Rescue for the remaining Two surviving Sperm Whales continues in Tasmania whale tragedy after 22 Died - 14th Nov 2011

Rescue for the remaining Two surviving Sperm Whales continues in Tasmania whale tragedy after 22 Died - 14th Nov 2011

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22 Sperm Whales Die in Australia

22 Sperm Whales Die in Australia

Agence France-Presse
Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:25 CST

© Tasmania Parks And Wildlife
Steve Mansfield (L) and James Grey from the Parks and Wildlife Service tag deceased sperm whales on Ocean Beach near Strahan on Tasmania's west coast on November 1. Wildlife staff are battling wet and windy conditions as they try to save four sperm whales stranded in shallow water after 22 others die.

Rescuers were racing against the clock Monday to save two huge sperm whales stranded on a Tasmanian sandbank after 22 others died, the Parks and Wildlife Service said.

Marine mammal specialists were on site in Macquarie Harbour at Strahan on Tasmania's northwest coast, but the rescue bid was hampered by rough weather.

Twenty-two of the whales -- each weighing two tonnes and up to 12 metres (40 feet) long -- washed ashore on Saturday at Ocean Beach near Strahan, and all of them died.

Four others came into the harbour and became stranded on a sandbank. Two of these were successfully refloated and swam back out to sea, but the other two remain stuck.

Rescuers said two minke whales also got into trouble nearby and died.

Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife incident controller Chris Arthur said the sperm whales were so big that they could not simply be pulled into deeper water by volunteers, instead requiring a more complicated rescue operation.

"A specially-developed net attached to two boats has been designed to slip under a whale, enabling it to be hauled from immediate danger," he said.

"This method can be used for large animals and is very effective."

But conditions were worsening, with high winds and seas, and attempts to refloat the whales had to be postponed until Tuesday.

"Although we were unable to move the surviving whales into open water today, we are hoping conditions will improve over the next few days," Arthur said, adding that the whales were tired but still flapping their fins and blowing water.

"The weather conditions are against us at present, but managed properly, these animals can survive at least a few days."

Another problem in Strahan is its treacherous narrow channel, known as Hells Gates, through which the whales must pass to get back into deeper water.

"Pushing a large whale against sea surging through the 25-metre passage is like pushing a cork into a bottle," added Arthur.

But he expressed confidence given that seven sperm whales were saved after a similar stranding in the harbour in 2007.

The Parks and Wildlife Service said that samples had been taken from the 22 dead whales, which will remain on the beach until they decompose because they are too large to move or bury.

Explaining why they died, Arthur said: "People seem to forget that these animals breathe air. When they are caught in the surf and they are being rolled around, they are in the sand -- they can't get their blowholes up to get oxygen."

Whale beachings are relatively common in Australia and they usually occur in the summer months, particularly around Tasmania, but scientists do not know why they happen.

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Dalton, Georgia Reacts to 2.7 'Tremor - explosion, came from the air

Dalton Reacts To 2.7 Tremor

November 09, 2011 5:56 PM

Natalie Jenereski

A 2.7 magnitude quake rocked the Dalton area just before noon Wednesday. While some people in Dalton were pretty sure the rumble was an earthquake, others were convinced it was something else.

"Chances are it might have been an earthquake, but maybe it was some big monster outside that's coming to get us all," Jonathan Marks jokes about the magnitude 2.7 quake, but he wasn't the only one who was curious about what caused the ground to shake beneath his feet. The US Geological Survey didn't officially deem the shake, a quake until 2 hours after people say they felt the ground rattle and heard a loud boom in the air.

"I thought it was kind of like a huge explosion or a sonic boom because there was a little noise at first and then a loud explosion and I felt it right between my shoulders it was like it come from the air," said Mary Ellen Gurley, an employee at Dalton State College.

CLICK HERE to listen to 911 calls place immediately following the quake.

The USGS says Northwest Georgia is not an area prone to quakes. The largest earthquake in our seismic zone was on April 29th, 2003. It was a 4.6 magnitude near Fort Payne, Alabama. So if you had never felt one until Wednesday, you probably wouldn't have known what it was.

"I lived in North Carolina several years ago and felt one there. I guess it's not that different from a sonic boom or an explosion or something but to me, I thought this one was an earthquake, I guess having felt it before," said Mike Brown from Dalton.

