Hurricane Rick may hit landfall by Tuesday

Hurricane Rick category became a category 4 hurricane this morning and has winds up to 135 mph. Hurricane Rick is currently 250 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center (see photo) said it is an “extremely dangerous hurricane Rick continuing to strengthen” because it grew from a category 1 to a category 4 storm in only 36 hours; and may strengthen to a category 5 storm by tonight.

Acapulco residents were warned that the hurricane may trigger landslides and flooding.

If it stays on its current path with a gradual northern turn, then it may hit landfall in Baja Wednesday or Thursday.

The Earth's Moon

At 6:15 EST this morning NASA bombed the moon this morning (twice) in an attempt to discover if there is water on the moon and they launched a rocket directly at it.

To view the video stream event, click here. Then click on play most recent video.

NASA describes the reasoning that future lunar explorations will be less expensive if there is no need to transport water from Earth.

The missile was expected to travel at twice the speed of a bullet and impact the south pole of the moon; and it should create large debris area…large enough to be seen from Earth, according to the NASA website.

CNN has been airing the public reaction to blasting the moon, and many comments have been negative with many people saying to leave the moon alone.  

Although the video is blurry and to the non-scientist doesn’t make a lot of sense, it is interesting to listen to.   Scientists seem to be very happy with the results.

Black Bear and cubs

Kelly Ann Waltz was attacked by her pet black bear on Sunday and died in Ross Township, PA, according to the Pennsylvania State Police.  Kelly Ann Walz, 37 entered the 15 x 15 cage to feed the 350-pound bear and clean its cage, and the bear mauled and killed her.  A neighbor shot and killed the bear.  The woman also had a permit to keep a Bengal tiger and an African lion, and several visits from investigators showed everything was in order.

In August, a 78 year old man was attacked by a black bear near a Utah campsite.  The bear was looking for food, and attacked the man while he was sleeping in a cot near a creek.  The man’s family shot the bear, and it wandered off and died 150 feet from the campsite.

Although people enjoy watching bears in the wild, bear attacks are on the rise, according to Bear Planet.  Just learning a few safety steps may save a life.  Never look a bear in the eye, don’t run away, and making loud noises may startle them into attacking.  Keeping bear spray with you is helpful if hiking or camping in wooded areas, according Bear Planet.

For more information and photos, click here.

Samoan Islands

A tsunami warning has been issued for American Samoa after a massive earthquake hit 120 miles southwest of the island this morning.  Residents have been warned of a possible tsunami threat after a massive 7.9 earthquake struck in the ocean about 120 miles Southwest American Samoa.  The earthquake is 10 times the size of the earthquake that struck San Francisco in 1989.

The tsunami warning was issued by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Tonga, Niue, Kermadec Islands, American Samoa, Samoa and Fiji.

“An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicentre within minutes to hours. Authorities in the region should take appropriate action in response to this possibility,” the Center said.

CNN just reported that a 10 foot wave hit did hit the nearby islands, and that tsunami is expected to hit Hawaii in several hours, at a much reduced speed.

Yesterday we had reported about the flooding in Atlanta, Georgia but now the situation has gotten even worse when the city got about a foot of a rain fall.

The waters from rivers and rains are flowing in to the city. According to pictures released by various media one can even make out that the Six Flags in Atlanta is totally flooded and covered with water.

All you can see is the Ferris Wheel protruding out of the muddy water. But that’s not all, about 6 lives have been lost due to the torrential rains and subsequent flooding.

In a heart breaking soon, video captured showed a man clinging by the tree and trying to save his baby but unable to do so.

Many are calling it the 100 year storm, a historic flooding, but the worst may yet to be come as it is still continuing. But that’s not all, the water is so freezing cold that people are bound to get affected by hypothermia as well.

To check the CNN’s reporting, coverage, and video of this event, click below:

Atlanta Flooding Video

Atlanta Flooding initial reports, School, Roads Closing

Atlanta’s city is under water, with 22 inches of rain since last week, and a foot of that fell in a 24 hour period. The rivers and streams have filled the streets and flooded houses. 9 people have died including a 2-year-old child that was ripped from her father’s arms as he tried to hang onto branches to keep them from floating away in the flood, and many more are missing.

In Atlanta schools are closed, roads are closed, cars are under water, fire trucks cannot get out to help people, and the only way to get around right now is by boat. Many people have been evacuated from their homes and lives.

Atlanta Flooding

Heavy rains over the weekend in Atlanta have shut down the city. Two  people have been killed (one of them tried to drive through standing water), traffic is at a standstill, almost all of the schools have been closed, and a boil water order has been issued because of water main breaks in the area. Fire trucks are stuck and cannot get out to help people.

Atlanta Flooding

The media is urging people to just stay home at least for the morning. The local Channel 2 Action News said that all of Atlanta’s creeks and rivers are approaching flood level.  Additional rain is expected today.  The Lake Lanier water level has risen four inches since Saturday, but the risk of it overflowing is minimal, because of recent water shortages that lowered the lake by several feet.

Here is a public service announcement of school closings: Gwinnett County school officials announced at 8 a.m. that all schools in the Gwinnett County school system are closed Monday due to severe weather.

Gwinnett County joined Carroll, Douglas, Paulding and Stephens’s counties in closing all schools because of heavy rain and flooded roads. Promise Christian Academy in Paulding and Lithia Christian in Litha Springs were also closed as well as St. John Neumann Catholic School. Opening at Ivy Prep Academy in Norcross was delayed until 10 a.m.

With the passing of ex Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy, the state Governor is still deliberating on who to appoint as the next senator. And given the health care initiative of President Obama, the credentials of whoever would be appointed as the next senator could not have been more important.

In the coming weeks, a resolution is going to be passed in the MA senate which would officially give the governor of the Senate authority to appoint a new Senator. The new Senator would be temporary, until the elections can be held. The elections are scheduled for next year on Jan 19, 2010.

It is without any doubt that the newly appointed Senator, although a temp, but would still play a very important and critical role considering the ongoing debate on Health care and how dearly the issue was held close to heart by the previous Senator Ted Kennedy.

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A lot of my friends have been asking me questions about the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) voucher. So after getting tired of answering their queries n number of times, I decided I will write a post about it and send them a link to this page so that they can read about it to their heart’s content. If you have friends with similar quandary, it might help to send them this link as well.

In this page, basically I will try to make it as simple as possible following the FAQ style specifically to clear the concept of “Voucher”. Most people when they hear this word, what actually registers in their mind is “free”. That’s what they equate voucher with but in this case its not true.

How do I get a CARS voucher?

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that CARS program will not be issuing a physical voucher. So what this means is you will not be getting any piece of paper.

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