Other than getting a occasional 30 inches (76.2 cm) of water in 6 hours, there is very little flooding on this island. The rock is still too new and the drainage excellent. We get very little mud for that reason. On the down side of water hazards for Hawaii is the ever-present danger of a trunami. We have had them before and will again. I will post more about that directly and some post-tsunami photos from Hilo. The lst one was in 1960 and pretty ghastly since the homes here have sheet-iron roofs. As the waves churned the people and debris together, the sheet iron made very effective knives slicing though anything in the way. Clean up was not something one would ever look forward to in such situations!

Hi WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hugs and leis Rob

Hi all We in Canterbury have a thing with rivers and floods. Our province is often inundated in one area or another by filthy flood water from a rampaging river. To show you what I mean here are a few flood statistics for Canterbury rivers in the last decade: The BIG rivers are the Waimakariri, Rangitata, Rakaia, Hurunui, Waiau, and Waitaki. This is recalled to the best of my ability. name/average flow (cubic metres per second)/last large flood/peak flood size/maximum flow/source of rain: Waimakariri/ 150 cumecs/ 2000/ 1309 cumecs/ 4000 cumecs/southeasterly depression. Rakaia/ 230 cumecs/ 1995/ 5600 cumecs/ 6000 cumecs/ northwesterly. Rangitata/ 150 cumecs/ 1998/ 2300 cumecs/ 3000 cumecs/ northwesterly. Hurunui/ 70 cumecs/ 2000/ 500 cumecs/ 400 cumecs/ southeasterly depression. Waiau/ 150 cumecs/ 2000/ 800 cumecs/ 1800 cumecs/ southeasterly depression. Waitaki/ 600 cumecs/ 1995/ 3300 cumecs/4000 cumecs/ northwesterly. All those rivers can flood on a northwesterly but a southeasterly depression can dump large amounts of rain in the foothills - not on the main divide where the rivers have their source. The worst case scenario is for a depression to drop it's load and then go northwesterly and bring in rain to the Southern Alps. The Waimakariri has broken it's banks 13 times since 1868 - the last in 1957. The modern stop bank system was built after that event but no floods since then have been big enough to seriously test the banks. It flooded Christchurch in 1861 and 1868 and has flowed at one time or another north and south of the city. The Rakaia is the biggest river on the Canterbury Plains and has caused property damage in the huts at the mouth and on high country farms. It is the leading example in the world of a braided river and except when it is in flood it is easy to see why. The Waitaki is regulated by three large dams in it's upper reaches and drains a catchment of 10,000 square kilometres - one of the largest in New Zealand. It never has a flow less than 300 cumecs per second and usually runs closer to 450 cumecs. Another threat that I have not covered is that of the Ashley and Selwyn rivers. The latter broke its banks in three places last year in a in a 1-40 year event that flooded several properties in its lower reaches and cut the main road and rail from Christchurch to Dunedin. Mum Dad and I went to watch it flood, and were a bit worried when we got to Coes Ford. Knowing it had peaked at 350 cumecs at Whitecliffs where a flow recorder is maintained, we knew the flood we saw before us was about 1/4 of that size. For obvious reasons we had the car pointing AWAY from the ford and left the engine running - there for 5 minutes. We crossed the river further downstream and already saw trees coming down the river. Then something completely unusual happened - traffic started pouring down back roads. State Highway One had been closed because there was 10 centimetres of water across the road!!!! So we went up to investigate but did not get very far. Water was across the road we were driving up in four places (we could see the four channels beginning to merge as we waited for Dad to have a word with a p operty owner evacuating). Realising that we had only one bridge we could cross now, we retreated at speed. In that 1 1/2 hours the water level rose vertically by 1 metre in the river and was flooding picnic spots and paddocks. We decided to go home, the river was still rising and if we hung around the other bridge would be closed before we could cross it. Mum Dad and I made it across with 30 minutes to spare - the road was shut at 3.PM. Now the only way across the river at all was across a bridge 60 km inland - not an option. Rob

Your rapidly-rising flood waters remind me of the problems they have in Arizona and elsewhere in the Southwestern US. They have what are essentiallly dry creek beds all over the place (great place for gathering garnets and other such good specimens). When it rains, it rains in torrents and cars, homes and livestock are swept to their deaths in these little dry creek beds. The next day they find a car buried up to the roof in gravel and mud. Some of the people they never find. You were so wise to back up and go home! They are still repairing The Big Island's flood damage from November. Bridges and large parts of the highways were entirely gone by morning!

For those of use who do not understand, please explain what a "cumec" is. I checked a few sourcees and it seems to mean cubic meter (when dealing with fluids and dams and such.) Some of Geo's readers do not have English for their first language, and others of us are mathematically challenged. Thanks, and I am delighted to have another topic for lively conversaton. WoooooHooooo, indeed!

Hi all Did I not send a message saying what it was (it should be number six or seven)? Oh well, I will try again after dinner. But for the time being I am going to tell you about the case Greymouth on the West Coast where in four months the town was submerged in floodwaters not once but TWICE. In 1988 the weather gods played bizarre tricks on the West Coast and strange things happened. One such time was a thunderstorm which generated water spouts that did a tango out to sea. But in May 1988 the Grey River came to town for three days and the Grey River revamped the notorious bar across the river mouth for free. The town of 12,000 was still picking up the bits from the May flood when the Spring rains started. The first couple northwesterlies passed harmlessly but in early September a low pressure system entered the Tasman Sea and moved south. It dropped 300mm of rain over two days across a saturated catchment that could not hack much more rain. All that water had to go somewhere so it poured into the Grey and the Grey poured it into the town of Greymouth. The sight of water flowing down the main street for the second time in 4 months must have been very upsetting as these were lean times for the West Coast like everyone else and no one could be expected to sustain the consequences of one flood let alone two. When the floodwaters receeded the local council applied to the Government for funding to build a wall to stop further invasions. It was built in 1990 and has successfully directed two floods to date out to sea. It would appear the floodwall works. Rob

Hi A cumec is short for cubic metre per second and is used to measure fluid, and so on like you suggested. Last August a bizarre thing happened in the Waipara River. Anyone who knows the river knows that there is never more than 1 cumec of water in it except during Winter. On August 19 2000, the flow reached 403 cumecs. The Selwyn river in Canterbury is small. It runs at about .7 cumecs in summer and about 16 cumecs in winter. Last August it ran for a day at 350 cumecs and that flood was a 1 in 40 year event. The Waimakariri is much bigger. Current flow is 34 cumecs but in a flood it can reach an estimated 4000-4500 cumecs. It is not the biggest river in Canterbury and certainly not in New Zealand however. The Waitaki in South Canterbury averages 450 cumecs but in a large flood it can run at about 4000 cumecs. It is only 110 km long but it drains 10000 km2 of terrain. Further south in Otago the Clutha runs at about 650 cumecs with a flood peak of 3500. The Clutha is the largest river in New Zealand and the nearest rival has 1/2 to 2/3 the average flow. Rob

Gee whiz, Terry. I know the water is deep in Houston. Major flooding from Tropical Depression Allison has left the city under water. Called in the National Guard and the Army. I didn't figure it would leave you speechess. Is Austin getting any of this good stuff or are you still in a drought? The Sacramento River burst its levee system last week leaving much of the city under water. It was a swamp when Sutter (of gold rush fame) convinced the state of California it needed to build its capitol there. The built levees. Levees are famous and imfamous for breaching.

