As many as 100 flood-weary residents of Sicamous, B.C., are on alert once again as the Shuswap region town braces for another emergency.

Officials are taking no chances after levels of Sicamous Creek suddenly dropped this morning, suggesting it may be blocked by trees in the hills above the neighbourhood of Two Mile.

Thats the same area inundated by flash-flooding when a torrent of debris was unleashed June 23, causing extensive damage to homes in Two Mile and nearby Swansea Point.

Highway 97A, about four kilometres south of Sicamous, has been closed about 350 kilometres northeast of Vancouver because of potential flooding.

RCMP Sgt. Carl Vinat says the highway closure and door-to-door warning in Two Mile are precautionary while an aerial inspection of Sicamous Creek is conducted.

Meanwhile, officials in southeastern B.C. say improving weather is speeding progress as crews work to drain an old tailings pond near the communities of Nelson and Salmo after the earthen dam around the pond began to crumble following recent heavy rains.

Meanwhile in Prince George, the provincial government will pick up most of the tab for flood costs racked up when the Fraser and Nechako rivers began rising last month.

City officials say 100 per cent of preparation and response costs can be recovered through Emergency Management BC.

To date, the city has spent just over a quarter of a million dollars, but crews are still waiting to assess damage to a trail system and piping along the Nechako, because that area is still under water.

Once those costs are added up, Prince George expects to recover 80 per cent of the repair bills.

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Flood Watch B.C.: Concerns ease over Nelson retaining wall; drinking water, swimming advisory in Shuswap; dams spill ...

footnotes officially known as the City of Valenzuela ( ) (ISO: PH-00; PSGC: 137504000 ) or simply Valenzuela City is the 101st largest city of the Philippines and one of the sixteen cities that along with the smaller municipality of Pateros comprise the region of Metro Manila, located about 14km (7.9 miles) north of Manila. Valenzuela is categorized by virtue of Republic Act Nos. 7160 and 8526 as a highly urbanized, first-class city based on income classification and number of population. A chartered city located on the island of Luzon, it is bordered by Meycauayan (Bulacan) in the north, Quezon City and northern Caloocan to the east; by Obando (Bulacan) to the west; by Malabon, southern Caloocan and Tullahan River to the south. With a land mass of 44.59km2 and a population of almost 600,000 in August 2010, Valenzuela is the 10th most populous city in the Philippines. Valenzuela's population is composed of 72% Tagalog people followed by 5% Bicolanos. Small percentage of foreign nationals reside in the city.

Valenzuela was named after Po Valenzuela, a doctor and a member of Katipunan. The town preceding Valenzuela that was originally called Polo was formed in 1621 due to religious separation movements from parishes of Meycauayan (Catanghalan). Polo has been occupied twice by foreign armies other than colonial powers Spain and United States: first during the Seven Years' War by the British and by the Japanese during the Second World War. In 1960, President Diosdado Macapagal ordered the creation of the municipality of Valenzuela carved from few territories of Polo and is independent from the provincial government of Bulacan. However in 1963, another law was issued ordering the reversal of the previous edict and reunifying the towns of Polo and Valenzuela under the single name of Valenzuela. In 1975, Valenzuela was named as an independent municipality from the government of Bulacan and incorporated under the administration of Metropolitan Manila Authority. On February 14, 1998, President Fidel V. Ramos signed Republic Act 8625, or the Valenzuela City Charter, which elevated the status of Valenzuela as a highly urbanized, chartered city.

Under the Local Government Code of 1991, Valenzuela has a similar government system to other chartered cities of the Philippines. It is governed by a city mayor and vice-mayor elected through popular vote. The city is divided into two congressional districts and each is represented by a congressional district representative at the Philippine Congress. The vice-mayor heads the 12-manned city council: each district elects six councilors. The current mayor is Sherwin T. Gatchalian.

There is no known tourist spot in the city except for the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, the Philippine apostolate to the Our Lady of Fatima of Portugal. Valenzuela is traversed by two major roads in the country: MacArthur Highway and North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), with NLEx being connected to Circumferential Road 5 at segments 8.1 and 9. Major transportation modes include buses and jeepneys that founded terminals at the northern points of the city.

Owing to the cross migration of people across the country and its location as the northernmost point of Metro Manila, Valenzuela has developed into a well-mixed, multicultural metropolis. A former agricultural rural area, Valenzuela has grown into a major economic and industrial center of the Philippines when a large number of industries relocated to the central parts of the city.

Originally, Valenzuela was called Polo. The name Polo was derived from the Tagalog term pul meaning island, though the area was not an entirely island for itself. The original town of Polo was blessed by the rivers from the north and Tullahan River on the south. Hence, the enclosed land was thought to be an island, so the early townsmen regarded the place as Pul which later evolved into Polo done by hispanicization of the word.

