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Tag: Accidents and disasters

  • Cat. 3 Hurricane Orlene heads for Mexico’s Pacific coast

    Cat. 3 Hurricane Orlene heads for Mexico’s Pacific coast

    MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Orlene lost some punch, but remained a dangerous Category 3 storm on Sunday as it headed toward Mexico’s northwest Pacific coast between the tourist towns of Mazatlan and San Blas.

    After growing into a hurricane Saturday, Orlene quickly added power, peaking as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) early Sunday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. But winds slipped back to 115 mph (185 kph) by late Sunday.

    The storm was moving over or near the Islas Marias, a former prison colony being developed as a tourist draw. The island is sparsely populated by government employees and buildings there are made of brick or concrete.

    Orlene was forecast to hit Mexico’s Pacific coast sometime Monday along a sparsely populated, lagoon-dotted stretch of mainland south of Mazatlan by late Monday.

    By late Sunday, Orlene was centered about 80 miles (125 kilometers) west-northwest of Cabo Corrientes — a point of land that juts into the Pacific just south of Puerto Vallarta — and was headed north at 8 mph (13 kph) early Sunday.

    A hurricane warning was in effect from San Blas to Mazatlan.

    The government of Jalisco state, where Puerto Vallarta is located, suspended classes Monday in towns and cities along the coast.

    The state civil defense office posted video of large waves crashing on a dock at Cabo Corrientes.

    In Sinaloa, where Mazatlan is located, some emergency shelters were opened.

    The center said the storm would likely begin weakening as its moved closer to land. But it was still projected to hit as a hurricane.

    It could bring flood-inducing rainfall of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) in some places, as well as coastal flooding and dangerous surf.

    The ports of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta were closed to ships and Mexico’s navy announced that ports including Mazatlan, San Blas and Nuevo Vallarta were closed to small craft.

    Mexico’s National Water Commission said Orlene could cause “mudslides, rising river and stream levels, and flooding in low-lying areas.”

    The hurricane center said hurricane-force winds extended out about 15 miles (30 kilometers) from the center and tropical storm-force winds out to 70 miles (110 kilometers).

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  • Fire damages Mark Wahlberg’s childhood home in Boston

    Fire damages Mark Wahlberg’s childhood home in Boston

    BOSTON — A home where entertainers Mark and Donnie Wahlberg’s family once lived was damaged by fire Sunday in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, the fire department said.

    The blaze in a nearby home at around 10 a.m., but spread to another three buildings because of strong winds, Fire Commissioner Paul Burke said. Two firefighters suffered injuries and one resident was taken to the hospital. There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.

    One of the homes involved was 25 Peverell Street, where the Wahlberg family used to live. Mark Wahlberg visited the home during the production of his Netflix movie “Wonderland” in 2018 and 2019. In one video posted on social media, the actor stands shirtless in front of the house, describing it as “where it all started.”

    The homes affected by Sunday’s fire were a type of classic Boston architecture called a triple decker, a three-family home that’s common in the city.

    “It was a total of four three-deckers that were on fire, mostly in the rear of the buildings on the porches,” the fire commissioner told WCVB-TV. “It’s a very tight street.”

    Boston Fire Department spokesperson Brian Alkins said 15 people were displaced by the fire. He estimated damage to the buildings at $2 million.

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  • Phone alerts responders after car hits tree, killing all 6

    Phone alerts responders after car hits tree, killing all 6

    LINCOLN, Neb. — A passenger’s cellphone automatically alerted responders after a car hit a tree early Sunday in a Nebraska crash that killed all six of its young occupants, authorities said.

    Five men in the Honda Accord died at the scene of the crash around 2:15 a.m. in Lincoln, about 3 miles east of the state Capitol, police said. A 24-year-old woman died later at a hospital where she was taken in critical condition.

    The five men who died included the 22-year-old driver. The other victims were one 21-year-old, one 23-year-old and two 22-year-olds.

    Police said the cause of the crash remains under investigation, and they said the crash was reported by an iPhone that detected the impact and called responders automatically when the phone’s owner didn’t respond.

    “This is the worst crash in Lincoln in recent memory,” Lincoln Police Assistant Chief Michon Morrow said. “We’ve been trying to think of another accident this bad and we haven’t come up with anything.”

    Investigators hadn’t been able to find any witnesses to the crash by Sunday afternoon, which could make it harder to determine what happened.

    “The cause of this accident is going to take us some time to pin down,” Morrow said. “We are looking at all possibilities, including alcohol, speed or distracted driving.”

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  • 3 die when plane hits Minnesota home, but 2 in house unhurt

    3 die when plane hits Minnesota home, but 2 in house unhurt

    HERMANTOWN, Minn. — Three people aboard a small airplane died when it crashed into a house near a northern Minnesota airport, but the two people sleeping inside the home — and their cat — were unhurt.

    Hermantown Police said the Cessna 172 plane crashed into the second floor of the home just south of the Duluth airport late Saturday, before coming to rest in the backyard.

    Jason Hoffman told Minnesota Public Radio that he and his wife had been asleep for just over an hour before the plane tore through the roof above their bed.

    “We couldn’t hardly see each other through all the insulation dust. I was able to grab a flashlight next to the bed and the first thing I saw was an airplane wheel sitting at the end of our bed,” Hoffman said. “That’s when we looked out and noticed the entire back half our our house was gone.”

    Hoffman said the wreckage of the plane wound up wedged between his truck and the garage.

    The three people aboard the plane who died included two men from Burnsville and a woman from St. Paul. They were all in their 30s but weren’t immediately identified.

    The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

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  • Feds vow major aid for Hurricane Ian victims amid rescues

    Feds vow major aid for Hurricane Ian victims amid rescues

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — With the death toll from Hurricane Ian rising and hundreds of thousands of people without power in Florida and the Carolinas, U.S. officials vowed Sunday to unleash an unprecedented amount of federal disaster aid as crews scrambled to rescue people still trapped by floodwaters.

    Days after Ian tore through central Florida, carving a deadly path of destruction into the Carolinas, water levels continued to rise in some flooded areas, inundating homes and streets that were passable just a day or two earlier.

    With branches strewn across the grounds of St. Hillary’s Episcopal Church in Ft. Myers, the Rev. Charles Cannon recognized the immense loss during his Sunday sermon but also gave thanks for what remained. That included the church’s stained-glass windows and steeple.

    “People think they have lost everything, but you haven’t lost everything if you haven’t lost yourself,” he said.

    Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the federal government was ready to help in a huge way, focusing first on victims in Florida, which took the brunt of one of the strongest storms to make landfall in the United States. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to visit the state on Wednesday.

    Flooded roadways and washed-out bridges to barrier islands left many people isolated amid limited cellphone service and a lack of basic amenities such as water, electricity and the internet. And officials warned that the situation in many areas isn’t expected to improve for several days because all of the rain that fell has nowhere to go since waterways are overflowing.

    Nearly 850,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity Sunday, down from a peak of 2.67 million.

    Criswell told “Fox News Sunday” that the federal government began to arrange the “largest amount of search and rescue assets that I think we’ve ever put in place before” to supplement Florida’s resources.

    Even so, recovery will take time, said Criswell, who visited the state on Friday and Saturday to assess the damage and talk to survivors. She cautioned that dangers remain.

    “We worry a lot about the direct impacts from the storm itself as it is making landfall, but we see so many more injuries and sometimes more fatalities after the storm,” Criswell said. “People need to stay vigilant right now. Standing water brings with it all kinds of hazards — it has debris, it could have power lines, it could have hazards in there that you just don’t know about.”

    At least 54 people have been confirmed dead: 47 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba. The weakened storm drifted north on Sunday and was expected to dump rain on parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned of the potential for flash-flooding.

    More than 1,000 people have been rescued from flooded areas along Florida’s southwestern coast alone, Daniel Hokanson, a four-star general and head of the National Guard, told The Associated Press.

    In rural Seminole County, north of Orlando, residents donned waders, boots and bug spray to paddle to their flooded homes on Sunday.

    Ben Bertat found 4 inches (10 centimeters) of water in his house by Lake Harney after kayaking there.

    “I think it’s going to get worse because all of this water has to get to the lake” said Bertat, pointing to the water flooding a nearby road. “With ground saturation, all this swamp is full and it just can’t take any more water. It doesn’t look like it’s getting any lower.”

    Gabriel Madling kayaked through several feet of water on his street, delivering sandbags to stave off water that had crept to his doorstep.

    “My home is close to underwater,” Madling said. “Right now, I’m just going to sandbag as much as I can and hope and pray.”

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that multibillionaire businessman Elon Musk was providing some 120 Starlink satellites to “help bridge some of the communication issues.” Starlink, a satellite-based internet system created by Musk’s SpaceX, will provide high-speed connectivity.

    The bridge to Pine Island, the largest barrier island off Florida’s Gulf Coast, was destroyed by the storm, leaving it accessible only by boat or air. Some flew out by helicopter.

    An aerial photo of the Mad Hatter Restaurant on nearby Sanibel Island that was posted on social media shows a mostly vacant patch of sand where the restaurant used to be. The staff is safe, according to a message on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

    “The Mad Hatter Restaurant, unfortunately, is out at sea right now,” the Facebook page reads. “The best news from this devastating scene is that there is still land for us to rebuild.”

    Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson on Sunday defended Lee County officials from accusations that they had been slow in ordering evacuations on Tuesday ahead of the storm, a day later than some other counties in the area did.

    “Warnings for hurricane season start in June. So there’s a degree of personal responsibility here. I think the county acted appropriately. The thing is, a certain percentage of people will not heed the warnings regardless,” Anderson said on the CBS show “Face the Nation.”

    Elsewhere, power remained knocked out to at least half of South Carolina’s Pawleys Island, a beach community roughly 75 miles (115 kilometers) up the coast from Charleston.

    In North Carolina, the storm downed trees and power lines. Two of the four deaths in the state were from storm-related vehicle crashes, and the others involved a man who drowned when his truck plunged into a swamp and another killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator in a garage.

    ———

    Associated Press reporters Rebecca Santana in Ft. Myers, and Brendan Farrington and Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee contributed to this report.

    ———

    For more AP coverage of Hurricane Ian: https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes

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  • 2 hurt when helicopter crashes in yard of California home

    2 hurt when helicopter crashes in yard of California home

    FRESNO, Calif. — A helicopter spun out of control and crashed in the front yard of a home in central California, hurting a pilot and passenger, authorities said.

    The helicopter clipped the edge of the house and sheared off the top of a palm tree before crashing and coming to rest on its side in southeast Fresno around 10 a.m. Saturday, said police Lt. Charlie Chamalbide.

    Two men aboard, the 47-year-old pilot and a 33-year-old passenger, were hospitalized with minor injuries, Chamalbide said. Nobody on the ground was hurt.

    The aircraft was a surveying helicopter on a test run, the lieutenant said. He did not have information about who owned it or who the occupants were working for.

    “They heard a pop and then they started losing altitude — that’s as far as we know,” Chamalbide told reporters.

    Neicy Miramontes told the Fresno Bee that her 9-year-old son, Ezekiel Carranco, was walking to a friend’s house when he saw the helicopter in trouble.

    “All of a sudden he looks up and sees the helicopter spinning and after that he heard a loud boom,” she said.

    The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.

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  • A look at some of the world’s major crowd disasters

    A look at some of the world’s major crowd disasters

    MALANG, Indonesia — Police fired tear gas after riots broke out at an Indonesian soccer match in East Java province when Persebaya Surabaya beat Arema Malang 3-2. Panic and a rush for the exit left over 170 people dead, most of whom were trampled, police said Sunday. Here’s a look at some of the major crowd disasters in recent decades:

    Dec. 3, 1979 — Eleven people are killed as thousands of fans rush to get into a concert by The Who at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.

    Jan. 20, 1980 — A temporary four-story wooden stadium collapses at a bullfight in Sincelejo, Colombia, killing some 200 spectators.

    Oct. 20, 1982 — Sixty-six people die in a crush of fans leaving a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem, of the Netherlands, at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

    May 28, 1985 — Thirty-nine people died in fan violence at the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

    March 13, 1988 — Ninety-three people are killed when thousands of soccer fans surge into locked stadium exits to escape a sudden hailstorm in Kathmandu, Nepal.

    April 15, 1989 — Ninety-seven people die and hundreds are injured in a crush of fans at overcrowded Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. One victim died in 2021 of aspiration pneumonia, to which he had been left vulnerable because of injuries from the disaster.

    July 2, 1990 — During the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia, 1,426 Muslim pilgrims, mainly from Asia, die in and around a long pedestrian tunnel leading from Mecca to Mina.

    January 13, 1991 — Forty-two people are killed when fans try to escape brawls at Oppenheimer Stadium in South Africa.

    May 23, 1994 — A crush of pilgrims at the hajj leaves 270 Muslim pilgrims dead.

