File Photo of 2025 flooding, courtesy of the Burns Paiute Tribe.
Salem, Ore. – An updated Disaster Recovery Plan has been formally adopted by Oregon’s Department of Emergency Management, replacing a plan approved back in 2018.
“Of course, a lot of things have taken place in our state since 2018,” says State Disaster Recovery Program Manager Quinn Butler, “With the 2020 Labor Day fires, COVID, multiple floods, wind storms, etc.” Butler says the Emergency Management Department incorporated lessons learned from those events into the new plan, which is a guide for coordinating efforts. “This new plan helps to better align efforts with our federal partners, as well as provide that framework to support recovery planning at the local and tribal jurisdictional levels.” Butler adds, “What was lacking in that older plan was: We needed to better define the roles and responsibilities of those state partners, beyond the response, beyond those couple of weeks, because we know that recovery from many disasters take 5-10 years.”
The newly approved recovery document is part of a broader State Emergency Management Plan. It’ll be put to the test later this year, “We have a state level exercise taking place in October of this year,” says Butler. “It’s called Lahar’d Times. It’s focusing on a volcanic eruption in the Sisters area. The focus is recovery; what does it look like 30 days after this major disaster?”
He says says now is the time – before a disaster – for Oregonians to make sure they have appropriate insurance, gather supplies to be “two weeks ready,” and are signed up for local emergency alerts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters is photographed in Washington, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to reallocate federal Homeland Security funding away from states that refuse to cooperate with certain federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy’s ruling on Monday solidified a win for the coalition of 12 attorneys general that sued the administration earlier this year after being alerted that their states would receive drastically reduced federal grants due to their “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
In total, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency reduced more than $233 million from Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The money is part of a $1 billion program where allocations are supposed to be based on assessed risks, with states then largely passing most of the money on to police and fire departments.
The cuts were unveiled shortly after a separate federal judge in a different legal challenge ruled it was unconstitutional for the federal government to require states to cooperate on immigration enforcement actions to get FEMA disaster funding.
In her 48-page ruling, McElroy found that the federal government was weighing states’ police on federal immigration enforcement on whether to reduce federal funding for the Homeland Security Grant Program and others.
“What else could defendants’ decisions to cut funding to specific counterterrorism programming by conspicuous round numbered amounts — including by slashing off the millions-place digits of awarded sums — be if not arbitrary and capricious? Neither a law degree nor a degree in mathematics is required to deduce that no plausible, rational formula could produce this result,” McElroy wrote.
The Trump-appointed judge then ordered the Department of Homeland Security to restore the previously announced funding allocations to the plaintiff states.
“Defendants’ wanton abuse of their role in federal grant administration is particularly troublesome given the fact that they have been entrusted with a most solemn duty: safeguarding our nation and its citizens,” McElroy wrote. “While the intricacies of administrative law and the terms and conditions on federal grants may seem abstract to some, the funding at issue here supports vital counterterrorism and law enforcement programs.”
McElroy notably cited the recent Brown University attack, where a gunman killed two students and injured nine others, as an event where the $1 billion federal program would be vital in responding to such a tragedy.
“To hold hostage funding for programs like these based solely on what appear to be defendants’ political whims is unconscionable and, at least here, unlawful,” the Rhode Island-based judge wrote in her ruling, issued little more than a week after the Brown shooting.
Emails seeking comment were sent to the DHS and FEMA.
“This victory ensures that the Trump Administration cannot punish states that refuse to help carry out its cruel immigration agenda, particularly by denying them lifesaving funding that helps prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in a statement.
People walk through a flooded street following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 30, 2025.
CLARENS SIFFROY
AFP via Getty Images
The death toll from Hurricane Melissa in Haiti continued to climb Thursday, with authorities saying that at least 30 people are now dead and 20 others are missing.
The biggest toll occurred in the country’s gang-ridden West region, when a swollen Digue River overflowed its banks and caused widespread flooding in the coastal town of Petit-Goâve, southwest of the capital. At least 23 people died, including 10 children, Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection said in the disaster.
“The search for victims is still under way,” the disaster office said in its latest report. “The Grise River is also swollen and has swept away a house in Tabarre.”
The hurricane, which made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, didn’t make a direct hit on Haiti. But as it battered the southwestern coast of Jamaica, Melissa winds and rains lashed the southern coast of Haiti, causing deadly floods that washed out roads, submerged cars, wiped out crops and buried homes under landslides.
The head of the United Nations Office for Migration, speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, said aid agencies still do not yet have a full view of the storm’s devastation after Haitians were forced to endure more than a week of rainfall.
“We need to do the assessments to really understand the extent of the damage and the human toll,” Gregoire Goodstein, the head of mission for office, said.
Those assessments require traveling on a World Food Program helicopter to the affected regions due to gangs’ control of key roads. “Because of the weather we’ve had to interrupt a lot of the flights,” Goodstein said.
But the report from Haiti’s disaster office is starting to give some idea of not just the damages, but also how the deaths and the devastation occurred.
In the town of Dame-Marie in the Grand’Anse, a man was injured when a tree fell as he rode his motorcycle. “His passenger is missing,” the report said.
