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Fort McMurray wildfire update: State of emergency declared after 88,000 residents flee; 1,600 homes destroyed, airport threatened by raging blaze


RT
Wed, 04 May 2016 23:38 UTC
Fort McMurray wildfire
© AP
Some 1,600 structures have been destroyed
Canada's western Alberta province declared a state of emergency as a massive fire in Fort McMurray forced 88,000 residents to flee, with two deaths reported due to an accident during evacuation. Hundreds of homes have already been consumed by the blaze.

The latest update from Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee revealed that the fire is raging in residential areas, while crews face very challenging and volatile conditions.

The blaze has now spread to 10,000 hectares.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said that around 1,600 homes have been destroyed in Fort McMurray so far. A boil-water advisory has also been issued for the region due to the possibility of contamination and all flights in and out of Fort McMurray airport have been suspended.

The mass exodus caused by the fire has been described as the largest evacuation in Alberta's history, with one fatal traffic accident reported that killed two people on secondary highway 881, which has been designated for evacuees.


Comment: Out-of-control wildfire rages in Alberta, forcing the largest evacuation in the history of the Canadian province

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Bizarro Earth

California: San Andreas fault 'locked, loaded and ready to roll' with big earthquake, expert says

Rong-Gong Lin II
Los Angles Times
Thu, 05 May 2016 00:22 UTC
San Andreas fault
© SCEC
This simulation by the Southern California Earthquake Center shows the shaking that could be felt by Los Angeles during a possible magnitude 8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault.
Southern California's section of the San Andreas fault is "locked, loaded and ready to roll," a leading earthquake scientist said Wednesday at the National Earthquake Conference in Long Beach.

The San Andreas fault is one of California's most dangerous, and is the state's longest fault. Yet for Southern California, the last big earthquake to strike the southern San Andreas was in 1857, when a magnitude 7.9 earthquake ruptured an astonishing 185 miles between Monterey County and the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles.

It has been quiet since then — too quiet, said Thomas Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed calf born in India

Jon Livesey
Daily Mirror
Tue, 03 May 2016 19:58 UTC
The two-headed cow has been hailed a miracle by villagers in India
© Cover Asia Press
The two-headed cow has been hailed a miracle by villagers in India
The animal has defied the odds to survive a full week, but it is reportedly struggling to feed and showing signs of deteriorating

Visitors have been flocking to a farm in India after one of its cows gave birth to a TWO-HEADED calf that many believe is a miracle.

The bizarre looking animal, which has two heads and one body, was born last week in Pannuganj village, in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

And it's attracting an awful lot of attention.

Shocked farmer Dharam Veer Singh, 47, said: "We have heard of two-headed cows born in the past but this is the first time we've seen one.

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Cloud Precipitation

Thunderstorms unleash tennis-ball-sized hail in the D.C. area

Jeff Halverson and Jason Samenow
The Washington Post
Tue, 03 May 2016 18:40 UTC
Hail in Rockville, May 2.
© Brett Leffler
Hail in Rockville, May 2.
Severe thunderstorms slammed the D.C. area Monday evening, unleashing some of the largest hailstones in memory.

Tennis-ball-sized hail, 2.5 inches in diameter, came crashing down in Rockville, Md. — probably the largest on record in Montgomery County.

A separate thunderstorm in Prince William County dropped golf-ball-sized hail, one to two inches in diameter, around Manassas, Dale City and Woodbridge. The National Weather Service received a report of an astonishing 2.75-inch hailstone, the approximate size of a baseball, in Charles County, from this same thunderstorm.

A third intense thunderstorm, which tore through eastern Fairfax County, the District and northern Prince George's County, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., produced quarter- to golf-ball-sized hail and scattered wind damage.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale examined by authorities in Santa Cruz, California

Stephen Baxter
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Tue, 03 May 2016 17:59 UTC
Dead whale

Dead whale spotted off Santa Cruz coast
A dead 40-foot humpback whale caught the attention of residents and authorities off West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz late Monday and early Tuesday.

Leaders from Long Marine Lab launched a kayak on Tuesday to get a closer look at the whale, which was about a quarter mile off Woodrow Avenue and Columbia Street in a kelp bed.

Jim Milbury, a spokesman for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Tuesday afternoon that a decision had not yet been made whether to move the animal further offshore or to another location. Dead whales often attract sharks, and some residents expressed concern that sharks could endanger surfers at nearby Steamer Lane.

Don Kinnamon, senior deputy harbormaster of the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor, said authorities typically don't intervene with dead whales off beaches.
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Attention

Pig attacks husband and wife on farm in Townsend, Massachusetts


CBS
Wed, 04 May 2016 17:36 UTC
Scene from Townsend, Massachusetts farm where, police say, a pig attacked the husband and wife who own the farm, seriously injuring the man, on May 4, 2016
© CBS Boston


Scene from Townsend, Massachusetts farm where, police say, a pig attacked the husband and wife who own the farm, seriously injuring the man, on May 4, 2016
A pig attacked and seriously injured a man less than two hours after the same animal attacked his wife at their Massachusetts farm, reports CBS Boston.

