Weekslong Water Crisis Continues In Mississippi, Hitting Black Residents Hardest

Frigid temperatures and torrential snowfall have largely left the South after a cold front gripped the region weeks ago, but some cities are still facing dire infrastructure failures caused by the cold and their state’s lack of preparation.

Racial Inequality & POC suffer in Mississippi

Infrastructure failures following bitterly cold temperatures caused dozens of water mains to burst &freeze, leaving 1000’s in black & brown communities w/out running water for weeks.

It’s an emergency. https://t.co/f1fFGwmU0c

— ProfHelen, PhD (@Helenhs) March 2, 2021

Most of the people suffering the most untenable circumstances ― including a now weekslong water shortage in Mississippi ― are in predominantly Black and brown communities, and their experiences offer a grim look at the reality of racial inequality under the worsening global climate crisis. 

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A massive iceberg – larger than New York City – breaks off Antarctica

A massive iceberg broke off Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf, British researchers announced. 

At 490 square miles, the berg is bigger than New York City, which is 302 square miles.

A crack in the ice shelf widened several hundred meters Friday before the iceberg sheared off. The last major chunk to come off in this area was in the early 1970s, the BBC said. 

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NYC digs out from biggest blizzard in five years

The snowstorm that struck the city Monday was the city’s biggest in half a decade, the National Weather Service said Tuesday. Measurements in Central Park reached 17. 2 inches as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, which was two inches shy of the President’s Day 

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CBS2 Weather Headlines: Below Freezing, Even Colder Outside NYC Tonight; Upper 40s Monday

NEW YORK — It was still on the chilly side Sunday, but with bright skies and less wind, it sure was beautiful. Expect a few more clouds overnight, with temperatures bottoming out around freezing in New York City, with 20s in the suburbs, so bundle up!

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Tropical Storm Emily 2011

Tropical Storm Emily is an active Atlantic tropical cyclone that is currently a threat to the northeastern Caribbean. The fifth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, Emily developed from a strong tropical wave that tracked the open Atlantic for several days in late July. The wave remained fairly disorganized, lacking a defined circulation. By July 31, it approached the Lesser Antilles and became better defined, producing inclement weather over much of the area. Late on August 1, it finally developed a closed circulation center, prompting the National Hurricane Center to declare the formation of Tropical Storm Emily just after it had crossed the islands.

Meteorological history

The cyclogenesis of Tropical Storm Emily was complicated, extending over several days from late July into early August. An easterly tropical wave—an equatorward trough of low pressure moving generally westward—exited the west African coast in the fourth week of July, at which point it became largely embedded within the monsoon trough. Oriented north to south, the wave supported little to no precipitation for a day or two as it traversed the open Atlantic. By July 28, a weak low-pressure center developed along its southern periphery, and over time clusters of moderate, albeit isolated convection increased around the broad wave axis. Atmospheric conditions favored additional development into a tropical cyclone; an anticyclonic circulation soon formed over the system, creating a supportive upper-level environment. It accordingly became better defined over the next couple of days, retaining unusually low surface pressures as well as concentrated showers and thunderstorms. Following a retrace toward the west-northwest, the threat to nearby land became relative to higher chances of development, with several forecast models projecting a path directly into the northeastern Caribbean.

During the morning of July 31, the large low markedly gained in organization, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted it was close to becoming a tropical depression. Later that day, however, the mean low-pressure envelope became increasingly elongated; its westernmost component promptly detached to form a separate tropical wave ahead. This new disturbance featured widely scattered convection, with rainbands briefly impacting the Lesser Antilles. Meanwhile, a reconnaissance aircraft had been investigating the area, although loss of communication limited sufficient data reception. Despite this shortcoming, subsequent surface analysis and buoy observations indicated the disturbance lacked a closed circulation; as such, it did not yet meet the criteria for tropical cyclone classification at the time. As the vigorous low closed in on the Leeward Islands, little change initially occurred in its structure the next day, though associated surface winds rose to near tropical storm-force. A subsequent flight into the system finally revealed a well-defined circulation center near the deep convection mass, passing just to the south of Dominica. Consequently, the NHC marked the formation of Tropical Storm Emily around 2350 UTC August 1, as it accelerated toward the west in response to a mid-level high.

With a relatively dry environment along its projected path, Emily was expected to strengthen only gradually until its passage through the Greater Antilles. For several hours into August 2, the cyclone fluctuated little in intensity and organization, and there were few indications of developing banding features. The NHC further noted that the precise location of the low-level center remained uncertain at the time; therefore, its position within the deepest convection was difficult to determine. Though the storm's appearance improved on satellite images, reconnaissance found it to remain poorly organized, and at the time several forecast models even supported dissipation prior to landfall in Hispaniola. By that afternoon, however, the center began to slow considerably, a sign of possible reorganization proximate to the deep convective mass.