Today, the term Polo only applies to the barangay of Polo, the birthplace of Dr. Pio Valenzuela himself, which is found in the city's first congressional district.

According to Philippine historians Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson there existed an infamous battle in Bangkusay, Tondo headed by Maynila king Rajah Sulayman which employed seafarers and warriors from all over parts of the north of Maynila Kingdom and Bulacan. The battle was declared against Spanish conquering forces of Miguel Lpez de Legazpi on June 3, 1571. Spanish troops were headed by Legazpi's nephew, Martn de Goiti. On June 3, 1571, Sulayman led his troops and attacked the Spaniards in a decisive battle at the town of Bangkusay, but they were defeated, and Sulayman himself was killed. With the destruction of Sulayman's army and the friendship with Rajah Lakandula, the Spaniards were enabled to establish throughout the city and its neighboring towns. Legazpi formally established settlement on Maynila on June 24, 1571. According to Martnez de Zuiga, a Spanish missionary of Augustinian order, Maynila was a vast region enclosed by the towns of Polo, Tambobong (now Malabon City), and mountains of San Mateo in Morong. The region of Valenzuela, was formally merged under the rule of Bulacan town of Catanghalan.

On 1587, the Tagalog cabeza de barangay of Catanghalan Tassi Bassi joined the chieftain of Tondo Magat Salamat in a planned insurrection against Spanish colonization of Maynila. The rebellion was composed of kin-related noblemen or maharlikas of Maynila including Juan Banal, another Tondo chief and Salamats brother-in-law; Gernimo Basi and Gabriel Tuambacar, brothers of Agustn de Legazpi; Pedro Balinguit, the chief of Pandacan and other chiefs of Tondo. The "revolution" never happened because whistleblowers revealed the nature of it to Spanish authorities.

When Manila became an archdiocese on August 14, 1595 based upon Pope Gregory XIII's Papal order, regular friars that already established permanent church in Catanghalan decided that the attached sitio of Polo be separated to cater spiritual needs of its increasing population. Through successive efforts of Franciscan Fray Juan Taranco and Don Juan Monsod, sitio Polo was successfully separated from Catanghalan in 1623. Thus, the first cabeza de barangay of the new town of Polo was Monsod while Taranco operated the present San Diego de Alcal parish on a small tavern. The separation was made upon the orders of Governor-General Alonso Fajardo de Entenza the towns were still under the provincial government of Bulacan. (However it must be noted that historical records in Errecciones de los Pueblos at the Philippine National Archives showed first parochial records of Polo as early as November 7, 1621. Later, this was adopted as the foundation day of Valenzuela.)

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3 kids hurt in wall collapse in Valenzuela

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

THE Baguio City Government is set to start soon the P80-million Irisan dumpsite retaining wall rehabilitation funded by the Office of the President (OP), according to City Mayor Mauricio Domogan.

According to Domogan, the project will assure the safety of the immediate community and also a gigantic step towards converting the former garbage facility into an eco-tourism park.

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It may be recalled a wall of the five-hectare dumpsite breached last August 27, 2011 during Typhoon Mina and the cascading garbage killed six residents of the area.

The mayor said the approval of the Department of Public Works and Highways is now the only requirement we are waiting so that we can immediately start this important project.

Apart from the dumpsite retaining wall, there are many other infrastructure projects worth several millions of pesos undergoing completion. (Aure Galacgac/PNA)

Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on July 03, 2012.

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P80-M dumpsite project ready to commence

By Alana Melanson

amelanson@sentinelandenterprise.com @alanamelanson on Twitter

FITCHBURG -- City officials are looking to move the single-family home at 242 High St. -- a property the city has had to buy twice in less than 30 years because of an issue with an adjacent retaining wall -- possibly to the location of a blighted triple-decker that will soon be torn down on Johnson Street.

According to Housing Director Ryan McNutt, the city will soon put out a request for proposals for the home, provided the buyer is capable of moving it.

McNutt said he would like to see the house moved to the site of 3-5 Johnson St., which currently holds a triple-decker owned by the Twin Cities Development Corp. -- if the organization casts the winning bid.

In 2010, water runoff had undermined the structural integrity of the retaining wall that holds up Mechanic Street next to 242 High St., he said, and the city paid the owner $165,000 for the house. McNutt said repairing the existing granite retaining wall would have cost nearly $1 million.

