Monday, May 23, 2011

052211.13.4--Message for Today: Life is privilege, earth, fuel cost up

1.  We need to understand and acknowledge that having "life" is only a privilege.  And so we have to be grateful, everyday, no matter what troubles we are experiencing; life's ups and downs are part of living; like driving a car, you'll never know when you run into an accident.  We are born to survive!  "God gave up His Life so we live, and glorify Himself.  But, anytime, He can pull the plug on us..."  There is only "One Life" in the universe; and that is His.

2.  Mother Earth shall experience more calamities; this time it will be severe...  (I think this might be the reason why food shortages were prominent in my materials.)

3.  There will be fuel or energy shortages.  Fuel cost will rise...

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Powerful storms pound several central US states

By JIM SUHR, Associated Press 37 mins ago

ST. LOUIS – Powerful storms roared through middle America again on Wednesday, with weak tornadoes touching down in isolated spots and severe thunderstorms threatening such strikes in several states.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches and a series of warnings in a dozen states, stretching northwest from Texas though the Mississippi River valley to Ohio.

"Everybody's working as fast and furious as possible," said Beverly Poole, the chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Paducah, Ky., which covers southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. "This is just a wild ride."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_severe_weather/print

Anonymous said...

For Item #2:

Joplin, Missouri: Before and after

By Mike Krumboltz Thu May 26, 2:34 pm ET

The city of Joplin, Missouri is still reeling from Sunday's tornado which claimed at least 125 lives. Officials released a list of the 232 people still believed missing on Thursday morning--but on a positive note, the first woman on the list, 75 year-old Sally Adams, was discovered by the AP to be alive and well.

Below, we've compiled some of the most compelling and heartbreaking photos from Joplin. Many charities and organizations are accepting donations to help the victims of the tornado. You can learn more about how to help here.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20110526/us_yblog_upshot/joplin-missouri-before-and-after/print

To see before-and-after photos of Joplin check the link below:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Before-and-after-Devastation-Joplin-MO-tornado/ss/events/us/052611joplinbefore#photoViewer=/ydownload_ap/20110526/photos_net_ap_ts/1306426569

Anonymous said...

Tornadoes barrel through Mass., 4 people dead

By STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press 57 mins ago

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Tornadoes roared through Massachusetts on Wednesday, as violent winds caused damage in about two dozen communities, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees, scattering debris and leaving at least four dead throughout the state.

The governor said the death toll was preliminary.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110602/ap_on_re_us/us_severe_weather/print

Anonymous said...

Deadly Mass. tornadoes flip homes, cars

By Zachary Roth Thu Jun 2, 10:01 am ET

People in the northeast are more used to blizzards than tornadoes. But two powerful twisters struck the Springfield, Mass. area Wednesday, killing at least four people, flipping cars, and collapsing buildings.

Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick activated the National Guard and declared a state of emergency. He instructed residents to shelter in basements and bathrooms, and noted that one man was killed when his car turned over in West Springfield.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110602/us_yblog_thelookout/deadly-mass-tornadoes-flip-homes-cars/print

Anonymous said...

Half the country wilts under unrelenting heat

By STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press 1 hr 29 mins ago

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A third day of unseasonable heat blistered the eastern half of the country Thursday, making tornado cleanup miserable in Massachusetts and sending country music fans in Tennessee to hospitals, while the surge in demand for energy knocked out power to sections of downtown Detroit.

The persistent heat has been blamed for at least seven deaths from the Plains to the East Coast, where authorities prepared emergency rooms and encouraged neighbors to check on the elderly as temperatures soared above 100 in spots.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_hot_weather/print

Anonymous said...

19 June 2011 Last updated at 22:17 ET

China floods: Millions affected by deadly downpours

More than five million people are now reported to have been affected by deadly floods in eastern China.

Torrential rain was continuing, leaving large parts of Zhejiang and Hubei provinces under water, state-run news agency Xinhua said.

