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Death investigated at Burning Man while 70,000 festival attendees remain stuck in Nevada desert after rain | CNN

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Authorities are investigating a death at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert as thousands of people remain trapped on site after heavy rains inundated the area and created thick, ankle-deep mud which sticks to campers’ shoes and vehicle tires.

Attendees were told to shelter in place in the Black Rock Desert and conserve food, water and fuel after a rainstorm swamped the area, forcing officials to halt any entering or leaving of the festival.

“A little over 70,000 people,” remained stranded Saturday, Sgt. Nathan Carmichael, with the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office, told CNN Sunday morning. Some people have left the site by walking out but “most of the RVs are stuck in place,” he said.

On Sunday morning, event organizers said roads remained closed as they were “too wet and muddy” and more uncertain weather was likely on the way. While some vehicles were able to leave, others got stuck in the mud, organizers said on the event’s website.

“Please do NOT drive at this time,” they added. “We will update you on the driving ban after this weather front has left the area.”

The remote area in northwest Nevada was hit with 2 to 3 months’ worth of rain – up to 0.8 inches – in just 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning. The heavy rainfall fell on dry desert grounds, whipping up thick, clay-like mud festivalgoers said was too difficult to walk or bike through.

The sheriff’s office said it is investigating “a death which occurred during this rain event.” Authorities did not publicly name the person or provide details on the circumstances of the death.

“The family has been notified and the death is under investigation,” the sheriff’s office said in a late Saturday news release.

The individual was found on the playa and lifesaving procedures to revive them were not successful, Carmichael said Sunday, but did not share further details.

Playa is the term used to describe sunken dry lake beds in deserts where water evaporates rather than running off, and even a small amount of rain can quickly soak a large area.

Event organizers said they plan to burn the Man – the huge totem set on fire at the festival’s culmination – on Sunday night, if weather allows.

The rainy conditions forecast over the area for Sunday afternoon had mostly passed to the east of the festival site, according to a social media post from organizers, though there is still a chance of showers and thunderstorms “for the rest of daylight hours” into the evening.

Drone video shows vehicles stranded and stuck at Burning Man

Authorities have not provided information on when roads could reopen, but the sunshine is expected to return Monday.

“We do not currently have an estimated time for the roads to be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely,” Burning Man organizers said in a Saturday evening statement. “Monday late in the day would be possible if weather conditions are in our favor. It could be sooner.”

Organizers noted the rain falling on an already saturated playa overnight and Sunday “will affect the amount of time it takes for the playa to dry.”

For now, the gate and airport into Black Rock City remain closed and no driving is allowed into or out of the city except for emergency vehicles, the organizers said on social media. Black Rock City is a temporary metropolis erected annually for the festival and comes complete with emergency, safety and sanitary infrastructure.

The rain “made it virtually impossible for motorized vehicles to traverse the playa,” the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said, noting people were advised to shelter in place until the ground has dried enough to drive on safely.

Vehicles trying to drive out will get stuck in the mud, Burning Man organizers said Saturday. “It will hamper Exodus if we have cars stuck on roads in our camping areas, or on the Gate Road out of the city,” the organizers added.

“If you are in BRC, please shelter in place & stay safe,” organizers said.

Storms and heavy rains across Nevada flooded other parts of the state and may have led to another death. In Las Vegas, authorities found a person unresponsive and “entangled with debris,” on Saturday morning who is believed to be “a drowning victim,” according to Jace Radke, a spokesperson for the city. An investigation is ongoing, Radke said in a news release.

Some festivalgoers hiked miles on foot in the thick mud to reach main roads while others stayed at their camps, hoping for conditions to improve.

Hannah Burhorn, a first-time attendee at the festival, told CNN people were trudging through the mud barefoot or with bags tied around their feet.

“People who have tried to bike through it and have gotten stuck because it’s about ankle deep,” Burhorn said. The mud is so thick it “sticks to your shoes and makes it almost like a boot around your boot,” she added.

It’s unclear exactly how many people are stranded at the festival, but typically more than 70,000 people attend the weeklong event. It’s being held from August 28 to September 4 this year.

There weren’t any reports of injuries as of Saturday afternoon, Sean Burke, the director of emergency management for Pershing County, told CNN.

Amar Singh Duggal and his friends managed to leave the festival after hiking about 2 miles in the mud, he told CNN. He estimated it took them about 2 hours to get to a main road where they arranged to be picked up and taken to Reno, about a 120-mile drive from the event grounds.

“We made it, but it was pure hell (walking) through the mud,” Duggal said. “Each step felt like we were walking with two big cinder blocks on our feet.”

Among those attending the festival was DJ Diplo and comedian Chris Rock.

Rock posted a video on Instagram of thick mud and Diplo posted a series of videos in which he said a fan offered him and Rock a ride out of the site.

The DJ said they walked several miles and were able to get to a nearby airport.

Meanwhile, attendees who typically dedicate their time to making art and building community are now also focused on rationing supplies and dealing with connectivity issues.

“There is super limited bandwidth and a lot of people at the camp (are) trying to cancel flights and arrange for extended time here” due to the weather, Burhorn told CNN via text message from a Wi-Fi camp.

Still, the poor conditions have not stopped the creativity, said Burhorn, who had traveled from San Francisco.

“People are building mud sculptures,” she said.

Andrew Hyde, another attendee stuck at the Burning Man, said despite the muddy conditions making it difficult to walk, the weather has taken the meaning of the event back to its roots.

“You come out here to be in a harsh climate, and you prepare for that,” Hyde told CNN’s Paula Newton. “So in many ways, everybody here just kind of made friends with their neighbors and it’s a community event.”

Morale at the event is OK and there’s generally no panic among the attendees, Hyde said, describing music returning overnight.

There are worries about the additional rain causing delays, however, and the unknowns of worsening conditions.

“I think the concern is if we have another rain,” he said. “People need to go back to their jobs, back to the responsibilities they have back home.”

Organizers announced Saturday night they’ll be putting mobile cell trailers in different positions, configuring the organization’s Wi-Fi system for public access and deploying buses to nearby Gerlach to take people who might walk off the playa to Reno.

“This is not likely a 24-hour operation at this time,” the festival said in a statement on its website.

Organizers are also resourcing four-wheel-drive vehicles and all-terrain tires to help ferry medical and other urgent situations to the blacktop.

There have been people who managed to walk to a main road and were waiting for transport from the festival organizers Saturday night, the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said.

Resources have been brought in from around northern Nevada to help people with medical needs on the event grounds, the sheriff’s office said.

“Burning Man is a community of people who are prepared to support one another,” Burning Man said on its website. “We have come here knowing this is a place where we bring everything we need to survive. It is because of this that we are all well-prepared for a weather event like this.”

“We have done table-top drills for events like this,” organizers added. “We are engaged full-time on all aspects of safety and looking ahead to our Exodus as our next priority.”

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September 3, 2023
Fire consumes oil depot in St. Petersburg | CNN

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CNN
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Dozens of firefighters are working to put out a blaze that is burning at an oil depot in St. Petersburg, Russian authorities said.

Videos from the area posted on social media show a large plume of black smoke rising as explosions ring out.

The fire was first reported at 10:59 a.m. local time, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said. A hangar of 80 by 10 meters (262 by 33 feet) is up in flames, but the full area of the conflagration is still being determined, the ministry said. Sixty firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were on the scene as of around 1 p.m.

Russian online news outlet Fontanka reported the fire was at the Ruchi oil depot.

The cause of the incident is not yet known. No casualties have been reported so far.

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September 3, 2023
Two injured, thousands left without power as Typhoon Haikui approaches Taiwan | CNN

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Taipei, Taiwan
CNN
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Two people have been injured and nearly 10,000 households left without power as Typhoon Haikui approaches Taiwan, the island’s official Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Sunday.

The two injured people were traveling in a van when a tree fell on the vehicle, “leaving them trapped inside,” CNA said.

They suffered injuries but were conscious and taken to hospital, it added.

As of 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, more than 9,300 households in the Taitung and Hualien counties had lost electricity, state electricity provider Taipower said. Repair works are underway.

The capital Taipei is currently experiencing heavy rains.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said Typhoon Haikui was moving westwards at a pace of 7km (4.35 miles) per hour with winds of up to 155kph (96.31 mph).

Haikui will be the first typhoon in four years to directly hit Taiwan and is expected to bring heavy rainfall to eastern regions, according to the weather bureau.

It warned that heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding and landslides in parts of the country. The mountainous Hualien county could see total precipitation of more than 500mm, it added.

The typhoon was previously expected to make landfall near the southeastern city of Taitung around 5 p.m. local time on Sunday.

As of 7 a.m. local time Sunday, more than 2,800 residents within seven counties and municipalities had been evacuated, the island’s Ministry of the Interior said.

Seven counties and cities in southern and eastern Taiwan have suspended school and work for Sunday, according to the respective local governments. In addition, Yunlin county and the outlying Penghu county will suspend school and work from Sunday noon.

The typhoon has led to the cancellation of 222 domestic flights and 37 international flights departing from Taiwan, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

In neighboring Hong Kong, at least 86 injuries were reported from another typhoon, Saola, which made landfall in the city after passing through the northeastern Philippines.