    Nov. 23, 1994 — A panicked crush during a political protest in Nagpur, India, leaves 113 dead.

    Oct. 16, 1996 — Eighty-four people die and 147 are injured as panicked fans are crushed and smothered before a World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City.

    April 9, 1998 — A crush of pilgrims on a bridge in Mecca leaves 118 hajj pilgrims dead.

    April 11, 2001 — At least 43 people are crushed to death during a soccer match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    May 9, 2001 — More than 120 people are killed when police fire tear gas into the rowdy crowd in a stadium in the Ghanaian capital Accra, leading to panic.

    Feb. 17, 2003 — Twenty-one are crushed to death in the stairway exit to E2, a nightclub in Chicago.

    Feb. 20, 2003 — Stage pyrotechnics during a Great White concert at the Station nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island, spark a fire that kills 100 people and injures more than 200 others.

    Feb. 1, 2004 — A panic during a hajj ritual at the Jamarat Bridge near Mecca leaves 251 people dead.

    Jan. 25, 2005 — A panic among Hindu pilgrims near Mandhradevi temple in Maharashtra, India, leaves 265 people dead.

    Aug. 31, 2005 — At least 640 Shiite Muslim pilgrims in Baghdad are killed when a railing on a bridge collapses during a religious procession, sending scores into the Tigris River.

    Jan. 12, 2006 — A panic among Muslim pilgrims during a hajj ceremony near Mecca leaves 345 people dead.

    Feb. 4, 2006 — Seventy-eight people are killed in a panicked crush that happened at PhilSports Arena stampede in Manila, Philippines, as they were waiting for a TV variety show audition.

    Sept. 30, 2008 — At least 168 people are killed and 100 are injured when thousands of Hindu pilgrims are caught in a panic at a temple in Jodhpur, India.

    July 24, 2010 — Twenty-one people die and more than 650 are injured in a crush in a packed tunnel that was the sole access point to the Love Parade music festival in Duisburg, Germany.

    Nov. 22, 2010 — More than 340 people are killed and hundreds of others are injured during a panicked crush at a festival in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

    Jan. 27, 2013 — A fire kills more than 200 people at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil.

    Sept. 24, 2015 — At least 2,411 Muslim pilgrims die in a crush during the hajj in Saudi Arabia.

    April 30, 2021 — Forty-five people are killed and dozens more are wounded in a panicked crush at the annual Mount Meron pilgrimage in Israel.

    Nov. 5, 2021 — Fans at a Houston music festival surge toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, triggering panic that leaves 10 people dead and many more injured.

    Oct. 1, 2022 — Police fire tear gas after riots break out following an Indonesian soccer match, setting off a rush for the exit that leaves at least 174 dead and 100 more injured.

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  • Vehicle overturn kills 26, injures 10 in India

    Vehicle overturn kills 26, injures 10 in India

    LUCKNOW, India — A farm tractor pulling a wagon loaded with people overturned and fell into a pond in northern India, killing 26 people, most of them women and children, officials said Sunday.

    Superintendent of Police Tej Swaroop Singh said the wagon was carrying around 40 people returning from a ceremony at a nearby local Hindu temple Saturday night. He said most of the deaths were due to drowning.

    At least 10 people were injured in the accident in Kanpur city’s Ghatampur area, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Uttar Pradesh state’s capital, Lucknow. The injured have been admitted to a hospital.

    The cause of the accident is under investigation.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted condolences Saturday: “Distressed by the tractor-trolley mishap in Kanpur. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones. Prayers with the injured.”

    It is the second incident in the last three days when a tractor carrying people overturned, killing at least 12 people.

    Uttar Pradesh’s top elected official Yogi Adityanath discouraged the use of farm tractors for passenger transport.

    “A tractor-trolley should be used for agricultural work and to transfer goods, not to ferry people,” he said in a statement.

    India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.

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  • Ruptured oil pipeline off California approved for repairs

    Ruptured oil pipeline off California approved for repairs

    LOS ANGELES — A Texas oil company was granted permission to repair an underwater pipeline that ruptured off the coast of Southern California a year ago, spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude, and forced beaches and fisheries to close.

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the approval Friday to Amplify Energy Corp., clearing the way to rebuild the aging pipeline that burst months after it was apparently weakened when it was snagged by the anchors of ships adrift in a storm.

    The Oct. 1, 2021, rupture spilled about 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) of oil into the Pacific Ocean, closed miles of beaches for a week, shuttered fisheries for months and coated birds and wetlands in oil.

    The approval to rebuild the pipe running from an oil rig off Huntington Beach to tanks in Long Beach comes less than a month after Amplify pleaded guilty to federal charges of negligently discharging oil. The Houston-based company and two subsidiaries also agreed to plead no contest in state court to polluting water and killing birds.

    Amplify said the approval will allow it to remove and replace the damaged segments of pipe from the ocean floor.

    It estimated the work would take up to a month after a barge is in place. If it passes a series of safety tests after being fixed, the company said it expected to begin operating in the first quarter of 2023.

    Environmentalists who want the pipeline shut down criticized the permit approval and renewed calls to put an end to offshore oil operations.

    “The Biden administration just ramped up the risk of yet another ugly oil spill on California’s beautiful coast,” said Brady Bradshaw of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Unfortunately, people living near offshore drilling infrastructure are all too familiar with this abusive cycle of drill, spill, repeat.”

    On Wednesday, the environmental group sued the federal government for allowing the platform where the pipeline originated to operate under outdated plans that indicated the platform should have been decommissioned more than a decade ago. The lawsuit also said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management failed to review and require plan revisions, despite the spill.

    Amplify contended that the spill wouldn’t have occurred if two ships hadn’t dragged their anchors across the pipeline and damaged it during a January 2021 storm. It said it wasn’t notified about the anchor snagging until after the spill.

    While the size of the spill was not as bad as initially feared, U.S. prosecutors said the company should have been able to turn off the damaged line much sooner had it recognized the gravity of a series of leak-detection alarms over a 13-hour period.

    The first alarm sounded late on the afternoon of Oct. 1, 2021, but workers misinterpreted the cause, according to the federal plea agreement.

    When the alarm sounded throughout the night, workers shut down the pipeline to investigate and then restarted it after deciding they were false alarms. That spewed more oil.

    It wasn’t until after daybreak that a boat identified the spill and the line was shut down.

    As part of a federal court agreement to pay a $7 million fine and nearly $6 million in expenses incurred by agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, the company and subsidiaries agreed to install a new leak-detection system and train employees to identify and respond to potential leaks.

