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

[Soldier4Christ]

Mumps outbreak is an unsettling look at what flu can do

Look no further than your neighbors across the border if you want to know what a pandemic would be like if it hit today.

The Iowa mumps epidemic that started with a few cases but rapidly multiplied to hundreds and reached into surrounding states demonstrates how a pandemic might unfold, said Kari Etrheim, health education manager for Olmsted County Public Health.

"The mumps outbreak that's happening in Iowa should remind us how quickly a disease can spread," she said. "Illness can spread very, very quickly -- and that's in a vaccinated population. So what happens when it's a novel virus and people are not vaccinated?"

Between them, two airline passenger infected with mumps took nine commercial airline flights within nine days, spreading the virus.

Etrheim said that scenario could easily play out if H5N1 flu among birds develops the ability to spread easily from person to person -- something that hasn't happened yet.

She said the public needs to be aware that there won't be enough vaccine, there won't be enough ventilators, and there won't even be enough hospital beds to go around.

"It isn't a county issue. It isn't a southeast Minnesota issue. It's an issue everywhere," Etrheim said.

She said Olmsted County plans to publicly release its pandemic influenza preparedness plan on June 1 so residents will know what to expect. For one thing, there might be "fever clinics." Instead of going to a hospital, anyone with a fever would go to the fever clinic.

"We're all going to be in this together," Etrheim said. Residents will have to listen to instructions that will be fluid and changing day to day, depending on the progress of the pandemic.

"Businesses are going to have to say, 'Don't come to work,'" Etrheim said.

Christopher Atchison, associate dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health -- and chairman of the U of I Pandemic Preparedness Task Force -- said he is concerned about the unpredictability of a mobile student population should a pandemic occur. Will strong-willed students obey quarantine? Will worried parents?

"All of the notions of quarantine and isolation begin to break down when you think of all the dynamics," Atchison said. Students leaving town could take the illness with them. Or student workers might leave behind a short-staffed medical facility. Conversely, parents arriving to "rescue" their child could infect their own child and also spread the illness to the U of I campus.

Etrheim said people should already be practicing some of the behaviors that would be needed if a pandemic happens.

"People go to work when they're not feeling well, and that is one piece that we really want to impress upon individuals and businesses," she said. "Go home. Work from home. Avoid church. Avoid social events."

What's the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?

Epidemic: An unexpected number of illnesses. The mumps outbreak in Iowa is an epidemic because the cases are more than expected. But the situation is only affecting the United States. So it is an epidemic, not a pandemic.

Pandemic: A global outbreak of serious illness that spreads easily from person to person.

[Shammu]

Scores hurt, houses damaged as strong quake hits southern Iran
May 07 7:56 AM US/Eastern
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At least 80 people were hurt and many homes damaged when a strong earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Zarand in southern Iran's Kerman province.

"Twenty people have been hospitalised, and 60 were treated as outpatients," Zarand's governor, Hasan Rahmani, told state television Sunday.

The quake struck the area at 9:50 am (0620 GMT). State television also cited fears than miners in the area could be trapped underground. The province has a number of copper, iron and coal mines.

"The walls of many houses have been seriously damaged and it is anticipated that more than 60 percent of Zarand homes will no longer be inhabitable," official radio quoted a local official as saying.

Iran is an earthquake-prone area. The worst quake in recent times hit Bam, also in Kerman province, in December 2003, killing 31,000 people.

In late March, a powerful earthquake hit western Iran, killing at least 70 people and leaving thousands homeless.

In February 2005, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale killed more than 600 in Zarand.

Scores hurt, houses damaged as strong quake hits southern Iran

[Shammu]

Indonesia's Merapi Volcano Billows Ash

Sat May 6, 4:42 PM ET

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano billowed ominous clouds of ash Saturday as a giant lava dome bulged off of its southern slope, an official said.

Ash blasted more than 650 yards into the air and deep, sluggish lava oozed out of the mountain's cauldron, said vulcanologist Dewi Sri, who was monitoring activity at the crater on Indonesia's Central Java province.

