Prophecy, Drought, Earthquakes, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Strange Weather.

[Shammu]

Lesbian Minister Defrocked By United Methodist Church

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 1, 2005; A03

The highest court in the United Methodist Church yesterday defrocked a lesbian minister in Philadelphia and reinstated a Virginia pastor who had been suspended for denying a gay man membership in his congregation.

The nine-member Judicial Council also rejected a declaration by Methodists in the Pacific Northwest that there is a "difference of opinion among faithful Christians regarding sexual orientation and practice." The court said the declaration was a "historical statement without prescriptive force" and had no bearing on church laws.

The decisions amounted to a clean sweep for conservatives who believe gay sex is a sin and want to strictly enforce a Methodist rule against "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" in ordained ministry. They were the latest in a series of defeats for liberals in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination who have sought to be more welcoming toward gay men and lesbians.

The court rulings, which are final, put an end to the Rev. Irene "Beth" Stroud's hopes of remaining an ordained Methodist minister. Stroud, 35, said she thought she "was prepared for whatever might happen" but found it impossible to master her emotions yesterday. "It's been tears off and on all morning," she said.

Stroud said she will continue working at Philadelphia's First United Methodist Church of Germantown as a lay minister, which means she cannot administer Communion and baptisms.

Her case began when she told her congregation in 2003 that she was living in a "covenanted relationship" with another woman. Her message from the pulpit violated the church's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays in the clergy and resulted in a formal charge by her bishop.

In December 2004, a jury of 13 ministers convicted Stroud of "practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching" and removed her ministerial credentials. But a regional appeals panel overturned the verdict, citing legal errors and an ambiguous clause in the church's constitution that pledges no discrimination on the basis of "status."

Yesterday, the Judicial Council reaffirmed the original jury's verdict by a 6 to 2 vote, with one judge absent. Wary of such a decision, Stroud had not resumed ordained ministry since the original trial.

"If it's a choice between serving in the ordained ministry with my credentials intact, and serving as an 'out' lesbian person acknowledging the most important relationship in my life and not having those credentials, I'll take being out. I think it's better and more honest, and more healthy in the long run," she said.

The Judicial Council's rulings also represented a significant change in fortune for the Rev. Edward Johnson, pastor of South Hill United Methodist Church in South Hill, Va.

Johnson, 58, had been on an involuntary, unpaid leave since June, when Methodist ministers in Virginia voted 448 to 114 to discipline him for refusing to allow a gay man to become a member of his congregation. His district superintendent and his bishop had urged Johnson to admit the man.

Yesterday, the Judicial Council reinstated Johnson, with back pay, with a 5 to 3 vote. It said local pastors have the discretion to decide on members.

Johnson was traveling yesterday and did not return messages. The Rev. Tom Thomas, who served as Johnson's legal counsel, said the decision "salvaged" the career of a good pastor and "preserves the way pastoral ministry has been done in our church for 200 years."

The Judicial Counsel viewed the case as a question about a pastor's authority, rather than a question about whether people in same-sex relationships are eligible to join the church. In a dissenting opinion, Judicial Council member Susan T. Henry-Crowe said the decision "compromises the historical understanding that the Church is open to all."

Like many other Protestant denominations, the Methodist Church has been struggling with sexual issues for 30 years. Its legislative body, the General Conference, meets every four years and has, in recent sessions, reaffirmed the prohibition on "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" in the clergy by increasing margins.

Because of a changing geographic formula, conservative Methodists from the South have been gaining influence in the General Conference and have helped elect more conservatives to the Judicial Council. In May 2004, delegates also voted to tighten church laws, making it easier to charge, try and convict gay ministers.

"A lot of loopholes have been closed, but I believe in risky ways," said the Rev. Thomas E. Frank, director of Methodist Studies at Emory University and a proponent of welcoming gays into the church. "There's a lot of ambiguities in the judicial procedures because the church has never tried that hard to get people out; instead, it's emphasized being a big tent and getting everybody in. It's a sharp reversal when we start heading in the other direction."