Preparations and impact

In light of high potential for tropical cyclone development, Météo-France declared yellow cyclone alerts for Guadeloupe and Martinique, warning of imminent squally weather. Due to the presence of Emily, officials in Puerto Rico promptly ordered the preparation of over 400 storm shelters, and ensured adequate water supply island-wide. Government workers were dismissed the morning prior to the passage of the storm; national courtrooms opted to remain closed during that time. The United States Coast Guard issued a statement urging residents of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to avoid recreational boating and swimming until Emily passes.

An elderly man allegedly died as a result of Emily in Fort-de-France, after he was electrocuted by an exposed wire in his flooded house. Four cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Carnival Dream and Carnival Liberty altered their courses through the Caribbean to avoid impact.JetBlue Airways announced that it would be waiving fees for flights into the Dominican Republic, due to inclement conditions being caused by Emily.

Current storm information

As of 5 p.m. AST (2100 UTC) August 2, Tropical Storm Emily is located within 50 nautical miles of 15.8°N 65.4°W, about 185 mi (300 km) south-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Maximum sustained winds are 45 knots (50 mph, 85 km/h), with stronger gusts. Minimum central pressure is 1005 mbar (hPa; 29.68 InHg), and the system is moving west-northwest at 10 kt (12 mph, 19 km/h).

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km) from the center of Emily.

Expected impacts:

Wind: Tropical storm conditions are occurring or imminent in the warning area in the Leeward Islands; tropical storm conditions are expected in Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques later today, and in the Dominican Republic by tonight. Tropical storm conditions are possible in the watch area in the Leeward Islands over the next several hours; in the U.S. Virgin Islands later this morning; and in Haiti by Wednesday.

Rainfall: Emily is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches (51 to 100 mm) in the northern Windward Islands and Leeward Islands. Total rain accumulations of 4 to 6 inches are expected in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, with isolated maximum amounts of 10 inches (250 mm) possible. These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides in areas of mountainous terrain.

Storm surge: A storm surge will raise water levels by 1 to 2 feet (0.30 to 0.61 m) above normal tide levels in the Tropical Storm Warning area. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves.

For latest official information see:

The NHC's latest public advisory on Tropical Storm Emily.

The NHC's latest Forecast Discussion on Tropical Storm Emily.

Tropical Storm Emily strengthens and starts moving again

Strengthening Tropical Storm Emily is continues to move westward through the Caribbean inching closer to the islands of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti where watches and warnings are in effect.

The National Hurricane Center said as of 2 p.m. Emily about 215 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving at 12 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour.

That's about 1,200 miles southeast of Miami, according to the Sun Sentinel.

The tropical storm could draw close to South Florida on Saturday morning as a storm but not a hurricane, the paper reported.

The Sun Sentinel said forecasters have said the system could produce stormy conditions at the shoreline. South Florida might start seeing rains and gusty winds on Friday night, the National Weather Service told the paper.

At 2 p.m., the system was about 215 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving west at 12 mph with sustained winds of about 45 mph, up from 40 earlier in the day. It was about 1,200 miles southeast of Miami.

Because of Emily's slowdown, it now predicted to draw near South Florida on Saturday morning - still as a storm, not a hurricane.

It is expected to run parallel to the state's coast and be near Central Florida on Saturday afternoon. Forecasters say the system could produce stormy conditions at the shoreline, but for now Orlando and other inland areas are expected to see a hot, relatively dry day on Saturday.

South Florida might start seeing rains and gusty winds on Friday night, the National Weather Service said. How much will depend on how close the system comes, and the forecast remains highly uncertain, meaning it likely will change over the next few days.

If the storm remains offshore, Florida's eastern seaboard would be on its left - or weak -side. The system's tropical force winds for now extend 70 miles from its center.

Most of Florida remains in the cone of error. However, since the previous advisory, the cone has been shifted slightly to the east and now includes southeast Georgia and the South Carolina coast, rather than the Florida Panhandle.

Emily might have slowed down to reorganize itself, the senior hurricane specialist Lixion Avila of the National Hurricane Center said. Just the same, the forecast track has changed little since the previous advisory.

Over the next three days, Emily is expected to move south of Puerto Rico, angle across Hispaniola, nick the eastern edge of Cuba and arrive near the central Bahamas. From there, it still is predicted to parallel Florida's east coast and aim generally toward the Carolinas.

Emily, the fifth named storm of an already fast-paced season, is expected to produce up to 6 inches of rain and a storm surge of up to 2 feet above normal tide levels along its path.

