Pakistani woman carries a small bicycle outside her shack submerged by heavy flood, on Monday in Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province, Pakistan. Photo: AP. (click title to entry - thank you)
...The government has deployed thousands of soldiers and civilian rescue workers to save an estimated 28,000 people trapped by the floodwaters, distribute food and collect the bodies of the up to 1,100 killed so far.
But the scale of the disaster is so vast that many residents say it seems like officials are doing nothing. That anger poses a danger to the already struggling government, now competing with Islamist movements to deliver aid in a region with strong Taliban influence....
I sincerely hope any aid actually makes it to the people and not into the hands of extremists that will use it against the people. Whomever is sending aid, don't send guns, okay?
And there is no reason to complain about the government of Pakistan either. If community after community allows extremists to dominate their safety, what is a government suppose to do? It is difficult enough to fight a flood, but, to try to 'safely' provide aid is a hideous concept to a 'war zone.'
Don't blame the Pakistani government, I don't want to hear it.
Terrorists taking pause as Pakistan braces for more floods, monsoon rains
English.news.cn 2010-08-03 00:51:55
By Syed Moazzam Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Terrorists seem to have been taking a pause halting their frequent suicide bombings and sabotage in Pakistan as the second string of monsoon rains unleashed Monday afternoon a little earlier than predicted hampering the badly needed relief and rescue work.
No act of terrorism has so far been reported across the country as the floods misery enters the seven day on Monday in the troubled northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where epidemic outbreak is imminent. Heavy rains have halted relief operation in heavily flooded Dera Ghazi Khan area of eastern Punjab province and in the worst affected Swat and Malakand areas in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province....
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/03/c_13426934.htm
Having to deal with militants and terrorists while trying to deliver aid. This is about the most hideous mess any government has to deal with. This has to rank right up there with the Tamil Tigers and the Christmas Tsunami.
Fears militants will capitalise on Pakistan flood chaos
MATT WADE
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
August 3, 2010
SECURITY analysts have warned that militant groups in Pakistan could capitalise on the misery caused by flooding that has devastated the unstable north-west of the country.
The disaster, which is believed to have killed at least 1100 people and displaced 2.5 million, comes as the government struggles to contain Islamic insurgents operating in flood-hit areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province) and Pakistani Kashmir. The Swat Valley, where more than 1 million people were displaced by fighting between the Pakistani army and Taliban rebels in May last year, has been badly affected.
There are reports of diarrhoea and cholera among those left homeless, and aid groups warn that basics like food and water are in short supply. Flood waters have receded in some areas but more monsoon rains are forecast....
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fears-militants-will-capitalise-on-pakistan-flood-chaos-20100802-113g6.html
Authorities warn of Tasman Glacier tsunami (click title to entry - thank you)
1:03 PM Tuesday Aug 3, 2010 Twitter
Visitors to Mt Cook's Tasman Glacier are warned to stick to vantage points on high ground.
Authorities say there'll be a tsunami in the lake as the iceberg has risen another 20m out of the water and will break off at some point.
The unique event's been triggered by 250 mm of rain falling in 72 hours.
Aoraki Tourism general manager Denis Callesen says signs are going up to warn people to stay away from the water's edge.
"By my calculations if nearly 30 million tonnes carve off together - one can only imagine what sort of a surge event would occur with that."
He says last time this happened a three meter surge of water was recorded.
- NEWSTALK ZB
Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W
Elevation :: 33 feet
Local Time :: 5:17 PM AKDT
Temperature :: 64 Fahrenheit
Conditions :: Overcast
Dew Point :: 54 Fahrenheit
Wind :: 10 mph from the Southwest
Pressure :: 30.26 inches (steady)
Visibility :: 10 miles
UV :: 1 out of 16
Clouds :: 2400 feet (Above ground level)
Arctic, South Pacific landscapes added to World Heritage List (click title to entry - thank you)
Committee considered addition of 32 new sites, six of which are natural landscapes
OurAmazingPlanet
updated 8/2/2010 5:45:39 PM ET
...Last week, the WHC announced that the Rainforests of Atsinanana and Florida's Everglades National Park were being added to another list – the World Heritage Sites in Danger. This "danger list" focuses international attention and sometimes funding on particularly vulnerable areas. Also last week, the group removed the Galapagos Islands from the danger list, against the recommendations of conservation groups.
France's Reunion Island contains the most significant remaining natural habitats, including a rare forest type, for the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity in the Mascarene Island Archipelago, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. Towering volcanoes, including steep rock walls and natural amphitheatres, as well as deep forested gorges and escarpments form dramatic scenery of striking beauty.
"La Reunion contains an impressive mosaic of dramatic landscapes and very valuable ecosystems and also serves as a last refuge for the many threatened and endangered species on the entire Mascarene Archipelago," said Tim Badman, Head of IUCN's World Heritage Programme. "Controlling alien invasive species will be an ongoing challenge in the management of this property."...
2002
President George W. Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed an agreement on January 9 providing a total of $7.8 billion for the Everglades restoration project. The federal and state governments will share the cost.
http://fcelter.fiu.edu/about_us/everglades/history_and_culture/
Neverglades? - Updates - Florida Governor Jeb Bush delays cleanup of the Everglades - Brief Article
Sierra, Sept-Oct, 2003
The 1994 Everglades Forever Act, a cleanup agreement passed by the state legislature, promised to revitalize the nation's most famous wetlands by 2006. That promise was broken in May when Governor Jeb Bush signed a bill delaying the deadline by ten years and relaxing water-quality standards.
The bill was backed by the sugar industry, whose plantation operations contribute much of the phosphorus-laden runoff that threatens the Everglades' health. (See "Lay of the Land," January/February, page 10.)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1525/is_5_88/ai_109027772/Humidity :: 68%
