New Zealand Tries to Avoid a Rescue Bill

New Zealand Tries to Avoid a Rescue Bill

From the The Antarctica Blog

Tourism in Antarctica isn't like tourism in other extreme environments - in some ways, it's much more dangerous.

Take any indicator - temperature, ocean conditions, accessibility - and Antarctica in a sense wins because it is colder, icier, and more difficult to get to than anywhere else. So it makes sense that New Zealand would try to block an adventurous rower from his plans to row around Antarctica by himself.

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), the branch of government responsible for marine safety, would be responsible for rescuing the rower, Oliver Hicks, in case of an accident. MNZ believes that an accident is almost inevitable because of the harsh conditions on the Southern Ocean. Hicks will be using a boat that is powered by rowing but has cabins in which he can sleep, prepare food, and store supplies.

The boat is also allegedly designed to withstand Southern Ocean conditions.MNZ has great reason to be skeptical of Hicks' plans, however.

Previous attempts have resulted in accidents requiring rescue, and in one case an adventurer drowned. Rescue missions are costly and put rescuers themselves in danger. Hicks' journey would take him 500 days and would cover 24,000 square kilometers, or just under 15,000 miles.

He plans to halt for a few months during the brutal Antarctic winter on the island of South Georgia.Hicks' response to New Zealand's refusal to let him set out on his journey was to travel to Australia.

Australian officials are hardly excited about the project, but unlike their New Zealand counterparts cannot stop him from leaving. If he needs rescuing, MNZ will still be on the hook.

Hicks has already accomplished some impressive feats of solo rowing - he is the only person to have rowed from America to the United Kingdom alone - and feels confident that he is capable of completing his mission and staying safe.This incident underscores the need for special tourism policies for Antarctica.

The human desire to undertake difficult and dangerous adventures is admirable, but is disregarding the wishes of those who would have to rescue you also admirable? It's not as if MNZ could just ignore Hicks in the event of an accident, even if he wanted them to do so. It seems a shame that governments are hamstrung in this way.

While this type of tourism doesn't represent the kind of environmental threat that we at ASOC are most concerned about, it does point to the overall lack of regulation for Antarctic tourism that would protect both people and the environment.

Laws and rules no doubt deaden the souls of expeditioners, but they keep people safe and prevent unnecessary crises.

Posted by Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition at 7:31 AM

WEATHER NOTE

Fight against historic flood protects city

Record flooding of the Stillaguamish River filled low-lying areas south of the Stanwood city limits, leaving Marine Drive under more than 3 feet of water last week.

“It was close,” said Stanwood Camano Fire and Rescue (SCFR) Chief Mike Ganz Friday morning. “We are finally out of the woods.”

River gauges showed the Stillaguamish to be at or near record depth by 6 p.m. Thursday. An emergency earthen wall along SR 532 held back the cresting flood, and with the cooperation of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), the city sandbagged the tracks and Marine Drive to keep east Stanwood dry.

By Thursday evening, the governor’s office had declared a state of emergency for most of Snohomish County.

On Friday morning, it seemed as if the worst had passed.

After consultation with BNSF officials, tracks were reopened by 10 a.m. On Monday, Fort Freberg, a 7-foot-tall emergency dike named for retired firefighter Jack Freberg, still stands as a reminder of the Herculean effort that saved the city.

Mike Simmons, SCFR emergency manager, said he is in no hurry to remove the fortification. “You really don’t want to pull these things down too quickly,” said Simmons. Ganz credits the volunteers who worked alongside city and emergency crews.

“These folks — they’re awesome,” he said. “They did a fantastic job.”

According to Ganz, many different agencies and individuals — some from other counties — worked hand-in-hand to prevent a tragedy.

In addition, inmate work crews from Monroe Correctional Complex worked with city crews filling sandbags and providing them to residents.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked alongside city and county crews to shore up temporary protective dikes and repair levees.

“They helped plug a break near 95th Avenue NW,” said Ganz. Rebecca Hover, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, said rescue teams were deployed swiftly to prevent the loss of life.

“We responded to dozens of calls, but it’s impossible to say how many calls we went on or how many people we rescued — there’s really no way to keep count,” said Hover. “Rescuers would get a call to go to one house to help people out and then they’d find more people who needed help out of the area or neighborhood.”

Most of the calls involved people needing help out of their houses or businesses; they also helped people who got stuck in their vehicles as they tried to drive through the flood waters, she said.

Christian Davis, North County Fire/EMS public information officer, said their crews were kept busy with rescue operations.

“We had nine water rescue calls, with 14 victims removed from the flooded areas,” said Davis. “We (also) assisted with a sandbagging request by DEM (Department of Emergency Management) for the city of Stanwood.”

One unique moment, said Davis, was when a 100-gallon propane tank washed up on the shore in the Warm Beach area.

Crews secured the tank, stopped the leak and notified a company for its removal, he said. Stanwood’s emergency operations center went into action Wednesday morning and remained open until 4 p.m. Friday.

“The final damage estimates haven’t come in yet,” said Simmons. “Within the city limits, it will probably be very low.”

Most of the real damage happened to homes and farms south of Stanwood, he said. For many, the days and weeks ahead will mean clean-up and salvage operations. Claims for assistance should be started immediately, said Simmons. Only damage from the floods occurring on or after Jan. 6 should be reported.

“The primary focus now is to compile damage reports from Snohomish County residents and businesses to qualify for federal disaster aid and speed relief to our citizens,” he said.

“Do not wait for a professional estimate of cost or an insurance adjustor document to fill these forms out.”

Receding water has allowed for the reopening of Marine Drive, but several streets remained navigable only by boat at NEWS deadline.

Dianne White, Stanwood mayor, said she is filled with pride after witnessing the ‘flood fight’ play out.

“The flood was an event that showcased the quality of the citizens of Stanwood,” she said. The seamless response of emergency crews and the scope of volunteerism prevented disaster on a wider scale, she said.

“Without the help of the Army Corps of Engineers, we would have lost our waste water treatment plant,” said White.

Flood waters entered offices at the plant, though damages are reported as minimal. Water processing and quality were not affected.

“The fire department’s Support 99 group as well as the Salvation Army worked tirelessly to meet the needs of victims, volunteers and EOC workers throughout the event,” she said. White applauded the efforts of Red Cross volunteers, Stanwood/Camano School District personnel and staff from Josephine care facility whose residents were evacuated to Stanwood High School.

“What distinguishes Stanwood is the ‘can do’ attitude of our citizens and businesses,” said White. “We had over 400 sandbag volunteers, who filled bags at Index Sensors and Twin City Foods parking lots.”

White said she is grateful for food provided to volunteers by QFC, the family of Carolyn Lund, and numerous citizens.

Flood gates erected to help drain the flood performed better than expected. On Friday, the gates were draining at 1,500 cubic feet per second and lowered the flood water by 46 inches in one day.

“This new addition to our flood fighting arsenal is serving to get Marine Drive and the railroad tracks open much sooner than past years,” she said. “The Stillaguamish Flood District and Max Albert are to be commended for their persistence in getting this structure built.”

Chuck Hazleton, Stillaguamish Flood Control District commissioner, said he was overwhelmed by the success of the flood control gates in operation near Marine Drive.

“The flood gates are working better than we had expected,” said Hazelton. “The velocity of the discharge is more than we anticipated.”

Built in September 2007, the control system — a concrete structure — has 10 gates to create a nonporous channel back into the river.

The overall project cost $175,000, and the city subsidized $30,000 towards the construction of the gated system.

“It was definitely money well spent,” said Hazelton.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D), of Camano Island, said the legacy of this flood event will be how residents saved their city.

“One of the merits of living in a small community is how your neighbors reach out to help,” said Haugen. “I am so proud of the way people in the Stanwood area rallied to help each other.”

Haugen said she believes Stanwood was spared because of all the people who helped. “It's really tragic how many people in our state were affected,” she said. “You just can't imagine how bad this is until you've experienced it.”

The flooding was yet another blow to a region already hit hard by bad weather, said Haugen.

MARITIME NOTE

Coast Guard warns mariners be aware of ice conditions in Delaware Bay

PHILADELPHIA - The Coast Guard Captain of the Port Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia has set ice condition three Thursday and is warning mariners to be aware of ice in the Delaware Bay and River.

Ice condition three is set when weather conditions are favorable for the formation of ice in navigable waters. All masters, ship agents, and owners and operators of all vessels, marine facilities and marinas should review and adhere to the seasonal ice procedures listed below. These criteria were developed in partnership with the Mariners’ Advisory Committee for the Delaware Bay and River. Ship agents should generally act as liaison between the Coast Guard and their vessels.

