THE WILLIS UNIVERSITY

Welcome to the Willis University. This is a site dedicated mostly to the world's natural disasters. Also some random inserts of global news from credible sources and also a mixture of opinion. Some of the opinions are not suitable for all. Please remember this is my opinion only. Thanks to all for the guidance I've been given.

August 31, 2006

Hurricane Watch Issued for Carolinas

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Forecasters issued a hurricane watch for the North and South Carolina coasts Thursday, and Virginia's governor declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Ernesto gained strength over the Atlantic.
The watch, stretching from South Carolina's Santee River to Cape Lookout in North Carolina, means hurricane conditions, with sustained winds of at least 74 mph, are possible within 12 hours.
For residents who have long weathered hurricanes in this vulnerable region, Ernesto's wind was less of a concern than the threat of flooding. Thunderstorms have been drenching North Carolina for more than a day, and Ernesto could bring half a foot of rain.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211477,00.html

August 30, 2006

Hurricane John now Category 4 off Mexico

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico - Hurricane John has become a dangerous Category 4 storm and is likely to strengthen further while traveling closer to Mexico's Pacific coast than previously thought, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 135 mph, and gusts up to 161 mph, John was already lashing some tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain from its outer bands. Hurricane-force winds were likely to begin raking beaches south of Puerto Vallarta late Wednesday, then come close to hitting land early Thursday. The storm would then nick Los Cabos at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Friday before heading out to sea.
John was running parallel to the coast and was not expected to affect the United States.
At 11 a.m. ET, John was centered about 160 miles west of Acapulco and 95 miles south of Lazaro Cardenas. It was moving northwest at 12 mph.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14583931/

"Super typhoon" Ioke threatens Wake Island

HONOLULU – The military evacuated 200 people from Wake Island on Monday before the arrival of Typhoon Ioke, the strongest Central Pacific hurricane in more than decade.
Classified as a Category 5 "super typhoon," Ioke is expected to extensively damage the U.S. territory when it hits Wednesday with 155-mph winds, said Jeff Powell, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
"This is going to roll up a storm surge that will probably submerge the island and destroy everything that's not made of concrete," Powell said.
The evacuees, mostly American and Thai contractors, were flown to Hickam Air Force Base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, said Maj. Clare Reed, a spokeswoman for the 15th Airlift Wing.
The contractors work at a civilian base, Reed said. No other permanent residents live on the tiny island, she said.
Ioke had winds of 160 mph and gusts up to 185 mph on Monday, Powell said. The storm was 560 miles southeast of Wake Island and on track for a direct hit, according to the forecast.
Wake Island is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu and 1,510 miles east of Guam. The storm is expected to strike at 5 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, or noon Thursday on the island.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2003233696_webioke29.html

Storm Loses Punch Before Striking Fla.

Tropical Storm Ernesto sloshed rather than slammed ashore _ surprising forecasters by failing to strengthen Tuesday as it approached Florida and providing relief to hurricane-weary residents.
Briefly a hurricane Sunday, Ernesto lost much of its punch crossing mountainous eastern Cuba. The storm crossed the Florida Straits with top sustained winds of 45 mph and was expected to move through Florida overnight as a weak tropical storm. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/29/D8JQE8P00.html

August 29, 2006

Ernesto Pic

Tsunami Alert

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Eastern Indonesia was on a tsunami alert Tuesday after an earthquake offshore rattled the region.
The magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near Indonesia's Moluccas islands, an official at the country's meteorological agency said.
"There is a possibility of a tsunami, but until now we have not received a report that it has happened," Fauzi, head seismologist at the agency, told Reuters.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14569823/

Florida Prepares as Tropical Storm Ernesto Nears

KEY WEST, Fla. — Steve Saunders and his family drove seven hours from central Florida to the end of the Florida Keys, blissfully unaware they were heading the wrong way as Tropical Storm Ernesto crept ever closer. Tourists had been ordered to evacuate the Keys, where Floridians were expected to feel Ernesto's first effects. But lying by a hotel pool Monday evening, Saunders said his family planned to stay in Key West and ride it out. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210863,00.html

August 28, 2006

Moderate earthquake jolts Yunnan

At least one person is dead and 31 others injured, including 10 seriously, after an earthquake measuring 5.1 degrees on the Richter scale jolted Yanjin County, Zhaotong City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, at 1:51 p.m Friday.
Earlier reports said the death toll was two proved erroneous when it was discovered that the same victim had been counted twice,a spokesman with the Zhaotong municipal government told Xinhua.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/25/content_5008138.htm

Florida on Hurricane Watch

A watch from Deerfield Beach southward on the east coast and from Chokoloskee southward on the west coast was issued at 5 a.m., meaning hurricane conditions of at least 74 mph are possible within 36 hours. The Keys were put under a watch on Sunday afternoon.
Gov. Jeb Bush issued a state of emergency Sunday for all of Florida, because forecasters said Ernesto could potentially threaten a large swath of the state by late in the week. Immediate concern, though, centered on the Keys, where visitors were ordered out and plans were enacted to evacuate special-needs residents to Miami.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210727,00.html

August 27, 2006

Caption Contest Winner

We'll I got 6 wonderful comments on this caption. Thanks for all who contributed to this little game. Please stop by and visit their blogs Bunny @ Bunny's Babblings , Steve@ Welcome to BronxBloggers.co... , Scooter KSU @ Scooter McGavin's 9th Green, Boz @ Pictures From My World and Craig @ The Craig Hart Blog. I will be posting more "caption contests" in the future. Please check back frequently. I really liked the "freddy comment" (if everyone knew who freddy was you would completely understand). But I'm going to have to go with ScooterKSU for 250 credits.

Tropical Storm Ernesto Becomes Hurricane

Tropical Storm Ernesto strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday as it steamed toward Haiti's southern coast, becoming the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season.

The storm's maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph, just above the threshold for a hurricane, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Ernesto could grow into a Category 3 hurricane by Thursday, menacing a broad swath of the Gulf Coast including hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, the hurricane center said earlier. Category 3 Hurricane Katrina struck the city a year ago Tuesday.