In an update on Saturday, Hong Kong authorities said they had received more than 1,500 reports of fallen trees, 21 cases of flooding and two reports of landslides.

The typhoon has since weakened to a tropical storm but left in its wake hundreds of canceled and disrupted flights.

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September 3, 2023
Jimmy Buffett, enduring ‘Margaritaville’ singer turned mogul, dies at 76 | CNN

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CNN
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Jimmy Buffett, the tropical troubadour whose folksy tunes celebrated his laid-back lifestyle, inspired legions of devoted fans and spawned a lucrative business empire, has died, according to his official website and multiple media outlets.

He was 76.

“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement released on his social page reads.

“He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many,” the statement continued.

No cause of death was released.

The singer-songwriter was briefly hospitalized in May following a trip to the Bahamas. “I had to stop in Boston for a checkup but wound up back in the hospital to address some issues that needed immediate attention,” he told his followers in a social media post.

Buffett posted a day later that he was soon headed home from the hospital, and thanked his followers for the “outpouring of support and well wishes.” He did not share what was ailing him, but said that he’d be going on a “fishing trip with old friends, along with paddling and sailing and get myself back in good shape” upon his return home from the hospital.

Mourners paid tribute on social media Saturday, including country superstar Kenny Chesney, whose own sun-kissed approach owes a lot to Buffett.

Chesney tweeted, “So goodbye Jimmy. Thanks for your friendship and the songs I will carry in my heart forever. Sail On Sailor.” And he shared a video of himself singing Buffett’s song “Son of a Son of a Sailor” on a beach.

“The pirate has passed. RIP Jimmy Buffett. Tremendous influence on so many of us,” wrote Toby Keith.

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys wrote, “Love and Mercy, Jimmy Buffett.”

Elton John wrote on Instagram: “Jimmy Buffett was a unique and treasured entertainer. His fans adored him and he never let them down. This is the saddest of news. A lovely man gone way too soon.”

Paul McCartney shared his fond memories of Buffett as “one of the kindest and most generous people” on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Right up to the last minute, his eyes still twinkled with a humour that said, ‘I love this world and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it,’” McCartney wrote.

“So many of us will miss Jimmy and his tremendous personality, his love for us all and for mankind as a whole,” he said.

Amiable grooves and clever wordplay

Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and raised in the port town of Mobile, Alabama. He moved to Key West, Florida, where he found his voice, his website says.

One of his first songs to draw attention was “Come Monday,” from his 1974 album “Living & Dying in ¾ Time.”

Years later he told David Letterman, “This is a song that kept me from killing myself in a Howard Johnson’s in Marin County. It hit, I paid the rent, got my dog out of the pound. … and the rest is history.”

It notably included the line, “I got my hush puppies on, I guess I never was meant for glitter rock ‘n’ roll,” staking his claim to going his own laid-back way.

In pictures: Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett

An amiable singer-songwriter with a penchant for clever wordplay, Buffett largely ignored pop music trends and was never a hitmaker or an MTV darling. His “Gulf & Western” style married country and Caribbean music.

He famously put “Margaritaville” on the map in 1977. It was his only Top 10 song and became his signature.

Its opening lines became instantly identifiable: “Nibbling on spongecake, watching the sun bake, all of the tourists covered with oil …”

And the chorus has been part of countless singalongs: “Wasted away again in Margaritaville, searching for my lost shaker of salt… Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame, but I know, it’s my own damn fault.”

Buffett built an enormous cult of fans, affectionately known as “Parrotheads,” after the legendary Deadhead fans of the Grateful Dead.

“The audience are so much fun for me to look at,” he said. “I mean, they’re as entertaining to me as I hope I am to them.”

Other must-play concert tunes included “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Fins,” “Volcano” and “Why Don’t We Get Drunk.”

His followers lovingly embraced his vision of life spent in flip-flops, full of beaches, boats, booze and weed.

“From New Orleans to the Gulf Coast down into St. Barts and other places, I still can find magic in most of those places where people think there isn’t any left,” he said.

A savvy marketer, Buffett later parlayed the “Margaritaville” mythos to power his career through decades of lucrative concert tours – and branding of restaurants, casinos, retirement communities, bestselling books and even a musical.

His worth was estimated at $1 billion, according to Forbes.

Buffett, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006, won two Country Music Association awards during his career and was twice nominated for Grammy Awards.

A rare misstep came with a 2018 Broadway show, “Escape to Margaritaville,” shaped out of his best-known tunes.

Even the brutal New York Times review noted the irony of Buffett’s slacker image against his staggering success: “Mr. Buffett, Margaritaville’s prototype and mastermind, has a wife and family and 5,000 employees; he works nonstop.”

Before his death, Buffett was preparing to release a new record, with songs previewed weekly on Radio Margaritaville, according to his website.

Loyal to his party credo until the end, he left a forthcoming song titled, “My Gummy Just Kicked In.”

Buffett leaves behind his wife, Jane Slagsvol, and three children.

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September 2, 2023
Tens of thousands at Burning Man told to conserve water and food after heavy rains leave attendees stranded in Nevada desert | CNN

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CNN
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Tens of thousands of people attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert are being told to conserve food, water and fuel as they shelter in place in the Black Rock Desert after a heavy rainstorm pummeled the area, festival organizers said.

Attendees were surrounded by thick, ankle-deep mud and organizers halted vehicles from traveling in or out of the festival after heavy rains started saturating the area Friday evening.

Hannah Burhorn, a first-time attendee at the festival, told CNN in a phone interview Saturday the desert sand has turned into thick clay and puddles and mud are everywhere. People are wrapping trash bags and Ziploc bags around their shoes to avoid getting stuck, while others are walking around barefoot.

“It’s unavoidable at this point,” she said. “It’s in the bed of the truck, inside the truck. People who have tried to bike through it and have gotten stuck because it’s about ankle deep.”

The gate and airport into Black Rock City, a remote area in northwest Nevada, remain closed and no driving is allowed into or out of the city except for emergency vehicles, the organizers said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Do not travel to Black Rock City! Access to the city is closed for the remainder of the event, and you will be turned around,” one statement read.

More than 70,000 people attend the weeklong event annually, which this year is being held from August 28 to September 5. It’s unclear how many of those were stranded due to the weather.

The city is expecting more showers overnight on Saturday, organizers said in a weather forecast update. The National Weather Service said showers and thunderstorms are expected to return Saturday evening and continue throughout Sunday, with temperatures ranging from highs in the 70s to a low overnight of 49 degrees.

Rainfall reports from the National Weather Service suggest up to 0.8 inches of rain fell in the area from Friday morning through Saturday morning – approximately two to three months of rainfall for that location this time of year. Even small rainfall totals can lead to flooding in the dry Nevada desert.

Flood watches were in effect in northeast Nevada, to the east of Black Rock City. Those watches noted individual storms were producing up to one inch of rainfall, but higher totals — as much as 3 inches — would be possible through the weekend.

The Bureau of Land Management, which has jurisdiction over the land the festival is held on, is advising people heading to Burning Man to “turn around and head home,” as roads remain closed in the area, according to a statement obtained by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

“Rain over the last 24 hours has created a situation that required a full stop of vehicle movement on the playa. More rain is expected over the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter the playa,” the statement read.

The festival, which began in 1986, is held each summer in Black Rock City – a temporary metropolis that is erected annually for the festival. The city comes complete with planning services, emergency, safety and sanitary infrastructure.

It is best known for its concluding event, in which a large wooden symbol of a man is ignited. The event attracts tens of thousands each year and in the past, celebrities from Sean “Diddy” Combs to Katy Perry have attended.

The tens of thousands of attendees travel to and from the city along a two-lane highway to get to the festival, according to its website. The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Burning Man participants dedicate their time to making art and building community. They can learn how to spin fire, or to pole dance, to make shrink art jewelry or build a giant sculpture of two people embracing and burn it down.

Some on-site preparations for this year’s Burning Man were impacted by tropical storm Hilary in August, with high winds, rainfall and even flooding reported in the desert, CNN reported.

Amber Kramer, a resident of Kings Beach, California, told CNN she’s staying in an RV with her group and “feels fine as long as we have food and water.”

“My camp and I are on the roof [of the RV] trying to make the best of it,” Kramer said. She said she’s concerned for those staying in tents because the area is forecast to see more rain.

“People with RVs have been asked by camp leaders if they have room for people with tents because they are expecting another storm,” she said.

Kramer said she’s seen many people trudging around the camp with garbage bags strapped to their feet with duct tape in order to maneuver through the mud.

Burhorn, who traveled from San Francisco, California, said the mud is so thick that it “sticks to your shoes and makes it almost like a boot around your boot,” making it even more difficult to move around, she added.

She added she and her friends were not expecting any rain – only extreme heat. Burhorn said people trapped in the desert have limited cell service, making it almost impossible to get news on weather conditions or receive updates from festival organizers.

“It’s all been completely word of mouth,” she said. “I just talked to my boyfriend on the phone who gave me a weather update. I was like, ‘can you tell me what’s going on in the news? We have no clue.’”