According to Department of Public Works Commissioner Lenny Laakso, the city had to buy the property in the 1980s as well, after problems with the retaining wall then caused damage to an existing tenement building. The owner sued the city and won, he said, costing the city about $87,000, in addition to repairs to the wall. The existing structure was torn down and

Simultaneously to the 2010 events of 242 High St., McNutt said, the city decided to take a landlord who owned several blighted properties in the Elm Street area to court. These properties were then put into receivership, he said, and were taken under tax title. Twin Cities CDC bid on 3-5 Johnson St. in an auction and will tear it down possibly as soon as next week, McNutt said.

Marc Dohan, executive director of the Twin Cities CDC, said he wants to get the building down as soon as possible, but a date for the demolition hasn't been set yet.

"We're about to finish three new homes across the street," he said. "We've been really wanting to take down 3-5 Johnson for quite some time."

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Fitchburg eyes relocation of house due to retaining-wall problems

WALLINGFORD Town staff will prepare an in-depth report on ownership of a retaining wall on Holy Trinity school property that supports a town-leased parking lot and get a legal opinion before deciding what to do concerning repairs.

The Town Council tabled the issue at its meeting Tuesday night and will await the results of the report.

Its so important that now we do some research and we find out once and for all what is the town liable for on the retaining wall for your school, said Town Councilor John Sullivan, a Democrat.

The issue revolves around who is responsible for a retaining wall that divides the schools playground from a parking lot behind buildings on Simpson Court and North Main Street that is used for public parking through a lease with the town. Church and school officials say the structure is deteriorating, with cracks and chunks of it falling onto the playground, and it needs to be reconstructed.

Church officials say the wall was built by the town on their property in the early 1960s, either with or without the agreement of the church, and believe the town should be part of its maintenance. But no documentation has yet been found regarding its construction.

Parish priest the Rev. Thomas Walsh and school Principal Kathleen Kelly presented the issue to the council at the meeting.

Walsh read a prepared statement saying that the parish did not know that the wall was considered Holy Trinitys property until a survey prepared a few years ago declared it to be.

It was news to us that this wall, by a matter of inches, was on school property, Walsh said. Try to understand that this issue is more complex than who owns the wall who does the wall benefit and who should be involved in its maintenance.

He said he believed the wall was likely built by the town, as it was constructed during a time when the town had a parking authority that was involved in creating lots. He also said that agreements found for other projects during the time did not include maps, leading him to believe that the wall was built on their property in error.

Walsh also said that he believed work done on storm drains by the town that routed water to the wall was aiding in its destruction.

Link:
Wallingford council wants more info on liability for school's wall

TAMPA A 22-year-old man died Thursday morning after his sports car crashed into a wall on Sligh Avenue and burst into flames.

A Nissan two-seater crashed into the retaining wall of a home at 304 W Sligh Ave. just before 7 a.m. Thursday, police said. The car caught fire while Nasdiel Viera-Curbelo, 22, was trapped inside.

Viera-Curbelo already was dead when authorities arrived at the scene, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Witnesses reported seeing flames reaching as high as the telephone line and stretching down the street for half a block.

"We couldn't get in there to help them," said David Smith, 49, who lives near the crash site. "The whole street was on fire."

The wreck and resulting investigation closed Sligh Avenue from Florida Avenue to N Boulevard for most of the morning.

Police said it was not immediately clear how fast the car was going, but investigators believe speed was a factor in the collision.

It appeared the car was speeding eastbound over the Hillsborough River Bridge and became airborne when the driver lost control, investigators said.

Skid marks on the road show the driver swerved into oncoming traffic lanes on Sligh Avenue and overcorrected just before the collision, investigators said.

Police Chief Jane Castor responded to the scene about 8:15 a.m. She said the area is well-patrolled and officers are always on the lookout for speeding or street racing.

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Driver dead on Tampa's Sligh Avenue after sports car hits wall in fiery crash

TAMPA A 22-year-old man died Thursday morning after his sports car crashed into a wall on Sligh Avenue and burst into flames.

A BMW two-seater crashed into the retaining wall of a home at 304 W Sligh just before 7 a.m. Thursday, police said. The car caught fire while Nasdiel Viera-Curbelo, 22, was trapped inside.

Curbelo was already dead when authorities arrived at the scene, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Witnesses reported seeing flames reaching as high as telephone line and stretching down the street for half a block.

"We couldn't get in there to help them," said David Smith, 49, who lives on N Ola Avenue near the scene of the crash. "The whole street was on fire."

The wreck and resulting investigation closed Sligh Avenue from Florida Avenue to N Boulevard for most of the morning.

Police said it was not immediately clear how fast the car was going but investigators believe speed was a factor in the collision. It appeared the car was speeding eastbound over the Hillsborough River Bridge and became airborne when the driver lost control.

