EDIS Number: TC-20090717-22404-PHL
Date / time: 17/07/2009 02:54:56 [UTC]
Event: Tropical Storm
Area: Pacific ocean - west
Country: Philippines
State/County: Luzon
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 4 persons
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Tropical storm "Isang" Thursday dumped heavy rains on a large swathe of Luzon, causing education and local officials to suspend classes because of flooding. Packing maximum winds of 75 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 90 km per hour, Isang was spotted 210 kilometers east northeast of Casiguran, Aurora, Thursday afternoon. It was moving west northwest at 17 kph. In its 5 p.m. advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) raised Storm Signal No. 2 over Isabela and Cagayan. The weather bureau raised Storm Signal No. 1 over Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, the Ilocos provinces, Pangasinan and Batanes. (In its 11 p.m. bulletin, the Pagasa tracked the location of Isang at 170 km east northeast of Casiguran as the storm moved west northwest at 15 kph and packed maximum winds of 85 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 100 kph. Aside from Isabela and Cagayan, Signal No. 2 was also raised over the Babuyan Group, Calayan Group, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra and Ilocos Norte while northern Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet, Mountain Province, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Batanes were placed under Signal No. 1.) These areas will experience rains and occasional gusty winds. Coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough. By Friday morning, the storm is expected to be 80 km north of Aparri, Cagayan. By Saturday morning, Isang is expected to be 460 km northwest of Aparri. The Department of Education (DepEd) Thursday announced the suspension of classes for private and public preschools and elementary schools in Metro Manila at about 11:30 a.m. Parents and students said the announcement came late, as the students were already in school. “Other areas should follow automatic suspension for typhoon signals where these are raised,” said DepEd public information chief Kenneth Tirado. Tirado said that in areas not under a typhoon signal but are experiencing stormy weather, local executives may exercise their discretion to suspend classes. In Valenzuela City, Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian ordered the cancellation of afternoon classes for elementary and high school students in all public and private schools at around 11 a.m. Thursday. DepEd officials in Cagayan Valley suspended classes in elementary and high schools in Cagayan and Isabela Thursday afternoon as Isang passed through the region. Benito Tumamao, DepEd regional director, ordered the suspension of classes at 2 p.m. after receiving an advisory from the weather bureau. Strong rains and wind were observed in the two provinces on Thursday morning but these eased up in the afternoon.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 4 on 18.07.2009 at 14:54:20.
Situation Update No. 3 on 18.07.2009 at 03:35:49.
Situation Update No. 2 on 2009-07-17 at 09:59:47.
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-07-17 at 03:10:16.

EDIS Number: LS-20090718-22423-DEU
Date / time: 18/07/2009 14:33:35 [UTC]
Event: Landslide
Area: Europe
Country: Germany
State/County: Saxony-Anhalt
City: Nachterstedt
Number of Deads: 3 persons
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Three people are missing, feared dead, after a landslide destroyed two houses in Germany yesterday. A married couple and a man were asleep in a semi-detached house that toppled into Lake Tagebau in Nachterstedt in Saxony-Anhalt. The house had been standing about 120 metres from the shore, a local news website reported. Half of another house also slipped into the lake. Police were informed of the landslide at 5.40am by an inhabitant of Nachterstedt, near Magdeburg. According to a report, a piece of land 350 metres long and 120 metres wide had collapsed. The danger of further landslides prevented rescue workers from getting to the wreckage of the house, which was completely submerged under water. There were also unconfirmed reports that a section of a road had also slipped into nearby Lake Concordia.

EDIS Number: FF-20090718-22422-AUT
Date / time: 18/07/2009 14:32:23 [UTC]
Event: Flash Flood
Area: Europe
Country: Austria
State/County: Styria
City: Graz
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

The southeastern Austrian city of Graz was declared a disaster zone after sudden heavy rain Saturday, with appeals to the population not to allow children or animals out of the house. The sudden rain swelled the many streams around the Styrian capital, causing them to burst their banks and flood the city. All fire crews were called in to carry out pumping operations. Recent sunshine and temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius suddenly changed Friday into torrential rain and temperatures of 15 degrees. Cellars were flooded, branches of trees broke away dangerously and the snowline in nearby mountains fell to 1,500 metres.

