Disaster

Mediaite reports: Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvia Garcia, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to reporters before volunteering at a food bank in Houston in response to the ongoing winter weather disaster in Texas. On Saturday morning, Reps. Lee, Garcia, and Ocasio-Cortez spoke to reporters for several minutes outside the Houston Food Bank before heading inside to help provide relief to Houstonians …

CNBC reports: President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for Texas as the state grapples with widespread power outages and water shortages amid freezing winter conditions, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced on Saturday. The action provides federal funding for individuals in Texas, grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. …

Newsweek reports: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed that she plans to visit Texas at the weekend, as Senator Ted Cruz is embroiled in a scandal for flying to Cancun while locals battle power outages and a winter freeze. Posting on social media, Ocasio-Cortez said she would make a trip to Houston with Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) to highlight the problems …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texans are running out of food. From farm to table, freezing temperatures and power outages are disrupting the food supply chain that people rely on every day. Across the state, people are using up supplies they had stockpiled and losing more as items start to spoil in dark refrigerators. Some are storing their remaining rations in …

Sacramento’s NBC News affiliate reports: Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that President Donald Trump has approved the state’s request for a major disaster declaration for wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in the state. The reversal came hours after the Trump administration had denied the bid and California officials were planning to appeal the rejection. In a …

The Guardian reports: Japan’s government has reportedly decided to release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, setting it on a collision course with local fishermen who say the move will destroy their industry. Media reports said work to release the water, which is being stored in more than 1,000 …

Reuters reports: Around half a million people in Oregon were ordered to evacuate on Friday and residents of its largest city, Portland, were told to be ready to go as extreme wind-driven wildfires scorched U.S. West Coast states, causing at least 24 deaths. About 10 percent of the state’s population faced red “GO!” warnings to leave homes immediately, while hundreds …

Some longtime readers may recall that this story was posted annually on this day for the first few years of JMG. I revived it last year after a ten year break. That Day Manhattan, September 11th, 2001 That day, I got to my office on 42nd Street at about 8:55am. About ten minutes later, I got a call from Thomas …

CNN reports: At least 22 large fires are burning in California, where dry, windy conditions and record-breaking high temperatures have been fueling flames for weeks in some areas. While firefighters continue to battle the flames and rescue people from dangerous areas, other agencies are proactively closing national forests and temporary power shut-offs have been ordered to prevent future blazes. The …

The BBC reports: Officials have blamed a gender reveal party for one of several wildfires raging in the US state of California. A “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device” at the event sparked the El Dorado fire, which has now spread over 7,000 acres. It is one of more than two dozen blazes across the state. California is currently experiencing a record heatwave, …

The Independent reports: Dozens of wildfires have scorched nearly one million acres across California as officials scramble for aid to contain the raging blazes. Nearly 12,000 firefighters are actively combatting more than 20 fires, each made up of several blazes, as Governor Gavin Newsom seeks support from neighboring states and emergency services across the US and abroad. “These fires are …

The Washington Post reports: Lebanon started a two-week lockdown Friday as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the aftermath of the devastating Aug. 4 explosion in the capital of Beirut that killed more than 170 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others. At least 11,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Lebanon this year, with around half confirmed since …

Gulf News reports: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab, submitted his resignation on Monday to Lebanese president Micheal Aoun since a deadly blast blamed on state negligence ripped through the capital. The explosion, along with a severe economic crisis, has been widely blamed on decades of corruption and misrule by Lebanon’s entrenched political class. Lebanon’s cabinet faced mounting pressure on Monday …

Reuters reports: World leaders and international organizations pledged nearly $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosion, but they warned on Sunday that no money for rebuilding the Lebanese capital will be made available until the country’s authorities commit themselves to the political and economic reforms demanded by the people. Over 30 participants …

The Washington Post reports: Security forces in Beirut fired tear gas at protest crowds as mourning turned to anger over the huge blast that leveled parts of Beirut earlier this week and left a shattered city casting blame on the country’s leaders. Activists have called for protests in the central Martyrs’ Square later Saturday in further evidence of the rage …

The Associated Press reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun knew about the huge stockpile of explosive material stored at Beirut’s port nearly three weeks before it blew up, he said Friday, adding he had ordered action be taken about it at the time, although the top leader also said he had no authority over the facility. “Do you know how many …

CNN reports: Large crowds mobbed French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut as he toured a neighborhood of the Lebanese capital devastated by Tuesday’s massive explosion. “Revolution, revolution!” people chanted, as shock at the devastation in the city gave way to anger on Thursday. New information reveals that Beirut officials had ignored repeated warnings about a stockpile of dangerous chemicals linked …

The Moscow Times reports: Nearly 3,000 tons of a highly explosive fertilizer that caused Tuesday’s devastating blast in Beirut came from a ship owned by a Russian businessman, the Mediazona news website reported Wednesday, citing Lebanese television and members of the ship’s crew. Lebanese authorities in 2014 confiscated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a Moldovan ship called the Rhosus, …

Al Jazeera reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared following a massive explosion in Beirut that killed at least 100 people and injured 4,000 others. The explosion on Tuesday sent shockwaves across the city, causing widespread damage as far as the outskirts of the …

Courthouse News reports: Staring at pictures of the faces of 84 people killed in a deadly fire sparked by his company’s equipment, Pacific Gas and Electric’s chief executive on Tuesday pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter and one count of recklessly starting the most destructive wildfire in California history. “PG&E will never forget the Camp Fire and all that …