A woman walks past her house that was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025. CLARENS SIFFROY AFP via Getty Images
In the Artibonite region one person died, and 250 people were displaced in the town of Saint-Marc, where residents have been fighting against a take-over by armed gangs.
Several cities were under water, particularly the town of Corail, where the downtown area was flooded. There was also coastal flooding in Anse-d’Hainault and the offshore Cayemites Islands.
The roofs of schools were blown off and at least 659 homes in the region of the Nippes were flooded.
Melissa caused significant damage to roads, particularly in the southeast region of the country. The Gosseline River washed away part of a major road that links the town of Jacmel with the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Blockages were also eeported by local authorities in the towns of Belle-Anse and Marigot in the southeast. Rivers flooded in the regions of the Grand’Anse.
The impact in Haiti is complicated by its ongoing humanitarian crisis, which Goodstein said is creating “immense suffering.”
“We have 1.4 million people that are displaced because of gang violence,” he said. “So all of this is coming on top of the very critical situation that we’re facing now.”
Cars are submerged in mud following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025. CLARENS SIFFROY AFP via Getty Images
In addition to the roads, farms in the south have also sustained damage due to flooding.
That will likely worsen the country’s already dire food crisis. There are currently 5.7 million people, about half the country’s population, who are going hungry every day, Goodstein said. There have also been cases of cholera
“So we’re also having a public health emergency on top of all the existing vulnerabilities,” he added, stressing that the U.N.’s ongoing humanitarian response plan remains “grossly underfunded.”
“This is really putting at risk.. our ability to continue with life-saving operations, whether it’s linked to hurricanes or to the existing crisis linked to gang violence,” Goodstein said.
“What we need right now is the funding,” he said. “We have the teams on the ground, we have the coordination structures with the government, but we don’t have the resources.”
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills to help the ongoing recovery and rebuilding of the communities in the Los Angeles area impacted by two deadly wildfires earlier this year, his office announced Friday.The bills, signed this week, streamline the process for rebuilding homes lost to wildfires, including an accelerated permitting process, and allow residents to live in temporary structures on their properties while they rebuild permanent homes. They also provide property tax relief for wildfire survivors.The Eaton and Palisades fires killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes in January in the city of Altadena and in coastal communities in the city of Malibu and in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood.”While it’s been nine months since these firestorms struck Los Angeles, the destruction and devastation left behind is still fresh for thousands of survivors and remains a constant reminder that we have more to do to support our fellow Californians,” Newsom said in a statement.He said the lessons learned from the firestorms informed the bipartisan bills, which also reform the state’s disaster response. The legislation also puts in place programs to decrease the risk of catastrophic wildfires by creating a grant program to provide funds to low-income homeowners to install fire-safe roofs on their homes and allotting money to fund defensible space vegetation clearing projects.The Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in the state’s history, broke out on Jan. 7 and burned for days, killing 12 people and destroying nearly 7,000 structures. Federal officials on Wednesday called the blaze a “holdover fire” from a Jan. 1 fire that was not fully extinguished by firefighters. Prosecutors this week charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, who lived in the area, accusing him of starting a small fire on New Year’s Day.The Eaton Fire broke out the same day in the community of Altadena, destroying more than 9,400 homes and killing 19 people. Investigators have not officially determined a cause, but the federal government sued utility Southern California Edison last month, alleging its equipment sparked the fire.Newsom signed several of the measures in Altadena while flanked by legislators and wildfire survivors.The bills will also protect homeowners and tenants immediately following a disaster and crack down on looting and first responder impersonators in evacuation zones.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills to help the ongoing recovery and rebuilding of the communities in the Los Angeles area impacted by two deadly wildfires earlier this year, his office announced Friday.
The bills, signed this week, streamline the process for rebuilding homes lost to wildfires, including an accelerated permitting process, and allow residents to live in temporary structures on their properties while they rebuild permanent homes. They also provide property tax relief for wildfire survivors.
The Eaton and Palisades fires killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes in January in the city of Altadena and in coastal communities in the city of Malibu and in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
“While it’s been nine months since these firestorms struck Los Angeles, the destruction and devastation left behind is still fresh for thousands of survivors and remains a constant reminder that we have more to do to support our fellow Californians,” Newsom said in a statement.
He said the lessons learned from the firestorms informed the bipartisan bills, which also reform the state’s disaster response. The legislation also puts in place programs to decrease the risk of catastrophic wildfires by creating a grant program to provide funds to low-income homeowners to install fire-safe roofs on their homes and allotting money to fund defensible space vegetation clearing projects.
The Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in the state’s history, broke out on Jan. 7 and burned for days, killing 12 people and destroying nearly 7,000 structures. Federal officials on Wednesday called the blaze a “holdover fire” from a Jan. 1 fire that was not fully extinguished by firefighters. Prosecutors this week charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, who lived in the area, accusing him of starting a small fire on New Year’s Day.
The Eaton Fire broke out the same day in the community of Altadena, destroying more than 9,400 homes and killing 19 people. Investigators have not officially determined a cause, but the federal government sued utility Southern California Edison last month, alleging its equipment sparked the fire.
