Tornado was rare 'multivortex' twister, reveals National Weather Service
Obama to visit region on Sunday as he says tornado was 'devastating and heartbreaking'

The way things used to be: This Google Street Map view shows the same place as the above picture, before the horrific tornado struck
As shell-shocked residents of tornado-hit Joplin braced themselves for another powerful storm system this evening, new aerial images emerged showing in terrifying detail the path of the twister which destroyed the Missouri city.
The shocking photos reveal for the first time the true extent of the damage caused when the mile-wide tornado that killed at least 122 people blasted much of the city off the map and slammed straight into its hospital.
Forecasters warned residents on Tuesday to prepare themselves for a looming storm system that has all the early signs of spawning more deadly tornadoes.
Devastated: Aerial photo shows 26th street, the main route through the centre of Joplin, Missouri. On the right is St Mary's elementary school
Housing: Whole residential neighbourhoods were destroyed by the powerful tornado when it went straight through the centre of the city that has has 50,000 people
Tonight the stunned residents of Joplin faced the horrifying possibility of more storms - but a tornado warning was cancelled later in the evening.
‘This is a very serious situation brewing,’ said Russell Schneider, director of the Storm Prediction Center.
About 1,500 people are still unaccounted for, it was announced Tuesday, leading to fears that the death count could rise much higher.
Tonight tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Oklahoma - including one on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, which reportedly tore a 50-mile long path through rush-hour traffic.
Blown away: The remains of this apartment block surround what was once a swimming pool. Around 2,000 homes are thought to have been destroyed
Closed for business: The Home Depot do-it-yourself store was where many dead bodies have been recovered. Many of the shop shelves are still intact though
Grocery store: The city's Walmart superstore is barely recognisable in this photo from after Sunday's tornado that killed over 100 people
Shopping mall: This line of shops was severely damaged by the storm system when it struck on Sunday evening at around 6pm
Hospital: The St John's Medical Center was at the heart of the tornado's path through the city. Hundreds of patients had to be evacuated
Fire chief Robert Daus said that 500 people had been injured by the tornado, in addition to the 1,500 people who remain unaccounted for.
But he said the high number of people still recorded as missing could be a reflection of the widespread breakdown of communication systems in the city.
Thunderstorms that are moving across southeast Kansas, central Oklahoma and north Texas this afternoon are forecast to move into the Joplin area between 10pm and 2am tonight.
Destroyed: This incredible aerial image reveals how the tornado tore off the roof of Joplin's Home Depot
Flattened: This aerial photograph shows the scale of the destruction to the Home Depot store

Flattened: Damage is seen a day after the tornado tore through Joplin killing at least 122 people in Joplin, a town of about 50,000
Decimation: Residential buildings are shown flattened in this aerial shot over Joplin
Razed to the ground: Joplin's Walmart store was completely destroyed by Sunday's devastating twister
Wasteland: The horror of Sunday's tornado is laid bare by this harrowing panoramic shot of Joplin
Horseshoe: A destroyed neighbourhood is seen in Joplin on Tuesday after a big tornado moved through much of the city

Ruins: The winding path of the devastating tornado is seen in this aerial picture of Joplin, Missouri
Savaged: The path of the powerful tornado is seen in an aerial photo over Joplin, Missouri
Destroyed: The tornado ruined thousands of houses in Joplin, Missouri
From the sky: Uprooted trees and building without roofs lie devastated in Joplin, Missouri after the tornado hit on Sunday
Flattened: Members of Missouri Task Force One search-and-rescue team work at the tornado-damaged Home Depot store in Joplin
Shock: Joplin residents are still coming to terms with the loss of their homes as rescue workers continue efforts to find survivors
Recovery: Beverly Winans, left, Debbie Spurlin and Austin Spurlin look for what they can salvage from their home after it was destroyed
Lost: Carra Reed looks at a friends home that was destroyed when the massive tornado passed through Joplin, Missouri
Missing: Rescue workers and neighbours search for victims and survivors
The President says he wants Midwesterners whose lives were disrupted by the deadly storms last weekend to know that the federal government will use all resources at its disposal to help them recover and rebuild.
Obama spoke in London, the second stop on his four-country, six-day tour of Europe.
Obama is due back in Washington Saturday night.
Little hope: Ryan Harper pauses in the shadow of a splintered tree as he searches for a missing friend after who may have been pulled away by the twister

A time for coming together: A couple drenched by the heavy rain walk arm-in-arm towards a building ravaged by the killer storm, and right, a woman whose life has been shattered overnight by the tornado breaks down in tears and has to be comforted by a friend
Frantic: Volunteers claw through the rubble in search of survivors, but grey storm clouds loom overhead threatening to disrupt the efforts
'Heartbreaking': Barack Obama, speaking in London today, vowed to visit Missouri on Sunday to console victims
President Barack Obama called Nixon after details of teh tragedy emergedand offered his condolences to those affected, assuring the governor that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would provide whatever assistance was needed.
'Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in the tornadoes and severe weather that struck Joplin, Missouri, as well as communities across the Midwest today,' the President said in a statement sent from Air Force One as he flew to Europe.
'We commend the heroic efforts by those who have responded and who are working to help their friends and neighbours at this very difficult time.'
New dawn: The sun rises over devastated Joplin on Tuesday as the search for survivors continues
Heartache: Two women fight back the tears as they hug in front of a house ripped apart by the tornado. In a symbolic show of strength, the U.S. flag flies from a tree behind them
Wiped off the landscape: Meghan Miller stands in the middle of a destroyed neighbourhood as she checks on her sister-in-law's home, which only days before had stood in the same spot
source: dailymail

VIA Shocking before and after images reveal how giant tornado ripped apart Joplin's city landmarks

Flanked by River Haro on the one side and Margalla Hills on the other, Taxila is a vast serial site that includes a Mesolithic cave and the archaeological remains of four early colony sites. “It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Asia,” according to UNESCO.