Holly J. Nowell reports from Houston: (this is the full text, unhidden, I was waiting for her permission to post it.) Tropical Storm Allison has dumped some 32 inches of rain on our poor waterlogged city (Houston) in the last 5 days and it's not gone yet. My house is on a high part just outside of downtown. I'm sitting on an island. For about 5 to 10 blocks the streets are clear then going back into downtown, there is water. Going forward to the underpass at the highway, is a lake. I managed to get to the store and back this morning which is good as I needed groceries and gas in the car. Then it started raining again and the water which had been receding started rising again so I'm cut off again. Now we're just sitting it out. The President has declared the area a disaster area. This allows FEMA to come in and help and that means all the people who have lost their homes and everything they own will have help when the water recedes to rebuild. And there are a lot. I was watching the news and all you can see of whole neighborhoods are the tops of houses. They showed one of our interstate highways and you could see the top two feet of the 18 wheelers that got caught on the freeway when the water came up. There was a report of some guy swimming into the area last night, breaking open an 18 wheeler Budweiser beer truck. He sat on the roof and drank a beer, leaving the can on top, then swam off towing a couple of cases. A few minutes ago, they had someone down in those tunnels in downtown. He was waist high in water and standing next to a jewelry store. The cameraman had some battery powered lights on him because there's no electricity down there. You could see the lights winking off the jewels. It made me think, yeah, and now you've reminded people of the shops down there with no security stuff on, I'll bet there's a few scuba divers in there tonight. I was amazed though. Geez. The snakes alone in the water would keep me from slogging down there. Not to mention the floating debris covered with fire ants. Reporters. What can I say? They showed a fire in the middle of a subdivision. The helicopters were flying over it. There is water all around the house and it's burning to the ground. Nobody can get to it, of course. I mean. How much more water does it need? And then I switched channels. Four of our 7 channels (not on cable) are running continuous flood footage which will probably end now that it's dark and they can't get good lighting but they'll keep up running commentaries during whatever they do show. Anyway, I switched to a channel that wasn't running flood footage and got this hysterical feeling - They were showing an advertisement for Seaworld. which is down in Galveston (about 20 miles from where I am toward the coast) Showing waterslides and talking about getting out of the heat and into the water. Aha. We are sure doing that! Some of the hospitals lost power when the water invaded the basements where the generators are. The emergency generators are still working in some buildings. They've had to all combine forces to keep going. There are several hospitals in the Medical Center including M.D. Anderson Cancer center, Ben Taub Trauma Center, Herman Hospital, Texas Childrens' Center and two or three other big hospital complexes. Helicopters are going in and out of there taking patients to other hospitals where possible. They've moved a lot of the Ben Taub patients, which is in a lower area, up into the adjacent Baylor College of Medicine which is just behind them up on a hill. We see private citizens bringing their boats out and the National Guard are on their way and the various military bases are bringing in the really big helicopters to airlift people out of areas. People WILL stay with their homes until the last moment and they just can't get out. But, really, the water comes in so fast. I have friends up in Simonton, in the country and I wonder if they had to evacuate the horses. I can't get in touch with them because the phone lines are down. It's raining hard again in Friendswood just next door to them. I feel rather helpless. I'd like to help but would become a casualty if I left the house and tried to reach any of the relief centers. In a way, it's eerie. Here I am sitting high and dry and the only problem I have is the leaking dining room ceiling my landlord hasn't fixed yet - due to the rain. The house here is up on blocks and the yard is slanted up and the whole area is rather high for Houston. The back yard is a pond because there's no drainage and the water is flowing down the driveway to the street but we are high enough that none of my surrounding streets have water permanently in them. And I watch TV and see that just a mile or so down the freeway there are big trucks submerged to the roof. Well, Allison is moving out into the Gulf which means it will pick up more water. But they think it will move on further down the coast. Looks like Louisiana will get it next. Oh, a tornado touched down in the Northwest area (I'm North east) and took out a warehouse style business office complex. Some idiot was in the office playing computer games when it hit and hunkered down beneath his desk. When he crawled out, there was no office around him. Just slab and desk. His car wasn't touched so he drove out of the parking area and the warehouse was matchsticks. You know, this is hurricane season and this is the first storm of the season. Hurricanes do a lot of damage with wind but in this area water is the worst. All of Houston is built on flood plain. It used to be swamp and then farmers moved in and turned it into rice paddies then business came in and concreted over flood areas and built houses. Kingwood, an area Northwest of me, was one big flood plain until developers came in and put expensive houses in there. Now, there's nowhere for the water to go but into the streets. And now the surrounding areas flood also which they didn't do before they built on the flood plain. ANd they KEEP rebuilding and repairing flood damaged buildings in the areas that always go under. Well, I guess if you're thinking of buying a house in this city, this is the best time to see it. You can tell where NOT to buy one. Sun Jun 10 '01 (09:01) Sunday morning coming down. The rain has let up. The weather people expect maybe light showers now. In the wee hours, the county evacuated the new County Jail downtown which had just lost power. Buses of inmates. Worrisome. The jail is built right on the bayou which runs behind the courthouse section of downtown. The National Guard out of Ellington are helping out. Driving big trucks into neighborhoods. Flat boats. Etc. Many people now are trying to return home. The neighborhoods still have knee to thigh high water in them but some are worried about their pets that they left behind when they were rushing to get out. Some just want to go home and assess the damage. They talked about fires in the houses - these are usually caused by sparks from electricity which is still on in the houses when the water gets up into electrical outlets. Some peopel said they would wade past an outlet and feel like ants were biting them - not thinking about electricity and water. It's amazing nobody was electrocuted. Water is going down very slowly though. About the author: hnowell@well.com Name: Holley J. Nowell I am a frumpy middle-aged woman with recently beauty salon (ha!) damaged hair who spends my time either glued to the computer screen or outside up to my elbows in my garden - mostly roses - about which I'm somewhat obsessive. I'm being well paid to learn all about programs in which I have no interest whatsoever; develop information management stuff for people who use their computers as typewriters and am told I MAY get to work on the programs and web pages I REALLY want to do things with that I learned when getting my Multimedia degree when my company finally gets into all those neaty-cool things they've been hearing rumors about. I sometimes work with friends on more interesting stuff and have a couple of personal projects in the works. As soon as I get all my hair cut off Saturday at a different beauty salon and seat the modem in my computer so I can connect from home again; life will be beautiful and so will, well, I'll be relatively attractive again. Every day's another change, good or bad, and that's me in a nutshell. Hello (very few of us actually say "Howdy") from Texas or as my rose garden buddies in the chat rooms call us HARJ (Houston Area Rose Junkies).

Thanks for the report, Terry and Holly. The Television coverages shows little place to run off. We got our 30+ inches in 6 hours. You really don't want that. Not even our pourous lava could keep the streams from washing out bridges and roadways and taking houses from their bankside land. From North of New Orleans in a quick note as to his well-being and snake problem, from Mike yep we been shooting snakes now for two days and are runing low on ammo one of the fellas is running over to Miss to see if he can buy more 22 ammo , yep its still raining and flooding

Wolfie, check in, please. Rob is freezing in New Zealand with gales straight from Antarctica. Take care, all. All I have to contend with is honey bees. A swarm moved into a between-the-walls opening in our house, yesterday.

Hi all Southerly cleared out last night. -6.C this morning and beautiful clear skies with crisp cool temperatures. Cool at the moment but no wind and no cloud in sight. 145 millimetres of rain fell in Arthurs Pass over Saturday night and the Waimakariri was running at 400 cumecs yesterday, the Rakaia reached 507 cumecs before falling. Under normal circumstance where normal rainfall has fallen, the Waimakariri would usually get 600 cumecs on that sort of rain. These increases are really nothing spectacular for rivers that can attain in full flood 4000 and 6000 cumecs respectively. Rob

Hi all Now Terry and Holly know what it is like to be in Australia when a tropical cyclone hits the Northern Territory. A couple years ago one did hit the NT and anyone who knows anything about Australia and their snakes know that Taipans and Brown snake rule up there. The Taipan is the most feared snake in Australia. It is a good swimmer and likes water. The venom of an adult is said to be sufficient to kill 250,000 laboratory mice!!!!!!!!!!!! NO I DID NOT EXPAND THE ZEROES. Aborigines tell horrible stories about getting into confrontations with the snake and the almost certain probability you will die if you don't get medical treatment. The kill rate for victims who ignore the bite is 95%. Rob

Incredible Rob!!! The Taipan is indeed a lethal creature. Hell and High Water!

More to Rob. Our floods here are very clean afairs. We have not been an island for enough soil to accumulate and make mud. Thus, our outflows are mostly of clear water. I guess you have soil and volcanic products added to your flood water!

Hi The Alpine fault is responsible for the Southern Alps that make up the South Island backbone and if there was no erosion activity it is calculated that the Southern Alps would be 25km high!!!! But erosion in this land of rain and freeze-thaw is almost as rapid as uplift. The results stagger the imagination. In the 1940s a bridge was put across the Waiho river at Franz Josef and the river was about 10 metres below the bridge. Now so much material has come down that there is about 3.5 to 4 metres clearance. In the short term the river is the major problem, as it can flood every time enough rain falls for excess to run off. In the medium term however the town is living on borrowed time as the Alpine Fault is parallel to the low ridge (which I think is uplifted land)the town is sited on....................... Rob

Rob, boot http://web.poseidon.nti.it/Sorvis/vulcano.asp?Vulcano=Etna&Refresh=30 Etna is erupting again!!! Bigger Better and totally awesomely!

68,000+ feet high? I am trying to convert for the Americans who cannot do metric (including me) without a converter. Good heavens... you would hold up the sky! Is that where your glaciers are, then? (I definitely need to print out that map I downloaded.) This is granitic or some sort of metamoprphic rock?!

wrong....... it is more like 15 1/2 miles high!!!

Hi all The glaciers (Franz Josef and Fox), are at the head of the Waiho and Cook rivers and flow westward until they cross the fault. On a map find Christchurch, trace a line almost due west to Mount Cook, then look due north of Mount Cook for FJ. To find Fox, look due west or northwest of Mount Cook. Flood times for both rivers is short. In maximum of 8 hours the heavy rain that floods a river can flood both of these. The coast is not more than 40km away and the gradient from sea level to glacier is fairly steep. A Canterbury river on the other hand (take Waimakariri for arguments sake)will need about 24-36 hours before the first floodwaters pass through the mouth, though if you got say 200mm in a day and that much again 3 days later, anyone on a riverbed after say 20 hours should be elsewhere. Oh and by the way, there is a heavy rain warning for the Southern Alps, West Coast and Canterbury river headwaters (up to 200mm). Rob

