Scientists Pinpoint Polar Cataclysm Date

Photo: This undated photo provided by David Marchant of Boston University shows The Labyrinth, a network of ice-free bedrock channels and scoured terrain emerging from beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. A 30-mile maze canyons in Antarctica was carved out of bedrock by the catastrophic draining of subglacial lakes during global warming between 12 million and 14 million years ago, according to university researchers who warn a similar event today could have serious environmental consequences. (AP Photo/Boston University, David Marchant)

Earth News/Climate Change
Skywatch Special Report
Aug 30, 2006
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A 30-mile maze canyons in Antarctica was carved out of bedrock by the catastrophic draining of subglacial lakes during global warming between 12 million and 14 million years ago, according to university researchers who warn a similar event today could have serious environmental consequences.
Although scientists have previously theorized that the Labyrinth region in southern Victoria Land was created by water released from lakes that had formed under glaciers, researchers at Syracuse University and Boston University say they found geological evidence to bracket the timing of the last major flooding and link it to a global warming trend at the time.
The scientists pinpointed the timing of the last subglacial flood by dating volcanic ash preserved on bedrock surfaces, said Laura Webb, a professor of earth sciences at Syracuse who took part in the study.
The Labyrinth is a network of ice-free bedrock channels and scoured terrain emerging from beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. It is one of a series of large channel networks that cross the Transantarctic Mountains. Some of the chasms are up to 800 feet deep and thousands of feet wide. Scientists have long speculated that the volume of water required to create the channels was far more than that produced by melting glaciers.
Webb said it appeared the subglacial flooding was not continuous but episodic, and likely lasted days or months at a time.
In an article on the study that appeared last month in the journal "Geology," Webb and her colleagues estimated the flood raged with approximately 1,000 times the volume of water flowing over Niagara Falls. At that rate, it would take Lake Ontario, for instance, about a month to drain, she said.
Suzanne Baldwin, another Syracuse professor who was one of the study's principal researchers, warned that the ancient episode has implications for global climate change today.
Continue Reading

Rain forests on fire

BREAKING ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS: INDONESIA
Aug 31, 2006
It was once thought that rain forests were resistant to fire because of their high humidity and the fact they stay lush and green all year long.
However, in Indonesia, the opposite is true because forest fires occur annually during the dry season.
Decades of reckless logging and the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture by farmers and plantation companies have made forested areas, bush and grasslands across the archipelago, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, highly vulnerable to fires during the annual dry season between June and October.
It is tragic that the government has failed to learn from the series of forest fires that have occurred since 1982, ignoring the ecological and economic losses, health costs and disruptions to shipping and aviation in the country and its neighboring countries, notably Singapore and Malaysia.
Forest fires will continue to occur unless the government, in cooperation with all other stakeholders -- local administrations, plantation companies, farmers and non-governmental organizations -- embarks on developing a national forest fire management system covering preventive and suppressive programs. {PHOTO Above: Fires set to clear land for large-scale ranching and logging operations, not burning by small farmers, were the main cause of the uncontrolled fires in both Indonesian and Brazilian rainforests.

READ: Rainforest Fires in Indonesia and Brazil:
The U.S. Link esearch shows that 70% to 90% of the fires were set by large, officially sanctioned companies to clear land for timber, oil-palm, and rubber plantations. The irreplaceable tropical forests of Indonesia, and the land rights of their indigenous inhabitants, are being sacrificed to Indonesia's push to supply heavily subsidized plywood and paper mills.

Greenpeace slams Indonesia over forest fires
The environmental group claims that the thick haze is threatening the health of millions of people and contributing to climate change.

Thousands Displaced By Flooding

Earth News: African Desert
Aug 30, 2006
Torrential rains have left at least 17,000 people homeless in the north and south of Niger, according to authorities who have appealed for urgent assistance.
The remote desert town Bilma in Agadez region, 1,500 km northeast of the capital Niamey has been hardest hit, according to a cabinet statement released on Tuesday. In this town alone, some 3,400 people from 675 families have been driven from their homes or watched them destroyed by flooding, the report said.
According to the Nigerien government Bilma has received some 63 mm of rain in recent days - equivalent to the total rainfall recorded there during the last 10 years.
Abba Mallam Boukar, governor of the Agadez region, said in a television interview on Wednesday that Bilma is experiencing a "catastrophe", and pleaded for assistance.

Disasters Elsewhere
THAILAND - Continuous rainfall had led to landslides damaging five homes and 2,000 rai of forest in Nan's Thung Chang and Chalermprakiat districts, prompting officials to evacuate locals to temporary shelters. The discovery of a 700 metre-long and 50-metre-wide crack in the ground in Chiang Klang district's Ban Kok village prompted local officials to evacuate 152 residents to temporary shelters in the Phu Wae National Park. In neighbouring Chiang Mai, the Mae Rim River had overflowed and inundated 70 houses. The weather bureau has warned of heavy rains over the next few days.

NEPAL - Heavy rain that has flooded western Nepal villages and left thousands homeless is not expected to relent for at least three weeks. Flooding in the southwest and landslides in the mountainous northwest have already killed at least 39 people and several more are reported missing.

