Foundations under royal patronage have been handing out emergency relief bags to victims of floods in downtown Chaiyaphum.
The bags were given to 2,000 families most affected by the floods in the northeastern province.
The bags were donated by the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under His Majesty the King's patronage and the Princess Pa Foundation under Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
The floods were caused by run-off from the Lam Pathao reservoir in Kaeng Khro district, and are now receding after inundating downtown areas for the past few days.
Chaiyaphum's city mayor, Banyong Kiatkongchoochai, yesterday handed out the bags on behalf of the foundations.
The council worked pumps around the clock to drain water from the city centre. Council staff are on the lookout for crocodiles which escaped from flooded farms.
In the eastern province of Rayong,persistent heavy rain at the weekend has triggered a mudslide which damaged communities around Wat Nong Wa in tambon Makhamkoo of Nikhom Phatthana district. Residents said the mudslide appeared to have weakened the foundations of the temple wall, which they feared could collapse on to nearby homes.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Quakes, volcanoes, tsunamis on way
Earthquakes,volcanic eruptions, giant landslides and tsunamis may become more frequent as global warming changes the Earth's crust,scientists said on Wednesday.
Climate-linked geological changes may also trigger "methane burps", the release of a potent greenhouse gas, currently stored in solid form under melting permafrost and the seabed, in quantities greater than all the carbon dioxide (CO
2)in our air today.
"Climate change doesn't just affect the atmosphere and the oceans but the Earth's crust as well. The whole Earth is an interactive system," Professor Bill McGuire of University College London said at the first major conference of scientists researching the changing climate's effects on geological hazards.
"In the political community people are almost completely unaware of any geological aspects to climate change."
The vulcanologists, seismologists,glaciologists, climatologists and landslide experts at the meeting have looked to the past to predict future changes, particularly to climate upheaval at the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago.
"When the ice is lost, the Earth's crust bounces back up again and that triggers earthquakes, which trigger submarine landslides, which cause tsunamis," said Mr McGuire, who organised the threeday conference.
David Pyle of Oxford University said small changes in the mass of the Earth's surface seem to affect volcanic activity in general, not just in places where ice receded after a cold spell. Weather patterns also seem to affect volcanic activity - not just the other way round,he told the conference. Behind him was a slide of a dazzlingly bright orange paint-ing,London Sunset After Krakatau,1883 - referring to a huge Asian volcanic eruption whose effects were seen and felt around the world.
Volcanoes can spew vast amounts of ash, sulphur, carbon dioxide and water into the upper atmosphere, reflecting sunlight and sometimes cooling the Earth for a couple of years.
But too many eruptions, too close together, may have the opposite effect and quicken global warming, said US vulcanologist Peter Ward.
"Prior to man, the most abrupt climate change was initiated by volcanoes, but now man has taken over. Understanding why and how volcanoes did it will help man figure out what to do," he said.
Speakers were careful to point out that many findings still amounted only to hypotheses, but said evidence appeared to be mounting that the world could be in for shocks on a vast scale.
Tony Song of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California warned of the vast power of recently discovered "glacial earthquakes" in which glacial ice mass crashes downwards like an enormous landslide. In the West Antarctic, ice piled more than 1.5km above sea level is being undermined in places by water seeping in underneath.
"Our experiments show that glacial earthquakes can generate far more powerful tsunamis than undersea earthquakes with similar magnitude,"said Mr Song."Several high-latitude regions, such as Chile, New Zealand and Canadian Newfoundland are particularly at risk." He said ice sheets appeared to be disintegrating much more rapidly than thought and said glacial earthquake tsunamis were "low-probability but highrisk". Mr McGuire said the possible geological hazards were alarming enough,but just one small part of a scary picture if man-made CO
2emissions were not stabilised in around the next five years.
"Added to all the rest of the mayhem and chaos, these things would just be the icing on the cake," he said.
Climate-linked geological changes may also trigger "methane burps", the release of a potent greenhouse gas, currently stored in solid form under melting permafrost and the seabed, in quantities greater than all the carbon dioxide (CO
2)in our air today.
"Climate change doesn't just affect the atmosphere and the oceans but the Earth's crust as well. The whole Earth is an interactive system," Professor Bill McGuire of University College London said at the first major conference of scientists researching the changing climate's effects on geological hazards.
"In the political community people are almost completely unaware of any geological aspects to climate change."
The vulcanologists, seismologists,glaciologists, climatologists and landslide experts at the meeting have looked to the past to predict future changes, particularly to climate upheaval at the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago.
"When the ice is lost, the Earth's crust bounces back up again and that triggers earthquakes, which trigger submarine landslides, which cause tsunamis," said Mr McGuire, who organised the threeday conference.
David Pyle of Oxford University said small changes in the mass of the Earth's surface seem to affect volcanic activity in general, not just in places where ice receded after a cold spell. Weather patterns also seem to affect volcanic activity - not just the other way round,he told the conference. Behind him was a slide of a dazzlingly bright orange paint-ing,London Sunset After Krakatau,1883 - referring to a huge Asian volcanic eruption whose effects were seen and felt around the world.
Volcanoes can spew vast amounts of ash, sulphur, carbon dioxide and water into the upper atmosphere, reflecting sunlight and sometimes cooling the Earth for a couple of years.
But too many eruptions, too close together, may have the opposite effect and quicken global warming, said US vulcanologist Peter Ward.
"Prior to man, the most abrupt climate change was initiated by volcanoes, but now man has taken over. Understanding why and how volcanoes did it will help man figure out what to do," he said.
Speakers were careful to point out that many findings still amounted only to hypotheses, but said evidence appeared to be mounting that the world could be in for shocks on a vast scale.
