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China warns of 'urgent problems' facing Three Gorges dam

Jonathan Watts
Guardian UK
Fri, 20 May 2011 05:35 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Getty
Water being released from the Three Gorges Dam in central China's Hubei province. The state council has admitted the dam is creating a legacy of major environmental and social problems.
Risk of geological disaster, state cabinet admits, as project is linked to soil erosion, quakes, drought and social upheaval

The Three Gorges dam, the flagship of China's massive hydroengineering ambitions, faces "urgent problems", the government has warned.

In a statement approved by prime minister Wen Jiabao, the state council said the dam had pressing geological, human and ecological problems. The report also acknowledged for the first time the negative impact the dam has had on downstream river transport and water supplies.

Since the start of construction in 1992 about 16m tonnes of concrete have been poured into the giant barrier across the Yangtze river, creating a reservoir that stretches almost the length of Britain and drives 26 giant turbines.
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Bizarro Earth

Tidal Waves Hit Fiji's Coral Coast

Elenoa Osborne
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation
Fri, 20 May 2011 00:38 UTC
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.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Denver rain to continue till weekend


Denver Post
Thu, 19 May 2011 01:00 UTC
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.

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Cloud Lightning

US: Tornado Damages Northeast Businesses

Allison Steele and Anthony R. Wood
Philly.com
Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer
Frank 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.
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Nuke

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

Vivian Norris
Huffington Post
Tue, 17 May 2011 18:40 UTC
Workers at Fukushima nuclear plant
© Japan News Today
Workers 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?
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Cloud Lightning

US: Mississippi Flood Control, Major Changes Urged

Thomas Frank
USA Today
Wed, 18 May 2011 17:27 UTC
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.

      Read More...
Attention

Nicaragua: Volcano Sends Ash, Gas Soaring Into Sky


WLTX
Thu, 19 May 2011 17:24 UTC
Nicaragua's Telica volcano is sending a huge plume of gas and ash spewing into the sky.

      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Venezuela Extends Emergency Efforts As Heavy Rains Return

Ezequiel Minaya
The Wall Street Journal
Wed, 18 May 2011 17:14 UTC
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.
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Cloud Lightning

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


KDVR
Thu, 19 May 2011 17:05 UTC
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.

      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

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


Lincoln Journal Star
Thu, 19 May 2011 16:58 UTC
North Platte River
© NP Telegraph
The 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.
      Read More...
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