Assam flood situation grim

GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam continued to remain grim on Tuesday with the Brahmaputra and its tributaries flowing above the danger mark at several places. Officials here said the situation in worst-affected Lakhimpur district was still grim as a breached embankment had created havoc affecting over two lakh people.

The district authorities have rushed relief to the affected people and medical mobile vans were being sent to the affected areas.

Death Toll Reaches 22 In Ukrainian Rain, Flooding

Kiev, Ukraine (AHN) - Authorities said Monday more than 20 people died in the southwestern Ukraine due to non-stop rain and flooding.

An Emergency Situation spokesperson said 15 people died in southwestern Ukraine, seven died in the Chernivtsy region, including six children.

According to government spokesman Ihor Krol, there were at least five days of nonstop heavy rains, which caused the rivers to flood, more than 40,000 homes to flood and at least 30,000 people were relocated to higher ground.

About 900 bridges were destroyed due to flooding.

Flooding pressure on Thames Hospital

Thames Hospital is under pressure with many staff unable to get to work this morning due to the flooding, while others with family and property to attend to might have to leave early to avoid becoming stranded.

Area Manager Jacquie Mitchell said outpatient clinics were running as usual, however, some patients had been able to get to the hospital.

Women who were due to deliver babies were advised to keep in contact with their midwives, she said.

Heavy rains in Interior Alaska damage roads, spur flood warnings

FAIRBANKS -- Monday’s heavy rainfall in Interior Alaska left its mark on the Richardson Highway near 299 Mile -- about four miles south of Banner Creek -- and at the Bear Creek Bridge at 233 Mile.

The rains have also prompted flood warnings for the Salcha River in the middle and upper Tanana Valley and Fortymile Country that are in effect until 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Storm brings flash floods to Hattiesburg

Emergency crews are responding to flooding in several parts of Hattiesburg, including on U.S. 49 near the USM bridge where officials say the water is an estimated three feet deep.

Cars were floating under the bridge and traffic in both the north and south bound lanes were completely shut down at the bridge.

Weather better but 75 await rescue from N.M. flood

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — More than 75 people stranded by massive flooding in and around this mountain resort town still awaited rescue Tuesday, but spirits rose as missing people were accounted for and the region made it through a day without rain, authorities said.

Police resolved up to five reports of missing people authorities had received Sunday as families reconnected after the chaos subsided, Ruidoso spokeswoman Darlene Hart said Tuesday. The weekend flooding, caused by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly, claimed the life of one man, a 20-year-old whose body was found Monday.

Local authorities and the National Guard have brought more than 580 people to safety since early Sunday, said Sherry Kamali, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. That figure does not include people who left their homes, cabins or campsites on their own.

Stress, insomnia seen in flood victims
[ya think?--Amanda]

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Mental health professionals in flood-damaged areas are beginning to see the psychological toll last month's disaster is having on residents. They're seeing more cases of stress and insomnia, but warn that more mental health problems may not surface for many more months.

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Drought putting farmers' livelihoods on the line

For the farmers and ranchers who make a living off of Colorado's arid topography, there's more at stake this drought year than browning lawns or serial sunburns.

It's their livelihood, and some are teetering on the brink.

Gov. Bill Ritter has asked the federal government for disaster assistance to help Colorado's farmers and ranchers in 22 counties who suffered through late-spring freezes and now are seeing their pastures and crops wither in the face of drought.

The designation would make farmers and ranchers eligible for low-interest loans to recover from their losses.

"This is the driest we've ever been up here," Chad Hart, Farm Services Agency executive director for Prowers and Bent County in southeastern Colorado, said today.

"Our drought monitors say we are at severe or exceptional drought, just about the worst you can get," Hart added. "We just aren't getting any rain. It's spreading like a virus."

Turning a buck on the big dry

As Australia's biggest river system dries up and sections of the country wonders where the next drop of water will come from, the drought is providing a lucrative boost for enterprising Australians.

Water tank makers and installers have been run off their feet, landscape gardeners have never had it so good and car wash entrepreneurs are raking it in.

And in many cases they are receiving government help.

Most states offer rebates of between $150 and $1,000 for water tanks and up to $500 towards grey water systems.

Mitch O'Sullivan, co-founder of Waterwall residential rainwater tanks, said the prominence given to the drought has directly correlated to business growth.