Though the Dalton Police Department was flooded with calls, luckily no one was injured in the quake.

According to the USGS, the closest, most recent earthquake besides this one, happened Tuesday. A 2.0 magnitude earthquake hit Maryville, Tennessee around 8:30 p.m.

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El Hierro Underwater Volcano's Eruption in Photos

El Hierro Underwater Volcano's Eruption in Photos

Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:10 CST

A brand new Canary island is emerging from the sea as an underwater volcano bubbles to the surface.

A brand new Canary island is emerging from the sea as an underwater volcano bubbles to the surface.

Magma off the Canary Island of El Hierro has been spewing 20 metres high as the sea boils with a smell of sulphur.

As it grows and gets closer to the surface, more and more debris such as stones start to shoot out of the volcano which, until now, has only shown its explosive power below the surface.

It is now just 70 metres from the surface and islanders are already trying to come up with a name for the new island. It is quite close to El Hierro and if it continues to erupt it could eventually meet up with the mainland.

It's not known at this point whether Ryanair, famed for flying to out-of-town airports, plans on opening up a route to the new-born island.

Homes have been evacuated and roads closed on the southern-most Canary Island following a government-issued warning about a possible volcanic eruption while shipping has been banned in the area.

The southern tip of El Hierro was shaken by a 4.3-magnitude quake late on Saturday as the underwater volcano just off the coast started spewing. The island, which has 500 volcanic cones, has already experienced more than 10,000 tremors in the past four months.

Renewed fears of an eruption came as vast quantities of magma - the molten rock from just under the earth's crust - began bubbling into the sea off the port of La Restinga.

Witnesses said that explosive plumes and jets could be seen on the ocean surface from the underwater volcano which began erupting last month. Some of the material is being ejected as high as 60ft into the air.

Debris was thrown up two 60ft into the air from the area close to the Canary Islands which has had more than 10,000 tremors in four months

The regional government of the Spanish Canary Island issued a 'yellow' volcanic eruption alert - the second on a four-level scale. La Restinga's 600 residents were evacuated last week after the volcanic activity began.

Now new evacuations have been called for people living along the southern end of the island. Authorities have also shut down access to La Restinga.

Ships have been ordered away from waters around the port and aircraft have been banned from flying over the island's southern tip. The regional government of the Canary Islands says scientists have detected airborne volcanic fragments called pyroclasts rising from the sea off La Restinga.

The government said it awaited scientific reports on the danger posed by pyroclasts, but a research vessel that was collecting samples there has been ordered to stop.

Fears of an eruption have been going since the end of July, when El Hierro experienced the first of what has become more than 10,000 tremors - collectively known as an earthquake 'swarm'.

Residents were evacuated from some areas at the end of September when volcanic activity increased to more than 150 tremors in 24 hours. The army was put on standby for a mass evacuation.

It looks like a new island has been formed, but actually this is just molten rock that is being spewed into the air by the exploding volcano

Volcano expert Juan Carlos Carrecedo said at the time: 'There is a ball of magma rising to the surface producing a series of ruptures which generate seismic activity.

'We don't know if that ball of magma will break through the crust and cause an eruption.'

But he warned an eruption was possible 'in days, weeks or months'. The last eruption on El Hierro was in 1793 and lasted for a month while the last one in the Canary Islands as a whole took place on the island of La Palma in 1971.

The sea around the volcano is heating up and, at times, has reached as much as 35C. Is THIS what's causing localised pockets of warming around the world as the climate experiences more extremes of weather?

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Whales stranded on Tasmanian beach

Video: Whales stranded on Tasmanian beach
(7pm TV News NSW)

Map: Strahan 7468

There has been a mass stranding of 20 sperm whales on Tasmania's west coast, with only four whales stuck in shallow water believed to still be alive.

The pod was discovered on Ocean Beach near Strahan early Saturday morning, but authorities say conditions in the water are too dangerous for rescuers to intervene.

Nearby, rescuers were making progress in freeing another eight sperm whales stranded on a sand bar in Macquarie Harbour, about four kilometres south of the beach.

Chris Arthur from the Parks and Wildlife Service says four of them were swimming freely, with a fifth joining them later in the afternoon.