'Monster' Typhoon Ioke Makes Direct Hit on Wake Island

BREAKING STORM NEWS: CENTRAL PACIFIC
Aug 31, 2006
Super Typhoon Ioke has made a direct hit on Wake Island, pounding the tiny U.S. Pacific territory with catastrophic winds of up to 300 kilometers an hour.
Ioke is the strongest central Pacific typhoon in at least 12 years. Forecasters expect the "monster" storm to submerge Wake Island and destroy everything on it that is not made of concrete.
Wake is home to a U.S. Air Force base and a scientific outpost, roughly midway between Hawaii and Japan.
The eye of the typhoon skirted the north edge of the coral atoll Thursday. The U.S. Air Force had already evacuated all of the island's 188 residents to Hawaii, 3,700 kilometers across the Pacific.
The residents - Air Force personnel and American and Thai contractors - left Monday aboard two U.S. C-17 Globemaster planes. It was the first time the territory was evacuated in nearly 30 years. {photo above: Hurricane Ioke in the Pacific Aug 30, 2006)
Air Force to fly planes to check Wake Island damage after typhoon

Related Storms
Hurricane John hits Mexico
Thu Aug 31 2006
In Acapulco there were sea surges of up to 10ft which left seafront roads ankle-deep in water as people struggled to stay on their feet in 135mph winds
Hurricane John has hit Mexico's tourist resorts packing torrential rains and winds of 125mph.
As the Category 3 storm races up the coast, it is predicted to dump 12 inches of rain, triggering landslides or flooding, and could produce isolated storm surges of up to 18ft, uprooting trees and ripping roofs off buildings.
In the port of Manzanillo, residents boarded up doors and windows, and those living along hills were moved to emergency shelters as authorities warned the town would be hit overnight.
The Mexican government said its hurricane warning extends from the southern steel-making port of Lazaro Cardenas up the Pacific coast to the tip of the Baja California peninsula, popular with tourists and yachtsmen.

Tropical Storm Ernesto expected to deliver heavy rain to Carolinas
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - Coastal residents in the Carolinas braced Thursday for a stronger Ernesto but still worried more about the soaking rains than the winds from the newly upgraded tropical storm.
{photo: Alain Alvarez carries Istra Padilla while walking their dog as gusty winds blow as tropical storm Ernesto passes to the north of Key Biscayne, Fla., Aug 30, 2006.}

Mayon gas emission increases anew

Volcanic Update: Philippines
Last updated 04:25pm (Mla time) 08/30/2006
LEGAZPI CITY -- The sulfur dioxide (S02) emission of the rumbling Mayon Volcano abruptly increased to 9,733 tons on Wednesday from Tuesday's 3,864 tons.
The volcano's S02 emission is one of the parameters being monitored to establish the eruption pattern of the volcano.
Mt. Mayon's normal S02 emission rate is pegged at 500 tons daily.
The abrupt increase in the S02 emission rate was due to the degassing of magma after the two series of explosions recorded during the 24-hour observation period, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
The two explosions that occurred at 8:58 a.m. and 1:47 p.m. on Tuesday produced grayish 500-meter-high ash clouds from the summit, which drifted west-northwest.
There were 16 volcanic earthquakes, which Phivolcs said represented continuous movement of magma inside the volcano.

Mini-tsunami reported at Azov coast

Breaking Earth News: Russia
Read it in Russian
Aug 31, 2006
Search operation has continued at Dolzhanskaya Spit (Azov Sea Coast), where tourists were washed away by a surge last night.
As REGNUM is told at Southern Regional Center of Russia’s Emergency Ministry, last night Dolzhanskaya Spit, which is one of most favorite resorts for residents of Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region, was inundated. According to witnesses, six people were washed away by the surge.
Yeisk Search and Rescue Unit of the emergency ministry managed to find five missing tourists at about 02:00 a.m. The rest one is still missing.
Dozens of cars with non-official holiday-makers were evacuated from the spit. Eleven people and their cars remained at the spit, as they refused to move away. Ten life-guards and a boat were involved in the rescue operation.

Related News
Aug 30, 2006
INDONESIA - Thousands of residents of the tiny islands of Tual and Langgur (Maluku province) abandoned their homes the night of the 29th for safer ground after a tsunami alert was issued. The population fled after an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale was registered off the coast of the Maluku Islands, eastern Indonesia, forcing the authorities to sound the alarm, which was eventually called off. People found refuge in the villages of Un and Kampung Raja and on Masbait Hill. A local governmental building is now used as a temporary shelter for panicked residents, but the picture of the situation on the two islands remains unclear due to poor communications. It is known though that residents still refuse to go home until they are certain that the tsunami danger is over.

Newsletter:Preparing for the Next Pandemic

Skywatch Announcement
Aug 30, 2006
Dating back to antiquity, influenza pandemics have posed the greatest threat of a worldwide calamity caused by infectious disease. Over the past 300 years, ten influenza pandemics have occurred among humans. The most recent came in 1957-58 and 1968-69, and although several tens of thousands of Americans died in each one, these were considered mild compared to others. The 1918-19 pandemic was not. According to recent analysis, it killed 50 to 100 million people globally. Today, with a population of 6.5 billion, more than three times that of 1918, even a "mild" pandemic could kill many millions of people.

The Skywatch weekly newsletter 'Preparing for the Next Pandemic', has been emailed to subscribers and is available at the newsletter archives.

Viewers can subscribe to the Skywatch Newletter Here

The Skywatch Newsletter is provided to viewers and subscribers of the Great Red Comet and Earth Frenzy Radio blogs

Portugal battles six blazes, raises fire alert as temperatures soar

Earth News: Portugal
Aug 29, 2006
LISBON (AFP) - More than 450 firefighters backed by 135 vehicles battled six wildfires, including four burning out of control, in Portugal as authorities lifted the national fire alert level because of rising temperatures. Nearly 200 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft were at the scene of the largest blaze which raged out of control in woodlands near the central town of Castelo Branco, the national firefighting service said.
Another fire near the central town of Santarem forced the cancellation of six trains, including one linking Lisbon to Paris, the national railway service CP said. It was being battled by 70 firefighters.
Earlier on Tuesday the national firefighting service raised the national fire alert to "yellow", the third-highest of four levels, because it said high temperatures, low air humidity levels and strong winds had increased the risk of wildfires.
The alert level will remain at "yellow" until Thursday. It was previously set at "blue", the lowest level.
The national weather office forecasts temperatures to soar to highs of up to 40 degrees Celius (104 Fahrenheit) in some parts of Portugal over the next two days.
Wildfires destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of forest and scrubland between the start of the year and August 14, one-third the average amount ravaged by flames the previous five years, according to the latest government figures.
Most of the fire damage took place during a heatwave which swept the country during the first two weeks of August. {photo: Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire near Sever do Vouga, 300 Km North of Lisbon.}

Venango County Flooding Forces Evacuations

Earth News: Pennsylvania, U.S.
Images: Venango County Borough Flooding
Video: Town Flooded
Aug 29, 2006
VENANGO COUNTY, Pa. -- Sandy Creek spilled over its banks Tuesday morning and caused major flooding in the borough of Polk, according to Venango County 911.
The Polk Center dam was also leaking, and a water treatment plant in nearby Franklin leaked gallons of contaminated water, county officials said
About 100 people were evacuated below the dam and in Polk, Channel 4 Action News reported. It's unclear when they may be able to return to their homes.
Residents in danger of flooding were asked to go to the Polk fire hall, where a shuttle was running to a shelter at the Polk center.
The National Weather Service extended a flood warning in Venango County until 5:15 p.m. About 2.5 inches of rain fell in the area in 24 hours, the NWS said.