The lava dome had grown tenfold in less than a week, forming a 90-yard wide glowing bubble, she said.

The level of alert at the 9,700-foot peak remained just below the highest stage.

Authorities tried to persuade remaining residents to leave. Many were reluctant to go without their livestock, often their only source of income. Thousands of others already have left voluntarily to regional shelters.

Merapi is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" — a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

It last erupted in 1994, sending out a searing cloud of gas that burned 60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930.

Indonesia's Merapi Volcano Billows Ash

[Shammu]

2 Undersea Earthquakes Rock Indonesia

Mon May 8, 8:43 AM ET

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two undersea earthquakes rocked Indonesia's Sumatra island Monday, but caused no casualties or damage, an official said.

A 5.6-magnitude tremor 20 miles undersea in the Indian Ocean struck at 8:43 a.m. (9:43 p.m. Sunday) about 25 miles south of Tapaktuan town in Aceh province, said Sahnan Sobri of the Meteorological and Geophysics Agency in Banda Aceh.

He said the second earthquake, of 5.4 magnitude, struck at 5:16 a.m. It was centered about 21 miles below the sea and 80 miles southwest of Bengkulu city on the southern Sumatra Island.

Both tremors caused people run in panic but there were no reports of damage, casualties or tsunami, Sobri said.

A 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a massive tsunami that left 216,000 people dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean — three-quarters of them in nearby Aceh province.

2 Undersea Earthquakes Rock Indonesia

[Shammu]

Major hurricane season brewing in the Atlantic

Updated Mon. May. 8 2006 6:34 AM ET

Associated Press

FREDERICTON -- In what could signal a frightening new fact of life in the age of global warming, Canadian and U.S. forecasters are warning that another major hurricane season is brewing in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 2006 hurricane season officially opens on June 1, and already scientists are telling people living in eastern North America that numerous storms are predicted, with as many as five major hurricanes packing winds of 180 km/h or greater.

"It's kind of comparable to what we were looking at last year at this time," says Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S.

"Last year we were looking at 12 to 15 storms and this year the forecast is for about 17. No one would go out on a limb and say it is going to be just as bad as last year, but the indications are there that it is still going to be another active season, almost twice as active as normal."

Last year's hurricane season was the most destructive on record.

There were 27 named storms, 15 hurricanes and seven intense hurricanes during the 2005 season. The worst damage was along the U.S. Gulf coast.

Scientists with the Colorado State University hurricane forecast team say the same factors that contributed to last year's violent season are still in play this year.

"The Atlantic Ocean remains anomalously warm, and tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures have continued to cool," says Colorado University forecaster Phil Klotzbach, explaining two of the key triggers for hurricanes.

The Eastern seaboard has been locked in an active storm period for the past decade and while these seasons are normally cyclical, no one knows when, or if, the active period will end.

"Is this global warming? From now on will we see only active hurricane seasons? That's the big question," says Canadian weather guru Dave Phillips of Environment Canada.

While there is no scientific proof that the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is breeding more hurricanes, Phillips says global warming could be contributing to the unusual power of the big storms, like last year's Katrina.

"We are seeing stronger hurricanes - almost a 100 per cent increase in category fours and fives," he says.

"When they do develop, they're a lot bigger, tougher and have more destructive power. They stay together longer. This is the concern. They seem to have more power. That could have a connection to global warming - the fact the atmosphere has changed and ocean temperatures have warmed."

Forecasters stress that there is no way to know, at this point, how many big storms will make landfall or whether any will be able to pick up enough steam to significantly affect Eastern Canada.

That's what happened in 2003, when hurricane Juan stoked up energy from unusually warm waters off northeastern North America and blasted the Maritimes, causing death and destruction in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and parts of New Brunswick.

Phillips says that despite this year's grim forecast, a lot can happen to shut down offshore hurricanes and prevent them from causing onshore harm.

"The temperature of the water has to be right, the winds have to be just perfect, the timing has to be just so and the depth of the water has to be just so," Phillips says.

"It's like baking a souffle. A lot of things have to come together and if someone slams the door, it won't rise."