From Bruce Sterling's Viridian newsletter: Subject: Viridian Note 00247: Houston Flood of 02001 Key concepts: Texas, Tropical Storm Allison, Bush Administration, Greenhouse Effect, Wexelblat Disasters, the Viridian Uncanny Attention Conservation Notice: A lot of press clippings that describe Texans suffering from a strange giant rainstorm. Almost 4,000 words. ****************************************************** Entries in the Viridian Hot Rod Contest: From: bend@earthlink.net^^^** (Ben Davis) http://www.digitalanything.com/LightRod.html This contest ends July 5, 02001. ****************************************************** (((About a yard of rain just fell on Houston, world capital of the oil industry. Unfortunately for poetic justice, ExxonMobil, "Climate Villain #1," is located in Irving, Texas, rather than Houston. Irving is not yet drenched. Enron is GW Bush's major energy company backer, and Enron's former CEO Ken Lay is the eminence gris of the Bush energy policy. Enron is headquartered in Houston. Specifically, on 1400 Smith Street, in the 77002 area code. I just talked to an Enron security guy by phone there, but he assures me that they are not, in fact, washing away. So far, anyhow.))) Corporate Headquarters Enron Corp. 1400 Smith Street Houston, TX 77002 Tel: (713) 853-6161 Source://www.enron.com "Enron's Views on Global Climate Change "Enron believes that companies and institutions worldwide must find efficient ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that result from normal economic activities. The lack of scientific certainty over climate change does not justify inaction. Continued scientific research and rigorous economic analysis is necessary == but meaningful, cost-effective, and flexible mitigation activities can be taken now..." (((For instance: bailing, sweeping broken glass, re- shingling, and getting the President to declare a federal emergency.))) "President Declares Major Disaster For Texas "Washington, June 9, 2001 == The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has declared a major disaster for Texas, opening the way for the use of federal funds and resources to help meet the recovery needs of people and communities victimized by the effects of Tropical Storm Allison. "FEMA Director Joe M. Allbaugh said the President took the action immediately after receiving the state's expedited request for federal assistance. The declaration covers damage to private and public property from the storm that began affecting the state on June 5. (...) "After the declaration, Allbaugh designated the following 28 counties eligible for aid to stricken residents and business owners: Anderson, Angelina, Brazoria, Cherokee, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Trinity, Tyler and Walker." (((An area larger than some European countries, but who's counting.)))(...) TROPICAL DEPRESSION ALLISON Storm Summary JJ STORM SUMMARY NUMBER 18 FOR THE REMNANTS OF T.D. "ALLISON" NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER...NWS...CAMP SPRINGS MD 500 PM EDT SAT JUN 09 2001 THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMAINS OF "ALLISON" WAS BECOMING QUITE ELONGATED ALONG A NORTHEAST- SOUTHWEST AXIS...BUT A CENTER WAS STILL DISCERNIBLE NEAR 29.0N 95.4 W...OR ABOUT 35 MILES WEST- SOUTHWEST OF GALVESTON...(...) WESTERLY WINDS ALOFT ARE DRIFTING THE SYSTEM TOWARDS THE EAST AT 5 MPH...WHICH IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS...SENDING IT BACK INTO THE EXTREME NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO THIS EVENING. (((There the storm can suck up more moisture. and might well return in force.))) (...) RADAR ESTIMATES OF THE STORM TOTAL OVER THE LAST FIVE DAYS EXCEED 20 INCHES ACROSS THE LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND ACROSS THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREA. AN AREA BETWEEN CONROE AND WILLIS RECEIVED OVER 20 INCHES DURING FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING ALONE. (((You heard them: 20 inches in one night.))) A MAJOR FLOOD EVENT...MORE PROLIFIC AND INTENSE THAN DURING T.S. FRANCES IN 1998...IS NOW UNDERWAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. SECTIONS OF I-10 AROUND HOUSTON WERE SO DEEPLY FLOODED THIS MORNING THAT ONLY THE TOPS OF SEMI-TRACTOR TRAILERS WERE VISIBLE. (((Nothing left of 'em but those protruding diesel pipes, apparently.))) REPORTS OF EXTENSIVE FLOODING CONTINUE TO COME IN FROM SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA. AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN...WITH ISOLATED MUCH HEAVIER AMOUNTS... IS LIKELY TO FALL ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS... SELECTED STORM TOTALS FOR ALLISON SINCE TUE 7 AM CDT (ALL AMOUNTS THROUGH 1 PM CDT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED): (((Check out these rain levels. My goodness:))) THIBODAUX LA............. 22.33 inches (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) HOUSTON HOBBY TX............20.58 SALT POINT LA...............18.83 BATON ROUGE LA..............18.37 BREAUX BRIDGE LA............18.05 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) JACKSON LA..................17.11 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) HOUSTON CLOVER FIELD TX.....16.43 BRUSLY 2 W LA...............15.79 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) PATTERSON LA................14.83 PONTHCATOULA LA.............14.71 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) BAYOU MACHAC LA.............14.33 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) LAFAYETTE LA................14.23 MAGNOLIA LA.................14.19 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) OAKNOLIA LA.................14.19 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) GRETA/TERRYTOWN LA..........14.16 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) GLOSTER MS...................8.99 (THROUGH 7 AM CDT) THE FORECASTERS AT THE NEW ORLEANS...LAKE CHARLES...AND THE HOUSTON/GALVESTON OFFICES ARE DEEPLY THANKED FOR COMPILING/COORDINATING RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR THESE STORM SUMMARIES OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS DURING EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES. (((Nice act of gallantry there, guys; hope you don't have to get used to it.))) Source: Jeff Franks, Reuters Houston Swamped by Rains From Allison Remains Updated:JSat,JJunJ09J2:51JPMJEDT "HOUSTON (Reuters) == Massive rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison inundated Houston and southeastern Texas on Saturday, forcing thousands of people from their flooded homes and bringing the nation's fourth largest city to a virtual standstill. "Parts of the city received 26 inches of rain in a downpour that began on Friday afternoon and continued most of the night, officials said. Since Allison struck on Tuesday, 35 inches of rain have fallen, they said. (((That's almost *three feet.*))) "Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared a state of emergency for Houston and 28 east Texas counties and authorized the use of state equipment to help rescue stranded residents. "Mayor Lee Brown appeared stunned after surveying the damage from a helicopter. "'It's unbelievable what's happening here. We have problems all over the city, flooding all over downtown and every other part of the city,' Brown told reporters. (((Why do mayors always say stuff like that?))) (...) "Television reports showed vast sections of the city under water that in some cases reached the rooftops of homes or filled road underpasses to the brim. Stalled cars and trucks could be seen floating in streets that looked like rivers. "Every freeway in the city was closed due to high water and creeks and bayous looked like vast lakes instead of the small, meandering streams they usually are. "Officials said at least 3,000 homes and buildings had been damaged and 17,000 families displaced. The Red Cross opened shelters throughout the city to accommodate the victims. "Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said he expected the city has suffered 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in damages. (((Might be even bigger than Enron's profits! Are you listening, Munich Re, Swiss Re? How long before these weather damages are bigger than the oil industry?))) "HELICOPTERS PLUCK PEOPLE FROM ROOFTOPS "The U.S. Coast Guard was called in to help pluck people from their rooftops with helicopters and to pump out a critical AT&T telephone switching center before rising waters blew its circuits. (((The first of many Wexelblat Disasters raises its ugly head; phone switching center blows out.))) "Continental Airlines, which is based in Houston, said high water was keeping employees from getting to work, forcing the nation's fifth largest air carrier to shut down operations at its main hub, Houston Intercontinental Airport. (((Air transport blows out.))) "'We think today we'll end up canceling a thousand flights,' spokesman Ned Walker told reporters. 'We're going to suspend all of our operations at Intercontinental Airport today.' "The Texas Medical Center, which with 13 hospitals is one of the world's largest medical facilities, suffered heavy flooding damage and was seeking to transfer patients to hospitals in Austin and San Antonio, a spokesman said. (((Health system blows out.))) "Allison brewed up suddenly in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and quickly came ashore, moving inland over southeast Texas. It lost its 60 mph winds almost immediately. (((Very little warning. Sinister little thing, really.))) (...) "Parts of Louisiana received nearly two feet of rain the past four days, causing officials to declare a state of emergency in 21 of the state's 64 parishes. Gov. Mike Foster activated 1,000 National Guardsmen to help evacuate some of an estimated 1,100 families affected by the storm. (((Sorry, Cajuns, but at least you know how to live in a swamp.))) "The National Weather Service said Houston could get another 10 inches of rain on Saturday evening and raised the specter that the remains of Allison could drift back to the Gulf of Mexico and regain strength over its warm waters." (((Smacked twice by the same event? It happened to Paris in the Tempests of December 01999))). Source: Michael Graczyk, Associated Press Saturday June 9 8:48 PM ET "Two Die in Texas Floods By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writer "HOUSTON (AP) == Thousands of people were forced from their homes or stranded on flooded freeways Saturday as torrential rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison swamped Houston and Southeast Texas. (((Houston Mayor)))Brown said an earlier estimate of 3,000 homes and business damages was 'very conservative.' 'Some complete subdivisions are flooding over,'he said. "The Texas Medical Center was hit with power outages because emergency generators were flooded. Some telephone service was interrupted. The city's 911 service was overwhelmed, and traffic signals were a mess. ((((911 down, traffic signals down.))) Police Chief Clarence Bradford said there were only a few reports of vandalism or looting. (((It's too wet to go outside and steal stuff.))) (...) "President Bush on Saturday declared a 28-county disaster area, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. Bush spent the weekend at his Crawford ranch, about 175 miles northwest of Houston. (((Is it too much to ask that a freak F3 tornado spins off the edge of the storm and... well, yeah, it is.))) "Stranded on highways along with vacationers and residents, long-haul truckers == their rigs stalled and damaged by flash floods == bunked in their cabs, brewed coffee and aided motorists whose 'four-wheelers' sank or floated in the rising water. (((So much for the SUV contingent.))) "'I came up on this little BMW two-seater, and this executive guy grabbed his briefcase and what he could out of his car and got in,' Oklahoma City truck driver Daniel Hock said Saturday. 'That was the last we saw of the car. He just bought it; it had 18,000 miles on it.' (((Hardly spewed any carbon at all, more's the pity...))) "Trucker James Wilson had to swim from his truck. His trailer was floating on Interstate 10, straddling the center and pinned against a railroad trestle. His cab was nowhere in sight. 'I tried to stay with it, but it was time to go,' Wilson said. 