Saturday, September 14, 2013

5 Dead, 172 Missing as Colorado Continues to Flood

Lyons
A fifth death is being blamed on the floods in Colorado, this one in Laramie County. One hundred and seventy-two people remain unaccounted for in Boulder County alone. More rain began to fall Saturday afternoon.

Multiple towns are completely surrounded by water. Others are cut in two, with north and south separated by raging rivers.

Over Friday night, helicopters used thermal imaging to search for trapped residents, in several towns. Search and rescue teams and National Guard units went in Saturday to rescue more trapped people.

National Guardsmen stand in 3 feet of water
On Saturday, Goodrich, Orchard, and Weldona were added to the mandatory evacuation list, while Evans was placed on the list of towns completely surrounded by water. Residents in Evans were warned to boil their water and let it cool before drinking. The town's water treatment facility was contaminated by the flood waters.

Parts of Boulder were moved from mandatory evacuation to preevacuation status, allowing residents to return home if they wished to do so. Several areas of Boulder are completely off limits, with anyone who enters them facing arrest.

As the waters continue to move eastward, towns such as Fort Morgan prepare for the possibility of flooding. Part of the preparations include shutting down highways whose bridges might be threatened. Residents along rivers were given preevacuation notices.

Saturday's rain and hail brought expanded flooding to areas in Aurora and Parker. Nearly a half inch of hail fell within half an hour, clogging drainage systems.

Various highways and roads throughout the region remain closed due to damage they endured in the flooding. Others are still completely underwater. Officials warn that some of the clean up may take weeks.

35 Injured in Ohio Bus Crash

Thirty-five people were injured in a bus crash, in Ohio, early on Saturday morning.

The bus veered off a highway, crashed into a tree and fence, then flipped on it's side.

An investigation is underway to determine what caused the crash.

Passengers say that the bus driver collapsed, possibly due to a heart attack.

Hundreds Protest in Montreal

Hundreds protested in the streets of Montreal, on Saturday.

They were protesting a proposed ban on religious head wear.

The proposal would ban Quebec's government employees from wearing religious head wear as way to make the government more "neutral".

Protesters called the ban an assault upon religious freedom as well as discrimination.

Veracruz Braces as Ingrid Sets to Strike Mexico

Tropical Storm Ingrid approaches the coast of Mexico.

Already packing winds over seventy miles an hour, Ingrid is set to become a hurricane within the next few hours.

On Monday morning, Ingrid is expected to make landfall in Veracruz.

Shelters have already been opened, for the public, but officials say no one has come to them yet.

Hurricane watches are already in place for the northern coast, of the state.

Eastern Mexico has been warned to expect ten to twenty-five inches of rain, as Ingrid makes her way north.

The rains will cause mudslides and flash flooding.

100,000 Protest in Warsaw

One hundred thousand Poles marched through Warsaw, on Saturday.

They are demanding labor reforms as well as the resignation of Prime Minister Tusk.

Many Poles are worried about their economy and becoming the next Greece, Portugal, or Spain.

This despite their being one of the only European countries not to see a recession.

Among their desired reforms are greater job security, a higher minimum wage, and the lowering of the retirement age.

Syrian National Coalition Chooses New Prime Minister

Syria's National Coalition has chosen a new interim prime minister.

They chose Ahmad Tumeh, a forty-eight year old dentist and former political prisoner.

Tumeh will now choose a thirteen member cabinet that will oversee the parts of Syria that the rebel forces control.

He said that, "The priority of my government will be to restore stability in the liberated areas, improve their living conditions and provide security".

It is yet unclear if all of the rebel forces will acknowledge him.

US and Russia Come to Agreement on Syria

Kerry, left, Lavrov, right
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that their governments had come to an agreement over Syria.

Under the agreement, Syria has until mid 2014 to turn over or destroy all of their chemical weapons.

As long as they comply the US will stop planning to launch strikes against Syria.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pledged his support of the agreement, however the Syrian government has yet to agree to the US and Russian plan.

Syria is at least expected to try and negotiate the time table.

Analysts say that the earliest they could be reasonably able to have all of the weapons destroyed would be 2018, however with the civil war on going it would easily take longer.

Suicide Bomber Kills 21 in Iraq

A suicide bombing in Iraq left twenty-one dead.

The bomber struck a Shiite funeral home in Bartella, as a funeral was taking place.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al Qaeda is being blamed as the attack was aimed at Shiites.

Troops in the Philippines Move to End Standoff With Rebels

Troops in the Philippines moved to retake the parts of Zamboanga City from rebel forces, on Saturday.

They made their move after the rebels broke a ceasefire that had been agreed to, on Friday.

Over a thousand soldiers have the rebels surrounded, but they've had to advance carefully as the rebels have over one hundred hostages.

At least fifty people have died in the six day confrontation.

The Moro National Liberation Front infiltrated the city on Monday, demanding greater autonomy for the region.

Previously, their leader had declared the area to be it's own Islamic nation.

Friday, September 13, 2013

4 Dead, 80 Missing After Colorado Floods

National Guard members help residents evacuate.
Four people are dead and eighty more are missing after Colorado's floods. Two of the deaths and all of the missing are from Boulder County. Governor Hickenlooper declared Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, El Paso, Fremont, Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Pueblo, Washington, and Weld Counties to be disaster areas.

As the weather cleared helicopters were able to take off, Friday morning, and assess the damage. However some areas are seeing more rain on Friday evening, with more possible on Saturday. The record rain fall could leave some areas under water for at least a week.

Lyons, Colorado on Friday
Members of the National Guard spent Friday morning evacuating Lyon's entire population of two thousand. The town was completely surrounded by water, which knocked out phones and electrical service and contaminated water supplies. Access to the town was only possible with high clearance National Guard trucks. Five hundred people from Eldorado Springs were also evacuated by the Guard. Allenspark and Jamestown are also completely surrounded by waters, but there are no plans to evacuate them, at this point.

Three thousand people in Commerce City were told to evacuate, due to a partial breach in the dam at Rocky Mountain National Arsenal Wildlife Preserve. Residents of Boulder Canyon were also told they must evacuate, due to the severe threat of flash flooding. Parts of Aurora, Estes Park, Erie, Evergreen, Firestone, Fort Collins, Frederick, Greeley, Lafayette, Longmont, Loveland, and Milliken have also been evacuated. Other areas, including Berthoud, Boulder, Drake, and Windsor were placed on preevacuation notice.

Highway 34 in Big Thompson Canyon
Roads from Colorado through Denver and Aurora to Fort Collins were damaged or destroyed by the flooding, including Interstate 25, which remains closed from Highway 7 to the Wyoming border. Rocky Mountain National Park was closed to the public, except for residents of Estes Park who should decide to leave the town, as the road through the park is currently the only access available. Some roads may not open for weeks.

Throughout the flooded areas, thousands of homes are damaged and hundreds destroyed. At least a quarter of the CU Boulder campus was damaged. Schools, post offices, and other government buildings, throughout the region, were closed on Friday, with some unsure if they'd be open Monday.