Mark Tooley, a conservative Methodist at the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington, said the rulings show that Methodism "is not moving in the direction of the Episcopal Church and declining liberal Protestantism in the West." Rather, he said, it "is moving in the direction of global Christianity, which is robustly orthodox."

Lesbian Minister Defrocked By United Methodist Church

[Shammu]

Mexico Celebrates 'Day of the Dead'

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 19 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY - Mexicans marked the annual Day of the Dead holiday on Tuesday with a towering pile of giant skulls, huge skeletons, vast altars to the dead and large carpets of marigold petals in Mexico City's main square.

Amid the crowd listening to music or waiting for freshly-baked "dead bread" rolls to emerge from huge brick ovens, there were plenty of children dressed up as little witches, skeletons or princesses, illustrating the steady encroachment of U.S.-style Halloween customs.

"That's why we're doing this, to defend our traditions a little," said Fernando Flores, 39, as he walked with his two young sons through the enormous Day of the Dead display, which featured altars erected by unions, political parties and other groups. "I don't have anything against it (Halloween), but it's not our tradition."

Traditionally, the bright orange color of the marigold petals are thought to guide the dead back to their homes — where they "spiritually" nourish themselves from the foods they liked in life.

Home altars include the deceased person's favorite food and drink, along with candles, incense, photos of the dead and other decorations.

The skulls — the giant versions in the display were built by an arts group — represent the small candy skulls traditionally given as gifts, and also the Aztec practice of exhibiting the skulls of conquered enemies. Candy skulls are often engraved with the names of the living, or accompanied by short, ironic poems mourning the "death" of a living friend.

Asked which he preferred — this rich panoply of Mexican tradition, or Halloween — Flores' son, Juan Manuel, 8, quickly piped up, "Halloween ... because of the 'calaverita'," as trick-or-treating here is known.

Mexican children often go about asking for money for their 'calaverita' — a small plastic pumpkin — rather than candy.

Like the Flores, the Callejas family tries to do both: set out traditional altars to deceased grandparents, while also allowing their children to join in Halloween-style festivities.

It's just the first round in the holiday battle: Christmas decorations are already going up in stores — Santa Clauses and reindeer, in addition to more traditional nativity scenes — and Callejas she will have to keep her kids from expecting gifts on Christmas day, rather than the traditional Jan. 6 Three Kings Day.

Some took a philosophical attitude toward the battle between Halloween and Day of the Dead, itself a mix of pre-Hispanic and Catholic customs.

"It's all the same thing," said Luis Aquino Gallegos, 7 as his mother bought him a plastic scythe, and his sister a small broomstick, as they left the more traditional festival.

Traditional celebrations last through Nov. 2, when families honor deceased adults. Many families will make nighttime visits to graveyards, to commune with dead relatives.

In one special ceremony on Mexico's northern border, a caravan of two dozen Indian women from the southern state of Chiapas arrived Monday in the city of Ciudad Juarez to honor the hundreds of women who have been slain there in the past decade.

The women lit candles, blew conch shells, beat drums and burned incense in what they described as a ceremony of respect for the dead and solidarity for the victims' surviving relatives. The caravan was dubbed "the Wind of 1,000 Voices."

Mexico Celebrates 'Day of the Dead'

[Shammu]

European Union lowercases 'Christ'
Brussels' grammar rule says title to be spelled with small 'c' in future
Posted: November 1, 2005
2:12 p.m. Eastern


© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

A new grammar rule devised by the European Union in Brussels stipulates the word "Christ" shall be spelled with a lowercase "c."

The rule was part of an orthography reform published in October, reported Canada Free Press.

The paper cites a German newssite, Kath.net, in reporting that the new guidelines also indicate the Dutch word for "Jews" (Joden) is to be spelled with a capital "J" when referring to nationality and with a lower-case "j" when referring to the religion.

The EU changes become mandatory next August. There are no penalties set out for those who insist on continuing to spell Christ with a capital "C."

