Continuous drought making life tough in Myingyan, Myanmar

A drought lasting nearly three months has hit residents in Myingyan, who are struggling with shortage of water, scarcity of food and difficulty in farming and breeding.

A local from Tamangyi village in the region said: “We haven’t been able to plant paddy because of the water shortage. Almost all of the lakes and drinking fountains have dried up. If it doesn’t rain this month, we will face a lack of drinking water.”

Some said drought has become more severe year after year.

With the lack of rain, temperatures have risen each day and some artesian wells have even dried up.

Kyaw Min, a member of a group promoting human rights in San-U village, said: “Many villagers have to walk a mile a day to access water. Farm animals have lived on used water. Some households have already migrated to where the grass is greener.”

The rainy season in Myingyan – in Mandalay division in central Myanmar – is a bit different from other regions. It starts at the beginning of Nayone (mid-June) and ends at the beginning of Tawthalin (mid-September). If there is no rain by Wagaung (mid-August) there is usually no more rain for the year, locals explained.

http://tinyurl.com/p8y3cxp

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Dust storm blankets UAE

Drivers were advised to take extra care on Sunday as a major dust storm shrouded the landscape in a veil of white sand reducing visibility across the country.

The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) asked motorists to slow down and warned seafarers of rough waters in the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

The centre said the forecast for Monday called for partly cloudy, hazy conditions over eastern areas with a rise in humidity during early morning times over some areas.

“Moderate winds may also freshen at times, causing blowing dust, haze and sand over internal and open areas. Sea is moderate to rough in the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,” a forecaster said.

 

“Wind speed may reach 35km/hr in coastal areas and 38km/hr in internal areas,” he said.

The centre said that temperature is likely to increase gradually with light to moderately rough winds across the UAE with a chance of rain.

Residents were surprised at the twists and turns in the country’s weather as it turned from bad to worse on Sunday and traffic slowed to a crawl as workers made the slow commute home late in the day.

“I have waited for one hour to wash my car during my lunch break. Two hours later, you want to kill yourself when you find a layer of sand covering your car,” Rana Alaa, a resident of Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News.

Moataz Abdul Wahab, project manager at KEO International Consultants and resident of Abu Dhabi, posted a picture on Facebook saying:“ That’s where I live. Not a joke. The worst sand storm I have ever witnessed. The visibility is down to 50 meters or less.”

Construction site activities were halted due to bad weather conditions.

“The weather is cloudy, sandy and visibility is very low. So all construction site activities have been halted because the conditions are not suitable for workers to be in as they might be exposed to harmful particles of sand that they might inhale or that can go into their eyes and cause them future health problems. Work will commence tomorrow morning and overtime has been cancelled for today,” A.H, a construction manager at Saadiyat Island, told Gulf News.

The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) had earlier provided members of the public with general guidelines to follow when dealing with bad weather conditions in the UAE.

While officials at the centre noted that it will be dealing with emergency situations using strategic partnerships, a certain number of precautions must be taken by individuals to avoid disasters. These include staying away from dangerous places and flooding channels, valleys and low-level regions and beaches and to refrain from going into open water and open areas during unstable weather conditions.

Meanwhile, drivers on the road are advised to remain vigilant and on the lookout for any obstacles that can arise due to strong winds, such as tree branches and fallen signboards while avoiding speeding and turning on their fog-lights during dusty and foggy weather.

http://tinyurl.com/kktfdav

DRAMATIC INCREASE QUAKE SWARM ICELAND REGION

***URGENT ALERT***

**DRAMATIC INCREASE**

  QUAKE SWARM

ICELAND REGION

***BE ALERT***

Earthquake swarm, possible subglacial eruption at Bárdarbunga volcano in Iceland

Earthquakes under Bárdabunga volcano

Harmonic tremor (Dyngjuháls SIL station, IMO)

An intense earthquake swarm started yesterday under Bárðarbunga volcano, located under the northwestern part of the Vatnajökull ice cap. It is continuing at the moment and accompanied by elevated harmonic tremor.

