Earth Changes
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials fatally shot a 12-foot alligator that was found near a swimmer's dead body
Park visitors said they weren't deterred by what the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wednesday was the first fatality from an alligator attack since 2007.
Jennifer Burroughs, 30, visiting with her family from Melbourne, said the news scared her at first. But she had already booked a cabin and spent money to make the visit happen.
"We booked it, we're doing it, we're committed," she said as she was loading her small children into an inflatable ring. "I feel like I'm going to be on the lookout now. I know what happened, so I'm going to be looking out."
Questions into the specific circumstances of 61-year-old James Okkerse's death linger as officials remained closed-mouthed about what park officials did or did not do leading up to the tragedy. The day before, visitors reported two sightings of the 12-foot alligator linked to his death. The alligator was later shot and killed.
Thousands of fish were found dead in Lake Ivanhoe in Orlando, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015.
Frank Hilgenberg, who lives near the lake, reached out to us, concerned about what he saw Thursday morning.
"I could smell it when I walked around the corner, because I'm upwind, and I thought, 'Hmm,'" Hilgenberg said. "I saw guys digging around, and as I got closer I realized there's, like, eight or 10 of them, and they're all netting out, unfortunately, the dead fish."
Officials from the city of Orlando and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they are working to determine what killed the fish.
© Chaya Schulman
A 20-year-old man was critically injured after a wall collapsed on a construction site in Pardes Hana. He was transferred to Hillel Yafeh hospital in Hadera, where he was confirmed dead. "We found an unconscious young man under a pile of cinder blocks, without a pulse and not breathing," Yehuda Haim, an MDA paramedic at the scene, stated to Channel 2.
Dozens injured
A 20 year-old woman was injured late Sunday morning in Hadera after a tree fell on a public bus. She was transported to Hillel Yafeh hospital in serious condition.
In the Samaria community of Har Bracha, a 17 year-old suffered from head trauma after a tent collapsed due to high winds. MDA medics treated him at the scene and transported him to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva. A 20 year-old woman at the site also suffered light injuries, but was treated at the scene.
Several crane accidents at building sites in the Central Israel and Sharon areas have been reported. Two specific incidents - a crane crash near Tel Aviv's Azrieli towers, and another in Netanya - have reportedly left no injuries.
In Netanya, a power line went up in flames next to a kindergarten; no injuries are reported. A large tree fell in the yard of a kindergarten in Petach Tikva; no injuries are reported.
© Fire and rescue service
Comment: Israel is really getting battered. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch!
Crane collapses onto busy Tel Aviv road as storms rage
Tel Aviv locals caught the terrifying moment a giant crane crashed down onto a busy Tel Aviv street, as the first major winter storm rages through Israel.
Miraculously, there were no reported injuries.
The footage shows the crane swaying in the gale-force winds before suddenly keeling over and bending in two, crashing onto the street below.
The sudden storm has also caused some localized flooding in central Israel, and at least one other person was critically injured when a wall at a construction site collapsed on top of him due to the extreme weather.
In Dera Ghazi Khan's suburb area Pagan, lightning claimed lives of at least two people and injured one.
Meanwhile, one youth died in Loralai's area of B and R Colony while two laborers died in Daki as lightning struck upon a coalmine.
On the other hand, lightning fell on a house in Waam Tangi area of Harnaai, near Sibbi, and killed three kids on the spot while critically injuring other three.
Women and children are among the tourists from across Pakistan and facing difficulties due to running out of supplies amidst continuous rain and snowfall.
Taking advantage of the situation, several hotel owners have also raised prices of food and accommodations.
Matiullah Khan, president of a local hotels association, however claimed that accommodations were being provided for free to the stranded tourists.
The fresh spell of snowfall had started yesterday afternoon, also trapping several vehicles on the roads.
© Google
The earthquake, which struck at 6:24 p.m. local time on Saturday, was centered about 5 kilometers southeast of Canela Baja, which is located in Choapa province. It struck about 50 kilometers deep, making it a relatively shallow earthquake, according to Chile's national seismological center (CSN).
Chile's national seismological center initially measured the earthquake at 5.2 before downgrading it to 5.0.
Residents in the region reported feeling tremors, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
ONEMI reported that there was no threat of a tsunami.
© Doral Chenoweth III/The Columbus Dispatch
This Oct. 19, 2015 photo shows one of the thousands of spiders that are living on the new Main Street bridge over the Scioto River in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State University entomologist David Shetlar estimated that up to 5,000 spiders live there.
This Oct. 19, 2015 photo shows one of the thousands of spiders that are living on the new Main Street bridge over the Scioto River in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State University entomologist David Shetlar estimated that up to 5,000 spiders live there.
Crawling. With. Spiders.
But this is no Halloween tale. The $60 million bridge that spans the Scioto River and connects Downtown to Franklinton really is infested with thousands of orb weavers spinning intricate webs up and down the hand and guardrails.
If you pay close attention during the day, you can see the sun playing off the silk strands woven round and round on nearly every open span on the steel structure.
But at night, you can really see the webs, snagging thousands of flying insects that live in and around the river. (You can tell how successful the hunters are at night by all the repair work being done during daylight.)
© Tony Gutierrez/AP
Flooding in Dallas.
Flooding in Dallas.
Remnants of storm fuel heavy rains in south-eastern US, as Houston braces for high water and freight train comes off tracks
Heavy rains fuelled by two storm systems, one of them remnants of hurricane Patricia, have pounded south-eastern Texas, triggering flash floods in Houston and derailing a freight train.
Forecasters predicted 15-30cm (6-12in) of rain for coastal areas of the US, including south-west Louisiana, by Monday morning, exacerbated by tides up to 1.5 metres high (5ft) and wind gusts of up to 35mph (56km/h).
The rain systems were intensified by the remnants of hurricane Patricia, which was downgraded to a tropical depression after crashing into Mexico's west coast.
As the storms moved east early on Sunday, cities in Texas's flood-prone Gulf of Mexico region braced for the impact. They include Houston, the state's second most populous metropolitan area with 6.1 million people.
Comment: See also: Alligator rips off woman's arm near Wekiva Island, Florida
Father, grandfather rescue boy from alligator attack at Lake Charlotte, Texas
Alligator kills man swimming at marina in Orange, Texas