HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — officials in Canada’s Atlantic Coast province of Nova Scotia said Saturday a wildfire that forced thousands of people to leave their homes over the past week is now largely controlled because of rain.     

David Steeves, a technician of forest resources, said the fire in the Halifax area is about 85% controlled, sits at 9.5 square kilometre and is unlikely to grow thanks to the firefighting efforts and long-awaited rain. The news was also good across the province, where Premier Tim Houston said the total number of active wildfires reduced from 10 in the morning to five by mid-afternoon. “If you step outside, you will see something beautiful, rain, and hopefully lots of it,” he told an afternoon briefing (简报).

The blaze that broke out Sunday in the Halifax area raced through a number of other places, burning up about 200 buildings — including 151 homes — and forcing the evacuation (疏散) of more than 16,000 people. Meanwhile, at the provincial wildfire centre in Shubenacadie, north of Halifax, about 20 Canadian Armed Forces soldiers stood in the pouring rain outside a light armored vehicle (装甲车). Lt. Col. Michael Blanchette said the soldiers had arrived on a “fact-finding task” to see what support was needed in the effort to fight the fires.

In Shelburne County, meanwhile, 6,700 people — about half the city’s population — remained out of their homes as the blaze that forced their evacuation continued to burn out of control.   

Dave Rockwood, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resourees, said it remained to be seen that there would be no further growth and that firefighters could use more direct ways to control it. Two other fires which were considered out of control on Saturday morning were finally controled later in the day, he said.

I think my hometown Belarus is a lucky place because it doesn't experience dangerous natural disasters such as volcano eruptions, earthquakes, or hurricanes.

However, sometimes spring floods happen in low areas of my town. It can be strong enough to damage crop fields, roads, and plants. Moreover, it is dangerous for the livestock which might die in the water. As you can see, a flood is rather harmful for the countryside.

In the summer time, hail and heavy rainstorms visit Belarus, but they never cause serious damage to buildings or people's deaths. Even though some trees or other plants might be uprooted or destroyed, people actually don't pay a lot of attention to these disasters because they don't occur very often.

In winter, we sometimes experience snowstorms with heavy snow and strong winds. Several years ago,for instance,people couldn't arrive at their jobs because a lot of snow was on the streets. Schools were closed on that day, but children weren't anxious about it. They really enjoyed the snow mountains outdoors.

As for me, I was unhappy about that day. My apartment building is located on a hill. It isn't big, so I had never had any problems with driving a car near my home. However, it took me almost two hours to arrive home from the foot of the hill because there was so much snow on the road that my car couldn't move. I had to ask people in the street to help me to push the car out of the snow. Later, when everything was over, my friends and I were laughing when we imagined how funny I was while pushing a heavy car.

As you may notice, natural disasters in my country depend on the seasons of the year. Although we experience several kinds of natural weather conditions, they are not very dangerous. And people often try to have fun during or after them.

Venice sinking is no new news, but the low-lying Italian city is now more than 85 percent underwater after rainy weather with severe flooding has put the city in danger over the last few days.

The high waters, known as “acqua alta”, are the highest in 50 years, having reached 1. 87 meters, or just over six feet. The serious flooding this week is almost as high as record flood in 1972, reported to be the 2nd worst in history by Associated Press. A popular destination for travelers, the city’s most famous landmarks, including St. Mark’s Square, are underwater.

“Venice is still charming in the rain, but flooding is a different story,” Mindi and Daryl Hirsch of 2foodtrippers. com tell with Newsweek. “There’s nothing charming about walking through three feet of cold, smelly water. This type of water makes rain boots and galoshes useless.”

The travel-blogging couple had to walk in waist-high water after dinner and said that the situation felt dangerous. “We recommend that any travelers who experience similar flooding take warnings seriously. The city of Venice sounds an alarm when flooding is upcoming with the number of tones indicating the expected water level. This is the time to take cover and wait for the water to move back,” the couple said. “We think we’ll hear the alarm in our dreams for the next few years.”

Marco Amorico, president of Access Italy, a luxury tour company operating in Venice, recommends travelers avoid the flooded city until the water level returns to normal and to keep a close watch on the weather forecasts. “If plans to travel to Venice are immediate, I would tour around to Milan or Turin (where you can also enjoy Alba for their white truffles). If travel dates are more than a week away, I would monitor the situation and start looking at other cities like Rome and Florence. Italy is well connected by train and travel times are relatively short.”