Burhorn said the mud is so thick that it “sticks to your shoes and makes it almost like a boot around your boot,” making it even more difficult to move around, she added.

The silver lining, Burhorn said, is people are walking from camp to camp to check on others and make sure they have enough food and water. “People are still really looking out for each other, which is like a bubble of love.”

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September 2, 2023
Biden heads to Florida to tour Idalia damage as presidential politics swirl | CNN Politics

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CNN
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President Joe Biden is set to travel to storm-ravaged Florida on Saturday, where he will meet with Floridians impacted by Hurricane Idalia, tour damage and thank emergency responders.

But in a stark departure from his previous visits to the Sunshine State in the wake of major disasters, Biden apparently won’t be joined by the state’s firebrand governor and GOP presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis. The moment represents one of the first times the two men have showed signs of their political rivalry while responding to a disaster. Biden and DeSantis have previously met under challenging circumstances – the two convened in response to the 2021 Surfside building collapse and again in 2022 following Hurricane Ian’s damage in southwestern Florida.

On the visit, the president and first lady Dr. Jill Biden will receive an aerial tour of impacted areas, participate in a response and recovery briefing with federal personnel, local officials, and first responders, then tour an impacted community before delivering remarks in Live Oak, Florida, a White House official said. Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, and other local officials will participate in parts of the visit, the official added.

On Saturday, FEMA administrator Deanna Criswell said that Biden had contacted DeSantis to inform him of the visit.

“When the president contacted the governor to let him know he was going to be visiting … the governor’s team and my team, mutually agreed on a place that would have minimal impact into operations,” Criswell said on CNN This Morning. “Live Oak, you know, the power is being restored. The roads aren’t blocked, but there’s families that are hurting there,” she said.

It’s the latest in a back and forth between DeSantis and the administration, after the governor’s spokesperson Friday night said he had no plans to meet with Biden Saturday, contradicting Biden telling CNN that he would meet with his political rival.

“I would have to defer you to the governor on what his schedule is going to be,” Criswell said to CNN’s Amara Walker.

On Friday afternoon, Biden told CNN that “yes,” he’d be meeting with DeSantis. But by the evening, a spokesperson for DeSantis said there are no plans for two to meet, eschewing an opportunity to once again put their differences aside to navigate a response to a disaster as the governor appeared to pull the rug out on the plans.

“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president tomorrow,” DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern told CNN Friday evening. “In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”

White House spokesperson Emilie Simons said that Biden’s visit was being planned to minimize disruption to storm recovery efforts.

“President Biden and the first lady look forward to meeting members of the community impacted by Hurricane Idalia and surveying impacts of the storm,” Simons said. “They will be joined by Administrator Criswell who is overseeing the federal response. Their visit to Florida has been planned in close coordination with FEMA as well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations.”

A presidential visit anywhere requires a significant security footprint, and DeSantis suggested to reporters earlier Friday that he had raised concerns about that level of disruption as response efforts continue.

But a White House official said that DeSantis did not raise those concerns about the visit with Biden when the two spoke by phone ahead of Biden’s visit to Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters Thursday, during which Biden announced the trip. Biden’s upcoming travel schedule also presented logistical challenges to setting a date – he celebrates Labor Day with workers in Philadelphia Monday, awards the Medal of Honor at the White House on Tuesday and is headed to the G20 Summit in India next Thursday.

For DeSantis, who catapulted to GOP mega-stardom in recent years in part by taking aim at the Biden White House, staying away from Saturday’s visit will eliminate the possibility of any collegiality between the two being caught on camera during a tense Republican primary.

The White House had earlier attempted to downplay any rivalry between the two when it comes to responding to a natural disaster.

“They are very collegial when we have the work to do together of helping Americans in need, citizens of Florida in need,” deputy national security adviser Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall told reporters Thursday when pressed on the dynamic.

The Democratic president and the Republican governor have been in close touch leading up to, during and after the hurricane, which made landfall Wednesday in the coastal Big Bend region as a powerful Category 3 storm. Biden joked that he had DeSantis “on direct dial” given their frequent communication this week. But while the president has offered direct praise to DeSantis’ handling of the response, the Florida Republican largely stuck to assuring the public the two can work together.

Asked whether he sensed any politics in their conversations, Biden told reporters during the visit to FEMA headquarters that he didn’t – and acknowledged that it was “strange” given the polarized political climate.

“No. Believe it or not. I know that sounds strange, especially how – looking at the nature of politics today,” he said.

Biden continued, “I think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help, and I trust him to be able to suggest that this is not about politics, it’s about taking care of the people of the state. This is about taking care of the people of his state.”

Still, DeSantis hasn’t shied away from his criticism of the president and his handling of disasters outside his state. During a GOP presidential debate last week, days before the storm made landfall, DeSantis took aim at Biden’s response to the wildfires in Maui.

“Biden was on the beach while those people were suffering. He was asked about it and he said, ‘No comment.’ Are you kidding me? As somebody that’s handled disasters in Florida, you’ve got to be activated. You’ve got to be there. You’ve got to be present. You’ve got to be helping people who are doing this,” he said.

There was a similar dynamic surrounding their work together on Hurricane Ian last year. Weeks before the storm touched down, DeSantis had flown migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, and made a national tour spotlightling the move. Biden accused DeSantis at the time for “playing politics with human beings” and called the stunt “unAmerican.”

There have also been back-and-forth tensions between the White House and the governor on support for LGBTQ kids and book bans in public schools.

Still, they set their differences aside as DeSantis welcomed Biden to the Sunshine State to tour damage from the hurricane.

“I’m just thankful everyone has banded together,” DeSantis said, before adding: “Mr. President, welcome to Florida. We appreciate working together across various levels of government.”

That appearance together was rather deflating for Democrats who had hoped to raise concerns about DeSantis’ handling of the storm, particularly the seeming lack of urgency in local evacuation orders. But when Biden called DeSantis’ response to Ian “pretty remarkable,” it closed the door on that.

Both leaders also poured on the niceties in the wake of the deadly condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, a year earlier.

“You recognized the severity of this tragedy from day one and you’ve been very supportive,” DeSantis said during a briefing in Miami Beach.

Biden added, “You know what’s good about this? We live in a nation where we can cooperate. And it’s really important.”

That dynamic will not be on display Saturday.

Biden formally approved a major disaster declaration for Florida on Thursday, making federal funding available to those in affected counties. As of Friday evening, power restoration remained the top response priority as over 70,000 Floridians remain without power amid high temperatures.

Approximately 1,500 federal responders are on the ground in Florida, including search and rescue personnel and members of the Army Corps of Engineers.

As the state seeks to recover from the storm’s devastation, the Biden administration asked Congress on Friday for an additional $4 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, pointing to Hurricane Idalia and a brutal stretch of natural disasters across the country in recent weeks. That is in addition to a request for $12 billion last month.

As the White House pushes Congress to pass a short-term spending bill to avoid a shutdown and ensure continuity of government services, the president has signaled that he’s ready to blame Republicans if there isn’t enough funding to respond to disasters.

For his part, DeSantis has lobbied unapologetically for the kind of disaster aid that as a congressman he voted against as wasteful spending.

Asked about the $4 billion request Friday, DeSantis told reporters, “How Washington handles all this stuff, I don’t quite understand. … They just did a big budget deal and did not include that. They included a lot of money for a lot of other stuff.”

He continued, “I trust our senators and congressmen hopefully to be able to be able to work it out in a good way. You know, as governor, I’m gonna be pulling whatever levers I can to be able to help folks. And so, if that’s the state, we’re mobilizing all of our state assets. Private sector, we’re leveraging that. And we will apply for whatever federal money is available.”

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September 2, 2023
Ohio police release video of fatal police shooting of pregnant 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young | CNN

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CNN
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Newly released police body camera footage shows an officer firing through the windshield of a pregnant woman’s car after she was accused of shoplifting at a grocery store in a Columbus, Ohio, suburb last week.

Ta’kiya Young, 21, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The video shows a Blendon Township police officer approaching Young’s driver’s side window outside a Kroger in Westerville and repeatedly telling her to get out of the car.

A second officer, who is also wearing a body camera, then steps in front of the vehicle.

“They said you stole something….get out of the car,” the officer at the window says, telling Young not to leave.

“I didn’t steal sh*t,” Young can be heard saying as the two argue back and forth with her window slightly ajar.

Police previously said a grocery store employee had notified police officers a woman who had stolen bottles of alcohol was in a car parked outside the store.

“Get out of the f**king car,” the officer standing in front of the car says, with his gun drawn and his left hand braced on the hood of the car, the video shows.

Young can then be seen turning the wheel of the car as the officer next to her window continues to urge her to exit the vehicle.

“Get out of the f**king car,” the officer in front of the car repeats as the vehicle begins to move slowly forward, the video shows.

A few seconds elapse and then the officer standing in front of the hood fires into the vehicle.

After the shot is fired, the officers run alongside the car yelling at the driver to stop.

The car rolls onto a sidewalk between two brick columns and into a building.

Police then call for backup and work to break the window to get to the driver, who appears to be slumped over to one side.