When ice is present, but less than two inches, vessels must have a propulsion system with a minimum of 1000 horsepower, and be able to maneuver un-assisted through the ice without needing to stop, back off and ram the ice.

When ice is present in the C and D canal, only steel-hulled vessels whose propulsion systems are in excess of 1000 horsepower may transit the canal.

Vessel convoys will not be directed for ice or ice build of less than two inches, provided vessels can maintain headway. For ice conditions of two inches or greater, the Captain of the Port, in conjunction with the MAC, will consider implementing a plan that includes directing vessel convoys.

Vessel moorings should be checked frequently to ensure the vessel is adequately moored.

Vessels at anchor should maintain their engines on standby at all times.

Vessels at anchor should ensure that proper bridge watches are stood at all times.

Vessel sea chests should be checked regularly for ice buildup and precautions should be taken to ensure that the sea chests are kept clear.

The Captain of the Port Sector Delaware Bay may establish additional requirements for specific geographic areas of the Captain of the Port Zone if conditions warrant such restrictions.

Please refer to the Sector Delaware Bay website for additional information regarding ice operations within the Sector Delaware Bay zone at http://www.uscg.mil/d5/sectDelawarebay or by calling our Sector Delaware Bay ice line at (215)-271-4995.

If you have any questions regarding the contents of this bulletin or the expectations of the Captain of the Port, please contact the Waterways Management staff at (215) 271-4889 or the Situational Unit Controller at (215) 271-4807.

Marine Salvage Basics






RS

Hazards Of Severe Space Weather Revealed

Hazards Of Severe Space Weather Revealed

ScienceDaily (Jan. 12, 2009) — A NASA-funded study describes how extreme solar eruptions could have severe consequences for communications, power grids and other technology on Earth.

The National Academy of Sciences in Washington conducted the study.

The resulting report provides some of the first clear economic data that effectively quantifies today's risk of extreme conditions in space driven by magnetic activity on the sun and disturbances in the near-Earth environment. Instances of extreme space weather are rare and are categorized with other natural hazards that have a low frequency but high consequences.

"Obviously, the sun is Earth's life blood," said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"To mitigate possible public safety issues, it is vital that we better understand extreme space weather events caused by the sun's activity."

Besides emitting a continuous stream of plasma called the solar wind, the sun periodically releases billions of tons of matter called coronal mass ejections.

These immense clouds of material, when directed toward Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in the magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. Such space weather can affect the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems.

Space weather can produce solar storm electromagnetic fields that induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines, causing wide-spread blackouts and affecting communication cables that support the Internet. Severe space weather also produces solar energetic particles and the dislocation of the Earth's radiation belts, which can damage satellites used for commercial communications, global positioning and weather forecasting. Space weather has been recognized as causing problems with new technology since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century.

A catastrophic failure of commercial and government infrastructure in space and on the ground can be mitigated through raising public awareness, improving vulnerable infrastructure and developing advanced forecasting capabilities. Without preventive actions or plans, the trend of increased dependency on modern space-weather sensitive assets could make society more vulnerable in the future.

NASA requested the study to assess the potential damage from significant space weather during the next 20 years. National and international experts from industry, government and academia participated in the study. The report documents the possibility of a space weather event that has societal effects and causes damage similar to natural disasters on Earth.

"From a public policy perspective, it is quite significant that we have begun the extremely challenging task of assessing space weather impacts in a quantitative way," said Daniel Baker, professor and director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Baker chaired the panel that prepared the report.

"Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastating to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems," said Baker. "We were delighted that NASA helped support bringing together dozens of world experts from industry and government to share their experiences and begin planning of improved public policy strategies."

The sun is currently near the minimum of its 11-year activity cycle. It is expected that solar storms will increase in frequency and intensity toward the next solar maximum, expected to occur around 2012.

The Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington provided funding for the study. The division seeks to understand the sun, its solar processes and the interaction of solar plasma and radiation with Earth, other planets and the universe.

Understanding the connections between the sun and its planets will allow better prediction on the impacts of solar activity on humans, technological systems and even the presence of life itself in the universe.

The National Academies are chartered by Congress to provide independent technical and scientific advice to the federal government.

For images related to the study and more information about the Heliophysics Division, visit: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/heliophysics

To view the National Academy of Sciences' complete report, visit: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12507.html

WEATHER NOTE

Satellites Used To Measure Inland Floods

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2008) — Satellites that were designed to measure sea level over the world's oceans can serve a valuable purpose over land, a new study has found. Researchers used NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and the European Space Agency's ENVISAT satellite to measure the height and extent of flooding in North America, South America, and Asia.

The study shows that satellites can supplement the measurements that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gathers from flood gauges on the ground -- at little or no cost, said C.K. Shum, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University.

"After a flood, we can look back at the satellite data to pinpoint when the flood began, and find out how far the flood waters extended, which is really important for flood modeling," he said.

Satellites such as TOPEX/Poseidon measure the height of land or water by bouncing radio signals off of surfaces and measuring how long the signals take to return.

Rough surfaces scatter some of the signal in other directions, and cause errors in a satellite's on board tracking system. This often happens over land. Scientists use "re-tracking" software to fix the errors, and make the satellite's measurements more precise.

That's what the Ohio State software does -- it re-tracks the satellite data, but in a way that enables detailed measurements of water on land.

The key to the software is an algorithm that can tell the difference between water and snow cover. Ohio State postdoctoral researcher Hyongki Lee developed the algorithm and graduate student Manman Zhang applied the algorithm for her doctoral thesis.

Zhang presented the work in a poster session at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Shum, Zhang, and their colleagues used the software to process TOPEX/Poseidon data from the 1997 Red River flood in the upper Midwest of the United States, an area with abundant farmland and wetlands. They detected flooded regions within four river basins: the Red River Basin in North Dakota and Minnesota; the Missouri River Basin in North Dakota and South Dakota; and the Minnesota River Basin and the Mississippi River Basin, both in Minnesota and Iowa.

The flood happened in April of that year, as winter snows began to melt. Zhang's algorithm differentiated between the scattered radar signal produced by water and by areas still covered by snow. As the floodwaters began to move down the Red River, the satellite measurements provided estimates of flood levels.

After re-tracking, the satellite data agreed with USGS ground measurements taken at the time. For example, the software determined that flood waters in Grand Forks, North Dakota, rose 20 feet (6 meters), which matched data recorded from flood gauges there.

The researchers did the same for the June 2008 Iowa City flood that killed three people and damaged 2 million acres of farmland. They found that they could track the ebb and flow of that flood over a scale of several hours. For that part of the study, they worked with Carrie Huitger, a USGS hydrologist who supplied the flood gauge data. They performed similar studies with TOPEX/Poseidon data for a flood in the Amazon River Basin, and with ENVISAT data for a flood in southwestern Taiwan -- both with similar results.

The satellites can't be used to forecast a flood because the data isn't processed very quickly and the spatial coverage of the satellite measurements is limited, Shum explained. Even preliminary processing takes hours. But after a flood, such data can add to data collected on the ground, to help scientists better understand how floods happen.

Next, the researchers want to automate the software so that it can build an archive of flood data. Since the satellites are already in orbit collecting the data, there would be little cost beyond building the database and enabling scientists to access it.

In the future, a new satellite may enable more extensive and detailed measurements. Ohio State scientists lead an international team that has proposed the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. The SWOT satellite will feature dual antennas that will gather high-resolution data over a much wider surface of the earth than is possible with today's satellites.

Collaborators on this project include Doug Alsdorf, associate professor of earth sciences, and Frank Schwartz, professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Hydrogeology.

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Hail tornado severe storms lightning video Australia



MARITIME NOTE

Thousands urge rescue boat return

The crew of a Devon rescue boat is sending out its own SOS to get its vessel reinstated. A petition of 5,000 signatures is being handed in to parliament on Wednesday, saying lives are being put at risk.

The story made headlines last summer when the crew used the boat to rescue a teenage girl at Hope Cove.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which had warned the crew that the boat was unsafe, impounded it. The MCA is due to hold talks on the issue.

The MCA later brought the boat back, with a restriction that it could be used within a certain distance from the beach in the South Hams area of Devon.

But two months ago the boat was locked away again, this time until a consultation was carried out.

The crew has said the boat is safe and fears lives are being put at risk.
MP Anthony Steen said: "The rescue boat had been successfully operated by four men who were able to launch the boat at a moment's notice in the event of an emergency since they worked locally.

