April 10, 2016 - MARYLAND, UNITED STATES - It has downed large trees, a large portion of a chain-link fence and virtually anything else in its path.
It's a 15-by-40 foot sinkhole, and Lucy Miller says it's creeping closer to her house every day.
"It's moving, and it's moving towards my property and I don't want these
trees to all come down and I don't want anybody to get hurt," Miller
said. "That's my problem."
Miller and her husband, Jerry, approached the nearby Lynn Hill
Apartments about the problem and were told the hole is on county land.
The county said it was the state, because it sits along a state road,
and the state pointed back to the apartment complex as the owner of the
land.
"It seems that someone could go to the records bureau some place and
pull out the deed to see who owns the property, but it seems to be too
much of a bother for somebody or they just don't want to admit it,"
Jerry Miller said.
WATCH: Massive sinkhole opens up in Linthicum.
Adding to the Millers' frustration is the fact that it took
years for them to get someone to fix the first sinkhole here years ago.
This is now the second time they've had to try to get to the
bottom of the mystery surrounding who is responsible for the property,
the runoff that created it and the risk it poses to the many children
who live in the apartments above it.
"Well, they fixed it before," Lucy said. "There was a big hole there
before. Somebody fixed it, but they didn't fix it right, because it came
back again."
"Nobody knows," Jerry Miller said. "The apartments said they didn't fix
it. The state said they didn't fix it, but somebody fixed it."
While the ownership of the massive sinkhole remains a mystery, the
Millers say it could be a real tragedy if tons of dirt and soil should
collapse on top of someone risking their life. - ABC 2.
This eagle is one of 13 found dead on a farm in Maryland in mid-February, raising big questions. Photo: Maryland Natural Resources Police
March 28, 2016 - MARYLAND, UNITED STATES - A single bald eagle found dead in southern Delaware last Saturday didn’t raise red flags for state wildlife officials.
But then a few hours later and a mile away, a startling scene unfolded: Eight bald eagles — distressed and disoriented — were discovered on the ground, barely moving on a fallow farm field.
“Seeing one in a field wouldn’t be irregular, but then so many of them — and they weren’t sitting up,” said Sgt. John McDerby of Delaware’s Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources Police. “It was a devastating sight.”
Three of the eagles died, two were rescued and the rest flew away, officials said. The following day, another dead bird was found during a sweep.
The cluster of deaths comes just a month after 13 bald eagles died about 35 miles away on the Eastern Shore of Maryland — the largest single die-off of bald eagles in the state in three decades.
This mystery surrounding the bird species that has soared back from the brink of extinction has investigators and wildlife advocates asking: Is someone poisoning or intentionally harming these national symbols?
At this point, investigators can’t say, but they aren’t ruling out a criminal act.
In Maryland, necropsies indicated the birds did not die from natural causes, meaning diseases such as avian influenza can be ruled out. But they did not pinpoint a cause of death.
Poison is a popular theory since landowners use it to kill rats, foxes and other nuisances that tear up crops. Eagles, in turn, can eat the poisoned carrion.
But Bob Edgell, who owns the Maryland farm where the eagles were found, told NBC News on Friday that he doesn’t use poison on his property and isn’t sure if anyone else in the area does.
“Our investigation is now focused on human causes,” Catherine Hibbard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Agency, said in an earlier statement.
McDerby said test results of the eagle carcasses in Delaware could be made available early this week. In the meantime, he added, there is no evidence of a serial eagle killer on the prowl or any direct connection between the Delaware and Maryland cases.
The two birds rescued by the nonprofit Tri-State Bird Rescue of Newark, Delaware, are still under the group’s care. Staff declined to provide information about their recovery because the investigation is ongoing, but said that if the creatures fully recuperate, they’ll be released into the wild.
Edgell said he’s not sure what took down the eagles on his land in Maryland. He found no evidence of tracks, after first thinking someone may have dumped the recognizable white-headed birds of prey on purpose.
He also saw no indications they had been shot or had other signs of trauma.
“I was dumbfounded, shocked and everything else,” Edgell said. “I had never seen that many at one time, especially on my property.”
Spelling his female mate, a male Bald Eagle lands on his nest containing two eggs at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC on March 11, 2016. Photo: Linda Davidson/The Washington Post/Getty
Anyone convicted of causing the death of the federally protected bald eagle could be fined as much as $100,000 and sentenced to up to a year in prison.
Wildlife groups have banded together with the government to offer a reward for information leading to anyone who contributed to the birds’ deaths.
The Virginia-based American Bird Conservancy added another $5,000 to the pot last week, boosting the total to $30,000.
Mike Parr, vice president and chief conservation officer for the group, said he’s “completely baffled” as to what happened.
“I can’t see any possible explanation of any sort why anyone would deliberately do something like that. It’s outrageous,” Parr said.
The deaths come as bald eagles have made an impressive resurgence in the past five decades. They were nearly killed off after losing habitat and being threatened by the pesticide DDT. Federal protection status as an endangered species in 1967, however, helped to ensure their survival.
Even into the 1970s, bald eagles were shot fairly regularly, said Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.
“The decrease in shooting was part of the reason the eagles have recovered so spectacularly (but just one part),” McGowan said in an email. “Populations are probably at a 100-year high. Growth of the eastern population over the last 20 years alone has been impressive.”
Nationwide, the birds went from fewer than 500 breeding pairs in the Lower 48 in 1963 to over 11,000 pairs in 2007, when they were taken off the endangered species list, federal figures show.
Now, bald eagles — beloved as a national symbol of the United States — are celebrated. A pair of babies born at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., took the Internet by storm this month thanks to a live cam.
But the sudden loss of so many under strange circumstances should serve as a warning that the magnificent birds still need protection, experts say.
“This is a significantly bad and unusual event,” McGowan said. - MSNBC.