It said nearly 1,000 businesses were being disrupted and crops destroyed, pushing up food prices.

This month's flooding - the worst since 1955 - has already left about 170 people dead or missing, reports say.

The government has mobilised troops to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people.

China's disaster alert has been raised to the highest level, four.

Downpours earlier this week triggered landslides that buried houses and killed at least two people in Zhejiang and another two in Hubei.

The floods come after months of crop-destroying drought in the centre and north of the country.

Some areas along the Yangtze River have suffered their worst drought in half a century.

Despite the rain, officials have warned that the crop shortages and dislocation caused by drought will remain severe.

Analysts say crop shortages in China could affect prices around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13831068?print=true

Anonymous said...

Water filling 2500 homes in Minot as river rises

6 hours ago - AP 2:16 | 3351 views

The Souris River's full weight is being felt in Minot, where an estimated 2,500 homes are filling with water as the river has soared nearly 4 feet in a single day. (June 24)

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/25732878

Anonymous said...

Heat-wave 'kills 13 people' across US heartland
19 July 2011 Last updated at 20:13 ET

A heat-wave blanketing the US heartland in humidity has claimed the lives of 13 people, according to US media.

The National Weather Service put 18 states stretching from Montana to Texas to West Virginia under a heat warning, watch or advisory, with the heat index topping 38C (100F) in most locations.

Anonymous said...

UN to declare famine in parts of drought-hit Somalia
19 July 2011 Last updated at 19:07 ET

The United Nations is set to declare a famine in parts of Somalia as it suffers the worst drought in more than half a century.

The UN says the humanitarian situation in the country has deteriorated rapidly, despite assistance efforts.
It will be the first time that the region has seen famine in 19 years.

Anonymous said...

Florida sinkhole swallows building

By Claudine Zap | The Upshot – 8 hrs ago

An enormous sinkhole has opened up in the town of Leesburg, Fla.,, and it's hungry. It's already gobbled up a garbage bin, an oak tree, the back wall of the building housing a salon and racks of supplies. You can watch a video charting its path of destruction above.

The chasm that caused Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply to collapse is about 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Although the street surrounding the building has also fallen prey to the pit, officials say the hole isn't growing. But the slowly sinking building is sparking growing concern for neighbors who live nearby. The sinkhole started after a torrential downpour at the end of June.

The heavy rains lead to plenty of pits opening in central Florida.

Since the 1950s, 3,100 sinkholes have been recorded in Florida. The naturally occurring holes open up when acidic groundwater dissolves underground rock formations. At the point, the formations are no longer able to support the ground above them, causing terra firma to collapse inward.

A neighbor across the street said he heard the sinkhole before he saw it. He told the Orlando Sentinel, "It woke me up. I heard a crack, a boom. I thought it was a wreck, like someone hit a transformer or something."

The pits have certainly opened up interest on the Web. A Guatemala City hole found under a grandmother's bed this week caused lots of speculation. In fact, some sharp-eyed commenters on Yahoo! suspect the hole to be caused by an abandoned well.

Lookups on Yahoo! for "guatemala sinkhole," "giant sinkhole under bed," and even "what causes sinkholes" continued to grow.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/florida-sinkhole-swallows-building-202324324.html

Anonymous said...

Hot nights can compound danger from heat waves

APBy RANDOLPH E. SCHMID - AP Science Writer | AP – Thu, Jul 21, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The killer lurking in the shadows of the current heat wave may be hot nights.

"Everybody kind of gets fixated on how hot it gets: 'Did we break 100?'" observed Illinois state climatologist Jim Angel. "But the nighttime temperatures can be just as important."

For folks without air conditioning, a nighttime respite from the worst of the heat gives the body a vital chance to recover from the stresses of the day.

But while the current heat wave has recorded 12 all-time daily highs so far this month, it also has registered 98 all-time overnight highs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported at a briefing Thursday.

And that's just all-time highs.

When it comes to a record high for a particular date, 1,279 locations have tied or broken daytime records this month while 3,128 night time highs have been tied or broken.

