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Floods, cyclones, thunderstorms: is climate change to blame for New Zealand’s summer of extreme weather?

<p>The final months of New Zealand’s summer carried a massive sting, bringing “unprecedented” rainfalls several times over, from widespread flooding in Auckland at the end of January to ex-tropical Cyclone Gabrielle dumping record rains and causing devastating floods across the east coast of the North Island.</p> <p>After all that, New Zealand experienced spells of thunderstorms, bringing repeat floods to parts of Auckland and then Gisborne.</p> <p>The obvious question is what role climate change plays in these record-breaking rainfalls.</p> <p>Some answers come from the international <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/">World Weather Attribution</a> team, which today released a <a href="https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/102624/10/Scientific%20report%20New%20Zealand%20Floods.pdf">rapid assessment</a> which shows very heavy rain, like that associated with Cyclone Gabrielle, has become about four times more common in the region and extreme downpours now drop 30% more rain.</p> <p>The team analysed weather data from several stations, which show the observed increase in heavy rain. It then used computer models to compare the climate as it is today, after about 1.2℃ of global warming since the late 1800s, with the climate of the past.</p> <p>The small size of the analysed region meant the team could not quantify the extent to which human-caused warming is responsible for the observed increase in heavy rain in this part of New Zealand, but concluded it was the likely cause.</p> <h2>More energy in the atmosphere and ocean</h2> <p>Many factors add to the strength of a storm and the intensity of rainfall, especially for short bursts. A crucial factor is always the amount of energy available.</p> <p>Climate change is increasing that amount of energy in two main ways. First, everything is getting warmer. Rising sea surface temperatures provide <a href="https://sciencebrief.org/uploads/reviews/ScienceBrief_Review_CYCLONES_Mar2021.pdf">extra fuel for the development of tropical cyclones</a> because they grow by heating from below.</p> <p>Warmer seas mean potentially faster development of tropical cyclones, and stronger, more vigorous storms overall. Sea temperatures must be at least 26.5℃ to support the build-up of a tropical cyclone. So, as the oceans warm, these storms can reach farther from the equator.</p> <p>Second, warmer air can hold more water vapour. Every degree of warming increases the maximum amount of water vapour by around 7%. That extra water vapour tends to fall out as extra rain, but it also provides extra energy to a storm.</p> <h2>Driving waves further inland</h2> <p>The energy it takes to evaporate the water from the ocean surface and turn it into vapour is released again when the vapour condenses back into liquid water. A moister airmass heats the atmosphere more when clouds and rain form, making the air more buoyant and able to rise up more. This creates deeper, more vigorous clouds with stronger updrafts, and again more rain.</p> <p>Stronger updrafts in a storm mean more air will have to be drawn into the storm near the Earth’s surface, ensuring more “convergence” of air and moisture (water vapour). That’s why, even though a degree of warming translates to 7% more water vapour in the air, we can get 20% increases, or larger, in extreme rainfalls.</p> <p>All of this extra energy can contribute to making the storm stronger overall, with stronger winds and lower air pressures in its centre. This seems to have happened with Cyclone Gabrielle. Record low pressures were recorded at a few North Island locations as the storm passed.</p> <p>The low pressures act like a vacuum cleaner, sucking the sea surface up above normal sea level. The strong winds can then drive waves much further inland. Add in a bit of sea-level rise, and coastal inundation can get a lot worse a lot quicker.</p> <p>As the climate continues to change, storm intensity is likely to increase on average, as sea levels continue to rise. Those effects together are bound to lead to more dramatic coastal erosion and inundation.</p> <h2>Thunderstorms riding warming seas</h2> <p>These processes work for thunderstorms as well. A thunder cloud often starts as a buoyant mass of air over a warm surface. As the air rises (or convects), it cools and forces water vapour to condense back to liquid water, releasing heat and increasing the buoyancy and speed of the rising air.</p> <p>Again, that allows more moist air to be drawn into the cloud, and that convergence of moist air can increase rainfall amounts well above the 7% per degree of warming, for short bursts of very intense convection. The more intense the convection, the stronger the convergence of moisture and the heavier the resulting rainfall.</p> <p>Tropical cyclones have rings of thunderstorms around their eye during the time when they are truly tropical storms. As they transition out of the tropics into our neighbourhood, they change their structure but retain a lot of the moisture and buoyancy of the air. An ex-tropical cyclone like Gabrielle, moving over very warm water, can pack a devastating punch.</p> <p>Why has New Zealand had so much of this very heavy rain during the weeks from late January? Partly it’s the very warm ocean waters around Aotearoa (up to marine heatwave conditions) and farther north into the Coral Sea. That itself is partly related to the ongoing La Niña event in the tropical Pacific, which tends to pile up warm water (and tropical cyclones) in the west.</p> <p>But it is also related to ongoing global warming. As sea temperatures increase, it becomes easier to reach heatwave conditions. Warmer seas load the atmosphere with water vapour.</p> <p>Partly, too, the air over the North Island has been unusually “unstable” lately, very warm near ground level but cooler than normal higher up. That makes the buoyance in thunderstorms work even better and more strongly, encouraging very heavy rainfall.</p> <p>These conditions seem to have eased now, but severe thunderstorms continue to develop. As we move from summer into autumn, as the warmest seas move eastwards away from us and as La Niña fades in the tropics, the chances of a repeat event are diminishing. For now at least.</p> <p>But if we continue to warm the climate with more greenhouse gas emissions, we will continue to load the dice towards more very heavy rain over Aotearoa. Let us hope those regions and communities so badly affected by recent events have a chance to dry out, rebuild and recover before the next extreme weather.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/floods-cyclones-thunderstorms-is-climate-change-to-blame-for-new-zealands-summer-of-extreme-weather-201161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Blondie’s Debbie Harry: “I escaped serial killer Ted Bundy”