With so much to show the world, Taxila is ignored on the tourist map largely because of the country’s security situation, lack of tourism promotion, and privation of facilities in the city.

From the famous Grand Trunk (GT) Road, a small and poorly metalled road leads to Taxila Museum and the archaeological sites. The picturesque lush green natural landscape has changed dramatically over the last 25 years.

Unplanned houses, hand carts, shops and vendors’ stalls are the modern hallmarks of the area, instead of its previous relaxing and enjoyable natural beauty. The rapid urbanisation of the area and the plunder of the sites has cost the sites dearly and yet nobody pays attention to it.

The results are obvious. The Global Heritage Fund has identified Taxila as one of 12 sites worldwide that are “On the Verge” of irreparable loss and damage. The fund’s 2010 report attributes this irreparable loss to insufficient management, development pressure, looting, and war and conflict as primary threats.

Moving along the dusty and crowded Grand Trunk (GT) Road from Islamabad to Taxila, the monument of Brigadier general John Nicholson, a famous military figure of the British Empire, greets a visitor. The monument is located on the Margalla Hills — the gateway to Taxila.

The sighting of Nicholson’s monument takes the visitor instantaneously to the days of British Colonial Raj. The time when teams of archaeologists were digging around the town of Taxila in search of the lost civilisations. The finding has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“It’s the marvel Pakistan got from the British Colonial Raj and yet it has not properly promoted as a tourist destination,” said Javed Iqbal, an archaeologist. Taxila is one of the three top Pakistani archaeology sites including the ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro — two of the main cities that comprise the Indus Valley Civilisation, he said.

Sir John Marshall, the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928, began the excavations at Taxila that continued for the next twenty years. In 1918, Marshall laid the foundation stone of the Taxila Museum to preserve the precious findings.

The museum is built in the middle of the archaeological site and has a rich collection of relics, artefacts, stupas, and stone and stucco sculptures from different Buddhist monasteries, Gandhara Art and the Kushana period. The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the Vedic period (1500-500 BC) as a centre of Graeco-Buddhism, Bactrian Zoroastrianism and Animism.

Ahmad Alamgir, another archaeologist and historian, who met me at the museum said that only one significant development had been carried out by the government of Pakistan in almost a century.

“Sir Marshall actually could not complete the original plan of the museum when he had to leave for England. After the creation of Pakistan, the government of Pakistan constructed the northern gallery of the museum in 1998 … and that’s it,” he said.

The museum has a number of galleries in which findings from the surrounding sites have been presented subject wise. There are lines of wall and table showcases in the galleries and a complete stupa, from the Buddhist monastery of Mohra Moradu, stands in the middle of the main hall of the museum.

A vast collection of stucco heads of Buddha showing different faces and styles is the main attraction for tourists. The big Buddha heads are typically Gandharan in style, according to the archaeologists.

City of Cut Stone

The historic town of Taxila, originally Takaśilā in Sanskrit  (meaning City of Cut Stone) is located around 35km from Islamabad just off the famous Grand Trunk Road. The city is still famous of its artisans, who keep their ancestors’ profession alive, by making stone sculptures, murals and panels.

They also produce flower pots, planters, fountains, garden ornaments, balusters, pillars and railings, and fire places. Taxila, according to historians, thrived from 518BC to 600AD. In 326BC Alexander the Great and his armies encountered charging elephants in battle against Hindu king Porus.

Before fighting the battle, Alexander marched through the city and was greeted by King Ambhi. In 300BC Taxila was conquered by the Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya that disintegrated the Bactrian Greeks, the successors of Alexander, in 190BC. Ashoka, the legendary king of India, ruled Taxila as governor under his father Bindusara’s rule. The city, which is a part of Rawalpindi district, is now a main industrial town of Pakistan with heavy machine factories and industrial complex, stoneware and pottery.

Author: Aftab Kazmi | Source: Gulf News [July 18, 2015]

“I condemn these destructions and I call on all parties to keep cultural heritage out of the conflict”, said the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bokova. “I am particularly distressed by the news concerning air strikes on heavily populated areas such as the cities of Sana’a and Saa’dah. In addition to causing terrible human suffering, these attacks are destroying Yemen’s unique cultural heritage, which is the repository of people’s identity, history and memory and an exceptional testimony to the achievements of the Islamic Civilization”.

“I call on all parties to refrain from any military use or targeting of cultural heritage sites and monuments, in respect of their obligations under international treaties, particularly the 1954 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols, as well as the 1972 World Heritage Convention” said the Director-General, urging for the protection of Yemen’s cultural heritage sites from collateral damage or intentional targeting.

She finally strongly welcomed the announced five-day cease-fire scheduled to begin at 11pm on Tuesday, that will allow for humanitarian relief supplies to be delivered to the country as well as first damage assessments to be carried out.

The Old City of Sana’a was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1986. Situated in a mountain valley at an altitude of 2,200 m, Sana’a has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years. During the 7th and 8th centuries, the city became a major centre for the propagation of Islam. This religious and political heritage can be seen in the 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century. Sana’a’s many-storeyed tower-houses built of rammed earth (pisé) add to the beauty of the site.