    The company agreed to plead guilty to six state misdemeanor charges and pay $4.9 million in penalties and fines as part of a settlement.

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  • Authorities say 47 storm fatalities now confirmed in Florida, raising global death toll from Hurricane Ian to 54

    Authorities say 47 storm fatalities now confirmed in Florida, raising global death toll from Hurricane Ian to 54

    Authorities say 47 storm fatalities now confirmed in Florida, raising global death toll from Hurricane Ian to 54

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  • Pine Island residents recount horror, fear as Ian bore down

    Pine Island residents recount horror, fear as Ian bore down

    PINE ISLAND, Fla. — Paramedics and volunteers with a group that rescues people after natural disasters went door to door Saturday on Florida’s devastated Pine Island, offering to evacuate residents who spoke of the terror of riding out Hurricane Ian in flooded homes and howling winds.

    The largest barrier island off Florida’s Gulf Coast, Pine Island has been largely cut off from the outside world. Ian heavily damaged the only bridge to the island, leaving it only reachable by boat or air. For many, the volunteers from the non-profit Medic Corps were the first people they have seen from outside the island in days.

    Residents described the horror of being trapped in their homes as water kept rising. Joe Conforti became emotional as he recounted what happened, saying the water rose at least 8 to 10 feet (2.4-3 meters), and there were 4-foot (1.2-meter) waves in the streets.

    “The water just kept pounding the house and we watched, boats, houses — we watched everything just go flying by,” he said, as he fought back tears. “We’ve lost so much at this point.”

    Conforti said if it wasn’t for his wife, Dawn Conforti, he wouldn’t have made it. He said: “I started to lose sensibility, because when the water’s at your door and it’s splashing on the door and you’re seeing how fast it’s moving, there’s no way you’re going to survive that.”

    He said his wife had them get on top of a table to keep from getting swept away by the water. The next day, he said, they brought food to an older gentleman who lived on the next block, and they made sure to get him off the island on the first available boat.

    “He lost everything,” Joe Conforti said of the man. “He said that if we didn’t bring him the food, he was going to take his life that night because it was so bad.”

    Some residents shed tears as Medic Corps volunteers came to their doors and asked if they wanted to be evacuated on Saturday. Some declined the offer for now and asked for another day to pack their belongings. But others were anxious to get away immediately.

    Helen Koch blew her husband a kiss and mouthed the words “I love you” as she sat inside the Medic Corps helicopter that lifted her and seven of the couple’s 17 dogs to safety from the decimated island. The dogs were in cages, strapped to the outside of the helicopter as it took off.

    Her husband, Paul Koch, stayed behind with the other dogs, and planned to leave the isolated island on a second trip. He told The Associated Press that days earlier, he didn’t think they would make it, as the major hurricane raged and the house began taking on water.

    Pine Island has long been known for its quiet, small-town atmosphere and mangrove trees. It’s a popular destination for fishing, kayaking and canoeing. Now, bleak scenes of destruction are everywhere in this shattered paradise.

    Houses have been reduced to splinters and boats have been tossed onto roadways. The island has no power, and no running water – save for a few hours on Friday when one resident said they were able to take a shower. A community of mobile homes was destroyed.

    The Medic Corps volunteers went to one house to search for a woman who was known to have stayed behind during the storm and has had no contact with her friends since. Inside the woman’s house, heavy furniture had been toppled over and her belongings were tossed about. There was no sign of the woman, raising fears she had been sucked out of her home by the storm surge.

    Linda Hanshaw said the tight-knit island community is amazing and “everyone I know who hasn’t left is trying to leave.”

    But that wasn’t true for everyone. Kathleen Russell was trying to persuade her elderly husband to leave, but he didn’t want to budge just yet. The couple kept declining offers to evacuate. The couple said they were not ready, but might be willing to leave on Sunday.

    Claire St. Leger said she had nine people in her house, including neighbors, as the storm came in.

    “I thought for sure we were all dying,” she said. “I just sat in an inside room with pillows, I crossed myself so many times, I thought for sure we were dying. Water kept rising.”

    Medic Corps is a nonprofit group of pilots, paramedics, doctors, a Navy SEAL and other volunteers that responds to natural disasters and gets people to safety. According to the organization’s website, it began in 2013 in response to Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines and in 2017 it began deploying aircraft and responders to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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    Forliti reported from Minneapolis.

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  • Governor’s office reports at least 4 N.C. storm fatalities

    Governor’s office reports at least 4 N.C. storm fatalities

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The remnants of Hurricane Ian downed trees and power lines across North Carolina, and authorities reported at least four fatalities Saturday connected to the severe weather.

    In Johnston County, outside of Raleigh, a woman found her husband dead early Saturday morning after he went to check on a generator running in their garage overnight, sheriff’s office Capt. Jeff Caldwell said.

    Carbon monoxide levels also were high inside the home, and the woman was checked out at a hospital, according to Caldwell.

    Also in Johnston County, two young adults died in traffic collisions during stormy and wet conditions Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said in a news release. In eastern North Carolina’s Martin County, a 22-year-old man drowned when his truck left the roadway and submerged in a flooded swamp, the news release said.

    “We mourn with the families of those who have died and urge everyone to be cautious while cleaning up to avoid more deaths or injuries,” Cooper said in a statement.

    The highway patrol responded to over 1,400 calls for service and 784 collisions between midnight Friday and early Saturday morning, a spokesman said. Not all were necessarily weather-related.

    There were no initial reports of major structural damage, though nearly 73,000 people across the state were without power Saturday evening, according to a state outage map. That was down from over 330,000 earlier in the day.

    The National Weather Service warned that hazardous conditions remained along the coast, including the possibility of flooding and rip currents.

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  • Ian shows the risks and costs of living on barrier islands

    Ian shows the risks and costs of living on barrier islands

    SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — When Hurricane Ian struck Florida’s Gulf Coast, it washed out the bottom level of David Muench’s home on the barrier island of Sanibel along with several cars, a Harley-Davidson and a boat.

    His parents’ house was among those destroyed by the storm that killed at least two people there, and the lone bridge to the crescent-shaped island collapsed, cutting off access by car to the mainland for its 6,300 residents.

    Hurricane Ian underscores the vulnerability of the nation’s barrier islands and the increasing costs of people living on the thin strips of land that parallel the coast. As hurricanes become more destructive, experts question whether such exposed communities can keep rebuilding in the face of climate change.