Canada Free Press noted the title of Javier Solana, secretary general of the EU, was still to be spelled with capital letters.

Many Europeans have long discarded belief in God and in fact believe more deeply in ghosts than in a deity.

A new poll finds two-thirds of Britons said they believe in the existence of ghosts and spirits, but only 55 percent said they believe in the existence of God.

Meanwhile, 26 percent believe in UFOs, 19 percent in reincarnation and 4 percent in the Loch Ness Monster, Ananova reported.
European Union lowercases 'Christ'

[Soldier4Christ]

Jesus   Christ


So ridicule me, sue me or put me in jail, I will always capitilize  Jesus Christ.  

[Shammu]

Jesus   Christ


So ridicule me, sue me or put me in jail, I will always capitilize  Jesus Christ.  

No, I won't ridicule you, sue you, or put you jail.

You and me both, can serve the same sentence. In fact, I think, I will capitilize ....... JESUS CHRIST full name , from now on.

[Soldier4Christ]

Jesus   Christ


So ridicule me, sue me or put me in jail, I will always capitilize  Jesus Christ.  

No, I won't ridicule you, sue you, or put you jail.

You and me both, can serve the same sentence. In fact, I think, I will capitilize ....... JESUS CHRIST full name , from now on.

I like that idea myself.

[Shammu]

Radical Islam blamed for French rioting

Muslims 'scorn' Europe's ways, 'conspire to take it over'
Posted: November 5, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jon Dougherty
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

As rioting that began in a poor, mostly Muslim, neighborhood near Paris a week ago continues to spread to other suburbs and cities across France and parts of Europe, U.S. experts and at least one American lawmaker believe radical Islam is most likely responsible for the chaos.

And, they say, despite the characterization by several media outlets that those perpetuating the violence are primarily disaffected youth upset with French economic and social policies, the fact the unrest spread so quickly and is virtually limited to Muslim neighborhoods signifies a deeper, ideologically driven motive.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., in an interview with WND, said he believes the chickens are coming home to roost in France because, for years, the country with the largest Islamic population in Europe has ignored rising Muslim tensions within its own borders. The real issue the French "are now dealing with," he said, "is [that] you cannot integrate some people into your society."

Daniel Pipes, an expert on Islam and the director of the Middle East Forum, a think tank promoting American ideals in that region, thinks the riots in France are a microcosm of the larger radical Islamic goal of gaining a solid foothold in Europe.

"The great majority of Muslims in Europe see themselves as bearers of a superior civilization and see themselves growing prodigiously," he told WND. "Through a cultural, religious and demographic confidence they feel scorn towards European ways and conspire to take it over."

Lee Kaplan, spokesman for United American Committee, an organization striving to educate more Americans to the threat of radical Islam, suggested France's quest to be "evenhanded" in its dealings with its massive Muslim immigration has backfired and now reached a point where Paris has little choice but to meet the problem head-on. In an interview with WND, he suggested that "with 5 million Muslims in France – the most in all of Europe," this week's chaos was inevitable.

Origin of unrest

According to earlier reports, the rioting – which has seen the destruction of hundreds of vehicles, public buses and buildings – began Oct. 27 after the accidental deaths of two Muslim teens. Both boys were electrocuted while hiding from police in an electrical power substation in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. Reports said police were in the area checking identification papers when the two boys ran away from them.

By week's end, riot police and firefighters were battling scores of Muslim rioters, some armed with weapons and Molotov cocktails. A police union official likened the violence to "civil war" in calling for the government to impose a strict curfew as French leaders vowed to restore order in the worst crisis of domestic violence in the country in decades.

As rioting exploded in France, Muslim-influenced unrest also began in Denmark, fueling further speculation that Europe is increasingly under siege by Islamic extremism. In the Danish rioting, Kaplan said, Muslim immigrant youths have even taunted authorities, saying, "This territory belongs to Islam; you don't belong here."