Hurricane Ernesto, Storm Warning, One Year Later

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210646,00.html

August 26, 2006

Tropical Storm Ernesto strengthens

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tropical Storm Ernesto gathered strength as it steamed through the central Caribbean toward Jamaica on Saturday and threatened to enter the Gulf of Mexico as the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season.
Ernesto could grow into a Category 3 hurricane by Thursday, menacing a broad swath of the Gulf Coast including hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami forecast. Category 3 hurricane Katrina struck the city a year ago Tuesday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210441,00.html

Lightning Strikes Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch Pad Area

A bolt of lightning hit a launch pad near space shuttle Atlantis Friday, prompting officials to stop preparations for Sunday's scheduled flight and clear an area, according to Local 6 News.
http://www.local6.com/news/9741687/detail.html#

Tropical Storm Ernesto Strengthens Over Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Ernesto strengthened over the central Caribbean on Saturday as it headed toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, threatening to become the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ernesto, which formed Friday, was projected to reach hurricane strength early next week and enter the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday or Wednesday, but it was too soon to predict whether it would hit the United States, said Robbie Berg, a forecaster with the hurricane center in Miami. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210441,00.html

August 25, 2006

Tropical Storm Ernesto now in Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Ernesto formed Friday over the Caribbean as it moved toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ernesto, which posed no immediate threat to land, could develop next week into the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season, the center said. The outer edges of the storm were expected to bring rain to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti over the next 24 hours.

Magnitude 6.4 Earthquakes in Russia and Argentina

A magnitude 6.4 quake occurred in Salta, Argentina at: 24.32S 66.89W Depth 157km Fri Aug 25 00:44:43 2006 UTC. Time: Universal Time (UTC) Fri Aug 25 00:44:43 2006
Time Near Epicenter Thu Aug 24 21:44:43 2006
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Thu Aug 24 20:44:43 2006
Central Daylight Time (CDT) Thu Aug 24 19:44:43 2006
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) Thu Aug 24 18:44:43 2006
Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) Thu Aug 24 17:44:43 2006
Alaska Daylight Time (ADT) Thu Aug 24 16:44:43 2006
Hawaii Standard Time (HST) Thu Aug 24 14:44:43 2006
Location with respect to nearby cities:
155 km (100 miles) WNW of Salta, Argentina (pop 462,000)
160 km (100 miles) W of San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina (pop 230,000)
295 km (180 miles) SE of Calama, Chile
1380 km (860 miles) NW of BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
--------------------------------------------------
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit near the east coast of Kamchatka. This occurred at: 51.19N 157.52E Depth 70km Thu Aug 24 21:50:39 2006 UTC Time: Universal Time (UTC) Thu Aug 24 21:50:39 2006.
Location with respect to nearby cities:
115 km (70 miles) ENE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands, Russia (pop N/A)
220 km (135 miles) SSW of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
2235 km (1390 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
6930 km (4310 miles) NE of MOSCOW, Russia

August 24, 2006

Obesity has surpassed hunger

I heard this on the news this morning and had to read it for myself so here it is....
The number of obese people worldwide have surpassed the number suffering from hunger, and economic incentives are urgently needed to address the problem, an international conference in Australia has heard.
AdvertisementBarry Popkin, a Professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, said the transition from "a starving world to an obese one has occurred with dramatic speed" thanks to a global dietary shift away from cereals and grains towards animal products and vegetable oils.
“This dietary change combined with a decrease in physical activity has produced a world where obesity has become a greater health concern than malnutrition,” Professor Popkin told the International Association of Agricultural Economists conference in Australia's Queensland state on Monday.
"Obesity has become the global norm, and malnutrition - while still important in a few countries - is no longer the dominant disease," Popkin said in his speech. Popkin said China illustrated the change, with more people in the countries population eating high-fat, oil-rich diets and keeping sedentary lifestyles by working in offices, watching TV and driving cars.
“Governments should consider how to make healthy foods cheaper to address obesity,” he said. But Barry Senauer, a professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, said a tax on fatty foods would be politically unacceptable in countries like the United States.
"Less direct incentives such as policies to raise the cost of driving, and encourage the use of public transport would help increase physical activity, and reduce obesity amongst Americans,” said Professor Senauer in an address to the conference. "Obesity brings with it significant risks of chronic disease, and adjusting domestic policy to encourage a less inactive lifestyle is literally a matter of life and death," he said. -(Sapa) http://www.health24.com/news/Research/1-3132,37072.asp

Caption Contest for 250 credits.

Let's see who can come up with the funniest title for this picture. The winner will recieve 250 credits along with a link to their blog. This contest will end on Saturday 26 Aug @ 11 PM CST.

Tropical Storm Debby May Take Backseat to Caribbean-Bound Storm

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Debby, which weakened yesterday as it moved over the Atlantic Ocean, may soon be eclipsed by another storm system approaching the Caribbean.
Conditions were ``conducive'' for a tropical depression or storm to form today from a weather system that could pelt the Caribbean's Windward Islands with rain and tropical-storm-force winds as early as today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
``Right now, Debby poses no threat to anyone,'' said Stacy Stewart, a forecaster at the Miami-based center. The storm nearing the Caribbean is ``the one to watch right now.''
Debby, with top sustained winds of about 45 miles per hour (75 kilometers per hour) as of 11 p.m. Miami time yesterday, was about 730 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands, and moving west-northwest at 18 mph, the center said. While the storm may still strengthen and become a hurricane, five-day forecasts show it would be far from land.
Debby would become a hurricane if its winds reach 74 mph.
The new storm was about 230 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands as of 10:30 p.m. Miami time yesterday. The system was moving west-northwestward at nearly 20 mph. An Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, nicknamed a ``hurricane hunter,'' is scheduled to investigate the system today if it proves necessary, the center said. A tropical depression or storm could form at any time, Stewart said.
The next tropical storm will be called Ernesto.

Girl spots 'tornado' in Scotland

A 10-year-old-girl was shocked to spot 'tornadoes' from her garden during stormy weather in Scotland on Monday. Jessica, 10, emailed the BBC with a photograph showing the huge funnel cloud hovering above her house. The cloud was one of several whipped up by warm rainy weather conditions in the UK over the past week. BBC Weather presenter Helen Willets said: "We get about 30 or 40 tornados reported every year in the UK - more per square kilometre than in the US." Find out about tornados "But they are nowhere near as powerful!" she told Newsround 'Scary' Jessica, from Perthshire, said: "It was a big black cloud coming right down to us from the sky. It was a bit scary - we were wondering if it would hit the ground." Funnel clouds become official tornadoes when they touch the ground and it's not clear if the ones Jessica saw ever got that close. Tornadoes form when a warm wind meets a cold one and this is most likely to happen in the UK during the summertime. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5270000/newsid_5275900/5275930.stm

August 23, 2006

Update: Tropical Storm Debby

U.S. weather forecasters say Tropical Storm Debby has gained strength over the Atlantic Ocean, but poses no immediate threat to land. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say the storm at midday Wednesday was located in the middle of the ocean, about 800 kilometers west of the Cape Verde islands. They say it had maximum sustained winds of about 75 kilometers an hour. But they predict the storm will stay out at sea and not reach the land. Debby is the fourth named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season. http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-23-voa27.cfm