Phillips adds that, curiously, what happens in the Pacific with the La Nina phenomenon can have major impact on the Atlantic hurricane season.

La Nina refers to a pattern of usually cold surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The east-to-west winds of La Nina tend to be more favourable for producing hurricanes in the Atlantic.

While La Nina has been the dominating factor in the Pacific for the past two years, it appears to be easing.

NASA oceanographers say they believe La Nina will not affect Atlantic hurricanes this year.

Whatever happens, people who have experienced the wrath of a major hurricane are taking precautions.

A 2005 Environment Canada survey of about 500 Halifax-area residents, obtained by The Canadian Press through Access to Information, found that a majority of respondents - 53 per cent - now feel vulnerable to hurricanes.

It also found that 71 per cent of respondents would do things differently if another hurricane like Juan is forecast for the area.

Nova Scotia resident Lynn Brooks, who lives near Halifax, was one of thousands of Maritimers who experienced property damage and power outages during Juan.

Brooks says she now keeps extra water in her home, because if the power goes out, her well goes off.

"I think I'm like a lot of people in this region," she says.

"We will never taken another hurricane warning for granted."

Major hurricane season brewing in the Atlantic

[Soldier4Christ]

Fla. Fires Force 1,000 to Evacuate Homes


NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Smoldering brush fires kept about 1,000 people from their homes early Monday, and the heavy smoke shut down parts of Interstate 95 between Daytona Beach and the Cape Canaveral area.

At least one home was destroyed and about 8,000 acres scorched by the fires that began Friday and flared up through the weekend, officials said.

"The state as a whole is just extremely dry right now," said Jim Brenner, fire management administrator for the state Division of Forestry. "These fires are consuming everything. And it's not over by any stretch of the imagination."

Smoke from the fires blended with fog early Monday and blanketed I-95 in Brevard County, forcing the closure for several hours of a 20-mile stretch of highway. Another 12 miles remained shut down late Monday morning because of the smoke. Authorities blamed the low visibility for a five-vehicle crash that killed two people Sunday.

"The hint to motorists is don't use I-95 in the next couple of days if you don't have to. We want motorists to avoid 95 from Indian River County up to Jacksonville," said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller.

The flames were right behind Rita McSweeney's home when she fled her golf course community.

"I could see it through the woods," McSweeney told The Daytona Beach News-Journal. "The sky was black, black, black, black, and then it would turn fire engine red. It felt like I could reach out and touch the fire."

[Soldier4Christ]

Russia's largest volcano erupts in Far East region

A volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia's Far East region erupted late on Tuesday, the geophysical service of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced.

    The eruption of the volcano Bezymyanny, located in the central area of the Kamchatka Peninsula, began at around 21:21 local time (0821 GMT), the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

    Bezymyanny, which is 2,900 meters tall, was belching out ash to the altitude of 13 km to 15 km above sea level and the trail of smoke and ash was spreading northwards and northeastward.

    The eruption was the most powerful over the past 21 years, as the previous surge of Bezymmyanny's activity was registered in 1985, sources at the Kamchatka Institute of Volcano Studies said.

    Bezymyanny is part of a group of volcanoes related to the Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the largest active volcano in Eurasia.

    Researchers, closely watching the natural phenomenon, said it did not pose any threat to residential areas.

    Kamchatka's regional department for emergency situations issued warnings to tourist groups and hunters to stay at a minimum distance of 20 km away from the volcano.

    The Kamchatka Peninsula is often referred to as the Russian volcano land, with 29 active volcanoes.

[Soldier4Christ]

Minor earthquake shakes San Diego County


SAN DIEGO - A minor earthquake rattled parts of San Diego County on Monday, but there were no reports of injury or damage.

The magnitude-3.6 tremblor struck shortly after 5 p.m. and was centered in the Pacific Ocean, about 13 miles off the coast from the south San Diego suburb of Imperial Beach, according a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

"I just kind of felt my chair wobble," said Lt. Jim Bolwerk of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, who was at a dispatch center in north San Diego.

