Earth Changes
New Jersey officials said they checked out more than 140 industrial facilities in the northern part of the state to see if they were responsible for the foul stench that drifted up the Hudson River on Jan. 8.
The inquiry didn't turn up any unusual emissions, said Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
The death toll is the heaviest in Britain, AP reported. One of the victims there was a small boy killed by the concrete wall's breakdown. Falling trees were killing drivers in their cars in the Netherlands and Germany.
Six people suffered in Utrecht, Holland, where a tower crane fell on the university building.
Wind gusts of up to 202 kilometres per hour uprooted trees, tore down power cables and sent a two-ton steel support crashing 40 metres to the ground at Berlin's new main railway station.
Ferry routes on the North Sea and Baltic Sea were suspended, hundreds of flights were cancelled and German national railways halted all operations for the first time in its history.
The storms on Thursday were among the fiercest to batter northern Europe in years, ripping off part of the roof at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, toppling trucks on Europe's busiest highway and forcing trains in Germany and the Netherlands to a virtual standstill.
By evening, as wind speeds subsided, weather related accidents had killed 27 people, including a 2 year-old boy hit by falling brick from a crumpled wall in London.
Germany and Britain faced further disruptions to rail and air travel on Friday after high winds left thousands of households without electricity.
Near Hurrican Force Storm Batters Baltic States - 2nd time in 2 years for "once in a lifetime event"
In Latvia, up to 50,000 people were left without power by winds gusting up to 115 kilometres per hour - almost hurricane speed. Flooding threatened many low-lying areas, including the capital, Riga, where the river Daugava surged two metres above normal levels.
The wind whisked bicycles and trash cans off the streets of Amsterdam and tossed into its fabled canals. A ship was blasted loose from its moorings near Rotterdam into an oil pipeline.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's plane landed in gusts of up to 80 mph in London for a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair after she cut short a visit to Berlin to avoid the worsening weather.
Winds of up to 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour ripping through western and central Germany, moving eastwards.
The drought has forced snakes to move to urban areas looking for moisture, prompting a caution to people to be careful around creeks, waterways and long grass.
Comment: Still optimistic?