At least 78 killed in floods in south Russia

By Vladimir Soldatkin
MOSCOW
(Reuters) - At least 78 people were killed and thousands of homes were flooded in torrential rain and landslides in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, police said on Saturday.

A police spokesman said 67 people had been killed in the town of Krymsk after an average two-months' rain fell in just a few hours in the popular holiday region on the Black Sea where Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Television footage showed flooded streets and people scrambling onto rooftops. "There are lots of overturned cars, even huge trucks. Brick fences are washed away," a local resident, Vladimir Anosov, said by telephone from the village of Novoukrainsky.

"People are on the street, they are at a loss what to do. Helicopters are flying overhead, they are evacuating people from the flooded areas. The floods are really, really huge. Police advise people to choose different routes," he said. Novorossiisk, Russia's largest Black Sea port, halted crude oil shipments, a spokesman for oil pipeline operator Transneft said. The port also suspended grain exports.

Comment for the day

Watching the evening news .... flooding in Florida, huge holes in the earth, some swallowing up homes, more rain on the way, dangerous situation.... Fires in Colorado, hundreds of homes burned and thousands of acres of gorgeous land  is ruined ....... Stockton  California is going bankrupt, business's are closing, 26 million in the red ..... the big news of the day .... College football is going to have playoff games in 2014 ....  are we a great country, or what?

PS,  let's not forget all the debris washing up on our shores in California, tons and tons, much more to come, and the money has already run out to "clear the mess" .... and tons more are on the way

PSS ..... my wife and I were just talking about the above problems .... primarily everyone having money problems, individuals, cities, states, the federal government ......  in my estimation, all for one reason, UNCONTROLLED SPENDING OF GOVERNMENT MONEY ... Fiscal Responsibility is a Myth, does not exist .... uncontrolled spending ....... the weather related problems don't help, either.

The photograph says it all ................

"No man stands so tall .................... "

Great time to be alive

Strange world we live in. Saturday afternoon in Ohio, a little before one, watching the weather channel.

Earthquake in Chile, apparently not as bad as the one in Haiti, but an 8.8,that seems bad, but the death count is low. The Tsunami is scheduled for Hawaii around 4, so don't want to miss that.

Watching some coverage of the blizzard in the Eastern part of the US. We are hopefull, here in Ohio of setting a new snowfall record for February.

Wow, the 8.8 is one of the 5 highest ever in recorded history. Are we living in a great time, or what.

OK, 11:05, Hawaiian time is now the time for the Tsunami.

People in Haiti are complaining that many of the TV crews are leaving for Chili and Hawaii.

Rumor has it that the networks are scrapping the bottom of the barrel to come up with crews to send out, with the Olympics, Haiti, blizzard, they are thin on personnel to send out for disasters.

One NBC exec was quoted as saying, "I wish these damn disasters could be scheduled a little better, why couldn't we have an earthquare and a Tsunami in Iraq or Iran or Afganistan, we've already got crews there. I just gave a graveyard shift janitor a camera and made him a camerman to go out with a weatherman to cover Chili. When I mentioned Chili, he thought he was going to Mexico. "

The weather channel just announed that March is going to be colder than usual, and people in Hawaii are moving inland.

And, In Canada, Wiinter Olypics, it is now raining and foggy. I remember I was in Reno when they had the '60 Olympics out there, same problem, Warm, no snow. A reporter interviewed one of the officials, asking him about the gigantic parking lot of ice, made over the Truckee River. "What will happen if this warm weather and rain continues?"

"Well, we will get to see about 5000 cars floating down the Truckee Riiver."

And if all of this is not bad enough, we have politicians in Washington. And they think an 8.8 can do damage.

Well, then .................... WHY?

I was amazed, last night, during the opening ceremony at VANCOUVER, British Columbia,when someone mentioned it was the "rainy" season up there.

Made me wonder WHY? they decided  to have the Olympics there, in the rain, which they were having.

I also understand that protestors interrupted part of the proceedings, Have to look in to that.

Good vision in a downpour Cruise Control information

I received this in an Email the other day, some I knew but had forgotten, but it is good advice, especially in this weather and the weather coming up .............

How to achieve good vision while driving during a heavy downpour.

We are not sure why it is so effective; just try this method when it rains heavily.

This method was told by a Police friend who had experienced and confirmed it.

It is useful...even driving at night.

Most of the motorists would turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in front of the windshield is still bad......

In the event you face such a situation, just try your SUN GLASSES (any model will do), and miracle! All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windshield is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain.

Make sure you always have a pair of SUN GLASSES in your car, as you are not only helping yourself to drive safely with good vision, but also might save your friend's life by giving him this idea..

Try it yourself and share it with your friends!??? Amazing, you still see the drops on the windshield, but not the sheet of rain falling.?

You can see where the rain bounces off the road.? It works to eliminate
the "blindness" from passing semi's spraying you too.?

Or the "kickup" if you are following a semi or car in the rain.?

They ought to teach that little tip in driver's training.. It really does work.

This warning is a good one!

I wonder how many people know about this


A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her car.

A resident of Kilgore, Texas she was traveling between Gladewater & Kilgore. It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydro-plane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence!

When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened he told her something that every driver should know -
NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.
She thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain..

But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on when your car begins to hydro-plane and your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an airplane. She told the patrolman that was exactly what had occurred.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor - NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed - but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.

The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the patrolman), was a man who had a similar accident, totaled his car and sustained severe injuries.

NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.

Be sure to recommend this to everyone you know, YOU might save a life.

Thanks Barb .........