This might indicate a subglacial eruption at the volcano, but this needs yet to be confirmed.

The last eruption of Bárðarbunga volcano was in 1797, while another eruption in 1910 took place at neighboring Hamarinn volcano.

http://tinyurl.com/plazah5

Plane crash kills 3 near Cook Canyon Ranch Airport, USA

A single engine aircraft crashed in Eastland County, west of Fort Worth around midnight Saturday. According to law enforcement, all three people on the plane died.

 

It happened as the plane took off from Cook Canyon Ranch Airport near the city of Ranger, according to the FAA.

 

The plane went down in a wooded area about three miles northwest of Ranger.

 

The FAA and NTSB investigators began their investigation Sunday morning.

 

The names of the victims will be released when families are notified, according to the FAA.

http://tinyurl.com/n6s24sf

Plane crash kills one; other is critical in Carter County, Oklahoma, USA

We’re learning more about the plane crash in that killed one person Saturday afternoon.

 

Several agencies responded to Lake Murray State Park Saturday afternoon when a single-engine plane, carrying two people, crashed just west of highway 77.

 

“There was one survivor of the crash. The plane was occupied twice. We believe the driver is the deceased person in the plane. The plane was fully engulfed in flames at the time,” said Lt. Darian Galloway with Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

 

It happened just after 2 p.m. Saturday.

 

Trooper Michael Greober with OHP said the single-engine Piper Cherokee 6 was being repaired for engine problems earlier in the day.

 

Groeber said the pilot, a 63-year-old man and the mechanic, a 58-year-old man, took the plane out for a test run. The engine began to have problems again mid-flight causing the plane to crash.

 

The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. The mechanic was transported to Parkland Hospital in critical condition.

 

“It looks, from when I looked at the damage, it looks like they were turning and coming back to the air park,” said Greober.

 

Groeber said the pilot’s intention was to fix the engine, go to Oklahoma City and then park the aircraft on a grass strip that he kept it on.

 

The F.A.A. has been called out to investigate.

http://tinyurl.com/pbn8f3l

Plane crash kills 3 in central Texas, USA

Three people have died in a small plane crash in rural Central Texas.

 

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the single-engine plane crashed around midnight on Saturday.

 

The plane had taken off from Cook Canyon Ranch Airport near Ranger, which is located about 85 miles west of Fort Worth.

 

The crash happened in a wooded area about three miles northwest of Ranger.

 

The names of the three people aboard the aircraft were not immediately released by authorities.

 

Lunsford says the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

http://tinyurl.com/mngorce

MAGNITUDE 5.2 MID-INDIAN RIDGE

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s3ki#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 16 km

Distances: 536km (333mi) ESE of Ile Rodrigues, Mauritius
1115km (693mi) E of Bel Air, Mauritius
1118km (695mi) E of Centre de Flacq, Mauritius
1118km (695mi) E of Mahebourg, Mauritius
1141km (709mi) E of Port Louis, Mauritius

MAGNITUDE 5.0 IRAN-IRAQ BORDER REGION

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s3k2#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 10 km

Distances: 42km (26mi) E of Dehloran, Iran
46km (29mi) SE of Abdanan, Iran
71km (44mi) WNW of Dezful, Iran
71km (44mi) NW of Shush, Iran
318km (198mi) ESE of Baghdad, Iraq

MASSIVE DIP SPIKES ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 10:00, 10:30, 11:30, 12:00, 14:00 hrs UTC

**EXTREMELY URGENT**

  MASSIVE DIP SPIKES ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 10:00, 10:30, 11:30, 12:00, 14:00 hrs UTC. FURTHER EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANO ACTIVITY & ADVERSE WEATHER PATTERNS WILL BE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE COSMIC RAYS STRIKING THE EARTH’S CORE

***BE ALERT***