Drought in SW China worsens as temperatures soar

BREAKING EARTH NEWS: CHINA
BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Southwest China is suffering from its worst drought in 50 years and temperatures soared to 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday with crops withering in the scorching heat, state media reported.
More than 40 percent of the vegetable crop in parts of the municipality of Chongqing have suffered in the drought, and with production down, prices were rising.
In Chongqing and eastern parts of the neighbouring province of Sichuan, more than 11 million hectares of cropland had been affected, Xinhua news agency reported.
The government was calling on residents to plant alternative crops such as potatoes to make up their losses, and in Chongqing's Nanchuan city, farmers who had planted more than 10 mu of land were being given 100 yuan ($12.50) each in assistance. A mu is equal to one-sixth of an acre.
Despite efforts to dig wells in the area and create artificial rainfall, more than 17 million people were short of drinking water, Xinhua said, citing the state flood control and drought relief departments.
By contrast, a series of tropical storms and typhoons in the past two months have caused severe flooding in the south and east. In one county alone in Hunan province, almost 200 people died in floods triggered by tropical storm Bilis in July.
A study issued by Chinese climate scientists last year predicted that mean temperatures across China were likely to rise, bringing changes in rainfall, river flows and crop production.

Mud volcano floods Java

Earth News
Disaster-plagued Indonesian island faces new threat
Aug 29, 2006

What has happened?
For 3 months a sea of hot mud has been gushing from the ground in Sidoarjo, East Java, 35 kilometres south of Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya. The steaming mud pool is growing at an estimated 50,000 cubic metres a day, accompanied by hydrogen sulphide gas, and now reportedly covers more than 25 square kilometres. The flow has not yet been stopped; thousands of people have lost their homes.

How bizarre... has this sort of disaster happened before?
The Sidoarjo disaster is an example of a 'mud volcano'. Mud and gas accumulates when sea sediments are trapped in subduction zones, where one tectonic plate slides under another, and can erupt out of volcanic cones or simply from a crack in the ground. Mud volcanoes have burst on every continent, but are abundant in the South Caspian region (offshore and onshore Azerbaijan) and offshore Indonesia in the East Java Basin.But the Sidoarjo mud volcano is rather unusual. It's huge. And, says Sam Rice, a geologist with the Cambridge Antarctic Shelf Programme, UK, reports of the mud eruption suggest that it is a hybrid between typical mud volcanoes and hydrothermal vents. The mud is of an unusually high temperature (60 °C) and contains enormously high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide gas. This suggests that some kind of volcanic, hydrothermal activity is going on at the same time.
{Photo Above: Residents carry their belongings through mud as they evacuate their homes in east Java.}

RELATED NEWS

PHILIPPINES - Displaced residents have begun to trek back to their homes in the past couple of days as Mayon, one of the most active volcanoes in the country, showed signs of quieting down. But alert level 4, the highest alert level for a volcano, has not been lifted by PHIVOLCS. The latest bulletin said a total of 24 volcanic quakes were recorded around the volcano as of 8 a.m. Tuesday. "This means that a hazardous explosive eruption is highly possible." A series of small ash explosions were monitored from Mayon between late Monday afternoon and up to early Tuesday morning. "The series of small ash explosions for the past 24 hours indicated that Mayon is exhibiting a slight increase in activity. More ash explosions are expected in the coming days."

ECUADOR - the seismic activity of the Tungurahua during the past days has been low. Lava flows have been registered at the northwest flank of the volcano and descended through the Cusúa and La Hacienda rifts. The threat of a new eruption remains high and the volcano continues to be thoroughly monitored. The evacuated population continues living in 11 temporary shelters.

Hurricane off Mexico now Category 4

BREAKING STORM NEWS: MEXICO
Hurricane Alert
Aug 30, 2006
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico - Hurricane John has become a dangerous Category 4 storm and is likely to strengthen further while traveling closer to Mexico's Pacific coast than previously thought, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 135 mph, and gusts up to 161 mph, John was already lashing some tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain from its outer bands.
Hurricane-force winds were likely to begin raking beaches south of Puerto Vallarta late Wednesday, then come close to hitting land early Thursday. The storm would then nick Los Cabos at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Friday before heading out to sea.

View Video: Tracking John






TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO LATEST ADVISORY
At 11 Am Edt...A Tropical Storm Warning Has Been Extended Northward And Is Now In Effect From Sebastian Inlet Florida Northward And Northeastward Along The Coast To Cape Fear North Carolina.