The body camera footage released by the Blendon Township Police Department blurred the faces of the officers. The footage is also edited and spliced together.

Young was pregnant at the time of her death and the fetus did not survive, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office previously said. Her cause of death is pending.

Police say the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting an independent investigation of the incident.

The BCI probe could take “several weeks or months,” according to Steve Irwin, the press secretary for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which includes BCI. After investigators finish the examination, their findings will be forwarded to the county prosecutor who will make a decision on pursuing any potential charges, he said.

“Having viewed the footage in its entirety, it is undeniable that Ta’Kiya’s death was not only avoidable, but also a gross misuse of power and authority,” lawyers representing Young’s family said in a news release.

“After seeing the video footage of her death, this is clearly a criminal act and the family demands a swift indictment of this officer for the killings of both Ta’Kiyah and her unborn daughter,” they said.

Police say the officers haven’t “waived their rights as victims” in this incident and are withholding their identities, according to a news release from Blendon Township police.

“When Ms. Young drove her car directly at Officer #1, striking him, Officer #1 became a victim of attempted vehicular assault,” police said in a news release.

“When Ms. Young pulled away from Officer #2 while his hand and part of his arm was still in the driver’s side window, Officer #2 became a victim of misdemeanor assault,” they said in the news release.

Authorities said the officers worked quickly to help Young after the shooting, saying EMS was called 10 seconds after she was taken out of the car. The officer who fired the shot also grabbed a trauma kit and applied a chest seal to her wound in under two minutes after she was removed from the vehicle.

The officer who fired his weapon is still on administrative leave, but the second officer who was at the window is back at work. Chief John Belford said after he reviewed the videos, he didn’t see a reason to keep the second officer on leave.

“I returned him to duty, as our staffing is already very limited,” he said, noting both officers would still be subject to a “full administrative review” after the BCI investigation.

“Last week, there was a tragedy in our community,” Belford said in a statement. Due to potential pending litigation, he says the department is “very limited in what we can say.”

“We’re being as transparent and forthcoming as we can, given these significant legal constraints.” He cited an ongoing BCI investigation and potential “personnel actions” regarding the officer who opened fire.

The local police union said others would make any decisions regarding whether either officer is charged in the incident. But, Brian Steel, executive vice president of Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, noted “a weapon is not just a firearm. A weapon is also a 2000-pound vehicle that somebody puts in gear and is driving at you.”

“I understand why it could be justified but, again, I don’t make that decision,” Steel said at a news conference Friday, adding he was assuming the officer believed he could not get out of the way of the vehicle quickly enough.

The Blendon Township Police Department’s use of force policy says when it’s “feasible,” officers should take “reasonable steps” to get out of the way of an approaching vehicle instead of firing a weapon.

“An officer should only discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle or its occupants when the officer reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available to avert the imminent threat of the vehicle, or if deadly force other than the vehicle is directed at the officer or others,” the policy says.

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September 1, 2023
Retired teacher sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia after tweeting criticism | CNN

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A Saudi court has sentenced a retired teacher to death over his comments online, say his brother and advocacy group Human Rights Watch.

Muhammad al-Ghamdi, a 54-year-old retired Saudi teacher, was sentenced “following 5 tweets criticizing corruption and human rights violations,” his brother Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi tweeted last week.

According to Human Rights Watch, Muhammad al-Ghamdi was arrested last year and given little access to a lawyer before his conviction in July “under article 30 of Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism law for ‘describing the King or the Crown Prince in a way that undermines religion or justice,’ article 34 for ‘supporting a terrorist ideology,’ article 43 for ‘communication with a terrorist entity,’ and article 44 for publishing false news ‘with the intention of executing a terrorist crime.’”

“Repression in Saudi Arabia has reached a terrifying new stage when a court can hand down the death penalty for nothing more than peaceful tweets,” Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a Tuesday statement.

According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 92 people this year so far. In 2022, UK-based human rights organization ALQST cataloged 148 executions in Saudi Arabia – more than twice the number of executions it recorded in 2021.

The death sentence comes amid an “escalating crackdown” on free speech in the country, said Lina Alhathloul, ALQST head of monitoring and advocacy and sister of released Saudi political prisoner Loujain al-Hathloul.

“They are sending a clear and sinister message – that nobody is safe, and even a tweet can get you killed,” she said.

Al-Ghamdi’s brother Saeed, a well-known Saudi Islamic scholar and government critic living in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom, said he believe the severity of the sentence is designed to punish him as well.

“The Saudi authorities asked me several times to return to Saudi Arabia, but I refused to do so. It is very probable that this death sentence against my brother is in retaliation for my activity. Otherwise, his charges wouldn’t have carried such a severe penalty,” he said.

CNN reached out to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Interior for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

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September 1, 2023
Gabon’s military coup has overthrown a powerful political dynasty. Here’s what to know | CNN

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A military coup thrust the Central African nation of Gabon into turmoil Wednesday, unseating the president – whose family had held power for more than half a century – just minutes after he was named the winner of a contested election.

Ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, also known as Ali Bongo, has faced accusations of election fraud and corruption since he began ruling the oil-rich but poverty-stricken nation nearly 14 years ago. Following the coup, residents in the country’s capital were seen celebrating and embracing soldiers on the street.

But much remains uncertain, with Bongo reportedly under house arrest, his son arrested, all borders closed and the government ostensibly shut down. International leaders have expressed concern and condemnation of the coup, some warning their citizens in Gabon to shelter in place.

Here’s what you need to know.

The military’s power grab began Wednesday, shortly after Gabon’s election authority said Bongo had been re-elected president following last weekend’s election.

Men in army uniforms announced on national television that they had seized power. They said the election results were voided, all borders shut, and numerous government bodies dissolved, including both houses of parliament.

The coup leaders said Bongo had been placed under house arrest, surrounded by “family and doctors.” The ousted president’s son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, was arrested alongside six others for “high treason.”

A video aired by the Agence France-Presse news agency shows Bongo seated in what looks like a library, saying he was “at the residence” and didn’t know what was happening. “My son is somewhere, my wife is another place,” he said.

It was not immediately clear under what circumstances the clip was filmed.x

Meanwhile, the junta named Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema – who was once the bodyguard of Bongo’s late father, the previous ruler of Gabon – as a transitional leader.

Speaking to French newspaper Le Monde on Wednesday, Oligui claimed Bongo was enjoying “all his rights” as a “normal Gabonese” citizen.

Videos of celebration in Gabon circulated online Wednesday, including footage of soldiers carrying Oligui on their shoulders and shouting “president.”

Residents in the capital Libreville were seen dancing on the streets, according to videos shared with CNN and posted on social media. In one video obtained by CNN, people can be seen shouting “liberated!” and waving the Gabon flag in the Nzeng Ayong district of the capital, alongside military vehicles.

Similar scenes played out in other parts of Gabon, including the second-largest city Port-Gentil.

Some members of the Gabonese diaspora also celebrated Wednesday, with students from Gabon gathering outside the country’s embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

“I assure you that what the Gabonese people wanted was just for the Bongo PDG system to leave power,” one student said, referring to Bongo’s political party, according to Reuters. “Because as we said, 60 years is too much.”

It’s hard to say – and there’s still a lot we don’t know.

The junta will temporarily restore the country’s constitutional court, resume domestic flights and establish the “institutions of the transition,” a spokesperson said Thursday. The military is expected to swear in Oligui as transitional president before the constitutional court on Monday.

It also pledged to continue public services in the country, and to follow the country’s commitments domestically and internationally.

The military imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and national borders will remain closed “until further notice,” a junta spokesperson said. However, Oligui has ordered signal to be restored to international radio and television channels.

But questions remain over what will happen to the country’s leadership; what awaits Bongo and his family; and what the coup means for Gabon’s international standing and diplomatic relationships.

On Thursday, Gabon’s main opposition members expressed gratitude to the military – but called on it to resume the election process, complete the vote count and grant victory to Bongo’s main challenger in the election.

The opposition representative invited military leaders to talks, and to “limit the consequences in the lives of our compatriots.”

Ali Bongo, 64, took over from his father, Omar Bongo, who died of cardiac arrest while receiving treatment for intestinal cancer in Span in 2009, following nearly 42 years in office.

The elder Bongo came to power in 1967, seven years after Gabon gained independence from France.

He ruled over the small nation with an iron fist, imposing a one-party system for years and only allowing multi-party rule in 1991, though his party retained its grip on government.

Ali Bongo began his political career in 1981, serving as foreign minister, congressman and defense minister before becoming president in 2009, according to the Gabonese embassy website in the United States.

But the Bongos have their fair share of critics, especially given the country’s enormous wealth gap. A French financial police investigation in 2007 found the Bongo family owned 39 properties in France, 70 bank accounts, and nine luxury cars worth a total of 1.5 million euros, according to Reuters.

Each of Ali Bongo’s three election victories has been deeply disputed, sometimes sparking violent nationwide protests. This week’s election has been decried by the opposition as fraudulent; Bongo’s team has rejected allegations of electoral irregularities.

