eKos: Earthship Wednesday

by eKos

Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.

Beneath the fold you will find news and notes, community announcements, and our eco-diary roundup.

Peruse the eKos Library to find previously listed diaries. You can also follow eKos on Twitter.

Tonight's editor: LokiMom

continued at Daily Kos....

Haiti: Cholera Found In Port Au Prince

by davidseth

As feared, Cholera appears to have arrived in Port Au Prince, Haiti.  A first confirmed case has now been reported: the 3 year-old child with the disease had not left Port Au Prince.  This outbreak is a major threat to millions of people.  The report:

continued at Daily Kos....

Haiti: After The Storm

by davidseth

Hurricane Tomas was downgraded to a tropical storm early Saturday as it passed over the Turks and Caicos Islands, losing steam a day after battering seaside towns in Haiti.

Haiti was pummeled with 85 mph winds and from five to ten inches of rain. A foot of standing water fills the capital of Port-au-Prince, where four people are dead and two are missing. ...

Please join me in the flood.

continued at Daily Kos....

Hurricane Tomas to Turn Towards Haiti: Tents & Cholera

by FishOutofWater

Wind shear has weakened Hurricane Thomas to a minimal 75mph storm, but new track models forecast Thomas is heading towards Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of Haitian earthquake survivors struggling to survive in tents now face an approaching hurricane. A cholera outbreak caused by sewage tainted water supplies could spread disastrously if the storm hits Haiti's  tent cities and impoverished rural villages.

The NHC forecasts hurricane Tomas to hit Haiti near Port au Prince Friday afternoon with winds over 100mph.

continued at Daily Kos....

Unprecedented Tropical Storm Tomas Forms off S America

by FishOutofWater

Never in historic records has a tropical storm formed so far south and east in the north Atlantic this late in the season. Never. And Tomas has the potential to become a major hurricane in the Caribbean, possibly threatening Haiti, Jamaica or Cuba next week.

Tropical Storm Tomas forms Friday afternoon north of South America in the tropical Atlantic.

8pm EST Update: Tomas strengthening rapidly

AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE DATA INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS
HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 60 MPH...95 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.  SOME
ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND
TOMAS COULD BECOME A HURRICANE BY LATE SATURDAY.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES...165 KM
FROM THE CENTER.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED BY RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT WAS 999 MB...29.50 INCHES.

continued at Daily Kos....

Haitian Farmers: Growing Strength to Grow Food

by Bev Bell

Rony Charles, a rice grower and member of the Agricultural Producer Cooperative of Verrettes, said, “Instead of foreigners sending us food, they should give us the chance to do our own agriculture so it can survive.”

continued at Daily Kos....

Help Me Help Haiti - Please.

by environmentalist

Please Help Me Volunteer in Haiti

Straight up. I’m going to ask you for money.  I warned you about this when MB asked WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO!?!  

So click HERE and donate at my paypal button or please read on for the details.  

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FEMA Trailers Still Making the Rounds (with updates)

by Miep

Banned Trailers Return for Latest Gulf Disaster

NYT, June 30

VENICE, La. — In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, they became a symbol of the government’s inept response to that disaster: the 120,000 or so trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to people who had lost their homes.

The trailers were discovered to have such high levels of formaldehyde that the government banned them from ever being used for long-term housing again.

Some of the trailers, though, are getting a second life amid the latest disaster here — as living quarters for workers involved with the cleanup of the oil spill.

Cross-posted from Right of Assembly

h/t to RV Home Yet? for the links.

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Environment and Food in Haiti: Two Crises, One Solution

by Bev Bell

In part II of an interview, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste discusses the role that agriculture can play in Haiti in addressing both the environmental and food crises. (See “The Clock is Set to Zero” for the first part.) Jean-Baptiste is the Executive Director of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP by its Creole acronym) and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP). Until this year, he also sat on the international coordinating committee of Vía Campesina, a confederation of organizations of peasant, family, indigenous, and landless farmers from more than sixty countries.

continued at Daily Kos....