Click Image at left to enlarge

Gulf Coast Mourns, 1 Year Later

{Photo: Residents of eastern New Orleans hold hands during a prayer at a candlelight vigil with 1600 candles to commemorate those who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina.}

In Commemoration: Hurricane Katrina
Aug 29, 2006
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Bells tolled in this shattered city Tuesday morning, marking the moment one year earlier when New Orleans' levees buckled and unleashed a torrent of water that ripped homes from their foundations and sent half the city into an uncertain exile.As the bells rang, survivors of the storm gathered outside City Hall."I felt like I needed to be here. It's like a funeral, and life goes on after today," said Gayla Dunn, 33, of New Orleans.Mayor Ray Nagin told the crowd the anniversary was a difficult day for everyone, including himself."Trust me. We will get through it. We will get through it together," he said.As Nagin spoke at City Hall, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush sang a hymn inside St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter, which survived Katrina's cyclonic winds and was untouched by the flooding.Hurricane Katrina made landfall 65 miles south of the city in the tiny fishing village of Buras. Within hours, New Orleans' protective levees collapses, causing one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history which killed over 1,800 people.One year later, the Gulf Coast commemorated the storm that brought the region to its breaking point.In pockmarked neighborhoods choked with weeds, in church pews and in gutted community centers, residents held public and private vigils. At each of the city's broken levees, they tossed wreaths of flowers, sending them bobbing into calm, black water.Under an equally calm sky in Gulfport, Miss., the community remembered 14 residents lost to the storm."I'm hoping this is a step forward," said Carolyn Bozzetti, 60, whose 83-year-old father drowned in the his home during the storm. "I've been crying for a year. I'm tired of crying." Continue Story

Read how Katrina survivors are dealing with the emotional and financial blows dealt to them by the devastating storm. Rebuilding Lives



Click Photo Above to View Video: Katrina-One Year later

Fact Sheet: One Year Later: Katrina Facts

Hundreds feared dead in Nepal’s worst landslide in a decade

Earth News: Nepal
Aug 28, 2006
The landslide occurred two days ago in Achham district. About 500 residents of Balyalta village are missing. Locals demand the government come up with plans to avoid unrestricted use of local natural resources.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Fears are mounting that a massive landslide on Saturday night in the western Nepalese district of Achham could have killed up to 500 people. News of the disaster caused by heavy rain was reported only yesterday because of the area’s remoteness and lack of telephones. Achham District Chief Hom Nath Thapaliya said that a survivor from Balyalta village reported that 80 of the village’s 94 homes were swept away in the landslide. “More than 500 residents have simply gone,” the man said.

INDIA - How do those used to drought every year now battle with a deluge? Over 100 people are now dead around Barmer in floods. Barmer is normally a desert, but in what seems to be a FREAK happening, it's flooded. Floods in the area have brought to forefront all the issues they are familiar with as a nation in such circumstances; administrative delay in response, inadequate relief, and the colossal loss of human life and property. But what can't be stressed enough is the mad irony of a land thirsting for water now devastated in deluge.

Wake Island evacuated as Super Typhoon Ioke closes in

Breaking Storm News: Central Pacific
The Associated Press
Published: August 28, 2006 Last Modified: August 28, 2006 at 08:06 PM
HONOLULU (AP) - The military evacuated 200 people from Wake Island on Monday before the arrival of Typhoon Ioke, the strongest Central Pacific hurricane in more than decade.
Classified as a Category 5 "super typhoon," Ioke is expected to cause extensive damage when it hits Wake Island with 155 mph winds on Wednesday, said Jeff Powell, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
"This is going to roll up a storm surge that will probably submerge the island and destroy everything that's not made of concrete," Powell said. "It's a good thing it's way out in the water."
The 200 people were loaded onto two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft and flown to Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu, said Maj. Clare Reed, a spokeswoman for the 15th Airlift Wing. They arrived Monday afternoon.
Wake Island is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu and 1,510 miles east of Guam.


Click on photo to view video: Workers evacuate Wake Island

Update: Tropical Storm Ernesto
Tropical Storm Ernesto lingered Monday night over Cuba, beating itself up over that island's mountains and raising the unfamiliar possibility that Floridians might catch a break on the tropical weather front.
A shadow of its former self after spending a full day and night over land, Ernesto still was expected to strike Tuesday at the Florida Keys and Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Disaster-prone China takes heed of global warming

Breaking Earth News: Global Warming/Climate Change
Aug 28, 2006
BEIJING (Reuters) - Storms, floods, heat and drought that have killed more than 2,000 people in China this year are a prelude to weather patterns likely to become more extreme due to global warming, the head of the Beijing Climate Centre said.
China was braced for further hardship as rising temperatures worldwide trigger increasingly extreme weather, Dong Wenjie, director-general of the climate centre, said.
"The precise causes of these phenomena aren't easy to determine on their own," Dong told Reuters of meteorological disasters that have caused 160 billion yuan ($20 billion) worth of damage this year.
"But we know the broad background is global warming. That's clear. It's a reminder that global warming will bring about increasingly extreme weather events more often."
A study issued by China's chief climate scientists last year predicted that mean temperatures across China were likely to climb, forcing major changes in rainfall, desertification, river flows and crop production.
Yet even as China approaches the United States as the world's largest producer of the manmade greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, Beijing is set against mandatory ceilings on its emissions, experts said.
"China's preoccupation is economic development and growth," said Paul Harris, of Lingnan University in Hong Kong, who studies climate change policy.
"It seems Chinese policy-makers are beginning to take warnings about global warming on board. But they certainly don't want to sign on to compulsory caps."
Global warming may increase rainfall in China's north, but increased temperatures and evaporation there are likely to offset much or all of that, Lin Erda, a climate expert at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told Reuters.
Without corrective action, nationwide agricultural production was likely to fall between 5 and 10 percent, he said.

Brown says White House wanted him to lie

Skywatch Special Edition: Katrina Politics
Aug 27, 2006
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency says the White House wanted him to lie about the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Former Director Michael Brown told ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" Sunday he stood by comments in a Playboy interview, and President Bush wanted him to take the heat for the bungling.
"The lie was that we were ready and that everything was working as a team. Behind the scenes, it wasn't working at all," Brown said. "There were political considerations going into all the discussions. There was the fact that New Orleans did not evacuate and the mayor (Ray Nagin) had no plan."
Brown said it was natural to "want to put the spin on that things are working the way they're supposed to do. And behind the scenes, they're not. Again, my biggest mistake was just not leveling with the American public and saying, 'Folks, this isn't working.'"
The former FEMA chief cited what he called an e-mail "from a very high source in the White House that says the president at a Cabinet meeting said, 'Thank goodness Brown's taking all the heat because it's better that he takes the heat than I do.'"
Also on "This Week," U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the administration still doesn't understand the magnitude of the reconstruction problem; but the president's Gulf Coast coordinator, Don Powell, said the federal government's No. 1 priority is to rebuild the area in a businesslike way.

