Illegal logging has been blamed for the deaths of more than 170 people killed in a flood on the island of Sumatra.
Indonesian officials said illegal logging has stripped the highlands inside the island’s national park of tree cover, leaving no protection from flood water from the River Boharok.
Meanwhile, crews in Southern California are working against the clock to dig flood control trenches and bring in sandbags to protect communities against mud slides in the aftermath of the wildfires which destroyed more than 740,000 acres of brush and timber.
