Hurricanes stories
Hurricane Beta Lashes Providencia Island, Â
Beta Spares One Island, but Slams Another,
Hurricane Beta churns off Nicaragua's jungle coast
Hurricane Beta battered the Caribbean island of Providencia Friday before starting on Nicaragua Saturday. The nearby island of island of San Andres was spared the worst. Nicaraguans left the coast in search of shelter. Beta was expected to be a category 2 storm bringing a 13 foot storm surge by the time it crossed the coast.
Cancun Tourists Out, Others Set to Arrive
Only about 5,000 tourists remained in Cancun Friday, and the hotels hoped they would all be able to leave Saturday so that rebuilding could begin. Hotels in less badly affected areas were preparing to receive fresh tourists. President Fox was touring the area, meeting protests in those places which had had least help.
White House Wants Hurricane Funds Shifted
The White House wants congress to use $17 billion approved for hurricane relief for new purposes, such as:
- repair military facilities and ships and pay the costs of military deployments to the affected region ($6.6 billion)
- Housing and Urban Development Department restoration work and rental assistance ($2.2 billion)
- rebuilding highways and airport control towers and other transportation projects ($2.4 billion)
- Army Corps of Engineers funding to repair levees, flood control and navigation projects ($1.6 billion), including an expedited study into how best to reduce future flooding and storm damage in New Orleans ($4.6 million)
Democrats criticize oil industry subsidies, Â
Big Oil: Share Some Profit?
The top Democrat on the House Commerce Committee, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, said, "What was the Republican answer to the hurricanes? More subsidies to the oil industry". In a week when Exxon Mobil reported a record $9.9 billion quarterly profit, some republicans are beginning to question the policy too, and are beginning to think of windfall taxes. The House recently narrowly passed (after some arm-twisting) a bill to give federal insurance for oil refinery expansion projects, but the Senate bill failed. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist ordered a November 8 hearing concerning high gas prices.
Company Wanted Out of Body Collection Job
The company that collected Hurricane Katrina's dead in Louisiana wanted out because of the "bureaucratic quagmire" in dealings with FEMA. Eventually it agreed to stay and signed a contract.
Texans Examine Disaster Preparedness
At a high-powered televised town hall meeting in Houston, experts agreed that both individuals and government officials have a lot to learn about preparing for major disasters.
Report Warned Fla. Power Co. About Poles
More than a third of Florida Power & Light customers were still without power Friday, but most substations were working. Many wooden utility poles, which the company says was due to the high winds, but might also be due to lack of maintenance. A state report this summer said that the company was not doing enough utility poles inspections.
Bird Flu stories
Rumsfeld Won't Be Part of All Flu Plans
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will not be included in all flu treatment decisions because he has stock in the company that invented Tamiflu, and later sold the rights to it to Roche.
Government to Unveil Super-Flu Strategy
President Bush will announce his administration's strategy on how to prepare for the next flu pandemic at the National Institutes of Health Tuesday.
Vietnam suspects two new bird flu deaths
Vietnam suspects that 2 deaths in the past weak were due to bird flu, which would bring the total in the country to over 40. A delay in the arrival of vaccines from China meant that vaccination of poultry was incomplete in the country. Not all hospitals are geared up to deal with bird flu and at least one has asked for supplies of Tamiflu.
Experts: Bird Flu Import Bans Illogical
Experts say that some of the import bans of poultry and even rice in Latin America and elsewhere make no scientific sense. There are concerns that such bans could escalate.
Please see the following message for the remaining stories. Sue [sysop in NewsForum, World Issues, All Animals forums] | 