More than 50 killed in Iraq in gunbattles, car bombing

War In Iraq
Aug 28, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 40 people -- including 23 Iraqi soldiers -- were killed Monday in ongoing clashes between Shiite militia gunmen and Iraqi soldiers in Diwaniya, about 85 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, an Iraqi army official said.
The fighting, which began late Sunday, left 32 others wounded.
The clashes erupted after Iraqi soldiers began searching various parts of the Shiite city .
Also Monday, at least 11 people were killed and 63 others wounded when a suicide car bomb detonated at an Iraqi police checkpoint near the Interior Ministry Monday morning, Baghdad emergency police said.
Attacks on American troops around the Iraqi capital Sunday left seven soldiers dead, the U.S. command in Baghdad reported.
{photo: Iraqis look at a car damaged by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.}

RELATED NEWS
You wouldn’t catch me dead in Iraq
Scores of American troops are deserting — even from the front line in Iraq. But where have they gone? And why isn’t the US Army after them?

Former US president slaps down 'subservient' Blair
LONDON (AFP) - Former US president Jimmy Carter lashed out at British Prime Minister
Tony Blair for being "so compliant and subservient" to the Bush administration in Washington.
"I have been surprised and extremely disappointed with Tony Blair's behaviour," Carter told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper as he promoted his new book "Faith and Freedom."
"I think that, more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington, and he has not," said the 81-year-old former head of state
Photo above: Former US president Jimmy Carter, seen here in July 2006,

Flooding lake taking over town

Earth News: North Dakota, U.S.
Aug 27, 2006
DEVILS LAKE, N.D. -- Hundreds of families displaced. Traumatized children. Landowners losing everything and sickened from the stress.
It sounds like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but these symptoms are appearing much farther north -- in North Dakota. A popular lake often used for recreation is rising ominously and spreading, drowning homes and lucrative fields of crops.
"It's like a cancer," said Joe Belford, a business owner and county commissioner.
Devils Lake, west of Grand Forks in the north-central part of the state, has risen about 26 feet since 1993. If it keeps rising, and the area's "wet cycle" continues, as some meteorologists predict, the lake could rise an additional 11 feet by 2012.
"With Katrina or Rita, the storm came and left," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. "In this case, the flood comes and stays. It's never over."
Much of the rest of the state, however, is in a record drought. {photo: Joe Belford stands by a county road Thursday that has been flooded by Stump Lake near Devils Lake, N.D.}

EARTH NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD



INDIA - At least 93 people were killed and dozens more are missing in massive floods caused by monsoon rains that have swamped the normally drought-prone desert state of Rajasthan. State officials, citing the numbers of people still missing, said the death toll could reach as high as 300. Government officials announced yesterday that 51 bodies had been recovered from Barmer, where vast swathes of land remained under water. Navy divers and army troops had been called in to rescue around 200 people who had taken shelter atop houses, vehicles and sand dunes after the UNUSUALLY heavy rains in the desert region. The army had flown nearly 3500 people by helicopter to higher ground. Around 47,000 animals had also been found dead. Earlier this month, more than ten million people were affected by floods in four states. Western Gujarat state faced the brunt with its diamond-polishing hub of Surat remaining under water for five days.

GERMANY - Lightning injured 25 people, several of them critically, at an air show and a soccer match in western Germany on Sunday. At least 20 people were hurt, 10 of them seriously, when a bolt of lightning hit a crowd at the air show in St Augustin, near Bonn. Two of the victims were in critical condition. Another five people suffered life-threatening burns during a thunderstorm in Gelsenkirchen. Lightning struck the tree under which the group was sheltering during a local league soccer game.

NEW ZEALAND - A suspected tornado hurled a family's steel trampoline 10m on to a neighbour's house in Tauranga on Saturday night. Residents in Papamoa were left wondering if they lived in tornado country after the FREAK winds left the trampoline hanging 2m in the air from the neighbour's roof. "When we came out the wind was still blowing a gale but then it became quite still. It was very strange." Small tornadoes in the North Island happen more often than most people thought. "They are reasonably common. It's not often we get a big one but there are quite a few little ones. It is quite possible it was a small tornado."

MALDIVES - Some houses in Laamu atoll Maamendhoo Island have been damaged because of heavy rains that have caused flooding throughout the island. Heavy rain on Thursday caused the water level to rise to one and a half feet. Some 15 houses in the center of the island were completely flooded because the ground level at the middle of the island is lower.



SUDAN - In recent weeks, rising waters have swept away homes and businesses, reportedly killing several people along the Nile River in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Those who live and work near the Nile have done their best to shore up the river banks with dark red sand and go about their lives as normal. In fifty years of fishing the Nile waters, some have never seen flooding this bad. 'The current is so strong it tangles my net. I don't get fish. I get trees, thorns, branches and mud.' Hundreds of fishermen are facing the same dilemma. The river has risen to within metres of busy Nile street and passengers in cars and buses gape at billboards and trees, which barely poke above the water. Outbreaks of water-borne diseases like cholera have emerged as a real threat.

