Earth ChangesS

Cloud Lightning

Storm rips Kuwait, 3 killed

Kuwait Friday was hit by a sandstorm that blew at 56 km/hr from the East and the Southeast of Kuwait, causing showers at a couple of places in the country, says Musaed Al-Hammad, Head of Mirzam Observatory. He was talking to the Arab Times soon after studying the recordings of the weather conditions from his observatory. The visibility during the storm in the desert was zero, about a kilometer in the city and 4 km in Wafra. The unexpected storm uprooted trees, damaged minor structures in different parts of Kuwait and flooded the Gulf Road. All shipping movement at Kuwaiti ports was stopped. The Sharq area was also flooded.

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Engineers Opens Dam Spillway to Relieve Flood Water in Arkansas

Little Rock - Engineers cracked open spillways Saturday at Bull Shoals Lake, allowing excess water brimming near the rim of the dam to rush down the White River to communities already flooded by weeks of rain.

Meanwhile, two people drowned Friday in Yell County when their pickup truck left water-covered Arkansas 28 and sank over the top of its cab in floodwaters next to the highway, the sheriff's office said.

Life Preserver

New York's Black River expected to hit flood level



Black River
©COLLEEN WHITE / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES
The Black River is running high and fast, as seen from the fishing access point in Glen Park Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey has issued a flood watch through Sunday.

Less than four inches from cresting its banks, the Black River is expected to exceed its 10-foot flood stage tonight or early Sunday morning.

"Those living near the Black River should be prepared to take action should flooding develop," a U.S. Geological Survey release circulated Friday states.

Umbrella

U.S.: Wisconsin Region's waterways near flood stages

Officials are keeping an eye on water levels as heavy rains have pummeled Northeastern Wisconsin over the last two days.

There was no flooding in the Green Bay area, but National Weather Service officials said they were watching the situation carefully, particularly Duck Creek in Howard. A flood warning was issued for the Oconto River in Oconto County, where river levels were at 9.1 feet, slightly above the flood stage of 9 feet.

Life Preserver

U.S.: Vermont Flood worries rising

Brattleboro, Vermont -- Rain and warm temperatures expected this weekend, combined with continuing snowmelt, are raising water levels and flood worries in southern Vermont.

The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., issued a flood watch Friday for southern Vermont, in effect through this afternoon. A flood watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts. Forecasters are expecting between a half inch to an inch of rain Friday and today, which may cause some rivers minor flooding. Rain is also in the forecast for Sunday and Monday.

Mark Bosma, a spokesman for Vermont Emergency Management, said if there was flooding it is likely to be minor, but it is impossible to know for certain.

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Texas Storm caused about $25 million in damage

The early-morning storm that pounded North Texas on Thursday caused about $25 million in damage in Johnson County where a tornado skipped along a 4-mile stretch west of Lillian, officials said Friday.

Six homes and two businesses were destroyed, 22 homes were significantly damaged, and 18 had minor damage, emergency management coordinator Gerald Mohr said.

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Overnight rain closes roads, schools in Oklahoma

Wainwright - At 4:30 a.m., a long 2-by-4 inch board plunged through the roof of Jose Lopez's house, stopping only when it hit the mattress near Jose Lopez, Jr.

The Wednesday-morning storm already had awakened members of the family with a "weird" high-pitched whistling wind.

Umbrella

Storm Causes Ruckus, Flooding

Bentonville, Arkansas - Benton County officials hadn't tallied all the damage from March flooding when the new storms moved through Thursday.

"Each time this happens, the roads get more damage and bridges are undermined," said Mike Dixon, county Department of Emergency Management deputy director.

Fish

"Unprecedented Collapse" of Salmon Stocks: Fishery Council Closes Fishing Off Oregon and California

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) at its meeting in Seattle on Thursday, April 10, voted to close recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the coast of California and most of Oregon this year.

The only exception to the closure will be a selective recreational fishery for coho salmon in Oregon, according to Dan Wolford, PFMC member and Coastside Fishing Club science director. The fishery closure will extend from Cape Falcon in northern Oregon to the US-Mexico border.

This complete closure of fishing for chinook salmon will be the first since commercial fishing began in California in 1848. The decision was made because of the "unprecedented collapse" of Central Valley salmon stocks. The Sacramento River fall chinook population, until recently the most robust West Coast salmon run, was the driver of West Coast salmon fisheries.

As recently as 2002, 775,000 adults returned to spawn. This year, even with all ocean salmon fishing closures, the return of fall run chinook to the Sacramento is projected to be only 54,000 fish.

Comment: From the article:
The reason for the sudden collapse of the Sacramento fall Chinook stock is not readily apparent, although both natural and hatchery-produced fish have been similarly affected. However, it is clear that overfishing did not cause the depressed condition, as the parent spawning populations were all above the goal. The National Marine Fisheries Service has suggested ocean temperature changes, and a resulting lack of upwelling, as a possible cause of the sudden decline. Many biologists believe a combination of human-caused and natural factors will ultimately explain the collapse, including both marine conditions and freshwater factors such as in-stream water withdrawals, habitat alterations, dam operations, construction, pollution, and changes in hatchery operations.
In other words: They don't know why the salmon stocks have collapsed. We should add salmon to the list of species mysteriously dying. So far we have bees, bats and frogs.


Attention

Land grab on a global scale

Among the English-speaking settler societies -- U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand -- an irrational but powerful myth still prevails. It drove "manifest destiny" and is still alive and well, if usually unconscious.

Divinely inspired colonists wrested lands occupied by native peoples and bestowed the mixed blessings of civilization on them. The rationalization for dispossession then -- and now -- was that these "primitive" peoples were not making productive use of their lands. What they did not know, and still do not, is that they took over lands that were largely shaped and maintained by indigenous peoples through extensive and intensive land care practices that enabled them to not only survive but also thrive.