Disaster

CNN reports: Search and rescue teams were combing through debris and damaged neighborhoods in the New Orleans area overnight after a tornado slammed the region Tuesday. A tornado touched down in the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East communities just before 8 p.m., New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell said in a statement. One person was killed in the hard-hit …

USA Today reports: A Chinese airplane with 132 people on board a domestic flight crashed Monday in the southern province of Guangxi, officials said. There was no immediate word on the number of dead or injured. On board were 123 passengers and nine crew members of the China Eastern airline, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Chinese President …

The New York Post reports: City inspectors previously repeatedly cited The Bronx high-rise where 17 people died in a fire for failing to maintain its self-closing apartment doors — a key defense against rapidly spreading blazes. Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro singled out malfunctioning self-closing doors during a Monday press conference as a key reason smoke from the flames quickly engulfed …

The New York Daily News reports: The deadliest New York City fire in decades killed at least 19 Bronx building residents Sunday, including nine children, FDNY sources said. The blaze was sparked by a malfunctioning electric space heater, FDNY officials said. Though officials said the heat in the building was functioning properly, the Bronx saw frigid temperatures dip into the …

The New York Daily News reports: The deadliest New York City fire in decades killed at least 19 Bronx building residents Sunday, including nine children, FDNY sources said. “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in …

The Associated Press reports: A Colorado official says nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, hundreds more were damaged, and that three people are missing after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver. The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said utility officials found …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: A treasured rite of the holiday season turned into a scene of bloody, deadly mayhem late Sunday afternoon as a vehicle plowed into the Waukesha Christmas Parade, killing five people and injuring more than 40 others, authorities said. Shortly before midnight, the City of Waukesha posted to its Twitter and Facebook accounts revised casualty totals. “At …

Bloomberg News reports: The catastrophic structural failure that led to the collapse of the Champlain Towers condominium outside Miami in June was linked to construction of a luxury high-rise development next door, according to a lawsuit filed by families of people killed in the disaster. Developers of the Renzo Piano-designed Eighty Seven Park were improperly allowed to build higher and …

The New York Post reports: Fans injured in the Astroworld tragedy, along with the families of some of the dead, have filed more than 100 lawsuits against Travis Scott and Live Nation. Nine people died and more than 300 were hurt, including a 9-year-old boy who was left in a coma, when the first night of what was to be …

The New Jersey Herald reports: The owner and head instructor of Fischer Aviation, a family-run flight school in Essex County, and a New York City man who joined actor William Shatner on a trip to space last month have been identified as the two people killed in a plane crash in Hampton on Thursday, state police said. Thomas P. Fischer, …

Dallas’s NBC News affiliate reports: A 22-year-old college senior who was critically injured at the Astroworld festival in Houston has died, the family’s lawyer said Thursday, making her the 9th fatality from the event. Bharti Shahani died Wednesday, attorney James Lassiter said during a news conference. Hundreds of others were injured in the melee Friday night as rapper Travis Scott …

The Hill reports: Rappers Travis Scott and Drake are being sued in relation to a stampede at Scott’s Astroworld music festival Friday that left hundreds injured and eight dead. A tweet from the law firm Thomas J. Henry Law on Sunday confirmed that it had filed one of the first lawsuits on behalf of victims from the festival, alleging Scott …

The Associated Press reports: A criminal investigation is underway in Houston, including by homicide and narcotics detectives, as law enforcement officials seek to understand how eight people died and many more were injured at a sold-out music festival Friday night. “This is now a criminal investigation that’s going to involve our homicide division as well as narcotics, and we’re going …

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: Eight people died Friday night and hundreds of others were injured during the opening night of a popular weekend music festival at NRG Park, authorities said. It happened at the third-annual Astroworld Festival, a sold-out concert event featuring multiple acts. The worst of the incident began around 9:15 p.m. when the crowd of approximately 50,000 …

The Miami Herald reports: In the rubble of one of the deadliest building failures in modern history, Hussain Sajwani sees opportunity — a prime beachfront property that could become home to the billionaire Middle East developer’s first project on American soil. Sajwani, a friend and business partner of Donald Trump known for flashy towers in his native Dubai, has visions …

The Associated Press reports: At least three people were killed Saturday afternoon when an Amtrak train that runs between Seattle and Chicago derailed in north-central Montana, toppling several cars onto their sides, authorities said. The westbound Empire Builder train derailed about 4 p.m. near Joplin, a town of about 200, Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said in a statement. The accident …

The Los Angeles Times reports: As the growing KNP Complex fire continues its march through Sequoia National Park, fire crews on Thursday were prepping the famed Giant Forest for flames by wrapping some of the massive sequoias in fire-resistant aluminum material. The Colony fire — one of two blazes making up the more than 9,000-acre complex fire — is within …

Reuters reports: A man and two women were arrested and charged with stealing the identities of seven victims of the Surfside condominium collapse near Miami Beach this summer and attempting to obtain credit cards in their names, a Florida prosecutor said on Wednesday. Betsy Alejandra Cacho-Medina, 30, Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, and Rodney Choute, 38, face multiple counts of identity …

ABC New York reports: President Joe Biden has approved disaster declarations for both New Jersey and New York following devastation by the remnants of Hurricane Ida and ahead of the president’s planned visits to both states on Tuesday. In New York, the president’s approval makes federal funds available to affected individuals in the counties of Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, and …

The New York Daily News reports: New York State is seeking additional federal funding to help people dislocated by deadly Hurricane Ida, under a document signed Sunday by Gov. Hochul. She called on President Biden to designate the storm a “major disaster,” opening up cash for measures like temporary housing assistance. Biden approved an emergency disaster declaration for New York …