Tag Archive: Florida


Landslide – State of California, [Lake County areas]

Filed under: Disaster Management, Earth Watch Report, Landslides, sinkholes I — 2 Comments
May 13, 2013

Earth Watch Report   -  Landslides/Sinkholes

Potential water damage: Officials say water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role, in the collapse of the hillside subdivision that has forced the evacuation of eight homes

Potential water damage: Officials say water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role, in the collapse of the hillside subdivision that has forced the evacuation of eight homes

No more mail: A notice by the U.S. Postal Service warned residents of Lakeside Heights that due to the danger posed by the sinking ground, postal workers will no longer deliver mail to the area

No more mail: A notice by the U.S. Postal Service warned residents of Lakeside Heights that due to the danger posed by the sinking ground, postal workers will no longer deliver mail to the area

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13.05.2013 Landslide USA State of California, [Lake County areas] Damage level
Details

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Landslide in USA on Monday, 13 May, 2013 at 03:19 (03:19 AM) UTC.

Description
Home in a subdivision in Lake County are sinking, prompting officials to seek help. Eight homes are now abandoned and 10 others are under notice of imminent evacuation as a hilltop with sweeping vistas of Clear Lake and the Mt. Konocti volcano swallows the subdivision built 30 years ago. The Lake County Board of Supervisors asked Gov. Jerry Brown to declare an emergency so funding might be available to stabilize utilities and determine the cause of the collapse. On May 6, state Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) wrote a letter of support asking Brown for immediate action. The California Emergency Management Agency said Brown was still assessing the situation. On Wednesday, the state sent a water resources engineer and a geologist to look at the problem. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) sent a representative the next day. Repairs were made to the area’s damaged public water system Friday, according to the Lake County Record-Bee. The situation has gotten so bad, mail delivery was ended to keep carriers out of danger. “It’s a slow-motion disaster,” said Randall Fitzgerald, a writer who bought his home in the Lakeside Heights project a year ago. Unlike Florida sinkholes that can gobble homes in an instant, this collapse in hilly volcanic country can move many feet in one day and just a fraction of an inch the next. Officials believe water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role in the destruction. But nobody can explain why suddenly there is plentiful water atop the hill in a county with groundwater shortages.

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Lake County homes sinking; ‘it’s a slow-motion disaster’

From Associated Press

May 11, 2013, 5:06 p.m.

Home in a subdivision in Lake County are sinking, prompting officials to seek help.

Eight homes are now abandoned and 10 others are under notice of imminent evacuation as a hilltop with sweeping vistas of Clear Lake and the Mt. Konocti volcano swallows the subdivision built 30 years ago.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors asked Gov. Jerry Brown to declare an emergency so funding might be available to stabilize utilities and determine the cause of the collapse. On May 6, state Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) wrote a letter of support asking Brown for immediate action. The California Emergency Management Agency said Brown was still assessing the situation.

On Wednesday, the state sent a water resources engineer and a geologist to look at the problem. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) sent a representative the next day.

Repairs were made to the area’s damaged public water system Friday, according to the Lake County Record-Bee.

The situation has gotten so bad, mail delivery was ended to keep carriers out of danger.

“It’s a slow-motion disaster,” said Randall Fitzgerald, a writer who bought his home in the Lakeside Heights project a year ago.

Unlike Florida sinkholes that can gobble homes in an instant, this collapse in hilly volcanic country can move many feet in one day and just a fraction of an inch the next.

Officials believe water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role in the destruction. But nobody can explain why suddenly there is plentiful water atop the hill in a county with groundwater shortages.

