Tornado Watch Wednesday: Report In Liveblog #4

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 25, 2011 · 10:56 AM PDT

2011/05/25 · 10:56

This diary is the fourth to follow the incredible tornado/severe storm outbreaks starting the afternoon of May 24, 2011. Visit the Severe Weather Liveblog for previous diaries.

Tornadoes and extreme weather continued throughout the night ... Please use this diary to report in. LET US KNOW HOW YOU ARE!

Just in. diaried by the mom in the middleL Tornado is forming over KC Metro

Morning Update: CNN

Piedmont, Oklahoma (CNN) -- As the sun rose Wednesday over Oklahoma, lighting the trail of destruction left by a string of tornadoes and severe weather, members of the National Guard were already out, searching for a missing 3-year-old.
Two of the toddler's siblings were killed as the storms churned through Canadian County. Their mother is in critical condition, said Sheriff Randall Edwards.
The children are the latest victims of a ferocious and historic tornado season that has left more than 500 people dead, according to figures from the National Weather Service and local authorities.

Video of new violent tornado raging in Oklahoma, 8 dead

The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's office says at least eight people have died in severe storms that raked across the state. Spokeswoman Cherokee Ballard said Wednesday morning that at least five people, including a young child, are dead counties are located in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Ballard didn't have any further details. Violent storms swept through a chunk of the central U.S. late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Two deaths were also reported in Arkansas and two more in Kansas.

Previous diaries:

• imonlylurking: Tornado Outbreaks Part III
• Chaoslillith: Please rec up: Cont'd Liveblog re: OK storms - Weatherdude's diary has 500 comments
• weatherdude: Major Tornado Outbreak -- Intense Damage w/ Tornadoes On Ground -- Updatedx27
• weatherdude: Part of Joplin, MO Destroyed By Massive Tornado, Total Devastation Updatedx7+

I shouldn't have to say this-don't be a jerk. These are people, not political game pieces.

as of 4:30 AM PST

Joplin: 124 Dead Joplin, 1500 missing, EF5 rating.

Oklahoma: 6confirmed dead, 3 Arkansas:

weatherdude for Severe Weather Liveblog

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 25, 2011 · 10:55 AM PDT

2011/05/25 · 10:55

Please don't rec this diary, and continue storm discussion over in the new diary. Thanks! -weatherdude

Here we go again. As if we haven't had enough tornadoes the last few months to hold us over a decade or two, we're going to have yet another tornado outbreak across the Mississippi Valley today. Areas from Indianapolis to St. Louis down the Mississippi River into central Arkansas are all under the gun again today for a potentially large tornado outbreak, including the risk for strong, long-lived tornadoes. The entire area noted above is in a new high risk zone, which should be rare, but this year it's sadly not anymore.

Today's diary will follow a similar format to the one yesterday -- threat maps will appear at the bottom, the watches in the middle, and the updates will appear at the top, with the newest update appearing first.

I will continue to update this diary through the day as long as humanly possible.

You know the drill...don't be a jerk and don't bring politics into this. As imonlylurking said yesterday, "these are people, not political game pieces."

Weatherdude will be starting a new diary. Not sure if we should unrecc this one but recc that one as soon as it is posted.

imonlylurking

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 25, 2011 · 10:55 AM PDT

2011/05/25 · 10:55

This diary is the third to follow the incredible tornado/severe storm outbreaks starting the afternoon of May 24, 2011.

Massive damage and multiple casualties being reported in Oklahoma-multiple tornado warnings in effect under the flip.

I shouldn't have to say this-don't be a jerk. These are people, not political game pieces.

JustJennifer for Eyes on Egypt and the Region

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 19, 2011 · 3:21 PM PDT

2011/03/19 · 15:21

You are in the the 154th diary of the liveblog bearing witness to the 2011 populist uprisings. We stand with our international friends and their courageous struggle for dignity, self-determination and human rights. (see more about the work of our group below)

PLS REC this diary to maximize how many people bear witness. PLS UNREC the previous liveblog diary.

