Disaster Recovery Projects in Limbo despite Senate Budget Deal

FEMA's disaster-relief funding problems will not go away any time soon despite a last-minute budget deal struck in the Senate this week, leaving thousands of residents in neighborhoods across the nation wondering how they will reconstruct following a torrent of new natural disasters.

Without more funding, thousands of long-term recovery projects -- put on hold in August while the Federal Emergency Management Agency shifted capital to cover newer and instant disaster responses -- could go back to the backlog list before the end of the year.

As a result, communities hard-hit by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters may be left on their own while Congress works out its budget kinks

As a result, communities hard-hit by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters may be left on their own while Congress works out its resources kinks.

In North Dakota's Ward County, residents still are dealing with poorly damaged roads in the wake of epic flooding in June. Some of those projects were put on hold last month as FEMA's funds dwindled to near-empty. 

Blistering heat wave stressing nation's power grid

A lengthy, blistering heat wave that is blanketing the eastern half of the United States is putting important stress on the nation's power grid as homeowners and businesses crank up their air conditioners.

Utilities say they're ready for high power demand and widespread electricity shortages or outages are unlikely. Lines and gear are not fully taxed and there is more generating and transmission capacity available than common because of the weak economy. Also, not many major storms are in the forecast, meaning fewer downed power lines.

The heat wave began a week ago in the Plains states and is predictable to spread east through the weekend. It is lasting longer than most heat waves and is spread over an strangely wide area, according to Travis Hartman, the Energy Weather Manager at MDA Earthstat, which proves forecasts for utilities and other weather-dependent businesses.

Hartman predicts 90- to 100-degree weather from Chicago to Boston from Wednesday through the weekend. The Midwest is probable to see peak heat on Thursday while thermometers in eastern states will top out on Friday and Saturday. Philadelphia may break a 1957 record of 100 degrees on Friday, while Washington, D.C., is likely to reach 103, tying a record from 1926.

Texas and the southern Plains states will make bigger a long streak of hot weather. On Wednesday Oklahoma was probable to suffer its 30th day of triple-digit temperatures this year.

Nationwide, Thursday and Friday will be hotter than any time since 1950, says Hartman. "It's going to mean eminent power demand for an extended period of time for a lot of people," he says.

To meet demand, utilities are firing up special power plants used only a few days a year, delaying listed maintenance in order to keep all equipment on line and testing heat-sensitive switches and other equipment with high-tech devices like thermographers that can estimate temperatures to one-tenth of a degree.

Delta planes crash on taxiway at Boston airport

The wing of a Delta jet clipped the tail of an aircraft that provides regional air service for the carrier while both planes were on the taxiway and preparing to fly out of Boston on Thursday evening, forcing officials to remove them from service for inspections.

Local TV footage show the crash sheared off the tip of the Delta Boeing 767 and crumpled part of the smaller plane's tail.

Boston Logan International Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said one person is complaining of neck pain after the crash.

There were no other injuries.

The incident concerned Delta Flight 266 from Boston to Amsterdam which hit the vertical stabilizer of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 4904, also on exit from Boston to Raleigh-Durham, Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said.

Investigators were talking to squad and passengers of both aircraft, trying to figure out the circumstances surrounding the crash, Orlandella said.

The Delta jet returned to the gate and ASA passengers were elated by bus to the terminal.

Atlanta-based Delta says both aircraft have been uninvolved from service for inspections. Passengers are being put on other planes.

U.S. Coast Guard Calls Off look for for 7 Missing American Fishermen

The U.S. Coast Guard is ending aerial searches for seven Americans still missing after a charter fishing boat sank off Mexico.

The Coast Guard says its look for on Tuesday of a 803 square-mile (2,080 square-kilometer) area of the Sea of Cortez by a C-130 Hercules aircrew would be its last.

Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo said the 11th division's "deepest sympathies go out to the friends and families of the missing men."

Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo Ortiz said small Mexican naval craft and other fishermen would carry on searching for bodies or survivors.

The boat went down on July 3. Nineteen U.S. tourists and 16 Mexican crew members made it to land. One was found drowned on a remote island beach. The others stay missing.

Flood Surge Raises Fears of Montana Oil Spill Spread

Crews cleaning up an oil spill on the Yellowstone River faced hard conditions Tuesday as the scenic waterway rose above flood stage and stoked fears that rolling currents could push crude into unspoiled areas and back channels vital to the river's prized fishery.

Conditions on the swollen Yellowstone have disadvantaged efforts to find the cause of Friday's break in the 12-inch pipeline that spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude oil.

The river has been flowing too quickly for crews to reach some oiled areas, and forecasters said mountain snowmelt was adding to high water levels. Officials speculated that the rush may push oil into areas that haven't yet been damaged.

Much of the riverbank also is enclosed with dense underbrush, making it difficult to walk the shoreline. Most observations have been made through aerial flights.

Sweat-drenched workers in hazmat suits and life-preservers slogged throughout the riverside vegetation under a blistering sun. Some raked oily muck into trash bags; others dabbed at blackened grass with absorbent pads.

Booms to collect the oil bobbed in water, and plastic kiddie pools were set up for workers to wash off their boots once they gone the water.

A few miles downriver from the broken pipe, homeowner Robert Castleberry said he had been out of his house since Saturday since of dangerous fumes from oil that the river pushed across his yard and into the crawlspace beneath his house.