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Tag: disaster relief

  • Racial disparities are working against disaster recovery for people of color. Climate change could make it worse | CNN

    Racial disparities are working against disaster recovery for people of color. Climate change could make it worse | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    People of color in the US face heightened risks of harm from climate-induced disasters. Now, non-profits are pushing to remedy that disparity with more equitable approaches to disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

    “Until we really address the root issues of climate injustice, we’re going to continue to see a disproportionate impact as it relates to disasters in Black and historically excluded communities,” said Abre’ Conner, Director of Environmental and Climate Justice for the NAACP.

    A report by the EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs looked at four vulnerable social groups: people living on low-income, racial minorities, those with no high school diploma, and seniors over age 65. Of those four groups, the study found minorities are most likely to live in areas projected to be impacted by climate change.

    Moreover, Black people are 40% more likely than non-African-Americans to live in areas with the highest projected increases in mortality rates due to changes in extreme temperatures.

    It’s a dire warning for the future, based on an inequitable past.

    Many marginalized people, Black in particular, have faced socioeconomic factors that relegate them to living in environmentally hazardous areas or substandard housing structures. So, when a natural disaster hits, they are ill-equipped to withstand the impact.

    That was the situation this past March 24 when a severe tornado leveled much of the Black-majority rural town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, killing 26 people. Racial disparities existed in Rolling Fork for decades. Many residents there were poor, had low access to information or internet service, were priced out of insurance coverage, and lived in mobile homes that weren’t retrofitted to withstand severe weather conditions. With the nearest tornado shelter over 15 miles away, it set the perfect storm to leave people displaced and scrambling for aid and assistance, which was very slow to arrive.

    “The tendency is to ignore and exclude, and that’s a violation of human rights,” said Chauncia Willis, CEO and founder of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM).

    Willis’ group deploys equity response teams before and after disasters to help community organizations integrate equity into all facets of disaster policy and practices. She started I-DIEM after spending over 14 years in disaster management.

    “I’ve witnessed the disparities, and it hits a little different when the people look like you,” Willis said in an interview with CNN.

    Tracy Harden (Right) hugs Barbara Nell McReynolds-Pinkins near the walk-in cooler where they and seven others took shelter as a tornado destroyed Harden's restaurant in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

    Almost three weeks after the tornado, Rolling Fork’s mayor said about 500 people – roughly a third of the town’s population— remained displaced, leaving victims with questions and concerns. To provide some answers, FEMA, MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency), the Small Business Administration, and the American Red Cross are holding a series of town halls, the first of which took place Tuesday at South Delta Elementary School.

    Housing is a major concern at the present. “It wasn’t just Rolling Fork; it was all of those other communities surrounding that were also impacted by the tornado,” said Willis. “That’s going to be the difference between life and death in the future.”

    The future is concerning; marginalized communities historically endured long-term effects from disasters.

    Remnants of destruction are still visible In New Orleans’ primarily Black 9th ward 18 years after Hurricane Katrina.

    Although natural disasters don’t discriminate, the response can, especially when the lingering effects of structural racism hamper relief.

    In Katrina’s aftermath, Louisiana instituted a “Road Home” program, disbursing emergency funds based on appraised home values rather than actual rebuilding costs. But after decades of discriminatory economic practices including redlining, homes in historically White communities typically appraised far higher than comparable houses in Black neighborhoods.

    Also, New Orleans’ White neighborhoods tend to sit on higher ground with less risk of flooding and easier access to jobs and resources. The circumstances after Katrina ended up forcing many Black families out of the city.

    “Poverty should not hinder survival from disasters. Being a person that is not White shouldn’t limit your survival,” said Willis.

    But there is growing awareness of the unfairness and concerted efforts to fix it. Sally Ray from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy says racial and socioeconomic disparities are key factors guiding where her organization deploys funding.

    “I think we need to quit being uncomfortable talking about the intersection of climate change, racism, and disasters,” Ray told CNN. “The reality is we have long systemic racist problems across our country, and because of these things, when a disaster comes, it’s much more devastating.”

