Conventional theories about Titanic disaster put on ice: Risk of icebergs higher now than in 1912

Academics at the University of Sheffield have dispelled a long-held theory that the Titanic was unlucky for sailing in a year with an exceptional number of icebergs and say the risk of icebergs is actually higher now.

Previously it had been suggested that the seas which sank the famous cruise ship -- which set off on its maiden voyage 102 years ago today (Thursday 10 April 2014) -- had an exceptional number of icebergs caused by lunar or solar effects.

But academics at the University have shown the ship wasn't voyaging in an extreme year.

Using data on iceberg locations dating back to 1913 -- recorded to help prevent a repeat of the Titanic -- they have shown that 1912 was a significant ice year but not extreme.

Professor Grant Bigg who led the research, said: "We have seen that 1912 was a year of raised iceberg hazard, but not exceptionally so in the long term. The year 1909 recorded a slightly higher number of icebergs and more recently the risk has been much greater -- between 1991 and 2000 eight of the ten years recorded more than 700 icebergs and five exceeded the 1912 total."

He added: "As use of the Arctic, in particular, increases in the future with the declining sea-ice the ice hazard will increase in water not previously used for shipping. As polar ice sheets are increasingly losing mass as well, the iceberg risk is likely to increase in the future, rather than decline."

The iceberg which sank the Titanic was spotted just before midnight on 14 April 1912 500m away. Despite quick action to slow the ship it wasn't enough and the ship sank in just two and a half hours. The disaster saw 1,517 people perish and only 700 survive.

Funding for the research, published in the journal Weather, was provided by the National Environment Research Council (NERC).

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Congress at odds over disaster aid (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans and Democrats in Congress moved to quickly approve disaster aid on Monday but remained at odds over the amount of money needed to help victims of floods, tornadoes and hurricanes.

With the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief fund running dangerously low, top Republicans in the House of Representatives said they would attach up to $1 billion to a must-pass spending bill that is expected to pass Congress next week.

In the Senate, Democrats tried to attach about $7 billion in disaster aid to a separate bill, but they were blocked by Republicans who said they wanted time to examine the measure.

The parliamentary maneuvering underscored the stark divide between the two parties even as they try to show voters they can work together.

President Barack Obama requested $5.1 billion last week to help victims of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters in one of the most extreme years for weather in U.S. history.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will need about $500 million to ensure it does not run out of money in the next several weeks, according to the White House.

FEMA has already suspended some payments for longer-term projects to ensure that money remains for the more pressing needs of victims of last month's Hurricane Irene and other recent disasters.

Republicans want to offset that money with spending cuts elsewhere to avoid deepening the country's budget woes, but they have been careful to say the aid will not get held up by spending concerns.

House Republicans said they would attach between $500 million and $1 billion to a stopgap spending bill that is expected to clear Congress next week. More money would presumably come later.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said that was not enough.

"We're not going to accept some small number that the House sends us," he said on the Senate floor.

After Senate Republicans blocked his attempt to add about $7 billion to a bill that continues sanctions on Burma, Reid said he would try again. Another vote could come as soon as on Tuesday, and an aide suggested that it could be modified to win more Republican support.

Congress must pass the stopgap bill by the end of the month to ensure that the government will keep operating when the new fiscal year starts on October 1.

Budget battles have pushed the country to the edge of default and the brink of a government shutdown this year, but that's not likely to be the case with this spending bill, a top Republican said.

"The risk of bringing about brinkmanship or another potential shutdown is not something now that we need, it is not something that would be helpful to create jobs and regain confidence," said Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; editing by Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman)

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Irene another test of capital's disaster prep (AP)

WASHINGTON – Already bruised by an earthquake that damaged two of its iconic structures, the nation's capital was watching and waiting Saturday for its first hurricane in more than a half-century, a storm that could test its ability to protect both national treasures and vulnerable residents.

The worst of Hurricane Irene was supposed to hit Washington late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Forecasts called for several inches of rain, wind gusts of up to 60 mph and possible flash flooding. The expectation led organizers to postpone the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall that was expected to draw up to 250,000 people.

