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Tropical Cyclone Mirinae Left a Trail of Death and Destruction Behind in Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia
At Least 117 dead, hundreds injured, thousands of homes destroyed or damaged, thousands of hectares of rice and other croplands ruined.
Typhoon Mirinae killed at least 25 people in Philippines, with several others reported missing, after making landfall on October 30, 2009. The storm damaged about 15,000 structures, mostly houses, affecting about 100,000.
Mirinae temporarily lost its sting and weakened to a tropical depression as it passed over Luzon.
On November 2, 2009 it made another land fall in Vietnam’s central coastal areas as a tropical storm. It triggered severe flooding killing at least 90 people with 11 others reported as missing, and at least 60 injured, according to the officials.
More than 80,000 people were evacuated.
“Most of the victims were because of serious floods that hit the provinces of Phu Yen, Binh Dinh and Gia Lai in particular,” an official said.
Some 338 mm (13 inches) of rain fell in Vietnam’s central regions, according to the country’s national disaster committee, destroying or damaging about 2,600 homes and up to 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of farmland.
“Rain is not very heavy now but several areas in our province are seriously flooded,” an official said.
Mirinae left two people dead in Cambodia.
In September, TS Ketsana, one of Vietnam’s worst disasters in recent years, left about 165 people dead with hundreds more injured. It unleashed severe floods, inundated many thousands of homes and damaged thousands of hectares of ready to harvest rice paddies and croplands.
Volcanic Explosions and Large Earthquakes Could Splinter Several Continents, Countries
Large earthquakes and volcanic explosions could split Arabian Plate, North American Plate, Pacific Plate [in multiple places] and shatter Filipino Plate.
Erta Ale, an active shield volcano located in the Afar Region [northeastern] of Ethiopia in the Danakil Desert, is Ethiopia’s only active volcano.License: cc-by-sa-2.0. Credit: posted to Flickr by filippo_jean.
Erta Ale is part of the so-called Afar Triangle, a highly active volcanic region which includes Dabbahu Volcano, located in the remote Afar Region of Ethiopia. Dabbahu eruption in 2005 created a large fissure in the ground, called the Dabbahu fissure. The volcano is the hottest place on Earth’s surface.
Dabbahu Fissure. Image JPL/NASA.
Leading to Dabbahu’s only known eruption in recorded history, which formed a 500 meter long fissure and a 30 meter wide pumice cone at the fissure’s southern end, on September 26, 2005 the ground swelled as a cluster of more than 130 tremors shook the area near the volcano.
Dabbahu Fissure, along the Somalian Plate, Great Rift Valley (Boina/Afar, Danakil desert, Ethiopia). A ground rupture created during the September 2005 rifting event. Photo: Tony Philpotts/ AP. Image may be subject to copyright.
Researchers say volcanic activity could split the African continent in two, a claim supported by a recent ground rupture that appeared in northeastern Ethiopia.
The 60-kilometre (35-mile) split in the desolate Afar region, which was the result of two volcanic eruptions in September 2005 [Dabbahu Episode, Afar,] has enabled scientists to further examine the earth’s tectonic movements, said a report published in the Geophysical Research Letters.
“The significance of the finding is that a huge magnetic deformation can happen within a few days like in oceans,” Atalay Arefe, an Ethiopia-based university professor who was part of the study, told AFP in an interview.
Faults and fissures that normally occur on the ocean floor largely contribute to the continents breaking off and moving away [spreading] from each other, in the same way African continent broke away from South American plate 100 million years ago.
“Normally, such phenomena happens beneath the ocean, which is inaccessible, expensive and very difficult to make experiments. But in Afar, it’s quite a natural laboratory for us to carry those out,” Atalay said.
Atalay, who was part of an international group of scientists who have been undertaking studies since the eruptions, said the event indicated what was likely to happen in the mainland.
“The ocean’s formation is happening slowly, likely to take a few million years. It will stretch from the Afar depression (straddling Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti) down to Mozambique,” he said.
At 120 meter below sea level, Ethiopia’s Afar Depression is one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth, famous for its salt mines.
