Wednesday, July 24, 2013

**Buying books would be a good thing
if one could also buy the time to read them
but as a rule the purchase of books
is mistaken for
the appropriation of their contents.**
Arthur Schopenhauer


LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide

This morning -
6.0 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS

Yesterday, 7/23/13 -
5.0 KOMANDORSKIYE OSTROVA REGION
5.3 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA

TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Video - Debris-loaded flash flood tears through southern Utah. A large, violent debris flash flood gutted a creek basin in southern Utah Thursday afternoon south of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Britain - Heavy rain has caused flooding across parts of Nottinghamshire. About 2.6in (68mm) of rain fell in the space of 30 minutes on Tuesday evening, causing disruption to roads and public transport services. Many homes have been damaged and flood warnings were in place on the River Leen in Bulwell, following the thunderstorms.
Thurgarton village remains waterlogged after the nearby brook burst its banks, trapping people in their homes. The heavens just opened and they did not stop. The flooding has affected various areas of Southwell. Some people in Easthorpe have taken doors that have been pulled off their hinges and put them in front of their front doors to stop the water getting in. Others have ripped up carpets and left them on railings at the front of their houses.
There is a big thick brown sludge on the road. The after effects of what happened here are quite clear. It really has caused absolute chaos and will take weeks, if not months, to clear up. Emergency services in the county said they had been inundated with calls about flooding Tuesday evening.
"It was awful. I looked outside and the water was coming over the pavement. I told my youngest son to get all the towels he could and we put them under the doors and windowsills in the house. I was about an ankle deep in water so I took my children upstairs and by the time my husband got to us he was waist deep at the road level." It took about 10 minutes for the downstairs of her house to flood.
Flood water also spread across the corridors at Nottingham City Hospital, prompting a call for visitors to stay away for the night. About 100 homes were flooded in Southwell and many roads had to close. In Arnold, a community centre's wall collapsed and shops and businesses on Front Street could not prevent flood water from entering its buildings. "There's damage to the carpets and we have no electricity, no telephone" The county was the wettest place in the UK, according to BBC Weather.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT /WILDFIRE / CLIMATE CHANGE -
China - A drought since early July has left 384,000 people short of drinking water in central China's Hunan Province, the provincial drought relief headquarters said Tuesday.

HEALTH THREATS -

RECALLS & ALERTS