Newsom signed several of the measures in Altadena while flanked by legislators and wildfire survivors.
The bills will also protect homeowners and tenants immediately following a disaster and crack down on looting and first responder impersonators in evacuation zones.
The court delivered a devastating judgment in January 2022. In a 1,700-page ruling, the judge found that Lynch had been “aware of improprieties in Autonomy’s accounting practices” and had been “dishonestly involved in manipulating the accounts.” The systematic accounting practices weren’t just aggressive. They were, the judge concluded, a deliberate scheme to mislead. American prosecutors, who had been waiting for the UK proceedings to conclude, now had the ammunition they needed. Extradition proceedings, already in motion, gained momentum.
VI. Against All Odds
Lynch’s forced travel to the United States in May 2023 marked the beginning of an extraordinary ordeal. Federal prosecutors in San Francisco charged him in a 16-count indictment that included conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy. If convicted on all counts, the 57-year-old faced up to 25 years in prison—effectively a life sentence.
Despite US prosecutors promising the English court that Lynch wouldn’t be incarcerated pretrial, Judge Charles Breyer immediately sent him to jail upon arrival, his lead attorney Reid Weingarten recalled. “That was probably the lowest moment.” He ended up in jail for only one day, though, after posting a $100 million bond. The mathematics of his situation became Lynch’s obsession. “What are the odds?” he would constantly ask his friends and lawyers, especially Weingarten, who found it maddening. “It was the stupidest question ever,” he would later recall. “There’s just too many variables.” At the same time, he respected Lynch’s genuine curiosity—“there was nothing he didn’t know about or didn’t want to know about,” from astrophysics to politics, culture, music, even American baseball.
The trial began in March 2024, with Lynch joined by his former VP of finance Stephen Chamberlain as codefendant. From the start, it was clear that Lynch’s team had it easier. Hussain’s conviction had taught them the playbook of US prosecutors, and they’d had years to ready a new defense. Each night, Lynch and his legal team would work out who the prosecution was going to bring the next day. They also hired a “shadow jury”—a barman and a clerk paid to sit through all 11 weeks of proceedings and register independent impressions.
Most white-collar defendants stay silent; Lynch insisted on taking the stand. He presented himself as a down-to-earth British entrepreneur who had been victimized by American corporate incompetence. He walked the jury through his working-class background, his academic achievements. When prosecutors pressed him on specific transactions, he deflected skillfully—these were matters for the finance team, he was focused on technology and strategy.
One of the most effective moments came when Lynch described the experience with HP. “I watched them take this beautiful company and just wreck it,” he told the jury, emotion creeping in. “And then they had the audacity to blame me for their incompetence.”
The verdict came on June 6, 2024. As the jury foreman read “not guilty” to all remaining charges, Lynch cried. So did his wife. Chamberlain was also acquitted on all counts. Speaking to journalists later, Lynch reflected on what he’d endured: “It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life,” he said. “The question is, what do you want to do with it?”
VII. The Celebration
As part of his recovery process, Lynch planned a long summer aboard the Bayesian, full of friends and celebration. For one particular outing in August, he invited along everyone who stayed close to him during the darkest period of his life. Christopher Morvillo, the Clifford Chance partner who had helped quarterback the US legal strategy, was there with his wife, Neda. Jonathan Bloomer, the Morgan Stanley international executive who had served as a character witness, had accepted the invitation along with his wife, Judy.
The yacht itself was a 56-meter sailing vessel with a dark blue hull and a minimalist Japanese-style interior, later referred to by The Times of London as a “masterpiece of engineering and opulence.” The yacht’s original name was Salute; Lynch rechristened it the Bayesian. The vessel was magnificent but also an anomaly: It had a single, towering aluminum mast.
The following account is drawn from official investigation reports, videos, photos, and people familiar with the accounts of the crew and survivors. The August sailing was planned as a leisurely tour of Sicily’s northern coast and Aeolian Islands. The group started in Milazzo, then spent four days exploring the volcanic archipelago. They anchored off Isola di Vulcano one day for a few hours to watch the active crater glow against the sky, visited Panarea, and enjoyed the crystal clear waters around Dattilo. It was exactly the kind of relaxed, intimate celebration Lynch had envisioned. It was also a sendoff for Hannah, an aspiring poet. The two loved to spar over meals, arguing about politics and world events, with Lynch playing the contrarian.
That weekend, Lynch received two devastating calls from Andy Kanter about Stephen Chamberlain, his Autonomy codefendant. The first call, on Saturday, Lynch answered with a happy hello—laughter and cheer audible in the background—before Kanter delivered what he called “the gravest news”: Chamberlain, a middle-aged soccer fan and avid runner, had been struck by a car while jogging and suffered a traumatic head injury. By Sunday’s call, the news was worse: The hospital was turning off life support. The group aboard the Bayesian lit a candle for Chamberlain in the church at Cefalù.
“Hi there Gina, hope you’re having a great day,” said another exactly two weeks later. “My name is Christine, I am a land buyer. I’m reaching out to see if you have any plans to sell the lot.” The text was signed by “Twin Acres.” Twin Acres is not a registered real estate broker. Grist’s attempt to text the number back went unanswered.