Mindset List

I read this article in the morning paper and just thought I'd share it. This is a very interesting atricle.
Beloit, Wis. - A rite of autumn is under way with the arrival of first-year students at thousands of colleges and universities for registration. Most 18-year-old students entering the class of 2010 this fall were born in 1988. They grew up with a mouse in one hand and a computer screen as part of their worldview. They learned to surf the internet as they learned to read. While they were still in their cribs, the 20th century started to close as the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet bloc disintegrated, and frequent traditional wars in Latin America gave way to the uncontrolled terrors of the Middle East.
Each August since 1998, as faculty prepare for the academic year, Beloit College in Wisconsin has released the Beloit College Mindset List. A creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief, it looks at the cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives of today’s first-year students.
Members of the class of 2010, entering college this fall, were mostly born in 1988. For them: Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb, and Secretariat have always been dead.
1.The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union. 2.They have known only two presidents.
3.For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt..
4.Manuel Noriega has always been in jail in the U.S..
5.They have grown up getting lost in "big boxes.".
6.There has always been only one Germany..
7.They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register..
8.They are wireless, yet always connected..
9.A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'..
10.Thanks to pervasive headphones in the back seat, parents have always been able to speak freely in the front..
11.A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake..
12.Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines..
13.Faux fur has always been a necessary element of style..
14.The Moral Majority has never needed an organization..
15.They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams..
16.DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court..
17.They grew up pushing their own miniature shopping carts in the supermarket..
18.They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication..
19."Google" has always been a verb..
20.Text messaging is their email..
21.Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say..
22.Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America..
23.Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items..
24.Madden has always been a game, not a Superbowl-winning coach..
25.Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway..
26."Boogers" candy has always been a favorite for grossing out parents..
27.There has never been a "skyhook" in the NBA..
28.Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics..
29.Computerized player pianos have always been tinkling in the lobby..
30.Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing religious organizations in the U.S..
31.They grew up in mini-vans..
32.Reality shows have always been on television..
33.They have no idea why we needed to ask "...can we all get along?"Ken Burns has always been producing very long documentaries on PBS..
34.They have always had access to their own credit cards. tuna has always been on sale..
35.They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water, and play games with, lest they die. 36.Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober..
37.Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics..
For more click on link below http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2010.htm.
[Class of 2002 Mindset List] [Class of 2003 Mindset List][Class of 2004 Mindset List] [Class of 2005 Mindset List][Class of 2006 Mindset List] [Class of 2007 Mindset List][Class of 2008 Mindset List] [Class of 2009 Mindset List]

August 21, 2006

Depression expected to become Tropical Storm Debby

MIAMI - The fourth tropical depression of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season formed today in the far eastern Atlantic and was expected to become Tropical Storm Debby as it approached the southernmost Cape Verde islands. By 5 p.m., the depression was about 250 miles southeast of the islands, and moving toward the west-northwest at 12 miles per hour, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4131496.html

DPI stockpiles bird flu masks

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is stockpiling face masks as part of revised Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) procedures to deal with bird flu. Chief veterinary officer Bruce Christie says the OH&S review was prompted by last year's national bird flu drill, Operation Eleusis. He says the department has also decided how people would access anti-virals. Mr Christie says they might be required for lab staff at the Orange Agricultural Institute, field workers and rural lands protection boards personnel. But he says it is unlikely they would be needed in Orange. "Because most of the poultry establishments and bird establishments aren't near Orange," he said. "So anywhere within the state, the Department of Health in conjunction with the police or anybody else who needed to would be able to get those anti-virals to whoever needed them within 12 hours." Meanwhile, the DPI in Orange is looking for new, humane ways to destroy birds in case of a widespread outbreak of avian influenza. Mr Christie says Animal Health Australia has trialed wrapping entire sheds in plastic then pumping in carbon dioxide or other gases to kill the birds. He says departmental staff have been giving some technical assistance and feedback because they are the ones who will ultimately have to do it. Mr Christie says methods are needed which do not require people to enter sheds because that agitates poultry. "One of the ways of doing that is to be able to close the shed up so you don't get any leakages and carbon dioxide's obviously a way that, its good enough to destroy the birds without any stress and pain and at the same time means that people don't have to get in there," he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1720516.htm

Bird Flu Virus Still Spreading Globally

Rome - The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu continues to spread throughout Asia, Africa and Europe, threatening people, animals and economies, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned on Monday.
The spread of the virulent virus had slowed, the FAO noted, but it was still continuing its advance across the globe with 55 countries now having reported infections, up from 45 in April.The Rome-based organisation said veterinary controls must be strengthened, particularly in developing countries, in a bid to limit the spread of H5N1 among domestic birds.
"We don't expect to eradicate the H5N1 virus from possible wild bird reservoirs but we can contain and control it fully in the poultry sector," FAO's chief veterinary officer Joseph Domenech said.
This "is the best insurance we have that it will not mutate into a virus that is easily transmissible among humans", he continued."We need to find the weak links in the global effort to contain H5N1 and strengthen them."That means building up veterinary and laboratory services in the poorer countries of the world, where public services are hampered by a general lack of funds," Domenech stressed.
According to World Health Organisation figures, 239 people have been infected with the virulent H5N1 strain of the virus since 2003 and 140 have died, mostly in Asian nations.More than 220-million birds have died from the virus or been culled in a bid to limit contamination.The FAO said the southern Balkan area and the Caucasus region were at high risk of infection as they were prime resting grounds for migratory wild birds and health checks and security measures in the poultry industry were still rudimentary.
It also expressed concerns about the continued H5N1 spread through Asian countries and said that Ivory Coast and Nigeria in Africa were also struggling with the virus. - Sapa-AFP
More

New Blogger

Thanks to worldvieww for this story. It appears the President of Iran has decided to create his own Blog!"Check out Ahmadinejad's own new blog. There is an English version - click the second flag from the left. . . . See also the BBC's report about it." I don't know of any other world leaders who have entered into the blog world......is a myspace next?

