After Irene: Authorities readying to gauge damage (AP)

By ROBERT RAY and TOM FOREMAN Jr., Associated Press Robert Ray And Tom Foreman Jr., Associated Press – 1 hr 12 mins ago

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – Hurricane Irene fell short of the doomsday predictions of record-breaking storm surges in North Carolina and Virginia. But a slow-crawling storm that spread out hundreds of miles was still hurling heavy rain and high winds at a wide swath of the East Coast a day after its first U.S. landfall, vexing official attempts to gauge the full damage toll on the region.

Irene's storm surge had triggered scattered flooding in coastal areas after coming ashore Saturday in North Carolina. It plunged at least 2.7 million residential and business power customers into darkness and roughed up one of the most densely populated areas of the country. Initial reports suggested light damages in many areas from Irene, a lower-strength hurricane when it struck the U.S.

But Irene inflicted scattered damage over such a broad area that the total damage — and costs involved — were not yet known. Authorities also said teams would be deploying later Sunday, particularly in more remote areas, to assess the extent and severity of those damages after Irene, which was blamed for eight deaths.

Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell had initially warned that Irene — one of those rare hurricanes that virtually takes aim at the entire East Coast — could be a "catastrophic" monster with record storm surges of up to 8 feet in some coastal areas of his state.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco said Norfolk came closest, with a storm surge of 7.55 feet. At least six to eight inches of rainfall fell over parts of Virginia.

Emergency crews around the region said they wanted to travel to asses damage from a confirmed tornado in Chincoteague, Va. There was at least one other suspected tornado that ripped away roofs in another Virginia community, Sandbridge. Authorities say Irene also blocked roads and caused other havoc.

In North Carolina, authorities reported storm surge flooding along some inland waterways, impassible roads and up to a foot of rain in some areas.

Infrastructure was a chief worry in the region, where the sprawl of major cities, suburban communities and beachfront properties had set many civil defense planners on edge as Irene approached the region. Ports, airports, nuclear power plants and more lay in the path of such a widespread storm, its storm bands spreading out about 500 miles at one point.

In Lusby, Md., Constellation Energy Nuclear Group said one of two nuclear reactors at Calvert Cliffs went off-line automatically because of Irene's winds. Constellation said the plant is safe and stable.

Mark Sullivan, a spokesman for Constellation, issued a statement early Sunday saying the Unit 1 reactor apparently went off-line automatically when a large piece of aluminum siding dislodged from a building and came into contact with a transformer late Saturday night. He added all employees were safe, though an "unusual event" was declared — the lowest of four emergency classifications by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Unit 2 reactor wasn't affected and kept up full operation, he said.

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Irene inflicted significant damage along her state's coast, adding that some areas were unreachable because of high water or downed power lines. Perdue planned an aerial tour Sunday of the hardest-hit counties after TV coverage showed downed trees, toppled utility poles and power lines and mangled awnings.

As with other states along the East Coast, there was no preliminary estimate yet of the dollar amount of damages in North Carolina.

Officials in North Carolina's Dare County said they were advised there was extensive flooding that needed to be checked out by teams. Elsewhere, authorities suggested Irene didn't create the kind of havoc that had been anticipated.

Bruce Shell, New Hanover County manager, said teams were already in the streets there Saturdaybut found no serious damage or anything else that was cause for alarm. Irene passed close to the county's coastline.

"We were prepared for a lot worse, but we got lucky on this one," Shell said.

He said many of the 70,000 homes which lost power Saturday were back online later that evening. Shell said there was apparently a wastewater spill at Wrightsville Beach, but it appeared to be minor.

Pinehurst dentist Harwell Palmer, 53, said the worst that happened to his home at Ocean Isle Beach was a few pieces of siding that he was able to replace after riding out the storm. He said there was some street flooding, and high waves pounded a pier, but it was still standing. Ocean Isle Beach missed a direct hit.

What did concern Palmer: heavy surf gobbled up beachfront shoreline.

"The main concern we will have going forward is the loss of beach," he said.

The question still facing the region was whether Irene's impact would match the problems left behind by such previous destructive storms as Floyd and Isabel.

In 1999, Floyd dropped at least 15 inches of rain on the eastern third of North Carolina. The flooding was the most damaging in the state's history, topping $3 billion in North Carolina alone after buildings were submerged, roads flooded, and livestock drowned. Four years later, Isabel brought hurricane conditions to eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia, causing about $1 billion in damages.

In Delaware, state emergency managmeent officials said they had widespread reports of street flooding and dunes breached on a coastal highway in Southern Delaware.

One man who stuck it out in Ocean City, Md., though that resort appeared to hold up well against Irene.

Charlie Koetzle, 55, a resident of Ocean City for the last decade, stayed throughout the storm. He was up at 4 a.m. walking on the city's boardwalk and said by phone that he saw at least one sign that had been blown down but that the pier was still intact.

"The beach is still here, and there is lots of it," he said.

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Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko in Ocean City, Md., Randall Chase in Georgetown, Del., and Dena Potter in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report. Foreman reported from Raleigh, N.C.

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Hoboken orders evacuation of shelter after flooding (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Flood waters forced city officials in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, to evacuate a storm shelter late on Saturday night, the mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer said on Twitter.

"Hoboken faces worst case scenario. Flooding has begun. Moving Wallace Shelter residents to state shelter in east Rutherford," the mayor's tweet said as Hurricane Irene approached the region.

A story earlier on website nj.com said there were only about 55 people at the Wallace School shelter in Hoboken as of 6 p.m. on Saturday.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said earlier shelters in New York City were far below capacity as many people sought shelter with friends and family, or stayed at home.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

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10 dead after strong typhoon hits Philippines (AP)

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Nanmadol began blowing toward Taiwan on Sunday after leaving at least 10 people dead and scuttling a visit by a U.S. Navy carrier group in the Philippines, officials said.

Taiwan issued sea and land warnings and planned to evacuate about 6,000 people in its eastern and southern regions as it braced for the typhoon. Troops and rescue equipment were deployed, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said.

With its enormous cloud band, the typhoon drenched the northern Philippines with rain for days before pummeling the area with fierce wind, setting off landslides and floods and toppling walls that left at least 10 people dead and six others missing. About 20 were injured by landslides and toppled trees, said Benito Ramos, who heads the Office of Civil Defense.

Strong winds knocked down a concrete wall which hit a small eatery in the capital's suburban Quezon City on Sunday, killing a man and injuring two others, police said.

In the northern mountain resort city of Baguio, a garbage dump's concrete wall collapsed and buried three shanties under tons of garbage Saturday, killing two children. Their grandmother remained missing, Ramos said.

