Natural Disasters News Archives

Amid public demand for H1N1 shots that's growing at an exponential rate, Ottawa is telling vaccine-hungry provinces to expect only a fraction of what they were hoping to get.

Plugging New Orleans' $68-million hole in the 2010 budget and addressing a $30 million shortfall this year are daunting challenges, particularly in a city still recovering from catastrophe.

The effectiveness of pandemic flu vaccination campaigns - " like that now underway for H1N1 - " could be undermined by the public incorrectly associating coincidental and unrelated health events with the vaccines.

The number of global swine flu deaths has spiked by 700 in a week, the World Health Organisation says, as Ukraine closed schools and cinemas in the toughest measures taken in Europe over the virus.

While residents in some Western and Plains states were digging out Friday after an early blast of snow, heavy rain and strong winds that toppled trees, power lines and church steeples lashed parts of the South, leaving one person dead.

The fourth typhoon to lash the Philippines in a month brought pounding rain and winds to the eastern coast Saturday as it barreled toward Manila along the same path as an earlier storm that left the capital still partially submerged.

President Obama embraced Jeanne White-Ginder after signing a bill to extend an H.I.V./AIDS treatment act named for her son in the White House's Diplomatic Reception Room on Friday.

Swine flu has caused at least 19 more children's deaths - the largest one-week increase since the pandemic started in April, health officials said Friday.

A single dose of swine flu vaccine is enough to immunize adults and children over 10 against the pandemic strain, the World Health Organization said Friday.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit off Japan's southern coast Friday, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency.

Allowing children to fall ill with seasonal flu may protect them against more dangerous pandemic strains, it has been claimed.

A dried-up irrigation canal in April near Tranquility, Calif. Central Valley farmers and farm workers are suffering through the third year of the worsening California drought with extreme water shortages and job losses.

A tuberculosis epidemic is overwhelming health clinics across Swaziland. It's fuelled by the high rate of HIV amongst the population.

Health officials think that as many as 5.7 million Americans were infected with swine flu during the first few months of the pandemic.

Gerald Butler attends the 2009 Whitney Museum Gala at The Whitney Museum of American Art on October 19, 2009 in New York City AP Elijah Wood poses for the LA press AP Rob Zombie sings himself to the bone in Council Bluffs, Iowa Getty Images Snoop Dogg: 'I Love' Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' Single Getty Images Vivica A. Fox strikes a pose at the ...

China's State Council said Wednesday the country faces "severe challenges" in the prevention and control of A/H1N1 flu after some areas reported a sharp increase in the number of patients infected by the epidemic.

When 5,000 pounds of metal broke off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and rained down on traffic during rush hour, the accident resurrected fears about the safety of a span that millions watching the 1989 World Series broadcast learned had failed during an earthquake.

Can climate bill be sold as national security? Senate hearing gets warming warnings from defense world The U.S. military airfield on Diego Garcia, an island in the IndianA Ocean,A is one of many areas vulnerable to rising seas.

AIDS experts urged Russian officials on Wednesday to scrap their abstinence-based strategy for curbing the spread of HIV, saying the country's fast-growing epidemic could be entering a dangerous new phase.

A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for north Texas from 4am Thursday to 7pm Thursday .

The federal government's preparedness for the H1N1, or swine flu, pandemic that has claimed for more than 1,000 lives nationwide was inadequate and incomplete, a congressional subcommittee said Tuesday.

More than 22 million doses of swine flu vaccine are available now, and most Americans should soon find it easier to get their dose, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

Securities exchanges have a sound network back-up if a severe pandemic keeps people home and clogging the Internet, but the Homeland Security Department has done little planning, Congressional investigators said Monday.

An independent safety oversight board is warning that a major earthquake could cause a catastrophic fire at the main plutonium laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which could trigger a massive radiation release.

