IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon killed when head hit fence post

The Izod IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 16, 2011: 11 laps, the crash that killed 33-year-old Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon and the racecars’ tribute and mourning.

IndyCar officials don't believe the construction of the fence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway played a role in the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

Instead, the larger factor was the wide grooves at the speedway that gave drivers a "limitless racing surface."

The investigation into Wheldon's fatal accident determined his head hit a post in the fencing, creating a "non-survivable" injury. Las Vegas is owned by Speedway Motor Sports Inc., and the organization constructs its fences with the posts inside the wiring.

IndyCar president Brian Barnhart says there is no indication Wheldon would have survived had the post been on the outside of the mesh wiring.

Dan Wheldon was killed when his head hit a post in the fencing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, contact that created a "non-survivable injury" to the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

IndyCar officials released their findings Thursday of the Oct. 16 accident in the season finale. Wheldon was killed in an early 15-car accident when his car launched into the catchfence.

The report finds several factors contributed to what became a "perfect storm," and no one reason could be singled out as the sole cause of the accident. IndyCar found it is "impossible to determine with certainty that the result would have been any different if one or more of the factors did not exist."

The race had a season-high 34 cars and was held on a high-banked oval, and IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard says the size of the field and the banking itself were not solely responsible for the accident.more information...

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Source: http://www.lasvegassun.com

Iowa's Lake Delhi Dam Bursts Due to Flooding

The Lake Delhi dam in eastern Iowa failed Saturday as rising floodwater from the Maquoketa River ate a 30-foot-wide hole in the earthen dam, causing water to drop 45 feet to the river below and threatening the small town of Hopkinton.

Northeast Iowa has been inundated with torrential rain in recent days with as much as 9 inches being reported in some locations. The heavy rain has pushed the Maquoketa River to 23.92 feet - more than 2 feet above its previous record of 21.66 feet in 2004.

Jack Klaus, a spokesman with the Delaware County emergency management office, said warning sirens were sounding in Hopkinton as water began to surround homes there Saturday afternoon. Areas below and above the dam had been evacuated, including numerous cabins and homes - as many as 700 - above the dam because of high water.

"There's going to be significant losses of property there," Klaus said.

Some campers and residents on the lake had to be rescued overnight. Some people suffered some bumps and bruises but Klaus said no serious injuries were reported.

About 20 miles farther downstream in Monticello, the Jones County Fair was being held. The fairgrounds are along the river on the northside of Monticello, a town of about 3,600 people, and activities and concerts for later Saturday were canceled.

There also were some nearby neighborhoods that could be affected.

North of Lake Delhi, the river flooded several buildings in downtown Manchester and utility service was turned off to about 50 homes affected by the flooding.

Klaus said there was significant damage to county roads and the county had run out of barricades to block them off.

"We're warning people to stay off the roads," Klaus said. "We can't guarantee their condition."

Donna Dubberke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport, said areas below the dam will see an initial crest in the river caused by the dam's failure followed by a secondary crest as the high water above the dam made its way downstream.

"There will be initial wave from the sudden shot of water and a secondary shot behind it from the rainfall," she said.more information...

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Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/

Tsunami warning retracted

There are no reports of damage from two earthquakes that hit off the coast of Papua New Guinea overnight.

The more powerful of the two measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and struck about 115 kilometres east of Kandrian on the island of New Britain.

The national quake agency in neighbouring Indonesia briefly issued a tsunami warning after the second quake, before retracting it.more information...

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Source: http://www.abc.net.au/