Seven others perished in landslides or drowned, including a fisherman whose body was found floating Saturday off eastern Catanduanes province. A decision by many villagers to flee to safety before the typhoon struck and vigilance helped reduce the number of casualties, Ramos said.

In northern Benguet province, bus driver Reynaldo Carlos ordered his passengers to flee Saturday after seeing mud, debris and boulders surging down a mountainside toward the vehicle, which was stuck on a muddy road.

The bus, its engine still running, was swept down a 200-foot (60-meter) ravine after everyone escaped, officials said.

"I was trembling with fear after I realized how close we were to death," Carlos told The Associated Press by telephone.

About 20 landslides blocked roads in Benguet, a gold-mining region about 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of Manila. More than 57,000 villagers fled their homes there and in 10 other northern provinces at the height of the typhoon, officials said.

U.S. officials postponed a Manila visit by the U.S. Navy's John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group originally scheduled for this weekend because of the bad weather.

The U.S. Embassy said all tours of the aircraft carrier, as well as a reception on board, had been canceled.

Domestic airlines also canceled more than a dozen flights to areas affected by the typhoon in the northern and central Philippines.

Nanmadol had sustained wind of 121 miles (195 kilometers) per hour and gusts of 143 mph (230 kph) Friday, becoming the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines so far this year. It weakened after grazing northern Cagayan province Saturday. It blew by the northernmost Batanes islands with 75 mph (120 kph) winds Sunday and then began moving away from the country, Philippine government forecasters said.

Nanmadol was expected to hit Taiwan as early as Monday, Taiwan's central weather bureau said. It urged residents to prepare for strong winds and torrential rain, and warned there could be landslides in mountainous regions and flooding in low-lying areas.

On Sunday, TV footage showed parts of eastern and southern Taiwan drenched with rain. Strong winds blew a van across a road in the eastern Taiwanese county of Taitung.

Ferries connecting Taiwan's mainland to islets and some domestic flights were canceled. Train service in southern and eastern Taiwan was to be suspended, and two major roads in eastern and central Taiwan were to be closed starting late Sunday afternoon.

Two eastern Taiwanese counties said people did not have to go to school or work on Monday.

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Associated Press writers Oliver Teves in Manila and Debby Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.

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Hurricane Irene Heading Toward North Carolina Four Months After Tornado (ContributorNetwork)

FIRST PERSON | SANFORD, N.C. -- As I write this story, I am watching the local news, which has been tightly focused on Hurricane Irene's steady approach toward North Carolina. I grew up in Virginia and attended graduate school in South Carolina, so I've seen my share of hurricanes. One thing I've noticed is that hurricanes seem particularly fond of hitting North Carolina. I have watched this state bear the brunt of storm after storm, while Virginia and South Carolina often end up relatively unscathed.

Another reason I'm nervous about Hurricane Irene is because about four months ago, my husband and I weathered our first tornado. The tornado hit Sanford, N.C., with a vengeance; thankfully, our house was not damaged, but the remnants of that storm are still clearly evident not even a quarter mile from our home.

The neighborhood just east of ours looks like it was attacked by a drunken lumberjack, with dozens of mature trees that were snapped in half after just a few minutes of severe rain and high winds. There are still plenty of boarded up homes, sheared off trees, pieces of scrap metal embedded in tree trunks and tarps on roofs to remind us of the catastrophic wrath Mother Nature can unexpectedly unleash. My memories of that scary tornado are still very fresh and have made it impossible for me to be apathetic about the approaching storm that could be affecting us this weekend.

Sanford, along with many other places on the East Coast, also experienced a very rare earthquake today. This rare earthquake, preceding what is forecast to be a substantial hurricane, will no doubt make plenty of people nervous.

Thanks to the tornado that hit Sanford in April, I have already invested in an emergency radio that runs on solar power. This morning, I reminded my husband to pick up some batteries, water, propane, matches and candles in preparation for the storm.

I also asked my husband if he thought we might want to purchase a generator, but then I remembered our local Lowe's hardware store was destroyed during the tornado. One thing the tornado taught me is that the local radio station is great during a crisis; I expect to be able to tune into WJFA Classic Hits and Oldies and get up-to-the-minute coverage of how Hurricane Irene has affected Sanford and where we can go for help if we need it. That's a small comfort in the face of a big storm.

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Joplin goes back to school 3 months after twister (AP)

JOPLIN, MO. – Seniors and juniors are taking classes in a converted big-box store. Freshmen and sophomores are in a building across town. The new middle school is in an industrial park.

Across Joplin, the schools are still a jumble, with books, computer monitors and unassembled furniture littering unfamiliar hallways. But as classes resumed Wednesday, students and teachers welcomed the start of another year as a return to something normal — or what passes for normal in a city crippled last spring by the nation's single deadliest tornado in six decades.

"You can't pretend like nothing happened," said high school English teacher Brenda White. "But everything is so new here. Every single thing that is this school is new and different."

The twister killed 160 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of buildings, including Joplin's only public high school. Now after months of cleaning up debris, attending funerals and trying to rebuild shattered lives, it was time to get back to pop quizzes and homework assignments.

"It's going to take a while to build everything back, but books are a good start," White said while stocking her classrooms with copies of "The Great Gatsby," "The Kite Runner" and other literary standards, past and present.

The school system was hit especially hard by the May 22 tornado. Seven students and one employee were among the victims, including a senior pulled from his car by winds on his way home from the Joplin High School graduation ceremony. Six school buildings were destroyed, including the high school. Seven other buildings were badly damaged.

District leaders quickly realized that they would play a huge role in Joplin's recovery, for reasons symbolic as much as practical. They expanded the hours and locations of summer school in an effort to give children a reassuring routine — and their parents the time to deal with insurance agents, contractors and social service agencies.

They cobbled together a hodge-podge of temporary locations for fall classes, from the old Shopko store at Northpark Mall to a former Missouri Department of Transportation office where the superintendent and other administrators now work. Rival elementary schools combined, and a middle school found space in an industrial park.

Even in a corner of the country where hard work is cherished, the swiftness of the transformation was striking, White said.

"I've always known people are strong here. But this has really brought it home," she said. "People are so strong. They just get up, dust off and go to work."

Students arrived at the "mall school" Wednesday morning to a bevy of well-wishers holding Joplin High signs and lining the entrance road. Some teens gathered in modular classrooms, right next to a row of concrete-lined storm shelters. Others lingered in hallways.

They raved about the school's college-like feel. Drinks will soon be available from Joplin Joe's coffee bar, and every student could get a free laptop thanks to a donation from the United Arab Emirates worth as much as $1 million.

Parents and other relatives were impressed.

"It just blows your mind," said Pamela Berry, who accompanied her 17-year-old nephew to a Tuesday night open house. "I want to come back to high school."