Japan’s HTV-1 Dumped a Large Load of Astronauts’ Sewage and Trash in Tasman Sea
The agency said their space vehicle had maneuvered successfully reentering the atmosphere at about 6:26 am JST on November 2, some 120 km above New Zealand, and completing its mission of unmanned cargo transfer vehicle to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
“Most of the vehicle components are expected to be destroyed and burned out encountering the aerodynamic heating during the reentry, but some of the debris is estimated to survive and fall into the South Pacific Ocean.” The agency said.
The HTV was carrying a large load of astronauts feces and trash from ISS to dump over New Zealand/Tasman Sea.
HTV-1 is being captured/released by ISS. Copyright JAXA
A Press Release issued by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said their H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) had made a “successful reentry” after its demonstration flight.
The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Demonstration Flight successfully re-entered the atmosphere after the third de-orbit maneuver at around 5:53 a.m. on November 2, 2009 (Japan Standard Time.)
The HTV Demonstration Flight successfully accomplished its initial objective of shipping cargos to the International Space Station, and [returning sewage and trash back to Earth] completed all its missions of about 52 days by today’s reentry.
The vehicle made a reentry at an altitude at 120 km over New Zealand at 6:26 am JST on Monday, November 2, 2009, and the debris landed in water about 8 to 28 minutes later.
A Day Earlier:
Space station junk burns up on reentry over New Zealand
Well, parts of it any way!
A large ammonia tank the size of a refrigerator is jettisoned into space by NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson from the international space station during a spacewalk on July 23, 2007. NASA said the tank broke up Sunday upon reentry into the atmosphere.
A 1,400-pound (635-kg) tank of toxic ammonia coolant, the size of a large refrigerator, which was thrown off the international space station (ISS), more than a year ago, plunged into Earth’s atmosphere late Sunday to burn up [at least partially,] NASA officials said Monday.
The orbital junk slammed into Earth’s atmosphere, breaking up at an altitude of about 50 miles (80 kilometers) as it flew above the ocean just south of Tasmania, space station program manager Mike Suffredini said.
“What debris may have been still together after re-entry, it fell into the ocean between Australia and New Zealand,” Suffredini said at a NASA briefing. “I know a lot of folks were wondering what the end result of that was.”
[You must be a mind reader, too, Mr Suffredini!]
How Much Trash Out There
Ever wondered how much trash is dumped in the space?
Multi-Billion Dollar Space Debris Low Earth Orbit
High Earth Orbit
Orbital debris, or “space junk,” is any man-made object abandoned in orbit around the Earth. On February 11, 2009, a U.S. communications satellite owned by a private company called Iridium collided with a non-functioning Russian satellite. The collision destroyed both satellites and created a field of debris that endangers other orbiting satellites. As of May 2009, satellites in NASA’s Earth Observing System had been maneuvered three times to avoid orbital debris from the Iridium collision. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network tracks all debris larger than 10 centimeters, approximately 19,000 manmade objects as of July 2009, most of which orbit close to the Earth, top image. The lower image shows all items in orbit, both close to and far from the Earth. Images are dated August 25, 2009. NASA illustration courtesy Orbital Debris Program Office. Caption by Holli Riebeek. Edited by FEWW.
ENSO Cycle: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions
The following UPDATE is prepared by
Climate Prediction Center / NCEP – 2 November 2009
The latest weekly SST departures are:
Niño 4 ~ 1.6ºC
Niño 3.4 ~ 1.5ºC
Niño 3 ~ 1.2ºC
Niño 1+2 ~ 0.4ºC
El Niño Map. [SOURCE: NOAA/ Climate Prediction Center / NCEP]
SST Departures (°C) in the Tropical Pacific During the Last 4 Weeks
During the last 4-weeks, equatorial SSTs were at least 1.0°C above average between 165°E and 140°W and in small areas in the eastern Pacific.
Global SST Departures (°C)
During the last four weeks, equatorial SSTs were above-average in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Also, above-average SSTs covered large areas of the Northern Hemisphere subtropics.
Weekly SST Departures (°C) for the Last Four Weeks
During the last four weeks, equatorial SST anomalies strengthened across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
During the last 30 days, equatorial SST anomalies increased in much of the central and eastern Pacific.