 

Read Full Article Here

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California : The sinkhole situation has become so bad that mail delivery was ended to keep carriers out of danger. Eight homes are now abandoned and 10 more are under notice of imminent evacuation

Filed under: Disaster Management, Earth Watch Report, Global Disaster Watch, sinkholes I — 1 Comment
May 11, 2013

 

One by one, homes in Calif. subdivision sinking

By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press
Updated 6:36 pm, Saturday, May 11, 2013
This photo taken Monday, May 6, 2013 shows the wreckage of the Tudor-style dream home of Robin and Scott Spivey who were forced to abandon after the ground gave way causing it to drop 10 feet below the street in Lakeport, Calif. Officials believe that water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role, in the collapse of the hillside subdivision that has forced the evacuation of 10 homes and the notice of imminent evacuation of another 10 in this upscale subdivision. Photo: AP

This photo taken Monday, May 6, 2013 shows the wreckage of the Tudor-style dream home of Robin and Scott Spivey who were forced to abandon after the ground gave way causing it to drop 10 feet below the street in Lakeport, Calif. Officials believe that water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role, in the collapse of the hillside subdivision that has forced the evacuation of 10 homes and the notice of imminent evacuation of another 10 in this upscale subdivision. Photo: AP
In this photo taken Monday, May 6, 2013, the bedroom carpets hang from the home of Jagtar Singh, left, after the ground gave way in Lakeport, Calif. Shortly after Singh moved his wife, 4-year-old daughter and his parents the hill behind his home collapsed taking the underside of his home. Officials believe that water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role, in the collapse of the hillside subdivision that has forced the evacuation of 10 homes and the notice of imminent evacuation of another 10 in this upscale subdivision. Photo: AP

In this photo taken Monday, May 6, 2013, the bedroom carpets hang from the home of Jagtar Singh, left, after the ground gave way in Lakeport, Calif. Shortly after Singh moved his wife, 4-year-old daughter and his parents the hill behind his home collapsed taking the underside of his home. Officials believe that water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role, in the collapse of the hillside subdivision that has forced the evacuation of 10 homes and the notice of imminent evacuation of another 10 in this upscale subdivision. Photo: AP

 

LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) — Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March.

The cracks soon turned into gaping fractures, and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garage broke from the house and the entire property — manicured lawn and all — dropped 10 feet below the street.

It wasn’t long before the houses on both sides collapsed as the ground gave way in the Spivey’s neighborhood in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco.

“We want to know what is going on here,” said Scott Spivey, a former city building inspector who lived in his four-bedroom, Tudor-style dream home for 11 years.

Eight homes are now abandoned and 10 more are under notice of imminent evacuation as a hilltop with sweeping vistas of Clear Lake and the Mount Konocti volcano swallows the subdivision built 30 years ago.

The situation has become so bad that mail delivery was ended to keep carriers out of danger.

“It’s a slow-motion disaster,” said Randall Fitzgerald, a writer who bought his home in the Lakeside Heights project a year ago.

Unlike sinkholes of Florida that can gobble homes in an instant, this collapse in hilly volcanic country can move many feet on one day and just a fraction of an inch the next.

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Financial strain pushes many veterans to the breaking point

Filed under: Budget Cuts, bureaucracy, Collateral Damage, Community, Complacency / Apathy, Costs of War, Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It, Economic News, Financial, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fraud, Government, Greed, Hypocrisy, Indoctrination, Ineptitude, Jobs, Lack Of Transparency, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Poverty / Homeless, Psy - Ops, Rising Costs, Secrecy, Security, Special Interests, Unethical, Veterans — Leave a comment
May 4, 2013

Sat May 4, 2013 3:53 AM EDT

Courtesy Adam Legg

Navy veteran Adam Legg said a long jobless spell after tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan left him feeling hopeless and led him to “go weeks without smiling, walking around like a shadow, like you’re not there.”

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

Hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been flying home to a fresh fox hole: A debt crater that’s sucking in entire military families and could be helping to fuel the veteran suicide crisis.

Courtesy Adam Legg

“I was a watch commander where I had 25 to 30 people working beneath me, in charge of millions of dollars worth of ammunitions, weapons, vehicles, computers,” said Adam Legg, a Navy veteran. “And then when I come home, not only can I not find a job, I can’t take care of my family.”

A bad job market, a long backlog for federal disability benefits, and occasionally unwise spending habits have been conspiring to strain the financial and mental health of many veterans, experts say.

