Texans battled rain and flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin as Gulf Coast residents cast a wary eye toward powerful Hurricane Dean, which strengthened as it made its way through the Caribbean.
At least six people died this week because of Erin's thunderstorms. One person remained missing.
Dean, which forecasters said could threaten parts of the US by Wednesday, blew through the Caribbean on Friday with 160kph winds, tearing away roofs and flooding streets as it became a powerful Category 4 storm.
Dean's winds strengthened to 241kph early yesterday and it was expected to steer next week into the Gulf of Mexico, with its 4,000 oil and gas platforms.
Dean was centered about 1,060km southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 390km south of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
It was moving west at 27kph.
Although forecasters said it was too early to tell whether the storm would eventually strike the US coast somewhere, state officials were preparing for the worst.
Texas Governor Rick Perry declared the storm an "imminent threat" and initiated full-scale preparations.
Fuel trucks were dispatched to coastal communities, storm-response task forces were put on alert and supply trucks and other resources were pre-positioned along evacuation routes.
"It's so far out, but it's not too early to start preparing," Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said.
"We have more notice than with Erin. We're glad for that especially since [Dean] is projected to bring some strength," she said.
Harris County, Texas, Judge Ed Emmett, the executive of the county that includes Houston, called Erin's rain and flooding "a wet run" for the impending Dean.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency on Friday and requested a federal declaration that would allow federal resources to flow to the state should Dean strike any part of the Louisiana coast.
Forecast projections showed a slim chance of the storm jumping northward toward Louisiana, but it was enough to put Louisiana emergency preparedness officials on high alert, given the weakened condition of the state's coastline since it was pummeled by hurricanes Katrina and Rita a little less than two years ago.
Summer storms have poured record rainfall across Texas and parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, with floods killing 22 people since the middle of June.
Hurricane specialists expect this year's Atlantic hurricane season -- June 1 to Nov. 30 -- to be busier than average, with as many as 16 tropical storms, nine of them strengthening into hurricanes.
Ten tropical storms developed in the Atlantic last year, but only two made landfall in the US.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique