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US: Perfect Storm Along Missouri River Puts Army Corps Policies in Cross Hairs

Paul Quinlan
Environment & Energy Publishing
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Unknown
As the engorged Missouri River swamps towns and threatens to burst a backup levee in Hamburg, Mo., lawmakers are calling for a review of the Army Corps of Engineers' flood-control plans.

With record snowmelt and rainfall threatening to create the second major U.S. flood disaster in as many months, the Army Corps is scrambling to drain six massive reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas. The corps is releasing water more than twice as fast as has ever been attempted since the reservoirs were built some 50 years ago.

The disaster is caused by record snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains, which experienced snowpack of more than 140 percent of average this year, and historic rainfall totals that are funneling more water into the Missouri River than has been seen since record-keeping began in the 1890s.

"We've described it as a perfect storm," said Jody Farhat, who oversees water management in the basin for the Army Corps' Omaha District.

For more than a century, Farhat said the system has always demonstrated the capacity to absorb what weather surprises nature dealt. Not this year.
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Hourglass

Floods, lightning kill 8 as heavy rains hit China

Louise Watt
Associated Press
Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:41 UTC
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© Associated PressA Chinese man pushes a makeshift drum raft while a child sit on it in a flooded street in Xianing city in central China's Hubei province on Wednesday, June 15, 2011.
Beijing - Floods and lightning killed at least eight people as heavy rains pounded southern China, destroying homes and blocking roads, official media said Saturday.

Flooding from this month's seasonal rains has already forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and left more than 170 dead or missing.

Two people died in the southern province of Guizhou after being struck by lightning, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Two others died after being washed away by floods Friday evening. Xinhua said four other people died but did not provide details.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said Friday that flooding and rains have killed 25 people, left 25 missing and forced about 671,200 from their homes since Monday.

Xinhua did not say whether the most recent fatalities were included in the 25.

The torrential rains are forecast to continue through the weekend.

Landslides crushed parts of a railway line in southwestern China on Thursday evening, stranding 5,000 passengers on four trains, railway officials said.

About 1,200 workers are continuing to clear tracks and make repairs along the Chengdu-Kunming railway line, which links the capitals of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, Xinhua said.
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Better Earth

US: Platte River floods still threaten; half of record snow pack has yet to melt

Algis Laukaitis
Journal Star
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:00 UTC
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© Christine Peterson/Casper Star-TribuneRecord snowfall in the mountains above the Missouri and Platte rivers has contributed to flooding along both rivers. With the official start of summer only days away, much of the snow has yet to melt. Highway 130 in the Snowy Range between Laramie and Saratoga in southern Wyoming didn't open until June 10, two weeks later than scheduled. This photo was taken Monday, June 13, 2011.
While most attention remains on the Missouri River, the Platte River -- even though it's been dropping lately -- still is a flood threat in Nebraska.

Half of the record snowpack in the upper basin of the Colorado and Wyoming mountains has melted and flowed into Seminoe Reservoir, said John Lawson, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's manager for the Wyoming area.

Seminoe is the first of seven bureau reservoirs that capture and store runoff from the mountains, mainly for irrigation. That water eventually flows into Nebraska, via the North Platte River, and is stored at Lake McConaughy near Ogallala.

Lawson said the snowpack hasn't been this heavy since 1909 and 1917. The bureau believes this year's runoff will match or exceed those two years, Lawson said.
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Bizarro Earth

Chile volcano ash circles globe, returns home


Associated Press
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:30 UTC
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© Federico Grosso/APA boat covered by volcanic ash sits docked on the bank of Nahuel Lake on Thursday in southern Argentina.
Santiago, Chile - The ash cloud from a Chilean volcano that has been erupting for nearly two weeks has circled the globe and come home again.

The cloud - which has disrupted flights in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand on its around-the-world trip - on Friday forced Chilean officials to cancel domestic flights for the first time since the Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting June 4.

LAN airlines suspended flights to the cities of Puerto Montt, Coyhaique and Punta Arenas in the far south of the South American country. While ash from Cordon Caulle has wreaked havoc with air travel abroad, it had left Chile's internal flights largely untouched until Friday.

"The tip of the cloud that has traveled around the world is more or less in front of Coyhaique," said Civil Aviation Office chief Pablo Ortega. Coyhaique is 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of the volcano.
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Cloud Lightning

Alabama, US: 4 Tornado Tracks Added in Marshall County by Weather Service

Paul Gattis
AL.com/The Huntsville Times
Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:37 UTC
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© The Huntsville Times/Paul GattisAlred Marina on Lake Guntersville was damaged in an April 27 tornado track added Thursday by the National Weather Service.
Huntsville - The historic wave of tornadoes that struck the state on April 27 grew in number yet again on Thursday.

The National Weather Service office in Huntsville added four new tornado tracks, all in Marshall County, to raise the total to 37 separate tornadoes in North Alabama.