For example, on Wednesday Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Neb., had an overnight low of 82 degrees. That was a full 5 degrees warmer than the previous warmest overnight on that date, set in 2002.

Litchfield, Minn., also posted an overnight low of 82, besting a warm nighttime record for that date of 74 degrees set in 1964, and the overnight low of 82 at Lambert Field in St. Louis edged out the 1998 mark by 1 degree.

When temperatures overnight do not cool to levels that provide relief, it increases the stress on people without air conditioning, on livestock and on crops, said Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Modeling Branch at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

In general, both daytime and nighttime temperature increases "are consistent with what we would expect in a greenhouse-warmed world," he added.

High overnight readings also increase energy consumption as air conditioning units run deeper into the night and start earlier in the morning, he said.

This problem was a major factor in the 1995 heat wave that struck Chicago, claiming more than 700 lives, Angel pointed out in a telephone interview.

There were reports of elderly people who died in apartments because they couldn't afford to run their air conditioning or were afraid to open windows because of the fear of crime, he noted.

Chicago has since improved its response to heat waves, adding more cooling centers, sending people out to check on the elderly and asking neighbors to assist one another, he said.

Angel said he has not seen a lot of reports of deaths so far this year, but he added that sometimes finding people overcome by heat takes a while and the fatalities are not reported until later.

And unlike people, livestock and crops have little recourse from the heat. July is a sensitive time for corn, Angel said, possibly reducing its yield because of the heat.

In its briefing, NOAA also reported that last month was the seventh warmest June on record and so far 2011 is the 11th warmest year on record worldwide.

The long-range U.S. forecast for August calls for warmer than normal conditions across the southern tier of states from Arizona to North Carolina, with the hottest conditions concentrated in Texas and Louisiana, where it is also expected to be drier than usual. Cooler than normal readings are expected in August for the Dakotas and eastern Montana, which could also see above normal rainfall.

The warmer than normal temperatures are expected to continue across the south for the August-October period, and are expected to expand north along the Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes and New York and New England. The three-month period is expected to be wetter than usual in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Florida and parts of Georgia and South Carolina, and drier than normal in Nevada.

Anonymous said...

27 July 2011 Last updated at 11:17 ET

South Korea hit by fatal landslides

At least 32 people have been killed in landslides in South Korea, as heavy rain deluged homes and caused chaos across northern areas of the country.

A landslide crushed a hotel at a mountain resort in Chuncheon, east of the capital, Seoul, killing at least 13 people - most of them students.

Among other major incidents, 16 people were killed when mud smashed into their homes from a mountain slope in Seoul.

Forecasters say more heavy rain is likely in the coming days.

Disaster officials said most of the victims in Chuncheon were university students who had been doing volunteer work in the area.

Hotels, restaurants and coffee shops were wrecked when the landslide occurred just after midnight (1500 GMT Tuesday).

One student who survived the landslide told South Korea's Yonhap news agency: "I was sleeping on the second floor of the pension when I heard the thundering sound of a landslide. The stairs collapsed, and I was buried under mud."

Officials said two people were still not accounted for at the resort.

Hundreds of homes have been flooded in Seoul.

The torrential rain has also knocked out mobile phone signals and forced the closure of dozens of roads.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14304096

Anonymous said...

Raw Video: Sicily's Mount Etna erupts again

16 hrs ago - AP 0:52 | 17,455 views

Mount Etna volcano on the island of Sicily, southern Italy, has begun erupting again. This is the fourth and biggest eruption in July, after six months of calm. No casualties or damage to property have been reported. (Aug. 1)

http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/raw-video-sicily-s-mount-etna-erupts-again-26123172.html

Anonymous said...

Forecasters: Drought may persist for another year

APBy PAUL J. WEBER - Associated Press | AP – 2 hrs 37 mins ago

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The drought that has turned Texas and parts of the Plains into a parched moonscape of cracked earth could persist into next year, prolonging the misery of farmers and ranchers who have endured a dry spell that is now expected to be the state's worst since the 1950s.

