Continue reading »]]> Rescuers dug their way through the remains of houses and businesses on Wednesday after a rare and deadly February tornado ripped through a small Oklahoma town on Tuesday night. The medical examiner’s office confirmed 8 people were dead, and local authorities said 46 were injured.

Three people were rescued Wednesday after being trapped inside a house overnight, although as many as 40 residents were still unaccounted for in Lone Grove, in the south-central part of Oklahoma.

“I went through that Murrah Building bombing, and it reminds me of that,” said Sheriff Ken Grace of Carter County, referring to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people.

By midafternoon on Wednesday, Sheriff Grace said crews had discovered a ninth body in Lone Grove, a man who was found dead in his pickup in the middle of a field. “The tornado must have picked him up and dropped him there,” the sheriff said. The National Weather Service said the intensity of the tornado that struck Lone Grove was the second highest, EF4, on its scale, with winds equivalent to 170 miles per hour.

Marianne Elfert, the Lone Grove city manager, said the damage was extensive, especially in the southern section of her town of 5,000, about 100 miles south of Oklahoma City.

“We’re talking about normal structures destroyed, mobile homes, downed trees, downed power lines and utilities,” Ms. Elfert said. “We’re not sure what level of assistance we will receive.”

Gov. Brad Henry, who surveyed the damage in Lone Grove on Wednesday, declared a state of emergency in 17 counties.

Random mountains of mangled metal, overturned cars, strewn furniture and caved-in buildings confronted stunned local officials and residents, as the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the National Guard assisted in the recovery. Officials from the National Weather Service also surveyed the damage to determine the intensity of the tornado, which struck the area about 7:15 p.m. Central time on Tuesday.

Two other tornadoes associated with the storm touched down in Oklahoma — in Pawnee and Edmond, a northeast suburb of Oklahoma City. There was property damage and loss of power, the authorities said, but there were no fatalities.

Tornadoes are rare in February, “at least for this far north and west,” said David Andra, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla. The last fatalities during a February tornado occurred in 1975, with three deaths, he said.

On Tuesday, the temperatures had climbed into the mid-70s in Oklahoma — part of a warm, moist air mass that combined with strong winds to create the powerful storms, Mr. Andra said.

A mobile home park, Bar K, with 35 to 40 homes, was destroyed, Ms. Elfert said, and at least three residents were killed.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma state medical examiner said that she knew of only eight deaths and that there were no children among the dead.

Most of the deaths occurred from “blunt-force trauma to the head,” said Cherokee Ballard, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.

Seven of the confirmed dead were from Lone Grove. “Three were found outside their houses, two were inside their homes and one was in a field,” Ms. Ballard said. Another victim was found on a gravel road outside the trailer park. The eighth confirmed victim was a truck driver on Interstate 35, who was found pinned underneath his vehicle.

By Wednesday morning, Jeri Mays, the owner of Bill’s Fish House in Lone Grove, said in a telephone interview that a child of one of her managers suffered injuries and had to be hospitalized. She said her business had minor damage to the roof, but lost power and remained closed.

Ms. Mays added that the glass lobby of the post office in town was destroyed, a United Parcel Service building was razed and a group home for men with special needs was damaged.

About 6,500 customers of Oklahoma Gas and Electric, including 3,500 in Lone Grove, were without services on Wednesday, according to a company spokesman, Gil Broyles of Edmond, who said six homes were destroyed there. His wife took shelter in an interior bathroom, he said, “listening to the roaring.”

The tornado did not damage downtown Oklahoma City, but struck northwest of the city, tearing off a wall of a Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant, The Associated Press reported.

On Wednesday evening, eight people were still hospitalized at the Mercy Memorial Health Center in Ardmore, Okla., about eight miles east of Lone Grove, a spokeswoman said.

Nine Killed as Tornado Rakes Oklahoma

Continue reading »]]> DETROIT – Wind gusting more than 60 mph knocked out power to about 413,000 Michigan homes and businesses on Sunday as temperatures dipped back into the 20s and 30s.