<p>Debbie Harry has made an explosive claim as she says she was once lured into a taxi by serial killer Ted Bundy in the early ‘70s.</p> <p>The 73-year-old is planning to reveal the entire story in her autobiography,<span> </span><em>Face It</em>, which is set to be released in October this year.</p> <p>In a previous interview with<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8191211/Blondies-Debbie-Harry-claims-serial-killer-Ted-Bundy-lured-her-into-car.html" target="_blank"><em>The Sun</em></a>, the Blondie singer spoke about the unsettling encounter which occurred in New York City: “It was in the early ‘70s and I was trying to get across town at two or three o’clock in the morning.</p> <p>“This little car kept coming around and offering me a ride.”</p> <p>Harry then said she hopped inside the vehicle after many failed attempts at finding a taxi.</p> <p>“I got in the car and the windows were all rolled up, except for a tiny crack. This driver had an incredibly bad smell to him.</p> <p>“I looked down and there were no door handles. The inside of the car was stripped. The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up.</p> <p>“I wigged my arm out of the window and pulled the door handle from the outside. I don’t know how I did it, but I got out.</p> <p>“He tried to stop me by spinning the car, but it sort of helped me fling myself out. Afterwards I saw him on the news, it was Ted Bundy.”</p> <p>Once Bundy was arrested, he admitted to his lawyer that he first attempted to kidnap a woman in 1969 and implied that his first murder happened in 1972.</p> <p>He was only 27-years-old when his first recorded murder occurred in 1974.</p> <p>He went on to kill 30 women.</p> <p>But even after the serial killer was imprisoned, the nightmare wasn’t over as he managed to escape lockup twice.</p>

Legal

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Inside Michael Jackson’s mysterious second marriage