Sometimes, Miceli said, she answers the texts. “It depends on my mood. I think there’s been a time or two I’ve said, ‘Go to hell.’” She has no plans to leave. She’s raising her family in the home her husband’s grandparents bought, and she owns a local brewery.
Some theorists call this phenomenon “disaster gentrification,” when real estate investors flood a disaster zone to buy up damaged properties for cheap.
Samantha Montano, a professor of emergency management and author of the book Disasterology, spent years living and working in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and saw it happen with her own eyes. In areas like the Lower Ninth Ward, some people displaced by the storm didn’t have the resources to return. Speculators rushed in. Some landowners became instant millionaires, selling their properties to out-of-state developers hoping to rebuild and flip their property.
“The issue of gentrification in New Orleans was there from the beginning,” Montano said. “There were many groups who were warning about that, advocating for housing policy and other recovery policies to account for gentrification. [They] tried to prevent it.” Twenty years later, the demographics of New Orleans have shifted: Lower-income and Black residents have been displaced, and whiter, wealthier new residents took their place. “Certainly that is all very much intertwined in the recovery and in who had access to the resources to return and rebuild—and who didn’t,” she said.
In the wake of the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, earlier this year, half of home purchases were by limited liability corporations, according to Dwell, the home design news site. That’s nearly double what they typically represent compared to individuals buying homes. Just six companies—among them Ocean Development Inc. and Black Lion Properties LLC—dominated those transactions in Altadena, spending millions of dollars to purchase destroyed properties in historically Black neighborhoods. It’s difficult to find out who these companies are: Often, they contact potential sellers through fake phone numbers or under names that aren’t necessarily attached to real corporations.
The value of disaster-struck land consistently bounces back fast, meaning that buyers can flip the land or homes—sometimes even without making repairs. As climate change fuels more frequent severe natural disasters across the United States, “disaster investors” seem set to make greater profits than ever—and communities like North St. Louis stand to bear the burden.
A for-sale sign in Altadena, California, in March, three months after wildfires swept through the area.Photograph: Juliana Yamada/Getty Images
Amid reports of “Disaster Tours” taking place in Pacific Palisades, the Los Angeles City Council decided to bar the operations of tour buses in the affected areas.
Charred ruins of homes and palm trees line the Pacific Coast Highway after the Palisades FireCredit: Courtesy of Ada Guerin
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution barring the operation of “disaster tours” or any bus tours from operating in the 16-mile area of the Pacific Palisades that were affected by wildfires in January.
The resolution states that the restrictions are necessary to successfully rebuild and preserve public safety. “In an area within a declared emergency when construction activities to repair roadways, stabilize hillside slopes, repair utilities, reconstruct homes, and rebuild business,” all of which often occur on narrow winding roads.
After the vote this week, the Department of Transportation is set to install signage in the area about tour bus restrictions in the affected areas.
Tour bus restricted areas outlined Credit: Courtesy of the Department of Transportation
If a tour bus driver drives through the restricted areas outlined, their employer could be criminally charged. The driver would not be held responsible, but the employer or “operator of the tour bus company” would be, as stated by the Department of Transportation.
The resolution was first introduced back in July by councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the Pacific Palisades.
Over the summer, her office had received reports about commercial tours operating in the Pacific Palisades area since the neighborhood opened to the public. “These are people who are looking to profit off of destruction and other people’s losses,” said council member Park.
The Palisades fire was a series of highly destructive wildfires that displaced tens of thousands of residents and left many without their homes. The fire destroyed close to 7,000 structures and killed 12 people.
On a sunny Tuesday in Anaheim in the parking lot of a firefighter training center, a tiny house burst into flames while its neighbor survived.
The fiery display was part of a demonstration showcasing the effectiveness of wildfire defense strategies, and it could serve as a road map for Pacific Palisades and Altadena as the communities begin to rebuild in the wake of the devastating January fires.
The event — co-hosted by the nonprofit research group Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety and the California Building Industry Assn. — pitted two tiny homes, about the size of sheds, against a fire. One was built to typical standards, and the other was built above and beyond, employing a handful of fire-mitigation techniques.
Predictably, the unprotected home met the fate that thousands of structures did during the windy and dry Jan. 7 disaster.
A firefighter lights small ignition points around test houses at an Anaheim site June 10, 2025.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
First, firefighters used drip torches to simulate embers landing around it. Four industrial fans provided the wind, spreading the fire across dry wood mulch onto small shrubs lining the house’s exterior.
Five minutes in, the shrubs crackled as a stack of firewood on the side of the home — a common storage place for properties with wood-burning fireplaces — ignited. Soon, the flames crawled up a tall juniper bush planted on the side of the home, spreading flames onto the exterior wall and roof, shortly before a wood fence burst into flames.
The vinyl rain gutter sagged and melted, its plastic material flapping in the wind like a flag, and the window shattered shortly after, letting the flames enter the interior. Fifteen minutes in, the fire burned from the inside out, roaring through the walls and roof. The home’s tan color burned to black, and smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the sky.
