26th - CHINA - WORST DROUGHT IN 50 YEARS - in the central
province of Hubei nearly 988,000 acres of grain
have been parched in one of China's biggest wheat
producing areas. The Danjiangkou Reservoir, on Hubei's Hanjiang
River, has dropped to a record low level.
The ongoing drought has also affected north
China's province of Shanxi, destroying at least
772,000 acres of wheat, which accounts for almost
one third of the province's average harvest.
Officials reported that nearly three million people
and 280,000 head of livestock do not have
sufficient water. 
26th - FLORIDA - WILDFIRES - High winds fueled a wildfire
burning in a central Florida swamp, forcing dozens
of evacuations and threatening about 12 homes.
The 1,800-acre blaze
spread through east-central Florida,
and smoke from the fire could be seen as far as
downtown Orlando.
Since Jan. 1, more than 2,240 wildfires have
started in the state, burning about 70,000 acres of
timber and grassland. A fire in early April burned
15,000 acres in the Naples area.
25TH - GUATEMALA AND BELIZE - WILDFIRES STILL RAGING - near Mexico's Yucatan
Peninsula. The fires, which have been raging in
Central America for almost a month, continue to
plague the region.
The region has been hit with dry weather and hot
temperatures, hindering efforts to control the
blazes. 
25th - HUNGARY - MORE FLOOD WARNINGS -
Authorities
issued warnings to
thousands of residents
as rising temperatures could increase snow
melt, possibly causing more flooding.
18,000 workers
labored to reinforce the dikes of the Tisza River
and its tributaries. At least 1,200 miles of the
rivers' banks are in need strengthening to prevent
further flooding disasters.
25TH - ORISSA, INDIA - HEATWAVE - 7 DEAD -
Victims of
the devastating
supercylone that ravaged
India's coastal state of
Orissa six months ago are
now caught in the grips of a heatwave that is
sweeping the state. Authorities reported that at
least seven people have died in the scorching heat.
More than a million people who lost their homes in
the cyclone last October have been enduring
temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit with only
the scanty protection of makeshift shelters.
Renubala Patro, the only survivor in a family of
five, said, "It's getting hotter by the day and it
seems we are being burned alive." 
24th - HAWAII - BANANA VIRUS MAY DESTROY AT LEAST HALF THE CROP -
An outbreak of banana bunchy top
virus
was discovered by farmers in
Kauai, and the extent of the disease was not yet
known. The virus is spread by aphids that eat the
leaves and spread the disease from tree to tree.
Banana bunchy top virus cannot affect humans, but
is fatal to banana trees. Bananas from trees
infected with the virus are safe to eat.
24TH - LOUISIANA - TORNADOES - 12 people were injured.
24th - BANGLADESH - TORNADO - 19 DEAD -
1,000 others injured by
a tornado and hail storms that leveled a string of
communities. Dozens of residents were
left missing in the wake of the violent weather that
swept through three districts, ravaging the region
for more than one hour.
24th - GUJARAT, INDIA - WORST DROUGHT IN 100 YEARS -
causing clashes
with authorities. Hundreds of thousands of cattle and goats have
died because of the parched conditions, and
officials fear that farmers who have lost crops and
cattle will be forced to depend on food aid for years
to come.
Monsoon rains are not predicted before the end of
June and temperatures in the region have been
unseasonably hot. 
20th - AFGHANISTAN - UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT -
has hit the rural areas
surrounding Afghanistan's
capital of Kabul, killing the
wheat crops of many farmers who cannot afford to
pay to have water trucked in. The
situation is likely to worsen because the rainy
season is ending and the next rainfall is not
expected until the end of the year.
The drought, which first struck southern Afghani
provinces, has now begun to affect residents in the
capital where the single source of irrigation water is
from the Kabul River, which is drying up.
20th - FRENCH GUIANA - MUDSLIDES - 3 DEAD - 9 missing.