Much of the chaos, analysts said, is tied to the lack of Muslim integration into European society – whether by design or by choice. In France and Denmark alike, many cities dominated by Islamic faithful have been deemed too dangerous for police and are, effectively, "no-go zones."

"The riots typify French reaction to Islamism and spring from a European approach to the Islamic wave of migration into Europe," according to Islam analyst Robert Spencer.

Writing in FrontPage magazine, Spencer explained, "After WWII, the French built so-called 'sink estates' for the workers they encouraged to emigrate to help rebuild the nation, as did Germany."

Most of these workers came from Turkey and colonies in North Africa.

"Instead of planning for their integration into society, however, the French allowed these communities to grow and fester in economic and social isolation," Spencer said. "After two generations, the sink estates have proven to be nothing more than preplanned ghettoes, and the workers have no future except as second-class citizens of the nations they helped rebuild from devastation."

Tancredo believes many Muslims don't want to become "European." And he says the French and Danish riots are part of a larger militant Islamic movement perpetually at odds with the West.

The French "really don't want to integrate and assimilate, I think, the Muslims into French society, but I also think the Muslims are not interested in doing that themselves," he said. "This division, this rampaging nature manifesting itself in these riots and everything else, is an example of the clash of civilizations" he believes threatens Europe and the United States.

"The rioters are part of a population that has never considered itself French," says Spencer, founder of Jihad Watch and author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam."

Adds Pipes, "Kids burning cars and buildings aren't specifically doing that in an attempt to 'take control.' But I do think that, ultimately, is the significance of what they're doing.

"This isn't comparable to the 1960s race riots in the U.S.," he said. "This does have, deep down, an Islamic agenda of control, even if the kids doing the rioting aren't cognizant of that" at the moment.

[Shammu]

Muslim call to arms
By MATTHEW SCHULZ
06nov05

AN inflammatory pamphlet urging Muslims to oppose Western governments was handed out at an important Islamic festival in Melbourne yesterday.

The flyer, distributed at a family carnival to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan in Preston, bore the name of the fundamentalist group Hizb ut-Tahrir – which is banned in Britain and Germany.

It claimed new terror laws were part of a conspiracy to eradicate Islam in Western countries.

And it said Muslims had "enormously rejected their evil and corrupt rulers that the West have appointed over them, and they are looking forward to consigning them to the dust bins of history".

The pamphlet told how Muslims in other countries had "heroically resisted" invasion and "inflicted the most humiliating lesson on supposed superpowers".

It claimed Prime Minister John Howard's recent summit with Muslim leaders was a "smokescreen designed to rubber stamp the government's proposals".

The pamphlet said: "The Muslims have awoken to the true ugly face of western colonialism, and realise with full perception that the west is responsible for flooding their countries with blood, poverty, corruption and turmoil, after it divided its lands, impoverished its peoples and dishonoured its noble sons and daughters".

In August Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock said he had no evidence that Hizb Ut-Tahir had breached current laws but he was already reviewing the rules for declaring a terrorist organisation after elements of the group called for attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, Iran, the US and Israeli interests.

In Sydney the group has already drawn gatherings of up to 200 calling for the creation of an Islamic super state.

The pamphlet claimed the west had, through draconian legislation, given Muslims three options: face deportation; adopt and embrace western values by abandoning Islam; or face persecution and humiliation.

"Fear none but Allah. Pledge your obedience to Him and to the work that gives victory to His Deen. Ally yourselves with those who work day and night to confront this war against Islam," the pamphlet says, in what was virtually a call to arms.

Amid children and families enjoying the Enid El-Fiter Festival in Preston, an unknown man in traditional Muslim garb and speaking little English handed out the leaflet printed in English and Arabic.

Melbourne's most senior Muslim cleric Sheik Fehmi urged Muslims at the celebration – expected to attract up to 10,000 visitors over the weekend – to ignore the pamphlet.

He said Ramadan was the time for spiritual purification and reflection for Muslims.