"Now a large stretch of the south Devon coastline is suddenly without adequate sea rescue coverage."

The MCA said Hope Cove was covered by the nearby Salcombe lifeboat.
It said in a statement: "We will be consulting with stakeholders soon to discuss beach safety provision in the South Hams."

FROM HOLLAND AND KNIGHT

Singapore – comments sought re draft amendments to MARPOL Annex I The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) issued a circular stating that it is seeking comments from owners, operators, masters, and others regarding draft interim guidelines and draft amendments to MARPOL Annex I adopted by the recent session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). The draft documents relate to: (1) the method of calculation of the energy efficiency design index for new ships; (2) the Supplement to the IOPP Certificate; (3) prevention of pollution during transfer of oil cargo between oil tankers at sea; (4) amendments to Regulations 1, 12, 13, 17, and 38; (5) the IOPP Certificate; and (6) the Oil Record Book. The draft amendments are expected to be adopted at the next session of the MEPC, scheduled for July 2009. Shipping Circular No. 5 of 2009 (1/6/09).

UK – report on container ship-fishing vessel collision The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued the summary of its preliminary examination of a collision between a container ship and a fishing vessel that occurred in good weather off Lizard Point on 18 September 2008. Visibility from the bridge of the container ship was impaired. Neither vessel was maintaining a good lookout or making proper use of their radar. (1/6/09).

UK – contract awarded for MSC NAPOLI wreck removal The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) issued a press notice stating that a contract has been awarded for removal of the stern section of the wreck of the MSC NAPOLI. The scrap is to be delivered to a recovery facility in the Netherlands. (1/6/09).

RS

Met Office mystery over rare ice circle formed in Devon

Met Office mystery over rare ice circle formed in Devon

An unusual rotating ice circle, normally found in the cooler rivers of Scandinavia or North America, has formed in the UK waterways.

The cause of the rare phenomenon is unclear, with very little scientific evidence available to explain the formation of the discs. UFO-enthusiasts claim that, like crop circles, the perfect discs are created by visiting aliens, but scientists believe the extreme cold weather combined with an unusual current is the more likely reason.

The 10ft disc was seen by a rambler on the River Otter in Devon, who estimated that it was spinning through 360 degrees every four minutes.

The Meteorological Office said today that they could not explain why the ice circle appeared last week.

“We’re kind of a bit stumped to be honest,” a spokesman said. “Our best guess, and it is a guess, would be that it was formed by some kind of a circular eddy set up in the river. We have not seen anything like this before and we’ve no idea why they seem to be more common in Scandinavia.”

The disc was spotted on January 7 as temperatures in southern England reached as low as minus 10C. The freeze caused unusual behaviour amongst British wildlife, which is ill prepared for such conditions. The rare cold snap may also have caused the ice formation, which has been recently recorded and investigated in the US and Sweden.

Mystery has surrounded the discs since they were first described as long ago as the nineteenth century. A drawing of an ice circle was published in the Scientific American in 1895. Illustrated London News also catalogued one that formed near Toronto in 1930 under the headline “Jack Frost describes a circle”.

The lack of a clear explanation from the scientific community allowed conspiracy theorists to add the ice circles to the annals of “unexplained phenomena” until 1993 when MIT attempted to end the debate.

Ice circles began to form on the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which runs through the MIT campus, prompting scientists at the university to study their formation. David Ricks, an ocean engineering graduate, helped systematically rule out effluent from submerged pipes, down draughts from helicopters, alien activity, bubbles from decomposition and underwater springs.

He concluded that eddies from the Harvard bridge caused parts of the sheet ice to break away and the movement of the ice created circular holes which were filled by further ice formation. Other theories suggest that slow moving rivers can create eddies which spin the ice until it takes on a circular shape.

Photographs of the phenomenon emerged from Russia recently, and it appears that the discs are quite common in Norway as well as Sweden, where they have been recorded on the River Ljusnan measuring up to 200m wide, as well as on the River Pite and on Lake Hotagssjon.

WEATHER NOTE

Flooding like that which devastated the North of England last year is set to become a common event across the UK in the next 75 years, new research has shown.

Flooding like that which devastated the North of England last year is set to become a common event across the UK in the next 75 years, new research has shown.

A study by Dr Hayley Fowler, of Newcastle University, predicts that severe storms - the likes of which currently occur every five to 25 years across the UK - will become more common and more severe in a matter of decades.

Looking at 'extreme rainfall events' - where rain falls steadily and heavily for between one and five days - the study predicts how the intensity of these storms may change in the future.

Dr Fowler found that across the UK, the amount of rain falling during one of these extreme events was likely to increase by up to 30 per cent by 2080. This increase is most likely to occur in autumn, winter and spring when the ground is already saturated, posing the biggest threat of flooding.

Dr Fowler, Reader in Climate Change Impacts at Newcastle, explained: "Predicting how extreme rainfall might change many years in the future is very difficult because events can be quite localised, especially in the summer.

"You only have to think about how difficult it is for the Met office to predict the weather two or three days in advance - the overall picture for the country tends to stay the same but local weather patterns can change quite dramatically.

"By taking a much more detailed look at the results from different regional climate models, we have created a more accurate picture of how wet Britain will be by 2070.

"What the data quite clearly shows is that we're going to see far more of these extreme downpours in years to come, putting more and more homes at risk from flooding, particularly in autumn and winter months when the ground is already saturated."

The research, published online today in the International Journal of Climatology, looks at changes to seasonal extreme rainfall across the UK by 2070-2100.

Dr Fowler, who worked on the study with Dr Marie Ekstrom from Exeter University, examined seasonal rainfall data from 13 Regional Climate Models for nine regions across the UK and used this to study the projected changes.

Consistent with global warming, the team found that as the air becomes warmer and is able to hold more moisture, Britain will get wetter.

In general, the study suggests larger changes to the intensity of short duration extreme rainfall events - those lasting one or two days. Northern and western regions of the UK are predicted to be worst hit.

Dr Fowler added: "Unfortunately, we still have least confidence in the model's predictions for the summer months and it is still highly uncertain how summer flash flooding such as the Hull and Hereford and Worcester floods in 2007 will change.

"What our data does show is that floods are no longer going to be freak events. All 13 models we looked at predict increases in extreme rainfall in winter, autumn and spring by the 2080s although the percent increase varies.

"This has major implications for flood risk management. We need to be looking now at where we build new homes, drainage systems and water storage in order to protect our homes and businesses from flooding in the future."

Episodes of short-term extreme rainfall - such as was seen in Morpeth in 2008 - are predicted to increase in intensity by between 15 and 30 per cent.

In winter, one day downpours are predicted to increase in intensity in all regions with Scotland and northern England seeing changes of more than 20 per cent. Smaller increases are projected for southern regions, particularly south-east England.

In autumn, some regional climate models project potentially very large increases in extreme rainfall, with a rise of up to 60 per cent in some regions such as north-west England.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Newcastle University

MARITIME NOTE

Stranded men call pub for rescue

Two Frenchmen who became stranded on a Cornish cliff with their dog have been rescued after calling a pub for help.

The trio were cut off by the tide in Trebarwith Strand, but did not know who to call for assistance, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

The men decided to call a directory inquiry service and ask for the number of a pub they had passed earlier in the day - The Port William, near Tintagel.

Dozens of people went outside the pub with their pints to watch the rescue.
Pub owner Sue Sleight, 56, said the men were unable to pinpoint their exact location.

"We picked up the phone and the signal wasn't very good, and obviously they were foreign," she said.

"I thought he was saying the road was closed and he wanted to know how to get to the pub, because he kept saying he was stuck.

"But I soon realised he was on the beach. We went out but couldn't see anything, and we thought we just had to phone the coastguard.

"To be honest, if we hadn't phoned the coastguard, they could have been there all night. The coastguard were just brilliant."

The RNLI lifeboat from Port Isaac and Boscastle coastguard rescue team were called out to search the cliffs near Trebarwith Strand and the men, aged 21 and 35, were found, along with their dog.

A Royal Navy helicopter from Culdrose lifted them from the cliffs. All were unharmed. Peter Bullard, watch manager at Falmouth Coastguard, said: "The two French men were unaware of the 999 or 112 emergency numbers and so decided to call a pub that they had passed on the way to the beach.

"It's very fortunate that we found them as quickly as we did."


