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Bug

Sri Lanka: Dengue epidemic in Colombo

Yohan Perera
DailyMirror
Wed, 25 May 2011 03:54 UTC
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© Unknown
The Colombo City is facing the worst dengue epidemic ever Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) said yesterday revealing that there had been 195 cases reported this month. CMC which dropped a bomb shell, said in and round the National Hospital Colombo, Military Hospital and vicinity of the Colombo Port had been identified as the major mosquito breeding grounds in the city.

There had been 885 reported dengue cases in the city this year out of which 50 percent is reported to be school children.

Chief Medical Officer CMC Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam told a news conference yesterday that few doctors attached to the National Hospital Colombo had fell victim to Dengue while the nurses quarters is also found to be a breeding ground. In addition, several Chinese nationals who were working at development projects in Colombo were also infected.

He also warned that new complication of dengue DEN 3 had also raised its head in the city.

Dr. Kariyawasam claimed that the school principals have turned a deaf ear to the repeated requests made by the CMC to keep the schools clean while lack of public support as a whole had been one of the reasons for the epidemic.

He said all school principals in the city had been called for a meeting by the Special Commissioner, CMC, Omar Kamil on Thursday to brief them on the situation.
However, he said the Colombo City only accounts to 7 percent of the country's total number of cases though there is a school of thought that most reported cases are from the capital city. He said the disease had come from elsewhere though there is an idea that the germs had existed within the city itself.

He said the CMC had conducted dengue prevention campaigns but lack of public support, legal impediments have not brought much results.
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Cloud Lightning

Philippines on alert as Songda turns into typhoon


AsiaOne
Wed, 25 May 2011 12:25 UTC
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© Unknown
Manila, Philippines - A fierce storm approaching the Philippines intensified into a typhoon on Wednesday, the government said, warning it would unleash heavy rains across the main island of Luzon.

Typhoon Songda was expected to slam into the remote and mountainous northeast of Luzon on Friday, although it could change course and head towards more populated areas near the capital of Manila, forecasters said.

"We are asking the public (in storm-affected areas) to postpone travelling and stay indoors," chief state weather forecaster Graciano Yumul said.

"The public must follow instructions by their officials to prevent a possible tragedy brought by Chedeng (Songda)."

Forecasters said the typhoon, with sustained winds of 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour and gusts of 160 kilometres an hour, was powerful enough to blow away roofs, uproot trees, damage crops and cause landslides.
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Cowboy Hat

US: North Texans assess damage after biggest storms in years

Marty Sabota & Mitch Mitchell
Star Telegram
Tue, 24 May 2011 20:30 UTC
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© Star-Telegram/Rodger MallisonA storm moving across northern Tarrant County creates a dramatic sky over Highway 121 and Northeast Loop 820, Tuesday, May 24, 2011.
Reports of large hail, damaging winds and minor to moderate structural damage were trickling into the National Weather Service Fort Worth office early this morning after three rounds of storms swept through North Texas on Tuesday night.

At least one tornado was spotted in Denton, and 70 mph wind gusts were recorded in the Loop 820 and U.S. 377 area, while Arlington spotters reported wind gusts of up to 75 mph.

Penny- to softball-size hailstones rained down on Tarrant County from east of Eagle Mountain Lake to the Bedford area, the weather service reported.

No injuries have been reported in Tarrant County, but The Dallas Morning News reported this morning that a man had been found dead next to a pile of debris at an Oak Cliff apartment complex.

There was extensive damage to residences in Saginaw, and roof shingles and trees were reported blown down at an apartment complex five miles north of Lake Worth, according to a weather service employee.
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People

EU: Will volcano cause a repeat of travel chaos?

Barry Neild
CNN
Tue, 24 May 2011 10:48 UTC
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© AFP/GettyA cloud of smoke and ash is seen over the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland on Saturday, May 21.
Icelandic volcano ash is affecting flights in European airspace, but authorities say it is unlikely to cause the same levels of disruption triggered by a similar eruption last year.

So what are the main differences between the two volcanic ash clouds and to what extent will travel plans be hit?

Who has been affected so far? Icelandic airspace was closed over the weekend. By early Tuesday, several hundreds flights from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland had been canceled with British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Loganair, Flybe and KLM among operators grounding jets.

