Wet Election Day in the Northwest, Southeast

Heavy flooding in Washington kills one


South Prairie Creek washes around trees along the banks in South Prairie, Wash. Monday Nov. 6, 2006. Heavy rains are expected to push rivers and streams over the banks in much of Western Washington. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

SEATTLE - A windy Pacific storm dumped heavy rain Monday on western Washington, killing at least one person, prompting warnings of record flooding and forcing rescues by the National Guard.

A 20-year-old elk hunter from Seattle died when his pickup truck was swept into the Cowlitz River in southwest Washington, authorities said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency for 18 counties, authorizing the National Guard to activate and the state Emergency Management Division to coordinate assistance.

More than a dozen Guardsmen were sent late Monday to eastern Skagit County near the Canadian border, with the Skagit River expected to reach record levels, to rescue an unknown number of people, said county spokesman Don McKeehen. Another 150 troops were expected Tuesday.

Those rescued had not heeded a recommendation to evacuate before waters blocked their escape route from several small towns near Concrete, McKeehen said.

In the King County town of North Bend, about 30 miles east of Seattle, the Snoqualmie River slopped over a levee, prompting emergency officials to urge residents of two neighborhoods to evacuate, county spokesman David Tushin said Monday night. He could not estimate how many people might be affected.

A large mudslide near Skykomish, northeast of Seattle, blocked eastbound lanes of U.S. Highway 2, a major east-west route across Washington, while a mudslide earlier Monday near Tacoma delayed an Amtrak passenger train.

Officials at Mount Rainier National Park, which had more than 10 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending Monday afternoon, closed the main park road, turned visitors away and sent employees home early via the only exit road open.

"We want to prevent visitors getting trapped inside the park. The road is vulnerable to washouts in several key places, and there is only one way out," superintendent Dave Uberagua said.

A sheriff's helicopter in Snohomish County, just north of Seattle, rescued several transients stranded on a sandbar where they had been camping. More than 100 students at an environmental camp in southwest Washington were evacuated, for fear that high water would cut access to the camp.

About 200 to 225 elk hunters were evacuated Monday from hunting camps near the Cowlitz River, said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield. The body of Andy McDonald was recovered late Monday when his truck was pulled from the water.

The National Weather Service warned officials in Skagit County — where the Guard performed its rescues — to expect worse conditions than in 2003, when flooding caused $17 million in property damage in Concrete and 3,400 households were evacuated, he said.

The warm-weather rainstorms, propelled by air currents from Hawaii in a pattern called the Pineapple Express, could cause flooding of record proportions, the weather service said. Several rivers had already jumped their banks.

As of early Monday afternoon, Stampede Pass on the Cascade crest east of Seattle had more than 8 inches of rain in the previous 24 hours, while Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recorded nearly 4 inches. Most rivers were expected to crest Tuesday.

Twister kills at least 9 in northern Japan in country's worst known tornado disaster


Debris are scattered on the ground after a tornado tore though Saroma town in the northern island of Hokkaido, Nov. 7, 2006.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's deadliest tornado on record tore through a remote northern town on Tuesday, killing nine and leaving one woman unconscious, police said. About two dozen people were injured.
The tornado knocked out electricity to hundreds of homes and flipped over cars in the town of Saroma, on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Local television showed a scene of devastation, with a wide swath of collapsed buildings, badly damaged cars and utility poles strewn across streets. Many of the victims were construction workers building a tunnel near the town, officials said.

Tornados are relatively rare in Japan.

According to the Central Meteorological Agency, the worst tornado previously recorded in Japan was just two months ago, when three people were killed on the southern island of Kyushu. The agency only has records of tornado-related deaths going back to 1961.

The agency said it was studying data to determine the strength and cause of the twister. Local television networks estimated that, judging from the damage, it was one of the strongest to hit Japan since World War II, with wind speeds of 156 miles per hour.

National broadcaster NHK quoted a local woman, Keiko Takeda, as saying that the skies suddenly darkened over the town and when she opened her window winds were swirling outside.

"It was very strong, but it was over very quickly," she said.

Other witnesses said there may have been two tornados, and that after hitting the town they veered off into the surrounding hills.

The twister blacked out some 600 homes and also disturbed phone communications, police and town officials said. Some 350 police officers were being mobilized in the relief effort.

The twister hit Saroma shortly after 1 p.m. local time, said area fire department official Nobuaki Ueda.

Ueda had no immediate details on the severity of the injuries to the 25 people, although he said 10 were able to go the hospital on their own, while the other 15 were taken in ambulances.

But Yukio Yoshida, a police spokesman of the Hokkaido prefectural (state) police, said one woman was later listed as unconscious at a hospital. A total of 52 people — 45 construction workers and seven residents from damaged homes nearby — were taking shelter at a town gymnasium Tuesday night, said Hokkaido prefectural government official Hirofumi Matsumura.

Matsumura said 40 homes and non-resident structures were either totally or partially destroyed in the twister.

Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. Saroma, which has a population of 6,244, is approximately 620 miles northeast of Tokyo.

Flash floods kill 18, injure 20 in Iraq

KIRKUK, Iraq - Flash floods caused by heavy rain killed 18 people and injured 20 in northern Iraq, a provincial governor said Monday.

The heavy rains began late Sunday, mainly in five villages in the Khalifan district in the Irbil province, Gov. Nawzat Hadi said.

The floods destroyed nine bridge and several houses, he said. Nine of the dead were members of one family. Three of them were children.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms hit different parts of Iraq in the past two days.

Heavy rain floods central and southern Portugal

Heavy rainfalls over the weekend have flooded several villages in central and southern Portugal, forcing nearly 200 people to evacuate their homes.

