Hundreds escape paths of wildfires

HELENA, Mont. — Hundreds of people fled wildfires in the West on Thursday, even as cool, wet weather held a hint of relief for parts of the region.
Residents of about 130 homes were evacuated near two fires that burned almost 51,000 acres near Weaverville in Northern California, said Capt. Scott Sedgley of the Napa Fire Department, and those living in 260 homes were placed on 48-hour alert.

In south-central Montana, where firefighters have been battling big blazes for three weeks, residents of 325 homes were evacuated as the Jungle Fire grew to 32,000 acres, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Marq Webb said.

The fire season in California could extend into December, he said.

"What we really need for California is a good, strong, soaking rain over that area, and we don't see that occurring," Ochoa said.

Firefighters battling a 27,600-acre blaze in Los Padres National Forest in central California scrambled Thursday to take advantage of cooler temperatures and light winds because the weather is forecast to turn against them this weekend. With warmer Santa Ana winds predicted, "the incident commander has made a decision to try to catch it before the weather changes," said Richard Tobin, spokesman for the Los Padres forest.

The weather Thursday turned cold, and light rain helped dampen Montana's Jungle Fire. The fire had more than tripled in size this week and sent up a 35,000-foot plume of smoke that drifted as far as Minnesota and Wisconsin, the interagency fire center reported.

This year ranks as the USA's worst wildfire season in nearly a half-century in terms of acres burned, according to the fire center. The 8.7 million acres burned as of Thursday morning tops the 2005 record of 8.69 million acres, according to the center, which keeps statistics dating to 1960.

Drought punishes crops in South

CENTRE, Ala. — It's finally raining here this week, and every drop is falling like cruel irony on the stunted crops that Randall and Nick McMichen have managed to coax from their drought-parched fields.
"Three weeks ago, we were wishing for rain," says Nick McMichen, 36, who farms 1,200 acres with his father, Randall, 59. "Now, we're not wanting rain. Any rain now would be detrimental for our crops. A hurricane was what we needed in July. In years past, the active hurricane season has meant good rain for us. But this is just too little, too late."

Hard-hit Southeast

"It is widespread in the Southeast," says Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the center. "Over the last several weeks, there's been a worsening of drought severity. We're seeing more of the region being classified as drought conditions, and even a few pockets of extreme drought conditions."

It was one of the worst years in decades for wheat farmers in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

In August, corn farmers in Iowa, Nebraska and western Missouri were bedeviled by rain shortages and temperatures topping 100 degrees.

"The corn crop was just burning up," Fuchs says.

Agriculture in Alabama is a $5.5 billion industry, accounting for 467,000 jobs, 21% of the state's workforce. "This is serious business for us," Sparks says. "It's our No. 1 industry. It's in all 67 counties, and all 67 counties have been declared disaster areas."

In this part of northeast Alabama, rainfall has been significantly below normal since October. Some towns have reported rainfall totals almost 50% below normal.

Those totals have spelled bad news for farmers here, says David Derrick, agronomy agent for northeast Alabama for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service. "You expect a drought every three, four or five years," he says. "But you hardly ever have a drought where all the crops are affected. Almost everything is just a bust this year."

Mexican tropical storm may become hurricane Friday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Lane gained strength as it pounded Mexico's Pacific coast with rain and high winds on Friday and forecasters said it could become a hurricane later in the day as it heads toward tourist resorts.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm, carrying maximum winds of 60 mph (95 kph), was about 70 miles southwest of the beach resort of Manzanillo and heading northwest at seven mph (11 kph).

Two weeks ago, thousands of tourists fled the Pacific resort to escape Hurricane John which ended up veering away just before making landfall but killed at least three people on the peninsula who were swept away by swollen rivers.

Storms Helene, Gordon churn over open Atlantic

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Helene strengthened as it churned westward across the Atlantic on Thursday, while Hurricane Gordon remained a powerful Category 3 storm, but neither posed any immediate threat to land.

By 11 p.m. (0300 GMT on Friday), Helene, the eighth tropical storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The swirling mass of gusty thunderstorms was located about 970 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph), the Miami-based center said in an advisory.

It was expected to strengthen in coming days into a hurricane but would most likely start curving to the northwest well before approaching the U.S. East Coast, computer models showed.

Gordon, the season's third hurricane and the first to become what meteorologists call a major storm with winds in excess of 111 mph (154 kph), was located around 630 miles (1015 km) east of the British mid-Atlantic territory of Bermuda and moving northeast at 9 mph (15 kph).

Hundreds of Ind. homes hit by flooding

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. - Hundreds of homes in northwestern Indiana county were swamped by rising floodwaters after a storm dumped up to 5 inches of rain within a few hours, a county official said Thursday.

At least 1,000 homes in Lake County, including more than 800 in East Chicago, were hit. Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Lake County Emergency Management Agency, said the flooding was concentrated in the northern third of the county. No injuries were reported.

"Some areas were totally evacuated because the water was so high," he said.

Taiwan issues warning against Typhoon Shanshan

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau has issued an alert as Tyhoon Shanshan was approaching bringing with it the threat of strong winds and torrential rain.

The center of Shanshan, which is a Chinese woman's name, was 470 kilometers (291 miles) east-southeast of Taiwan's southernmost tip Oluanpi at 17:30 pm (0930 GMT), the bureau said Thursday.

With a radius of 200 kilometers, the typhoon was moving west-northwest at a speed of 10 kilometers an hour and packing winds gusting up to 144 kilometers per hour.

Residents in eastern and northeastern Taiwan were urged to take precautions against the downpours and powerful winds and avoid activities near the sea. Those in mountainous regions were told to watch out for mudslides.

In July, Tropical Storm Bilis killed three people on the island while Typhoon Kaemi injured four people. Both storms claimed hundreds of lives on the Chinese mainland.

Clooney, Wiesel tell UN time running out in Darfur

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. actor George Clooney and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday the world would be blamed for another Rwanda if atrocities were not halted in Sudan's Darfur region.

"In many ways it is unfair but it is nevertheless true that this genocide will be on your watch. How you deal with it will be your legacy," Clooney said. "Your Rwanda, Your Cambodia, your Auschwitz."

To a crush of cameras, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton invited the celebrities to an unusual session of the 15-member council to highlight the catastrophe amid continuing U.N. frustration about Sudan's refusal to allow U.N. troops to provide safe havens for civilians in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when non-Arab villagers took up arms because of lack of resources. The government then mobilized Arab militias, which have conducted a campaign of murder, rape and looting.

Fighting, disease and hunger have killed some 200,000 people and driven some 2.5 million into squalid camps. Sudan is now sending troops to the region to fight rebels who did not sign a faltering May peace agreement.

The African Union has some 7,000 troops in Darfur but is running out of manpower, finances and equipment. Its mandate expires on Sept. 30.

"After Sept. 30 you won't need the U.N. You will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and headstones," said Clooney, an Oscar winner.

"The United States has called it genocide," Clooney said. "For you it's called ethnic cleansing. But make no mistake: it is the first genocide of the 21st century. And if it continues unchecked it will not be the last."

Asked later about actors entering politics, Clooney said it was not unusual for Hollywood to draw attention to issues.

"We used to sell war bonds, we've been doing it a long time," Clooney said. "We're fairly good at getting cameras to show up, so you try to be informed on some of the issues that you take on."

I like this Clooney guy - to use his camera space for a good cause. Very good of him.