Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

At least 4 killed after foot of rain floods upper Midwest


AP
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:55 UTC
Severe storms deluged parts of the upper Midwest during the night with as much as a foot of rain, causing flooding that washed away bridges and roads and killed at least four people, authorities said Sunday.

©AP
Floodwaters surround the Midwestern Hotel in Minnesota City on Sunday.

Part of Winona and smaller towns in the area of southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin were evacuated, officials reported.

Rushing floods in Minnesota killed two people in their vehicle near Stockton and two others in a vehicle near Witoka, said Bob Reinert, the Winona County administrator and spokesman for the county's emergency operations center.

Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Erin causes flooding in Oklahoma

Michael McNutt
The Oklahoman
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:44 UTC
Tropical Storm Erin stubbornly held together as it passed through Oklahoma early today, causing heavy flooding in the Watonga area and flash flooding in Lawton and El Reno.

©Getty Images

Several people were rescued from their homes or stalled cars in Watonga and Lawton. Rainfall amounts exceeded 7 inches in those areas, according to the state Emergency Management Department.
Read More...
Question

Hundreds of Saudi camels die from mystery ailment


Reuters
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 10:28 UTC
Hundreds of camels have died in Saudi Arabia this week from a mystery ailment.

The Agriculture Ministry has said 232 camels died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley, 400 km (250 miles) south of Riyadh. King Abdullah has promised compensation for owners, who say the real number of deaths is far higher.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Typhoon Sepat causes halt of flights, mass evacuations in east China


Xinhua
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 10:23 UTC
More than 900,000 people in south and east China provinces have been relocated to safety as typhoon Sepat is expected to land in Fujian Province on Saturday or Sunday morning.

Sepat made a landfall in Hualien, the central-eastern part of Taiwan around 5:40 a.m. Saturday, with sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour, according to the China Central Meteorological Center.
Read More...
Bell

Summer heat wave death toll reaches 49

KRISTIN M. HALL
AP
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 10:23 UTC
Authorities in Memphis and Alabama reported more heat-related deaths Saturday, bringing the toll in the Southeast and Midwest to at least 49 since oppressive triple-digit temperatures settled over the region last week.

In Memphis alone, heat has been blamed as a factor in 12 deaths, mostly elderly victims, in nine days. A 62-year-old man was found dead in his home Friday, the Shelby County Medical Examiner's office announced. The body of a 77-year-old woman was found Thursday evening in her residence, where the temperature inside was 101.
Read More...
Magnify

Peru quake survivors grow desperate

FRANK BAJAK
AP
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 09:25 UTC
The government sent the army Saturday to stop looting fueled by rising desperation in earthquake-shattered Peru, where tens of thousands were without fresh water and shivering families huddled in makeshift shelters at the center of the devastation.

In a soccer stadium in the port city of Pisco, more than 500 people rushed a lone truck that ran out little packets of crackers, candy and toilet paper, screaming that they had not eaten and accusing rescue workers of keeping supplies for themselves.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Dean roars toward Jamaica


AFP
Sun, 19 Aug 2007 07:13 UTC
PORT-AU-PRINCE - Hurricane Dean bore down on Jamaica early Sunday amid concerns it could become "a potentially catastrophic" category five storm capable of causing death and widespread destruction.

Tourists fled resorts in the path of the storm and island residents battened down as the massive swell skirted the Dominican Republic and plowed towards Jamaica, the Caymans and the Mexican coast.
Read More...
Wine

Wine before its time alarms Italy

Christine Spolar
Chicago Tribune
Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:09 UTC
GROTTAFERRATA, Italy - Patrizia Filippi has no degree in meteorology or any idea how to calculate what scientists call extreme weather change. But the 43-year-old grape picker has been working this area's silky, volcanic soil for nearly three decades, and she knows what she sees:

This is an early harvest unlike anything that Italy, or any generation in her family, has experienced in memory.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Invasive Australian Jellyfish Sighted Outside Gulf Of Mexico


Science Daily
Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:45 UTC
The invasive Australian jellyfish, Phyllorhiza punctata, first reported in great quantities in the Gulf of Mexico in 2000, has made a vigorous reappearance this summer in waters from southwestern Louisiana to Morehead City, North Carolina. Beachgoers and boaters are encouraged to report their sightings of these exotic jellies to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab's jellyfish website, Dockwatch.

©Dan Martin/Dauphin Island Sea Lab
The Australian spotted jellyfish can weigh up to 25 pounds.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Toronto Summer driest in 50 years

Curtis Rush
Toronto Star
Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:28 UTC
This summer has been the driest in Toronto in almost 50 years, Environment Canada says.

And don't look for the situation to change anytime soon.

Many parts of Ontario, from Kitchener-Waterloo to York Region, are experiencing near-record droughts.

In Toronto, where we've had only 9.2 millimetres of rain since July 20, this summer has been the driest in almost 50 years, according to Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.
Read More...