The start of classes also offered students a chance to reunite with classmates who had endured the same ordeal.

"Everyone is closer, more friendly to each other," said senior Yainer Oviedo, whose mother and six siblings lost their home to the storm. He now lives with a classmate and still wrestles with his own harrowing memories of huddling behind a flimsy mattress while the tornado roared overhead.

"Our whole community has been through a lot," he added. "You look at someone and automatically know what they're going through."

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who toured the school Wednesday, encouraged students to take advantage of their new learning environment.

"I hope you use what has been given to you to lift the expectations of Joplin even higher," he said. "While there's been tremendous suffering, there are even greater expectations."

Among those hoping to match those expectations was junior Christopher Jones. Unlike most years, his summer vacation couldn't end soon enough, he said.

"I was really just looking for a change," Jones said.

At East Middle School, which was relocated to a converted warehouse on the outskirts of town, students agreed that some things were unchanged: Cafeteria food still tasted terrible. Kids got lost on their way to class. And the odor of pet food from the factory across the street was gross.

Younger students, too, said they relate differently to each other — and to their parents — after surviving the disaster.

"It brought me a lot closer to my mom," said Madeline Fichtner, 13, who described riding out the storm without initially knowing whether her mother was safe.

School officials brought in additional counselors and trauma workers to help students and families who may still be struggling in the storm's aftermath.

"We can build buildings, but the emotional damage that this storm has caused is of a very significant concern and something we're going to be watching closely for months, if not years," Superintendent C.J. Huff said.

Phillip Gloyer, a communication arts teacher who is also a National Guard chaplain, said he planned to tap his divinity school training as well as his expertise in British literature.

"I'm just really focused on the kids' emotional health," he said. "A lot of hugs, a lot of encouragement. Asking them to tell their story. That's the best therapy."

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Alan Scher Zagier can be reached at http://twitter.com/azagier

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Japan's 'Super Cool Biz' Concept Saves Energy After Quake (ContributorNetwork)

TOKYO -- Since the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in northern Japan in March, the power industry in Japan has taken huge hits as the levels of available electricity has plummeted in Tokyo, the country's largest city.

The disasters have critically disabled the country's nuclear power plants, many of which have been taken off line for inspection or repair. That leaves a critical power shortage in the northern and eastern parts of the country, where the government has both requested and mandated power-saving measures that have already gone into effect all over. Even the relatively unaffected areas of southern and western Japan are helping by conserving.

The official word for this special electricity cutback is setsuden, which means saving power. This is not just regular conservation, however; this is a country pitching in to help each other recover from the recent trials and tribulations of life.

The Japanese government has mandated that companies reduce their overall energy consumption by at least 10 percent.

Even in the warm summer months, this means that in most offices, the thermostat is set at 28 degrees Celsius, or 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Air conditioning uses a massive amount of electricity, and it is a concrete area in which companies can save.

In past summers, to mildly conserve energy, companies instituted the concept of "Cool Biz," meaning that employees of private companies and government offices can dress down, forgoing the normal attire of shirts, ties and jackets for plain, short-sleeved shirts, thus making everyone comfortable in the higher office temperatures.

This summer, the government has instituted "Super Cool Biz," and it encouraged even higher office temps along with suggesting polo shirts and sandals, going so far as to allow printed Hawaiian shirts as proper office attire. This is quite a change from the normal, buttoned-up black suits of normal Japanese businessmen. In addition, many retail outlets are reducing the lighting in their stores and even convenience stores are reducing the number of refrigerated cases for drinks. All over the city, buildings with more than one elevator are turning off one car in order to encourage energy savings. Signs proclaiming the health benefits of taking the stairs have cropped up everywhere.

In addition to saving energy at the office, the Japanese people are going out of their way to conserve energy at home. In a country where most women run a load of laundry every day, people have changed their washing habits to allow for fuller loads when they launder. In addition to turning up their air conditioning at home, citizens are using remote controls less often, unplugging unused appliances and turning off unnecessary lights.

One of the biggest concessions the Japanese people have made at home is in the bathroom, however. Toilets have become luxury items in recent years, performing a myriad of washing functions in addition to having heated seats. But now people are making the ultimate sacrifice of turning off or unplugging these extraneous functions, all in the name of saving energy.

Japan is a nation made up of stoic, community-minded people. They go about their daily lives and do all of these energy saving measures for the good of the country as a whole. Their attitude and fortitude is to be admired. Far beyond the current crisis, the extreme green practices of Japan could be emulated by other developed nations.

Aimee Weinstein is an American freelance writer who lives in Japan.

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US nuclear lab to reopen after wildfire threat ends (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory said they will re-open the nuclear research center on Wednesday after it was closed in late June due to an encroaching wildfire.

The site in the southwestern state of New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was developed during World War II, "appears to have escaped serious damage from the Las Conchas fire," read a lab statement Sunday.

The site "will re-open to employees on Wednesday, July 6" following "the largest wildfire in New Mexico history," the statement read.

"Only senior leaders and essential services will be be permitted at the Lab on Tuesday," it added.

Flames reached laboratory property on June 27, but caused no damage. However the lab closed down temporarily, in part because the nearby town of Los Alamos, where half the lab employees live, was forced to evacuate.

All hazardous and radioactive materials were accounted for and protected during the shutdown, as were key lab facilities such as its proton accelerator and supercomputing centers, officials said.

Firefighters on Sunday gave the all-clear for the town of Los Alamos, and the 10,000 residents that had been ordered to leave began streaming back home.

The fire, the largest in New Mexico history, currently measures more than 121,000 acres (49,000 hectares). As of Sunday, it was 11% contained and had destroyed dozens of homes, according to the government-run New Mexico Fire Information website.

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Warning system glitches found after Alaska quake (AP)

JUNEAU, Alaska – Glitches were reported in Alaska's tsunami warning system after Thursday evening's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in the Aleutian chain, causing some anxiety and bewilderment among residents.

State Department of Homeland Security spokesman Jeremy Zidek said Friday that tsunami warning messages were sent late via the emergency alert system to TV and radio stations, about the same time the warning was being canceled.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough reported its sirens, tied to a weather radio system, only went off when the alert was canceled. Normally, there's no siren when a warning is canceled, emergency management director Eric Mohrmann said.

"It's unfortunate it occurred" that way, he said Friday. "It's not a perfect system, that's for sure."

The reason for the glitches wasn't immediately clear, though Zidek said the state does not rely on just one system to alert communities to possible dangers. For example, he said officials also send emails and make calls, alerting communities to possible impending dangers. In all, 14 communities were notified Thursday, he said. Mohrmann said he learned of the tsunami warning by email.

It's not the only emergency management communication problem for the state this week.