Skid marks on the road show the driver swerved into oncoming traffic lanes on Sligh Avenue and overcorrected just before the collision.

Police Chief Jane Castor responded to the scene about 8:15 a.m. She said the area is well patrolled and officers are always on the lookout for speeding or street racing.

An investigation remained under way Thursday afternoon.

Link:
One dead on Tampa's Sligh Avenue after sports car hits wall in fiery crash

DULUTH, Minn. - Like most businesses these days, Whole Food Coop in Duluth has surveillance cameras.Theprimary mission for the video snooping system is to catch crooks in the act, but on Wednesday it captured something else: an 18-foot retaining wall crumbling under the pressure of a historicflood.

The tape shows the breech in the recently constructed wall, located at 6th Avenue East and 4th Street,start as a seep, proceed to a trickle, and thenexplode into a torrent of water.

Whole Food Coop manager Sharon Murphy saysat leasthalf of the retaining wall has given way, and she figures the rest will crumble soon.The water is cascading down the hill into a home and two apartment buildings, both of which have been evacuated.

Murphy says the store is ok so far, but she plans onclosing up early and sending employees homeearly so they remain safe.

(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. )

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Surveillance video captures wall collapse in Duluth

A bund on the seaward side of the vented dam left three houses damaged

It was the delay in providing a retaining wall as part of the construction of the Maravoor vented dam that caused the damage to houses, lands and a road in Padushedde area on the banks of the Gurupura river, it emerged on Tuesday.

The flash floods following heavy rains on Sunday washed away several coconut trees and other plants being grown by residents and the road they were using to reach nearby bridge on the Mangalore-Bajpe Road. People are forced to take a circuitous route via Bondel.

The water level rose in the early hours of Monday suddenly and started to flow close to the houses causing erosion of land and entered plantations and damaged the road. Residents allege that authorities did not take steps to prevent the flash floods and pointed out that blocks because of construction of the vended dam were to blame. The houses of Oswald, John Francis DSouza, and Estine DSouaza took a beating. Major damage was caused to Mr. Oswalds house. The three families were busy shifting their household articles when The Hindu visited the site on Tuesday.

Alvin DSouza told The Hindu at Padushedde that he had ancestral property of one acre with coconut palms and other plants. The plants were washed away. He said he had met zilla panchayat officials about a month ago and urged them to take precautionary steps to prevent flooding.

The Maravoor vented dam is being constructed to supply drinking water to Bajpe and surrounding areas. Construction of retaining wall to protect the houses and lands was part of the scheme. Zilla Panchayat Executive Engineer Satyanarayana told The Hindu that there was a delay in getting approval for the retaining wall. The project provided for construction of such walls wherever water pressure could be more. The area abutting the houses was identified for construction of the retention wall. The approval was secured only on May 14 and the same contractor building the vented dam was asked to build the wall as well. The officer said the houses suffered damage even before the work could begin.

Mr. Satyanarayna said a bund on the seaward side of the dam had affected free flow of water causing damage to the houses. The bund, a heap of loose earth, was created while laying apron an underground concrete structure on the seaward side that is built to ensure that sea water did not mix with the sweet water of the river when drinking water supply begins. A part of the bund was washed away.

He said officials had taken steps to ensure free flow of water by clearing the blockages. Efforts would be made to provide for a road so that Padushedde households got easy access to the Maravoor Bridge and beyond.

The three affected families were shifted to houses in Kavoor, Bondel, and Marakada. Residents were upset that they were forced to leave an area in which they had been living for decades. Who will bear our losses? asked Rufina, a niece of Mr. Oswald.

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Delay in building retention wall blamed for Maravoor flooding

(KUTV) A Provo man is behind bars after crashing into a liquor store and his own garage.

Officers say 42-year-old Noah Rewis crashed his car into a retaining wall Monday at the State Liquor Store located at 166 South Freedom Blvd. The crash caused significant damage to both the retaining wall and Rewis vehicle. Rewis fled the scene.

Provo Officers were able to follow skid marks from the suspects vehicle to a home in the area of 400 North and 1000 West where they found that the same driver had driven up over the sidewalk and into the backyard of the home.

Officers determined the suspect drove into the backyard where he struck a tree and then drove into the front yard, where he drove over a rose bush.

The driver again fled the scene before police arrived.

After speaking with nearby construction workers who saw the suspects car, police were able to track down Rewis to his home a few blocks away.

They found the vehicle sticking out of the garage Rewis had apparently attempted to drive into the garage while the door was down.

Police arrested Rewis and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence.

(Copyright 2012 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.) Provo Man Drives Into Liquor Store Wall, Backyard, And Garage

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Provo Man Drives Into Liquor Store Wall, Backyard, And Garage