With the help of fish farmers and jet boats, authorities managed to free the whales, but he says getting them to open ocean from the harbour entrance proved difficult.

"The weather conditions won't allow us to get them out so it's a matter of just managing them at the moment," he said.

Rescuers will resume their bid to save the whales at first light, but say it could take several days to free the ocean giants.

Authorities are urging people to stay clear of the channel between Hells Gate and Table Head.

Photo:
22 sperm whales are stranded on Ocean Beach on Tasmania's west coast. (Audience submitted)

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Sun Doom: In Five Days The World Could End

If you woke up in five days and there was no electricity, no internet, no cell phones, what would you do? As for me, I'll answer that question at the end of this article. But why worry, it's not going to happen. But it could and I'll explain it briefly.

In five days, a large “benevolent monster” of a sunspot is turning to face the Earth. The most active part of the entire sun since 2005. And “it's still growing,” according to Jess Whittington, a forecaster at the federal Space Weather Prediction Center. This “benevolent monster” of a sunspot will only be facing our planet for two weeks.

The consequences of this is dire, if you only understand what happens if this “benevolent monster” of a sunspot unleashes it's full fury upon our small planet. Let's go back in time to 1859.

From August 28 until September 2, 1859, the earth faced a similar scenario such as what is occurring in five days. On September 1, 1859, the largest flare came unleashed a coronal mass ejection straight at the Earth. And just 18 hours later, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm hit the Earth.

In Boston, the light was so bright that even at 1:00 AM, people could read the newspaper without any other light sources around them. The currents in long Telegraph wires in both the United States and Europe experienced induced ElectroMagnetic Force. Fires broke out in the telegraph offices and even shocked the telegraph operators. Auroras were seen in Hawaii, Mexico, Cuba and Italy. This was the 1859 solar superstorm.

In five days, the electric grid to the United States could be virtually destroyed in the northern Half of the United States. With 130 million people without electricity for 4 to 10 years as 350 transformers are destroyed. The entire Alaska Pipeline could erupt into a fireball. All land line telephones could be destroyed.

So in five days, if a solar superstorm such as the one that hit the Earth in 1859 hits the Earth again, then I'll calmly sit back and open my Bible and read it under the 1:00 AM lights.

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5.7 quake in Turkey topples 2 hotels, earlier damaged buildings

Tremor hits eastern province of Van, 2 weeks after a 7.2 earthquake there killed 600

Salih Zeki Fazlioglu/ / Anadolu Agency via EPA

A damaged building after an earthquake in Van, eastern of Turkey, late Wednesday.

ANKARA, Turkey — A 5.7 magnitude earthquake toppled two hotels and 16 other buildings Wednesday in eastern Turkey just two weeks after a strong temblor there killed around 600 people, according to media reports.

State-run TRT television said the quake brought down a six-story hotel, a second hotel, an office buildings and other buildings that had been damaged in the earlier quake in the province of Van. TV footage showed residents and rescuers trying to lift debris to evacuate people believed to be trapped under the hotel in the provincial capital of Van.

Sky Turk television said the hotel was being used by journalists and aid workers who were in the city. About 35 people including reporters and rescue workers were trapped in the rubble, Sky News said.

Panicked people were seen running through the streets, Sky News said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 5.7. Turkey's Kandilli seismology center said it struck at 9:23 p.m. (2:23 p.m. EST).

NTV television said rescue teams were being sent to the region from the capital Ankara and other areas, a week after workers had begun clearing debris from the earlier quake.

About 1,400 aftershocks have rocked the region since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the province on Oct. 23. Many residents had been living in tents, despite the cold, too afraid to return to their homes. At least 2,000 buildings were destroyed in the stronger temblor and authorities declared another 3,700 buildings unfit for habitation.

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Nyamuragira volcano erupts in the Congo

A spectacular fire show started last night when Nyamuragira volcano (also known as Nyamulagira) began an eruption that happens about every two years. The eruption could be seen clearly from park headquarters - probably the best view you could ask for. It appears that the eruption is not happening on the volcano itself, but on the side and lower to the ground. We'll fill you in on details once we have them.

