Revelation 11:17
"We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was; because you have taken your great power, and reigned.

Revelation 11:18
The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth."



This handout photo released by the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) on December 24, shows an aerial view of flooded houses in Aceh Tamiang. Two years after the devastating tsunami, Indonesia's Aceh province was grappling with more tragedy after floods and landslides killed at least 90 people and left thousands waiting to be rescued.(AFP/HO)

New woes for Aceh as floods kill 90, force 300,000 to flee

BIREUEN, Indonesia (AFP) - Two years after the devastating tsunami, Indonesia's Aceh province was grappling with more tragedy after floods and landslides killed at least 90 people and left thousands waiting to be rescued.

Troops and volunteer rescue workers were attempting to reach thousands of people trapped by the floods, which have forced around 300,000 to flee their homes on the island of Sumatra.

Aceh was the worst hit, with 60 dead in one district alone as the region prepared to mark the second anniversary of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe.

Whole villages have been swallowed by flood waters following a week of torrential rains.

Aceh governor Mustafa Abubakar said six helicopters were transporting supplies to people stranded by the floods. A navy warship was already in the area with another on the way, said Abubakar, who is coordinating relief and rescue efforts.

"Relief efforts are starting to be more coordinated. We've started dropping relief supplies from the air in isolated areas," he told AFP.

Only house roofs and the minarets of mosques showed above the muddy brown waters in the worst-hit district of Aceh Tamiyang in aerial photographs taken by the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency.

Villagers were shown sheltering on higher ground surrounded by flood waters, with some people floating precariously on logs.

Some 150,000 people in Aceh Tamiyang have taken refuge on higher ground but water levels remained high, local police chief Agus Santoso told ElShinta news radio.

"Water levels in the upstream areas in Aceh Tamiyang remain about two metres (more than six feet) in some areas. The area is surrounded by rivers and the water level has not receded," he said.

Villagers said they were running short of food.

"We have not received any food, we have not eaten rice for five days. We're surviving on sweet potatoes and bananas," Anto, a resident of Tenggulun village in Aech Tamiyang, told ElShinta.

"Many children are getting sick with fever and diarrhoea," he said.

In North Aceh, two people were killed and more than 140,000 people fled their homes, deputy district head Nasrullah told AFP.

"We need food, clothes and tents for the displaced people," he said.

"Water has receded in some places, but it's flowed to lower areas and flooded more villages," he said.

In the neighbouring province of North Sumatra, at least 19 people were killed in a landslide which buried dozens of houses while nine others died in the floods.

Television pictures showed villagers perched under makeshift shelters along railway tracks built on banks which remained above the waters.

"We are now concentrating on evacuating people who are trapped in their homes in the town of Kuala Simpang in Aceh Tamiyang district," Ghufran Zainal Abidin, the local chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party, told AFP from the worst-affected area.

"We have not received any more reports of dead victims as we are concentrating on saving the ones that are trapped in flooded spots," said Abidin, who reported 60 dead in Aceh Tamiyang district Sunday.

Around 1,000 troops have been dispatched to Aceh and North Sumatra along with heavy equipment and helicopters, Commodore Mohammad Sunarto Sjoekronoputro said, according to the official Antara news agency.

Two Hercules transport aircraft loaded with tents, field kitchens and inflatable boats were being sent to the affected region.

Floods also hit neighbouring Malaysia, where seven people were killed in the worst affected southern state of Johor. Some 74,000 were still sheltering at relief centres.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has pointed the finger at illegal logging as one of the causes of the deadly floods, and pledged that the government would intensify its efforts to replant the forests.

Last June, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains killed more than 200 people in South Sulawesi province. Separate floods killed more than 20 people and forced 40,000 people from their homes in Borneo in the same month.

Severe Storms Exit SE, New Wet Storm West

A storm complex churning through the South this Christmas Night will continue to foster conditions favorable for strong to severe thunderstorms in southern Florida tonight before quickly exiting into the Atlantic overnight. An apparent Christmas tornado this morning destroyed five homes in northern Florida near Lake City. Other possible tornadoes or straight-line thunderstorm complexes with high winds severely damaged homes in Leesburg and San Antonio at the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club Community. Reports of severe damage to 15 to 25 homes with 10 destroyed in the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club Community with 2 injuries has been devastating for the Holiday. In the West, heavy rain is likely in extreme northwestern California and southwest Oregon. Local totals of 4 or 7 inches are possible by Tuesday Night along the northern California coast with possible flash flooding. Heavy rain will also spread down into the Bay Area with potential flooding rain on Tuesday. Along the coasts of Oregon and northern California, high surf advisories and warnings are out for surf of 20-25 feet. Use extreme caution around any of the seaside coastal areas. Also, heavy snow and winter storm warnings remain posted for the mountains and highlands of Idaho and west-central Montana. Snowfalls of up to a foot (or slightly more) are possible. On Wednesday, The powerful storm will move inland bringing widespread rain and snow to the Great Basin and northern and central Rockies.

Typhoon Muifa creating battering waves

What started Tuesday innocently enough as a moderate tropical storm has become a small, but potent, typhoon east of the Philippines. Typhoon Muifa (Moy-fa) became worthy of its prefix today when winds were estimated at near 105 mph. Muifa is at best meandering to the north while churning in the Philippine Sea just east of Manila. In fact, for all intents and purposes, the typhoon has stalled. Though forecast to move west over the islands, forward progression will be slow. Bad news for the island chain as flooding and mudslides will result from the copious amounts of rain expected to fall over the next 48 hours. There is no doubt that the large and powerful waves have been battering the eastern coast of the northern Philippines. The system is forecasted to weaken gradually over the next 5 days as it heads towards southern Vietnam.