The Old City of Sana’a was restored through a major campaign launched by UNESCO in the late 1980s and early 1990s, thanks to the contribution of numerous countries and the continuous commitments of the Yemeni people and government.

Yemen has two other cultural World Heritage sites: the Old Walled City of Shibam (1982) and the Historic Town of Zabid (1993), inscribed on the World Heritage in Danger list since 2000.

Source: UNESCO [May 14, 2015]

Fire festival

VIA «Promo-pavilion for the city of Żory»

The city is situated about half a kilometre north east of the district, on the banks of River Daur near Sera-e-Saleh. Once housed by the last of the Central Asian kings Azes I and II in Gandhara, the city today is a graveyard of yesteryear.

At a height of about 1,000 feet above the river, the settlement overlooks the entire Haripur landscape, whispering anecdotes of the past. Indo-Scythians were essentially Central Asian tribespeople who migrated to South Asia in 2 BC. They were called ‘Shaka’ in the vernacular, a morphed version of their Persian name Saka. They have been repeatedly mentioned in classical Hindu texts as a warrior nation. Their foothold in the region remained firm for several centuries.

Unearthed by accident

Legend has it the ancient city, proverbially called the ‘Castle of three sisters’ – Katiyan, Matiyan and Satiyan, was first discovered in 1993 when locals shovelled the area to cement the grave of Pir Mankay, a saint who used to meditate there. In no time the gravediggers’ spades hit the treasure buried for centuries beneath. A sizeable quantity of silver coins were thus stolen and sold to jewellers in Rawalpindi.

Police subsequently arrested the thieves and recovered the ancient artefacts which were handed over to Peshawar Museum authorities. Thus the existence of this fascinating settlement on Pir Mankey de Dheri (Mound of Pir Mankay) came to be known.

Opening up the black box

Archaeologists were quick to react and soon a full-scale excavation project was launched by the University of Peshawar archaeology department. The initiative was headed by archaeologists and historians Professor FA Durrani, Dr Shafiqur Rehman Dar and Shah Nazar. By 1997, the entire site was brushed up. Spacious houses, a medium-sized fortress, a large temple complex with a smaller place of worship inside, were unearthed. All artefacts, including vessels and tools, were sent to the provincial capital’s museum. The excavators probably lost interest as the project was soon shelved, paving way for illegal digging for valuables, Muhammad Aslam, a resident of Mankrai village, told The Express Tribune.

Another villager Waheed Khan said wild vegetation has enfeebled the structure, but illegal digging has further harmed the site, one shovel-ful at a time.

Who’s to blame?

Social activist Qamar Hayat said following the 18th Amendment, the control of heritage sites has been handed over to provincial authorities whose responsibility is to safeguard them. “Haripur houses most of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s major archaeological sites. A museum should be constructed here, as it was earlier approved in 2008,” he said, adding all unearthed artefacts should be brought back to the district.

When approached for a comment, Peshawar archaeology department official Maseeullah expressed his ignorance over the discovery.

Hazara University assistant professor Dr Shakirullah Khan stressed on the need to preserve the Indo-Scythian city and develop Haripur’s tourism industry.

Answering a question, Shakirullah said the then HU vice chancellor Dr Ehsan had approved the construction of a museum near Fort Harkishan Garh and the late tehsil nazim Iftikhar Ahmed Khan had also allocated land for the purpose. “Following the latter’s assassination and the former’s transfer to Mardan University, the project was put on the backburner,” he said.

Author: Muhammad Sadaqat | Source: The Express Tribune [June 02, 2015]

The move came just a day after Diyarbakir’s wall and its nearby Hevsel Gardens were added to the list as well.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Permanent Representative of Turkey to UNESCO Hüseyin Avni Botsalı – who headed the Turkish delegation at the session – described the unanimous approval of Ephesus as a great success.

“In fact, we have a great responsibility on our shoulders in terms of cooperation of the international community in this field. We will make significant efforts for the protection of civilizational values and cultural properties,” he added.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik celebrated the development in a series of Twitter posts.

“We have just received the second good news from Germany. Ephesus is now officially on the world heritage [list],” he said.

The minister said Ephesus had always been a key port city, as well as a cultural and commercial center, throughout history.

“A principal city of science, culture and art of its era, Ephesus had been a residential area starting from the pre-historic era and through the Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern Roman periods and also under the Ottoman Empire for about nine millennia without interruption,” he said.

Çelik also said Ephesus, which draws 2 million visitors a year, was a place that the whole world agreed was a site of global cultural heritage.

In a later interview with Anadolu Agency, Çelik noted the threat that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) posed to world heritage in neighboring countries like Syria.

“While a terrorist group called Daesh destroys cities, it is a significant message against this barbarism that Turkey as a Muslim country in the Muslim world managed to put its properties on the world heritage list,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

In May, ISIL militants seized the Roman ruins at the Palmyra World Heritage site in Syria’s Homs Governorate. Last week, members of ISIL destroyed a peerless statue of a lion at the site on the grounds that it is idolatrous, while it has also allegedly conducted executions at the ancient city’s famous theater.

Describing Ephesus, UNESCO said: “The Temple of Artemis, which was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is situated on the edge of this small town. The city which was situated at the beginning of the Persian Royal Road has survived sufficiently enough to enable us to understand the ancient way of life in Ephesus. It is one of the cities which played an impressive role in the beginnings of Christianity and during the period of its proliferation (St. John Church and the shrine of the Virgin Mary). It contains one of the most spectacular examples of religious architecture of the Seljuk Period.”