But beyond the tourist mecca of the Mall, the District of Columbia is a diverse city of 600,000 with a stark divide between the wealth of Northwest and the poverty of Southeast. And in the impoverished neighborhood of Anacostia, many weren't prepared for the storm — and weren't assured that the district government would do much to help them.

The district is constantly on guard against terrorist attacks, but some residents say it remains ill-prepared for disasters. People leaving the city after this week's 5.8-magnitude earthquake — which caused cracks in the Washington Monument and millions of dollars in damage to the National Cathedral — snarled traffic for hours.

"I don't think Washington is equipped for a big storm or evacuation or anything like that," Melvin Holloway, 61, a retired District of Columbia water department employee, said as he sipped from a can of Bud Light outside a convenience store Saturday morning. "There's just no communication."

Flooding is one problem. City leaders last fall recognized that the National Mall along the Potomac River was vulnerable during a massive storm and started a project to upgrade the system of levees along the river. Construction has started but will take several years to complete.

Built on the banks of the Potomac on swampy ground, Washington has always been under threat of river flooding from a major storm. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers review after 2005's devastating Hurricane Katrina concluded the city's flood-control system — built some 70 years ago — was inadequate.

A map of potential flooding by the Federal Emergency Management Agency said museums such as the National Gallery of Art and federal buildings like the Commerce Department could be under as much as 10 feet of water if the current flood-control measures failed. That triggered planning for a better system.

This week, the city struggled to distribute sandbags, with hundreds of cars lining up for up to two hours to collect them. By about 3 p.m., the city had nearly run out. It gave away about 15,000 bags over two days to a cross-section of the population. Many were homeowners looking to protect their basements.

"They should have done it earlier," State Department employee Tina Harris, 36, said as she snaked toward the front of the line in her minivan early Saturday afternoon following a wait of about an hour and a half.

At the same time, Harris, who lives in the Northeast quadrant of the city, which is not as vulnerable to flooding, said it was unrealistic for Washington to prepare adequately for a hurricane.

"We haven't had one before. We're not used to it," she said.

The last named storm to cause damage in Washington was Isabel, which had weakened to a tropical storm when it hit in 2003. The last hurricane to hit was Hazel in 1954.

As for where people live, despite being built on two rivers, the district has relatively little waterfront housing, although certain neighborhoods, including wealthy Georgetown and the Southwest Waterfront, are susceptible to flooding. The waterfront has mixed demographics, but there are public housing complexes and lower-income neighborhoods near the water.

The district will be keeping its homeless shelters open for the duration of the storm, and had also set aside four places for displaced residents. By Saturday evening, those temporary shelters had yet to open.

The poorer sections of the city are always a worry, said Councilmember Marion Barry, the former four-term mayor. He represents Ward 8 — the poorest of the city's wards — and said his constituents were accustomed to bearing the brunt of bad weather and other adversity.

"Whenever there's an outage, we're going to be the first," Barry said. "We're the first, and we get hit the hardest."

Homes in Ward 8, however, are unlikely to be flooded by a surging Anacostia River, because the riverfront is occupied by a park and by Bolling Air Force Base.

Much of official Washington has considered the possibility of a once-in-a-generation storm.

For example, the monuments along the Tidal Basin — including the Jefferson Memorial and the new King Memorial — are designed to withstand flooding, said Bill Line, a National Park Service spokesman.

Line said he did not believe the Tidal Basin — a manmade inlet off the Potomac River walled off by a stone embankment — had ever overflowed its banks, although he conceded it was possible in an incredible storm surge. Much of the National Mall was created by a massive Army Corps of Engineers dredging project more than a century ago that altered the path of the Potomac River. There was not damage by Saturday night.

The National Archives installed self-rising walls to protect the building after severe flooding in the basement damaged a newly opened theater, said spokeswoman Susan Cooper. The walls have worked in past storms, she said. The building doesn't keep its precious documents in the basement.

Pepco, the utility serving the district and its Maryland suburbs, warned customers that Irene could bring destruction and that restoring service could take several days.

Millicent West, the city's homeland security director, said officials from several agencies would be making the rounds in poor neighborhoods to make sure residents weren't neglected. Mayor Vincent Gray said that given forecasts showing the storm moving out by Sunday afternoon, he did not anticipate vulnerable residents being isolated for days in dangerous conditions.

