May 1998 India and Pakistan Conduct 10 Nuclear Tests 

May 20, 1998 -- Heavy rains swamped several areas of Australia's New South Wales State on 
Tuesday, causing a train derailment which killed two people. Emergency services were swamped with 
hundreds of calls for help as high winds and flooding caused havoc in the region.

May 21, 1998 --
Temperatures soaring to 120 degrees Fahrenheit
for the past few days in parts of 
India and Pakistan have claimed at least 34 lives.

May 22, 1998 LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNN) -- Rescue workers are battling landslides and aftershocks to 
reach a remote area of Bolivia heavily damaged by two powerful earthquakes. The first quake had a 
magnitude of 5.9; the second registered at 6.8.

May 29, 1998 --
Torrential rains have unleashed severe flooding across eight provinces in China
this week, killing at least 128. It has become the
worst flooding to strike the country in 100 years.

May 31, 1998 -- As many as 5,000 people are feared dead after a powerful earthquake, (6.9-7.1) 
struck remote northern Afghanistan, destroying numerous villages and leaving thousands of residents 
homeless. At least eight villages were completely wiped out.
United Nations officials estimate that more than
50,000 people have been made homeless by the disaster.

May 30 and June 1- NEW YORK --
Severe windstorms, hail and tornadoes across 12 states 
cost U.S. property and casualty insurance companies an estimated $650 million in insured losses.  
Hardest hit was Minnesota, reporting an estimated $200 million in insured losses for the period.

Flood summary for June  1998. Rainfall, Flooding "Persistent heavy rains and frequent severe 
thunderstorms affected much of the northern half of the country during June. 
June 1998 was the 2nd wettest June on record for this midwest region.
The wettest June occurred in 1928.  
372 tornadoes were recorded during June over the nation as a whole, which is nearly 200 more than average.

June 2, 1998 - FAISABAD, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least 4,000 people killed, many thousands 
injured and homeless in Badakhshan and Takhar Provinces, Afghanistan. Aid organizations struggled 
Tuesday to deliver emergency supplies to a remote region of northern Afghanistan.   This is a 
mountainous region and the force of the earthquake sent houses crashing down the hillsides toward the 
valleys below.

June 4-9
Arabian Sea Cyclone -
The most intense tropical cyclone seen in the Arabian Sea in at least 
the last 15 years was responsible for the deaths of over 1000 persons, perhaps many more.  
Winds in excess of 145 km/h were accompanied by
storm-surge tides up to 4 metres high
that washed 20 port workers out to sea.
Many of the other victims were killed by lightning and house collapses.
Early warning of the storm's approach allowed officials to evacuate thousands from coastal areas,
but many returned to find their villages virtually wiped out.

June 8, 1998 --
The most powerful earthquake to be felt in Iceland's capital in 30 years shook the 
southern half of the island nation. A series of seismic events began several days 
earlier and was punctuated by a magnitude 5.3 tremor

June 9th -Heat Kills Thousands -
The blistering heat that has parched much of the Indian subcontinent in 
recent weeks has killed more than 2,500 people across the region.
The hottest weather in decades 
brought businesses and government operations to a standstill.  Some areas are reporting the highest 
number of heatstroke fatalities on record.

3 Months later:  This mornings CNN's internet weather page, reads as follows:

September 10th.
"Flooding Rampant Worldwide."

In India: Millions of people in the eastern Indian state of Assam are at risk after the
worst floods in 50 years.
More than 1,800 people have died. Floodwaters from the Brahmaputra river have submerged 
some 5,000 villages in the past nine weeks.  More than
5 million homeless.

China: The worst floods along the Yangtze River since 1954. More than 3,000 killed and
millions homeless this summer,
Sudan: Rising Nile leaves many homeless --
Incessant heavy rainfall over
the headwaters of the Nile River in Sudan during the past month has unleashed
massive flooding that has destroyed 119,000 houses and
left more than 200,000 people homeless
in nine Sudanese states,

Mexico: Flooding leaves dozens dead Army brings emergency supplies to tens of thousands of 
Mexicans stranded by deadly floodwaters in southern Mexico.
Six consecutive days of rains have left an 
estimated 25,000 homeless in more than 50 towns and villages. President Earnesto Zedillo told 
reporters that only the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, which killed 10,000 people, was a disaster 
greater in magnitude than last week's flash flooding

And that was just the highlights of today's news.

What makes these headlines of any special importance to you, is that events such as these have been 
going on for 4 months and on a daily basis.  

Texas had a Total of 56 Triple Digit heatwaves Summer of 1998

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with 29 of those days consecutive  That's 
serious and it ruined their economy, and  then torrential rains and flooding came, what a mess!  
Texas 
now estimates over $1.7 billion in losses, Oklahoma about $2.0 billion, Florida about $175 million, 
Georgia over $400 million,
while other states are still counting the damages.  At least 187 heat-related 
deaths occurred nationwide.

July 21 AITAPE, Papua New Guinea (CNN) --  .   
A 23-foot tidal wave  crashed into Papua New Guinea's
northern coast, crushing villages.
The tsunami spawned by a 7.0 magnitude offshore earthquake 
hit late Friday night.  At least
2,183 people killed, more than 6,000 villagers were still missing
on 
Tuesday after tidal waves last week swamped the northwestern coast

August 11, 1998
-- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveals that
July was he hottest month on record around the world.
and easily the highest in the global record reaching back to 1860.
Severe heat waves during July scorched not only a broad 
area of the American Midwest, but parts of Asia, southeastern Europe and North Africa

China flood Statistics:

August 15th
China: Summer Floods: 2,000 dead, millions homeless.
Damage has been estimated at $24 billion by official Chinese media.
The floods have already affected some 240 million people
in China, a fifth of the country's population and roughly equal to that of the United States.
Sounds more like a war 
zone rather than a weather report to me.

Hurricane Mitch,
the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in 200 years,
was another mega disaster, spawning landslides and floods mainly in Honduras and Nicaragua that left around 10,000 people dead.  

August 04 1998
Earthquake Mag. 7.2 Near Coast of Ecuador  

August 10, 1998 --
Australia's southeastern coast experienced some of the heaviest rainfall 
in recorded history over the weekend.
One inland community was
submerged under more than 20 feet of water 
The rainfall received during the three days, was equivalent to what normally falls 
during a three-month period.

In 1998, natural disasters created more 'refugees' than wars and conflict. The report indicates that, 
drought, flooding and deforestation drove 25 million 'environmental refugees' from their land.

As I mentioned in my first article, since I began my research on May 20th, there has not been a day 
when very extreme weather has not occurred. And by extreme I mean record breaking heat waves, 
historic flooding, drought, you name it WE'VE SEEN IT ON THE NEWS.  

In 1998
natural catastrophes claimed the lives of about 50,000 people throughout the world
(previous year: 13,000).
Economic losses exceeded $90 billion(previous year: $30 billion),
the second highest total ever.

The fires in Florida as well, yes the rains which usually soak the south were mysteriously pushed North 
in May, (right around the time of the tests), and then what happens? The Midwest floods, Texas burns 
up, tornadoes violently strike down, and we watch it on the evening news. Well it's the not the end of the 
world ladies and gentlemen, but it might as well be for those who don't have insurance.

Compton's Definition of nuclear explosions in part: The shock wave, a very high-pressure front, 
propagates outward at supersonic speed. Its arrival is experienced as a sudden and shattering blow 
followed by hurricane-force winds. The thermal radiation generated by a nuclear explosion travels at the 
speed of light and can burn all combustible materials for miles around.

Sources:  CNN, Reuters, Weather Underground, world climate sites