Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

South Africa: Full week of dangerously wild weather ahead


Cape Times
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:12 UTC
Massive swells, gale-force winds and heavy falls of rain are in store for large parts of the Western Cape throughout most of this week, weather forecasters warn.

The first in a series of cold fronts is likely to make landfall later on Monday, with a full week of wild weather ahead.
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Attention

Hungary heatwave kills hundreds


BBC
Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:58 UTC


©AP
Public thermometer in Budapest, 15 July 07

Up to 500 people have died in the past week from a heatwave in Hungary, a top health official has said.

Anna Paldy, deputy director of the National Institute of Environmental Health, told the BBC that the figure included 230 deaths in central Hungary.
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Bizarro Earth

Fire traps tourists in southern Italy, kills 4


Reuters
Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:41 UTC
Four people were burnt to death on Tuesday by a fast-moving brush fire that trapped hundreds of tourists on beaches in southern Italy's Puglia region, local authorities said.

Emergency services used patrol boats and helicopters to whisk 450 holidaymakers and residents off the beaches to which they had rushed to try to escape the flames, which spread quickly and were threatening holiday villages and hotels, port police said.
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Cloud Lightning

Loose dykes spur China flood fears as hundreds die


Reuters
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:45 UTC
BEIJING - Hundreds of sections of embankments along China's third-longest river have become loose, threatening the homes of millions of people after three weeks of deadly floods across the country, state media said on Tuesday.
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Cloud Lightning

Floods, landslides kill 30 in Indonesia


Associated Press
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:06 UTC
Flash floods and landslides in central Indonesia have killed at least 30 people, and the death toll looks set to rise, Associated Press (AP) has reported.

©AFP
A map showing the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Helicopters sought to deliver aid to victims of floods and landslides in central Indonesia Wednesday as 66 people were confirmed dead and 23 listed as missing, officials said.(

A senior health official confirmed the toll, and predicted the number of deaths would rise as rescuers reach remote areas in the disaster zone.
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Bizarro Earth

Moderate quake in India, mild tremors in Delhi


Reuters
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:51 UTC
A moderate quake occurred in northern India on Monday, with mild tremors felt in the capital New Delhi, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The 4.9 magnitude quake was recorded at 4:32 a.m., with the epicentre near Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, 280 km northeast of New Delhi, said the USGS.
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Bizarro Earth

Volcano in Tanzania erupts, spews lava


AP
Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:43 UTC
A volcano in northern Tanzania erupted on Friday, spewing small amounts of smoke and lava, the government spokesman said.

Mt. Oldonyo Lengai, which is close to the border with Kenya, is believed to be the source of a series of shallow earthquakes experienced in the region over the past week, said Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government spokesman.

©Unk
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Question

11 workers missing after coal mine flood in north China


RIA Novosti
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:41 UTC
Eleven miners are missing in a flooded coal mine in northern China's Shanxi province, Xinhua news agency said Monday.

Water burst into the small privately-owned mine near Lu-liang late on Sunday night. Rescuers have been pumping water out of the pit. Local authorities said it was impossible to say whether the workers were still alive.

Water had accumulated following several weeks of heavy rains, which have affected regions all over China in recent weeks.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills diver off Florida coast


Associated Press
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:41 UTC
Lightning struck a diver's oxygen tank as he surfaced off Florida's Atlantic coast, killing him, authorities said.

The 36-year-old man was diving with three others Sunday off a boat near Deerfield Beach, about 40 miles north of Miami. He had surfaced about 30 feet from the boat when lightning struck his tank, said Deerfield Beach Fire Chief Gary Fernaays.

The other divers struggled to get the man back into the boat and radioed for help, Fernaays said. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was rushed to the beach, where a rescue crew gave him CPR. He was later pronounced dead at North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach.
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Attention

Houses, hospitals, transport hit by power outage in Barcelona


Herald Tribune
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:29 UTC
A faulty cable triggered a major power outage in Barcelona Monday, snarling traffic, hobbling public transportation and knocking out electricity to homes and businesses in much of Spain's second largest city.

City officials said the blackout began around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) and affected traffic lights in much of the city center as well as several lines of the subway system. Police officers manned major intersections to keep traffic flowing.

The blackout continued more than four hours later, although Red Electrica, the company that manages Spain's power grid, said more than half the power supply had been restored.

Spanish Industry Minister Joan Clos ruled out sabotage, blaming the blackout on a substation cable that fell, causing a chain-reaction failure in as many as six other substations.

Around 300,000 customers spread throughout most of Barcelona lost power, and 130,000 of them remained without electricity mid-afternoon, the minister told a news conference.
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