    “This is a Hurricane Katrina-scale event, where you’re having to rebuild everything, including the infrastructure,” said Jesse M. Keenan, a real estate professor at Tulane University’s School of Architecture. “We can’t build back everything to what it was — we can’t afford that.”

    Ian slammed into southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday with among the highest windspeeds in U.S. history — in nearly the same spot where Hurricane Charley, also a Category 4, caused major damage in 2004.

    The latest storm has initiated a new cycle of damage and repair on Sanibel that’s played out on many other barrier islands, from the New Jersey shore and North Carolina’s Outer Banks to a ribbon of land along the Louisiana coast.

    Barrier islands were never an ideal place for development, experts say. They typically form as waves deposit sediment off the mainland. And they move based on weather patterns and other ocean forces. Some even disappear.

    Building on the islands and holding them in place with beach replenishment programs just makes them more vulnerable to destruction because they can no longer move, according to experts.

    “They move at the whims of the storms,” said Anna Linhoss, a professor of biosystems engineering at Auburn University. “And if you build on them, you’re just waiting for a storm to take them away.”

    After devastating parts Florida, Ian made landfall again in South Carolina, where Pawleys Island was among the hardest hit places. Friday’s winds and rains broke apart the barrier island’s main pier, one of several in the state to crumble and wash away.

    On Saturday, homeowners in the beach community about 73 miles (120 kilometers) up the coast from Charleston struggled to assess damage from storm. The causeways connecting the island to the mainland were strewn with palm fronds, pine needles and even a kayak retrieved from a nearby shoreline. The intercoastal waterway was littered with the remnants of several boat houses torn apart and knocked off their pilings in the storm.

    Like Pawleys Island, many barrier island communities anchor long-entrenched tourist economies, which are often the source of crucial tax dollars. At the same time, the cost of rebuilding them is often high because they’re home to many expensive properties, such as vacation homes.

    “When there’s a disaster like this, we will pour tens of billions of public dollars into these communities to help them rebuild,” said Robert S. Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, which is a joint venture between Duke University and Western Carolina University.

    “And we will ask very little for that money in return in terms of taking a step back from places that are incredibly exposed to hazards and making sure that we never have this kind of a disaster again,” Young said.

    But any big changes to the standard disaster response will be complicated, said Dawn Shirreffs, Florida director of the Environmental Defense Fund.

    Challenges could include decisions on who participates in programs that elevate flood-prone homes or programs that buy those homes and tear them down. Planting mangroves to prevent erosion could end up blocking someone’s view.

    Many homeowners bought their properties before people were fully aware of climate change and the risks of sea-level rise, Shirreffs said.

    But Keenan, the Tulane professor, said Sanibel will undoubtedly be changed by Hurricane Ian based on the research he’s done. There will be fewer government resources to help people rebuild. Those with fewer means and who are underinsured will likely move. People with financial means will stay.

    “Sanibel will just be an enclave for the ultrawealthy,” Keenan said.

    But Muench, the Sanibel resident, said homeowners and business owners are sure to rebuild their properties.

    His family has owned and operated a campground on the island for three generations. The island, he said, is “paradise — we live in the most beautiful place on Earth.”

    “We are going to continue to exist on Sanibel,” Muench, 52, said from Fort Myers on Friday after evacuating Sanibel. “Give us five years, and you might not even notice if you didn’t know.”

    ———

    Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Meg Kinnard in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, contributed to this story.

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  • Despite Ian’s punch, wedding day saved on wet Pawleys Island

    Despite Ian’s punch, wedding day saved on wet Pawleys Island

    PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. — Saturday turned out to be a sparklingly beautiful fall day in Pawleys Island, an idyllic spot for an early fall wedding in South Carolina, sandwiched between the Atlantic oceanfront and expansive marshland that typify the state’s coastal beauty.

    But the perfect wedding day almost didn’t come together for two families who traveled to the island for nuptial festivities that almost got derailed by Hurricane Ian’s landfall and aftermath.

    Mary Lord and her family traveled to Pawleys Island from Fort Worth, Texas, for the Saturday wedding of her son, Eric.

    AJ McCullough’s family came from Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to see her daughter, Monroe, walk down the aisle as the bride.

    The families had been staying in rental houses across the street from one another on Pawleys Island, about 72 miles (116 kilometers) up South Carolina’s coast from Charleston.

    And then the storm hit.

    Ian was a Category 1 storm when it came ashore near Georgetown, about 13 miles from Pawleys. Hours of wind and rain battered the beach town, whipping surf reportedly as high as 25 feet (7.6 meters) that washed over the town’s iconic pier, strewing its pylons along the shoreline and pushing them up to beachfront properties. Feet of soggy sand piled up under the elevated homes, stranding and waterlogging some vehicles.

    In the mad rush to get to the Friday night rehearsal dinner — which went off without a hitch, relatively speaking, the nearby country club venue not even losing power during the storm — the participants left behind the gear they’d need for Saturday’s wedding, like attire and decor. Feeling more secure hunkering down further inland, Lord said the families settled into other rental properties, figuring they would deal with Saturday’s details after the storm passed.

    “We got off, when the storm was coming, but some of the bridesmaids dresses, tuxedos, decorations, we left there, thinking we could get back on this morning,” Lord told The Associated Press on Friday morning, standing on the northern causeway that connects Pawleys to the mainland. “But they said no, we cannot, not yet.”

    As crews assessed safety on the island, Lord and McCullough were told to wait, with barricades shutting down access to the strip of homes.

    “If anyone is on the island who wants to bring us our things, we’d sure appreciate it,” McCullough said, with a smile.

    For the next hour, Lord and McCullough methodically asked everyone they came across, on the inland side of one of the two causeway bridges, asking each person if he or she had a contact who could retrieve their wedding gear.

    One man, Eddie Wilder, said he’d be happy to help out the women. As a property owner, he would be allowed access across the causeway, so Lord and McCullough gave him the rental property access code and, via FaceTime, walked him through the property and encouraged him to “grab you a bottle or two” of celebratory beverages including champagne they had stockpiled for the weekend.

    Lord and McCullough were ecstatic with the news that the necessities were on their way.

    “We just had a wedding, so I understand,” said Renee Wilder, Eddie’s wife, hugging McCullough as she handed over bags of gowns and tuxes.

    “Everybody has been very optimistic, and look at this beautiful day,” McCullough said, with a smile.

    ———

    Meg Kinnard an be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

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  • After Ian, river flooding menaces Florida inland towns

    After Ian, river flooding menaces Florida inland towns

    NORTH PORT, Fla. — As Hurricane Ian ravaged coastal towns in southwest Florida, residents in this quiet suburb thought they would be safe, having no beach and living outside areas under evacuation orders. But then the water kept flowing in.