<p>Michael Jackson’s first marriage to Lisa Marie Presley is the one that garners the attention of the masses, but his second trip down the aisle is one that is just as intriguing as the former.</p> <p>After starting a blossoming friendship with nurse Debbie Rowe at the medical centre where she worked, the King of Pop looked to her for comfort after his break-up with Presley.</p> <p>“[He and Lisa Marie] had broken up and I was trying to console him because he was really upset,” revealed Debbie in the Jackson-approved TV special <em>Michael Jackson: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See</em>.</p> <p>It wasn’t long before Jackson and Rowe said “I do” at the Sheraton on the Park Hotel in Sydney in November 1996, surrounded by close family and friends.</p> <p>His best man was an eight-year-old boy.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BuIkdmRB4IL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BuIkdmRB4IL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Michael Jackson ❤️ Debbie Rowe (@rowejackson.96)</a> on Feb 20, 2019 at 10:32pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>During the wedding, Rowe was heavily pregnant with her first child – Prince Michael – who she would later “gift” to Jackson and exclude herself from their lives.</p> <p>The <em>Thriller</em> star had previously had his heart broken by Presley, who refused to give in to his desires of becoming a father, saying he was too emotionally immature to raise a child.</p> <p>Presley filed for divorce in 1996, citing “irreconcilable differences”. Their short but incredibly public stint came to an end and now, in <em>Leaving Neverland</em>, the star’s child sex abuse accusers claim the entire marriage was a stunt.</p> <p>The explosive documentary claims that Jackson hoped to distract the public as his relationship with young boys became more frequent.</p> <p>“I remember Michael saying to me that he’s going to have to have these public relationships with women, so that people don’t think anything,” accuser James Safechuck said.</p> <p>“He would always say that he’d have to go get married at some point, but that it wouldn’t mean anything.”</p> <p>Despite Presley admitting that her feelings for Jackson were always real, she was not prepared to give him the one thing he desperately wanted: A baby.</p> <p>That’s where Rowe came in, as the nurse was willing to provide him with a child.</p> <p>“He said, ‘I really want to be a dad,’ and I said, ‘So be a dad.’ He looked at me puzzled. I said, ‘Let me do this. I want to do this. You’ve been so good to me. Please let me do this: You need to be a dad.’ I nagged him into it, if you will,” said Rowe.</p> <p>Jackson went on to confirm the story, saying: “She said, ‘You need to be a daddy.’ She wanted to do that for me as a present.”</p> <p>Rowe went on to give birth to their first child, Prince Michael, in February of 1997. Jackson later told Martin Bashir on <em>Living With Michael Jackson</em> that both the couple’s children were “natural conceptions”.</p> <p>Rowe remembered the birth of their first child.</p> <p>“Michael was definitely more excited than I was. He was SO excited when I had a contraction. He was welling up ... and then his son was born. The look on his face ... I'd never seen him that happy. That’s what made it wonderful for me, to see the look on his face.”</p> <p>The child was immediately taken to Jackson’s Neverland ranch and was cared for by a team of nannies. Rowe saw him six weeks after she gave birth.</p> <p>Then 14 months later, daughter Paris was born. Jackson said he “snatched” his baby girl from the hospital when she was only a newborn.</p> <p>“I snatched her and just went home with all the placenta and everything all over her.”</p> <p>Rowe didn’t seem to mind that her relationship with her kids was kept to a minimum.</p> <p>“We have a non-traditional family, and if it makes people uncomfortable, it’s a shame they’re not more open,” Rowe said in 2003. </p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt8Rt9EgFOz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt8Rt9EgFOz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Michael Debbie Jackson💜 (@debbiemichaeljackson)</a> on Feb 16, 2019 at 3:58am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“We have a family unit, and I will always be there for him and the children. People make remarks: ‘I can’t believe she left the children.’ I did not leave my children. My children are with their father, where they’re supposed to be.</p> <p>“My kids don’t call me mum because I don’t want them to. They’re Michael’s children. It’s not that they’re not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father. I believe there are people who should be parents, and he’s one of them. I could do something for him, and this is what I could do.”</p> <p>The couple filed for divorce in October 1999, and Rowe gave Jackson full custody of their two children.</p> <p>It was something that was already in place during the marriage, as Rowe lived away from Jackson’s place of residence.</p> <p>She blames the lack of privacy for their separation.</p> <p>“We split up because I couldn’t deal with it. I couldn’t go to the grocery store. I wasn’t used to it. Michael was more than generous: ‘You don’t have to go to the grocery store.’ But I want to. I really want to,” she said in 2003.</p> <p>It is understood that Rowe has a closer relationship with her daughter Paris, who is now 20, compared to her son Prince Michael.</p> <p>Taking to social media, the mother made a supposed jab against her former spouse saying, “One of the saddest things in this world is to see a child grow up hating one of their parents because they only got one side of the story."</p> <p>Do you remember when Michael Jackson married Debbie Rowe? Tell us in the comments below. </p>

