News ‘Once in a century’ floods hit northeast Australia
renee.duffAccuWeather•The strongest Pacific storm of this winter season slammed California with heavy rain, significant snowfall, high winds and travel disruptions on Saturday.A member of the Ventura County search-and-rescue team was killed and nine other people were injured in a car crash on Saturday morning amid heavy rain near Pyramid Lake.The team was at the scene of another vehicle crash on Interstate 5 when a minivan lost control on the wet roadway and plowed into members of the team, according to the Associated Press.”This is a very unfortunate situation that could’ve been avoided,” Los Angeles County fire Capt. Tony Imbrenda said, warning motorists to slow down in the rain.Potent storm blasts CaliforniaAP Photo/Garret Fischer
Alix Culbertson, news reporterSky News•
An oarfish found this week measured four-metres long. Pic: Uozu AquariumGiant deep-sea fish washing up on Japan’s shores has sparked fears of an impending earthquake or tsunami.Three oarfish have been seen over the past week off the north coast of Japan, bringing the total discovered this season to seven.The metres long eel-like fish are considered harbingers of doom in Japanese mythology and are known in the country as ryugu no tsukai – or messenger from the sea god’s palace.Living at depths of 1km (0.62 miles), they are believed to come to the surface ahead of an earthquake or tsunami.At least a dozen fish were found washed up in 2010 before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake which at a magnitude of nine was one of the biggest recorded in a century, and was followed by a tsunami which killed nearly 19,000 people.On Friday, two oarfish were found in fishing nets off the northern prefecture of Toyama, nine days after a 3.2m (10.5ft) oarfish washed up on the shore in Toyama Bay.A four metre-long (13.12ft) oarfish was also found on Monday tangled in a fish net off the port of Imizu.After the Uozu Aquarium posted pictures of the dead oarfish on Friday, social media users have been speculating their appearance is an omen.”This is no doubt evidence of a precursor to an earthquake. And if it is in the Nankai Trough, it might be a huge quake,” one Twitter user wrote.Another said: „Is something happening deep in the sea?””What is going on under Toyama Bay,” said a Twitter user.Hiroyuki Motomura, a Kagoshima University professor of ichthyology – the study of fish – dismissed the concerns, saying he believes the fish rise to the surface when they are in poor physical condition.”The link to reports of seismic activity goes back many, many years, but there is no scientific evidence of a connection so I don’t think people need to worry,” he added.Kazusa Saiba, an Uozu Aquarium keeper, told CNN: „There is no scientific evidence at all for the theory that oarfish appear around big quakes. But we cannot 100% deny the possibility.”It could be that global warming might have an impact on the appearance of oarfish or a reason we’re just not aware of.”Why Portugal Is My Favorite Low-Cost Winter Escape
Winters can be tough, especially if you are living in a city that has an especially long, cold and dark season. As an Australian from the sunny state of Queensland, lower temperatures and shorter days are a struggle.
During my year living in Europe, I suffered tremendously from the cold and rain. The lack of sun also affected my mood in a way I did not expect. After talking to Europeans, I learned that many people take winter escapes to brighten their disposition.
Read More: The 20 Best Cities for Affordable Winter Travel
So, I planned my escape. Here is why I chose Portugal as the perfect place to rediscover the sun and sea on a budget.
Warmer Temperatures in the Algarve
If you get tired of shoveling snow or piling on an inconceivable number of layers, then the Algarve in Portugal could provide your sea change. The Algarve is the southern region of Portugal which has high temperatures averaging over 60 degrees during the winter.
I visited in early March with a friend who had been living in London. She couldn’t believe the difference in temperature and kicked herself for not packing a bikini. She even gave up her first beach day to go to the nearest mall for swimsuit shopping and waxing.
More on Sunny Locales: Escape to One of These Affordable Warm Weather Destinations
Having the Beach to Yourself
The high season in the Algarve is during summer when many hotels and resorts become booked out. However, during winter, you will find dramatically fewer tourists. My friend and I were able to enjoy sections of the beach to ourselves in the resort town of Albufeira.
The temperature might not be warm enough to go swimming, but you can still enjoy walking around in shorts and flip-flops while feeling the sun on your face.
A Budget-Friendly Escape
Despite the recent boom of tourism, Portugal is still one of the more inexpensive travel destinations in Europe. Its position in the west also potentially means shorter and cheaper flights from the United States. There are direct flights from New York City to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon that take less than seven hours, too. From Lisbon, you could be in the Algarve in just a few hours either by bus, train or car.
Related: 18 Destinations That Are Getting Cheaper to Visit
My friend and I took a relaxed bus ride from Lisbon to Albufeira, then another onto Faro before flying out of Portugal. In addition to the capital, Faro also has an international airport where you can catch a connecting flight.
Portuguese Food and Hospitality
Portugal is a tourist-friendly destination for everyone from backpackers to family groups. Portuguese people are welcoming and generally have a very high English proficiency.
One thing that surprised me during my winter escape was how delicious and affordable Portuguese cuisine is. My friend and I enjoyed three-course meals with a bottle of wine from €16.50 each ($18.82 USD) during our time in Faro.
If you are planning your winter escape to Portugal, get ready for tasty pastries and rich savory dishes that will fill your stomach after lazy beach days.
Click through to read about the most and least affordable places to spend your holiday vacation.
Surge in traffic pushing new airport projects In a presentation Thursday to Sacramento County supervisors, airports director Cindy Nichol said she’s seeing a crunch in gates, roadway space, rental cars and places for rideshare vehicles.She came to that realization after the airport saw traffic growth of 10.4 percent last year, or nearly double the growth rate of previous years. The airport set a traffic record, and current projections exceed forecasts from 2017 and 2014.“The challenge is that we’re going to need to take on additional debt to cover new projects,” Nichol said, after noting the big question is whether another recession is coming in the near future that could sap traffic again.Among the projects airport officials will need to pursue in the near future are adding four to six gates, at either Terminal A or B or both; building a new consolidated rental car facility; expanding both roadway capacity and pedestrian circulation; and building more terminal-adjacent parking.New parking, Nichol said, would also serve on its ground floor as a Terminal B pickup/drop-off spot for services such as Lyft and Uber. Those services’ skyrocketing popularity sometimes creates traffic jams at and leading up to Terminal B, she said.But not all the growth is in passenger travel. The explosion of e-commerce, aided by an 855,000-square-foot Amazon distribution facility next door, is pushing a need for more cargo traffic development at Sacramento International, she said.In addition to a 40,000-square-foot cargo sorting facility a company is planning to build and then lease to Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), she said, taxiways and the cargo apron need realignment and expansion.Cargo is also likely to play a bigger role at the county’s other big airport, Mather. Once the county finishes a project to rehab the runways and install new instrument landing systems there, Nichol said, she expects Amazon to shift the bulk of its cargo to that airport. She added she would expect Amazon to stay at Sacramento International another three to five years.
Plane skids off icy taxiway at Japan’s Narita airportTOKYO (Reuters) – A Japan Airlines jet carrying 201 passengers and crew skidded off an icy taxiway after landing at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Friday, forcing the temporary closure of one runway.The Boeing 787 flying from the Indian capital New Delhi lost control of its left main landing gear while taxiing to the arrival gate, the airport said. There were no injuries.TV Tokyo showed footage of the stranded aircraft with one set of wheels on snow-covered ground next to the taxiway.
(Reporting by Reuters Television; editing by Darren Schuettler)
