Italian Inundations

Two days of torrential down-pours in southern Italy unleashed flash flooding and mudslides that killed at least 46 people. Rescue teams rushed to locate many others who were feared buried under a thick layer of mud. Rivers and streams in the region burst their banks, sending water and mud roaring down narrow streets and tearing apart houses and bridges. Some residents were forced to spend the night on their highest floors or rooftops to escape the inundations. Civil defense officials say that, from Naples to Salerno, more than 3,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Norwegian Whale Hunt

Norway has authorized another season of whale hunting in the North Sea in defiance of a worldwide ban on commercial whaling. The country resumed the hunting of minke whales in 1993 after a six-year-self-imposed moratorium. The government says it will allow the killing of 671 whales this season, an increase of 30% over last year. Although there is an official ban on the export of whale products, a thriving black market exists, mainly to Japan. Several Norwegian manufacturers are drawing up plans to resume rendering the blubber for use in lubricants, cosmetics and soaps.

Mexican Wildfires

The death toll from wildfires in Mexico rose to 23, with the military blaming drug traffickers for setting the fires in the states of Michoacan and Guerrero. Nineteen of the victims were local residents fighting a huge fire in Puebla state. The others perished in the states of Tlaxcala and Veracruz. Environment Minister Julia Carabias said that many of the fires were ignited by farmers burning off brush from their fields.

Costa Rican Eruption

Costa Rica’s Arenal volcano spewed lava and sent clouds of ash and smoke soaring high into the sky. Officials declared a state of emergency and evacuated more than 400 people in the area. The region around Arenal is a popular tourist destination because of its hot springs and scenic village of La Fortuna. The volcano was dormant for 450 years until it burst back into life June 29, 1968, killing 95 people.

Earthquakes

Residents of Okinawa and several smaller Japanese islands were advised to move away from low-lying coastal areas after a powerful quake shook the seabed Monday morning. Tremors were also felt in Taiwan, Japan, the northern Philippines, western Burma, the eastern Black Sea, Romania, northern Colombia and the Los Angeles area.

California Twisters

Two days of severe thunderstorms rumbling across both Northern and Southern Californiaproduced strings of tornadoes that caused localized damage. Scores of homes were damaged from one twister in the Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco.

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Additional Sources: U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the United Nations World Meteorological Organization