Much of inland New South Wales, Australia affected by flooding
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
Much of the interior of New South Wales, Australia continues to be affected by floods caused by heavy rains. With more rain predicted, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a flood watch for all western flowing rivers in New South Wales from the Namoi River in the north of the state to the Murrumbidgee River in the south.
Coonamble, in the central-western plains district of New South Wales, has been isolated by major flooding of the Castlereagh River. The State Emergency Service estimates that around 2,760 people are currently trapped in Coonamble. Mudgee, Canowindra, Eugowra, Dubbo, Wellington, and Young have also been severely affected.
A number of major highways in Western districts of the state have been closed or had diversions put in place, including the Newell Highway near Mirrool Bridge, the Castlereagh Highway between Gilgandra and Walgett, the Oxley Highway between Gilgandra and Warren, and the Lachlan Valley Way between 28km north of Cowra and 6km South Of Gooloogong. A number of local roads have also been affected.
Emergency Management NSW has declared the local government areas of Mid-Western Region, Weddin, Wellington, Warrumbungle, Cootamundra, Coonamble, Harden, and Young as natural disaster areas where significant damage to property and infrastructure has occurred.
Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Wagga Wagga and parts of Coonamble due to flooding.
The SES is advising people who require assistance due to flooding to call 132 500 and to contact 000 for life threatening emergencies. For road closure information, residents are encouraged to contact their local council.
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Several businesses catch fire in Queens, New York
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Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, a fire rushed through seven businesses at the Whitestone Shopping Center in Whitestone, Queens, New York, near the Cross Island Parkway in New York City.
The fire started at around 1:00 AM EST (UTC-5) on November 2, 2008 in a diner known as Lollipops. According to local sources, Lollipops was a popular restaurant in the area. The fire spread through the stores, up an awning and continued all the way to a corner of the shopping center. In the end, seven businesses were destroyed, including two banks, two restaurants and a GNC Nutrition Center. It took dozens of firefighters to put out the large blaze.
According to WCBS-TV, with his diner Lollipops destroyed, the owner was too upset to comment.
Nearby Chinese restaurant, King’s Chef, was also damaged. “I cannot open because of whatever rules – tomorrow’s Monday, Tuesday is a holiday,” the owner, Patrick Chan, told WCBS-TV. “If I cannot get them to come tomorrow, I am going to lose big time.”
| This is a calamity for many of these small businesses to be out of business, particularly in this economy. | ||
Nearby residents reacted to the situation. Several residents have reported that it is a major loss to the community as they considered Lollipops to be a landmark. Several residents have reported knowing members of either the victim stores or others in the strip mall.
State Senator Frank Padavan commented on the loss of the shopping center.
“This is a calamity for many of these small businesses to be out of business, particularly in this economy,” he said.
The next day, investigators were boarding up the windows of the damaged stores. No one was hurt because all the stores were closed at the time of the blaze.
