Earth ChangesS

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Floods, landslides kill at least 25 in India


RIA Novosti
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:47 UTC
Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 25 people in northeast India, national media reported on Monday.

Unexpectedly heavy rains began lashing the area on Thursday, nearly two weeks ahead of the normal monsoon season, which usually covers the country from early July to September.

The first wave of floods hit the northeastern state of Assam, cutting off road and rail links. Six people who tried to cross a swollen river on bamboo rafts drowned.

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Arrow Up

Food prices to soar on back of devastating US floods

Michael Rowland
ABC News (Australia)
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:07 UTC
An expanding drought in Australia's grain belt has already been blamed for contributing to a world food crisis, and now floods in the US midwest, which have devastated the corn crop, are adding to the misery.
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Bizarro Earth

500 Year Flood Submerges Iowa


Environment News Service
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:58 UTC
DES MOINES - "Nearly one third of Iowa is already under water and water levels continue to rise," said U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, urging federal financial assistance for his state. Waters are still rising in many parts of the state and the president responded.
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Cloud Lightning

Climate change 'to affect coral fish'


The Age
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00 UTC
Scientists say coral fish could suffer from climate change just as much as the reefs they live in.

Over 400,000 species of fish live in or around coral reefs and the lives of many of them depended on the health of corals, said Dr Philip Munday from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, based at James Cook University in Townsville.
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Cloud Lightning

Hundreds ordered to flee homes in Iowa City


Associated Press
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:25 UTC
IOWA CITY - A week's work of frantic sandbagging by students, professors and the National Guard couldn't spare this bucolic college town from the surging Iowa River, which has swamped more than a dozen campus buildings and forced the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of nearby homes.

The swollen river, which bisects this city of about 60,000 residents, was topping out at about 31.5 feet - a foot and a half below earlier predictions. But it still posed a lingering threat, and wasn't expected to begin receding until Monday night.
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Cloud Lightning

Pennsylvania, US: Teen struck by lightning identified


The Morning Call
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:49 UTC
A 17-year old male was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning Saturday while swimming with friends at Gouldsboro State Beach, according to state police at Swiftwater.

Police identified the victim as Thomas Golden of Olyphant, Lackawanna County.
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Cloud Lightning

New York, US: Five people survive lightning strikes; 13,000 lose power in storm


Daily Freeman
Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:43 UTC
Four people escaped serious injury when they apparently were stuck by lightning late Saturday afternoon on the grounds of the Mohonk Mountain House during a severe thunderstorm.

The same storm knocked out power to about 13,000 Central Hudson customers.

A woman also reportedly was struck by lightning at the Rondout Valley Campground in the Kerhonkson-Accord area, and she, too, appeared to not be badly hurt.

At Mohonk, which is on Mountain Rest Road in New Paltz, three adults and a child were hiking on the grounds when the storm rolled in about 5:45 p.m., according to Jackie Appledorn, the resort's general manager.

Appledorn told The Associated Press that all four had their feet in water - though not the property's main lake - when lightning struck, causing all of them to get an electrical charge. The four were conscious and seemingly not badly hurt when they got back to Mohonk's main building, Appledorn told the AP.
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Attention

Norway may seek help to fight forest blaze

Wojciech Moskwa
Reuters
Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:42 UTC
Oslo - Norway may seek foreign help to extinguish its biggest forest fire since World War Two, which has been raging for five days, the government said on Friday.

The Justice Ministry said it would check whether helicopters or special planes to drop water on the blaze were available across the Nordic region or elsewhere in the European Union, of which Norway is not a member.
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Cloud Lightning

Floods kill 5, leave thousands homeless in Mexico

Anahi Rama
Reuters
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:38 UTC
Mexico City - Floods in central and southern Mexico killed five people including a 4-year-old girl and a U.S. tourist, rescue workers said on Wednesday.

Around 7,000 people were evacuated in the southern state of Oaxaca, where the U.S. tourist drowned in fierce waves off a Pacific coast beach, a state civil protection official said.
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Cloud Lightning

New Jersey, US: 4 escape serious injury in lightning strike


Associated Press
Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:36 UTC
A family of four apparently escaped serious injury when lightning struck near them on Saturday night, knocking all four to the ground.

The victims were among those who were at Walters Park in Phillipsburg for a Little League all-star baseball game, which was stopped when severe weather moved in around 8 p.m. Witnesses said one of the boys had played in the game, and the family was headed to their car when the incident occurred.
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