Earth ChangesS


Nuke

US: Storms knock out TVA nuclear units and power lines

tornado
© AP
Houston - Severe storms and tornadoes moving through the U.S. Southeast dealt a severe blow to the Tennessee Valley Authority on Wednesday, causing three nuclear reactors in Alabama to shut and knocking out 11 high-voltage power lines, the utility and regulators said.

Governors in Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee each declared a state of emergency as more than 20 deaths were blamed on a recurring round of severe storms this week moving eastward across the southern United States.

All three units at TVA's 3,274-megawatt Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama tripped about 5:30 EDT (2230 GMT) after losing outside power to the plant, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Bizarro Earth

US: Tornadoes Rock Alabama and Georgia, One of the Largest Tornado Outbreaks In History

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A FOX 5 viewer posted this photo of a tornado over Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 on our Facebook page
Devastating tornadoes have rocked the south

Update: 7:52pm pst: Associated Press report moves death toll to at least 64.

Photos from Fox Atlanta document the devastation. Search and Rescue taking place in Ringgold after tornado strikes.

Update: 7:41pm pst: 130 tornadoes and counting!

Update: 7:31pm pacific: A new Associated Press report has confirmed that at least 54 people are dead. My Fox Atlanta is also reporting that a government building is gone.
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - The mayor of an Alabama city hit hard by a tornado says at least 15 people have died there, bringing the death toll from severe weather to 54 around the South.

In all, 40 people died in Wednesday's storms in Alabama.
Update: Cullman County Alabama has been devastated. This now being labeled one of the largest tornado outbreaks in American history. At 31 people have died.

The Weather Channel is reporting that mass fatality trailers are being brought to Alabama. Massive devastation with debris falling up to a 100 miles away.

Mass Causalities units have been requested in Catoosa County Georgia where a State of Emergency has been declared. A report on the Weather Channel indicates that a 3 story building has been destroyed in Georgia.

Cloud Lightning

US: Massive Mile Wide Tornado Tuscaloosa, Alabama 4-27-11

tuscaloosa tornado
© Don Kausler Jr./Tuscaloosa BureauThe enormous tornado that hit Tuscaloosa Wednesday afternoon.
A massive tornado judged to be almost a mile wide struck Tuscaloosa late Wednesday afternoon. ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann says the storm has caused "major, major damage" in some areas of the city and Mayor Walt Maddox told The Weather Channel that parts of the city were "obliterated."

A Tuscaloosa resident going by Clay Hasenfuss on Twitter posted this dramatic video of the tornado dwarfing Bryant-Denny Stadium.

"I'm in my car at corner on McFarland. Milo's Hamburgers isn't there anymore," said Tuscaloosa resident Phil Owen. "Hobby Lobby only thing still standing at Woods Square Shopping Center. Big Lots, Full Moon Barbecue. Piles of garbage where those places were. Shell gas station across the street, all that's standing is the frame of the store."

Fish

US: Viewer shocked at dead sea life along gulf coast

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Its been a little more than a year since the gulf oil spill..and but signs are still showing. Karen Johnson paid a visit to some beaches in Mississippi, and she was shocked at what she saw.

She says she saw all types of dead sea life, everything from dolphins..fish..turtles..near the shoreline.

She says some of the creatures were rotting and had been there for days.

She wants to know what's in the water..and hope someone tests the water soon so people are aware of what they are swimming in

Cloud Lightning

US: Mile Wide Wedge Tornado Going Through Downtown Birmingham Alabama

Spotters reporting EF4-EF5 type damage, so you may be looking at entire neighborhoods completely destroyed and some lives lost. If people took their precautions, they should survive but will have injuries. A tornado of this size and strength will destroy everything in its path.


Cloud Lightning

US: More severe storms to hit North Georgia Wednesday night

storm damage
© John Spink, jspink@ajc.comPower crews were out dealing with numerous outages caused by downed trees and power lines like this one at Marietta Road and Spring Avenue in Atlanta that hampered truck traffic trying to make deliveries to nearby businesses.
A new round of severe weather is expected to hit north Georgia Wednesday night after storms left a trail of widespread damage in northwest Georgia and killed five people in Alabama.

The National Weather Service says the next storm system should begin to approach the northwest Georgia border around 6 p.m.

Extensive wind damage was reported in Floyd, Gordon, Haralson and Dade counties, including damage on the campuses of Berry College and Shorter University near Rome.

Bizarro Earth

King Crabs Invade Antarctica

king crab
© University of Alabama at BirminghamIt's like a scene out of a sci-fi movie -- thousands, possibly millions, of king crabs are marching through icy, deep-sea waters and up the Antarctic slope.
It's like a scene out of a sci-fi movie -- thousands, possibly millions, of king crabs are marching through icy, deep-sea waters and up the Antarctic slope.

"They are coming from the deep, somewhere between 6,000 to 9,000 feet down," said James McClintock, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham Endowed Professor of Polar and Marine Biology.

Shell-crushing crabs haven't been in Antarctica, Earth's southernmost continent, for hundreds or thousands, if not millions, of years, McClintock said. "They have trouble regulating magnesium ions in their body fluids and get kind of drunk at low temperatures."

But something has changed, and these crustaceans are poised to move by the droves up the slope and onto the shelf that surrounds Antarctica. McClintock and other marine researchers interested in the continent are sounding alarms because the vulnerable ecosystem could be wiped out, he said.

Bizarro Earth

Chile: Dark ash plume at Planchón-Peteroa

Planchón-Peteroa volcano
A webcam capture from Planchón-Peteroa in Chile, as seen at 4:29 PM (local time) on April 26, 2011.
Eruptions reader Gitta noted a fairly impressive ash plume at Chile's Planchón-Peteroa - at least seen on the webcam. The plume isn't especially tall (see below), at least not from the vantage point of the webcam, but it is rather dark and grey in complexion, suggesting a lot of fractured rock or new magma in the plume itself.

Planchón-Peteroa has been producing intermittent plumes for the past year or so, some as high as 4.6 km / 15,000 feet, but nothing in the way of a large eruption, which the volcano is definitely capable (see the VEI 4 eruption of 1762).

The activity has been fairly low as of late, with no SERNAGEOMIN update (spanish) on the volcano since last October. This current plume is likely just more of the same from Planchón-Peteroa, but at least today, the viewing is very nice to see the activity at the remote Chilean volcano.

Bizarro Earth

Ecuador: Residents evacuate as volcano spews ashes

Tungurahua volcano
© AFP/Getty ImagesAn explosion of Tungurahua volcano can be seen from Guadalupe observatory in Tungurahua province, Ecuador, Tuesday
Authorities in Ecuador closed schools and evacuated residents in areas near a volcano Tuesday after ashes spewing from its crater fell on homes and farms, state media reported.

Ashes from Tungurahua -- which means "throat of fire" in the native Quechua language -- rose more than 7 kilometers (4 miles) into the air Tuesday, the government news agency said.

Authorities issued an alert as monitors detected six eruptions, ranging from moderate to large, and a significant ash cloud Tuesday, state media said.

No Entry

US: Rain-swollen rivers threaten Midwest, force evacuation in Missouri town

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© Richard Rasmussen/The Sentinel-Record/Associated PressA resident of Garland County, Ark., looked for his cellphone yesterday in the remains of his home after a tornado hit the area.
A powerful storm system that spawned a deadly tornado in Arkansas caused rivers to swell yesterday across the Midwest, straining levees that protect thousands of homes and forcing panicked residents of one town to flee for higher ground.

Six inches of rain fell Monday in the southeastern Missouri community of Poplar Bluff, bringing the four-day total to 15 inches. The deluge caused the Black River to pour over a levee in 30 places and to break through in one spot, and about 1,000 homes were evacuated. Deputy Police Chief Jeff Rolland said it was a "miracle'' that the levee held until late morning.

The levee extends from Poplar Bluff to the town of Qulan downstream, in a sparsely populated area. Butler County Sheriff Mark Dodd said water pouring through a breach between the two towns was unlikely to make it far enough upstream to threaten Poplar Bluff, a town of 17,000 residents south of St. Louis.

Flooding in 2008 damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in Poplar Bluff, raising questions about whether the levee was capable of protecting the town during times of heavy rainfall.