Posts Tagged ‘Struggle’
Firefighters struggle to contain Texas wildfire (Reuters)
Last Updated on Sunday, 10 April 2011 06:54 Written by admin Sunday, 10 April 2011 06:54
LUBBOCK, Tex (Reuters) – Wildfires scorched a lot more than 230,000 acres in Texas on Sunday, roaring by way of a West Texas city, destroying an estimated 80 households and buildings and critically injuring a firefighter.
Fire swept through the small mountain town of Fort Davis, cutting power and encompassing the city in flames, Reeves County Emergency Management coordinator Ricky Herrera said. The Texas Forest Support reported much more than sixty,000 acres burned and 40 properties lost, along with yet another property in close by Marfa.
Herrera stored on standby a shelter for 300 folks, but explained several Fort Davis residents had attempted to return to the city.
“I’ve never witnessed something like it,” Herrera mentioned. “Simply because of the mountains and the contour of the land, the fire just took off in all various instructions.”
Wildfires fed by dry, windy circumstances have charred much more than 260,000 acres in eight days across Texas, burning properties, killing livestock and drawing in crews and devices from 25 states.
Plants that thrived in wet weather conditions turned to tinder below a cold, dry winter. Weeks of large winds and little moisture have created every spark harmful.
A Texas firefighter was in essential situation with extreme uses up Sunday afternoon after fighting an approximated 60,000-acre fire in the northern Panhandle.
The result in of the fire was underneath investigation, but it started in an isolated location around a natural fuel plant and a handful of other industrial web sites in an empty town referred to as Masterson, mentioned David Garrett, an emergency management spokesman for Moore County.
“Type of like a broad spot in the street that has a identify,” Garrett stated. “The fire began in open country and stayed in open country.”
Two close by communities had been regarded as threatened but have been not evacuated late Sunday afternoon, in accordance to the forest services.
A Midland County wildfire burned 40 properties and at least fifteen,000 acres, according to the services.
Crews had stopped from crossing a highway a sprawling 71,000-acre fire that killed almost 170 head of cattle in Stonewall County, spokesman Lee McNeely stated.
Air tankers had dropped sixty,000 gallons of retardant to help sluggish the blaze.
Firefighters had most of the day to get ready for a cold front with gusting winds, McNeely stated.
High winds and dry problems had been anticipated to persist into the evening across West Texas, the National Climate Services warned.
In Oklahoma, wherever Governor Mary Fallin has extended a thirty-day state of emergency she declared on March eleven, firefighters and helicopters on Sunday mopped up the smoldering remains of two fires that erupted Saturday.
One wildfire in Cleveland in north central Oklahoma charred more than 1,500 acres and compelled 350 men and women to evacuate while yet another struck in the vicinity of Granite in southwest Oklahoma, stated Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Emergency Management.
(Additional reporting by Steve Olafson in Oklahoma Metropolis Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Jerry Norton)
Tags: contain, Firefighters, Reuters, Struggle, Texas, wildfire | Posted under U.S. News | No Comments
Struggle Forecast for Pentagon and Deficit Hawks – New York Times
Last Updated on Sunday, 9 January 2011 08:50 Written by admin Sunday, 9 January 2011 08:50
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
 Reuters |
Struggle Forecast for Pentagon and Deficit Hawks
New York Times Now that the Obama administration has forced the Pentagon to gradually freeze its budget in response to economic pressures, the question in Washington is: How long will the deal hold up? Defense Secretary Robert M. … Pentagon cuts have impact in Mass. Backers of Marine Tank Try to Save It Gates goes after military health care |
Istanbul suicide attack highlights Turkey’s struggle with militant groups – Christian Science Monitor
Last Updated on Sunday, 31 October 2010 11:27 Written by admin Sunday, 31 October 2010 11:27
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Istanbul suicide attack in the heart of the city, which injured 17 civilians and 15 police, Sunday.
A suicide bomber targeted Turkish police in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing himself, injuring 32, and prompting police gunfire.
Skip to next paragraph
Chaos erupted midmorning in Taksim Square, the popular shopping and pedestrian center of Turkey’s economic capital, when a male suicide bomber detonated plastic explosives while attempting to board a bus full of riot policemen, authorities here said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though a unilateral ceasefire declared by Kurdish PKK rebels 2 ½ months ago was set to expire on Sunday. Turkey is also home to an array of small non-Kurdish militant groups, from those on the far left, to right-wing nationalists, to Islamists.
Authorities suggested that they had clear suspicions about which group was responsible, and why, but would not be immediately drawn out on who was to blame.
RELATED: 7 most controversial UN speeches, from Ahmadinejad to Khrushchev
“Those who threaten Turkey’s peace, security, and development will not be tolerated,” said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former mayor of Istanbul, in a speech in Mardin, in the mostly Kurdish southeast. “These kinds of attacks will not stop Turkey reaching its goals of peace, brotherhood, and development. We are together, we are brothers.”
Which group carried out the attack?