Heart attacks appear to have become more common in middle-aged women over the past two decades, but all women and especially those younger than 55 have recently experienced a greater increase than men in their chances of survival following such a heart event, according to two reports in the October 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of ...

Hurricane Katrina gave Ned Sublette a dramatic coda - and title - for his memoir.

Scientists mapping the seafloor off Oregon found a surprising sight - 20-foot vertical upheavals they had never known existed in the middle of the Juan de Fuca Plate, where some odd swarms of earthquakes were detected last year.

Despite long lines and limited supplies of the H1N1 flu vaccine, U.S. efforts against the disease are not too late, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Monday.

A Wildfire has burned more than 600 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California, forcing dozens of people to evacuate their homes.

A debate over two different swine flu vaccines overshadowed Germany's launch of a public inoculation program against the pandemic on Monday.

A man fined in the most destructive wildfire in South Carolina history is facing a court date to answer to charges.

A Bellevue Township man was charged for the work of 13 firefighters last July, though only two firefighters showed up to check on a brush fire he'd already doused.

A preteen who died after being admitted to an Ottawa hospital this weekend marks Ontario's first H1N1 fatality since the second wave of the pandemic was confirmed by health officials.

In one of Canada's first sweeps of H1N1 inoculation, street nurses will be ducking in and out of alleys on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, vaccinating the homeless, the downtrodden and the drug-addicted. On the other side of the country, H1N1 syringes will be popped into the arms of the down-and-out at some of the bigger shelters in Montreal and ...

Hundreds of people are being evacuated from the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Watsonville because of a wildfire that broke out overnight.

Published: Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 5:15 a.m. Last Modified: Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 5:15 a.m. New York state health officials recently laid out this wrenching scenario for a small group of medical professionals from New York-Presbyterian Hospital: A 32-year-old man with cystic fibrosis is rushed to the hospital with appendicitis in the ...

The question is: Are Manchester's streets safe? On the whole, the answer is "yes." The way the U.S. government has been handling the new flu strain, technically named H1N1, has been less than reassuring.

The 2009 Pinot Noir harvest is wrapping up in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation, with winegrowers reporting potentially very high quality and normal yields.

Share + Oct 24, 2009 6:00 am US/Eastern KEVIN SPEAR, Orlando Sentinel WEKIWA SPRINGS STATE PARK, Fla.

The Irish Red Cross is to provide a service to help companies and business groups limit the spread of swine flu.

China's agriculture ministry has announced that an epidemic of swine disease that killed more than 80,000 pigs in 2007 has emerged in parts of the country.

NASA's QuikScat measured Typhoon Lupit's rotating winds on October 22 at 0947 UTC by using microwaves to peer into the clouds.

A doctor demonstrates how to carry out the new flu vaccination against the H1N1on Aug.

The United States has seen "many millions of cases" of swine flu and more than 1,000 deaths -- or around a fifth of the world's total -- since the H1N1 outbreak began six months ago, a top health official said Friday.

San Juan, Puerto Rico -- Crews struggled to contain a huge, smoky fire at fuel storage facility outside Puerto Rico's capital Friday following an early morning explosion that knocked out windows and shook the ground in the U.S. territory.

The number of swine flu deaths increased 264 from a week earlier, according to WHO.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the eastern province. Friday's quake came as Indonesia is still recovering from another, more powerful earthquake on western Sumatra that killed more than 1,000 people last month.

Retired accountant James McDermith's mad dash to retrieve a camper and pack it with belongings as a wildfire chewed closer to his home six years ago may have cost him his life.

Grappling with low supplies of swine flu vaccines, President Felipe Calderon persuaded drug makers this week to sell him 30 million doses, while 1,000 Mexicans lined up for an experimental vaccine they hope can speed up supplies.

TYPHOON Lupit was poised to slam into the north coast of the Philippines, forecasters said on Thursday, as the cyclone-devastated nation sought foreign aid to rebuild and to fight a deadly outbreak of disease.