Tropical OLR and Wind Anomalies During the Last 30 Days
Positive OLR anomalies (suppressed convection and precipitation, red shading) were present over Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia. Negative OLR anomalies (enhanced convection and precipitation) were located across the northern Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and over the western tropical Pacific Ocean.
Low-level (850-hPa) westerly anomalies were observed over parts of the western and central equatorial Pacific.
Upper-level (200-hPa) easterly anomalies were observed across most of the equatorial Pacific.
Pacific Niño 3.4 SST Outlook
Most ENSO models indicate El Niño will continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2009-10.
The models disagree on the eventual strength of El Niño (SST anomalies ranging from +0.5°C to greater than +2.0°C), but a majority indicate at least a moderate strength El Niño (greater than +1.0°C) during November-December-January 2009-10.
SST Outlook: NCEP CFS Forecast Issued 1 November 2009
The CFS ensemble mean predicts El Niño will last at least through Northern Hemisphere spring 2010.
Summary
El Niño is present across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Sea surface temperatures (SST) were at least 1.0ºC above-average across much of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific.
Based on current observations and dynamical model forecasts, El Niño is expected to strengthen and last at least through Northern Hemisphere spring 2010.
Information and images on this page are sourced from Climate Prediction Center/NCEP/NOAA. Edited by FEWW
Another outbreak of E. coli bacteria in ground beef sickens 28 people with two deaths suspected
New York Firm Forced to Recall about 250 Metric Tons (546,000 lbs) of Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination
An image of E.coli bacteria provided by the USDA. The bacteria can cause diarrhea, dehydration, kidney failure and death.The Agriculture Department, which oversees meat safety in the US, said it concluded “there is an association between the fresh ground beef products and illnesses in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts,” after a cluster of food-borne illnesses in New England was reported, and a New Hampshire resident had died consuming ground beef that may have been infected with the deadly E. coli bacteria. More images
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 25 of those sickened were in the Northeast, with 18 of them living in the six New England states. It’s believed that a common strain of E. coli bacteria was responsible for the infections, but tests are being carried out to eliminate other causes.
One of the two deaths in New Hampshire was linked to the ground beef that was distributed by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, New York, State officials said. The second death in the Albany area from possible E. coli O157:H7 infection was being investigated, the New York State Health Department reported.
The following information is mirrored from the USDA site:
Fairbank Farms, an Ashville, NY, establishment, is recalling approximately 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
FSIS became aware of the problem during the course of an investigation of a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health and agriculture departments, FSIS determined that there is an association between the fresh ground beef products subject to recall and illnesses in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. FSIS is continuing to work with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, other state health and agriculture departments and the CDC on the investigation. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a physician.
The products subject to recall include: [View Labels, PDF Only]
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a physician.
SAFE PREPARATION OF FRESH AND FROZEN GROUND BEEF
From: USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline
Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean spills.
Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.
Consumers should only eat ground beef or ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160° F, whether prepared from fresh or frozen raw meat products.
Color is NOT a reliable indicator that ground beef or ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.
The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.
Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase or one hour if temperatures exceed 90° F. Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking
At 12:00 UTC, today, Tropical Depression “TINO” was near 17.3°N, 123.9°E, or about 200 km East of Tuguegarao City, moving West at 11 km/h.
Maximum sustained winds: 60 kp/h
Significant Wave heights: Up to 7.5 meter (23 feet)
“Strong to gale force winds is expected to affect the seaboards of northern and central Luzon,” Philippines DOST PAGASA said.
MTSAT – IR Still Image – Time and Date as Inset. Click image to update.
Tropical Depression TINO [local name] Moving ENE toward northern Luzon. MTSAT IR1. Still Image on 2 November 2009, timed at 12:30UTC. Dost Pagasa. Click image to enlarge and update.
Philippines Cyclones Since August 2009
30 Oct: Typhoon Mirinae Struck Quezon, leaving up to 20 dead or missing.
3 Oct: Typhoon Parma’s triggered floods and landslides killing more than 200.
26 Sept: Tropical Storm Ketsana dumped more water on Manila and neighboring provinces than ever recorded, killing up to 400, and leaving a quarter of a million people homeless.
