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US: Churchill Downs Horse Racing Canceled After Tornado

Steve Robrahn
Reuters
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:47 UTC
Image
© Reuters / John Sommers II
People survey the damage to barns at Churchill Downs after an apparent tornado struck the track in Louisville, Kentucky, June 23, 2011.
Racing and training were canceled on Thursday at Churchill Downs, a day after a tornado hit the thoroughbred racetrack famed as home of the Kentucky Derby, according to track officials.

"Considering the damage, which is extensive, it is amazing -- borderline miraculous -- that there were no injuries to either humans or horses," said John Asher, Churchill Downs spokesman.

There was no damage to the grandstand or the track's iconic twin spires.

Churchill Downs is most famous for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby, the first leg in U.S. thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown of events, which also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

Asher said crews on Thursday were inspecting the surface of the race track for storm debris, including nails, that might have been tossed onto the usually carefully manicured racing surface from the passing twister.

Six barns and a portion of a seventh were damaged severely enough they cannot be used, Asher said. Two others that had damage from the storm had been restored to service Thursday. As a result, 30 horses would be transported to Lexington where Keeneland raceway had offered temporary shelter.
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Attention

More than 53,000 Flee Storm in Philippines


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Noel Celis/Agence France-Presse
Pedicabs pedal customers down a flooded street after heavy rains in Valenzuela City, north of Manila.
More than 53,000 people were in evacuation centres in the Philippines on Friday after fleeing their homes following days of torrential rains caused by Tropical Storm Meari, officials said.

More than 7,000 people fled their homes overnight in the capital Manila alone as the storm added to seasonal monsoon rains, bringing massive flooding to city streets, the civil defence agency said.

The swift evacuation of Manila residents as the waters rose overnight prevented any deaths, said Benito Ramos, executive director of the official National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

"It is a good thing we pre-positioned rubber boats. Thankfully, people reacted well. When we told them to evacuate, they evacuated," Ramos said.

However 11 people were still missing in or near the less-developed Bicol peninsula southeast of Manila, which bore the brunt of Meari as it brushed past the eastern side of the country, the council added.
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Arrow Down

16 Dead in Landslides in Northeast India


Herald Sun
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:08 UTC
Sixteen people in northeast India have been killed by landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains, a senior police official said today.

The deaths occurred overnight in villages perched on steep mountain sides near the town of Pelling in the scenic Himalayan state of Sikkim.

"Fourteen people were buried alive when rolling debris piled on their houses," senior police officer Jasbir Singh said by phone from Gangtok, capital city of Sikkim.

Singh said a second landslide in the same town claimed two lives, damaged property and disrupted communications.

Source: Australian Associated Press
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Cloud Lightning

Pennsylvania, US: Storm Drops 2 Inches of Rain on Stroudsburg Area - in a Half-Hour


Pocono Record
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© David Kidwell/Pocono Record
Come hail or high water: Heavy rain Wednesday afternoon created a deluge on some area roadways, including Broad St. (Route 191) in south Stroudsburg.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon led to ponding on roadways in low-lying and poor drainage areas across the southern Poconos.

The area caught a small but potent storm cluster that developed over the Pocono Front and moved to the east, just south of Interstate 80, after 4 p.m., said Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber.

The storm brought drenching rains and severe lightning as it moved through. A total of 2.06 inches of rain was recorded in East Stroudsburg, most of it falling within a half-hour period. That brings the June rainfall total there to 4.54 inches inches, Gelber said.

Wednesday's rains created problems on some area roads. A car was reported stalled in water on Lincoln Avenue near the Walmart in East Stroudsburg. Normal Street in the borough was shut down briefly due to ponding.

Some cars were also stalling in high waters on Broad Street (Route 191) in south Stroudsburg and on McConnell Street in downtown Stroudsburg.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Storm Leaves Thousands Without Power, Damages Racetrack in Kentucky

Maggie Schneider
CNN
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:22 UTC

A powerful storm system that ripped through the Louisville, Kentucky, area left thousands of people without power and forced the closing of the internationally famous Churchill Downs racetrack on Thursday.

The National Weather Service said damage from the Wednesday night system, which also struck the University of Louisville campus, likely resulted from tornadoes. However, Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Sharp said that cannot be confirmed until a storm survey is completed later Thursday.

