Free Republic

ISLAMABAD: The worst floods in the living memory of Pakistan remained an obvious topic of concern for the diplomatic corps in Islamabad throughout the week as Europeans and especially UN officials questioned the response of the Muslim world to a mammoth disaster wreaking havoc in the second-most populated Muslim country of the world. Few gatherings of foreign emissaries rallied around the unending phases of floods happening in across the country, devastating over 15 million people and destroying over two million acres of standing crops while washing away millions of homes and state structures in over 70 – 37 directly and...

At midnight on Sunday, August 8th, a temporary lake caused by a recent landslide broke loose above the town of Zhouqu, in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. The outflow slid down the valley as a wall of mud, wiping out houses and muli-story buildings, and killing at least 1,144 residents - with over 600 still reported as missing. More than 10,000 soldiers and rescuers arrived soon to comb through the mountains of mud that buried several parts of Zhouqu County.

BEIJING – Record-high water levels at China's massive Three Gorges Dam have called into question Beijing's claims that the world's largest hydroelectric project could withstand a 10,000-year flood. The water level reached 518 feet (158 meters) Saturday morning, just 55 feet (17 meters) from the reservoir's maximum capacity of 573 feet (175 meters), flood control headquarters in the central province of Hubei told The Associated Press. Water could go higher with China's national weather center issuing a warning Saturday of more torrential rains for the region through 8 a.m. Sunday.

GULFPORT, Miss. — A morning flight over the Mississippi Sound showed long, wide ribbons of orange-colored oil for as far as the eye could see and acres of both heavy and light sheen moving into the Sound between the barrier islands. What was missing was any sign of skimming operations from Horn Island to Pass Christian. U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor got off the flight angry. "It’s criminal what’s going on out there," Taylor said minutes later. "This doesn’t have to happen.” A scientist onboard, Mike Carron with the Northern Gulf Institute, said with this scenario,

The search for nearly two dozen people who disappeared after flash floods swept through a popular campground went from desperate to grim on Saturday, after teams that scoured miles of river and rugged wilderness found just two bodies. The last time someone was found alive was late Friday morning, hours after a pre-dawn wall of water surprised sleeping campers at the Albert Pike Recreation Area, leaving them frantically trying to scramble up the steep terrain in the dark. As the swollen rivers subsided and the hours ticked by Saturday, anguished relatives waiting for word of loved ones grew more and...

<p>Authorities have identified a 47-year-old woman who drowned as her car sunk into a retention pond Friday night after she unsuccessfully tried to save the vehicle from rising water.</p> <p>Cassandra Bryant, of the 1400 block of Blue Bell in north Harris County, was southbound on the North Freeway service road around 10 p.m. when rising water prompted her to maneuver the car inadvertently into the pond.</p>

It is now glaringly obvious that President Obama has offered little moral support to the citizens of Nashville Tennessee and the surrounding areas that have been devastated by the recent flood. Has the President visited the area? No. Has he done a "fly by?" No. Has he held a press conference discussing this tragedy, and the valor of those who are rebuilding? No. The obvious question is, why? Why has the Obama administration all but ignored one of the largest non-hurricane disasters in American history? Is the death toll not high enough? Are the citizens too self-reliant? Was there not...

Beginning Saturday, May 1, Nashville and surrounding counties in Tennessee received one-fourth of our yearly rainfall in about 48 hours. Since I now view everything through survivalist eyes, I’d like to share what I observed and the lessons that were reinforced. Lesson: Good neighbors can help prevent loss of life during a disaster. While our emergency responders were great, they couldn’t be everywhere. The greatest good was done by ordinary citizens helping each other, such as the ladies who made one hundred peanut butter sandwiches for hungry volunteers, first responders, and media. People checked on their neighbors and, in some...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- WSMV-TV Channel 4 will broadcast Working 4 You: Flood Relief with Vince Gill & Friends on Thursday, May 6, in prime time from 7 to 10 p.m. Nashville and the surrounding middle Tennessee communities have been devastated by floodwaters after the area received 15 inches of rain within a 48-hour time period. Thousands of middle Tennesseans have been evacuated from their homes with many losing everything to the flood. Many of the victims do not have flood insurance, and the demands on relief agencies are stretched to the limit. “These are our friends and family; we always...

