Disaster

The Guardian reports: Taylor Swift has donated $5m to relief efforts connected to hurricanes Helene and Milton. The charity Feeding America thanked Swift, saying it was “incredibly grateful … This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms.” Swift is known for her philanthropy during natural disasters. …

From the Department of Transportation: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced the immediate availability of $100 million in Emergency Relief funds for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to help pay for the costs of immediate emergency work resulting from Hurricane Helene flood damage. “Working in close coordination with North Carolina, we are providing this …

Knoxville’s ABC affiliate reports: East Tennessee’s own Dolly Parton partnered with several Sevier County attractions and Walmart to make a significant donation to flood relief at an event Friday. The event took place at the Walmart in Newport, Tennessee. Parton announced she was making a $1 million donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing immediate assistance …

NBC News reports: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the state’s criminal investigation agency, said Wednesday it is looking into allegations against an Erwin plastics factory where several workers died and some went missing after they were swept away by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene. Relatives of the missing and deceased workers and factory employees who survived have alleged they were made …

Bloomberg News reports: The destruction from Hurricane Helene is expected to cost insurers roughly $6.4 billion, according to an early estimate from catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company. KCC’s assessment includes damage to privately insured automobiles as well as residential, commercial and industrial properties and the impact of business interruption. Insured losses are much lower than the total economic …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: The “Insurance Village” resource center is to open in Clearwater this weekend for residents to expedite the filing of insurance claims. The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Consumer Services will host around 42 insurance agencies to help residents who are in the process of filing a claim. The “Insurance Village” will be open from …

Via press release from the state of Georgia: Overnight, monitoring around the Bio Lab facility detected some exceedances above the action level for chlorine. Workers on site have continued to make progress in neutralizing the product. As the neutralization process continues, periodic increases in chlorine levels around the facility are expected. The current weather models show the winds will begin …

Courthouse News reports: As the southeastern U.S. reels from the devastating hurricane that ravaged the region last week, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle urged congressional leaders to convene a special session to approve critical disaster relief aid. “Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs …

Via press release from the White House: President Biden and Vice President Harris continue to mobilize an intensive Federal response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene. The Administration is prioritizing life-saving and life-sustaining response efforts in impacted communities, as well as ensuring people displaced from the storm have prompt access to Federal resources that will enable them to both purchase …

In a moving New York Times video, Asheville-area gay bar owner Brandon Davis laments the destruction of his just-opened business, saying, “I had a dream come true and it lasted 32 days.” A GoFundMe drive has been launched by a friend on behalf of Davis and his partner: Part of what makes this community so vibrant and wonderful are the …

The Associated Press reports: As the rain from Hurricane Helene came down harder and harder, workers inside a plastics factory in rural Tennessee kept working. It wasn’t until water flooded into the parking lot and the power went out that the plant shut down and sent workers home. Several never made it. The raging floodwaters swept 11 people away, and …

ABC News reports: Asheville, North Carolina, has been called a potential safe haven for climate refugees by real estate researchers, praised for its temperate mountain weather, distance far from the coast, experiencing less extreme heat and fewer wildfires. Certainly, there are locations that are going to be able to withstand some of those impacts more than others, according to Dave …

NBC News reports: Searches are ongoing this morning for hundreds of missing people across southeastern states this morning, with at least 95 confirmed fatalities across six states, according to a list maintained by NBC News. At least 30 people have died in a single county in Asheville, North Carolina, the site of disastrous flooding, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said …

The New York Times reports: Hurricane Helene ravaged much of the Southeast last week, carving a path of destruction from Florida to Appalachian states as it spawned deadly flooding, mudslides and tornadoes. After making landfall on Thursday on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm, with its powerful winds and record-breaking storm surges, killed at least 60 people, destroyed countless homes, put …

ABC News reports: Residents of Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, are facing “a level of devastation in our county that, quite honestly, I haven’t seen in the 20-plus years that I’ve lived here,” county administrator Mike Carballa said. Pasco County’s emergency center received about 400 to 500 calls for service early Friday morning after landfall, Carballa said. Of …

The New York Times reports: Cedar Key, a small community on a collection of tiny islands jutting into the Gulf of Mexico, is emerging as one of the areas most devastated when Helene struck Florida’s Big Bend region on Thursday night. “Cedar Key as we know it is completely gone,” said Michael Bobbitt, a novelist and playwright who lives in …

Nashville’s ABC affiliate reports: More than 50 people were sent to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital on Friday and are awaiting rescue as flooding cut the hospital off from land, according to Ballad Health. Ballad previously announced at 10:45 a.m. that the hospital had closed and suspended operations due to the threat of flooding. Ballad stated in a …

Tampa’s Fox affiliate reports: Flooding caused by record-breaking storm surge from Hurricane Helene has prompted hundreds of water rescues in coastal portions of the Tampa Bay area. Helene brought significant impacts to the region before making landfall late Thursday night as a Category 4 storm, bringing catastrophic storm surge and life-threatening winds to Florida’s Big Bend area. Maximum sustained winds …

The New York Times reports: The U.S. Justice Department filed a legal claim on Wednesday against the owner and operator of the container ship that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge last March, killing six workers and paralyzing the Port of Baltimore for weeks. The lawsuit asserts that the companies’ actions leading up to the catastrophe were “outrageous, grossly negligent, …

CNN reports: A passenger plane carrying 62 people crashed on the outskirts of São Paulo on Friday, according to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with dramatic footage from the scene showing the plane’s destroyed fuselage in flames on the ground. Interrupting a speech at a naval event, Lula said it “appears” that everyone on board the flight may …