A magnitude-3.1 quake followed at 5:30 p.m., 12 miles off the coast of Imperial Beach.

[Soldier4Christ]

EARTHQUAKE: TREMOR BETWEEN FILUCUDI, ALICUDI IN AEOLIANS


There has been yet another tremor from an earthquake in the Aeolian Islands, this time near Filicudi. Seismic activity was recorded around 9.40 am by the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanic studies in Rome, with an intensity between the fourth and fifth degree on the Mercalli scale and with an epicentre located in the lower Tyrrhenian Sea. The tremor was felt by the inhabitants of Filicudi and by those of the nearby Alicudi. There weren't any damages reported to people or houses. It is the fourth earthquake in 4 days in the archipelago, where two tremors were felt in Stromboli and one in the channel between Salina and Lipari. The latter was the strongest and, as a consequence, the precautionary measure was taken to close the three churches which were slightly damaged to worshippers. The priest Antonino Costa celebrated the mass on Sunday in the San Vincenzo square.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Earthquake In Banda Sea

KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale occurred at 9.57 am Tuesday at Banda Sea, Indonesia, the Meteorological Services Department said.

It said the centre of the earthquake was located 710km east of Makassar, Indonesia, 1,377 km southeast of Sabah, at 5.4 South, 125.8 East.

The earthquake posed no tsunami threat, it said in a statement.

[Soldier4Christ]

Cyclone Mala Killed Dozens on West Coast

At least 22 people died in the cyclone that smashed into Burma’s west coast and Irrawaddy delta at the end of April, and news analysts fear that figure could rise as reports come in of several fishing boats being lost at sea and another 14 people listed as missing.

Initial official reports last week in the immediate aftermath of the 240-kilometer-an-hour Cyclone Mala said only four people were killed.

Now, state-run media say an additional 18 people died at Kyangin in the Irrawaddy Division, where another 14 have been reported missing.

The Myanmar Red Cross Society says Mala caused severe damage to infrastructure, including rural clinics and school, and crops. “People living in the area in huts have lost all their belongings,” Hla Myint, chairman of MRSC, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

Among the hardest-hit were the towns of Gwa, Labutta, Ngapudaw and Hinthada plus the popular beach resort of Chaung Thar. The storm also hit the Rangoon’s industrial zone, destroying several factories and homes.

Rangoon-based newspapers trying to cover the aftermath of the cyclone are having to rely on official sources for information, which they say may not be completely accurate. “We can’t get access to all the regions along the coast,” said one editor.

Burmese junta routinely restricts information on sensitive incidents, including natural disasters, if it feels reporting would harm the isolated government’s reputation. “The official guideline already given to us is that all coverage must be positive and constructive,” the editor said.

There are unconfirmed reports, for instance, that the cyclone disrupted the entire fishing industry in the Gulf of Martaban, but the MRSC could provide no information.

“So far as we have not received any report from that area,” said Hla Myint. “The State Peace and Development Committee send us information of casualties, then we send response teams to the areas.”

State-owned media focused on visits to stricken areas by senior officials.

The Chairman of Irrawaddy Division Peace and Development Council, Maj-Gen Thura Myint Aung, and the Minister for Hotels and Tourism, Brig-Gen Thein Zaw, ordered that 500,000 kyat (US $400) relief aid be given to each cyclone victim. The reports did not say how many peopled received the financial aid.

Last week the International Federation of Red Cross said that nearly 600 homes in Hlaing Thar Yar had been damaged. It said an assessment team had been sent to Gwa on the coast, 190 kilometers northwest of Rangoon, but details are still awaited.

[Soldier4Christ]

North India wakes up to dust storms

New Delhi - After scorching heat wave conditions, many parts of north India, including Delhi witnessed dust storms early Tuesday morning and the weather department has said this could bring in some respite.

‘There was a dust storm in Delhi and some areas in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab early Tuesday morning,’ said R.D. Singh, director Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi. He added that the dust storms would continue for the next 36 hours and there could be a fall in the temperature.