The flood in Nashville is a huge disaster the mainstream media gave only gave 15 minutes of attention too. Watch this amazing video. The video is here.

A great American city is currently buried under a sea of water, but you may not know much about it given all the attention media have given to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the failed car bomb attempt in New York's Times Square. The rain totals are almost unimaginable as is the flooding. Damage estimates at this point have already surpassed a billion dollars, and are likely to go higher. Several of my readers have asked me to post the following video. I cried most of the time I watched. See if you can control your...

On the day a body was recovered from the area's worst storm in years, the federal government declared Shelby and Tipton counties disaster areas. The declaration, requested by Gov. Phil Bredesen, clears the way for federal aid to areas damaged by flooding. It brings to 10 the number of Tennessee counties declared disaster areas. Four of the counties are in West Tennessee -- Dyer and McNairy were also added Wednesday -- which was hit hard by flooding and wind. The other six to receive the designation -- Cheatham, Davidson, Hickman, Montgomery, Perry and Williamson -- are in Middle Tennessee. That...

Mild temperatures and sunshine made Tuesday nice for walking the banks of Green River, but Ronda Wood and her siblings weren’t marching the streamside for fun. Monday evening, Wood’s brother, 55-year-old Radcliff resident Bobby Atcher, disappeared during a risky, swift-water paddle of Green River with his friend, Gary Tyler. The pair launched their boats before noon behind a Munfordville school. They shrugged off a warning from a city police officer trying to convince them not to paddle the river, which was about 30 feet above flood stage when they launched. One couple even took a photo of the risk-takers as...

Allow me a moment to step away from the usual voice of this website. What I am about to write has absolutely nothing to do with hockey. If you live outside of Nashville, you may not be aware, but our city was hit by a 500-year flood over the last few days. The national news coverage gave us 15 minutes, but went back to focusing on a failed car bomb and an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While both are clearly important stories, was that any reason to ignore our story? It may not be as terror-sexy as...

I am proud to be a resident in a state known as the Volunteer State. Tennessee picked up that moniker when during the war of 1812 Tennesseans volunteered far and above the average to go fight for our country. Since that date Tennesseans have always had a very high volunteer rate for wars, for humanitarian relief efforts, for anything that requires being a "bit neighborly." From Davey Crockett in the Alamo to Sergent Alvin York in World War I, Tennesseans have been heroic in their volunteering efforts to such an extent that the name has become synonymous with the state....

<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The sprawling Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Nashville's cornerstone in the travel industry, is closed indefinitely because of floodwaters from the nearby Cumberland River.</p> <p>On Monday, neatly arranged dining tables at the resort east of downtown were sitting in up to 10 feet of dirty water as crates of wine glasses floated by.</p>

Governor meets with FEMA on floodingPosted: May 04, 2010 1:18 PM EDT NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen met with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on Monday in response to the historic flooding experienced in the Nashville area. "Governor Bredesen and I had a productive meeting with our local partners and talked about the coordinated response in Tennessee," Fugate said in a press released issued Tuesday. "President Obama and Secretary Napolitano have asked me to ensure that state and local officials on the ground have the support they need, and I will report back to them on the response operations."...

MEMPHIS, — At least five people died and hundreds were being evacuated Saturday as heavy rains pounded Tennessee, causing widespread flooding across the state. The forecast called for more rain through the weekend. The five deaths were storm related, but the exact causes were not yet known, Jeremy Heidt, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said Saturday evening. Hundreds of homes had been evacuated and shelters were being opened across the state for people stranded due to flooded roads. Heidt said crews were called out for swift-water rescues from Nashville to Memphis. “It’s so widespread, it’s a very serious...

MEMPHIS — Six people were killed in Tennessee and three in northern Mississippi by a line of storms that brought heavy flooding and tornados to the region over the weekend. More rain and storms loomed Sunday as emergency officials in Tennessee sought help from the state's Army National Guard, and urged people to stay off roads and interstate highways turned into raging rivers. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency revised the death toll downward about an hour after announcing that eight people had been killed. On Sunday morning, the agency asked for the state's National Guard to help with rescue operations...

Wow, I live here and this is unbelievable!!! Watching Channel 2 in Nashville...they have Live streaming