Disaster

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 …

SF Gate reports: A Northern California wildfire tearing through parched vegetation on the outskirts of Oroville, 150 miles northeast of San Francisco, has triggered 13,000 people to evacuate their homes. The Thompson Fire was at 3,002 acres on Wednesday morning with zero containment, according to Cal Fire. “Conditions out there in our county this summer are much different than what …

The Hill reports: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) declared a disaster in Sioux County after the area was slammed with record-breaking flooding. “I have issued a Disaster Proclamation for Sioux County and directed all available state resources to assist Rock Valley and other communities in northwest Iowa in response to catastrophic flooding,” she wrote on social media platform X. She …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A major wildfire in northern Los Angeles County continued burning Monday evening southeast toward Pyramid Lake, scorching more than 15,000 acres to become the state’s largest blaze of the year. The Post fire was 15,611 acres as of 7:34 p.m. Monday and 20% contained. It was burning in steep, hard-to-reach areas and threatening homes as …

The New York Times reports: A stage in northern Mexico where a presidential hopeful was campaigning for a local candidate collapsed after a gust of wind blew through on Wednesday night, leaving at least nine people dead and at least 60 others injured, a state governor said. The stage collapsed in San Pedro Garza García, a suburb of Monterrey in …

Baltimore’s NBC affiliate reports: The most dramatic step yet to free the Dali cargo ship from under the remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to take place today. Unified Command plans to use explosives to remove the steel beams off the ship, and that the crew members will remain on board during the detonation. Demolition crews …

CBS News reports: Baltimore City is suing the owners and managers of the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers. The lawsuit claims the owners of the Dali were negligent in letting the ship leave the Port of Baltimore without failing to fix …

The Associated Press reports: Hours before leaving port, the massive container ship that caused the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge experienced apparent electrical problems, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. While the ship was docked in Baltimore, alarms went off on some of its refrigerated containers, indicating an inconsistent power supply, according to the …

The Associated Press reports: Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. The company said the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, …

NBC News reports: Recovery efforts at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse reached a “critical step” Sunday as crews began removing shipping containers from the vessel Dali. Removal will allow them to access a key portion of the roadway, now perched above the containers on board the 980-foot, Singapore-flagged ship when it lost power and struck the …

“It’s not just a massive impact on Maryland; this has a massive impact on the national economy. We’re talking about one of the busiest ports in the entire country. A port that handles more cars, more heavy trucks, more agricultural equipment than any other port inside this country. “This is impacting the farmer in Kentucky; it’s impacting the auto dealer …

The Associated Press reports: Teams of engineers worked Saturday on the intricate process of cutting and lifting the first section of twisted steel from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which crumpled into the Patapsco River this week after a massive cargo ship crashed into one of its supports. Crews were carefully measuring and cutting the steel from the broken …

CNN reports: A massive crane inched closer to Baltimore’s scene of destruction Friday, tasked with clearing up to 4,000 tons of precarious debris that has hampered search crews after this week’s catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The crane – the largest on the East Coast – was headed to the site in the Patapsco River where a …

Roll Call reports: Federal officials told Maryland lawmakers that it could cost at least $2 billion to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by a malfunctioning freighter. Although a very early estimate, it sets a steep price tag for President Joe Biden’s promise Tuesday to cover the total cost of reconstruction — especially as Transportation …

The Daily Beast reports: Dali, the ship behind the fatal bridge collapse in Baltimore on Wednesday, had suffered from a “severe electrical problem” for days before it lost power during its ill-fated trip out of the Maryland harbor, a port worker told a CNN affiliate on Thursday. Julie Mitchell, co-administrator of Container Royalty, a company tracks the tonnage on container …

The Baltimore Sun reports: Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler said Wednesday evening that divers found a red pickup truck Wednesday morning with two bodies inside. Butler identified the victims as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35 of Baltimore, and Dorlian Castillo of Dundalk. Fuentes was from Mexico, and Castillo was from Guatemala, state police said. “We have exhausted all efforts around …

The Telegraph reports: “Dirty fuel” may have triggered power blackouts that sent a container ship careering into a harbour bridge in Baltimore, which then collapsed, investigators have said. The investigation into the crash, in which six people are presumed to have died, will look at the possibility that the fuel was contaminated, sources said. The Dali cargo ship was hit …

The Associated Press reports: A senior executive the company that employed the construction workers said six of the company’s workers are presumed to be dead and one worker was hospitalized. Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge’s span when the crash happened and crumbled the bridge. The bodies …