Alaska State Troopers Capt. Barry Wilson told the Anchorage Daily News the agency is investigating glitches in this week's Amber Alert, including breaks in audio for some radio and TV listeners. There were also problems with television text scrolls that either didn't appear or moved too fast, and not everyone who signed up for Amber Alert email and text message alerts received them.

The tsunami warning glitches were cast more as the exception than the rule in a state where earthquakes are common occurrences.

Thursday's quake, a magnitude 7.2, according to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, shook a huge section of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Centered about 122 miles east of Atka and about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, it was jarring enough to send residents of some small coastal towns, such as Unalaska, to higher ground. There were no immediate reports of damage.

It hit just after 7 p.m. Thursday.

Unalaska's mayor, Shirley Marquardt, was at the airport. The shaking wasn't violent but it lasted "long enough." Officials decided to evacuate the low-lying city as a precaution. This time of year, the community is bustling. The hotel, which is built around sea level, like many other buildings in town, was full, she said.

"We stand to lose everything in a tsunami," Marquardt said.

Unalaska City Manager Chris Hladick estimated that thousands of people evacuated to higher ground until they received the all-clear. He said the process ran smoothly, with sirens blaring and officials going through neighborhoods to rouse residents. Ships were sent out of the harbor.

Atka resident Rodney Jones said the shaking he felt lasted about 20 seconds and was "just a little rumbly."

He said it appeared all of the town's 61 residents moved to higher ground upon hearing the tsunami warning, which he heard issued over CB radio. Townspeople gathered on a high hill for about an hour, near the city's new water tank.

During their wait for the all-clear signal, a priest with the town's Russian Orthodox Church recited prayers, Jones said.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen contributed from Anchorage.

Becky Bohrer can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/bbohrer.

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Japan lifts tsunami warning after strong quake (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan issued a tsunami warning Thursday after a magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck in the northeast of the country, rattling the areas hardest hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami disasters.

But the meteorological agency lifted the warning about an hour after the latest jolt hit at 6:51 am (2151 GMT Wednesday) some 50 kilometres (31 miles) off the east coast of Miyako, Iwate prefecture, at a depth of 20 kilometres in the Pacific.

USGS also registered the quake at 6.7 in magnitude at a depth of 32 kilometres.

The Japanese agency had warned that a 50 centimetre (20-inch) tsunami could be expected in the region, but no warning was issued to Fukushima at the centre of the nation's nuclear crisis.

Public broadcaster NHK reported there were no immediate reports of damage from the quake while no sizable high waves were seen.

Local authorities issued evacuation orders to some 8,000 households in Iwate, NHK said.

Shinkansen bullet train services were temporarily suspended, while there was no new damage to the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi, south of Iwate, which has been out of operation since the March 11 disaster, NHK added.

The northeast coast of Japan's main Honshu island was ravaged by a 9.0 magnitude quake and monster tsunami on March 11 which left some 23,000 people dead or missing.

The disasters also crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, triggering the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986 and forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to leave their homes.

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Churchill Downs horse racing canceled after tornado (Reuters)

LOUISVILLE, Ky (Reuters) – Racing and training were canceled on Thursday at Churchill Downs, a day after a tornado hit the thoroughbred racetrack famed as home of the Kentucky Derby, according to track officials.

"Considering the damage, which is extensive, it is amazing -- borderline miraculous -- that there were no injuries to either humans or horses," said John Asher, Churchill Downs spokesman.

There was no damage to the grandstand or the track's iconic twin spires.

Churchill Downs is most famous for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby, the first leg in U.S. thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown of events, which also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

Asher said crews on Thursday were inspecting the surface of the race track for storm debris, including nails, that might have been tossed onto the usually carefully manicured racing surface from the passing twister.

Six barns and a portion of a seventh were damaged severely enough they cannot be used, Asher said. Two others that had damage from the storm had been restored to service Thursday. As a result, 30 horses would be transported to Lexington where Keeneland raceway had offered temporary shelter.

Other displaced horses would be housed in previously unoccupied stalls at Churchill, Asher said. Racing will resume Friday at the track.

Churchill Downs also is coordinating with the American Red Cross and emergency management officials to provide shelter for about 100 workers whose living spaces were damaged.

The twister developed in a line of intense thunderstorms that struck Louisville late Wednesday, leaving power lines down and structural damage across the city. But authorities said no deaths or injuries were reported.

The Downs has been hit by a tornado before, in 1928, according to the National Weather Service. The track was inundated by a massive flood in 1937, according to Asher.

Damage also was reported when Wednesday's tornado skipped from the track into the nearby parking lot of the University of Louisville's football stadium, where more than 140 members of a drum and bugle corps were milling about eating dinner after a daylong practice session.

Randy Blackburn, director of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Teal Sound said it was a close call but the corps members were hustled quickly into locker rooms as the twister plowed through the parking lot on the south side of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

"Had it been 300 yards north, it would have taken out at least two of our buses and a truck," Blackburn said. He credited an emergency action plan the group had developed for minimizing potential for injuries.

Denita Stemet, a parent traveling with the group, said she saw the tornado just after it struck Churchill Downs.

"We could see tree branches in it," she said. "There was a lot of debris and some big stuff you could see spinning around inside of it."

The National Weather Service rated the tornado that hit Churchill Downs as an EF-1, with wind speeds of 100-105 mph. It strengthened to EF-2 intensity as it moved east, with speeds of 120 mph.

(Reporting and writing by Steve Robrahn; Additional reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Greg McCune)

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No tsunami for coastal Alaska after strong quake (AP)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook a large swath of Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Thursday evening, sending residents of small coastal towns to higher ground as officials issued a tsunami warning in the temblor's wake.

The quake was centered about 122 miles east of Atka, about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage. It was recorded at a depth of 26 miles, the Alaska Earthquake Information Center said.

The quake was felt through the central Aleutians and as far east as Dutch Harbor and Unalaska, but no damage was reported, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman with the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

"It was shaking, it was just a little rumbly" and lasted about 20 seconds, said Atka resident Rodney Jones.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center posted a tsunami warning for some coastal areas of Alaska, but canceled the warning about an hour after the quake. The warning covered an area from 80 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor to about 125 miles west of Adak.

Jones said it appeared all of the town's 61 residents took to higher ground when they heard the tsunami warning, which he heard issued over CB radio. The townspeople gathered on a high hill for about an hour, near the city's new water tank.

During their wait for the all-clear signal, he said a priest with the town's Russian Orthodox Church recited prayers.

In Dutch Harbor, longshoreman Jim Paulin said warning sirens caused also caused hundreds of people to begin climbing up a nearby hill.

"Right now there's hundreds of people up on the hilltop," he told The Associated Press before the all-clear was given. "I can look across the bay and see people on another hilltop."