This is NOT the volcano that tourists hike to see the lava lake, but a far more active volcano just to the north. Most of the lava flows north into an area where no one lives, so it shouldn't bring harm to people or wildlife as the flow is moving slowly.

Eruptions like this one can go on for days, weeks, or even months.

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Intense rains that triggered floods in Italy may become more common

Image Credit: Patrick Feller.

Rainfall intensity has increased over the past 120 years in Italy’s northern regions according to scientists at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate in Bologna, Italy.

The torrential rains that triggered flash flooding and mudslides in northern Italy during October 2011 were unusual but not completely unexpected according to research performed by scientists at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate in Bologna, Italy.

The floods in Italy destroyed many buildings and took the lives of at least nine people. Coastal areas near Liguria and Tuscany were particularly hit hard by the heavy rains and Italy has declared a state of emergency for regions damaged by flood waters. On November 3, 2011 emergency management officials evacuated the town of Vernazza in anticipation of more heavy rains to come.

Flood damage in Liguria, Italy. Image Credit: Miriam Rossignoli.

Dave Petley is a professor in the Department of Geography at Durham University in the United Kingdom and author of The Landslide Blog. In a recent post, he noted that rains in northern Italy reached an intensity of over 140 millimeters per hour (6 inches per hour) on October 25, 2011. Rainfall intensities greater than 140 millimeters per hour are unusual and rarely seen outside of hurricane and tropical cyclone conditions.

A research team led by Michele Brunetti at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate in Bologna, Italy analyzed trends in rainfall across Italy in a 2004 paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The scientists observed that from 1880 to 2002 Italy has become somewhat drier as indicated by a decline in the number of wet days that occur annually. However, precipitation intensity has increased over the past 120 years in Italy’s northern regions. These data suggest that northern Italy may be in for more frequent extreme weather events in the future.

Italy has some of the longest-running meteorological records in the world. Many cities in Italy such as Bologna, Milan and Rome began collecting meteorological data back in the 1700s. Long-term meteorological datasets are valuable tools that help us to understand our changing climate.

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France hit by storms in south, three dead

PARIS | Sun Nov 6, 2011 12:07pm EST

(Reuters) - Heavy rains and flooding in southern France over the weekend forced the evacuation of about six hundred people, and three people died in weather-related deaths as a dozen local regions remained on alert on Sunday.

Rivers overran their banks, flooding streets and homes and leaving hundreds stranded. Television images showed cars floating along roads and residents mopping up their sodden, muddy homes.

A retired couple, both aged 71, in the southeastern coastal town of Bagnols en Foret died late Saturday night or Sunday morning from carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to bail out rising water in their cellar, police said.

On Saturday, police told Reuters they found the body of a 51-year-old homeless man who had been washed away from his campsite in the Herault southern region.

Some 600 people have already been evacuated along the coast and in the Alps in the south east of the country, authorities said. Firefighters helped rescue around 1,200 people affected by the storms, using helicopters to save about 30 people.

An orange alert -- the second-highest weather alert after red -- remained in place in 12 southern regions on Sunday, down from about 16 on Saturday.

The regions affected are the low-lying areas near the Pyrenees in the south west, where it continued to rain on Sunday, and in the flooded Alps region.

In the past two days, the level of the Var river in the southeast rose from 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) to 5 meters, said Europe 1 radio.

Elsewhere in Europe, at least seven people were killed in Genoa on Friday as torrential flooding hit the city following days of heavy storms which killed at least 10 people in northern and central Italian regions.www.reuters.com

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NEO Asteroid 2005 YU55 Close Approach May Bring Increased Meteor Activtiy 8NOV2011

NEO Asteroid 2005 YU55 Close Approach May Bring Increased Meteor Activtiy 8NOV2011

NEO 2005 YU55 Close Approach May Bring Increased Meteor Activty

NEO (Near Earth Object) asteroid 2005 YU55 with a detected diameter of 400 meters is to safely pass the Earth on November 8, 2011. This body with a close interaction may have accompanying debris that may encounter Earth as meteors or fireballs. There is also a possibility that the Moon may experience increased meteor activity. Have your allsky cameras ready and get outside to observe if possible. If you have a telescope this object will be visible. Increased meteor/fireball activity will be 2-3 days on either side of Tuesday, November 8. Another potential for increased meteor activity, asteroid 2011 UT91, will pass on 15NOV2011.