August 20, 2006

Human Bird Flu Cases Reach 95 This Year, Matching 2005 Level

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Bird flu killed a 35-year-old woman in Indonesia, raising the number of cases worldwide this year to 95, the same number reported in the whole of 2005, as health authorities study whether the virus is spreading among humans. Confirmatory tests on the woman were positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, I Nyoman Kandun, a director general at the Ministry of Health, said in a text message late yesterday. Indonesia, with the most H5N1 deaths, has confirmed two other cases from the same remote village where the woman lived, and officials are checking for signs of human-to-human transmission, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said last week. The death toll from H5N1 has tripled this year as the virus spread in wild birds and domestic poultry to at least 38 countries. It might kill millions of people should it change into a pandemic form and spread easily among people.
About three new human cases have been reported a week on average this year as the virus became entrenched in Indonesia and China, and infected people for the first time in Turkey, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Djibouti. It claimed more lives in Thailand and Cambodia, where fresh outbreaks killed fowl the past month. Since 2003, H5N1 is known to have infected 239 people in 10 countries, killing 140 of them, the World Health Organization said on Aug. 17. The virus has killed 63 people this year, compared with 22 in the first eight months of 2005.
Almost all human H5N1 cases have been linked to close contact with sick or dead birds, such as children playing with them or adults butchering them, according to the WHO.
Doctors from the Geneva-based health agency joined a team of local medical and veterinary officials last week to identify the cause of the cases in West Java's Garut district, where the 35- year-old woman lived. Additional Deaths? ``Rumors'' of additional deaths from respiratory disease in neighboring hamlets in late July and early August are also being investigated, the WHO said in an Aug. 17 statement on its Web site.
At least 16 others are being tested for the virus, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.
Clusters of cases may signal the virus is becoming more adept at infecting humans, not just birds.
A pandemic can start when a novel influenza A-type virus, to which almost no one has natural immunity, emerges and begins spreading. Experts believe that a pandemic in 1918, which may have killed as many as 50 million people, began when an avian flu virus jumped to people from birds.
A flu outbreak killing 70 million people worldwide may cause global economic losses of as much as $2 trillion, Milan Brahmbhatt, a World Bank lead adviser in the East Asia region, said in June.
Indonesia, the world's fourth-most-populous country, attracted international attention in May when seven members of a family from the island of Sumatra contracted H5N1, six of them fatally. The cases represented the largest reported cluster of infections and the first laboratory-proven instance of human-to- human transmission.
To contact the reporter on this story: Karima Anjani in Jakarta at kanjani@bloomberg.net

2006 Tropical Storm Season Now Below Normal

(21 August 2006) What a difference a year makes. After the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the 2006 season is now below normal. As of yesterday (20 August) three tropical storms will have formed in the Atlantic in an "average" year, which is the same number that have formed this year so far. Because of multi-year averaging, that means that today (August 21) slightly more than three storms would have formed, making this year (statistically speaking) just below normal. In the hurricane category, this year is decidedly below normal, with no hurricanes so far, while by this date 1.5 hurricanes have formed in the average of years 1944 though 2005. http://www.weatherstreet.com/hurricane/2006/hurricane-atlantic-2006-below-normal-season.htm

August 19, 2006

Powerful Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Hits Near South Pole

TOKYO — A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 hit near the South Pole, Japan's weather agency said Sunday. The temblor hit at around 0341 GMT, Japan's Meteorological Agency reported. The agency did not indicate the quake's depth. The agency, which said it received magnitude data from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said the quake was centered in waters in the Scotia Sea. The Scotia Sea lies between Antarctica and South America. The quake's magnitude is sufficient to produce a tsunami in shallow waters, the agency said. It added that the quake posed no tsunami threat to Japan. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209475,00.html

Hospital in Bandung treats more patients suspected of having bird flu

BANDUNG (Antara): Hasan Sadikin Hospital in the West Java capital of Bandung is now treating three patients suspected of having contracted bird flu, after another villager of Cikelet in Garut regency was admitted to the hospital late Friday. Two patients, who are also from Cikelet village, were admitted to the hospital Wednesday and Thursday. "The latest patient, who is 14 weeks pregnant, was admitted to the hospital at 7:30 p.m. Friday," hospital president director Hadi Yusuf was quoted by Antara news agency as saying Saturday. He said that the house of the latest patient was close to another bird flu patient who died recently. A woman died Thursday night - three hours after being admitted to a hospital in Garut. The hospital is awaiting laboratory test results to see if she had contracted the virus. Cikelet is a village, some 150 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, where at least one person died of the disease and another fell ill. Four other people died before tests could be taken to see if they had bird flu. The H5N1 virus has killed at least 140 people worldwide since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003 - 46 of them in Indonesia, the world's worst affected country, according to the World Health Organization. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060819162156&irec=0

August 18, 2006

Earthquake rattles Eastern Russia, northern Japan

Moscow, Aug 18. (AP): A strong earthquake rocked the Russian Pacific island of Sakhalin early today, sending some residents rushing into the streets and damaging some buildings, officials said. The temblor, which hit at around 2050 IST (2:20 am local time), also caused tremors in parts of Japan's northern Hokkaido prefecture, Japan's Meteorological Agency reported. The agency rated it at magnitude 6.0, but said there were no fears of a tsunami- huge waves caused by undersea disturbances or volcanic activities. The US Geological Survey put the quake at 5.5 magnitude. Centered on the southern tip of Sakhalin Island, about 10,500 kilometres east of Moscow, the quake sent residents in towns in some of the island' southern regions scrambling into the streets. Russia's Vesti TV reported that one person was injured by falling furniture and aftershocks continued for several hours. "I grabbed my child and rushed out into the streets with only what I was wearing," one unidentified woman said in televised comments. Television footage showed collapsed and damaged house roofs and cracked pavement. Another quake, estimated by the USGS at 6.2 magnitude, hit the Kamchatka peninsula, 1,930 kilometers northeast of Sakhalin, just after midnight. ITAR-Tass, citing local officials, reported no major damage. Much of Russia's Pacific coast sits along a major tectonic plate and is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200608182011.htm

Two more bird flu outbreaks hit ducks in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Bird flu outbreaks have hit two districts in eastern Cambodia, killing thousands of ducks, after a man smuggled infected birds to the region bordering Vietnam, officials said on Friday. Two people were admitted to local hospital suspected of having contracted the virus, Ku Chanthan, a veterinary official in the province told Reuters. He said the results of tests on the two would be released in coming days. Last week the H5N1 virus was confirmed in more than 1,300 ducks that died in Prey Veng province, 70 km (45 miles) southeast of the capital Phnom Penh. The owner of the ducks smuggled surviving poultry to the eastern province of Kampong Cham where a bird flu outbreak killed nearly 2,000 ducks this week, Ku Chanthan said. A further 1,000 ducks died this week in another district of Kampong Cham, about 95 km (60 miles) east of Phnom Penh. The deaths were confirmed as bird flu on Friday. "The result of tests on duck samples taken from the two districts has shown that the virus is H5N1," senior agriculture official Yim Voeunthan told Reuters. Authorities ordered the cull of several hundred poultry in the province. The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed more than 140 people worldwide, including six in Cambodia, according to the World Health Organisation. The virus has not yet shown the ability to mutate into a form that could pass easily between humans, causing a pandemic that might kill millions of people. But experts fear it might, especially in a poor country such as Cambodia, which is recovering from 30 years of civil war and where health surveillance systems are limited. http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=BKK298001