This eagle is one of 13 found dead on a farm in Maryland Saturday, raising big questions. Photograph by Maryland Natural Resources Police
February 23, 2016 - MARYLAND, UNITED STATES - It's a whodunit for the animal kingdom: State and federal wildlife officials are trying to find out what happened to 13 bald eagles that were discovered dead on Maryland's Eastern Shore on Saturday.
The birds of prey were found on a farm in rural Caroline County, about
90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Washington, D.C. and just west of the
3,800-acre Idylwild Natural Area. A man looking for shed deer antlers
found some of the birds and phoned state officials, who then found
several more.
"We don't know the cause of death yet and are asking the public for help with information," says
Catherine Hibbard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, which is investigating the case along with the Maryland Natural
Resources Police.
Investigators are working the scene and are sending the bird carcasses
to the federal forensic ornithology lab in Ashland, Oregon, to determine
cause of death. Hibbard says it's too early to speculate on how the
birds died but says its highly unusual for that many eagles to be found
dead in such a small area.
"Our special agent has never seen this many dead eagles in eight years on the job," says Hibbard.
In recent years, officials have found a few eagles killed on the Eastern
Shore from poisons that were put out by landowners to kill foxes or
other animals, she adds. Eagles that scavenge on the poisoned carcasses
can take up the poisons themselves, sometimes to lethal effect.
"Never have we seen this many eagles involved," Hibbard says, stressing that the investigation is ongoing.
The national symbol of the U.S., bald eagles were nearly wiped out by
hunting, pesticides, and habitat loss in the 20th century. However, they
have rebounded in recent decades thanks to strict protections and
banning of DDT, which caused their eggshells to be too thin. Bald eagles
were officially removed from endangered and threatened status in the
U.S. in 2007, although they are still enjoy protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
If people are ultimately convicted of causing the death of the eagles,
they could face a fine as high as $100,000 and prison time up to one
year as a result of those acts.
Anyone with information about the eagles is being asked to call the
USFWS at 410-228-2476 or Maryland's investigators at 800-628-9944. A
reward of $10,000 is being offered for information that leads to a
conviction. - National Geographic.
January 20, 2016 - WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES - Residents of Washington, D.C. might have felt the earth move under their feet on Sunday.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 3.0 magnitude earthquake
occurred two miles south-southeast of Bolivar, W. Va. Sunday afternoon.
That's about 45 miles northwest of D.C.
Earthquakes that are large enough to be felt are rare in this part of the country, the USGS says.
USGS shakemap intensity.
In August 2011, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Virginia, and the
tremors were felt throughout the Baltimore-D.C. region. Several
aftershocks also occurred after the main quake.
Here is a list of areas near the quake on Sunday:
2 mi SSE of Bolivar, West Virginia
14 mi NW of Leesburg, Virginia
17 mi WSW of Ballenger Creek, Maryland
17 mi SE of Martinsburg, West Virginia
45 mi NW of Washington, D. C., Washington, D.C.
Natural Occurring Earthquake Activity
Most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains has infrequent earthquakes. Here and there earthquakes are more numerous, for example in the New Madrid seismic zone centered on southeastern Missouri, in the Charlevoix-Kamouraska seismic zone of eastern Quebec, in New England, in the New York - Philadelphia - Wilmington urban corridor, and elsewhere. However, most of the enormous region from the Rockies to the Atlantic can go years without an earthquake large enough to be felt, and several U.S. states have never reported a damaging earthquake.
Earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains, although less frequent than in the West, are typically felt over a much broader region than earthquakes of similar magnitude in the west. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area more than ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast. It would not be unusual for a magnitude 4.0 earthquake in eastern or central North America to be felt by a significant percentage of the population in many communities more than 100 km (60 mi) from its source. A magnitude 5.5 earthquake in eastern or central North America might be felt by much of the population out to more than 500 km (300 mi) from its source. Earthquakes east of the Rockies that are centered in populated areas and large enough to cause damage are, similarly, likely to cause damage out to greater distances than earthquakes of the same magnitude centered in western North America.
Most earthquakes in North America east of the Rockies occur as faulting within bedrock, usually miles deep. Few earthquakes east of the Rockies, however, have been definitely linked to mapped geologic faults, in contrast to the situation at plate boundaries such as California's San Andreas fault system, where scientists can commonly use geologic evidence to identify a fault that has produced a large earthquake and that is likely to produce large future earthquakes. Scientists who study eastern and central North America earthquakes often work from the hypothesis that modern earthquakes occur as the result of slip on preexisting faults that were formed in earlier geologic eras and that have been reactivated under the current stress conditions. The bedrock of Eastern North America is, however, laced with faults that were active in earlier geologic eras, and few of these faults are known to have been active in the current geologic era. In most areas east of the Rockies, the likelihood of future damaging earthquakes is currently estimated from the frequencies and sizes of instrumentally recorded earthquakes or earthquakes documented in historical records.
Induced Seismicity
As is the case elsewhere in the world, there is evidence that some central and eastern North America earthquakes have been triggered or caused by human activities that have altered the stress conditions in earth's crust sufficiently to induce faulting. Activities that have induced felt earthquakes in some geologic environments have included impoundment of water behind dams, injection of fluid into the earth's crust, extraction of fluid or gas, and removal of rock in mining or quarrying operations. In much of eastern and central North America, the number of earthquakes suspected of having been induced is much smaller than the number of natural earthquakes, but in some regions, such as the south-central states of the U.S., a significant majority of recent earthquakes are thought by many seismologists to have been human-induced. Even within areas with many human-induced earthquakes, however, the activity that seems to induce seismicity at one location may be taking place at many other locations without inducing felt earthquakes. In addition, regions with frequent induced earthquakes may also be subject to damaging earthquakes that would have occurred independently of human activity. Making a strong scientific case for a causative link between a particular human activity and a particular sequence of earthquakes typically involves special studies devoted specifically to the question. Such investigations usually address the process by which the suspected triggering activity might have significantly altered stresses in the bedrock at the earthquake source, and they commonly address the ways in which the characteristics of the suspected human-triggered earthquakes differ from the characteristics of natural earthquakes in the region.