    Since Ian’s passage, water levels have gone up significantly, turning roads into canals, reaching mailboxes, flooding SUVs and trucks, blocking the main access to a an interstate highway and leaving families trapped in their waterlogged homes. Now, as days go by, residents here in the Sarasota suburb of North Point are beginning to run out of food and water.

    “Water just keeps going up. Who knows when it is going to stop,” said Samuel Almanzar, 42. He was rescued by crews Friday along with his father, wife and two children, 11 and 6.

    As rescue efforts wrapped up Friday, local officials recommended people whose neighborhoods are flooding to evacuate. They said waters in some areas will continue to rise over the next two days.

    The floods in North Port show the impact of Ian has not been confined to the beaches and tourist towns. The heavy rains from the storm have ended up flowing into suburban and inland towns not part of hurricane warnings.

    It’s the rising rivers that do it because of the hurricane’s deluge, which continues to cause havoc long after the winds have passed. And it’s leading to rescue efforts not that different from those on the coasts.

    Floods were reported all across the center of the state: around Orlando and its theme parks, south to Kissimmee, east to Daytona Beach, Arcadia cattle country. People near rivers were deeply affected.

    Near North Port, the Florida Department of Transportation closed a stretch of Interstate 75 in both directions late Friday because of the flooded Myakka River.

    Dozens of National Guardsmen arrived earlier Friday in North Port— about 85 miles (140 kilometers) south of Tampa — to speed up efforts started Wednesday by firefighters from other states and counties. And city officials were scrambling to open an evacuation center at a high school.

    A mother of two cried on the phone, trying to connect with her parents so they could pick them up after coming out of her flooded neighborhood. A woman showed a map to rescuers to reach families with children in the area upon learning water had started to rise inside their homes. A man waded through waist-deep waters with his 8-year-old daughter, trying to venture out to get supplies.

    Megan Blevins, who works at a restaurant in nearby Venice, was trying to help the families of coworkers get out but said some were not accessible due to structures collapsing and leaving certain streets without access.

    “We can’t get people. We can’t get people to them. There are some older folks we are trying to get to because they can’t move,” she said.

    Aimee Bowden, 47, said a tree fell on her house, opening a hole in her kitchen and dining room and letting water pour in. Firefighters going back and forth to pick up families with children evacuated her, with her husband and 13-year-old son in a rescue boat.

    “I was terrified. You have your whole life uprooted,” Bowden said. “You try to just keep thinking about what you need to do.”

    Just west of North Port, the Myakka River was forecast by the National Weather Service to reach record flood stage Friday at 12.55 feet (3.8 meters) and then crest a bit higher before receding.

    The nearby Peace River was set to hit an even higher mark: almost 24 feet (7.3 meters), which is about twice the previous record. It runs through mainly rural areas, especially the cattle town of Arcadia which is home to a well-known Florida rodeo.

    There was plenty of concern Friday about the steadily rising river.

    “The unpredictability of the river is real, and people are in real danger,” said DeSoto County Fire Chief Chad Jorgensen in a county post. “If you are in these areas, you need to get out now.”

    After crossing Florida, Ian moved over the Atlantic Ocean where it curved back into South Carolina on Friday. More than two dozen deaths have been blamed on the storm.

    Elvis Padron, 40, a construction worker now applying for political asylum, fled Venezuela with his wife and 8-year-old daughter and crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in February, only to face more hardship.

    “My wife refuses to leave. She wants to stay,” said Padron, who waded through the waters to find more supplies and tried to convince his wife on the phone they should leave. “I feel like we don’t have much time left.”

    ———

    Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida.

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  • 5 more bodies recovered from Puget Sound floatplane crash

    5 more bodies recovered from Puget Sound floatplane crash

    SEATTLE — The bodies of six of the 10 victims in a floatplane crash in Washington state’s Puget Sound have been recovered and five have been identified, officials said Friday.

    Island County Emergency Management deputy director Eric Brooks confirmed Friday that four additional victims had been identified, The Seattle Times reported. Gabby Hanna of Seattle, whose body was found shortly after the Labor Day weekend crash near Whidbey Island, was previously identified.

    Officials were still working to identify the sixth victim. Brooks didn’t give the names of the identified victims and said the coroner would be meeting with victims’ families.

    Officials have also been investigating whether human remains that washed ashore at Dungeness Spit near Sequim, Washington, nearly two weeks after the crash is the seventh victim. The autopsy was delayed because the human remains had to be transferred out of Clallam County to a forensic pathologist in Thurston County, according to Clallam County Deputy Coroner Nathan Millett.

    About 80% of the plane, including the engine, has been recovered using remotely operated vessels, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Thursday. Crews began recovery efforts Tuesday, using a Navy barge anchored near the crash site.

    The de Havilland DHC-3 Otter was headed from Friday Harbor to the Seattle suburb of Renton on Sept. 4 before plummeting into the water.

    Determining the probable cause of the crash could take up to two years, officials have said.

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  • NASCAR drivers fuming over concussions suffered in new car

    NASCAR drivers fuming over concussions suffered in new car

    NASCAR drivers are angry and concerned about their safety in the new Next Gen cars as the playoffs roar into one of the most chaotic and dangerous tracks on the circuit.

    Alex Bowman will miss Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway with a concussion diagnosed four days after he crashed. Bowman hit the wall early at Texas Motor Speedway but finished Sunday’s race despite radioing his Hendrick Motorsports crew: “I can’t drive the rest of the day.”

    “I don’t understand how (the car) is still rolling. That’s the hardest I’ve crashed anything in my entire life,” Bowman added.

    Now he is on the sidelines alongside Kurt Busch, who will miss his 11th consecutive race because of his own concussion. He crashed in July during a qualifying run when he spun and backed his car into the wall. Busch said his vision and balance are not at 100% but he hopes to race again this season.

    Complaints about the Next Gen — introduced this season as a cost-saver and a way to bring some parity to the grid — have reached a critical level following four difficult playoff races and three injured drivers. Cody Shane Ware will race Sunday despite a fractured foot suffered in a hard crash.

    Drivers amplified their complaints as soon as they learned of Bowman’s concussion. They have been concerned since an exaggerated tale emerged of an ominous NASCAR crash test of the Next Gen at Talladega in 2021. The rumor was that the crash-test dummy had suffered forces in the collision that would have killed a human.