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center said Thursday that the La Nina weather phenomenon blamed for the crippling lack of rain might be back soon, just two months after the last La Nina ended. If that happens, the drought would almost certainly extend into 2012.

http://news.yahoo.com/forecasters-drought-may-persist-another-210555620.html

Anonymous said...

3 die in Pittsburgh flash flooding; cars submerged

APAP – 8 mins ago

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Three people died in a flash flood on Friday after heavy rains submerged cars in Pittsburgh and authorities said they were searching for other possible victims.

Numerous vehicles were submerged in the area around Washington Boulevard, which runs parallel to the Allegheny River in the city's Highland Park neighborhood, after thunderstorms dropped up to 3 inches of rain in an hour, the National Weather Service reported.

Rescue crews used inflatable boats to reach other stranded drivers, some of whom say that the waters near the city zoo were 6 feet deep.

KDKA-TV reported that the three victims were found in the same minivan. Emergency officials said a fourth person was missing, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Some drivers had to swim to safety from their cars. Rhodearland "Bob" Bailey, 79, of Penn Hills, was rescued from the roof of his car.

"I can swim a little bit and was looking at a tree branch," Bailey told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I heard one woman yelling for help, but the water was coming down so fast, I couldn't see. ... I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Lord have mercy."

Tara Howes, 34, of Gibsonia, told the newspaper that "manhole covers started popping up and it looked like the road exploded and the waters came up really fast. I saw people swimming on the sides of the road. It was pretty scary."

The flash floods hit an area that experienced serious flooding last month. Claudia Gallagher, 55, of West Mifflin, was driving north on Washington Boulevard at the height of rainfall and tried to get off the road as the water rose.

"We tried to drive up onto the curb, but the water had other ideas," she told the Post-Gazette.

Her car began to float, and she opened her window and climbed onto the roof, getting her foot caught in the process. Many other drivers nearby were sitting atop their cars, too, she said.

The floodwaters had receded by early evening, leaving behind stranded cars and roads caked in mud.

Earlier Friday, another storm caused power outages that left most of the University of Pittsburgh without electricity.

Flights at Pittsburgh International Airport were grounded because of lightning just after 3 p.m., said spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny.

Two hospitals operated on emergency power after rains flooded a substation in the city's Oakland neighborhood.

http://news.yahoo.com/3-die-pittsburgh-flash-flooding-cars-submerged-231802007.html

Anonymous said...

Wisconsin

ReutersBy Peter Bohan | Reuters – 5 hrs ago

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - One man died as storms and a suspected tornado roared across northern Wisconsin on Friday night, cutting off power to around 2,000 homes, the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management said.

"At around 5 p.m. we had an apparent tornado in the Wausaukee area. We have one fatality," said Lori Getter, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management. She identified the person who died as a middle-aged man.

She said that the storm had downed a number of trees and power lines in Marinette county and that some damage was also reported in nearby Menominee county. Some 2,000 homes were without power but the storms had passed.

The storm came three months after a massive tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, and killed 155 people in the deadliest tornado to hit the United States in more than 60 years.

(Additional reporting by John Rondy. Writing by Cynthia Johnston. Editing by Peter Bohan)

Anonymous said...

Transit in NYC, NJ, Pa. to halt because of Irene

APAP – 9 mins ago

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Commuter transit systems in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia will shut down services because of Hurricane Irene.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says public transportation in New York City will shut down at about noon on Saturday. According to the governor's office, the Metropolitan Transit Authority will institute a system-wide shutdown when subways and buses begin their final runs starting at approximately noon.

The shutdown will include the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Access-A-Ride. The last complete shutdown of the system was for a 2005 strike.

New Jersey Transit trains also will stop running at noon Saturday. Gov. Chris Christie made the announcement during a briefing on the storm Friday.