Tony Song of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California warned of the vast power of recently discovered "glacial earthquakes" in which glacial ice mass crashes downwards like an enormous landslide. In the West Antarctic, ice piled more than 1.5km above sea level is being undermined in places by water seeping in underneath.
"Our experiments show that glacial earthquakes can generate far more powerful tsunamis than undersea earthquakes with similar magnitude,"said Mr Song."Several high-latitude regions, such as Chile, New Zealand and Canadian Newfoundland are particularly at risk." He said ice sheets appeared to be disintegrating much more rapidly than thought and said glacial earthquake tsunamis were "low-probability but highrisk". Mr McGuire said the possible geological hazards were alarming enough,but just one small part of a scary picture if man-made CO
2emissions were not stabilised in around the next five years.
"Added to all the rest of the mayhem and chaos, these things would just be the icing on the cake," he said.
Friday, September 18, 2009
African water disaster
The only piece of furniture that survived the most recent flood in Fatou Dione's house is her bed. It's propped up on cinderblocks and hovers just above the water lapping at the walls of her bedroom.
The water stands more than 30cm deep throughout her house. She shakes off her wet feet each time she climbs into her bed. To keep it dry, she tries to place her feet on the same spot so that only one corner of her mattress becomes moist.
Torrential rains have lashed Africa's western coast for the past three months,killing 159 people and flooding the homes and businesses of over 600,000 others,according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
They include the patients of one of Burkina Faso's largest hospitals who had to be carried out on gurneys after water invaded the wards. They include those living on the banks of a river in northern Niger, whose homes were swept away when a dike burst under the weight of the rain. And they also include tens of thousands of people like Dione whose homes took on a foot or less of water and whose ordeals are not a priority for the country's overwhelmed emergency response teams.
While the rains have been extreme,people are also to blame, said Col Singhane Diagne, spokesman for the country's firefighters. The home where Dione lives should never have been built, he said.During the droughts of the 1970s, people began illegally building houses in the low-lying marshes that surround Dakar,the Senegalese capital. When the drought ended and the rains returned, these bowlshaped neighbourhoods began to flood.
"Every year we pump the same houses.Not just once. Over and over. You pump the water out - and it comes right back.Like a boomerang," says Diagne."These people need to leave."
Among the six countries where the flooding has been most severe - Senegal,Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Burkina Faso,Niger, and Ghana - the neighbourhoods most affected are the poor ones. Typically these communities are the result of urban sprawl, built without municipal approval,using unsafe materials. In Ouagadougou,the hard-hit capital of Burkina Faso,many of the flooded homes were made of nothing more than clay.
In Senegal, the government has built a satellite community of around 150 homes outside the flood plain, but the homes are already nearly full. The UN estimates that just in Senegal,264,000 people have been affected by flooding.And although many families say their homes flood every year, they say that they do not have the money to move.
As the rain continues to come down,families are waging individual battles with water. About 32km away from Fass Mbao, in the flooded suburb of Tivaouane,37-year-old Mansour Ndiaye tries to scoop water into a bucket using a large sponge. The courtyard to his family's home is a pool. He had managed to dry out the hallway of his family's home by the time the afternoon rain started."I'm doing the best I can," he said.
His elderly neighbour, Assane Sock,had spent the day before carrying buckets out of his house. The water seeped back in overnight. He spends the afternoon looking for pieces of wood and stones to try to elevate his furniture and his Singer sewing machine. He's a tailor, he explained. And he can't sew if his clients' clothes are trailing in the water.
"I live like a fish," he said."I eat in the water. I sleep in the water. And now I work in the water."
Limited aid is being distributed to the most affected regions. The World Food Programme hopes to give out food rations to 125,000 people, including in Rosso, the small community on the banks of the Senegal River in southern Mauritania.
The water was so deep in some neighbourhoods that people were forced to swim out.
"I lost my entire house. All of my furniture. All of my things. We swam for 45 minutes to get out of the flooded area," said 54-year-old Marieme Fall in Rosso.
Even as the aid begins to arrive, the rain continues to fall. On a recent evening in Fass Mbao,40-year-old Saliba Ndiaye was hurrying to get home. The duncoloured water on the main road came up to her hips. As she pushed her way through, it started to pour again. She was soaked by the time she pushed open the door to her house, where her six young children were waiting. Unlike her neighbours, her floors are dry, even though rain sprays in through a hole in the roof.
She grabbed her baby and pulled him close, his dry body smack against her soaked, brown shirt. He nursed, oblivious to his wet mother."We've learned to live with the water," she said.
The water stands more than 30cm deep throughout her house. She shakes off her wet feet each time she climbs into her bed. To keep it dry, she tries to place her feet on the same spot so that only one corner of her mattress becomes moist.
Torrential rains have lashed Africa's western coast for the past three months,killing 159 people and flooding the homes and businesses of over 600,000 others,according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
They include the patients of one of Burkina Faso's largest hospitals who had to be carried out on gurneys after water invaded the wards. They include those living on the banks of a river in northern Niger, whose homes were swept away when a dike burst under the weight of the rain. And they also include tens of thousands of people like Dione whose homes took on a foot or less of water and whose ordeals are not a priority for the country's overwhelmed emergency response teams.
While the rains have been extreme,people are also to blame, said Col Singhane Diagne, spokesman for the country's firefighters. The home where Dione lives should never have been built, he said.During the droughts of the 1970s, people began illegally building houses in the low-lying marshes that surround Dakar,the Senegalese capital. When the drought ended and the rains returned, these bowlshaped neighbourhoods began to flood.