Similarly in 2016, after Bongo was named the election victor, his main challenger said the decision by the country’s constitutional court to validate the contested result was “biased.” Another failed coup attempt against Bongo took place in 2019.

There have been multiple coups over the past three years in Africa’s former French colonies – Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Tunisia and now Gabon – that threaten a reversal of the democratization process the continent has undergone in the past two decades.

Coups in Africa were rampant in the early postcolonial decades, with coup leaders offering similar reasons for toppling governments: corruption, mismanagement and poverty, according to political analyst Remi Adekoya.

These justifications still resonate with many Africans today, he wrote for CNN in 2021 – and in many countries, people feel these problems are worsening. All the while, the population is growing in the world’s youngest continent, intensifying already fierce competition for resources.

These conditions have helped drive more recent coups – with many young Africans disillusioned with allegedly corrupt leaders and ready for radical change, as seen by the celebrations in Gabon Wednesday, and similar celebrations after the Guinea coup two years ago.

The Gabon coup has been widely criticized by other African nations and in the West. The African Union, representing 55 member states, condemned the coup and has suspended Gabon from participating in all of the group’s activities “until the restoration of constitutional order.”

The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) also condemned the takeover and called for dialogue to return the country to civilian rule. It is expected to hold a meeting with the heads of state of member nations to discuss “the path to follow” regarding Gabon.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned the coup Wednesday, according to his spokesperson. Guterres expressed concern over “reports of serious infringements of fundamental freedoms” during the contested election, but urged all parties to respect the rule of law and human rights.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday the United States is “strongly opposed to military seizures or unconstitutional transfers of power,” and urged coup leaders to “preserve civilian rule.” He added: “The United States stands with the people of Gabon.”

The US embassy in Gabon advised its citizens in the country to shelter in place and limit “unnecessary movements around town.” Americans in Gabon should “keep a low profile … avoid demonstrations … make contingency plans to leave … (and) have evacuation plans that do not rely on US government assistance,” it said on its website.

The European Union’s top diplomat said the bloc “rejects” the coup, though he said the EU shared “deep concerns” about how the electoral process was held. He said the EU currently has no plans to evacuate its staff based in Gabon.

Similar statements were made by other European nations including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain.

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August 31, 2023
One inmate killed in ongoing incident at Fulton County Jail | CNN

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CNN
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One inmate has been killed in an ongoing mass stabbing incident at the Fulton County Jail, Natalie Ammons with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office told CNN via email.

The situation is active, according to the department.

The US Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation in July into the jail for the dilapidated and unsanitary conditions, as well as violence against detainees.

Former President Donald J. Trump and 18 other co-defendants were booked into the same jail earlier this month, but only one – Harrison Floyd – was held there. He was released Wednesday.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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August 31, 2023
Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election subversion case | CNN Politics

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Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in the sprawling Fulton County election interference case, according to a new court filing.

Trump had been scheduled to be arraigned in person on Wednesday. Georgia law allows criminal defendants to waive their in-person appearance and enter a formal plea through court filings.

His arraignment marks the fourth time that Trump has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges since leaving the presidency. In this case, Trump is charged with racketeering in his alleged efforts to upend the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Several of the former president’s co-defendants have also waived their in-court appearances and have pleaded not guilty, including Sidney Powell and Trevian Kutti. Defendants who do not waive their appearance will attend court as scheduled on September 6.

Though no official date for Trump to go to trial in Georgia has been set, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, has asked the judge overseeing the case last week to schedule a trial for all 19 defendants for October 23, 2023.

In response, lawyers for Trump said they oppose the proposed date and have previewed the likelihood of pre-trial disputes that will drag the proceedings. Several co-defendants, including his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, have sought to move their cases from Georgia state court to federal court, a more advantageous legal spot and a move that also would have the effect of delaying the proceedings.

Trump faces more than a dozen charges, some of which relate to efforts to put forth fake electors to falsely claim that the then-president won Georgia in 2020. He surrendered last week and agreed to a $200,000 bond and other release conditions, including not using social media to target the co-defendants and witnesses in the case.

He has also been indicted in three other cases: one related to a hush-money payment to an adult-film star in 2016 in Manhattan, another involving the alleged mishandling of classified national defense documents and a third federal investigation related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

This story has been updated with additional background information.

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August 31, 2023
Dollar General shares tumble after it cuts forecasts, blaming a spending slump and theft | CNN Business

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Dollar General slashed its sales and profit outlook for the year on Thursday, blaming headwinds including weaker consumer spending on non-essential purchases and increasing theft.

Dollar General shares tumbled nearly 17% in pre-market trading Thursday.

The discount store’s challenges are yet another sign of American consumers pulling back on shopping as inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

“One of the key reasons for this is because Dollar General’s core customers are feeling the acute pressure of the cost-of-living-crisis,” Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData, said in a report Thursday.

“This has been exacerbated by cuts in SNAP payments as temporary pandemic benefits came to an end. As a result, lower-income shoppers are cutting back on non-consumable and indulgent purchases from the chain in a bid to save money,” he said. “Unfortunately, this dynamic will not change any time soon as, if anything, finances will tighten over the second half of the year.”

The discount retailer now expects sales for the full year to rise between 1.3% to 3.3%, down from its previous forecast of a 3.5% to 5% increase. It expects full-year earnings to decline 22% to 34% from its previous estimate of a flat-to-8% decrease.

The retailer said its same-store sales (or sales at stores open at least a year) are expected to range from a decline of about 1% to an increase of 1% for the year, compared to its previous expectation of a 1% to 2%. increase.

For its second quarter, Dollar General logged a 1% drop in its same-store sales. It said weaker customer traffic to its stores hurt sales in the period, combined with budget-conscious shoppers pulling back on higher-priced discretionary purchases such as home items and clothing in favor of lower-priced everyday necessities.

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.2% for the year through July, adding pressure on shoppers looking for bargains.

In addition, food stamp recipients started to receive about $90 a month less in benefits, on average, starting in March, as a pandemic hunger relief program comes to an end nationwide three years after Congress approved it.

Meanwhile, close on the heels of Dick’s Sporting Goods sounding the alarm on store theft eating into its profit this year, Dollar General also flagged an increase in product theft, among other factors, hurting its profit.

The company said “an increase in expected inventory shrink for the second half of 2023” factored into its lower guidance. Shrink is an industry term encompassing inventory losses caused by external theft, including organized retail crime, employee theft, human errors, vendor fraud, damaged or mismarked items and other losses.

Retailers large and small say they are struggling to contain an escalation in store crimes — from petty shoplifting to organized sprees of large-scale theft that clear entire shelves of products. Target warned earlier this year that it was bracing to lose half a billion dollars because of rising theft. It reported a large number of incidents of shoplifting and organized retail crime in its stores nationwide.

At the same time, it’s not clear that store crime is growing significantly more serious. Within the industry, at least one major player has argued that the problem is being overhyped.

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August 31, 2023
US intel: Ukraine war caused ‘one of the most disruptive periods’ for global food security | CNN Politics

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused deep disruptions in the global food supply, raising prices and increasing the risk of food insecurity in poorer nations in the Middle East and North Africa, America’s top spy agency said in an unclassified report released by Congress on Wednesday.

The direct and indirect effects of the war “were major drivers of one of the most disruptive periods in decades for global food security,” the eight-page report found – in large part because Ukraine and Russia were among the world’s largest pre-war exporters of grain and other agricultural products.

Although food security concerns have abated since the start of this year, according to the report, the future trajectory of global food prices likely will depend in part on what happens with the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia ended in July. The deal, facilitated by the United Nations, had allowed Ukrainian agricultural shipments to safely exit Black Sea ports and reach the international market.

How much acreage Ukraine is able to cultivate as the war continues to rage and the cost and availability of fertilizers will also have an impact on global food prices, the report found. Global fertilizer prices reached near-record levels in mid-2022 as global oil and natural gas prices rose.

“The combination of high domestic food prices and historic levels of sovereign debt in many countries – largely caused by spending and recessionary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – has weakened countries’ capacity to respond to heightened food insecurity risks,” the report said. “These factors probably will undermine the capacity of many poor countries to provide sufficient and affordable food to their population through the end of the year.”

Droughts last year in Canada, the Middle East, South America and the United States also compounded the war-related stress on global food supplies, according to the report.

Intelligence officials have accused Russia in the past of weaponizing food supplies by blocking Ukrainian exports, destroying infrastructure and occupying Ukrainian agricultural land.

Citing satellite imagery and open-source reporting, the report said that Russia stole nearly 6 million tons of Ukrainian wheat harvested from occupied territories in 2022. Cargo ships used to transport the stolen grain out of Russian-occupied territories in 2022 would steer along the coast of Turkey to deliver shipments to ports in Syria, Israel, Iran, Georgia and Lebanon, the report said.

“We cannot confirm if the buyers of the Russian cargoes were aware of the grains’ Ukrainian origin,” the report said.

The report was mandated by the annual intelligence authorization bill and released by the House Intelligence Committee.

“This report casts light on the war’s broader disruption to global food security and reveals how (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has intentionally used food security and the threat of starvation as a negotiating chip,” committee leaders Reps. Mike Turner and Jim Himes said in a statement. “Russia’s recent refusal to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative will worsen this crisis, driving vulnerable nations into food shortages that could leave millions struggling to eat.”

