Mood:
blueTopic: ecology
We reported on these freaky images of inches thick translucent ice on poles and grass here (just click date top right of the screen):
Now read more of the lethality of these "ice storms" which I for one have never heard of here in Australia, in a breaking story on the local News Ltd website, and quoted fully for the drama effect with 400,000 people affected by power outages, and an estimated US$500 million in ruined citrus crops:
Up to 39 dead in US storms
A HUGE winter storm moved across the central US today, killing at least 25 people and prompting President George W. Bush to declare an emergency in the state of Oklahoma.
Since Friday, weather-related accidents have killed 11 people in Oklahoma and eight in Missouri, according to local officials. The Kansas City Star newspaper reported that six people had died in Kansas.
Mr Bush declared an emergency in Oklahoma, where an ice storm has left more than 100,000 people without power yesterday.
Activated by Mr Bush's emergency declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was distributing generators and bottled water to communities impacted by the ice storm, said the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
In Missouri, seven people were killed in traffic accidents caused by slick conditions while one died from carbon monoxide poisoning, a common cause of death when those without power use fuel-burning stoves to heat their homes.
More than 300,000 people lost power in Missouri due to downed power lines.
In Kansas, five people were reported killed in weather-related traffic accidents and one person was poisoned by carbon monoxide exposure, said state officials quoted by the Kansas City Star.
In Texas to the south, the governor called out the National Guard after heavy rain caused flash flooding and dramatic high-water rescues.
The storm forced the cancellation of dozens of flights out of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to the airport's website, temperatures reported near freezing.
Flooding was also reported in the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, CNN television said.
Record-breaking cold weather even hit the Pacific Coast state of California, where mild temperatures usually prevail all year.
In central Los Angeles, the thermometer dropped to 2C this morning, a temperature not felt in the city for 75 years.
Farmers in the Central Valley and the southern part of the state worried about freezing temperatures ruining the lucrative citrus crop, the Los Angeles Times and other media reported.
Photographs showed icicles hanging off of tangerine trees in a Central Valley orchard near Fresno, a rare sight in the state.
California oranges, lemons and other produce worth as much as half a billion dollars were probably ruined, the Los Angeles Times said.
The storm in central states was moving eastward, and had already caused ice storms in western parts of New York state, forecasters said.
"Things are improving but it's cold,'' National Weather Service meteorologist Bruce Sullivan said.
Postscript #1 - Very big evangelical church organisations are combining forces with scientific organisations in the USA to demand action on global warming as here:
"Evangelicals, scientists join forces to combat global warming By Rodrique Ngowi, Associated Press Writer January 14, 2007"
Postscript #2 - it seems even conservative Republicans are getting worried about Alaska melting
http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2007/01/12/unexpected/index.html?source=daily
which is a disaster for alot of infrastructure suggested on an earlier post here at SAM about our teacher friend on a stint in remote Canada: Seems normally frozen 'winter roads' over swamp lakes and bog are only viable for a month mid January to mid February and this puts remote areas at risk of depopulation for inadequate time to truck in supplies.