"Every year we pump the same houses.Not just once. Over and over. You pump the water out - and it comes right back.Like a boomerang," says Diagne."These people need to leave."
Among the six countries where the flooding has been most severe - Senegal,Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Burkina Faso,Niger, and Ghana - the neighbourhoods most affected are the poor ones. Typically these communities are the result of urban sprawl, built without municipal approval,using unsafe materials. In Ouagadougou,the hard-hit capital of Burkina Faso,many of the flooded homes were made of nothing more than clay.
In Senegal, the government has built a satellite community of around 150 homes outside the flood plain, but the homes are already nearly full. The UN estimates that just in Senegal,264,000 people have been affected by flooding.And although many families say their homes flood every year, they say that they do not have the money to move.
As the rain continues to come down,families are waging individual battles with water. About 32km away from Fass Mbao, in the flooded suburb of Tivaouane,37-year-old Mansour Ndiaye tries to scoop water into a bucket using a large sponge. The courtyard to his family's home is a pool. He had managed to dry out the hallway of his family's home by the time the afternoon rain started."I'm doing the best I can," he said.
His elderly neighbour, Assane Sock,had spent the day before carrying buckets out of his house. The water seeped back in overnight. He spends the afternoon looking for pieces of wood and stones to try to elevate his furniture and his Singer sewing machine. He's a tailor, he explained. And he can't sew if his clients' clothes are trailing in the water.
"I live like a fish," he said."I eat in the water. I sleep in the water. And now I work in the water."
Limited aid is being distributed to the most affected regions. The World Food Programme hopes to give out food rations to 125,000 people, including in Rosso, the small community on the banks of the Senegal River in southern Mauritania.
The water was so deep in some neighbourhoods that people were forced to swim out.
"I lost my entire house. All of my furniture. All of my things. We swam for 45 minutes to get out of the flooded area," said 54-year-old Marieme Fall in Rosso.
Even as the aid begins to arrive, the rain continues to fall. On a recent evening in Fass Mbao,40-year-old Saliba Ndiaye was hurrying to get home. The duncoloured water on the main road came up to her hips. As she pushed her way through, it started to pour again. She was soaked by the time she pushed open the door to her house, where her six young children were waiting. Unlike her neighbours, her floors are dry, even though rain sprays in through a hole in the roof.
She grabbed her baby and pulled him close, his dry body smack against her soaked, brown shirt. He nursed, oblivious to his wet mother."We've learned to live with the water," she said.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
FLOODS SWEEP THROUGH NAN KILLING 4
The "worst forest flood in 30 years" swept through Huai Mon Village in Nan's Muang district on Sunday night, isolating 128 households and killing four people.
A flood victim's body was found yesterday in Si Sa Ket's Prang Ku district.
Flood damage caused Huai Mon School to suspend classes.
Local authorities helped evacuate some 1,000 residents to higher ground, transfer their possessions away from the floodwaters and provide them with drinking water. Anucha Salaisuthee, a villager in his 30s, said the flood came after two hours of downpours.
The currents were so fast and strong that many had to run for their lives and couldn't move their belongings to safer places.
"This is the worst forest flood in 30 years. I've never seen a flood like this before," he added.
Another villager, Jintana Saelee, 19, said she thought the cause of the flood was the soil's inability to absorb water |due to pig farms and corn plantations.
While authorities were assessing flood damage for a "disaster zone" declaration, Nan Disaster Prevention chief Thawat Petchwira said he urged officials to watch for more flooding around the clock as rain clouds still hung over the area.
The body of Sakhon Kosilp, 21, who was washed away on Saturday at Huai Hong Rakam in Si Sa Ket's Prang Ku district, was found lodged in a tree.
Si Sa Ket Governor Raphi Phongbuppakit reported that 5,315 residents of 10 villages in Tambon Khok Jan in Uthumporn Pisai district were affected by the flood, while 18 roads were damaged and six state offices and schools were forced to close temporarily.
A flood victim's body was found yesterday in Si Sa Ket's Prang Ku district.
Flood damage caused Huai Mon School to suspend classes.
Local authorities helped evacuate some 1,000 residents to higher ground, transfer their possessions away from the floodwaters and provide them with drinking water. Anucha Salaisuthee, a villager in his 30s, said the flood came after two hours of downpours.
The currents were so fast and strong that many had to run for their lives and couldn't move their belongings to safer places.
"This is the worst forest flood in 30 years. I've never seen a flood like this before," he added.
Another villager, Jintana Saelee, 19, said she thought the cause of the flood was the soil's inability to absorb water |due to pig farms and corn plantations.
While authorities were assessing flood damage for a "disaster zone" declaration, Nan Disaster Prevention chief Thawat Petchwira said he urged officials to watch for more flooding around the clock as rain clouds still hung over the area.
The body of Sakhon Kosilp, 21, who was washed away on Saturday at Huai Hong Rakam in Si Sa Ket's Prang Ku district, was found lodged in a tree.
Si Sa Ket Governor Raphi Phongbuppakit reported that 5,315 residents of 10 villages in Tambon Khok Jan in Uthumporn Pisai district were affected by the flood, while 18 roads were damaged and six state offices and schools were forced to close temporarily.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Earthquake hits Venezuela, damaging homes
A strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook major oil exporter Venezuela on Saturday, causing panic in the capital, Caracas, and injuring at least seven people when houses in the countryside collapsed.
The quake, the strongest in the South American nation in years, hit at about 3.40pm local time. It knocked out power in several regions.
The head of Venezuela's emergency services, Luis Diaz Curbelo, said the quake was felt across the country, but the northwestern state of Falcon was the hardest hit with seven people hurt and some buildings damaged. The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 36km north-northeast of Puerto Cabello,one of the nation's main oil ports. There was no damage to any oil installations,a source at the state oil company said.
