Millions stay at home as massive blizzard hits US

A massive blizzard has hit the US Northeast, halting thousands of flights and closing hundreds of schools.
Officials warned that the storm could dump as much as 90cm of snow on the region. 

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts declared states of emergencies as tens of millions of people were urged to stay at home with transport systems suspending services.

Aer Lingus has cancelled four flights between Ireland and North America today due to the storm.

The flights affected are EI 105 from Dublin to New York at 10.50am and EI 137 from Dublin to Boston at 2pm, as well as the return services - EI 104 from New York to Dublin and EI 136 from Boston to Dublin.

Yesterday one return flight between Dublin and New York was cancelled. Aer Lingus said customers affected by the cancellations had been notified.

The potentially historic storm poses the latest challenge to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been under fire in recent weeks from police who criticised his support of public protests about white police violence against black men.   
         
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for New York City and surrounding areas between coastal New Jersey and Connecticut, forecast to worsen overnight.
The blizzard knocked out a number of entertainment events. The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets called off their games and Broadway performances were cancelled.   
        
The United Nations headquarters gave itself a day off and schools across the east coast dismissed students and cancelled classes, with those in Boston staying closed until Thursday.................http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0126/675582-new-york-snowstorm/
27/1/15
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Related:

• Storms threatens the northeast US with historic snow...

Rescuers find 4 large objects in AirAsia crash area

Rescuers have found four large objects in the area of a search for the wreck of a Malaysian AirAsia plane off Indonesia, Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency Chief Bambang Soelistyo said on Saturday.
On December 28, an AirAsia airliner A320-200 disappeared from radar screens about 40 minutes after its departure from Indonesia to Singapore, presumably crashing in the area of Kalimantan (Borneo) Island. The jet was carrying 155 passengers and seven crewmembers.

According to Soelistyo, the largest piece found by the rescuers is 18 meters long and 5.4 meters wide, adding that “the fragments are located at a depth of 30 meters. ‘The rescuers, however, have failed to find the black boxes so far,” he said.

Earlier on Saturday, the rescuers found two large pieces of the crashed plane’s debris at a depth of 30 meters in the Java Sea.

The objects were lying not far from the settlement of Pangkalan Bun in the central part of Kalimantan Island. Meanwhile, an oil slick was noticed in the same area.
 [itar-tass.com]
3/1/15
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• Wreckage of Air Asia plane supposedly found in Java Sea (Indonesian rescuers) 

• AirAsia QZ8501 underwater search to begin ...

Death toll from tropical storm rises to 35 in Philippines

Tropical storm Jangmi, locally known as Seniang, has claimed at least 35 lives in the central and southern parts of the Philippines, the government disaster relief agency said Wednesday.

Jangmi also left 26 others injured and eight missing, while forcing more than 5,000 families to live in 79 evacuation centers, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a report issued Wednesday morning.

The tropical storm maintained its strength as it moves closer to the Palawan Island in the western part of the country, packing peak winds of 65 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 80 kph.

Due to bad weather, 17,656 passengers have been stranded at ports, 14 domestic flights have been canceled, 43 roads and 22 bridges are not passable in Visayas and Mindanao regions. Some provinces in central Philippines are experiencing power or water interruption, the agency said.
 Source: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
31/12/14
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Related:

• Philippine officials said Tuesday that Tropical Storm Jangmi had triggered floods and landslides, killing at least 21 people in the central and southern parts of the country, many in areas not yet fully recovered from last year's Typhoon Haiyan...

US Navy sends ship to assist AirAsia flight searching

The United States has sent a destroyer to the Java Sea to assist in searching for a missing AirAsia jetliner, US officials said Monday.

The USS Sampson was expected to arrive Tuesday in the search zone for Flight QZ8501, which lost contact on Sunday with 162 people on board.

"The US Navy is working closely with the government of Indonesia to identify additional surface or airborne capabilities that best assist their search efforts," the Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement.

The State Department earlier said that the help was at the request of the Indonesian government.

"Our embassy in Jakarta is in close contact with Indonesian officials, and today, we received a request for assistance locating the airplane," said Jeffrey Rathke, a State Department spokesman.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the assistance "could include air, surface and sub-surface detection capabilities."

Indonesia, Malaysia and several other countries are searching for the missing plane, which went missing en route from Surabaya in Indonesia's east Java to Singapore after the pilots requested a change of flight plan in a stormy weather.
  Source: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
30/12/14
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Related:

• Indonesian officials say they are sending teams to investigate reports of smoke on an island in the area where AirAsia flight QZ8501 has gone missing.... 

• AirAsia plane likely at sea bottom (Indonesia search chief)

AirAsia plane likely at sea bottom (Indonesia search chief)

The AirAsia plane with 162 people on board may have fallen into the bottom of the sea, 24 hours after the jetliner vanished from radar en route from Indonesia to Singapore, said Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency chief in Jakarta Monday.

"We assume the missing jet at the bottom of the sea based on the coordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea," Bambang Soelistyo told the media at the Soekarno-Hatta main airport.

It can be expanded based on evaluation, he noted.

Should the projection be true, Indonesia needs to cooperate with other countries to bring the wreckage to the surface, Soelistyo said.

"We still do not have the equipment, we will borrow the devices from other countries," he said.

The official warned that the current may cause the wreckage of the plane to move.
  Xinhua - china.org.cn
  29/12/14
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• AirAsia QZ8501: Indonesia plane search resumes ... 

• Flight From Indonesia to Singapore Loses Contact 

Flight From Indonesia to Singapore Loses Contact

An AirAsia flight with 162 passengers and crew on board has lost contact with air traffic control.

The flight by the low-cost airline had left the Indonesian city of Surabaya heading to Singapore when it disappeared at 7:24 a.m. Sunday, local time - 42 minutes into its flight.

Officials say the pilot had request a "deviation" from its flight plan to avoid bad weather.

An updated airline statement says the Airbus A320-200 had 157 Indonesian passengers and crew onboard, along with three South Koreans and one person each from Singapore and Malaysia. The crew of seven were all Indonesians.

The airline says search and rescue operations are under way and the company is assisting the rescue service.
 http://www.voanews.com/content/asia-missing-plane/2576242.html
28/12/14
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