No injuries were reported after a car fell into a large sinkhole at a west-end Toronto parking lot Wednesday morning.
Toronto police spokesperson Cst. Victor Kwong said the hole was
originally reported the day before but the vehicle fell in today.
A photograph posted on Twitter by Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie
Aikins shows the car's front end completely immersed in the ground with
its trunk and roof visible.
The sinkhole is located at parking lot on Todd Baylis Blvd. at Industry St. near the Black Creek Dr. area.
Aikins said on Twitter the hole is not linked to the Crosstown Eglinton underground construction.
WATCH:Car swallowed by sinkhole in Toronto.
Metrolinx, the province's regional transit agency, said underground
tunneling for the Crosstown project may have contributed to a damaged
roadway on Eglinton Ave. W. earlier this month which closed a portion of
the street for several weeks.
Police say the parking lot is
off-limits to drivers and employees at a nearby building have been told
to go home for the day. - Global News.
Sinkhole repairs to Eutaw Street in Baltimore causes street closure
The
Baltimore City Department of Transportation said on Thursday morning
that repairs to a sinkhole on southbound Eutaw Street at Dolphin Street
will cause closures through the evening. DOT first reported the sinkhole
on Wednesday morning.
The state Department of Transportation
reported closures on two local roadways due to incidents that occurred
earlier in the week.
DOT said that emergency roadwork on MD 162
North in Anne Arundel County at Allwood Drive continued into Thursday
morning, closing the northbound right shoulder. Work began on Monday.
DOT
said reported at 6:41 a.m. that all eastbound traffic on MD 131 in
Baltimore County was closed at Thornton Road due to emergency roadwork.
The roadway was also closed at the same location on Wednesday morning
due to emergency roadwork. The westbound traffic lane is bi-directional
due to the incident, DOT said.
There was also a two-vehicle
accident in Baltimore City at the corner of Calvert and Centre streets
that occurred just after rush hour. Baltimore City DOT reported at 10:05
a.m. that traffic impact was light.
The Maryland Transportation Authority said that the Curtis Creek Drawbridge is scheduled to open at noon.
The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor MARC train delays at 10:17 a.m. - Baltimore Sun.
Sinkhole Found In Benton Neighborhood, Arizona
In the seemingly quiet Longhills Village neighborhood in Benton, two homeowners have found something a little different.
"It's really not typical at all," Norma Mccullough said.
In the last few weeks, Mccullough has noticed a sinkhole in her front yard.
"We started seeing this hole between my house and my neighbors and as we got more rain the hole got bigger," Mccullough said.
Neighbors took pictures of the hole as it got larger and larger. When the rain came a few weeks ago it grew even quicker.
"It just took on a life of its own. It got rather large and deep," Mccullough said.
That's
when the neighbors called the city for help, Mccullough says before
they lost a child or an animal in the hole. Or before a close tree or
even a home got swallowed inside.
"If it gets
much wider then it may start impacting our foundations. There is a
concern right here as a homeowner," Mccullough said.
Benton Mayor David Mattingly says after crews got into the hole they realized there were holes in the underground water pipes.
"We will have to replace the collapse pipe," Mayor Mattingly said.
The
price tag to fix it is about $22,000. Mattingly has called an emergency
city meeting on Thursday to get the amount to fix it approved. Once
that happens the hole is expected to get fix and Mccullough can get back
to normal life.
"We look forward to getting this resolved and getting our yard back," Mccullough said. - FOX16.
Sinkhole swallows car in Downtown alley, Pittsburgh
"I thought it was just mud," said Nayshell Sly after her car got stuck in a sinkhole on Cherry Way, Downtown, this morning. Jon Schmitz/Post-Gazette
April
Fool's Day got off to a rough start for an East Hills woman whose car
was trapped by a giant sinkhole in Downtown Pittsburgh.
Nayshell
Sly was taking her 1-year-old daughter to day care before heading to
work this morning when her Chevy Cobalt became mired in the sinkhole on
Cherry Way at the Boulevard of the Allies. Water running down the alley
appeared to indicate a leaking pipe, and the pavement recently was
patched there, indicating prior problems.
"I thought it was just
mud," Ms. Sly said as she waited for a tow truck to extricate the
vehicle. No one was injured and daughter Asiya, in her mother's arms,
appeared to be taking the situation in stride. - Post Gazette.
2-Foot-Wide, 6-Foot-Deep Sinkhole Opens up in Dublin
A
two-foot-wide, 6-foot-deep sinkhole opened up on Dublin’s Dame Street
on Tuesday evening, rerouting traffic throughout the city’s centre.
On further inspection, city officials discovered the hole was much larger beneath the tarmac’s surface and could have caused “considerable damage” if it had given way.
Originally assumed
to be caused by water damage to foundations beneath the road surface,
some experts now believe the leading suspect of the road’s collapse is a
tunnel leading to a 19th century brothel.
Historian Gerry Cooley told the Evening Herald
that an old cellar discovered in the hole could be part of a
“long-rumoured tunnel” used by 1800s politicians as a route to brothels.
WATCH: Sinkhole on Dublin's Dame Street.
"The
King of England closed down the House of Commons and House of Lords in
Ireland during the time when politicians were spending too much time in
the brothels," Cooley said.
"They
built the tunnels from what is now the Bank of Ireland on College
Green. If you dig deep enough anywhere around that area you are likely
to find medieval artefacts or a part of the old 17th-to-19th century
Ireland.
"It could be the
remnants of the residence of Chichester, or the tunnels which
politicians would use to sneak out to the pubs or gentleman’s clubs.”
Dublin City Council confirmed the finding of “an old cellar,” and announced that it was being filled in with concrete. - Yahoo.