‘The day temperature could fall by a few degrees because of the dust storms,’ he stated.

According to the met officials, the temperature in the capital would remain around the 41-degree Celsius mark. ‘We do not expect a rise in day and night temperature for the coming 48 hours,’ informed Singh.

The temperature in the past week was around four-five degrees above normal but due to the dust storms the day temperature has fallen and is hovering around 40-degree mark.

‘All the areas around Delhi have seen a fall in the day temperature because of the dust storm,’ noted Singh. He said that temperature in Jaipur (Rajasthan) would remain around 42 degrees while in Chandigarh (Punjab), the day temperature would be around 40 degrees.

He added that these dust storms were a result of the low pressure area in the southeast of Uttar Pradesh and the dust-laden winds from the western state of Rajasthan.

He said these dust storms are expected to continue, given the conditions in the region.

He also informed that some areas in Jammu and Kashmir could receive slight showers during the evenings.

‘Due to weather disturbances, we expect slight showers in some areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.’

[Soldier4Christ]

Rain, hail storms kill at least seven in China


BEIJING: Four days of rain and hail storms triggered mountain torrents and landslides in China's central province of Hunan, killing at least seven people, Xinhua news agency said.

Seven cities and 21 counties suffered the worst of the downpours which started on Thursday and subsided early on Monday, the provincial civil affairs department was quoted as saying.

Flood waters and landslides destroyed 87,500ha of farmland and brought down 3,500 houses, causing direct economic damage of 443 million yuan ($NZ87.10 million).

"The disasters affected the normal life of 1.42 million people in the province, among whom 14,100 were relocated," the department was quoted as saying.

China is hit by droughts, floods, typhoons and blizzards each year, with the death toll from natural disasters in 2005 almost 2500, according to government statistics.

[Soldier4Christ]

Torrential Rains Cause Flood In Kars

   
KARS - Flood waters triggered by torrential rains killed a 13-year-old boy in Kockoyu hamlet in Arpacay town of the eastern city of Kars, sources told the A.A on Sunday.

Two-day torrential rains caused flood in the hamlet. Fahrettin Men and his brother Oguz Men were carried away by flood waters as they were herding their animals.

Oguz Men was injured and hospitalized.

Villagers found body of Fahrettin Men just outside the hamlet.

[Soldier4Christ]

Depression concerns as drought woes worsen

A Queensland charity says there has been no let-up for help required by drought-affected farmers.

Aussie Helpers has donated half-a-million dollars to farmers since it was established four years ago.

Spokesman Brian Egan says volunteers are still busy sending road trains of stock fodder into south-western Queensland.

He says he is concerned at widespread depression among graziers coping with the prolonged dry.

"That's what happened to me, I lost my farm and tried to get rid of myself but, you know, I came good," he said.

"There's a lot of anger involved in depression as well as hopelessness but there's a lot of anger and frustration and just feeling that this damned thing is never going to end.

"I think people are just so frightened they're going to lose everything they've ever worked for."

Mr Egan says while some parts of Queensland have experienced rain, many graziers are still in a desperate situation.

"We're still sending road trains of stock fodder out to the channel country, to Windorah, Thargomindah, Quilpie, Cunnamulla all those places like that.

"We've just been lucky enough by getting a lot of stock fodder donated recently, in fact one gentlemen down near Goondiwindi just donated 80 tonnes of the stuff which has been a blessing."
Trees dying

Meanwhile, graziers in the region say 100-year-old trees are dying in worsening drought conditions.

Stephen Tully from Quilpie says most properties have destocked and cattle and sheep numbers are down by two-thirds.

He says his wool clip this year will be the smallest he has ever produced and conditions have never been so bad.

"This is the fifth year of drought and it's the worst it's been in any of those five years but it's also the worst it's ever been as far as we can remember as well," he said.

"The number of dead trees around ... we've lost 90 to 95 per cent of woody weeds but we've now got significant gidgee trees dying, things like leopard woods, beef woods 70 or 80 per cent of them are dead.

"There's just big, enormous big tree and they're just dying they've been there for hundreds of years."