Meanwhile, flood warnings were posted throughout the Midwest as temperatures rose after a week of heavy snowfall. Forecasters said flooding was possible in areas of Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.

In Michigan, high wind knocked down tree limbs and power lines. Parts of the state also got about 4 inches of snow.

“We’ve had an intensifying storm system track northeast through the state,” said Mark Sekelsky, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. “As that storm intensified, it brought the winds.”

Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. said about 230,000 lost power Sunday, mostly in Wayne and Oakland counties. Crews were working, but spokesman Scott Simons said 10 percent of the 155,000 customers blacked out Sunday night would have to remain without power into Thursday.

“We’re still assessing,” Singer said.

CMS Energy Corp. subsidiary Consumers Energy said about 183,000 of its customers lost power because of the winds and 91,000 remained blacked out Sunday night. Consumers said it couldn’t predict when power might be restored because the winds continued.

Crews from Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio aided Michigan’s power restoration efforts.

Strong winds also gusted across upstate New York, reaching 75 mph in the Buffalo area and toppling some power poles and trees. Nearly 16,000 customers were without power in five western and northern counties. In New York City, residents relaxed as temperatures reached the mid-60s Sunday.

Melting snow and ice caused problems in the Midwest. In southeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service predicted the Fox River would crest about a foot over flood stage Tuesday in the town of Wheatland.

Flooding along U.S. 31 in Holland, Mich., forced Amtrak to cancel a train from Chicago to Grand Rapids on Saturday night, and at least 300 passengers were taken to buses to complete their trips, WZZM-TV reported.

Amtrak canceled one train Sunday night and one Monday morning between Chicago and Grand Rapids because of the weather, Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said.

High wind knocks out power to 413,000 in Mich. – Yahoo! News

Continue reading »]]> Forecasters are warning of more rain as Brazil reels from devastating floods caused by torrential rains this week.

Meteorologists have predicted at least some chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday.

At least a hundred people have died with more than a dozen still missing.

And tens of thousands of people in 14 cities have been forced to seek shelter in schools, churches and public buildings.

The floodwaters are beginning to recede in the state of Santa Catarina, but the floods and the ensuing mudslides have killed as many as 100 people, and authorities say the toll is still rising.

Rescue teams and local volunteers are still searching for the missing.

Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, toured the disaster area, and promised more government help.

Volunteers and troops were scrambling to distribute medicine, food, water and clothes to people in a region where power outages contributed to a lack of clean water and fresh food.

Disaster zone

The government-owned bank Caixa Economica Federal announced it would provide 1.5bn reals ($652bn) in loans for people and businesses in the disaster zone so they can buy goods like construction materials and appliances.

Nearby states are also sending relief supplies for the homeless in Santa Catarina.

Nearly 80,000 people have been displaced, half of them in the once booming port city of Itajai.

As looters raided Itajai’s biggest supermarket, police stood by, saying that they were ordered to let residents take food and water from stores.

Evacuation urged

But officials warn that there is a danger of more deadly mudslides and are urging people in risk-prone areas to evacuate their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.

After surveying large areas hit by the mudslides, experts at Sao Paulo’s Technological Research Institute said tragedy could strike again because the earth is still saturated with water.

“The stabilisation of the soil is extremely precarious and if there is more rain, then there could be more mudslides,” the institute’s Luiz Antonio Gomes was quoted as saying in the Santa Catarina government’s website.

Al Jazeera English

Continue reading »]]> Hurricane Paloma, heading toward Cuba, is packing sustained winds of 135 mph and has been upgraded to Category 4 status, meteorologists said Saturday.

Accuweater.com forecasters said Paloma was expected to make landfall late Saturday night or early Sunday morning along the south-central coast of Cuba. Rain and strong winds were already pounding the Cayman Islands Saturday as officials urged residents to stay off the streets and evacuated some low-lying coastal regions.