RS

The day a F4 tornado hit Wallingford Conneticut

The day a F4 tornado hit Wallingford Conneticut

AMERICAN STANDARD - BOSTON, MA - AUGUST 15TH 1878

( FROM THE HISTORY CELLAR BLOG )

Greetings. In this 1878 paper I found a article on a tornado disaster that I was not aware of. In 1953 a massive tornado hit Worcester MA which is now the deadliest tornado to hit New England. This Connecticut tornado had that title until then.

If you look at this chart from the USA TODAY, it is not unusual when tornado's hit this area, but it is at this magnitude. The article below is slightly difficult to read - it is transcribed below at the end of this post. Also there are some interesting photos and engravings below of the disaster.

The Wallingford Tornado was the deadliest tornado ever to strike the state of Connecticut, and the second deadliest ever in New England. It struck the town of Wallingford, Connecticut on August 9, 1878. The violent tornado destroyed most of the town, killing 34 people and injuring at least 70, many severely.[1] The tornado started as a waterspout over Community Lake, just west of town.

It then moved through the center of town along Christian Street, damaging almost every structure as it went. The tornado tore houses from their foundations, throwing some more than 600 feet (180 meters).

A receipt from the town was later found 65 miles (105 km) east in Peacedale, Rhode Island.[2]A district schoolhouse was converted into a temporary morgue immediately after the storm; 21 bodies were discovered and placed there that night. One person was found dead 3300 feet (1 km) from where he had been standing.[3]More than 50 special police were sworn in to prevent looting, and to control the crowds of curious onlookers who had come by train from surrounding cities.[4]

DESTRUCTIVE STORM!

Great Loss of Life and ProperlyHouses, Barns and Trees Hurled tothe Ground.Wallingford, Conn, AUG 9, A terribletornado passed over Wallingford about sixo'clock this afternoon, and blew overhouses, uprooted trees, and caused thegreatest devastation. It is estimated thatthe killed will number at present at leastwhile the wounded will reach twicethat number.

Telegraph wires and poleswere blown down, making it impossible; tocommunicate with New Haven or thesouth or Meriden or Hartford to the north.Word was finally sent by the up 7 o'clocktrain to the two latter places, and on thenext down express, which leaves Meridenat 7:30 o'clock. came physicians and help.

The greatest excitement prevails, and thewildest rumors are afloat as to the loss oflife. The tornado was confined to a belt ofterritory about half a mile wide, and thewhole loss of life took place on the sandplains about a quarter mile north of therailroad station, near the line of the NewYork, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.At 6 o'clock, while the men were leaving the factory, a gentle rain began to fall, andsoon increased to a perfect deluge, whilealmost continuous arid vivid lightningilluminated the darkened sky as bright asday, and the thunder rolled with an unceasingand deafening roar.

Without warning,the tornado, with hail and rain, sweptacross the northern part of the town, fromwest to cast, anti everything movable in itscourse was carried away. It seemed to lastbut a moment, but the results were fright-ful.

Afterward a light rain fell, and thissoon ceased, and at 8 o'clock the moonshone brightly down upon a scene of desolation.By actual count, forty dwellinghouses were demolished, and at least fifty barns.

WEATHER NOTE

What the storm has wrought’
By Paulita RoaPast Speaks

THE recent flood that hit Cagayan de Oro in the early morning of Saturday, January 3, 2009 brought back stories that old families had of a bigger deluge that happened 93 years ago on January, 1916. A strong typhoon brought continuous heavy rain for three days (some said that it rained for 16 days) to the town. The Kagay-anons found this unusual for Cagayan then was never visited by typhoons.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo [1]

In that 1916 typhoon, the Cagayan River overflowed its banks. The waters entered the cogon areas of Macasandig, past the coconut grooves till it reached Camaman-an and the present site of the Cogon public market. In the Poblacion, all of Divisoria and Pabayo St. (then known as Calle Nueva), were underwater. Residents had to navigate around that area by boats. Many people died or went missing during the flood including a great number of animals. Farmlands were leveled and crops destroyed.

When the flood waters receded, the town smelled from the stench of the rotting animal carcasses. There was a severe lack of potable drinking water and sanitation was a big problem.

Then cholera came and spread throughout Cagayan.

At that time, a young 32 year old American named Dr. Frank Laubach was living in Cagayan with his wife Effa, a nurse, and their sons in Calle Burgos near the river. He was the first missionary sent to establish a mission station here by the American Presbyterian Board. The two chapels that he built in Bonbon and in Barra were washed away by the flood. The Laubachs did all they can to help the sick and the grieving families. He also dispatched his group of young people to the Municipio to assist in sending information on ways to sanitize their houses to prevent cholera from spreading.

Cholera then turned into epidemic proportions and many people were dying daily. A relative recalled that his granduncle attended the funeral of a cholera victim and 24 hours later, he also died of the same disease and was buried at once. The death count was so high that corpses were placed in carromatas and were buried on mass graves far away from Cagayan. A pall of heavy grief could be felt for each family lost a relative or two from cholera. It is said that after witnessing the twin tragedies, Dr. Laubach, known as a man of piety and prayer, got on his knees and dedicated the town to the most Almighty God.

Ninety three years later, another big flood visited Cagayan de Oro. Rev. Alex Eduave told his congregation that they still have to be thankful to the Lord for the deluge came early in the morning and the damage was not as massive as the 1916 flood. Had this happened at night, the calamity would have been of tragic proportions for hundreds would have died or gone missing. Many agreed with the observation of Mayor Constantino Jaraula that since much of our forests have been converted to farmlands, there are now very few big trees that can protect the city from the floods.

We need to take the necessary steps now in order to prevent a tragedy similar to the one that befell Ormoc years ago from happening here. Though the recent flood was traumatic to many of us, it was also a way of reminding us that we have to do something about our almost denuded forests before it is too late. We need to have a viable environmental program with the active participation of the citizenry so our lives, and our city as well, can be saved from another big natural disaster.

MARITIME NOTE

Fishermen question rescue response
Gloucester tragedy remains a mystery
By Stephanie Ebbert and Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff January 9, 2009

GLOUCESTER - As Gloucester lay to rest two fishermen who died in a mysterious accident at sea, their fellow seamen raised concerns about a published report that said the Coast Guard did not launch a search-and-rescue mission for more than 2 1/2 hours after it was alerted that the vessel was in trouble.

The Coast Guard command in Boston did not begin searching for the missing boat, called the Patriot, until nearly 4 a.m. on Saturday, the Gloucester Times reported yesterday. The Fire Department had responded to a 1:17 a.m. fire alarm broadcast by the boat, discovered that the Patriot was not at port, and contacted the wife of one of the fishermen, who said he was out at sea. She then contacted the Coast Guard for help.

Coast Guard Captain Gail Kulisch, commander of the Coast Guard Sec tor in Boston, would not confirm the timeline at a news conference last night, where she said repeatedly that the Coast Guard had responded immediately but had to follow an established protocol for its response. Though the Coast Guard is conducting a case study of its response - as is routine in fatalities - the command was ready and reacted quickly, she said.

"They are always poised. They are guardians," Kulisch said. "We joined to save lives. That's what we do and we take this business very, very seriously."

The Coast Guard has learned that another vessel was in the area at the time of the accident and is investigating whether there was a collision or whether anyone witnessed what happened to the Patriot, she said.

Kulisch said the case was unusual because it was triggered by a fire alarm on the vessel and reported by a fisherman's wife. The Patriot had a device that sends out a signal in an emergency showing its location, but it did not work until hours later, when the Coast Guard was already at the scene, she said.

A Coast Guard commander told the Gloucester Times on Wednesday that the agency could not launch a response effort without knowing the boat's approximate location. But the Patriot was equipped with a vessel-monitoring system that lets the Coast Guard track its location. Since November 2006, fishermen have been required to use those tracking devices so the government can keep tabs on their whereabouts and guard against overfishing. The Patriot had broadcast signals of its location as recently as 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the Times reported.

Kulisch said that whatever happened to the Patriot appeared to have been quick: The men, both experienced fishermen, were not wearing survival gear they had on board.

Yesterday, fishermen and a lawyer who represents them questioned whether the technology used so readily by the Coast Guard to penalize fishermen for straying into protected waters could have been used more effectively to try to save the two fishermen lost at sea.

"It's kind of like wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet, so they know where you are at all times," said Stephen M. Ouellette, a lawyer whose primarily represents fishermen. "It's always tough to second-guess these people, but they spend so much time and energy chasing fishermen down for violations."

It was unclear yesterday whether the time lost would have made a difference to the fishermen in the frigid water of the Middle Bank, 15 miles off Gloucester. But some fishermen said they found the Coast Guard's response time troubling.