"We hope that the duration of this will be relatively short, which means that people can get back out and get engaged in the normal patterns of life," Gray said.

Ward 8 has a 25 percent unemployment rate and a 35 percent poverty rate. In Anacostia, some residents were making do with what they had, which wasn't much.

"I'm just about as ready as I can get," said Patricia Williams, a resident of Barry Farm, a sprawling, rundown public housing complex. "I don't have no money to stock up on water and food."

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at http://twitter.com/APBenNuckols

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UN chief visits Japan disaster zone (AP)

TOKYO – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has visited a shelter in Japan's disaster zone to offer support to people evacuated from their homes after a March earthquake and tsunami sent a nuclear plant into meltdown.

Ban is meeting Japan's prime minister and other leaders in Tokyo after he visited an evacuation center in Fukushima city on Monday. The city is about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the severely damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Tens of thousands of Japanese were forced to leave their homes when the plant suffered meltdowns, fires and radiation leaks in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

The earthquake and tsunami on March 11 left about 23,000 people dead or missing along Japan's northeast coast.

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UN chief visits Japan nuclear disaster zone (AFP)

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday pledged the world body's solidarity with Japan after its quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters and encouraged radiation evacuees to "hang in there".

Travelling in the disaster-struck northeast, Ban became one of the most senior foreign leaders to visit the region close to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant, which is still leaking radiation.

"I came here to express my solidarity, the United Nations' solidarity for the government of Fukushima, and particularly for affected people in Fukushima," Ban told prefectural governor Yuhei Sato.

"Particularly this Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident has given us great lessons," he said. "We need to carefully review to improve our safety and improve our capacity tools in such an emergency response."

Some 85,000 people have fled the region around the plant after the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

Ban, who has convened a nuclear safety summit for the UN General Assembly in New York in September, is expected to reinforce his calls for tougher international standards.

Joined by his wife, Ban visited a shelter where more than 300 evacuees, mainly from Minamisoma city and a 20-kilometre (12-mile) no-go zone around the plant, have lived in cramped conditions for the past five months.

"You will hang in there," Ban said in Japanese to the evacuees, who live in tiny spaces separated by cardboard partitions.

Ban, who arrived in Japan Sunday, then visited Fukushima Minami High School, where he also gave words of encouragement to some 100 teenagers, telling them, "the entire world and the United Nations are behind you".

Five months on from the disaster, Japan's government and the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) are struggling to stabilise three reactors at the plant following a series of meltdowns and explosions.

Japan wants to bring all reactors to stable "cold shutdown" by January.

But lethal hotspots were detected inside the crippled plant last week, with radiation so high that they threaten to prevent emergency workers from making progress in the effort to control the crisis.

TEPCO has also faced a series of technical glitches affecting a system to decontaminate radioactive runoff water used to cool the reactors.

At the meeting with Ban, Fukushima governor Sato asked him for cooperation from the world body.

"Five months have passed since the disaster and amid this ordeal Fukushima's people are making their utmost effort to build a new Fukushima," he said.

"I would like to ask you, secretary-general, and the United Nations to especially remember Fukushima and cooperate with us."

The UN chief then visited tsunami-ravaged Haragama beach in Soma city, 40 kilometres north of the Fukushima plant, to assess the damage.

Ban walked with the local mayor past demolished buildings, destroyed cars and mangled fishing nets still piled up high on road sides, stopping to observe a moment of silence.

"I also was struck by the level of destruction and sadness for all the loss of life here," Ban said. "However, you have shown such strength to the world, and unbreaking will to overcome."

Later in the day, Ban will travel to Tokyo to meet Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto.

The UN chief is also expected to request that Japan dispatch troops from its Self-Defence Forces for a peacekeeping operation in South Sudan.

Ban came to Japan as part of an Asian tour that will also take him to his native South Korea on Tuesday, where he will launch a UN youth conference, the Global Model United Nations, in Incheon.

He will also address an academic forum in Seoul and meet President Lee Myung-Bak and Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan during his five-day stay there.

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Japan quake makes 2011 costliest disaster year (AFP)

BERLIN (AFP) – Japan's earthquake in March is set to make 2011 the costliest year to date for natural disasters, reinsurer Munich Re said on Tuesday, although the number of deaths globally is relatively low so far.