UK officials: British airports to be hit by ash

European air traffic controllers said on Tuesday morning that 252 flights had been cancelled as a volcanic ash cloud covered Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"Most airlines have cancelled flights today -- 252 flights," said Brian Flynn, head of operations at the Brussels-based Eurocontrol via Twitter. "Parts of ash cloud to cover Scotland and Northern Ireland today."

The eruption of the Grimsvoetn volcano in Iceland forced US President Barack Obama the previous day to revise travel plans for a state visit to Britain and threatens to affect Barcelona's preparations for Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in London.

Flynn warned that the ash cloud "will continue possibly southwards to France and Spain but hard to say now because (weather) forecasts are not precise for the end of the week."

He said that by the end of the day, the cloud "will cover southern parts of Scandinavia, Denmark and northern parts of Germany possibly." This raised the prospect of a major travel disruption across Europe due to Icelandic volcanic eruption for the second time in little over a year.

Ash from the Grimsvotn volcano already forced President Barack Obama to shorten a visit to Ireland, and has raised fears of a repeat of huge travel disruptions in Europe last year when ash from the Eyjafjalljokull volcano stranded millions of passengers.

Flynn said he did not expect Obama's European tour to be further affected and authorities have said they don't expect the kind of massive grounding of flights that followed last year's eruption. They say procedures have been improved since then and the cloud is currently not expected to move over continental Europe.

Nonetheless, the British Civil Aviation Authority said strong winds over Scotland was making it hard to predict the direction in which the ash would move. British Airways suspended all its flights for Tuesday morning between London and Scotland, while Dutch carrier KLM and Easyjet canceled flights to and from Scotland and northern England at the same time. Three domestic airlines also announced flight disruptions.

The Irish Aviaiton Authority meanwhile ordered all flights from Ireland to Scotland to be suspended.

Budget airline Ryanair said it did not believe there was a need to cancel all flights between Ireland and Scotland, and said it would meet with regulators Tuesday morning to discuss the issue.

Norwegian airport operator Avinor said the ash disrupted traffic to and from Stavanger and Karmoey airports and is expected to spread to southern Norway later. Danish authorities say they have closed the airspace under 6 kilometers (4 miles) in northwestern Denmark. There is no airport in that area, but the ash is causing delays and some cancellations at Copenhagen airport.

116 dead from Missouri tornado; more twisters possible

Weather forecasters scrambling to fathom the size of the tornado that hit Joplin on Sunday are warning that more violent weather could hit the region later today.

I do have a lot of concern for Tuesday and Wednesday," National Weather Service forecaster John Kurtz said Monday.

There likely will be a break in stormy weather early today as a stubborn low pressure system moves east, he said.

But another low now in the Rockies will combine with a dry line later today in Oklahoma and Kansas to spawn more storms, Kurtz said.

The oncoming storm system is moving slowly, so it likely won't arrive in southwest Missouri until tonight, he said.

What we're really concerned about is late tomorrow, into the evening hours and overnight," Kurtz said.

The system that is expected to move into the region follows the same pattern of storms that produced the EF-4 tornado that hit Joplin, he said.

It appears now the oncoming storm system might not be as intense, Kurtz said.

Thunderstorms could be strong enough to develop some isolated tornadoes, he said. The storms also will produce large hail and damaging winds. Flooding also will be a concern into Wednesday morning.

We hope that there are people alive. We have a number of apartment buildings, complexes that are almost completely flattened. So we anticipate finding more people, and hopefully we'll get there in time to find them alive," Woolston said.

Hale said Tuesday that she still hasn't slept since Sunday afternoon, when she didn't know whether her family across town had survived.

"I was hysterical. There's no words to describe not knowing if my family was alive," she said. "The only things left standing in their house was their bathtub and the toilet."

Her mother and grandparents did survive -- by huddling in the bathtub.

The tornado chewed through a densely populated area of the city, damaging or destroying 2,000 buildings, eliminated a high school and made a direct hit on one of the two hospitals in the city.

Based on preliminary estimates, the twister carried winds between 190 and 198 mph, National Weather Service director Jack Hayes said.

More than 1,000 law enforcement officers from four states descended on Joplin to help with disaster response, said Collin Stosberg, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. More than 250 National Guard members were on the scene

Richard Serino, the second-ranking official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said President Barack Obama has issued a disaster declaration -- expediting the dispersal of federal resources to the area -- while vowing that "we are going to be here for the long haul."

The flood of aid from strangers and volunteers has helped ease the misery in Joplin.

"I've seen good-heartedness the past 24 hours like I've never seen in my life," Hale said. "As much help that has poured out from the nation, we need. We need the help."