'I ain't going to go down with the rig.' (((Unlike the rest of us.))) "'As soon as we rescue one person and drop them off, we get diverted to another case,' Coast Guard spokesman Rob Wyman said. "Joining in the effort were military trucks big enough to navigate through the deep water, said National Guard spokesman Aaron Reed. ((("Khaki Green" to the rescue. The Army *is* the climate policy.))) The guard also sent five of its own helicopters to help. "The deluge Friday and Saturday was produced by the lingering remnants of Allison, the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm, which blew ashore on the Texas coast on Tuesday, then quickly dwindled but refused to leave. Some rain gauges in Houston showed 24-hour rainfall amounts topping 20 inches. "The effects of the storm extended beyond Texas. The flooding disrupted access to an estimated 76,000 automated teller machines in 22 states, said Julian Read, spokesman for PULSE, a nonprofit electronic funds transfer network of more than 2,600 banks. (((Pulse System goes down. A Viridian newbie just sent me email asking what a "Wexelblat Disaster" is. Well, it works like this: you're trying to fly out of Houston but the airport's down, so you try to call home but you can't, then your rental car drowns, so you go to get some cash to stay in a hotel on dry land and wow, how come there's no cash?))) (((Now we start getting into the "Viridian Uncanny."))) "Also in Louisiana, alligators agitated by the storm's thunder, lightning and heavy rain wandered into residential areas. "Kathy Smith didn't believe her daughter had really seen an alligator in their yard in LaPlace, La., until she saw a neighbor trying to catch the critter Friday. 'I said, 'You get him, and I'm about to call 911,' she said. (((Hope 911's up and running.))) "Trappers in Louisiana's St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes captured 40 alligators during the week. 'I'll release them back into the swamps unless they are big and aggressive,' said Richard Roussel IV, an alligator nuisance control officer for St. John Parish. (((Pure savoir faire those Louisianans; they really are the bellwether Greenhouse state.))) Source: Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/topstory2/936380 (((Nice storm coverage from the local paper. Lots of dramatic photos. It's not like there's never bad weather in Houston, mind you; Dan Rather of CBS News got his first big break covering a Texan hurricane.))) June 9, 2001, 7:41PM "Catastrophic flooding forces state of emergency for area "Houston-area residents braced for the possibility of more rains tonight, which could worsen the catastrophic flooding that brought the region to a near-standstill and left nearly 17,000 people homeless. "And local officials, weary from marathon rescue and relief efforts, blanched at the possibility that what remains of Tropical Storm Allison is headed toward the warm Gulf of Mexico waters where it could reorganize and restrengthen. "Across Harris County, as many as 21,000 homes are thought to be without power, phones and water, said County Judge Robert Eckels. About 5,000 homes are flooded in the county. "As many as 34,000 Reliant Energy/HL&P customers, including hospitals, are without power this afternoon, a Reliant spokeswoman said. (((Power network down. Send some voltage over, California!))) "Roughly 17,000 people were going to need some type of temporary shelter and county officials ordered the Reliant Astrohall opened for that purpose. Schools, churches and other public facilities were also being opened as shelters. ((("Reliant Astrohall" full of refugees. Nice choice of corporate sponsors there.))) (...) "Early today, Gov. Rick Perry declared a state of emergency in the Houston area and 28 Southeast Texas counties. Perry will visit the Houston area Sunday to get a first-hand aerial view of the devastation from severe flooding. (...) "City Public Works crews continued to rescue residents around flooded areas today. About 200 people had been picked up and dropped off at shelters around the city, Ray said. "Almost everything's affected (((a subhead with haiku-like clarity))) "The deluge == in which as much as 28 inches of rain fell in the past 24 hours == has affected all aspects of life in the area, from communications to transportation to automated teller machines: "*All Metro bus routes have been canceled today because of high water. No buses are running, Metro Police said. "*More than two feet of rain fell at Bush Intercontinental Airport, forcing Houston-based Continental Airlines to cancel all flights through 6 a.m. Sunday there. Airline spokesman Ned Walker said that would involve about 1,000 flights. The biggest problem was the availability of crews and staff who couldn't get to the Bush Intercontinental Airport, he said. (((Drowned cars equals no planes at "Bush" airport.))) "*Authorities shut down some local freeways in order to clear broken-down vehicles. Currently, U.S. Highway 59 (Southwest Freeway) is shut down eastbound at the Fondren/Bellaire exit. Interstate 10 is reportedly shut down in spots, too. I-10 at T.C. Jester is submerged and blocked by stranded vehicles, including massive 18- wheelers that floated like a child's bathtub toys. (((Poetry is not dead in modern journalism.))) In some places, water is touching the bottom of freeway underpasses, turning the low-lying roadways into lakes. "*The city reported its communications system was down, but communications are going ahead through hand-held radios. The mayor said 911 service is working, but stressed to only use the service in the case of a true emergency. "*Eckels authorized workers to pump water out of an AT&T switching center in the 1400 block of Jefferson, saying he was told if that center went down, the area would lose all wireless and long distance communication. "*As of midafternoon, Reliant Energy/HL&P said about 34,000 of its 1.2 million Houston-area customers were without power. Most of these were in Bellaire and the Greenspoint and Humble areas, spokeswoman Alicia Dixon said. She said the company's crews are having difficulty reaching the areas where power is out, so service is being restored slowly. "Restoring power to flooded hospitals in the Texas Medical Center poses special problems, Dixon said. Because power is supplied to the medical center through underground cables, it is unsafe to restore electricity until the water has subsided and the cables are dry. ((("The lightning missed me, but then I stepped on that cable."))) "*An estimated 76,000 ATMs in 22 states may be affected by weekend flooding in the Southeast Texas, a banking official said. Access to ATMs in the Pulse network was disrupted when the primary and secondary power supplies were flooded in Houston, said Julian Read, a spokesman for Pulse, a nonprofit electronic funds transfer network. It has more than 2,600 financial institution members. Also, an estimated 300,000 point-of-sale transactions == using an ATM at a cashier == may be affected. (...) "The Medical Center experienced severe flooding and power outages. Many ambulances are unable to traverse the high water in the area to deliver patients and there are reports that some patients on automated life-support machines were being kept alive by manual means. Hospital officials are making arrangements to transfer the most critical patients to other hospitals as far away as Austin and San Antonio, city officials said. ((("Austin Welcomes Manually Pumped Life Support Users' Group, Enjoy Your Stay"))) "The Houston Fire Department has fielded 500 water calls and 200 fire calls since 11 p.m. Friday night, city officials said. (...) "Waterways overflowing "At 7 a.m. today, catastrophic flooding was reported along Spring Creek near Spring on the north side of Houston with water possibly near the rooftops of some homes in Timberlake and Timberridge subdivisions in Montgomery County and and the Spring Hills subdivision south of The Woodlands. "The National Weather Service reported that Clear Creek in Friendswood southeast of Houston was rising rapidly and was at 17.7 feet at 6:30 a.m. at FM 528. The record flood level at that point is 19.1 feet. (...) "The Coast Guard said the upper part of the Houston Ship Channel was closed after 26 barges and two ships broke free from moorings at the Port of Houston, clogging one of nation's busiest waterways. (((Waterways blow out.))) "An insurance trade group late Saturday doubled its initial estimate of losses from the storms to at least $120 million. The figure did not count damage to hundreds of flooded homes, which must be covered by separate federal flood insurance. (((Yeah. Sure.))) "'This weather-related event continues to present developing losses for insurers,' Jerry Johns, president of the Southwestern Insurance Information Service, said. 'We are far from being close to what this might cost the insurance industry.' (((Make the coal companies pick up the tab.))) (((Some nice human-angle stuff here.))) (...) "a woman who called to say she was stuck in her attic at a home on Valley Wind Drive in Houston, said Amy Askins, a Brazoria County sheriff's dispatcher. "Another woman called a friend in Brazoria County and asked her to tell the sheriff's department she was stuck in a van that was floating in the high water, Askins said. "Allen Cannon, a 29-year-old engineer from Pearland, called Brazoria County dispatchers when he couldn't reach his wife, Shundra, who had checked into a motel at Interstate 10 and Federal after floodwaters marooned her in traffic. He last spoke with his wife, a 29-year-old assistant principal at Welch Middle School, at 1 a.m. today, he said. "'She told me the water was to the level of the mattresses on the first floor,' he said. 'She's on the second floor. She's pregnant but she's got a friend with her. "The worried husband said his wife sounded calm but her cellular phone battery was about to go dead." (...) (((You've got to love the 21st century.))) "Theaters, museums close "Meanwhile, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will be closed today and Sunday because of minor flooding in the service area that has affected the air-conditioning and telephone systems. No art has been damaged. (((Culture industry blows out.))) "Films and family activity scheduled today and Sunday are canceled. Also, advanced tickets purchased for the 'Star Wars' exhibit for today and Sunday will be honored at a later date. (((Hey, you can't shut down STAR WARS! That all occurs in another galaxy, far far away!))) "Rienzi and Bayou Bend are also closed for the weekend. No art was damaged at those museums. "Portions of the Alley Theater were under water today. Performances for today and Sunday are canceled, said Jennifer Garza, theater spokeswoman. "'The Neuhaus Arena stage is submerged,' Garza said. The theater's costume and scene shop were also flooded, she said. (((They must have been running MACBETH.))) (((The Viridian Uncanny. Imagine being this person.))) Source: Houston Chronicle June 9, 2001, 4:36PM "Woman drowns when elevator floods in basement By ROSANNA RUIZ "An unidentified 42-year-old law firm employee drowned when water rushed into an elevator while at the basement level of a downtown building, police said. "The woman intended to move her car at about 5:30 a.m. from the Bank of America's four-level underground parking garage at 700 Louisiana, said Robert Hurst, a police spokesman. "'The woman went down in the elevator after a broadcast was made in the building by the security department that water was coming into the parking garage and anyone in the building should go down and move their cars,' Hurst said. "The woman, who was the only elevator occupant at the time, drowned when water rushed into the elevator while on the third level of the garage, Hurst said. "'It appears that water began rushing into the elevator and it malfunctioned and she drowned in the elevator,' Hurst said. 'She didn't even make it to her car parked on the fourth level.' (((Dead for an internal combustion vehicle.))) "The woman's body was discovered about 8:30 after maintenance crews noticed that the elevator had stalled and they manually brought the elevator to the lobby level. (((Imagine their surprise when the doors opened.))) (...) "The woman and some of her colleagues had stayed the night at the law office in the bank building when they realized they could not make it home because of the flooding, Hurst said." O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O FAMILIES ARE ASKED TO BRING PERSONAL PILLOWS, BEDDING, MEDICATIONS, HEALTH-RELEATED ITEMS, EXTRA CLOTHING AND TOYS O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