Music

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Carrie Fisher’s brother reveals her one big regret

<p>Shortly before her death in December 2016, Carrie Fisher revealed for the first time in her memoir that she had a <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/2016/11/carrie-fisher-reveals-affair-with-harrison-ford-on-star-wars/">brief on-set affair with Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford</a></span>.</strong></p> <p>Carrie’s brother, Todd, has now revealed in his new book, <em>My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie</em>, that Carrie rued the day she told the public about her three-month fling, which she detailed in her own autobiography, <em>The Princess Diarist.</em></p> <p>In the book, Todd writes that his and Carrie’s mother, Debbie Reynolds, didn’t know about Carrie’s affair with Ford when she was a single 19-year-old and he was a married 33-year-old father of two.</p> <p>Todd says that Reynolds disapproved of both the affair and of Carrie’s decision to make it public.</p> <p>Carrie eventually told Reynolds: “You’re right. I shouldn’t have told that story.”</p> <p>At the time of her memoir’s release, Carrie describe their first intimate experience as clumsy.</p> <p> "I was so inexperienced, but I trusted something about him. He was kind," she said.</p> <p>"It was so intense," <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://people.com/movies/carrie-fisher-reveals-affair-with-harrison-ford-star-wars/?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag">Fisher told People</a></strong></span> during an interview to promote the book.</p> <p>"It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend."</p> <p>Carrie died in December 2016 of cardiac arrest, with Debbie passing away just a day later.</p> <p>In his book, Todd explains how he saw what happened: “The common theory about Mum’s passing was that, after losing Carrie, Debbie Reynolds died of a broken heart. Take it from the son who was there, who knew her better than anyone else on earth — that’s simply not true. Debbie Reynolds willed herself right off this planet to personally see to it that Carrie would never be alone.”</p>

Books

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Cruise ship forced to divert after dangerous encounter with cyclone

<p>The P&amp;O cruise ship, which was recently forced to turn back to Sydney to kick off seven passengers involved in a buck’s party brawl, has encountered trouble again.</p> <p>The Pacific Explorer has been diverted after heading towards the eye of a category four tropical cyclone.</p> <p>Crew members were caught off guard as the ship rerouted to Nouméa, New Caledonia, instead of stopping in the Isle of Pines.</p> <p>The cyclone is expected to pass through Vanuatu and New Caledonian before making its way toward Auckland.</p> <p>Residents in Vanuatu, New Caledonia and New Zealand have been instructed to monitor the storm as it is expected to be destructive.</p> <p>A spokesman for Carnival Cruises said, “Our marine operations people have been tracking the development of this weather system for several days.</p> <p>“As a general principle our ships sail away from severe weather systems and this one is no exception. </p> <p>“Pacific Explorer is alongside at Noumea today instead of making a scheduled call to Isle of Pines. We will continue to monitor conditions and respond accordingly on the basis that safety is, as always, the first priority.”</p> <p>Recently, the same ship returned to Sydney after two different <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/2018/02/woman-charged-cruise-ship-returns-to-sydney-after-alcohol-fuelled-brawl/" target="_blank"><strong>bucks parties started fighting</strong></a></span> after an argument over a queue for the toilet.</p> <p>Six men and one woman were kicked off the cruise when it arrived in Sydney.</p> <p>The 37-year-old woman was later charged for allegedly smashing an empty wine bottle over a man’s head.</p> <p>Witnesses of the fight said it broke out at a bar on the ship in front of 100 other passengers.</p> <p>“It was just a very good bucks party,” one of the men later told 7 News.</p> <p>Have you ever been on a cruise and encountered bad weather? Tell us in the comments below. </p>

