Towns across Central Kansas Evacuating due to Flooding

Reno County declares local disaster

Reno County has declared a local disaster due to flooding in Hutchinson and deluged roads around the county, said a report.

Meantime,  towns across central Kansas have been evacuating residents as torrential rains triggered widespread flooding across the region, the report quoted officials as saying.

“Reno County officials were urging people not to play in the floodwaters because septic and sewer systems have backed up and deposited waste materials into the water. There has also been “considerable” amount of run-off from fields that have had chemicals applied to crops. Those chemicals are now in the rivers, creeks and floodwaters,” the report said.

Flooding was also reported elsewhere in central Kansas, especially in Barton and Rice counties.

Large swathes of central, eastern and southeastern Kansas were under Flood Warnings, Flood Watches, or Flash Flood Watches, as of posting.

Weather Hazards Map for August 5, 2013 @ 15:39 UTC. Source: NWS

Other Evacuation News

Train Derails in Lawtell, La., 100 Homes Evacuated: More than 100 homes remained evacuated Monday as emergency teams worked to clean up the site of a Union Pacific train derailment near Lawtell, about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, said a report.

An evacuation order was in effect for homes and businesses within a 1-mile radius of the derailment, as of posting.

The train was carrying both the lethal sodium hydroxide, and the extremely flammable vinyl chloride.  At least one of the railcars was leaking sodium hydroxide, said a company spokesperson.

Radioactive Water at Fukushima an ‘Emergency’: Watchdog

EXCLUSIVE

TEPCO’s “sense of crisis is weak:”  Japan’s NRA

Highly radioactive water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking into the ocean creating an “emergency” that the operator, TEPCO, may be unable to contain, said an official from the country’s nuclear watchdog.

“This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force,” told Reuters.

Tokyo Electric Power Co’s “sense of crisis is weak,” Kinjo said. “This is why you can’t just leave it up to Tepco alone” to deal with the ongoing disaster.

“Right now, we have an emergency,” he said.

A total of up to 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium may have leaked into the ocean since the disaster, said TEPCO, insisting that it was within legal limits.

• Full report is posted HERE.
• Related news link: Radioactive Fukushima groundwater rises above barrier

Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country

The following probability figures  calculated by FIRE-EARTH on April 8, 2011 still hold!

• Japan (880)³
• United States (865)
• France (855)
• Taiwan (850)
• Belgium, China, Finland, India,  South Korea, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Armenia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania,  Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain,  Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,  South Africa, Canada (810)
• Germany, Sweden, Netherlands (800)
• Switzerland  (750)

Notes:

1. The list represents a snapshot of events at the time of calculating the probabilities. Any forecast posted  here is subject to numerous variable factors.
2. Figures in the bracket represent the probability of an incident occurring out of 1,000; the forecast duration is valid for the next 50  months.
3. Probability includes a significant worsening of Fukushima nuclear disaster, and future quakes forecast for Japan.
4. A nuclear incident is defined as a level 5 (Accident With Wider Consequences), or worse, on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). See below.
5. Safety issues considered in compiling these lists include the age, number of units and capacity of nuclear reactors in each country/state, previous incidents, probability of damage from human-enhanced natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, wildfires, flooding…]
6. The  Blog’s knowledge concerning the extent to which the factors described in (3) might worsen during the forecast period greatly influences the forecast. (Last UPDATED: June 26, 2011)

Nuclide Analysis Results of the Underground Reservoirs

• Nuclide Analysis Results of the Underground Reservoirs/Observation Holes (As of August 4) – TEPCO Website

Related Links

• Nuke Disasters
• Japan Quakes
• Probability of a Nuclear Disaster by Country
• Record High Radiation Found in Fukushima Fish March 1, 2013
• Radiation Record Broken by Fukushima Fish March 18, 2013
• Fukushima Pre-Harvested Rice Contaminated by Radiation September 24, 2011
• Japan Earthquakes, Disasters: Recent History and FIRE-EARTH Forecasts

Also search the blog for dozens of additional entries on “Fukushima.”

Major Disaster Declared in Texas, S. Dakota

WH Signs Texas Disaster Declaration

The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Texas  in the area affected by an explosion during the period of April 17-20, 2013.

A deadly blast rocked the West Fertilizer Plant in the small town of West north of Waco, Texas at about 7.50pm local time  on Wednesday, April 17.

The blast was recorded as a 2.1 magnitude quake by USGS/EHP, which said, “the magnitude measures only the ground motion, not the air wave, so is substantially less than the true size of the event.”

“The West plant is one of thousands of sites across rural America that store and sell hazardous materials such as chemicals and fertilizer for agricultural use, many within close range of residences and schools,” said a report.

-oOo-

WH Signs South Dakota Disaster Declaration

The Whit House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of South Dakota in the areas affected by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding during the period of June 19-29, 2013.

Areas worst damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding  were the counties of Beadle, Codington, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Hughes, and Kingsbury.