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HONOLULU (AP) — Federal officials say Hawaii residents shouldn’t let their guard down now that a once-powerful hurricane that threatened the island state has become a tropical storm. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator says that although Lane is no longer a hurricane, tropical storms themselves can still be very dangerous. Brock Long says during a briefing that “Hawaii is not in the clear from Tropical Storm Lane at this point.” Long says torrential rains will be the largest threat facing Hawaii during the next 48 hours. Lane churned toward the island chain early this week as the most powerful type of hurricane measured: a Category 5. But upper-level winds tore the storm apart and, by late Friday, the National Weather Service had downgraded Lane to a tropical storm. As many dealt with flooding and even brush fires, swimmers and surfers ignored warnings from authorities and plunged into powerful waves at Oahu’s famed Waikiki … [Read more...] about The Latest: Feds: Tropical Storm Lane still dangerous

Colored water release from Beriev BE-200 aircraft at MAKS-2009 aeroshow Sergey Vladimirov Some ambitious Russian seaplane projects never got off the ground, but those that did continue to bolster Russia’s Navy - some are more than 50 year old. MBR-2 MBR-2 seaplanes were effectively used during WWII as reconnaissance aircraft and bombers. “Cows” or “barns,” as pilots called them, were easy prey for the enemy given their poor armor and slow speed. That’s why MBR-2s were mainly used for night bombing. Beriev R-1 The first Soviet turbojet-powered seaplane, R-1, was as fast as the leading U.S. deck-based jet fighters FH1 Phantom and F9F Panther. Nevertheless, due to technical problems and insufficient fight range the seaplane never went into production.    Be-12 This veteran has been serving in the ranks of the Soviet and Russian Navies for 58 years and is the oldest seaplane in the Russian ranks. The main task of … [Read more...] about Why Russia’s army still uses old Soviet seaplanes

Lindsay Schnell USA TODAY Published 12:41 p.m. UTC Aug 8, 2018 It’s fire season in the West and that means an overflowing inbox for Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director at Cal Fire.  The emails arrive frequently, always with the best of intentions. A common recommendation from Californians: Why not just set up a sophisticated sprinkler system throughout the state’s 101 million acres? Recently, a resident suggested turning blimps into giant water balloons as a way to control blazes. Fill them up, drop them on wooded areas and soak the land. Easy, right? They all mean well, Berlant said, and he’s happy residents  are engaged. But those ideas aren’t realistic. What is realistic: The blazes currently ripping up and down the western part of the United States are here to stay. Large chunks of the West are under siege from wildfires right now, in what many experts have deemed “the new normal."  Over the weekend, the Mendocino Complex … [Read more...] about Battling wildfires year-round is now the norm. How did we get here?