    President Joe Biden speaks in a storm-stricken area of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 31.

    A growing body of research spotlights the historical inequity in federal disaster response.

    One 2018 study by sociologists from Rice University and the University of Pittsburgh looked at counties that each suffered the same amount ($10 billion) in hazard damage. In those events, Black survivors’ wealth decreased by an average $27,000 while White survivors’ average wealth increased $126,000.

    In 2020, FEMA’s advisory council acknowledged the inequities and called for the agency to address the issue.

    On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 13985 to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. Since then, FEMA has undertaken initiatives to expand access and reduce barriers to their response, recovery, and resilience programs.

    In an email to CNN, FEMA spokesman Jeremy Edwards said, “Recognizing this and the realities of historically underserved communities, FEMA—under the leadership of Administrator Criswell—has undertaken a number of initiatives to reduce barriers, so all people, including those from vulnerable and underserved communities, are better able to access our assistance.”

    The agency has simplified the eligibility process, expanded the ways survivors can verify home occupancy, and prioritized casework for vulnerable populations.

    FEMA says these changes have enabled 124,000 survivors to access over $709 million in assistance they would have previously been ineligible to receive.

    But non-profit leaders want FEMA to do more.

    “I think that in earnest they are trying to correct, but we can still do better in pushing to ensure these recoveries are equitable,” said Arthur DelaCruz, CEO of Team Rubicon. This veteran-led humanitarian organization assists global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises.

    Shirley Stamps stands in the rubble of her home in the aftermath of the Rolling Fork tornado.

    Grassroots activists insist equitable disaster planning and response must start with local voices.

    “The future of disaster management is actually going to be at the local level with the locals as the lead rather than the federal government or state government,” explained I-DEIM’s Willis.

    Inherent distrust of authorities after years of racist and discriminatory practices is one reason why. Another reason is simple pragmatism.

    “Who knows the community better?” asked Willis, whose group helps set up Community Resilience Hubs and local-led facilities to support neighbors, coordinate communication and provide emergency management training.

    Willis emphasizes that these types of initiatives, and more, need to be done before disasters strike. “When people are not prioritized before a disaster, those same people will bear the brunt.”

    71-year-old Emma Lee Williams sits in her front yard after the EF-4 Rolling Fork tornado destroyed her house.

    For a long time, non-profit organizations have been counted on to plug gaps that the government had yet to fill in disenfranchised communities. And increasingly, non-profits are doing things differently to address racial disparities in disaster management.

    For Team Rubicon, that means using tools like the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index. The index, launched by the Center for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, uses 16 variables to help emergency planners and officials identify vulnerable communities before, during, or after disasters. Those variables include social factors like poverty, lack of transportation, and crowded housing. The databases and maps generated by the tool help estimate supplies required, emergency personnel needs, evacuation procedures, and even whether an area needs emergency shelters.

    “As we see a disaster strike an area, that is where we try to deploy because we know that’s where the greatest need is,” explained DelaCruz.

    The Center for Disaster Philanthropy focuses on identifying a diverse pool of applicants in their grantmaking, pushing more funds to organizations supporting struggling communities of color, and listening to the needs of the affected people on an individualized basis.

    “We work really at the local grassroots level to get to know the community,” said the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Sally Ray, who spoke to CNN from Oklahoma City, which was hard-hit by tornadoes last year. She and her team are on the ground, accessing lingering issues and working on proactive ways to support the town throughout this year’s tornado season.

    “Our goal has always been to leave a community in a better place and be there for the long-term commitment to that, Ray added.

    Meanwhile, many non-profits, especially at the local level, are overstretched as major disasters become more frequent and destructive.

    “There are communities that have suffered disaster after disaster after disaster, and the toll on the people and the community increases each time that happens,” said DelaCruz.

    “We need to start integrating community-based organizations into the global emergency management structure,” said Willis.

