are under threat.
The three blazes have destroyed about 700 hectares.
In the state's far southeast, a fire at Eurobodalla, which flared up on Thursday in national park and state forest about 3km west of Central Tilba, spread east and southeast late on Saturday.
Up to 1,700 hectares have so far been been torched.
People with health issues should take appropriate precautions to protect themselves from smoke.
Sunday, August 30, 2009 » 09:24am
Firefighters are still concerned about possible wind changes as they try to keep bushfires on the New South Wales south coast under control.
Overnight they've been able to take advantage of cooler conditions to get the upper hand on three blazes around the Shoalhaven.
Almost 2,500 hectares of national park state forest and private property has been burnt out overall.
Main areas of concern have been near Burrill Lake and Dolphin Point near Ulladulla, Termeil Lake further south and at Eurobodalla in the state's far southeast.

Australia enjoys warmest winter ever

Thursday, August 27, 2009 » 06:49am

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/27/Australia_enjoys_warmest_winter_ever_366560.html
Weather records have been smashed from one end of the country to the other as Australia swelters through its warmest-ever winter.
The Bureau of Meteorology has taken the unusual step of issuing a 'special climate statement', confirming what many of us already knew - this winter has been very mild.
'Abnormal heat' has seen some temperature records broken by more than five degrees.
Some regions had their warmest 2009 day in the winter month of August - hotter than any summer day.
Nationally, the average winter maximum temperature is more than 1.6 degrees Celsius above average.
'Average winter maximum temperatures over Australia are likely to be the highest on record,' said the Bureau's statement, issued on Wednesday.
And August was particularly warm - more than three degrees above average across the country.
'August 2009 has seen highly abnormal heat over large parts of Australia,' the statement said.
The mercury soared above 37 degrees Celsius in some areas during August.
The Bureau says the hot weather was caused by a lack of cold outbreaks bringing air from the Southern Ocean, as well as clear skies and a lack of moisture.
And it's not over yet. The Bureau says the new temperature records may be broken afresh when more hot weather hits later this week.
Spring is also set to be hot.
Almost all of the country is forecast to be warmer than normal, with northern and western regions to be hardest hit.
It's also expected to be a drier spring than usual, especially in the south of the country.

NSW 9Australia) bushfires burn out of control

Saturday, August 29, 2009 » 08:16pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/29/NSW_bushfires_burn_out_of_control_367583.html

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has declared an emergency over several bushfires south of Sydney.
Three fires at Shoalhaven have already burnt about 650 hectares of national park and private property, while an outbreak at Eurobodalla has blackened about 850 hectares.
A blaze near Romney Park Road in the Shoalhaven area, which flared up early on Saturday, was causing the most concern.
Firefighters were backburning near the Princes Highway to try to contain the outbreak.
The RFS said no homes are under direct threat but residents on Romney Park Road, Wheelbarrow Road, Pothole Road and the Princes Highway have been advised to take precautions and prepare their properties.
Weather conditions are unfavourable, with northwesterly winds pushing the blaze east towards the Princes Highway, an RFS spokesman said.
'At the moment conditions are expected to deteriorate with strong winds expected this afternoon,' he said.
The forecast maximum temperature for the area is 25 degrees celsius with winds predicted to reach about 50km/h and gusting up to 80km/h this afternoon.
Fires at Termeil Creek, about four kilometres north of Termeil, and at Burrier, about 14 kilometres west of Nowra, are also burning out of control.
No homes are under direct threat in these areas but the RFS said residents should prepare their homes.
About 45 firefighters and four waterbombing aircraft are working to contain the three fires near Shoalhaven.
The RFS said about 47 firefighters were attempting to contain the Eurobodalla fire, which started on Thursday in national park and state forest about 3km west of Central Tilba.
No homes or properties are under threat, but residents in surrounding area should take precautions, the RFS said.
The cause of the fires has yet to be determined, the spokesman said.
'I am not aware of any storms that came through and an investigation will look into whether any lightning activity occurred,' he said."