Sinkhole opens up and swallows man in Pennsylvania
A
sinkhole has been covered alongside the W.D. Mansfield Memorial Bridge
underpass carrying West Fifth Avenue traffic from McKeesport onto
Monongahela Avenue in Glassport.
But it's uncertain who's
responsible for its maintenance, three days after a man was injured
falling into the sinkhole as it opened up under him.
"That is
not the department's roadway," PennDOT District 11 spokesman Steve Cowan
said. "My documents do not show who is the owner of the road, but I
would think it would either be the municipality or the county."
Glassport and Allegheny County officials said they are looking into the matter.
The hole is on the Glassport side of the municipal line, alongside a
road that carries traffic under the county-maintained Mansfield Bridge.
"There has been no determination made as to whose responsibility it is
to address the sinkhole," county spokeswoman Amie Downs said late
Monday. "But we are partnering with the municipality to determine how
best to address the issue."
Rescuers
pulled a man from the sinkhole after he had the presence of mind — and
could access a cellphone signal — to call for help.
West Fifth Avenue was closed during the rescue, which began around 7:30
p.m. Saturday. McKeesport Deputy Fire Chief Don Sabol said train
traffic was stopped as well.
According to Trib Total Media news exchange partner WPXI-11, the man was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital.
The television station said the man is in his 40s and was walking to
meet a friend at a convenience store when the accident occurred.
He
was roughly 10 feet down," Glassport Assistant Chief Bruce Snyr told
WPXI. "I don't understand how he wasn't hurt more than he was.""
McKeesport, Glassport and Pleasant Hills firefighters were called to the scene.
According to Allegheny County real estate records, CSX owns much of the
riverside property along Monongahela Avenue in Glassport. A CSX
spokesman said late Monday that he was looking into the situation. - Trib Live.
Huge sinkhole creates safety concerns in Riverdale, New York
A gaping sinkhole has opened up in Riverdale, creating safety issues for people in the neighborhood.
A gaping sinkhole has opened up in Riverdale, creating safety issues for people in the neighborhood.
Crews began repairs at Oxford Avenue and West 236th Street Monday. They
say the massive hole started as a water main break late last week.
The Department of Environmental Protection told News 12 that the hole
was repaired yesterday afternoon. However, the spot was still cordoned
off on Tuesday creating a tricky four-way intersection for drivers.
Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz's office looked more into the cause of the
hole, and says the DEP inspectors determined that there were leaks to
the 12-inch cast iron water main running underneath the street. - News 12.
Kids ignoring USCP regulations and sledding on House side of US Capitol amid snowstorm.
March 7, 2015 - UNITED STATES- It seems like March is the new winter in Washington.
If
yesterday’s snow wasn’t enough to make one yearn for spring, this
morning’s deep freeze might have been. Record lows were set for March 6
at both Dulles and Baltimore. Early-morning temperatures sank into
the single digits to the teens across the D.C. area. This is as much as
about 20 degrees below normal for lows.
Mesoanalysis model temperatures as of 7 a.m.
Friday, the typical time at which low temperatures are recorded for the
day. (weatherbell.com)
Let’s take a look at the
morning records locally and beyond — plus, keep in mind that near-record
cold lasts through today and tonight.
A look at where records were threatened or broken Friday morning. (coolwx.com/records)
Washington
Dulles International Airport dipped to 9 degrees this morning, colder
than the previous record 15-degree low on this date in 1978. Records at
Dulles go back to 1963.
Baltimore-Washington International
Marshall Airport fell to 10 degrees, besting the previous record of 13
degrees set most recently in 1901. The Baltimore and D.C. records go
back to the 1870s.
Reagan National Airport was the warm spot, as
usual, with a low of 15 degrees. Not a record, but 20 degrees below the
normal low of 35 degrees for the date.
NWS forecast for Friday night. Big-city stations where record lows are threatened are circled. (weatherbell.com)
It was also the coldest March 6
at the current location for observations, since the mid-1940s (readings
for this climate station were taken downtown prior to the mid-1940s).
The
record lows in the D.C. area were just a few of many across the broader
Northeast. As of early this morning, in the neighborhood of 200 record
lows were believed to be within reach or broken. Cities like Pittsburgh (all-time March low), Little Rock and Birmingham, just to name a couple, saw records for the date.
Cold
air is in no hurry to go anywhere on Friday or on Saturday morning.
Given Dulles’s relatively short historical record, its record cool high
temperature for today is only 32 degrees in 2007. That’s compared to 21
degrees at both National and BWI back in the early 1900s. Dulles’s
record cool high seems likely to fall today.
Temperatures will
probably be about as cold tonight as last night, or even colder in spots
that radiate “warmth” really well, given light winds and clear skies.
National’s
record low of 13 degrees in 1890 is unlikely to fall tonight. Dulles’s
record of 14 degrees from 1985 is a good bet. BWI may be in play, too,
with a record low of 10 back in 1960.
Thursday’s record-breaking snowfall and review of the forecast
A plump cardinal sits on a snowy branch on Friday morning. (Kevin Ambrose)
Anywhere
from 4 to 10 inches of snow fell across the Washington metro region
Thursday, with the highest amounts in our northwest suburbs and the
lowest downtown and to the south and southeast.
All three airports established new daily snowfall records.
Reagan
National Airport received 4.8 inches – setting a new daily record for
March 5, passing the previous record of 4.4 inches set in 1888 (when
snow was measured at 24th and M streets downtown).
Dulles International Airport picked up 9.4 inches, a record for March 5 (crushing the previous record of 1 inch from 2001).
Baltimore-Washington International Airport logged 6.2 inches, besting its record for March 5 of 4.0 inches from 1902.
Impressively,
Dulles’s total of 9.5 inches marked the airport’s second biggest March
snow day, and third biggest snowstorm on record, trailing the March 1993
superstorm, which dropped 13.9 inches, and 2014′s March 16-17 storm
that totaled 11.1 inches.
