Flooding in the Midwest is posing a risk of contamination to more than 1 million private wells that supply drinking water to rural areas in the region, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
The AP reported that the National Ground Water Association, a trade group, said there are 1.1 million private wells in 300 flooded counties across 10 states in the Midwest.
Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin, according to the AP.
Flooding creates the possibility that water from the flood will get into the wells and contaminate the water.
Hail as large as golf balls pelted a large swath of central Florida Wednesday morning as heavy storms battered the region.
Florida Today reported that windows were shattered, pool screens blown apart and cars damaged, while piles of ice up to two inches high covered the ground in some areas along the Space Coast in Brevard County.
"It's been a long time since Brevard has seen this," Matt Volkmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, told the newspaper. "This system was a little stronger than expected."
Wind gusts up to 47 mph were recorded later in the day at Port Canaveral as the blustery weather continued, bringing with it rough seas and waves of 7 to 9 feet.
Joseph Ostapiuk silive.com Fri, 29 Mar 2019 19:47 UTC
A 16-year routine for two dog owners from Eltingville ended in horror after the couple's Pomeranian was brutally attacked and killed by a passing pit bull who overpowered the child who was walking it.
The couple, who spoke to the Advance under the condition their name not be published, said that their beloved dog would commonly follow the female homeowner without a leash as she took out the garbage for the evening.
The couple's dog, as shown in the dramatic and gruesome video captured by the family's Ring doorbell on March 16, follows the homeowner and walks to the curb a few feet away before urinating by a mailbox.
Shortly after, a pit bull being walked on a leash by a small grade-school child crosses paths with the family pet.
The pit bull viciously and unexpectedly latches onto the Pomeranian "like a chew toy," the homeowner said, "and threw him around."
Heavy rains caused flash floods in western Afghanistan that killed at least 17 people, destroying homes and sweeping through makeshift shelters that housed displaced families, a government official said on Saturday.
Two days of flooding that started on Thursday killed 12 people in Jawzjan and two in Badghis, provinces that border Turkmenistan, said Hasibullah Shir Khani, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.
Two others were killed in Herat and another in Sar-e Pul province, he said.
At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the "bomb cyclone" storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters showed.
Farms from the Dakotas to Missouri and beyond have been under water for a week or more, possibly impeding planting and damaging soil. The floods, which came just weeks before planting season starts in the Midwest, will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this year.
"There's thousands of acres that won't be able to be planted," Ryan Sonderup, 36, of Fullerton, Nebraska, who has been farming for 18 years, said in a recent interview.
"If we had straight sunshine now until May and June, maybe it can be done, but I don't see how that soil gets back with expected rainfall."
Up to five whales were spotted swimming in the Long Beach Harbor Friday. Though it was a spectacular sight, the pod's behavior is making experts concerned.
Capt. Dan Salas with Harbor Breeze Cruises said during this phase of the migration, whales usually stay around the area for a couple days and head up north.
But this year, Salas said he's noticed that the gray whales are sticking around the area for well over a month. They've been actively feeding near the Port of Los Angeles. Salas clarified that during migration, the whales typically do not feed at all.
The carcass of a whale, presumably a gray whale, was found off the coast of Torrey Pines on Thursday.
Black's Beach lifeguards spotted the cetacean floating in the water about 2 to 3 miles off Sumner Canyon, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.
The 30-foot whale, possibly a gray whale, was in the early stages of decomposition and bloating, she said.
Lifeguards are working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to secure carcass samples to figure out a way to dispose of the whale.
Since the beginning of the year alone, a record number of up to 600 dolphins have washed up on France's Atlantic coast. So what's going on?
What's the story?
Since the start of 2019, up to 600 dolphins have washed up on beaches along France's Atlantic coast.
According to two different surveys, the numbers of carcasses found this year is between 400 and 600 - but even the lower estimate is higher than any previous year at the same period.
While dead dolphins wash up on beaches in France each year scientists say the situation is alarming.
Comment: UPDATE 30th March
The number of dead and mutilated dolphins has risen by 500 in just over a month and the cause for this spike remains a mystery to investigators, RT reports that:
A record-breaking 1,100 dead dolphins have been discovered with their fins cut off along France's Atlantic coast since the beginning of the year, sparking alarm among animal protection groups.
Just three months into 2019, the astonishing number of mutilated dolphins is already greater than last year's record, which was the highest for decades. Furthermore, autopsies carried out on this year's discoveries found they'd undergone an extreme level of mutilation.
The mass deaths are generally a result of aggressive industrial fishing, with 90 percent of the mortalities believed to have been caused by accidental capture. Animal welfare groups say fisherman will often cut body parts off the trapped dolphins to save their nets.
However, this year's spike in fatalities is a mystery and France's Ecology Minister Francois de Rugy has launched a national plan to protect the animals. He has ordered an investigation into the use of acoustic dolphin deterrent devices by trawlers in the Bay of Biscay, an industrial fishing hub in the Atlantic Ocean.
Animal rights group Sea Shepherd have lambasted Rugy's efforts as "useless,"claiming many trawlers that they observe don't activate the repellent device for fear of scaring off other valuable fish like hake and sea bass, and say more is needed to protect dolphins.
Comment: Whale's carcass spotted off Torrey Pines' coast - 2nd off Southern California recently