“We keep hearing of suicides rising. How much pressure do you think one person can take?” asks Christopher Fitzpatrick, deputy director of VeteransPlus, a nonprofit that has fielded more than 170,000 calls from ex-service members with imminent financial concerns.

“No one wants to talk about the fact that there are other reasons, besides PTSD, for suicide at 2 in the morning. You know how we know? We have an online form people use to contact us, and we get those emails — they’re sent at 1, 2, 3, 4 in the morning. People are reaching out, literally: ‘Can you please help me? I’m losing everything.’”

It’s a problem that could get even worse in coming years, with more than one million service members expected to make the transition to civilian life.

Navy veteran Adam Legg, 30, ran into financial trouble following two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. A jobless and hopeless period that began after his service separation in 2009 led him to “go weeks without smiling, walking around like a shadow, like you’re not there,” he said.

He couldn’t secure a job at his local McDonald’s or at dozens of other companies to which he applied in Central Florida. With a wife, Melissa, and a young daughter to feed, he maxed out a credit card that he was able to pay off with money he’d saved during his eight years in the Navy.

‘Very, very dark place’
But bigger bills — like the mortgage — went untouched. After losing his Florida home to foreclosure and two cars to repossession, Legg said he began to consider suicide.

“When you feel like you can’t take care of your family, feed them, shelter them, it’s a very, very dark place. A feeling of uselessness that maybe they would be better off if you’re not around,” Legg said.

“We’ve been below the poverty line, absolutely. I was a watch commander where I had 25 to 30 people working beneath me, in charge of millions of dollars worth of ammunitions, weapons, vehicles, computers. And then when I come home, not only can I not find a job, I can’t take care of my family. If it weren’t for my wife, if she was not supportive the way she was, I really don’t think I’d be here right now.”

According to VeteransPlus, fewer than 20 percent of their clients have stockpiled a six-month savings cushion while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan despite untaxed, hazardous-duty wages that fattened paychecks.

Some returning veterans planned to live off their credit cards until landing civilian work, even though the veteran unemployment rate is two points higher than the civilian rate, Fitzpatrick said. Some expected to support themselves via VA benefits, apparently unaware that average wait time for that money approaches — and sometimes eclipses — one year.

 

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Manatee deaths at Indian River Lagoon: Questions abound in mysterious deaths of manatees, pelicans

Filed under: Earth Watch Report, Environmental, Mass Animal Deaths, Wildlife — 1 Comment
April 27, 2013
manatee_20130425051035_JPG

Since July and 2012, a total of 220 manatees have died in the lagoon in Brevard County, about 100 of them under mysterious circumstances; and since February, between 250 and 300 dead pelicans have been found in the same area.
Photographer: CHRISTOPHER ARNOLD, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

posted: 04/25/2013

  • By: Tyler Treadway, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

 

VERO BEACH — Whatever is killing manatees and pelicans northern Indian River Lagoon remains unknown, but apparently wildlife along the Treasure Coast won’t become victims.

Since July and 2012, a total of 220 manatees have died in the lagoon in Brevard County, about 100 of them under mysterious circumstances; and since February, between 250 and 300 dead pelicans have been found in the same area.

Thomas R. “Tom” Reinert, a research administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told members of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program Advisory Board on Wednesday that researchers have been stumped in their efforts to find the cause — or causes.

Asked if the mysterious deaths could migrate south into the lagoon along the Treasure Coast, Reinert replied, “I can’t answer that. The cases seem to be localized, with the zone in Brevard County from Sebastian to Titusville being where the deaths are concentrated. And it appears it will remain that way.”

In March alone, Reinert said, 56 sea cows died from unknown causes in Brevard County, where the annual manatee death count from all causes averages 111.

Reinert said dead manatees have been reported “here and there” along the Treasure Coast, but the numbers are within the usual mortality rate.

According to the commission’s website, six manatees have died in Indian River County, four in St. Lucie County and three in Martin County from Jan. 1 to April 19.

Statewide, 566 manatees have died over the same period. A record 766 manatees died in Florida in 2010.

“We’re on a trajectory to eclipse that,” Reinert said.