"The whole sinking is a mystery to begin with, but the response is rather distressing for those of us who have to rely upon the system," said Paul Cohan of Beverly, who fishes out of Gloucester.

Investigators have not determined what caused the Patriot, a well-kept, 54-foot, steel-hulled trawler, to founder. The owner, Matteo Russo, was killed along with his father-in-law and fishing partner, John Orlando. Kulisch said the Coast Guard is trying to restrict the area around the sunken boat, but the family wants to hire its own divers to investigate.

At the fishermen's funeral yesterday in Gloucester, the close-knit fishing community filled Saint Ann Church, leaving only standing room. Several men with gray facial stubble and in heavy winter jackets sat among the crowd and whispered in Italian, shaking their heads from side to side as they looked at the coffins.

Family, friends, and well-wishers paid respects to Russo, a 36-year-old father whose wife is expecting a second child, and Orlando, a 58-year old father of two.

The Rev. Ronald Gariboldi told the approximately 700 mourners that he was approached by Russo's mother moments before the funeral began. Josephine Russo looked at him with teary eyes and said her son's death was a mystery.

The service was laden with references to the industry that has characterized Gloucester. A prayer was made for those who go out to sea and those who wait for them on shore. The Gloucester Times reported that the Coast Guard in Boston, before launching a search, ordered its Gloucester station to double-check the Fire Department's conclusion that the boat was not in the port. That cost an hour, the newspaper reported.

The Times also reported that the search was delayed while officials at the Coast Guard command in Boston tried to contact the crew of the Patriot by phone and e-mail, after the wife of one of the men said he was not answering calls. A dispatcher also called the boat's former owner, who told him it had been sold, according to the Times.

Study Evaluates U.S. Maritime Policies

The Maritime Administration has issued a new study that evaluates the adequacy of current U.S. maritime policy to meet the commercial, economic, security and environmental needs of the nation over the next three decades.The report titled, ìAn Evaluation of Maritime Policy in Meeting the Commercial and Security Needs of the United States,î was researched and prepared by IHS Global Insight, Inc., of Lexington, Mass.

The 72-page report finds that current U.S. maritime policy only supports Americaís domestic maritime trades and is not supportive of U.S. participation in the international trades. However, the study also advises that possible reforms in national policy may lend more support to the U.S. maritime industry.Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton said, It is clear that marine transportation is the most important mode of transportation for future growth of the U.S. economy; but current U.S. policy does not seem to reflect the importance of this modeóand for America to succeed, it must.

To help create a more robust marine transportation system, Administrator Connaughton continues to advise U.S. policymakers that government support of the freight transport system must anticipate and respond to potential shipping bottlenecks that cause delays and undermine regional and national economic growth.

The main task for policymakers, he says, is to ensure that the maritime system will have adequate capacity and reliability to transport ever increasing volumes of cargo and numbers of people in an efficient and environmentally sound manner.

The full report and its findings are available online at Maritime Administration web site, http://www.blogger.com/www.marad.dot.gov.

FROM HOLLAND AND KNIGHT

Bill introduced re ocean and coastal observations

Senator Snowe (R-ME) introduced the Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (S. 171) to develop and maintain an integrated system of coastal and ocean observations for the Nation's coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes, to improve warnings of tsunami, hurricanes, El Nino events, and other natural hazards, to enhance homeland security, to support maritime operations, to improve management of coastal and marine resources, and for other purposes. (1/8/09).

Have a really super weekend and ...STAY WARM!

RS

Boaters say proposals cast them adrift

Boaters say proposals cast them adrift

Proposed changes to the Nanaimo Port Authority’s moorage policy could force some liveaboards to weigh anchor and leave home port in their wake.

The proposed changes include a 14-day anchoring restriction within a 30-day period, a six-month extended stay permit, and requirements for holding tanks and logs for sewage discharge, as well as insurance.

People have until Feb. 2 to comment on the proposals.

Many liveaboards like Brunie Brunie, 66, and Norman Brook, 51, have called Nanaimo home for 10 or more years and say they won’t leave.

“I will fight to the death,” said Brunie, who has lived aboard her 1939 Lapstrake, MagicMade, for more than 20 years. “If they’re going to kick me off, they’re going to have to do it and blow me out of the water, and I’ll get all the TV cameras there when they do it.”

Brook, who has lived in the harbour for more than 12 years, said harbour residents could take the matter to court.

“We’ll have to fight it in court because this is precedent setting. If they do it here, there is nothing to stop it happening everywhere in Canada,” he said.

Andrew Pitcher, harbour master and manager of operations for the Port Authority, said the changes are to make people more responsible for their vessels. Pitcher said some changes are proposed because of boats running aground and the NPA left footing the bill.

Last year, the authority salvaged two boats at Newcastle Island, costing $40,000. “Most of the time when we [salvage a boat], the owner just walks away from the boat,” said Pitcher.

Brook and Brunie said the proposals are over-regulating. They say requiring insurance is a way for the port to get rid of liveaboards, because many can’t afford it.

The proposal would require $1 million third party liability and an additional $500,000 of pollution liability insurance if the vessel’s fuel capacity is more than 100 litres. The owner would have to have coverage for the entire stay in the harbour.

“We can’t comply with the insurance so it’s not only kicking our house out of the water, but our business has to leave too,” said Brook, who operates NAB Marine Electrical and Shipwrighting from his vessel.

Pitcher said if feedback indicates the insurance is too costly, the port will re- examine the proposals.

“We have to listen to public input,” he said.

Brook is a member of the Nanaimo Harbour Boater Community, an organization of 54 boaters, including 26 liveaboards and several boaters who moor their vessels in the harbour and live in the area.

Brook said if the organization hadn’t formed, the boaters would already have been forced out of the harbour.

But both Brunie and Brook support the requirement to have a holding tank to discharge sewage in approved facilities.

“The ocean is our yard. We respect it ... we are totally for that because we don’t want to be dumping in our yard,” said Brook.The proposed changes are online at www.npa.ca or at the NPA office at 104 Front Street.

Pitcher said there has been both positive and negative feedback so far.

After the Feb. 2 input deadline, the port authority will review comments and redraft the proposal.

WEATHER NOTE
Rescues, injuries as big seas hit coast

Lifesavers had a busy day on south-east Queensland beaches as king tides created sudden and dangerous rips.

Thirteen people were pulled from the surf at Surfers Paradise and another five rescues were necessary along other Gold Coast beaches.First aid was given to five surfers, two of whom were hospitalised with neck and shoulder injuries.On the Sunshine Coast, a shark sighting saw beaches at Maroochydore and Alexandra Headland closed for the remainder of the day.A report of two girls missing on an unpatrolled beach at Coolum sparked a two-and-a-half hour search which proved fruitless.

Surf lifesaving spokeswoman Kaitlyn Akers said there was no evidence on the beach of the girl's presence and the search was called off.Another pair of females had to be rescued after they were swept 200 metres out to sea when they entered the water into a rip.

"They didn't walk an extra 50 metres to the flagged patrolled area and walked straight into a rip,'' Ms Akers said.Another two surfers were taken to hospital as a precaution after sustaining head injuries in the wild surf.Ms Akers said conditions were improving on all but those beaches exposed to south-east winds.

She urged swimmers to stay between the flags."We set the flags where we do for a reason,'' Ms Akers said.

MARITIME NOTE
Coast Guard swimmer receives medal for rescues
The News Journal

The Coast Guard awarded it’s Air Medal today to one of its own for his role in two rescues off Delaware and Maryland.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Tye Conklin, a rescue swimmer from the Atlantic City air station, received the medal at the Hughes Technical Center in Pomona, N.J. Capt. Paul Ratte, commanding officer of the air station, made the presentation.Conklin rescued two crewman from the research boat Russell W. Peterson on May 12.

The Peterson had been 14 miles off Rehoboth Beach, its legs screwed into the ocean floor as the crew collected data on migratory bird patterns for Bluewater Wind LLC's proposed offshore wind farm, when a coastal storm slammed the mid-Atlantic area.

The captain of the Peterson, 61-year-old John Moyse, died. The boat later ran aground at Bethany Beach.Conklin also rescued one person from a sailboat that ran aground off Ocean City, Md., the Coast Guard reported in a news release.



RS

Yellowstone Lake Earthquake Swarm Summary as of 8 January 2009

UPDATE: "CHICAGO NWS": Snow and Blowing Snow Today Followed by Dangerous Wind Chills

Local Storm Reports

Yellowstone Lake Earthquake Swarm Summary as of 8 January 2009

Seismic activity at Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park increased in late December 2008.