In Caracas several people were slightly hurt when thousands of shoppers stampeded out of one of the city's largest malls. In the countryside, the walls of some houses collapsed.
Residents of apartment blocks gathered in public spaces in case of aftershocks, which were reported in some regions.
The quake, the strongest in the South American nation in years, hit at about 3.40pm local time. It knocked out power in several regions.
The head of Venezuela's emergency services, Luis Diaz Curbelo, said the quake was felt across the country, but the northwestern state of Falcon was the hardest hit with seven people hurt and some buildings damaged. The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 36km north-northeast of Puerto Cabello,one of the nation's main oil ports. There was no damage to any oil installations,a source at the state oil company said.
In Caracas several people were slightly hurt when thousands of shoppers stampeded out of one of the city's largest malls. In the countryside, the walls of some houses collapsed.
Residents of apartment blocks gathered in public spaces in case of aftershocks, which were reported in some regions.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Taiwan PM quits over typhoon
Taiwan's premier resigned yesterday amid strong criticism of the government's slow response to the most devastating storm to hit the island in 50 years, and the president immediately named a senior official from the ruling party to replace him.
Liu Chao-shiuan said he was leaving office because his cabinet had completed the initial stage of rehabilitation work after Typhoon Morakot slammed into the island during Aug 8-9 and left an estimated 670 people dead.
"I have completed my duties at this phase," said Mr Liu, who has held his post since Ma Ying-jeou became president in May 2008.
Mr Liu's move sets the stage for the entire cabinet to resign. Mr Liu said that would happen on Thursday.
Mr Ma named Nationalist Party secretary-general Wu Den-yih, 61, to replace Mr Liu.
Mr Wu is a veteran lawmaker with a reputation as a skilled political manoeuvrer.He previously served eight years as mayor of Kaohsiung - Taiwan's second-largest city - and before that was chief executive of Nantou county,also in the south of the island.
Mr Wu's nomination by the president does not require approval from Taiwan's legislature.
Mr Wu said he will name new cabinet members in a few days after discussing the line-up with Mr Ma.
"We will unite and strive with our best efforts to shoulder the difficult task
ahead," he told reporters.
Another former lawmaker Chu Li-lun,48, was named by Mr Ma as vice-premier.Mr Chu has served as chief executive of Taoyuan county in suburban Taipei since 2001.
Presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Mr Chu,who has a background in finance and business management, could oversee the island's economic development, which has been hard hit by the global financial crisis.
Mr Wu, an elected official experienced in local politics, could complement Mr Ma, a legal expert by training who is often seen as being distant and aloof,said Shih Cheng-feng, a political scientist with National Dong Hwa University.
"Wu could help ease mounting grievances about the rescue effort, but he might not implement bold reforms that could be seen as a threat to Ma,"Mr Shih said.
Typhoon Morakot, which dumped one metre of rain in some locations,triggered massive flooding and mudslides in and around some 40 villages in southern Taiwan.
Critics blamed the heavy casualties on government inefficiency, saying authorities should have ordered residents in the area to evacuate their homes long before the storm hit. The government has also come under criticism for rejecting initial offers of foreign aid and for failing to immediately deploy troops to help with rescue operations.
Opinion polls in Morakot's wake showed support for Mr Ma and Mr Liu plunging to below 20%- a drop of 20-30 points in only a matter of months.Even Mr Ma's Nationalist allies demanded acabinet reshuffle,acknowledging overwhelming public unease with the government.
Liu Chao-shiuan said he was leaving office because his cabinet had completed the initial stage of rehabilitation work after Typhoon Morakot slammed into the island during Aug 8-9 and left an estimated 670 people dead.
"I have completed my duties at this phase," said Mr Liu, who has held his post since Ma Ying-jeou became president in May 2008.
Mr Liu's move sets the stage for the entire cabinet to resign. Mr Liu said that would happen on Thursday.
Mr Ma named Nationalist Party secretary-general Wu Den-yih, 61, to replace Mr Liu.
Mr Wu is a veteran lawmaker with a reputation as a skilled political manoeuvrer.He previously served eight years as mayor of Kaohsiung - Taiwan's second-largest city - and before that was chief executive of Nantou county,also in the south of the island.
Mr Wu's nomination by the president does not require approval from Taiwan's legislature.
Mr Wu said he will name new cabinet members in a few days after discussing the line-up with Mr Ma.
"We will unite and strive with our best efforts to shoulder the difficult task
ahead," he told reporters.
Another former lawmaker Chu Li-lun,48, was named by Mr Ma as vice-premier.Mr Chu has served as chief executive of Taoyuan county in suburban Taipei since 2001.
Presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Mr Chu,who has a background in finance and business management, could oversee the island's economic development, which has been hard hit by the global financial crisis.
Mr Wu, an elected official experienced in local politics, could complement Mr Ma, a legal expert by training who is often seen as being distant and aloof,said Shih Cheng-feng, a political scientist with National Dong Hwa University.
"Wu could help ease mounting grievances about the rescue effort, but he might not implement bold reforms that could be seen as a threat to Ma,"Mr Shih said.
Typhoon Morakot, which dumped one metre of rain in some locations,triggered massive flooding and mudslides in and around some 40 villages in southern Taiwan.
Critics blamed the heavy casualties on government inefficiency, saying authorities should have ordered residents in the area to evacuate their homes long before the storm hit. The government has also come under criticism for rejecting initial offers of foreign aid and for failing to immediately deploy troops to help with rescue operations.