Read  Full Article Here

 

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Dolphin deaths add to mystery in Indian River Lagoon

23 dolphins found dead in lagoon in 2013

Published On: Apr 10 2013 07:37:33 AM EDT   Updated On: Apr 10 2013 06:34:48 PM EDT

 

 

Dolphin deaths add to lagoon mystery

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. –

Add bottlenose dolphins to this year’s list of species dying mysteriously in the Indian River Lagoon.

Researchers have documented 23 dead dolphins in the lagoon since Jan. 1, all but a few in Brevard County. That’s more than twice what researchers would expect, based on the death rate during the past decade.

“It’s especially scary now to be losing so many manatees, and now dolphins,” said Teresa Mazza, a biologist with the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, which gathers the carcasses for research purposes.

 

The lagoon has seen more than 90 mysterious manatee deaths in just over eight months and 250 dead pelicans in the past two months, with most in Brevard.

Most of the dead dolphin have been adult females. The bottlenose deaths have occurred from Titusville to Central Brevard.

“We have seen a few animals with shark bites,” Mazza said, adding that it’s not always clear whether those happened before the dolphin died. “There’s a chance we have sick, emaciated, dying animals that could be falling prey to sharks.”

Hubbs is consulting with NOAA Fisheries Service to determine whether that federal agency will declare the dolphin die-offs an “unusual” event, opening up federal resources and launching its own investigation. The designation has already been made for the manatee die-off in the lagoon. NOAA is examining whether the two die-offs might be linked, Florida Today reports.\

 

Read Full Article and Watch Video Here

 

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Whole World Finding Out About Collapsed Salt Dome Catastrophe in Spite of Media Black-Out

Filed under: ReBlogged — Leave a comment
April 10, 2013

Reblogged from The Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle:

Update: Louisiana Sinkhole News & Flyover ~ April 02 – 09, 2013 ~ Bayou Corne, Assumption Parish

Published on Apr 9, 2013

BACKGROUND: In Spring of 2012, Louisiana’s Corne and Grand Bayou residents noticed strange bubbling in the bayou for many weeks, and they reported smelling burnt diesel fuel and sulfur. Then suddenly a sinkhole the size of three football fields appeared on Aug. 3, swallowing scores of 100-foot tall cypress trees. The sinkhole resulted from the failure of Texas Brine Company’s abandoned underground brine cavern. The Department of Natural Resources issued a Declaration of Emergency on Aug. 6, and 150 families were evacuated.
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“Assumption sinkhole raises concerns”
It seems to be the stuff of science fiction, but the giant sinkhole at Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish is all too real. The gaping hole in the ground has displaced about 350 nearby residents and has drawn concern about the environmental impact and physical safety of people nearby.

And with good reason. The sinkhole, which last August spontaneously yawned open, preceded by unusual bubbling in Bayou Corne, has continued to grow and so far has devoured real estate, trees and at least one boat.

Gov. Bobby Jindal recently announced after a meeting with company officials that Houston-based Texas Brine Co., LLC, will offer buyouts to residents who want to relocate and settlements to those who choose to continue living near the now-9-acre sinkhole.

That seems fair. As the governor pointed out in a recent article in The Daily Advertiser, “They caused the situation. They’ve got to make it right.”

Scientists have said the sinkhole opened up when a salt cavern operated by Texas Brine collapsed. Texas Brine had been extracting brine from the cavern and piping it to petrochemical facilities.

Methane, oil and natural gas were released into the pit from formations along the face of the cavern.

The disaster has attracted some high-profile attention. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts in the movie by the same name, recently visited Assumption Parish to meet with the still-displaced residents.

She was accompanied by Thomas V. Girardi, one of the attorneys who helped Brockovich obtain a $333 million settlement in the famous case depicted in the movie. He has been hired by some of the local residents.

It seems somewhat strange that news of sinkholes has been rare — until now. Just recently, a man was killed in Florida when part of his house fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened up. Since then three more sinkholes have opened up in the same area.