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August 30, 2023
The ways Hurricane Idalia has already made history | CNN

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Hurricane Idalia remained an active threat to the Southeast on Wednesday afternoon, but it has already left its mark on history, proving to be a once-in-a-lifetime storm for parts of Florida.

Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 125 mph Wednesday morning in Florida’s Big Bend region – where the panhandle meets the peninsula – near Keaton Beach.

Follow live updates: Idalia spreading damage across the Southeast

Idalia’s journey since it first formed in the Caribbean Sea over the weekend has been anything but ordinary. Here are some of its most notable superlatives:

With maximum winds of 125 mph, Idalia was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region in more than 125 years.

The last storm of Idalia’s strength to slam the region was an unnamed Category 3 hurricane in 1896. The unnamed hurricane also had sustained winds of 125 mph at landfall.

Idalia was the first major hurricane – Category 3 or stronger – on record to track through Florida’s Apalachee Bay, a northern inlet in the Big Bend.

Idalia’s storm surge was record-breaking from Tampa to the Big Bend.

More than 8 feet of storm surge sent water levels in Cedar Key, Florida, to 6.8 feet above their highest normal tides on Wednesday morning. This shattered the previous high water level of 5.99 feet from Hurricane Hermine in 2016.

In Tampa Bay, water levels surpassed 4.5 feet on Wednesday morning, exceeding the previous high water mark of 3.79 feet from Tropical Storm Eta in 2020.

Clearwater Beach also set a new record-high water level at 4.05 feet, surpassing the previous record of 4.02 feet from the 1993 Storm of the Century.

Storm surge rushing through the Steinhatchee River in Steinhatchee, Florida, also caused water levels there to rise 9 feet in two hours and hit record levels there.

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued two extreme wind warnings on Wednesday morning as the strongest winds from Idalia came ashore. These types of warnings are only issued when sustained winds of 115 mph or greater are expected in an area.

Until Wednesday, only 27 extreme wind warnings had ever been issued in the continental US. The majority of these warnings have been issued in Florida.

Hurricane Idalia went through a period of rapid intensification Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning as it tracked over the exceptionally warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists have been alarmed at how warm ocean temperatures have been this year, including in the Gulf if Mexico and around southern Florida, where sea surface temperature climbed to around 100 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this summer.

Average sea surface temperature in Idalia’s path was recently measured at nearly 88 degrees Fahrenheit — a record there since data began in the early 1980s.

With an enormous pool of warm-water energy to draw from, the hurricane’s sustained winds increased a staggering 55 mph over the course of 24 hours. Rapid intensification is defined as an increase of at least 35 mph within a 24 hour period.

Idalia was a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph sustained winds early Tuesday morning. By early Wednesday, it was a monstrous Category 4 with sustained winds of 130 mph.

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August 30, 2023
Hurricane Idalia intensifies to a dangerous Category 4 hurricane ahead of its landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast | CNN

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Editor’s Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNN’s lite site for low bandwidth.

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Hurricane Idalia has intensified into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, packing monster winds of 130 mph as it turns streets to rivers and knocks out power along Florida’s western shore ahead of an expected landfall Wednesday morning on the state’s Gulf Coast.

With residents warned to flee and the National Guard prepping for rescues, the “extremely dangerous” storm is expected to strike the Big Bend coast linking Florida’s panhandle and peninsula with once-in-a-lifetime damaging winds and a life-threatening storm surge of up to 16 feet, the National Hurricane Center said.

“There is great potential for death and catastrophic devastation,” warned the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, in the Big Bend region southeast of Tallahassee.

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Still rapidly intensifying around 5 a.m. about 60 miles west-southwest of Cedar Key, Florida, Idalia also is now expected to stay a hurricane for longer, with hurricane warnings issued for southeastern Georgia and South Carolina, the hurricane center said.

And a tornado watch is in place for nearly 12 million people across central and northern Florida and southeast Georgia until 3 p.m., Wednesday, as conditions continue to deteriorate, with coastal streets and lots flooding in places including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Fort Myers Beach as ocean water pushes ashore, rain pours down and winds whip.

Track Idalia here >>

As its eye moves onshore in the Big Bend region, Idalia’s core will bring destructive winds and storm surge high enough to stack a wall of seawater halfway up the second floor of an average building. It could be the first major hurricane at Category 3 or stronger to hit the area.

“This has the makings of an unprecedented event for this part of the state,” the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said. “There are NO major hurricanes in the historical dataset going back to 1851 that have tracked into Apalachee Bay. None.

“Don’t mess around with this one.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of “significant, significant impact” to the Big Bend region, saying first responders will not be able to reach the few people who have stayed in evacuation zones until after the storm passes.

“You really got to go now,” he urged Big Bend residents Tuesday evening. “Now’s the time.”

Do not try to “‘ride’ this one out,” police told residents in the Big Bend city of Perry, adding storm surge higher than 15 feet is “not survivable if you are caught in it.” Storm surge accounts for nearly half of all hurricane-related fatalities, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.

In Tampa, well south of the projected landfall zone, Idalia’s storm surge began to flood streets Tuesday within a half-hour, Police Chief Lee Bercaw said.

“I witnessed for myself people driving in the water,” he said at a storm briefing Tuesday. “Don’t be that person. Remember: Turn around, don’t drown.”

Storm surge could cut off Cedar Key, on the southern side of the Big Bend, National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said.

“This storm is worse than we’ve ever seen. My family has been here for many generations, we haven’t seen a storm this bad, ever,” Mayor Heath Davis said Tuesday, warning that all emergency services would stop Tuesday evening as winds pick up.

Here are other developments around the state:

• Evacuations in at least 28 counties: Alachua, Baker, Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota, Suwannee, Sumter, Taylor, Union, Volusia and Wakulla have all issued evacuation orders, some mandatory.

• Power knocked out: Nearly 66,000 customers have no power early Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.com.

• Travel halted: Hundreds of flights have been canceled as Tampa International Airport suspended commercial operations and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport Terminal building closed Tuesday.

• National Guard is deployed: Around 5,500 National Guard troops have been deployed, bracing to help with any search and rescue efforts after landfall.

• Hospitals suspend services: Patients were being transferred from at least three hospitals: HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital, HCA Florida Trinity West Hospital and HCA Florida West Tampa Hospital. Meanwhile, Tampa General Hospital was constructing a water-impermeable barrier to remain open for emergency care.

• Bridges will close: DeSantis warned residents in the path of Hurricane Idalia that once winds reach 40 mph or more, bridges will not be “safe to traverse” and will be shut down. High winds led officials to close the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which connects St. Petersburg to Manatee County, Pinellas County Emergency Management announced Wednesday morning.

• Schools and universities close: 50 county school districts have issued closures, as did dozens of college and university systems across Florida.

• Thousands of inmates evacuated: Roughly 4,000 inmates were evacuated or relocated to facilities better equipped to handle the storm, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

• Much of Florida under state of emergency: DeSantis has issued an emergency declaration to 49 of 67 Florida counties.

Florida won’t be the only state feeling Idalia’s impacts. After the storm makes landfall, damaging winds and heavy rain will spread far inland into Florida, parts of Georgia and even the Carolinas.

After hitting Florida, Idalia’s center is forecast to move near or along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina late Wednesday and Thursday, the hurricane center said.

“Idalia is likely to still be a hurricane while moving across southern Georgia, and possibly when it reaches the coast of Georgia or southern South Carolina late today,” the hurricane center said Wednesday morning.

North Carolina and Georgia have also declared states of emergency as they prepare for floods and hurricane force winds.

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August 30, 2023
UNC graduate student arrested on murder charge in fatal shooting of faculty member, police say | CNN

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The suspect in the fatal shooting of a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday is a graduate student at the school, UNC police said in a news release Tuesday.

Tailei Qi, the grad student, is in custody on charges of first-degree murder charge and having a gun on education property, according to police.

The victim was identified as Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the department of Applied Physical Sciences who had worked for UNC since 2019.

Qi was a grad student in the same department and Yan was his faculty adviser, according to Qi’s UNC biographical page, which has been deleted but is available on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Qi entered the school in 2022 and listed his previous education as Louisiana State University and Wuhan University, the page said.

Police still are looking for the weapon and the motive behind the fatal shooting.

The early afternoon shooting sent the university of more than 30,000 students into lockdown for hours. The suspect was detained about 90 minutes after the gunfire interrupted activities at the school’s Caudill Laboratories, a chemistry studies building.

“We want to ensure that we gather every piece of evidence to determine exactly what happened here today and why it happened,” UNC Police Chief Brian James said at a news conference Monday evening. “It is too early in this investigation to know a motive for the shooting.”

Qi will have his first court appearance in Hillsborough at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, said prosecutor Jeff Nieman, whose district covers Orange and Chatham counties.

Detectives looking for motive and firearm

Detectives won’t get clues into the motive until they speak with the suspect, James said. Investigators have not found the firearm that was used in the shooting and it’s not known whether it was legally obtained, James said.