A strong earthquake centered in the towering Hindu Kush mountains shook a wide area of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan early Friday, swaying buildings in the Afghan and Pakistani capitals.

Oct 22 - Ongoing drought across southern China has brought water levels of several rivers to record lows and threatens the fresh water supply of millions.

The UN's World Food Programme is already facing a shortfall of more than USD 85 M worth of food for Ethiopia to the end of this year.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean near Panama on Wednesday but authorities said they had no initial reports of damage.

The smuggling of Afghan opiates is fueling addiction and drug use along trafficking routes from Iran to Central Asia as well as spreading diseases and funding insurgents, the U.N. warned Wednesday.

Aid workers said Wednesday the disarray of the government of Zimbabwe is putting its most vulnerable citizens at risk as hunger and disease threatens to sweep the country.

A small earthquake shook southern San Bernardino County Wednesday, according to a preliminary U.S. Geological Survey report.

More than 11 million people thought most at risk will be offered the swine flu vaccination, including NHS staff Photo: PA Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England, said it was important for frontline health and social care workers to get themselves vaccinated against swine flu along with other groups classified as a ''priority'' or at ...

A file picture dated 03 September 2009 illustrates a vaccination at the university hospital of Mainz, Germany.

A prison inmate was indicted Tuesday on murder and arson charges in a 2003 Southern California wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and was linked to a half-dozen heart attack deaths.

Today...Cloudy, foggy and damp with sprinkles, drizzle and a chance of light rain late High: 58 Wind: E 5-10

More than 4,000 people who survived last spring's earthquake in Italy are shivering in tents, but they say they hope to be living in new, earthquake-proof homes soon.

Residents were urged to leave their homes on Tuesday as erratic winds brought wildfires dangerously close to hundreds of suburban properties in Australia's northeast, officials said.

A U.S. hog has tested positive for the pandemic H1N1 flu virus for the first time ever, the Agriculture Department confirmed on Monday.

California fire officials say a summer blaze that destroyed 63 homes in the Sierra foothills was intentionally set.

This June 4, 2009 file photo shows Oprah Winfrey during the Uncommon Height Gala honoring her in Washington.

The biggest wildfire in Los Angeles County history is finally fully contained. The U.S. Forest Service says the 250-square-mile Station Fire was declared 100 percent contained at 7 p.m. Friday, 52 days after it began.

In this picture taken, Nov. 2006, shows a general view of 29,028-foot high world's tallest mountain... In this picture taken, Nov.

Typhoon Lupit, packing winds of 108 miles per hour and gusts of up to 130 mph , was not expected to make landfall before Thursday, giving officials time to organize food supplies and issue landslide and flood warnings.

Minimum prices for alcohol should be enforced, campaign groups have said, amid claims that drink will kill 90,000 people in the next ten years.

Even as then-Gov. Mike Easley was calling the 2002 drought a major disaster, documents show the exclusive private golf club where he belonged pumped 6 million gallons of water meant for Jordan Lake to keep its greens alive.

A low pressure system off the Eastern seaboard is continuing to pump cold air into the eastern third of the nation.

EDITOR'S NOTE - This is one of an occasional series of stories leading up to December's climate conference in Copenhagen, reporting on the impact, future and responses to climate change SHANGHAI - This city of 20 million rose from the sea and grew into a modern showcase, with skyscrapers piercing the clouds, atop tidal flats fed by the mighty ...

Firefighters at Koongal near Mount Archer, on the outskirts of Rockhampton, monitor a blaze that prompted an evacuation call yesterday.

Heavy fall rains were expected in Portland Saturday, with the chance of thunder and lightning.

Police went door-to-door urging residents to leave landslide-ravaged areas of the northern Philippines on Saturday in a "pre-emptive evacuation" as a new typhoon loomed after recent back-to-back storms killed more than 750 people, officials said.

