Floods hit south Malaysia, 30,000 flee homes

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Southern Malaysia has been hit by the heaviest rains in 100 years this week and resultant flooding has forced about 30,000 people to flee their homes, news reports said on Wednesday.

The floods have cut off main roads and disrupted train services in the southern state of Johor, the worst-hit state which is also a major rubber and palm oil producing region.

"More than 28,000 people have been evacuated," Johor chief minister Abdul Ghani Othman was quoted as saying by the online edition of the Star newspaper. "We expect the number of evacuees to increase."

So far, there are no reports of casualties.

The floods came after two days of incessant rains, the highest rainfall ever recorded by the state in 100 years, the weather bureau said.

Annual rainfall in total was usually about 240 centimetres, but in just one day on Monday, the state received 35 cm of rain, it said.

There was no immediate word on the impact on crops in the state, but palm oil prices rose slightly on fears of supply disruption. Malaysia is the world's top palm oil producer and exporter.

Malaysia's national news agency Bernama said the floods have spread to the neighbouring states of Negeri Sembilan and Malacca, forcing some 2,600 people to be evacuated.

Philippine volcano spews ash again, mudslides feared

MANILA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A volcano south of the Philippine capital spewed ash over wide areas on Wednesday after its 15th explosion this year, bringing a risk of mudslides.

The country's top vulcanologist said Mount Bulusan, located around 400 km (250 miles) south of Manila, was not a violent volcano but warned that a big explosion was still possible after it belched ash over a 15 km (9 mile) area.

"The most important thing is for the people not to venture into the 4-km (2.5-mile) radius permanent danger zone around the volcano," Renato Solidum, director of the government volcanology agency, said in a radio interview.

"If there are heavy rains, residents should stay away from rivers around the volcano because the new deposits of ashfall may be swept by the waters and cause lahar (a volcanic debris flow)."

Solidum later told Reuters the ash explosion was accompanied by rumbling sounds and lightning flashes. But he said the volcanology agency was not recommending evacuations and it was maintaining the lowest alert level, 1, over the mountain.

Natural disasters are a constant threat in the Philippines, which sits on the Ring of Fire, a seismically active stretch of the Pacific Ocean. The country, which has 22 volcanoes, is also buffeted by typhoons from May to December.

Over 1,000 people were feared killed in neighbouring Albay province last month after flash floods and high winds from Typhoon Durian poured tonnes of debris from Mount Mayon, the country's most active volcano, onto villages encircling it.

FEATURE-First drought, now floods plague Kenya's nomads

MANDERA, Kenya, Dec 20 (Reuters) - After all her goats died in a drought that swept east Africa last year, Habiba Abdi Gedi decided to settle a few kilometres from the Darwa river along the Kenya-Ethiopia border.

But then this year abnormally heavy rains in the Ethiopian highlands caused flash floods, bursting the river's banks, and flooding her home.

"Water came into the house very fast. Before I knew it, it was up to my bed, then my utensils and chicken coop were swept away," said the 45-year-old Kenyan.

Already weakened by the drought that annihilated their precious livestock, nomads in Kenya's arid northeast are now grappling with devastating floods, which have killed over 100 people and displaced more than one million across Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

Covering her nose and mouth with a colourful traditional shawl, Gedi points to a large pool of water next to her hut of sticks, grass and plastic sheeting.

Flies swarm on bloated camel stomachs and other rubbish washed from slaughter houses along the river and swept down to Gedi's home by the floodwaters.

"The toilets have collapsed, the water has brought this stinking mess, and there are even snakes here," she said.

Gedi and her neighbours are too poor to shift their houses and wait for the water to recede before moving back.

Along the riverbanks, hundreds of small-scale farms have been ruined by floodwaters, and officials fear already critical food shortages will become worse.

"The farms along the river form the bread basket of the district, all the food is either from here or relief," said Raphael Lemaletian, Mandera district officer.

"Now that the crops have been swept away, we anticipate a severe food shortage for about 100,000 people who are not included in the list of beneficiaries for relief food," he told a team from UK-based aid agency Save the Children.

"AGAIN, I'M LEFT WITH NOTHING"

All his life, 55-year-old Jammah Ali Isack says he has followed the path of his pastoralist ancestors, traversing the arid, harsh terrain of Kenya's northeastern province with his livestock in search of water and pasture.

But after losing over 100 goats in the drought, Isack decided to try his hand at farming, an alien concept to his people's way of life.

"Our people are not farmers," Isack said. "But I have no animals and nine children and three wives to feed, so I had planted some maize and vegetables. Now it's gone, again I'm left with nothing," he said, shaking his head and pulling at his brightly-dyed beard.