No one else was injured, officials said.

“This loss is devastating and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community. We will work to rebuild that sense of trust and safety within our community,” UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said.

James said it was unclear whether the victim and the assailant knew each other.

“That will hopefully be uncovered through interviews of the suspect as well as any witnesses that may be available,” he said.

Classes and campus activities were canceled Monday and Tuesday, officials said. This is the second week of fall semester classes at the flagship university of the 17-member UNC system.

After 911 calls about the shooting came in shortly after 1 p.m., university police issued an alert advising students to go inside immediately, close windows and doors and to wait until further notice, according to an email. A witness on campus told CNN they were locked down in their building and saw armed officers searching campus.

Video from CNN affiliate WRAL showed a large number of police vehicles at the campus with their emergency lights flashing. At times, people walked out of nearby buildings in a single-file line with their arms in the air.

Police detained one person before the suspect’s arrest but they determined “very quickly” it was not the gunman, James said.

The suspect was taken into custody shortly after 2:30 p.m., Guskiewicz said. The university continued in lockdown for a couple hours after the suspect was detained because authorities were working to confirm they had the right person and trying to find the firearm that was used, James told reporters.

The university has a student body of about 32,000, along with more than 4,000 faculty and 9,000 staff members.

The FBI is assisting in evidence gathering, officials said.

Forty-nine school shootings have happened in the US this year, including the UNC shooting – 34 have been reported on K-12 campuses and 15 on university and college campuses – according to a CNN tally.

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August 29, 2023
Hurricane Idalia and Labor Day could send gas prices and inflation higher | CNN Business

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A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.

New York
CNN
—

Labor Day — one of the busiest driving holidays in the US — is on the horizon, and so is Hurricane Idalia. That’s potentially bad news for gas prices.

The storm, which is expected to make landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday, could bring 100 mile-per-hour winds and flooding that extends hundreds of miles up the east coast. The impact could take gasoline refinery facilities offline and may limit some Gulf oil production and supplies. Plus, demand for gas is expected to surge as residents of the impacted areas evacuate.

“Idalia… could pose risk to oil and gas output in the US Gulf,” wrote the Nasdaq Advisory Services Energy Team.

The storm is expected to make landfall as drivers nationwide load into their vehicles for the Labor Day weekend, pushing up the demand for gasoline even further.

All together it means the price of oil and gasoline could remain elevated well into the fall.

Generally, summer demand for oil tends to wane in September, but so does supply as refineries shift from summer fuels to “oxygenated” winter fuels, said Louis Navellier of Navellier and Associates. Since the 1990s, the US has required manufacturers to include more oxygen in their gasoline during the colder months to prevent excessive carbon monoxide emissions.

With the storm approaching, that trend may not play out.

What’s happening: Gas prices are already at $3.82 a gallon. That’s the second highest price for this time of year since at least 2004, according to Bespoke Investment Group. (The only time the national average has been higher for this period was last summer, when prices hit $3.85 a gallon).

Geopolitical tensions have been supporting high oil and gas prices for some time. Recently, increased crude oil imports into China, production cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia and extreme heat set off a late-summer spike in gas prices. And the threat of powerful hurricanes could send them even higher.

Analysts at Citigroup have warned that this hurricane season could seriously impact power supplies.

“Two Category 3 or higher hurricanes landing on US shores could massively disrupt supplies for not weeks but months,” Citigroup analysts wrote in a note last week. In 2005, for example, gas prices surged by 46% between Memorial Day and Labor Day because of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, according to Bespoke.

What it means: The Federal Reserve and central banks around the world have been fighting to bring down stubbornly high inflation for more than a year. This week we’ll get some highly awaited economic data: The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, is due out on Thursday. But the task of inflation-busting is a lot more difficult when energy prices are high, and it’s even harder when they’re on the rise.

The PCE price index uses a complicated formula to determine how much weight to give to energy prices each month, but they typically comprise a significant chunk of the headline inflation rate.

“Crude oil price remains elevated, even after the surge at the start of the Russia-Ukraine War,” said Andrew Woods, oil analyst at Mintec, a market intelligence firm. “Energy prices have been a major contributor to persistently high inflation in the US, so the crude oil price will remain a watch-out factor for future inflation.”

High oil and gas prices are one of the largest contributing factors to inflation. That’s bad news for drivers but tends to be great for the energy industry, as oil prices and energy stocks are closely interlinked.

Energy stocks were trading higher on Monday. The S&P 500 energy sector was up around 0.75%. Exxon Mobil (XOM) was 0.85% higher, BP (BP) was up 1.36% and Chevron (CVX) was up 0.75%.

OpenAI, will release a version of its popular ChatGPT tool made specifically for businesses, the company announced on Monday.

OpenAI unveiled the new service, dubbed “ChatGPT Enterprise,” in a company blog post and said it will be available to business clients for purchase immediately.

The new offering, reports my colleague Catherine Thorbecke, promises to provide “enterprise-grade security and privacy” combined with “the most powerful version of ChatGPT yet” for businesses looking to jump on the generative AI bandwagon.

“We believe AI can assist and elevate every aspect of our working lives and make teams more creative and productive,” the blog post said. “Today marks another step towards an AI assistant for work that helps with any task, is customized for your organization, and that protects your company data.”

Fintech startup Block, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder and professional services firm PwC have already signed on as customers.

The highly-anticipated announcement from OpenAI comes as the company says employees from over 80% of Fortune 500 companies have already begun using ChatGPT since it launched publicly late last year, according to its analysis of accounts associated with corporate email domains.

A multitude of leading newsrooms, meanwhile, have recently injected code into their websites that blocks OpenAI’s web crawler, GPTBot, from scanning their platforms for content. CNN’s Reliable Sources has found that CNN, The New York Times, Reuters, Disney, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Axios, Insider, ABC News, ESPN, and the Gothamist, among others have taken the step to shield themselves.

American Airlines just got smacked with the largest-ever fine for keeping passengers waiting on the tarmac during multi-hour delays.

The Department of Transportation is levying the $4.1 million fine, “the largest civil penalty that the Department has ever assessed” it said in a statement, for lengthy tarmac delays of 43 flights that impacted more than 5,800 passengers. The flights occurred between 2018 and 2021, reports CNN’s Gregory Wallace.

In the longest of the delays, passengers sat aboard a plane in Texas in August 2020 for six hours and three minutes. The 105-passenger flight had landed after being diverted from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport due to severe weather, with the DOT alleging that “American (AAL) lacked sufficient resources to appropriately handle several of these flights once they landed.”

Federal rules set the maximum time that passengers can be held without the opportunity to get off prior to takeoff or after landing, at three hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights. Current rules also require airlines provide passengers water and a snack.

American told CNN the delays all resulted from “exceptional weather events” and “represent a very small number of the 7.7 million flights during this time period.”

The company also said it has invested in technology to better handle flights in severe weather and reduce the congestion at airports.

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August 29, 2023
Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to rapidly intensify as it aims for Florida’s Gulf Coast, threatening to hit as a Category 3 hurricane | CNN
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CNN
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Florida is bracing for “major impact” as Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to rapidly strengthen into a powerful Category 3 hurricane and aim for its Gulf Coast, threatening dangerous storm surge and winds, authorities said.

Idalia is expected to intensify over the coming hours before it makes landfall in the Sunshine State on Wednesday morning near the Big Bend of Florida – a rare event for a natural, storm surge-prone divot along the coast stretching from Tampa to just south of Tallahassee.

“Idalia could become a hurricane later this morning, and is forecast to become a major hurricane by early Wednesday,” the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm is churning maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, roughly 190 miles southwest of the Dry Tortugas, where tropical storm conditions were expected Tuesday morning, the hurricane center said in a 2 a.m. ET Tuesday update.

“This is going to be a major hurricane,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Monday news conference.

On its current track, Idalia’s center is forecast to soon pass near or over western Cuba, trek over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, before slamming into the Gulf coast of Florida Wednesday – though its impacts could be felt from the Florida Keys as soon as Tuesday.

It’s not just Florida that’ll feel the impacts. After the storm makes landfall, damaging winds and heavy rain will spread far inland into Florida, parts of Georgia and even the Carolinas.

The storm is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain from Tuesday into Thursday across parts of the west coast of Florida, the Florida Panhandle, southeast Georgia and the eastern Carolinas – where streets could flood.

As the storm makes its way to Florida, preparations could be seen across the state. Here’s the latest:
Airports close: Tampa International Airport will suspend all commercial operations beginning Tuesday and stay closed until it can assess any damages later in the week, airport officials announced. The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport Terminal building will close Tuesday afternoon.
Evacuations in at least 10 counties: Hillsborough, Franklin, Taylor, Levy, Citrus, Manatee, Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas and Sarasota counties have all called for residents to evacuate certain at-risk areas.
Schools close: 32 County School Districts have issued closures, as did multiple colleges and universities, including Florida State University, the University of Florida and Florida A&M University.
Emergencies declared: DeSantis expanded an emergency declaration to 46 of 67 Florida counties on Monday morning. Several local jurisdictions have also declared emergencies.
The Florida National Guard activated: More than 5,000 National Guard members were activated to help respond to the storm.
US Navy ships begin leaving: Navy ships have begun leaving Florida ahead of Tropical Storm Idalia’s landfall, the Navy said Monday.

