They found some of the sites under construction almost completely surrounded by water from the flooding that has followed two days of persistent rain.

BBC: Monastir is still under construction

Alliance efforts are further complicated by the logistical challenge posed by the Afghan terrain, and the fact that the pocket from which they are launching attacks on Mazar-e Sharif is completely surrounded by Taliban forces.

CNN: New attacks on Kandahar

Juniper is currently connecting an engineering lab in Sunnyvale, Calif. to the Abilene network, installing routers that are completely surrounded by monitoring equipment so they can play with their configuration and see how that affects traffic flow.

FORBES: Consortium Builds Next-Generation Net

The beautiful old palace which used to house the district government is almost completely destroyed - a shell surrounded by rubble.

BBC: Maoists strive to win hearts and minds

The revamped museum, which includes a newly built pavilion surrounded by water, promises to bring the institution - which first opened in 1885 - "completely in step with the 21st century", while restoring Pierre Cuypers' original design.

BBC: The Rijksmuseum