As of January 8, 2009, the seismic activity has markedly decreased

(Listen to a podcast with YVO's Scientist-in-Charge about the recent swarm).

It is possible that the swarm has ended, although a return of activity may occur as previous Yellowstone swarms of this size have lasted for tens of days to many weeks. Swarms are common at Yellowstone.

The last notable swarm occurred in 2004, please see our 2004 article, Yellowstone Earthquake Swarms for more background on earthquakes and swarms at Yellowstone.

Seismologists continue to review the earthquakes

About 900 earthquakes occurred between Dec. 26, 2008 and Jan. 8, 2009 in the Yellowstone Lake area. Five hundred of the earthquakes (including all greater than magnitude 2.0) have been reviewed by seismologists. There were 111 earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 2.0 (> M2.0)and 18 earthquakes > M3.0. About 400 smaller earthquakes have yet to be reviewed. [A new Frequently Asked Question about earthquake analysis will be posted here soon]. The largest earthquake during the swarm was a magnitude 3.9 on Sunday, December 28, 2008. One of the analyses seismologists use to talk about earthquakes and swarms is the cumulative seismic moment, which is a measure of the earthquake energy. The cumulative moment (the energy from all the analyzed earthquakes in the swarm) for the Yellowstone Lake Swarm is equal to the energy of a single magnitude 4.5 earthquake (see Image 3).

Depths for shallow earthquake hypocenters (the point within the earth where an earthquake rupture starts) are difficult to determine accurately unless the seismic stations are spaced much more closely than those in the Yellowstone Seismic Network. The best located earthquakes have hypocenters (depths) of 3 to 10 km (1.8 to 6.0 miles). From Dec. 26 through Jan 2, the hypocenters appear to have migrated northwards, starting southeast of near Stevenson Island, with many of the latest events occurring near Fishing Bridge.

Image 2. The depth versus location of the Yellowstone Lake earthquake swarm from X to X' on the Yellowstone Lake map. Earthquakes are shown from Dec. 27, 2008 (blue) to Jan. 8, 2009 (red). The M 3.0 and greater earthquakes are shown as stars, the smaller earthquakes are shown as circles. Click on the image for a full-size version.

Swarms are normal at Yellowstone

The recent swarm is well above typical activity at Yellowstone. Nevertheless it is not unprecedented during the last 40 years of monitoring. Earthquake swarms within the Yellowstone caldera are typical, with magnitudes occasionally ranging above 4.0. The 1985 swarm on the northwest rim of the caldera lasted for three months, with earthquakes up to M4.9 and over 3000 total events recorded.

The magnitudes of earthquakes in this swarm range from zero to 3.9. Earthquakes with magnitudes less than 3.4 are generally not felt by people unless they are very shallow and you are standing very close to the epicenter (point on the earth's surface above the hypocenter). For perspective, earthquakes of magnitude 3.4 to 4.5 are often felt and there were multiple reports of felt earthquakes during this swarm. A magnitude 5 or greater is generally required to produce damage to buildings or other structures.

Image 3. Number of reviewed Yellowstone Lake earthquakes in six-hour and three-hour intervals from 12/27/08 to 01/06/09. The green line on the left figure gives the cumulative number of earthquakes; the steep slopes correspond to increase in earthquake number. The red line in the figure on the right gives the cumulative moment, or energy; its sharp increase in the first few days is due to a greater number of large earthquakes with their greater energy release. The total cumulative moment is equivalent in energy to about one M 4.5 earthquake. Click on the image for a full-size version.

New equipment allowed us to monitor the swarm

Improved volcano and seismic monitoring at Yellowstone gives us a greater ability to locate earthquakes, understand their source process and identify anomalous sources of seismic activity. New equipment including precise measurements of ground motion by GPS receivers and borehole strainmeters provided by the National Science Foundation's EarthScope and Continental Dynamics Program have been used extensively during the last week of intense earthquake activity. Ground motions accompanying the swarm, from the GPS instruments will take two or more weeks to fully process.

It is worth noting that in 2004 the Yellowstone caldera began a period of accelerated uplift measured by GPS instruments that was as large as 7 cm/yr (2.7 inches/yr), three times as fast as recorded in the recorded history but has now reduced to about a maximum rate of 4 cm/yr. Scientists have modeled this deformation as due to magmatic recharge of the Yellowstone magma chamber at a depth of ~10 km (6 miles). The area of the swarm is on the eastern side of the uplift area. For more information on the uplift, please see our article Recent ups and downs of the Yellowstone Caldera.

There are several causes for earthquakes

Earthquakes at Yellowstone are caused by a combination of geological factors including: 1) regional stress associated with normal faults (those where the valleys go down relative to the mountains) such as the nearby Teton and Hebgen Lake faults, 2) magmatic movements at depth (>7 kms or 4 miles), and 3) hydrothermal fluid activity caused as the groundwater system is heated to boiling by magmatic heat.At this time, no one has noted any anomalous changes in surface discharges (hot springs, gas output, etc.).

We continue to monitor Yellowstone Volcano

YVO staff from the USGS, University of Utah and Yellowstone National Park continue to carefully review all data streams that are recorded in real-time. At this time, there is no reason to believe that magma has risen to a shallow level within the crust or that a volcanic eruption is likely. The USGS Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code for Yellowstone remain at Normal and Green.

Yellowstone National Park is evaluating infrastructure near the north end of Yellowstone Lake to assess if any damage has occurred to facilities. Winter visitor activities and staff operations have not been impacted and continue as normal.

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) is a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone National Park, and University of Utah to strengthen the long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake unrest in the Yellowstone National Park region.

Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.

WEATHER NOTE

Ike post-mortem: Experts disassemble monster storm's causes
By SARAH MOORE
January, 9, 2009

Photos of coastal Texas before and after Hurricane Ike give a sort of "now you see it; now you don't effect, as if Ike were playing David Copperfield with beach houses.

Ten houses in Jamaica Beach. Ninety-one houses from Crystal Beach. All but five from Gilchrist.
As longtime meteorologist and former director of the National Hurricane Center Neil Frank clicked through a Power Point presentation, it brought back the initial feeling of disbelief and sadness at the profound alteration of previously idyllic beach communities.

At a conference Friday at University of St. Thomas in Houston, "Understanding Ike, does size matter," experts from various fields gathered to share information on Hurricane Ike, the baffling storm that was the third most destructive in American history, despite its Category 2 designation.

With Texas hit by named storms Dolly, Edouard and Ike last year, residents are left wondering what's going on.

But if it seems like hurricanes have become more frequent and more intense than they used to be, resist the temptation to jump to conclusions about global warming, some meteorologists say.

A number of factors contribute to that impression.

Because storms are rated based on wind speed, rather than barometric pressure, some systems reach named status al-though they lack the low pressure that would allow them to develop into a tropical cyclone, Frank said.

"On the basis of (barometric) pressure, not wind, (Ike) would have been called a Category 3," he noted.

In addition, satellites record more storms out at sea that in the past would have gone undetected.

"Historic records are not adequate to say man-made global warming is causing more storms," Frank said.

And some of it is just that too much time has passed.

In an active period between the 1930s and 1960s, 12 named storms hit Texas.
Frank also cited destructive storms in 1875 and 1893, as well as the storm that killed up to 10,000 in Galveston in 1900 and another major storm in 1915.

Also at the conference, Shell Oil spokesman Stuart Furgang described the destructive impact of various storms in re-cent years as well as how the company copes with the disruption. Furgang described the way personnel were evacuated in stages, leaving behind a last crew to "turn off the lights" only leaving at the very last minute - or staying to keep the operation going should the storm turn.

He described platforms that endured hours of 175 mph winds during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 52-foot waves lashing platforms during Ivan in 2004.

Lt. John Moran of the U.S. Coast Guard showed video and told of photo-finish rescues of people stranded in pickup trucks nearly engulfed by Ike's storm surge as the helicopter grew low on fuel and waves threatened to sweep stranded families into the Gulf.

But there were lighter moments, too.

Conference attendees laughed as Manuel Gonzalez of CenterPoint Entergy dubbed Ike a "Category Tree" because of the large number of trees the storm blew into power lines.

MARITIME NOTE

Heroics of wireless operator remembered

A CENTURY after the first ever rescue at sea using a radio, enthusiasts from the Marconi Wireless Station in Cornwall are to celebrate the remarkable event.

The incredible operation was totally overshadowed by the Titanic disaster and the heroes involved have been largely forgotten. Radio operator Jack Binns saved nearly 2,000 lives after his ship RMS Republic started sinking after it was rammed by another in thick fog in the north Atlantic in 1909.