EDIS Number: ST-20090705-22237-VNM
Date / time: 05/07/2009 03:38:29 [UTC]
Event: Extreme Weather
Area: Asia
Country: Vietnam
State/County: MultiProvinces
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 40 persons
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Heavy rains triggering floods and landslides in mountainous northern regions of Vietnam have killed at least eight people, destroyed houses and damaged roads, the government said on Sunday. Landslides killed six people in Bac Kan province as of late Saturday, and cut off roads, telecommunications and power supply to a district after heavy rains fell on Friday night, the government said in a disaster report. Floods killed two people in the neighbouring provinces of Cao Bang and Ha Giang while three others, including two children, were carried away and remained missing, the report said. About 300 people were forced to leave homes destroyed in landslides, provincial roads were eroded and small fields of rice, corn and cassava in the three provinces were damaged, the report said, adding that more rains were forecast on Sunday. The flood-stricken area is far outside Vietnam's main growing region for its key commodities rice and coffee. The northern Vietnam region lies about 1,200 km (750 miles) north of the Central Highlands coffee belt and the Mekong Delta food basket lies even further south.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 4 on 18.07.2009 at 07:57:26.
Situation Update No. 3 on 2009-07-14 at 17:44:22.
Situation Update No. 2 on 2009-07-07 at 07:26:00.
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-07-06 at 02:45:02.

EDIS Number: BH-20090716-22401-USA
Date / time: 16/07/2009 19:28:26 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of California
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Thousands of jumbo flying squid – aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles – have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches. The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear. Stories of too-close encounters with the alien-like cephalopods have chased many veteran divers out of the water and created a whirlwind of excitement among the rest, who are torn between their personal safety and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim with the deep-sea giants. The so-called Humboldt squid, which can grow up to 100 pounds, are native to the deep waters off Mexico, where they have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red coloring and mean streak. Those who dive with them there chum the water with bait and sometimes get in a metal cage or wear chain mail to avoid being lashed by tentacles. "I wouldn't go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn't walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti," said Mike Bear, a local diver. "For all I know, I'm missing the experience of a lifetime." The squid are too deep to bother swimmers and surfers, but many longtime divers say they are staying out of the surf until the sea creatures clear out. Yet other divers, including Shandra Magill, couldn't resist the chance to see the squid up close. On a recent night, Magill watched in awe as a dozen squid with doleful, expressive eyes circled her group, tapping and patting the divers and gently bumping them before dashing away.

One especially large squid suspended itself motionless in the water about three feet away and peered at her closely, its eyes rolling, before it vanished into the black. A shimmering incandescence rippled along its body, almost as if it were communicating through its skin. But the next night, things were different: A large squid surprised Magill by hitting her from behind and grabbing at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. The powerful creature ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light. When Magill recovered, she didn't know which direction was up and at first couldn't find the hose to help her rise to the surface. The squid was gone. "I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have," she said. Other divers have reported squid pulling at their masks and gear and roughing them up. Roger Uzun, a veteran scuba diver and amateur underwater videographer, swam with a swarm of the creatures for about 20 minutes and said they appeared more curious than aggressive. The animals taste with their tentacles, he said, and seemed to be touching him and his wet suit to determine if he was edible. "As soon as we went underwater and turned on the video lights, there they were. They would ram into you, they kept hitting the back of my head," he said. "One got ahold of the video light head and yanked on it for two or three seconds and he was actually trying to take the video light with him," said Uzun, who later posted a 3-minute video with his underwater footage on YouTube. "It almost knocked the video camera out of my hands." Scientists aren't sure why the squid, which generally live in deep, tropical waters off Mexico and Central America, are swarming off the Southern California coast – but they are concerned. In recent years, small numbers have been spotted from California to Sitka, Alaska – an alarming trend that scientists believe could be caused by anything from global warming to a shortage of food or a decline in the squid's natural predators.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 18.07.2009 at 07:48:44.