That definitely qualifiese as a Hydrological Disaster! ***************************** Ruapehu, NZ lahar prediction ***************************** From: Dan Shackelford source: New Zealand Herald Lahar prediction for Ruapehu as lake rises in weakened crater. "A catastrophic mudslide from Mt Ruapehu may be as close as next year. Scientists are racing to install an early-warning system on the mountain. The crater lake filled at twice its normal rate over the summer, and a Department of Conservation scientist at Turangi, Dr Harry Keys, says mudslide predictions have been brought forward. A massive lahar is now expected between the summer of 2002-03 and that of 2008, with a peak flow 50 per cent larger than the 1953 Christmas Eve disaster that wiped out the Tangiwai rail bridge, killing 151 travellers. " The original, whole report is from: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&st oryID=182436

Rob, Please be safe! Printing out the map so I can watch what is happening to you. This place I thought was to discuss things not to give eye-witness stuff. It is very difficult to type with crossed fingers!

Thanks Maggie and Tony for the following: At least 36 people have been killed in Ecuador after a landslide destroyed a hut where they had taken refuge after being stranded on a motorway. The victims' vehicles had been blocked by an earlier landslide near Papallacta, about 40km east of the capital, Quito, and they had walked to the shelter. More... http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1385000/1385926.stm

Hi Marcia, you need not worry, 0 millimetres of rain at Arthurs Pass in the last 24 hours is not exactly bank bursting or even flood material. Seriously I just checked the Environment Canterbury website http://www.ecan.govt.nz and the North Canterbury rainfall chart showed no significant rain anywhere, nor did the South Canterbury rainfall chart for that matter. I would not worry anyway. It is still fairly dry inland because of the drought and it is possible that some or most of the rain would simply seep into the ground. Hit the panic button if I either tell you that 400mm is expected in a day. THEN things will look a bit iffy and butty - especially if that there has already been a successful heavy rainfall warning. Like I am certain I already said, the worst case is a Southeasterly depression dropping a lot of rain on the plains and it runs of into the rivers and then as the depression passes over, a northwesterly drops a similar amount of rain. Rob

Hugs, Rob! It is reassuring to have your words regarding your safety. I did go to your suggested website. It was one I had not previosuly found. Of course I am much relieved that the rat poision spill has been taken care of. Egad! A fat lot of good I can do from here for your safety in an unpredicable world, but at least it is reassuring that you are ok, and the rats taken care of. If your island is anything like ours, you have rats aplenty. At least in the winter yours freeze while ours flourish. No iffy and butty 16 inches of rain (400 mm) in one day. YOur ground is nothing like as pourous as ours is. Our November floods just washed away everything in their path. (PLease correct my conversion if it is incorrect!) I tend to worry about those who are special to me *;)

Communication emergency lifted; hams continue Gulf flood response Communication emergency lifted; hams continue Gulf flood response An FCC-declared general communications emergency in Texas and Louisiana for 3873 and 7285 kHz has been rescinded as of 6 PM Central Time (0100 June 15 UTC). Amateur Radio continues to support relief agencies in the wake of heavy flooding in Texas, Louisiana and parts of Mississippi. South Texas ARRL Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, says several dozen more volunteers still are needed to help provide communication support for Salvation Army, Baptist Mens' Kitchen and Red Cross relief operations. Amateur Radio volunteers with VHF capability--either an H-T with extra batteries or a mobile and portable antenna--are needed to assist relief agencies. Prospective volunteers should contact Taylor via e-mail at n5nav@texas.net; South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Bob Ehrhardt Sr, W5ZX, w5zx@yahoo.com, or Jeff Salmons, N5ECP, n5ecp@flex.net. The Gulf region suffered some of the worst flooding in decades after Tropical Storm Allison moved ashore last weekend and stalled. The storm claimed more than a dozen lives. Although the initial flooding was receding, additional rainfall arrived this past week, and more is predicted. Relief organizations had been using Amateur Radio HF links between their field volunteers and their regional headquarters operations. Cellular telephone service was made available late this afternoon, however. Telephone outages continue to be widespread in the Houston area, Taylor said. Hams also have been using VHF and UHF repeater nets to provide emergency communication and to coordinate relief activities on the local level, including at Red Cross shelters. Thousands were displaced by the flooding. Taylor said many hams in the Gulf region have volunteered to help out in the aftermath of the flooding, but he did not yet have an accurate head count.

Sludge Disasters Cast Shadow Over Coal Revival Reuters Jun 16 2001 9:00AM INEZ, Ky. (Reuters) - Last autumn's Kentucky coal disaster, in which tons of coal sludge gushed down a mountain from a man-made pond killing wildlife below, is a stark reminder of environmental risks hanging over Appalachia's coalfields. There are 600 such ponds throughout Appalachia filled with potentially dangerous heavy metals that are left behind after the chemical rinsing of coal, and with a revival of the coal industry under way, regulators want to insure the safety of the ponds. Appalachia's low sulphur coal -- used by power plants to feed U.S. electricity needs -- is in increasing demand. And utilities across the country recently announced plans to build 34 more coal fired plants by 2013 that will need the high-grade Appalachian coal to meet stricter environmental regulations. The coal industry also has high-powered friends -- including President Bush, and West Virginia's Robert Byrd, a Democrat -- who have supported plans for billions of dollars of research money for burning coal cleaner at plants. But many are concerned about the safety of ponds, filled with what is often called slurry, because in many cases, they hang over small villages in this mountain region where locals mostly live in valleys, many of which have only one road out. STUDIES PENDING Last Oct. 11, the coal slurry in Inez, Ky. on top of an underground mine operated by Massey Energy, broke through the mine's roof. The 250 million gallons of slurry that spurted out did not immediately harm any people, but the spill killed wildlife in streams and rivers as far as 60 miles away. In comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil. The Environmental Protection Agency called Inez "one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the southeastern United States," and was a reminder of the 1972 Buffalo Creek coal gob spill in West Virginia that killed 125 people and wiped out 4,000 homes. A spokesman for the West Virginia Coal Association (WVCA) said the coal industry in his state awaits government reports on coal ponds. "We are waiting on the findings of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) before we make any sweeping changes," said a spokesman for WVCA. Massey, who so far has not paid any fines for the spill and whose lawyers claimed the Inez break was, "an act of God," did not return phone calls asking what the company has done since Inez to ensure their impoundments are safe. Besides the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) as well as the Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining are studying coal pond safety. MSHA published a list of all the ponds in the country and ranks them by their risk of breaking. Last April, West Virginia's state Department of Environmental Protection told coal companies to examine their sludge ponds and issue reports to the state. more... http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0200&id=0106160900202214

Rob, we also have storm easement on the back of my lot and a "moat" on two sides of the yard. A storm culvert was finally enlarged under the street some years ago and the house has never gotten water in it....YET. It gets to about an inch of the bottom louvers in the living room and then crosses the road to the downhill side. Even in that 30 inches (76.2 cm) in 6 hours downpour we had in November. 7 1/2 meters of water is a LOT of runoff!

Check this out if you live in the US. The Slurry disaster is not confined to Kentucky, http://www.msha.gov/impoundments/impoundmenthp.htm

The REST of the Inez, KY sludge disaster story: (I was afraid it would disappear before the rest of this horrific story became known. Plese read!) INDUSTRY ADOPTING SOLUTIONS, BUT SLOWLY Gadgets called water pressers, which have been around since 1984, can make many of the ponds safer by squeezing the water from sludge which greatly reduces the weight of the ponds, according to engineers. But so far few companies make broad use of water pressers. "Water pressers can eliminate slurry ponds," said Pete Petrey, Vice President of Phoenix Processing Equipment in Louisville, KY who makes and sells the pressers. "Initial investment costs are higher for a coal company to put in pressers, but costs to a company are a lot higher when an impoundment breaks," he said. He said installment prices vary with sizes and types of slurry ponds. Larry Emerson, Arch Coal's environmental director, said the company is currently using a water presser at one of its operations, "but it is not the best solution for all of our operations," he said. Appalachians concerned about coal ponds want pressers to be used more broadly. "Water pressers are readily available and they are cost competitive," said Tom Fitzgerald, lawyer for the Kentucky Resources Council. "Any other industry is required to use the most expensive technology, said Fitzgerald. "The coal industry is allowed to choose the cheapest." He said miscommunications between state and federal regulators is part of the problem that leads to neglect. "Nobody seems to be minding the shop," he said. Whitesville resident Freda Williams lives in a valley where a Massey impoundment lies above an elementary school where 200 students are enrolled. Like many, she is tired of the risk. "I put an ad last week in the Charleston Gazette to sell my home," she said. "But nobody is going to buy it." A RIVER RUNS BY THEM Environmental lawyer Jan Schlichtmann, who was chronicled in the book and film "A Civil Action," is investigating the Inez spill. Schlichtmann's assistant told Reuters that Schlichtmann has visited Inez "at least two or three times per month in the last couple of months." His assistant could not comment on the investigation, saying it was only in preliminary stages. Phylistie Horn, 81, says she has never heard of Schlichtmann's investigation. Horn lives where she was born, off county road 69 in Warfield on a bank of the Tug Fork about 20 miles from the spill. There's a replica of the Statue of Liberty on the corner. Hummingbirds and cardinals flit around her back yard. But the river is dead. The fish all died after the October spill, and now the banks are slippery, oily, and gray . She's building a new house far away from the Tug Fork because she says her lungs have gotten worse since October. "It will take a while before it's all built, but I'm leaving," she said. Unlike most of her neighbors, Horn's water wells ran dry years before the Inez spill. She and eight of her heirs wash their dishes in tap water that originates from the Tug Fork. The water is collected in a reservoir and then treated at the water plant. They no longer take baths because the water makes them itch, so they take quick showers. The water smells of the heavy chlorine the plant puts in. Martin County Coal, a subsidiary of Massey, used to truck in water after the spill, but those stopped two months ago, said Horn. The city said the water is safe, but Horn's daughter, Rebecca, climbs Logan Mountain to bring back spring water. Meawhile, Arch's Emerson said his company is studying whether it can use more water pressers. "We're getting better," he said. MSHA's Web site that lists the nation's slurry ponds can be found at: http://www.msha.gov/impoundments/impoundmenthp.htm.

