Disaster

NBC News reports: For days, authorities have been telling residents of the area around East Palestine, Ohio, that it is safe to return home after a 150-car train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed Feb. 3. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the chemical spill resulting from the derailment had killed an estimated 3,500 small fish across 7½ miles of streams …

Lever News reports: Before this weekend’s fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment prompted emergency evacuations in Ohio, the company helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry’s Civil War-era braking systems, according to documents reviewed by The Lever. Though the company’s 150-car train in Ohio reportedly burst into 100-foot flames upon derailing — and was transporting materials …

The Associated Press reports: Days after crews released and burned toxic chemicals transported by a wrecked train in Ohio, residents remain concerned about the toxic substances that could be lingering in their evacuated neighborhoods. Vinyl chloride was slowly released into the air Monday from five of those cars before crews ignited it to get rid of the highly flammable, toxic …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A team of experts released a chemical from five tanker cars and ignited it Monday afternoon to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion following a train derailment Friday along the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine maintained a mandatory evacuation Monday for residents within a one-mile radius of East Palestine, an Ohio village …

NBC News reports: As federal investigators worked to find out why a 150-car train derailed in northeastern Ohio, the state’s governor warned late Sunday that unstable temperatures in a car transporting chemicals could lead to an explosion. The area most at risk of being affected by the Friday crash, that within a 1-mile radius of the crash in the village …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: Dozens of people were injured in a fire at a residential building in New York City on Saturday morning, authorities said. The three-alarm fire broke out on the 20th floor of a midtown Manhattan high-rise, with a “heavy fire condition,” according to the NYPD. Thirty-eight people were hospitalized due to the fire, including two …

Reuters reports: The death toll from a foot bridge collapse in India rose to 134 on Monday, including many children, as police detained nine people as part of a criminal investigation into one of the deadliest accidents in the country in the past decade. CCTV footage from just before the collapse showed a group of young men taking photos while …

CNN reports: The number of people killed in Florida by Hurricane Ian rose to at least 100 on Monday, days after the storm made landfall at Category 4 strength, decimating coastal towns and leaving rescue crews searching for survivors while communities face the daunting task of rebuilding. At least 54 people died in Lee County alone, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said …

The Naples Daily News reports: It may be months before some Southwest Florida coastal areas hammered by Hurricane Ian have their power restored, according to Florida Power & Light Co. “We are repairing in most places outside of, right along the barrier islands and the beaches and the immediate coast line of Southwest Florida,” FPL CEO Eric Silagy said Sunday …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis has waived several requirements to receive unemployment assistance for Floridians affected by Hurricane Ian, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced Sunday. Now, Hurricane Ian survivors will temporarily be able to bypass the work search reporting, waiting week and Employ Florida registration requirements for reemployment assistance claims. The waiver applies to those in FEMA …

The Hill reports: President Biden will travel in the coming days to Puerto Rico and Florida to tour damage from Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian, respectively, the White House announced late Saturday. The president and first lady will travel to Puerto Rico on Monday, followed by a trip Wednesday to Florida. The White House did not disclose where the president …

Florida Politics reports: Because of rising water, a section of Interstate 75 between Venice and North Port has been closed in both directions. The closures affect I-75 and Florida State Road 93 in both directions, according to a news release from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). FDOT also says to expect major delays and for the detours to continue …

The Associated Press reports: Rescuers searched for survivors among the ruins of Florida’s flooded homes from Hurricane Ian as the remnants of one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. continued to push north. The powerful storm terrorized millions of people for most of the week, battering western Cuba before raking across Florida from the warm …

The New York Times reports: As Hurricane Ian charged toward the western coast of Florida this week, the warnings from forecasters were growing more urgent. Life-threatening storm surge threatened to deluge the region from Tampa all the way to Fort Myers. But while officials along much of that coastline responded with orders to evacuate on Monday, emergency managers in Lee …

The New York Times reports: As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the “put it on the credit card mentality” he had come to Washington to oppose. “I sympathize with the victims,” he said. But his answer was no. …

The Associated Press reports: More than 2 million Floridians remained without power Friday morning as they emerged from the flooding and wreckage left by Hurricane Ian and began to plot a recovery from the storm’s devastation. In Lee County, where Fort Myers and Cape Coral took direct hits from the storm, more than 80% of customers were without power Friday …

ABC News reports: Fort Myers Beach, Florida, has been decimated by Hurricane Ian. Video shared by Bobby Pratt from the town on Estero Island in Lee County shows debris littered everywhere and buildings reduced to piles of rubble. Boats are slammed on shore, and a huge chunk of a pier is missing. Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday that the electric …

The Daily Beast reports: At first light on Thursday morning, emergency crews were beginning to reckon with the monumental devastation left in Ian’s wake, as homes were ripped from their foundations and public buildings damaged. “I definitely know the fatalities are in the hundreds,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told Good Morning America Thursday. “There are thousands of people that …

The Associated Press reports: Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, cutting off the only bridge to a barrier island, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people as it dumped rain across the peninsula on Thursday. One of the strongest hurricanes to …

CNN reports: Search and rescue teams are working to respond to hours-old calls for help that came as Ian – now a tropical storm still marching across Florida – slammed the state’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane, its surge trapping residents and its monstrous winds and flooding rains leaving millions without power and many without drinkable water. Collapsed …