Monday, November 23, 2009 LONDON: Engineers and emergency workers checked hundreds of bridges for damage on Sunday, fearful some could collapse and isolate villages, as heavy rain lashed northwest England.In the southwest, a 46-year-old canoeist, believed to be from the Reading area died after becoming wedged under trees on the flooded River Dart near Newton Abbot in Devon on Saturday.A search was under way for a 21-year-old woman believed to have been swept into the River Usk in Brecon, mid-Wales, late on Saturday.Conditions were predicted to worsen on Sunday, with up to 50 mm (2 inches) of rain on high ground, and winds inland of up to 55 mph (90 kph)."I have spoken to people...they are running short of food, they are running short of medication. Things are getting pretty desperate," Tony Cunningham, member of parliament for Workington, told a local television channel.He said some people were having travel about 35 miles to get food and milk because of diversions.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the worst hit area, Cumbria, on Saturday to see the damage caused by record rainfall, and pledged 1 million pounds ($1.51 million) of aid.Heavy rain during the past few days has left hundreds of people sheltering in rescue centres, hotels and with family and friends, with the expectation that some will not be able to move back into their homes for up to six months.Water levels were receding on Sunday, but one bridge in particular, Calva Bridge in Workington, Cumbria, was described as extremely unstable and "could potentially collapse at any time".Five bridges have already collapsed in the area, including one in Workington which resulted in the death of Police Constable Bill Barker.He was directing motorists off the bridge when it collapsed, sweeping him down river.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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