Plane Crash, Tripoli, Libya: An Afriqiyah Airways plane carrying 104 passengers and crew on an international flight crashed as it attempted to land at Tripoli International Airport on May 12, killing all but one person on board. Afriqiyah Airways said Flight 8U771 was carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew. The sole survivor, a child reported to be Dutch, is being treated in a hospital. The Airbus A330-200 was flying from Johannesburg in South Africa to the Libyan capital when it crashed just short of the runway around 06:00 local time (04:00 UTC) after a nine hour flight, the airline said. Eyewitnesses said the aircraft started to break up as it came in to land in clear weather before totally disintegrating. Two flight recorders have been recovered and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash. Market sources quoted by Insurance Day said the aircraft had an insured value of USD123 million on a policy led by Catlin. Insurance Day added Afriqiyah Airways is thought to have a liability policy with a USD1 billion limit.

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Explosion and Fire at Offshore Oil Rig, Gulf of Mexico: An explosion and large fire on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico left 11 workers missing and 17 others injured on April 20. The blaze on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which broke out around 22:00 local time (03:00 UTC on April 21), sent flames and smoke high into the sky about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Seventeen workers were injured, three critically, and the 11 missing men are now feared dead. Reports said the rig, which is owned by Transocean Ltd, was under contract to the oil giant BP at a cost of USD533,000 (EUR395,000) a day and doing exploratory drilling. The rig was listing badly as it was consumed by flames and it eventually sunk on April 22, leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The well is currently leaking oil at a rate of about 1,000 barrels per day. Reports said the rig was built in 2001 in South Korea at a cost of about USD350 million. Transocean said the 400-by-250-foot (120-by-80 meter) rig was located around 42 miles offshore Venice, Louisiana, on Mississippi Canyon block 252.

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Hurricane Alex: Hurricane Alex made landfall near Soto La Marina and La Pesca in Mexico’s Tamaulipas State at around 02:00 UTC on July 1 (22:00 on June 30 local time) with sustained winds of around 105 mph (165 kmph), equivalent to a category 2 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The NHC said Alex was the first hurricane to reach category 2 status in June in the Atlantic since Hurricane Alma in 1966. At landfall, the NHC said hurricane-force winds extended 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the center of the storm while tropical storm-force winds extended 205 miles (335 kilometers), the NHC said. Early estimates of insured losses suggest the insurance industry could payout between USD100 million and USD200 million for the damage caused by Alex.

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Floods in Southeast France: Heavy rain on June 15-16 has triggered severe flash floods in southeastern France, killing at least 22 people according to the latest estimates from local authorities. The damage and disruption has been widespread, with hundreds of homes inundated and thousands reported to be without electricity or phone lines. Officials said around 10 people remain missing and they fear the death toll could rise. The southeastern province of Alpes Cote d’Azur has been particularly badly affected, with officials in the Var department saying that damage is severe. Reports said that between 1,500 and 2,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes and spend the night in schools or other temporary shelters, and some 104,000 houses remain without electricity in the aftermath of the flooding.

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Tropical Storm Bonnie, the second named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, developed on July 22 and is currently located approximately 155 miles (250 kilometers) southeast of Miami in Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Bonnie packs sustained winds of around 40 mph (65 kmph). The storm is traveling in a west-northwest direction and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours as the storm slightly strengthens. The NHC said tropical storm-force winds extend 85 miles (150 kilometers) from the center of the storm.

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Hurricane Alex made landfall near Soto La Marina and La Pesca in Mexico’s Tamaulipas State at around 02:00 UTC on July 1 (22:00 on June 30 local time) with sustained winds of around 105 mph (165 kmph), equivalent to a category 2 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The NHC said Alex was the first hurricane to reach category 2 status in June in the Atlantic since Hurricane Alma in 1966. At landfall, the NHC said hurricane-force winds extended 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the center of the storm while tropical storm-force winds extended 205 miles (335 kilometers), the NHC said. Early estimates of insured losses suggest the insurance industry could payout between USD100 million and USD200 million for the damage caused by Alex.

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Hurricane Alex has made landfall near Soto La Marina and La Pesca in Mexico’s Tamaulipas State as a category 2 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm made landfall around 02:00 UTC on July 1 (22:00 on 30 June local time) with sustained winds of around 105 mph (165 kmph). The NHC said Alex was the first category 2 hurricane to develop in June in the Atlantic since Hurricane Alma in 1966. At 09:00 UTC, Alex was located 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Ciudad Victoria in Mexico with reduced sustained winds of around 80 mph (130 kmph). Alex is traveling in a westerly direction and the NHC said the storm is expected to weaken to a tropical storm later today and dissipate in the next 24 to 36 hours. At landfall, the NHC said hurricane-force winds extended 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the center of the storm while tropical storm-force winds extended 205 miles (335 kilometers).

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Alex has intensified to become the first hurricane of the 2010 season, making it the first June hurricane in the Atlantic since 1995. The storm is located approximately 175 miles (280 kilometers) east of La Pesca in Mexico and packs sustained winds of around 80 mph (130 kmph), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Alex is traveling in a west-northwest direction and a slow west to west-northwest motion is expected over the next 24 to 48 hours. On this forecast track, Alex will approach the coast of northern Mexico and southern Texas later today and make landfall south of the Texas/Mexico border early on July 1 UTC. The NHC said Alex is expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours and could become a category 2 hurricane prior to landfall. The NHC said hurricane-force winds extend 25 miles (35 kilometers) from the center of the storm while tropical storm-force winds extend 200 miles (235 kilometers). 

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Tropical Storm Alex is located approximately 460 miles (735 kilometers) southeast of Brownsville in Texas and packs sustained winds of around 70 mph (110 kmph), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Alex is currently traveling in a north-northwest direction and a turn towards the northwest is forecast for later today before shifting to the west-northwest tomorrow. The NHC said Alex is expected to strengthen over the next 48 hours and become the first hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. If Alex follows its forecast path, the NHC said the storm will make landfall just south of the Texas/Mexico border on July 1. The NHC said tropical storm-force winds extend 105 miles (165 kilometers) from the center of the storm.

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Tropical Storm Alex became the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season when it developed on June 25. Alex subsequently moved across Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico as a tropical storm on June 26/27, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region. Alex has since re-emerged in the southern Gulf of Mexico and is currently located approximately 75 miles (115 kilometers) west of Campeche in Mexico with sustained winds of around 50 mph (85 kmph), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm is traveling in a northwest direction and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 48 hours as the storm strengthens. The NHC said tropical storm-force winds extend 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the center of the storm.

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Heavy rain on June 15-16 has triggered severe flash floods in southeastern France, killing at least 22 people according to the latest estimates from local authorities. The damage and disruption has been widespread, with hundreds of homes inundated and thousands reported to be without electricity or phone lines. Officials said around 10 people remain missing and they fear the death toll could rise. The southeastern province of Alpes Cote d’Azur has been particularly badly affected, with officials in the Var department saying that damage is severe. Reports said that between 1,500 and 2,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes and spend the night in schools or other temporary shelters, and some 104,000 houses remain without electricity in the aftermath of the flooding.

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Heavy rain has triggered severe floods in parts of central and eastern Europe since mid-May, killing at least 18 people, inundating homes and businesses and causing widespread damage and disruption. Parts of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have been flooded after days of heavy rain burst river defenses and inundated low-lying areas. The heavy rain was accompanied by strong winds, causing power outages and transportation disruption. Reports said southern Poland was the worst-affected area after the Vistula River burst its banks. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the damage caused by the flooding could cost around EUR2.6 billion (USD3.2 billion).

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