Turkey first entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985 with Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia and the Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği – both in central Turkey – and the historic areas of Istanbul.

The Hittite capital Hattuşa was added to the list in 1986, followed by Mount Nemrut in Adıyaman 1987, and Hierapolis-Pamukkale in Denizli and the ancient city of Xanthos-Letoon between Muğla and Fethiye in 1988.

In 1994, the city of Safranbolu was approved as a world heritage while the archaeological site of Troy was added to the list in 1998. In recent year, Edirne’s Selimiye Mosque and its social complex was added in 2011, as was Konya’s Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in 2012.

The latest entries in 2014 were Bursa’s Cumalikızık village which witnessed the birth of the Ottoman Empire and İzmir’s ancient city of Pergamon and its multi-layered cultural landscape.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [July 06, 2015]

A mother of eight, Dilci is a born-and-bred resident of Dilekkaya, where the ruins of Anavarza or Anazarbus, a city founded by Assyrians that thrived under the Roman empire, are located. Remains of the city's glory days are scarce, with just a small portion of the city walls still standing.

Dilci and her husband have always been keen to preserve the history in their environs, and this led to the discovery of Anavarza's ancient history, for which the couple was duly awarded. They were building a new house in the village in the 1960s when they stumbled upon a mosaic piece at the construction site.

"We notified authorities and they came. The mosaic we found was a 'fish mosaic' - a Roman-era artifact - and they awarded us TL 500. They asked us to build our house in another, place nearby. We started digging in that place to lay the groundwork but again, we discovered another mosaic," Hatun Dilci says.

Spending everything they had on the construction, the family was broke and without a telephone in the village, they had to travel to the city to inform authorities. They decided to do it, and sold two chickens they had to cover travel fees and went to Adana.

"We met the governor and traveled back to the village with him and with officials from a museum in Adana. They examined the mosaic and told us that we had found the Princess Mosaic," she says, referring to a mosaic believed to depict the daughter of a king.

This time, authorities offered them more money or an assignment of the family as guards of the ancient city. "We chose guarding the site. They gave my husband a uniform and a gun and a monthly salary," she adds.

Hatun Dilci accompanied her husband in guarding the site and personally guarded the site long after her husband's death 22 years ago. Now, one of her sons looks after the site while Dilci preserves the artifacts in the garden of her house.

They started moving the sarcophagi, statues and numerous artifacts to their garden in a bid to protect them from treasure hunters frequenting the area. Under a special deal, the authorities allowed them to keep the artifacts as a small museum, as the area does not have enough space.

"I gave my life to this ancient city. I have been threatened by smugglers and treasure hunters. They tried to burn down my house and poisoned my livestock. I confronted the villagers damaging the ruins. I did this out of my sacred duty toward the state. I am retired now, but I still volunteer. I am still awake at night guarding against theft," she says.

Source: Anadolu Agency [June 01, 2015]

Emergency workers say thunderstorms are hampering efforts to find survivors as 1,500 rescuers search for missing
Family and friends of the missing post moving appeals for information on Facebook and blogs
Storm Prediction Center says more violent weather expected with further tornadoes through the middle of week
Devastation: Destroyed homes and debris cover the ground as a second storm moves in on Monday in Joplin, Missouri
Thousands of people were left without homes to go tonight after the deadliest single tornado to strike the United States in over 60 years touched down on Missouri, reducing the city of Joplin to rubble, ripping buildings apart and killing at least 116 people in a 6-mile path of destruction.
Authorities said they had rescued seven people alive on Monday, but emergency warned that the death toll could climb higher as heavy winds, strong rain and hail quarter-sized hail stones hampered the search effort.
Meteorologists issued a new tornado warning for the devastated city as forecasters warned large swathes of the country to brace for more big storms on Tuesday.
Path of destruction: No house escaped the wrath of nature in some of Minneapolis
A tornado watch was issued on Monday for Oklahoma and parts of southern Kansas due to an 'evolving tornado threat', said Russell Schneider, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center.
'We are currently forecasting a major severe weather outbreak for Tuesday over the central United States with strong tornadoes likely over Oklahoma, Kansas, extreme northern Texas, southwest Missouri,' Mr Schneider said.
The National Weather Service said the tornado packed winds of up to 198 mph.
The weather service's director, Jack Hayes, said the storm was given a preliminary label as an EF4 - the second-highest rating given to twisters. The rating is assigned to storms based on the damage they cause.
Hayes said the storm had winds of 190 to 198 miles per hour. He said survey teams from the National Weather Service are on the scene and will make a final determination on the rating Tuesday.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to help out after one of the worst disasters in the state's history.
Homeless: Ted Grabenauer sleeps on his front porch the morning after a tornado ripped off the roof of his home when it hit Joplin, Missouri
Ruins: A view of the devastation after a tornado blew the roof off the St John's Regional Medical Center, rear, where about 180 patients cowered and were eventually evacuated
Desolation: A residential neighbourhood in Joplin is seen after it was levelled by the tornado
President Barack Obama called Nixon and offered his condolences to those affected, assuring the governor that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would provide whatever assistance was needed.
'Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in the tornadoes and severe weather that struck Joplin, Missouri, as well as communities across the Midwest today,' the President said in a statement sent from Air Force One as he flew to Europe.
Map: Infrared image of the powerful tornado that spun through a densely populated part of Missouri
'We commend the heroic efforts by those who have responded and who are working to help their friends and neighbours at this very difficult time.'
Caring for the injured was made more difficult because the main hospital, Saint John's Regional Medical Center, had to be evacuated after suffering a direct hit - the tornado ripped off its roof and smashed all its windows.
Cries could still be heard early Monday from survivors trapped in the wreckage.
Despair: A tree stripped of bark and leaves frames St John's Regional Medical Center
Eye of the storm: The tornado tore a 6-mile path across southwestern Missouri
Relief: Maggie Kelley and her husband, Trey Adams hug their dog, Saint, after finding him amid the rubble of her home in Joplin
Mr Nixon said he feared the death toll would rise but also expected survivors to be found in the rubble.
‘I don't think we're done counting,’ he said. ‘I still believe that because of the size of the debris and the number of people involved that there are lives to be saved.’
Crews found bodies during the night in vehicles the storm had flipped over, torn apart and left looking like crushed cans.
Triage centers and shelters set up around the city quickly filled to capacity.
At Memorial Hall, a downtown entertainment venue, nurses and other emergency workers from across the region treated critically injured patients.

