What do you blame the record number of hurricanes on?
Hurricane stories
Wilma's Gales, Floods Hit Cancun, Mexico, Â
Wilma gives Mexican tourists no respite
Slow-moving Hurricane Wilma lashed and drenched Cancun, flooding hotels and shelters where tourists huddled and causing extensive damage. Looting took place as the eye of the storm passed over. Hurricane Wilma reached the Yucatan peninsula as a Category 4 hurricane but weakened on Saturday to a Category 3.
Hurricane Watch Issued for Florida Keys
A mandatory evacuation order was issued for Florida Keys residents as Hurricane Wilma slowly approached, so large that she had already caused some flooding. People on the mainland were also evacuating or boarding and stocking up. Another tropical depression developed, gearing up to become a tropical storm called Alpha - the first time that the Greek alphabet has been needed. FEMA readied itself too.
Town Devastated by 1960 Storm Awaits Wilma
Everglades City, Florida was devastated by Hurricane Donna in 1960 and never fully recovered. Now Hurricane Wilma could be heading its way. Many houses in this commercial crab fishing and eco-tourism town are built on stilts. Most of the 700 residents have evacuated.
NOAA Hurricane Hunters Track Wilma
A Lockheed WP-3D Orion with a crew of 10 acts as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter plane, flying right into storms such as Hurricane Wilma.
Arrests Likely in Katrina Patient Deaths
The Louisiana attorney general's office says that more arrests are likely as it investigates the deaths of at least 140 nursing home and hospital patients during and after Hurricane Katrina. So far the husband-and-wife owners of a nursing home have been arrested - they say that they decided that it safer not to move such frail patients.
Senator Urges Gov't to Stop Price Gouging
Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas says that government should do more to stop price gouging, as happened after Hurricane Katrina.
Kashmir Quake stories
Many quake survivors still cut off, Â
Group Says Pakistan Hoards Quake Aid,
World Bank to Increase Aid to Quake Region, Â
Pakistani quake survivors fight over food
The engineering battalion that NATO has promised Pakistan is needed to help clear and rebuild roads immediately so that more than 2,000 villages can be reached. Currently mules are being used, but they can only carry so much and their numbers are limited. Helicopters and tents or shelters are needed. NATO has sent 6 more helicopters and will send 12 giant C-17 cargo planes loaded with supplies. The people need much more help, and much faster.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said that Pakistani officials are storing tents and other relief supplies rather than issuing them to those in need. This was denied. India is to allow Pakistanis across the de facto Kashmir border to receive aid at three relief camps it was setting up. Many more tents are needed, as snow has started falling and temperatures are falling below freezing at night. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed for much more aid.
The World Bank has already pledged $20 million in aid to Pakistan and will send considerably more once the needs are better known. A further $20 million has already been earmarked. A new information-sharing web portal, Pakistan Relief and Information Systems for Earthquakes (RISE) has been launched.
With much less food and other aid getting through to villages than is needed, incidents of attacking aid trucks, looting and fighting for food are growing.
Earthquake Dramatizes Power of Nature
Much of the destruction from the Kashmir earthquake were not directly due to the quake, but resulted from landslides after. Much of this was because water can rush more easily down the mountainside when trees have been logged or the green cover overgrazed or the wrong kinds of trees have been planted. In addition, global warming has caused additional melting of Himalayan glaciers. In addition, with world population rising, more people are moving into vulnerable areas. There have been several series of fatal landslides in recent years, yet deforestation continues.
Please see the following message for the remaining stories. Sue [sysop in NewsForum, World Issues, All Animals forums] | 