Libya-new

Obviously, there have been major developments in Libya. I will add the updates to this section of the liveblog, and any updates to other countries will be down below as usual.

The full text of UN Resolution 1973 on Libya

Al Jazeera Libyan live blog found here. (h/t jnhobbs)

UK Telegraph Libyan live blog found here. (h/t bee tzu)

BBC Libyan live blog found here. (h/t greenbird)

Operation Odyssey Dawn has begun.

U.S. launches missile strikes against Libya

The United States launched its first missile attack on Libyan air defenses on Saturday, NBC News confirmed, as America and its allies began military action to enforce a no-fly zone.
A senior U.S. military official said the missile strikes were aimed at sites along the Libyan coast. The missiles were launched from U.S. Navy vessels in the Mediterranean.

Airstrikes begin on Libya targets

French warplanes have hit four tanks used by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi on the outskirts of the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, on a day when opposition fighters in the city reported coming under constant artillery and mortar fire.
The action marks the first international military move against the Libyan leader, and it comes a day after the UN Security Council authorised a no-fly zone over the North African country.

Libya: Allied fighters hit Gaddafi's forces as West intervenes in conflict

Western planes led strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's military as world leaders ordered the biggest intervention in the Arab world since allied forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The patience of the international community finally ran out as Gaddafi's troops pounded the rebel stronghold of Benghazi hours after the Libyan dictator had promised a full ceasefire and invited foreign officials into his country to monitor it.

(h/t Claudius Bombarnac) -
Timeline of the 2011 Libyan uprising

The 2011 Libyan uprising began on 15 February 2011 as a civil protest and has since become a widespread uprising. On 25 February 2011, most of Libya was reported to be under the control of the Libyan opposition and not the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi Gaddafi remained in control of Tripoli, Sirt and Sabha.

More regional tidbits after the fold....bold section names indicate fresh content...

The liveblog is primarily for witnessing, for other activities see the group stream.

We are in the process of collecting suggested readings for background reference materials in support of the Eyes on Egypt and the Region group. These readings may be either non-fiction or fiction, general to the region or specific to a country or issue. If there are resources which you believe aid our understanding of the events and processes we are witnessing, please either a) post a comment in the Liveblog with the title "Suggested reading:" and a brief description of the reading in the body of the comment, or b) send your suggestions via the dKos internal mailer to angry marmot.

Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya an impressive new aide organization launched by one of our own: StepLeftStepForward.

Please place links and info for intervention ideas (humanitarian and beyond) in comments titled "Intervention". We encourage you to provide information without imploring, disrespecting those who might not pursue the intervention, or engaging long debates about the merits. With uniform content labeling, those interested can readily find them and those who want to produce intervention diaries can gather the data efficiently. Please post the link if you do produce an intervention resource diary. We'll include it in the next updated liveblog. Thank you.

The group is producing a series of diaries that provide background and analysis on the region in general and on individual countries. We hope to provide a context for interpreting current events in the news. The published diaries in the series are:
Eyes on Egypt and the Region Background Resources

PLS REC THIS DIARY! Will you please do the following to keep our dKos community eyes on our international friends risking their lives for self-determination?

1. Rec this diary. (click that star just under the title)
2. "Follow" " Eyes on Egypt and the Region"by clicking on the link and then scrolling down the group box on the right-hand side and clicking "Follow".
3. Get the word out by putting links in FP threads and telling all your friends.
Thank you!

NOTE: We have renamed the liveblog "Witnessing Revolution". What started in Egypt has spread rapidly. It's not clear that it will be limited by geography or ethnicity. So, we wanted a name which states what is happening yet allows us to grow with the movement, wherever that will be. The number sequence will be continuous. The group name will remain the same. Only this particular diary series within the group will have a name change.

boatsie for Japan Nuclear Incident Liveblogs

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 15, 2011 · 1:32 AM PDT

2011/03/15 · 01:32

You are in Mothership 1 for Japan Nuclear Disaster. Please UNRec this diary, and and Rec Mothership 2. Unrec previous diaries in the series. In general, try to use the ROV's for discussion and commentary. This diary will serve as a reference and anchor point.