Efforts: Rescue workers in lime-green jackets search for bodies and survivors inside St John's hospital
Re-united: A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home
Devastation: Emergency personnel walk through a neighbourhood severely damaged by a tornado near the Joplin hospital. There are are no firm details on the number of dead or injured, as the hospital is out of action
Memories: Evelyn Knoblauch looks at a picture in what is left of her daughter's house
At another makeshift unit at a Lowe's home improvement store, wooden planks served as beds.
Outside, ambulances and fire trucks waited for calls. During one stretch after midnight on Monday, emergency vehicles were scrambling nearly every two minutes.
On Monday morning, survivors picked through the rubble of what were once their homes, salvaging clothes, furniture, family photos and financial records, the air pungent with the smell of gas and smoking embers.
Others wandered through the wreckage with nowhere to go, their homes or apartments destroyed.
Kelley Fritz, 45, of Joplin, rummaged through the remains of a storage building with her husband, Jimmy.
Search: An emergency vehicle drives through a severely damaged neighbourhood in Joplin
They quickly realised they would never find the belongings they stored there, and that they had lost much of what was in their home after the tornado ripped away the roof.
Their sons, aged 20 and 17, went outside after the storm and saw that every home was destroyed.
‘My sons had deceased children in their arms when they came back,’ Mrs Fritz said. ‘My husband and I went out and saw two or three dead bodies on the ground.’

Soul destroying: Jean Logan surveys the damage to her home in Joplin after the tornado. She had taken refuge in her laundry room with her granddaughter
A total mess: Rachel Hurst picks through her belongings that were strewn about from her garage that was blown away in Minneapolis on Sunday
Mrs Fritz said she was surprised she survived. ‘You could just feel the air pull up and it was so painful. I didn't think we were going to make it, it happened so fast.’
Tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city's west side.
Staff at St John's Regional Medical Center rushed patients into hallways before the storm struck the nine-storey building, blowing out hundreds of windows and leaving the facility unusable.
The hospital was among the worst-hit locations.
Emergency: Extensive damage can be seen at the St John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Missouri. An emergency agency spokesman says fatalities had been reported but was unsure of the exact figure
The Joplin twister was one of 68 reported tornadoes across seven Midwest states over the weekend, stretched from Oklahoma to Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
One person was killed in Minneapolis. But the devastation in Missouri was the worst, eerily reminiscent of the tornadoes that killed more than 300 people across the South last month.
Residents said the damage was breathtaking in scope.
‘You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like,’ said Kerry Sachetta, the principal of a flattened Joplin High School.
‘I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw.’
Emergency management officials rushed heavy equipment to Joplin to help lift debris and clear the way for search and recovery operations.
Governor Nixon declared a state of emergency, and President Barack Obama said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with state and local agencies.
Raised to the ground: Blocks of homes lie in total destruction after the devastating tornado
Unbelievable: Destroyed vehicles are piled on top of one another in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Centre

Desperate: Amy Langford carries items from her house that she was in with her husband Mark when the tornado hit their home in Joplin
Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe, said he was upstairs in his home when the storm hit but was able to make his way to a basement closet.
The storm tore the roof off his house, but he was safe. When he emerged, he found people wandering through the streets, covered in mud.
‘I'm talking to them, asking if they knew where their family is,’ Mr Lehr said. ‘Some of them didn't know and weren't sure where they were. All the street markers were gone.’
Justin Gibson, 30, huddled with three relatives outside the tangled debris of a Home Depot. He pointed to a black pickup that had been tossed into the store's ruins and said it belonged to his roommate's brother, who was last seen in the store with his two young daughters.
Mr Gibson, who has three children of his own, said his home was levelled and ‘everything in that neighbourhood is gone. The high school, the churches, the grocery store. I can't get hold of my ex-wife to see how my kids are.
‘I don't know the extent of this yet,’ he said, ‘but I know I'll have friends and family dead.’
In Minneapolis, where a tornado killed one person and injured 29, authorities imposed an overnight curfew in a 4-square-mile area, including some of the city's poorest neighbourhoods, to prevent looting and keep streets clear for emergency crews.
Levelled: Red Cross representatives say 75% of Joplin is gone - here, vehicles and houses in the vicinity of Twenty-fourth and Main Streets are a jumble of rubble after a the tornado swept through
Condolences: President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon during his visit to Dublin, Ireland. The President extended his condolences to all impacted by the deadly tornadoes
Widespread devastation: Another tornado in Minneapolis damaged at least 100 homes, toppling hundreds of trees and injuring at least 29 people
Community spirit: Residents of Joplin help a woman who survived in her basement after a tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses
Mayor RT Rybak said one liquor store was looted right after the tornado hit late Sunday and a few burglaries took place overnight.
He said it wasn't immediately clear how many homes were affected, simply saying: 'It's a lot.'
Though the damage covered several blocks, it appeared few houses were totally demolished. Much of the damage was to roofs, front porches that had been sheared away and fences.
The tornado left part of a garage door in a tree and many large trees were left leaning against houses.
Pat Trafton said her family escaped unharmed after a tree was left leaning against her house.
Mrs Trafton, 67, said: 'It's been a crazy day.
'They say it was a monster tornado. It all just happened so fast.'
It was the first tornado to hit the city since August 2009. 'There was no doubt right away,' the meteorologist said.
North Minneapolis resident Tiffany Pabich was taking a nap just as the tornado blew through.