Travel Trouble

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Terrified passengers feared massive cyclone would sink cruise ship

<p>A terrified passenger on the Norwegian Breakaway has captured the moment she feared a massive storm would sink her cruise ship as it was pummelled by nine-metre swells.</p> <p>The vessel, which holds 4,000 holidaymakers, docked safely in New York on Saturday, but not after passengers enduring two frightening days of massive swells.</p> <p>New York mother and model Christina Mendez captured every moment of the cruise from hell on Twitter, which left her young boys with a nasty bout of sea sickness.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-video"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BOMBCYLONE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BOMBCYLONE</a> at sea aboard the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NCLbreakaway?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NCLbreakaway</a> <a href="https://t.co/o2T4s7iv5M">pic.twitter.com/o2T4s7iv5M</a></p> — Christina Mendez (@christinamendez) <a href="https://twitter.com/christinamendez/status/949004705790943236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2018</a></blockquote> <p>Mendez’s videos show the vessel lurching from side-to-side in the rough seas, as screeching winds can be heard from deep within the bowels of the ship.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-video"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NCLbreakaway?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NCLbreakaway</a> still fighting the good fight against these wild <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BOMBCYLONE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BOMBCYLONE</a> winds. Both kids are sea sick now...I am on barf duties tonight. Jeez. <a href="https://t.co/qqGRFCmGvK">pic.twitter.com/qqGRFCmGvK</a></p> — Christina Mendez (@christinamendez) <a href="https://twitter.com/christinamendez/status/949105002693451777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2018</a></blockquote> <p>Passenger Karoline Ross described the terrifying experience in an interview with <a href="http://www.cbs.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>CBS</strong></em></span></a>.</p> <p>"When you're on a boat in the middle of the ocean and water is pouring down the stairs, you're thinking 'this is not going to end well," Ms Ross said.</p> <p>"This was the worst moment of my life."</p> <p>What are your thoughts? Do you think the cruise is as terrifying as the passengers made it out to be? Or do you think they’re being a tad melodramatic?</p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-insurance/?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_campaign=travel-insurance&amp;utm_medium=in-article-banner&amp;utm_content=travel-insurance" target="_blank"><img src="http://media.oversixty.com.au/images/banners/Travel-Insurance_Website_GIF_468x602.gif" alt="Over60 Travel Insurance"/></a></p>

Travel Trouble

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Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds reunited in stunning memorial

<p>They had a bond like no other parent-child acting duo in Hollywood, and it appears the love between Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds is just as strong in death.</p> <p>The two screen legends, who died within just one day of each other in December, were laid to rest in January at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. Now, just a few months on, a touching new tribute has been unveiled at their gravesite.</p> <p><img width="499" height="500" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/36035/image__499x500.jpg" alt="carrie fisher debbie reynolds tombstone" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>Instead of two separate tombstones, the loving mother and daughter share a beautiful marble sculpture atop a head stone bearing their names and dates of birth and death. Fisher and Reynolds are joined in the cemetery by fellow Hollywood icons such as Liberace, Bette Davis and Lucille Ball.</p> <p>Fans have already flooded the site with bouquets of flowers, candles and notes bearing messages including, “May the force be with you always.”</p>

Movies

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Shark found in puddle after cyclone Debbie

<p>A dead bull shark has been found in a puddle after flooding in north Queensland from cyclone Debbie.</p> <p>The shark was found in a puddle in Ayr, north of where cyclone Debbie made landfall earlier this week.</p> <p>A WIN News Townsville journalist, Philip Calder, found the 1.5m bull shark on Thursday morning.</p> <p>The shark is believed to have died from being stranded in the puddle after the cyclone caused pockets of flooding.</p> <p>“He must’ve gotten caught in a torrent and confused, beached himself on the side of the road,” Philip said.</p> <p>“We were pretty amazed, we were turning up to shoot a flooding road, we weren’t expecting to see wildlife as well.”</p> <p>Queensland Fire and Emergency Services have warned locals to be careful in the days following the cyclone.</p> <p>“You never know what lurks beneath the surface during a severe storm and what will wash up in the aftermath,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services posted.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Philip Calder via Twitter</em></p>

