Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were detained by North Korea while working on a story at the border of China and North Korea.
The two have been detained since March and were accused of being Spies working for the United States and illegal entering the Country of North Korea.
The move comes as tensions between North Korea, South Korea and the United States have increased since the North Korea has declared an end to the armistice and restarted their nuclear production capabilities.
North Korea has also tested a second Nuclear weapon and has been launching short range missiles as a show of force as of late, and it looks as if they are about to test an ICBM type missile soon.
Meanwhile Secratary of State Hillary Clinton has called the charges baseless.
Today's manhole fire in San Francisco caused a loss of power to approximately 8,600 PG&E customers and a shelter in place was ordered for people in the area as well.
The explosion and fire according to news reports were due to a PG&E equipment problem further impacted by about 75 gallons of oil in an oil switch.
No injuries were reported but emergency crews were kept busy by responding to people trapped in elevators caused by the loss of power.
Video from KRON4 of todays Manhole Fire:
Manhole fires are not as common here in the Bay Area as they are where I am originally from in NYC, since they usually occur during the winter and are most often caused by water and salt seeping into the manholes and corroding wires.
However there are many hidden dangers of manhole fires which are increased since the fire is happening underground and your not able to view the source of the fire directly.
First the biggest danger is the gases that these fires give off which include Carbon Monoxide (CO), Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and many others can actually travel through the underground systems and into the surrounding buildings.
It is often best to evacuate the surrounding buildings in large fires and or monitor the air quality in parts per million, especially since these gases are often orderless, colorless, and tasteless and by the time you realize you are exposed it may already be too late. I once had a police officer as a patient with CO poisoning that was left to watch on open manhole after a fire.
Once the fire is out, the danger of the gas still often remains and must be addressed.
The other danger is that manhole covers can range in weight from 150 pounds up to 300 pounds and the fires tend to burn unnoticed underground until significant pressure builds up causing the an explosion that often shoots the manhole cover sometimes as high as six stories into the air.
These manhole covers can sometimes be found several blocks away, on rooftops and sometimes land on top of passing cars.
One winter I was inside my EMS station in Brooklyn, NY restocking after a call, trying to relax on a busy winter day. I was in a room getting supplies when a huge explosion took place, rocking the building and caused me to literally jump.
My partner and I went outside and a car parked next to our station was on fire. The car was parked on top of a manhole that exploded and hit the gas tank. The car by the way was also parked next to the wall I was standing near. I was lucky it didn't damage the building but it was the loudest explosion I've heard, and the closest I ever was to an explosion.
So, try not to park on top of a manhole cover if you can avoid it.
The other danger is in the thick black smoke coming out of the manhole which is also highly combustible. The smoke is also not always black either depending on what is burning, I have seen bright red, dark red, yellow, and purple, each of which presents its own dangers since they add other toxic gases to the area.
For more on manhole fires please view the following links:
A recent survey of over 700 small and mid-sized businesses in the United States and Canada was conducted by Agility Recovery Solutions and Hughes Marketing Group to assess their disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
The survey results indicate that though more small and mid-sized businesses are taking preparedness steps, the plans are not comprehensive enough and many lack planning around basic infrastructure and people needs.
In addition many of these businesses spend little time updating and maintaining their plans. According to the survey:
Of the companies with a plan, 12% have not updated it at all in the past 12 months. Another 33% have only provided general updates. This means that 45% of companies have a continuity plan in place, but have not taken the appropriate steps to regularly update or test its capabilities.
Disaster Preparedness Blog is not affiliated in any way with Agility Recovery Solutions. All information, and survey used with permission. Thanks to Agility Recovery Solutions for allowing us to use and pass along this information.
According to a news story today from ABC forecasters are concerned that a pattern may be developing in which Tropical Storms and Hurricanes are forming closer to the United States than in the usual place off the coast of Africa.
Citing this seasons first storm and Hurricane Humberto of 2007 they are worried that storms can be forming just two or three days from making land fall in the Unite States.
Called "Popup Storms" they tend to form off U.S. coast in the mid-Atlantic or Gulf regions, and as cited earlier in the case of hurricane Humberto, which went from a disturbance to a full formed category 1 hurricane in a single day.
This may or may not be true, but does give reason to be prepared ahead of time since some storms may give people less time to prepare and to evacuate.
With today being the start of the 2009 hurricane season, please take this opportunity to go out and purchase supplies and get prepared before a severe storm forms and threatens to make landfall.
I am currently working on a series for the Disaster Preparedness Blog around preparedness issues and persons with disabilities and received an email this morning from a fellow blogger that did a brief post on the issue.
I feel it is important enough to include here and I'll have more on this topic in the next few weeks.
Attended by well over a hundred persons from the public and private sectors, the two-day workshop was an eye-opening experience that showed the challenges, frustrations and enormous gaps that still remain in this country when it comes to addressing the needs of persons with disabilities and special needs. I should know – I was in attendance at the workshop and left the two-day experience moved but extremely frustrated by what I learned.
However, if you are blind, hearing impaired or unable to physically move without some type of assistance, responding to an emergency is by no means easy and the notification systems described above offer little assistance. Your ability to react and respond to challenges is impeded not just by physical limitations but also by means well beyond your control.
Only the State of Texas provides a 24-7, 365 means (that is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act) of notifying deaf and hearing impaired persons of approaching dangers.
My name is Keith Erwood, and disasters are my life. Well, not just disasters really, but to help people like you, owners, executives and managers of businesses prepare for disasters and emergencies.
Sunday, June 7, 2009 at 10:30PM