After the tsunami warning was canceled, he said everybody was "calm. It seems like everybody's kind of enjoying it. It's good weather."

Paulin said no one seemed panicked because the city has been evacuated in the past. But, he said, "It's better to be safe than sorry."

___

Associated Press writers Kathy McCarthy in Seattle and Michelle Price in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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900 pets still homeless after Joplin tornado (AP)

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER and JIM SALTER, Associated Press Alan Scher Zagier And Jim Salter, Associated Press – Fri Jun 17, 7:11 am ET

JOPLIN, Mo. – Hundreds of dogs and cats peer out from their cages at the Joplin Humane Society, some with cuts, infections and broken bones from the deadly tornado that turned their lives, like those of their owners, upside down.

Since the tornado, the Humane Society has found itself overflowing with animals, with about 900 now calling the shelter home — three times its usual inventory. One way or another, the pets became separated from their owners in the chaotic aftermath of the May 22 twister that tore through this town, killing 153 people. In some cases, the owners — scrambling to find housing for themselves after 7,000 homes were destroyed, leaving nearly one-third of the city's 50,000 residents homeless — have simply given up their pets.

But the Joplin Humane Society is determined to find a home for every cat and dog. To that end, it plans an "Adopt-a-thon" the weekend of June 25-26, when animals that haven't been claimed by their owners will be given away free to good homes, after being spayed and neutered.

"The reality is, a lot of these people aren't in a position to come get these animals," said Joplin native Tim Rickey, a field investigator for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "They've lost everything."

Executive director Karen Aquino said it's not that the Humane Society hasn't tried to find the owners.

"We feel we've exhausted every avenue to get the word out," Aquino said. "We've placed 250 yard signs. We have posters at food and donation distribution points, public service announcements on radio and TV, ads in the newspaper — everything we could think of to let people know their pets might be here if they're missing."

To handle the additional cats and dogs, the organization fixed up two vacant warehouses next to the shelter into air-conditioned kennels. A gravel parking lot outside a former used appliance store has been converted into an owner's waiting room, with plastic chairs and Polaroid snapshots of unnamed animals stuffed into thick three-ring binders.

Aquino said none of the pets left homeless by the tornado will be euthanized.

"If all of them aren't adopted, we'll start looking to rescue organizations and ways to get some of them to larger cities where they have a better chance at adoption," she said.

More than 100 volunteers from across the country, many from other shelters, are in Joplin helping out — cleaning cages, providing veterinary care and exercising the animals. On most days, a half-dozen veterinarians are at the shelter tending to the wounded.

The work is exhausting, the plight of the animals sad. But spirits are buoyed by good news, such as the recent story of a cat found alive by its owner 16 days after the tornado.

"We've heard some amazing stories," Aquino said. "Animals are pretty resilient."

When Steven and Debbie Leatherman found their lost dog, Sugar, at the shelter, her back legs were paralyzed. Someone had apparently dropped off the 10-year-old cocker spaniel after finding her in a drainage ditch and about to drown. The University of Missouri says the Leathermans' son, Daniel, drove the dog to its veterinary hospital in Columbia, where veterinarians performed spinal surgery that gave Sugar back the use of her legs.

But some owners, such as 47-year-old Linda Head, still haven't been able to find their pets. Since the storm, Head has been looking for 2-year-old Isabel, a Labrador/Great Pyrenees mix, and 5-year-old Puddles, a cockapoo.

Both dogs hunkered down with Head, her 23-year-old son and a third dog, Max, in and around a bathtub in their home that was obliterated by the tornado. Head lost Puddles when the dog jumped through the shattered window of a car as Head's son was driven to seek medical care. Max also jumped out in the tumult, but he turned up nearly two weeks later at a Kansas veterinarian's office. Isabel hasn't been seen since the tornado, though Head's hopes were briefly buoyed when a neighbor thought he saw the dog running loose. He was mistaken.

Head visits the shelter twice a week, hoping her dogs will turn up.

"Honey, when I left here the first time, I bawled all the way home," Head said during a recent visit to the shelter. "I'll bawl all the way home today, because I don't have my buddies."

___

Salter reported from Kansas City.

Alan Scher Zagier can be reached at http://twitter.com/azagier

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After tornado, high school will be at the shopping mall (Reuters)

KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) – If high school students in Joplin, Missouri, actually get tired of hanging out at the mall later this year, nobody could blame them.

Classes for juniors and seniors will be held in a shopping mall in 2011-12 because a May 22 tornado destroyed Joplin High School, school officials announced. Classrooms will be created in an 80,000-square foot space vacated years ago by a large retailer at Northpark Mall.

While holding high school classes at a shopping mall "is a little bit different," the environment is not as important as the high quality education students will continue to receive, said Angie Besendorfer, an assistant superintendent of Joplin public schools.

"A school is more than a building," Besendorfer said Friday.

About 1,000 to 1,200 students will attend the school in the mall starting August 17. The space is near a Macy's in a mall that has about 100 retail outlets, movie theaters and restaurants.

The tornado, which killed 151 people, damaged or destroyed 10 schools and other buildings in the public school system.

Freshmen and sophomores from the high school will be taught at another education facility in the community. Elementary and middle school students will go to various temporary locations, school officials said.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Jerry Norton)

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CDC Studying Deadly Fungus After Joplin, Mo., Tornado (ContributorNetwork)

The Centers for Disease Control has gotten involved in a mysterious case of a fungal infection known as mucormycosis in victims of the Joplin, Mo., tornado. As many as three people have had severe enough infections to have possibly died from a rare form of fungus after receiving injuries due to the massive twister.

Death rates are as high as 30 percent for people who have the fungus spread through their blood. The rate goes as high as 50 percent in those who inhale the spores.

Some of the injured received multiple injuries with bleeding. The Springfield News-Leader reports eight people have been diagnosed with massive fungal infections, three of whom have died. Samples are being sent to the CDC for further tests.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services issued a health advisory, four days after the Greene County (Mo.) Health Department published a memo to health professionals. The aggressive fungus causes soft tissue to die in extreme cases.

The advisory states anyone injured in the tornado with multiple lacerations, pneumonia, severe respiratory problems and kidney issues should be watched very carefully for signs of mycosis. So far, there have been no cases attributed to air, food or water. So far, cases of the fungal infection are limited to those with cuts and underlying health problems.

The state also says the infections do not travel from human to human.

The National Institutes of Health states people with weakened immune systems are most susceptible to this rare form of mycosis. Mild symptoms include inflammation, coughing, fever and headache. More severe symptoms include blindness, blood clotting and even death.

Dr. Benjamin Park of the CDC told the Associated Press this type of outbreak is rare. Most major hospitals only see one or two cases a year.

