Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, said his evidence of the flood in Genesis comes from the depths of the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey.

He and his team were investigating a controversial theory, proposed by two Columbia University scientists, that the Black Sea was once an isolated freshwater lake surrounded by farmland — until it was flooded by an enormous wall of water from the rising Mediterranean Sea.

Four hundred feet below the surface, the team unearthed an ancient shoreline, proof to Ballard that a catastrophic event did happen in the Black Sea.

By carbon dating shells found along the shoreline, Ballard said he believes they have established a timeline for that catastrophic event, which he estimates happened around 5000 BC. Some experts believe this was around the time when Noah's flood could have occurred.

"It probably was a bad day," Ballard said. "At some magic moment, it broke through and flooded this place violently, and a lot of real estate, 150,000 square kilometers of land, went under."

In the Netherlands, John Huibers spent three years building a replica of Noah's ark exactly as outlined in Genesis.

The vessel — 427 feet long, 95 feet wide and 75 feet high — now floats in the waters of Dordrecht, just south of Rotterdam, and is receiving up to 3000 visitors a day.

Inside, visitors can find a virtual petting zoo of a variety of domestic animals, including horses, sheep, dogs, rabbits and birds. In the absence of more dangerous animals, such as alligators and lions, or other creatures that Huibers was not able to obtain for the display, plastic models stand in their place.

Huibers says the ark serves a serious purpose. "We want to tell people about God," he says. "We wanted to build something that can help explain the Bible in real terms."

Sources:

ABC News

Christian Post

Christian News

Image: Brian Banmiller

Among items needed are bottled water, medicines food supplies and kitchen goods, Fr Albert Mendez of the Iligan Diocese said.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez appealed for water.

"We are afraid of an epidemic that may arise simply because there is no clean water for their drinking and cooking for their food."

"The need is so much. Purification tablets may not be very effective because we are talking about 20,000 to 25,000 families needing water, which is about 70,000 people," he said.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator and NDRMMC Executive Director Benitor Ramos said among the items urgently needed are coffins and body bags.

Caritas is rushing aid to the Philippines as thousands have been forced to flee their homes.

Local Catholic dioceses are responding with clothing and volunteers to distribute medicine, cookware, hygiene kits, mosquito nets and blankets.

Catholic Relief Services (a member of Caritas USA) has sent a team from its Davao office to Cagayan de Oro City to assess urgent needs.

The Pope voiced concern and prayed for the Washi victims. "I want to assure the populations of the southern PHilippines, hit by a violent tropical storm, of my closeness. I spray for victims, mostly children, the homeless and many missing," Benedict said.

Fr. Anton Pascual, the Caritas Manila executive director, said the charitable institution had formed "Caritas Damay Mindanao," a fund-raising program to help those in evacuation centers in affected areas in Mindanao.

"In the spirit of Christmas, I am appealing to our countrymen that if they have excess money (to spend for the holidays), they just give it to our countrymen who were affected by the typhoon," Pascual said. Those interested in donating can find instructions on www.caritasmanila.org.ph.

Sources

• Manila Bulletin
• Inquirer
• Malaya
• GMA News
• Caritas Internationalis
• Image: World Vision

This was the message conveyed by visiting water management specialist Dr Alfred Duda to Minister for Primary Industries Joketani Cokanasiga during a visit to the Nadi Meteorological Office last week.

"It is cheaper for the government even though it's disruptive for the community to actually move the people most likely to be affected, that are living in vulnerable areas," the Senior Adviser on International Waters for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) said.

Dr Duda also said it was imperative that relevant data was collected and studied to assist government to make important decisions about the relocation of vulnerable communities.

"This is why it is important to have flood maps and occurrence intervals of floods so you can start to see what your options are because the trend will be that through plate movement, sea level rise or more frequent rains that you will have more flooding here," Dr Duda said.

Source: Fiji Times Online Image: Globalvoicesonline