EDIS Number: FF-20090718-22420-CHN
Date / time: 18/07/2009 03:12:37 [UTC]
Event: Flash Flood
Area: Asia
Country: China
State/County: Province of Sichuan
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 8 persons
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Torrential rains and floods in southwest China's Sichuan province have left at least eight people dead, five missing and thousands without homes. More than 117,000 people were relocated after downpours destroyed more than 5,000 houses in 22 counties in Sichuan from Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Beijing. Rainstorms on Friday lashed a large strip of areas from southwest China to northeast China, bringing coolness as well as transportation havoc to big cities. The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) issued the second-highest alert for storms that swept areas including Beijing, Tianjin, the western Sichuan Basin and Shandong peninsula. On a scale of four, the orange alert means precipitation volumes are expected to reach more than 50 mm in three hours, with traffic restrictions put into effect and advisories issued telling people to avoid any work outdoors. In Beijing, the downpour was the longest and most extensive of its kind since the city entered the summer season in May, said Zhang Mingying, senior engineer of the Beijing Meteorological Station. The downpour cooled down the week-long sauna weather in the Chinese capital, bringing the daily high temperature down to 25 C. But the station forecast the weather will clear up on Saturday with the daily high temperature rising to 33 C. In Sichuan province, heavy rain lasted into the fourth day on Friday. Mianyang is among the heaviest-hit cities in Sichuan.

The city government estimated the direct economic loss at 670 million yuan ($98 million), as more than 2,300 rooms collapsed and 56,7000 hectares of crops were damaged. The lasting downpours have caused mudslides on highways in the province and between Sichuan and Tibet, blocking traffic. The storm has also interrupted the operation on the Baoji-Chengdu railway, a trunk line used by trains from Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an to Chengdu. Three trains leaving or passing Chengdu have been canceled, and a large number of trains were delayed because of detours to avoid the damaged sections of the Baoji-Chengdu railway, said Chen Zhuo, a publicity official with Chengdu Railway Station. Nearly 20,000 passengers were stranded at the Chengdu railway station on Thursday, Chengdu Evening News reported. To ease the pressure, the railway station opened 27 windows for refunding tickets on Thursday night, and refunds were issued for at least 10,000 train tickets, Chen said. "The railway station is much less crowded now," he said. The rainstorm is expected to cease gradually on Saturday morning, meteorologists said. "As no heavy rain is forecast for the weekend, there is nothing to worry about after the rainstorm. Major rivers in the country will remain in a stable condition," said an official with the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, who identified himself as Xu. In a related move, Molave, the sixth tropical storm this year, is moving toward the coast with a landfall predicted between the center of China's Guangdong province and the south of Fujian province. The storm will enter the north region of the South China Sea on Saturday and will unleash rainstorms in Fujian during the upcoming weekend. The Fujian provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Department forecast that the storm may possibly become a typhoon and urged residents in its path to move and fishing boats avoid the storm's route. But parts of southern China will continue to suffer high temperatures 35 C and higher. Part of Chongqing Municipality and central Zhejiang province could hit 40 C, a CMA news release said.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 18.07.2009 at 03:34:58.

EDIS Number: AC-20090718-22421-MEX
Date / time: 18/07/2009 03:16:04 [UTC]
Event: Technological Disaster
Area: Middle-America
Country: Mexico
State/County: State of Veracruz
City: Agua Dulce
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Three people were missing Friday after four vehicles plunged into a river when a bridge collapsed in southeastern Mexico, an official said. The occupants of the fourth vehicle swam to the riverbank, where they were rescued, said Ranulfo Marquez, secretary of civil protection in the state of Veracruz. Officials did not give a cause for the bridge collapse. Three of the vehicles were tractor-trailers, the government-run Notimex news agency said. The bridge spans the Tonala River outside the city of Agua Dulce in the state of Veracruz.

EDIS Number: BH-20090718-22419-USA
Date / time: 18/07/2009 03:11:09 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Idaho
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

State environmental regulators and health officials say the slimy blue-green algae blooms that have recently cropped up at Lake Lowell in southwestern Idaho may be harmful. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Southwest District Health officials warned Friday that people shouldn't swim in, drink or otherwise come into contact with water from the lake where blue-green algae blooms are visible. The blooms may resemble scum, or alternatively, pea soup and often arrive with warmer weather. Blue-green algae blooms generally occur in water where there are high levels of nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen and can release toxins into the water harmful to humans, livestock and pets. Users of canals that lead from the man-made lake near Caldwell should also take precautions, should algae be washed downstream with the current to areas where livestock can drink the water.