More than 1,000 people were injured and 151 people killed when a massive EF5 tornado destroyed 30 percent of Joplin May 22. Some of the wounded are still in hospitals nearly three weeks after the tornado. Health officials are still facing problems even though the city has moved to clean up mode after the initial crisis waned.

If anyone has experienced any unusual symptoms, they should see a doctor immediate. Because most cases have been attributed to catching the fungus through the bloodstream, any volunteers with exposed cuts should be extremely careful.

Signs of skin discoloration appear five to 10 days after exposure to the fungus. This kind of symptom occurs when a wound near the skin becomes infected.

William Browning, a lifelong Missouri resident, writes about local and state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Born in St. Louis, Browning earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri. He currently resides in Branson.

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Japan anti-nuclear protesters rally after quake (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters marched in Japan on Saturday, three months after an earthquake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, urging the government to cut reliance on atomic power.

Three reactors went into meltdown after the earthquake hit the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan, forcing 80,000 residents to evacuate from its vicinity as engineers battled radiation leaks, hydrogen explosions and overheating fuel rods.

Company workers, students and parents with children on their shoulders rallied across Japan, venting their anger at the government's handling of the crisis, carrying flags bearing the words "No Nukes!" and "No More Fukushima."

"If they don't get the message now, what else has to happen before we stop using atomic energy which has proved so dangerous?" said kindergarten worker Yu Matsuda, 28.

She brought her children, aged 2 and 4, to protest at the headquarters of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (Tepco).

"I want my children to play outside safely and swim in our sea without any worries," Matsuda said, listening to speeches by civil rights activists and people from tsunami-affected areas.

The protests are likely to add to public pressure that caused a shutdown of the Hamaoka nuclear plant in May and delays to the restart of reactors across the country after scheduled maintenance until tighter safety measures are put in place.

In France, where nuclear plants produce 75 percent of energy output, police said 1,150 people joined a protest in Paris. The anti-nuclear campaigners who organized the rally said 5,000 took part.

Japan is running 19 of 54 reactors in operation before the Fukushima disaster, raising the risk of serious power shortages into 2012. Many experts say economic risks are too high for Japan to pull the plug on all its reactors.

Analysts say industry is facing more power rationing and the need for energy imports levies a high price on the world's third-largest economy. Japan lacks the electricity generation capacity to substitute for the nuclear fleet.

"The nuclear lobby says the cost of green energy is too high. But I say the cost of cleaning up this mess and the possibility of more such accidents at the expense of our lives is much higher," said entrepreneur Yonosuke Sawada, 59.

"STOP INFIGHTING"

Protesters, shouting "Tepco liars!" and "Give us our friends back!" also criticized the government for its handling of the disaster, which left more than 23,000 dead or presumed dead and laid waste to a swathe of the northeast.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who on Saturday visited quake-affected areas, last week survived a no-confidence vote by saying he would step down when the worst of the crisis was over.

That fueled uncertainty about the smoothness and speed of recovery as there is still no agreement on how to pay for Japan's biggest reconstruction project since the years after World War Two.

"It's not a matter of what political party you support. Fukushima is still emitting radiation and politicians should concentrate on ending the crisis -- not infighting," said company worker Jun Miyakawa, 43, sporting a hat in the shape of an exploded reactor.

Japan's anti-nuclear movement, small and ignored by the public until the Fukushima crisis, has become more vocal, gathering increasing numbers of people to demonstrations.

But the number of protesters in Japan, a conservative society that values cooperation over outcries of public anger, are much smaller than in Germany, where as many as 200,000 pressed the government to overhaul its nuclear policies.

Voters have generally supported the role of nuclear energy and even after the accident remained divided over whether all of the nuclear power plants should be closed, polls showed.

"People in Japan do have opinions, but are not used to expressing them in public like the Germans," said Reo Komazawa, 39. "I came here with my friends to play music and to show through music we are anti-nuke," he said as a colorful group of musicians and dancers marched in the crowd.

(Additional reporting by Lucien Libert and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris; Editing by Alex Richardson and Janet Lawrence)

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Anti-nuke protests in Japan, 3 months after quake (AP)

TOKYO – Protesters in Tokyo prepared Saturday to hold mass demonstrations against the use of nuclear power, as Japanese marked the three-month anniversary of the powerful earthquake and tsunami that killed tens of thousands and triggered one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

The magnitude-9 earthquake that hit off Japan's northeast coast March 11 caused a massive tsunami that devastated the coastline. The disasters knocked out power and cooling systems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, setting off explosions, fires and large radiation leaks at the facility.

Official reports released earlier in the week said the damage and leakage was worse than previously thought, with nuclear fuel in three reactors likely melting through their main cores and larger containment vessels. The reports also said radiation that leaked into the air amounted to about one-sixth of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Hundreds of plant workers are still scrambling to bring the crippled Fukushima reactors to a "cold shutdown" by early next year and end the crisis. The accident has forced more than 80,000 residents to evacuate from their homes around the plant.

The disasters have renewed a national debate on the use of nuclear power in Japan, which has few natural resources and is heavily reliant on atomic energy. Some nuclear plants across the country have been shut down in the wake of the disaster, leading to fears Japan may not have enough electricity for the peak summer months.

Three months after the disasters, which killed about 23,000 people, 90,000 are still living in temporary shelters such as school gyms and community centers. Some families have been moved into temporary housing, but supplies are short and sufficient housing is not expected to be completed for several more months.

All along the coast, a massive cleanup effort continues as cranes and dump trucks haul away the wreckage from hundreds of thousands of buildings that were destroyed or damaged by the tsunami.

Also Saturday, embattled Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was scheduled to visit a tsunami-damaged region in northern Iwate prefecture (state).

Kan, who reached the one-year mark of his tenure earlier this week, has been under fire for his handling of the disasters and the country's recovery plans. He survived a no-confidence vote earlier this month, in part by promising to step down once the country's recovery takes hold.

Speculation about when he will step down has been rampant since, with Japan's two main opposition parties considering a grand coalition to lead the country's recovery. Kan is Japan's fifth leader in four years.

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Officer hit by lightning after Joplin tornado dies (AP)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Missouri police officer who was struck by lightning while helping with rescues after a massive tornado ripped through Joplin has died.

Riverside Police Chief Greg Mills says 31-year-old officer Jefferson "Jeff" Taylor died Friday at a Springfield hospital, where he had been a patient since he was struck by lightning May 23.

Mills says Taylor was the first Riverside officer to die in the line of duty. He was one of a dozen emergency responders from the Kansas City suburb to volunteer to go to Joplin after the storm that killed more than 130 people.

Mills says Taylor had successful skin graft surgery but was being treated for other complications when he died.

