Friday, December 25, 2009 WASHINGTON: Mother Nature’s rage has hit Oklahoma hard as a winter storm erupted today causing four deaths and keeping thousands stranded. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning through 6 p.m., Roads are expected to be slick and hazardous, heavy wind is expected, authorities have requested people to avoid driving unless and until absolutely necessary.A 50-car pileup is clogging Interstate 40 eastbound near Hudiburg Drive in Midwest City, there have been so many accidents that troopers are not no longer responding to non-injury accidents in the Oklahoma City-area, instead focusing on fatal crashes.Oklahoma City-area airports were closed this afternoon, 16,000 households were without power about 2 p.m. Christmas day is expected to be partly sunny said the weather forecast.Interstate 44 had a crash were a person died and State Highway 51 near Sand Springs had fatal crash that resulted in three deaths.A major winter storm is sweeping across the central United States rapidly on Christmas Eve Thursday, prompting the governor of Oklahoma to declare a statewide emergency. "I am urging all Oklahomans to take winter storm precautions and stay off the roads unless travel is absolutely necessary," Brad Henry, the governor, said in a statement. Blizzard warnings were issued for parts of Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). "Anyone with travel plans over the Christmas holiday period should keep up to date with the latest weather information," it said in an online statement. Tornado watches were issued for southern Louisiana, Mississippi and southwestern Alabama. A Louisiana man was killed Thursday when strong wind caused a tree to fall on his house. Flooding was reported in and around Little Rock, Arkansas, after heavy rain fell throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Flood watches, warnings and advisories have been issued for much of Missouri and Illinois, where several inches of rain is causing flooding in streams and rivers. The inclement weather is the second major storm system to hit the United States in a week. Last weekend, a major snowstorm blanketed a swath of the U.S. east coast in snow, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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