Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tornadoes in Lennox Head, NSW Australia
Two hurt, one missing in NSW 'tornado'
03 June 2010 | 12:20:47 PM | Source: AAP/SBS
- Raw - Tornado strikes NSW
- NSW south coast lashed by storms
- Thousands without power as storms batter NSW
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Buildings have been destroyed and power lines downed, while police say more people may have been hurt when what has been described as a mini-tornado hit the town about 7.30am (AEST) on Thursday.
WATCH DRAMATIC FOOTAGE OF THE MINI TORNADO
WATCH ONE RESIDENT'S VIEW OF THE DESTRUCTION
At least one person is missing and a mother and daughter have been taken to hospital after being hit by flying debris, media reports say.
Emergency services say the picture remains unclear with numerous calls for help from residents in the area.
Local residents captured dramatic footage of the tornado striking Lennox Head, and of the destruction left in the storm's wake.
Mini-tornadoes off coast
Police inspector Shane Dean said he had seen "mini tornadoes" off the Lennox Head coast.
"As I look out at the ocean you can actually see what I'd describe as mini tornadoes out to sea," he told the Seven Network.
Local resident Taylar Rough told SBS she woke up to find her "whole house shaking".
"There was no power and it sounded like helicopters and jets were flying over my house," she said.
"I walked outside and saw a tornado two streets away causing a lot of damage. There was debris flying everywhere."
Roofs torn off houses
Another Lennox Head local, Andy Brown told the ABC he saw a twister cross the coast. "It sounded like a jet was coming in to land on our house," he said.
"The spiralling of the material just being ripped out the roofs as you would see in a tornado in America but just on a smaller scale.
"(There were) sheets of roofing spinning into the air and anything else that it can pick up. It's hard to explain, a friend of ours has been injured and they can't get out, no ambulances can get in because of the powerlines."
Police have urged residents to remain indoors.
Pacific Parade in Lennox Head has been closed to traffic because of power lines lying across the road.
Power lines brought down
Dave McGuiness whose local business, the Lennox Head Bakery, was missed by the storm said it was "chaos".
He told the Nine Network that the roof was torn off the local pub and it had been destroyed.
"Houses have been destroyed.
"It ripped the caravan park to shreds," he said, adding that the park had been left with only about four caravans still standing.
Mr McGuiness said SES, police and ambulance are now trying to sort the situation out.
One local resident posted a dramatic video of the tornado striking Lennox Head on YouTube, while another shot a video of the destruction in Lennox Head in the aftermath of the storm.
State warns Sacramento County budget cuts could forfeit funding
State warns Sacramento County budget cuts could forfeit funding
chubert@sacbee.com
Published Thursday, Jun. 03, 2010
Sacramento County's plan to cut $17 million from mental health programs is illegal and could trigger a loss of $40 million in state funding, the chief counsel for the California Department of Mental Health has warned.
"The nature of these proposed program and budget cuts could cause irreparable harm," Cynthia Rodriguez wrote in a searing letter to county counsel Robert Ryan.
In the May 5 letter, Rodriguez asked the county to respond "immediately" to her concerns about the cuts – or risk losing critical state mental health funding.
The county's director of Health and Human Services, Ann Edwards-Buckley, wrote back this week. She said Rodriguez's letter was based on an "erroneous understanding" of proposed changes and emphasized that no decisions have been made final by the Board of Supervisors.
The county's Department of Behavioral Health is scheduled to bring its final recommendations for the 2010-11 budget to supervisors on June 15.
In an effort to slash $17 million from its behavioral health budget, Sacramento County earlier this year proposed severing ties to four nonprofit community clinics that provide outpatient care to people with severe mental illnesses. Some 6,500 clients with diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder would be affected.
To make up for the cuts, the county proposed expanding its Adult Psychiatric Aftercare Clinic and opening four new outpatient mental health "wellness centers" staffed by county workers.
The plan drew sharp criticism from private-care providers who said the proposed new system would cost more to run and disrupt care to numerous patients.
County administrators said they have no choice but to make wrenching cuts to resolve a suffocating $181 million budget deficit. They said they are confident that most patients will adjust and do well in a streamlined system.
But Rodriguez cautioned that the plan appeared to violate state laws and regulations and could seriously harm patients.
Among other things, transferring clients from longtime private providers to county workers who are unskilled in mental health matters "is not a reasonable application of the county or state requirements," she said.
"Please inform DMH how the county intends to follow state law," she wrote.
In her response dated June 1, Edwards-Buckley confirmed the county is considering a revamped mental health system in which services are provided "primarily through county employees," but said officials also are pondering other approaches.
Among the possible alternatives, she said, is a "hybrid" system using both county employees and private contractors to provide treatment.
"The county is committed to the recovery model that has been utilized so effectively" for 17 years and intends to keep it in some form, she said.
Ken Eskow, executive director of El Hogar, one of the four programs that have contracts with the county, said he is unsure what the developments mean for the future of his program and patients. "Things seem to change every day," he said.
Edwards-Buckley's letter to state mental health director Stephen Mayberg addressed other concerns raised by Rodriguez, including how it has proposed using various pots of state money. In each case, she said the county's proposals are proper and legal.
Efforts to reach Rodriguez or Mayberg on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
"I strongly urge you to approve the county's plan updates and contracts," Edwards-Buckley concluded in her letter. "Failure to do so only further impacts the ability of the county to provide for the mental health needs of its clients."
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Paranoid Schizophrenic Apocolyptic Whisper Kitten - New Outer Limits: Living Hell
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MGMDigitalMedia — May 12, 1995 — Season 1 Ep. 9 — Ben Kohler's (Sam Robards) life is saved after having an experimental chip implanted in his brain, but when he starts seeing and experiencing violent images, it becomes clear something is desperately wrong.New Outer Limits episodes will be taken down from YouTube at the end of June!
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