Townsend Police Chief Robert M. Eaton Jr. said his department was investigating "two very unfortunate farm incidents" in the town about 50 miles northwest of Boston.

Police and emergency responders were called to the farm Tuesday evening for a report of an injured woman. When they arrived, they found a 38-year-old woman with severe lacerations on her body from an apparent pig attack. She was taken to a hospital for further treatment.

Less than two hours later, rescuers were called to the same location for a report of a man who had received more serious injuries from the same animal soon after returning from the hospital where he'd gone with his injured wife.
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Arrow Up

Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica explodes 31 times in 10 hours


Strange Sounds
Tue, 03 May 2016 06:47 UTC
Turrialba volcano eruption
© OVSICORI-UNA
The Turrialba volcano situated in Costa Rica exploded 31 times in 10 hours on May 1, 2016. Now that's insane! Communities within 5 kilometers of the volcanic peak have been evacuated. Ash is covering everything!

According to reports from OVSICORI, this strong volcanic event occurred from 6:43 am to 4 pm on Sunday, May 1, 2016.

This eruption swarm sent a column of ash 2 kilometers above the crater.

This eruptive phase is the most important in recent months.

Early 2015 the area around Mount Turrialba was closed for more than three months due to another powerful eruptive period (expulsions of ash from the main crater and break of one of the walls).

The wind has spilled ash to the south of the area where the volcano is located.

Comment: Seismic activity in the country has also increased recently:

73 earthquakes in 12 hours hit between two volcanoes in Costa Rica

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Fire

Out-of-control wildfire rages in Alberta, forcing the largest evacuation in the history of the Canadian province


RT
Wed, 04 May 2016 00:35 UTC
Alberta wildfire
© CBC News / Reuters
Wildfire is worsening along highway 63 Fort McMurray, Alberta Canada May 3, 2016.
The entire population of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, Canada has been ordered to abandon their homes after a wildfire ravaging a nearby forest moved into the area. The fire has already destroyed homes in several neighborhoods.

Fort McMurray is an urban service area with a population of about 80,000 people.

A mandatory evacuation notice was issued for the whole city on Tuesday after the wildfire began spreading uncontrollably.

Local authorities have advised residents to evacuate to the Noralta Lodge north of the city because outgoing Highway 36 has been partially blocked due to the fire.

The fire first was detected on Sunday to the southwest of the residential area. It is believed to have covered more than 2,656 hectares (6,540 acres) as of late Monday. Although, more than 90 firefighters have been deployed to battle the fire, the situation on Tuesday has worsened due to strong winds. On Tuesday afternoon the fire breached Highway 63, the main road out of the city.

Several homes in Beacon Hill and the Centennial Trailer Park have been destroyed in the fire, CBC reported.


Comment: This is the largest evacuation in the history of the Canadian province of Alberta.

Last year the wildfire season was a record breaker in the United States and Canada. The Amazon jungle was going up in smoke with tens of thousands of wildfires, while in Indonesia wildfires caused a toxic haze which threatened millions in southeast Asia. There have been devastating wildfires in Australia already this year and officials have warned of 'potentially significant wildfires' in some US states.

A study showed that wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth.

Could a significant factor in the escalation of these events be that they are fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes and other 'cosmic' ignition sources?

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Arrow Down

50 people flee homes after huge sinkhole opens up in front of homes in Plumstead, UK

Stephen Jones
Daily Mirror
Tue, 03 May 2016 19:50 UTC
60 ft' sinkhole in Plumstead
© London Fire Brigade
60 ft' sinkhole in Plumstead
Fifty people had to flee their brand new homes after an enormous sinkhole opened up outside their front doors.

Residents of the housing development were shocked to open their front doors to discover the deep hole which measures about 25sq metres.

London Fire Brigade cordoned off the area as a 'hazard zone' - while officers evacuated people - allowing authorities to look into the cause, which is currently unknown.

A total of 40 properties were evacuated, with overnight accommodation provided for those affected.

Today though some residents are facing a second night unable to return home as the cause remains a mystery.
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Binoculars

Wrong time, wrong place: Rare American rose-breasted grosbeak turns up on Scottish island in spring

Hans J Marter
Shetland News
Tue, 03 May 2016 18:51 UTC
The rose-breasted grosbeak feeding in Lynn Goodlad's garden
© Hugh Harrop/Shetland Wildlife
The rose-breasted grosbeak feeding in Lynn Goodlad's garden
A woman in Shetland is buzzing with excitement after learning that the colourful bird feeding on a coconut in her garden was the first ever record of a rose-breasted grosbeak in the islands, and only the fifth ever in Scotland.

When Lynn Goodlad noticed the bird on Tuesday morning she initially thought it was a toy and someone was playing a trick on her.

But when finch-sized bird started moving she quickly realised that she was dealing with something very special.

After failing to find the bird in her guidebooks she went online and posted a photo on the Shetland Birds & Wildlife Facebook page.

Within minutes the phone started ringing and online comments began to flow in. The Rare Bird Alert twitter feed posted a photo to the global twitcher community.

"It just snowballed from there. It has been amazing and a little surreal," Lynn described her morning.
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