All sorts of flooding going on.  First a look at the southeast which is still dealing with an abundance of rain from the front last week.  Here is current road closures in North Carolina.

South Carolina Floodingetsetsetsets23
Published on Apr 21, 2019

Other areas that are experiencing flooding in the US are Vermont and Central Arkansas.  In North Dakota four people with canoes were told to get off the flooded river after a kayaker had to be rescued during last week's flood.

Canada is battling spring flooding.  Residents of Montreal spent their Easter preparing for more flood.  They are asking all volunteers to come out and help.  One woman has already died in the western part of Quebec.  Wednesday is the expected peak in Laval.

Those is Gatineau may be having horrid flashbacks of what was endured during the 2017 flooding.  Not even fully recovered as a community they face the flood again.

Easter Sunday flooding in GatineauOttawa Citizen
Published on Apr 21, 2019

The latest round of storms were destructive and deadly.  Mississippi lost three people and had damage reported in at least 24 of it's 82 counties.  Two were driving accidents, the third was cutting down a tree that had fallen on a house.  In Alabama one died when a tree fell on her mobile home.  Another tree on a house killed an eight year old girl in Florida, just south of Tallahassee.  A twelve year old boy was also injured.  Another injury was reported from an apartment complex in Atlanta that had a tree fall on it.  Just outside Atlanta three firefighters were injured when their fire truck was flipped by the strong winds.  Tennessee also took some damage.  Knoxville was hit hard.  70 people were put out of their apartments, the building lost it's roof.  A fire station also had it's roof partially removed by the wind. 

Tornado Warnings Blast Mississippi Causing Flash Flooding in HattiesburgAaron Jayjack
Published on Apr 19, 2019
Extreme Storm Chaser Aaron Jayjack documents multiple tornado warnings as severe weather rakes across Mississippi on 4-18-2019. Flash flooding impacted cities such as Hattiesburg after tornado warnings blasted through the area.

Loup City Farmer Powerless as Flood Washes Away CattleNebraska Farm Bureau
Published on Apr 5, 2019
Mike Kaminski stood by, powerless to stop a massive flood from washing away all of his cow/calf pairs that had been in one of his pens. It was an area of his land that had never seen standing water until March 13, 2019.

Another wind incident vs bounce house.  This looks like an intense dust devil.

CGTN
Published on Mar 31, 2019
Eighteen children were injured after a tornado blew away a trampoline at a scenic spot in Yucheng County in China's central Henan Province at around 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday. The injured were taken to hospital, according to local authorities. Emergency officials are on the scene.

A low had been expected to try and form off the coast this morning from the upper level low over North Florida yesterday and a coming front.  One of these elements had some remnants of the big Texas hail the other day.  That got fired up along the East Coast this morning.  One storm formed after another, following each other down the coast spitting and dumping hail along the way.  They were well warned by the MLB NWS.  We had a twenty minute lead to get most the morning farm chores done before riding out round one of the storm in the cow shack during milking.  Round two was even more intense with increased lightning and tree damage.  A fine carpet of green leaves and smaller tree bits was left by these storms.

CRAZY HAIL STORM IN FLORIDAMatt Pallardy
Published on Mar 27, 2019
Crazy hail storm in Indialantic, FL. 60+ MPH winds breaking hurricane windows and destroying lawn furniture.

Heard reports from friends of broken windows on both houses and a car in Indialantic.  Canaveral Groves also had some windows broke and car damage.  Our car took minor hail damage on I-95 near Cocoa  where traffic slowed and hail accumulated. 

Avocado bloom and other crop damage was widespread and heavy from Port St John to Palm Bay.  Below are pictures from Karre's yard and garden in Rockledge, FL.

Mayon is the Philippine's most active volcano.  It rises up steeply into a giant cone with an elevation of 2462 m / 8077 ft.  It's recorded eruptions date back to 1616, with ~58 eruptions since then.  The last was in 2018.  There was a notably violent eruption in 1814 that killed over 1200 people.  More information and current data can be found on Mayon Volcano here.