"We're not terrorists and we're not thinking of terrorist acts, we're not going to do anything in the future - God willing."

"And this is the time to show how peaceful we are," he said.

But he described the Howard government's new anti-terror laws as "excessive and had been "presented in a fearful way" and a break in the known democracy and fair go of Australia that I've known in the 54 years in this country."

"That's why at this time of the year we put all that aside, we haven't got time for them, we're trying to do something spiritual."

Sheik Fehmi also revealed elders in the Islamic community had convinced firebrand preacher Abdul Nacer Benbrika to curb his inflammatory support of terror.

He said repeated appeals appeared to have worked, amid reports that the extremist former Algerian could be the first to be detained under new anti-terror laws.

ASIO agents investigating extremist elements in Australia raided the northern suburbs homes of Mr Benbrika and his supporters in June.

Mr Benbrika, 46, has praised Osama bin Laden and suggested Australian Muslims have the right to fight coalition troops in Iraq in comments that have frustrated mainstream Muslims.

He continues to visit the Preston mosque where Sheik Fehmi is based.

"We have already sent him the message, and `please do not speak something that offends not only the people in Australia, but people in your own community'."

"He's seen the outcome of that and seen the outrage and he realises that now. Lately, he's not been saying anything."

`But Mr Benbrika would not be banned from one of Victoria's busiest mosques.

"We don't want to create friction, but want to let him know in a peaceful way."

Muslim call to arms

[Soldier4Christ]

Radical Islam blamed for French rioting

To some extent it seems like history repeating itself.

[Soldier4Christ]

Tornado Kills 15, Injures 200 in Indiana

Tornado Rips Through Southern Indiana, Killing at Least 15 People and Injuring About 200

EVANSVILLE, Ind. Nov 6, 2005 — A tornado tore across southwestern Indiana early Sunday, cutting a swath through a mobile home park and smashing homes as residents slept, leaving at least 15 people dead and about 200 injured, a state official said.

Pam Bright, a spokeswoman for Indiana's homeland security agency, said 10 people have been confirmed dead on the southeast side of Evansville at the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, where she said victims were still being pulled from the debris.

Another five people were confirmed dead in adjoining Warrick County, where the Ohio River city of Newburgh was raked by a tornado after 2 a.m. Sunday, she said.

Bright said the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, with about 350 homes, was devastated when the tornado, which had earlier struck just south of the Ohio River in Henderson, Ky., crossed the river and moved into Vanderburgh County, striking the mobile home park first.

The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley during the morning.

The damage path through Newburgh, eight miles east of Evansville, was about three-quarters of a mile wide, and extended for roughly 20 miles, Assistant Fire Chief Chad Bennett told CNN. He said emergency sirens sounded, but most people didn't hear them because it happened in the middle of the night.

[Soldier4Christ]

Barren Island Volcano fumes again
Press Trust Of India
Mumbai, November 10, 2005
   
            
      
            
      
      
      
      

Barren Island Volcano, located east of Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has renewed its activity from November 4 and was flowing into the sea, volcanologist Prof D Chaandrasekharam said on Wednesday.

The present activity appears to be much more intense than the previous eruption, Prof Chaandrasekharam of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) said. Following the Sumatra Earthquake of December 2004 and March 2005, the Barren island volcano renewed its activity in May 2005 after a gap of five years.

The renewed volcano activity was also confirmed by the Coast Guard official Commandant Basra and his assistant Pankaj Verma from Port Blair. The present eruption has preceded by nearly 10 earthquakes in this region including the two earthquakes which occurred on November 3 with magnitude 4.8 (Nicobar) and 4.5 (Andamans) on Richter scale.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Scientists fear Goma volcano will erupt again

GOMA, Congo (AP) -- Nicolas Muhamiriza remembers sitting atop a small hill, as red rivers of molten lava crept over the city and swallowed his sprawling villa.

Muhamiriza, 47, was once the owner of a thriving bottling plant. Now he is among thousands of Congolese in the eastern city of Goma who struggle to pay rent for wooden shacks, their livelihoods destroyed nearly four years ago when lava submerged schools, hospitals and houses.

