A truck sits partially submerged in floodwaters in Hamilton, Wash. near the Skagit River Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006 during a tour of areas hit hard by flooding in Washington State. Record rainfall brought heavy flooding to parts of the Northwest on Tuesday, killing at least one person, causing evacuations and damaging roads and houses. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)

Northwest rain eases; 3 dead, 1 missing

PORTLAND, Ore. - The body of a 78-year-old woman who disappeared on a storm-battered beach was found Wednesday, the third confirmed death from storms in the Pacific Northwest that smashed rainfall records and damaged hundreds of homes, authorities said.

The Pineapple Express storm, named for its origin over the warm Pacific Ocean, abated Wednesday after sending rivers over their banks Monday and Tuesday, causing millions of dollars in damage.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared an emergency in coastal Tillamook County, where about 100 people were evacuated because of rising water.

Elma Benefiel and her daughter-in-law were last seen walking near Gleneden Beach on Tuesday. Lt. Vicky Ryan of the Depoe Bay Fire District said she saw the women and "cautioned them to not go out on the beach because of the high water."

They apparently moved to another stretch of beach, she said. The body was found on a spit off the beach, Ryan said. A search was continuing for her daughter-in-law.

Two deaths were reported in Washington — a hunter whose pickup truck was swept into the Cowlitz River and a man whose vehicle was swept into the same river after he ignored road closure signs. The first body was recovered late Monday, and the second early Wednesday.

Some highways and numerous local roads were closed Wednesday because of high water, mud and rock slides or flood damage.

Authorities focused on finding up to 1,000 hunters who rode out the slow-moving rainstorm and remained on the hillsides between Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens, said Gene Seiber, chief deputy for the Lewis County Sheriff's Office.

"Many up there are just waiting it out," Seiber said. "The rescue guys in the air said the guys are just sitting around campfires, waving at the plane. They're fine now, but eventually they're going to come down and realize they can't get out."

While river levels were dropping, some were still at flood stage, with recovery and damage assessment still hours or even days away.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire had declared an emergency for 18 counties on Monday, authorizing the National Guard and the Emergency Management Division to offer assistance.

The state Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will have crews on the ground next week, state spokesman Rob Harper said.

Rainfall records were set Monday across western Washington, including 8.22 inches at Stampede Pass, which broke an all-time record for a 24-hour period there of 7.29 inches, set on Nov. 19, 1962. Olympia had a record for the date at 4.31 inches.

The storm dumped up to 15 inches on Oregon by Tuesday, mostly along the coast.

Policemen and firefighters search for missing people around the wreckage of a collapsed office (background) after a tornado tore though Saroma town in the northern island of Hokkaido(AFP/Hokkaido-Shimbun/Jiji Press)

Japan sends troops in wake of killer twister

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan has deployed troops to remove debris after a killer tornado hit the northern island of Hokkaido, as more strong wind gusts caused further damage.

Fifty-nine people remained in a shelter two days after the tornado tore through the northern town of Saroma, killing nine construction workers and leaving more than 20 people injured.

"It will take at least three days to remove most of the rubble before starting reconstruction," said Hideto Yamamoto, a city hall official. "We also have to consider measures to support those who suffered damage."

The government sent in 110 troops -- known as the Self-Defense Forces due to Japan's post-World War II pacifist constitution -- at the request of local authorities, the Defense Agency said.

They joined 90 local officials working to clear up the small town.

Meanwhile more strong wind gusts Thursday hit Okushiri, a small island 20 kilometers (12 miles) off Hokkaido's west coast, damaging at least eight buildings. No one was injured, officials and local media said.

"We received a report that a strong gust occurred around noon today and caused damage to some houses," said an official of Okushiri Fire Department.

According to Jiji Press, two warehouses were destroyed and six residential houses were partially damaged, with two electricity polls pulled down as wind gusts ripped through the island.

Tornados -- known in Japan as "tatsumaki" or "spiralling dragons" -- are relatively rare in the archipelago, which is routinely hit by typhoons and earthquakes.

