A man sustained several injuries this morning when his Nissan Champ Bakkie fell into a sink hole on Voortrekker Road and Quality Street in Durban.

Shortly before 06:00 paramedics were dispatched to the incident. When they arrived on the scene they found the bakkie with only its rear on the tarmac. Bystanders pointed paramedics into the direction of where a man was standing. The driver of the vehicle managed to get out of his vehicle before paramedics arrived on the scene.

It is understood that the man was on his way to work when his vehicle fell into the hole. According to bystanders on the scene the sink hole developed late yesterday afternoon and was not properly cordoned off. It appeared as if it filled with water during the night making it difficult to see.

A wildfire that forced several hundred people from campgrounds in California's Sierra Nevada is now 40 percent contained.

The fire erupted Saturday in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and has burned 20 acres of forestland.

Spokesman Michael Theune says it began near the Potwisha Campground, in the foothills southeast of Fresno.

Birdwatchers in Standlake Common were astonished at an "extremely rare" sighting of four birds from North America.

Keen twitcher Dave Doherty first spotted the four ring-necked ducks resting in pit 60 at the nature reserve at about 7am on Saturday.

Fellow birdwatcher 39-year-old Dave Morgan, 39, found out about the discovery and rushed to see them.

He said: "To see four of these birds together, so far inland, is extremely rare.

"I saw three of these birds together once before, but that was on the Isle of Scilly."

Mr Morgan added the birds were about two or three years old and could have been blown off course in recent storms.

Dramatic footage of cars, trucks and whole buildings being washed away in muddy water has emerged online after thunderstorms and abnormal rainfall in Chile's desert Atacama region caused the Copiapo River to break its banks last week.

At least 25 people were killed and 125 others are missing as the floods ravaged the area known as one of the driest places on Earth.

Three people including two fishermen and a farmer have been killed by separate lightning strikes in Chittagong city's Sadarghat area and district's Boalkhali upazila.

The deceased were Md Kabir Hossen, 30, son of Dowlat Mia and Md Mofiz, 26, son of Abu Samad, and Abdul Baki, 60, said police sources.

Nayek Jahangir Alam of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) police outpost said a thunderbolt struck on five fishermen at Fishery Ghat Jetty No 1 area of Sadarghat under Kotwali police station at around 12:00pm on Monday while they were sewing fishing net near the bank of Karnaphuli River.

In critical condition the five were rushed to the CMCH where the on duty doctors declared Kabir and Mufiz dead, added Nayek Jahangir.

The other injured fishermen Amir Hossen, 32, Helal, 22 and Sona Mia 22, were admitted to CMCH.

In another incident, Abdul Baki was killed when a lightning hit him when he was working in his farm near his house at Hazirpara of Boalkhali upazila.

Mohammed Soaib Reja, Chairman of No 7 Charondip Union under the upazila said a lightning struck on him when he was working at his farmland at Hazipara area, leaving the person dead at around 1:30pm.

Three persons were killed and 12 were seriously injured when lightning struck a boat carrying 20 pilgrims from Belur Math in Howrah to Dakshineswar in North 24-Parganas across the river on Sunday afternoon. The incident happened near Nivedita Setu, a bridge parallel to the old rail bridge across the River Hooghly, near Bally Badamtala around 3.35pm.

Other boats, which were passing through the route, immediately informed police and fire brigade. A team from Bally police station rushed to the spot and rescued the passengers of the thunder-struck boat.

The pilgrims were rushed to Belur Shramajibi Hospital, where three were declared brought dead. They are Bikash Kaiputra (27), Panchu Kaiputra (45) and Seema Kaiputra (32). All of them are from the same family.

