**Aversion is a form of bondage.
We are tied to what we hate or fear.
That is why, in our lives, the same problem,
the same danger or difficulty, will present itself
over and over again in various prospects,
as long as we continue to resist or run away from it
instead of examining it and solving it.**
Patañjali
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Yesterday, 9/17/13 -
5.0 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 VANUATU
5.1 CAUCASUS REGION, RUSSIA
VOLCANOES -
Indonesia - Mount Sinabung volcano in western Indonesia erupted Tuesday for the second time this week, hurling a three-kilometre column of red-hot smoke and ash into the sky. Thousands of people were evacuated on Sunday when the volcano also erupted, blanketing buildings and cars in ashes.
TROPICAL STORMS -
* In the Atlantic Ocean -
- Tropical Storm Humberto is located about 1070 mi (1720 km) WSW of the Azores.
- Remnants of Ingrid dissipating over the mountains of eastern Mexico, about 50 mi (75 km) W of Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. Heavy rainfall and flooding still possible.
* In the Western Pacific -
Tropical storm Usagi is located approximately 552 nm south-southeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Usagi is forecast to strike Taiwan as a typhoon at about 16:00 GMT on September 21.
-----
Chance of cyclone near Mexico now 60% - An area of low pressure centered near Chetumal, Mexico, accompanied by cloudiness and thunderstorms, has a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. Environmental conditions are likely to be conducive for a tropical depression to form over the Bay of Campeche during the next couple of days after the low moves into the region on Wednesday.
+ Mexico - state of emergency in more than 20 towns in eastern Tamaulipas state after Tropical Storm Ingrid hit the area. Emergency funds also going to western Guerrero state, where Tropical Storm Manuel caused severe flooding. The two almost simultaneous storms have affected two-thirds of the country. At least 47 people have died in flooding and landslides.
Tropical Storm Manuel made landfall on Sunday near the port of Manzanillo, on Mexico's Pacific coast. It caused devastation in the resort town of Acapulco, where at least 21 people were killed in flash floods and landslides. Four thousand people are still in shelters. Thousands of tourists cannot get home as the airport remains closed.
Acapulco residents tried to get out of flooded areas however they could. 40,000 tourists were stranded in the city as the airport is still closed after a power cut and two main highways leading out of the city remain flooded. Manuel dissipated over south-western Mexico on Monday.
But residents of eastern Mexico were hit by Hurricane Ingrid, which was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly before it made landfall on Monday morning near the town of La Pesca. More than 20,000 people were evacuated in the state of Veracruz. Twelve people died when a landslide near the town of Altotonga buried workers trying to clear a road from debris and passengers waiting in a bus to pass. At least 20 highways and 12 bridges were damaged. In Guerrero, 9,000 people remain in shelters after their homes were flooded. Residents living along the river Panuco have been evacuated as it is feared it could break its banks later on Tuesday. (photos & video)
More than 2,000 tourists have been airlifted by the army from Mexico's resort of Acapulco, following deadly floods caused by Tropical Storm Manuel. But many more tourists and local residents remain stranded in the city and along the west coast after landslides blocked main roads. Manuel was almost immediately followed by Hurricane Ingrid, causing widespread devastation in the east of the country. It was the FIRST TIME SINCE 1958 that two powerful storms hit Mexico within 24 hours.
There are fears that remote hillside communities may be particularly affected. Mexicans are now hoping for a break in the weather to give them a chance to regroup and allow rescuers to operate more freely. But there seems to be no let up in the rain and powerful winds for the time being.
Tropical Storm Ingrid conjures up old memories for Rio Grande area - What’s left of Tropical Storm Ingrid promises to dump five inches of rain or more in the mountains west of Eagle Pass in Mexico. The possibility of rain and flooding along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass conjured up memories of the record flooding in June. That storm dumped more than 13 inches of rain in a 24-hour span. FEMA denied Eagle Pass federal aid because not enough houses were damaged in the June floods. Officials said more than 500 homes were damaged. FEMA has a minimum requirement of 801 homes – regardless of the size of the entity applying for aid. As of now, the remnants of Ingrid have been damaging to interior Mexico and not along the border.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
As water recedes and flows east onto the Colorado plains — revealing toppled homes, buckled highways and fields of tangled debris — rescuers are shifting their focus from emergency airlifts to trying to find the hundreds of people still unaccounted for after last week's devastating flooding.
More than 3,000 people have been evacuated by air and ground, but calls for those emergency rescues have decreased. "They've kind of transitioned from that initial response to going into more of a grid search." The state's latest count has dropped to about 580 people missing, and the number continues to decrease as the stranded get in touch with families.
One of the missing is a retired math teacher and basketball coach who lives in the damaged town of Lyons. His neighbors, all of whom defied a mandatory evacuation order, said he took his wife to safety Thursday then tried to return home. Two search teams went looking for him Monday. "He was very sensible. I find it amazing that he would do something that would put himself in harm's way. But you just never know under these circumstances."
State officials reported six flood-related deaths, plus two women missing and presumed dead. The number was expected to increase. It could take weeks or even months to search through flooded areas looking for bodies. With the airlifts tapering, state and local transportation officials are tallying the washed-out roads, collapsed bridges and twisted railroad lines. The rebuilding effort will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take months, if not years.
Initial assessments have begun trickling in, but many areas remain inaccessible and the continuing emergency prevents a thorough understanding of the devastation's scope. Northern Colorado's broad agricultural expanses are especially affected, with more than 400 lane-miles of state highway and more than 30 bridges destroyed or impassable.
County officials have started their own damage tallies: 654 miles of roads in Weld County bordering Wyoming, 150 miles of roads in the Boulder County roads foothills, along with hundreds of bridges, culverts and canals. It could compare to the damage wrought by a 1976 flood that killed 144 people. It took two years to rebuild after that disaster. State officials have put initial estimates at more than 19,000 homes damaged or destroyed throughout the flooded areas.
