Houston's post-Ike supplies coming, officials say

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Federal supplies of food and water will be available by Monday evening to Houstonians affected by Hurricane Ike, officials said Sunday after Houston's mayor voiced concern about when the aid would come.

Also Sunday, a state official said nearly 2,000 people who did not evacuate for Ike have been rescued in southeastern Texas, and rescue crews were still searching areas "door by door" for anyone needing help.

"There's an effort to knock on every door, get into every place ... and see if anyone's trapped and to rescue them and, unfortunately in some cases, maybe recover them," said Steve McCraw, director of Texas Homeland Security.

Ike was blamed for at least 13 U.S. deaths by Sunday evening, including at least three in hard-hit Galveston County, Texas.



Heavy rain brings flooding to parts of Michigan

The Cass County sheriff's department in southwest Michigan said rain Friday and Saturday caused flooding that forced the closure of some roads. Some roads in the Detroit area also were reported flooded.

The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids issued a flood warning for counties in the southwest and south-central part of the Lower Peninsula that was scheduled to last until Monday morning.



Heavy rains, flooding wash out Will Co. roads

Update: The east branch of the DuPage River in Bolingbrook broke flooding records at 3:55 p.m. Sunday. Flood stage is 19.5 feet, but that river hit 23.85 feet in the afternoon, a tenth of inch higher than the record during the 1996 flood, according to the National Weather Service.

As residents in the 143rd and Naper Plainfield Road area headed to the Plainfield Police Department Sunday afternoon, local officials were considering closing the downtown area because of rising floodwaters.



Heavy rain forecast as typhoon moves east

CHINA'S coastal Fujian and Zhejiang provinces issued alerts yesterday for typhoon Sinlaku, the 13th tropical storm so far this year.

Sinlaku pounded Taiwan yesterday, bringing torrential rains and triggering landslides in central and northern parts of the island.

Sinlaku was expected to land in east China this morning, bringing downpours and gales, according to Zhejiang Provincial Meteorological Observatory.


Farmers are struggling to harvest their crops after an exceptionally wet summer (UK)

US, too: Record rains could soak farmers at harvest


Water management for the Mekong basin


Water, water, everywhere!

.. But not a drop to drink:

IRAQ: Lots of rivers, not enough water

Summer in Iraq brings unbearable heat, increased need for water, and death and illness suffered by people depending on contaminated water in a country blessed with rivers but unable to properly treat what comes out of them.

All you have to do is turn on a tap and watch the brown-tinted liquid pour out to see the problem.

The latest grim update comes from Hillah, the capital of Babil province south of Baghdad, where health officials have begun using loudspeakers to urge people not to eat ice cream or juice from vendors because it might be made with dirty water. Dr. Ahmed Ajrash, the deputy director of Babil's health directorate, said today that two people had died of confirmed cases of cholera in Babil.

UN supports Iraq's cholera control efforts

BAGHDAD - The World Health Organization met Iraq's Ministry of Health in Baghdad yesterday to offer the UN's increased support to Iraq's cholera control activities. This follows the Government's announcement of 21 new confirmed cholera cases in Babil governorate, with another 90 – 95 suspected cases under investigation.


[BTW, Babil? Yeah, Babylon.--Amanda]


Our First Sip of Seawater
Scripps researchers race to make desalination eco-friendly while there's still time



Australian Grain-Growing Regions Likely to Remain Dry This Week

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Grain-growing regions in Australia, the world's sixth-largest wheat exporter, may get little rain this week, threatening the potential size of the crop as the harvest season approaches.


Big dry fire threat

FIRE authorities and farmers are bracing for a punishing summer after yet another winter of below-average rainfall.

Parts of Tasmania's East Coast are now so dry that nothing short of a torrential downpour will alleviate the extremely high bushfire risk.

The Bureau of Meteorology's soil dryness index is one of the tools used to predict the length and severity of the fire season -- and this year the prediction is not good.

***

119 hospitals in Kinki got inedible rice
No health woes so far linked to Mikasa scam


OSAKA (Kyodo) Some of the pesticide-tainted rice from China sold by an Osaka rice miller found its way into food served at 119 hospitals and nursing homes in the Kinki region, the Osaka Prefectural Government reported Thursday.

The facilities are the first confirmed to have consumed tainted rice sold by Mikasa Foods, which has violated a government ban obliging companies to sell inedible rice only for industrial uses, such as making glue.