Storms Flood Houston

A cold front met with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to produce heavy storms across many southern states. Texas was hit hard with southwest Houston flooding, highways turned into rivers. The severe storms covered areas from Houston to Tennessee and even Mississippi.
Houston's fire department reported over 100 water rescues the picture below is one of the roads in Houston after the rains hit

Many people were tweeting out their own pictures of the floods from where they were to the weather channels website. No deaths have been reported from the rising waters, only rescues.

Weather Channel Website
NBC News Article

Plane Crash in Bali

On the morning of Saturday April 13th a Lions Air jet crashed into the Bali sea after miscalculating where the runway by approximately 50 meters. The cloudy weather did not help the landing process but an official statement of the cause of the crash has not been released. Thankfully all 101 passengers and 7 crew members were able to make it out of the plane alive but many suffered injuries. The article in the Charlotte Observer said that 45 people were taken to various hospitals and treated for non-life-threatening injuries and shock.
Charlotte Observer Article

President Obama's State of the Union Address

In President Obama's address he went over a number of topics. The first topic was budget cuts, he said "we can't cut our way to prosperity" then lead right into his plan for growing our economy, saying we need to ask three questions how are we going to attract more jobs to American soil, how will we equip the people to do these jobs and how we will make sure hard labor leads to a decent living? The answer he alluded to is to invest in the best products not stopping all of our investments but to make sure America at the top of the manufacturing world.
He also talked about the education of children. He said that we need to make sure each child has the opportunity to begin school in preschool or else they will start behind and lead difficulties in their career search later in life. He also proposed that we redesign high schools to be the launching pad for the job world, equipping the graduates for jobs right out after they finish.

Fireworks Fuel Air Pollution

In Beijing the celebration of the Lunar New Year showed a diminished display of colorful lights in the sky. The government warned that the smoke would heighten the already dangerous levels of air pollution as the smoggy days in January have doubled from last year. The fireworks that were set off reached their climax at midnight but after that they dwindled as day came. Normally the celebrations carry on well into the daylight hours. The firework sales were down 37% from last year with 260,000 cartons compared to 410,000 cartons.
Charlotte Observer Article

Lights Out

The lights in France will soon grow much dimmer. In July of this year, according to a law from the government  all stores and businesses must turn off their lights at night to save energy. France is well known for all of their shining light displays among tourists a question follows this decree will those tourist spots have to be turned off? The Eiffel Tower will remain lit and exceptions will be made for Christmas lights. Not only will the extinguishing of night lights help conserve energy but it will preserve to an extant the life of the nocturnal animals. Electric lights can effect sleep and migration patterns so dimming diminishes confusion of animals. Store lights will have to be completely shut off after the last worker leaves for the night and all window display and store front lights will have to be turned off by 1 a.m.
NY Times Article

1 Crocodile, 2 Crocodiles... 15,000 Crocodiles!

Associated Press Photo

     Relentless rain storms have left many places in and around South Africa battling flood waters. However the rising water is not the only problem locals have had to deal with around the Limpopo River. A reptile farm in the area began to fear of their walls giving way during the flooding. So they opened their gates allowing 15,000 crocodiles to run free and inhabit the Limpopo River which previously had not had many crocodiles. Zane Langman, a relative of the farm owner, has stated that many have been captured, mostly at night since their eyes uniquely glare red when light shines on them. He said they will need to rely heavily on farmers to contact them whenever a crocodile is spotted. One crocodile was captured on a school rugby field 75 miles from the reptile farm. They can cover a large amount of area very quickly.

New York Times Article