Reuters: Wet weather storms Midwest 19 March

President George W. Bush declared 70 Missouri counties as disaster areas, and the National Guard was deployed in hard-hit areas of the state after deadly storms that dumped up to a foot (30.5 cm) of rain sent rivers out of their banks.

Now Missouri's governor has declared a state of emergency and President Bush has approved federal assistance for the state...as the storm continues moving northeast.

The Missouri Department of Transportation showed dozens of roads closed by floods across the southern one-third of the state. Parts of the state received upwards of 25 cm of rain this week.

Flood waters were expected to peak later on Sunday night in some parts of New South Wales.

Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok, UN relief officials warned Myanmar's junta on Monday that more lives will be lost unless the aid effort to reach survivors of a devastating cyclone picks up speed immediately.

Farm officials say a series of storms have delivered heavy but sporadic rain in two of Australia's largest agricultural states, Queensland and New South Wales. The New South Wales government declared the coastal region a natural disaster area, with an estimated 17.4 million U.S. dollars in damage.

They suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation related stress. Two of them had to be taken to hospital for treatment. The fires broke out as Adelaide endured a record-breaking heatwave.

Residents of several villages have been forced to leave their homes. The town of Komotini has been evacuated and across the border in Turkey the holiday resort of Bodrum is under water.

REFILING WITH CREDIT "Mines Advisory Group (MAG)" ON FOOTAGE SHOWING DE-MINERS (21/04/2008) /// More than 100 nations meet in Dublin next month to discuss a global ban on cluster bombs. Backing a prohibition will be the government of Laos, which during the Vietnam War was the most heavily bombed country on earth per capita. Decades later, millions of the small anti-personnel bomblets still litter the poverty-stricken country, maiming and killing hundreds of people every year.