Woolston, the mayor, pledged not to let the tornado ruin his city.

"This is just not the type of community that's going to let a little F4 tornado kick our a**. So we will rebuild, and we will recover.

For reeling Mo. city, possible 2nd punch looms

JOPLIN, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says there are tales of survival after a devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo. Nixon says authorities found another 10 people alive in the wreckage. That brings the number of rescued to 17. The storm killed at least 116 people and Nixon says he fears the number will grow higher as search and rescue efforts continue.

WASHINGTON  — House Republicans say participants won't see a decrease in services from a bill that proposes cutting $832 million — or 12 percent — from this year's budget for the federal nutrition program. The program provides food for low-income mothers and children. The bill-writers say the cuts are taken from excess dollars in those accounts.

INDIANAPOLIS  — Federal officials are reviewing a new Indiana law that restricts public funding for Planned Parenthood. The development could cost the state some of its Medicaid funding. The U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services says Medicaid doesn't allow states to stop beneficiaries from getting needed health care, such as cancer screenings, because their provider also offers other services.

Killer tornado ripped through the heart of Joplin, a blue-collar southwest Missouri town of 50,000 people, Sunday night, slamming straight into St. John's Regional Medical Center. The hospital confirmed that five of the dead were patients — all of them in critical condition before the tornado hit. A hospital visitor also was killed.

The tornado destroyed possibly "thousands" of homes, Fire Chief Mitch Randles told AP. It leveled hundreds of businesses, including massive ones such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

It was the second major tornado disaster in less than a month. In April, a pack of twisters roared across six Southern states, killing more than 300 people, more than two-thirds of them in Alabama.

In Joplin, much of the town's landscape was changed beyond recognition. House after house was reduced to slabs, cars were crushed like soda cans and shaken residents roamed streets in search of missing family members.

The danger was by no means over. Fires from gas leaks burned across town. The smell of ammonia and propane filled the air in some damaged areas. And the forecast looked grim.

The April tornadoes that devastated the South unspooled over a three-day period starting in the Plains. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said a repeat could be setting up, with a possible large tornado outbreak in the Midwest on Tuesday and bad weather potentially reaching the East Coast by Friday.

Tornado warning could be issued for an entire county while the actual twister may cover only a few miles or less, he said. Plus, people often look outside because "they need some kind of confirmation, they want to see it," Brotzge said, adding that people need to take cover underground.

Joplin residents had about a 20 minute warning, though a powerful rainstorm obscured it from some directions and "they wouldn't have seen it coming," he said. Bluestein added that rain makes it easier to detect by radar, but for spotting, "it's very dangerous because you could be out in front of the storm and not aware of it."

The Southerners had as much as a 24-minute warning, but those storms were too powerful and wide to escape. Entire towns were leveled, from Tuscaloosa, Ala., to Bristol, Va. It was the deadliest tornado outbreak in the U.S. since April 1974.

"The issue we haven't grappled with is how to warn a major urban area," Brotzge said. "We saw that with (Hurricane) Katrina. We saw that with Tuscaloosa. People were warned very well but still had high fatalities."

There is no practical technology to interfere with twisters. Tornadoes have even been known to hit mountains without dissipating, said Thomas W. Schmidlin, a geography professor at Kent State University who studies twisters.

2011 St. Louis tornado

2011 St. Louis tornado, also called the Good Friday Tornado, was a storm that struck the St. Louis metropolitan area on April 22, 2011. The tornado, rated EF4 at its strongest point with winds exceeding 165 mph, was the strongest to hit St. Louis County or City since January 1967. In its 22-mile track across the St. Louis metropolitan area, the tornado damaged about 200 homes; left thousands without power; and damaged the main terminal of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, closing it for nearly 24 hours.

Utility effects

More than 54,000 customers of the utility company, Ameren, were left without power after the storm; more than 47,000 in Missouri and about 7,000 in Illinois.

By 5:40am on April 24, 21,667 customers were still without power in Missouri and 131 in Illinois.

On April 24, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported more than 2,700 buildings severely damaged in St. Louis County, including 900 in Bridgeton, 450 in Berkeley and 1,170 in Maryland Heights.

The tornado may also have hit New Melle in St. Charles County, about 30 miles west of the airport.

The tornado killed no one and injured relatively few.

Tornado strikes the airport

The tornado hit the airport, Missouri's largest, about 8:10 p.m. Three aircraft were on the tarmac with passengers aboard. Numerous passengers and other people were in the airport's terminals.