In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter says mass transit in Philadelphia and its suburbs will halt at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

http://news.yahoo.com/transit-nyc-nj-pa-halt-because-irene-175033510.html

Anonymous said...

Vt. battles floods in Irene's aftermath

APBy DAVE GRAM - Associated Press | AP – 36 mins ago

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont towns battled floods of historic proportions, utility crews struggled to restore power to 5 million people along the East Coast, and big-city commuters coped with transit-system disruptions Monday as the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene finally spun into Canada.

The storm killed at least two dozen people, forced the cancellation of about 9,000 flights, washed away roads and bridges and toppled trees and power lines.

It never became the big-city nightmare forecasters and public officials had warned about, but it caused severe flooding in New England, well inland from the coastal areas that bore the brunt of the storm's winds.

http://news.yahoo.com/vt-battles-floods-irenes-aftermath-162532086.html

Anonymous said...

Videos show upstate New York, Vermont Irene flooding

By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – 9 hrs ago

Hurricane Irene failed to be the apocalyptic, big-city disaster scenario that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had spelled out late last week, but the storm still managed to leave 5 million homes and businesses without power and dozens dead.

The storm caused some of the worst flooding in a century in Vermont, and also submerged small upstate New York towns that are just now able to take stock of the damage.

A North Carolina road was completely washed out by the storm. You can see flood waters bisecting Highway 12, which connects Hatteras and Ocracoke islands to the mainland, in the video below. The collapse left more than 2,000 people on the islands stranded from the North Carolina mainland. Six deaths have been reported in the state, most from falling trees.

A Philadelphia computer engineer set up a webcam to monitor the level of water rising in his townhouse after he evacuated. He adopted a positive attitude about the severe flooding that he watched from safety. "It's stuff--it can be replaced," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/videos-show-upstate-york-vermont-irene-flooding-153510538.html

Anonymous said...

Drought, high demand makes hay hard to find

Ranchers in drought-stricken southern Plains struggle to find, afford hay to feed their cattle

Josh Funk, AP Business Writer, On Monday August 29, 2011, 10:29 am EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A scorching drought in the southern Plains has caused hay prices to soar, benefiting farmers to the north but forcing many ranchers to make a difficult choice between paying high prices or selling their cattle.

Ranchers in much of Texas, Oklahoma and even Kansas are having to pay inflated prices for hay and then shell out even more to have it trucked hundreds of miles from Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska or South Dakota. Their only other options are to reduce the size of their herds or move cattle to rented pastures in another state.

"It's pretty ugly," said Don Davis, who raises grass-fed beef on his ranch about 75 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Davis said he used to think last year's dry weather couldn't get worse, but this year's record-setting drought has put even more pressure on ranchers.

Parts of Texas haven't received any rain since last fall, and forecasters predict the drought will last at least through November. The situation isn't much better in western Oklahoma, southern New Mexico and parts of southern Kansas.

Officials say only a handful of Texas' 254 counties received enough rain to grow hay this year, so significantly less is available at the same time demand has skyrocketed because pastures are parched.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Drought-high-demand-makes-hay-apf-2865223017.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

Anonymous said...

Typhoon Talas makes landfall in southern Japan

APAP – 2 hrs 44 mins ago

TOKYO (AP) — Slow-moving Typhoon Talas has made landfall in southern Japan, dumping heavy rain across a wide swath of the country. Public broadcaster NHK says one person has died and three others are missing.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said Saturday that the center of the typhoon, the 12th of the season, had reached the island of Shikoku and was moving north at less than 6 miles (10 kilometers) per hour. Because of the storm's slow speed, the agency warned of heavy rain and strong winds centered in south-central Japan that could lead to flooding and landslides.

Kyodo News agency said 2,200 people were evacuated in 12 prefectures.

NHK and Kyodo said a 75-year-old woman died when she was swept away in a swollen river in Tokushima prefecture, but authorities could not immediately confirm that.

http://news.yahoo.com/typhoon-talas-makes-landfall-southern-japan-021532947.html