    “Completely unacceptable that those in charge have let things get to this point,” Kevin Harvick wrote on Twitter. He said he recalled Denny Hamlin insisting “that the car was too stiff. Data didn’t agree. TIME TO LISTEN TO THE DRIVERS CRASHING THEM!”

    Hamlin, who was heard moaning on his radio after a hard crash last month, also directed his anger at NASCAR.

    “Pretty disappointing that our sanctioning body refuses to acknowledge or accept any responsibility for drivers getting hurt,” Hamlin wrote. “It’s the same THEY said. WE knew better. It’s wrong these drivers continue to get taken advantage of by the system.”

    The Next Gen was an industry-wide collaboration to develop a spec car that would both lower costs and equalize the competition. But part of the cost-cutting came in designing a durable car that can withstand crashes without being destroyed, a step to reduce the fleet sizes needed to compete for a full season.

    So the Next Gen is very stiff and the parts and pieces that used to fly off a car during a crash are holding tight, resulting in drivers absorbing more energy from collisions.

    NASCAR has been attempting to address issues with the Next Gen as they arise. There has been a rash of problems with the car through the first four playoff races — in the Bristol elimination race, 12 of the 16 playoff drivers had some sort of issue — ranging from unexplained fires to tire and parts failures and now the unyielding nature of the car actually affecting drivers.

    After fires during the playoff opener ar Darlington, senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said it was “unacceptable” and NASCAR quickly mandated design changes. The series is also considering monitoring pressure levels to determine if drivers are blowing tires because their teams are too aggressive with the settings.

    Andy Petree, vice president of competition at Richard Childress Racing, said NASCAR has been receptive to feedback.

    “I think NASCAR is doing a good job of taking input, listening to what we are saying as an industry. I don’t know about the drivers, they may not be getting the response that they feel like they need on these things,” Petree said. “But NASCAR is working on the car. I’ve seen some future design changes that address some of the things the drivers say about the impacts.”

    Harvick said Petree’s comment was “very telling as to who has all the say in these processes. NASCAR and the teams.” He also urged NASCAR to pick up its pace in investigating the issues.

    Talladega is one of the most chaotic tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of the tight pack racing and high speeds. The pole-winning speed in April was 180.93 mph and speeds top 200 miles per hour (321.9 kilometres per hour) when cars are in the draft.

    The spring race was tame by Talladega standards with only four cautions for accidents and the race ended under green with no overtime needed. But Sunday is the middle race of the second round of the playoffs and the stakes are much higher. Additionally, the first four playoff races have been won by drivers not racing for the championship.

    BLANEY CREW SUSPENSION

    Team Penske dropped its appeal against the four-race suspension for three of Ryan Blaney’s crew members, who were suspended because a left wheel rolled off Blaney’s Ford at Bristol.

    The trio of crew chief Jonathan Hassler, jackman Graham Stoddard and rear tire changer Zachary Price all worked last week at Texas as Penske appealed. Team Penske dropped the appeal this week and Blaney goes to Talladega on Sunday ranked fourth in the standings.

    The field of 12 will be trimmed to eight after next week’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Blaney will be without his regular crew members at Talladega, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Homestead. By dropping the appeal now, Team Penske hopes Blaney advances into the next round and gets Hassler back for the final two races of the season still eligible for the championship.

    Miles Stanley, a longtime Penske engineer, will be interim crew chief for Blaney. He will also get crew members from The Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford to help pit Blaney’s car.

    CHILDERS 600th

    Rodney Childers began racing to become a famous driver. When it didn’t pan out behind the wheel, Childers moved to the technical side of the sport and began a climb into a crew chief role.

    He goes to Talladega on Sunday set to crew chief his 600th race. Childers has been paired with Kevin Harvick since 2014 at Stewart-Haas Racing in the longest active pairing in the Cup Series garage. Childers has run Harvick’s team for 313 races, eighth on the all-time pairings list.

    “I think everybody knows that my career definitely changed when Kevin wanted me to do this, and to be able to do it for a long time and win a lot of races has been pretty special,” Childers said.

    Childers guided Harvick to his only Cup championship in 2014, their first season together at SHR.

    ———

    More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Sailor found not guilty of setting fire that destroyed ship

    Sailor found not guilty of setting fire that destroyed ship

    SAN DIEGO — A Navy judge ruled Friday that a sailor was not guilty of setting a fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego in 2020.

    The ruling came after a nine-day trial at Naval Base San Diego. Ryan Sawyer Mays, who had been charged with arson and the willful hazarding of a ship, let out a deep breath, put both hands on the defense table, broke into sobs and began hugging supporters.

    “Seaman Recruit Mays was found not guilty on the charges of willful hazarding of a vessel and aggravated arson. The Navy is committed to upholding the principles of due process and a fair trial,” said Lt. Samuel R. Boyle, spokesman for U.S. 3rd Fleet.

    Prosecutors accused then-19-year-old Mays of igniting cardboard boxes in a lower vehicle storage area to drive home an earlier text to his division officer that the ship was so cluttered with contractors’ stuff it was “hazardous as (expletive).” They contended that Mays was angry and vengeful about failing to become a Navy SEAL and being assigned to deck duty and ignited the ship to send a message.

    There is no physical evidence, however, tying Mays to the fire on the ship, which was docked and undergoing maintenance at that time.

    Outside the courtroom building at Naval Base San Diego, Mays read a brief statement to reporters and declined to answer questions. He did not address his plans.

    “I can say that the past two years have been the hardest two years of my entire life, as a young man,” he said. “I’ve lost time with friends. I’ve lost friends. I’ve lost time with family and my entire Navy career was ruined. I am looking forward to starting over.”

    The prosecution acknowledged that a Navy report last year concluded the fire that destroyed the $1.2 billion amphibious assault ship was preventable and unacceptable and that there were lapses in training, coordination, communications, fire preparedness, equipment maintenance and overall command and control. The failure to extinguish or contain the fire led to temperatures exceeding 1,200 degrees (649 Celsius) in some areas, melting sections of the ship into molten metal that flowed into other parts of the ship.

    More than 20 senior officers and sailor were disciplined in connection with the incident.

    Defense lawyers argued the trial exposed a shoddy probe by government investigators who rushed to judgment and failed to collect evidence showing that the culprit also could have been lithium ion batteries or a sparking forklift instead of arson.

    The prosecution said that investigators found no scientific data to back the theory that batteries or a forklift malfunction sparked the inferno, while testimony from fellow shipmates bolstered the case against Mays along with his own words when he was being escorted in handcuffs and blurted out, according to the sailor escorting him to the brig: “It had to be done. I did it.”