Across the broader region, the highest
totals within about an hour’s drive of the District were around
Frederick, Md., where about 9 to 10 inches fell. On the low end,
downtown D.C. and scattered locations to the south reported just 4
inches.
Here is a breakdown by region:
Northwest of the District: 6-11 inches (NWS)
Northeast of the District: 5-8 inches (NWS)
Southwest of the District: 5-7 inches (NWS)
Southeast of the District: 4-6 inches (NWS)
Forecast review:
This forecast emerges as one of our best in recent
memory. We more or less correctly captured all of the following: the
onset time, the time snow would be the heaviest and roads most
challenging, the snow amounts, the effects on schools and government
operations, and the end time.
A comparison of our forecast versus what actually fell is a close match:
Capital Weather Gang forecast map (left) and how much snow actually fell, right. (Jordan Tessler)
Our
forecast totals were just about spot-on for the entire metro area. The
only location where our predictions erred a little was toward the
Pennsylvania line.
I must concede the rain changed to sleet and,
ultimately, snow much faster than I thought. I assumed the process would
take a couple of hours, but in most spots it required just 30 minutes.
(We wrongly accepted the NAM’s high-altitude temperature forecast, which
erroneously extended the period of sleet too long.)
I was also
surprised how long it took temperatures to drop below freezing inside
the city once the snow started. It’s important for us to remember that
downtown locations often have some challenges cooling and achieving snow
accumulations during daytime March winter storms. Even though Reagan
National Airport changed from rain to snow before 9 a.m., the
temperature didn’t drop to freezing there until noon – reducing
accumulation some (but still in the forecast range).
We
provided plenty of lead time for this event, first mentioning the
possibility of rain changing to snow Wednesday night into Thursday in
our forecast early Monday morning. During Monday and Tuesday, we laid
out the range of possible scenarios – before converging on the right
forecast Tuesday night.
What makes me most pleased about this
forecast is that we formed our general ideas about this storm on
Tuesday, issued our first call accumulation map Tuesday night (at 11:40
p.m.) almost 36 hours before the first flakes and did not waver (our
second and final forecast made Wednesday morning was unchanged except
along the northwest periphery of the forecast map – where we
unfortunately lowered totals and made the forecast slightly less
accurate there). It was tempting with the various model fluctuations to
change our forecast (both up and down) at times. But we analyzed the
situation, came up with a forecast we thought made sense given the
pattern and situation, and stuck with it – because we saw no compelling
reason to make a meaningful change.
This is the second straight
event (to close the winter perhaps?) where this kind of steady approach
worked out extremely well for us. - Washington Post.
Ban or not, kids allowed to sled at Capitol
From sledding to snowball fights, dozens of children and their parents took to Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon to protest a controversial sledding ban.
Capitol Police have refused to lift the sledding ban, but some parents organized a “sled in” on the west lawn of the Capitol to put a spotlight on the unpopular rule.
The snow day provided ample opportunity for the children and their parents to challenge the sledding ban.
“This is a great day for sledding and democracy,” said Tim Krepp, a parent who helped organize the event.
Krepp said the sledding ban is a “silly problem” that points to the larger issue of dysfunction in Washington.
Among those calling to lift the sledding ban is Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who wrote to U.S. Capitol Police Board Chairman Frank Larkin Wednesday.
Capitol Police pointed out that more than 20,000 sledding injuries occur in the U.S. each year. They denied her request to lift the ban, but officers on the ground also refused to enforce it.
“No enforcement of #sledding ban on Capitol Hill today,” Holmes-Norton tweeted. “Thank you Capitol Police!”
It’s turning into a public relations nightmare for those who oppose sledding and support the ban.
“No member of Congress wants to go on the record saying, ‘Yeah, I hate children. Let’s ban this,’ ” Krepp said.
In the backyard of Congress, the children were not only sledding but also climbing trees, building snowmen and throwing snowballs at one another. Mostly oblivious to the protest, they were just there for fun.
WATCH: Slide free or die - Kids & parents sledge on Capitol Hill despite police ban.
“We come here every snow day,” said Kat Cummins, one of the parents. “This is our neighborhood and we want to sled.”
“There are not many other hills in the Capitol Hill area that are that great for sledding,” added Jason Petty, another parent.
The sled-in was also an escape for the many parents, who didn’t want to be cooped up with their children at home.
“We don’t want to be trapped in the house all day with the kids,” Krepp joked. - The Hill.
Metro Detroit Breaks 114-Year-Old Winter Weather Record
Just how cold is it in metro Detroit?
According
to the National Weather Service, the low temperature Friday morning was
zero degrees, breaking the old record of 2 degrees set in 1901.
It’s one of many cold weather records we’ve broken this winter, according Accuweather Meteorologist Brian Thompson.
“It’s the sixth record low that we’ve hit this year and most of them have occurred in the last few weeks,” he said.
It’s
not going to get much warmer Friday, with highs barely reaching 20
degrees. But don’t worry, temperatures will finally feel a little more
like normal this weekend, with highs in the 40s and mainly sunny skies. Here’s the local forecast from the CBS Detroit weather team: Friday: A mix of clouds and sun. High 24F. Low 19F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Saturday: Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the morning. High 39F. Low 28F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%. Sunday: Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High around 40F. Low 27F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Monday: Sun and a few passing clouds. High 43F. Low 29F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Tuesday: Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. High 47F. Low 31F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. - CBS Detroit.
May 04, 2014 - MARYLAND, UNITED STATES- As quickly as it started, a fish kill in Baltimore's Inner Harbor appears to be easing.
A skim boat filled with dead fish from Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
Alex DeMetrick reports what triggered the sudden die-off is still guesswork.
The city moved fast to remove the die-off, with skim boats collecting
hauls more commonly seen on commercial fishing boats and as menhaden and
shad died from the Inner Harbor out to the Key Bridge.
