One dead as Typhoon Morakot slams into China

At least one person was killed Sunday as Typhoon Morakot slammed into eastern China, packing high winds and torrential rain.
Nearly a million people had been evacuated from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces as Morakot approached.

The storm made landfall in the coastal area of Beibi Town, Xiapu County in Fujian province at about 4:20 p.m. Sunday (0820 GMT), according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

Morakot's winds were clocked at 118 kilometers per hour (73 mph) in its eye, according to the province's meteorological bureau as cited by Xinhua.

Five houses were destroyed as the front of the typhoon brought flooding rains to Wenzhou City in neighboring Zhejiang province just after 8 a.m. Sunday, Xinhua said.

Three adults and a 4-year-old boy were buried in debris about 8 a.m.; rescue workers were unable to save the child, and he died, the city's flood-control headquarters told the news agency.
More than 300 homes collapsed, and more than 16,000 hectares (39,500 acres) were flooded, Xinhua said. The city's airport was closed and 56 roads were rendered impassable.

As the eye of the storm reached Beibi, the sky turned completely dark, and people caught in rainstorms staggered as they used flashlights to see, Xinhua reported. Trees were being uprooted and torn apart by damaging winds.

Farmers were attempting to recapture large amounts of fish, flushed from mudflat farms by high winds, Xinhua said.
In addition, more than 35,000 ships were recalled back to port, and several highways were closed.
As of about 9:40 p.m. Sunday, the storm remained about 600 kilometers (372 miles) south-southeast of Shanghai, said CNN meteorologist Karen McGinnis. It was still at tropical-storm strength, she said, and is forecast to hit Shanghai within the next 24 to 48 hours as a weakened tropical storm.

Late Friday, the storm lashed Taiwan, killing two people, wounding 15 and knocking off power to about 650,000 households, according to Hong Kong's Metro Radio. Video

source : www.cnn.com

Tags: world, Nature

Solar eclipse scares Indian mothers-to-be

While many now recognize the scientific explanation for a solar eclipse, the phenomenon is still marked with tradition and sometimes suspicion in Hindu-majority India.
The "exceptionally long" eclipse that will cross half the planet Wednesday will be able to be seen by virtually all of the population of China and India.

For beggars in India, the occasion means an extra day of receiving alms and food.

The panhandler in Sandeep Jaggi's neighborhood normally visits the block every week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, as well as the days of a new and full moon.

And because his patrons mark an eclipse with alms-giving, prayers and bathing, he rarely misses the chance to meet them on this day as well.

"It's a family tradition and I follow it," says 34-year-old Jaggi. He will fill the beggar's small steel pail with mustard oil and coins and his disheveled sash with lentils.

For others in the country, the eclipse is not a reason to celebrate, but a more ominous phenomenon
Most pregnant women hope to avoid giving birth during an eclipse.

"None of the expectant mothers under my treatment are willing to have deliveries on Wednesday," Shivani Sachdev Gour, a gynecologist at New Delhi's Fortis La Femme hospital, told CNN.

In fact, there are critically ill patients who do not want to be in the hospital on the day of the eclipse, she said.
Indian astrologers even advise expectant mothers to stay indoors when this celestial event occurs.

"It may not cause any physical harm to the baby, but it may affect the child's overall personality," said R.K. Sharma, who describes himself as a "remedial astrologer."

A solar eclipse, he says, weakens the sun god temporarily because of an encounter with dragon Rahu and leaves some cascading results everywhere.

"Bathing in holy rivers and ponds during this time thus helps protect health and develop positivism and greater will power," he explained.

About 1.5 million people are expected at one such pond -- the Brahmsarovar, or the pool of Hindu god Brahma -- in northern India on Wednesday.

"They offer prayers to the sun god and take holy dips during an eclipse," said Ashok Kumar Bansal, the sub-divisional magistrate of Kurukshetra, an ancient Hindu city.

But the century's longest total solar eclipse is not just about the dragon-sun combat, it also means business for some.

Travel firms in India have plans in place to cash in on the phenomenon.

Cox and Kings India has a planeload of eclipse watchers heading for the eastern state of Bihar, one of the most preferred locations for sighting the event.

The plane will hover over Gaya in Bihar and return to New Delhi the same day, company spokesman Thomas C. Thottathil told CNN.
Passengers were given two options: to book a "sunside" seat facing the eclipse for about $1,640, or reserve an "earthside" seat for about $610, Thottathil added.

"And it's a sold out flight now!" he said.

source : www.cnn.com

Tags: Information, world, Nature