Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

US: Red River Crests at Grand Forks; Snow Falls

Grand Forks
© Reuters / Eric ThayerA roadside sign is seen with its base submerged near Great Bend, North Dakota April 12, 2011. The Red River was spreading out in a record swath across broad stretches of rural North Dakota and Minnesota on Tuesday and swelling toward a near-record crest in Grand Forks expected within three days.
The swollen Red River crested at the third highest level on record at Grand Forks, and flood conditions were complicated by forecasts for snow and freezing temperatures, forecasters said on Friday.

The Red River reached a preliminary crest at 49.87 feet on Thursday at Grand Forks and continues to spread out across regions north of the city, reaching eight miles wide or more at Oslo, Minnesota, which has become an island amid the swells, the National Weather Service said on Friday.

The Red River forms the North Dakota-Minnesota border, flowing north into Canada. A tributary system stretching from southern Canada and South Dakota feeds into the main Red River as it reaches toward Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.

"We will be dealing with flood issues throughout April and well into May," said Greg Gust, a U.S. National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist. "It will be a long time before we push the last of the flood waters across the Canadian border."

At just under 50 feet, the Red River crest at Grand Forks was the third highest on record and three of four bridges are expected to stay closed at least well into next week.

Hardhat

New Zealand: Big aftershock rocks Christchurch

Christchurch
© Getty Images: Martin HunterDamage seen from the devastating earthquake in February, which followed a quake last September
Power has been fully restored to about 20,000 homes and business after a 5.2-magnitude aftershock rocked quake-devastated Christchurch.

New Zealand's second largest city remains devastated following a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in February which claimed 181 lives, and followed a stronger, but less destructive 7.1 quake last September.

The latest tremor hit at 5:49pm (local time) and was centred 16 kilometres west of the city at a depth of nine kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

Cloud Lightning

Tornadoes, Storms Kill 19 in United States

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© WRALRaleigh, N.C. was hit by a tornado that caused substantial damage.
Two days of violent weather and tornadoes killed 19 people and left others homeless as storms ripped across the southern United States, officials said.

The National Weather Service said more than 100 twisters were spotted through the region, CNN reported.

North Carolina was hit by severe storms Saturday afternoon with Wilmington's WWAY-TV reporting two people were killed in Bladen County. The TV station said law enforcement confirmed one person was dead in Ammon and a civilian report by amateur radio said one person was killed in a car wreck due to wind on state Highway 242 between Elizabethtown and Bladenboro.

The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., reported the city was hit by a tornado that caused substantial damage. The newspaper said the storm system downed power lines, toppled trees and damaged buildings in the Triangle region.

A Progress Energy spokesman said at least 70,000 customers were without power.

"It's really bad," Raleigh Fire Department Lt. Adam Stanley said.

Cloud Lightning

Canada: Manitoba Flood Reaching "Unprecedented" Levels

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© CTV.ca NewsA truck creates a huge splash as it drives on a flooded road near Melita, Man.
Officials in Manitoba say that this year's flooding is now covering an "unprecedented" area of the province, with 20 areas now under a state of emergency.

Flood waters have spread across the province, overtaken roads, tested dikes and threatened to shut down businesses in the area completely.

Both the Red and Assiniboine Rivers are expected to rise by more than a foot on Saturday after an ice jam backed up water flow.

Officials in Winnipeg say rivers could see a dramatic rise to the 20-foot mark by the end of the day, but are expected to drop down on Sunday as the ice jam clears.

The rise was not expected to threaten Winnipeg's flood preparations and city officials halting sandbagging operations over the weekend. Officials said they would be monitoring water levels for any sudden changes.

Cloud Lightning

US: Storms Cause Flooding On Way East

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© WCNC.com PhotoPolice in Boone report the parking lot at the Boone Mall, next to Kraut Creek, is flooded.
The immediate Charlotte area is in the clear for severe weather, but big problems were expected this afternoon to the east, where meteorologists are predicting the possibility of a major tornado outbreak.

Earlier Saturday, rescue crews worked in Caldwell County to help campers trapped by flood waters this morning.

A line of gusty thunderstorms raced through Charlotte at midday, and the storms intensified as they moved east.

Authorities in Rowan County report trees and power lines down, and there are reports that strong winds damaged several houses in the Farrington Meadows area along Old Mocksville Road, north of Salisbury. A funnel cloud was spotted in Davie County, but there is no report of a tornado touching down.

A tornado warning was issued for parts of Union, Anson and Stanly counties after the storms moved east of Charlotte, but there are no immediate reports of damage.

Bell

Cuba Faces Its Worst Drought for 50 Years

Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century, with tens of thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for essential supplies.
Cuba drought
© ReutersThe BBC's Michael Voss asked people in Havana how they were coping

The drought started two years ago, and reservoirs are now down to a fifth of their normal levels.

The government is providing road deliveries of water to more than 100,000 people in the worst affected areas of the capital, Havana.

The situation in Havana is compounded by a pipe network in poor condition.

The state-run newspaper Granma says up to 70% of water pipes supplying the capital are leaking and in urgent need of repair, the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says.

Bizarro Earth

Australia: Earthquake Magnitude 5.2 hits Queensland

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© USGS
An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted Queensland, Australia at 05:31:19 GMT on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.00 km, was initially determined to be at 20.0339 degrees south latitude and 147.6587 degrees east longitude.

Bizarro Earth

Yellowstone Supervolcano, by the Numbers

[Removed at request of author]

Bizarro Earth

Flashback Large crack in the ground appears in the Michigan Upper Peninsula

I took a drive to see another YouTube friend today and to take a look at a huge crack opening up here in my neck of the woods. Neat stuff...


Comment: Sott.net has picked up a few more incidents of the ground opening up since this report was made:

February 25: Large Crack Opens in the Earth in Southern Peru

March 7: Pakistan: Giant Fissure / Crack Opens in the Ground in Seagi Gulistan

March 18: Everett, Washington: Land Crack Appears, Neighborhood is Sinking


Cloud Lightning

US: Death Toll From Severe Storms Rises to 17

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© AP Photo/Sue OgrockiA vehicle rests on a tree after an overnight tornado in Tushka, Okla., Friday, April 15, 2011.
Boone's Chapel, Alabama - Vicious storms and howling winds smacked the Deep South, killing at least seven people in Alabama including three family members whose homes were tossed into nearby woods.

In Alabama's Washington County, about 50 miles north of Mobile, a mother and her two children were among those killed, said state emergency management agency director Art Faulkner. One person was reported dead in Mississippi's Greene County.

Combined with earlier reported fatalities in Arkansas and Oklahoma, the confirmed death toll had risen to 17 by early Saturday - the nation's deadliest storm of the season.

Henley Hollon said Saturday that his 65-year-old brother, Willard Hollon, lived across the street from him in the Boone's Chapel community about 25 miles from Montgomery. Henley Hollon said Willard Hollon and Willard's two adult children, Steve and Cheryl, were killed when the storms roared through.