Opinion polls in Morakot's wake showed support for Mr Ma and Mr Liu plunging to below 20%- a drop of 20-30 points in only a matter of months.Even Mr Ma's Nationalist allies demanded acabinet reshuffle,acknowledging overwhelming public unease with the government.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Deadly LA wildfire creeps deeper into forest
The ferocious wildfire burning north of Los Angeles has turned into a creeping giant, steadily chewing through thick and dry brush on its eastern flank. Crews have reported good progress,but the blaze that has already claimed the lives of two firefighters was far from being fully contained.
Investigators, meanwhile, were working to find the arsonist responsible for the huge wildfire that has burned through 624sq km of the Angeles National Forest.It was 42% contained on Friday.
More than 76 homes and dozens of other structures have been destroyed.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a $100,000(3.4 million baht) reward last week for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.
In the rugged terrain of the San Gabriel Wilderness, fire officials relied on aerial water drops to slow the flames and the backbreaking work of hand crews to build fire lines. While flames inched down steep canyons, crews defended a cluster of church camps and a bar along the Angeles Crest Highway.
The weather forecast called for cooler temperatures and higher humidity.
At least a dozen investigators are working to analyse clues found at a charred hillside, including incendiary material found there. Officials said the fire was arson, but were still trying to learn who was responsible and understand how it was set.
"We are in the early stages, just beginning to put things together," said Los Angeles County sheriff Lieutenant Liam Gallagher, who is heading the murder investigation.
"Firefighters losing their lives in the line of duty is an added incentive, but we work every case to the fullest," Lt Gallagher added.
Near a large shade tree where crews get their twice daily briefings, firefighters set up a makeshift memorial for Captain Tedmund Hall and Specialist Arnaldo Quinones. The fallen firefighters had helped save about 60 members of an inmate fire crew as flames approached their camp.
They set a backfire that allowed the rest of the group to reach safety. The pair died when their truck plunged 240m down a steep mountain road.
Most wildfires are caused by human activity, and government statistics show that people were faulted for 5,208 wildfires in Southern California in 2008, the highest number since at least 2001.
Between 2006 and 2008, Southern California was the only region of the US to see a significant jump in the number of wildfires blamed on people.
Still, very few of the forest fires lead to criminal or civil cases. The US Forest Service recorded nearly 400 arson wildfires since 2005, records show.
The number of firefighters assigned to the Station fire continued to grow to more than 5,244, and a mini-city sprung up at a park in the Lake View Terrace neighbourhood, complete with rows of showers, a mess hall that served firefighters 5,000-plus calorie meals each day and souvenir T-shirt vendors.
The cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $37 million so far.
Investigators, meanwhile, were working to find the arsonist responsible for the huge wildfire that has burned through 624sq km of the Angeles National Forest.It was 42% contained on Friday.
More than 76 homes and dozens of other structures have been destroyed.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a $100,000(3.4 million baht) reward last week for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.
In the rugged terrain of the San Gabriel Wilderness, fire officials relied on aerial water drops to slow the flames and the backbreaking work of hand crews to build fire lines. While flames inched down steep canyons, crews defended a cluster of church camps and a bar along the Angeles Crest Highway.
The weather forecast called for cooler temperatures and higher humidity.
At least a dozen investigators are working to analyse clues found at a charred hillside, including incendiary material found there. Officials said the fire was arson, but were still trying to learn who was responsible and understand how it was set.
"We are in the early stages, just beginning to put things together," said Los Angeles County sheriff Lieutenant Liam Gallagher, who is heading the murder investigation.
"Firefighters losing their lives in the line of duty is an added incentive, but we work every case to the fullest," Lt Gallagher added.
Near a large shade tree where crews get their twice daily briefings, firefighters set up a makeshift memorial for Captain Tedmund Hall and Specialist Arnaldo Quinones. The fallen firefighters had helped save about 60 members of an inmate fire crew as flames approached their camp.
They set a backfire that allowed the rest of the group to reach safety. The pair died when their truck plunged 240m down a steep mountain road.
Most wildfires are caused by human activity, and government statistics show that people were faulted for 5,208 wildfires in Southern California in 2008, the highest number since at least 2001.
Between 2006 and 2008, Southern California was the only region of the US to see a significant jump in the number of wildfires blamed on people.
Still, very few of the forest fires lead to criminal or civil cases. The US Forest Service recorded nearly 400 arson wildfires since 2005, records show.
The number of firefighters assigned to the Station fire continued to grow to more than 5,244, and a mini-city sprung up at a park in the Lake View Terrace neighbourhood, complete with rows of showers, a mess hall that served firefighters 5,000-plus calorie meals each day and souvenir T-shirt vendors.
The cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $37 million so far.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Earthquake kills dozens of Indonesians
Rescue workers on Indonesia's Java island searched by hand yesterday for dozens of people trapped by a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 57, officials said.
Police and soldiers were called in to help find people buried in their homes by earthquake-triggered landslides in a village in Cianjur district south of the capital Jakarta after the quake.
Dozens of people were trapped under rubble, dirt and boulders in Cikangkareng village while over 5,000 people had been displaced by the quake, Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya said.
Disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said widespread damage in the lush, crowded area was hampering rescue efforts.
"So far we are digging them out manually with hoes," Mr Kardono said. In the village, the quake caused landslides that stripped hillsides bare and buried homes.
Police, rescue workers and residents used their bare hands and improvised tools to uncover the dirt-covered bodies of people and livestock from underneath piles of rocks and earth.
"The village is in a valley and the landslide buried a dozen houses about 20m under. You can't see the roofs at all, everything is completely buried. The chance of anyone surviving is very, very small," Mr Kardono said.