It's been long overdue for this blog to wander around in some of the farm happenings here.  Especially with the big news..  One of the original four hens, an old lady, has transitioned into a rooster. 

It's actually the only Old Lady left of the four that came to live here as chicks, nearly ten years ago.  It is the chicken formally and at times still known as Alice, the leader and ruler of the flock all these years.  She's been a good layer, producing 4-5 eggs a week with a brief rest and molt from a little before Thanksgiving til about Winter Solstice.  She did get pulled into some palmettos several years ago by some unknown predator and was immediately rescued but has since had a limp in her left leg.  The last few years her body cavity has collected fluid at times and she became heat stressed easily.  With the hot climate here it became regular practice to put her up in a cage in an air conditioned shop when the weather was above 95F.  She continued to lay eggs. 

Most of her hen life she didn't care much for the roosters that happened to grow up and move on from here.  She was not at all bisexual like Vanilla, but was choosy about roos.  There was one she liked, Dandelion..  Of this love affair at least one chick was hatched, a rooster named Oregano.  He grew up, was sent to the coop at Wickham Park where he sired several chicks and then went on to another farm to sire others.  Alice has several great-grand chicks out there.

Year nine was a hard year for the remaining Old Ladies as they became to be known.  As molt came on, old age hit hard.  Both Acorn and Angel passed from old age issues a few weeks apart.  Alice looked soon to follow as she suffered through the yearly replacing of her feathers.  But she persisted and we let her keep her now nightly spot in the shop cage.  Everyone was surprised as her feathers grew in more vibrant than ever.  Her comb turned red and anticipation grew that she would soon begin to go inside to her cage on days that she would lay an egg as she had in the last year.  She has become unable to fly or climb a ramp to a nest from the limp and cumbersome fluid in her body cavity.  Weeks went by and still no eggs.

Then tragedy struck.  The chicken house door wasn't closed one night recently.  A racoon or possum got in there.  It used the ramps to climb up to the nest where it grabbed some eggs and scattered them in and outside of the coop.  It also managed to use a ramp to get a young Coca Moran down from a roost.  The ramp looked to have fallen in the processes so it was the only one slaughtered in the mishap.  The next morning the news was spreading around as Alice was being collected up and put outside with the others.  She was extra chatty, especially once with the others.  As the funeral hole was being dug the hen we knew all these years began to crow.   She crowed four times.

Usually when there is a bad chicken day, it goes wrong in more ways then one but never had we had one turn like this.  As soon as the funeral was over we look a hard look at Alice.  Her comb wasn't just red, it was larger than it ever had been.  Her feathers in front of her tail were longer and more saddle like than any year before and her tail feathers were also beginning to get a curve to them.  She doesn't have much for black feathers but what she does is an iridescent green now.  Her toes have needed trimmed since she acquired the limp but now she was acquiring spurs too.  She looked like she was becoming a rooster.

Research was in order.  Sex reversal in chickens wasn't unheard of but the reasons are varied.  As a hen develops her right ovary and oviduct normally regresses while she develops in her egg before hatching.  Hens pretty much operate from their left ovary producing the estrogen and progesterone to be hens and produce eggs.  If the left ovary get removed, injured or develops tumors, the regressed right ovary may turn into a ovotestis.  Between the lack of estrogen coming from the left ovary and the increase of testosterone from the right ovotestis the hen transitions to a rooster.  Once testosterone levels become high enough they begin to produce sperm, court hens and mount them.  There is a few online claims and lore where chicks were sired from former hens but no official studies to confirm.