Volcano Eruption in Ecuador

BANOS, Ecuador -- A volcanic eruption in Ecuador's Andes mountains showered incandescent rock and lava on nearby villages, smothering houses and burning residents as thousands tried to flee to safety. At least one person was killed and 60 were missing. The Tungurahua volcano exploded overnight, raining ash for miles and sending molten rock flowing down its slopes for hours. The fiery mountain was still unleashing a blast of gas and ash Thursday that reached 5 miles into the sky. At least a dozen villages on the volcano's western slopes were seriously damaged or destroyed _ televised images showed just the tops of electricity poles jutting out from the smoldering pyroclastic flow that smothered 107 homes in the village of Juibe Grande, on the volcano's northwest slope. Authorities said that village's 600 residents escaped in time. They were less sure about the many holdouts who refused to answer evacuation orders Wednesday in three hamlets high on the slopes of the 16,575-foot volcano, which is some 85 miles south of the capital of Quito. "This is an indescribable catastrophe. The houses have collapsed. The rocks that fell caused injuries and burns," said Juan Salazar, mayor of Penipe, one of the villages. In the village of Palitagua, roofs were pocked and perforated by flaming rocks, and there was heavy damage to the villages of Bilbao and Penipe. Chilibu, Choglontuz and Palitagua "no longer exist _ everything is wiped out," Salazar said. Read More

August 16, 2006

New Planets Via Ruling

The tally of planets in our solar system would jump instantly to a dozen under a highly controversial new definition proposed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Eventually there would be hundreds as more round objects are found beyond Neptune. The proposal, which sources tell SPACE.com is gaining broad support, tries to plug a big gap in astronomy textbooks, which have never had a definition for the word "planet." It addresses discoveries of Pluto-sized worlds that have in recent years pitched astronomers into heated debates over terminology. The asteroid Ceres, which is round, would be recast as a dwarf planet in the new scheme. Pluto would remain a planet and its moon Charon would be reclassified as a planet. Both would be called "plutons," however, to distinguish them from the eight "classical" planets. A far-out Pluto-sized object known as 2003 UB313 would also be called a pluton. That would make Caltech researcher Mike Brown, who found 2003 UB313, formally the discoverer of the 12th planet. But he thinks it's a lousy idea. "It's flattering to be considered discoverer of the 12th planet," Brown said in a telephone interview. He applauded the committee's efforts but said the overall proposal is "a complete mess." By his count, the definition means there are already 53 known planets in our solar system with countless more to be discovered. Brown and other another expert said the proposal, to be put forth Wednesday at the IAU General Assembly meeting in Prague, is not logical. For example, Brown said, it does not make sense to consider Ceres and Charon planets and not call our Moon (which is bigger than both) a planet. IAU members will vote on the proposal Thursday, Aug. 24. Its fate is far from clear. The definition The definition, which basically says round objects orbiting stars will be called planets, is simple at first glance: "A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet." "Our goal was to find a scientific basis for a new definition of planet and we chose gravity as the determining factor," said Richard Binzel, an MIT planetary scientist who was part of a seven-member IAU committee that hashed out the proposal. "Nature decides whether or not an object is a planet." "I think they did the right thing," said Alan Stern, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and leader of NASA's New Horizons robotic mission to Pluto. Stern expects a consensus to form around the proposal. "They chose a nice economical definition that a lot of us wanted to see," Stern told SPACE.com. "A lot of the other definitions had big problems. This is the only one that doesn't have big problems." 'I feel that they have made the most rational and scientific choices; namely ones which are physically based and can be most readily verified by observations,' said Gibor Basri, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Basri made a similar proposal to the IAU in 2003, part of the long-running saga of failed attempts to define "planet." Expect heated discussion Read More: 9 Planets become 12

August 15, 2006

WillisU day surgery

Well today the WillisU had day surgery to remove a two lipomas. Which were the result of a softball taking a bad hop in practice back in April. So here is the outcome after two incisions, 4 injections of anesthesia, a couple of darvocets, and a few stitches later. Surgery took place at 11 AM and now it's 11PM and the swelling is starting to kick in.

Bird flu suspected in Wash. swans

WASHINGTON - Scientists have discovered possible bird flu in two wild swans on the shore of Lake Erie - but it does not appear to be the much-feared Asian strain that has ravaged poultry and killed at least 138 people elsewhere in the world. Yesterday, the Agriculture Department declared that initial testing had ruled out the so-called highly pathogenic version of H5N1. They could have a relatively harmless, low-grade H5N1 strain instead. “This is not the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that has spread through much of other parts of the world,” said Ron DeHaven, administrator of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, adding, “We do not believe this virus represents a risk to human health.” However, it will take up to two weeks to determine whether the seemingly healthy wild mute swans in Michigan harbored the H5N1 virus. Yesterday’s announcement was the first reported hit from a massive new program to test up to 100,000 wild birds in an effort to catch the deadly Asian H5N1 virus if it does wing its way to North America, something the government thinks could happen this year. Wild birds, especially waterfowl, are flu’s natural reservoir - they carry a multitude of influenza viruses. Sometimes, those strains jump species, and if it’s a flu virus very different from one people have experienced before, a worldwide pandemic could result. http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=152862

August 14, 2006

The water park fun...and the sunburn

The family had a great time at the Hawaiian Falls. Luckily my oldest two kids tan a little better than my youngest daughter and I (waterproof sun tan lotion MY ASS. We were there a total of fours hours and that was all the sun we could handle. Those four hours of fun in the water made up for all the 100 degree plus temperatures we have been having down here in Texas!!! We forgot all about the heat. Until we got home. Here a few pics of the water park and my sunburn. And the damn sunburn on the top of the feet hurts like a son of a bitch. Next time no sandals for me, I will brave the sizzling hot sidewalks. Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

More credits to "BE Survivor" Participants

Well now four more players from the Blog Explosion "Survivor" have gotten their credits back. Please make sure to visit their blog. In no particular order... Butterflydiva, Yankeeography, Plumbutt, and Allnightorg. I would like to say thanks to these 4 individuals for making the "BE Survivor" fun. So far credits sent to : Dawnb, Scottage, Luna, Somegirl33, Yankee, Ano, Plum, and Butterflydiva....Please be sure to leave me your url and I will send you your credits to the next four players in 7 days.

