Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported.The Category 1 storm, which became the first June hurricane on the Atlantic side of the United States since 1995, is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mexico or southern Texas by late Wednesday or early Thursday.

The hurricane center’s advisory issued at 2 a.m. ET said Alex was moving erratically, but generally westward, at 5 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was about 255 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas ahead of the expected arrival of Alex, the White House said Tuesday night.A hurricane warning was issued for the Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions and tropical storm-force winds are expected in the forecast area within 36 hours.

A tropical storm warning was in place along the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Port O’Connor.The storm continued to move away from the massive BP oil catastrophe near the Louisiana coast in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but it already was complicating cleanup efforts. The storm created 12-foot waves on Tuesday and oil skimming ships were sent back to shore, from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

The rough seas may force crews to replace and reorganize booms meant to deter the oil from reaching shore, reported CNN’s Ed Lavandera.Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said that even though Florida may dodge a bullet with this storm, the Atlantic hurricane season is just beginning.”In Florida, we’ve had a lot of hurricanes a number of years ago, but we handled them very well,” he told CNN’s Campbell Brown. “The difference and the distinction that we face now is that we have a Gulf of Mexico that’s full of oil. So our hope and our prayer is that we don’t have a mixture of hurricanes with oil that could potentially damage the beautiful beaches of Florida. But if we do, we’re prepared for it.”

Brownsville, Texas, Mayor Pat Ahumada said his city was expecting to distribute 60,000 sandbags and provide shelter for roughly 2,000 families. Utility crews were put on standby to handle outages. At the same time, 90 buses had been provided by the state government in case an evacuation is required.”I expect about 10 percent of residents to evacuate voluntarily, which already started yesterday,” Ahumada said. “I see a steady flow of people going out, but no bottlenecks — which is good.””We’re not taking it lightly,” he said. “We’re ready for a worst-case scenario.”

On Monday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster proclamation for 19 counties and ordered the pre-deployment of state resources. The governor’s declaration allows the state to initiate necessary preparedness efforts, such as pre-deploying resources to ensure local communities are ready to respond to disasters.The governor’s order puts up to 2,500 National Guard personnel, eight UH-60 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft on standby for rapid deployment as needed, Perry’s office said in a statement.(CNN)

to watch

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/hurricane.alex/?hpt=T1&fbid=d3drOUu-5r2

Gulf residents prepare for Alex

earthquake estimated at magnitude 5.1 and centered near the California-Mexico

LOS ANGELES, May 18  An earthquake estimated at magnitude 5.1 and centered near the California-Mexico border was felt across a wide area Tuesday, authorities said.The quake apparently an aftershock from the 7.2-magnitude quake that struck Mexicali April 4  hit at 5:38 p.m. PDT, 19 miles southwest of Calexico in Imperial County, the Los Angeles Times reported. The quake was felt in a large area of the border region but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the newspaper said.

Two people died in Mexicali in the April 4 quake, which also caused substantial property damage — including an estimated $91 million damage in California.The U.S. Geological Survey heard from people in Imperial and San Diego counties who said they felt Tuesday’s quake. People also reported feeling it in Irvine, Long Beach and Los Angeles.(UPI)

Why Chile Earthquake is not as bad effect like Earthquake as in Haiti ?

Mexico City An earthquake measuring 8.8 that struck Chile SR 500 times more powerful than the earthquake that shook 7 SR Haiti last month. But the level of death and destruction in Chile sedahsyat not like what happened in Haiti. The number of victims of the earthquake in Chile less than the number of earthquake victims in Haiti. The death toll from the earthquake in Chile for a while just reached 300 people, while the death toll in Haiti through the 200 thousand inhabitants. In Chile, the number of people who lost their homes less than Haiti, and also telephone and communications network could be restored within 5 hours. Why does this happen?

