© AFP
In Espirito Santo state, Civil Defense officials reported a total of 27 fatalities, including eight Thursday, in what they described as the worst rains in 90 years.
They said 61,379 people were forced to leave their homes.
Earth Changes
In Espirito Santo state, Civil Defense officials reported a total of 27 fatalities, including eight Thursday, in what they described as the worst rains in 90 years.
They said 61,379 people were forced to leave their homes.
A school of carnivorous fish related to the piranha has attacked bathers in an Argentine river, injuring about 70.
Thousands of bathers were cooling off in the Parana River in Rosario, 300km (186 miles) north of Buenos Aires, on Christmas Day when the attack happened.
Officials blamed the attack on the palometa fish, describing the event as "exceptional".
Paramedics said dozens of people had their extremities attacked and some had lost digits.
Director of lifeguards in Rosario, Federico Cornier, said bathers suddenly began to complain of bite marks on hands and feet as they cooled off in a heat wave.
He said the palometa was "a type of piranha, big, voracious and with sharp teeth that can really bite".
Mr Cornier said: "This is not normal. It's normal for there to be an isolated bite or injury, but the magnitude in this case was great... this is an exceptional event."
© BeforeItsNews
Work is once again on hold at the giant Louisiana sinkhole after workers found another crack in the levee.
The new cracks are in the same spot where previous cracks were repaired in the lowest part of the south berm near the massive sinkhole in Assumption Parish.
Authorities also report an increase in the micro-earthquakes in the area.
© Reuters
Utah state wildlife officials announced that at least 16 bald eagles have died in Utah from unknown causes since the beginning of the month.
Utah state wildlife officials announced that at least 16 bald eagles have died in Utah from unknown causes since the beginning of the month.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources believe a mysterious illness is killing off the government-protected birds and are scrambling to diagnose it before it spreads, according to NBC News.
"It's frustrating and heart breaking," Leslie McFarlane, wildlife disease coordinator at the Division of Wildlife Resources, told KSL-TV in an interview earlier this week. "It's really hard because you want to be able to do something right now and we just can't."
In an interview with KSL-TV, DaLyn Erickson-Marthaler, executive director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, said the bald eagles were experiencing the same symptoms. She said they showed signs of body tremors, they have had seizures, they appeared to be paralyzed and they had weakness in their feet and in their legs.
Sea stars along the West Coast are being wiped out on a wide scale by a mysterious disease. There's no evidence of the die-off in San Diego yet, but some researchers say it seems inevitable.
Scientists are calling the epidemic sea star wasting syndrome. It was first reported off the Washington coast in June and has since spread south to Orange County, and 70 miles off the San Diego coast at San Clemente Island.
"The first thing to happen is lesions will form," said Keith Lombardo, chief of natural resources with the Cabrillo National Monument, where an abundance of tide pools offer a window into the intertidal Pacific Ocean.
"And then the lesions begin to actually dissolve the sea star, and when that begins to happen the sea star is no longer able to hold onto rock," Lombardo said.
© Angelika Cox/Demotix/Corbis
Snow-covered Ontario after the storm.
Snow-covered Ontario after the storm.
In the United States, the death toll from the storm reached at least 17 on Wednesday, from traffic accidents and carbon monoxide fatalities.Ten people were reported dead in Canada, including five from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Police said two people in Ontario died after using a gas generator to heat their blacked-out home north-east of Toronto. Police in Quebec said carbon monoxide poisoning was believed to be the cause of three deaths in a chalet on the province's North Shore. Earlier, five people were killed in eastern Canada in highway crashes blamed on severe weather conditions.
The ice storm last weekend was one of the worst to hit during a Christmas week, and repair crews were working around the clock to restore service
A 24-year-old woman in Humpty Doo, Australia, Hailee Skinner, got an unexpected and unwanted surprise while resting in her bed. Skinner got an up close and personal encounter with a snake.
There are certain things we don't want getting too close to us.
A 24-year-old woman in Humpty Doo, Australia, Hailee Skinner, got an unexpected and unwanted surprise while resting in her bed. Skinner got an up close and personal encounter with a snake.
The terrifying ordeal started when she returned home from a dinner and put a movie in before hopping in bed. That's when she felt something crawling across her legs.
At first, she suspected it was a gecko so she kicked her leg in an effort to fling it on the floor. Skinner was successful, but when she looked down, she realized the seductive creature was a snake.
Skinner screamed then called her family members for help. She stated "I've never been friendly with snakes. My biggest fear in the moment was that it would bite me then go off into the house and we wouldn't be able to find it."
Skinner's brother was responsible for containing the serpent. He believed it to be an olive snake, which measured approximately 23 and a half inches long.
The snake was released into a nearby swamp.
Source: Northern Territory News
© Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Passengers study the departure boards as they wait for trains in King's Cross station in London.
Passengers study the departure boards as they wait for trains in King's Cross station in London.
Hundreds of travellers were left stranded at Gatwick airport because of cancelled flights and power cuts at the airport, and emergency services evacuated homes near the River Mole in Surrey, which was expected to rise to record levels late on Christmas Eve.
The Environment Agency issued a severe flood warning for Leatherhead in Surrey, where the Mole was expected to reach a peak just before midnight on Tuesday.
Firefighters in Kent and Surrey broke off from a planned Christmas Eve strike to help people deal with flooding in their counties.
Angry travellers at Gatwick had to be calmed by police after waiting all day before finding that their delayed flights were cancelled. All rail services to and from Gatwick stopped at 10pm for planned engineering work. A spokesman for Gatwick airport said that staff were trying to do all they could to find hotel rooms or camp beds for the "few hundred" people who were stranded.
© Wikipedia
Representation of upper-atmospheric lightning and electrical-discharge phenomena
Representation of upper-atmospheric lightning and electrical-discharge phenomena
© BBC
Homes in Byfleet in Surrey have been threatened as the River Wey has risen.
Homes in Byfleet in Surrey have been threatened as the River Wey has risen.
Many rivers remain swollen after storms which led to power cuts and travel delays. Two severe flood warnings are in place on the Stour in Dorset.
About 1,000 homes in south-east and south-west England have been flooded.
Some 13,000 properties still have no power and engineers say some may not be reconnected until the end of the week.
UK Energy Networks said more customers had been connected during Thursday morning, as 24,000 had been without power first thing.
Some 4,869 homes in Kent were without power, with 1,672 in Surrey and 1,639 in Sussex, UK Power Networks said. Some 5,000 homes in Hampshire are still without power, Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution said.
Families who could stay in their homes found they had to hold Christmas by candlelight