The Nabao River burst its banks flooding the village of Tomar, 93 miles north of the capital city, Lisbon. The river was said to have reached its highest level since the severe flood the country experienced in 1989, which devastated the city and several surrounding villages.

Heavy rain fell overnight Saturday and much of Sunday, flooding more than 100 houses and shops from central to southern regions as strong winds knocked down trees and electricity poles, cutting power to hundreds.

From 6am GMT on Sunday to 6am GMT on Monday an incredible 129mm (over 5 inches) of rain fell in Castelo Branco. The average rainfall for November is 102mm, making the rainfall over the last 24 hours well above average..

A Civil Protection (European environmental department which deals with natural disasters) officer for the area said that there were 185 reported floods, 22 fallen trees blocking many roads and seven landslides had also occurred.

The Navy and Army were drafted in to help in the clean up operation.

The Civil Protection also said that dams in Costelo de Bode and Fratel were unable to handle the floods, and the Tejo River was expected to overflow again on Sunday, this time in the Santarem area, 50 miles north of Lisbon, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Weather Services forecast heavy rain and poor conditions until Tuesday, as nine of Portugal’s eighteen districts were placed on yellow alert and five on orange, the third and second most serious weather warning level, in a scale from lowest green to highest red.

Santa Ana winds fan further wildfire in Southern California

On Sunday, thousands attended a memorial service for the 4 firefighters who died on October 26th when a fire believed started by arsonists and fuelled by Santa Ana winds engulfed their engine in Southern California. A 5th firefighter died a few days later after sustaining multiple burns in the same fire.

This weekend saw the return of the same hot, dry Santa Ana winds, and this helped fan another wildfire yesterday as it developed in Rialto, 60 miles to the east of Los Angeles.

The blaze was thought to have started in an area of grass and brush which soon grew into a wind-driven wildfire, as the dry Santa Ana winds gusted up to 40mph. The fire burnt at first on the vacant land before starting to move into populated areas threatening 100 homes and eventually burning up to 640 acres of brush.

By Monday afternoon 30% of the fire was thought to be contained as firefighters battled to douse hot spots and prevent the fire from spreading any further. With the Santa Ana winds forecast to diminish through today, this could only help to win the battle.

Santa Ana winds plague the region at this time of year. They are caused when high pressure builds in the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, causing winds to blow down from the desert to the Pacific. As they descend the mountains and funnel through passes, they are warmed and dried and also gather pace.

The southern coastal region of California often gets its hottest weather during the autumn as the Santa Ana winds blow. Yesterday saw temperatures well above average in Long Beach and Los Angeles. Temperatures in Long Beach reached 34.4C ( average 22.2C ) while Los Angeles saw 32.8C
( average 21.2C ).

N Korea storm leaves many homeless

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Heavy weather that battered North Korea's eastern coast in late October left more than 7,300 people homeless, an international aid group said Tuesday, but no deaths were reported due to a successfully functioning early-warning system.

The storms from October 21-23 caused tidal waves that struck North Korea's Kangwon province, destroying or partially destroying 732 houses and flooding 366 others, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.

However, only 14 people were reported injured because an early-warning system was activated two days ahead of the heavy weather and people had evacuated their homes, the Red Cross said.

The local Red Cross society mobilized 235 volunteers to the area and distributed more than 640 kits with water purification tablets, kitchen sets, blankets and other essential supplies.

The delay in news getting out about the storm isn't unusual, because North Korea strictly controls all information and no independent media are allowed to operate freely in the country.

Rebuilding and repairs have already begun in the storm area, the head of the international Red Cross in the North said. No international staff has yet visited the affected area, but Jaap Timmer said local authorities were well equipped to handle the situation, which he termed a "minor disaster."

"The national Red Cross society is getting more and more effective for this type of activity," Jaap Timmer told The Associated Press from Pyongyang. "This can be handled by themselves."

International officials have been working for years to train local authorities to respond to such incidents in the country, which regularly suffers from floods and other disasters, Timmer said, adding that the North Koreans had been more open in providing reliable information about the latest storms.

"We think it's starting to work," he said.

The North suffered severe floods from storms in mid-July in central portions of the country that are believed to have killed hundreds and also knocked out numerous roads and bridges. South Korea's intelligence agency has said the number of dead and missing is likely around 800-900.

However, no precise information on that disaster has been released by the North Korean government and international aid workers haven't been allowed to visit that area.

Orangutans perish in Borneo fires

Fires on the island of Borneo may have killed up to 1,000 orangutans, say animal protection workers in Indonesia.

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation says the animals are facing severe problems as their natural habitat is burnt away.

Rescue workers have found several dead orangutans in burnt-out areas, but have no way of reaching animals still trapped in the burning forests.

The fires have been raging across central Borneo for months.

Erosion

One of those involved in the rescue effort, Pak Hardy, told the BBC that more than 40 animals had been saved after finding their way to the edges of the fires. Many have severe burns.

Others have been killed by local people after eating from the area's profitable oil palm plantations.

One of the problems, says Pak Hardy, is that erosion of the animals' natural habitat means there are few places for them to go to avoid the fires.

The teams have put up posters asking local people not to kill orangutans which are fleeing the fires and to contact them instead, but it is not working.

Four times in the last 24 hours Pak Hardy's team has been too late.

Threats to orangutans' natural habitat are largely responsible for them becoming an endangered species.

Indonesia's annual problem with forest fires is widely blamed on farmers and logging companies clearing land for oil palm plantations.

The fires routinely cause a smoky haze to settle over a wide area and have brought criticism from Indonesia's neighbours as well as from environmental groups.