President Susilo Yudhoyono and top ministers travelled to the disaster site.
"What's important now is being responsive to the emergency, to save lives and to bury those who died," Mr Yudhoyono was quoted as saying.
Officials said the worst damage from the earthquake, which struck off the south coast of Java at around 3pm on Wednesday was in the districts of Cianjur,Garut and Tasikmalaya in West Java province. Mariani, a hospital worker in Tasikmalaya, said medics treated 43 people.
"Two of them, a 43-year-old woman and a seven-year-old boy, died from serious head injuries after they were crushed under a collapsed wall. Their bodies were all covered with blood,"she said."The hospital floors shook so hard yesterday and patients and staff were shouting 'Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!' as we rushed to get all the bedridden patients out of the building."
The quake was also felt strongly in Jakarta,200km from the epicentre, where panicked residents poured out of swaying office towers, shopping malls and homes as the tremors hit and at least one person was killed.
Disaster agency official Maman Susanto said around 18,000 buildings were damaged in the quake, which was also felt in other Indonesian islands,including Bali and Sumatra.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country had offered assistance to neighbouring Indonesia to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake.
The West Java provincial administration promised to allocate 90 billion rupiah (310 million baht) of recovery aid,according to the Koran Tempo newspaper, while Mr Yudhoyono promised an additional five billion rupiah.
Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning after the quake but cancelled it when it became clear there was no danger.
Agency technical chief Suharjono said aftershocks were continuing but were unlikely to cause serious damage.
"They are of a smaller magnitude.They are not frequent and are about 5.0-magnitude. People won't feel their impact," he said.
A 7.7-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami off southern Java in 2006, killing 596 people and displacing about 74,000.
A massive quake off the coast of the island of Sumatra in 2004 triggered a catastrophic tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people around Asia.
Police and soldiers were called in to help find people buried in their homes by earthquake-triggered landslides in a village in Cianjur district south of the capital Jakarta after the quake.
Dozens of people were trapped under rubble, dirt and boulders in Cikangkareng village while over 5,000 people had been displaced by the quake, Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya said.
Disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said widespread damage in the lush, crowded area was hampering rescue efforts.
"So far we are digging them out manually with hoes," Mr Kardono said. In the village, the quake caused landslides that stripped hillsides bare and buried homes.
Police, rescue workers and residents used their bare hands and improvised tools to uncover the dirt-covered bodies of people and livestock from underneath piles of rocks and earth.
"The village is in a valley and the landslide buried a dozen houses about 20m under. You can't see the roofs at all, everything is completely buried. The chance of anyone surviving is very, very small," Mr Kardono said.
President Susilo Yudhoyono and top ministers travelled to the disaster site.
"What's important now is being responsive to the emergency, to save lives and to bury those who died," Mr Yudhoyono was quoted as saying.
Officials said the worst damage from the earthquake, which struck off the south coast of Java at around 3pm on Wednesday was in the districts of Cianjur,Garut and Tasikmalaya in West Java province. Mariani, a hospital worker in Tasikmalaya, said medics treated 43 people.
"Two of them, a 43-year-old woman and a seven-year-old boy, died from serious head injuries after they were crushed under a collapsed wall. Their bodies were all covered with blood,"she said."The hospital floors shook so hard yesterday and patients and staff were shouting 'Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!' as we rushed to get all the bedridden patients out of the building."
The quake was also felt strongly in Jakarta,200km from the epicentre, where panicked residents poured out of swaying office towers, shopping malls and homes as the tremors hit and at least one person was killed.
Disaster agency official Maman Susanto said around 18,000 buildings were damaged in the quake, which was also felt in other Indonesian islands,including Bali and Sumatra.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country had offered assistance to neighbouring Indonesia to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake.
The West Java provincial administration promised to allocate 90 billion rupiah (310 million baht) of recovery aid,according to the Koran Tempo newspaper, while Mr Yudhoyono promised an additional five billion rupiah.
Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning after the quake but cancelled it when it became clear there was no danger.
Agency technical chief Suharjono said aftershocks were continuing but were unlikely to cause serious damage.
"They are of a smaller magnitude.They are not frequent and are about 5.0-magnitude. People won't feel their impact," he said.
A 7.7-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami off southern Java in 2006, killing 596 people and displacing about 74,000.
A massive quake off the coast of the island of Sumatra in 2004 triggered a catastrophic tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people around Asia.
Hurricane Jimena weakens as it hits Mexico
Hurricane Jimena weakened yesterday after slamming Mexico's Baja California peninsula with howling winds and drenching the Los Cabos resort area where tourists took refuge in boarded-up hotels.
The storm's force eased as it neared land but the US National Hurricane Center said a hurricane warning remained in effect for the northern part of the peninsula and "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion".
The centre said Jimena was now a Category 2 storm with winds of 165kph and stronger gusts, after it dropped from an extremely dangerous Category 4 and then to Category 3.
Jimena was about 110km southsoutheast of Cabo San Lazaro and moving north-northwest at 20kph.
Sheets of rain poured from dark grey skies as Jimena's winds buffeted the tip of the peninsula, home to world-class golf courses, yachting marinas and fivestar hotels.
The storm's force eased as it neared land but the US National Hurricane Center said a hurricane warning remained in effect for the northern part of the peninsula and "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion".
The centre said Jimena was now a Category 2 storm with winds of 165kph and stronger gusts, after it dropped from an extremely dangerous Category 4 and then to Category 3.
Jimena was about 110km southsoutheast of Cabo San Lazaro and moving north-northwest at 20kph.
Sheets of rain poured from dark grey skies as Jimena's winds buffeted the tip of the peninsula, home to world-class golf courses, yachting marinas and fivestar hotels.