Tropical storm hits coast of Cuba

BREAKING STORM NEWS: CUBA
Aug 28, 2006
Tropical Storm Ernesto has hit Cuba after battering the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where it killed one person.
By the time Ernesto made landfall on Cuba's southeast coast early on Monday, it had weakened to 45mph (75km/h).
But forecasters said Ernesto could regain hurricane status before reaching Florida late Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Cuban authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of people in the east of the country and Florida Governor Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency.
Nasa cancelled Tuesday's planned space shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida and was deciding whether to move the orbiter indoors because of the approaching storm.
Evacuation order
Tourists have been ordered to leave the Florida Keys island chain south of the US state.
«It certainly looks like it's going to impact a significant portion of Florida before it's all over,» said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Heavy rains, floods and mudslides are a significant threat for the Dominican Republic, Haiti and eastern Cuba, the NHC said in an advisory issued at 1200 GMT on Monday.
It said the centre of the storm was located on the coast of south-eastern Cuba, about 20 miles (30 kilometres) west of Guantanamo. {PHOTO ABOVE: People watch the strong waves produced by Tropical Storm Ernesto in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Saturday, August 26, 2006}

Click Image at Left to View Video on Projected Path of Ernesto

READ: New Path Shows Ernesto Bringing Damaging Winds To Central Fla.
The latest projected path of Ernesto shows the storm strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane after leaving Cuba and making landfall in Florida on Wednesday, according to Local 6 meteorologist Tom Sorrells.
The storm is expected to come across Cuba and it could come out as not much, Sorrells said. However, on its current path the storm would move through Central Florida.

Mayon Volcano Remains at Alert Level 4

Volcanic Update: Philippines
Aug 28, 2006
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Sunday kept Alert Level 4 hoisted over Mount Mayon as the volcano continued to show signs of activity for the past 24 hours.
PHIVOLCS recorded a total of 25 volcanic earthquakes and 354 tremor episodes in the past 24 hours while sulfur-dioxide emission remained high at 3,172 tons per day. Lava was also spotted flowing out of the southeast sector of the volcano.
The institute's science research specialist, Lesty Saquilon, meanwhile, denied reports of an ash emission on Saturday.
Saquilon said alert level 4 remains hoisted over Mayon, which means a hazardous explosion is possible.
"The volcano is gathering pressure inside and will eventually explode," Saquilon said.
"A mild or hazardous explosion is possible," he added.
The government earlier ordered the forced evacuation of people residing within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone around the volcano.
A total of 42,202 people or 9,275 families covered by the order are staying in 29 evacuation camps in the three cities of Albay, namely Legazpi, Ligao and Tabaco, and its five towns; Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga, Santo Domingo and Malilipot.

New planet definition great step forward

COSMIC/SPACE NEWS:
[Special Report]

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2006 (Xinhua)-- The new planet definition passed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is "scientifically right" and is a great step forward, an astronomer who spotted a celestial body larger than Pluto said on Thursday.
Mike Brown, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, should have become the discoverer of a new planet but for the IAU's new definition passed in Prague, Czech Republic earlier this day.
Brown announced last year the discovery of celestial body 2003UB313, also informally named "Xena." Somewhat larger than Pluto, the body should be qualified as the tenth planet of the solar system, Brown claimed at that time.
But now Brown said the new definition, which regulates that only eight planets revolve Sun and that Xena should be classified as "dwarf planet" as well as Pluto, is acceptable.
"I'm of course disappointed that Xena will not be the tenth planet, but I definitely support the IAU in this difficult and courageous decision," said Brown. "It is scientifically the right thing to do, and is a great step forward in astronomy."

Image Above: The International Astronomical Union (IAU) on Thursday adopted a resolution on planet definition, according to which Pluto had been stripped of the planetary status. (Xinhua Photo)

Evacuations Ordered in Wash. for Fires

BREAKING EARTH NEWS: WESTERN U.S.
Aug 27, 2006
(AP) Tourists and cabin owners were ordered to evacuate Saturday from the perimeter of a wildfire in southeast Washington state. Many of the evacuated tourists had gathered to take pictures of a DC-10 airplane that could carry as much as 12,000 gallons of fire retardant on one run _ eight times as much as anything else."There are a lot of tourists out there," fire spokesman Virgil Mink said. "People like to see what we do."By nightfall, the fire had charred nearly 110 square miles, fire spokesman Charlie Armiger said. It was about 10 percent contained, Mink said.In Idaho, a wildfire in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area kept campgrounds, roads and recreation sites in parts of central Idaho closed another day.The fire charred more than 6 square miles and threatened about 70 homes, although no evacuations had been ordered, fire officials said.

Review: "Surviving Katrina," One Year Later

Skywatch Special Report
From The Editor's Desk
Aug 27, 2006

The documentary "Surviving Katrina," which airs tonight Aug 27, at 9PM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel, is a powerful, yet emotional presentation depicting the experiences of survivors of one of the nation's worst natural disasters.

Many residents of the gulf coast, including myself, recall the terrible death, destruction and misery wrought by Katrina on that infamous August Summer day. Anyone who had ever visited New Orleans or has traveled the state rich in cultural history, is familiar with its tremendous hospitality and it's unique ability to show visitors a 'good time'. When touring the stately mansions sprawling the Mississippi, surrounded by oak trees decked out in moss, one remembers the song from Porgy and Bess, "Summertime, and the living is easy." So it was in New Orleans.

When Katrina struck the region, everything changed. No longer was New Orleans a bustling city of great cuisine, jazz musicians and all night escapades. In one day it was transformed into a city of chaos and frenzy. Suddenly, those who had lived an entire lifetime in this great crescent city, were faced with the unimaginable task of having to deal with a disaster of enormous proportions.
In a way, one can compare what happened to New Orleans, and the Mississippi gulf coast to the biblical story of Noah's Arc. When a population is unprepared for sudden disaster, they will soon find themselves confronted with death and destruction as were the people of Noah's time. People danced, frolicking in the streets even while the rains came down and the floodwaters began to rise. Mankind has a tendency to forget the lessons learned from past mistakes. Even today most people along the gulf coast are entirely unprepared for similar events which undoubtedly will occur sometime in the near future.

This brings us back to the story of Katrina, which some have dubbed as 'The Perfect Storm,' of the gulf coast. This is the story of courage in the midst of calamity, a story which for many has no ending. It takes great strength to pick up the pieces and begin one's life anew. Starting over is never an easy task, for some its incredibly insurmountable. To fully understand the grief and pain of these survivors, one would have to experience their misery firsthand. Yet those who were fortunate to be out of harms way, have come forward with generosity and compassion to offer assistance to those in time of need.

