Articles and More!: flood

Showing posts with label flood. Show all posts

Monday, March 10, 2014

Canadian Mounties Seize Firearms Following Flood #N3

At The Daily News Source, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by The Daily News Source and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, The Daily News Source makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

The Daily News Source does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on The Daily News Source.

Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to The Daily News Source and other sites on the Internet.

Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on The Daily News Source send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

The Daily News Source has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. The Daily News Source"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

Canadian Mounties Seize Firearms Following Flood #N3

Friday, February 14, 2014

Flood agency job cuts "on hold"

14 February 2014
Last updated at 10:31 ET

Job cuts at the Environment Agency have been put on hold while it deals with the floods crisis in England.

The quango said it still intended to press ahead with long-term plans to cut its workforce by about 1,550.

But it said discussions with staff who might be affected would be delayed until “current flooding has subsided”.

Labour has claimed the jobs of 550 flooding specialists are at risk from the shake-up but the Agency said this was not currently being considered.

The Agency has been criticised for its performance in recent weeks and for its past policy on river dredging in Somerset, one of the worst-affected areas.

But its chairman Lord Smith, whose own position has come under pressure, has praised the dedication and professionalism of its frontline staff, many of whom have been working non-stop since the start of December.

The Agency, which has an annual budget of £1.2bn, announced plans last year to reduce staff numbers from 11,250 to about 9,700 in response to a cut in the amount of money it gets from central government.

‘Change programme’

It has never specified which departments would be affected and it has now confirmed that it has postponed a consultation on potential redundancies until the current crisis is over.

“Start Quote

We will not be entering a formal consultation with staff until the current flooding has subsided”

End Quote
Toby Willison
Environment Agency

“We are prioritising incident response above all other work,” said its programme director Toby Willison.

“With this in mind, we are reviewing the timetable for the Environment Agency’s change programme and will not be entering a formal consultation with staff until the current flooding has subsided.

“Once we move out of incident response mode, we will refocus our efforts to continue to bring Environment Agency costs in line with our budget from government for 2014-15.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband highlighted job cuts at the Agency during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, urging the government to reconsider what he said was the threat to 550 flood specialists’ jobs.

The BBC’s political correspondent Alex Forsyth said the 550 figure may have come from an internal exercise into future changes but it had never been confirmed and the organisation said it was not being considered.

The Agency insisted that any future reductions in staff would not affect “its ability to respond to flooding incidents”, adding that it would minimise the impact on other frontline services as well.

‘Stay of execution’

Speaking before the Agency’s announcement, David Cameron said the reported job cuts had never been confirmed.

“Those aren’t plans that are going to be put in place,” he said. “Of course every organisation has to make sure it is efficient – but nothing will be done at the Environment Agency that will hamper our flood relief effort.”

Labour welcomed what it said was Mr Cameron’s “changed position” on frontline flood staff, opposition leader Ed Miliband tweeting: “We’ll make sure he keeps his promise not to sack them.”

But unions and environment campaigners warned that this could not just be a “stay of execution”.

“While the Environment Agency has put consultation on redundancies on hold this statement makes clear that they will press on with redundancies after the floods have receded,” the GMB’s Justin Bowden said.

“This is ludicrous. Has government learned nothing from the current floods?

“At the root of the current flooding crisis are successive years of central government cuts that have trimmed maintenance budgets to unsustainable levels.”

The Environment Agency has admitted it did not have enough specialist staff to deal with the flooding caused by the unprecedented rainfall since December and it has had to take staff off other duties to reinforce relief efforts.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

So-Called Conservative Leaders Flood DC for Amnesty Push

At Alternate Viewpoint, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Alternate Viewpoint and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Alternate Viewpoint makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Alternate Viewpoint does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Alternate Viewpoint.

Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Alternate Viewpoint and other sites on the Internet.

Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Alternate Viewpoint send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Alternate Viewpoint has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Alternate Viewpoint"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

So-Called Conservative Leaders Flood DC for Amnesty Push

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Colorado Gets Brief Break From Flood Warnings; Rain Is Forecast

Enlarge image i

Samantha Kinzig of Longmont, Colo., and her daughter Isabel, 5, took a close look at a damaged bridge in Longmont Friday. Heavy rains that fueled widespread flooding in numerous Colorado towns have eased, but forecasters predict more on Saturday and Sunday.

Marc Piscotty/Getty Images

The rains that brought severe flooding to parts of northern and central Colorado have eased, allowing people a chance to regroup before more rain comes, possibly as soon as Saturday afternoon. Thousands of residents have been displaced by the flooding, from Fort Collins in the north to Colorado Springs in the south, since waters hit dangerous levels Wednesday.

The floods have been blamed for four deaths, as the Two-Way reported Friday.

First responders are using the break to find people stranded by the waters — including one driver who told local KUSA News TV that he survived being trapped under water by finding a bubble of air in his car. The man says he remained there for about two hours before help arrived.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch from noon Saturday to late Sunday in northeast and north central Colorado.