Total global losses from natural disasters for the first six months alone were $265 billion, easily exceeding the $220 billion recorded for the whole of 2005, previously the most expensive year to date, the German firm said.

The economic loss for the first half of 2011 was more than five times higher than the average of the past 10 years, Munich Re said, and more than double the total for 2010 of $130 billion.

Moreover, first-half losses are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the north Atlantic and typhoons in the northwest Pacific, Munich Re added.

Not all the damage will be covered by insurance companies however, with "insured losses" in the first six months some $60 billion, nearly five times the average since 2001.

"It is very rare for such an extreme accumulation of natural hazard events to be encountered," Munich Re, which is the world's top reinsurer, said in a statement.

The 9.0-magnitude quake on March 11, the strongest ever registered in Japan, caused losses of 210 billion euros, making it the costliest natural catastrophe on record, surpassing even Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005.

Katrina, which pummelled the southern United States in August and caused devastating flooding that swallowed 80 percent of New Orleans, caused $125 billion worth of damage.

Insured losses from Katrina were much higher at $62 billion, however, more than double the $30-billion bill for the Japanese quake, which also knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, leaking radiation.

The quake was also the biggest catastrophe to occur in the first half of 2011 in human terms.

At least 15,500 people died and and thousands are still missing after the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, which devastated entire cities along the northeast coast of Japan, Munich Re said.

In terms of the human cost overall, however, 2011 is relatively benign -- so far.

Natural disasters killed 19,380 people in the first six months, compared to 230,300 in 2010.

In January 2010 an earthquake in Haiti killed some 225,000 people, while more than 50,000 perished in heatwaves and forest fires in Russia. Thousands also died in earthquakes and floods in China and Pakistan.

The total number of loss-relevant natural events in the first six months of 2011 was 355, somewhat below the average for the previous 10 years of 390.

The next costliest natural disaster in the first half of 2011 was a severe earthquake that shook Christchurch, New Zealand, in February, causing $20 billion in damage and killing 181 people, Munich Re said.

Severe storms in the southern and midwest United States in April and May killed 520 people and caused $14.5 billion in damages, with insured losses around $10 billion.

Floods in Queensland in northeast Australia in December and January caused $7.3 billion in damage, $2.6 billion of it insured, and killed 35 people.

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Disaster images motivate Japan for Sweden semi (AFP)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) – Japan coach Norio Sasaki has said memories of the earthquake-tsunami which devastated his country in March is helping motivate his players ahead of Wednesday's semi-final against Sweden at the women's World Cup.

Japan are in the last four for the first time in their history following Saturday's shock 1-0 quarter-final win over Germany and they now face the Swedes in Frankfurt for a place in Sunday's final.

Before the Germany game, Sasaki showed his team images of the devastation in north-east Japan, hit hardest by the tsunami and earthquake on March 11, and midfielder Aya Miyama said the players were all moved by what they saw.

"We've seen these pictures every day since March 11 and it touched something deep in our souls to see those pictures again before the game," she admitted.

Sasaki said his players want to beat Sweden to face either the USA or France in the final to give something back to Japan.

"We showed the slides before the German match to bring some mental stability and heart to the players," he said, but he will not use them again before the semi and hopes his team's exploits will inspire people back home.

The football team's success has knocked baseball and sumo off the back pages of Japanese newspapers and captain Homare Sawa said the victory over Germany had spurned the team to want to go further.

"The win over Germany was huge for our self-esteem. It is just about resting now and getting the body into shape, no more motivation is needed," said the 32-year-old.

"This is the biggest result for the Japanese team in history.

"As players, there is nothing much we can do for Japan, but we want to do as well as we can to help our country."

After each World Cup game, the Japanese unfurl a banner to show their appreciation for the support their country has received after the disaster and Sasaki said his players want to play well by way of saying thank you.

"We are so grateful for the support," he said.

"We want to give something back to Japan on the pitch now."

Sweden beat Australia 3-1 on Sunday to reach the last four and with only a few days rest between games, Sasaki said it now comes down to who wants to reach the final the most.

"Sweden played a day later than Japan so both teams are playing under tough conditions, we are tired, but we won't be more tired than Sweden," he said.