- LunarMeteorite*Hunter, Tokyo








Uploaded to YouTube on 4NOV2011 by JPLnews

UPCOMING CLOSE APPROACHES TO EARTH

1 AU = ~150 million kilometers 1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Object Name Close Approach Date Miss Distance (AU) Miss Distance (LD) Estimated Diameter* H (mag) Relative Velocity (km/s) (2011 UD) 2011-Nov-06 0.1367 53.2 200 m - 460 m 20.6 22.44 (2009 VN1) 2011-Nov-06 0.1299 50.5 39 m - 88 m 24.2 13.61 (2011 UB131) 2011-Nov-06 0.1683 65.5 120 m - 270 m 21.7 21.75 (2011 UF10) 2011-Nov-07 0.1255 48.8 55 m - 120 m 23.4 6.16 (2011 FZ2) 2011-Nov-07 0.1949 75.9 1.0 km - 2.3 km 17.0 24.09 (2007 VF189) 2011-Nov-07 0.1217 47.4 5.7 m - 13 m 28.3 14.99 (2006 JY26) 2011-Nov-08 0.1208 47.0 5.7 m - 13 m 28.3 6.58 (2010 LM68) 2011-Nov-08 0.1861 72.4 180 m - 410 m 20.8 9.55 (2005 XB1) 2011-Nov-08 0.0742 28.9 120 m - 260 m 21.8 13.15 (2005 YU55) 2011-Nov-08 0.0022 0.8 400 m 21.9 13.72 (2004 VB61) 2011-Nov-09 0.1866 72.6 100 m - 230 m 22.0 6.28 (2011 VB) 2011-Nov-10 0.0557 21.7 27 m - 61 m 24.9 7.21 (2011 TP6) 2011-Nov-10 0.0456 17.7 21 m - 48 m 25.5 2.81 (2011 UA276) 2011-Nov-10 0.0957 37.3 29 m - 65 m 24.8 6.44 (2008 UX) 2011-Nov-10 0.1463 56.9 190 m - 420 m 20.7 18.71 (1992 JD) 2011-Nov-11 0.1129 43.9 26 m - 59 m 25.0 7.72 (2011 UZ275) 2011-Nov-11 0.0581 22.6 73 m - 160 m 22.8 5.01 (2011 UY192) 2011-Nov-11 0.0528 20.6 34 m - 75 m 24.5 14.30 (2008 NA) 2011-Nov-12 0.1634 63.6 48 m - 110 m 23.7 12.08 138852 (2000 WN10) 2011-Nov-12 0.1318 51.3 270 m - 600 m 20.0 13.15 (2011 UZ114) 2011-Nov-12 0.0330 12.8 21 m - 47 m 25.5 7.62 154275 (2002 SR41) 2011-Nov-13 0.1918 74.6 240 m - 550 m 20.2 11.64 (2011 UT91) 2011-Nov-15 0.0253 9.9 63 m - 140 m 23.1 12.22 (2011 UB276) 2011-Nov-15 0.1322 51.4 62 m - 140 m 23.2 11.85 10145 (1994 CK1) 2011-Nov-16 0.1767 68.8 920 m - 2.1 km 17.3 13.10 (2010 WG3) 2011-Nov-17 0.1162 45.2 84 m - 190 m 22.5 8.33 202683 (2006 US216) 2011-Nov-17 0.1958 76.2 290 m - 660 m 19.8 17.99 (2011 UY255) 2011-Nov-18 0.1064 41.4 76 m - 170 m 22.7 6.73 (2011 UA115) 2011-Nov-19 0.0365 14.2 27 m - 61 m 24.9 9.71 (2011 UH21) 2011-Nov-19 0.1199 46.7 69 m - 150 m 22.9 6.09 (2011 UB115) 2011-Nov-19 0.1586 61.7 45 m - 100 m 23.9 7.90 (2005 WS3) 2011-Nov-19 0.1216 47.3 160 m - 350 m 21.2 15.81 (2008 WL64) 2011-Nov-20 0.1634 63.6 500 m - 1.1 km 18.6 34.02 175706 (1996 FG3) 2011-Nov-23 0.1014 39.5 670 m - 1.5 km 18.0 8.13 (2011 SR69) 2011-Nov-26 0.1143 44.5 260 m - 590 m 20.0 6.63 (2010 RJ43) 2011-Nov-26 0.1930 75.1 59 m - 130 m 23.3 10.66 (2008 KT) 2011-Nov-27 0.0674 26.2 6.0 m - 14 m 28.2 4.97 (1994 XL1) 2011-Nov-28 0.1182 46.0 180 m - 400 m 20.8 16.36 289315 (2005 AN26) 2011-Nov-29 0.0918 35.7 550 m - 1.2 km 18.4 12.51 (2002 TZ66) 2011-Nov-30 0.1471 57.3 18 m - 39 m 25.9 4.30

