Peanut Butter News

Full Story at msnbc.com

RALEIGH, N.C. — Thousands of people were told to start evacuating a North Carolina island Wednesday morning as Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe the East Coast.

The 800 or so year-round residents of Ocracoke Island were told they do not have to go, but Emergency Services Director Lindsey Mooney said officials hoped they would follow about 5,000 tourists ordered to leave for the mainland from 5 a.m.

“I don’t remember the last time there was a mandatory evacuation order for the island,” Hyde County Commissioner Kenneth Collier said.

More evacuations along the Eastern Seaboard could follow, depending on the path taken by the Category 4 storm, which was whipping across the Caribbean with winds of 135 mph.

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Hurricane Earl lashed northern Leeward Islands with heavy rain and strong winds Monday after strengthening into a Category 2 storm. Hotels were shut tightly overnight as tourists sought shelter inside their rooms.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Earl could become a major hurricane Monday night or early Tuesday.

Hurricane warnings were in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius, the British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The one really big question hanging over President Obama’s weekend vacation to Panama City, Florida, now has an answer.

Will he or won’t he dive into the water to send a message that the Gulf Coast is back?

The answer: He will, and sooner than expected.

“I think we’re going to go tomorrow and as I just said Ed, I’m not going to let you guys take a picture of me with my shirt off,” Obama jokingly told CNN Saturday. “You guys will tease me just like last time. I was on the front page … People commenting.”

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Investigators will be on the scene Wednesday of a plane crash that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others. Also, autopsies are expected to be completed by the end of the day.

Brutal terrain and bad weather on the remote Alaska mountain kept survivors waiting 12 hours for rescue after the crash, officials and witnesses said Tuesday.

“The weather was very challenging for those responding,” said Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Full Story at CNN.com

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Hundreds of firefighters battled a third wildfire in the Los Angeles area early Friday as two more raged within 60 miles of one another.

The latest — known as the Crown Fire — has ignited more than 5,000 acres, fire officials said.

About 500 firefighters were at the scene, with mandatory evacuations in effect for nearly 2,000 residences.

Areas affected included some parts of Leona Valley, Ritter Ranch, Anaverde and Palmdale in northern Los Angeles County.

Full Story msnbc.com

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Thursday gave up plans to attempt to pass an energy-global warming bill that caps greenhouse gases, abandoning a priority of President Barack Obama.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said no Republican was willing to back a comprehensive energy bill, a development he called “terribly disappointing.”

Democrats have been trying for more than a year to pass a plan that charges power plants and other large polluters for their heat-trapping carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. The House voted 219-212 last year for a “cap and trade” plan featuring economic incentives to reduce heat-trapping gases from power plants, vehicles and other sources.

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com

SAN FERNANDO, Mexico – Hurricane Alex ripped off roofs, flooded streets and forced thousands of people to flee coastal fishing villages as it pushed into northern Mexico.

The Atlantic season’s first hurricane largely spared nearby Texas, which had prepared for a possible direct hit. While it spawned two tornadoes and caused 1,000 people to evacuated low-lying areas there, state officials reported no injuries or major damages.

Full Story at CNN.com

Nashville, Tennessee (CNN) — Severe storms and massive flooding last weekend killed 23 people in Tennessee, state emergency management officials said.

The federal government has declared 42 counties disaster areas. Flooding has caused more than $1.5 billion in property damage in the Nashville area alone, city officials said.

Piles of debris stretched for blocks in the city’s Bellevue neighborhood Sunday.

Full Story at msnbc.com

As floating globs of oil begin to come ashore on the barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana, real estate agents and homeowners along the Gulf Coast are bracing for a potential and perhaps devastating drop in property values.

Already some owners are seeing cancellations stemming from the uncertainty around the size and scope of the oil’s impact, and hurricane-hardened residents inevitably were raising comparisons to devastating storms of the past.

Full Story at CNN.com

London, England (CNN) — European countries extended their airspace restrictions on Saturday, choking international air travel and stranding thousands of passengers, as an Icelandic volcano continued to spew ash into the atmosphere.

Airspace over the United Kingdom and Belgium will be closed until Saturday night, according to the British air traffic control provider NATS and the Brussels Airport.

British Airways canceled all flights to and from London for all of Saturday. Several flights from North America due to arrive at British destinations Friday night were headed to Scotland instead, the airline said.

Full Story at  msnbc.com

LONDON – The European air navigation agency says air traffic disruptions because the volcanic ash cloud will last at least another day.

Eurocontrol said in a statement that it expected only about 11,000 flights in European airspace Friday, compared with about 28,000 normally. On Thursday, there were 20,334 flights, it said.

The cloud’s impact, it said, “will continue for at least the next 24 hours.”

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Emergency management officials will fan out across North Carolina on Monday to survey the damage from severe storms that lashed the state Sunday evening.

Residents reported as many as eight tornadoes touching down –overturning mobile homes, ripping out trees and plunging neighborhoods into darkness.