"The one who wants to reach the final the most will win it, it is a mental thing now and that is what will make the difference.

"I believe in my players and if they play like they did against Germany in order to bring hope to Japan, it will be a very good match."

Having reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but finished fourth after losing the play-off to Germany, Sasaki says his team have toughened mentally.

"We reached the semi-finals in Beijing, but only finished fourth, the other three teams really wanted to get the gold, but the Japanese were just happy to be there," he said.

"It's not enough to just be glad to have reached the semi-finals.

"The players have said they want more and we'll see tomorrow just how much they want to reach the final."

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AP coverage of Japanese disaster wins APME awards (AP)

NEW YORK – Coverage of the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis along Japan's northeastern coast won awards for deadline and enterprise reporting from the Associated Press Managing Editors association Wednesday for journalism excellence by AP staffers.

"The AP managed to provide all-encompassing coverage of a disaster that became more staggering with each passing hour," the APME judges said in awarding the Deadline Reporting prize to the AP team that covered the event.

The team of reporters, photographers, interactive producers, video journalists and editors covered an epic series of disasters: the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan, a giant tsunami that reduced coastal cities to ruins and a nuclear crisis unlike anything since Chernobyl.

"The danger with coverage of such a massive event is that you lose focus on the various threads that make up the whole," the judges said. "The AP never lost sight of the bigger picture, and showed the growing horror that a nation — and a world — faced. ... There wasn't a hole the AP didn't fill."

In honoring the AP team for Enterprise Reporting, a separate judging panel said, "Even while new developments were breaking daily, these AP reporters delved into the important questions of why the Japanese nuclear power industry was not as prepared as it should have been for this disaster."

AP mobilized more than 50 journalists — experts in nuclear power, science writers, veterans of disaster coverage and top editors from New York to London. The result was a breadth of coverage that produced investigations into the nuclear crisis and sparked changes, while also conveying the scale of the tragedy in the tsunami-devastated communities.

APME is an association of editors at AP's 1,400 member newspapers in the U.S. and newspapers served by The Canadian Press in Canada. It annually recognizes outstanding work by the cooperative's journalists. The awards will be presented at APME's annual conference with The Associated Press Photo Managers Sept. 14-16 in Denver.

Photographer Muhammed Muheisen, based in Islamabad, Pakistan, received the News Photos award for his series on unrest in Yemen. The judges cited his remarkable photographic eye and dramatic framing even under difficult and dangerous circumstances over a period of weeks.

Muheisen also won the John L. Dougherty Award for exemplary work by an AP staff member who is 30 years old or younger. In honoring him, the judges noted that he covered events throughout the Middle East during the past year "and he took full advantage."

"In his portfolio of 100 or so photos, he displayed incredible range — from tense action shots to powerful portraits — and each shot was more engaging than the last. His portfolio left us wanting to see 100 more," the judges said.

Christopher Sullivan of the Newsfeatures staff won the Feature Writing award for a two-part serial, "The Do-Over," the story of a middle-aged nuclear power plant worker who decides to leave his job to make a trip across America on a makeshift wagon, pulled by a team of horses. The judges said the "magnificently told story ... harkens back to the days of serial dramas full of suspense, harrowing escapades, love and even a cliffhanger."

Photographer Kevin Frayer, based in New Delhi, won the Feature Photos award for a series of black-and-white aerial views of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The judges cited the unique aerial perspective as giving an unusual view of the Afghan countryside, showing both civilian and military aspects of life there.

Interactive producer Dave Clark was cited for Best Use of Multimedia for leading the AP Interactive Department's royal wedding coverage. "Very entertaining and clear. ... Worthy of the Royals!" the judges wrote.

Photographer Greg Bull, based in San Diego, was honored by the judges for Best Use of Video for his "really terrific video work" in covering the surge in high-speed downhill skateboarding, which has sparked a fierce debate in Southern California over what place the sport has on city streets.

Pennsylvania staffers Mark Scolforo and Michael Sirolly won the Charles Rowe Award for Distinguished State Reporting for leading the "Broken Budgets" reporting work in Pennsylvania, part of the joint AP-APME initiative on the fiscal crisis facing U.S. states and cities. "This was a terrific team effort that shed light on fat in state bureaucracy at a time of diminishing resources," the judges said.

