Colorado floods leave hundreds unaccounted for

The News 16 September 2013 The water-soaked US state of Colorado faced more rainfall Sunday that threatened to slow the search for some 500 people unaccounted for after several days of massive flooding. Among the hundreds missing, officials suggested many may simply not be able to call loved ones because of damage to cell phone towers or power outages. “But we’re still bracing,” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said. “There are many, many homes that have been destroyed. A number have been collapsed and we haven’t been in them yet,” he told CNN. As of early Sunday, 500 people are unaccounted for, Hickenlooper added. In addition, thousands have been evacuated after torrential downpours washed away roads and inundated communities, claiming at least four lives. Rain began pelting the state earlier this week, in hard hit Boulder, which saw 7.2 inches (18.3 centimetres) of precipitation in about 15 hours beginning Wednesday night. And with more rain expected to be dumped on the region, the situation could get even more dire, Hickenlooper warned. In Boulder, a university town, there was a 70 percent chance of rain, The Weather Channel predicted. The same was true for Denver, it said. With the ground already saturated, “that’s going to just really magnify the problems we’ve had so far,” Hickenlooper said in reference to Boulder County. “We’re still trying to evacuate people,” he added, noting that almost 2,000 people had been moved out of Boulder alone. New flash floods were expected to inundate parts of the state Sunday, the National Weather Service warned as it forecast additional rainfall. On Saturday, large hail the size of peas or even marbles pummelled parts of the city of Aurora, according to local weather reports. A series of thunderstorms also struck the area. Raging floodwaters in Boulder, already confirmed to have killed at least four people, apparently claimed the life of a fifth on Saturday—a 60-year-old woman swept away in the torrent. The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter that the woman was “missing presumed dead,” after floodwaters destroyed her house, and officials warned that the toll would likely climb further. “There might be further loss of life,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told reporters. “It’s certainly a high probability... We’re hoping to reach everyone as soon as possible.” But some additional help was on the way, with President Barack Obama declaring a major disaster in Colorado and ordering federal aid to support state and local efforts. “Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the White House said. Hickenlooper welcomed the development, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency “has been terrific.” The Wyoming National Guard was helping the evacuation effort after Governor Matt Mead activated five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and 20 crew members, the state’s military department said. The US National Guard, meanwhile, provided seven helicopters to help get people out of danger. Some 1,200 residents were pulled out of the Pinewood Springs area by the National Guard and Fort Carson personnel, state authorities said on Twitter. But many others were still awaiting rescue, which authorities said could take days for some. Officials said there were widespread power outages as streets became raging rivers after the state received months’ worth of rain in just a few days. Pictures from helicopter cameras showed heavy rain had reduced the towns of Jamestown, Lyons and Longmont to little more than islands, with ready-to-eat meals being dropped to stranded, anxious residents below. Residents’ furry friends were also stranded by the torrential rains. “Our victims’ advocates told me tonight there were almost as many pets as people getting off the evacuation helicopters today,” the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office tweeted. Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway called the widespread flooding an “epic event.” “It is a once in 500 years or 1,000 years situation,” he told the Denver Post.

US, Russia seal landmark deal on Syria weapons The News 15 Sept 2013

GENEVA: The United States and Russia on Saturday unveiled an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons by the middle of next year and left the door open to sanctions if Damascus failed to comply. The landmark deal was hailed by the West, but rejected by rebels who warn that it would not halt the bloodshed in the conflict which has killed more than 110,000 people and displaced millions in two and a half years. Under the accord struck in three days of talks in Geneva between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad now has a week to hand over details of his regime's stockpile. Kerry said Assad's regime must also provide "immediate and unfettered" access to inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). "The inspectors must be on the ground no later than November... and the goal is to establish the removal by halfway through next year," said Kerry, flanked by Lavrov. The pressure is now on Assad to deliver, with Obama warning that "the United States remains prepared to act" if Damascus fails to comply. "While we have made important progress, much more work remains to be done," Obama said. Echoing Obama's warning, Kerry said there must be "no games, no room for avoidance of anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime". But while Britain, France and the OPCW welcomed the deal, the rebels fighting Assad's regime greeted it with dismay, fearing it has scuppered any chance of Western intervention on their side. "We cannot accept any part of this initiative," General Selim Idriss, the head of the Free Syrian Army, told reporters in Istanbul. "Are we Syrians supposed to wait until mid-2014, to continue being killed every day, and to accept (the deal) just because the chemical arms will be destroyed in 2014." And Iran, which has been one of Assad's main allies, said the United States no longer has a pretext to attack Syria. Amid an intensifying diplomatic drive over the Syrian conflict, Kerry flies to Israel on Sunday to brief Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the deal, as well as discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He will then travel to Paris for a Monday meeting with French counterpart Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary William Hague as well as the Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. Kerry said the steps agreed on Saturday would be encapsulated in a UN Security Council resolution drawn up under Chapter Seven of the organisation's charter, which provides for enforcement through sanctions including the possible use of military force. But with Russia strongly opposed to the use of military threats against its long-term ally, and wielding a veto on the Security Council, Kerry acknowledged it was "impossible to have a pre-agreement" on what would happen in the event of non-compliance. Lavrov signalled that Moscow would back some form of sanction, saying the Security Council would act under Chapter Seven if Syria fails to meet its demands. Kerry said that Syria's bloody civil war could only be ended through negotiations, and he reiterated that he would meet with Lavrov again soon, this time in New York, to try to breathe life into planned peace talks between the regime and the opposition. For Lavrov, Saturday's accord was an "excellent" agreement "whose significance is hard to overestimate". Meanwhile, fighting on the ground in Syria continued unabated with rebel and regime forces engaged in a fierce battle for control of the ancient Christian town of Maalula, near Damascus. Washington and Moscow hope to revive plans for peace talks in Geneva that seek a political transition to end the conflict that began in March 2011 with peaceful protests against the Assad regime and quickly turned violent following a brutal government crackdown of the demonstrations. (AFP)

American and British media on MQM and Altaf Hussain