Lambert Airport released surveillance video showing debris swirling inside the airport. It was reported that an aircraft was moved away from its jetway by the storm, with passengers still on-board.One plane from Southwest Airlines was damaged when the wind pushed a conveyor belt used for loading baggage into it. American Airlines said that four of its planes were damaged, two of them significantly. One was buffeted by 80 MPH crosswinds while taxiing in from a landing when the tornado hit and the other has possible damage to its landing gear. The tornado was rated an EF2 storm when it struck the airport.

The airport was closed by the FAA at 08:54 p.m., and reopened at temporarily reduced capacity on April 23. It was expected to be at 70% capacity on April 24.

St. Louis tornadoes

St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area has a history of tornadoes. The third deadliest tornado, and the costliest in United States history, the 1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado, injured one thousand people and caused 255 fatalities in the City of St. Louis and in East St. Louis. The second costliest tornado also occurred in St. Louis in September 1927. More tornado fatalities have occurred in St. Louis than any other city in the United States. Also noteworthy is that destructive tornadoes occurred in winter and autumn, as well as the typical months of spring. Additionally, damaging tornadoes occurred in the morning and late at night, as well as the more common late afternoon to early evening maximum period.

In April 2011, an EF4 tornado on Good Friday caused widespread damage across a 22-mile track in northern St. Louis metropolitan area; including significant damage to Lambert International Airport, causing a complete shutdown for over 24 hours. Prior to that event, a F4 tornado also struck the northern metro, and killed three in January 1967. Another F4 tornado struck the Granite City and Edwardsville, Illinois area in April 1981.

March 8, 1871 St. Louis - East St. Louis - St. Clair County, Illinois F3 9 fatalities, 60 injuries See: 1871 St. Louis tornado

March 29, 1872 7th Street F1 1 possible fatality, 8 injuries

January 12, 1890 St. Louis - Madison County, Illinois F2 4 fatalities, 15 injuries

May 27, 1896 St. Louis - East St. Louis - St. Clair County F4 255 fatalities, 1000 injuries Costliest and third deadliest tornado in U.S. history (see: St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado)

August 19, 1904 St. Louis - Madison County F2 3 fatalities, 10 injuries

September 29, 1927 Webster Groves - St. Louis F4 79 fatalities, 550 injuries 2nd costliest and at least 24th deadliest tornado in U.S. history

September 16, 1958 St. Louis F1 0

February 10, 1959 Ellisville - St. Louis - Madison County F4 21 fatalities, 345 injuries Very similar path to 1871, 1896, 1927 tornadoes; 66th deadliest in U.S. history

May 1, 1983 St. Louis - Madison County F2 3 injuries

March 31, 2007 St. Louis EF0 5 injuries Late-March 2007 tornado outbreak

December 31, 2010 St. Louis EF1 0 2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak

April 22, 2011 Riverview, St. Louis EF4 0 fatalities, some injuries 2011 St. Louis tornado 

Joplin, Missouri, tornado: Warnings pale in season of violent twisters

JOPLIN, Missouri. — More than 450 people are combing through the ruins of Joplin neighborhoods today, looking for victims of Sunday’s killer tornado that cut an almost one-mile-wide swath of destruction across the south side of the city.

“Rescue efforts are being effective,” Lynn Onstott, the city’s public information director, said shortly before noon. “We are finding people and helping them as we find them.”

The searchers, which included National Guardsmen, law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and volunteers, were working a grid pattern in the tornado-stricken zone, Onstott said.

“We’re trying to identify what homes we’ve already been into in an efficient manner and just go from there,” she said.

The city’s confirmed death count remained at 89, she said, although a higher number is expected to be announced at a 3 p.m. news conference.

More than 1,000 people were injured by the tornado. Hundreds of injured continued to be taken to area hospitals. One of Joplin’s two hospitals, St. John’s Regional Medical Center, was knocked out of commission by the storm and its patients moved to Freeman Hospital West, to a makeshift medical center in Joplin’s Memorial Hall or to other area hospitals.

Onstott said she did not yet have a list of the other hospitals where St. John’s patients were being transferred but was able to confirm that the most critical had been moved to Freeman.

But the tornado warning system – and how it's applied by states and municipalities – may also be playing a role in affecting those attitudes. Smith calls it the "crying wolf" phenomenon. On Sunday, for example, tornado sirens went off in Lawrence, Kan., even though the area was outside the National Weather Service's tornado warning report. About three-fourths of all tornado sirens are false alarms, according to a National Weather Service study.

"It's important that we cut down the false alarm rate," Smith says. "We are inadvertently training people to not react when the sirens go off."

As happened in Joplin on Sunday, forecasters are now able to give people a 20-minute warning of a tornado strike. Researchers believe that the 20-minute mark is the "flattening-out point" for a warning's effectiveness, because longer lead times don't appear to have an appreciable impact on casualty tolls.