    Most of the walls are gone but the furniture remains where a home once stood before the tornado ripped through Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

    Disasters destabilize communities as well as economies. That is why much of the conversation among emergency management leaders lately has focused on building an inclusive approach to disaster resilience.

    “In Rolling Rock, there’s been a disaster. Now is the time to rebuild with the proper strategy, with forethought, a focus on resilience, and a focus on life-saving equity,” Willis from I-DIEM explained. She said these resilience efforts must include disaster preparedness and infrastructure improvement and awareness of socioeconomic issues impacting marginalized communities.

    FEMA says they are committed to helping Mississippi recover.

    To date the agency says they have visited 1,400 homes in Sharkey County alone, interacting with over 2,400 survivors and registering hundreds for assistance. They’ve also provided more than $5.4 million to Mississippi households since the deadly tornadoes struck earlier this year.

    The agency also implemented some grassroots efforts like non-financial direct technical assistance to help build community-wide resilience in 20 communities, tribes, and territories.

    Nonprofits continue to play a crucial role. But the problem looms large, and when it comes to disaster response for historically marginalized communities, there’s more than enough workload to go around.

    “There is no value in not directly preparing communities of color,” Willis said. “The government already underserves them. Do they also need to be underserved by humanity?”

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  • Chinese city proposes lockdowns for flu — and faces a backlash | CNN

    Chinese city proposes lockdowns for flu — and faces a backlash | CNN

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    A Chinese city has sparked a backlash on social media after saying it would consider the use of lockdowns in the event of an influenza outbreak.

    The city of Xi’an – a tourism hotspot in Shaanxi province that is home to the famous terracotta warriors – revealed an emergency response plan this week that would enable it to shut schools, businesses and “other crowded places” in the event of a severe flu epidemic.

    That prompted a mixture of anxiety and anger on China’s social media websites among many users who said the plan sounded uncomfortably similar to some of the strict zero-Covid measures China had implemented throughout the pandemic and which have only recently been abandoned.

    “Vaccinate the public rather than using such time to create a sense of panic,” one user wrote on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

    “How will people not panic given that Xi’an’s proposal to suspend work and business activities were issued without clear instruction on the national level to classify the disease?” asked another.

    While cases of Covid in China are falling, there has been a spike in flu cases across the country and some pharmacies are struggling to meet demand for flu remedies.

    However, Xi’an’s emergency response plan will not necessarily be used. Rather, it outlines how the city of almost 13 million people would respond to any future outbreak based on four levels of severity.

    At the first and highest level, it says, “the city can lock down infected areas, carry out traffic quarantines and suspend production and business activities. Shopping malls, theaters, libraries, museums, tourist attractions and other crowded places will also be closed.”

    “At this emergency level, schools and nurseries at all levels would be shut down and be made responsible for tracking students’ and infants’ health conditions.”

    The backlash comes as the central government in Beijing has emphasized the need to open the country back up following the removal of all Covid restrictions in January.

    Throughout the pandemic, China had enforced some of the world’s most severe Covid restrictions, including lockdowns that stretched into months in some cities. It was also one of the last countries in the world to end measures such as mass testing and strict border quarantine periods, even amid growing evidence of the damage being done to its economy.

    Xi’an itself was subject to a draconian lockdown between December 2021 and January 2022, with 13 million residents confined to their homes for weeks on end – and many left short of food and other essential supplies. Access to medical services was also affected. In an incident that shocked and angered the nation, a heavily pregnant woman was turned away from a hospital on New Year’s Day because she didn’t have a valid Covid-19 test, and suffered a miscarriage after she was finally admitted two hours later.

    Residents take nucleic acid tests in a closed community in Xi'an in January 2022.

    Shortly before China removed its pandemic era restrictions the country had been rocked by a series of demonstrations against its zero-Covid policy.

    Memories of being confined to their homes and of panic buying that in some areas led to food shortages remain fresh in people’s minds and the idea of a return to Covid-style measures appears to have hit a nerve.

