BARPETA

Public health threats rise to the surface during a flood like the one in the Midwest with animal waste runoff from farms and overflowing city sewer lines. But people are usually smart enough to avoid what can make them sick, experts say. For example, the 1993 floods in the same region produced no illnesses from contaminated water despite the worries of floating waste, said Nancy Hall, a public health microbiologist at the University of Iowa's University Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City.

The overall flood situation in Lakhimpur district improved today with floodwaters of the Ronganadi, Singara, Dikrong and Kakoi receding to a great extent. However, the fresh announcement of the NEEPCO authorities to release water from the Ronganadi Hydel Power dam has sent alarm bells ringing in the district. Both Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts are cut off from the rest of the State for the fourth day today, as the about nine-metre deep breach in NH-52 at Ganesh Udyan is yet to be repaired.

Be afraid, be very afraid. There is no telling what the next disaster will be. Another terrorist attack? A steam pipe explosion like the one that shut down several blocks of Lexington Avenue a year ago? Or perhaps a pandemic flu that would cripple New York City's economy by making people afraid to go to work or ride on subways and buses? That was the message at a daylong workshop conducted on Tuesday by the city's health and emergency management agencies, intended to give businesses tips on how to cope with the potential calamities.

It would be a sad census in any case, but the tally of trees lost in Central Park to high winds during the storm on June 10 comes with particular ill grace in the middle of the Million Trees NYC campaign. Skip to next paragraph Leave a Comment on City Room "You felt it was like a tornado,' said Douglas Blonsky, president of the Central Park Conservancy and the administrator of Central Park. According to the conservancy's survey, 33 trees were significantly damaged, 24 of which have already been removed.

P. Venugopal Rainfall 40 p.c. deficient so far in southern districts A big concern is power generation THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seventeen days after the monsoon had set in over Kerala, almost right on schedule on May 31, the State is still waiting for the kind of rains that will drench its fields for the seasonal crops and fill its reservoirs to drive its power generating stations.

Soldiers scrambled to shore up soggy levies with sandbags on Tuesday in southern China as forecasters warned that more heavy rain could trigger flooding on the country's second-longest river. The death toll rose to 171, Xinhua reported. The high waters swamped crop land in the south, forcing farmers to wade into their fields and harvest unripe cucumbers, bitter melons and other vegetables before they spoiled in the water. The natural disaster was driving up food prices that were already soaring before the heavy rains began last month.

Times of India, Jaipur When it rains, it pours. This came true for Rajasthan, which received heavy rain in several districts on Tuesday. Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Jaipur, Sikar and Jhunjhunu received heavy rain on Tuesday. Four children, aged between 10 and 13 years, drowned in a pond at Amrapura village in Alwar district. The children had gone swimming and were unprepared for the increased water level following heavy rain since Monday night.

At least 27 people are feared killed and more than 3 lakh people displaced in the northeast, particularly Assam, with the onset of monsoons. Not just the northeast, but large parts of northern Orissa are also under water, with the army and administration on overdrive to evacuate villagers in the flood-hit parts of the states.

Believe it or not. The National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad records thousands of earthquakes everyday. In fact, a quake is recorded every second by the highly sensitive machines installed at the NGRI campus. However, it is surprising how the people of the city or elsewhere in the state do not feel the many "tremors" or "quakes" recorded by the NGRI machines. No, the equipment is not faulty. The trouble lies with the heavy traffic and the consequent "tremors" caused by vehicles.