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Sunday (28/2/2010), explained that the earthquake happened in Haiti is more shallow depth of 10 kilometers and the epicenter was only a few miles of a densely populated area such as the capital of Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, Chilean earthquake occurred at a deeper depth of about 35 kilometers and centered off the coast of the sparsely populated community. Other causes of, namely because Chile are relatively well prepared to face an earthquake. Past events in 1960, when the strongest earthquake ever SR 9.5 magnitude devastated Chile, became a valuable experience for the country. Schools and even an earthquake exercise routine for students.

http://www.youtube.com/v/bJR8I_Vk5TU&rel=0&fs=1

MOSCOW Tsunami waves 0.8 meters tall destabilize Russia

MOSCOW  Tsunami waves 0.8 meters tall destabilize Russia, precisely in the east coast of Russia, Kamchatka Peninsula, following a major earthquake in Chile. Lucky, it does not cause damage means.”No damage or casualties were reported,” said a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Disaster as reported by Reuters on Sunday (28.2.2010).Although no major damage, some local residents have been evacuated to a location that is considered more secure.

As is known, Kamchatka is a region located on the eastern side of Russia. Where is the Soviet Union had not broken, the area became a military area. Now, the center of the platinum mines, gold, copper, and nickel.Previously, approximately hundreds to thousands of Japanese citizens were evacuated due to fear of tsunami waves as high as three meters, which made possible the country will shake the sunrise.The reason Japan Meteorological Agency said, waves as high as 10 centimeters, which is the impact of SR 8.8 quake recorded in Chile has touched Ogaswara Island, late afternoon.

strong winter storm slammed New York City and much of the U.S. Northeast on Friday

NEW YORK  A strong winter storm slammed New York City and much of the U.S. Northeast on Friday, forcing businesses, schools and transportation systems to shut down.Commuters struggled in the absence of suburban train and bus services into New York City, where several inches (cm) of snow accumulation and drifts of several feet snarled morning rush hour travel.On Wall Street, workers pitched in electronically or braved the storm to get to their jobs, so trading was unlikely to take a heavy hit, observers said.”I don’t think it will affect the volume, and volumes have been light anyway,” said Alan Valdes, director of floor trading at Kabrik Trading. “I would guess volumes would be light whether it was sunny and in the 70s or not.”

The wintry blast, which began on Thursday and was predicted to last through Saturday, was the third heavy storm to hit the region in a month.Bond trading was light due to the inclement weather, said William Larkin, fixed income portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts.”New York is probably out of the picture,” he said.Parts of Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, upstate New York and Massachusetts could expect snow accumulations of as much as two feet, the National Weather Service said.The storm was moving very slowly and was expected to hover over the Northeast through Saturday, the NWS said.The impact of the bad winter weather could be felt throughout a U.S. economy still struggling to emerge from recession.

HIGH WINDS

“The issue … has been the unusual weather this quarter, said Subodh Kumar, chief investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Associates, in Toronto,In New York City, subway service was slowed and buses struggled to navigate snow-covered streets.Strong winds, gusting up to 60 miles per hour in eastern Long Island, posed danger to those venturing outside, the NWS said.Among the storm’s casualties, a man was struck and killed by a snow-laden tree limb that fell in Central Park on Thursday, authorities said. The roof of a home in suburban New Jersey collapsed under the heavy snow, and a snowplow and an automobile collided in suburban New York, causing an undermined number of injuries, authorities said.

Some 28,000 people were without power in suburban New York, and more than 2,000 customers suffered outages in the city, Con Edison said. More than 2,000 customers were without power in New Jersey, local power authorities said.Schools were closed in New York City, Philadelphia and elsewhere in the Northeastern states.Hundreds of flights were canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport, while delays were reported at John F. Kennedy International Airport and flights canceled at Philadelphia’s airport, authorities said.Winds gusted up to 50 miles per hour in Philadelphia, which declared a snow emergency, its fourth of the winter.Amtrak canceled regional trains in upstate New York, and commuter bus service was suspended in northern New Jersey.(Reuters)