Weather helps California firefighters
Firefighters took advantage of a turn in the weather on Tuesday to gain ground against the enormous wildfire burning for a week above Los Angeles, saying they hoped to drive the flames away from historic Mount Wilson, a key telecommunications site.
But while higher humidity and cooler temperatures helped crews make their first significant headway against the fire - achieving 22% containment, up from 5% on Monday - officials warned that it was too early to believe that they had the upper hand.
The blaze already has charred 51,000 hectares, an area nearly the size of Chicago, destroyed at least 62 homes, and is still capable of terrible destruction,fire commander Mike Dietrich said.
Two firefighters were killed in the fire on Sunday, and at least three civilians have been injured.
"If I were in a boxing match I think we are even today," Mr Dietrich said."This fire still has a lot of potential and it's a very big animal out there."
The outbreak of wildfires across California was burning through cash at a rate that alarmed leaders in Sacramento,who are grappling with a still-growing state budget deficit.
As of Monday, just two months into the fiscal year and before the state's usual fire season had begun, California had already spent over half of its annual firefighting budget.
The Station Fire alone, roaring out of control since last Wednesday though the San Gabriel Mountains of Angeles National Forest, has cost $14 million to fight so far. A flare-up along the fire's southwestern flank still threatened some foothill neighbourhoods just inside Los Angeles city limits, and fire commanders said it would probably take another two weeks to fully contain the blaze.
But with 3,600 people on the fire lines, Mr Dietrich said the overall growth of the blaze slowed for the first time on Tuesday and that he was a lot more optimistic.
"Substantial progress has been made," he said."The weather has helped us, certainly. I do not believe that we have totally turned the corner. The fire has laid down but it could be a very angry fire again."
Officials said that for the first time they were feeling confident about their ability to save structures atop Mount Wilson, a hub for broadcast towers and other telecommunications equipment,as well as home to a historic observatory.
Flames around the peak had eased,and fire crews were sent back to the site around dawn on Tuesday, days after they were withdrawn for fear of being engulfed.
Meteorologists say the change in weather was due mostly to wind patterns pulling in more damp air from northern Mexico and the Baja region, a phenomenon called monsoonal moisture. They said there may also be a slight benefit from excess moisture associated with Hurricane Jimena off Mexico's coast.
"It's a huge difference," fire captain Art Burgess, with a crew mopping up hot spots near one neighbourhood, said of the higher humidity.
Residents who stayed put despite evacuation orders looked on as dozens of firefighters, backed by bulldozers and an aerial assault from water-dropping helicopters, quickly halted flames creeping down a steep slope at the end of their street.
"They did such a wonderful job,"said Carissa Totalca,55, a nurse who has lived in the area for years."I've never seen them in action before."
The weather change is a mixed blessing, though, posing the potential for gusty winds and dry lightning strikes that could ignite new blazes in dense,drought-parched brush.
Moist air also kept smoke from the fire closer to the ground, making it more difficult to fight with aircraft in some spots.
But while higher humidity and cooler temperatures helped crews make their first significant headway against the fire - achieving 22% containment, up from 5% on Monday - officials warned that it was too early to believe that they had the upper hand.
The blaze already has charred 51,000 hectares, an area nearly the size of Chicago, destroyed at least 62 homes, and is still capable of terrible destruction,fire commander Mike Dietrich said.
Two firefighters were killed in the fire on Sunday, and at least three civilians have been injured.
"If I were in a boxing match I think we are even today," Mr Dietrich said."This fire still has a lot of potential and it's a very big animal out there."
The outbreak of wildfires across California was burning through cash at a rate that alarmed leaders in Sacramento,who are grappling with a still-growing state budget deficit.
As of Monday, just two months into the fiscal year and before the state's usual fire season had begun, California had already spent over half of its annual firefighting budget.
The Station Fire alone, roaring out of control since last Wednesday though the San Gabriel Mountains of Angeles National Forest, has cost $14 million to fight so far. A flare-up along the fire's southwestern flank still threatened some foothill neighbourhoods just inside Los Angeles city limits, and fire commanders said it would probably take another two weeks to fully contain the blaze.
But with 3,600 people on the fire lines, Mr Dietrich said the overall growth of the blaze slowed for the first time on Tuesday and that he was a lot more optimistic.
"Substantial progress has been made," he said."The weather has helped us, certainly. I do not believe that we have totally turned the corner. The fire has laid down but it could be a very angry fire again."
Officials said that for the first time they were feeling confident about their ability to save structures atop Mount Wilson, a hub for broadcast towers and other telecommunications equipment,as well as home to a historic observatory.
Flames around the peak had eased,and fire crews were sent back to the site around dawn on Tuesday, days after they were withdrawn for fear of being engulfed.
Meteorologists say the change in weather was due mostly to wind patterns pulling in more damp air from northern Mexico and the Baja region, a phenomenon called monsoonal moisture. They said there may also be a slight benefit from excess moisture associated with Hurricane Jimena off Mexico's coast.
"It's a huge difference," fire captain Art Burgess, with a crew mopping up hot spots near one neighbourhood, said of the higher humidity.
Residents who stayed put despite evacuation orders looked on as dozens of firefighters, backed by bulldozers and an aerial assault from water-dropping helicopters, quickly halted flames creeping down a steep slope at the end of their street.
"They did such a wonderful job,"said Carissa Totalca,55, a nurse who has lived in the area for years."I've never seen them in action before."
The weather change is a mixed blessing, though, posing the potential for gusty winds and dry lightning strikes that could ignite new blazes in dense,drought-parched brush.