There was a study done in Bangladesh where it was confirmed that nearby pesticide use was turning ~1% of the younger hens (around 32 weeks old) into roosters by damaging their left ovary.  Research shows that really any harm or removal of the left ovary in a chicken can cause them to change from a hen to a rooster. In Alice's case the  fluid or failing organ from old age could be her most likely cause for transitioning.  He seems to feel better now as a rooster.  Alice is getting out to the front yard most days, walking around more.  Takes an Old Roo's approach to things.   He seems to go through one crowing cycle most days and has started courting and mounting hens.  Nutmeg is game.  Athena is not.  The flock accepts Alice for what he has become and still respects him as the leader of the flock.  Nutmeg says don't judge and is hoping for fertile eggs.

On December 2, 2018, at the Savannah River Site (SRS) reprocessing plant, rainwater breached the roof and resulted in a hot spot on the floor.  Clean areas of the plant were compromised.  This is the second time this has happened with this area of the roof.  Concern is growing that a large radiation event could happen at H-Canyon, especially due to earthquake.

SRS Watch is asking DOE to report the statues of the rainwater.

There were no reports of workers being exposed to radiation.

Figure1.  January 17, 2019 map of the previous 8 days of test results for red tide from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The CDC states, "Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are the rapid growth of algae that can cause harm to animals, people, or the local ecology. A HAB can look like foam, scum, or mats on the surface of water and can be different colors. HABs can produce toxins that have caused a variety of illnesses in people and animals. HABs can occur in warm fresh, marine, or brackish waters with abundant nutrients and are becoming more frequent with climate change."

12/20/18 saw severe weather come across Florida.  Four tornado reports were documented by the Storm Prediction Center.  There were reports of home, roof and  porch damage.  There was one injury in Polk County.  Wind damage took a toll across a larger area of Florida.  Pasco County had a mobile home park where 20 homes took damage.  Brevard had a few reports of 50kt winds.  Damages across the state included ripped off porches, trees that fell on apartments and homes, power outages.  A shed was smashed in Stuart by a tree.  They were several reports of them blocking roads.  Yard is a mess here.

Surge was up again today along the west coast of Florida.  Wasn't as bad as the cottages it flooded in Captiva yesterday.

High winds, Storm Surge and Large Waves pound Siesta Key, FL - 12/21/2018StormChasingVideo
Published on Dec 21, 2018
Gale wind storm and coastal flooding on Siesta Key in Sarasota Florida. Christmas tree on pier in pounding surf. Girls caught on pier in high surf. People on flooding beaches in high winds. Road flooding. Minor wind damage.  more..

Wipeout . Thiago Jacaré . Raw Footage @ Nazaré, Portugal - 2018.12.14 [Surf, Big Waves, 4K]

The flooding continues today.  Tourists are now fleeing Hoi An.

TheTravelingDukes
Published on Dec 15, 2018
Take a somber minute to enjoy this old timey music montage of Hoian's flooding this past week. Wishing all those caught in the flood shelter and safety. Website: travelingdukes.com The Dukes: Simon, Kurt, Tom Guest Starring: Fain, rain, rain Join the Dukes Journey! Website: travelingdukes.com

East coast has improved.  Panhandle has more numerous low tests.  The severity along Southwest Florida has improved slightly, the coverage remains pretty vast.

Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The earth has been quaking since the big 7.0 last Friday just North of Anchorage, Alaska. 

N'we Jinan Artists - "FIREMAKERS" // Lac La Croix First Nation, Ontario.Nwe Jinan
Published on Nov 21, 2018
Song written, recorded and filmed with Ojibwe students of Zhingwako Zaiganing School in Lac La Croix First Nation in Ontario. DOWNLOAD on ITUNES: Firemakers - Single by N'we Jinan Artists https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/fir... For more information: http://www.nwejinan.com Video by http://www.dreimedia.com ------------------------------------------ SONG CREDITS: Kierra Boshey, Kiera Ottertail, Kyson King, Anthony Boshey, Kaelyn Walton, Madison Ottertail, Ian Geyshick, Taison Geyshick, Reo Walton, Cylie King, Shantay Menson & Rija Deschamps & Shane Menson. FOLLOW US: FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/nwejinan SOUNDCLOUD: http://www.soundcloud.com/nwejinan