Deadly tornado strikes Texas town of Granbury

16 May 2013 Last updated at 06:11 GMT

Tornadoes touched down several times in northern Texas.

A tornado has ripped through a town in the US state of Texas, resulting in six deaths, officials say.

Homes were destroyed when the tornado hit Granbury, 70 miles (110km) west of Dallas, late on Wednesday. Local officials warned the toll could climb as recue teams search through the rubble of affected houses. Dozens of people have been injured and are receiving treatment at local hospitals.

Tornadoes touched down several times in northern Texas

Tornadoes touched down in northern Texas

Severe weather has been reported across the region. One resident described the tornado’s impact to Reuters: “The house started shaking. We were in a closet. ”You could hear it – it sounded like a train going off. It was scary,” he said.

 

The same storm spawned another tornado that tore through part of the town of Cleburne, about 25 miles (40km) south-east of Granbury, the national Weather Service said. There have been no reports of any fatalities from Cleburne so far. However, dozens of homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, according to officials and residents.

A third tornado in neighbouring Parker County has also caused damage to buildings, particularly in the town of Millsap, officials say.

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Cyclone Mahasen: Bangladesh orders coastal evacuation

Hundreds of thousands of people are being evacuated from coastal areas of Bangladesh threatened by Cyclone Mahasen.

The Bangladeshi authorities have raised the danger level to seven out of 10 for low-lying areas around Chittagong and the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar. The cyclone, heading north-east through the Bay of Bengal, is estimated to reach land on Thursday.

Burma is also threatened and evacuation efforts are under way there.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims living in camps in low-lying areas of Burma’s Rakhine state are feared to be at risk. They were displaced by ethnic violence last year and many are reluctant to move from the camps.Projected path of Cyclone Mahasen

Hla Maung said he lost his mother and two young daughters during the clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. ”I lost everything … I don’t want to go anywhere. I’ll stay here. If I die, I want to die here,” he said.

The country’s National Planning Minister, Tin Naing Thein, said more than 150,000 people had been relocated to higher ground. The government said a fifth of those were Rohingyas.

‘Life-threatening’

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the storm could create a surge 2m high in coastal districts and residents are being urged to make for cyclone shelters.

The airport in Cox’s Bazar has closed and Chittagong airport is to shut over the next few hours. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Cyclone Mahasen appeared to have weakened to a Category One storm.

But the UN still described it as “life-threatening” for 8.2 million people in Bangladesh, Burma and north-east India.

At least 50 Rohingya Muslims were feared drowned on Tuesday when boats evacuating them from the path of the cyclone capsized off western Burma.

More than 100,000 people died in 2008 when Cyclone Nargis devastated many of Burma’s coastal villages.

Columbus Direct customers who have purchased their policies after 15 May 2013 09:59 GMT will not be covered under the policy for Travel Delay, Abandonment, or Missed Departure as a direct or indirect result of the storm.

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Mexico on Alert as Popocatepetl Volcano Blows Steam

15 May 2013 Last updated at 02:31 GMT

Mexico on alert as Popocatepetl volcano blows steam

Mexico on alert as Popocatepetl volcano blows steam

Mexican authorities are preparing for possible evacuations after a volcano near Mexico City begin blowing steam on Tuesday.

Hundreds of soldiers have been sent to the area in case the Popocatepetl volcano does erupt. The evacuation of up to 11,000 local residents is needed.

 

The volcano has been quiet in the past few years, with the last major eruption in 2000.

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UK Weather Warning

Tuesday 14 May Published at 01:09

YELLOW WARNING of RAIN for Wales, Midlands and south west England.

The public should be aware that persistent and often heavy rainfall spreading from the southwest has the potential to cause some difficult driving conditions through Tuesday. Surface water flooding is likely on stretches of the road network, and in places strong winds will lead to considerable spray.

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Volcanic Ash – North America & Asia

Sunday 5 May 2013 15.00 BST

A remote Alaska volcano rumbled to life on Saturday with three explosions and started emitting a Cleveland Volcano Eruptioncontinuous plume of ash, steam and gas in an area important to air traffic, scientists said.

The low-level explosions at Cleveland Volcano, which lies below a major air-traffic route between North America and Asia, were not severe enough to cause a significant threat to planes. But the incident did prompt federal aviation authorities to divert some traffic north of the volcano as a precaution, said Rick Wessels, a US Geological Survey geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

“Based on the signals we can see, we think it’s continuously in an eruption right now,” Wessels said of the volcano, which is located 940 miles [1,500 km] southwest of Anchorage.