Planetary upheaval continued apace in March 2015, with intense flash-flooding occurring all across Latin America, and washing away entire towns. Overnight, the Atacama Desert in Chile, the 'driest place on Earth', became one of the wettest. Melting snow combined with unseasonal rains to flood parts of Northern India, the U.S. Midwest and Western Europe, while flooding also hit Eastern Africa and Australia. One of the strongest ever cyclones in the South Pacific devastated Vanuatu, while Super-Typhoon Maysak bore down on the Philippines at the end of the month. Just as Americans living in Tornado Alley were wondering where 'tornado season' had gone, a powerful multi-vortex twister scourged Moore, Oklahoma (again).

With snow on the ground in 49 out of 50 U.S. states on March 1st, all month long heavy snowfall continued across the eastern half of North America. Boston broke its winter snowfall record - 9 feet of snow... and the same amount fell in ONE DAY in Central Italy last month! The extreme cold in the U.S. Northeast continued to set record-breaking temperatures, and brought sea ice up to previously unseen levels. No matter the season or location, tropics or desert, hail fell everywhere: several inches in Southern California and Saudi Arabia, TWO FEET in Bogota, Colombia, and softball-sized hail in Eastern Australia. From space, large meteor fireballs were seen from across the U.S. Mountain West, Central Europe, and Western Australia, while the planet was bathed in green and pink as the strongest auroras during this solar cycle reached extreme latitudes in both hemispheres.

Wildfires in the Southern Hemisphere hit Valparaiso, Chile (again), and 'fire-nadoes' several stories tall formed outside Cape Town, South Africa. Spectacular volcanic eruptions last month included Villarica volcano in Chile spewing lava 1km into the night sky, Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica having its most powerful eruption in 20 years, and Colima volcano in Mexico sending ash 3km high. The combined effects of these climate extremes are giving rise to ever more mass animal deaths, with notable fish and bird kills along the Western Americas last month. Meanwhile in Holland, a wolf was spotted for the first time in 150 years as the species continues its westwards spread across Europe.

Here were the Signs of the Times in March 2015...


SOTT Summary March 2015 - Extreme Weather, Earth Changes, and Fireballs from Sott.net on Vimeo.

Update 2:31 p.m., April 5: Police Chief Juan José Andrade confirms that police are evacuating tourists in areas surrounding Turrialba Volcano. Police were forced to evacuate a group of tourists that had attempted to approach the volcano to watch the explosion.
Geologists with the National University's Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (OVSICORI) reported another ash eruption from Turrialba Volcano starting at 11:24 a.m. Sunday and lasting for an hour. The eruption is the latest in a string of blasts since October from the active volcano, located 50 kilometers northeast of the capital San José.

According to OVSICORI, the column of ash reached 500 meters into the sky over the volcano and rained large quantities of ash onto nearby farms. As of 1:30 p.m. the volcano was still emitting large quantities of gas and vapor though very little ash. Winds have carried the volcanic dust southwest where it has reached the outskirts of the capital. There are reports of large quantities of ash East of San José in Tres Ríos and San Pedro as well as in the western suburb of Escazú.

OVSICORI's equipment also registered a small, three-minute tremor at the time of the eruption.

A Texas police department shared video of squad cars trying to chase down an escaped buffalo seen wandering the streets Friday morning.

The Round Rock Police Department shared a video on their Facebook page Friday showing squad cars chasing the loose North American bison, commonly called a buffalo, down a city street.

"We have been able to get the loose livestock back to its owners. Yes, that is a buffalo our officers and Animal Control secured near Timothy Dr. and Forest Ridge. Thankfully, no one was injured while it was out," police said in the post.

Police said officers and an Animal Control unit responded at 7:37 a.m. Friday to a "loose livestock" report and they were able to lure the bison to a secure area.

The National Weather Service reports that heavy rains in Eastern Kentucky are expected to bring Kentucky River levels to flood stage by Saturday.

The Frankfort/Franklin County Office of Emergency Management reported that the river is expected to crest at about 31 feet Saturday, right at flood level. Residents who live along the river are asked to pay close attention to NWS and OEM updates.

The river rose 4 feet between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. today causing the Kentucky River Campground off of U.S. 127 near Owenton to move its patrons from the lower lot to higher ground.