Thousands evacuated in Athens

 
fires in Greece 2009   fires in Greece 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009 » 02:26am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/24/Thousands_evacuated__in_Athens_365471.html

Panicked residents battled a raging fire in Athens' northern suburbs with tree limbs and buckets, and police ordered 10,000 people to evacuate one town immediately.
Frightened inhabitants of Agios Stefanos gathered in the town's main square early on Sunday afternoon as flames closed in on the town centre and police with loudspeakers directed everyone to leave immediately on the main highway to Athens, 23km to the southwest.
Other residents tried desperately to save their homes with hoses, buckets and branches. Planes swooped low over the town to pour water on the flaming houses.
'I call on all residents to follow the instructions of the police as to where they will go,' an emotional Agios Stefanos deputy mayor Panayiotis Bitakos told Skai TV. 'We had been begging the authorities since early in the morning to send forces ... It is too late now. Too late.'
By mid-afternoon, the town was empty save for a few volunteers who were aiding firefighters. Houses smouldered and burned-out cars littered the streets.
Planes and helicopters, which had suspended operations overnight, attacked the blaze again at dawn. But with gale-force winds propelling the flames, the fire spread unchecked. TV showed planes and helicopters dumping water on a forest outside Agios Stefanos - and the fire reigniting moments after they left.
The forests around Athens' northern suburbs have helped the fire leap to new areas.
'The pine cones are like projectiles - they cover long distances, too, and spread the fire around,' said Avraam Pasipoularidis, mayor of the northern suburb of Drossia. 'Everything around me is burning.'
The fires started late on Friday and by Sunday they were reported across an area more than 40km wide. They started in the mountains near the town of Marathon, from which the modern long-distance foot race takes its name. The army removed anti-aircraft missiles from a nearby military base as the flames approached.
Municipal officials said the fire was threatening the archaeological site of Rhamnus, home to two 2,500-year-old temples.
A state of emergency was declared on Saturday in greater Athens. These are the most destructive fires in Greece since blazes killed more than 70 people in 2007.
Residents fled on foot, by motorbike and in cars, amid blackouts and cuts in the water supply. No casualties had been reported as of early Sunday afternoon.
TV stations broadcast frantic calls for help from people in different areas, with many complaining that no firefighting equipment had reached them.
A resident of Drossia pleaded with TV station Mega for help, saying the fire was within 40 metres of his home and he had no water with which to fight it.
Authorities evacuated two large children's hospitals, as well as campsites and homes in villages and outlying suburbs threatened by blazes that scattered ash across Athens. The flames also approached a large monastery on Mt Penteli.
Officials said help was on the way.
'There are 14 planes - with two of these coming from Italy - and nine helicopters fighting the fire, alongside hundreds of firefighters, volunteers and soldiers,' fire brigade spokesman Yiannis Kapakis told reporters.
'These will soon be joined by two planes from France and a helicopter from Cyprus. Cyprus will also send four fire engines and 60 firefighters,' he added.
Elsewhere in Greece, serious fires were reported on the islands of Evia and Skyros in the Aegean Sea and Zakynthos in the west. Another large fire that started on Saturday in the town of Plataea, 63km northwest of Athens, was spreading unchecked in western Attica.
A total of 83 fires have broken out across Greece since 6am on Saturday, fire brigade spokesman Kapakis said.

Raging forest fires approach Athens

fires in Greece   
fires in Greece 2009



Sunday, August 23, 2009 » 04:31pm
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/23/Raging_forest_fires_approach_Athens_365400.html

Dozens of forest fires have broken out across Greece, as one of the largest blazes swept perilously close to the capital's northern suburbs.
The fires north of Athens were reported in an area more than 40km wide over the weekend, and forced authorities to evacuate two large children's hospitals, camp sites, villages and outlying suburban areas threatened by blazes that sent huge clouds of smoke over the capital and scattered ash on city streets.
Anti-aircraft missiles were removed from a base north of Athens threatened by fire, the army said.
With planes and helicopters grounded after nightfall, Fire Service officials said their effort - aided by a lull in strong winds - was concentrated on protecting more than six towns where homes were under threat.
Volunteers and army conscripts helped hundreds of firefighters ring the endangered towns.
'Firefighters are working in extremely difficult circumstances,' Prime minister Costas Karamanlis said.
'Our priority is the protection of human life and property,'
Some villages threatened lay near the town of Marathon, from which the modern long-distance foot race takes its name.
Local officials said the fire damaged power lines, causing blackouts and water supply outages in many areas after nightfall on Saturday.
Several hundred people were evacuated from two Athens suburbs. Traffic clogged roads leading south; in places, the flames licked as close to the road as 30m.
As the fire closed in on towns and villages north of Athens, residents and volunteers tried desperately to prevent the blaze from engulfing houses.
Scores of residents fled on foot, by motorbike and in cars. Some ran down the road away from the flames. Elderly residents were carried from their homes by firefighters.
Municipal officials said dozens of houses had been destroyed but the government's Civil Protection Agency did not confirm those reports.
The government declared a state of emergency Saturday in greater Athens as officials warned that high winds would continue on Sunday.
'The coming night will be especially difficult,' Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Kapakis said.
'We urge people to remain calm and, in any case, not panic.'
He said 75 fires had broken out across Greece since early Saturday morning - including blazes on the island of Evia, Skyros and Zakynthos as well as in parts of central and southern Greece.
Greece is plagued by forest fires every summer. In 2007, the worst blazes in decades killed more than 70 people.
'This is one of the worst fires we've ever seen in this area,' said Nikos Koukis, a municipal official on the fire-stricken area of Grammatiko, north of Athens.
'This is a beautiful, green area. I'm not sure we can any longer say this is true.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Firefighters battle blazes in Europe