“Before Paloma gets to Cuba, there will be some upper level wind sheer that will take away some of its energy, but it is still likely to be Category 3,” said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Michael Sager. “The storm will run perpendicular to the island and it will remain over land for about 12 hours. It’s likely to have become more disorganized by the time the storm passes on to the Bahamas.”

At 4 a.m. Saturday, the storm’s center was 40 miles southwest of Little Cayman and about 75 miles east of Grand Cayman and was moving in a northeasterly direction, CNN reported.

UPI.com

Continue reading »]]> Hurricane Paloma strengthened over the Caribbean and may become a Category 3 storm before hitting Cuba, which is still recovering from hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

Paloma’s maximum sustained winds increased to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour, from 120 kph earlier today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory on its Web site just before 7 a.m. Miami time. The system, which is forecast to continue strengthening, was about 395 kilometers (245 miles) west of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and moving north at 13 kph.

On the forecast track, the center of Paloma will pass near the Cayman Islands late Friday or early Saturday,” before hitting Cuba, the center said. Additional “strengthening is likely and Paloma is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane later today and possibly reach Category 3 intensity by Saturday.”

A Category 3 storm has winds of between 178 and 209 kph, the third strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. As much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain may fall on the Caymans, the center said.

The Cuban government issued a hurricane watch for the central provinces of Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas and Granma, the center said. A watch means that hurricane conditions are possible in the area within 36 hours.

Hurricane Ike, which made landfall in eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm in early September, killed four and prompted Cuban authorities to evacuate as many as 2 million people, or almost a fifth of the population. In late August, Hurricane Gustav hit the island with 150 mph winds, leading to evacuations.

Miss Refineries

The center’s five-day projection shows the system crossing central Cuba and then moving over the central Bahamas and toward the open Atlantic Ocean early next week.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the center said.

AccuWeather.com meteorologist Dale Mohler said Paloma should miss refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and in Saint Croix. The Gulf is home to about one-quarter of U.S. oil production.

“Paloma’s path will take it well away from refineries,” Mohler said in an e-mailed statement. “It could be very bad news for the people of Cuba, but it won’t impact energy interests.”

Paloma is the 16th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Forecasters predicted the season would see an above-average number of storms. Colorado State University researchers projected at least 17 major storms, including nine hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said there would be 14 to 18 named storms.

Bertha, Gustav

Hurricanes Bertha, Gustav, Ike and Omar reached major hurricane status of at least Category 3, with winds greater than 111 mph.

Paloma is similar to Hurricane Michelle of November 2001, which took just three days to intensify from a tropical depression into a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 131 mph, Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters wrote on his blog.

Bloomberg.com:

Continue reading »]]> TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Sinlaku slammed into Taiwan with heavy rain and strong winds Sunday, flooding low-lying regions and causing landslides that disrupted traffic and halted trains and domestic flights, officials said.

Sinlaku made landfall in coastal Ilan County in northeast Taiwan at 1:30 a.m. local time (1730 GMT), but quickly turned away and headed back out to sea, the Central Weather Bureau said.

“It’s hanging around at the ocean near our coasts,” said meteorologist Lee Hsiang-yuan. “It may move north, but we will not rule out another landfall on Taiwan.”

Domestic flights were canceled, trains stopped running and several mountain highways were blocked by landslides, according to the Disaster Relief Center.

The center warned that 55 rivers are prone to flash flooding and warned people living nearby to take precautions.

More than 300 people were evacuated overnight from low-lying areas in Taoyuan and Hsinchu counties in northern Taiwan, it said.

As of 10 a.m. Sunday in Taipei, Sinlaku was centered at sea about 6 miles off Keelung in the northern tip of Taiwan, packing winds of 78 miles per hour, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Sinlaku, named for a Micronesian goddess, is expected to move northeast toward Japan later Sunday, the bureau said.

Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan between July and September, often causing casualties in mountainous regions that are prone to landslides and flash floods.