Disaster

The Guardian reports: In leaked audio heard by the Guardian, a manager for one of the US’s largest rail companies can be heard explaining to a former carman that they should stop tagging railcars for broken bearings. The manager says doing so delays other cargo. The disclosure comes as federal agencies investigate the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A wheel-bearing …

Reuters reports: A passenger train and a cargo train collided head-on in Greece on Tuesday night, killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens as the country’s deadliest rail crash in living memory threw entire carriages off the tracks. Many of the victims were thought to be university students on their way back from a long holiday weekend. The death …

Bloomberg News reports: President Joe Biden instructed federal agents responding to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, to go door-to-door to conduct health surveys with impacted families, a White House official said Monday. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited approximately 350 household over the weekend, according to …

The Hill reports: A Youngstown, Ohio-based law firm has announced a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railroad over the derailment of a train in East Palestine, using a strategy it says echoes the state’s 1990s lawsuit against tobacco companies. The firm, Johnson and Johnson, is partnering with class-action law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of all residents within 30 miles …

Axios reports: The crew of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, attempted to stop it after receiving a “critical” alert about an overheating wheel bearing just before the crash, an investigation found. The preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation released Thursday came as residents push for answers from officials over the health dangers. …

The Associated Press reports: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the nation’s freight railroads to immediately act to improve safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules in the wake of a fiery derailment in Ohio that forced evacuations when toxic chemicals were released and burned. Buttigieg announced a package of reforms Tuesday — two days after he warned the railroad …

ABC News reports: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter Sunday to the CEO of Norfolk Southern, warning that the freight rail company must “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine, Ohio, and surrounding areas after a fiery train derailment. “Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole — and must also live up …

Axios reports: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Thursday that he has requested additional federal assistance — including from health agencies — over the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that resulted in the venting and burning of carcinogenic chemicals. DeWine said he made the request after speaking with the White House Thursday morning. Earlier in the week, he said …

The New York Times reports: Hundreds of Ohio residents gathered in a school gym on Wednesday night to demand answers about the ongoing fallout from a derailed train carrying hazardous chemicals, transforming what had been billed as an informational meeting into a heated town hall where officials with the railroad company didn’t even show up. The mayor pleaded with the …

Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate reports: The Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment and the intentional burning of some of the hazardous chemicals on board has invited affected residents to a town hall meeting Wednesday evening to discuss lingering questions. Hours before the town hall meeting, rail operator Norfolk Southern said it will not be in attendance. In a statement …

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 …