EDIS Number: WA-20090717-22406-IDN
Date / time: 17/07/2009 03:05:27 [UTC]
Event: Terror Attack
Area: Indonesian archipelago
Country: Indonesia
State/County: Capital City
City: Jakarta
Number of Deads: 12 persons
Number of Injured: 50 persons
Damage level: Minor

Description:

At least six people were killed Friday when explosions struck the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in Indonesian capital, police and hospital officials said. Police spokesman Col. Chrinanda Dwilaksana and a hospital doctor put the death toll at six. South Jakarta police Col. Firman Bundi said four foreigners were among the dead. The doctor also said 18 people were injured. "We know there are six victims, six who died and there are several others injured and we have evacuated them to hospital," Dwilaksana said. Debris and shattered glass littered the street outside the neighboring hotels in an upscale Jakarta neighborhood, and ambulances were being shuttled into the area. Alex Asmasubrata, who was jogging by the hotels, said he first heard a loud explosion at the Marriott. Five minutes later, a bomb followed at the Ritz. He saw four bodies inside the Marriott, including one with its stomach blown out. "Some windows of the Ritz-Carlton building have been shattered, mostly on the lower section. I'm looking at it from my office," Myra Junor, who works at a nearby building, told Indonesian Metro TV. An Australian man told local Radio 2UE his son had been hurt at the Marriott and was being taken to hospital. There have not been any major bomb blasts in Indonesia for several years, and this month the country's presidential election passed off peacefully. But Indonesia has been the scene of deadly attacks on tourist hotels, nightclubs and restaurants in the past decade. The Marriott Hotel was badly damaged by a car bomb attack in 2003 that killed 12 people. An al-Qaida-linked terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, was blamed for that attack, as well as for orchestrating the Oct. 12, 2002, bombings on the resort island of Bali, which killed 202 people. Three Islamic militants convicted of participation in the 2002 attack were executed by firing squad in November 2008. About 20 other people also were convicted in the attacks. In 2004, an attack on the Australian Embassy killed 11. Triple suicide bomb attacks on tourist-packed restaurants on Bali in 2005 killed about two dozen people.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 6 on 2009-07-17 at 13:56:26.
Situation Update No. 5 on 2009-07-17 at 11:00:34.
Situation Update No. 4 on 2009-07-17 at 07:24:08.
Situation Update No. 3 on 2009-07-17 at 05:02:01.
Situation Update No. 2 on 2009-07-17 at 03:31:37.
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-07-17 at 03:26:47.

EDIS Number: BH-20090718-22418-USA
Date / time: 18/07/2009 03:08:25 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Nebraska
City: Holmesville
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

State authorities have issued a health alert for toxic blue-green algae at Rockford Lake near Holmesville in Gage County. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies said in a news release Friday that the lake water tested out above the alert threshold. The algae, which scientists say are plantlike bacteria, are common in freshwater. Some types can produce dangerous toxins. People can still camp, fish and boat on lakes under the alert but should not have full-body contact. Drinking toxin-tainted water can cause vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory failure and, rarely, death.

EDIS Number: BH-20090715-22392-USA
Date / time: 15/07/2009 19:58:09 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Alaska
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

It’s a scene straight out of “The Blob.” A giant mass of goo has formed and is moving through the Chukchi Sea in Alaska. Hunters first noticed the slime early last week, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The substance is dark and thick and can be seen for miles in the sea. The Coast Guard is sure the mystery gunk is a biological creation and has ruled out an oil spill or hazardous substance. But the goo remains a puzzle, as Alaskans can’t remember seeing anything similar before, the ADN reported. “That’s one of the reason we went out, because in recent history I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this,” Gordon Brower, a spokesman for North Slope Borough’s Planning and Community Services Department, told the ADN. “Maybe inside lakes or in stagnant water or something, but not (in the ocean) that we could recall” The goo has a distinct odor to it as well, Brower said. The gunk is being tested in a lab and Brower believes it to be a naturally occurring phenomenon most likely a giant algae bloom.



Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-07-17 at 02:07:52.

EDIS Number: FF-20090717-22417-GBR
Date / time: 17/07/2009 15:50:51 [UTC]
Event: Flash Flood
Area: Europe
Country: United Kingdom
State/County: England
City: Peterborough
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

A severe weather warning is in place for Peterborough and the surrounding area after torrential downpours, coupled with thunder and lightning, hit the city. The Met Office forecasters say as much as 15mm of rain has fallen in just a few hours this afternoon, with another 15mm to 25mm is set to fall in before 9pm. For more information on this story and weather pictures, see Saturday's Peterborough Evening Telegraph. More heavy rain is predicted for the UK over the weekend but Peterborough is expected to miss the worst of it on Saturday and Sunday.

