Weather News

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AFP) - One person was killed as storm Dolly dumped rain over Texas and Mexico on Thursday after pummeling the coast as a hurricane and threatening to trigger more floods even as it weakened into a tropical depression.

BELLE CHASSE, Louisiana (Reuters) - The largest petroleum spill to hit the Mississippi River since 2005's Hurricane Katrina snarled ship traffic on Thursday from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico and brought flows of grain and other key exports to a standstill.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Hurricane Dolly, which lashed the U.S.-Mexico coastline, weakened to a tropical depression on Thursday over South Texas, but concern remained over flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley.

Hurricane Dolly probably doomed South Texas's cotton and sorghum crops already damaged by heavy rains earlier in the summer. But analysts said the loss, while devastating for local producers, will have only a short-term effect on the markets.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado tore into New Hampshire on Thursday, killing at least one person, leaving an unidentified number trapped in homes and bringing down trees, residents and local media said.

Weather around the U.S.A.

The remnants of Hurricane Dolly were dumping heavy rain over southern Texas on Thursday, a day after making landfall, then weakening to a tropical storm. Flooding concerns persisted as Dolly crept across the state.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific nations on Thursday called for greater coordination in dealing with natural disasters, including deploying military resources, in a region prone to earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis.

HARLINGEN, Texas - Business at reopened restaurants was humming, grocery store parking lots were packed and residents of south Texas were venturing out on the newly dry roads again as the remnants of Hurricane Dolly moved well away from the Rio Grande Valley.

MATAMOROS, Mexico - Hurricane Dolly toppled trees and sent billboards flying Wednesday in the Mexican city of Matamoros, and authorities south of the U.S. border warned of possible flooding.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring several people, burying three cars under a landslide and cutting off electric power to at least 10,000 homes, media reports and officials said.

MIAMI - Nearly one-fourth of people in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina would refuse to evacuate for a storm if told to, a survey released Wednesday by Harvard University found.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Dolly strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 miles per hour (160 kph) as it neared the Texas coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical Storm Dolly grew into a category one hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday as it headed toward the US-Mexican border, the US National Hurricane Center said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - WSI Corp increased its forecast for the number of named storms and hurricanes for the 2008 hurricane season due to warming in the Atlantic basin, the private forecaster said on Tuesday.

MIAMI (Reuters) - The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season is already a month ahead of schedule, portending a rough year for tropical storms for the United States, Caribbean and Central America although most likely not a repeat of the devastating 2005 season.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Dolly continued to strengthen slightly early Tuesday as it moved over the warm waters of the western Gulf of Mexico towards the Texas-Mexico border, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest update.

WASHINGTON - A year overdue, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a draft disaster housing strategy Monday, which leaves it largely up to the next administration to figure out a way to avoid Hurricane Katrina-like problems that sent victims to toxic trailers.

MEXICO CITY - The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Genevieve has formed off Mexico's Pacific coast. Forecasters say the storm is not expected to threaten land.

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh is likely to escape major flooding this year despite higher than average rainfall since the beginning of the current monsoon season, weather experts said Monday.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical storm Cristobal strengthened on Monday as it moved away from the U.S. East coast after lashing North Carolina with rain and high winds but doing little damage.

TOKYO - A strong earthquake with a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the northern Japanese coast Monday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, the nation's weather agency said.

With wildfires raging on the West Coast of the United States and hurricane season approaching its busiest months, emergency workers should be checking their mobile satellite communications equipment to make sure they have adequate coverage, warns a Futron Corp. white paper.

MIAMI - National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Fausto strengthens to category 2 in the Pacific.

NEW ORLEANS - Trapped in a hospital with 2,000 people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Anna Pou recalls her throat burning from the rancid smell.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Tropical Storm Cristobal headed for the open Atlantic late Sunday as forecasters discontinued tropical storm warnings along the Carolinas.

MIAMI - Tropical Storm Dolly has formed in the western Caribbean sea.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwanese officials say the death toll from flash floods triggered by Tropical Storm Kalmaegi has climbed to 19.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A quake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit Indonesia's Central Java, but there was no tsunami risk or reports of damage, the country's meteorological agency said on Sunday.