12 March 2011

More floods...

7 Adar II 5771

Hundreds flee as rivers swell from Md. to Maine
Forecasters warn the worst is yet to come for some areas

Anxious officials from Maryland to Maine were closely monitoring swollen rivers and other waterways that were expected to overflow their banks early Saturday, causing more hardships for communities where major flooding forced hundreds of people from their homes.

Forecasters warned that the worst was yet to come for many areas, especially parts of flood-prone northern New Jersey that were already under water after a storm that dropped as much as 5 inches of rain in some areas from Thursday afternoon through Friday morning. That came just days after most of the same areas — which are emerging from a snow-filled winter — were flooded by another round of heavy rains.


No end in sight for drenched north Queensland

TWO Queensland towns are isolated, homes inundated and food supplies dwindling after days of torrential rain in the area dubbed "ground zero" for Cyclone Yasi.

The Cassowary Coast has been pounded by a massive monsoon for the past five days and it's not expected to let up for the next few days.


Tsunami slams U.S. with 8-foot waves

The Coast Guard was searching for a man who was swept out to sea near Crescent City, a town of 7,500 people 20 miles south of the Oregon border. The man had been taking photographs with two friends at the mouth of the Klamath River when they were pulled out by the surge. The two friends were able to swim to safety.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in four counties, saying "the water surge is causing conditions of extreme peril to the infrastructure and the safety of the persons and properties within the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, San Mateo and Santa Cruz."

..."We could hear the ocean howling — you could hear how angry it was," said Karen Barkhurst, who lives several miles north of Crescent City. "We stayed up all night and we were ready to evacuate."


...The tsunami hit Hawaii before dawn Friday, with most damage coming on the Big Island. The waves covered beachfront roads and rushed into hotels. One house was picked up and carried out to sea. Low-lying areas in Maui were flooded by 7-foot waves.


More 'quake news...

Tsunami warning center raises magnitude of Japan quake to 9.1

Indonesia volcano erupts just hours after massive quake in Japan

Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis

(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).


127,100 people evacuated after southwest China's earthquake

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- About 127,100 residents have been evacuated to safety after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Yingjiang County in southwest China's Yunnan Province Thursday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Saturday.

As of 10 p.m. Friday, the earthquake has left 25 people dead and more than 250 others injured including 134 seriously, the ministry said in a report.

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