Bettered streets: Debris is scattered about in Minneapolis. On Sunday night a tornado warning was issued for several areas in central states
Crushed: Vehicles were picked up and dumped across the city by the tornado which left 30 people dead and dozens injured
In the north-east Kansas, powerful storms spawned funnel clouds and hail that ripped limbs off of trees and shattered windows.
About 200 homes were damaged in and around Reading with the tornado sweeping through the small town around 9:15pm Saturday night, said Kansas Division of Emergency Management spokeswoman Sharon Watson.
A man was pronounced dead shortly after being taken to Newman Regional Hospital in Emporia, about 20 miles from where the tornado hit, hospital supervisor Deb Gould said.
Ms Gould said two other people were brought in with injuries but she had no further details.
Five people were injured in all, along with the person killed, said Ms Watson.
Reading, a town of about 250 people is 50 miles south of the Kansas capital city, Topeka.
Carnage: Rescue vehicles line up along northbound Rangeline Road in Joplin, Mo. after a fatal tornado swept through the city
Reverend Lyle Williams, who is a pastor for about 10 worshippers at the Reading First Baptist Church, said the church suffered extensive damage: 'Yeah, it's pretty bad,' he said. 'My daughter was out there and told me about it.'
'I'm not going to be able to have church today that's for sure,' he added, saying he's been a pastor at the church for 21 years.
In Jefferson County, a mobile home was destroyed with an elderly couple was trapped inside, Ms Watson told CNN. She said responders cleared the debris and rescued the couple unhurt.
Wreckage: A man stands amid the remains of a Wal-Mart store, after it was hit by the tornado, in Joplin
Power had been restored in the town by early Sunday and a shelter was being set up at a local school.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado also touched down in Topeka and northeast of the city near Lake Perry, where damage was reported at a nearby campsite, Ms Watson said.
While many states have been struck by severe storms this spring, Kansas has been having one of its lightest tornado seasons in decades, according to the National Weather Service.
A taste of spring? Trees were stripped of branches and many were left resting against houses
Flattened: Reading - a town of about 250 people, 50 miles south of capital city Topeka
Twister tragedy

Joplin Missouri 2011 Tornado May 23rd 2011 Massive Monster Killer Twister Tornado EF 5 MO 2011

I WILL PRAY ~Joplin Missouri Tornado Tribute~ (5/22/11)

source:dailymail

VIA America's deadliest tornado for 64 years: Terrifying twister cuts six-mile swathe through a Missouri town, leaving up to 116 dead

City design

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“Restoration works have been continuing to bring the triumphal arch [of Anavarza (Anazarbus)] to tourism. Most parts of the arch are still strong. The restoration process will begin soon. The monumental city gate, which is a legacy from the ancient world, will regain its original [glory] within a year,” said Çukurova University academic Fatih Gülşen, who is acting as a scientific consultant on excavations in the ancient city of Anavarza.

The arch, now located in the province’s Dilekkaya village, was 22.5 meters wide and 10.5 meters high, with a wall thickness of 5.60 meters, he said.

Gülşen said after their victory against the [[Parthians in the first century BC]], the Romans built the arch in Anavarza, the military camp city of the Roman Empire in the east.

Gülşen said 502 block stones that had fallen from the arch would be placed in their original places.

“The monumental gate, which is an artistic wonder, had three arches,” he said. “Some parts of the western arch collapsed but the main arch in the middle and the one in the east still survive. We finished the drawings of the collapsed and missing blocks. The pieces that fell from the gate have been numbered and have undergone laser scanning. We will put them in their own places during the restoration. The triumphal arch has high-quality workmanship; smooth square lime, marble and granite stones were used in the construction. Tougher and high-quality limestone was used in its curves. It is a huge and unique structure decorated with Corinthian heads, columns, pilasters [rectangular columns] and niches. Because of these features, it is the only one in the region that we call Çukurova today, and one of the few monumental city gates within the borders of Turkey.”

Gülşen said the triumphal arch opened onto a 34-meter-wide, 2,700-meter long, two-lane street.

“The Culture and Tourism Ministry has allocated 1 million Turkish Liras for the excavations and research in the ancient city of Anavarza. The revival of the triumphal arch is one of most important stages of our work here. We are working with a team of 45 people – 10 are technical staff.”

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [May 01, 2015]

In Kastabala Hierapolis, which is located 12 kilometers away from the Osmaniye city center, someone taking photographs in the area saw May 13 that many historical artifacts were damaged.