Aid agencies say nomadic people are the most vulnerable in the region because their entire livelihood depends on the climate. But persistent drought and lack of rain have forced many nomads to change their lifestyle, and some have settled into farming or moved to cities in search of jobs.

Hundreds of people and tens of thousands of livestock died of hunger during last year's drought.

Isack said the floodwater swept through the middle of his farm but he would try and replant his crops and would pray for the rain to stop.

Forecasts suggest the rains could continue through December and spread into other countries in central and southern Africa.

"TICKING TIME BOMB"

In neighbouring Wajir district, aid agencies and public health officials are bracing themselves for a surge in malaria cases. They fear other diseases such as cholera might break out from a lack of proper latrines and water hygiene.

"In Wajir town, people use buckets instead of latrines so when the floods came, the latrines overflowed, and contaminated the drinking water," Nur Kato Abdiadir, Wajir public health officer, told Reuters.

"We are sitting on a ticking time bomb," he added.

In the district hospital, the paediatric ward is already straining with an influx of children suffering from diarrhoea and malaria. The suffering is compounded by malnutrition.

Poor access to transportation is also hampering aid efforts.

"The roads have been cut off by the floods ... it has been nearly a month since the roads were accessible," a nursing officer said.

Blizzard closes airport, sends cars into ditches

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A major snowstorm blew across Colorado toward the Plains on Wednesday, dumping more than a foot of snow in some places and forcing the airport to close, stranding thousands of holiday travelers.

Authorities at times shut down major highways in parts of six states.

The National Weather Service posted blizzard warnings for most of eastern Colorado and adjoining sections of Nebraska and Kansas.

A day earlier, the storm had pummeled New Mexico with up to a foot of snow.

Denver International Airport closed in mid-afternoon Wednesday and was expected to remain so until at least Thursday evening, said spokesman Steve Snyder.

More than 1,000 flights were canceled through Thursday, and as many as 3,000 people were stranded at the airport.

As much as 20 inches of snow was forecast in Denver. Two feet of snow is possible in the foothills just west of Denver, with 2 to 3 feet a possibility farther north.

Up to 20 inches could accumulate on the Plains of eastern Colorado and wind up to 30 mph could pile the snow into high drifts, the National Weather Service said.

The storm struck Denver with more than 6 inches of snow just as the morning commute was starting.

"I'm going to grab my computer, talk to my boss and go back home," Jennifer Robinson said after driving about 20 miles from her home in Boulder to her sales job in downtown Denver. "I'm not going to take a risk and get stuck in Denver."

Stranded travelers sprawled on benches and floors at the Denver airport, or stood in long lines at ticket counters trying to make new reservations.

"I'm trying to book another flight, but I'll probably be spending the night at the airport," said Michael Heitc, 54, of Denver.

He was trying to get to Oregon to visit relatives for the holidays.

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard in case stranded motorists needed to be rescued.

Authorities also closed portions of interstate highways in Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas throughout the day, including nearly all of Interstate 25 in Colorado, the state's busiest north-south route.

"They pulled everyone off the highway," said Leon Medina, manager of a truck stop on Interstate 25 in Walsenburg, about 130 miles south of Denver. "Cars are all around the building. Trucks are all over, trucks and cars pulled into ditches."

Scores of schools were closed, and the NBA's Denver Nuggets canceled their game Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns.

Travelers stalled by the closures had already started filling Kansas motels during the morning, said Stan Whitley, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Scores of schools were closed, along with many courthouses in eastern Colorado.

The lumbering storm dropped more than a foot of snow in Colorado's southwestern mountains Tuesday, with 19 inches at the Wolf Creek ski area and 17 at Durango Mountain Resort.

"We've been waiting for a big storm to hit so this was the best early Christmas present," Durango Mountain Resort spokeswoman Loryn Kasten said.

Winter storm or blizzard warnings were in effect for much of Nebraska, with up to 12 inches of snow expected by Thursday morning. Rain spread across much of the rest of the Plains.

Roads around New Mexico were still snowpacked and icy Wednesday. Numerous schools opened late or remained closed. Los Alamos National Laboratory was closed for the day.

Up to a foot of snow fell at higher elevations of northwest and west-central New Mexico on Tuesday, and snow and sleet closed sections of I-40 across eastern New Mexico and in the Texas Panhandle.

Albuquerque International airport was closed for several hours Tuesday as snow covered runways.

In Denver, Chris and Erica Govea couldn't figure out what the fuss was about.

The Fresno, California, couple were in town to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, and had picked the city after seeing it on televised Denver Broncos games.

Strolling through the snow, bundled in puffy coats and laden with shopping bags, Chris Govea said, "We thought it was always like this."