ROV 6 is the current liveblog and is published by Middleagedhousewife. Rov 5 was published by Julia Grey. ROV 4 was published by Marcus Tullius.

Please provide links to all information you provide in comments to ensure sourcing and authenticity.

HOTSPOTS @ KOS:

• Pluto's UPDATES: Chernobyl expert smacks Japan and mocks IAEA - GE reactor design flaw? Germany shuts down 7+ ... most recent info and ongoing discussion as of 2:37 pst.

• TomTech's Community Progressive Radio Schedule

Background:

Read Richard Cranium: What the Fukushima? 2.0 - Big 2X Update w/photos (UPDATED 2X)+(Richard is an "Institute for Nuclear Power Operations-certified systems engineer in GE Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs), and worked for over 20 years in the industry with a large architect engineering (A/E) firm and an electric company with a nuclear portfolio. I've worked directly at four BWR plants, including one similar to the Fukushima plants."

FishoutofWater Breaking: Spent fuel fire at reactor 4, hydrogen explosion & radiation release

The number 4 reactor was not operating at the time of the earthquake according to NHK. However, the loss of power that occurred when the tsunami wiped out the diesel generators caused the spent fuel pools to lose water circulation. Heat from the spent fuel would have eventually boiled off the water once circulation was lost. When spent fuel is uncovered it can heat up to such high temperatures that its zirconium alloy cladding catches fire. That appears to have taken place. Moreover these conditions apparently led to hydrogen generation which caused an explosion that destroyed the roof of the reactor 4 building.
Radiation levels of 400 milliseverts (reporting was previously in microseverts, one thousand times less) have been reported between reactors 3 and 4. The live NHK report stated that the hydrogen explosion and fire at reactor 4 may have been caused by burning of the zircalloy cladding of spent fuel rods in the damaged pool. Neutrons have been measured outside of the reactor indicating that water levels are low or the spent fuel has become uncovered. Neutrons are stopped rapidly by hydrogen in water, but will pass through heavier nuclei. Neutrons have a long path length in air.

Currently on Rec list by Pluto: UPDATES: Chernobyl expert smacks Japan and mocks IAEA - GE reactor design flaw? Germany shuts down

Russian nuclear accident specialist, Iouli Andreev, who directed the Chernobyl disaster clean-up, has published a scathing critique of Japan's nuclear power plant set-up, against the Japanese handcling of the disaster, and against the corporations that build nuclear power plants, and against the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In a recent Reuters interview Andreev insists that the IAEA and all regulatory parties have wilfully ignored the lessons from the world's worst nuclear accident 25 years ago in order to protect the industry's expansion and massive profitibility.
"Greed in the nuclear industry and corporate influence over the U.N. watchdog for atomic energy may doom Japan to a spreading nuclear disaster," says Andreev -- one of the men brought in to clean up Chernobyl .

IN TRANSLATION ... from Japanese to English

Map of Quake Centers
Tomomi Sasaki translation from Japanese to English: Infographic of Radiation & Effects on Human body translated from Japanese

How can I help

Media Coverage

Japan Tsunami – Live Streaming:
NHK Japan Live:NHK Japan Live
Al Jazeera Japan Live: Al Jazeera Japan Live
Guardian UK:Updated every minute
France24 Live: France24 Live
Global Voice Online(Japan/English translation

Twitter – Real Time Updates:

Twitter:IAEA
Twitter: WFP
Twitter #earthquake: Twitter #earthquake
Twitter #japan: Twitter #japan:
Twitter #tsunami: Twitter #tsunami
#EQJP #japanearthquake, #JPQuake, #japaneq, #japantsunami, #ynwa, #japaneq

Media Monitoring Japan's Humanity Road
If you want to help you can donate through this link. Plubius also has a diary on aid groups needing donations.