Scientists and officials fear Goma will one day be incinerated by Nyiragongo, the volcano that looms over the city. But Goma's fertile soil and its location at the tip of Lake Kivu means people still swarm to its lively markets, for trading with nearby Uganda and Rwanda.

City officials would like to move Goma's residents 30 miles west, to the towns of Sake and Kirotshe. Few, however, can afford to leave, and the government doesn't have the resources to help.

"If I had the money I would move tomorrow, but where would I go?" Caleb Kabanda said with a shrug. "Here, maybe I can find a job. Outside, it will be impossible."

Kabanda, a 31-year-old former English teacher whose school was turned into cinders by the lava, said he gets by on odd jobs now.

Some 500,000 people live in Goma, and the population will probably double in five years as more people move in despite the risks, Deputy Mayor Deo Katindi said.

"I believe that Goma will disappear from the map," he said, sitting in an office about 200 yards from an expanse of black stones and ash where one stream of lava flowed through the city.

Katindi, who lost his house, car and all his belongings, sits on a planning committee which concluded last year that the best idea was to try to lure people away from Goma by investing in Sake and Kirotshe.

He said Goma has appealed for financial help from the international community, but received nothing. As a result, no concrete steps have been taken toward moving.

Scientists say Nyiragongo is lively and a serious hazard.

Only Italy's Mount Vesuvius is more dangerous in its threat to humans than Nyiragongo, which has erupted five times since 1902, said Celestin Kasereka, a volcanologist at Goma's Volcano Observatory.

"We don't know when the volcano will erupt," Kasereka said. "But it could easily be worse than the last time."

During Nyiragongo's relatively small eruption on January 17, 2002, nearly 80 percent of Goma's economic activity was wiped out by flows of glowing lava that crept across the central markets.

Some 300,000 people fled the city, nearly half of whom lost their homes. Most soon returned, possessing nothing more than the tattered clothes on their bodies.

"We have no choice, we must forget," said Bijou Bernabe.

She talked with a reporter while sitting on the roof of her former house, which is filled with hardened lava and buried between charred carcasses of cars whose frames jut from the black volcanic rocks around her.

"If there is an eruption we will run away again," said Bernabe, 29, licking at wet dough dripping from her fingers while frying dumplings to sell. "But two days later all of us will return. The volcano is a part of our lives."

Some in Goma, where the rotten smell of sulfur regularly wafts down from the volcano's crater, believe that the next eruption may very well be their last.

"That smell is a warning," said Pierre Muhindo, 46, father of three and a longtime security guard. "Stone after stone will fall on the earth, before we all go to heaven."

Muhamiriza, the bottling plant owner, is scared, too, but says he cannot afford to leave.

He continues to bottle drinks, but on a smaller scale after losing his equipment to the lava. His "factory" is now a small room with a few machines, and he worries about being able to pay the school fees for his 8-year-old son, Gad.

Muhamiriza sat in front of his house, his feet resting on black swirls of solid lava, a constant reminder of the day he fled a fuming Nyiragongo with his wife and seven children.

"Everything that I work for could be eaten by the volcano again," he said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Tornadoes Touch Down


DES MOINES -- Tornadoes have touched down in Woodward, Ames and Radcliffe Saturday afternoon.

A tornado warning has been issued for East Polk, Hardin and Jasper counties.

A Tornado Watch has been issued for the western two-thirds of Iowa until 9 p.m. Saturday.

The National Weather Service says scattered thunderstorms are expected to form near the Iowa-Nebraska border Saturday afternoon and move rapidly northeast at more than 50 mph. A few storms could produce wind gusts in excess of 60 mph.

There is a slight risk of tornados with these storms. The main threat will be from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

A watch means conditions are right for the development of dangerous weather. Iowans should be on the lookout for severe weather and stay tuned to KCCI-TV and KCCI.com for the latest developments.

