Haitian authorities have resorted to burying the dead in mass graves in the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Matthew, which has killed at least 1,000 people on the island, Reuters reports. Cholera outbreaks have contributed to the dire situation.
The small Caribbean nation, which shares an island with Dominican Republic, has been struggling to deal with the aftermath of the powerful storm that uprooted trees and destroyed houses. Hundreds of people were killed in structure collapse and flooding, with winds blowing at up to 230 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour).
An earthquake measuring 6.2 Richter scale jolted eastern parts of Indonesia on Sunday evening, but was not potential for tsunami, the meteorology and geophysics agency said.
The quake hit at 21 : 46 p.m. Jakarta time (1446 GMT) with epicenter at 52 km northwest Halmahera of Maluku Utara province, and depth at 117 km under sea bed, an official of the agency told Xinhua by phone.
Indonesia sits on a quake-hit zone so called the "Pacific Ring of Fire," making it vulnerable to quakes.
In a report issued late yesterday, Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) said that 3 people have been killed by floods in Nakornsawan province. Wide areas of farmland have been submerged and 27,000 houses inundated.
Flooding is affecting a total of 14 provinces across the country as the rainy season comes to a peak. Many areas have reported persistent heavy rain over the last 2 weeks.
River levels are high and the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has said it will need to make controlled releases of water from several dams.
Ayutthaya province in particular is seeing some severe flooding, with around 22,000 homes inundated as well as a number of important historical buildings and temples.
People on the foothills of Mount Aso in Japan are cleaning up after a volcanic eruption rained tons of ash down on their homes and streets.
In the aftermath of the eruption, the Japanese Meteorological Agency warned that a second one could follow. No one has reportedly been injured however the volcanic alert has been raised to Level 3, which cautions against approaching the volcano.
Footage showed flames bursting from several sources on the mountaintop as the volcano belched thick ash into the sky.
Dire predictions that the Arctic would be devoid of sea ice by September this year have proven to be unfounded after latest satellite images showed there is far more now than in 2012.
Scientists such as Prof Peter Wadhams, of Cambridge University, and Prof Wieslaw Maslowski, of the Naval Postgraduate School in Moderey, California, have regularly forecast the loss of ice by 2016, which has been widely reported by the BBC and other media outlets.
Prof Wadhams, a leading expert on Arctic sea ice loss, has recently published a book entitled A Farewell To Ice in which he repeats the assertion that the polar region would free of ice in the middle of this decade.
As late as this summer, he was still predicting an ice-free September.
Yet, when figures were released for the yearly minimum on September 10, they showed that there was still 1.6 million square miles of sea ice (4.14 square kilometres), which was 21 per cent more than the lowest point in 2012.
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If you thought it was unseasonably cold in Perth this month, you weren't mistaken.
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed what everyone in the city was thinking this month - that it was much colder than usual for this time of year.
It was the coldest September since records started in Mount Lawley - where the city's weather station is based - with temperatures reaching an average of just 18.5 degrees Celsius.
Records have been held at the station since 1994.
The temperature is almost three degrees colder than the usual average temperature of 20.4C.
Overnight, an extra blanket was a must with the average temperature just 7.6C - two degrees colder than usual.
At Perth Airport, where records stretch back decades, overnight temperatures haven't been this cold in September since 1944.
State wildlife officials are investigating reports of dead birds found near the mouth of Weeks Bay.
The dead birds, including seagulls, brown pelicans and great blue herons, are located near the boat launch at the end of County Road 1. We counted 17 dead birds at that location Wednesday.
Locals that fish here aren't sure what's happening and are concerned. Some have formed their own theories including illegal shootings, deadly bacteria in Weeks Bay and electrocution from overhead power lines.
A state wildlife spokesperson says they don't know the cause of death but will investigate. Until wildlife experts get a chance to study, research and document, the bird deaths will remain a mystery.
Hurricane Matthew has flooded parts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina over the last 3 days after bringing torrential rain and storm surges, as well as high winds.
At least 11 people have died in the USA as a result of the storm. Governor Pat McCrory said that 3 people have died in North Carolina. Local officials in Georgia confirmed three deaths. At least five fatalities in Florida have been attributed to the storm.
Matthew is the most powerful storm to make US landfall in more than a decade. The storm made landfall Saturday morning near McClellanville, South Carolina, as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 120 km/h.
Florida
However, on Friday 07 October, the edges of Hurricane Matthew drenched Florida with heavy rain and flooded coastal areas with high waves and storm surge. The heavy rain prompted the National Weather Service to issue a warning for parts of Nassau County.
"We are seeing impacts right now from St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach. Unfortunately, this is going to continue through the night," Gov. Rick Scott said on Friday.
"Just because the center of circulation is offshore doesn't mean you can't be the center of action (along the coast)," National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb said. "It's going to get a lot worse before it (has) a chance of getting better."
Mystery creates wonder, and wonder is the basis for man's desire to understand. Who knows what mysteries will be solved in our lifetime, and what new riddles will become the challenge of the new generations.
- John Keel
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“Palestine For The Jews. Official Sympathy” London Times 9th November 1917
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