Taylor joined the Riverside department in 2005 and was its Officer of the Year in 2008.

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Mass. towns look to rebuild after deadly tornadoes (AP)

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS, DAVID COLLINS and STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press Russell Contreras, David Collins And Stephen Singer, Associated Press – Fri Jun 3, 3:31 am ET

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A number of Massachusetts communities are confronting the long and painful task of rebuilding shattered lives and livelihoods Friday, just days after three deadly tornadoes flattened more than 200 homes, killed at least three people and scattered debris across the state.

Gov. Deval Patrick said at least 19 communities reported damage from the violent storms, which came with fair warning, in an area of the country that rarely sees such severe twisters that destroyed homes, peeled-off roofs and the toppled steeple of a 140-year-old church.

"Some of the damage was particularly profound," Patrick said Thursday.

"In West Springfield, for example, they are reporting 88 that are total losses; in Springfield itself, about 35; in Monson 77 total losses and counting," Patrick said. "Monson was one of the communities most significantly hit."

If the National Weather Service agrees Wednesday's three deaths are tornado-related, it would bring the year's U.S. toll to 522 and make this year the deadliest for tornadoes since 1950. The highest recorded toll was 519 in 1953; four deaths from Joplin, Mo., that were added Thursday tied the record. There were deadlier years before 1950, but those counts were based on estimates.

Tornadoes are not unheard of in New England — the downtown of Connecticut's largest city was devastated by one last June — so many people heeded warnings. That didn't guarantee their survival; among the dead was a mother who shielded her teenage daughter as they huddled in a bathtub.

But in many cases, doing the right thing — quickly — helped save lives.

Karen Irla, 50, was leaving Adams Hometown Market in the picturesque village of Monson when she heard children on their bicycles yelling, "Look at that tornado!"

"I screamed and I screamed and I screamed, and that's why I have no voice today," said Irla, who drove to a nearby senior center and waited until the storm passed.

Inside the market, produce manager Frank Calabrese made a quick decision that helped keep customers and employees from coming to harm.

In a move recalling a famous video from the recent deadly tornado in Missouri that documented shoppers' terrifying moments inside a convenience store cooler, Calabrese herded them into a walk-in freezer, where six to eight endless minutes passed while the building shook and windows shattered.

"What else are we going to do?" he said. "We sat inside and waited it out."

No one in the store suffered a scratch.

The storms hit as many people headed home from work Wednesday, paralyzing motorists who could see the twister coming at them.

A fixed television camera caught dramatic images of a debris-filled tunnel cloud crossing the Connecticut River and slamming into Springfield, a working-class city of about 140,000 residents, where it cut a swath of destruction 10 blocks wide in some spots. The city is home to the Basketball Hall of Fame, which was spared damage.

Michael Valentin, 29, said he was eating at a soup kitchen near downtown when he started hearing thunder and went outside.

"All this was chaos," he said. "It was like a mad wind twisting. It was destroying everything. Cars were being smashed against walls. Pieces of wood and trees were flying in the air."

Debbie Perkins, 30, was filling up a small backyard swimming pool for some children when they spotted the funnel. They ran into the home and huddled in the basement.

"The kids, they were all screaming and crying," Perkins said. Unlike many of her neighbors, she escaped without damage to her home.

Among the injured in Springfield was a prosecutor struck in the head by debris while walking to her car; she is expected to survive, but her name was not released.

The Hampden County district attorney, Mark Mastroianni, said he barely escaped injury himself when plate glass windows shattered and blew into his office and a conference room.

"People started to scream, `Get away from the windows,' and as I was just turning to run, the glass window just came flying in," he said.

Fabiola Guerrero wept Thursday as she returned to the wreckage of her family's home, which collapsed and crushed to death her 39-year-old mother, Angelica, as she sheltered a younger daughter in a bathtub. Guerrero said her sister was trapped for two hours before being rescued.

Guerrero said her mother always said she would die for her daughter.

"She was an amazing woman," she said.

The devastation was repeated in town after town around Springfield. Some of the most severe damage was in Monson, about 15 miles away, where homes were leveled and a historic church was badly damaged.

"This isn't supposed to happen here," Sen. John Kerry said after touring the damage in Monson, usually a quiet mountain hamlet about 90 miles west of Boston.

The toppled steeple of the First Church of Monson — founded in 1762 and rebuilt in 1873 — was a symbol of the heartbreak many residents were feeling. But townspeople were relieved that no one in the town of fewer than 10,000 was killed — and were determined to rebuild.

Gov. Patrick said he was moved by gestures of goodwill.

A woman in Monson received a phone call from someone in the Boston suburb of Milton — the governor's hometown — who had recovered her checkbook register after the ferocious winds apparently carried it 90 miles.

He also addressed the death of the West Springfield woman who died while saving her daughter's life by covering her in the bathtub.

"I'm a dad, and I understand a mom or dad would do anything to save their child," Patrick said.

Authorities initially believed at least four people died but later determined that a heart attack death in Springfield was likely unrelated to the storms. A man died when a tree struck a van in West Springfield, and another person died in Brimfield, though authorities have not released details.

The governor, who declared a state of emergency allowing officials to sidestep usual regulations to provide quick relief, pledged that the state would throw all its resources behind recovery and that federal disaster assistance would be sought.

"For those who are feeling, quite understandably, that they can't imagine what a better tomorrow would look like, I want to assure that we are working to get to that better tomorrow," he said.

Massachusetts public health officials said about 200 people sought treatment for storm related-injuries.

Dr. Reginald Alouidor, a surgeon heading the trauma teams at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, said the injured at his hospital ranged in age from 2 to their mid-60s, with many suffering broken bones or other injuries from wind-driven debris.

Seven remained at the hospital Thursday, including a woman whose liver was lacerated when a building collapsed on her.

Police and National Guard troops went door to door in Springfield to check for any residents who were injured or otherwise needed help. The police chief confirmed reports of looting and other crimes, but no arrests were made.

Tens of thousands remained without power in the region.

Given the extent of damage, Patrick, who joined Kerry and Sen. Scott Brown for an aerial tour of the devastation, said it was remarkable there weren't more deaths.

While two or three tornadoes hit Massachusetts on average every year, they're usually weak and rarely strike heavily populated areas.

That may explain why the twisters caught people by surprise, said Stephen Frasier, a University of Massachusetts professor who has chased tornadoes across the Great Plains.

"Two things happened: This was bigger than the average tornado that hits Massachusetts that usually just knocks over a tree or something, and of course, it hit a populated area," Frasier said.

Tornado watches and warnings had been posted Wednesday by the National Weather Service and were broadcast by radio and TV stations, "but people just don't react to it here the way they do in other regions of the country," he said.

