National Geographic's WEEK IN PHOTOS: Fire Truck Swallowed, Duck Race, More

London, United Kingdom, September 6, 2009--Paddlers ply the River Thames, which was recently turned into a giant bathtub for the annual Great British Duck Race.

Organizers released 205,000 blue rubber ducks—each sponsored by a donor—into the river, breaking the race's previous world record of 175,000 ducks. The first ducks to cross the finish line win their sponsors cash and other prizes. This year the event supported the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Kierdijk, Netherlands, September 7, 2009--Winds of change blew through the historic mill complex at Kinderdijk this week. For the first time, energy-efficient LED bulbs powered the popular Dutch tourist attraction's annual illumination.

Part of a UN World Heritage site, the windmills help pump water in and out of low-lying areas called polders. Centuries before the mills were built around 1740, a cat was spotted balancing atop a baby in a cradle during a flood, hence the name Kinderdijk ("child's dike")—or so the story goes.

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Los Angeles, California, September 8, 2009--A firefighter looks underneath a fire truck that fell into a sinkhole. The drivers of the truck, who escaped uninjured, had been investigating a burst water main in the San Fernando Valley.

Two firefighters died battling blazes in Los Angeles in late August—now considered the worst fires in the county's history, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Istanbul, Turkey, September 9, 2009--A man waits to be evacuated from the top of a bus trapped on a flooded highway.

Heavy rainstorms in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday and Wednesday spurred massive flooding, which has so far claimed at least 31 lives, the BBC reported. (Watch video of the Istanbul floods.) 

West Java, Indonesia, September 4, 2009--People search for landslide victims near the village of Cikangkareng after a powerful earthquake struck Indonesia on Wednesday. The magnitude 7.1 quake didn't trigger a tsunami, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, but it did set off mudslides in southern Java that buried some villagers in their homes.