Cleveland Volcano, which has been restless since mid-2011, is on an uninhabited island in one of the most sparsely populated regions of the world, although major eruptions could cause potential aviation threats. Federal Aviation Administration officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 5,676ft volcano began oozing lava in the summer of 2011, causing lava domes to form at the crater and allowing pressure to build inside the peak. There have since been 20 to 25 explosions at sporadic intervals, Wessels said. But Saturday’s trio of explosions was a new turn of events. “We haven’t seen a phase like this where we’ve had multiple explosions,” he said.

So far, the cloud streaming from Cleveland’s crater has reached only about 15,000ft – too low to cause damage to higher-flying jet airliners. “Once it gets to about twice that, we get really worried,” Wessels said.

If the eruption becomes stronger, the National Weather Service will advise mariners to avoid the area, he said. Still, scientists have been put on around-the-clock duty to try to track Cleveland’s activities, he said. “It’s got us all paying attention. We’re not sure if it will escalate or do what Cleveland does, which is to settle down after small explosions,” he said.

It is difficult for scientists to monitor Cleveland Volcano because there is no seismic equipment on the mountain. Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists rely on satellite data, signals from a different volcano about 50 miles away, eyewitness reports and other information. Cleveland Volcano, which occupies about half of Chuginadak Island, is the only one of Alaska’s 90 active volcanoes which is believed to have killed a person in an eruption. A soldier on the island during World War Two disappeared during an eruption, according to Observatory scientists.

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Severe Weather Warning – Strong Winds

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:29AM

A severe weather warning has been issued for very strong winds across much of southern A severe weather warning has been issued for very strong winds across much of southern England, including the Isle of Wight, for Thursday.England, including the Isle of Wight, for Thursday.

The Met Office has issued the yellow warning, saying that very strong south westerly winds for the time of year could see gusts of 50 mph and up to 60mph along the coasts.

The weather forecaster said the public should be aware that some disruption to transport is possible along with possible damage to trees.

The warning is valid between 9am and 9pm on Thursday.

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Philippine Volcano Mount Mayon ‘in deadly eruption’

7 May 2013 Last updated at 04:52 GMT

A volatile volcano has erupted in the Philippines, with at least five people reported dead. Mount Mayon has erupted dozens of times since records began.

Philippine volcano Mount Mayon

Philippine volcano Mount Mayon

Mount Mayon, 330km (206 miles) south-east of the capital Manila, sent a cloud of ash and rocks into the sky early on Tuesday. The ash blast caught a group climbing the mountain, which is famous for its near-perfect cone. At least seven other climbers were hurt in the eruption, reports from guides on the mountain said.

“Five killed and seven are injured, that is the latest report,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chief Eduardo del Rosario said.

“We do not have the identity of those killed or injured, whether they are foreigners or locals.”

A rescue team was on its way to the mountain to verify the reports, he said. A guide on the mountain told a local television station by telephone that those who died were hit by rocks that rained down on them after the ash blast. Local reports said about 20 people were climbing the mountain when the eruption occurred.

In an advisory, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology called the eruption a “small phreatic event” that lasted about 73 seconds and sent ash 500m into the air. No intensification of volcanic activity was observed, it said, and the alert level would not be raised.

But it said small steam and ash ejections could occur with little or no warning and advised against entry to the 6-km (4-mile) radius Permanent Danger Zone around the volcano.

Mt Mayon has erupted at least 48 times since records began. The most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and devastated several towns. The most recent eruption was in late 2009, when tens of thousands of local residents were forced to evacuate as the volcano rumbled back to life.

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China quake: Rescue teams blast roads

Earthquake in Sichuan province, China.

Dynamite and heavy equipment has been used to clear roads into remote villages, says the BBC’s John Sudworth

22 April 2013 Last updated at 09:29 GMT

China is continuing a massive rescue operation in Sichuan province, deploying thousands of workers, after a powerful earthquake on Saturday.

Rescue workers are using dynamite and heavy equipment to get through roads blocked by landslides to reach remote areas, reports say.

But reaching these areas has been a struggle, with bad weather and powerful aftershocks contributing to delays.

At least 188 people are known to have died in the quake, says state media.

More than 11,500 others have also been reported injured since the 6.6 magnitude quake struck at 08:02 local time (00:02 GMT).

More than 18,000 soldiers and police have been mobilised in the rescue efforts, state news agency Xinhua said on Sunday.

