-05.11.09- Floodwaters receded some in inundated towns across northern Brazil on Sunday, but the number of homeless rose above 300,000 and two people were missing after an overloaded canoe overturned in swift waters. Forty deaths had been confirmed in northern Brazil’s worst flooding in decades, fed by two months of unusually heavy rains in a zone stretching from deep in the Amazon to normally arid areas near the Atlantic coast. Lees meer

-05.12.09- The National Weather Service says a cold front dropped the freezing level below 3,000 feet in the Cascade passes, giving drivers a spring taste of winter driving conditions. Chains were required for a time Tuesday morning on Snoqualmie Pass, just as traffic was starting to move again eastbound after being blocked by a boulder that was struck by a truck. Lees meer

-05.14.09- Fire officials on Thursday lifted the last mandatory evacuation orders for a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes in Southern California’s Santa Barbara County. The fire, which has charred 8,700 acres, was 90% contained Thursday, up 10% from Wednesday. The progress came despite winds that gusted up to 65 mph overnight. Lees meer

-05.14.09- Violent storms tore through four Midwestern states, killing three people in northern Missouri, damaging dozens of homes and leaving thousands without power. Kirksville apparently took the hardest hit Wednesday night. Police Detective Sgt. Ron Celian said about 30 op 40 homes were damaged, one was destroyed, and an auto dealership sustained significant damage. Lees meer

-05.12.09- Weeks of heavy rain in northern Brazil has caused widespread flooding that has forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Lees meer

-05.13.09- Somalia is facing its worst drought for at least a decade, says the UN. Satellite surveys of rainfall and ground research show the drought’s severity, said UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden. Lees meer

-05.11.09- The National Guard is helping residents in West Virginia’s southern coalfields recover from weekend flooding that destroyed at least 300 buildings, knocked out power and caused mudslides that flushed trash, debris and at least one mobile home downstream. Lees meer

-05.06.09- Flooding in Eagle is now the worst on record, 10 feet higher than the flood of 70 jaar geleden. Gov. Sarah Palin issued a disaster declaration Wednesday because of the flooding there and in other areas across the state. The declaration includes the drainages of the Yukon, Kuskokwim, Kobuk and Susitna rivers. Lees meer

-05.07.09- Local aid workers have called for urgent replenishment of relief stocks in several provinces severely affected by floods and landslides over the past month. Ten minste 10 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces have experienced flash floods, heavy rain and landslides since early April, ANDMA said. Over 6,000 families have been affected by floods and landslides in the north, northeast and west of the country over the past three weeks, OCHA reported. Lees meer

-05.07.09- Washington County has received more rain during the first week of May this year than it did during the entire month last year. “So far, it’s rained every day this month,” said David Jankowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla. Lees meer