[1]HYDROLOGY * Satellites Measure Bulging Earth to Map Water Resources References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol

Hi This will be the last you hear from me until at least Thursday night, by which time I will have sat 2 of my 3 exams (Geology 111, and Geography 106). Political Science 103 is on Saturday, but I expect to be too busy slacking off doing other things to be online that afternoon. But before I go: a couple things that might interest you. Some stats on South Island water masses, transportation and drainage 20 big South Island rivers: Wairau - Marlborough Awatere - Marlborough Clarence - Canterbury Conway - Canterbury Waiau - Canterbury Hurunui - Canterbury Waimakariri - Canterbury Rakaia - Canterbury Rangitata - Canterbury Waitaki - Canterbury Taieri - Otago Clutha - Otago Waiau - Southland Grey - Westland Buller - Westland Hokitika - Westland Haast - Westland Waiho - Westland Rivers over 130 kilometres ( 80 miles)long Wairau Awatere Clarence Waiau Hurunui Waimakariri Rakaia Rangitata Taieri Clutha (longest in South Island 322km) Waiau Grey Buller Large lakes: Pukaki (raised by high dam), Tekapo, Ohau, Manapouri, Te Anau, Lake Benmore (man made, Lake Brunner, Lake Ellesmere (actually coastal lagoon) Rob

The best of luck, Rob and extra warm *HUGS* for your success. Happiness is knowing you can do splendidly and knowing that is exactly what you will do. I am off to check that Waimakariri flood plain on which you live. My concern quotient depends on what I discover. You may just have to glue me back together when I find you are on some liquifying-potential sand bar or in the path of a sludge pond. Why can't people I care for live on active volcanoes like I do?!

speaking of hyrohazards: From Rob (who should be studying and taking exams!) Two TSUNAMI alerts were issued by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences over the past week. An earthquake in the ALEUTIANS - M6.6 - triggered the first alert which resulted in minor fluctuations in sea level around New Zealand. The second also came from the northern Pacific (KURILE ISLANDS), and was generated by an M6.5 earthquake in the area. Neither event caused any trouble. http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/worldseismicity

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER 12:16 PM HST 23 JUN 2001 TO: CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII SUBJECT: TSUNAMI ADVISORY BULLETIN A WATCH OR WARNING IS NOT IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS ISSUED A TSUNAMI WATCH AND WARNING FOR OTHER PARTS OF THE PACIFIC, AND THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT A WATCH OR WARNING MAY BE ISSUED FOR HAWAII IN THE NEAR FUTURE. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THE FOLLOWING PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS: ORIGIN TIME - 10:33 AM HST, 23 JUN 2001 COORDINATES - 16.0 SOUTH, 73.3 WEST LOCATION - NEAR COAST OF PERU MAGNITUDE - 8.2 (RICHTER) MAGNITUDE - 8.2 (MOMENT) MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY: ARICA, CHILE 0.8 METERS ZERO-TO-PEAK EVALUATION: THIS ADVISORY IS BASED MAINLY ON EARTHQUAKE DATA. IT IS NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME WHETHER A PACIFIC-WIDE DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE THE TSUNAMI THREAT. IF A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED, THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST TIME OF ARRIVAL IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS: 11:52 PM HST, 23 JUN 2001 BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

Despite a strong aftershock (6.9 Richter) we are still safe and fluctuations have been negative here.

RED ALERT: Mw 7.9 EARTHQUAKE PERU. TSUNAMI WARNING ALSO IN EFFECT FOR NEW ZEALAND. DO NOT GO NEAR ANY BEACH ON EAST COAST OF ANY ISLAND OR NEAR ANY RIVER MOUTH, LAGOON, ESTUARY OR COASTAL WATER FEATURE. (I borrowed it from Rob's post on http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/worldseismicity When I went to bed last night our news said only "French Polynesia" was still on alert for possible tsunami. My mind's mapping immediately thought of New Zealand. I had to wait till today to find this elsewhere. Oh well. I am grateful he is ok.

Floods and vandals put the Queen's cygnets in peril By Caroline Davies and Charles Clover THE number of swans on the Thames has plummeted, mainly due to this year's floods and youths stoning cygnets, the Queen's Swan Marker warned yesterday. David Barber, the man responsible for maintaining the Queen's swans, estimates that the numbers of cygnets could have fallen by as much as 40 per cent. Last year, during the traditional Swan Upping ceremony, 119 cygnets were counted. With Swan Upping due to take place on July 16, Mr Barber, 50, believes the number could have fallen to around 70. "So far, it doesn't look good," he said. Flooding during April and May coincided with the adult swans building their nests and had a drastic impact on the population. Traditionally, swans choose discreet nesting areas on islands, or close to the water's edge. But islands were submerged, and the water level broke the river banks. "The trouble is they nested well out of the way of the floods, which meant they went to nest in fields, which at the time were on the water's edge," said Mr Barber. "But when the water went down, they were a long way from the river bank and very exposed. As soon as the eggs hatched, the young cygnets were vulnerable to mink, foxes and dogs as well as other birds such as herons." There has also been an increase in the number of swans being shot by air rifles, and reports of youths stoning cygnets. "We cannot control the natural elements, and hopefully, with tamer winters and less predators, the population will recover. Nature seems to sort itself out," said Mr Barber. "Unfortunately we don't seem to be able to sort man out." One adult pair at Cookham had lost three of their seven cygnets, at least one through stoning, he said. Mr Barber said schoolchildren were being encouraged to attend Swan Upping in the hope that they would be educated about the birds, which would discourage vandalism. But while swans have been struggling on the Thames, otters have been discovered in London's East End, Birmingham and Glasgow for the first time in generations - a sign of the continued improvement of Britain's rivers. Signs of otters have also been found in Newcastle and Doncaster, which contained some of the most polluted rivers in the country 30 years ago, a conference at the Natural History Museum was told yesterday. The otter was almost extinct by the early Seventies in most parts of England and Wales. Alastair Driver, conservation manager of the Environment Agency, told the conference: "There have been signs of otters at Walthamstow, and right down the Roding into the East End."

Hi All is relatively quiet here at the moment. Very little going on. The only thing to report is that the weather is COLD. For the past week we have been having a run of clear nights where the temperature has been as low as -6.C and 8-10.C by day. On Monday Christchurch had a 7 degree frost - something usually reserved for the Southland-Otago regions and the mountains. No rain - to date this year 350 mm of rain should have fallen. The total amount that has fallen is 157 mm. The only sign of relief on the horizon is a sub-tropical depression in the Coral Sea slowly making it's way south. Rob

Good luck on your water supply. Living on an island, continuing replenishment is an absolute necessity. But it will be coming down as ice cubes at those temperatures! You cannot imagine how exotic it sounds to me to hear that your weather comes from the Coral Sea. That is the part of the map from whence the dragons came at the edge of the known world. I hope it brings a little warmth for you, as well. Meanwhile, please accept my self-generated warmth beaming in your drection to wrap you against the chill of your antarctic blasts.

Thank you, John in Volos, Greece for sending me this singular account: �I turned and saw an even bigger wave. It took her� AID TEAMS reached the southern coast of Peru yesterday to find thousands of shocked survivors from two tidal waves that obliterated their seaside fishing villages less than an hour after Saturday�s earthquake. "Entire villages have been wiped out and no one has arrived to help these people yet. It�s tragic. There is already practically nothing left to eat and people are sleeping out in the streets," said Pedro Maca, the head of a Peruvian Red Cross team in the small fishing town of Caman�. Forty-five minutes after Saturday�s earthquake the first tsunami, 30 metres high, engulfed the mud huts of Caman�, throwing people and debris as far as one kilometre inland. A second, bigger wave came moments afterwards leaving the once peaceful fishing town ripped to shreds. "We managed to survive the first wave," said one distraught mother. "And then I picked up my daughter in my arms and we started to run and run as fast as we could. But I turned round and saw that another wave, even bigger, was coming. It took her. She�s dead. I saw her go." Another man wept as he recalled watching helplessly as three of his loved ones were drowned. Distressed villagers wailed in distress and begged for help after their second night sleeping outdoors on sand-filled, soggy mattresses dragged from their shattered homes. So far 20 deaths have been confirmed and some 70 people, mainly fishermen who were at sea when the disaster struck this area, are still reported missing. more... http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/text_only.cfm?id=84787

Hi It rained last night. It actually rained. And I was just getting used to the biting frost. This is welcome relief from the 2 week long big chill and it's lethal grip. 4 people have died in road accidents relating to the chill and a 12 put in hospital. In Hanmer in inland north Canterbury, the temperature has on three seperate occasions plunged to -15.C and in one case was -2.C at MIDDAY. Although it is still very cold in some places, a northerly (one of our warmer winds is forecast to spread across the country soon). With the fading La Nina weather pattern, rainfall is expected to increase later in the winter and hopefully replenish groundwater stocks before spring comes as the northwesters will quickly dry out the soil. Rob

It is too soon for you to be having spring. The Weather gods are playing cruel tricks on you! But it is a pleasnt thing to have a bit of a respite during a wickedly cold winter. Meanwhile West Virginia digs out from their flood. I actually heard a broadcast on National Public Radio last night from Buckhannon, my home for 4 years.

Hi Can you lure others in watery situations here to the most appropriate forum for all (well most things wet), as they are missing out on some great stuff. Like this: http://www.ecan.govt.nz for River and flood information on the braided rivers of Canterbury. P.S the Waimakariri is fairly low at the moment. Go take a look at the camera shot of what the river looks like - it is the 2nd BEST braided river in the WORLD - when it is not in flood or restricted to one channel. Rob

Hi all A lot of rain has fallen this week and the rivers of Canterbury are higher than usual at the moment as the rain that has fallen has varied from between 4.5 millimetres over five days to 230 millimetres. The 4.5 belongs to Arthurs Pass where it would be falling as snow, and the 230 millimetres belongs to Luke Creek, Kaikoura on the coast and there is still no sign of the rain letting up yet. Rivers that were at near record lows a few weeks ago are now running at above average for this time of year. The drought in Canterbury may be coming to an end soon as the rain has done no limit of good for a province that has had drought for 3 of the last 4 years. Rob

Excelllent news. Your father mentioned, when I offered him some Hawaiian sunshine, that you would be much better off with the rain you have been getting. I trust the powers that be who cause rain to fall also know when enough is enough. That is our problem on occasion. They get stuck on our mountains and forget to leave. Take care, Rob.

Hi Heavy rain warnings in force for Southern Alps. Hydro power storage lakes are at record lows and there is a risk of blackouts. Lakes Pukaki, Tekapo, Ohau, Dunstan, Roxburgh, Manapouri and Te Anau are all very low. Taupo has about 10% of storage capacity full up. Further south Lake Dunstan, and Roxburgh (impounded behind the Clyde and Roxburgh Dams)are about 15% full. The whirlpools near the intake structure of Lake Pukaki have vanished as the intake is no longer submerged. So the heavy rain is more than welcome. Rob

As much as I would have wished you more gentle and realiable supply of water, it sounds very much like you need a long soaking rain. Which also means landslips and bridge washouts in a lot of places. However you get it, you definitely need it. It sounds almost desperate at this point. I hope your father got his report finished - or at the very least, well on its way. Responsible environmentalists are rare and he seems very valuable, indeed!

Hi On Monday night the relatively good weather of recent times took a drastic change for the worse with, heavy snow in Otago and Southland plus all the skifields, and heavy rain for Canterbury and provinces further north. On Wednesday night the Manawatu river overflowed after 36 hours of nonstop rain and a mail delivery van was abandoned by it's driver after getting cut of by rapidly rising flood waters. Rob

You don't do moderation in New Zealand, anymore?! At least your drought has ended unless it just washed everything into the sea. This sort of weather pattern must make the task of planners that much more difficult. Did anything happen on the plus side of this? influxes of wealthy skiers and fly fishermen leaving vast amounts of foreign currency in the till ? I know of one such who will do that in December.