In 1993, Okushiri fell victim to a major earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami, killing 200 people.

Rains flood New Jersey streets

NEWARK, N.J. - A storm dumped more than 4 inches of rain Wednesday on parts of New Jersey, flooding streets, sending small streams out of their banks and causing lengthy flight delays.

Firefighters in at least two jurisdictions rescued people from vehicles stuck in floodwaters. No injuries were reported.

Rain fell at a rate of 1 inch per hour at times. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for several counties, and numerous highways were closed.

Delays of more than three hours were reported at Newark Liberty International Airport late Wednesday afternoon.

ANGOLA: Cholera reappears with rain

LUANDA, 8 November (IRIN) - Heavy rains and a continued lack of access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation in Angola has seen the number of people infected by cholera rise sharply in the last two weeks.

Health workers said the government was not doing enough to curb the epidemic, which has claimed almost 2,400 lives since February and at least 68 since 24 October.

Huila Province in the south and Uige Province in the north are the focus of concern. "Uige and Huila are getting quite out of control," said one source, who requested anonymity. "The provincial authorities in Uige aren't really doing anything to combat cholera."

Angola's infrastructure, including its health system, was ruined during a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. Although it is sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, and is undergoing an economic boom, most people live in dire poverty and the country still has one of the world's highest child mortality rates.

Observers say health infrastructure spending in Angola needs to be bolstered to provide clean water and sanitation supplies, essential to combating the cholera epidemic.

"Sanitary conditions continue to be precarious; they continue to be well below what we would hope for," said Jose Caetano, World Health Organisation spokesman in the capital, Luanda.

"But longer-term financing is necessary for there to be long-term development. Even with peace, you can't expect access to potable water to go from 30 [percent] to 90 percent in four years," he told IRIN.

Cholera is a waterborne intestinal infection that causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to rapid dehydration. Left untreated it can bring death within 24 hours but the World Health Organisation (WHO) describes it as "an easily treatable disease" cured with rehydration salts to replace lost fluids.

Despite this, and a series of measures put in place ahead of the annual rains from September to May, a total of 1,506 new cases have been reported across Angola since 24 October, with the exception of Huambo, Moxico and Lunda Sul provinces, which have reported no presence of cholera.

IRIN was unable to reach government officials for comment. Health workers are fearful that the number of people affected by the disease is likely to keep rising during the rainy season.

"Every day, more than 100 new cases are reported," said Erna Van Goor, general coordinator of medical relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland in Luanda.

"Because the rains have really started in the provinces [outside Luanda Province], it is worse there," she added. "Luanda is lagging behind for now, but when the rains really start to come, cholera will increase here too."

Tropical storm Rosa forms off Mexico


A satellite image of Tropical Storm Rosa, taken at 1515 Zulu time, November 9, 2006. Tropical storm Rosa formed in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico on Thursday and weather forecasters gave it a slim chance of grazing the coast. (NOAA/Handout/Reuters)

MEXICO CITY - Tropical storm Rosa formed Thursday off Mexico's Pacific coast, but was forecast to weaken within a day, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Rosa's winds were clocked at 40 mph, but the storm was not expected to threaten land, the hurricane center said. It was roughly 235 miles southwest of Manzanillo and was moving at 3 mph.

Floods close Oregon highway; more rain on the way

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Forecasters say another intense Pacific storm is set to hit the already soaked Northwest Friday.

The region got a short break on Thursday, when early morning light showers were expected to give way to dry conditions by afternoon, as residents cleaned up after storms that smashed rainfall records and damaged hundreds of homes, authorities said.

The heavy rain and flooding blamed for three deaths in the Pacific Northwest also washed out a highway on the east side of Mount Hood, and it may take $20 million to reopen it, Oregon highway officials said.

The White River flowed over Oregon 35 on Monday and Tuesday, making cuts at least 20 feet deep through the highway and sending boulders and trees rolling down the mountainside, said Bill Barnhart, an Oregon Department of Transportation manager.

Two creeks also wiped out a section of the highway to the north.