The judges also awarded the following honorable mentions:

• Deadline Reporting: AP staff for coverage of the tornadoes that swept through the South in April.

• Enterprise Reporting: Rukmini Callimachi, Marco Chown Oved and Michelle Faul for coverage of violence in Ivory Coast, and St. Louis correspondent Jim Salter for an investigation into methamphetamine use.

• Feature Writing: National Writer Allen Breed for "Sabrina's Twilight," the story of a teen-age love that isn't given a chance to mature, and National Writer Pauline Arrillaga for "A Brother's Gift," the story of one brother donating his liver to another, and the devastating consequences.

• Best Use of Multimedia: Pailin Wedel, Feilding Cage, Darrell Allen, Sean McDade, Dan Kempton and Jennifer Farrar for their Japan earthquake interactive, and the Interactive Department staff for the government shutdown interactive.

• Best Use of Video: Video journalist Rich Matthews for coverage of the U.S. border with Mexico and the war on drugs, and National Writer Martha Irvine for her story on the Chicago Urban Prep Charter Academy.

• John L. Dougherty Award: Cleveland correspondent Meghan Barr, and Feilding Cage of the Interactive Department.

• Charles Rowe Award: Sacramento, Calif., bureau for watchdog reporting, and Michael Rubinkam, based in Allentown, Pa., for continuing coverage of gas-drilling in Pennsylvania.

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Wyoming joins Northern Rocky states seeking disaster aid (Reuters)

CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) – Governor Matt Mead asked on Tuesday for a presidential disaster declaration in Wyoming to free up federal funds to repair roads and bridge damaged by harsh winter weather and flooding.

Mead became the third governor in the Northern Rockies to seek such a declaration stemming from floods, landslides and washouts during a spring and early summer marked by runoff from heavy rains and the melting of a record mountain snowpack.

Damage to public infrastructure, including highways, bridges and sewer treatment systems, is projected to run in the millions across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mead said damage in Wyoming alone was estimated to total more than $4 million, with the cost of emergency repairs to highways and interstates put at an additional $2.8 million.

Any general disaster declarations in the state would be granted by President Barack Obama county by county. Mead also asked the U.S. Agriculture Department to declare farm disasters in two counties.

Earlier in the season, a presidential disaster was declared in Montana, where severe storms and flooding on tributaries of the Missouri River racked up an estimated $8.6 million in damage. A presidential disaster declaration was approved for Idaho in May for damage pegged at $4.4 million.

Jeff Kitsmiller, meteorologist in Montana for the National Weather Service, said La Nina, a weather pattern characterized by colder ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific, was behind the harsh weather in the Rocky Mountain West.

"It's an almost historic La Nina. For the Northern Rockies, that results in a lot of winter snow and spring rain," he said.

La Nina, also blamed for this year's devastating tornadoes in the Midwest and elsewhere and for a severe drought in the southwestern United States, has left snow in high elevations of the Rockies at levels Kitsmiller described as "off the charts" in some spots.

He said forecasts show the La Nina pattern could make a comeback in the region this winter.

"We'd see a lot more of the same: more snowfall, more precipitation," he said.

(Additional reporting and writing by Laura Zuckerman; Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Johnston)

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Obama signs disaster aid for tornado-hit Massachusetts (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a disaster declaration for the Massachusetts counties hit by the June 1 tornadoes that killed three people and caused damage in the tens of millions of dollars.

The move frees up federal funding to residents and business owners in Hampden and Worcester counties and will help supplement state and local recovery and rebuilding efforts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

Assistance includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and unemployment payments for workers who temporarily lost jobs because of the disaster and do not qualify for state benefits, such as self-employed workers, it said.

Funds in the form of low-interest loans also are available to help cover losses from damage to homes, businesses, farms and ranches, cooperatives and other organizations, FEMA said.

The tally of damages from the tornadoes that ripped through western and central Massachusetts nearly two weeks ago was at least $90 million, the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation has said.

It was the most costly single natural disaster in state history, the office said.

FEMA, which is part of the federal Department of Homeland Security, named James Russo as top coordinator for federal recovery operations in the area devastated by the storms.

People in Hampden and Worcester counties can apply by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).

