At least 5 dead in Tennessee flooding; tornado warnings in Arkansas

(News Terupdate) - Severe flooding killed at least five people in central Tennessee on Saturday, officials said, as floodwaters inundated roads, highways and homes in and around the Nashville area.

The National Weather Service also said 33 of 75 counties in Arkansas are under a tornado warning, and 25 counties in Tennessee are under a tornado watch.

Two people were killed Saturday when floodwaters swept them away as they tried to seek safety on the roof of their SUV about 80 miles northwest of Nashville, Stewart County emergency management spokesman Clint Mathis said.

Three more people were reported dead in counties near Nashville, Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Jeremy Heidt told CNN.

Between 6 and 10 inches of rain has fallen in 12 hours in the area, causing "extremely dangerous" flooding, the National Weather Service said.

"This is one of the most severe rain events Nashville has ever experienced," Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said in a statement.

Dean said more than 50 water rescues had been conducted Saturday, and more were under way.

"I urge all Nashville residents to stay home and stay off the roads," Dean said.

At least 2,000 people were displaced after two levees broke in Millington, a small city near Memphis, Millington Police said.

Video from CNN affiliate WZTV showed more than a dozen vehicles submerged in several feet of swift-moving water on I-24 in Nashville.

Rescue workers helped drivers escape as water surrounded their cars, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. The floodwaters pushed a home off of its foundation and into the middle of I-24.

Video from WZTV showed a school annex building floating down the interstate before breaking into pieces.

WSMV: Section of I-24 closed by massive flooding

Officials are advising residents to stay off roads, as many have become impassable.

Janel Lacy, a spokeswoman for the Nashville mayor's office, said that in addition to I-24 in Davidson County, 20 other local roads were closed.

CNN iReporter Andrew Ellis sent in a video of a "raging river" of water rushing over an open field where people usually play soccer and golf in Lexington, Tennessee.

"The flooding brought the town to a standstill. No one could get in and no one could get out," he said. "Many homes, vehicles and entire neighborhoods either were or still are under water."

CNN iReporter Jennifer Alter said her dad helped her push her car out after she got stuck on Christmasville Road in Jackson, Tennessee, on the way to work early Saturday morning.

"We went back to check it a few hours later and the road was gone," she said.

Lacy said one shelter had opened at Lipscomb University, and officials planned to open others.

The rain is expected to continue into Sunday morning, she said.

Heidt said floodwaters were expected to crest around 11 p.m. CT (midnight ET) Saturday.

The weather service has reported record flooding at Mill Creek, near Antioch, Tennessee.

Source : CNN

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Death toll lowered in Arkansas storms

(News Terupdate) - The death toll from severe storms in northern Arkansas has been lowered to one person, emergency officials said early Saturday.

Officials had initially said three people were killed when the storm and possible tornadoes walloped Van Buren County on Friday.

The number of injuries in the county was also less than previously reported, said Rene Preslar, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

There were 10 people injured in the county instead of the 25 previously reported, Preslar said.

"We are still looking at a number of damages, but fortunately the human impact is lower than previously thought."

A total of 23 people were injured statewide, Preslar said.

Source : CNN

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Nation's first offshore wind farm approved for Nantucket Sound

(News Terupdate) - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday approved the nation's first offshore wind farm, signing off on a project that has bitterly divided Cape Cod over the last nine years.

The 130 turbines are to be located several miles from the Massachusetts shore in the iconic waters of Nantucket Sound. The interior secretary said Cape Wind, as the project is known, is the start of a "new energy frontier."

"The United States is leading a clean energy revolution that is reshaping our future," Salazar told reporters in Boston. "Cape Wind is an opening of a new chapter in that future, and we are all part of that history."

"Cape Wind will be the nation's first offshore wind farm, supplying clean power to homes and businesses in Massachusetts, plus creating good jobs here in America," he said. "This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast."

"Thank you for this decision," said Gov. Deval Patrick. "With this project, Massachusetts will lead the nation. This day has been a long time coming."

The location of the wind farm has stirred heated emotions over the years. Cape Wind became one of the most heavily vetted energy projects in the world. Seventeen state and federal agencies weighed in, reviewing everything from its impact on shipping, aviation and fisheries.

Salazar visited the Cape earlier this year. At the time, he pledged to cut through the nine years of regulatory red tape and make a final decision by the end of April.

At Wednesday's news conference, the interior secretary said the process took far too long and future offshore projects would follow a "more rational and orderly" process.

There is no reason, he said, "why an offshore wind permit should take a decade to review and approve."

The most notable opponent of Cape Wind was the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, a champion of green energy who, to the dismay of environmentalists, fought against the wind farm. The Kennedy compound will have a view of the wind turbines.

See how the views on the Cape will change

Other opponents ranged from billionaire energy giant William Koch to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. American Indians in the region also objected, saying the wind farm would be located on sacred ancestral grounds and disturb important sunrise ceremonies.

"I am strongly opposed to the administration's misguided decision to move forward with Cape Wind," Sen. Scott Brown said Wednesday. "While I support the concept of wind power as an alternative source of energy, Nantucket Sound is a national treasure that should be protected from industrialization."

In announcing his decision, Salazar said Cape Wind must follow stringent measures during construction, and it must conduct additional marine and archeological assessments of its impact. The company must also explore ways to make the wind turbines less visible from shore.

"The smart responsible development of wind potential on Horseshoe Shoal need not conflict with the history and tradition of Nantucket Sound," Salazar said.

Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and nearly every major environmental group in the nation supported the project, saying it's necessary in moving the nation forward. Six governors in the region also backed Cape Wind.

"Even though we enjoy overwhelming majority support, it's not a popularity contest," Cape Wind CEO Jim Gordon told CNN. "This decision needs to be made on the merits. And the record shows that it is in the public interest."

In an editorial today, the Boston Globe said simply: "Make clean energy a reality; approve Cape Wind now." The New York Times earlier this week also endorsed the project.

"Offshore wind farms are a common sight in Europe but not here," the Times wrote. "Cape Wind would be this country's first -- sending, finally, a signal to the world about America's resolve to fight global warming and reduce its dependence on foreign oil."

The wind farm would bring hundreds of jobs and provide up to 75 percent of the power needed by the Cape and islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, according to Cape Wind.

Estimates of the project have ranged from $800 million to $1 billion; Cape Wind has not released how much it believes the wind farm will cost.

See the location of the wind farm

The 130 turbines, spaced a third- to a half-mile apart, will cover about 25 of the 500 square miles of Nantucket Sound. They will stand more than 40 stories tall, well over 10 times bigger than nearly every other structure around the Cape.

Cape Wind has said the project will not necessarily bring cheaper energy, but will bring cleaner electricity and become a model for offshore wind energy.

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the project's chief nemesis, has vowed to file suit to continue to try to block it. The project already has withstood multiple court challenges.

Buddy Vanderhoop, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe, harshly criticized the decision to go ahead with the project.

"This is a federal embarrassment and a slap in the face not only to the tribes ... but it's also a slap in the face to the people who make their living" off fishing in the area of the wind farm's location, Vanderhoop said.

Barbara Hill has long supported Cape Wind as the executive director of the grassroots organization Clean Power Now.

"We're going to be partying later on tonight," she said. "We applaud Secretary Salazar for his vision and leadership in making this landmark decision and look forward to the day when the wind farm in Nantucket Sound will be producing the majority of the electrical needs of the Cape and islands."

Wind farms produce roughly 2 percent of the nation's energy, all from land-based facilities in California, Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and a few other states. Locations offshore are considered optimal because the winds are stronger and more consistent.

A 2008 Energy Department report calls for "20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030." It said 18 percent of the nation's wind energy should come from offshore sites.

Cape Wind first sought a permit in fall 2001. During that time, China built its first offshore wind farm. Nine other countries have offshore farms: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

On Wednesday, Gov. Patrick said Cape Wind will now allow the United States to join the offshore wind race. "America now has a chance to turn that around."

Source : CNN

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Obama pushes wind power in Iowa visit

Fort Madison, Iowa (News Terupdate) - President Obama took his renewable energy push to the heartland Tuesday, trumpeting the merits of wind power during a visit to the state that launched him on the road to the White House a little over two years ago.

Obama's visit to the Siemens wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, was the latest stop in his "White House to Main Street" tour, part of his pitch to middle-class workers hurt by the economic downturn.

"Lately, we've been able to report some welcome news after a hard two years. Our economy is finally growing again," Obama told workers at the plant.

But "times are still tough for middle-class Americans, who had been swimming against the current for years before the economic tidal wave hit."

While in Iowa, the president also toured an organic farm in Mount Pleasant and was scheduled to host a town hall meeting at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa.

"The country that leads the clean energy economy will be the country that leads the 21st century global economy," Obama said at the Siemens plant. "I don't accept second place for the United States of America. That's why our energy security has been a top priority for my administration since the day I took office."

The president cited his controversial $862 billion economic stimulus plan, which passed over solid GOP opposition early last year. The measure helped reverse the economic downturn and will create or save more than 700,000 jobs by 2012, he claimed.

It will do so in part by funding larger investments in renewable energy projects, according to the administration. Obama claimed that, if the proper investments are made, wind could generate up to 20 percent of America's energy two decades from now.

"Wind power isn't the silver bullet that will solve all our energy challenges," he said. "There isn't one. But it is a key part of a comprehensive strategy to move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels to one that relies on more homegrown fuels and clean energy."

Republicans have repeatedly slammed the economic stimulus plan, characterizing it as a pork-laden bill that failed to prevent unemployment from rising.

Obama is scheduled to spend Tuesday night in Des Moines, Iowa, resting up for stops Wednesday in Illinois and Missouri.

It was just a month ago that Obama spoke at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, to tout the health care reform bill he had just signed into law. In May 2007, the then-presidential candidate chose Iowa to unveil his health care plan, which the White House says "launched a grass-roots campaign for reform that led directly to the legislation passed" by Congress last month.

Obama made his first trip as president to Iowa on April 22, 2009. He marked Earth Day in Newton by announcing an initiative to lease federal waters for the purpose of generating electricity from wind and ocean currents.

Obama's victory in January 2008 in his party's Iowa caucuses boosted him into front-runner status along with Hillary Clinton in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, a fight he won when Clinton dropped out in June.

Obama ended up winning the state by 10 points, a switch in fortunes for the Democrats. Four years earlier, President George W. Bush narrowly won the state.

But the political climate has changed for the president and for the Democrats since those heady days of 2008. Iowans are now divided on the job Obama is doing in the White House.

According to a KCCI-Research 2000 poll conducted two months ago, 49 percent of Iowans approved of the president's performance in office, with 46 percent saying they disapprove. The same survey indicated that 35 percent of Iowa voters thought the country was headed in the right direction, with six in 10 saying it was headed the wrong way.

Source : CNN

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