"And some of them were struggling at the surface, looking like they were
trying to catch their breath. It was sad to see; it was just so
widespread," said John Tapscott, Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Tapscott captains the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's
educational boat in the harbor. Tuesday's trip spotted far fewer dead
fish but none of the usual triggers of die-offs, which normally happen
later in the year in far warmer weather.
"We didn't really see any classic sign and even the oxygen yesterday,
there was enough oxygen in the water for the fish to breathe," Tapscott
said.
"I think it's pretty certain some kind of combination of nutrients,
runoff and organic matter," said Dr. Donald Boesch, University of
Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Which takes rain to move off the hard surfaces of urban areas into the harbor and bay.
"People fertilizing lawns and gardens, animal waste," Boesch said.
Causing algae blooms that turn water brown during hot weather, choking
off oxygen other life needs. But that's not happening - at least on the
surface.
But wind could churn up dead water from below.
"So if you get a wind condition, it will take that material that consumes a lot of oxygen up to the surface," Boesch said.
But it's not clear if that happened this time.
"I think scientists are puzzled as to why. Everyone wants to know. I'd love to know why," Tapscott said.
Maryland's Department of the Environment says there are no signs of a
toxic spill or a classic algae bloom. Answers from water tests will take
at least a week.
- WJZ.
April 30, 2014 - BALTIMORE, UNITED STATES- A street in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore collapsed
Wednesday, washing away cars and flooding CSX railroad tracks that run
below street level.
Heavy rains cause a landslide in Baltimore, Maryland.Stacey Mink
Ian Brennan, a spokesman for the Baltimore Fire Department, said no injuries were reported.
One lane of the East 26th Street between North Charles and North St.
Paul streets collapsed about 4 p.m. and slid down an embankment leading
to the tracks below. The cause of the collapse was unclear, but it came
on a day that the region was experiencing heavy rain storms.
Stacey Mink
Area had been drenched by torrential rainfall in recent days. The Independent, UK
Multiple vehicles lie at the bottom of a landslide
after heavy rains caused a street to give way in Baltimore, Maryland,
on April 30, 2014. The Independent, UK
Several streets were closed late Wednesday afternoon. St. Paul and
Charles are major thoroughfares that are generally crowded during both
the morning and evening commutes. The neighborhood is largely
residential row houses. Traffic was reported to be snarled in the area
of the collapse and downtown.
Brennan said no houses were damaged but fire
officials said many residents living along East 26th Street were ordered
to leave until building inspectors can assess their properties.
WATCH: Massive landslide in Baltimore.
A photograph in the Baltimore Sun shows a wide area of destruction in
what appears to have been a landslide. The railroad tracks are covered
with water, dirt and six cars that went down the embankment. Baltimore
officials said CSX has suspended rail service through the city.
A spokesman for CSX did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
- Washington Post.
February 07, 2014 - MARYLAND, UNITED STATES - Tremors that Ocean City residents reported feeling around midday
Thursday did not come from an earthquake, seismologists said, but may
have come from supersonic flights from Patuxent Naval Air Station.
"The data is very inconsistent with any kind of earthquake activity,"
Maryland Geological Survey Director Richard Ortt said. That was because
the timing of the tremor's detection by various sensors did not match
the time it would be expected to take for a seismic event to ripple
through the Earth's crust, he said.
The source of the tremors remains unknown, Ortt said. Sometimes sonic
booms, explosions or other blasts can be confused with earthquakes, he
said.
Air station spokeswoman Connie Hempel said the Navy conducted two
supersonic flights off the coast Thursday, though she did not know what
time they were scheduled for.
Snapshot from Maryland Geological Survey (Maryland Geological Survey / February 6, 2014
Residents of the beach resort town reported hearing a loud boom and feeling earthquake-like tremors shortly before noon.
"We have had reports that people felt tremors," said an Ocean City
police spokeswoman, who estimated that the department had fielded more
than a dozen calls as of noon.
She said the calls came in "from the whole length of
Ocean City, just within the last hour or so" and there were no reports
of damage so far.
The state geology agency worked with seismologists in Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania to study the tremors.
A U.S. Geological Survey earthquake monitoring website shows no earthquakes of at least magnitude 2.5 in the region recently.
Police were checking with the U.S. Coast Guard and other authorities to
identify the source of the tremors and unusual sounds. A spokesperson
for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware said it had no demolition or
flights in the area.
"We are hearing reports of a possible earthquake in Ocean City, MD. That
is unconfirmed at this time," the Maryland Emergency Management Agency
said in a post on Twitter.
The disturbance was not felt by everyone. "Our police station is like
Fort Knox, so I didn't feel anything really," the spokeswoman said.
The only earthquake on record in Ocean City occurred Oct. 15, 1928,
according to the Maryland Geological Survey. The Delmarva peninsula was
also among those areas up and down the East Coast to feel the 5.8
magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia on August 23, 2011, according
to the USGS. - The Baltimore Sun.
November 11, 2013 - UNITED STATES - Deadly diseases, once nearly wiped out, are making a frightening
comeback in Maryland and across the country. Now — a warning that
parents who don’t vaccinate their children are putting others at risk.
Linh Bui explores an alarming and controversial trend.
Measles, mumps, whooping cough — all deadly diseases. Until recently — virtually eliminated thanks to vaccines that prevent kids from getting sick.
But now doctors see an alarming trend — more and more people are coming down with these diseases.
“Kids die from measles on a regular basis. Kids are in hospitals and can die from whooping cough very commonly. So these kids are at risk,” said Dr. Scott Krugman, Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center.
Here in Maryland, cases of whooping cough are skyrocketing — tripling from 123 cases in 2011 to nearly 370 last year. Outbreaks of measles and mumps have swept through states across the country.
Just how serious a problem is it when a child gets sick? Summer Robinson experienced it firsthand. Her son, Roarik, was just three-weeks-old when whooping cough put him in intensive care for five days and nearly killed him.
Bui: “When you went to the hospital and he was diagnosed with whooping cough, what went through your mind?”
