Super Typhoon Megi hits northern Philippines, Vietnam and China

Super typhoon Megi has struck the northern Philippines with heavy rain and winds of up to 260km/h (162mph), leaving at least three people dead.

Typhoon made landfall in Isabela province at 1125 local time (0325 GMT), destroying buildings and crops, cutting power and telecommunications. The province authorities declared "state of calamnity" as thousands sheltered in public buildings or fled to higher ground.

The category-five storm is forecast next to head towards China and Vietnam.

More than a dozen people are already missing in central Vietnam after floodwaters swept away a bus. At least 20 others are known to have been killed in floods as heavy rain pounded the region.

The China Forecast Agency says on the Southern Chinese island of Hainan, the rain prompted more than a 100,000 people to leave their homes over the weekend.

Hurricane Alex and Gulf Oil Spill

Hurricane Alex Continues to Interrupt Cleanup

According to the shipping company that owns the clenup vessel, initial tests on a supertanker adapted to skim large quantities of oily water from the gulf’s surface were inconclusive. The supertanker A Whale was billed as the world’s largest oil skimmer. It is supposed to be able to suck up 21 million gallons of oily water a day, but stiff winds and choppy seas have made that impossible so far. Offshore oil skimming along the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida came to a stop early last week because of choppy seas stirred up by Hurricane Alex. The weather also prevented a flotilla of smaller skimmers from working.

British Petroleum’s Costs for Oil Spill Response Pass $3 Billion

For work on cleaning and capping the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and for payouts to individuals, businesses and governments, BP’s tab has climbed to just over $3 billion. The total of $3.12 billion was up from $2.65 billion a week earlier. The figure does not include a $20 billion fund for damages that BP created last month.

Monitoring the Alex tropical storm

Tropical storm Alex has dissipated over Mexico but pockets of heavy rain continue over Mexico and a good portion of Texas, including the Houston area. Localized flooding may still occur.

An area of low pressure south of the Florida Panhandle will not develop quickly. Experts will keep open eyes and the area will be monitored for possible slow development over the next couple of days.

Tropical storm Alex endangers BP oil-siphon plan

Based on the latest federal government's estimates, BP's massive oil spill became the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday (30 June 2010), an ominous record that underscores the oil giant's dire need to halt the gusher.

A BP company official said tropical Storm Alex may delay by a week BP PLC's plan to increase the amount of oil collected from a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president said waves of 10 to 12 feet would prevent BP from connecting a third rig to an underwater containment system, because that process needs three days of good weather. The rig is expected to nearly double the amount of oil siphoned from the leak to between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels a day.

The storm's winds are expected to stay far enough west of the spill to avoid any interruption to the drilling of two relief wells, which BP officials hope will completely cut off the flow of oil into the Gulf in August.

News for hurricane Alex

Alex was upgraded to the season's first hurricane as of 10 pm CDT Tuesday, and it is still possible to achieve category two status before landfall tonight. Hurricane Alex slowed last evening and even stalled for a period overnight. Since then it has maintained a movement off to the west-northwest at 7 mph.

Hurricane warnings are now in effect from Baffin Bay, Texas south to La Cruz, Mexico. A tropical storm warning is in effect north of the hurricane warning from Baffin Bay to Port O'Connor and south of the hurricane warning from La Cruz to Cabo Rojo.

Rain bands and squalls from Alex will continue spiraling on shore along the Gulf coast from Louisiana through Texas today. In these bands isolated tornadoes will be possible anywhere within 50 to 100 miles of the southeast Texas Coast.

The biggest concern with Alex in the United States is heavy rain that brings the potential of flooding. Widespread rainfall totals of 4 inches or more are likely across much of south and southeast Texas. Locally 12 inches or more will fall over South Texas.

Another area with a heavy rain threat is along the Louisiana and northeast Texas coast. Rainfall there could total 2 to 4 inches through Thursday.

Tropical storm Alex gaining strength

Hurricane watches were in effect Monday for a stretch of Gulf coast in southern Texas and northern Mexico. Tropical Storm Alex gained strength and is expected to become a Categpry 3 hurricane Tuesday, the June 29th, and could build winds as high as 120 mph (193 kilometers) by Wednesday.

Its heavy rains were expected to begin lashing the Mexican states of Tamaulipas or Veracruz around midweek. Alex's heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides that left at least four people dead in Central America over the weekend, though Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula appeared largely unscathed.

Tropical storm-force winds extended up to 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the storm's center Monday, and Alex was moving north-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph).

The hurricane watches extended about 225 miles (360 kilometers) south of the U.S. border over an area of sparsely populated Mexican coast, and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north along the Texas coast from the Rio Grande to just south of Baffin Bay.