City officials in Bismarck put out a call Wednesday for people to help fill sandbags, saying volunteers are urgently needed as residents along the rising Missouri River continue efforts to safeguard their property.

"The deadliest tornadoes in decades. Severe flooding on the Mississippi River. Drought in Texas, and heavy rains in Tennessee. What's up with the weather? Scientists say there are connections between many of the severe weather events of the past month and global warming."

Drywell Readings 5/25 @ 204 Sv/hr 5/24 @ 192 Sv/hr 5/23 @ 201 Sv/hr 5/22 @ 196 Sv/hr 5/21 @ 36.2 Sv/hr 5/20 @ 46.5 Sv/hr 5/19 @ 36.3 Sv/hr 5/18 @ 45.4 Sv/hr

Outspoken rainforest defender José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, are said to have been killed in an ambush near their home in Nova Ipixuna, in Pará state, about 37 miles from Marabá.

"Approximately 1,000 tornadoes. Nearly 500 dead. The numbers are staggering as the 2011 tornado season rages at a record pace. From the the EF5 tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., killing at least 122 people to become the deadliest tornado in the U.S. since 1950, to the pair of explosive and deadly April tornado outbreaks, and now also yesterday’s Plains outbreak moving east today, this year’s barrage of violent twisters has people asking questions about everything from the impact of climate change on tornadoes, to the accuracy and effectiveness of short-term severe weather warnings."

Oklahoma storms: Residents of southern Delaware County who were hit by a tornado Sunday are now struggling with flooding caused by the rain-swollen Illinois River.

Old news to CollapseNet members who have been following our featured analysis by Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates.

While not a surprise,Tokyo Electric Power Co ,confirmed on Tuesday that there were meltdowns of fuel rods at three of the plant's reactors early in the crisis.

The strong storm that rushed through Greater Cincinnati Monday evening - felling dozens of trees and power lines - left 63,847 Duke Energy customers without power as of 12:30 a.m. today, down from nearly 90,000 around 9:15 p.m.

EMMITSBURG, Md. – An insect with a voracious appetite, no domestic natural predators and a taste for everything from apples to lima beans has caused millions of dollars in crop damage and may just be getting started. The brown marmorated stink bug, a three-quarter-inch invader native to Asia, is believed to have been brought first to the Allentown, Pa., area in 1998. The bug began appearing in mid-Atlantic orchards in 2003-04 and exploded in number last year.