WATCH: Deadly Diseases Like Measles And Mumps Make Frightening Comeback.
Robinson: “You worry about, are they going to start breathing again? If they do start breathing, how long have they not been breathing? What are the side effects of that going to be? It’s just so scary.”
Too young for the recommended vaccine, Roarik was defenseless. He’s living proof one contagious person can start an outbreak.
“If your ten-year-old has it and you’re in Walmart near my three-week-old baby, you could essentially kill my three-week-old baby because you didn’t want to vaccinate your child,” said Johnson.
So, if these diseases can be prevented by a vaccine, why is a growing number of parents not getting their children the shots? Some fear the vaccines can do more harm than good.
“These vaccines and all of these doses also can be deadly,” an Annapolis mom said.
After researching vaccines and talking with doctors, an Annapolis mom decided not to vaccinate her young children. She asked WJZ to hide her identity because other parents are angry her kids could put their kids in danger.
Bui: “What happened that led you to make this decision not to vaccinate your kids?”
Annapolis mom: “It just didn’t’ make sense to me. I didn’t understand why a little human had to get so many drugs at one time.”
She believes her family’s healthy lifestyle will keep her children from getting sick. But most doctors insist that’s not enough.
“It doesn’t matter what vitamins they’re on, how healthy they are, how natural everything is, everything organic. It’s irrelevant. Your child is going to get sick,” said Dr. Krugman.
“You don’t ever want to go through that. You don’t ever want to be in an ICU now knowing if your child is going to live, especially over a disease that’s supposed to be preventable,” Johnson said.
In Maryland, children must be immunized to attend school, but can be exempt for medical or religious reasons. - CBS Baltimore.
June 27, 2013 - UNITED STATES - The northeast Iowa town of New Hartford was mostly deserted Tuesday after authorities went door-to-door before dawn, warning residents a flooded stream would inundate most of the small community.
"Everybody was notified and told to evacuate," said Butler County
emergency management coordinator Mitch Nordmeyer as he surveyed the
town, about 90 miles northeast of Des Moines. "If they stayed they were
staying at their own risk."
Although most of New
Hartford's 500-plus residents heeded warnings and left town, some stayed
behind and there was no sense of panic.
Residents had
seen the normally placid Beaver Creek flood before. And after some areas
upstream received more than 7 inches of rain on Monday, few seemed
surprised the stream was surging out of its banks again.
Jim
Johnson, 49, rowed down Main Street just before noon. He's lived in
town since the 1960s and said he's been through it before.
"I
have about 8 inches of water in my basement," he said after getting out
of the flat-bottom aluminum boat and tying it to a small tree.
He said a flood in 2008 was worse. That one flooded his home with about 4 feet of water.
"I've got this boat and another one with a motor," he said. "I usually stay until everything is lost."
But Johnson and authorities said most people had left, especially elderly people and residents with young children.
Residents were notified via a telephone emergency system on Monday about the danger, and an evacuation order came early Tuesday.
Up
to 50 emergency services workers, sheriff's deputies and firefighters
began to help townspeople flee at 3 a.m., before the water got too high
and when boats and high-centered vehicles would have been required for
rescues. Nordmeyer estimated about a third of the town's residents
remained, but the town was largely silent by afternoon.
"Pretty
much everyone who wants out is out, at this point," Nordmeyer said,
adding that a sandbagged road to the north presented the only remaining
route out of town. An emergency shelter was set up six miles away in
Shell Rock.
Sue Ragsdale, 60, said she evacuated her
home in the early hours but returned later in the day. She found a
flooded barn but a dry home.
"I've seen it a lot worse," she said.
New Hartford firefighters Clint Olmstead, left, and Jon LeBahn walk
through floodwaters on Tuesday in New Hartford, Iowa. Hundreds of
residents obeyed an order to evacuate their homes in this northeast Iowa
town before floodwaters from a rising creek could strand them. Charlie Neibergall, AP
Nordmeyer estimated that the water was already 3 feet deep on the east side of town, and said floodwaters were pouring into the west side of town as well. The creek has topped a levy that surrounds the town on the east side near the elementary school, Nordmeyer said. He also suspected a breach had occurred Tuesday morning on a gravel road about three miles west of town that works as a makeshift levy. Officials couldn't get there to confirm his suspicions, he said.
Beaver Creek rose 3 feet above flood stage and crested at 15.15 feet by 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. The National Weather Service said most of New Hartford floods when the creek rises to 14 feet. The weather service said the creek was at 14.8 feet as of noon Tuesday and the water continues to recede. It is expected to return to the creek by Wednesday evening.
The crest is about half a foot short of the record of 15.7 feet set in June 2008, and it is two feet higher than when the creek caused flooding last month.
The rest of Butler County is under a flash flood watch until Wednesday morning. The weather service said New Hartford is along a path in northern Iowa that may experience showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon into the overnight hours. Meteorologist Kevin Skow said between 2 and 3 inches of rain could fall per hour from the systems moving through the area.
Any rain that falls over the town will flow back into Beaver Creek because the ground is saturated, said Skow, resulting in standing water possibly staying around for a bit longer than expected. - NBC.
Storms hammering the Midwest and the East Coast are resulting in significant flooding across portions of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky Wednesday.
The emergency manager in Independence, Iowa, referred to flooding as unprecedented and life-threatening Wednesday morning, following 6.10 inches of rain.
Moderate to major flight delays have been occurring at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport as a result of the drenching thunderstorms.
Louisville and Madisonville, Kentucky have been experiencing flash flooding as storms continue, according to law enforcement and an NWS employee.
As Severe Storms Threaten 100 Million Citizens From Chicago To New York.
Another show in a seemingly endless parade of severe weather will march through the Midwest and the Northeast into Wednesday night, bringing damaging winds, large hail, flash flooding and even the threat for tornadoes along with it.
Cities most at risk include New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Nashville, Tenn., Indianapolis and St. Louis.
