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Floods

  • Concerns leveled over polluted floodwaters in Midwest

    Human waste overflows, fertilizer runoff and floating propane tanks are raising concerns in the flooded Midwest but should not cause severe or long-term environmental problems, health officials say. Serious chemical pollution from factories and chemical plants "aren't concerns because we don't have many reports, just isolated cases and leaks," said Karen Timberlake, Wisconsin's secretary of Health and Family Services.

  • Bengal calls Army for flood rescue

    Alarmed by the magnitude of the flood in East and West Medinipur, the state government called in the Army and Air Force to expedite rescue and relief operation. Five people have been killed and over 16 lakh have been affected by the floods. Those killed, includes the former confidential assistant of Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Gautam Basu. He and two others were swept away in the flash floods in the Keleghai river on Tuesday night.

  • 3 lakh homeless in flood in India

    Soldiers evacuated thousands of stranded people from submerged villages Wednesday, as floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains swept across the country's east and northeast. More than 3,00,000 people have lost their homes so far, and are scattered between camps, highways and makeshift shelters on higher ground, officials said. Rising river waters have broken through mud embankments and flooded vast areas.

  • US floods hit food prices

    By Hal Weitzman in Pike County, Illinois, and Javier Blas in London Consumers were warned to expect even sharper increases in global food prices after US officials said that some of the country's best farmland was facing its worst flooding for 15 years. Agriculture officials and traders said the damage could push up worldwide corn and soyabean prices, which have spiralled in recent days as floods have swamped crops in parts of Iowa, the US's biggest corn-producing state.

  • Rain, flash floods wreak havoc in eastern India

    The West Bengal Government on Wednesday called in the Army and the Air Force as continuous rainfall caused flash floods in West Midnapur district. The incessant rainfall was triggered by a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal and the southwest monsoon since Monday. At least five persons were killed and 1.6 million people affected.

  • Heavy rain paralyses life in Ctg

    Life became paralysed in Chittagong yesterday as major parts of the port city were submerged in knee-deep water following heavy rains throughout the day. Besides, two walls collapsed at Lalkhan Bazar and Surson Road in the morning due to the downpour, but none was hurt. According to the Met Office at Patenga, over 202 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in last 24 hours till 3:00pm yesterday.

  • Flood raises public health risks

    Public health threats rise to the surface during a flood like the one in the Midwest with animal waste runoff from farms and overflowing city sewer lines. But people are usually smart enough to avoid what can make them sick, experts say. For example, the 1993 floods in the same region produced no illnesses from contaminated water despite the worries of floating waste, said Nancy Hall, a public health microbiologist at the University of Iowa's University Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City.

  • Flood scene in Lakhimpur improves

    The overall flood situation in Lakhimpur district improved today with floodwaters of the Ronganadi, Singara, Dikrong and Kakoi receding to a great extent. However, the fresh announcement of the NEEPCO authorities to release water from the Ronganadi Hydel Power dam has sent alarm bells ringing in the district. Both Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts are cut off from the rest of the State for the fourth day today, as the about nine-metre deep breach in NH-52 at Ganesh Udyan is yet to be repaired.

  • China floods kill 171, 1.2m relocated

    Soldiers scrambled to shore up soggy levies with sandbags on Tuesday in southern China as forecasters warned that more heavy rain could trigger flooding on the country's second-longest river. The death toll rose to 171, Xinhua reported. The high waters swamped crop land in the south, forcing farmers to wade into their fields and harvest unripe cucumbers, bitter melons and other vegetables before they spoiled in the water. The natural disaster was driving up food prices that were already soaring before the heavy rains began last month.

  • Monsoon of woes: Orissa, Assam go under water'

    At least 27 people are feared killed and more than 3 lakh people displaced in the northeast, particularly Assam, with the onset of monsoons. Not just the northeast, but large parts of northern Orissa are also under water, with the army and administration on overdrive to evacuate villagers in the flood-hit parts of the states.

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