Twenty-three helicopters from the armed forces were also being deployed to help out in the operations, Xinhua said on Sunday, quoting an official statement.

Seeking relief

Some of those who have been made homeless are complaining that they have not yet received food or water, says the BBC’s John Sudworth in Sichuan province.

Rescue workers are finding it hard to reach remote places

Rescue teams had already reached the remote villages in mountainous Baoxing County on foot, but landslides were blocking access to aid trucks and preventing some of the casualties from being brought out.

Even in the more accessible areas of neighbouring Lushan county, the aid effort has been hampered by road congestion, our correspondent adds.

Officials have set up an outdoors hospital in Ya-an, the city closest to the epicentre.

“The biggest problem is that the worst-hit spots are spread out in the mountains and it is very hard for rescuers to get the injured people out,” said Zhou Shaohua, chief surgeon at the People’s Hospital of Lushan.

“It takes hours for them to be able to reach a place where they can catch a vehicle.”

“I dare not go anywhere near a mountainside,” a woman named Zhu was quoted by Agence-France Presse news agency, in the village of Baoxing, centre of Lushan county, as saying.

“Many people are worried that the rain will bring more devastation.”

Correspondents say the hill villages, where farmers grow rice, vegetables and corn on terraced plots, were hit the hardest by the earthquake.

Sichuan province was also devastated by a massive quake five years ago that claimed tens of thousands of lives and left five million without homes.

Many of the collapsed buildings were schools and nurseries, leading to widespread criticism of local government’s planning policies.

Although on the same fault line, this earthquake was much less powerful than the previous one.

Once again, though, it is the poor who have born the brunt of the disaster, with the biggest killer not the earthquake itself but poorly-constructed houses, our correspondent adds.

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Anyone injured will be covered under the Medical Expenses section and we will of course assist anyone who is stuck there and needs to return home on a case by case basis, as referred and authorized by PTI (underwriter).

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Lufthansa strike sees ‘massive’ flight cancellations

Lufthansa is offering free alternative bookings

22 April 2013 Last updated at 01:38 GMT

German airline Lufthansa has cancelled the majority of its flights scheduled for Monday due to a Lufthansa Strikestrike over pay.

The airline said only about 20 of its flights would run as planned, out of more than 1,700 originally scheduled.

Flights to and from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Dublin, Aberdeen and Edinburgh will be hit. German airports affected are Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg.

The airline said the strike, second in the last two months, was uncalled for.

“It’s completely out of proportion,” a Lufthansa spokesman was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

“Especially given that four further dates for pay talks had already been agreed upon.”

Common tactic

Ground staff have called a one-day strike amid an ongoing pay dispute with the airline.

Like many airlines, Lufthansa is looking to cut costs in the face of stiff competition from low-cost carriers and big Gulf airlines, as well as rising fuel prices.

Last week, Lufthansa rejected union demands for a 5.2% wage increase over the next 12 months.

Strikers are also looking for guarantees over job cuts.

Unions staged a similar one-day strike last month. Short “warning strikes” are a common tactic among German unions, designed to put pressure on wage negotiations.

In a statement on its website, Lufthansa said passengers should expect “massive” flight cancellations and delays that will start to affect long-haul flights from Sunday.

The airline said it was offering free alternative bookings.

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Angolan Floods

8 April 2013 Last updated at 12:22 GMTAngola Floods

At least nine people have died in Angola’s capital, Luanda, after weekend floods caused by torrential rains.

Four people are also missing after a storm led to the flooding of hundreds of houses, a government official told Angola’s Angop news agency.

Landslides forced the closure of some roads, including one near the port, it was reported.

Angola, a major oil producer, is recovering from a 27-year civil war which ended in 2002.

Government official Antonio Resende told Angop the deaths were caused by flood damage to houses.

The areas affected by the flood were on the outskirts of the city, including the Kilamba Kiaxi housing development recently built by the Chinese, Reuters news agency reports.

There has been a construction boom in Luanda in recent years to build infrastructure and housing for the millions of people who sought refuge in the city during the civil war.

Correspondents say property prices are very expensive and many of the city’s residents still live in sprawling slums.

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Columbus Direct customers who have purchased their policies after 8 April 2013, 12:22 GMT will not be covered under the policy for Travel Delay, Abandonment, or Missed Departure as a direct or indirect result of the bad weather.

Please note that the airlines should make themselves responsible for offering clients alternate flights / compensation for additional accommodation and so these elements would not be covered under the policy.

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