After the collision, the Marconi-trained operator leapt to his post and began tapping out "CQD" in Morse code – the distress signal used before SOS was adopted.

He worked tirelessly for 36 hours in the wireless room which had a hole in the wall made by the bow of the other vessel, the SS Florida.

His signals were picked up 30 miles away by operator Jack Irwin on Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts.

Mr Irwin immediately realised the importance of the distress call and replied to the message – sparking one of the greatest ever rescues at sea.Mr Binns was then handed a note from Captain Inman Sealby to be broadcast. It read: "Republic rammed by unknown steamship, 26 miles southwest of Nantucket. Badly in need of assistance."

Through Mr Irwin, whose range was much further, Mr Binns learned two ships were aware of the collision and in the general area. However, the operation was a long-drawn-out affair because the rescue ships found it hard to locate the stricken vessel due to the fog and a lack of lights on the White Star liner Republic.

As they awaited rescue, Cpt Sealby decided to transfer his passengers to the Florida, which was not sinking despite her crumpled bow.

She already had nearly 1,000 people on board, many of them refugees from the Messina earthquake in Italy.

After the high-risk operation, the sinking Republic was left with just 44 crew from her total of 300 – and more than 400 passengers had been transferred in dangerous conditions. Using location bombs and fog horns, the rescue ship Baltic finally found the Republic and the last part of the rescue began. Mr Binns stayed at his post until the last possible moment. He sent more than 200 messages, the last being: "Current going, wireless now closed."

Following naval tradition Cpt Sealby and the first mate stayed on board and went down with the Republic – both, however, were picked up.

During the incredible operation coordinated by wireless, no-one was lost. The only casualties were two deaths during the initial collision.

Englishman Mr Binns was hailed a hero on his return to New York, where the voyage had begun. Thousands lined the streets, shouting: "It's CQD Binns!" The incredible rescue and Mr Binns' heroism were totally overshadowed by the Titanic sinking three years later.

Ironically, Mr Binns later turned down the opportunity of being the Titanic's wireless operator and instead pursued a career in journalism. Wireless societies on both sides of the Atlantic will be on air on January 23 to celebrate hero Mr Binns and mark the centenary of the rescue.

David Barlow, a Marconi historian from the Radio Officers' Association who runs the Marconi Wireless Station at the Lizard, has researched the events surrounding the rescue. He said: "Mention 'distress' and 'wireless' and the first name on the lips is Titanic. But the events three years previously were of far greater significance and used the distress call CQD.

"It is a privilege to take part in an event to celebrate the saving of over 1,600 lives through the medium of wireless. Our special call sign GB100MSC represents the station that received the CQD sent by Jack Binns 100 years ago.

"Since that date, wireless operators and radio officers have remained on board stricken ships with their captains in both peace and war time, often at the cost of their lives." John Robinson Binns – known as Jack – was born in poverty in Lincolnshire and raised in Peterborough.

He attended the Marconi training school in 1904 and then joined his first ship as a wireless operator, aged 20.

Mr Barlow said: "In 1908 he joined RMS Republic and was the only wireless operator on board. At 5.40am on January 23, 1909, Binns became aware that the fog horn was sounding more frequently and felt the judder of the engines stopping.

"Then he heard a loud crash and the ship keeled over. He rushed to the wireless room and could see another ship through a hole in the wall.

"Using his Morse key he sent the message CQD CQD CQD MKD MKD MKD – MKD was the call-sign of the Republic.

"Operator Jack Irwin, on Nantucket Island, picked up the message and was soon in contact with the SS Baltic, which was only 64 miles away from Republic.

"However, she sailed over 200 miles trying to find the stricken vessel and travelled very slowly because her captain was worried about further collisions in the fog.

"The Baltic used location bombs in a bid to find the Republic, but when she was down to her last one the wireless was used to co-ordinate efforts.

"The bomb was heard and 15 minutes later the Baltic hove to."

Virginia Lovelace, Jack Binns' American granddaughter, remembers her grandfather well and called him "Binnsy".

She said: "My family are so grateful to the radio amateurs who will use the airwaves to mark this important centenary, in which more lives were saved than were lost on board the Titanic."

Jack Binns died in New York in 1959, aged 75. He spent the war in Canada as an instructor in aviation and wireless.


RS

Sat nav signals enlisted to measure ocean wind and waves

Sat nav signals enlisted to measure ocean wind and waves

It's rarely a problem to tell how rough the sea is when you're afloat on it. But gauging conditions from a distance and across a wider area has always proved much harder.
Now scientists have pioneered a way to use signals from satellites in navigation systems like Global Positioning System (GPS) or Galileo to measure the intensity and direction of ocean wind and waves from space.

GPS signals are found constantly everywhere in the world, and if properly interpreted could dramatically improve our ability to monitor the oceans, providing a large amount of data on conditions at sea to marine scientists and meteorologists. This would help improve advance warning of storms and weather forecasts.

Specialised satellites can already provide data on wind speed and direction, but the global coverage is daily at best. Taking advantage of GPS signals could give scientists access to far more measurements closer to real-time.

The researchers hail from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), private company Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and the University of Sannio in Italy.

Surrey Satellite Technology developed a small, lightweight instrument that can be installed on a satellite in low Earth orbit to measure the signals bouncing off the planet from the network of GPS satellites orbiting far above. The researchers' findings appear in Geophysical Research Letters.

'This is a great achievement as it demonstrates the capability of this low-cost technology to provide ocean roughness data', says Dr Christine Gommenginger, a specialist in exploiting satellite data for oceanography who supervised the project at NOCS, adding that this information is expected to complement rather than replace the data gained from dedicated Earth observation satellites.

The technique involves detecting signals from global navigation satellites after they are reflected from the ocean's surface. The idea, known as Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry, or GNSS-R, was first proposed in 1993 but its spaceborne implementation is only now becoming a reality.

Satellites of opportunity

'The GNSS-R instrument doesn't need to generate its own sounding signals; it can therefore be very small and has low power requirements, so it could piggy-back on any satellite,' adds Gommenginger.

'In the future we would like to be able to put this kind of Earth observation payload on commercial satellites, such as telecommunication satellites, taking advantage of these as platforms of opportunity in space in the same way as in oceanography we now gather data with instruments on ships of opportunity.'

One such opportunity could have been on the Iridium NEXT constellation of telecommunications satellites, which was seeking Earth Observation instruments to include in their payload, but the timescale proved too short to make this a reality.

Work is now underway to build the next generation of GNSS-R receivers with improved performance in a project funded by the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation led by SSTL. The team hope that such a GNSS-R receiver will be included in the payload of the follow-on to the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission - SMOSOps.

Researchers first proved the concept from space in 2005, but this early work gave information only on ocean roughness; the new work establishes for the first time that reflected navigation signals can also provide information about the direction of roughness.

Navigation satellites orbit around 20,000 kilometres above the ground. For this research their signals bounced off the sea surface and were collected by a receiver on Surrey Satellite Technology's UK-DMC satellite, which orbits at just 680 kilometres. The UK-DMC satellite was part of the SSTL Disaster Monitoring Constellation, which main function is global imaging primarily for disaster monitoring purposes.

Just one second's worth of GNSS-R data gives the scientists the information needed to build a picture of conditions at the sea surface. As well as directional wind and wave information, the reflected signals could also be mined for information about the mean sea level to perform ocean altimetry.

The researchers compared the satellite results with model predictions and against in situ wave data from the US National Data Buoy Center. Earlier research had collected reflected navigation satellite signals over the Mediterranean using a receiver on an aircraft, but the technique needed to be demonstrated from satellites which make it possible to achieve global coverage and does not depend on a time-limited aircraft mission to take measurements

WEATHER NOTE

Volcano Hazards Program Observatories and Centers

Monitoring and research at the five volcano observatories in conjunction with the Menlo Science Center in Menlo Park helps advance our understanding of active volcanism and allows the Volcano Hazards Program to provide warnings of impending eruptions in the United States. We monitor earthquake activity, ground deformation, gas chemistry, and other geophysical and hydrologic conditions before, during, and after eruptions.

Observations are used to detect activity leading to an eruption, provide real-time emergency information about future and ongoing eruptions, identify hazardous areas around active and potentially active volcanoes, and improve our understanding of how volcanoes erupt and change our environment. The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program also assists other nations prepare for and respond to volcano emergencies.

Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO): The Alaska Volcano Observatory monitors Alaskan volcanoes from its locations in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska. It is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO): The USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory monitors the U.S. Cascade volcanoes and is located in Vancouver, Washington. The USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, which is headquartered at CVO, is supported by the USGS and the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO): The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is located in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawai`i.