Hi Cannot tell you what good was done because the storm that brought the heavy rain to the Manawatu River did wind to buildings and had heavy snow for the higher altitudes. The Manawatu River is in the North Island north of Wellington. The rain that came to Canterbury was heavy but did not help because the ground was not moistened up beforehand. We also need about half the rainfall for the duration of the year to date again on top of what has fallen. The drought has broken just about every conceivable record you can imagine. Usually to date every year 370-420mm of rain would have fallen, but as of Friday August 17, 256mm had fallen. In July 1999 we had 222mm of rain in a MONTH, and parts of Canterbury last August probably had 300mm of rain - most of it in 36 hours from 17-19 August (the event that caused the Selwyn River to flood). Average rainfall every month range from about 45-75mm (45mm in January and 75 in July-August). Rob

Poor New Zealand! Are you on water restrictions? I cannot wish you this lack of rain all in one storm - you would surely wash away! I good soaking gentle rain followed up by copious amounts of water on the uplands would be ideal. How that plays itself out, we shall see. Wind damage to buildings and rain in the wrong places or on land unable to absorb it is familiar to those living on the other islands. Our storms are moderated mainly by Mauna Loa's and Mauna Kea's altitudes. We get a gentle soaking rain most evenings "to settle the dust" and in the mornings early. to "water the flowers," but it is not always that way. I think we are also below our average rainfall - we had a very dry spring. Our normal raifall to date is 79.86 inches (203 cm) and we have actually only had 51.86 inches (132 cm.) We are cong to complain about it, but we need nice steady rainfall for the next several weeks to soak into the groundwater and aquifer systems. I shudder to think how bad it is on the drier islands like Oahu, where Honolulu uses most of the water keeping things pretty for the tourists. We all want jungle scenery in Hawaii but no one wants the rainfall that must accommodate such growth. Are you situated so you are not swept away by torrential rains? (Please tell me, yes!) Our side of this vast island (only a fraction of the size of New Zealand) is so porous that whatever rain we do get usually soaks straight into the ground. Then there was the 30 inches in 6 hours in November. They are still patching roadways from that deluge. My house is safe and I am safe, as well.

(Either I need to wake up a little more or proof read better - or both. My apologies for the typing errors in the above post.)

Ocean landslide set off Hilo tsunami, scientist says University of Hawaii geophysicist Gerard Fryer, trying to figure out the cause of the devastating April 1, 1946, tsunami, said he is building a case that it was generated by a submarine landslide shaken loose by an earthquake. The puzzling tsunami killed 159 people in Hawaii, smashed the Marquesas Islands and went on to Antarctica. A recurrent theme among scientists and engineers at a recent International Symposium on tsunamis in Seattle was that "landslides are not something we can ignore," Fryer said. He cited the 1998 tsunami in Papua New Guinea that killed more than 2,000 people. There is still some controversy about it, but most scientists believe the waves were triggered by a giant submarine slump minutes after an earthquake, he said. The people lived on a spit of land only about 16 feet high, and the waves were about 33 feet high, he said. They washed over the entire spit and beyond, he said, adding that about 75 percent of the people were killed in several villages. "There is this realization that collapse slips and landslides have to be considered (as tsunami sources)," Fryer said. "A big one almost certainly will follow an earthquake, but it can happen spontaneously as well." The 1946 tsunami was very strange, Fryer said. "We don't know how big it was. I'm arguing that a landslide was so large that it was responsible for what was recorded on seismographs." A recent earthquake in the Pacific Northwest "reminded us there is a tsunami hazard there," Fryer said, "and in fact, the outer banks of Washington state in many ways are very much like Papua New Guinea, with sand spits and lagoons behind. There is no easy way off the spit in a hurry. It's scary, but things can be done about it." Resort complexes, big hotels and condos could provide refuge, he said. He also said that both Oregon and Washington are good about public education. More plus picture... http://starbulletin.com/2001/08/20/news/

New tsunami warning system in place Deep-water sensors on buoys will provide more data on waves Ocean landslide set off Hilo tsunami, scientist says By Helen Altonn haltonn@starbulletin.com The last of six deep-ocean instruments to alert the tsunami warning network to an approaching deadly wave is being installed this month. "It is the biggest advance we've had probably in the last 30 years in terms of sea-level instrumentation," said Chip McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at Ewa Beach. The ocean bottom sensors send data to satellites via buoys. Three are located off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, and two off Oregon and Washington. The sixth is going in near the equator "along a path to give us readings of tsunamis from South America -- a dangerous zone for us," McCreery said. He added the buoy system is working "excellently" after some initial problems. Normally, the deep-ocean instruments do not produce much data. But if there are any unusual signals, they go into an emergency mode and transmit data every few minutes at higher sampling rates, McCreery said. More and image... http://starbulletin.com/2001/08/20/news/story3.html

[1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Revealing Earth's Deepest Secrets * Crushing Mechanism Revealed: There's New Insight Into What Triggers Rock and Ice Failure * Study Supports Buoyancy Explanation for How Volcanic Rock Rises Through the Earth's Mantle * Giant Wave Devastation Feared References http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy

[1]HYDROLOGY * Secret to Earth's "Big Chill" Found in Underground Water References http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol

There is evidence of a huge tsunami hitting the coast of Scotland ca. 5800 B.C.: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001311817,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/sci_tech/2001/glasgow_2001/newsid_1531000/1531049.stm

Hi Well, Spring is here but the northwesterlies have not arrived. I think La Nina must still be at work because westerlies as a wind have not been all that strong around here in recent times (last 3 weeks). The Waimakariri is running low but clearly at the moment (go to http://www.ecan.govt.nz , look up river flows and go to the Waimakariri camera). In a big flood it is from bank to bank with filthy brown water. In 1957 that river jumped the banks and rolled through Belfast (4000+ cumecs). Rob

Rob, I found a comment in my email weather alerts for the US that the El Ni�o for this year will be minimal. Perhaps that is good news. I wonder if it is not just another part of earth we do not quite understand yet dump all the statistics into a new name technicality to make it sound like we do...! Went into the site you suggested and to river flow and at the bottom of the page, to the Waimakariri River cams. That is a huge estuary system you have there. The water looks pretty clear now, but are all those bits of brown "dry land" just deposited topsoil the latest flooding removed and deposited? http://www.niwa.cri.nz/cam-era/sites/waimaka/waimakariri-a.htm http://www.niwa.cri.nz/cam-era/sites/waimakb/waimakariri-b.htm

Hi Marcia, that is not the estuary. That is the actual river as it appears for much of it's course because the Waimakariri is a braided river - it has channels like that that change course within the stop bank system every time there is a flood. No ships go up or down the river as the channels are too shallow and in any case change course with ever flood. When the river is in a big flood, the WHOLE gap between the trees will be under water. Rob

Good grief!!! I have heard of braided rivers but never thought it might look like this. It looks like a good place for a nature reserve. I shall keep an eye on those cameras - it is truly amazing. Thanks, Rob.

Maybe a little benign neglect is a good thing!!! DEFENCE WORSENS FLOODING River engineering is doing more harm than good. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011004/011004-1.html

Rob, this one is for you - not exactly on topic but cannot find anothe more suitable place for it: Glacier Reveals Climbers Lost for 38 Years WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The remains of two Swiss climbers lost almost 38 years ago have been recovered from New Zealand's Southern Alps, local media reported on Wednesday. Bones, clothing and climbing equipment were discovered by a climber at the end of the Hooker Glacier, near Mount Cook, and recovered by police and Department of Conservation staff, the Timaru Herald newspaper reported. A wallet found among the equipment and personal effects identified the pair as Edward Kunz and Augustus Manser, who disappeared on December 28, 1963. Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest peak at 3,754 meters (12,313 feet), is around 200 km (125 miles) west of Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island. South Canterbury Search and Rescue coordinator Sergeant Geoff McCrostie told the Herald it was not unusual for remains to be discovered after decades hidden in slow-moving glaciers. http://dailynews.netscape.com/mynsnews/print.tmpl?&table=n&cat=50900&id=200110040810000296949&cp=srtoffprt&dpt=offbeat

Hi all IT RAINED TODAY - WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I was delighted to see rain cloud over the Southern Alps today and EVEN BETTER - A southerly with showers (better than nothing)is forecast for tonight. It is about time something happened. But what ever does happen has to be followed up by further rain bearing systems within a couple weeks and preferably carrying something in the order of 20 millimetres every time. New Zealand is still in drought mode and with summer bearing relentlessly down on us the need for rain cannot be greater - Rain dances anyone?? Rob

I was just going to suggest doing rain dances for you, but we already get 150 inches ( 45.7 Meters)of the stuff in a normal year and much more than that is not all that necessary. I'll think cloudy thoughts full of gentle warm soaking rains for your watersheds. Now, go out and play in your gentle rains and enjoy! I do that here!

Hi all October has been the first month when we have had normal rainfall this year. Although we are still about 230mm shy of what we would normally have had in the the year to date it is very pleasing to see normal spring flows in the river of Canterbury, Marlborough, the West Coast and Otago. Rainfall for the month of October to date has been 77 millimetres and given the fact that as I tpye this the sky is going all one shade of grey, it is possible more is coming. Rob

How odd it is to see you say Spring. Keep reminding us north-of-the-equator sorts that there is a whole world who has reverse seasons. The leaden sky is a good sign. Perhaps not all of the world's clouds are not hanging over Hilo today, after all!

Hi all October ended with 88mm of rain falling in Canterbury and the drought appears to be broken for November rainfall to date is above average. 370mm of rain had fallen by last Friday and with low pressure systems in the Tasman Sea lining up to take aim at New Zealand it is reasonable to expect more rain over the next couple of days. Rob

I know you are on holiday, and rain is not welcome. I also know about living on an island and how you must make your own water. It is best when it comes of its own accord. I see that north of you had serious problems with Lingling. Cambodia is currently washing away after it did the same to the Philippines.

