Thursday, August 2, 2012

The U.S. created the car-culture, now Asia is paying the price

Torrential rains batter Taiwan, 14 dead in Philippines | CP24: "Packing sustained winds of 118 kilometres (74 miles) per hour and gusts of 155 kph (97 mph), Saola's slow speed -- only 12 kph (7 mph) -- made it a virtual certainty that the heavy rains inundating northern Taiwan for the past 48 hours would continue through the weekend. That raised the prospect of potentially devastating flooding in areas that have already absorbed more than 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) of rain since Tuesday.

Authorities ordered offices and businesses closed throughout northern Taiwan, including in Taipei. Normally busy streets in the capital were deserted during the morning rush hour, as cleanup crews laboured to clear them of hundreds of trees and branches felled during the night by Saola's ferocious approach."

'via Blog this'