Disaster

Reuters reports: A motorway bridge collapsed on Tuesday over the northern Italian port city of Genoa, killing dozens of people according to the local ambulance service, in what the transport minister said was likely to be “an immense tragedy”. A section of the bridge crashed down from a height of about 50 meters over a river and some railroad tracks …

The Hill reports: The Puerto Rican government acknowledged in a new report in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria that more than 1,400 people likely died on the island because of the storm, roughly 20 times the previous number that had been provided. The government on Thursday published a report titled “Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation,” which outlines …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The Mendocino Complex fire is now the largest wildfire in modern California history, scorching more than 283,000 acres and frustrating firefighters as it continues to leap across natural and man-made barriers in Lake County. The Ranch and River fires, which make up the complex fire, had grown to 283,800 acres as of Monday evening, according …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: As more than a dozen major fires roar across the state of California, some of them have burned so fiercely that they’re creating their own weather systems. Massive pyrocumulus clouds have formed over the Carr, Ferguson, Cranston and Mendocino Complex fires burning in four different parts of the state (Shasta County, near Yosemite, Riverside County, …

ABC News reports: A tourist duck boat capsized in a lake near Branson, Missouri amidst powerful storms, killing at least 13 people, including children, Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said. The Thursday night accident also injured seven people and has left six others missing, officials said. A total of 29 passengers and two crew members were on board the amphibious …

The BBC reports: The Grenfell Tower fire in London started in a fridge-freezer, and outside cladding and insulation failed safety tests, police say. The Metropolitan Police say manslaughter, health and safety, and fire safety charges will be considered. A total of 79 people are feared dead after the blaze destroyed 151 homes in the Kensington tower block and nearby. Meanwhile, …

The Associated Press reports: A deadly overnight fire raced through a 24-story apartment tower in London on Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring 74 others, police said. Witnesses reported seeing residents throw babies and small children from high windows to people on the sidewalk in a desperate effort to save them from the flames. The inferno lit up …

The BBC reports: A fire has broken out in a tower block in London with reports that people are trapped in their homes. The fire in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road in White City broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The fire brigade said on Twitter they were responding to a fire on the Lancaster …

The Associated Press reports: The state’s top prosecutor on Friday charged a speeding Amtrak engineer with causing a catastrophe, involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in a deadly 2015 derailment that came after he accelerated to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve. Prosecutors said they were in talks with engineer Brandon Bostian’s attorney to have him surrender on the charges. …

Florida, because of course. CNN reports: At least 10 homes in Nassau County, Florida, were destroyed in a wildfire caused by a man who was burning books Wednesday. Only a few minor injuries to emergency personnel have been reported in what’s being called the Garfield Road Fire, according to the Florida Forest Service. But it has burned an estimated 350 …

Germany’s The Local reports: A fire broke out at a sauna club in west Berlin on Sunday evening, tragically costing the lives of three men who were inside at the time. A fourth man was brought to hospital with suspected smoke intoxication, a spokesperson for the fire service said. But the spokesperson ruled out the possibility of further victims. The …

Oakland fire officials have begun identifying some of the victims in Friday’s warehouse disaster. Erin Rook reports at LGBTQ Nation: Transgender musician Cash Askew, 22, of dream-pop band Them Are Us Too was one of 11 victims identified by authorities as of Monday morning. According to Scout Wolfcave, founder of the Trans Assistance Project, two other trans women are also …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The death toll from a fire that tore through a converted Oakland warehouse during an electronic music show soared to 33 people on Sunday, and as emergency crews picked through the rubble they said they were sure the number would rise. Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department said workers using excavators and …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: At least nine people were killed and a total of 25 people were unaccounted for after a fire tore through a music party at an artists collective in Oakland, authorities said. The fire ignited around 11:30 p.m. Friday night in a hulking warehouse at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard, in the Fruitvale neighborhood, while a …

Trump gets both barrels from right wing pundit Erick Erickson today. He writes: Stop saying conservatives opposed to Donald Trump want Hillary Clinton to be President. It was abundantly obvious last night that Donald Trump wants Hillary Clinton to be President. He could not help himself but go full dumpster fire after thirty minutes of sedation. Perhaps his medication wore …

KKK-affiliated hate group leader Tony Perkins appeared on Fox News today where he declared that Kim Davis has not imposed her Christian beliefs on anybody. Which is, of course, is a ridiculous lie since deputy clerks in Davis’ office were commanded by her not to issue any licenses regardless of their own religious beliefs. And oh yeah, there’s those pesky …

TIME Magazine reports: An environmental expert says evacuation of the area around Wednesday’s mammoth warehouse blast in the Chinese port city of Tianjin is the “main priority,” and warned of the explosion’s long term consequences. His words came as the death toll continued to rise, with at least 50 people dead and over 500 hospitalized, of which 71 are in …