Most Massachusetts communities also don't have warning sirens like in the South and Plains, where people know exactly what they mean and are trained in grade school on how to react. Where sirens do exist, he said, New Englanders often treat them with curiosity rather than as a nudge to seek shelter.

In 1995, three people were killed by a tornado in the small town of Great Barrington, Mass., along the New York border. Last year's tornado in Bridgeport, Conn., heavily damaged buildings but killed no one.

On June 9, 1953, a monster tornado sliced through Worcester and other central Massachusetts communities, killing 94 people and making it one of the deadliest single tornadoes in U.S. history.

___

Collins reported from West Springfield and Singer from Brimfield. Contributing were Associated Press writers Stephanie Reitz in Hartford, Conn.; and Denise Lavoie, Mark Pratt, Bob Salsberg, Sylvia Wingfield and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston.

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Alabama residents cope with stress after deadly storms (Reuters)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala (Reuters) – Emeel Salem Jr. cried as he drove through Tuscaloosa on Saturday for the first time since the April 27 tornado ravaged the Alabama town.

"I'm missing turns because the landmarks that used to be there aren't there," said Salem, a University of Alabama alumnus who plays minor league baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

The Forest Lake home he rented during the off-season was gone. Where the home once stood, he could see Druid City Hospital, a view he didn't have before the storm.

"I knew it would hit me hard," he said. "I didn't realize I'd be overcome with emotions."

Salem said he wasn't worried about himself, but about fellow residents who lost everything.

It's a common response known as secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, said Karla D. Carmichael, an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of Alabama.

Many of the state's residents are dealing with similar emotions in the storms' wake, and mental health experts are taking action to help.

The Alabama Department of Mental Health and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have partnered to activate Project Rebound, a federally funded program agencies use to assist residents when a natural disaster occurs.

Teams of counselors are on the ground helping residents in hard-hit areas, and the state will be able to hire more counselors for community outreach and educational services with FEMA's help, said John Ziegler, director of the public information office for the state's mental health department.

The state will open a call center to provide free crisis counseling as soon as counselors are hired and trained, he said.

"It's later, after the emergency crisis, that people begin to feel the weight of their emotions, and their loss and their grief," Ziegler said.

Roughly two-thirds of Alabama was ravaged by tornadoes on April 27. More than 230 residents died, including 43 in Tuscaloosa alone.

CHANGED LANDSCAPE FUELS STRESS

Though many of Tuscaloosa's 95,000 residents didn't lose a home or a relative, they have seen the devastation and felt the loss of neighborhoods, businesses and their sense of security.

Residents can no longer purchase craft supplies at Hobby Lobby, shop for discounted items at Big Lots, have a burger at Milo's or pick up coffee at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. All those businesses were destroyed in the storm.

"Everybody in Tuscaloosa potentially has secondary traumatic stress to some degree or another," Carmichael said. "There's going to be an increase in substance abuse, compulsive behavior, over-spending, over-eating, gambling, addiction."

Children are not immune from the destruction.

The city's Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant was leveled during the storm. In the days following the tornado, Carmichael talked with kindergartners and first-graders who knew the Chuck E. Cheese character lived there and wanted to know where he had gone and whether he was okay.

"Chuck E. was taken care of just like everybody else," Carmichael told the schoolchildren. "Chuck E. has a new home. He is staying with friends until they build Chuck E. Cheese's back."

Alabamians who survived the tornadoes may experience depression, guilt, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, nightmares or extra worry in the wake of the disaster, experts said.

The Family Counseling Service in Tuscaloosa has been offering free counseling since the tornado and is now seeing residents come in for treatment.

At first, they feel shock and disbelief, followed by anger and resentment. There will be a sense of loss of what used to be before reaching the stage of acceptance, said Larry Deavers, the center's executive director.

There will be progression and regression as the city recovers, and it is normal for residents to experience different degrees of those stages, he said.

"It doesn't mean you can wrap a bow around it and be done with it," Deavers said. "That's just the way humans are developed and the way we process loss."

"The intensity of those emotions right now is temporary. The key is to allow one another to talk or not to talk."

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)

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Toyota, Honda global output halved after quake (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese auto giants Toyota and Honda saw global production halved in April as the March 11 earthquake and tsunami ravaged supply chains, the companies said Friday.

Honda reported a 52.9 percent year-on-year drop in worldwide production and an 81.0 percent slump in domestic output, while Toyota said global production was down 48.1 percent.

The quake and the resulting tsunami shattered component supply chains and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing atomic emergency.

Amid power and parts shortages, Toyota had announced production disruptions domestically and in the United States, Europe, China and Australia because of the crisis, temporarily slowing output or shutting plants.

The company announced a year-on-year drop of 15.4 percent in its global sales figures for April.

Honda, which was forced to temporarily suspend all production at its Japanese sites, said domestic sales were down 46.3 percent on year while exports dropped 76.2 percent.

"The figures are pretty much along the lines of what we had expected. The months of March and April are the most severely hit by the disaster," Ryoichi Saito, an auto analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities, said.

"In April, we saw auto plants operating for only about half the month, about half the capacity."

Many component manufacturers that are key to auto production are based in the worst-hit regions of Japan, their facilities damaged by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake or inundated by the giant wave that followed.

While most plants resumed production by mid-April, operations remain well below capacity and analysts warn parts shortages could go on for months, with the threat of summer power shortages also casting a shadow.

Honda said it expected production volume in Asia and Oceania to start picking up in July, the carmaker's Asian Honda Motor Co. unit said.

The company said in a statement it expects its production in Asia and Oceania "will be normalised during the August to September time period at almost all auto plants in the region", Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The picture looked less gloomy for Nissan Motor Co., however, which makes up Japan's big three automakers alongside Toyota and Honda.

The company said global production in April had decreased 22.4 percent on-year but announced a 4.4 percent rise in worldwide sales, marking an all-time record for the month of April.

"Production is picking up earlier than expected, and I expect auto production will recover considerably in June," Saito told AFP. "Auto part makers for Toyota have also said their production will come to about 90 percent of what it should be by June. I'd say production bottomed out in April and will start recovering in May."

Nissan plans to manufacture around 98,000 vehicles in Japan next month, the Nikkei daily said, nearly unchanged from the year-earlier 100,000 or so. And its projected June-November output of roughly 560,000 units is only slightly lower than the 590,000 units of a year earlier.

Total domestic auto output in fiscal 2011 is on course to reach around eight million units, the report said, just 10 percent off the figure for 2010.

The woes of Japan's automakers have been in stark contrast to overseas rivals. South Korea's Hyundai last month posted a 47 percent rise in first quarter net profit on higher prices and strong demand.

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