The storms that hit Oregon and Washington state damaged hundreds of homes and broke rainfall records, authorities said.

At least three deaths were blamed on the storm: two men in vehicles swept into a Washington river and a 78-year-old woman found along the Oregon coast, where another woman was missing.

On Mount Hood, as much as a million cubic yards of rock, mud and sand covered a quarter-mile stretch of road, the main highway connecting U.S. 26 from Government Camp to Hood River.

"None of us at ODOT or the U.S. Forest Service have ever seen it this bad," Barnhart said. "Our biggest concern right now is the safety of our workers."

There were no estimates when the highway would reopen. The same highway washed out in the summer of 2005.

The so-called Pineapple Express stormstorm, named for its origin over the warm Pacific Ocean, eased on Wednesday after sending rivers over their banks Monday and Tuesday, causing millions of dollars in damage.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared an emergency in coastal Tillamook County, where about 100 people were evacuated because of rising water.

The body of a 78-year-old woman who disappeared on a storm-battered beach was found Wednesday, the third confirmed death from the storm.

Elma Benefiel and her daughter-in-law were last seen walking near Gleneden Beach, Oregon, on Tuesday. Lt. Vicky Ryan of the Depoe Bay Fire District said she saw the women and "cautioned them to not go out on the beach because of the high water."

They apparently moved to another stretch of beach, she said. Benefiel's body was found on a spit off the beach, Ryan said. A search was continuing for her daughter-in-law.

Two deaths were reported in Washington -- a hunter whose pickup truck was swept into the Cowlitz River and a man whose vehicle was swept into the same river after he ignored road closure signs. The first body was recovered late Monday, and the second early Wednesday.

Some highways and numerous local roads were closed Wednesday because of high water, mud and rock slides or flood damage.

While river levels were dropping, some were still at flood stage, with recovery and damage assessment still hours or even days away.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire had declared an emergency for 18 counties on Monday, authorizing the National Guard and the Emergency Management Division to offer assistance.

The state Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will have crews on the ground next week, state spokesman Rob Harper said.

Rainfall records were set Monday across western Washington, including 8.22 inches at Stampede Pass, which broke an all-time record for a 24-hour period there of 7.29 inches, set in 1962. The storm dumped up to 15 inches on Oregon by Tuesday, mostly along the coast.

East cools off, Plains heat up
A one-two frontal punch was dampening and cooling portions of the East early Thursday, while the southern and central Plains heated up and snow fell along the Rockies.

A low pressure system packing heavy showers was pushing along the New England coast as it moved northeastward into Nova Scotia. A second, stronger system was creeping northeastward from Lake Superior through eastern Canada.

The storms were expected to keep the truly cold air north of the border, though some chilly temperatures were to filter into the Dakotas and Upper Midwest.

In the West, a low pressure system was forecast to push through the Rockies and into the Plains, causing snow showers over the Northern Rockies. Snow advisories were in effect for parts of Wyoming, Montana and Utah.

Temperatures on Thursday in the Northeast were expected to rise into the 50s and 60s, while the Southern Plains could see temperatures in the 70s, 80s and possibly 90s. Temperatures in the northern Rockies and intermountain West were predicted to rise into the 30s and 40s, while the Northwest was expected to see temperatures in the 40s and 50s. California's temperatures were forecast to rise into the 60s and 70s in the interior.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Wednesday ranged from a low of 18 degrees at Gunnison, Colorado, to a high of 93 degrees at Casa Grande, Arizona.

Farmer John Magill inspects a dried up dam on his farm in Parkes, Australia, on Oct. 25.

Australia drought could be worst in 1,000 years

CANBERRA, Australia - The drought gripping Australia could be the worst in 1,000 years, government officials said, as Australia started to draw up emergency plans to secure long-term water supplies to towns and cities.

The drought affecting more than half of Australia’s farmlands, already lasting more than five years, had previously been regarded as the worst in a century.

But officials from the Murray-Darling river basin commission told a water summit of national and state political leaders on Tuesday that analyses of the current prolonged drought now pointed to the driest period in 1,000 years.