    However, some voices called for calm.

    Epidemiologist Ben Cowling, from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, said he saw the rationale of the move.

    “I think it’s quite rational to make contingency plans. I wouldn’t expect a lockdown to be needed for flu, but presumably there are different response levels,” he said.

    One user on Weibo expressed a similar sentiment: “It is merely the revelation of a proposal, not putting it in place. It is quite normal to take precautions given this wave of flu is coming at us very strong.”

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  • Ohio toxic train disaster leads to more concerns in other states while scientists say chemical tests in East Palestine are unusually high | CNN

    Ohio toxic train disaster leads to more concerns in other states while scientists say chemical tests in East Palestine are unusually high | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The aftermath of the toxic train wreck in Ohio keeps spreading to more states as scientists say tests in East Palestine unusually high levels of some chemicals.

    Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is the latest out-of-state official to say he was stunned to learn hazardous waste from the Norfolk Southern train derailment and subsequent release of toxic chemicals was headed to his state.

    “After learning third-hand that materials may be transported to our state yesterday, I directed my environmental director to reach out” to the US Environmental Protection Agency, Holcomb said in a written statement Tuesday.

    “The materials should go to the nearest facilities, not moved from the far eastern side of Ohio to the far western side of Indiana,” Holcomb said. “I want to know exactly what precautions will be taken in the transport and disposition of the materials.”

    After surprise shipments of hazardous waste to Texas and Michigan, the EPA approved two sites in Ohio to handle safe disposal of the waste.

    Another two sites – Heritage Environmental Services’ hazardous waste landfill in Roachdale, Indiana, and Ross Incineration Services in Grafton, Ohio – will receive contaminated waste starting Tuesday, EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore said Monday. She said Indiana officials and state partners were notified before the EPA approved “the shipment of any waste from the derailment to their state or district.”

    But US EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency is developing measures to give authorities a “heads up” about incoming waste shipments and to keep Norfolk Southern accountable for the material it is moving.

    On the other side of Ohio, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is opening a health resource center in Beaver County so residents “can talk to public health experts, sign up to have their well water tested, and learn about available resources from professionals there to help,” Gov. Josh Shapiro tweeted Tuesday.

    Beaver County is just across the state border from East Palestine, Ohio – a village of 5,000 struggling to understand the full breadth of consequences from the February 3 toxic train wreck that burned for days and led to the release of the dangerous chemical vinyl chloride.

    A new data analysis suggests nine out of the dozens of chemicals that the EPA has been monitoring are higher than what normally would be found in East Palestine, according to scientists from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon universities.

    If the levels of some chemicals remain high, it could pose a problem for residents’ health over time, the scientists said. Temperature changes or high winds might stir up the chemicals and release them into the atmosphere.

    The chemical with the highest concentration found in East Palestine was a substance called acrolein, the data analysis said.

    Acrolein is used to control plants, algae, rodents and microorganisms. It is a clear liquid at room temperature and is toxic. It can cause inflammation and irritation of the skin, respiratory tract and mucous membranes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “It’s not elevated to the point where it’s necessarily like an immediate ‘evacuate the building’ health concern,” said Albert Presto, an associate research professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, who is working on the university’s chemical monitoring effort in East Palestine.

    “But, you know, we don’t know necessarily what the long-term risk is or how long that concentration that causes that risk will persist.”

    Some East Palestine residents have reported rashes, headaches, nausea and bloody noses since the derailment and the February 6 controlled release and burning of vinyl chloride.

    During his third visit to the town Tuesday, the EPA chief said ongoing tests of the air and municipal water show both are safe – but urged anyone who is feeling “any kind of adverse health impacts” to seek medical attention.

    Regan returned to East Palestine to mark the opening of the “EPA’s community welcome center,” which will be open daily so “residents and business owners can stop in to get their questions answered, sign up for home air monitoring, and learn more about cleaning services.”

    “We’ve been testing the air from the very beginning, and the state has been testing the water,” Regan said.