The test house unprepared for wildfires is fully engulfed in flames.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
After twenty minutes, the house was engulfed in an inferno before the frame gave way, collapsing into a smoking heap of charred debris.
The wildfire-prepared home had a perimeter of cement pavers, surrounded by gravel, and no bushes against the house. The mulch blew onto the gravel and burned out. A few hydrangeas were singed five feet from the walls of the house, but the home was unscathed.
“This is a tale of two homes,” said Anne Cope, chief engineer for the insurance institute.
Roy Wright, the company’s chief executive, said the burned home showcased architectural features all too common across properties in wildfire-prone areas: plastic gutters, open eaves and flammable landscaping surrounding the home such as juniper, bamboo or eucalyptus.
“We’re not going to eliminate wildfires, but we can restrict their reach,” Wright said. “The easiest way starts at home.”
The main emphasis was what fire-prevention specialists call Zone 0: the first five feet of defensible space surrounding a structure. To stop a fire in its tracks, firefighters suggest removing all landscaping from the 5-foot perimeter and replacing fire-prone materials such as grass or mulch with cement or brick.
A firefighter watches a house-burning demonstration at an Anaheim site to show the effectiveness of ember-intrusion prevention.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Pavement and a cleared area next to a houselike structure at an Anaheim site show the effectiveness of what’s called ember-intrusion prevention during a house-burning demonstration.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
In contrast to the one that burned, the fire-protected house featured metal gutters, fiber cement siding, enclosed eaves, a metal fence, metal patio set of a table and chairs and cement pavers. When torched with embers, the fire burned up to the 5-foot perimeter and then halted.
“You can still have plants, just keep them five feet away from your house,” Wright said.
Wright visited Pacific Palisades and Altadena a week after the fires to analyze how they spread so quickly from house to house and found that homes generally burned in clusters, which suggests that houses either helped or hurt others around them.
If a house was a century old and not up to code, it often burned quickly and passed the fire on to its neighbors, he said. But if a house was built with fire-prevention in mind, with defensible space, fire-resistant materials, enclosed eaves and mesh coverings over vents, in some cases, it served as a shield for the houses downwind.
Modern fire-prevention strategies already are being implemented in new master-planned communities in Southern California, where home builders have the hindsight of previous disasters and implement tighter building codes. A recent success story is Orchard Hills, which survived a 2020 blaze unscathed due to meticulous planning and specialized home design.
But L.A.’s housing stock is generally older, and many homes scattered across the region’s hills and mountains are sitting ducks — architecturally vulnerable if a fire sweeps through. That’s why Wright stresses clearing out Zone 0, since it’s the quickest, cheapest way to make sure that if a fire comes to your door, you’re not fueling it.
“We need to do what we can to narrow the path of destruction and give firefighters a chance to beat it down,” Wright said.
David Stuckenberg, cofounder and chief operations officer at Genesis Systems, explains that the WaterCube uses proprietary liquid and solid sorbents—materials that absorb water—that essentially “form a handshake with the water in the air.” The machine then heats these materials to extract the water.
Atmospheric water generators typically require a substantial amount of energy to run, but Stuckenberg claims the company’s materials work 400 percent better than those that are currently commercially available, and that they have a very high affinity for water.
But the tech comes at a steep price. The WaterCube delivered to St. Petersburg is listed at $860,000. The company just started selling a second, smaller device for home use called the WaterCube 100, which retails for $20,000 and is about the size of an HVAC system. That device can generate about 100 to 200 gallons of water per day. Efficiency ranges from 0.07 to 0.8 kilowatt-hours per gallon of water and costs anywhere from $10 to $80 a day to operate, depending on cost of energy and humidity. A WaterCube can run on either solar or conventional energy.
The machines make more water in a humid environment and work well in atmospheric humidity down to 40 percent. Stuckenberg says the company is constantly improving its technology and is working with the US Department of Defense to be able to generate water at 10 percent humidity.
The WaterCube connects to a building’s water supply so that water doesn’t have to be harvested directly from the machine. “The systems are designed to connect to anything from a garden hose to a hospital water system, and provide water that goes through four steps of filtration before it leaves,” Stuckenberg says.
After Typhoon Mawar hit the US territory of Guam in May 2023, Genesis Systems worked with the US Air Force to test the WaterCube 1000 in a disaster response scenario on the island.
At their current price, and for the amount of water they’re able to generate, these devices are unlikely to be the sole source of water in these types of situations anytime soon. According to figures published by the US Department of Energy, a hospital the size of All Children’s would typically use anywhere from 10,000 to 90,000 gallons a day, depending on the services provided, age of the building, and water use practices. That’s far more than the 2,000 gallons that the larger Genesis Systems unit is able to produce in 24 hours.
Still, in scenarios where water can’t be restored or transported immediately to an area, these devices may be able to serve as a bridge or a supplementary source of water. But in order to be useful, they need to be in the right place at the right time, and the logistics of moving an 18,000-pound machine in a disaster situation can be tricky.