20th - MANITOBA - FIRE FUNNEL - 1 DEAD - a huge
fire of burning straw generated a whirlwind that
lifted a man's pickup truck and carried it 165 feet away
into a field. The "fire
funnel" occurred when heat rising from the fire
collided with cold air aloft.
20th - ECUADOR - ANOTHER MUDSLIDE - 9 DEAD -
buried alive when an
avalanche of mud and rock hit the country's Pacific
coast. The slide, triggered by incessant rain, also
buried three homes and damaged a number of
others.
19th - AUSTRALIA - TROPICAL CYCLONE ROSITA - the strongest storm to hit the country
since Tropical Cyclone John struck last December.
John was termed the most powerful cyclone ever to
hit Australia. Sideswiped
northwestern Australia's city of Broome -
the category-four storm was packing winds of up to
168 mph at its center as it crossed the coast,
tearing down power lines and uprooting trees.
There were no serious injuries reported.
Cable Beach, known for its white sand beaches, was
pounded by huge storm-surge waves generated by
Rosita and stripped of its sand down to bare rock.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said, "Broome
was very, very lucky, Rosita veered towards the
town but then veered away at the last minute."
Rosita was downgraded to a tropical depression on
as it moved inland where flooding is
predicted from the storm's heavy rains in desert
regions.
19th - SOMALIA - CHOLERA EPIDEMIC - 110 DEAD - An ongoing
drought and famine has caused people to become
weak and vulnerable to the disease, which is
spread by infected water.
19th - KANSAS - 4 TORNADOES - NO DEATHS -
27 people injured,
numerous homes and businesses damaged.
The tornadoes were spun off a line of severe
weather that stretched from Missouri to Kansas. 
17th - MEXICO - POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO ERUPTION - sent a plume of ash
6,560 feetinto the sky over the state of Puebla. Reports are that the
explosion was not associated with an increase in
the eruptive phase of the 17,883-foot-high
volcano. The monitering center is maintaining an ongoing
yellow alert for the danger zone surrounding the
mountain.
17th - JAPAN - MOUNT USU VOLCANO ERUPTED - once again, spewing black smoke and forcing officials
to close key roads and to stop evacuated residents'
visits to their homes.
An aerial survey revealed
that craters on the west side of the mountain were
very active. The smoke plumes
were caused by underground magma explosions
and volcanologists are monitoring falling
levels of underground water that has been
responsible for restraining violent magma activity.
17th - ECUADOR - 2 VOLCANOES ERUPTED, GUAGUA PICHINCHA AND TUNGURAHUA - forcing officials to issue alerts for
communities near the bases of both mountains.
Guagua Pichincha spewed clouds of vapor 1,640
feet into the sky over the capital Quito.
Volcanologists warned that the
15,728-foot-high volcano, located six miles to the
west of Quito, could experience a major eruption in
coming days.
17th - INDIAN OCEAN - TROPICAL CYCLONE ROSITA -
formed
late Monday over the
Indian Ocean. Rosita
rapidly intensified as it
began moving on an erratic path toward the west
coast of Australia.
Rosita shifted course several times before
establishing its southeasterly trajectory for the
coastal city of Port Hedland where it is predicted to
make landfall late Wednesday.
17th - ECUADOR - MORE LANDSLIDES - 15 DEAD -
caused by six days of
nonstop rain, destroyed
homes and forced scores of evacuations in the
Ecuadorian capital city of Quito.
The rains started last Wednesday and have
continued since then, causing about 150 landslides
and the emergency evacuation of 180 people. More rain is predicted.
17th - CALIFORNIA - FLOODING - 2 DEAD - more than 3
inches of rain in Southern
California caused flooding
and hundreds of
accidents, including one that killed the two people.
Pounding rains and a possible tornado have
battered the region for two days, flooding streets
from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and causing 75
car accidents per hour. One accident involved 25 cars.
16th - ECUADOR - MUDSLIDES - 1 DEAD - at least
10 other people left injured in the Ecuadorian
capital of Quito.
A least six communities were blanketed by
avalanches of mud and rock that cascaded down
the slopes of the ravines that encircle Quito. Practically the entire
southern sector of the city has collapsed owing to
floods and falling houses.