Still, a new generation of weather radars – being tested by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. – offers the possibility of forecasting a tornado strike perhaps an hour ahead.

Such a breakthrough is already sparking debate about the possibility of ordering limited evacuations ahead of a tornado. Especially in populated areas like the places hit in Alabama and Missouri, such evacuations could probably save lives. But ordering people out of their homes to try to outrun an unpredictable tornado raises a whole array of questions about liability and safety trade-offs.

Medical personnel had to decide on the best places to send hospital patients after the tornado hit. They were in the hospital for all sorts of different conditions before the storm struck.

"We had to determine the best course of action for everyone," Scott said. "We had to get them to facilities that could handle different medical conditions."

Right now, hospital personnel are reporting to the field hospital for work, she said.

"We can redeploy them where they are needed, and we are deploying additional staff as well, including hospital-owned ambulances," said Scott.

Scott also said there are plenty of medical supplies on hand in Springfield, and the entire health system is working together to make sure all the hospitals get what they need quickly.

So far, at least 90 people are reported dead. The number of injured has not yet been reliably estimated.

Joplin races to find survivors after Missouri city hit by tornado

St. John's Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, suffered such severe damage from Sunday's tornado that all patients had to be evacuated and sent to other hospitals in the region.

Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said officials decided the hospital was unsafe after it took a direct hit from the tornado. They are still trying to determine how many patients were affected and where they were sent. Many of them, she said, were taken to St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Mo., about 75 miles away. Both hospitals are part of a multi-state health system.

Many of those injured in Joplin are currently being treated at a field hospital set up in the city's Memorial Hall.

Medical personnel had to decide on the best places to send hospital patients after the tornado hit. They were in the hospital for all sorts of different conditions before the storm struck.

"We had to determine the best course of action for everyone," Scott said. "We had to get them to facilities that could handle different medical conditions."

Right now, hospital personnel are reporting to the field hospital for work, she said.

"We can redeploy them where they are needed, and we are deploying additional staff as well, including hospital-owned ambulances," said Scott.

Scott also said there are plenty of medical supplies on hand in Springfield, and the entire health system is working together to make sure all the hospitals get what they need quickly.

President Obama expressed his condolences in a telephone call to Nixon from Ireland, where Obama is visiting, the White House said. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate will head to Joplin to coordinate federal disaster relief, said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.

Speaking on television, Nixon said it was good to speak directly with the president and that Missouri would welcome all of the help available.

More than 40 agencies were involved in the search-and-rescue effort, which was racing against the arrival of the next storm. Nixon said communications equipment was crucial in coordinating the rescue and relief efforts, which are being complicated by transportation difficulties. Interstate 44 was shut down, and streets were clogged with emergency vehicles and the wreckage of buildings.

"This is a developing situation," the governor said, "but we believe that there is a significant potential for saving lives."

The number of deaths stood at 89, but Mayor Pro Tem Melodee Colbert-Kean told reporters that the toll was likely to rise.

"While we haven't heard, it is expected to rise drastically," she said. "We don't know how high it can go. We're praying it wouldn't climb too high."

The weather was worsening, with severe thunderstorms expected, she said. "We're waiting to see if the siren goes off again."

It was the piercing keen of sirens that shook the city of 50,000 at about 6 p.m. Sunday. Most agreed that the weather warning system worked, going off about half an hour before the brunt of the storm hit.

But the tornado was traveling so fast, Colbert-Kean said, that the danger was on the city before most had a chance to deal with the threat.

More than 2,000 structures were damaged, including a major hospital, St. John's Regional Medical Center. Perhaps 30% of the city, about 160 miles from Kansas City, was damaged. An unknown number of people were injured, and many were treated in makeshift shelters in churches, Colbert-Kean said.

Cloud chamber

Cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is used for detecting particles of ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. When an alpha or beta particle interacts with the mixture, it ionizes it. The resulting ions act as condensation nuclei, around which a mist will form (because the mixture is on the point of condensation). The high energies of alpha and beta particles mean that a trail is left, due to many ions being produced along the path of the charged particle. These tracks have distinctive shapes (for example, an alpha particle's track is broad and shows more evidence of deflection by collisions, while an electron's is thinner and straight.). When any uniform magnetic field is applied across the cloud chamber, positively and negatively charged particles will curve in opposite directions, according to the Lorentz force law with two particles of opposite charge. For more detailed track-shape information.

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869–1959), a Scottish physicist, is credited with inventing the cloud chamber. Inspired by sightings of the Brocken spectre while working on the summit of Ben Nevis in 1894, he began to develop expansion chambers for studying cloud formation and optical phenomena in moist air. Very rapidly he discovered that ions could act as centers for water droplet formation in such chambers. He pursued the application of this discovery and perfected the first cloud chamber in 1911. In Wilson's original chamber the air inside the sealed device was saturated with water vapor, then a diaphragm is used to expand the air inside the chamber (adiabatic expansion). This cools the air and water vapor starts to condense. When an ionizing particle passes through the chamber, water vapor condenses on the resulting ions and the trail of the particle is visible in the vapor cloud. Wilson, along with Arthur Compton, received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927 for his work on the cloud chamber. This kind of chamber is also called a Pulsed Chamber, because the conditions for operation are not continuously maintained. Developments were made by Patrick Blackett who utilised a stiff spring to expand and compress the chamber very rapidly, making the chamber sensitive to particles several times a second. The cloud chamber was the first radioactivity detector.

Effectiveness of Cloud seeding

Referring to the 1903, 1915, 1919 and 1944 and 1947 weather modification experiments, the Australian Federation of Meteorology discounted "rain making." By the 1950s the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics switched to investigating the physics of clouds and had hoped by 1957 to better understand these processes. By the 1960s the dreams of weather making had faded only to be re-ignited post-corporatisation of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in order to achieve "above target" water. This would provide enhanced energy generation and profits to the public agencies who are the principal owners. Cloud seeding has been shown to be effective in altering cloud structure and size and in converting supercooled liquid water to ice particles. The amount of precipitation due to seeding is difficult to quantify. Cloud seeding may also suppress precipitation.

A key challenge is in discerning how much precipitation would have occurred had clouds not been seeded. Overall, there is general expectation that winter cloud seeding over mountains will produce snow, expressed by professional organizations. There is statistical evidence for seasonal precipitation increases of about 10% with winter seeding.

The US government through its National Center for Atmospheric Research has analyzed seeded and unseeded clouds to understand the differences between them, and has conducted seeding research in other countries.

Clouds were seeded during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing using rockets, so that there would be no rain during the opening and closing ceremonies. although others dispute their claims of success.

Cloud seeding In United States

The United States, cloud seeding is used to increase precipitation in areas experiencing drought, to reduce the size of hailstones that form in thunderstorms, and to reduce the amount of fog in and around airports. Cloud seeding is also occasionally used by major ski resorts to induce snowfall. Eleven western states and one Canadian province (Alberta) have ongoing weather modification operational programs . In January 2006, an $8.8 million cloud seeding project began in Wyoming to examine the effects of cloud seeding on snowfall over Wyoming's Medicine Bow, Sierra Madre, and Wind River mountain ranges.

A number of commercial companies, such as Aero Systems Incorporated , Atmospherics Incorporated , North American Weather Consultants , Weather Modification Incorporated , Weather Enhancement Technologies International , Seeding Operations and Atmospheric Research (SOAR) , offer weather modification services centered on cloud seeding. The USAF proposed its use on the battlefield in 1996, although the U.S. signed an international treaty in 1978 banning the use of weather modification for hostile purposes.

During the sixties, Irving P. Krick & Associates operated a successful cloud seeding operation in the area around Calgary, Alberta. This utilized both aircraft and ground-based generators that pumped silver iodide into the atmosphere in an attempt to reduce the threat of hail damage. Ralph Langeman, Lynn Garrison, and Stan McLeod, all ex-members of the RCAF's 403 Squadron, attending the University of Alberta, spent their summers flying hail suppression. A number of surplus Harvard aircraft were fitted with racks under each wing containing 32 railroad fuzees that were impregnated with silver iodide. These could be ignited individually or all at once, depending upon the threat. In coordination with ground units, the aircraft would lay a plume of silver iodide in front of approaching cumulo-nimbus clouds with noticeable effect. Large, active CBs were reduced to nothing. Heavy hail storms were reduced in intensity. This effective program was funded by farmer contributions and government grants.

Cloud seeding In Europe

Cloud seeding was begun in France during the 1950s with the intent of reducing hail damage to crops. The ANELFA project consists of local agencies acting within a non-profit organization. A similar project in Spain is managed by the Consorcio por la Lucha Antigranizo de Aragon. The success of the French program was supported by insurance data; that of the Spanish program in studies conducted by the Spanish Agricultural Ministry.

Soviet military pilots seeded clouds over the Byelorussian SSR after the Chernobyl disaster to remove radioactive particles from clouds heading toward Moscow. At the July 2006 G8 Summit, President Putin commented that air force jets had been deployed to seed incoming clouds so they rained over Finland. Rain drenched the summit anyway. In Moscow, the Russian Airforce tried seeding clouds with bags of cement on June 17, 2008. One of the bags did not pulverize and went through the roof of a house. In October 2009, the Mayor of Moscow promised a "winter without snow" for the city after revealing efforts by the Russian Air Force to seed the clouds upwind from Moscow throughout the winter.

