Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Tidal Waves Hit Fiji's Coral Coast

Tidal Waves
© Google
Huge tidal waves hit Sigatoka and the Coral Coast areas of Fiji this morning strewing debris and fish along the Queen's Highway and sweeping belongings out to sea.

Fiji Under 20 rugby coach Inoke Male told FBC News - the team was training when the tidal waves struck.

The team lost belongings such as shoes, towels and clothes.

Anwa Khan from Sydney who was driving from Nadi to Suva called FBC News from Sigatoka to say waves have reached the highway which is now strewn with debris.

"The water was just coming right on-top of the road so we stopped the car and actually the water spray went right over the car and threw all the rubbish onto the road and went back. There were some fishes on the roads. The villagers have started coming to the road and started picking things. Patches on the roads you can see all the woods, coconuts, logs and coral. All the villages along the coast have water in their backyard."

There has been no confirmation as yet of major damages or injuries but details are still coming in.

Cloud Lightning

US: Denver rain to continue till weekend

As a strong Pacific storm moved across the state Wednesday, the metro area received heavy rain, hail and its first tornado warning of the year when at least three funnel clouds were spotted in Adams County.

There were no official reports of tornado touchdowns, but the National Weather Service said the hail was 2 to 3 inches deep on the ground in Thornton on Wednesday afternoon. It was no bigger than three-quarters of an inch in diameter, but it was so widespread that plows were used to clear the roads in the north suburbs.

As the rain continued into the evening, street flooding was reported in Thornton and some routes were temporarily closed.

Rain showers will linger over the Front Range foothills until the weekend and could create flash floods, especially in areas raked clean by destructive wildfires.

Denver already has received almost a half inch more rain than it normally receives in May, with the potential for another inch of rain by the weekend - and another Pacific storm teed up for Colorado next week.


Cloud Lightning

US: Tornado Damages Northeast Businesses

Image
© Michael Bryant / Staff PhotographerFrank Lubinsky Jr, of Union Roofing is on the collapse roof of R & R Car Repair at 9909 Northeast Ave. where a tornado was suppose to have touched down. One person was under it when it collapsed but was unharmed and crawled out right after the collapse.
A small tornado, born of storms that battered the Philadelphia region with heavy rain, touched down in the Far Northeast at midafternoon Wednesday, smashing a car-repair shop, crushing a beer distributorship, and ripping the roof off a crab house.

The mini-swirl of destruction, which also slightly damaged an apartment building and left three people in need of Red Cross care, carried winds of about 75 m.p.h., the National Weather Service said.

The tornado vanished as quickly as it appeared, touching at 1:50 p.m., and bumping along for just 300 feet, cutting a path of wreckage 100 feet wide.

Residents and shoppers in the area of Bustleton Avenue and Red Lion Road ran for safety, and police reported no injuries.

Nuke

Interview with Akira Tokuhiro, Nuclear Engineer: Fukushima and the Mass Media

Workers at Fukushima nuclear plant
© Japan News TodayWorkers at Fukushima nuclear plant
"Only the mass media can put the kind of pressure on TEPCO and the Japanese government to bring about major change. This will cost at least 10 billion dollars if not 20-30 billion to clean up. It will take at least 10 years if not 20 and roughly 10,000 people working on the cleanup. The nuclear business is global. This needs an international effort to clean up Fukushima."
-- Nuclear Engineer Akira Tokuhiro


In an email today, Japanese born, U.S.-educated nuclear engineering professor Tokuhiro wrote the following:
I want to bring up a sensitive point to many who are (may be) identified below.

There is a difference amongst the following: nuclear physicist, nuclear engineer, nuclear reactor operator, nuclear non-proliferation specialist.

During the current crisis, all these 'experts' have been in the media.

The ranking of 'experts' who REALLY know how the reactor accident took place is as follows.

1) Nuclear reactor operator (he/she is really the forensic surgeon, the auto mechanic who can build and drive the car)

2) Nuclear engineer (he/she is the forensic and internal/external medicine practitioner; the automobile design and analysis engineer)

As for the other two, they only understand the principles. It is as if they know the principles of driving a car but have never driven the car nor designed a car nor repaired a car.

Would you ask a podiatrist about a medical heart condition? Would you ask a medical ethicist? I think you get my point.

It takes all kinds of people to run the global nuclear industry. However, who do you trust in terms of knowledge?

Cloud Lightning

US: Mississippi Flood Control, Major Changes Urged

As the Mississippi River reaches historic crests, the flood control system designed to protect property is instead destroying crops, homes and businesses that will cost billions of dollars and require months of recovery efforts, flood experts and conservationists say.


Attention

Nicaragua: Volcano Sends Ash, Gas Soaring Into Sky

Nicaragua's Telica volcano is sending a huge plume of gas and ash spewing into the sky.


Cloud Lightning

Venezuela Extends Emergency Efforts As Heavy Rains Return

Barlovento, Miranda State, Venezuela flooding
Flooded areas in Barlovento, Miranda State, Venezuela, Dec 2010
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has extended for 90 days in seven states and parts of Caracas a state of emergency called in response to violent rainfalls in late 2010 that may return this year.

The states included in the decree are Vargas, Miranda, Zulia, Falcon, Merida, Trujillo and Nueva Esparta, state media reported late Tuesday. Officials last ordered the state of emergency to be prolonged in February, according to the release.

Cloud Lightning

US: Denver, Severe Storms Bring Hail, Heavy Rain, Funnel Clouds to Metro Area

After an extremely dry winter, spring storms are bringing abundant moisture to metro Denver.

Severe weather erupted by early afternoon along the urban corridor, as funnel clouds were spotted in Adams and Broomfield counties, prompting two Tornado Warnings.


Cloud Lightning

US: Nebraska, Heavy Rain Possible, Even as Rivers Running High

North Platte River
© NP TelegraphThe North Platte River is expected to reach record levels this month.
A storm system slowly meandering from the central Rockies into the Plains could bring heavy rain to parts of Nebraska on Thursday, with rain chances continuing into next week.

AccuWeather said cool air arriving on the southern Plains with this system will clash with warmer, moist air flowing in from the Gulf of Mexico, setting the stage for hit-and-miss storms with heavy rain, large hail and wind gusts past 40 mph.

Some isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out from the strongest of storms, forecasters said.

Attention

US: West Virginia Heavy Rains Cause Mudslides

A mudslide caused the side of a hill to drop 25 feet Wednesday morning. Homeowner Bettie Keith said she heard the sounds of the trees and telephone poles falling. For months, Keith said the ground has been slowly cracking and she has been talking with Cabell Huntington Hospital representatives.