Tropical Storm Wukong

THIS year's 10th tropical storm, Wukong, was formed on the northwest Pacific, south of Japan, yesterday afternoon. Wind forces near the storm center have reached 18 meters per second. China's central meteorological station said the strengthened Wukong is moving towards the northwest at 20 kilometers per hour and won't affect China's shores within the next three days. Wukong is the name of the Monkey King in the Chinese legend, "Journey to the West." The eighth typhoon of the year, Saomai, has killed 134 as of yesterday in China, and at least 163 others are still missing after the typhoon, which was the strongest to hit China in half a century. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu went to Zhejiang and Fujian over the weekend to inspect rescue work and visit people traumatized by the disaster. Hui said a search for the missing must continue and condolences to family members of victims must be conducted properly. Wukong

White House: Lesser Bird Flu May Be Here

Scientists have discovered possible bird flu in two wild swans on the shore of Lake Erie _ but it does not appear to be the much-feared Asian strain that has ravaged poultry and killed at least 138 people elsewhere in the world. It will take up to two weeks to confirm whether the seemingly healthy wild mute swans in Michigan really harbored the H5N1 virus or not. On Monday, the Agriculture Department declared that initial testing had ruled out the so-called highly pathogenic version of H5N1 _ but that they could have a relatively harmless, low-grade H5N1 strain instead. That's the suspicion, making Monday's announcement almost a practice run for the day the more worrisome Asian strain actually arrives. "This is not the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that has spread through much of other parts of the world," said Ron DeHaven, administrator of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, adding, "We do not believe this virus represents a risk to human health." Monday's announcement was the first reported hit from a massive new program to test up to 100,000 wild birds in an effort to catch the deadly Asian H5N1 virus if it does wing its way to North America, something the government thinks could happen this year. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/14/D8JGD1S01.html

My Epic Challenge

Hello WillisU, this is Steve, and I am here to present a challenge to myself. Today was payday for me so I went out and got some candy for the family. I saw a jug of jawbreakers that were pretty huge, I think 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I went to purchase the hunk of candy until I saw an even larger one that measured 3 inches across, I went to that one up until I saw the largest damn jawbreaker ever. It measures a little over 4 inches in diameter and weighs a good two pounds. So my challenge is this, how many days will it take to 1) reach the center of this gigantic cavity-causing block of sugar, and 2) how long will it take to completely finish the whole damn thing. A view of the ball of this un-godly thing is pictured below.

WTF?

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingMember : loopRecord:Won 33 / Lost 6Credits won: 40.60 credits 2 votes defeated Photobucket - Video and Image HostingMember : bandwwillisRecord:Won 242 / Lost 193 1 votes How the fuck does this stupid shit happen? I lost 2-1? How in the Hell??? Thanks BE!!!!!!!! I lost 40 something credits by losing 2-1.

August 13, 2006

Typhoon Saomai death toll rises to 130

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Typhoon Saomai killed at least 130 Chinese and left over 160 missing, Xinhua news agency said, as reports emerged of fishing communities crushed by the strongest storm to make landfall for half a century. Hundreds were also injured and damage was estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, Xinhua said. Several fishermen were at sea when Saomai arrived in southeast China's Fujian province. The Southern Metropolitan Daily reported from Shacheng that many fishing vessels had disappeared after Saomai, with families desperate for news about their sons, husbands and brothers. An official at the Flood Control Headquarters of Fuding city, near Shacheng, declined comment when contacted by Agence France-Presse today, saying the death toll is still being verified. Fuding itself also saw horrific damage, reporting 41 killed, 107 missing and 1,350 people injured as hundreds of houses collapsed, according to Xinhua. In the same area of Fujian province, Saomai had struck with such force that Baisheng village, with some 300 households, had been wiped virtually off the map. 'Almost the whole village was flattened,' an unnamed local resident told Xinhua. Most deaths confirmed so far were from Zhejiang province, immediately to the north of Fujian. In Wenzhou, a booming port city with more than one mln residents, 81 people were reported killed and 11 missing. Six people were crushed to death in a landslide triggered by torrential rain in Linshui city in Zhejiang. In the province of Jiangxi, further to the west, two people were reported killed. Saomai generated winds of up to 216 kilometers an hour when it hit Zhejiang, making it the strongest typhoon to strike China since 1956, according to the China Meteorological Administration. The typhoon was downgraded early Friday to a tropical storm and by early today it was graded again as a tropical depression. http://www.forbes.com/finance/feeds/afx/2006/08/13/afx2946011.html

August 11, 2006

Strong Quake Rocks Indonesia

A strong earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia's Sumatra island early Saturday, causing some people to flee their homes, but there were no reports of damage and no tsunami was triggered. The 6-magnitude quake struck at 3:54 a.m. and was centered under the Indian Ocean 175 miles northwest of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said. "It felt pretty strong," state news agency Antara quoted one villager as saying. "The whole family and our neighbors ran out from our house, but there was not a massive panic." Officials on Sumatra were not available for comment early Saturday. There were no immediate reports of damage. Sumatra was hardest hit by a powerful December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. More than 216,000 people in Indian Ocean nations were killed or missing in the disaster. The region is rocked by many earthquakes, including a magnitude 8.7 quake in March last year that killed about 900 people on an outlying island. http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/08/11/ap2945040.html

August 10, 2006

Toll from Typhoon Saomai jumps to 73(AP)Updated: 2006-08-11 10:16 BEIJING - The death toll in coastal China from Typhoon Saomai jumped to at least 73 on Friday, with three others missing, as the most powerful storm to strike the country in five decades churned across the southeast, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Authorities had evacuated more than 1.5 million people from flood-prone areas before storm hit land Thursday evening, wrecking houses and capsizing ships. Most of the deaths occurred in Zhejiang province, where Saomai made landfall, Xinhua said. The bodies of 43 people, including eight children, were discovered in Zhejiang's Cangnan county amid the debris of collapsed houses on Friday morning, Xinhua said. Another 28 people were killed and three were missing in other parts of Zhejiang, Xinhua said, but did not give details. The government earlier reported two deaths in Fuding, a city in neighboring Fujian province. Xinhua didn't say how the latest deaths occurred, but said 7,300 homes were destroyed. Damage was expected to be widespread in areas that were still recovering from Tropical Storm Bilis, which claimed more than 600 lives last month. Saomai had winds of up to 216 kph (135 mph), according to Chinese forecasters. The Zhejiang provincial weather bureau said it was the most powerful storm to hit China since at least 1949. Saomai, dubbed a "super typhoon" by Chinese forecasters due to its huge size and high wind speeds, was the eighth major storm of this year's unusually violent typhoon season. It killed at least two people in the Philippines earlier in the week and dumped rain on Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights. Eight Taiwanese sailors were missing late Thursday after two ships capsized in a harbor in Fujian, while four Chinese were missing after their ship struck a reef, according to Xinhua. Saomai is the Vietnamese name for the planet Venus. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/11/content_662573.htm

August 07, 2006

My Red Neck Weekend...

What a wonderful weekend here at the WillisU. I went out of town to my grandfathers house along with my mom. He has lived on the lake for quite a while. Just a weekend trip but it was filled with all kids of "Texan red-neck" fun. The only thing we missed was a good 'ole game of horse shoes!! What more could you ask for than one of you favoite Nascar drivers winning along with some good 'ole fishing, bar b que, and a great sunset?? So without going on any further here are some pictures of my weekend. This week brings vacation time with the family before the kids start school. I will be sure to post once I return.

Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes near Vanuatu

On the island of "Survior".... Associated PressLast updated 09:18am (Mla time) 08/08/2006 SYDNEY, Australia -- A powerful magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the Pacific islands nation of Vanuatu early Tuesday, but caused no injuries or damage, officials said. The temblor struck about 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Vila, at 9:18 a.m. local time (2218 GMT) and was centered 149 kilometers (93 miles) below the earth's surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Job Esau, the director of Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office, said there were reports of injury or damage at Port Vila or any of the country's outlying islands. "There's nothing happening there," Esau told The Associated Press by telephone from the capital. "This happened in the middle of the ocean, between the islands, so no damage was done to the buildings ... nothing." Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said the earthquake was too deep to pose any major tsunami risk. "Although it was a sizable earthquake ... the epicenter was 150 kilometers [93 miles] deep, which is too deep to deform the sea floor," Fryer said. "We've actually checked the tidal gauge at Port Vila and there's no risk of a tsunami at all." Earthquakes of this magnitude are relatively common in Vanuatu, which is part of the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire." In April, a magnitude 6 earthquake rocked the tiny archipelago but caused no injuries, damage or local tsunami. Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides Islands, is made up of 13 main islands located about 2,250 kilometers (1,400 miles) east of Australia. http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=14073

Tropical Storm Saomai

Military bases on Guam entered Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness-1 and the National Weather Service issued a tropical storm warning for the Marianas Islands on Saturday in advance of Tropical Storm Saomai as it rumbled rapidly northwest toward Guam. The eighth storm of the northwest Pacific’s tropical cyclone season was forecast to track just north of Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base on Sunday, weather officials said Saturday. Forecasts called for winds of 50 mph and higher to rake the island late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening, said National Weather Service meteorologist Genny Miller, though she said “a lot can change in 24 hours, especially at this stage of development.” Naval Forces Marianas officials ordered all personnel to remain indoors until the all-clear is sounded. They projected the storm’s closest point of approach to be noon Sunday with sustained winds of between 46 and 52 mph and gusts up to 58 mph. Forecasts also called for rainfall in excess of 6 inches, with some localized flooding, Miller said. The storm spawned overnight Friday just to the west of Chu’uk Island and became a tropical storm in less than 24 hours. The National Weather Service issued a tropical storm warning for the Marianas Islands at 5 p.m. Saturday Guam time, Miller said. While TCCOR-1 was declared for military bases, the rest of the island remained in TCCOR-2, which was issued by Guam’s civil defense office at 8 p.m., the Pacific Daily News reported. Navy officials asked for its customers to conserve water, with southern residents strongly encouraged to take the necessary steps in case the Navy had to decrease supplies to Guam Waterworks. The Orote Point commissary and all Navy Exchange facilities were ordered closed on Sunday. At 1 a.m. Sunday, Guam time, Saomai was 155 miles southeast of the island, moving northwest at 13 mph with sustained winds of 40 mph and gusts of up to 52 mph at its center. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center projected Saomai would pass 33 miles north of Andersen and 62 miles north of Naval Base Guam at 9 a.m. Sunday, packing sustained winds of 52 mph and gusts of up to 63 mph. It’s forecast to reach typhoon strength sometime Tuesday evening and begin curving west-northwest away from the Marianas in the general direction of Okinawa but it’s too early to tell whether Saomai will threaten the island, 18th Weather Flight officials at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, said. http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=39167 Saomai is the Vietnamese word for the planet Venus.

Tropical storm Bopha

Tropical storm Bopha is forecast to strike Taiwan at about 18:00 GMT on 8 August. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 23.0 N, 122.2 E. Bopha is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 92 km/h (57 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher. The information above is provided for guidance only and should not be used to make life or death decisions or decisions relating to property. Anyone in the region who is concerned for their personal safety or property should contact their official national weather agency or warning centre for advice. This alert is provided by Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) which is sponsored by Benfield, Royal & SunAlliance, Crawford & Company and University College London (UCL). TSR acknowledges the support of the UK Met Office. http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/TSR/200610W_10W.htm

August 03, 2006

BE Survivor Participants

Thanks once again to Dark Marcy and Gidget Bones for putting on the first ever BE Island Survivor.
Please visit the following participants from the Challenge. If you do not see your link please leave me the URL as I do not want to leave one member out. Also your credits are on the way please bear with me as I can only send 1,000 a day.
Now I have tried to send 250 credits to 4 more people this morning but now BE states I can only send 1,000 credits every 7 days!!. So please be patient I will send them out as promised!!
Team Malai Bozette, Scott,Bry ,Luna ,NYC-Dog
Team Naribu Steve-o ,Plum ,Ano ,Dawnb ,SomeGirl
Credits thus far sent to: DawnB, Scott, Luna, SG33

Human bird flu cluster fears in Sumatra

Seven Indonesians, including three children all from the same village in Sumatra are being treated for bird flu symptoms in what doctors fear could be two new clusters of the virus. While blood tests are still to confirm H5N1strain infections, the patients are believed to have been infected by chickens in the Karo district which have died and tested positive for the virus. The three children, two siblings aged 10, and six and their 18-month-old neighbour were admitted to the Adam Malik hospital in Medan on Tuesday after showing signs of the disease. Medical officials have said that their condition is stable, and they are suffering from the usual fever, flu and cough associated with bird flu. "Their lungs have not shown signs of pneumonia but we have to keep monitoring them because in one or two days things could change," Luhur Suroso, the hospital director said. Seven members of the one extended family who lived in the same North Sumatran district as those involved in the new outbreak, died from bird flu in May. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2295897,00.html

Typhoon Prapiroon Slams Into South China

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - A typhoon slammed into southern China on Thursday, packing heavy rain and 75 mph winds as authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people from their homes. Typhoon Prapiroon, which killed six people earlier in the Philippines, made landfall at 7:20 p.m. over a large swath of coastal Guangdong province, including the cities of Yangjiang and Dianbai, according to the state meteorological bureau. Authorities evacuated 65,000 people from parts of Guangdong and the neighboring island province of Hainan, and ferry and railway services were suspended. More than 50,000 boats also were ordered to return to port in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces, official media said. Rescue teams throughout the area were alert for floods and landslides. Strong winds and heavy rains were forecast through Saturday for large parts of Guangdong and Hainan, China's southernmost island and a popular tourist destination. The storm was moving northwest at 9 mph to 12 mph, the meteorological bureau said. It came on the heels of Typhoon Kaemi, which killed at least 35 people and left dozens missing in southern China last week, and Tropical Storm Bilis, which sparked floods and landslides that killed more than 600 people in the region last month. Prapiroon is ``as strong, if not stronger'' than Bilis, said Gao Shuanzhu, a senior official at the China's national observatory, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. In Hong Kong, hundreds of airline flights were delayed, canceled or redirected, stranding more than 3,000 passengers. At least one person was injured Wednesday when empty shipping containers were toppled by high winds at a container terminal in the city. A cargo vessel and barge also ran aground on islands off the territory's coast, said Jack Chak, a spokesman for the Government Flying Service. Dozens of crew members were rescued, but there were no reports of injuries or deaths. Philippine authorities said two people were also missing following lightning storms and flooding caused by Prapiroon, which struck the country as a tropical storm. About 15,000 people were evacuated as parts of the northern Philippines remained inundated. Prapiroon, named after the Thai rain god, is the region's eighth major storm of the season. More than 1,460 people have been killed during this year's typhoon season, which started unusually early. Chinese officials estimate more than 1 million houses have been damaged and millions of acres of farmland and forests destroyed. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has issued an appeal for $4.8 million to provide food, tents and quilts for 240,000 people left homeless by floods caused by typhoons. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5991825,00.html

