City fire Capt. Stan Castaneda says lightning struck a large storage tank at the Magellan Pipeline facility near downtown. The massive fire has sent flames and dark smoke billowing into the sky.
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| ©NBC |
Earth Changes
Authorities say lightning from a line of strong thunderstorms ignited a large fire at a petroleum terminal in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.
City fire Capt. Stan Castaneda says lightning struck a large storage tank at the Magellan Pipeline facility near downtown. The massive fire has sent flames and dark smoke billowing into the sky.
City fire Capt. Stan Castaneda says lightning struck a large storage tank at the Magellan Pipeline facility near downtown. The massive fire has sent flames and dark smoke billowing into the sky.
Downpours lasting several hours hit southern and eastern Britain, with some areas receiving half a month's rainfall in six hours.
By mid-afternoon the Environment Agency had placed two rivers on flood warning and a further 19 on flood watch.
By mid-afternoon the Environment Agency had placed two rivers on flood warning and a further 19 on flood watch.
China is likely to experience earthquakes measuring 7 or higher on the Richter scale over the next 15 years, a national newspaper said on Tuesday, citing Chinese experts.
The devastating earthquake that hit the Sichuan province in the country's southwest on May 12 with a magnitude of 8.0 was the country's worst in more than three decades, and has claimed the lives of at least 69,000 people.
The devastating earthquake that hit the Sichuan province in the country's southwest on May 12 with a magnitude of 8.0 was the country's worst in more than three decades, and has claimed the lives of at least 69,000 people.
Homes and schools in the Thames Valley have been flooded after heavy rain swept across the area.
Many parts of Oxfordshire and Berkshire were hit by flash flooding on Tuesday and the Met Office has extended its severe weather warning.
It has warned that another 15 to 25mm of rain could fall during the day.
Many parts of Oxfordshire and Berkshire were hit by flash flooding on Tuesday and the Met Office has extended its severe weather warning.
It has warned that another 15 to 25mm of rain could fall during the day.
A bee-less world wouldn't just mean the end of honey - Einstein said that if the honeybee became extinct, then so would mankind. Alison Benjamin reports on a very real threat.
Dave Hackenberg's bees have been on the road for four days. To reach the almond orchards of California's Central Valley, they pass through the fertile plains of the Mississippi, huge cattle ranches and oilfields in Texas, and the dusty towns of New Mexico on their 2,600-mile journey from Florida. The bees will have seen little of the dramatic landscape, being cooped up in hives stacked four high on the back of trucks. Each truck carries close to 500 hives, tethered with strong harnesses and covered with black netting to prevent the millions of passengers from escaping. When the drivers pull over to sleep, the bees have a break from the constant movement and wind speed, but there's no opportunity to look around and stretch their wings.
Dave Hackenberg's bees have been on the road for four days. To reach the almond orchards of California's Central Valley, they pass through the fertile plains of the Mississippi, huge cattle ranches and oilfields in Texas, and the dusty towns of New Mexico on their 2,600-mile journey from Florida. The bees will have seen little of the dramatic landscape, being cooped up in hives stacked four high on the back of trucks. Each truck carries close to 500 hives, tethered with strong harnesses and covered with black netting to prevent the millions of passengers from escaping. When the drivers pull over to sleep, the bees have a break from the constant movement and wind speed, but there's no opportunity to look around and stretch their wings.
Chinese authorities had evacuated nearly 200,000 people by early Saturday and warned more than 1 million others to be ready to leave quickly as a lake formed by a devastating earthquake threatened to breach its dam.
Hundreds of Chinese troops have been working around the clock to drain Tangjiashan lake in Sichuan province. The lake formed above Beichuan town in the Mianyang region when a hillside plunged into a river valley during the May 12 quake that killed more than 68,000 people.
Hundreds of Chinese troops have been working around the clock to drain Tangjiashan lake in Sichuan province. The lake formed above Beichuan town in the Mianyang region when a hillside plunged into a river valley during the May 12 quake that killed more than 68,000 people.
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Italy declared a flood emergency in the northwest after torrential rainfall caused floods and landslides and killed at least three people.
Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Service told reporters after an emergency meeting in Turin, "We are still in the middle of a crisis and will be so for the next 24 hours". The emergency was called as the river Po reached dangerously high levels.
2008 is expected to break U.S. record for number of tornadoes in one year
Another week, another train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashes homes to their foundations and kills people even as they take shelter in their basements.
The year is not even half done, but 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of tornadoes in a year, the National Weather Service said. Also, this year's storms seem to have been unusually powerful.
Meteorologists cannot explain exactly why this is happening.
Comment: They haven't been reading SoTT
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| ©Associated Press |
| Clouds descend from a storm that created tornadoes near Marshall, Okla., on Saturday. So far this year, tornadoes have killed 110 people. |
Another week, another train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashes homes to their foundations and kills people even as they take shelter in their basements.
The year is not even half done, but 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of tornadoes in a year, the National Weather Service said. Also, this year's storms seem to have been unusually powerful.
Meteorologists cannot explain exactly why this is happening.
Comment: They haven't been reading SoTT
Fairbanks residents have been experiencing some unusual weather lately. Throughout most of the month of May pellet sized hail has been falling from the skies over Fairbanks, a phenomenon officials said was very strange.
The death toll in the heavy snow and sand storms that hit Mongolia last week has risen to 52, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Monday.
The storms most severely affected seven provinces in the west and center of the country. Wind speeds reached 40 meters a second in some areas.
The storms most severely affected seven provinces in the west and center of the country. Wind speeds reached 40 meters a second in some areas.