Long Valley Observatory (LVO) The USGS Long Valley Observatory manages the monitoring efforts for the Long Valley Caldera from the USGS Western Region Headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory monitors and studies the active geologic processes and hazards of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field and its caldera. The Observatory is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Utah, and the Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone National Park contains the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world.

Worldwide Volcanology Sites

For worldwide volcano information, please see the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.

USGS Volcano Hazards Program Webcams

Below is a list of webcams of U.S. volcanoes. All webcams are operated by the USGS, unless otherwise noted. The images below are not the webcams but links to the webcams. The images were taken in the past by cameras and are meant to show the approximate area, not necessarily the view from the webcam.

Pu`u `O`o vent, Kilauea Volcano (HVO)

Halema`uma`u, Kilauea Volcano (HVO)

Summit caldera of Mauna Loa Volcano (HVO)

USDA Forest Service - Mount St. Helens Crater

Akutan, Alaska (AVO)

Augustine from Homer, Alaska (AVO)

Augustine Island, Alaska (AVO)

University of Alaska Geophysical Institute Augustine camp on the west side of the island, Alaska (AVO)

Near Infrared (NIR) Augustine, Alaska - best during low light (AVO)

Mount Cleveland, Alaska (AVO)

Fourpeaked Volcano, Alaska (AVO)

Katmai, Alaska (AVO)

Pavlof Volcano, Alaska (AVO)

Peulik, Alaska (AVO)

Mount Spurr, Alaska (AVO)

Mount Spurr, Alaska from station CKT (AVO)

Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska (AVO)

MARITIME NOTE

Amver Tanker Dispatched To Rescue French Yachtsman

Vendee Globe organizers lost all communications with French yachtsman Jean Le Cam after his sailboat capsized 200 miles off the coast of Cape Horn early Tuesday morning. An international effort, including a tanker dispatched by the Amver system, was underway to rescue the sailor.

Search and rescue authorities from Chile, France, and the United States Coast Guard Amver system are working together to coordinate the rescue.

Chilean authorities dispatched a rescue aircraft and, using data from the United States Coast Guard Amver program, requested the Bahamian flagged oil tanker Sonagol Kassenje to Cam's last known position.

Winds greater than 25 knots prevented the tanker crew from lowering their rescue boat. The Sonagol Kassenje, managed by Sonagol, remains on scene waiting for safer weather conditions. Cam remains trapped in the overturned hull of his sailboat but has been able to communicate with fellow racer Vincent Riou.

RS

'Very bad' tornado season has most deaths since 1968

'Very bad' tornado season has most deaths since 1968

Iowa's 2008 tornado season took 12 lives, injured at least 130 people and matched 2001 for the second-most twisters in a year at 105.

Pack those statistics into the four-month period of April through August and one word comes to mind: devastation. That was the same term many used to describe the EF5 storm that tore through Parkersburg and the EF3 tornado that struck the Little Sioux Boy Scout camp.

The Parkersburg twister accounted for eight fatalities when it spun a 43-mile path through Grundy, Butler and Black Hawk counties on May 25, and the storm that touched down near Little Sioux on June 11 killed four, including Boy Scout Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove.

"This is total devastation," said Sarah Harberts, 28, after Parkersburg was hit by the first EF5 tornado in Iowa since 1976. Harberts, who lives in Atlanta, was in Parkersburg visiting family on the day of the storm. Together, according to statistics from the National Weather Service, the pair of storms accounted for all 12 fatalities and more than $100 million in damages to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

"All of the buildings are gone; most of the tents are gone; most of the trees are destroyed," Lloyd Roitstein, president of the Boy Scouts' Mid-America Council, said days after a tornado ravaged the Boy Scout camp. "You've got 1,800 acres of property that are destroyed right now."

According to a year-end statement from state climatologist Harry Hillaker, 98 of 99 counties in Iowa, with the exception of Audubon County, reported tornadoes in June.

The deadly 2008 twister season in Iowa was "very bad" overall, National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Johnson said, but especially when compared to past numbers.

According to state records, the dozen deaths in 2008 are the highest total since 1968. The National Weather Service began keeping official records in 1950.

"It was a very bad year, we had a lot of problems with tornadoes," Johnson said. Although the numbers were not favorable, advances in technology and science, he added, will help state weather experts work together with spotters from across the state in ensuring additional safety during tornado season.

"Probably the biggest advancement for us has been the Doppler radar, which isn't new technology," Johnson said, adding that robust spotter training has helped advance the ability to warn Iowans of possible storms. "It's really an integrated process - what we're doing here at the National Weather Service while working with spotters to mutually help each other, the end result has helped tornado safety overall."

WEATHER NOTE

Great Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004 set off tremors in San Andreas

In the last few years there has been a growing number of documented cases in which large earthquakes set off unfelt tremors in earthquake faults hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of miles away.

New research shows that the great Indian Ocean earthquake that struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on the day after Christmas in 2004 set off such tremors nearly 9,000 miles away in the San Andreas fault at Parkfield, Calif.

"We found that an earthquake that happened halfway around the world could trigger a seismic signal in the San Andreas fault. It is a low-stress event and a new kind of seismic phenomenon," said Abhijit Ghosh, a University of Washington doctoral student in Earth and space sciences.

"Previous research has shown that this phenomenon, called non-volcanic tremor, was produced in the San Andreas fault in 2002 by the Denali earthquake in Alaska, but seeing this new evidence of tremor triggered by an event as distant as the Sumatra earthquake is really exciting," he said.

Ghosh is to present the findings next week (Dec. 17) in a poster at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco.

The Indian Ocean earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, was measured at magnitude 9.2 and generated tsunami waves that killed a quarter-million people. It was not known, however, that an earthquake of even that magnitude could set off non-volcanic tremor so far away.

The San Andreas fault in the Parkfield region is one of the most studied seismic areas in the world. It experiences an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on an average of every 22 years, so a variety of instruments have been deployed to record the seismic activity.

In this case, the scientists examined data from instruments placed in holes bored in the ground as part of the High-Resolution Seismic Network operated by the University of California, Berkeley, as well as information gathered by the Northern California Seismic Network operated by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Signals corresponding with non-volcanic tremor at precisely the time that seismic waves from the Indian Ocean earthquake were passing the Parkfield area were recorded on a number of instruments as far as 125 miles apart.

"It's fairly obvious. There's no question of this tremor being triggered by the seismic waves from Sumatra," Ghosh said.

Scientists have pondered whether non-volcanic tremor is related to actual slippage within an earthquake fault or is caused by the flow of fluids below the Earth's surface. Recent research supports the idea that tremor is caused by fault slippage.

"If the fault is slipping from tremor in one place, it means stress is building up elsewhere on the fault, and that could bring the other area a little closer to a big earthquake," Ghosh said.

Monitoring tremor could help to estimate how much stress has built up within a particular fault.

"If the fault is closer to failure, then even a small amount of added stress likely can produce tremor," he said. "If the fault is already at low stress, then even high-energy waves probably won't produce tremor."

The work adds to the understanding of non-volcanic tremor and what role it might play in releasing or shifting stress within an earthquake-producing fault.

"Our single-biggest finding is that very small stress can trigger tremor," Ghosh said. "Finding tremor can help to track evolution of stress in the fault over space and time, and therefore could have significant implications in seismic hazard analysis."

MARITIME NOTE

Busy night for air-sea rescues

A fisherman whose boat sank after hitting a buoy in the Solent was plucked to safety last night by a passing rescue helicopter.

The man, in his 20s, was taken to hospital with shock and hypothermia after being winched to safety from the Solent. He sent out a mayday at 2344 yesterday when his boat, Sea Raider, started sinking as he returned home to the Isle of Wight.

He was rescued by helicopter, diverted en route to a medical evacuation in Jersey.

A spokesman said: "He was pretty lucky that the helicopter was in the air at the time otherwise he would have been in the water a lot longer. It's not so much the water temperature, which is about 7C, but the air temperature is pretty cold. Shock is a bigger killer than the water."

Meanwhile, a Burmese sailor was seriously injured in a 40ft fall on board a cargo ship, 600 miles off the west coast of Ireland last night. He was airlifted to safety in an operation masterminded by RAF Kinross and involving two US Army long-range helicopters, a Hercules aircraft and an aircraft tanker from the US airbase at Lakenheath in Suffolk.

A RAF Nimrod provided air cover and communications. The crewman man suffered spinal and cranial injuries.

RS