TRENTON, N.J. a " Another round of nasty weather a " including heavy rains, gusty winds and snow a " is headed for New Jersey, a day after parts of the state were coated in an early season dusting of snow.A nor'easter is developing along the Carolina coast and is already bringing rain to most areas today.

Scientists surveying American Samoa's coral reefs say Sept. 29's tsunami obliterated some corals and damaged others to the point that they may not recover.

A small earthquake struck the southland Friday evening, shaking some parts of Ventura abdthe greater Los Angeles Area.

Dangerous Hurricane Rick strengthened early Saturday into a major Category 3 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast with winds nearing 115 mph , the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin listens to speakers during a ceremony honoring victims who died in Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

When an earthquake collapsed two 50-foot sections of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during the 1989 World Series, the nightmares of hundreds of thousands of commuters who cross the Depression-era span each day were brought to life.

A small earthquake hit an area of northern Riverside County Friday, according to a preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The swine flu is causing an unprecedented amount of illness for so early in the fall a ' and federal health officials said Friday that 11 more children have died in the past week.

"Drop, cover and hold on," dozens of fourth-graders chanted just before the announcement of a simulated earthquake sent them scurrying under tables at the California Science Center At the same moment nearly 7 million other people up and down the state were expected to do the same while emergency agencies and hospitals began response drills and mass ...

Seen here in California 's Westland Water District of the Central Valley, a sign in a dried almond crop reads "Congress created dust bowl." The lack of water in the states reservoirs, and prioritized irrigation water, is contributing to tens of thousands of acres of dried farm lands.

A STRONG 6.1-magnitude quake has struck off Indonesia's Sulawesi island, seismologists say, but there are no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning has been issued.

It was six months ago that scientists discovered an ominous new flu virus, touching off fears of a catastrophic global outbreak that could cause people to drop dead in the streets.

A homemade balloon aircraft floated away from a yard in Colorado after a 6-year-old boy was seen climbing inside, setting off a frantic scramble by the military and law enforcement before the balloon slowly touched without the boy inside.

Forecasters are calling for several days of wet and windy weather as two storms bear down on New Jersey.

MILLIONS of people throughout California have signed up to take part in a statewide earthquake disaster drill billed as the largest such exercise in US history.

Northern California's biggest storm in October since 1962 is raising water levels in the state's reservoirs, but not enough to ease the drought conditions that have plagued the state for three years.

What she doesn't want is Obama using her Lower 9th Ward neighborhood as just another photo op.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a strong earthquake has struck in the Pacific near Samoa.

Thanks to El Nino, the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season has been the quietest in more than a decade, offering a reprieve for residents in the danger zone and a chance for insurance firms to refill depleted coffers.

A worker loads usable items to a truck from the ruin of warehouse damaged by earthquake in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, Monday, Oct 12, 2009.

An earthquake has rattled parts of Alameda County in Northern California.The U.S. Geological Survey says a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.7 hit around 8:27 p.m. Tuesday about three miles south of Pleasanton, and about 33 miles southeast of Oakland.A dispatcher with the Pleasanton Police Department said police had received numerous calls, ...

The largest October storm in decades packed strong winds and heavy rain as it swept across Northern California on Tuesday, knocking out power for thousands of people and tangling the morning commute, Sacramento station KCRA reported.

The largest U.S. analysis of hospitalized adult swine flu patients has found almost half were healthy people who did not have asthma or any other chronic illnesses before they got sick.

A STRONG 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Alaska's Aleutian Islands late on Monday, the US Geological Survey reported.

TROPICAL Storm Patricia edged slowly towards Mexico's Pacific Coast yesterday but US forecasters said the storm would likely veer off to sea today and pass west of Baja California peninsula.

SEOUL: South Korea yesterday proposed talks with North Korea on preventing flooding in a cross-border river after six people were drowned in the South last month, officials said.

Southern California communities below wildfire-scorched mountains made preparations Monday for the possibility of fast-moving floods laden with mud and rocks as a Pacific storm headed for the West Coast.