Source: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/ (subject to update)

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Tornado rips the roof off a stable as wet weather turns Bonfire Night into a damp squib

• Fierce winds leave trail of destruction in rural Worcestershire

By Stephanie Darrall

It looks like the aftermath of a tropical storm, but this scene of destruction took place on a farm in Worcestershire yesterday.

A tornado uprooted trees and tore the roof of a stable as it swept past the village of Inkberrow in the mid-afternoon.

Amazingly, the fierce winds threw the stable roof 20metres through the air before it came to rest stuck in the branches of a nearby tree.

Other trees were left broken in half at the Knowle Fields Barn Farm complex.

Twister: A tornado ripped the roof off a building and pulled up trees in Worcestershire yesterday

Waterlogged: Many roads in Essex became flooded on Friday, like this one in Ingatestone, after heavy rain

Incredibly, the storm passed over workers in a nearby office building, who didn't realise the extent of the damage until they stepped outside after it had finished.

Dawn Wheatcroft, office manager at partitioning company Waterson's Projects, which is based on the site, said that the storm seemed to 'last forever'.

She said: 'It seemed like forever whilst it was happening, although it probably lasted less than a minute.

'It was a bit of a grey day but you never expect something like that to happen, it was one of the worst storms I've ever seen.'

Flooding: Heavy rain in the south caused road closures in Southampton yesterday

Weather experts believe the tornado may have been a funnel cloud, which can still cause destruction if it touches the ground.

Tornado sightings were also reported in nearby Redditch at the same time.

If not a washout, Bonfire Night looks set to be something of a damp squid as floods and torrential rain from last night give way to light rain mainly confined to Lincolnshire, East Anglia and South-East England.

Across remaining parts of the UK it will be a dry night with mostly clear skies.

Cold across Scotland and Northern Ireland with a widespread ground frost and an air frost in places. Mist and fog patches will develop too across parts of the north where winds are light.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057566/Bonfire-Night-expected-damp-squid-tornado-rips-roof-stable.html#ixzz1cy8bnWi4

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Ontario, Canada: Giant sinkhole closes section of Toronto's Bayview Ave

Ontario, Canada: Giant sinkhole closes section of Toronto's Bayview Ave

CBC News

© Unknown

Click here to see more pictures.

A large sinkhole that resembles something out of a Hollywood movie has closed a section of Bayview Avenue to traffic.

It happened overnight on Thursday after a water main break. Bayview Avenue just north of Steeles Avenue is closed between Proctor Avenue and Laureleaf Road as crews work to fix the buckled pavement.

In some sections, the crack is as wide as a traffic lane.

CBC's Lorenda Reddekopp was at the scene and said York Regional police officers were describing the nine-metre deep sinkhole as "something out of Jurassic Park."

"You just do not expect to see a huge crack down the middle of the road and then the road just buckled in at the middle," Reddekopp reported.

"Crews are starting to dig but this is not an easy problem to fix. It's going to take days, maybe even weeks."

Police say people will need to find another route not just for today, but for the days ahead.

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US: Tempers flare over 6 days of Connecticut power outages

US: Tempers flare over 6 days of Connecticut power outages

Michael Melia
The Associated Press

© The Associated Press/Jessica Hill
Workers remove trees around downed lines in Simsbury, Conn., Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. Six days into an epic power outage that still has roughly 300,000 Connecticut residents in the dark, tempers are snapping as fast as the snow-laden branches that brought down wires across the region last weekend.