Gendarmerie examinations revealed that an area measuring 50 square meters had been excavated with Caterpillars. Museums officials also reported that historical artifacts were damaged in the ancient city, which is home to columned streets, an amphitheater, basilica, church, bath remains and a fortress.

Excavations in the ancient city have been underway since 2009.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [May 15, 2015]

Bolstered by allied militias and airstrikes, the Syrian military pushed IS forces out of Tadmur's northern neighborhoods in a 24-hour period, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday, though the Sunni militants still hold a village north of the city.

Tadmur is adjacent to the ancient ruins of Palmyra, which comprises Roman temples and colonnades dating back over 2,000 years. UNESCO regards the ruins as a World Heritage Site.

The IS attack began Wednesday and was aimed at the cities of al-Sikhni and Tadmur. At least 295 people have been killed in the assault, including 123 regime troops and allied militiamen and 115 IS militants (including three "leading figures"), SOHR reports.

Fifty-seven civilians in and around the area were also killed, according to SOHR, a handful by airstrikes and shellfire and most by IS execution.

Aside from being near gas fields and a major airbase, Palmyra lies on the road between Deir al-Zour, the city of Homs and Syria's capital, Damascus.

The IS advance toward the ancient ruins has stoked anxiety stemming from the group's destruction of other archaeological sites under the charge of "idolatry," including the dismantling of 3,000-year-old artifacts at Iraq's Mosul Museum earlier this year. Officials say the group sells some artifacts on the black market to fund operations.

Meanwhile, advances by allied Islamic militants -- including al-Qaida's Nusra Front -- in Syria's northwest, near the Turkish border, have put forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the defensive. The Syrian military last month lost all of its major urban strongholds in Idlib province, which is seen as a stepping stone toward Latakia province in the west. Latakia is home to the country's Alawite community to which Assad belongs.

Author: Fred Lambert | Source: UPI [May 17, 2015]

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Palmyra is the last place anyone would expect to find a forest of stone columns and arches. Travellers in the 17th and 18th centuries were repeatedly astonished by what they saw: a vast field of ruins in the middle of the Syrian desert, roughly half-way between the Mediterranean coast and the valley of the River Euphrates.

For anyone visiting, however, the key reason for the site's prosperity is immediately apparent: ancient Palmyra sits at the edge of an oasis of date palms and gardens.

It was as a watering place on a trade route from the east that Palmyra's story begins, and the very name Palmyra refers to the date palms that still dominate the area (the origin of its Semitic name, Tadmor, is less certain; a derivation from tamar - date palm - is favoured).

Palmyrene power

For such a remote city Palmyra occupies a prominent place in Middle Eastern history. From modest beginnings in the 1st Century BC, Palmyra gradually rose to prominence under the aegis of Rome until, during the 3rd Century AD, the city's rulers challenged Roman power and created an empire of their own that stretched from Turkey to Egypt.

The story of its Queen Zenobia, who fought against the Roman Emperor Aurelian, is well known; but it is less well-known that Palmyra also fought another empire: that of the Sasanian Persians.

In the middle of the third century, when the Sasanians invaded the Roman Empire and captured the Emperor Valerian, it was the Palmyrenes who defeated them and drove them back across the Euphrates.

For several decades Rome had to rely on Palmyrene power to prop up its declining influence in the east.

Unique attributes

Palmyra was a great Middle Eastern achievement, and was unlike any other city of the Roman Empire.

It was quite unique, culturally and artistically. In other cities the landed elites normally controlled affairs, whereas in Palmyra a merchant class dominated the political life, and the Palmyrenes specialised in protecting merchant caravans crossing the desert.

Like Venice, the city formed the hub of a vast trade network, only with the desert as its sea and camels as its ships.

Even so, archaeology has revealed that they were no strangers to the sea itself.

Palmyrenes travelled down the Euphrates to the Gulf to engage in seaborne trade with India, and even maintained a presence in the Red Sea ports of Egypt.

The wealth they derived from the eastern trade in exotic goods they invested in imposing architectural projects in their home city.

The well-preserved remains of edifices such as the great sanctuary of the Palmyrene Gods (generally known as the Temple of Bel), a grand colonnaded street and a theatre stand to this day.

Historical threat

What has been excavated has revealed a vibrant Middle Eastern culture with its own distinct sense of identity.

The Palmyrenes were proud to adorn their buildings with monumental writing in their own Semitic script and language rather than relying exclusively on Greek or Latin (which was the norm elsewhere).

Palmyra developed its own artistic style, and its own take on Classical architecture. Decorative patterns on its buildings and its inhabitants' styles of dress speak of widespread connections with east and west.

Chinese silks have been found adorning mummies in Palmyrene tombs. Theirs was a cosmopolitan culture with an international outlook.

Yet we still know comparatively little.

Only small parts of the site have been excavated. Most of the archaeology lies just beneath the surface rather than deeply buried, and it is particularly vulnerable to looting.

Like other sites in Syria Palmyra has undoubtedly been plundered during the present conflict. But given the track record of ISIS in Iraq there are reasons to fear systematic looting and destruction should Palmyra fall into their hands.

If that happens, a major chapter in Middle Eastern history and culture will be yet another casualty of this tragic conflict.

Author: Prof Kevin Butcher | Source: BBC News Website [May 15, 2015]

Lothal's cemetery is no longer accessible due to wild growth on the approach. The cemetery houses two skeletons found during excavations at the site, carried out between 1955 and 1962.

Lothal, which means `The City of Dead' in Gujarati, attracts legions of visitors, particularly students. A museum containing articles belonging to the Harappan era is another major draw. The excavation sites and museum are under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI).