Hi all Whether we needed it or not, some rain fell last night as a southerly swept up the coast and into Canterbury, then Marlborough and finally Wellington. It was supposed to bring thunderstorms and for a time it looked like the forecast would be correct, but then the cloud slowly dissipated. A couple showers fell this morning but at the time of typing this the sun had come out. Rob

You said the Northwesters were not bad for you. Rain is good; too much rain is not. Please, no kite-flying while the current activity is overheard. Perhaps it is clearing the sky for the Leonid Meteor Shower this weekend!!!

(marcia, do you see me online?)

Nope!!! Wolfie, if you see me, bring up my box and send me a message.

i can't do anything, my little msn icon won't work but it acts like i've already got a box open. nothing at all.

Delete the whole program, then reinstall it. Been there and done that! Heavy Rain in Puget Sound Region Triggers Mudslides, Forces Evacuations, Close Roads The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP)- Heavy rain from the region's first major storm of the season triggered mudslides, damaging homes and forcing evacuations. The storm dumped 3 inches of rain in Seattle and 5 inches in Olympia on Wednesday. Forecasters said Thursday's amounts would be less, but flood warnings remained in effect for several rivers. A mudslide hit a waterfront house in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. Residents were evacuated and a road uphill from the home was weakened by the slide and closed. Some electricity was knocked out and a water main was shut off because of weakened utility poles in the neighborhood. One highway east of Seattle was closed after mud and water undermined it. Many local roads in western Washington were closed by flooding streams and rivers. The storm resulted from a low-pressure system laden with subtropical moisture, a pattern known as a "pineapple express," said National Weather Service meteorologist Dustin Guy.

I just had to go in to the stairwell in the building I'm in because of heavy tornadoes in the Austin area. It's very dark outside right now. Lot's of tornados about, right now.

BE SAFE, TERRY!!! Got your latop batteries topped off? I have never expereinced a tornado They sound terrifying. Will be standing by for your live action reports!

Hi all The Waimakariri River was running higher yesterday after rain in the upper reaches of the catchment. It meant the white bait were not running and Dad and I came away after 90 minutes with enough for two patties. In New Zealand we need the small freshes to remove the algae that piles up in long spells between the floods. The floods are needed to root out the lupin plants that threaten to overwhelm the bird species which inhabit the river bed during periods of lower flows. Rob

The tornado hit just a few minutes after I drove by the airport, tore the roof off the Montopilis Rec Center (big building), and hovered around that area for at least half an hour. Wierd weather, the tornadoes just hang in one spot instead of move through. The doppler view is at http://www.kvue.com/weather/doppler4.html .

Terry! You could SEE the tornado?? Gimme a lava flow anyday. Tornadoes are too capricious. Don't they make you get into shelters when tornadoes are imminent? Rob, get the rain over with so you can see the Leonids this weekend. We stand no chance of seeing them.

That's fantastic link, Terry http://a940.g.akamai.net/f/940/442/1m/www.kvue.com/images/liveimages/dop640a.gif Thanks!

Hi all Terry are you sure that was the tornado?? I have never heard of a tornado staying in one place for any length of time and the classic direction for them is NE. When a severe thunderstorm as the one I imagine you saw comes over sometimes a really strong inflow of wind can suck up dust if it is on the plains in Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas or elsewhere. This is the mark of a really bad storm because it means the storm is dictating the outflow, and inflow which is required for the monster SUPERCELL thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes. In the same storms depending on whether it is worst-first or worst-last it could have been a curtain of hail or rain or both. A worst first may not necessarily have a tornado but could have damaging winds, rain and hail. A worst-last event, which sometimes but not always looks similar to the worst-first sometimes starts of violently with wind and lightning and some rain and/or half but what you ought to watch out for is a calm period where a segment of cloud is lower than the rest and an tornado will be there. Having said that if you can see a wall cloud and rising scud then you can forget about sight seeing and start worrying about which road is the quickest route out, or if a tornado has descended and it is nearby, take cover. Rob

Not for nothing is that corridor of the US from Texas north though Oklahoma called "Tornado Alley." I suspect this is not the first tornado super-cell that Terry has experienced. I just wonder why they all don't have storm cellars like they do in Kansas and other states with this propensity. Everything is bigger and better in Texas. Even their storms?!

Hi all A heavy rain warning is in force for all Canterbury rivers from the Waimakariri southwards (Waimakariri, Rakaia, Rangitata, Waitaki), all Otago rivers (Taieri, Clutha, as well as Westland (Taramakau, Waiho, Haast, Cook, and several others) The HEAVY RAIN warning is for 200 millimetres (8 inches)of rain in 24 hours from 9AM today (November 18 NZ time, 12PM CA time November 17). To watch a BRAIDED river metamorphose from a semi normal state to one of flood watch this camera of the Waimakariri: Check when you see this message and then in 24 hours time. The difference will hopefully be considerable. http://www.ecan.govt.nz - go to river flow and look at the Waimakariri cameras upon seeing this message and check it every say 12 hours for the next 48 hours Rob

Hi all I am bitterly disappointed with the Northwester in progress for it has failed to deliver the 200mm of rain forecast and only 10mm has been dropped. Oh well, try again tomorrow afternoon your time by which hopefully, 100mm forecast for tonight might be cruising downstream as a flood. Rob

Might you have been practicing the wrong dance? Gods flee when I try, or else they give us half a year's worth over one weekend. Do you get dry summers, or soggy wet ones? I fear it is the former. What DO you do under severe drought conditions? Melt Glaciers?

If only we could Marcia - we are in severe drought here in Western Australia and yet two days ago we had severe storms - electrically magnificent but only an inch of rain - just not enough - but we have changed climatically - semi-tropical I fear - less rain in winter and more in summer and humid. Has any one else come upon this change in climate.

Anne, a great deal of the mid-west of the US is having the same difficulties. Too hot for this time of year. Pennsylvania, is too. California is bone-dry and gets its water from several states away - some of it fossil water, at that. I suspect that in the grand scheme of the earth, we are short in vision and wisdom. We need to be better custodians of that remains. That is not going to be all that comfortable for those of us used to self-indulgent life styles. I have huge problems with people who pile into the car and go shopping instead of taking the kids on hike and seeing something real. Oh well, I'll put away my soap box and realize that I am doing much the same by ascending the summit of Kilauea for a dinner which I could have eaten in Hilo. *sigh*

Hi all Some heavy rain events for you in New Zealand today and over the last couple days. First off, the initial heavy rain event for the mountains DID come - it was just running late and 180mm was dropped causing minor flooding of State Highways 73 and 6. Wellington is mopping up after 100mm was dumped on it in just 6 hours and it caused widespread surface flooding. The culprits were moist northerly and moist southerly airstreams colliding over the city and emptying their load on the city. In Canterbury two days of overcast weather and steady rain has dropped 40mm with more coming tomorrow. The drought is gone from Canterbury. Finally the drought is also dead in Nelson as 32mm of rain fell overnight and more came today. The same system has replenished the Wairau River. Rob

Excellent news, Rob. Let us hope the weather knows when enough is enough. You surely do not need floods to follow on the heels of such beneficial rains.

Hi all The Rakaia is running at 1758 cubic metres per second after nearly continuous rain of varying intensity. Arthurs Pass in the Waimakariri catchment has had nearly 400mm in 5 days and heavy rain is still falling. Mt Bryne in the Rakaia catchment has had 600mm, hence the high river level. On the West Coast heavy rain at Franz Josef and Whataroa reached 22mm an HOUR and the river are rising again for the second time in 48 hours. Heavy rain is tapering of but is not expected to completely stop. The Waiho River draining the Franz Josef catchment reached a height of 7250mm (which exceeded the first alarm level)and further north near Westport, the Buller river is running at 9000mm (first alarm level is 7000mm). Rob

Moderation is not in New Zealand's vocabulary? This is frightening! When I was very young (I have never told this before) and I heard my parents talking about flooding, I would sneak up to the bathrooms and turn on all the water taps to lessen the water build-up around the house. To my little mind, I thought it was a brilliant idea, but I was also insecure enough that I did not tell anyone. Go run your water taps! How much danger are you in from land slips???

Ice crystals pull together http://physicsweb.org/article/news/5/12/1 Avalanche prediction and defence relies heavily on an understanding of the structure of snow when it packs together. Now Ed Adams and colleagues at Montana State University in the US have found a new feature that develops between adjacent ice crystals, which suggests that mass may redistribute itself through snow fields more quickly than current theories predict. According to the team, the same effect may occur in a wide range of crystalline materials (E Adams et al 2001 J. Appl. Phys. 90 5782)

Hi all New Zealand is sweltering in very humid conditions as a warm moist northeasterly streams down from the tropics. Today cloud build ups leading to possible thunderstorms were forecast for inland Canterbury, Otago, Marlborough and possibly also the Volcanic Plateau (more common name for the Taupo Volcanic Zone). Last year cloud build ups and the thunderstorms that occasionally resulted from them, caused flash flooding, slips, a road washout. A hailstorm caused by the same activity destroyed a grape crop intended for wine makers near Masterton. It also sent campers running for shelter as marble size hail started raining down. Rob

Rob! You have our weather! Our air is thick with fumes today and I am staying quietly indoors, as a result. Floods?! Is the storm you mention the one which caught your uncle by surprise when he was camping and fishing? Remind them to stay homw. How much danger is there of lahars as a result of all of this water falling on the ash fields of Taupo? I worry about you! Be safe!

Hi all No risk of lahars at all, because all the remaining rock is either loose bits of pumice littering the lake shore, or welded ignimbrite that has formed high cliffs around parts of the lake shore. To be sure, a huge volume of ash was dispersed, but what is erodible has been eroded, for the most part, and the rest is locked in place by vegetation and other volcanic flow debris. The only lahar risk is when the dam plugging Ruapehu's crater lake fails but that is a major problem which is starting to worry many people. Thunderstorms and cloud build ups are forecast for today, though I doubt we will get any cloud build ups. Any thunderstorms today will be frontal and probably come if a southerly airmass is colliding with something from the west or east. It is westerly at the moment. Rob

This is good news. Be safe! Rob, could you find the White Island Volcano webcam URLs for me and post them. I can't find them in the world volcanology links and I seem notto be able to find them on searches of the web. Thanks!