From NPR member station KUNC, Nathan Heffel filed this report for our Newscast unit:

“Flooding continues over a wide section of northern Colorado from the Rocky Mountain foothills to towns on the western region of the eastern plains. Officials in Boulder County, one of the hardest hit, says scores of people in mountainous areas remain without water, electricity, or proper sewage facilities.

“Ben Pennymon with the Boulder Office of Emergency Management says residents need to understand this will be an ongoing event.

“Continue to be vigilant. The roads are, in a lot of places, are still impassable. So just — it’s not over yet,” Pennymon says. ‘We’re not in the clear, especially with the rain that is anticipated for this afternoon.’

“A Type 2 federal management team has been put in place to help oversee search and rescue and recovery operations in the County. Hundreds remain unaccounted for.”

Flash floods have complicated rescue efforts, after coursing rivers of water crumbled roads and filled them with debris. High water has forced the closure of parts of I-25 from the Wyoming border to Fort Collins, according to state transportation officials. That closure was still in effect early Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has released $ 5 million in emergency relief funds to aid with recovery efforts, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Friday night. The governor declared a disaster emergency in 14 counties earlier in the day.

In a letter detailing how to help victims recover, Hickenlooper calls the event

Here’s what residents were saying Friday, as reported by Colorado Public Radio:

“A lot of people were up two nights in a row trying to fight the water,” said Sasha Fernandez.

“It’s just kind of been non-stop,” Boulder resident Nick Carter said. “Mostly non-stop adrenaline trying to battle the water as it comes and try to redirect it from around the house.
“There was cascading over some rocks in the front. There was just giant rapids like God’s wrath.”

“It literally took about an hour and half before I could see my ground,” said Mike Robins, who lives in a second story apartment above a self storage facility he manages on Arapahoe Avenue and 55th St.
“Whitewater rapids rushed down through our entire facility. It was like a water park. You could have gone inner tubing down into the back and ended up in the railroad tracks.”

“It’s just a really different feeling this morning,” Red Cross shelter worker Andra Coberly said Friday.
“I think everyone was in shock a little bit yesterday, and today the reality is really setting in.”

The National Weather Service is predicting drier and warmer weather to persist next week, beginning Monday.

News

Colorado Gets Brief Break From Flood Warnings; Rain Is Forecast

Friday, September 13, 2013

Colorado flood causes 7ft high street geyser

Colorado has been hit by flooding that was described as ‘biblical’ by the local weather service on Thursday.

As storm drains were overwhelmed by the downpour, pressure in the underground water system caused a manhole cover to blow off in Manitou Springs.

Amateur footage shows a fountain of black muddy water surging up to seven feet from the sewer system on Canon Avenue.

At least three people have been killed and and thousands of forced from their homes across the mountainous state, where floods have been exacerbated by wildfire “burn scars”.

President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration on Thursday night, freeing federal aid and allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Weird News – Funny and strange news – How About That

Colorado flood causes 7ft high street geyser

Boulder's tech workers cope with historic flood

Computerworld – On Thursday afternoon, Chris Moody was the last person inside the downtown Boulder, Col. offices of Gnip, a social media data
provider. Normally there are 70 people working in the office, but now Moody, Gnip’s CEO, was set to turn off the lights and
leave.

Boulder city officials had sent out an emergency request asking businesses to shut down operations in response to heavy rains
that are producing widespread flooding.

Many roads were closed, limiting traffic flow. “They really want people off the road so emergency vehicles can move about,”
said Moody. “We’re a big part of the downtown community and we wanted to certainly support the emergency effort.”

Only about a third of Gnip’s employees came into work Thursday, heeding Moody’s earlier message to tend first to their personal
safety and family needs. Some employees are dealing with flooding, others face commuting problems with road closures, he said.

Gnip’s downtown Boulder office wasn’t flooded, even though it is a block away from a creek, but workers were setting up floodgates
as a precautionary measure. The city’s decision to ask businesses to close was a sign “that the worse might still be in front
us,” said Moody.

Record Colorado rains and flash floods this week have swept away buildings and roads. But the floods can’t wash away is Boulder’s
reputation as one of nation’s best places for start-up companies.

Boulder was recently ranked first in nation for its “high-tech startup density,” by the Kauffman Foundation. The ranking is
based on a ratio of total startups and total population. What that ranking means, simply, is that there are a lot of startups
in Boulder.

Despite the storm, Boulder businesses don’t appear to be facing the same kind of widespread problems that the New York region
suffered with Hurricane Sandy a year ago. Tech firms said that while some employees lost Internet access at their homes, there was no region-wide outage.

Despite storm-related problems and closed offices, it was business as usual for tech firms.

Gnip’s operations, which it says involve delivering media analytics to over 90% of the Fortune 500, ran normally. Many Boulder
firms rely on cloud providers, with operations far from the hazard areas, instead of running their own data centers.