    “Every chemical that was on that train and every byproduct from those chemicals have been tested or are part of our testing regimen,” he said. “So we believe firmly that our testing regimen is protective.”

    Still, the EPA is offering cleaning services – which will be reimbursed by Norfolk Southern – to any concerned resident in East Palestine.

    “There have been many residents here who have indicated that they worry about some residual, or some dust or some particles,” Regan said. “While we don’t believe that there are any adverse health impacts in homes or businesses as it relates to the derailment, this is an additional step we’re taking to alleviate concern and lower the angst.”

    Ohio officials have said East Palestine’s municipal water supply is safe to drink, citing multiple tests and the fact that the municipal water comes from five wells encased in steel deep underground.

    But health officials warn those using private well water should get it tested before using it. The Columbiana County Health District is posting test results online.

    Across the border in Pennsylvania, the state Department of Environmental Protection has collected samples from “nearly every private well” in the state within one mile of the derailment site, the governor said.

    The goal is to independently verify the safety of the water in Pennsylvania, Shapiro said.

    He reiterated that “Norfolk Southern will pay for the entire cost of the clean up,” including reimbursing Pennsylvania county fire departments for “equipment that was damaged or contaminated while responding to the derailment.”

    US Transporation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called for Norfolk Southern and the rest of the freight rail industry to take a number of immediate actions, including committing to phase in safer tank cars by 2025.

    The Department of Transportation also wants Congress to take up legislation that would increase the maximum fines the DOT can issue to rail companies for violating safety regulations, Buttigieg said.

    He also called on the CEOs of major freight rail companies to “join a close-call reporting system that protects whistleblowers who spot issues that could lead to accidents,” Buttigieg told CNN on Tuesday.

    “We’re focusing on lessons learned when it comes to rail safety.”

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  • US announces $100 million in earthquake relief funding for Turkey and Syria | CNN Politics

    US announces $100 million in earthquake relief funding for Turkey and Syria | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday announced $100 million in disaster relief aid for Turkey and Syria as the countries grapple with the aftermath of a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 46,000 people.

    The top US diplomat, who took a helicopter tour Sunday of some of the hardest-hit areas alongside Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, later told reporters at Incirlik Air Base that it was “really hard to put into words” the devastation he saw during the tour but said, “We are here to stand with the people of Turkey and Syria.”

    The new round of funding includes $50 million under the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Funds for emergency response efforts and an additional $50 million in humanitarian assistance through the State Department and USAID, according to the State Department.

    The latest funding brings the total American assistance to $185 million. Private US nongovernmental organizations have already contributed another $66 million to response efforts thus far, according to a fact sheet provided by the State Department.

    “Immediately after the earthquake hit, the United States and other countries jumped in,” Blinken said.

    Efforts to retrieve survivors have been hampered by a cold winter spell across quake-stricken regions, while authorities grapple with the logistical challenges of transporting aid into northwestern Syria amid an acute humanitarian crisis compounded by years of political strife.

    Blinken acknowledged that relief efforts in Syria were “very, very challenging” but vowed, “We’ll do everything we can, including making sure, for example, there’s absolutely no doubt that whatever sanctions against Syria do not affect the provision of humanitarian assistance.”

    “They never have, but we’re going to make sure that we clear up any doubts about that so that anyone who’s able to can make sure they’re helping out in getting the aid to the folks who need it in Syria,” he said.

    Blinken also met Sunday with representatives of the Syria Civil Defense volunteer organization, known as the White Helmets, in southern Turkey and committed US support to the group and other organizations “providing life-saving aid in response to this tragedy,” he said in a tweet.

    The White Helmets have been doing the heavy lifting in the search, rescue and recovery operations in the rebel-controlled areas in north and northwestern Syria.

    The group tweeted Sunday that members briefed Blinken on the response to the earthquake and the current situation in northwestern Syria, along with “the humanitarian situation, ways to support affected civilians, and mechanisms for achieving early recovery.”