The worst of the storms will produce damaging wind gusts as high as 70 mph, hail as large as golf balls and perhaps an isolated tornado.
Wind gusts to 70 mph can easily uproot trees, snap off large branches and bring down power lines. Sporadic power outages are possible in some areas. Winds of this strength can also damage roofs and send unsecured objects airborne.
Hail as large as golf balls can cause damage to vehicles and crops. Any people or livestock caught outside can easily be injured.
While the pattern does not favor a large outbreak of tornadoes by any means, a few short-lived twisters are possible, especially across southern Illinois, southern Indiana and western Kentucky.
The most dangerous storms are likely to fire from St. Louis into Indianapolis, Louisville and Cincinnati during the afternoon and evening hours.
If you have any plans to be out and about on Wednesday or Wednesday night, keep an eye out for rapidly changing weather conditions.
Soon after showers first develop, many will strengthen quickly into thunderstorms, and dangerous conditions could follow soon after.
Dark skies ahead can signal blinding downpours, powerful winds and possible hail. If you get caught driving through this weather, pull over to a safe location, away from any trees or power poles, and wait for it to pass.
A major concern across the region is the potential for flooding rain. The storm system has had a history of flooding and producing torrential rainfall on the order of 3 to 6 inches in some communities over the Midwest during the Tuesday night and early morning hours Wednesday.
National Weather Service Current Weather Warnings
This storm system will have the ability to produce 1-3 inches of rain in as many hours, potentially across such cities such as Indianapolis, Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh.
Flash flooding can easily become life-threatening, and given the already saturated soil across the region, it will not take much rain to cause flooding.
Current technology has advanced enough over recent years to provide ample alert of the potential for severe weather and the approach of localized severe storms. Be sure to understand the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means that an area is being monitored for dangerous weather. A warning means that dangerous weather is imminent. When a warning is issued, there may be too little time to travel across town or across a county to escape the storm. The time to have a plan of action and move to the general vicinity of a storm shelter or safe area is when a watch is issued.
Keep in mind that lightning is one of Mother Nature's leading source of injuries and fatalities. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning, even if the sun is still shining. - AccuWeather.
May 28, 2013 - UNITED STATES - A CSX cargo train derailed Tuesday in a Baltimore suburb and the explosion that followed rattled homes at least a half-mile away and collapsed nearby buildings, setting them on fire, officials and witnesses said.
The train went off the tracks at about 2 p.m. in White Marsh, about 10 miles northeast of Baltimore, and fire department spokeswoman Louise Rogers Feher said there were no immediate word on injuries. Hazmat teams were on the scene, but fire officials did not have immediate information on what might be still be burning.
Baltimore County Public Safety tweeted that if residents and others can see the smoke plume, they should evacuate the area.
Dale Walston said he lives about a half-mile away from the blast site and that the smell of chemicals is very strong.
"It shook my house pretty violently and knocked things off the shelves," he said in an email to The Associated Press.
A
thick plume of black smoke was emerging from the scene and was visible
for miles, the smoke drifting across the Baltimore city line and
covering the eastern part of the city. It was visible to motorists
heading north on Interstate 95, through downtown Baltimore. More than
one video posted to Facebook shows the fire, then minutes later, an
explosion rattles the area.
Photos and video on TV stations showed at least three rail cars off
the tracks. Overhead news shots show several blackened buildings and
fires burning. Rogers Feher said several buildings "fell apart." They
also showed a tractor-trailer overturned near the front of the crash.
A
worker at a nearby Dunkin Donuts, Tawan Rai, reached by The Associated
Press by phone, said he saw a fire and flames by the railroad tracks at
first, then felt a thundering blast that sent smoke pouring into the
sky.
"The whole building shook and there was just dust
everywhere," said Rai, adding no windows broke but he was surprised by
the intensity of the blast. "I went outside and people were rushing
there, the police officers, fire trucks."
He also said he saw some ambulances arrive but didn't see anyone injured.
He also said police had apparently stopped traffic on nearby Pulaski
Highway not far from the tracks and he no longer had any customers at
his donut shop.
John Kane, treasurer of Atlantic Tire
on nearby Pulaski Highway, said the explosion blew out two large
showcase windows and light fixtures in his shop. The highway, also
called Route 40, is shut down to the Baltimore city line as well as some
side streets in area.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to the crash site to investigate.
The
derailment is the third serious one this month. In Bridgeport, Conn.,
on May 17, more than 70 people were injured when a commuter train
derailed. The eastbound train from New York City went off the tracks
during evening rush hour, came to a stop and was struck about 20 seconds
later by a westbound train.
WATCH: Train Derailment Reportedly Causes Fire In Baltimore.
In Rockview, Mo., on Saturday, a cargo train crash injured seven people and destroyed a highway overpass that could take a year to repair.
Some businesses closed immediately, fearful of the unidentified contents of a heavy plume of black smoke roiling into the atmosphere. At seafood supplier S. DiPaula & Sons Seafood Inc., a good-natured voice left a message on the answering machine afterward that the business was closing early for the day.
"Hello, this is S. DiPaula & Sons Seafood. Today is Tuesday and it's around 2:30 in the afternoon. We have decided to close due to a large explosion relatively close to our building and a heavy black plume of smoke that we can't tell what's in it."
In each of the past five years, CSX has reported more than 100 deaths in accidents and incidents involving the railroad.
The Federal Railroad Administration says CSX reported 104 deaths in 2012, down from 122 in 2011 and 117 in 2010. The railroad reported 102 deaths in 2009 and 122 in 2008.
The number of derailments on CSX's network in the eastern United States has been declining steadily since 2008 when it reported 229 derailments. Last year, CSX reported 143 derailments. CSX, based in Jacksonville, Fla., operates over 21,000 miles of track in 23 eastern states and two Canadian provinces.
CSX shares traded higher Tuesday before the derailment was reported. The shares closed down 20 cents at $25.30. - Huffington Post.