The Huntsville office on Friday also upgraded the deadly EF-4 that struck DeKalb County, raising the estimates to an EF-5. That's the most powerful level on the Enhanced Fujita scale, indicating winds exceeding 200 mph. The only other EF-5 on April 27 ran along the ground from Hackleburg to Madison County.

The National Weather Service office in Birmingham has also identified 30 tornadoes on April 27. Six of those tornadoes continued into North Alabama and were surveyed by both offices.
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Cloud Lightning

North Carolina, US: Strong Storm in Cape Fear Region Stirs Tornado Fears


The Fayetteville Observer
Sun, 19 Jun 2011 06:29 UTC
Residents grew nervous Saturday evening when strong winds blew through the region, bringing bad memories of the April 16 tornado.

The National Weather Service in Raleigh said the storms contained no rotational activity, just heavy winds gusting between 21 and 59 miles per hour.

No serious damage was reported, but at least 1,574 residents in Cumberland County lost power, according to Progress Energy's website.

The dark skies and swaying trees frightened many residents still shaken from the April 16 tornado.

That storm killed one person, wrecked 945 homes and caused more than $100 million in damage in the county.

On the Fayetteville Observer's Facebook page, some residents in neighborhoods heavily damaged by the tornado expressed their fear.
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Cloud Lightning

New Zealand: New Plymouth Rocked by Tornado Terror


TVNZ News
Sun, 19 Jun 2011 05:02 UTC
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© Mat Henderson
Houses were moved off their foundations and residents feared for their lives as tornadoes ripped through New Plymouth early today.

The Fire Service has confirmed there were two tornadoes, and a possible third. They went through the city at about 4:20am.

One hit the city centre, causing substantial damage to businesses. The other hit a hotel and St Mary's Church Hall on Vivian St, a few blocks from the CBD, breaking roof tiles and ripping up a tree.

Canon pastor Bill Marsh said he was thankful the damage was all repairable.

The Fire Service said there may have been another tornado in the nearby town of Bell Block, where there has been more damage to buildings.

Emergency services have been inspecting damage around the city, and say business owners in the affected area should also check their properties.
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Binoculars

Air Travel Disruptions from Chilean Volcano Spread to South Pacific

Charles Alcock and Gregory Polek
Aviation International News
Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:50 UTC
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© UnknownThe impact on air transport of the recent eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano range was relatively limited early last week, but by the weekend its effects spread across the southern hemisphere to Australia and New Zealand.
The impact on air transport of the recent eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano range was relatively limited early last week, but by the weekend its effects spread across the southern hemisphere to Australia and New Zealand.

The impact on air transport of the recent eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano range was relatively limited early last week, but by the weekend its effects spread across the southern hemisphere to Australia and New Zealand.

Disruption to air traffic in South America caused by the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle range of volcanoes in Chile spread to Australia and New Zealand over the weekend, after shifting winds had initially allowed flight activity to return to normal throughout most of South America within four days of the June 4 eruptions in an area 500 miles south of the capital Santiago.
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Binoculars

Passengers Stranded as Chilean Volcano Continues to Cause Flight Disruptions


Voice of America
Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:40 UTC
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© ReutersA view is seen of a cloud of ash from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near sunset at the mountain resort San Martin de Los Andes in Argentina's Patagonia June 12, 2011.
A cloud of ash from an erupting volcano in southern Chile has - for a third day, Tuesday - disrupted air travel in South America, Australia and New Zealand, causing widespread delays. More than 60,000 passengers have been stranded.

While flights in some areas have resumed, including Melbourne, planes to and from New Zealand and Adelaide, Australia remain grounded Tuesday.

The volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain in Chile has been erupting for several days, putting South American air travel into chaos as it spews ash high into the atmosphere, spreading eastward around the globe until reaching Australia, New Zealand and beyond in the Pacific.

In addition to Argentina and Chile, flights have been disrupted in the South American countries of Brazil and Uruguay.
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Binoculars

Eritrea Volcano Disrupts East Africa Air Travel

Peter Heinlein & Addis Ababa
Voice of America
Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:32 UTC
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© Agence France-PresseA natural-color image released by NASA shows plumes billowing from Nabro volcano in Eritrea on June 13, 2011
A volcanic eruption in Eritrea has sent a plume of ash across the Horn of Africa, disrupting airline schedules and sparking health concerns.

Satellite photos show a column of ash rising from the long-dormant Nabro volcano in far southeastern Eritrea, near its border with Ethiopia and the city-state of Djibouti. The eruption is also about 100 kilometers from the coast of Yemen, just across the mouth of the Red Sea.

A photo posted on the website earthobservatory.nasa.gov shows the ash plume spreading westward toward Sudan.

The ash cloud prompted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to cut short a visit to Ethiopia, where she addressed the African Union Monday. It has also disrupted commercial aviation. Several major airlines cancelled flights to destinations in the region.
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