California braces for rain, flooding

San Francisco Authorities on Friday urged homeowners with hillside houses to collect valuables and identify escape routes in case mudslides force them to evacuate as Northern California prepared for heavy weekend rain and flooding.

Rainfall totals for areas north of the San Francisco Bay area averaged about 4 inches for the 24-hour period ending Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service. Some mountainous areas near the Humboldt County coast got as much as 6 inches.

As the storm gradually moved south, federal and state forecasters warned that parts of Sonoma, Sacramento, Shasta and Tehama counties were ripe for their worst flooding in years.

The storms could add as much as 6 inches to the already water-logged region by the end of the weekend, said Rick Canepa, an NWS meteorologist based in Monterey.

Oklahoma, Texas still under burning bans

Oklahoma City Firefighters on Friday contained many of the wildfires that raced through Texas and Oklahoma and killed four people, but officials worried that forecasts for more warm, dry and windy weather could set the stage for additional blazes.

Oklahoma and much of Texas remained under burning bans, particularly for fireworks, because authorities believe the fires were mostly set by people ignoring fire bans and burning trash, shooting fireworks or throwing out cigarettes.

In southern Oklahoma’s Bryan County, a grass fire that has scorched nearly 10,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes near the small town of Achille broke containment lines Friday morning, but firefighters aided by a water-dropping helicopter were able to bring it back under control later, Achille Fire Chief Dean Collins said.

“It’s ridiculous how dry we are out here,” said Albert Ashwood, director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The blazes, which began Tuesday, spread quickly through the dry countryside, where temperatures were in the low 80s and wind gusts reached 40 mph.

Several Cuban boats reach south Florida

Miami Beach, Fla. Dozens of Cuban migrants, including at least nine children, came ashore Friday throughout southern Florida and Dry Tortugas, officials said.

A total of 87 Cuban migrants reached Florida, said Steve McDonald, spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol.

A group that came ashore in Miami Beach consisted of 12 men, seven women and nine children – the youngest 6 years old, said Arley Flaherty, a Miami Beach police spokeswoman.

“For the most part they looked fine, just a little dehydrated or cold,” Flaherty said. “Nobody had identification with them. They had relatives’ phone numbers with them, some were in shorts. The kids were in long shirts, shoes or sandals.”

The migrants were taken to immigration offices, where their cases will be processed, Flaherty said.

Under the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are usually allowed to stay, while most picked up at sea are sent home.

National Zoo losing Sumatran tiger cubs

Washington Three little brothers whose antics have drawn crowds at the National Zoo for more than a year are all grown up now and getting kicked out of the house.

Marah, Jalan and Besar – Sumatran tiger cubs – are approaching 200 pounds apiece, an adult’s size. Their mother is pushing them away, another sign that they are no longer little kittens even though they still play that way.

Next week, the 19-month-old males are being shipped to Landry’s Downtown Aquarium in Denver to become part of a worldwide captive-breeding program.

They were born May 2, 2004.

The National Zoo’s Great Cats program has been among its most prolific captive-breeding operations. Besides the Sumatran tigers, the zoo has had two litters of cheetah cubs in just over a year, including the first litter born at the zoo.