Free Republic

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Powerful winds during a night in which "all hell broke loose" have pushed a raging wildfire to the doorstep of this wealthy coastal city, threatening to destroy dozens more homes and leading to the evacuation of more than 20,000 people. Firefighters were putting out roof fires Friday as gusts drove the flames down from the steep canyons above Santa Barbara and started burning homes in the residential flatlands. Once tame, the fire front now stretches for five miles, city Fire Chief Andrew DiMizio said. "Literally last night, all hell broke loose," he said.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Xinhua) -- A cruise ship ran aground off the coast of the U.S. state of Alaska early Monday, and over 200 passengers and crew members are being evacuated, U.S. TV networks reported. The accident took place off Alaska's eastern peninsula near Juneau, CNN quoted Coast Guard officials as saying. The Coast Guard has sent a cutter and a helicopter to the scene, and has asked all boats nearby to help evacuate the 281 passengers and crew, Fox News reported. Dozens of people have been rescued from the 110-meter-long Empress of the North, the report said. The ship,...

China hit by strongest typhoon for half a century · 1.5 million evacuated, state of emergency declared· Summer of damage for storm-devastated region Jonathan Watts in Beijing Friday August 11, 2006The Guardian (UK) The most powerful typhoon to strike China for half a century tore into one of the country's manufacturing heartlands yesterday, killing at least two people, injuring 80 and forcing the evacuation of 1.5 million residents. With winds of up to 135mph, typhoon Saomai hit the coastal town of Mazhan in Zhejiang province, dumping a torrent of rain on a region still recovering from earlier floods. A dozen...

Newspaper of spiritual leader, Khamenei, claims that government bodies in Israel have been evacuated to Jerusalem and that it even has proof. Tuesday Hizbullah flag flown above Iranian parliament Iranian conservative newspaper, Kayhan, claimed Thursday in its top story that "Tel Aviv has been evacuated." The newspaper, associated with the spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tends to exaggerate about anything connected to reports on Israel. It seemed Thursday that the imagination of the Iranian editors spilled over. According to the newspaper's editors, "Following the recent threats of Hassan Nasrallah, some of the Israeli government bodies were evacuated from Tel Aviv...

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2006 – A total of 341 Americans successfully convoyed out of southern Lebanon and are shipping out of Beirut harbor for Cyprus, State Department officials said today. Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, said the bus convoy got the Americans to the harbor, where they are boarding the Orient Queen cruise ship. They are among the 2,250 Americans that left Lebanon today. "That brings the total of assisted departures to 3,850, and there are another 400 people our embassy in Damascus has confirmed have made it out by land to Syria," Harty said during...

SHANGHAI (AP) - Tropical Storm Chanchu swept into the East China Sea Friday leaving behind a path of destruction in southern China, where it killed at least 11 people and left 27 Vietnamese fishermen missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters. Chanchu, downgraded early Thursday from a typhoon, has killed at least 50 people in Asia, including 37 last weekend in the Philippines, where it destroyed thousands of homes. There were fears the death toll could rise dramatically. Chanchu hit China Thursday, flooding scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 1 million people before weakening to...

Seeing all the tragedy in New Orleans is bad enough, but to see how the local leaders of this community failed to serve their people is inexcusable.

On Saturday, July 17, an unknown shooter wounded an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, police officer, then faded into the night. Was the shot fired by a partying teenager? Was it an accidental discharge from another officer's gun? Was it a mistake or an intentional assault? No one knows. What happened next is unclear; everyone gives a different version of the events. According to the most credible reports, the Oshkosh PD evacuated a several block area. Without warrants in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, SWAT teams and police dogs descended on the neighborhood. Officers got consent to search homes. (It's logical to...

Hundreds Evacuated Because of Chemical Leak on I-80 in Pa. The Associated Press Published: Feb 2, 2004 BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) - About a thousand people were evacuated from their homes and 16 miles of Interstate 80 were shut down Monday night after a tanker truck leaked a hazardous chemical at a rest stop, authorities said. Homes in Mifflin Township within half a mile of the rest area in north-central Pennsylvania were evacuated, Columbia County Emergency Management Director Irene Miller said, and the highway was closed in both directions. State police said it was not immediately clear how long the hazard...

<p>July 15 (Bloomberg) -- A heat wave in Europe is melting Switzerland's glaciers and causing chunks of the Swiss Alps to break off, prompting the evacuation of climbers and hikers, Agence France-Presse reported.</p> <p>In southern Switzerland, helicopters ferried about 70 people from the Matterhorn after a rock face on the 3,400-meter (11,155- foot) peak crumbled, AFP said. A portion of a glacier near the Alpine resort of Grindelwald also broke away and fell into the Luetschine river, causing a surge of water downstream. Police warned people several miles away to stay away from the river, AFP cited the Swiss news agency ATS as saying.</p>

LONDON: Britain will arm itself with new legislation to allow police and military to evacuate or quarantine by force large parts of London and other cities in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack. The special powers are likely to form part of a "civil contingencies" Bill to be published shortly. According to the Ministry of Defence, a new 7,000-strong Civil Contingency Reaction Force, to be deployed next year to 14 regions around the UK, would have the option of carrying arms. Live ammunition could be used in major cases of unrest. A "semi-live" test of London's ability to handle...

A few minutes ago the fire entered the west part of town with several houses on fire..pray UPDATES BEING POSTED HERE

HEBRON, Kentucky (AP) - The main terminal at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport was evacuated for three hours on Sunday after a security incident involving a passenger waiting to board an airliner. Airport Police Chief Chuck Melville said the man passed the main checkpoint, but during a random search at the gate, Comair employees found marijuana. "He alleged he had a penknife, but no penknife was found," Melville said. The statement alone prompted the evacuation, Melville said. "He said he had one, so we have to take it as if he had one," he said. The man did not attempt to...

Tornado headed towards Kansas City Airport. All persons taking cover.