Free Republic

The Army Corps. opened the Morganza spillway on the Mississippi River in Louisiana on Saturday forcing tons of water and covering more than 100 acres of dry land with a foot of water within 30 minutes. The flood gates were opened to shift the flow of the swollen river away from the numerous oil refineries and chemical plants in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. While the flood waters will move away from the more densely populated area, the opening of the gates could affect 25,000 people, 11,000 structures, and acres of farmland. This is the first time the Morganza spillway...

Human floodtide swamps Italian holiday island By Bruce Johnston in Lampedusa (Filed: 26/06/2003) A flood of illegal immigrants from some of Africa's poorest countries is overwhelming the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, the European Union's southernmost outpost, and a favourite Italian holiday destination. Across from the port filled with luxury yachts, a dozen hulks used in recent weeks by boat people to start a new life have been abandoned. An illegal immigrant peers out from behind barbed wire at a detention centre in Lampedusa Another leaky boat laden with Third World passengers said to have paid £650 for the journey arrives...