Tempers are snapping as fast as the snow-laden branches that brought down power wires across the Northeast last weekend, with close to 300,000 Connecticut customers still in the dark and the state's biggest utility warning them not to threaten or harass repair crews.

Angry residents left without heat as temperatures drop to near freezing overnight have been lashing out at Connecticut Light & Power: accosting repair crews, making profane criticisms online and suing. In Simsbury, a hard-hit suburban town of about 25,000 residents, National Guard troops deployed to clear debris have been providing security outside a utility office building.

At a shelter at Simsbury High School, resident Stacy Niezabitowski, 53, said Friday she would love to yell at someone from Connecticut Light & Power but hadn't seen any of its workers.

"Everybody is looking for someplace to vent - not a scapegoat, just someplace to vent your anger so somebody will listen and do something," said Niezabitowski, who was having lunch at the shelter with her 21-year-old daughter. "Nobody is doing anything."

The October nor'easter knocked out power to more than 3 million homes and business across the Northeast, including 830,000 in Connecticut, where outages now exceed those of all other states combined. Connecticut Light & Power has blamed the extent of the devastation partly on overgrown trees in the state, where it says some homeowners and municipalities have resisted the pruning of limbs for reasons including aesthetics.

The company called the snowstorm and resulting power outages "an historic event" and said it was focused on getting almost all power back on by Sunday night.

For some residents still dealing with outages, no excuse is acceptable.

In Avon, a Farmington Valley town where 85 percent of customers were still without power on Friday, town manager Brandon Robertson said he faulted CL&P for an "absolutely unacceptable and completely avoidable" situation. He said the high school that is being used as an emergency shelter was still running on a generator. Although public works crews had cleared most of the town roads, he said, more than 25 still were blocked as they waited for CL&P crews to clear power lines.

"Our residents are angry. We're angry," he said. "It's just really shocking."

The person who has taken the brunt of the public scorn is CL&P's president and chief operating officer, Jeffrey D. Butler. He has been appearing with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at daily news briefings, but he was left to face a grilling by the media on his own Thursday night when the governor left the room after criticizing the slow pace of power restoration.

Butler said he was sorry so many residents have been left without power for so long during the chilly nights. He said Friday that his own house in the Farmington Valley has been without power since a generator failed, and he urged customers to remember the extent of the damage.

"People need to keep in perspective the magnitude of damage," he said.

The outages have driven thousands of people into shelters in New England and have led to several deaths, including eight in Connecticut.

In North Brookfield, Mass., an 86-year-old woman was found dead Thursday in her unheated home, and her 59-year-old son was taken to a hospital with symptoms of hypothermia, subnormal body temperature. The local fire chief said it was unfortunate they had not reached out to authorities or neighbors for help.

In New Jersey, authorities said fumes from a gasoline-powered generator are believed to have caused the deaths of an elderly couple discovered hours before electricity was restored to their home in rural Milford, near Pennsylvania, on Thursday evening.

For many without power, the past week has been a blur of moving between friends' homes or hotel rooms with occasional visits to their own houses to feed pets and check, in vain, for electricity.

Glastonbury resident Alison Takahashi, 17, said she has bunked with friends and, for a few nights, with her parents in a hotel 45 minutes away, the only opening they could find after the storm. She said her brother, a high school freshman, also has moved like a nomad between friends' homes all week, heading to the next when he worried he'd started wearing out his welcome.

"The cellphones are our life lines right now," said Takahashi, a Glastonbury High School senior. "It's the only way to know where everybody is, and if you forget your charger and your phone is dead, you can't reach anybody."

Some Connecticut residents have vented their frustration through dark humor on the Internet, turning to social media websites to ridicule the utility - often with profanity. One person tweeted: "Really (pound)CL&P? A hamster on a wheel would be a better power source."

A few particularly irate power customers have taken their anger out on utility crews.

CL&P spokeswoman Janine Saunders said some hostile customers have approached the crews, but she declined to provide details. A police officer posted outside the utility's office building in Simsbury along with a National Guard soldier said line crews had been threatened and they wanted to make sure people could complain without letting things get out of hand.

The utility urged the public via Twitter not to harass or threaten the line workers.

Saunders said the utility understands what people are going through and has stressed to customer service employees that they need to be empathetic.

