Reconstruction and recovery needs following the catastrophic flooding in eastern Libya last September are estimated at $1.8 billion, according to this new report by the World Bank, the United Nations,
BY PAUL ALEXANDER Rescuers considered boring a hole in an overturned ferry on Monday in a desperate attempt to find survivors among more than 800 missing passengers and crew, after Typhoon Fengshen carved its deadly swath through the Philippines. Hopes dwindled by the hour that large groups of survivors might be found in areas where communications were cut off by the weekend storm that left at least 163 people dead in flooded communities.
BY PAUL ALEXANDER Two men who struggled to shore after a passenger ferry capsized in the Philippines during Typhoon Fengshen said on Sunday that hundreds of people may have died when they were trapped inside.
At least 229 people are confirmed dead and at least six missing after Typhoon Fengshen ravaged the central and southern Philippines, Red Cross and civil defence officials said on Sunday. The toll does not include those dead or missing from a ferry that sank in the central Philippines with about 747 people aboard. Four people have been confirmed dead and there are four survivors from that accident. The rest are unaccounted for.
The dust that originates in the Sahara Desert, is lofted by windstorms which carries it west over the Atlantic. High levels of airborne dust reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the ocean, lowering sea surface temperatures and, generally, hurricane probability.
It would be a sad census in any case, but the tally of trees lost in Central Park to high winds during the storm on June 10 comes with particular ill grace in the middle of the Million Trees NYC campaign. Skip to next paragraph Leave a Comment on City Room "You felt it was like a tornado,' said Douglas Blonsky, president of the Central Park Conservancy and the administrator of Central Park. According to the conservancy's survey, 33 trees were significantly damaged, 24 of which have already been removed.
Dust storm followed by rain paralysed life in Khairpur city and other parts of the district on Wednesday night. In Khairpur city, dust storm followed by rain continued for more than one hour and broke heat spell. Youngsters and other people came out on roads and streets and enjoyed the change in the weather. However, vehicular traffic was affected on the National Highway and other roads. Signboards of shops and offices were uprooted. Telephone and electricity systems remained disturbed in the district.
Dust storms and rains hit some parts of interior Sindh on Tuesday, killing six persons, injuring dozens and damaging property worth millions of rupees, besides causing suspension of electricity supply to many areas. The Met Office had forecast dust storm and rains in Sindh, particularly over coastal areas including Karachi, Badin and Thatta. The rains turned the weather pleasant; however, at some areas, dust storm resulted in some casualties and damage to properties.
Rising acidity in the ocean caused by seas absorbing greenhouse carbon dioxide could make low-lying island nations like Kiribati and the Maldives more vulnerable to storms as their coral reefs struggle to survive, say scientists. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at its highest level in the past 650,000 years and half of it has now been dissolved into the oceans making them more acidic.
Tropical Storm Arthur, the first of the year in the Atlantic, weakened to a depression over Mexico on Sunday but still dumped torrential rain across the south of the country that threatened to create floods. Arthur, which had been forecast to move early Sunday into the Gulf of Mexico where there are many oil installations, was still overland and was seen moving farther inland in coming hours and then losing punch. Still, Arthur's wicked winds forced the closure of two of Mexico's three main oil exporting ports in the Gulf of Mexico because of rough seas.