Officials said shortage of funds has lead to a staff crunch, affecting even routine maintenance. The museum gateman has to run to the historical Lothal dock to caution visitors against moving on the precarious structure. Boundary walls of wells are broken. The funds crunch prevents officials from carrying out further excavations.

Tushar Patel, a visitor on Sunday, said he asked the staff for information on the artefacts, but they hardly showed any interest in responding to his queries.

Author: Himanshu Kaushik | Source: The Times of India [June 22, 2015]

The Islamic State's capture of the town of Palmyra late Wednesday was a stunning triumph for the militant group, only days after it captured the strategic city of Ramadi in Iraq's largest Sunni province.

As IS took Palmyra, government forces collapsed in the face of the attacks and Syrian soldiers were seen fleeing the area, activists said. In Damascus, state TV acknowledged that pro-government forces had withdrawn from the town.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the extremists overrun the archaeological site, just to the southwest of the town itself, shortly after midnight Wednesday.

An activist in Homs who goes by the name of Bebars al-Talawy also confirmed that IS now controls the ruins at Palmyra. Both activists said the militants had not damaged the site so far.

A Facebook page close to IS published a statement Thursday, purportedly from the group, saying "the soldiers of the Islamic State" completed their control of Palmyra as well as the town's airport and prison. The capture came after government forces collapsed, "leaving large numbers of dead whose bodies filled the streets," it said.

The ruins at Palmyra are one of the world's most renowned historic sites and there were fears the extremists would destroy them as they did major archaeological sites in Iraq. The UNESCO world heritage site is famous for its 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades and other ruins and priceless artifacts. Before the war, thousands of tourists a year visited the remote desert outpost, a cherished landmark referred to by Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert."

At a meeting this week in Bonn, Germany, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted 13-2, with five abstentions, to keep the Old City on its list of endangered World Heritage sites. It condemned the “persistence of the Israeli illegal excavations” in the Old City and a series of Israeli initiatives outside it, including the Jerusalem light rail line that runs near the Old City walls, the City of David archaeological site in Silwan and an elevator at the Western Wall, which UNESCO said severely affects the “visual integrity and the authentic character of the site.”

UNESCO is the United Nations’ education, cultural and scientific organization.

Dore Gold, the director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, condemned the committee’s decision as a one-sided resolution and noted its failure to cite any Jewish connection to Jerusalem, referring to the Temple Mount area only as a “Muslim holy site of worship.”

The UNESCO committee also expressed concern with an Israeli plan to build a cable car system in eastern Jerusalem, restrictions on freedom of access to the Temple Mount, and Jewish visits to the site, which the committee called “Israeli extremist groups’ continuous incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.”

David Harris of the American Jewish Committee called it ironic that “at a time when Islamist terrorists are destroying world heritage sites in Syria and Iraq, this UNESCO committee hypocritically chooses to attack the record of Israel, which has carefully and diligently protected the worship sites of all religions.”

Source: JTA [July 10, 2015]

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the damage occurred when government forces blew up a tunnel dug by insurgents under the city, while the state news agency said the tunnel was blown up by rebels.

Lima is one of the world's largest desert cities and relies for water on rivers that flow out of the Andes. But those rivers diminish to a trickle during a long dry season, leaving the population of almost 9 million with intermittent water supplies.

Now the city's water utility company, Sedapal, has decided to invest in conservation projects in the Andes to keep the rivers flowing and taps running. And researchers have discovered that the most cost-effective way is to revive a system of ancient stone canals, known locally as amunas, that were built in the Andes by the Wari culture between AD 500 and 1000, centuries before the rise of the Incas.

Forgotten paths

The canals captured water from rivers in the mountains during the rainy season and took it to places where it could infiltrate rocks that fed year-round springs further down the mountains, so maintaining river flow during the dry season.

The amunas fell into disrepair long ago and had been largely forgotten. In most places, their water now quickly returns to the rivers. But hydrologists such as Bert De Bièvre of Condesan, a Lima-based non-governmental organisation behind the project, say re-grouting the lined stretches of the canals with cement would allow them to resume their original purpose.

"The idea is to build a timelag into the hydrological system, delaying water run-off for weeks or even months until it benefits water supply in the dry season," De Bièvre says.

SEDEPAL has now decided to fund the plan by taking 1 per cent from its water charges for the next five years. The costs are estimated to be $23 million.

Holding back the flood

Lima has water shortages for seven months of the year but during the other five months, the Rimac, Chillon and Lurin rivers, which pass through Lima on their way to the Pacific Ocean, regularly cause floods and landslips. Keeping floodwaters back for the dry season makes obvious sense.

Research into the hydrology of individual canals is still in progress. "We have been injecting ink into the canal water to see where it resurfaces," says De Bièvre. But he is confident that the project could revive 50 amunas, mostly in the Chillon catchment.

According to a study by De Bièvre and Gena Gammie, a water specialist at Forest Trends, an NGO based in Washington DC that is backing the project, that should be enough to increase water supplies to Lima by 26 million cubic metres, and reduce the city's current water deficit in the dry season by as much as 60 per cent.

According to the study, other green investment initiatives that could keep water on the mountainsides for longer include reviving forests, wetlands and ancient agricultural terraces, and restricting livestock grazing on upland pastures. But the study found that reviving amunas would be by far the cheapest option, costing less than a hundredth as much as water from the city's new desalination plant.

Author: Fred Pearce | Source: New Scientist [April 20, 2015]