Earth ChangesS


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Top alert for Indonesia volcano, villagers evacuate

Lava and hot gas clouds have begun erupting from an Indonesian volcano, threatening hundreds of people living in nearby villages, an official said on Monday.

Saut Simatupang, the head of Indonesia's Vulcanology Survey, said nearly 600 people had evacuated their homes in an area south-east of Mount Karangetang.

Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Dean Pummels Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Hurricane Dean pummeled Jamaica with gusting winds and torrential rains Sunday after the prime minister made a last-minute plea for residents to abandon their homes and head for shelter. Many residents ignored the call, however, while tourists holed up in resorts with hurricane-proof walls.

Cloud Lightning

At least 4 killed after foot of rain floods upper Midwest

Severe storms deluged parts of the upper Midwest during the night with as much as a foot of rain, causing flooding that washed away bridges and roads and killed at least four people, authorities said Sunday.

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Floodwaters surround the Midwestern Hotel in Minnesota City on Sunday.

Part of Winona and smaller towns in the area of southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin were evacuated, officials reported.

Rushing floods in Minnesota killed two people in their vehicle near Stockton and two others in a vehicle near Witoka, said Bob Reinert, the Winona County administrator and spokesman for the county's emergency operations center.


Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Erin causes flooding in Oklahoma

Tropical Storm Erin stubbornly held together as it passed through Oklahoma early today, causing heavy flooding in the Watonga area and flash flooding in Lawton and El Reno.

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Several people were rescued from their homes or stalled cars in Watonga and Lawton. Rainfall amounts exceeded 7 inches in those areas, according to the state Emergency Management Department.

Question

Hundreds of Saudi camels die from mystery ailment

Hundreds of camels have died in Saudi Arabia this week from a mystery ailment.

The Agriculture Ministry has said 232 camels died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley, 400 km (250 miles) south of Riyadh. King Abdullah has promised compensation for owners, who say the real number of deaths is far higher.

Cloud Lightning

Typhoon Sepat causes halt of flights, mass evacuations in east China

More than 900,000 people in south and east China provinces have been relocated to safety as typhoon Sepat is expected to land in Fujian Province on Saturday or Sunday morning.

Sepat made a landfall in Hualien, the central-eastern part of Taiwan around 5:40 a.m. Saturday, with sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour, according to the China Central Meteorological Center.

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Summer heat wave death toll reaches 49

Authorities in Memphis and Alabama reported more heat-related deaths Saturday, bringing the toll in the Southeast and Midwest to at least 49 since oppressive triple-digit temperatures settled over the region last week.

In Memphis alone, heat has been blamed as a factor in 12 deaths, mostly elderly victims, in nine days. A 62-year-old man was found dead in his home Friday, the Shelby County Medical Examiner's office announced. The body of a 77-year-old woman was found Thursday evening in her residence, where the temperature inside was 101.

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Peru quake survivors grow desperate

The government sent the army Saturday to stop looting fueled by rising desperation in earthquake-shattered Peru, where tens of thousands were without fresh water and shivering families huddled in makeshift shelters at the center of the devastation.

In a soccer stadium in the port city of Pisco, more than 500 people rushed a lone truck that ran out little packets of crackers, candy and toilet paper, screaming that they had not eaten and accusing rescue workers of keeping supplies for themselves.

Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Dean roars toward Jamaica

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Hurricane Dean bore down on Jamaica early Sunday amid concerns it could become "a potentially catastrophic" category five storm capable of causing death and widespread destruction.

Tourists fled resorts in the path of the storm and island residents battened down as the massive swell skirted the Dominican Republic and plowed towards Jamaica, the Caymans and the Mexican coast.

Wine

Wine before its time alarms Italy

GROTTAFERRATA, Italy - Patrizia Filippi has no degree in meteorology or any idea how to calculate what scientists call extreme weather change. But the 43-year-old grape picker has been working this area's silky, volcanic soil for nearly three decades, and she knows what she sees:

This is an early harvest unlike anything that Italy, or any generation in her family, has experienced in memory.