"If people want to vent, call us, see us on Facebook," she said. "We're doing our best to try to respond to people and answer questions in those medium. But let the folks out in the field do their job."

In Massachusetts, where tens of thousands of customers were still without power, the National Grid said in a statement that there have been "only a couple isolated incidents" and that most customers have been thanking crews for their work: "They are demonstrating their appreciation by bringing crews coffee and food."

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick asked state utility regulators on Friday to conduct a formal investigation into how the state's major power companies prepared for and responded to the outages.

In Connecticut, CL&P has promised to restore power to 99 percent of its 1.2 million customers by Sunday night. Butler, the president, said more than 1,740 crews were working and the utility was prioritizing schools and polling sites for elections on Tuesday.

Simsbury resident Chris Gauthier, 47, said he was frustrated the power lines weren't maintained better before the storm, but he said he was too busy to worry about who to blame. Every day, he wakes up before the rest of his family to start a fire in his den's fireplace. He and neighbors were clearing a dozen fallen trees around his house with hand saws Friday as National Guard troops removed debris from the street.

"I have better things to do than dwelling on who's to blame and stuff like that," he said. "There are trees to clear and these guys (his three children) to feed and keep warm."

First Selectman Mary Glassman, of Simsbury, said many homes are still not reachable by car because of downed trees and power cables, and officials are concerned for the residents' safety as people in cold houses resort to driving across power lines to seek shelter elsewhere.

"We're concerned people are getting to their wits' end," she said.

Some business owners already were planning to pursue compensation from CL&P for their losses.

In Canton, Asylum Hair Salon owner Scott Simmons filed a negligence lawsuit against the utility to make up for $1,000 in lost business from Saturday to Wednesday. He said other businesses owners who still don't have power are taking a much bigger hit.

"I just think it was completely mishandled," Simmons said of CL&P's response to the outages.

A CL&P spokeswoman declined to comment on Simmons' claims.

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Landslide in northwest Colombia leaves 14 dead, dozens more missing

Landslide in northwest Colombia leaves 14 dead, dozens more missing

The Associated Press

© Agence France-Presse

A landslide caused by heavy rains left 14 people dead and dozens more missing in northwest Colombia on Saturday, a Red Cross official said.

Cesar Uruena, a Red Cross rescue director, said the landslide buried more than 14 homes in the city of Manizales in Caldas state, 165 kilometres (102 miles) northwest of the capital, Bogota.

Rescuers have reports of 14 people dead and 13 injured, Uruena said.

"We are talking about an average of 60 people missing. This could be a bit speculative, but the number is high," Uruena told The Associated Press by telephone.

He said that because of the many people listed as missing, rescuers would continue the search through the night.

Caldas emergency services director Sandra Lopez said heavy rains pounded the area the night before and caused a part of a mountain to collapse onto the houses.

As a preventative measure, authorities are asking that 35 homes near the landslide site be evacuated.

Source: The Canadian Press

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Oklahoma City News Report During 5.6M Earthquake

"TULSA - The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that the latest in a series of earthquakes in Oklahoma is the strongest ever recorded in the state.
According to USGS , the earthquake that struck at 10:53 p.m. Saturday was upgraded to a magnitude 5.6 after early calculations listed it as a 5.2. The epicenter is four miles east of Sparks in Lincoln County, 21 miles northeast of Shawnee.
Lincoln County Emergency Management is reporting significant damage in the southern parts of the county. In some cases chimneys have collapsed through the roofs of homes. Air conditioning ducts collapsed through the ceiling at the Prague library.
Several roadways have buckled, including Highway 62 near County Road 3470 and other county roads.
There has been no word on any injuries reported.
USGS is reporting that tremors were felt in most of Oklahoma as well as eastern and central Kansas, most of Missouri and Arkansas, north Texas and southeast Nebraska.
It comes after a shocking 4.8 earthquake that occurred in the early morning hours Saturday near Prague, Okla.
Aftershocks were felt for hours following Saturday's first quake, which Amie Gibson, a research scientist for the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said was the strongest to hit the state in nearly sixty years.
That is, until this most recent quake.
Gibson said Saturday that aftershocks from the first earthquake could occur for days.
Saturday night's earthquake broke the state's record set in 1952 in El Reno. That quake was recorded as a 5.5."

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