BE Survivor

Well I had the chance of being chosen by Dark Marcyto to participate in the first ever Blog Explosion edition of Survivor. Needless to say I had a great time and enjoyed every facet of the game. From my broken computer desk and all the frustration of my wireless internet I had a fantastic time. To all the others who played the game as well thanks for making this as fun as it was. Your credits will be on the way. Please leave a comment so I can send them to you. But remember I can only send out 1,000 a day and I will eventually get to everyone. Thanks again. Scott you are the MAN!!

August 02, 2006

Typhoon Prapiroon churns toward China

SHANGHAI (AP) — Tropical Storm Prapiroon strengthened into a full-blown typhoon on Wednesday, with forecasters warning of possible severe destruction to parts of southern China. The storm had been steadily gathering strength while churning across the South China Sea from the Philippines, where six deaths were blamed on the severe weather and flooding. South China's Hainan Island, about 373 miles southwest of Hong Kong, has been bracing for Prapiroon, expected to make landfall between Thursday night and Friday. All fishing boats have been ordered in to port and rescue teams told to prepare for flooding and landslides. The storm is "as strong, if not stronger" than an earlier storm, Bilis, which sparked floods and landslides that killed more than 600 people in southern China last month, Gao Shuanzhu, a senior official at the China's national observatory was quoted as saying by the government's Xinhua News Agency. By 8 a.m. ET, Prapiroon was centered 211 miles south of Hong Kong, which issued warnings to sailors amid scattered squalls. The Hong Kong Observatory warned of winds in the area gusting at up to 38 mph. Prapiroon was packing winds of about 73 miles per hour at its center while moving northwest toward Hainan's northern coast at roughly 10 mph, according to the observatory. By Thursday, the storm would build to gusts of 81 mph, the observatory said. It was due to blow hard through Friday, before continuing northwest into the Chinese mainland and weakening again into a tropical storm. Strong winds and heavy rains were forecast from Thursday to Saturday for Hainan, China's southernmost island and a key tourist destination. Philippine authorities said two other people were missing following lightning storms and flooding caused by Prapiroon. About 15,000 others were evacuated as parts of the northern Philippines remained inundated. Prapiroon, named after the Thai rain god, is the region's eighth major storm of the season. It comes in the wake of last week's Typhoon Kaemi, which killed at least 35 people in China and left dozens missing in flooding and landslides. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2006-08-01-prapiroon-storm_x.htm

Tropical Storm Chris Update.

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua — Tropical Storm Chris brushed past islands in the eastern Caribbean early Wednesday, and forecasters said the third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could strengthen into a hurricane later in the day. The storm had top sustained winds of nearly 60 mph as it passed over the northernmost Leeward Islands and was expected to gather strength as it moved west-northwest in the direction of the Virgin Islands, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Long-range forecasts put the storm anywhere from south of Cuba to Florida by late in the weekend. To be a hurricane, the storm must reach sustained winds of at least 74 mph, a strengthening forecasters said could happen late Wednesday or Thursday. A tropical storm warning remained in effect for St. Barthelemy, St. Maarten, Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Tropical storm warnings for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis were discontinued. As skies darkened and rain began to fall, people began the familiar ritual of stocking up on gas, food and candles. Tourists at a resort just outside the Antiguan capital said they had no plans to evacuate. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206655,00.html MIAMI, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The Bahamas on Wednesday issued a hurricane watch for the Turks and Caicos islands and for the southeastern Bahamas as Tropical Storm Chris neared hurricane strength in the Caribbean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The maximum sustained winds of the third tropical cyclone of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season were at 65 mph (100 kph) by 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the center said. Chis Update

Major Flooding Damages Homes, Closes Roads

I recieved this story from Mexican Chick Online. You can read here story on the flooding on her site as well. Also please click on link below for a timeline of events that caused the flooding in West El Paso area. Tuesday 8:30am Transmountain Road is now CLOSED due to low visibility, heavy rainstorms, and reports of a boulder on one of the eastbound lanes. Tuesday 8:15am Doniphan near Redd Road experiences heavy flooding, creating a dangerous spot for drivers. Much of Northeast El Paso is also under a lot of water, as well as Sunland Park. One Sunland Park woman called KFOX reporting a sinkhole being created on McNutt Road near Santa Teresa Middle School. Tuesday 7:47am Steady rain showers continue to be in the forecast. According to KFOX Early Warning Storm Track Doppler, the area of West El Paso around Franklin High School has received more than three inches of rain in the past 24 hours. There have been dozens of weather related traffic accidents around the city, and parts of Doniphan have been closed due to flooding. Uncut Video: Flooding Causes Devastation Uncut Video: Water Rescue Uncut Video: Truck Swept Through Flood Water Uncut Video: Woman Swept Away In Flood Water http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/9585300/detail.html

August 01, 2006

Tropical Storm Chris Forms...

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Chris, the third named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, developed early Tuesday near the Leeward Islands, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm warning was posted for the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy and St. Martin. A tropical storm watch was issued for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. At 8 a.m. EDT, Chris was centered about 135 miles east of Antigua and about 1,450 miles east-southeast of Miami. It was moving west-northwest near 9 mph, forecasters said. Its maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph, just above the threshold for a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Natural Disaster Center. The storm was on track to pass over or near the northernmost Leeward Islands by early Wednesday, according to the hurricane center. The first named storm of the 2006 season, Tropical Storm Alberto, swept over Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the coast past the Outer Banks. It was blamed for one drowning. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206522,00.html http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/TSR/200603N_AL03.htm

Back to this template for now...

Well I'm back to my second template and getting closer to having my site turn from willisu @ blogger to willisuniversity.com. So bare with the changes for now and hopefully this will be a short process. All links will be re-added along with new ones. Thanks for your patience.