Temperature
Extremes
High
temperature extreme:
Roebourne, West Australia, +111 degrees.
Low temperature extreme:
Oimyakon, Siberia -68 degrees.
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Vietnamese
Flood Disaster
At
least 114 Vietnamese have perished in worsening floods
that were triggered by torrential rain and resulted in more than
one million people being made homeless.
The heavy rains brought nearly six feet of flood water in some
areas, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes submerged. The worst
hit areas include the well-known travel destinations of China
Beach and the ancient port of Hoi An. In the district of Duy Xuyen,
villagers had to wade knee-deep in the flood water to collect
the supplies brought in by relief workers. The United States dispatched
a team of military and civilian medical specialists to work with
the International Red Cross and Vietnamese teams to avert an outbreak
of disease.
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Earthquakes
One
man died and six others were injured when a magnitude 5.5 earthquake
struck eastern Turkey near the border of Georgia on Dec.
3. More than 340 homes in a dozen communities were damaged.
Earth
movements were also felt elsewhere in eastern Turkey, southern
Iran, the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, the
China-Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border region, eastern and
southern Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia’s Flores Sea region,
northern Arizona, the Los Angeles Basin and Kodiak
Island.
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Feline
Miracle Survivor
A
cat was pulled alive from a building that had been damaged by
a massive devastating earthquake in Taiwan nine weeks ago.
The cat was discovered by a construction worker who had been clearing
debris from the building in the city of Taichung in central Taiwan.
Veterinarian Chen Chin-chieh reported that the feline was suffering
from dehydration and was extremely thin. He said the cat may have
survived the ordeal by eating another cat that had been killed
by the magnitude 7.6 temblor in September. More than 2,400 people
were killed and another 11,000 injured in the quake.
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Southern
Tempest
Power
poles were toppled and roofs were ripped off buildings in northern
parts of South Australia when a storm packing winds of
more than 75 mph roared through the area.
Hailstones the size of golf balls pelted cities on the Eyre and
Yorke Peninsulas. Entire fields of grain were destroyed by the
storm and a significant number of buildings were damaged. Power
supplies along the storm’s path were cut off when high voltage
transmission and distribution lines were brought down.
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Search
for “Bigfoot”
A
team of eminent Chinese scientists intensified their search
for the legendary half-man half-ape Bigfoot (known as “Yeren”
in China) during October after verifying reports from a hunter
who says he sighted it in the wild.
Hundreds of other people have also reported sightings of the mythical
creature during the last several decades. State media reported
that a team from the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences has
focused its search for Yeren in the remote forests of Shennongjia
Nature Reserve in central Hubei Province. The group found 16-inch
footprints, brown hair and gnawed corncobs in the same area where
the hunter spotted the beast. The Yeren was described as being
eight feet tall, having long, red hair and moving rapidly.
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Iranian
Smog Alert
Iranian
authorities asked residents of Tehran who suffer from heart
and asthma conditions to remain indoors as air pollution in the
capital reached dangerous levels.
Kindergartens and elementary schools were ordered to remain closed
and officials have imposed strict traffic restrictions. Many cars
in Tehran are more than 20 years old and environmental officials
have estimated that they account for 75 percent of the city’s
pollution. Several thousand schools were shut down last year when
air pollution soared to more than six times the acceptable level
set by the United Nations World Health Organization.
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Elephant
Hazard
Herds
of wild elephants in the northeastern Indian state of Assam
are disrupting military maneuvers by taking shelter in the Tezpur
military airfield where they forage at the edge of the runway.
The United News of India reported that more than 150 of the pachyderms
have crippled the strategic night sorties of the Indian Air Force.
The large beasts have terrified pilots and ground staff with their
meanderings. Another 60 elephants have migrated from the hills
of the state of Meghalaya into neighboring Assam’s capital city
of Guwahati where they are precariously close to that region’s
airport. Wildlife officials told reporters that it was only a
matter of time before the herd moved into the facility.