7 Aug: Typhoon Morakot swept northern Luzon, killing more than 10 people.
West Atlas oil rig and Montara wellhead platform on fire. Photo supplied by PTTEP via abc.net
Australian government’s silence to the ongoing ecological disaster in Timor Sea has been deafening, their inaction dazzling, their incompetence deplorable and devastating for the region, planet.
Just over 10 weeks after the leak started on August 21, 2009, the size of the oil slick spewing out of a ruptured pipe at the West Atlas oil rig, which caught fire on Sunday, had grown to about 30,000 km².
Based on all the information they have received, FEWW Moderators believe some 29,000 tons of oil and gas condensate have been leaked into Timor Sea so far.
A laboratory analysis conducted by the Indonesian Environmental Impact Management Agency (NTT Bapedalda) on Oct. 10, 2009 found that the seawater contained 107.2 milligrams of crude oil per liter.
ECOCIDE SHOULD BE A CAPITAL CRIME DESERVING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
More than 10 weeks after a blowout at a newly dug oil well, crude oil and gas condensate continued to leak into the Timor Sea, between northwest Australia and Indonesia. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows the Timor Sea on October 28, 2009.NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey, NASA’s Earth Observatory. Edited by FEWW.
ON FIRE: West Atlas drilling rig and the Montara wellhead platform
The oil well which has caused a massive spill in the Timor Sea, off the north west coast of Australia, caught fire on Sunday
PTTEP Australasia, a Thai-based energy company which operates the well, said the fire broke out as it made another attempt to plug the underwater leak.
After a 10-week leak, West atlas drilling rig and the Montara wellhead platform caught fire on Sunday. Photo AFP via BBC. Image may be subject to copyright.
“Fire broke out on the West Atlas drilling rig and the Montara wellhead platform after the West Triton successfully intercepted the leaking well this morning,” Ferguson said.
“Well kill operations were under way at the time, but have now been suspended. Non-essential personnel are being evacuated from the West Triton.
“Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire.”
The rig’s Thai-based operator, PTTEP Australasia, said specialists had finally succeeded in the first stage of plugging the well at 9:30 am (0130 GMT) after weeks of failed attempts.
“They had not actually stopped or killed the leak… and then unfortunately the fire broke out,” AFP reported a company spokeswoman as saying.
For more than 10 weeks the leak has been spewing oil and gas at at least 400 barrels a day.
Jose Martins, a director at PTTEP Australasia said the only way to extinguish the fire was to plug the leak.
When oil, gas and condensate began seeping into the Timor Sea PTTEP estimated it would take 50 days to plug the well in an area described by Tourism Australia as “one of the world’s last true wilderness areas.” Three previous attempts by PTTEP Australasia to plug the leak, 2.5km below the sea bed, by pumping it full of heavy mud, have failed. Photograph: Debra Glasgow/WWF. Caption: Guardian UK. More Photos…
“The measures which we have been able to take so far can only mitigate the fire. They will not stop the fire.”The best way to stop the fire is to complete the well-kill and stop the flow of gas and oil at the surface from the H-1 well, cutting off the fuel source for the fire.”
Mr Ferguson said the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire and that Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby.
However Greg Hunt, an opposition spokesman, has accused Environment Minister Peter Garrett of doing nothing to stop the oil leak.
“Ten weeks of complacency, 10 weeks of drift, 10 weeks of inaction from Mr Garrett,” he said.”In the absence of action… the prime minister must step in and convene a national environmental emergency task force within the next 24 hours.”
“The government remains deeply concerned about this incident,” Ferguson said.
“From day one our top priorities have been the safety of people and the protection of the environment. Stopping the flow of oil and gas safely and as soon as possible remains our prime objective.”
The Australian government on Saturday released a report saying birds and marine species were at risk from the oil spill, but it said the full impact could not be immediately determined. Reuters reported.
“This spill has been a disaster from the outset,” Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said on Sunday.
“Coupled with the environmental impacts of the oil entering the ocean, the potentially hazardous effects of the dispersants being used and the threat to fisheries both here and in Indonesia, now we have a fire on our hands.”
