Over half a dozen earthquakes struck off the coast of the Philippines on Friday triggering a tsunami alert.
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake just 21.6 miles underneath the ocean floor triggered the tsunami 60 miles east of Sulangan at 8:47pm local time. The major quake was followed by a series of seven lesser quakes (5.5, 5.4, 5.1, 4.8, 5.4, 4.9, 5.0) in a two hour span. Continue reading
Unlike Hurricane Katrina which rushed through New Orleans and Louisiana, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac have stalled sending over two feet of rain that has flooded the areas around New Orleans.
The upgraded levee system put in place after Hurricane Katrina spared the city itself of flooding but surrounding towns are under several feet of water. Continue reading
On the seventh anniversary of the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, the less powerful Hurricane Isaac is hitting New Orleans. However, Isaac has already breached one levee in the city causing flooding of hundreds of homes.
The storm currently is maintaining sustained winds of 80 miles per hour.
Plaquemines Parish spokeswoman Caitlin Campbell said water is currently running over an 18-mile stretch of levee. The storm made landfall in their Parish and then went back out to sea before touching down further west to hit the city a second time. Continue reading
Surveys of American agriculture released Tuesday showed higher than expected crop damage driving commodity prices to record highs.
Corn jumped 1.7% to $8.39 a bushel while soybeans finished up 2.8% at $17.30 a bushel. In the last three months, corn prices have jumped 68%. Soybeans have jumped 39%. Continue reading
Greece, already under extreme financial pressure, is facing a major blow to several agricultural industries due to a major wildfire raging on the island of Chios.
The fire began on Saturday and has been driven by gale force winds. The out of control blaze has burned over 16,000 acres of forest and farmland. Residents of nine villages have been evacuated due to the blaze. Continue reading
Thousands of acres of land have been destroyed due to wildfires raging across the western US according to wildlife officials. The US Forest Service reported 62 large and uncontained fires in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and California.
In Washington, a fire has burned 60 houses and 24,000 acres since it started on Monday. The town of Cle Elum in central Washington has been evacuated although civilians and firefighters have reported no injuries. Continue reading
The death toll from heavy flooding in central Nigeria has killed at least 33 people. The flooding has not only destroyed homes and villages but has washed out roads and bridges compromising rescue efforts.
The flooding which has covered six districts has impacted over 12,000 people. Officials are warning that more flooding is likely over the next few days.
Last month, 39 people were killed in flooding in a nearby region.
The coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency said hundreds of families are left homeless.
The death toll from Saturday’s twin earthquakes in northwestern Iran is now responsible for 306 deaths according to government officials. Officials attribute the climbing toll to injured dying in hospitals and reports of dead buried by family members before the arrival of government staff.
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck at 5:23pm local time followed by a 6.3 earthquake in the same area 11 minutes later. Officials report that 20 villages in the region were completely destroyed and hundreds of others have suffered varying levels of damage. Continue reading
A forest fire on La Gomera in the Canary Islands forced the emergency evacuation of 1,000 people by ferry overnight. Road accesses have been cut by the fast spreading fire.
The overnight evacuations raised the total number of people evacuated since Friday to 5,000. The evacuees are being housed in a school gymnasium. Continue reading
Food prices worldwide have jumped due to unusual weather patterns. Prices jumped 6% in July. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization food price index measures price changes for a basket of food including cereals, dairy and meat. The July index, while higher, is still below the all-time record in February 2011.
The FAO released a report for July when they normally avoid issuing a report. The given reason was the “exceptional market conditions” that the drought in the USA, excessive rains in Brazil and production problems in Russia have caused in the world supply. Continue reading