Thursday, Sept. 1st, 2011
Scores of homes have been destroyed in wildfires that have devastated large parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
The Texas Forest Service said it had been the worst fire season in the state’s history, with 20,115 blazes burning a record 3.5m acres since November.
It is fire season in the heart of New Mexico, and due to our drought, there will be many more to come. Here is an update on the Carlsbad Caverns fire.
CARLSBAD, N.M. – A 16,000-acre wildfire sparked Monday, forcing the evacuation and closure of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
The fire and subsequent smoke forced the evacuation of park visitors and employees. About 250 people were in the caverns at the time of the evacuation. Carlsbad Caverns will reopen when conditions are safe.
Twenty-two structures, including the visitors’ center, are threatened. Park housing and White City, N.M., are also threatened at this time.
The cause of the fire is not known.
U.S. Highway 62/180 is closed from Dark Canyon Road to the state line due to burnout operations that are being conducted to keep the fire from crossing the highway . Dark Canyon Road is also closed at Highway 137 and Hidalgo Road.
Smoke from the fire will impact the communities of White City, Carlsbad, Artesia and surrounding areas. Take precautions if you have any health or respiratory issues.
Update from KOAT News 7 | 4:27 pm MDT June 14, 2011
These images of Wallow Fire came from a local Albuquerque news station’s website. They were uploaded by a viewer, and here is the description provided by the uploader:
The Wallow Fire on 6-4-2011, Taken from Luna Lake @ fire camp,By my daughter Sarah. We were delivering fire supplies.
Click on the image to view the full size.
For several days now, Albuquerque has been blanketed with a thick layer of smoke originating from the massive fires in Arizona. The city has been on health alert, and hospitals have seen a jump in respiratory-related visits. The smell of burning wood is much like the smell of a campfire and has permeated our both sinuses and homes. The ash is leaving a light layer both inside and out. Normally, the visibility is literally as far as ones eyes can see – which is to the horizon depending upon the view. For the past few days, the visibility has dropped to 3 miles and under. The magnificent Sandia Mountains which border the east end of our city, have completely disappeared under the layer of smoke.
Amidst all the health problems arising from the smoke, the light filtering has created some magnificent photo opportunities. Please remember that in all these pictures, there are no clouds in the sky – which is normal for Albuquerque. All that you see is smoke…
The first picture was taken by me from my backyard tonight at approximately 7:15 PM. The sun was not due to set until 8:20. I did not use any filters, no special settings, nor was this touched up in Photoshop. The red coloring is from the smoke layer filtering out certain color wavelengths. Which is also the reason for the various colors in the rest of the images. The video above was also taken at the same time, same place.
Dramatic before and after pictures of Joplin MO from the EF-5 tornado that laid a 6-mile long path of devastation.
Source: Google and MJ Harden, a GeoEye company
Source: Google/Aaron Fuhrman
Source: Google/Aaron Fuhrman
Source: Google/Aaron Fuhrman
Absolutely breathtaking photography….
Historically high water levels in the Mississippi and Ohio river systems prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to intentionally blow up levees and flood 130,000 acres in Missouri. Now “the most high risk population” is in Memphis, according to Corps of Engineers Col. Vernie Reichling, though the worst danger zone is expected to move further south in the days to come.
“This water that we’re seeing coming by is moving 2 million cubic feet per second,” said Reichling of the situation on Sunday outside Memphis. “To use an analogy, in one second that water would fill up a football field 44 feet deep.”
By daybreak Sunday, the Mississippi had already reached 47.3 feet.
The river is expected to crest at 48 feet — just shy of the 48.7-foot record set in 1937 — shortly after midnight Tuesday, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Borghoff.
Officials have looked at the possibility of the river reaching 52 feet, “solely to fall on the high side of caution,” Nations said.
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An explosion lights up the night sky as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blows an 11,000-foot hole in the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County, Mo. on Monday. The breach lowered the flood levels at Cairo, Illinois. Credit: Getty Images, NOAA
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UPDATE: MAY 9, 2011
Forecasters say the Mississippi River could crest late Monday at Memphis, hours sooner than previously predicted, but the mayor says the city’s ready for it. (May 9)
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Forecasters are pushing up their prediction of when the Mississippi River could crest at Memphis. Now, the river could reach 48 feet as early as Monday night. (May 9)