Cloud seeding In Asia

The largest cloud seeding system in the world is that of the People's Republic of China, which believes that it increases the amount of rain over several increasingly arid regions, including its capital city, Beijing, by firing silver iodide rockets into the sky where rain is desired. There is even political strife caused by neighboring regions which accuse each other of "stealing rain" using cloud seeding. About 24 countries currently practice weather modification operationally. China used cloud seeding in Beijing just before the 2008 Olympic Games in order to clear the air of pollution, but there are disputes regarding the Chinese claims. In February 2009, China also blasted iodide sticks over Beijing to artificially induce snowfall after four months of drought, and blasted iodide sticks over other areas of northern China to increase snowfall. The snowfall in Beijing lasted for approximately three days and led to the closure of 12 main roads around Beijing. At the end of October 2009 Beijing claimed it had its earliest snowfall since 1987 due to cloud seeding.

In Southeast Asia, open burning produces haze that pollutes the regional environment. Cloud-seeding has been used to improve the air quality by encouraging rainfall. In India, cloud seeding operations were conducted during the years 2003 and 2004 through U.S. based Weather Modification Inc. in state of Maharashtra. In 2008, there are plans for 12 districts of state of Andhra Pradesh.

Cloud seeding In Australia

In Australia, CSIRO’s activities in Tasmania in the 1960s were successful. Seeding over the Hydro-Electricity Commission catchment area on the Central Plateau achieved rainfall increases as high as 30% in autumn. The Tasmanian experiments were so successful that the Commission has regularly undertaken seeding ever since in mountainous parts of the State.

In 2004, Snowy Hydro Limited began a trial of cloud seeding to assess the feasibility of increasing snow precipitation in the Snowy Mountains in Australia. The test period, originally scheduled to end in 2009, was later extended to 2014. The New South Wales (NSW) Natural Resources Commission, responsible for supervising the cloud seeding operations, believes that the trial may have difficulty establishing statistically whether cloud seeding operations are increasing snowfall. This project was discussed at a summit in Narrabri, NSW on 1 December 2006. The summit met with the intention of outlining a proposal for a 5 year trial, focussing on Northern NSW.

The various implications of such a widespread trial were discussed, drawing on the combined knowledge of several worldwide experts, including representatives from the Tasmanian Hydro Cloud Seeding Project however does not make reference to former cloud seeding experiments by the then Snowy Mountains Authority which rejected weather modification. The trial required changes to NSW environmental legislation in order to facilitate placement of the cloud seeding apparatus. The modern experiment is not supported for the Australian Alps.

In December 2006, the Queensland government of Australia announced A$7.6 million in funding for "warm cloud" seeding research to be conducted jointly by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the United States National Center for Atmospheric Research. Outcomes of the study are hoped to ease continuing drought conditions in the states South East region.

Flooding Mississippi submerges Memphis waterfront

Memphis, Tennessee -- The Mississippi River has begun cresting at Memphis, forecasters said Tuesday, as attention began turning to flooding concerns in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The slow passing of the bulge of water working its way from north to south along the Mississippi is only the beginning of the end of the siege for Memphis residents, who could be dealing with high water levels into June.

And the struggle is just getting started for residents of Mississippi and Louisiana, where the river is expected to begin cresting next week at levels unseen since 1927.

The river level hit 48 feet, or about 14 metres on Tuesday, the highest it has been since 1937, said CTV's Joy Malbon, reporting from Memphis.

"It's like watching a slow-motion disaster happen," Malbon told CTV News Channel.

"The water took a long time to rise and it's going to take several weeks for the water to recede before people can go back into their homes.

There was no danger to Memphis' major tourist draws, such as Graceland, which lies far beyond the water's reach, and much of the city appeared normal. Levees built to prevent massive flooding were holding, according to the Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday. Shelby County and four others were declared disaster areas by President Obama late Monday. The designation means that they'll be eligible for federal disaster aid, which local officials say is much-needed.

Cleanup was expected to be massive, and there were fears that farmland and cities further south could yet be devastated. Inmates in Louisiana's largest prison were taken to higher ground, and farmers were building homemade levees to protect their crops. Engineers diverted water into Lake Pontchartrain to ease the pressure on levees around New Orleans, where levee failures after Hurricane Katrina virtually drowned the city.

The flooding is the result of heavy rains recently and unusually heavy snow over the winter further north that began melting and adding to the already swollen Mississippi.