Earth Changes
A passing storm brought torrential downpours and lightning, which struck outside her building in the Shadowbrook Condominium complex around 11:30 p.m., causing a water pipe to burst and flames to erupt from the third floor ceiling.
Fire Lt. Mark Nelson said a lightning bolt struck a tree outside 17 Shadowbrook Lane, traveled into the ground and through Lemire's building.
The storm had started around 9.30pm and grew with each passing minute till it stopped two hours later. A fresh shower of hailstones hit the area again early this morning.
"First came the wind. Strong gusts blew away roofs of tiles and tin. Then came the hailstones. As the night progressed, the size of the stones increased and they came hurtling down, some of them as big as cricket balls," said Narayan Bhowmik, a tea stall owner in Bamua, 20km from here and one of the worst hit areas. The storm left scars across a 9km radius.
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©Nityananda Sarkar |
A heap of hailstones in front of a house in Bindol |
Gregory Greene has lived in this part of Tornado Alley for all of his 39 years and had never seen a tornado.
Homes were left without roofs, major roads were blocked by fallen trees and power lines, boats broke their moorings and debris littered the streets as winds of up to 176km/h stormed through in a wild-weather blitzkrieg.
In several previous Picture of the Day articles we have considered the geological history of the Australian continent and found that there are several disconformities in the appearance and structure of many formations. The famous "Red Center" is particularly noteworthy because Uluru, Kata Tjuta and other monolithic stone tors stand in isolated grandeur above the relatively flat landscape.
The Flinders Range is a rugged outcrop of sandstone and quartzite that begins about 250 kilometers north of Adelaide and stretches for 800 kilometers. The mountains are extensively folded and fractured, with several deep gorges cut through them. One of the most unusual features in the range is Wilpena Pound, a natural amphitheater of stone covering 83 square kilometers, with interior dimensions of 11 kilometers by 8 kilometers.
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©Unknown |
Wilpena Pound, Flinders Range, South Australia |
The dog's owner Chantel Armenta tried to get him free but could not, and when she ran in the house, the bees followed, stinging her and her husband.
Her husband is allergic to bee stings and had to be rushed to the hospital. He is expected to live, but the dog may not.
A paramedic who rushed to the man's aid was also stung several times and was admitted to hospital briefly after he showed signs of a severe allergic reaction to the stings.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said that when paramedics arrived they saw a man collapsed on the ground.
"When the paramedics got out of their ambulance they realised a large swarm of African honey bees was incensed and had stung the man repeatedly. The bees continued to swarm around the man.