Power outages expected: DeSantis told residents to prepare to be without power. “If you are in the path of the storm, you should expect power outages so please prepare for that,” the governor told residents Sunday.

Hospital system suspending services: Patients will be transferred from at least three hospitals: HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital, HCA Florida Trinity West Hospital and HCA Florida West Tampa Hospital.
“We want everyone to take this storm seriously,” Barbara Tripp, Tampa’s Fire Rescue Chief said during a news conference.

The Fire Chief also asked citizens to clear debris from property ahead of the storm’s arrival and look out for neighbors who may need help.

“Once the wind reaches a certain miles per hour, Tampa Fire Rescue will not be able to respond,” Tripp warned.

With the storm forecast to strengthen quickly as it tracks through the Gulf of Mexico, it’ll be tapping into some of the warmest waters on the planet ahead of making landfall in Florida.

If it does so, it would join a growing list of devastating storms like monster Hurricane Ian — which leveled coastal Florida and left more than 100 dead — to rapidly intensify before landfall in recent years.

Idalia posed a “notable risk” of this phenomenon, the National Hurricane Center warned Monday, as it travels through the Gulf of Mexico.

Water temperatures around southern Florida climbed to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas this summer, and temperatures in the Gulf overall have been record-warm, with more than enough heat to support rapid strengthening.

Life-threatening storm surge up to 12 feet is possible in Florida’s Big Bend – a danger that will only be worsened by waves fueled by hurricane-force winds stronger than 100 mph.

Storm surge, which is when a storm blows the ocean onshore, is one of the deadliest aspects of a hurricane and the reason behind most storm evacuations.

Cedar Key could be cut off by the high storm surge, National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said.

“I’m especially concerned for them,” Rhome said during a briefing on Facebook Live. “If you’re watching from Cedar Key, it is imperative that you take this very seriously and if ordered to evacuate, heed those evacuations immediately. The entire island could be completely cut off with conditions like that.”

Rhome stressed that evacuation orders that have been issued along the coast are in place because of the projected storm surge.

Storm surge accounts for nearly half of all hurricane-related fatalities, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It’s not just the coastal areas that could flood.

Inland areas, where people may evacuate to, could see hazardous flooding and heavy rainfall from Idalia.

Andrew Kruczkiewicz, senior researcher at the Columbia University’s Climate School, warns that heavy rainfall-related hazards can also occur as far as 100 miles away from where the storm center tracks.

“This is something that we’re seeing more and more, and this is a climate change connection because we’re seeing wetter tropical cyclones and wetter hurricanes,” he told CNN. “So we need to pay more attention to the risks associated with intense precipitation, especially in areas that are distant from the coastline.”
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August 29, 2023
Climate change has ravaged India’s rice stock. Now its export ban could deepen a global food crisis | CNN Business

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Harayana, India
CNN
—

Satish Kumar sits in front of his submerged rice paddy in India’s Haryana state, looking despairingly at his ruined crops.

“I’ve suffered a tremendous loss,” said the third generation farmer, who relies solely on growing the grain to feed his young family. “I will not be able to grow anything until November.”

The newly planted saplings have been underwater since July after torrential rain battered northern India, with landslides and flash floods sweeping through the region.

Kumar said he has not seen floods of this scale in years and has been forced to take loans to replant his fields all over again. But that isn’t the only problem he’s facing.

Last month, India, which is the world’s largest exporter of rice, announced a ban on exporting non-basmati white rice in a bid to calm rising prices at home and ensure food security. India then followed with more restrictions on its rice exports, including a 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice.

The move has triggered fears of global food inflation, hurt the livelihoods of some farmers and prompted several rice-dependent countries to seek urgent exemptions from the ban.

More than three billion people worldwide rely on rice as a staple food and India contributed to about 40% of global rice exports.

Economists say the ban is just the latest move to disrupt global food supplies, which has suffered from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as weather events such as El Niño.

They warn the Indian government’s decision could have significant market reverberations with the poor in Global South nations in particular bearing the brunt.

And farmers like Kumar say market price rises caused by poor harvests doesn’t result in a windfall for them either.

“The ban is going to have an adverse effect on all of us. We won’t get a higher rate if rice isn’t exported,” Kumar said. “The floods were a death blow to us farmers. This ban will finish us.”

The abrupt announcement of the export ban triggered panic buying in the United States, following which the price of rice soared to a near 12-year high, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

It does not apply to basmati rice, which is India’s best-known and highest quality variety. Non-basmati white rice however, accounts for about 25% of exports.

India wasn’t the first country to ban food exports to ensure enough supply for domestic consumption. But its move, coming just one week after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal — a crucial pact that allowed the export of grain from Ukraine — contributed to global concerns about the availability of grain staples and whether millions would go hungry.

“The main thing here is that it is not just one thing,” Arif Husain, chief economist at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) told CNN. “[Rice, wheat and corn crops] make up bulk of the food which poor people around the world consume.”

Nepal has seen rice prices surge since India announced the ban, according to local media reports, and rice prices in Vietnam are the highest they have been in more than a decade, according to customs data.

Thailand, the world’s second largest rice exporter after India, has also seen domestic rice prices jump significantly in recent weeks, according to data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

Countries including Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, have appealed to New Delhi to resume rice exports to their nations, according to local Indian media reports. CNN has reached out to India’s Ministry of Agriculture but has not received a response.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has encouraged India to remove the restrictions, with the organization’s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, telling reporters last month that it was “likely to exacerbate” the uncertainty of food inflation.

“We would encourage the removal of these types of export restrictions because they can be harmful globally,” he said.

Now, there are fears that the ban has the world market bracing for similar actions by rival suppliers, economists warn.

“The export ban is happening at a time when countries are struggling with high debt, food inflation, and declining depreciating currencies,” Husain from the WFP said. “It’s troubling for everyone.”

Indian farmers account for nearly half of the country’s workforce, according to government data, with rice paddy mainly cultivated in central, southern, and some northern states.

Summer crop planting typically starts in June, when monsoon rains are expected to begin, as irrigation is crucial to grow a healthy yield. The summer season accounts for more than 80% of India’s total rice output, according to Reuters.

This year, however, the late monsoon arrival led to a large water deficit up until mid-June. And when the rains finally arrived, it drenched swathes of the country, unleashing floods that caused significant damage to crops.

Surjit Singh, 53, a third generation farmer from Harayana said they “lost everything” after the rains.

“My rice crops have been ruined,” he said. “The water submerged about 8-10 inches of my crops. What I planted (in early June) is gone… I will see a loss of about 30%.”

The World Meteorological Organization last month warned that governments must prepare for more extreme weather events and record temperatures, as it declared the onset of the warming phenomenon El Niño.

El Niño is a natural climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean that brings warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures and has a major influence on weather across the globe, affecting billions of people.

The impact has been felt by thousands of farmers in India, some of whom say they will now grow crops other than rice. And it doesn’t just stop there.

At one of New Delhi’s largest rice trading hubs, there are fears among traders that the export ban will cause catastrophic consequences.

“The export ban has left traders with huge amounts of stock,” said rice trader Roopkaran Singh. “We now have to find new buyers in the domestic market.”

But experts warn the effects will be felt far beyond India’s borders.

“Poor countries, food importing countries, countries in West Africa, they are at the highest risk,” said Husain from the WFP. “The ban is coming on the back of war and a global pandemic… We need to be extra careful when it comes to our staples, so that we don’t end up unnecessarily rising prices. Because those increases are not without consequences.”

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August 28, 2023
2 dead, 2 injured from fire rescue helicopter crash in Pompano Beach, Florida | CNN

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CNN
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A Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s fire rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment complex Monday morning, leaving two people dead and two others injured.

Authorities identified the dead as Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Captain Terryson Jackson, who was in the helicopter, and an unnamed adult woman who lived in the apartment complex.

The crash occurred near an airfield just north of Fort Lauderdale as the helicopter was on its way to an emergency call, authorities said.

“At approximately 8:46 a.m., emergency personnel responded to a call of an aircraft alert located southwest of the Pompano Beach Airpark. The helicopter involved in the crash is a BSO Fire Rescue helicopter. Pompano Beach Fire Rescue transported two people to an area hospital,” the Broward County Sheriff’s department said in a news release.

A total of three Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue personnel were on board the helicopter “that crashed into a structure following an in-flight fire one-half mile from Pompano Beach Airpark,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Just before it crashed, the aircraft was smoking and on fire near the rear, video posted to CNN affiliate WPLG appeared to show.

The two injured victims are being treated at the hospital and “do not have life-threatening injuries and are listed in fair condition,” officials said.

Terryson Jackson, 50, had worked in fire rescue in Broward County for 19 years, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.

“As a flight paramedic, he impacted the community daily, providing critical patients with the highest pre-hospital care,” reads the post. “He consistently showed an unmatched passion for the job. He always provided expert care, compassion and reassurance to those during their most significant time of need.”

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August 28, 2023