PTTEP plans to produce about 35,000 barrels of oil per day from the Montara field, which should boost its 2009 petroleum sales to 240,000 bpd.
PTTEP operates more than 40 oil and gas projects in 14 countries throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with Montara as its main exploration and production business, said Reuters.
PTTEP are just as guilty as BP [America.] The difference is that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the main federal agency charged with the enforcement of safety and health legislation, do their jobs, whereas Aussie authorities sit on their thumbs.
When the US govt takes BP to the cleaners, shouldn’t Australia show some grit, too?
Tropical Storm MIRINAE – UPDATE 02 November 2009 at 15:UTC
On 02 November 2009 at 15:00 UTC Tropical Storm MIRINAE was located near 12.5N, 108.0E, or approximately 290 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The strom has been tracking westward (260 degrees) at a forward speed of about 22km/h during the past six hours, having made landfall shortly after 06:00 UTC. “The Low level circulation center (LLCC) is expected to dissolve over land within the next 12 hours. Remnant vorticity may track towards the Gulf of Thailand,” JTWC said, but the LLCC is not expected to redevelop.
Maximum Sustained Winds: 85 km/h
Maximum Wind Gusts: 102 km/h
.
Image of the Day:
Philippines After Mirinae
Philippines Govt sent naval boats to Santa Cruz where roads were heavily flooded. Even after the floodwater receded after rain had eased, it was still reported as “chest-high” in some areas. Photo: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.
Initial Impact of Mirinae on the Philippines
Mirinae was the fourth storm in a month to pummel the Philippines.
It made landfall on the eastern coastal province of Quezon, buffeting the area with winds of 150 km/h and gusts of up to 190 km/h.
The typhoon struck Quezon about 24:00 UTC, Friday, moving west, south of Manila as it weakened overland into a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, and headed in the direction of Vietnam.
Heavy rain and strong winds caused more damage to the already storm stricken areas in the region.
Typhoon Mirinae took a similar path to storm Ketsana, whose heavy rains inundated Manila in September causing the worst floods in living memory.
The worst storm-related floods in living memory have left hundreds dead , with up to a quarter of a million homeless.
Up to 20 people have been killed or were reported as missing, including 7 confirmed deaths, as of posting. A man was drowned and his small baby washed away in Pililla township in Rizal province, east of Manila, as they tried to cross an overflowing creek, reports said.
Six more people were killed in Laguna province, south of the capital, and up to a dozen people are reported missing.
In the town of Santa Cruz the roads were flooded, residents waded through a chest high mix of muddy floodwater and sewage after Mirinae dumped heavy rains in the area. govt sent in naval boats to help with rescue operation.
“The waters were really high. It was like a flashflood. It was waist deep in our area but in other areas it went as high as the rooftops,” a local official was quoted as saying.
Up to 120,000 people were evacuated in areas south of Manila. Residents in other areas were told to prepare essential supplies for 3 days, and stay put.
Some 180 flights were canceled, dozens of ferries grounded, many schools closed.
Areas south of the capital were worst hit by heavy rain and strong winds, which caused significant damage.
Philippines Cyclones Since August 2009
30 Oct: Typhoon Mirinae Struck Quezon, leaving up to 20 dead or missing.
3 Oct: Typhoon Parma’s triggered floods and landslides killing more than 200.
26 Sept: Tropical Storm Ketsana dumped more water on Manila and neighboring provinces than ever recorded, killing up to 400, and leaving a quarter of a million people homeless.
7 Aug: Typhoon Morakot swept northern Luzon, killing more than 10 people.
Six passengers faint on board British Airways flight
London Ambulance service were called to treat at least six passengers at UK’s Heathrow airport after they fainted while on a British Airways flight.
None of the passengers needed hospitalization and were told they could continue their journeys, according to the airline.
London Ambulance Service was asked to meet the flight from Newark at Terminal Five at 0650 GMT on Saturday.
Emergency services teams initially wore protective suits as it was unclear what had caused the passengers to faint.
“A handful of passengers on the aircraft fainted during the flight. As a precaution, medical services met the aircraft.” A British Airways representative said.
It’s not yet known what caused the British Airways passengers to faint.
