Monday, May 26, 2008

DEADLY DISASTER BY NUMBERS

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-05-26-china-earthquake-mainbar_N.htm?csp=34

"ANXIAN, China (AP) — China grappled with backed-up rivers and reservoirs in danger of collapse, along with looming storms heralding the start of rainy season that threatened Monday to compound damage from the country's worst earthquake in three decades.
Two weeks after the magnitude-7.9 earthquake centered in Sichuan province, the confirmed death toll rose to 65,080, the Cabinet said. The government has said the final number of dead is expected to exceed 80,000.

Many of the disaster victims were children, prompting officials to clarify the country's strict one-child policy guidelines.

The Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee in the capital of Sichuan province said Monday that families whose children were killed, severely injured or disabled in the quake can get a certificate to have another child."

DEADLY DISASTER BY NUMBERS
Latest facts about the May 12 earthquake that struck a city in China's Sichuan province, the country's worst in 30 years:

Magnitude: 7.9 (U.S.); 8.0 (China).

Disaster area population: 20 million.

Missing: 29,328.

Injured: 288,431.

Homeless: 5 million.

Classrooms destroyed: 6,898.

Orphans: 4,000.

Tents needed: 3.3 million.

Animals killed: 12.5 million.

Company losses: $9.5 billion.

Reconstruction: $10 billion government fund.

Sources: Chinese government

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

China: 40,000 dead, 5 million homeless after quake

I cannot believe all the earthquakes, tornadoes, and crazy storms the world has ben having lately. I just ask for you to join me in praying for everyone that has been affected by this catastrophe. -Me

"CHENGDU, China - Rescuers freed a 60-year-old woman Tuesday who was trapped for more than 195 hours after last week's earthquake and had survived by drinking rainwater, while the confirmed death toll rose to more than 40,000."

"The tales of survival came after the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 40,075, according to the State Council, China's Cabinet. Officials have said the final number killed by the quake was expected to surpass 50,000.

Five million people lost their homes in the quake, said Jiang Li, vice minister of civil affairs.

The government was setting up temporary housing for victims unable to find shelter with relatives, but there was a "desperate need for tents" to accommodate them, she said.

Nearly 280,000 tents have been shipped to the area and 700,000 more ordered, with factories working triple shifts to meet demand.

"Despite generous donations, the disaster is so great that victims still face a challenge in finding living accommodations," Jiang said.

In Washington, President Bush and his wife, Laura, visited the Chinese Embassy to sign a condolence book for quake victims and said the country was "ready to assist in any manner that China deems helpful."

"We stand with you during this tragic moment as you mourn the loss of so many of your loved ones and search for those still missing," Bush wrote, before pausing for a moment of silence.

China has said it will accept foreign medical teams, as the relief efforts shift from searching for survivors to caring for the homeless. A growing number of countries responded to the call, dispatching doctors to the quake area Tuesday.

A Russian medical team with a mobile hospital arrived Tuesday in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. A 37-member medical team sent by the Taiwan Red Cross organization also arrived in the disaster zone.

A 23-member medical team from Japan also departed Tuesday for China, replacing a rescue team in the disaster zone, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Crews of doctors were also en route from Germany and Italy, Qin said.

At the West China Hospital in Chengdu, staff were trying to find relatives of victims being treated. A relief tent in the courtyard doubled as a bulletin board displaying about 50 snapshots of people who had not been claimed by families, mostly elderly patients or children."

"Nearer the epicenter in the town of An Xian, a crew of volunteers arrived from Tangshan, the Chinese city that suffered the country's worst quake in 1976 that killed at least 240,000 people"

- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake

Monday, May 12, 2008

52 total tornadoes in OK, MI, & GA over the weekend

"In all, 22 people were killed in the tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia."

"National Weather Service assessment teams determined the twister that hit Picher had an EF-4 rating, the second highest rating, and was 1 mile wide at its widest point, meteorologist Mike Teague said Monday.

The tornado's winds were estimated at 165 to 175 mph, and the damage track stretched 74 miles - 29 in Oklahoma and another 45 in Missouri, where 15 people were killed.

"These storms are fairly rare to be that strong. The devastation was nearly complete in a few areas," Teague said. "Albeit isolated, there were some sections of neighborhoods where houses were just completely taken off the foundation. Gone."

The tornado could be the ultimate incentive for those 800 or so residents who have been reluctant to leave, now that most of their homes have been ruined, Sparkman said."

52 Total Tornadoes over the weekend in Ok, Mi, and Ga!

-http://www.ktva.com/topstories/ci_9235294

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Blood clot

Yesterday when I first got in my chair, I felt bad and blood was coming out of my catheter. So my first reaction was to drink tons of water. Well after an hour and a half, I still didn't urinate at all. I started havind AD (Autonaumic Dysreflexia) which is the symptoms spinal cord injury persons get instead of pain. It involves sweating, hot flashes, chills with goosebumps, clammy/cold hands, pounding headache, and jusst an overall bad feeling. It feels like my body is sweating on the inside.

Anyway, I realized my catheter was clogged. So we used this syringe type thing that flushes out the catheter. We put some water in it and flushed out my bladder. And this big blood clot and tons of calcium deposits came out. Calcium deposits are from me not using my legs... I loose calcium which looks like sand granules. I immediately started feeling better but it was so scary.

Summer School!

I just enrolled in summer school @ CCCCD! Wish me luck!