This, is the great story being told in the Discovery presentation. The documentary depicts hope in the midst of despair, charity and kindness while surrounded by greed and hate, and a sense that in time of need, people have a tendency to come together. Most importantly the documentary provided an important lesson, that mankind cannot continue taking life for granted for in the blink of an eye, all can be lost, and our lives can be taken from us.

Many residents of the gulf coast have said that things will never be the same again. That it will take years just to bring a semblance of normalcy back to the region. This is what people are trying to do. Yet the thought of what occurred on that balmy August day one year ago, will forever be ingrained in our memories. This was a turning point for so many, a time to ponder the true meaning of life. Things may never be what they once were for the 'big easy' and all along the gulf coast, but it will surely be a time of healing, with the hope for a new beginning.

Skywatch and The Great Red Comet would like to thank Crew Creative Advertising of Los Angeles and the Discovery Channel for allowing the opportunity to preview this dramatic presentation.

Steven Shaman
Editor/Publisher
The Great Red Comet

Global warming may be an accelerated version of ancient heat wave

Skywatch Special Edition
Photo: These two fossilized leaf bits come from a type of bean plant that migrated from the latitude of Louisiana to Wyoming 55 million years ago to escape a monster heat wave that dwarfs today's global warming.

Aug, 2006
WASHINGTON - It was one of the greatest calamities of all time: Something turned up the Earth's thermostat, touching off a monstrous heat wave that killed many animals and drove others far from their homes to seek cooler climes.
This catastrophe occurred 55 million years ago, after the age of the dinosaurs and long before humans appeared. But scientists warn that today's global warming means that it could be happening again.
The ancient hot spell, which lasted 50,000 to 100,000 years, goes by the unwieldy name of Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. It was caused by a sudden - in geological terms - doubling or tripling of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate scientists say the result was a massive increase of 10 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit - even higher near the poles - above the prevailing temperature.

Update:Ernesto strengthens into hurricane

Breaking Storm News: Jamaica
Aug 27, 2006
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Tropical Storm Ernesto strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday as it steamed through the central Caribbean toward Haiti, becoming the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season.
The storm's maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph, just above the threshold for a hurricane, said the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Ernesto could grow into a Category 3 hurricane by Thursday, menacing a broad swath of the Gulf Coast including hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, the hurricane center said earlier. Category 3 Hurricane Katrina struck the city a year ago Tuesday.
Story Continues

Drought fear looms

Breaking Earth News: Bangladesh
Aug 26, 2006
With all major rivers flowing at the lowest recorded level in 25 years and with 25 per cent less rainfall recorded during the peak monsoon season this year, experts fear that a severe drought might grip various parts of the country in the coming months.
"Our recorded history of river water levels during June, July and August since 1980 reveals that this year we have the lowest level of water in the rivers than ever before during this period," said Selim Bhuiyan, executive engineer and also in charge of Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).
Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) sources said throughout the country average rainfall during June, July and August this year has been 25 per cent less than the usual average during the monsoon. The worst hit are Rajshahi and Chittagong regions where it rained 40 per cent less over the last three months compared to the past few years. BMD, however, recorded a tolerable 10 per cent less rainfall in Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet.
"The monsoon simply did not show up in our skies or in the upstream of Bangladesh from which we would have benefited," said an expert of BMD requesting anonymity.
"Instead, monsoon clouds moved towards countries like Myanmar, parts of India and Thailand where severe flooding was reported recently," said the expert.
Lack of natural flood flow and rainfall might trigger a drought in the coming months, warned both the experts at FFWC and BMD. It might also severely affect fish farming throughout the northern regions where fish is cultivated in ponds and wetlands, where water is currently lying at the lowest level. Flooding is also vital for replenishing the soil with alluvial deposits on the fields.
The experts said due to lack of flood and rainwater, the level of groundwater will not be replenished and a drought will occur in the coming months, making it more difficult for farmers to irrigate their lands. (photo: An elderly person seeks divine blessing after Jum'a prayers at Baitul Mukarram mosque yesterday for rain in the drought-affected northern districts. PHOTO: STAR )

Update: Massive Philippines Oil Spill Raises Health Fears

Environmental Alert
Nueva Valencia (AFP) Philippines
Aug 24, 2006
Hundreds of people have fallen sick and one man has died in central Philippines following the country's worst ever oil spill, health officials said Thursday. The health department has sent medical teams to Guimaras island, which bore the brunt of the disaster, where 329 people have complained of a range of symptoms including skin irritation and respiratory problems.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque arrived in the nearby city of Iloilo Thursday to see conditions first hand following the sinking of an oil tanker off Guimaras on August 11.
The sunken ship has discharged more than 50,000 gallons of industrial oil into pristine waters.
The tanker, said to be resting on the seabed with 450,000 gallons still in its hold, has been described an ecological time bomb by environmentalists.
Petron Corp, the company that contracted the tanker, said it would continue to provide the assistance necessary to clean up contaminated coastline. {photo above: Hazardous work - Philippino residents clean up one of Guimaras island's beaches which was destroyed by the recent oil spill. Photo courtesy of AFP.}

Thousands flee earthquake in China

BREAKING SEISMIC NEWS: CHINA
Aug 27, 2006 IDT
One person has been killed and 31 injured when a moderate earthquake in south-western China, toppled buildings and forced thousands of people from their homes.
More than 1500 houses were destroyed when the quake, measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, struck the counties of Yanjin, Daguan, Yiliang and Suijiang in Yunnan province at midday on Friday, the Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Civil Affairs as saying.
It said that 10 of the injured were in serious condition, and 45,520 people had been relocated.
"Many houses collapsed and water, electricity, communication and transport facilities have been damaged," Xinhua quoted a ministry notice as saying.
Provincial authorities had delivered tents, food and medicine to the quake zone, it said.