News

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Mass evacuations in Queensland ahead of Cyclone Debbie

<p>North Queensland residents are preparing against a cyclone that is expected to hit landfall on Tuesday morning.</p> <p><em>The Australian</em> have reported that thousands are evacuating in order to get to higher land before the monster cyclone hits.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology have warned that Cyclone Debbie is expected to be at category 4 or 5.</p> <p>Queensland regional director of BOM said, "I think you could say that Debbie's probably the most significant tropical cyclone since Yasi that we've had to deal with in Queensland.”</p> <p>Cyclone Debbie is currently 400km east of Townsville.</p> <p>Residents are being encouraged to seek safe shelter by 10am today and secure all their belongings.</p> <p>BOM’S warning zone includes towns from Lucina to St Lawrence, including Townsville, Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands.</p> <p>Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill has instructed residents to be cautious and stay safe.</p> <p>"Over the next few days we have to keep monitoring it and we have to assume the worst, which is why we're asking people to prepare themselves now in case we require them to evacuate," she said.</p>

News

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Anthem of the Seas rocked by another massive storm

<p>When it comes to weather Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas just can’t take a trick! For the second time this year the mega-ocean liner has been rocked by treacherous conditions, this time in the wake of Post-Tropical Cyclone Hermine.</p> <p>Passengers took to Twitter to report dicey conditions after the ship departed Bayonne, New Jersey, as the ship was caught in whipping winds and thrashing waves. Some passengers complained of sea sickness, constant swaying and even flying dishes.</p> <p>The storms unexpected movement threw the Anthem of the Seas’ crew off, who had changed the course days before departure in a bid to avoid the natural event.</p> <p>Omar Torres, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean, told <a href="http://www.mashable.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Mashable</strong></span></a>, “Our plan was to stay 240 nautical miles away from the storm."</p> <p>But by the time the forecast was revised the ship wound out in the right front quadrant of the storm where the winds are generally considered to be the strongest.</p> <p>The Anthem of the Seas is the same mega liner that <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/02/massive-storm-hit-a-cruise-ship/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>endured damage in February</strong></span></a> when it sailed into hurricane force winds off the coast of North Carolina.</p> <p>Have you ever endured dicey conditions on a cruise? Let us know in the comments section!</p> <p><em>Video credit: YouTube / exarkun111378</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/02/massive-storm-hit-a-cruise-ship/"><strong>Watch this massive storm hit a cruise liner</strong></a></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/08/6-things-to-expect-if-your-cruise-hits-a-storm/"><strong>6 things to expect if your cruise hits a storm</strong></a></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/08/worlds-most-dangerous-cruise-about-to-set-sail/">World’s most dangerous cruise about to set sail</a></strong></span></p>

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Shocking photos display the damage caused by Fiji's Cyclone Winston

<p>The carnage left by Cyclone Winston has been captured on camera by the New Zealand Defence Force.</p> <p>The NZ Government has opened an emergency fund of $50,000 and sent an Air Force Orion to Fiji to assess the damage in the nation.</p> <p>While in the air, the Air Force crew captured images of the destruction caused by the cyclone, which hit Fiji late on Saturday.</p> <p>Up to 10 people are believed dead and hundreds have been sheltering in evacuation centres.</p> <p>First appeared on <a href="http://www.Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></span></a>. </p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/02/little-girl-gives-her-dog-a-check-up/"><strong>Little girl gives her dog a check up</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/02/giant-goanna-spotted-heading-towards-pub/"><strong>Giant goanna spotted heading towards pub</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/02/adorable-baby-elephant-makes-himself-at-home/">14-month-old elephant makes himself at home</a></strong></em></span></p>

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