“Accidents and disasters” on The Daily Caller

ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (AP) — Weary residents of an Australian coastal city inundated with floodwaters braced Wednesday for water levels to peak, as state officials held an emergency meeting to help determine recovery plans for the 200,000 people affected by the deluge. (more)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A magnitude-7.1 earthquake shook southern Chile on Sunday, prompting tens of thousands to flee the coast for higher ground amid fears it could generate a tsunami like the one that ravaged the area last year. (more)

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — Tornadoes fueled by unusually warm air pummeled the U.S. South and Midwest on Friday and early Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens. (more)

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — A man has been hospitalized after police in South Carolina say he was hit by an SUV while playing a real-life version of the video game “Frogger.” (more)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Anna Nicole Smith may have been just a “B-list celebrity,” but she hit the Bahamas like a hurricane, spreading scandals that toppled a string of officials and endangered the whole government, according to newly leaked U.S. diplomatic cables. (more)

The producers of the new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” canceled its Wednesday matinee to add safety precautions after a lead stunt actor playing the superhero sustained serious injuries from falling more than 20 feet into a basement beneath the stage during Monday night’s show. He was the fourth performer to be hurt working on “Spider-Man” since September. (more)

Millions of Americans in at least 31 U.S. cities could be drinking tap water contaminated with the harmful chemical hexavalent chromium, according to a report released Monday by the non-profit Environmental Working Group. (more)

HEFLIN, Ala. (AP) — His wife riding beside him with their two children in safety seats in the back, John Fisher drove home toward South Carolina along a stretch of Interstate 20 covered with ruts, bumps and crumbling concrete. (more)

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — Two days after an explosives-laden house was destroyed in a carefully orchestrated burn that played out on television screens across the country, the site of the so-called “bomb factory” was declared safe Saturday by California authorities. (more)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two top candidates in Haiti’s disputed presidential election are rejecting a proposed re-count, threatening to torpedo a compromise aimed at quelling days of riots and violence over allegations the vote was rigged, their campaigns said Saturday. (more)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a proposal, spurred by the death of a Woodbury boy, that would require all new cars starting in 2014 to have rearview cameras and interior displays to allow  “a 180-degree view” of the area around a car. (more)

Thought that new car was expensive now? Wait till the Department of Transportation implements its latest plan to protect Americans from themselves. (more)

CAIRO (AP) — As it dismantled its nuclear weapons program, Libya sparked a tense diplomatic standoff with the United States last year when it refused to hand over its last batch of highly enriched uranium to protest the slowness of improving ties with Washington, leaked U.S. diplomatic memos reveal. (more)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Hundreds of cold and hungry motorists spent hours Thursday stranded on a western New York highway after an accident caused a backup and the idling trucks and cars got stuck in heavy snow. (more)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A 5-year-old West Virginia boy has donated his life savings – nearly $46 in change – to help rebuild a volunteer fire station that burned down in an Oct. 1 electrical fire. (more)

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Arson caused a fire on Sunday at an Islamic center that was the occasional place of worship for a Somali-born teen who two days ago was arrested on charges of plotting a terror attack in Portland, authorities said. (more)

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president ordered more troops to a front-line island and dumped his defense minister as the country grappled with lapses in its response to a deadly North Korean artillery strike. (more)

GREYMOUTH, New Zealand (AP) — Flags hung at half-staff, churchgoers gathered at special services and lawmakers broke into a solemn hymn in Parliament on Thursday, as New Zealanders mourned 29 men killed in the nation’s worst mining disaster in decades. (more)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Air Force has identified the pilot missing after the Alaska crash of an F-22 Raptor jet as Capt. Jeffrey Haney. (more)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University has evacuated four buildings, including the main library, following bomb threats. (more)