OpenStreetMap Foundation Japan is using Ushahidi to map crisis information. Volunteers can submit reports through a form or by tweeting location information along with the hashtags #jishin (earthquake), #j_j_helpme (call for help), #hinan (evacuation), #anpi (safety status), or #311care (medical support). The hashtag for people working on the service is #osmjp.

A Japan Nuclear Disaster liveblog group has been created. Click on the heart to follow the group.

Volunteers are needed to publish and queue up for subsequent diaries. To volunteer to host an ROV or the next mothership, please email to join the group. We will be able to queue diaries for publication throughout this crisis.

ROV 4 Marcus Tullius
ROV 5 - Julia Grey
ROV 6 (slot open)
ROV 7 (slot open)

Please be kind to kossacks with bandwidth issues. Please do not post images or videos. Again, many thanks for this.

GlowNZ

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 13, 2011 · 8:35 PM PDT

2011/03/13 · 20:35

This thread is for anyone to post anything related to the ongoing disaster in Japan.

joanneleon

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 12, 2011 · 10:41 PM PST

2011/03/12 · 22:41

Liveblog 3 is now up: Liveblog, v3.0 - Fukushima Nuclear Incident

CNN is now reporting that a meltdown may have occurred at one or more reactors in Japan and the caption on their screen is: "meltdown may be occurring at nuclear reactor."

This is at the top of their web site:

"We are assuming that a meltdown has occurred" at a quake-damaged nuclear reactor, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary says.
http://www.cnn.com/

Other news sources are reporting that it there may be meltdowns in two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Update: Govt. spokesman Edano warned that there is a danger of another hydrogen explosion at Fukushima I, Reactor 3. The previous explosion occurred at Fukushima I, Reactor 1.

Update:There are six reactors with cooling failures at the Fukushima I and Fukushima II plants. We know some specifics about the problems with Fukushima I, Reactor #1 and #3 but we don't know specifics about the other four.

* More updates below *

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Liveblog1: melt down

boatsie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 12, 2011 · 10:29 PM PST

2011/03/12 · 22:29

Please Unrec this diary and rec Joanneleon Meltdown(s)? for the latest developments.

Other diaries throughout the day have included:

•Explosion Hits Japanese Reactor by Meteor Blades
•Fukushima's safe? Say it to my face. - Updated by mahakali overdrive
• Breaking:Fukushima Japan Reactor: What's Happening, Meltdown?by nathguy
• Emergency at Second Japanese Nuclear Reactor (same plant) Possible Meltdown Now Underway+ by lgcap
•OND From Wisconsin to Japan by Leon Vincent
•Fukushima Updateby DarkSyde

Also, refer to LiveBlog Group Page for previous postings on Japanese Earthquake

BREAKING AND UPDATED: Word that two Fukushima nuclear power plants are now suspected of being in state of meltdown as attempts to cool them down have failed. Follow comments below for explanations from resident 'experts.' Meltdown may be occurring right now!

Just in at 8:45 PST ... First meltdown Japan has ever experienced ...

Japan quake magnitude raised to 9.0

Japan's Meteorological Agency says the magnitude of Friday's earthquake that hit the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan was 9.0 instead of 8.8 as earlier announced.

Update: 9:32 n/t tubacat

Guardian Article
Including a good explanation of exactly what exploded (hydrogen from fuel rods reacting with water):

Temperature in the reactor vessel apparently kept rising, heating the zirconium cladding that makes up the fuel rod casings. Once the zirconium reached 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 Celsius), it reacted with the water, becoming zirconium oxide and hydrogen.

—When the hydrogen-filled steam was vented from the reactor vessel, the hydrogen reacted with oxygen, either in the air or water outside the vessel, and exploded.

Also makes very clear what will happen if they are not able to stop the overheating of the reactor:

If the reactor core became exposed to the external environment, officials would likely began pouring cement and sand over the entire facility, as was done at the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine, Peter Bradford, a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in a briefing for reporters.