16th - SICILY - MOUNT ETNA ERUPTION -
spewed ash and lava into the
Mediterranean sky from craters on its southeastern
slopes.
Communities close to the volcano were not
threatened as lava from the mountain flowed into
an uninhabited valley. The volcano had been quiet after a spectacular
eruption 13 days ago.
16th - ERITREA, DJIBOUTI, KENYA, SOMALIA, SUDAN, BURUNDI - DROUGHT & CROP FAILURES - More than 8 million people are in desperate
need of food aid after years of drought.
16th - HUNGARY - FLOODS WORSEN - dikes along the Tisza River threatened to collapse
under the pressure of floodwaters. More than 4,000
residents in the stricken region have been forced to
flee their homes.
Water levels in the Tisza exceeded all previous
record levels at 10:00 a.m. when they
reached nearly 35 feet near the city of Szolnok. Officials reported that accelerated snow melt,
triggered by warmer than usual temperatures in the
Carpathian Mountains, has caused yet another
flood wave to form.
16th - HONG KONG - FLASH FLOODS - 8 DEAD - five others left missing -
At least 21 landslides were also set off by the
incessant rain and flash flooding. 25 inches of rain fell on
the region within a 24-hour period.
15th - BANGLADESH - POWERFUL STORM - 3 DEAD -
numerous others left injured when a powerful
storm swept through 19 districts of Bangladesh
leveling homes, disrupting power
supplies, and damaging crops.
15th - WYOMING - SANDSTORM - packing winds of up
to 70 mph blasted through Rawlins,
smashing windows and damaging at least
35 cars.
The brief storm rapidly accelerated to hurricane
force and caused temperatures to plummet 20
degrees in less than 30 minutes. Witnesses
reported that the storm began with a spinning cloud
that many feared would turn into a tornado.
14th - RUSSIA - FLASH FLOODING - 1 MISSING - More than 1,110 homes were
submerged when southern Russia's
Ural River burst its banks.
14TH - FLORIDA - WILDFIRES - Heavy rains helped
dampen a 15,500-acre wildfire burning in southwest
Florida and stopped blazes in other parts of the
state as well. Firefighters said 70 percent of the fire was contained.
14th -NORTH KOREA - WILDFIRES - The worst
wildfires in South Korea
since the Korean War
spread to North Korea, jumping from
hillside to hillside and advancing perilously close to
three nuclear power plants.
13th - SOUTH KOREA - WILDFIRES - The blazes, which began last Thursday, stretched
from the northeastern tip of the demilitarized zone
to the city of Uljin, 130 miles southeast of Seoul.
The fires were fueled by strong gusty
winds and have charred more than 17,500 acres of
forest.
Firefighters felled trees within a six-mile radius of
the nuke plants as helicopters dumped tons of
water on blazing hillsides nearby. Plant officials issued a disaster
warning as the fires advanced toward the facility.
More than 35,000 residents of the coastal city of
Tonghae fled their homes as the wildfires engulfed
the city's perimeter. They were evacuated because
of fears that fires could hit the city's navy base
where a huge amount of ammunition and oil are stored.
13th - ROMANIA AND HUNGARY - CONTINUED FLOODING - tens of
thousands of people are
threatened and full evacuation
plans are being put into place. Scores of homes
have been lost and thousands more are in danger
of being swamped by the rising waters.
The Tisza River rose above all previous record
levels on Wednesday near the city of Tokaj.
Dams were also under
extreme pressure from rising waters.
12th - BANGLADESH - POWERFUL TROPICAL STORM - More than 7,000 people were left
homeless after a powerful
tropical storm raged through the country,
leveling homes and injuring scores of
residents.
11th - MEXICO - DROUGHT - The drought-stricken Mexican
state of Sonora was declared a disaster area.
Sonora is one of a number of northern states hit by
ongoing droughts caused by diminished rainfall.
10th - SOUTH KOREA - BRUSH FIRES - 2 DEAD - four others left injured. Firefighting efforts were hampered by strong winds
gusting over the stricken area.