Meteorologist have warned prevailing winds are blowing the ash cloud towards London's Heathrow airport, potentially closing airspace above Europe's busiest air hub. Officials say there is a strong possibility some Scandinavian airports may also be affected.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Joplin Hit Again with Severe Weather; Death Toll Still Rising

Eric Reese
AccuWeather.com
Wed, 25 May 2011 10:15 UTC
The Joplin, Mo., tornado now ranks among the ten deadliest tornadoes of all time.

At least 17 people have been pulled from the rubble safely and there's no telling how many more are still buried.

On Tuesday evening, the area was again threatened with severe weather. A tornado warning was issued for a time in Joplin and surrounding areas. The storm-ravaged town avoided another direct hit, as the supercell moved north of Joplin.

However, powerful thunderstorms roared through the city through the night.

As of early Wednesday morning, the death toll stood at 124, although search and rescue teams are holding out hope that they can find more survivors.

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Cloud Lightning

US: Video Update: Joplin - 7 miles of pure Hell


MSNBC
Tue, 24 May 2011 22:00 UTC
In the following, the newspersons says "1/3 of the city is gone". ...

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Cloud Lightning

US: Monster tornadoes rip through Oklahoma, demolish houses, cars


MSNBC
Tue, 24 May 2011 21:00 UTC
At least 6 people dead in two states, numerous injuries; extensive damage reported

Oklahoma City - A system of violent thunderstorms roared across the nation's midsection on Tuesday, killing six people in two states, with several tornadoes touching down in Oklahoma and high winds pounding Kansas and Texas.

The high-powered storms arrived as forecast, just two days after a massive tornado tore through the southwest Missouri town of Joplin and killed 122 people.

Powerful tornadoes obliterated houses, splintered trees and tossed cars off highways in Oklahoma. At least four people were killed and numerous others injured.

Television footage in the aftermath of the storms showed remnants of homes and buildings strewn across roads and fields. One car wound up wrapped around a tree.

Rescue crews were frantically searching for a 3-year-old child reported missing in the rubble of a home in Piedmont, a suburban area northwest of Oklahoma City. The child's mother and two other children were injured and taken to the hospital after trying to ride the storm out in a bathtub, NBC station KFOR TV reported.

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Cloud Lightning

US: Another deadly outbreak as tornadoes rip through Oklahoma City


AccuWeather.com
Tue, 24 May 2011 20:37 UTC
Tornado North Dallas
The risk of tornadoes with Joplin between the highest risks through Wednesday.
Tornadoes will continue into tonight across parts of eastern Oklahoma and northern Texas as the deadly outbreak continues. At least 4 people have been killed by tornadoes and many more are missing as the tornadoes ripped through central Oklahoma. The suburbs of Oklahoma city were hit hard by tornadoes that have been estimated to be EF4. Damage from local TV stations show all that is left of homes is the foundations.
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Info

Iceland volcano: Air passenger rights


BBC
Tue, 24 May 2011 20:34 UTC
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The eruption has led to some disruption with the picture changing regularly
The latest volcanic eruption in Iceland has caused a number of flight cancellations with the threat of further disruption if the ash cloud spreads into the UK and, possibly, other parts of Europe.

So what the rights of those passengers who may be forced to cancel holidays?
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Attention

Iceland Ash Cloud Reaches Scandinavia


Channel News Asia
Tue, 24 May 2011 21:32 UTC
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© Agence France-Presse / Sigurlaug LinnetA cloud of smoke and ash is seen over the Grimsvoetn volcano on Iceland on May 21, 2011.
Ash from Iceland's erupting volcano reached Scandinavia Tuesday causing minor air traffic disruptions in Norway and closing a small part of Denmark's airspace, officials said.

On Tuesday morning, the ash blew in over Norway's southwestern towns of Karmoey and Stavanger before blowing back out to sea, the country's airport operator Avinor said.

In Denmark, a small zone of airspace in the northwest over the North Sea was closed from 0600 to 1200 GMT but has no real impact on air traffic, said Jan Eliassen, a spokesman for Danish air traffic control Naviair.

"According to the last estimates, the ash is of such a density that we thought it necessary to close a small part of Danish airspace over the North Sea, but it will not affect (air) traffic," he said.

The closure was up to an altitude of 6,000 metres (nearly 20,000 feet), and Eliassen explained that most aircraft in the region fly above that altitude.
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