L.A. County Sheriff's detectives investigating the massive "Station Fire" want to talk with a transient they say started a smaller fire in the same general area days earlier.

THE World Health Organisation plans to start sending H1N1 flu vaccines to poorer countries as early as next month, the United Nations agency's head of vaccine research said on Monday.

The nationwide death toll from landslides and flooding stood at more than 600 back-to-back storms started pounding the northern Philippines on Sept.

Posted: Sunday, 11 October 2009 6:07PM Beetle-Killed Trees Change Wildfire Behavior in Montana AP News Veteran wildland firefighters say their job is becoming more dangerous and unpredictable as pine beetles ravage western Montana forests and kill off vast swaths of trees.

Guangdong's annual average rainfall this year was 1,400 millimetres, down 13 percent down from previous years, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing drought relief officials.

When Sharon Karr's cabin was built on the shores of this high mountain lake in 1928, there were few neighbors and little thought given to the prospects of wildfire.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders were trying to work out a water deal Sunday as a midnight deadline neared for the governor to act on more than 700 bills.

A wildfire that blackened more than 11 square miles of brush and timber and destroyed at least five structures is now under control.U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller says firefighters gained full control of the Sheep Fire on Saturday night.Residents who were evacuated after the blaze broke out Oct.

American military helicopters started ferrying tons of aid Sunday to a northern Philippine mountain region facing shortages of food, gasoline and coffins after back-to-back typhoons killed more than 600 in the country.

A moderate magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the South Pacific near Tonga on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

An overloaded river ferry capsized on its way to a Buddhist ceremony in Cambodia, killing 17 passengers in a tributary of the Mekong River, an official said on Sunday.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo mobilized troops on Saturday to clear roads of debris and mud in mountainous northern provinces isolated by landslides and floods that left 184 dead after a week of heavy rains.

Firefighters are nearing full containment of a blaze near the mountain community of Wrightwood in Southern California.

U.S. military helicopters were on standby to help the Philippine air force deliver aid to areas cut off by road as flooded highways hampered the search for people trapped in houses buried by mud.

Health officials said Friday that 76 U.S. children have died of swine flu, including 19 new reports in the past week - more evidence the new virus is unusually dangerous for the young.

The FBI on Friday released video footage showing waves rushing in and violently tossing cars and trucks in a parking lot as a deadly tsunami struck American Samoa last week.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he is optimistic about striking a deal with lawmakers to overhaul the state's aging water system, potentially heading off his threatened veto of hundreds of bills.

The tsunami that killed nearly 200 people in the Samoas also dealt a vicious blow to the already sputtering engine of the American Samoa economy: tuna canneries.

Today...Cloudy and cool with a little light rain and drizzle at times this morning.

U.S. health officials have lost track of how many illnesses and deaths have been caused by the first global flu epidemic in 40 years.

A week of relentless rains in the northern Philippines have put dozens of towns and villages under water, with more than 100 people drowned or killed by landslides, officials said on Friday.

One quarter of Americans sick enough to be hospitalized with swine flu last spring wound up needing intensive care and 7 percent of them died, the first such study of the early months of the global epidemic suggests.

Lightning struck and killed a southwest Missouri farmer checking on his cattle Thursday, as storms pelted the Midwest and threatened a harvest already delayed by earlier rains.