    The defense said Mays, known for being flippant, was being sarcastic after denying doing it more than 150 times during 10 hours of questioning by investigators.

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  • Live Updates: Florida officials fear death toll will rise

    Live Updates: Florida officials fear death toll will rise

    The Latest on Hurricane Ian:

    Officials in Florida fear the death toll from Hurricane Ian could rise substantially, given the wide swath of the state swamped by the storm.

    After making landfall with some of the highest windspeeds for a hurricane over U.S. territory, the storm flooded areas on both of Florida’s coasts, tore homes from their slabs, demolished beachfront businesses and left more than 2 million people without power. At least nine people have been confirmed dead in the U.S.

    Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said responders have focused so far on “hasty” searches, aimed at emergency rescues and initial assessments, which will be followed by two additional waves of searches.

    He said Friday that the initial responders might detect deaths without confirming them.

    ———

    KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

    — Hurricane Ian heads for Carolinas after pounding Florida

    — In Ian’s wake, worried families crowdsource rescue efforts

    — Woman braves Hurricane Ian flood to check on stranger’s mom

    — After Ian, the effects in southwest Florida are everywhere

    — At a Florida trailer park, survivors speak of Ian’s wrath

    — Find more AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes

    ———

    OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

    CHARLESTON S.C. — Charleston County emergency services were suspended Friday as officials prepared for Hurricane Ian to make landfall on South Carolina’s coast.

    In a tweet, officials said they were pausing response efforts “due to current wind conditions” and would resume service “as soon as it is safe to do so.”

    Charleston police were also restricting access to the city’s Battery area, a spot at the tip of the peninsula that is home to many multi million-dollar, historic homes.

    ———

    TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning and team owner Jeff Vinik are donating $2 million toward Hurricane Ian relief efforts.

    The NHL team announced Friday that $1 million each will be donated by the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation and the Vinik Family Foundation.

    “This is a tragic situation for many families and communities across the state of Florida, but especially so in the southwest region of the state,” Vinik said in a statement released by the team. “In times like these the most important thing we can do is support one another, and we hope this donation will help families recover and rebuild in the months to come.”

    Ian made landfall Wednesday on Florida’s Gulf Coast, south of the Tampa Bay area. The Lightning postponed two home preseason games and moved the club’s training camp to Nashville, Tennessee during the storm.

    ———

    CHARLESTON S.C. — Many areas on Charleston’s downtown peninsula were underwater midday Friday and officials reported widespread power outages across the historic city as Hurricane Ian approached.

    Officials said power had been knocked out across the city as high winds and sheets of rain whipped trees and power lines pending Ian’s expected landfall just up the South Carolina coast.

    The storm’s expected landfall coincided with high tide, a circumstance that was forecast to lead to widespread roadway blockages.

    City officials were out early Friday, clearing storm drains and pumping water away from the historic Battery area along the city’s southern tip, into Charleston Harbor.

    ———

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — Thousands of residents of long-term care facilities in Florida remained displaced by Hurricane Ian.

    Kristen Knapp of the Florida Health Care Association says about 47 nursing homes and 115 assisted living facilities have been evacuated as of Friday, with around 8,000 residents among them.

    While structural damage and flooding were reported at facilities across the storm’s path, Knapp said there have been no reports yet of serious injuries or deaths among those homes’ residents.

    Steve Bahmer of Leading Age Florida, which represents non-profit long-term care facilities, offered a similar assessment, with reports of minor damage, broken windows, downed trees and flooding. He said one facility was hit by a tornado but residents have been able to remain there.

    At least seven people were confirmed dead in Florida — a number that’s likely to increase as officials confirm more deaths and continue searching for people.

    ———

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — The main airport in Charleston, South Carolina, has closed ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Ian.

    Officials with the Charleston International Airport said Friday they had shuttered the airport, where airlines had already canceled dozens of fights, and winds reached 40 mph.

    The airport will remained closed until 6 a.m. Saturday.

    South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster planned a briefing at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Under a federal disaster declaration approved by President Joe Biden, federal emergency aid has been made available to supplement South Carolina’s state, tribal and local response efforts pertaining to the storm, which was expected to make landfall in the state later Friday.

    ———

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Strong winds were blowing early Friday morning in Charleston, South Carolina, with powerful gusts bending tree branches and sending sprays of the steadily falling rain sideways as Hurricane Ian approached.

    Streets were largely empty, an ordinarily packed morning commute silenced by the advancing storm. Flash flood warnings were posted, with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain forecast for the Charleston area, and high tide expected just before noon, a circumstance that often floods the downtown peninsula on its own with even moderate rainfall.

    ———

    ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol says a 37-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman died Thursday afternoon when their car hydroplaned and overturned in a water-filled ditch in north Florida amid Hurricane Ian’s impact on the state.

    An incident report says the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle, which went onto the grassy shoulder before submerging in a water-filled ditch along Cracker Swamp Road in Putnam County, which is southwest of St. Augustine. The area was inundated with rain as Hurricane Ian passed through the state Thursday.

    At least six people were confirmed dead in Florida.

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  • Woman charged with setting fire at apartment that killed 4

    Woman charged with setting fire at apartment that killed 4

    A former tenant is heading to court to face arson and murder charges in connection with a fire at a Massachusetts apartment building that claimed the lives of four people, including a man who had sued right-wing radio host Alex Jones’ Infowars website

    WORCESTER, Mass. — A former tenant is heading to court Friday to face arson and murder charges in connection with a fire at a Massachusetts apartment building last May that claimed the lives of four people, including a man who had sued right-wing radio host Alex Jones ‘ Infowars website.

    Yvonne Ngoiri, 36, faces four counts of second-degree murder and was also indicted on multiple assault charges, the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said in a statement late Thursday. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment.

    The cause of the fire at the three-story, six-unit building in Worcester in the early morning hours of May 14 was determined to be “incendiary,” according to the district attorney’s office, but no motive was disclosed.

    The victims have previously been identified as Joseph Garchali, 47; Christopher Lozeau, 53; Vincent Page, 41; and Marcel Fontaine, 29. They died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, authorities said.

    In addition, several residents were injured, including one who jumped from a third-story window. The building had about 20 tenants.

    Fontaine sued Infowars in Texas in 2018. The complaint, seeking unspecified damages, said Infowars posted his photograph on its website the day of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, depicting him as the gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people died.

    Lawyers for Infowars countered that Fontaine failed to show any evidence of malice or any injury because of his photo’s publication.

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