EDIS Number: BH-20090717-22416-ARG
Date / time: 17/07/2009 15:25:13 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: South-America
Country: Argentina
State/County: Unknow
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Argentina's government declared on Friday a national sanitary emergency due to the presence of the new H1N1 flu virus in pigs. Earlier this month, animal health officials said workers at a pig farm in Buenos Aires province were suspected of having passed the new strain onto the animals.

EDIS Number: HT-20090717-22415-USA
Date / time: 17/07/2009 14:01:50 [UTC]
Event: Heat Wave
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

With very hot temperatures expected to be 112 degrees or above, the National Weather Service has issued an extensive heat warning today and Saturday for the Las Vegas Valley. The warning is in effect from noon today through 8 p.m. Saturday for areas below 4,000 feet in elevation in the Mojave Desert. The weather service said the very hot weather across the desert southwest will continue through the weekend with Las Vegas' temperatures expected to peak today at 112 degrees and Saturday at 113. The forecast calls for highs today of 115 to 117 degrees along the Colorado River and Mesquite and Overton, 105 in Kingman, 111 to 112 in Barstow and Twentynine Palms and 123 to 124 degrees in Death Valley. High afternoon temperatures are expected to be 112 Sunday, 110 Monday and 109 Tuesday for Las Vegas, the weather service said. The extensive heat warning is triggered when temperatures are expected to reach 112 or above, which is considered to be dangerous levels that will stress the body if precautions aren't taken. In 2008, there were 19 heat-related fatalities in Nevada, according to the weather service. On average, extreme heat results in more than twice as many fatalities as any other weather hazard, except for hurricanes, the weather service said. The weather service recommends drinking plenty of water, staying in an air-conditioned room, staying out of the sun and checking up on relatives and neighbors. Besides the hot temperatures, there is also a slight chance of thunderstorms for many areas this afternoon and evening, forecasters said. Isolated severe weather and flash flooding is possible, mainly near and south of Interstate 40, they said. Winds today will be calm, but then increase to around 6 miles per hour from the east northeast. Tonight's low will drop to around 88 degrees. The normal high temperature for today's date is 105 degrees and the record is 116 degrees, set in 2005. Thursday's offical high was 111 degrees, measured at 3:34 p.m. at McCarran International Airport.

EDIS Number: FR-20090717-22414-UKR
Date / time: 17/07/2009 11:01:20 [UTC]
Event: Fire
Area: Europe
Country: Ukraine
State/County: Livivska Oblast
City: Drohobych
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

The cab of a Renault Magnum oil tanker truck hauling 30 tonnes of waste oil caught fire on the Turka-Pisochne road in Lviv region, near the town of Drohobych, at around 1200 on July 16, the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry's press service reported on Friday. The fire broke out due to a failure in the truck's fuel system, the press service said. Seven fire crews extinguished the fire at around 1300. Nobody was killed or injured as a result of the accident.

EDIS Number: AC-20090716-22399-FRA
Date / time: 16/07/2009 17:14:15 [UTC]
Event: Technological Disaster
Area: Europe
Country: France
State/County: Provence Alpes-Côte dAzur
City: Marseille
Number of Deads: 2 persons
Number of Injured: 30 persons
Damage level: Minor

Description:

A stage being constructed for a concert by pop star Madonna in France has collapsed, killing one person and injuring six, police say. Technicians were setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the accident occurred at around 1715 (1515 GMT). The concert, planned for Sunday, 19 July, has now been cancelled, officials announced. It was part of the European leg of the Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour. The cause of the accident was not clear. The frame "started shaking and collapsing", said Marseille city councillor Maurice Di Nocera. "Fortunately, it didn't collapse too quickly, as there would have been quite a few victims," he said, according to AFP news agency. Two of the injuries were serious, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 2009-07-17 at 09:16:34.

EDIS Number: ST-20090717-22413-JPN
Date / time: 17/07/2009 07:25:42 [UTC]
Event: Extreme Weather
Area: Asia
Country: Japan
State/County: Hokkaido
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Ten climbers have died in bad weather in mountains in northern Japan, while two people are still missing, according to police. Unusually strong winds and heavy rain struck Mt Tomuraushi on Hokkaido, Japan's main northern island, yesterday. Nine of the deaths occurred on Mt Tomuraushi – eight in one party and one climbing alone. The man climbing alone was found unconscious and died some time later. Another climber, 64-year-old Atsuko Onoue, 64, died on the 2052m Mt Biel, also on Hokkaido. Five other members in Onoue’s party were rescued. The Kyodo News agency said most of the dead on Mt Tomuraushi were middle-aged climbers, but police have so far been unable to provide details of how they died. The eight dead were in a group of 19 climbers. Four were rescued this morning and the other five went down the mountain by themselves. The remaining two were still on the mountain. The 2141m Mt Tomuraushi has several shelters, but authorities are not aware of any deaths previous to yesterday’s shock losses.

