Tornado Destruction: St. Louis Residents Clean Up After Storm

Whitney Curtis/Getty Images(ST. LOUIS) — People in the St. Louis area are recovering in the wake of a monster tornado — the worst in nearly a half century — that damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and ripped through the major airport over the weekend.

New damage totals show some 2,700 buildings around St. Louis damaged, and 100 homes destroyed, including Marcy Baker’s house.

She was spending Easter weekend in Dallas with her family when she got a call that her house had been hit. She drove home 12 hours to find her house destroyed.

“I have a 15-month-old, I’m pregnant. It’s devastating,” Baker said.

At a nearby Catholic church, the 40-foot steeple toppled during the tornado that struck in the middle of Good Friday services.

Power was knocked out to as many as 47,000 customers after the tornado. On Sunday, some 26,000 customers remained without power and officials said many could remain in the dark until Monday. No one was killed and a handful of injuries were reported.

At Lambert Airport, surveillance video captured the exact moment a 135-mile-an-hour tornado struck, ripping off the roof and sending metal flying. Officials are fixing hundreds of panes of broken glass. It could take months and millions of dollars to fully complete the clean up.

Flights were getting back to normal after the airport reopened Saturday. Airport director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge says the continuing repairs to the airport shouldn’t impact travelers.

“The majority of the windows are boarded up, still doing just a little bit of work on that but the airport itself is structurally sound,” she said.

Yet despite all this, victims are counting their blessings. There were no reported deaths as a result of the tornado.

“It’s a miracle out of all the devastation. There were absolutely no fatalities, and very few injuries,” said Terry Hayes.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Sathya Sai Baba: Hindu Guru Dead At 84

Sathya Sai Baba, a Hindu guru who was considered a holy man by followers, died Sunday at a southern Indian hospital. He was 84 years old.

Sai Baba was born on Nov. 23, 1926 as Sathyanarayana Raju. He reportedly performed miracles and claimed he was the reincarnation of Hindu holy man Sai Baba of Shirdi in 1940, the Associated Press reported.

"Sri Satya Sai Baba was a spiritual leader who inspired millions to lead a moral and meaningful life, even as they followed the religion of their choice," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement, the Associated Press reported. "The nation deeply mourns his passing away."

Throughout his life, Sai Baba garnered a large community of followers and devotees that included celebrities and politicians.
In 1963, he suffered a stroke and heart attacks and began using a wheelchair after he fractured his hip in 2005, according to the Associated Press.

On March 28, Sai Baba was hospitalized and on dialysis.

He helped to expand his hometown of Puttaparti with the construction of the Prasanthi Nilayam ashram – a religious retreat, in 1950. He also set up a hospital and schools operated by his Satya Sai Central Trust through donations, according to the Associated Press.

Funds from the $8.9 million trust helped to build spiritual centers in other major Indian cities such as Mumbai.

Health problems had prevented Sai Baba from appearing in public in recent years.

Emma Watson Transferring From Brown University

Emma Watson keeps her head low as she heads into Heathrow Airport in London on Sunday afternoon (April 24).

Rumors were swirling about the 21-year-old actress was leaving Brown University for bullying, but her reps say otherwise.

They shared in a statement (via E! and People): “Emma has enjoyed her time at Brown tremendously and made many friends there who she keeps in constant contact with. She has now decided to change university, but not for the bullying, as that is just completely untrue. She has just decided to continue with a different course. But, for reasons of security I am not prepared to divulge which university she will be attending.”

Read more: http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/2011/04/25/emma-watson-transfer-brown/#ixzz1KXeQvGmv
Watson's rep, Vanessa Davies, denied reports that the Harry Potter star was bullied out of Brown, but said that Watson has decided to pursue a different course not offered at the Ivy League school. The actress "absolutely loved her time at Brown," Davies said.

Emma Watson takes a break from school to focus on career

Stock Market Trading

The benchmark indices in the Indian stock market traded flat in the last two hours of trade. Stocks from Consumer Durables and Software space are trading firm, while those from Oil & Gas and Realty are trading weak.

Both BSE-Sensex and NSE-Nifty indices are trading flat. BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices are trading up by 0.2% each. The rupee is trading at 44.45 to the US dollar.

Energy stocks are trading mixed with MRPL, GAIL and ONGC leading the pack of gainers. The stocks of Reliance Industries and Petronet LNG are trading in the red. As per a leading financial daily, GAIL is in talks with US based Chevron to acquire stakes in its deepwater natural gas blocks in Indonesia. As per the company sources, the preliminary discussions have already been held. The company expects Chevron officials and upstream regulator for Indonesia (BPMIGAS) to come to the country soon for further talks. As of now, there are no details on amount of stake. If the deal goes through, it will help GAIL to access LNG for India and will act as a natural hedge for its business. GAIL has expressed intention to take 30 m tonnes per annum of LNG from Chevron’s deepwater projects in Indonesia over a period of 13 years (2014-2026). The combined gas reserves in these fields are estimated to be more than 3 trillion cubic feet.

Engineering stocks are trading mixed as well with Bharat Bijlee, Shanthi Gears and Elgi Equipments leading the pack of gainers. However, Suzlon Energy and Alstom Projects are trading weak. As per a reputed news website, BHEL has said that its consortium with Alstom has successfully bagged a contract for steam turbine generators. The order is worth Rs 16 bn and has been placed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India for its 2x700 MW Kakrapur Nuclear Power Station in Gujarat. This being the first ever order for Steam Turbine Generators for new rating 700 MW nuclear sets pressurised heavy water reactors is a major breakthrough for BHEL.

In a separate development, the Ceramic Business Unit (CBU) of BHEL is also setting up a plant to manufacture glass insulators for transmission lines with an aim to increase the plant capacity. The management plans to increase the capacity of Jagdeeshpur plant in U.P from 1 lakh units per annum to 1.8 m units per annum with an investment of Rs 1 bn. The stock of BHEL is trading in the green currently.

By Equitymaster – India's leading 'independent' equity research initiative. Trusted by over a million members all over the world, Equitymaster, with its well-researched, unbiased and honest opinions is the preferred destination for investors interested in investing in India.

At this time Metallica started their set closing out the Big 4 Festival, I was feeling pretty metal.

And, when I tell "metal," I mean there was not a smile on my face and  punch the rest of the evening away.

Metallica wowed fans this weekend with a historic uniting of the most significant bands in heavy metal.

Metallica took the main headline slot at the 'Big 4' festival, which was held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

 I spent my day (Instead of enjoying a day of music) getting pushed around and hassled by rude dudes. During the first song Anthrax played, I saw a guy get clocked in a mosh pit. A  girl (Who was crying) was carried out of the crowd missing a shoe

The irony of it is that throwing up a middle finger in a field of headbangers is about as attention-grabbing as holding a pen to take notes.

So, this brings us back to Metallica.

The thrash metal quartet opened with "Creeping Death," from "Ride the Lightning." Vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield said, "Metallica is with you. Are you with Metallica?"