According to a hospital spokesperson, All Children’s didn’t end up needing to draw water from the device; shortly after it was delivered, the city’s sewer system was functional and water service resumed with a boil advisory. “We were able to modify our operations accordingly,” the spokesperson said on Friday. Over the weekend, Florida’s AHCA relocated the WaterCube to a shelter where it can be quickly moved to another location if needed.
JUPITER, Fla., October 13, 2024 (Newswire.com)
– A tornado triggered by Hurricane Milton has completely obliterated Furry Friends Ranch, a beloved animal shelter and community center in South Florida. The tornado ripped through the facility on Wednesday night, tearing roofs from buildings, blowing out windows, downing power lines, and ruining the structures that were essential to the organization’s animal care capacity.
Thankfully, all dogs and cats under Furry Friends’ care survived the impact and were rescued without injury. However, the damage to the ranch is catastrophic: The facility has been deemed a total loss, with major repairs needed that could take months—or even years—before it is safe for animals to return.
“The damage is unimaginable,” said Jason Gluck, Chief Executive Officer of Furry Friends. “It’s a miracle that no animals were harmed, but our facility has been decimated. We are heartbroken, and we urgently need the community’s support to rebuild.”
The ranch was home to hundreds of rescue animals, including dogs and cats in desperate need. With no shelter left to house the ranch animals, Furry Friends is urgently seeking adopters, temporary foster homes and other facilities to help care for the animals in the coming months. The cost of rebuilding is expected to run into the millions, and with no functioning ranch facility, the organization will need to rely heavily on donations from the public and local businesses.
How to Help: Furry Friends is asking animal lovers, philanthropists, and businesses to assist with the recovery effort. Donations of any size will make a difference and go directly toward rebuilding the ranch and providing essential care for the animals. Donations can be made online at: www.furryfriendsadoption.org/donate
“Furry Friends is resilient, and we know the community cares deeply about these animals and our organization,” CEO Jason Gluck added. “With your help, we can rebuild stronger and continue Furry Friends’ deeply impactful work saving lives in our region and beyond.”
About Furry Friends: Furry Friends is a nonprofit animal shelter and community hub dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in need and supporting the human-animal bond. Serving Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Furry Friends is a safe haven for tens of thousands of animals each year, providing love, care, and advanced behavioral and medical support.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order to stop the use of a pesticide widely used to control weeds on a variety of crops such as broccoli, onions, and strawberries after it was found to harm developing fetuses, the agency’s first such move in almost 40 years. What do you think?
“At least my fetus was safe from aphids.”
Stephanie Cauble, Synthetics Executive
Man Can’t Believe How Much Disney World Charging For Sex With Goofy
“There goes the scapegoat for my pregnant drinking.”
Anne Moreno, Talent Scout
“When we declared war on weeds, we knew there’d be casualties.”
A surprise eruption in Yellowstone National Park shot steam, water, and dark-colored rocks and dirt high into the sky, sending alarmed sightseers running for safety. What do you think?
“America’s National Parks really do have the most beautiful debris.”
Steve Schmeidel, Notebook Binder
The Onion Film Standard: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
“It’s pretty pathetic to see what passes for an explosion in nature.”
The U.S. Justice Department intends to criminally charge Boeing for breaching a settlement connected to two deadly 737 Max jetliner crashes, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters. The federal government is reportedly seeking a guilty plea from Boeing, which may include a $243.6 million criminal fine and force the planemaker to bring on an independent compliance monitor.
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The Boeing-DOJ settlement followed a 2017 crash in Indonesia, which killed all 189 people on board; and a 2018 crash in Ethiopia, which killed all 157 people on board. Despite opposition from some lawmakers and relatives of those killed in the incidents, Boeing secured the $2.5 billion settlement in 2021, which temporarily protected it from criminal prosecution. The agreement required the planemaker to report evidence and allegations of fraud and “strengthen its compliance program,” the Justice Department said at the time.
Then a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing plane in January, uncloaking continuing safety and compliance issues at the company. Four months later, the federal government said in a court filing that Boeing had breached its 2021 agreement by failing to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations.”
The DOJ has now decided to bring criminal charges against Boeing and wants the planemaker to accept a plea deal, according to several reports. Such a deal would include about a quarter of a billion dollars in additional fines, per Bloomberg; it could also force Boeing to bring in an independent monitor to make sure the firm follows anti-fraud laws, per AP News.
The DOJ reportedly told the 737 Max crash victims’ families and lawyers about the plea deal on Sunday, and said it would give the planemaker a week to decide whether to accept the offer or argue its case in court. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.
The newly released Furiosahas the world blazing with Mad Max fever. Some are celebrating the occasion by rewatching 2015’s Fury Road, if not all four movies. Others are thinking about what could’ve been, particularly as it pertains to the 2015 Mad Max game from Just Cause creator Avalanche Studios.
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During a recent interview with Gaming Bible at Cannes, franchise director George Miller talked about the game, which he isn’t too hot on. He was candid in calling it “not as good as I wanted it to be.” To him, it failed because the team had to “give all our material” to Avalanche instead of being involved directly, and “I’m one of those people that i’d rather not do something unless you can do it at the highest level, or at least try to make it at the highest level.”