Millions of poor villagers across southern India are facing an imminent food shortage following months of intense drought and recent devastating floods, aid agencies warned Thursday.

and new tonight -- we've learned presbyterian hospital and medical group in minute thumbnail 10:00 pm albuquerque has activated its pandemic flu plan after seeing a spike in patients. joe vigil is live at presbyterian hospital to tell us what that means. presbyterian says people shouldn't be alarmed. we're told this is a plan that might be put in place for something like a bus accident. presbyterian has seen an increase in hospital admissions because of flu like symptoms...but not a substantial amount according to a hospital spokesperson. we're told urgent care centers and dr's offices are the places that have seen lots of patients over the last several days. presbyterian reports 30% of patients being seen have flu like symptoms or are concerned about having the flu. the number of people calling with questions or concerns about the flu has tripled. "we're seeing increased influenza activity in the state of new mexico... "our influenza like illnesses have doubled in the state in just the last week." presbyterian minute thumbnail 10:01 pm staffers can expect to be called in on their days off so more patients can be seen. the elevated response could also affect your scheduled appointment. routine care such as a physical might be pushed back so more flu patients can be cared for. it you have an urgent matter-- that-- would not be affected. unm hospital has also activated its pandemic flu plan. over the weekend the hospital announced it saw an increase in adults coming in with flu-like symptoms -- and nearly double the amount of kids it normally sees. so--- who should go to the hospital or doctor's office and who should stay home? health officials say if you're feeling sick, call your doctor before heading to the hospital. but if you have serious symptoms like shortness of breath, rapid breathing, dehydration or you're confused or dizzy, go the doctor or emergency room right away. reporting live -- joe vigil eyewitness news four. the minute thumbnail 10:02 pm superintendent of roswell independent schools says kids shouldn't be worried about the h-1-n-1 virus in classrooms... even though a student died last week. michael gottlieb says school employees are doing things like disinfecting surfaces, and talking to students about protecting themselves. he says the plan was put in place before the 17- year-old goddard high student died. health leaders keep telling parents they need to get their children vaccinated against h1-n1. and just as the first wave of vaccine goes out, a new poll shows almost 40 percent of parents don't want their kids vaccinated. many of those parents are worried about side effects. federal health officials are working to calm fears about the vaccine.

Firefighters are taking advantage of cool fall weather as they increase containment of a blaze near the mountain community of Wrightwood.

Justice Department researchers said Wednesday that most children in the United States are exposed to violence in their daily lives -- findings that Attorney General Eric Holder called "staggering." A leading criminologist cautioned that the survey may be lumping serious and minor incidents together.

Two powerful earthquakes rocked the South Pacific near the Vanuatu archipelago Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, triggering a regional tsunami alert.

Workers used backhoes yesterday to demolish buildings damaged in the giant earthquake that left hundreds if not thousands dead in Indonesia, while food and emergency supplies were airlifted to remote areas cut off by landslides.

JAPAN braced today for a direct hit from one of its strongest typhoons in years as heavy rain and strong winds cut power to thousands of homes and tore roofs from buildings on its southern islands.

Oct 07 - Rescue efforts are all but abandoned as Indonesia focuses on cleaning up the debris from an earthquake that struck 7 days ago.

A house capable of floating atop rising floodwaters made its debut Tuesday in New Orleans alongside more than a dozen other homes built through actor Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation.

The wildfire burning near the community of Wrightwood in the San Bernardino Mountains was 75 percent contained at 7,128 acres Tuesday night, officials said.

AID workers used helicopters and boats to try to reach survivors of massive floods in southern India that have killed at least 280 people, officials said on Tuesday.

Julius Goff was the focus of ridicule when news spread of how he took refuge in his hot tub instead of fleeing an approaching wildfire.

Celebrities Myleene Klass and Christine Bleakley are to front a major fundraising appeal to help those left destitute by the devastating earthquakes and typhoons in south east Asia.

HEALTH workers fanned out across Padang in Indonesia to douse the city with disinfectant over concerns about disease outbreaks six days after a deadly earthquake rattled Sumatra.

The tsunami that rushed ashore last week at the National Park of American Samoa damaged the visitors centre, washed away some artifacts inside and forced workers to relocate to a two-bedroom apartment, authorities said Monday.

Vijayawada/Bangalore: The heaviest flood in over a 100 years in India's southern and western part, on Monday hit the Prakasam Barrage on Krishna River threatening several villages downstream even as the toll due to heavy rains and rampaging floods in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra climbed to 240.