Istanbul Governor Avni Mutlu said a “terrorist organization” was behind the attack, but gave no further details about who was responsible.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay, on a trip to China, said the government had “certain suspicions, certain evidence” about who to blame, but at this point would go no further.
The bombing took place in Istanbul’s main square, a few strides from a monument dedicated to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded modern Turkey in 1923. The square was draped in Turkish flags to mark Republic Day, which was celebrated on Friday.
The PKK and the cease-fire
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – which fought the Turkish military viciously in the 1980s and 1990s for more Kurdish rights, and is often referred to by Turkish officials as “terrorists” – said it could not continue a cease-fire announced in mid-August.
The group has declared it would no longer target civilians, and last week a top commander based in northern Iraq said the PKK preferred to continue the cease-fire if the government would commit to dialogue.
“We are actually in favor of a permanent cease-fire,” Murat Karayilan told the Radikal newspaper. “We are waiting. We have not decided yet.”
Scene of the blast
At the scene of the blast, glass covered nearby sidewalks and streets, and forensic teams scoured the area for evidence before taking away the remains of the bomber.
Police reported that a second explosive device was found and failed to detonate. Close to the explosion site, a small propane tank typically used for cooking in Turkish homes, and a large cook pot could be seen.
Police buses and water canon vehicles are regularly parked in the spot, and serve as a base for the riot police who constantly patrol the thousands of tourists and Turks who daily walk along the popular Istiklal pedestrian avenue, which starts at Taksim.
“Do you know what happened?” shouted one Turkish policeman in anger, as he forced people away moments after the blast. “My friend, he is there. He is dead.”
That panicked reaction overstated the toll of the attack, although 17 civilians and 15 police were wounded, two of them critically. It was the third suicide attack ever to hit the square, which is often used to stage political protests of all kinds.
The first such attack came in 1999 and injured 10 people, among them three policemen. No claim of responsibility was ever made.
The second came in 2001, when a leftist militant group, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), killed two policemen and a civilian, and wounded eight others. The Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday morning that, prior to the bomb blast, some 16 members of the DHKP/C were arrested in raids in Istanbul and elsewhere.
Though Taksim Square has occasionally been targeted, explosions have in years past repeatedly rocked Istanbul, the capital Ankara, as well as sites across southeast Turkey where ethnic Kurds are in the majority.
Five soldiers were killed last June when their bus was bombed in a suburb of Istanbul. A faction of Kurdish militants called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons and claiming loyalty to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, but disavowed by the mainstream PKK, said it was responsible.
In November 2003, Istanbul was struck by multiple bombings claimed by Al Qaeda, which killed 62 and targeted the British consulate, the HSBC bank, and two synagogues.
RELATED: 7 most controversial UN speeches, from Ahmadinejad to Khrushchev
Crews struggle to reach Indonesia tsunami victims – CNN International
Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 October 2010 11:27 Written by admin Tuesday, 26 October 2010 11:27
Indonesian resorts destroyed
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rough seas slow rescuers dispatched to the remote area
- The trip takes 10 hours, even under good conditions
- A quake triggered a tsunami, killing at least 112 people
- 502 others are missing, officials say
Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) — Rescuers prepared for the worst Wednesday, deploying with hundreds of body bags as they struggled to reach victims two days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia.
The quake triggered a tsunami, killing at least 112 people and leaving 502 more missing, government officials said.
The numbers of dead and injured were in flux because information was trickling in from remote parts of Indonesia, a country made up of myriad islands.
Rough seas and debris delayed a team from the Indonesian Red Cross that deployed Tuesday and was to try again Wednesday. A second Red Cross team was to be dispatched Wednesday, carrying 400 body bags to the disaster area, said spokeswoman Aulia Arriani.
The Red Cross expects to send more emergency supplies, but awaits information on what is needed.
The trip takes 10 hours, even under good conditions.
The area believed hardest-hit was the Mentawai Islands, a popular surfing destination. In particular, Pagai Island was thought to have been affected, said Ita Balanda, a program manager for World Vision in Padang.
Monday’s quake generated a “significant” tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Some of the missing might include people who are unaccounted for after fleeing to higher ground, said Henri Dori Satoko, head of the Mentawai Islands parliament.
Though communication with remote areas is difficult, some witnesses in West Sumatra reported seeing a wave 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) high. Other reports described the tsunami as being about 3 meters (almost 10 feet) high.
At least one village with a population of about 200 people was swept away, with only 40 people recovered, Satoko said.
The quake struck at 9:42 p.m. Monday, triggering a tsunami warning that was later lifted when sea level readings indicated the threat had diminished or was over for most areas. Its epicenter was 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Padang, at a depth of 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5.
The city of Padang and the Mentawai Islands are at the meeting place of two tectonic plates, making them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis.
On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Sumatra. A tsunami generated by that earthquake killed more than 225,000 people in 14 countries — mainly India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Indonesian region of Banda Aceh was hard-hit: About 150,000 died there.
Tags: Crews, Indonesia, international, reach, Struggle, Tsunami, victims | Posted under World | No Comments