A storm survey confirmed that an F-1 tornado touched down in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, east of Louisville, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado uprooted trees and blew debris across short distances, but no injuries or fatalities occurred, according to the survey.

A separate survey was still on-going in the Churchill Downs area, said the Weather Service.
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Cloud Lightning

Florida, US: Get ready for summer rain pattern in Tampa Bay area

Rob Shaw
The Tampa Tribune
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:20 UTC
You can't quite set your watch to them just yet, but the summer rains have begun to arrive in a more widespread fashion.

Showers and thunderstorms broke out across more of the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, packing heavy rain and lightning in several locations. Much of the same is expected this afternoon and for the next few days.

"I would say we are looking at the beginning of the rainy season," said Richard Rude, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.

That is good news for an area that has been thirsting for rainfall the last couple of months.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Platte River in Grand Island nears flood stage

Robert Pore
The Independent
Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:48 UTC
The Platte River at Grand Island was at 6.1 feet Wednesday morning, with flood stage at 6.5 feet, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

According to the National Weather Service in Hastings, at 5.87 feet, water ponds around the Quality Inn at the junction of Interstate 80 and Highway 281; at 6.22 feet, water approaches property at 14570 S. 190th Road; at 7 feet, a few farmsteads may be threatened by overflows, but the city is not threatened by floodwaters; at 7.4 feet, minor flood fighting or sandbagging will occur in Hamilton County.

In light of flooding concerns, the Grand Island/Hall County Emergency Management Department has received a number of public inquiries about where sandbags can be purchased, said Wendy Meyer-Jerke, public information officer for the city.

So the department has begun to compile a list of local vendors who can supply sandbags to residents, Meyer-Jerke said.
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Cloud Lightning

Floods kill 24 as rains pound north Nigeria city

Aminu Abubakar
Agence France-Presse
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:54 UTC
Image
© AFP/File, Issouf Sanogo
People in Kano say rain has been the most torrential in 30 years
Twenty-four people died overnight when unusually heavy rains flooded a neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest northern city of Kano, a local government chief said on Thursday.

Dozens of others were injured, 300 displaced and about 100 houses destroyed in the densely populated Fagge neighbourhood of Kano when rains pounded and inundated the city while residents were asleep.

"For now we have confirmed the deaths of 24 people from the floods that occurred Tuesday night through Wednesday following torrential rain in the city," Fagge local government administrator, Abdulmalik Ismail Rogo told AFP.

Rogo said local elders had told him the "area has never witnessed such torrential rains in the past 30 years."

"Some of the victims were buried alive when their (house) roofs collapsed on them, while others were washed away by the floods and deposited along a major sewer in the area," he said.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Missouri River crests, breaking records of 1993 floods

Matt Pearce
The Kansas City Star
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:46 UTC
Image
© Brian Gehring
A home broke apart as it was engulfed by Missouri River floodwaters Wednesday in the Hoge Island area of Bismarck, N.D. In some parts of northwest Missouri, meanwhile, the river hit historic highs.
The Missouri River hit historic highs around northwest Missouri on Wednesday as officials prepared to unleash even more water into the area.

National Weather Service measurements taken near Big Lake and Phelps City, both about two hours northwest of Kansas City, showed crests beating every mark on record - even 1993's peaks.

"Missouri River water will remain dangerously high for the foreseeable future," said Col. Anthony Hoffman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Kansas City office.

Residents in Holt County in northwest Missouri are already facing advancing floodwaters, which have defeated at least one levee there and are nearing the tops of others.
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Cloud Lightning

China: Flash floods swamp Beijing, dozens affected by subway outages

Robert Birsel
Reuters
Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:18 UTC
Many Beijing residents were left stranded by a big thunderstorm that flooded many roads and forced the closure of some subway stations.

Image
© Reuters/David Gray
A man rides an electric bike as a pedestrian carries an umbrella during a heavy rain storm in Beijing June 23, 2011.
Hundreds of commuters had to find alternative ways home in the middle of the deluge, as flash floods forced at least three subway lines to be shut temporarily.

The evening downpour, which turned the sky black, left drenched pedestrians wading through ankle-deep water on many side streets.

Thunderstorms in Beijing during the summer months are typical, although such heavy rain is unusual.
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