Oct 5 - Students attend classes in makeshift classrooms in Padang, Indonesia as some schools reopen just days after the area was ravaged by a powerful earthquake.

Missouri Water Patrol officers and conservation agents have used a western Missouri dam to practice flood rescues.

This undated photo released by Independent Publisher Group shows Ned Sublette, author of "The Year Before the Flood." NEW YORK - Hurricane Katrina gave Ned Sublette a dramatic coda for his memoir "The Year Before the Flood." The book documents the last year that New Orleans and its thriving music scene were still fully intact before the city was ...

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Grace has formed far out in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean with winds at 65 mph .

Typhoon Parma caused widespread flooding and landslides that buried at least two families in the Philippines, then hung threateningly off the coast Sunday drenching the country's north as well as Taiwan.

Heavy rains hampered search teams Sunday in the hills of western Indonesia where hundreds of people were buried alive in landslides triggered by a massive earthquake that wiped out four villages.

Oct 4 - Rescue and relief operations continue in earthquake-hit Indonesia despite fading hopes for finding survivors alive - while survivors lives are wrecked by the devastation.

In this photo provided by Indian Defense Ministry, an Indian Air Force helicopter rescuing a man from a flood hit area of Raichur district in Karnataka state, Saturday, Oct.

The toddler son of a British couple swept out to sea when a tsunami hit a South Pacific island has been named as Alfie Cunliffe.

LYTLE CREEK, Calif. - A fire driven by winds of 40 mph destroyed three homes and threatened dozens of others in a rugged warren of mountains and canyons northeast of San Bernardino on Saturday.

Rescue workers dug for a second day Saturday through piles of mud and debris as they searched for about 30 missing people from a mudslide that has killed at least 21 in Sicily.

In this April 23, 2009 file photo evacuees Larry and Janet Stewart watch the smoke from the wildfire that spread to the Barefoot Resort communtiy in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. The fire chief in one of South Carolina's busiest tourist spots said he won't alter his agency's practices even though his crews failed to extinguish a small blaze that ...

Amateur video shot Tuesday shows the moments after the tsunami wave began to flood the harbor in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Tourism is Samoa's largest industry, and travel industry representatives visiting the main island's wrecked southeast coast said Friday about one-quarter of the tourist accommodations had been destroyed.

Residents of the Northern Mariana Islands and neighboring Guam are bracing themselves as Typhoon Melor churns across the Western Pacific.

A series of earthquakes with magnitudes reaching 5.2 struck Friday evening in remote eastern California, an area shaken by a sequence of temblors a day earlier.

Fourteen people died and 10 were missing after torrential rains in northeastern Sicily triggered flooding and landslides, officials in hardest hit Messina said on Friday.

The crew of the Hollywood doomsday movie '2012' expressed sympathy Friday for victims of real-life flooding and earthquakes this week in the Asia-Pacific region.

A car is submerged in mud as people shelter themselves under an umbrella early Friday, Oct.

There has been an endless stream of flood warnings concerning the Howard Hanson Dam and the Green River.

There has been a fresh, smaller earthquake in the South Pacific, two days after a giant tremor caused a devastating tsunami killing over 150 people.

The California Department of Education has released a manual to help schools deal with the H1N1 virus and future influenza outbreaks.

Rescuers are searching for survivors after hundreds of people, including the two-year-old son of a British couple, were thought to have been killed in a succession of natural disasters.

If a third of people wind up catching swine flu, 15 states could run out of hospital beds around the time the outbreak peaks, a new report warns Thursday.

The U.S. Geological Survey has reported a moderate earthquake in Central California.

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday ordered two construction companies to reimburse the government for $36.5 million in damages from a 2002 wildfire, in the largest such award and the first-ever damages for environmental harm, prosecutors said.