Winter storm's final fling

We the people in North America are poised to welcome back spring in due time, the world outside of us are not as lucky. Here's a news today in www.redorbit.com by Miles Davis with the hopeful headline "Great winter storm to have its final fling today!" in the Plymouth (U.K.) Western Morning News:

The Westcountry is today expected to be pounded by yet more strong winds as the storm which has raged for three nights - leaving a trail of destruction - finally begins to fade out.

Gusts of up to 60mph are forecast for this morning and were expected to sweep over the region last night - but forecasters say the force of the wind will be nowhere near the strength of the storm which has so far caused widespread damage across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.

The forecast for a calmer day ahead today will be welcome news to the thousands of people across the Westcountry whose lives have been turned upside down by the worst storm for as long as many can remember.

Among victims of the storm yesterday were residents in Bude where the giant waves, driven by hurricane-force winds, wrenched off the town's sea-lock canal gates.

The walls of the canal are understood to have been badly damaged and there are fears that thousands of pounds worth of fish - a key attraction for course fishermen - could have been washed into the sea.

Mike East, technical services director of North Cornwall District Council, which owns the canal at Bude, said: "One of the gates was wrenched off its hinges and it has caused fundamental damage to the canal walls."

And here's how it was a couple of days ago:

The drama began on Monday night when the combination of spring tides, low pressure and gale-force winds brought in massive waves.

The district council said it was impossible to say how much the damage to the lock would cost but the gates were installed in 2000 at a cost of pounds600,000. The canal and wharf area is currently being regenerated as part of a pounds5 million scheme.

The environment agency and local companies worked together to create a dam further up the canal to drain the water and assess the damage done.

Further down the coast a couple who should have been celebrating the purchase of their new restaurant watched as flooding overtook the building.

In this U.K. Daily Mail article there are some frightening pictures of the storm with this headline: "Britain braced for new storm front as forecasters warn 'the worst is yet to come.'" For instance:
and
Furthermore this news on cruise ship Artemis being damaged by freaque wave written by Corey Stephenson is also part of the storm:

A ROGUE wave has damaged the Southampton-based cruise ship Artemis as she battled against gale force winds in the English Channel.

The towering wave crashed over the ship's bow in the early hours of this morning hitting the anchor storage area and forcing the ship to change course and head for the shelter of the Cornish port of Falmouth.

The good news is:

A P&O spokeswoman said the ship was due to leave Falmouth later tonight after repairs were complete.

"The damage was only minor and was restricted to the anchor storage," she said.

"The damage does not affect the safety of the ship in any way, but will require some work before continuing into the Atlantic."

All these happenings in the world, but American people heard almost nothing about it. Fortunately we have no need to read or hear the drive-by media ever again, and we are more well informed than ever. All the power to the internet. Dan Rather ate his heart out, but still couldn't understand why fake is no longer true as he was brought up.

Anyway, the nature is changing and the climate is restless, but beautiful spring still comes back every year. Let's just be primed to enjoy it !