If he had his way, another Mad Max game would happen, but one with Hideo Kojima at the helm. The Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator has openly been a fan of Fury Road since it came out, and Miller called him the perfect guy to take on that endeavor. “I’ve just been speaking to him,” the director added. “[But] he’s got so much fantastic stuff in his own head that I would never ask him.” (Kojima, for what it’s worth, saw Furiosa at Cannes and called it a “masterpiece.”)
Avalanche’s Mad Max game launched months after the release of Fury Road, and is in fact set in between that and Beyond Thunderdome. The game got solid reviews when it launched, but the big thing that did it in was releasing on September 1, 2015… aka, the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. When two fairly big games go up against one another on the same day, there’s typically a loser, and in this case, it was ol’ Max Rockatansky.
Here’s where things get a little murky, though: putting Mad Max out on that date was apparently out of Avalanche’s hands. Christofer Sundberg, who co-founded the studio in 2003, revealed on X that Warner Bros. wouldn’t budge when he suggested the game shift from its September 1 release. As a result, “they blamed us for the bad sales and cancelled a bunch of awesome DLC that was just sitting there waiting to be released.” To this day, he admits that he doesn’t know why WB was so adamant about it.
Sundberg also took Miller’s thoughts on his game to task, alleging that WB tried to force Mad Max into a linear game when Avalanche’s bread and butter is big, open-world titles. A year into development, the studio was told to convert it into a non-linear game, and he chalked up Miller’s comments to “complete nonsense and [it] just shows complete arrogance. […] Mad Max was a hell of a great game, the potential was missed due to political nonsense.” And if Kojima did try a stab at making a Max game, he thinks it’d be a “completely different experience.”
In the years since its release, Mad Max has been looked back on fondly and achieved a bit of cult classic status. To date, it’s playable on both PC and consoles via backwards compatibility. Maybe with the franchise being the hot topic of the weekend, the game will see a little more love over the next few days.
It’s that time of the year again—but warmer than average. Hurricane season is upon us and the National Weather Service is expecting “above-normal” hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin, which could portend a difficult six months for coastal states, the Caribbean, and eastern Central America.
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Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, and occurs when coastal Atlantic waters and the Gulf of Mexico warm up, prompting massive storm systems that can have devastating impacts on land.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting between 17 and 25 named storms. Storms get named when their wind speeds achieve 39 miles per hour (62.75 kilometers per hour) or higher. According to a NOAA release, 8 to 13 of those named storms are expected to become hurricanes, or storms with wind speeds of 74 mph or higher (119 kmph). Four to seven of the storms are anticipated to be major hurricanes, with winds greater than 111 mph (178.64 kmph). The forecaster’s confidence in those ranges is 70%.
Colorado State University’s seasonal hurricane forecasts predicts 23 named storms this year, with 11 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes, amounting to 115 total named storm days and 45 hurricane days. Those numbers are up from the 1991 to 2020 averages: 14.4 named storms per year, 7.2 hurricanes, and 3.2 major hurricanes. In other words, it may be time to invest in some plywood, batteries, and bottled water.
“Severe weather and emergencies can happen at any moment, which is why individuals and communities need to be prepared today,” said Erik Hooks, FEMA’s deputy administrator, in the NOAA release. “Already, we are seeing storms move across the country that can bring additional hazards like tornadoes, flooding and hail. Taking a proactive approach to our increasingly challenging climate landscape today can make a difference in how people can recover tomorrow.”
NOAA attributed this above-average activity to near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic, as well as reduced trade winds and wind shear, and La Nina-like conditions in the Pacific.
Human activity has made matters worse. Climate change—driven by humans burning fossil fuels—warms the global ocean and melts ice, causing sea levels to rise. This could make storm surges worse, especially in low-lying areas. You can stay informed about active storms via NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center portals.
It’s been over a decade in the making, but Boeing is finally ready to launch its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of its agreement with NASA.
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Boeing Starliner spacecraft is set for launch on Monday at 10:34 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The crew capsule will ride atop United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the space station and back.
NASA will broadcast the launch live on its website and the space agency’s YouTube channel, and you can also tune in through the feed below. The launch coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET.
NASA’s Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Launch
Boeing’s Crewed Flight Test is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and is meant to transport crew and cargo to and from the ISS under a $4.3 billion contract with the space agency. NASA’s other commercial partner, SpaceX, just launched its eighth crew to the space station.
It’s been a rough journey for Boeing to make it to this point. Starliner’s first uncrewed test flight in 2019 managed to reach space, but a software automation glitch caused the spacecraft to burn excess fuel, preventing it from making it to the ISS. Starliner miscalculated its location in space due to a glitch caused by a faulty mission elapsed timer.
The botched first flight prompted NASA to call for a second test flight of the empty spacecraft before a crew rides on board. In May 2022, Boeing completed the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), the second uncrewed test flight of Starliner, setting the stage for a crewed test flight. But OFT-2 suffered a few hiccups, including the failure of a thruster used for orbital maneuvering.
