Tropical storms kill at least 9 in Central America

By William Ysaguirre, Associated Press Writer
BELIZE CITY — Flash flooding carried away houses and ripped a child from his father's grasp in Belize, while falling trees killed two people in Honduras, raising the death toll from Central America's twin tropical storms this week to at least nine.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow declared a disaster area Tuesday in southern Belize's Stann Creek Valley, and the government rushed food, water and clothing to more than 13,000 people affected by the floods.
Over the weekend, Pacific Tropical Storm Alma swept over Belize hours before Tropical Storm Arthur roared in from the Caribbean at the Mexico-Belize border.
Witnesses said a couple and their 14-year-old daughter died when a flash flood swept away a house in Stann Creek Valley early Monday. The couple's 12-year-old son is missing.
"The water just come right up and picked up their house and took it down there and mashed it up," Bedford Ritchie told Channel 7....

Flooding in Belize: Situation Report #3 (click here)

Belize districts affected by floods declared disaster areas
The Event:
Tropical Storm Arthur, formed on Saturday afternoon May 31, 2008 and immediately made landfall in northern Belize on the Yucatan Peninsula. Before becoming the first storm of the Atlantic Hurricane Season Tropical Storm Arthur was Tropical Storm Alma which developed in the Eastern Pacific on May 27. TS Alma and Arthur dumped approximately 15 inches of rain across Belize causing flooding in low lying areas and severely affecting the northern and southern districts.
Initial damage assessment reports have indicated a number of houses destroyed, damaged or submerged and approximately 1000 persons affected. Five deaths have been confirmed and two persons are reportedly still missing.
The Prime Minister of Belize has declared as Disaster Areas the Stann Creek District and Gales Point, Manatee Village and Sittee River Village of the Belize District .
Prognosis:
Flood waters have begun to recede, but some areas are still under water....

World Environment Day and The California Drought (Click here to "KICK" the CO2 habit.)

Droughts are a natural disaster. The most profound aspect to the California drought, besides the lack of rainfall that is sometimes blamed on El Nino and the like, is the Human Induced Global Warming Reality of DISAPPEARING SNOWPACK. It will be a struggle to keep the reservoirs full.


...Drought is a gradual phenomenon (click here for link). Although droughts are sometimes characterized as emergencies, they differ from typical emergency events. Most natural disasters, such as floods or forest fires, occur relatively rapidly and afford little time for preparing for disaster response. Droughts occur slowly, over a multiyear period. There is no universal definition of when a drought begins or ends. Impacts of drought are typically felt first by those most reliant on annual rainfall -- ranchers engaged in dryland grazing, rural residents relying on wells in low-yield rock formations, or small water systems lacking a reliable source. Criteria used to identify statewide drought conditions do not address these localized impacts. Drought impacts increase with the length of a drought, as carry-over supplies in reservoirs are depleted and water levels in groundwater basins decline....

(California) Governor's Proclamations Related to Water Shortages (click here)

Schwarzenegger proclaims that California is in a drought (click here)
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a statewide drought Wednesday, warning that California's water supply is falling dangerously low because of below-average rainfall and court-ordered water restrictions aimed at protecting fish.
"We must recognize the severity of this crisis we face," Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol news conference. He said this spring has been the driest on record in Northern California, which supplies most of the water to the state....

Australia's Drought is in Epic Proportions. There is little change in sight for reversing Human Induced Global Warming without a profound change in direction from the USA. There just isn't. The USA is responsible for the majority of CO2 emitted on Earth and that is a very sad scenario for the 'so called' wealthiest nation and the last 'so called' Superpower.

Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim (click here)
By Kathy Marks in Sydney
Friday, 20 April 2007
Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.
The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. Australia is in the grip of its worst drought on record, the victim of changing weather patterns attributed to global warming and a government that is only just starting to wake up to the severity of the position....

PM sets out vision for car industry (click here)
June 5, 2008 - 4:29PM
Fuel efficient and hybrid cars will be the centrepiece of a new plan for the Australian car industry, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.
The industry is already under review, with an inquiry headed by former Victorian premier Steve Bracks.
Mr Rudd said it was time to confront the challenges of climate change and soaring oil prices, and the need to reduce fuel consumption.
The industry had reinvented itself before and it needed to do so again, he said.
"Two decades ago, the industry needed a plan to consolidate, increase its efficiency and lift its international competitiveness," Mr Rudd told Parliament in a ministerial statement marking World Environment Day....