Friday, August 21, 2009 » 07:35am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/21/Firefighters_battle_blazes_in_Europe_364619.html

Hundreds of firefighters are trying to contain several blazes burning across Spain and Portugal.
Strong winds have whipped up fires in Northern Portugal which had been brought under control earlier this week.
In many cases, crews can only fight the infernos from above.
Yesterday, authorities were forced to close a major train route between Portugal and France.
Several small villages have been evacuated in Spain.

**********************************

fires in California

Winds, heat fan California wildfires

Monday, August 17, 2009 » 12:24pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/17/Winds_heat_fan_California_wildfires_363308.html

Hot, dry winds and high temperatures fanned wildfires across California, pushing firefighters into rugged terrain to contain the flames.

'Things are so dry out there that it doesn't take much for a spark or an ember to quickly develop into a wildfire,' said CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant.
A fire near the Santa Cruz mountain communities of Swanton and Bonny Doon was about 50 per cent contained on Sunday, after burning 26 square kilometres since Wednesday and leading to mandatory evacuations of about 2,400 residents.
The blaze threatened more than 250 homes and had damaged two outbuildings. More crews were arriving to fight the flames, totalling 2,165 firefighters on Sunday.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Santa Cruz's Lockheed Fire was among 11 burning in the state. A state of emergency was declared in the county, while other blazes forced evacuations and knocked out power in other parts of the state.
Red Cross volunteers said only a handful of evacuees have been sleeping at the Santa Cruz shelter because most have homeowners' insurance that pays for hotel stays, but about 100 people have showed up each morning for briefings from state fire officials.
Chris Sokoloff, who has spent three nights at the evacuation centre, said residents appeared calmer at Sunday's briefing after they heard the fire was half contained. But many were still anxious, he said.
'Who doesn't jump to the worst case scenario?' he asked. 'There's a nervous optimism.'

California wildfires continue to blaze

Sunday, August 16, 2009 » 12:52pm

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/16/California_wildfires_continue_to_blaze_363039.html

Wildfires are continuing to rage in California, where efforts to control the week-old blazes are being hampered by high winds and difficult terrain.
One blaze in Santa Cruz county, about 80km south-east of San Francisco, has destroyed two buildings and forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people, and is threatening 250 homes in the communities of Swanton and Bonny Doon.
Calfire said the blaze, which began on Wednesday, has already destroyed 2,000 hectares of land and is only 15 per cent under control, despite the efforts of 1,600 firefighters.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had been out of state at the funeral for his mother-in-law Eunice Kennedy Shriver, will tour the affected areas on Saturday, local media reported.
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi on Friday declared a state of emergency in Santa Cruz, saying the county is 'in great need of resources to bolster what is being done at the local level to fight these fires'.
Calfire said their main concerns are high temperatures and difficult terrain, which has forced firefighters to tackle the blazes mostly from the air.
Another big fire has been burning since August 8 in the Los Padres national forest, north of Santa Barbara.
Calfire said that fire, which has forced the evacuation of 14 ranches, has destroyed 30,000 hectares of land and is now about 25 per cent under control.
The state is frequently hit by wildfires and in 2007 suffered the worst blazes in its history, which forced the evacuation of 640,000 residents and destroyed around 2,000 homes in southern California."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

La Palma fire brought under control

Wednesday, August 05, 2009 » 04:37am
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2009/08/05/La_Palma_fire_brought_under_control_359219.html

A forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma was brought under control and another that raged for two weeks in Spain's northern Catalonia region has been extinguished, an emergency official said.
The La Palma fire, which started last Friday in the southern part of the island, destroyed some 3,000 hectares and burned some50 houses. La Palma is one of the least developed and greenest of the seven Canary Islands off northwest Africa, and was celebrated by pop star Madonna in her song 'La Isla Bonita.'
'There are no prospects of the fire (on La Palma) spreading.
It's now in a controlled area and all that is left to do is put it out,' said island security official Jose Miguel Ruano.
La Palma is also home to some of the world's most powerful observatories, including the recently opened euro 130 million euros ($A222.64 million)Gran Telescopio Canarias reflecting mirror telescope atop an extinct volcano.
The telescope's location above cloud cover was selected to take advantage of La Palma's normally pristine skies.
The fire forced some 4,000 people to be temporarily evacuated from southeastern towns Saturday.
Most have returned to their homes, some of which have been gutted by flames.
Ruano said the cause of the fire was still being investigated but said it may have been started by a firework rocket.
On the mainland, the northeastern regional government of Catalonia said a blaze that led to the deaths of five firefighters in a nature reserve near the town of Horta de Sant Joan, west of Barcelona, has finally been put out after 15 days.
That blaze had destroyed 1,140 hectares of woodland.
Wildfires have killed at least nine people and burned about 75,000 hectares of forest and scrubland in Spain so far this year, more than double the amount burnt in all of 2008."

Dozens killed across Europe in summer wildfires

fires in Europe

July 26, 2009
EXTREME weather has killed and injured dozens of people across Europe, with Spain, France and Italy hit by summer wildfires and parts of central Europe deluged by storms.
The deadly fires spread in Spain, France, Italy and Greece, while violent storms felled trees and ripped off roofs in central Europe.
Western and south-western Poland were hardest hit, with hurricane-force winds reaching 130 km/h in some areas.
"Seven people died in all, while 82 sustained serious injuries," Poland's national fire brigade spokesman Pawel Fratczak said. High winds also claimed two lives in the neighbouring Czech Republic.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/dozens-killed-across-europe-in-summer-wildfires-20090725-dwtk.html.


water for the fires

http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/07/25/761147_boy-drowns-at-sunny-beach-as-bulgaria-faces-heat-wave

A nine-year-old boy from Poland drowned on July 25 2009 at Bulgaria’s Black Sea resort of Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) after falling off an air mattress.
Lifeguards attempted to rescue the child but it was too late, Bulgarian media said. News agency BTA said that the child’s mother had not been watching the boy because she had been looking after a young baby.
The tragedy happened as Bulgaria faced scorching temperatures, with authorities urging people to exercise caution in the heat, while in some places road traffic was banned and in the capital city Sofia, the Bulgarian Red Cross handed out free mineral water at two locations in the centre of the city.
Bulgarian National Television (BNT) said that in some places in the country, temperatures already exceeded 40 degrees before noon.
Temperatures in central Sofia were estimated at 38 degrees C, while news agency Focus said that in the afternoon in Plovdiv, it was 38 degrees in the shade and 45 degrees in the direct sun.
Forty people were treated in hospital in Plovdiv, including four who had heart attacks, while others had heat exhaustion.
In Petrich, temperatures passed 40 degrees while Veliko Turnovo was reported to be close to 39 degrees at mid-afternoon.
Sofia banned vehicles heavier than 20 tons from using main roads and boulevards in the city from noon until 7pm while temperatures were higher than 35 degrees, Focus said, although the agency reported that the ban did not apply to the Ring Road.
BNT quoted specialists as advising that air conditioners so should not be set so as to provide an indoor temperature that varied from temperatures outdoors by more than 10 to 12 degrees Celsius.
Dimitar Dimitrov of the ambulance service said that it was unhealthy to run air conditioners at temperatures lower than 18 degrees Celsius.
Traffic authorities said that even motorists using car air conditioning were at risk while travelling in the direct sun, and this worsened the risk of fatigue, which could be as dangerous as driving drunk.
Elsewhere in South Eastern Europe, the forecast for July 25 was for 40 degrees in Skopje, while Romania was set for temperatures of up to 39 degrees.
Focus said that storms were possible later on July 25 in northern and central Romania

11,000 told to leave, 6,000 on evacuation alert

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7940000/newsid_7948300/7948366.stm
Last Updated: Monday July 20 2009 12:52 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8150000/newsid_8159100/8159198.stm
Two wildfires near a western Canadian city have forced around 17,000 people to flee their homes, officials say.
One of the fires near Kelowna, British Columbia, started on Saturday and has destroyed up to nine homes.
More than 150 firefighters are tackling the blazes in British Columbia, with support from 10 helicopters and eight water bomber planes. Emergency officials said that while showers had been forecast for later in the week it would take some major rainfall to substantially reduce the current danger.