Boeing’s crewed Starliner launch was initially set for February 2023, then postponed to late April, and finally rescheduled for July 21, 2023. A few weeks before liftoff, however, the company announced that it was standing down from the launch attempt to address newfound issues with the crew vehicle.
The program has suffered from a slew of problems and delays from the start, which makes Monday’s launch an absolute nail-biter.
For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on X and bookmark Gizmodo’s dedicated Spaceflight page.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed yesterday after a 948-foot cargo ship struck it departing the port, causing the governor to declare a state of emergency. What do you think?
“I’ve always said infrastructure is an unnecessary risk.”
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“This never would had happened if not for the world’s insatiable lust for cargo.”
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Boeing has been the subject of a federal investigation ever since January, when an Alaska Airlines flight involving one of its planes had its door blown out. Since then, concerns about the safety of Boeing’s production process have swirled and investigators have sought to determine just how such a thing happened.
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This week, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, told senators that the agency’s investigation into the troubled flight was having difficulty because Boeing had not retained the kind of documentation necessary to understand how the door had malfunctioned.
“To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft,” Homendy wrote in a letter to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work. A verbal request was made by our investigators for security camera footage to help obtain this information; however, they were informed the footage was overwritten. The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward.”
When reached for comment by Gizmodo, a Boeing official said that video recordings were only “maintained on a rolling 30-day basis” and that after that they were overwritten. In this case, the plane in question was repaired sometime prior to October 31, which is the date when it was delivered to Alaska Airlines for use. The plane’s troubled flight occurred on January 5, some two-ish months later, which would’ve put it outside the 30 day window.
Boeing’s crisis continues to escalate
In addition to the very real problems with its aircraft, Boeing has a whole other, weirder problem on its hands, in the form of John Barnett. A former corporate whistleblower, Barnett was found dead last week at a motel in South Carolina. While the local coroner’s office has said that Barnett’s death appears to have occurred as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the odd circumstances around his death have quickly spawned conspiracy theories, spurring a broader public relations crisis for the company.
For one thing, Barnett was involved in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against Boeing at the time of his death and was in the middle of conducting depositions when he died. He was scheduled to appear in court for yet another deposition when motel staff found him dead in his truck.
Since then, people who say they knew or worked with Barnett have claimed they have doubts about his death being a suicide. A woman who says she is a “family friend” of the whistleblower claims Barnett once told her “If anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.” Meanwhile, employees who work at the plant where Barnett was previously employed have expressed doubt that he killed himself. Staff at the motel where Barnett was staying at the time of his death have said that he “did not seem upset at all” on the evening before he died.
Barnett’s attorneys have similarly said that they want “more information” about what happened to their client. They said Barnett was “in good spirits” in the days before his death and that “no one can believe” that he killed himself.
That said, Barnett’s own family have blamed Boeing for his death, albeit in a very different way than online conspiracy theorists: “He was suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of being subjected to the hostile work environment at Boeing which we believe led to his death,” reads a statement released by family members, including Barnett’s brother.
Boeing has responded to the ongoing speculation and outcry about Barnett’s death with a simple statement: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Former Boeing employee John Barnett was found dead in his car from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound” on the day he was set to be cross-examined about allegations he’d made regarding the company’s grave safety breaches on the production line. What do you think?
“Does Boeing have plans to hire another whistleblower?”
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“As much as I’d like to say this is a conspiracy, Boeing has paid me not to.”
Leo Morgan • Band Leader
“I guess you really are more likely to die in a car than a plane.”
John Barnett, a former quality control engineer at Boeing who—just last week—testified against the company as part of a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, has been found dead, the BBC reports.
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Barnett, 62, who previously worked for Boeing for three decades and retired from the company in 2017, was found at his motel in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday. The local coroner’s office says Barnett appears to have died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot.
BBC reports that, in the “days before his death, he had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.” Barnett had been scheduled to appear in court again on Saturday for his third day of depositions related to the suit but never showed, the BBC reports. After his failure to appear, a call was put out to look for Barnett. He was subsequently found dead in his truck, which was in the parking lot of the motel he was staying at, the outlet writes.
Gizmodo asked the coroner’s office if an autopsy had been performed on Barnett. While the office didn’t answer that question, it did share the following statement about his death:
The Charleston County Coroner, Bobbi Jo O’Neal, is releasing the name of John Barnett, a 62-year-old male from Louisiana. Mr. Barnett died on March 9, 2024, from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Charleston City Police Department is the investigating agency. No further details are available at this time.
When reached for comment by Gizmodo, Boeing provided the following statement: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Barnett had previously voiced concerns that Boeing employees had attached “substandard parts” to planes and that some of the aircraft had “faulty oxygen systems” that could lead to a significant number of oxygen masks malfunctioning, The Hill writes. A subsequent FAA investigation seemed to substantiate some of Barnett’s claims. The lawsuit that Barnett was involved in at the time of his death was a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit that he had filed against the company. Barnett accused Boeing of pushing him into retirement in response to the safety concerns he raised. Boeing has denied any wrongdoing.
Gizmodo also reached out to an attorney for Barnett but haven’t heard back yet. We will update this story if we do.