An article in the New York Times reports that collapsing limestone under the neighborhood was the culprit. And according to the Florida Geological Survey website, Florida sits on a bed of porous limestone that is constantly dissolving and forming underground holes and caverns.

In Florida, the sinkholes seem to be the result of nature. The Louisiana sinkhole appears to be, if Jindal is right, the result of human intervention.

It’s small wonder that people living in the vicinity of Lake Peigneur have been nervous about what appear to be bubbles on the lake. The Department of Natural Resources has assured the public that it’s just foam, not bubbles. Experts say there is no similarity between Lake Peigneur and the Assumption Parish sinkhole.

But some residents around the Iberia Parish lake remember the disaster that struck in 1980, when the entire lake drained like a bathtub into a 1,500-foot-deep salt cavern beneath, taking with it trees, structures, trucks, acres of land, 11 barges and the Texaco drilling rig that had punctured a 14-inch hole in the ceiling of the salt dome. The accident temporarily reversed the course of the Delcambre Canal and created a 150-foot waterfall.

The water all flowed back into the lake, but the sense of unease remained.

Assurances aside, seeing the giant sinkhole open up near Bayou Corne would naturally add to their sense of apprehension.

It certainly has raised a few questions.

How many salt caverns are there in Louisiana?

Where are they?

Are they being used for storage of potentially toxic materials or other purposes?

What safety protocols are in place to safeguard against collapse?

As the governor works to ease the plight of the Assumption Parish residents, officials should also be looking for answers to these questions and make sure all is as it should be.

No one else should wake up one morning to find a gaping, toxic sinkhole encroaching on their neighborhood.

Source: http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/…

 

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Florida Autopsy: 31-year-old Female Beaten, Tortured, Set on Fire While Alive…. Suspect Confesses “I did it, I hate all White People”

Filed under: Community, Complacency / Apathy, Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It, Depravity, Hate Crimes, Irrational Violence, Racism, ReBlogged, Self_Defense / Crime Prevention / Security — 1 Comment
April 10, 2013

Reblogged from The Last Refuge:

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

The incident occured near Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.   The autopsy report on a woman named, Melinda McCormick, shows that she was horrifically tortured and then set on fire while she was still alive. Click here to watch news video  Police believe the white victim was dating one of the perpetrators.   Reverse the races and this would have been running on CNN for the past 3 days.

FLORIDA – Three Escambia County residents  have been arrested  in connection with the March 31 homicide of Melinda McCormick.

Anthony Lamar Pressley, 26, Kiesha LeShay Pugh, 28, and Gregory Edward Williams, 21, were each charged with homicide and robbery. All three were booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.

 

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Bangor , Maine : Sinkhole almost as big as a VW Bug opens up on Lincoln Street

Filed under: Disaster Management, Earth Watch Report, Global Disaster Watch, sinkholes I — Leave a comment
March 18, 2013

Earth Watch Report  -  Sinkholes

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Sinkhole opens up on Lincoln Street in Bangor

By Alex Barber, BDN Staff
Posted March 17, 2013, at 4:06 p.m.
Last modified March 17, 2013, at 4:34 p.m.

BANGOR, Maine — A sinkhole big enough to swallow a Volkswagen opened up on Lincoln Street next to the Bangor Daily News parking lot on Sunday. The hole is about three feet deep and eight feet long. Orange cones had been placed around the hole to warn motorists. Bangor Public Works Foreman Matthew Oakes said he had not yet seen the sinkhole, but said it would likely be addressed first thing on Monday.

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Sinkholes: Getting To The Bottom Of Science

#Scripps Howard News

#The ground suddenly opening beneath our feet is the stuff of nightmares.

#In recent weeks, a spate of those bad-dreams-come-true have drawn national attention when the earth seemingly swallowed a man in his Florida bedroom and a golfer in Illinois.

#After the widespread coverage of those sinkholes and others, some experts say the phenomena may be scarier in thought than reality.

#Only about 20 percent of the country has underground geology that favors the formation of natural sinkholes, the U.S. Geological Survey says. But in developed areas, any pipeline or sewer can collapse in the right circumstances.

