Winter Storms Hit France Spain and Scotland

Paris after the 4 inches of snow it received this past week.

Heavy snow in Paris not only shut down the airport but the Eiffel Tower as well as 4 inches of snow fell which is very unusual for this region.  Bad weather also caused travel woes in Scotland and after bad flooding hit Spain a child's body was found.  The Eiffel Tower was closed because they did not want salt to sprinkled on the structure as it may rust the metal.  What is interesting about Paris is that they do not usually get snow, the risk of high accumulation is very low and therefore the people are not prepared to travel in it and there are not really any modes to clean it up which throws the city into chaos. A news conference was actually called in Paris to let people know that 5,000 additional police would be on duty due to the weather.  It is so funny how Paris reacted to 4 inches of snow when Wisconsinites think 4 inches of snow is nothing!  In Spain the young boy who was found after torrential rains flooded parts of the Alcudia River where the boy was traveling.  Other areas of Spain were also evacuated due to the unexpected flooding.  Maybe because these countries are considered MDC's their warning systems are better equipped and fortunately there was only one death from the disastrous and unexpected weather.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/winter/2010-12-08-france-scotland-snow-winter-weather_N.htm

Columbia Mudslide

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos looks over rescue efforts. 

Over 100 people are presumed to be buried in mud and rubble after heavy rains have caused a state of emergency in Columbia.  The President, Juan Manuel Santos has entered the region in Bello in Antioquia province were 38 bodies have already been recovered from the debris.  Unfortunately the rescue efforts following the golden hours of the disaster have been hindered as the threat of more flooding and landslides threaten the area.  So far this flood has been the worst of the rainy season which has already claimed some 200 lives and forced 1.7 million people from their homes while destroying many peoples livelihood.  The government have issued a 30 day state of emergency so that they may get orders ready for aid and other rescue efforts and reconstruction.  The government is expected to spend around $550 million in disaster aid although the Inter-American Development Bank has offered to give a $350million dollar credit which will be helpful but now the coffee, coal and agricultural sections of commerce are in jeopardy of loosing millions of dollars which will effect the economy of Columbia.  And with the flooding of farm lands and the erosion of roads this will drive up the prices of food, another element to this natural disaster.  


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/08/colombia-venezuela

Bad Weather in South

Uprooted tree in Starksville, Mississippi.

A possible tornado and bad weather ripped through several states in the South including Yazoo City, Mississippi where high winds tore through the city and left many homes damaged.  Although Yazoo City is not directly on the coast it was stated in class that some of the most severe weather occurs in this area because it is near warm coastal waters.  Many of the cities prized public buildings were also badly damaged, a hardware store from the movie "O' Brother Where Art Thou" was badly damaged and the courthouse was ravaged by numerous down trees.  In all some 24 businesses were damaged following the tornado which means that phase three of the disaster, reconstruction will take some time as will normal life.  Many of these storms happened later in the evening when people were going to sleep or had already done so and therefore the warnings were quick which didn't leave much time to get to safety.  Fortunately no one was hurt this time but a tornado in the same area in April, which is peak month for tornadoes killed 12 people.  People in Alabama and South Carolina were also affected by the storms that passed through this past week.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2010-11-30-south-storms_N.htm

Flooding in Yogyakarta, Indonesia Caused by Lahar

 A man gathers his belongings from his home in the flooded area.

The city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia is under a state of emergency after massive flooding caused by a lahar from Mt. Merapi pushed thousands of gallons of water and volcanic debris through the city.  Hundreds of houses have been damaged by flooding and many have been evacuated; this is not to say the visitors cannot enter one man has said.  Four districts in Indonesia have been effected by the flooding including Gondolayu, Danurejan, Prawirodirjan and Keparakan with some flooding reported to be up to 2 meters in some areas.  There are many refugees from the lahar however there have not been any deaths reported.  Evacuation was difficult however as the lahar blocked several main roadways and dismantled several bridges this in turn has made rescue and aid difficult to enter in the golden hours after the flooding.  What is most fascinating is that people showed up in droves to see such a disaster which in turn also led to massive traffic jams which left rescue and aid difficult.  Makeshift levees were created along the river but scientists are warning that the river will not be able to contain the massive lahar flows that may still occur and so people are still being warned to stay at least 300 meters aways from the river.  What is really great is that the government has a very good evacuation plan in place and have set up 94 evacuation points for nearly 13,000 residents and they also have shelters to accommodate people as well.  It is thought that the lahar was caused after numerous eruptions and a heavy rainfall within the last few days which led to the large lahar. 

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/flooding-pushes-yogyakarta-into-a-state-of-emergency/409395

Mudslide Causes Gold Mine to Collapse

Excavators search for the bodies of the mean.

In the province of Paramaribo in Suriname, South America seven men were killed when the gold mine they were working in suddenly collapsed due to a mudslide.  The mudslide eroded the pits 20-meter walls and killed the illegal miners who were inside.  The miners had been warned in the past about illegal mining and noted there would be penalties but in an LCD country people will work no matter the danger.  Statements had been made however that the "porknockers" as the illegal miners are called most likely took place in unsafe mining practiced which could have aggravated the soils and made them far less sturdy which could have also made the mudslide more imminent.  This is just one example of how unsafe practiced can lead to an environmental hazard.  It was reported that the miners were using a water hose to blast away sand in the walls when the mudslide began.    


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5giTEDeIyO9VB40Aay_CMXQ1l5chw?docId=CNG.f849053e64b86a96d1e446e3e7aa8da9.321

Tornadoes in Wisconsin - In November!

Damage from a rare tornado in Northern Illinois

A rare sight in Southern Wisconsin on Monday as a tornado tore through Union Grove in Racine county and well as another county in Northern Illinois.  The tornado in Walworth County in Illinois was reported to be an EF-1 by the National Weather Service and it traveled 4 miles during which it damaged four homes and several farms.  In Racine County, semis were blown on their sides and 3,000 or more people were without power until Tuesday morning.  In Illinois several children and a school bus driver suffered minor injuries after the school bus they were in was blows over in the storm.  The storms hit 12 transformers in the effected area and left thousands without power in the cold weather of November, and in the small city of Caledonia where much of the damage was centered people didn't have a place to go for safety as the town hall was destroyed as well.  I could hardly believe this story when I saw it on the web, shouldn't it be snowing and what caused the strange November storm?  You also have to think that warnings were maybe not taken as seriously by people as many don't expect a tornado in Illinois and Wisconsin in November.  

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/tornadoes/2010-11-22-midwest-storm_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Storms Bring High Winds to the Atlantic States

Planes were flipped over in Trenton-Mercer airport in Ewing, New Jersey.

The east coast has been hit hard by bad whether and in turn there are 82,000 people without power which can be detrimental as the nights are very cold this time of year.  The quick moving storm moved through the east coast and with it brought 55 mph winds which flipped several small planes and damaged other at Trenton-Mercer airport in Ewing, New Jersey.  Seven planes in all were severely damaged by the high winds.  In Maryland storms damaged 200 or more residences because of high winds and a tornado is even though to have touched down but it is still being determined by the National Weather Service.  The storm also reached to Charlestown, West Virginia where a Wal-Mart sustained damages as high winds knocked over trees and destroyed shopping cart kiosks.  No injuries have yet to be reported in these storm but many peoples livelihoods have been damaged as the clean up process or "Stage 3" of the disaster will now take place and for many it could take months or more than a year to get things back to normal. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40234460/ns/weather/