On Thursday afternoon, Dave DuPont, CEO of TeamSnap, was in a hardware store picking up a sump pump hose as he detailed, in
a cell phone interview, the impact of the flooding. TeamSnap, an online service for organizing sports teams, has nearly six
million users.

DuPont needed a hose for his flooded home basement. TeamSnap’s downtown office in Boulder is on the second floor and is dry,
but he can’t say the same for that office building’s first floor and garage.

But the business was fine. “We don’t have any capital equipment anywhere,” said DuPont, The company relies on cloud providers
for data services. TeamSnap also has employees located around the country who can help keep operations going, he said.

“We’re uniquely position to be able to handle this thing quite well,” said DuPont. “That’s the way it is for most companies
that do what we do,” he said of other Internet-based firms.

Netflash

Boulder"s tech workers cope with historic flood

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Heavy rains flood homes, roads in North Carolina

A police officer examines the damage outside the National Guard Armory in Newton, N.C. Saturday, July 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin)

Catawba County deputies survey the damage on Grace Church Rd. near Newton, N.C. following flooding Saturday, July 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin)

Emergency workers examine the damaged bridge on NC 10 in Newton, N.C. Saturday, July 27, 2013. The road was closed to traffic moments later when it was determined the bridge supports had been damaged. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin)

Christopher Hoke reported for duty only to find the National Guard Armory in Newton, N.C. surrounded by floodwaters Saturday, July 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin)

Residents watch as the floodwaters rise over McKay Rd. in Newton, N.C. Saturday, July 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin)

Buy AP Photo Reprints

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) â€” A system of thunderstorms across western North Carolina stalled on Saturday and dumped about a foot of rain on the area, causing power outages and flash floods that swamped homes and washed out roads and bridges.

There were 18 reports of swift-water rescues, and one minor injury, said Jim Dickerson, spokesman for Catawba County Emergency Services. He did not have details.

Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright urged residents to stay indoors and away from flooded roads, The Charlotte Observer reported (http://bit.ly/1buP7OY).

“This is a time for all of us to be very careful and patient,” he said. “The cleanup is going to take a while.”

Parts of Catawba and surrounding counties were under water Saturday. Catawba County officials said some of the worst flash flooding in decades followed a nearly stationary weather system that dumped 10 inches of rain in about six hours.

Officials closed 65 roads in Catawba County by Saturday afternoon. At least six will remain closed for up to three months to repair damage, Dickerson said.

A full damage assessment will begin Sunday, he said.

High Shoals Lake in Catawba County rose nearly five feet over a 10-hour span. Officials said high water will move down the Catawba River later Saturday, possibly causing more flooding. The rain had stopped in the area by late afternoon Saturday. The National Weather Service said the heavy rain will move east across the western piedmont of North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina.

Several miles of Interstate 85 in Cabarrus County was closed for a short time due to high water. Traffic moved at a crawl along both I-85 and Interstate 77 north of Charlotte as drivers navigated water several inches deep in spots. In Lincoln County, there were reports of up to three feet of water covering roads.

Duke Energy reported about 5,000 power outages.

It is at least the fourth major flash flooding event in the Charlotte region in the past month. Highway officials already are working to repair more than a dozen Charlotte-area roads damaged by previous flooding.

___

Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com

U.S. Headlines

Heavy rains flood homes, roads in North Carolina

Monday, July 15, 2013

India flood missing "presumed dead"

15 July 2013 Last updated at 01:20 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Yogita Limaye reports from one town devastated by the floods

The government in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand has said that more than 5700 people missing after last month’s devastating floods will now be presumed dead.

Their families will be given financial compensation.

Earlier, authorities had confirmed that some 600 people had died.

More than 100,000 people were rescued from the Himalayan mountains after floods and landslides affected more than 4,000 villages.

This year’s early monsoon rains in the Uttarakhand region are believed to be the heaviest in 80 years.

Swollen rivers have swept away entire villages in the state, where there were many travellers in what is peak tourist season.

The BBC’s Yogita Limaye, in Uttarakhand, says 5,748 people who remain untraced will now be presumed dead so that the government can begin to give financial compensation to their families.

The chief minister of Uttarakhand state, Vijay Bahuguna, said the government would issue “certificates to families of the missing so that the people can get compensation immediately”.

The compensation will amount to 500,000 rupees ($ 8350; £5528) per victim, officials say.

However, authorities say, the exact number of deaths may never be known.

Many bodies may have been washed away or remain buried under debris. Some of the bodies were recovered in rivers downstream from the flood zone and cremated in the places where they were found.

A month after the floods, many of the affected areas are still cut off as connecting roads have been washed away.

The government has announced that the temple town of Kedarnath, one of the worst affected areas, will be closed to the public for at least a year.

Meanwhile, the administration is struggling to provide relief to the local communities in remote areas where thousands who have lost their homes are living in temporary camps.

BBC News – Asia

India flood missing "presumed dead"

15 July 2013 Last updated at 01:20 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.