Wildfire in Arizona kills 19 fire crews, destroys up to 300 homes
Fast-moving wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona has killed at least 19 firefighters, including 18 from Prescott’s elite Granite Mountain Hotshots.
The fire was sparked by lightning on Friday and spread rapidly amid triple-digit temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. By early Monday, the blaze had consumed up to 300 homes, devouring more than 8,400 acres of chaparral and grass some 80 miles (130km) NW of Phoenix.
“Massive amounts of structures were burnt,” said a senior fire official. See video below.
The ferocious blaze forced authorities to evacuate all of Yarnell and the neighboring Peeples Valley.
The Yavapai County Sheriff has also evacuated the Double Bar A Ranch and Model Creek areas, officials said.
Official: ‘Radical’ Fire behavior Killed 19 Firefighters
“Massive amounts of structures were burnt” ~ Official
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US Weather Forecast
Record-Breaking heat wave to continues in West, with heavy rainfall drenching almost the entire East Coast, said NWS.
An expansive upper ridge anchored over the Great Basin will continue to bring more days of dangerously-high temperatures approaching or exceeding record highs across much of the Western U.S. Triple-digit readings will be commonplace over the Southwestern corner of the country, but temperatures could also exceed the century mark as far north as the valleys of the Northern Rockies, Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest into the middle of the week. Meanwhile, showers and t-storms are possible across much of the East Coast.
North India floods: “Thousands still missing” in Uttarakhand
At least 3,000 people are still missing following the extreme monsoon rains, deadly floods and landslides that devastated India’s Uttarakhand state two weeks ago.
More than 800 rotting corpses have so far been recovered. However, several officials believe the death toll could exceed 10,000.
“After seeing piles of bodies and hearing accounts of people coming down from the mountains and those calling up, I feel the death toll could be well over 10,000.” Uttarakhand assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwalsaid.
Others have stated that the exact death toll may never be known.
“We will never know the exact number of the dead and the number of people buried or washed away,” Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna told local reporters.
“According to my information about 3,000 people are still missing. We will compensate their families. They have to give an affidavit saying that their relatives have not returned home for more than 30 days.”
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Protesters storm Egypt’s ruling party headquarters
Anti-government protesters in Cairo stormed the national headquarters of President Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
The protests turned violent late Sunday, leaving about 20 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
The protesters demand President Morsi’s ouster on the first anniversary of his inauguration, while his supporters have vowed to defend him.
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Eurozone Unemployment Hit a New Record High in May
Unemployment across the 17 Eurozone states rose 0.1 per cent to a new record high of 19.22 million in May, up 67,000 over the previous month, said Eurostat.
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DISASTER CALENDAR – July 1, 2013 — SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN:
985 Days Left
Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.
- SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 985 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the Brief Human History
GLOBAL WARNINGS
- WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity [To be updated July 3, 2013.]
- WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
- Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started
- United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun
Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background
Fire Earth 