(Reporting by Zach Howard ; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)

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Facebook to the Rescue! How Social Media is Changing Disaster Response (Time.com)

Alycia Williamson-Smith and her family didn't have anywhere else to turn. It had been days since a devastating tornado ravaged Joplin, Mo., home to her second cousin James Williamson. With cell-phone service largely unavailable and a distance of several thousand miles between her house in Amsterdam, N.Y., and Joplin, Williamson-Smith posted photos of James on several Facebook pages that were created in the aftermath of the tornado. Less than 24 hours later, she saw a comment on a page called "Joplin Tornado Citizen Checks" that said James had been found and was volunteering with search-and-rescue teams. "Even though at that point we hadn't spoken to him directly, it was comforting to know that someone out there had seen him and that he was O.K.," says Williamson-Smith.

Two weeks after the storm, that Facebook page had about 6,500 "likes" and was still growing every day. Stories of joyful reunions mixed with those mourning the loss of loved ones, along with messages about supplies, prayers and support. The page was one of dozens that sprouted in the immediate aftermath, quickly becoming the fastest way to get information, as survivors and their relatives relied on social media as they might once have leaned on the Red Cross or local relief agencies. "The biggest part of using social media during a disaster is that it's not about the government helping the public; it's about the public helping themselves," says Kim Stephens, a senior associate at ABT Associates and an emergency-management expert. "Before, you were left trying to find out how to get what you need, and now the desire and need is matched quickly and easily. It's peer-to-peer aid." (See "For Joplin, Nothing Is Certain in Tornado's Wake.")

Halfway around the world in Japan, social media was a primary source of communication following the earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11. However, unlike the situation in Joplin, citizens were using networks like Twitter, Facebook and Mixi (a Japan-specific social site) to send warnings, ask for help and relay bits of information from the scene as well as to announce that they were safe. According to Mashable, only an hour after the earthquake, more than 1,200 tweets per minute were being sent from Tokyo. Hashtags like #prayforjapan, #earthquake and #tsunami trended almost instantly, and were being tweeted thousands of times per second by people all over the globe, according to Poynter. And not surprisingly, Twitter reported both a record number of tweets the day of the quake (177 million) and accounts added one day after (572,000, as opposed to the daily average of 460,000).

Jesse Green, executive director of the Tokyo office for p.r. firm Hill & Knowlton, was in Beijing when the earthquake hit Japan. He used Facebook and Twitter to connect with his family, friends and co-workers as well as to receive updates on the situation. "[Social media] helped to an extent I would never have previously imagined," Green says. "Many of my friends, my wife included, joined Twitter just to keep up with all the breaking news and be part of the conversation where possible. While the broadcast media gave their global audience an understanding of what was taking place, social media provided the underlying picture - especially useful for those of us living in Japan, where the top-line details simply weren't enough." (See "Japan Quake Survivor Walks 20 Hours to Find Girlfriend.")

While conventional telephone lines often go down or become overwhelmed during a disaster, Internet connections often remain active and usable. "People can get out texts or tweets way easier than they can get out a phone call, and that's something [emergency managers] don't plan for," Stephens says. "Most of the planning is based on the assumption that there will be no communications in the impacted area. That's become a false assumption. Now we know that there are communications."

With that in mind, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have all implemented social strategies into their emergency-management plans. In April, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would revise its terrorism-advisory system, including a provision that alerts would be sent out over social networks "when appropriate." Shortly thereafter, FEMA and the FCC, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, unveiled PLAN (Personalized Localized Alert Network), the nation's first geographically targeted emergency-notification system, which sends free emergency alerts to enabled mobile devices to warn citizens of "imminent threats" in their area. This service is expected to roll out in New York City by the end of the year.

Of course, as with anything on the Web, social media has a tendency to breed rumors and inaccuracies that could hurt recovery efforts. And as Amanda Ripley, a TIME contributor and author of the book The Unthinkable: Who Survives in Disasters and Why, points out, during disasters, people have a tendency to move slowly or shut down completely as a protective measure. "Anything that exacerbates that tendency - texting, taking pictures, tweeting - can be dangerous," she says.