At that point, Bradford added, "many first responders would die."

Snippets ....

Source: New Science Cooling has failed at a second reactor at Japan's quake-stricken nuclear plant circa 7:30PST

... Officials are wearing orange hazmat suits.

.... Japanese government to distribute iodine to population, 170,000 evaculated, nine people have been found to have traces of radioactivity on clothing ... military has moved in....

Watch live

"that is very serious .. on the road to a science fiction meltdown... we are talking about "cesium in the air" .... we can expect this area to be closed off for quite some time to come .... the spokesperson is choosing words very carefully. after the explosion the radiation WOULD go down it would dissipate... I wonder if space based satellites couldn't be repositioned to see what is actually in the air."

"These claims are extraordinary." Nye

NOTES

Humanity Road Japan Media Monitoring provides hyperlinks to all sources below and others

Google Earth Engine is starting to compile reports here is a fusion table showing the tsunami warnings link

The Explosion Earlier today

Fukushima, Japan - Nuclear Reactor Explosion - March 12, 2011

There are also numerous other diaries on rec list and recent rec'd.

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Japan.

GlowNZ

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 11, 2011 · 10:19 PM PST

2011/03/11 · 22:19

Having done numerous diaries on the earthquake in Christchurch, I cannot and will not ignore the unfolding tragedy in Japan, in the aftermath of the massive earthquake and resulting tsunami,

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Earthquake in Japan - Tsunami - WARNINGS for Hawaii and West Coast

joanneleon

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 11, 2011 · 2:14 AM PST

2011/03/11 · 02:14

Recent earthquakes
Time         Magnitude         Location
20 minutes ago         7.9         Near the east coast of Honshu, Japan
12 hours ago         6.5         Bali Sea
3 days ago         5.0         Off the coast of Oregon
http://earthquake.usgs.gov

Update: USGS has updated earthquake to 8.8
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/...

Another Update: USGS has updated earthquake to 8.9

Estimated tsunami arrival times: http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/...
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/...

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center: http://www.weather.gov/...
Widespread warning, watch and adviory in effect. WARNING now includes Hawaii. Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Hawaii. WARNING for west coast (just upgraded from Watch.)

Heading out now. A Liveblog has been started for this event. Please see the Liveblog for more current updates: Liveblog link

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Liveblog: Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami

Liveblog for Liveblog Group

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 11, 2011 · 1:27 AM PST

2011/03/11 · 01:27

This is the liveblog for coverage of Japan's earthquake's aftermath and the tsunami moving through the pacific.

Tsunami Warning.

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Liveblog Procedures, Second DK4 Edition: Community Input Version

Liveblog for Liveblog Group

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 11, 2011 · 12:48 AM PST

2011/03/11 · 00:48

After Joanneleon created the Liveblog Group shortly after the transfer to DK4, Tomtech joined the group with the hope that it could be used for future short term or initial Live Blogging events.

Tomtech initially developed a system where multiple templates are always available from this, the original Liveblog sock puppet. Those templates have the instructions for live blogging which have been developed by the community over the last few years. The templates also have instructions to help new posters create live blogs.

Cedwyn, the original Liveblog account manager, was very helpful in developing this system.

It is time to see how the greater community feels about this system.

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Newer
Older

RSS

Tornado Watch Wednesday: Report In Liveblog #4

Tornado Outbreak Déjà Vu -- PDS Tornado Watch For STL East To KY -- Updated x17

Tornado outbreaks-part III

Witnessing Revolution Liveblog #154

japan nuclear disaster: mothership

Japan Disaster LiveBlog

Liveblog 2: Meltdown(s)?

Liveblog1: melt down

Japan.

Earthquake in Japan - Tsunami - WARNINGS for Hawaii and West Coast

Liveblog: Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami

Liveblog Procedures, Second DK4 Edition: Community Input Version