EDIS Number: BH-20090717-22412-USA
Date / time: 17/07/2009 05:12:54 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of North Carolina
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Brian Burks has been fishing in the same Lenoir County pond for 43 years, but he saw a creature in the water Wednesday he has never seen there before: a jellyfish. He was on a boat in the middle of the pond, located on private property in Eastern Lenoir County, fishing for bass and brim, when he looked down and saw a slew of the tiny invertebrates heading toward the surface. “They were actually pulsating in the water,” Burks, 53, said Thursday. “There were hundreds of them.” He reached in with his boat paddle and picked up two of the jellyfish, then placed them in a jar. Burks contacted anyone he could think of, including state wildlife officials, the Neuse Sport Shop and National Geographic. “It was unreal to find freshwater jellyfish (in the pond),” Burks said. Justin Homan, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, visited Burks at the pond Thursday and took one of the suspected jellyfish with him. Homan, who said he was not “100 percent sure” the organisms were actual jellyfish, said he contacted Dr. Arthur Bogan, research curator of aquatic invertebrates at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. He said Bogan was intrigued, and asked him to bring the specimen to Raleigh for the museum’s collection. Homan said he had not heard of freshwater jellyfish in North Carolina until he saw Burks’, but his research afterward indicated they were common throughout the United States. According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Web page on “non-indigenous aquatic species,” freshwater jellyfish are native to China, and were discovered in London, England, in 1880 and in the United States in the late 1920s. They are most commonly found today in the Eastern United States, but are also found on the West Coast and Hawaii. Russell Rhodes, president and CEO of the Neuse Sport Shop, sent two of his staffers to meet Burks and look at the specimen. He said a contact at the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores said it might not be a jellyfish, but a “freshwater protozoa” that resembles a jellyfish. The shop maintains a large tank of freshwater wildlife, and Burks’ find could join them if it is suited for the environment. “We plan on seeing what they are, and if we could get them in a healthy environment we would try to do that,” Rhodes said.

EDIS Number: FL-20090717-22411-CAN
Date / time: 17/07/2009 05:09:56 [UTC]
Event: Flood
Area: North-America
Country: Canada
State/County: State of Saskatchewan
City: Denholm
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

A village in west-central Saskatchewan has been declared a disaster area after heavy rain caused flooding earlier this week. In a matter of hours, more than 125 millimetres of rain fell in Denholm, flooding homes and forcing the closure of Highway 16 because it was under water. Mayor Terry Welch says provincial officials met with residents Wednesday night and explained assistance was available to help with repairs. Welch says the village's sewer system and water quality were not compromised by the flooding. He says adjusters will be in the village in a few days to check out the damage. Peggy Kometscher had nearly two metres of water in her home and is worried about the structural safety of her home.

EDIS Number: ST-20090717-22410-MMR
Date / time: 17/07/2009 05:04:51 [UTC]
Event: Extreme Weather
Area: Asia
Country: Burma
State/County: MultiStates
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: 4 persons
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Flood, triggered by torrential rains, struck Myanmar's Kayin state and Tanintharyi division early this week, both causing great losses, the state newspaper reported Friday. Some highways and railways in Kayin state were flooded and some households displaced as a result of the torrential rains on Mondayand Tuesday. The torrential rains also caused landslide in some areas of Kawkareik-Myawaddy road and banks erosion at some bridges on Dawei-Mawlamyine road in Tanintharyi division. Moreover, heavy rain caused overflow in Maesai Creek in Tachilek, in eastern part of Shan state. Some houses in Phakant were flooded and the villagers were evacuated. The continuous torrential rain has overflowed the Uru Creek, washing away 24 houses with 90 others remaining in water. Meanwhile, two days' continuous rainfall last month had also caused a landslide in Kawthoung, southern Myanmar's Tanintharyi division, leaving four people dead. The four people, a mother and three children, were killed asleep when a large stone rolling down from a nearby mountain.