#“I’d guess there is this primal fear of being swallowed up by the earth and taken to hell,’’ said Paul Greene, an associate professor of psychology at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., who works with disaster victims.

#“I recall scenes from the movie ‘Ghost’ when the evil characters die and their souls are taken down in the ground by demons.’’

#Sinkholes may not rank as high on the scare scale as hurricanes and tornados, but they hold some allure for popular culture, surfacing as cinematic themes as a sign of the end of time.

#At the USGS, geologist Randall Orndorff says sinkholes are more common than laymen realize. “They form in fields and woods every day and no one notices except the land owner. They can be a hazard and we want people to know about them.”

#In some areas, like Florida, the holes are widely studied and mapped; elsewhere, only those that cause structural damage to a building or road get noted.

#“There’s no master database of them, but there’s no reason to think any more of them are forming,” Orndorff said. “There’s no sinkhole season.”

#The USGS hopes to issue later this year the first national interactive map that people can click to see if their property may be in sinkhole country, with links to state resources for more detail, Orndorff said.

 

Read Full Report  Here 

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Vero Beach Internet cafe shut down after raid

Filed under: Community, Corruption, Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It, Fraud, Greed, Special Interests, Unethical — 7 Comments
March 13, 2013

Family Survival Protocol

by Desert Rose

Allied  Veterans  doing  business as a  not for profit  organization geared  toward  helping  veterans has been closed  down pending  an ongoing investigation  by the Federal Government.  A $300 million illegal  gambling  and  racketeering probe  is  currently  underway.

The investigation was conducted by the IRS, Secret Service, FDLE and sheriff’s offices in Jacksonville, Volusia County and Seminole County, where the probe originated. Investigators  state , “Allied Veterans  schemed and defraud the public as well as governmental agencies by misrepresenting the  amount  of proceeds being donated to charities affiliated with Veterans Administration”.

The business was a front  for  gambling focused  more  on making  money for  the promoters  than  for the veterans  they  claimed to  be  helping.  It is  said  that  as  much  as  98% of the proceeds  went into   the  pockets  of those  behind  the  scenes leaving only  2% for the  men and  women they  claimed to  be  helping.   All locations  are now closed and  shuttered.

 

Jennifer Carroll with Florida governor Rick Scott

Jennifer Carroll with Florida governor Rick Scott. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Lt Governor Jennifer Carroll has  resigned  over  connections  to the  chain if  internet  cafe’s  she  once  represented.  Carroll consulted for Allied Veterans while serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 2009 and 2010.  She was interviewed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers  regarding her work with Allied Veterans.   Lt. Gov. Carroll  has allegedly resigned in an effort to keep her former affiliations   from distraction from the administration’s  work on behalf of Florida families

 

Fraternal order  of Police  Foundation  has  also  been connected  to  the  illegal  gambling outfit.  Having  accepted  $90,000 over the  last  two  years  in donations  for  Allied  Veterans.

Nelson Cuba , Union President  of FOP and  Robbie Freitas have  been  detained  on  alleged business relationships  with  Allied  Veterans.

 

 

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Published on Mar 13, 2013

An Internet cafe in Vero Beach is shut down after federal agents were seen going in and out of the business, but area veterans say they’re glad to see it closed.

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Mosquitoes as big as quarters which can bite through clothing are headed to Florida this summer : Meet Psorophora ciliata, or Gallinipper mosquitoes

Filed under: Biological Hazard, Earth Watch Report, Global Disaster Watch — 2 Comments
March 7, 2013

Super-sized mosquitoes as big as quarters which can bite through clothing are headed to Florida ‘in large numbers’ this summer

By Katie Davies

PUBLISHED: 16:21 EST, 6 March 2013 | UPDATED: 17:04 EST, 6 March 2013

 

Mega-mosquitoes which are the size of quarters are expected to take over areas of Florida ‘in large numbers’ this summer, scientists have warned.

The special breed of the nuisance bug, which can be 20 times bigger than common menacing Asian tiger mosquitoes, are described as ‘notoriously aggressive’.