Meteorologists said
that unusually dry weather had contributed to the
rash of brush fires across the country.
10th - INDIA - HEATWAVE EXPANDING - 20 DEAD -
more than 20 major fires
have been sparked in less than a week by the
intense heat.
10th - ROMANIA - FLOODING - 9 DEAD -
Thousands of homes in five cities
inundated. The melting snow and this week's
predicted rainfall will push rivers to record levels.
The Danube, which flows through many
countries in central and eastern Europe, has
already been measured at nearly twice the normal
volume for April.
9th - ECUADOR - GUAGUA PICHINCHA VOLCANO ERUPTED - exploded at least 18 times,
sending columns of rose-tinted gray ash 2,625 feet
into the sky and filling the air with the strong odor
of sulfur. More than 100
seismic tremors were recorded during the eruptions.
A yellow alert was issued for the capital Quito, six
miles to the east, as well as other cities close to
the mountain. The 15,728-foot-high volcano last
exploded on November 25, 1999, blanketing Quito
with hundreds of tons of volcanic ash.
9th - ORISSA, INDIA - HEATWAVE - 8 DEAD - the apprehension of occurrence of severe heatwave this year is because of the loss of tree cover in the coastal districts of the State in the two successive cyclones in
October last year. About 90 million trees had been uprooted in the two cyclones.
7th - MOZAMBIQUE - CYCLONE HUDAH - 1 DEAD.
7th - AFGHANISTAN - DROUGHT --
is killing off entire herds of
cattle and drying up wells in rural areas throughout
the region.
6th - ONTARIO - 11 MAJOR FIRES ARE BURNING.
6th - GREECE - 9 FOREST FIRES ARE RAGING - 2 DEAD - 100 homes destroyed.
6th - FLORIDA - FIRE - Winds
whipped fires over a
10,000-acre blaze near the
Florida Everglades.
5th - AUSTRALIA - CYCLONE VAUGHAN UPGRADED - Third and most severe cyclone to threaten the region this year. Vaughan is likely to be more powerful than Cyclone Steve, which battered Cairns with 170 km an hour winds and flooding rains which damaged Australia's billion-dollar sugar crop.
Cyclone Tessi hit the coast near Townsville, 1,185 km (700 miles) north of Brisbane, on Monday, adding to the flood damage wrought by Steve and forcing the evacuation of about 400 people as mudslides threatened homes.
5th - TURKEY - HIGH WINDS - 2 DEAD - fanned fires that burned down scores of village homes.
5th - ALGERIA - VIOLENT SANDSTORM - 3 DEAD -
The powerful storm was responsible for triggering
landslides and causing numerous accidents. At
least a dozen homes were leveled.
5th - JAPAN - MT. USU - NEW ERUPTION WARNINGS - smoke plumes frequently turned black as they
soared to heights of 3,900 feet over Hokkaido.
4th - JAPAN - MT USU -NEW DISASTER WARNINGS -
issued for residents and
authorities by Japan's
Meteorological Agency on
Monday afternoon after the discovery of three new
fault lines near the crater of Mount Usu Volcano.
3rd - AUSTRALIA - MUDSLIDES -
the deluge continues continues from Cyclone Tessi - worse could be in store with a third
cyclone expected to hit Queensland by the end of the
week.
3rd - GUATEMALA - DROUGHT AND WILDFIRES - Numerous forest fires have destroyed vast
stretches. Ongoing hot and dry weather has worsened the
blazes that are being fought by hundreds of
firemen. The fires have already destroyed the habitats of
several species of birds and animals.
3rd - MADAGASCAR - CYCLONE HUDAH - 20 DEAD - 50,000 people have been left homeless
and nearly 300,000 people are
without food or drinking water.
3rd - LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI - HIGH WINDS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES - 1 DEAD - homes destroyed .
1st - JAVA - MUDSLIDES - 6 DEAD - 20 others left injured in Indonesia by
mud slides triggered by ongoing torrential rainfall.