Moist air also kept smoke from the fire closer to the ground, making it more difficult to fight with aircraft in some spots.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Baja residents brace for Hurricane Jimena
Hurricane Jimena, a dangerous Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific Coast, was on track to batter resorts on the Baja California peninsula today, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Jimena, a small but powerful hurricane that has intensified quickly since it formed early on Saturday, was packing 230kph winds with higher gusts, and the Mexican government issued a hurricane watch for southern Baja California.A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible with 36 hours.
According to the five-step SaffirSimpson intensity scale, Category 4 hurricanes are "extremely dangerous" and can cause devastating damage if they hit land. The hurricane centre said people located in central Baja California peninsula and western mainland Mexico should also monitor the storm's progress because more watches could be issued.
Jimena was a safe distance from shore but set to gather steam and brush the upscale resort of Los Cabos today, when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)is scheduled to hold a meeting there to discuss tax havens. It was not clear whether the meeting would be cancelled.
OECD head Angel Gurria was due to attend the meeting today and tomorrow with officials from about 70 OECD and non-OECD countries.
The weather was sunny with blue skies and a light breeze in southern Baja California on Sunday and remained calm as night fell. People living in Cabos stocked up on food and drinking water and filled cars and generators with fuel.
"I'm a little nervous about this one because my husband is out of town and it will be my first hurricane alone," said Christy Dobson, an 11-year resident of Los Cabos originally fromOklahoma, as she snatched up cases of water and nonperishables at a supermarket with her two small daughters.
Californian Lynn Perre, who owns a condo in Los Cabos, and her mother Beverly Boyer decided to cut short their vacation and fly out yesterday.
"I'm nervous and frightened," said Ms Boyer."This is a Category 4 storm that is going to hit."
The Baja California peninsula is a sparsely populated strip of desert, mountain ranges and shrublands, but coastal resorts like Los Cabos and La Paz are big vacation spots.
The length of the peninsula is popular with US campervan enthusiasts, nature lovers, surfers, sports fishermen and retirees. Baja California state's civil protection director Jose Gajon said they were making preparations.
Yesterday, Jimena was 395km southwest of Cabo Corrientes, near Puerto Vallarta, and 635km south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The storm was moving northwest, roughly parallel to the coastline, at 13kph with hurricaneforce winds extending outward up to 45km from its centre.
Mexico has no oil installations in the Pacific and for the time being ports in the area remained open.
Jimena is the second hurricane of the 2009 eastern Pacific season to brush close to Mexico after Andres pounded the southern Pacific coast in June, flooding the resort city of Acapulco and sweeping a fisherman to his death.
On Sunday, Tropical Storm Kevin gathering strength far out in the Pacific,around 1,430km southwest of Los Cabos,but it was expected to weaken by today.
Some locals are betting that Jimena would also fizzle out.
"We haven't been told we should be worried," said Ruben Guzman, who works at boutique hotel Cabo Surf on the edge of Los Cabos."These hurricanes often veer away before they hit."
Jimena, a small but powerful hurricane that has intensified quickly since it formed early on Saturday, was packing 230kph winds with higher gusts, and the Mexican government issued a hurricane watch for southern Baja California.A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible with 36 hours.
According to the five-step SaffirSimpson intensity scale, Category 4 hurricanes are "extremely dangerous" and can cause devastating damage if they hit land. The hurricane centre said people located in central Baja California peninsula and western mainland Mexico should also monitor the storm's progress because more watches could be issued.
Jimena was a safe distance from shore but set to gather steam and brush the upscale resort of Los Cabos today, when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)is scheduled to hold a meeting there to discuss tax havens. It was not clear whether the meeting would be cancelled.
OECD head Angel Gurria was due to attend the meeting today and tomorrow with officials from about 70 OECD and non-OECD countries.
The weather was sunny with blue skies and a light breeze in southern Baja California on Sunday and remained calm as night fell. People living in Cabos stocked up on food and drinking water and filled cars and generators with fuel.
"I'm a little nervous about this one because my husband is out of town and it will be my first hurricane alone," said Christy Dobson, an 11-year resident of Los Cabos originally fromOklahoma, as she snatched up cases of water and nonperishables at a supermarket with her two small daughters.
Californian Lynn Perre, who owns a condo in Los Cabos, and her mother Beverly Boyer decided to cut short their vacation and fly out yesterday.
"I'm nervous and frightened," said Ms Boyer."This is a Category 4 storm that is going to hit."
The Baja California peninsula is a sparsely populated strip of desert, mountain ranges and shrublands, but coastal resorts like Los Cabos and La Paz are big vacation spots.
The length of the peninsula is popular with US campervan enthusiasts, nature lovers, surfers, sports fishermen and retirees. Baja California state's civil protection director Jose Gajon said they were making preparations.
Yesterday, Jimena was 395km southwest of Cabo Corrientes, near Puerto Vallarta, and 635km south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The storm was moving northwest, roughly parallel to the coastline, at 13kph with hurricaneforce winds extending outward up to 45km from its centre.
Mexico has no oil installations in the Pacific and for the time being ports in the area remained open.
Jimena is the second hurricane of the 2009 eastern Pacific season to brush close to Mexico after Andres pounded the southern Pacific coast in June, flooding the resort city of Acapulco and sweeping a fisherman to his death.
On Sunday, Tropical Storm Kevin gathering strength far out in the Pacific,around 1,430km southwest of Los Cabos,but it was expected to weaken by today.
Some locals are betting that Jimena would also fizzle out.
"We haven't been told we should be worried," said Ruben Guzman, who works at boutique hotel Cabo Surf on the edge of Los Cabos."These hurricanes often veer away before they hit."
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