New Orleans Residents Nervously Watch Ernesto

BREAKING STORM NEWS: UPDATE: TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO
Aug 26, 2006
NEW ORLEANS — What was to have been a weekend of remembrance of Hurricane Katrina's death and destruction became a weekend of worry as Tropical Storm Ernesto gathered strength in the Caribbean.
A forecaster at the National Hurricane Center in Miami cautioned that it was too soon to say whether Ernesto would hit the United States. Still, with projections that Ernesto could reach the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane by Tuesday, weary New Orleans residents kept one eye on the forecast.
Bari Landry, who lives in a New Orleans neighborhood heavily flooded by Katrina, said that after seing the possible storm track she decided to make a reservation for a hotel room in Houston for Thursday through Saturday.
"There may be panic, but we know the drill," she said.
Officials from the state, city and 14 parishes were to talk by conference call late Saturday, New Orleans Homeland Security chief Terry Ebbert said.
"We have a solid plan," Ebbert said. "All we need to do is watch the storm and the timing."
Depending on the strength and track of the storm, New Orleans could begin evacuations when it is 54-hours from landfall, Ebbert said.

"Surviving Katrina" One Year Later

Skywatch Public Announcement
From the Editor's desk
Aug 25, 2006
I have once again been invited by Crew Creative Advertising of Los Angeles, an affiliate of the Discovery Channel, to preview the Exclusive Anniversary Special "Surviving Katrina" which is scheduled for telecast on the Discovery Channel this Sunday August 27, 2006.
Included in the special are NEW dramatic documentary profiles, ENDURING stories of survival, and expert analysis of Hurricane Katrina. Skywatch will conduct a review of this documentary and will post an analysis to the Great Red Comet and Earth Frenzy Radio prior to the telecast.


The following is for press release:
(Pasadena, Calif.) – Survivors of one of the nation’s worst natural disasters open up about their experiences in SURVIVING KATRINA, a two-hour special premiering Sunday, August 27 at 9 PM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel. Emergency phone calls, never-before-seen home video from the Superdome, and analysis of the meteorological superpower combined with first-time heart-wrenching interviews and vivid reconstructions will shed new light on the dark days of August 2005 when a hurricane changed America.

Profiles of ordinary Americans who forged ahead through death-filled waters, mass confusion and devastation to save others and unite with loved ones provide a new face to the tragedy one year later. SURVIVING KATRINA covers the perfect storm of nature, science, politics and extreme human experience with a range of stories and interviews from all major aspects of the disaster, including Charity Hospital, the Convention Center and Superdome and with former FEMA director Michael Brown.

Viewers will meet a doctor who, forced to take matters literally into his own hands, performs open chest surgery on a patient without anesthesia and using only a flashlight, and the patient
who lives to thank him; a brother-and-sister team who make a harrowing road trip to rescue loved ones on their own; and a National Guardsman who took on surreal and horrific conditions in the Superdome. Survivors who watched their homes wash away and whose lives changed forever share with viewers the inspiration that kept them going and the unbridled joy they felt when finally reunited with families.

View Video Clip/FYI

VIEW VIDEO ON QUICKTIME

Science Timeline

Facts

Survivor Profiles


SURVIVING KATRINA is produced for Discovery Channel by Brook Lapping Productions.

Dow Chemical is the proud sponsor of Surviving Katrina

©2006, Skywatch-Keep Looking to the skies-All Rights Reserved

Tropical storm developing in the Caribbean

Satellite Image: Tropical Depression #5 at 3:15 pm

Posted August 25 2006, 11:51 AM EDT
MIAMI -- A tropical depression north of Venezuela was on the verge of strengthening into a named storm Friday, forecasters said.

At 11 a.m. EDT, the depression that formed Thursday had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, below tropical storm strength of 39 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported. It could become Tropical Storm Ernesto later Friday.

"It's starting to have some of the signs of a tropical storm,'' said Eric Blake, hurricane specialist. "We have it passing pretty close to Jamaica in a couple of days and slowly intensifying. It could be a hurricane in the northwest Caribbean Sea.''The system was expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico in about five days, but it was too early to tell where exactly it was headed and how strong it would be, forecasters said.

The storm is expected to become Tropical Storm Ernesto over the next day or so, and to pose a threat to Jamaica over the weekend.
Click on the Image at left to View the storm's projected path Video presentation: "Depression on verge of becoming Ernesto"

Freak flooding was worst in 50 years

Earth News: Great Britain
Aug,2006
FREAK flooding was THE WORST IN 50 YEARS. The great mop-up went into action at the weekend after torrential rain flooded Great Yarmouth and Caister who appeared to have been the heaviest hit with homes and businesses inundated with flash floods, some livelihoods put at risk and families being forced to move into B&Bs. Floods destroyed the ground floor of a pub - the fourth time it has flooded in the space of a week. The flooding was the result of exceptionally heavy storms. Initial investigations suggest that the sewage system became overwhelmed by this UNPRECEDENTED rainfall. “We are getting more and more FREAK weather like flash flooding and the drains simply can't take that amount of water. I have been in properties affected by flooding and it's devastating - it really is a horrendous situation to be in." (photo above: Waves batter a train as gales combine with high tides.)
READ: Storms, floods and record tides on way

Disasterouos Conditions Elsewhere
ETHIOPIA - Floods in western Ethiopia's Gambella region killed two people and displaced more than 6,000 when the Baro River burst its banks on Wednesday, and residents were being resettled in safe areas to protect them from more potential flooding. "This river used to fill by the end of August and beginning of September, but this time the river started to overflow before the expected time. It started to fill from mid-June. It is now becoming a threat even to Gambella town." Heavy rainfall since the end of July has caused most big rivers in Ethiopia to swell and weather forecasts indicate more rains, which could lead to more flooding.
Listen to the Voice of America: Ethiopian Floods Mp3 or Ram

SOUTH AFRICA - The Southern Cape has again been hit by flooding. The Great Brak River near Mossel Bay has broken its banks in several places following heavy overnight rain. The weather office has warned of more rain in the next 24 hours. Cold and wet conditions are also expected over the western high ground of the Eastern Cape. This follows the major floods in the Southern and Eastern Cape almost a month ago which caused a number of deaths and extensive damage. Early indications are that flood damage in Nelson Mandela Bay could total as much as R120 million.