Tornado Damage There was a tornado touchdown in southeast Woodward and severe damage to the area. There are gas leaks have been reported in both Woodward and Stratford. Stratford is being evacuated. Residents are being asked to go to the fire-resuce building. There are minor reports of injuries.



Stadium Evacuated

The Jack Trice stadium was evacuated of fans before the Iowa State University football game.

[Soldier4Christ]

Sunday, November 13, 2005 · Last updated 9:34 a.m. PT

Iowa picks up pieces after deadly tornado

By AMY LORENTZEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WOODWARD, Iowa -- Jackie and Bill Seeman sorted through the wreckage of their home Sunday to see what was spared by a tornado that killed one person and damaged dozens of homes.

They were delighted to find a few collectibles, but their car was covered in rubble and their boat had been thrown hundreds of feet away.

"We'll probably stay here, although I'd like to go somewhere without a tornado," Jackie Seeman said as she began crying.

Twisters swept across two counties north and west of Des Moines late Saturday afternoon, ripping up farms in the towns of Stratford and Woodward. At least one person was killed in Stratford.

Bill Seeman was shopping in a nearby town when the storm arrived but Jackie Seeman, 47, said she was in bed when her house collapsed around her.

"I heard a big whoosh and a big boom and then my house just came in on me," she said.

Dallas County Sheriff Brian Gilbert said no serious injuries were reported in Woodward, but search dogs were being brought in to check the rubble as a precaution. "We are 98 percent sure we have accounted for everybody," he said.

"It's amazing. If you've seen the damage here, we had homes that were just obliterated and they had people in them at the time it came through," Gilbert said.

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Roads to Woodward were being reopened Sunday to allow access to utilities, Gilbert said.

In Stratford, a town of about 746 people, residents were asked to stay away to give repair crews room to work Sunday, said Chris Segar, a communications supervisor with the Hamilton County sheriff's office.

Segar said the Red Cross set up a relief center for residents affected by the storm.

High wind also broke windows on the outskirts of Ames, where tornado sirens had already sent college football fans gathered for the Iowa State-Colorado game running for shelter.

When Sean Wolfe, of Woodward, returned from the game, his home was gone. "It's done," he said.

However, his dogs were unhurt in his garage. "They're my kids," he said Sunday as he walked them past the town fire station.

Tornadoes also caused minor damage in several other towns, said Gary Foster, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines.

Tornadoes aren't common this late in the year. Iowa has had just 23 November tornadoes since 1950, according to weather service records.

The conditions were right, though, with unseasonably warm weather in the way of a fast-moving cold front, experts said. Last weekend, another tornado ripped through western Kentucky and Southwest Indiana, killing 22 people.

[Soldier4Christ]

Tropical Depression Forms in Caribbean; May Become Storm Today

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The 27th tropical depression of the Atlantic storm season formed over the Caribbean Sea and may become a tropical storm later today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

With strengthening forecast, the depression may become a storm today, the center said. It would then be called Tropical Storm Gamma, the 24th named storm of the June 1-Nov. 30 season, breaking a record set last month by Hurricane Beta. The system is 4 mph short of the 39-mph threshold for a tropical storm.

The depression, with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles (55 kilometers) an hour, was about 150 miles west of St. Lucia just before 5 a.m. local time, the center said in an online advisory. The system was moving toward the west-northwest at near 10 mph, and forecast to keep that motion away from the Windward Islands.

The center's 5-day ``probability cone'' forecast shows the latest system heading northwest and then west across the Caribbean, south of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica on a path toward central America, where countries including Guatemala and El Salvador were devastated by floods and landslides brought on by Hurricane Stan in early October.

More than 1,500 people were killed or missing in the wake of Hurricane Stan in Guatemala alone, with dozens of deaths in El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras, where floods and landslides destroyed infrastructure and washed away homes.

The latest storm would be named Gamma: the storms are named in alphabetical order, and after reaching Wilma last month, forecasters turned to the letters of the Greek alphabet.