It's true that social media is often thought of as nothing more than a distraction, or an attempt to replace a real community with a virtual one. But when faced with a disaster like in Joplin or Japan, these networks become a lot more. "I think that citizens communicating with other citizens, well, that's kind of the definition of resilience," Stephens says.

See pictures of the wreckage in Joplin by photojournalist Edward Keating.

See TIME's photo-essay "The Calamity of Japan's 9.0-Magnitude Quake."

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Japan disaster victims face mental health risks (AP)

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press – Fri Jun 10, 5:27 am ET

TOKYO – Survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami need long-term mental health care to protect them from debilitating conditions that could lead to suicide, Japan's government said Friday.

In its annual policy paper on suicide prevention, the Cabinet Office decided to include a separate section on the psychological needs of disaster victims. The report said survivors may be undergoing shock, stress and depression from the overwhelming losses. They may also feel guilty for escaping death.

More than 23,000 are dead or missing, and entire towns along Japan's northeast coast were washed away.

Observers around the world have lauded survivors' calm demeanor in the face of tragedy and destruction, but the report warns against assumptions that the Japanese could largely withstand problems like post traumatic stress disorder.

"In fact, we cannot determine this until we are able to obtain detailed information," the report said.

Japan already has one of the highest suicide rates in the industrialized world, with nearly 25 suicides per 100,000 people. That compares to about 11 per 100,000 in the United States.

The figure trails only Russia, parts of Eastern Europe and South Korea. Suicides in Japan rose dramatically during a financial crisis in 1998, and more than 30,000 people have killed themselves every year since.

Three months after the disaster, the Japanese Red Cross cites mental health as a "major concern," especially among the 91,000 still living in evacuation shelters. It said Friday it is expanding the number of caregivers and psychosocial support teams working in evacuation centers and nursing homes.

The government paper urges aid workers and local mental health providers to reach out to survivors by offering mental health education and simple consultations. People with problems should be screened and properly treated by a specialist, it said.

"Post-disaster mental care should be tackled for months and years," the report said. "There is an urgent need for the overall region to strengthen its engagement with this issue."

Friday's paper also revealed broader suicide statistics in Japan.

Men accounted for about 70 percent of the country's 31,690 suicides last year. More than 60 percent of people who took their own lives did not have jobs, underscoring the strong correlation in Japan between economic conditions and suicide.

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Oklahoma seeks federal disaster aid after tornadoes (Reuters)

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – Governor Mary Fallin has asked the White House to approve a major disaster declaration for seven Oklahoma counties hit hard by tornadoes last week.

Tornadoes killed 10 people, injured 239 and destroyed 439 homes and businesses, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Almost 1,100 homes and businesses were damaged, state officials said.

Fallin said in a statement issued late on Sunday that she is seeking aid for Caddo, Canadian, Delaware, Grady, Kingfisher, Logan and McClain counties.

If her request is approved, people who suffered uninsured losses in the seven counties would be eligible for assistance for housing repairs or temporary housing, low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, disaster unemployment assistance and grants for disaster expenses,

On Friday, the White House approved assistance requests for ten Oklahoma counties affected by storms and flooding in April: Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, Haskell, LeFlore, McIntosh, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg and Sequoyah.

In those counties, storms that began on April 21 resulted in an estimated $8.6 million in infrastructure damage and response costs, Fallin said.

(Reporting by Steve Olafson. Editing by Peter Bohan)

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Rain pelts Japan disaster zone, stricken nuclear site (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) – Heavy rain on Monday pelted Japan's northeast region which was devastated in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, adding to radioactive contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

A low-pressure system -- the remnant of Typhoon Songda -- hung over the Pacific coast and dumped up to 15 centimetres (six inches) of rain in 24 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The level of water in the basement of one of the atomic plant's six reactor buildings rose by nearly 20 centimetres (eight inches) in 24 hours by early Monday, the facility's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said.

"We presume the level of water has risen due to the rainwater which has seeped into the ground," TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto said as the water in the number one reactor building reached 5.7 metres (19 feet).

Emergency workers have been pouring thousands of tonnes of water onto reactors and pools for storing spent fuel rods, to control overheating after cooling systems failed in the disaster.

TEPCO says that fuel rods are presumed to have melted in three reactors.

The cooling operations have left four reactor units with radioactive contaminated water pooling inside.

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