They were handed the perfect breeding ground by last year’s tropical storms, according to scientists at the University of Florida, so are coming to a town near you.

 

Super-sized: Scientist says mega mosquitoes also known as gallnippers, left, could be common in central Florida this summer. They can be 20 times bigger than typical Asian tiger mosquitoesSuper-sized: Scientist says mega mosquitoes also known as gallinippers, left, could be common in central Florida this summer. They can be 20 times bigger than typical Asian tiger mosquitoes

‘Because of the events last year, and the eggs laid, we can expect large numbers of these mosquitoes again,’ Entomologist Phil Kaufman, an associate professor with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, told the Gainsville Sun.

‘It is quite capable of biting through my shirt.

‘We suggest people wear long-sleeve pants and shirts. Just doing that may not be enough for this type of mosquito; you’re going to have use one of the insect repellants to dissuade them from landing.’

‘The bite really hurts, I can attest to that,’ he told science site phys.org.

Psorophora ciliata, or Gallinipper mosquitoes as they are commonly known, have half inch long bodies and the same black-white color pattern of the more common Asian Tiger Mosquito with a wingspan of 6-7 millimeters.

OuchOuch: Mega-mosquito bites hurt much more than usual mosquito bites according to the experts, who say the insects can even bite through clothing

 

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Quarter-Sized Mosquitoes Really Exist

If you dislike mosquitoes, you’ll really have daggers for the gallinipper — a giant mosquito that is about 20 times the size of a regular mosquito. It’s big enough to cover a quarter.The insect lives in low-lying areas that overflow with water. They are native to the eastern half of North America, but come out in large numbers when an area is hit by heavy rain, such as in a tropical storm or hurricane.

Florida was invaded by the gallinipper last summer after Tropical Storm Debbie. The case is likely to be the same this year, University of Florida entomologist Phil Kaufman said in a statement.

The whopper of a bug has an equally big bite, which can really hurt when its mouth pierces the skin, says Kaufman. As with other mosquitoes, only the females bite and feed on blood.

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Tens of thousands of sharks have been spotted along South Florida’s coast, closing down beaches across the area and forcing swimmers out of the water.

Filed under: Biological Hazard, Earth Watch Report, Global Disaster Watch — 2 Comments
March 7, 2013

Beachgoers told to stay OUT of the water as tens of thousands of sharks are seen migrating along the Florida coast

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 17:19 EST, 6 March 2013 | UPDATED: 18:36 EST, 6 March 2013

Tens of thousands of sharks have been spotted along South Florida’s coast, closing down beaches across the area and forcing swimmers out of the water.

The sharks are heading north after migrating to the south for the winter in such droves that experts believe swimmers could be within 60 feet of a shark while in the water in the Palm Beach area.

Several beaches have been closed to swimmers as red flags dot the sand.

Craig Pollock, a lifeguard superviser at Midtown Beach, told the Palm Beach Daily News that Tuesday was the the first day he has seen the sharks out in such massive numbers.

 

Lurking: Sharks can be seen swimming in schools along the south Florida coast as they migrate northLurking: Sharks can be seen swimming in schools along the south Florida coast as they migrate north

The sharks were spotted just yards off the coastThe sharks were spotted just yards off the coast

‘We got here this morning and they were thick, really thick,’ he said on Tuesday. ‘They were frenzied and chasing bait all the way up to shore. They were practically right on the sand.’

Dr. Stephen Kajiura, an associate professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University, researches shark migration and has been monitoring sharks across Palm Beach County since 2011.

‘Coming into March, we’re getting tens of thousands of sharks close to shore,’ he said. ‘In one flight from the Boca Raton Inlet to the Jupiter Inlet, we counted over 15,000 sharks less than 200 yards from shore.

‘That’s 1,000 sharks per square kilometer. If you were a swimmer, you would probably be within 60 feet of a shark.’

Even though they were clothed and on the shore, gawkers were still only feet away from the sharksEven though they were clothed and on the shore, gawkers were still only feet away from the sharks

 

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