    Turkey’s disaster management authority said Sunday it had ended most search and rescue operations nearly two weeks after the earthquake struck as experts say the chances of survival for people trapped in the rubble this far into the disaster are unlikely.

    Some efforts remain in the provinces of Kahramanmaraş and Hatay. On Saturday, a couple and their 12-year-old child were rescued in Hatay, 296 hours after the earthquake, state news agency Anadolu reported.

    Blinken told reporters at Incirlik Air Base that it was “going to take a massive effort to rebuild, but we’re committed to supporting Turkey in that effort.”

    “The most important thing right now is to get assistance to people who need it to get them through the winter and get them back on their feet,” he added.

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  • Turkey rescuers say voices are still being heard under the rubble | CNN

    Turkey rescuers say voices are still being heard under the rubble | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Rescue teams in southern Turkey say they are still hearing voices from under the rubble more than a week after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, offering a glimmer of hope of finding more survivors.

    Live images broadcast on CNN affiliate CNN Turk showed rescuers working in two areas of the Kahramanmaras region, where they were trying to save three sisters believed to be buried under the debris.

    In the same region, emergency workers saved a 35-year-old woman who was believed to have been buried for around 205 hours, according to state broadcaster TRT Haber.

    Two brothers – 17-year-old Muhammed Enes Yeninar and 21-year-old brother Abdulbaki Yennir – were also pulled from collapsed buildings on Tuesday, the broadcaster also reported. Further east, in the city of Adiyaman, rescuers pulled an 18-year-old boy and a man alive from the rubble, while Ukraine’s rescue team pulled a woman alive out of the rubble in the southern province of Hatay, according to CNN Turk.

    Eight days after the tremor and its violent aftershocks, more than 41,200 people have been confirmed dead across Turkey and Syria, and survival stories are becoming few and far between.

    UNICEF said it fears that even without verified numbers, it is “tragically clear” that the number of children killed following the quake “will continue to grow.”

    James Elder, a spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency, said 4.6 million children live in the 10 Turkish provinces hit by the disaster, while in Syria, 2.5 million children have been affected.

    A woman sits on the rubble of her destroyed house on Tuesday in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

    Earthquake victims injured in Kahramanmaras arrive at Ataturk Airport by military cargo plane of Turkish Armed Forces for further medical treatment in Istanbul, Turkey on February 14, 2023.

    As rescue operations start to shift to recovery efforts, UN workers are racing to funnel aid to survivors in Syria through two new border crossings approved by the government in Damascus.

    The United Nations welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s decision on Monday to open “the two crossing points of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee” between Turkey and northwest Syria “for an initial period of three months to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid.”

    Eleven trucks with UN aid crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab Al-Salam passage on Tuesday, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths tweeted, adding that 26 more trucks passed into the region via the Bab Al-Hawa crossing.

    The news came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday the two new border crossings that will take aid inside Syria from Turkey “are open and goods are flowing.”

    Guterres emphasized that human suffering from this natural disaster should not be made worse by manmade obstacles such as access, funding and supplies.

    The UN is launching a $397 million humanitarian appeal for victims of the earthquake in Syria for three months and finalizing a similar appeal for survivors in Turkey, Guterres announced.

    International aid has been slow to arrive in rebel-held areas in northern and northwestern Syria. The situation has been complicated by years of conflict and an already existing humanitarian crisis that has led to further difficulties for survivors who lack food, shelter and medicine as they battle freezing winter conditions.

    Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said last week that any aid the country receives must go through the capital Damascus. But many Western nations have been reluctant to lift sanctions despite requests from Assad, as the measures were placed on his regime after it led a brutal campaign in which hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed during the years-long civil war.

    Also on Tuesday, a Saudi Arabian plane carrying 35 tons of food, medical aid and shelter landed at Aleppo International Airport, in what is the first shipment of aid from the kingdom to government-held territory since the February 6 earthquake, Syrian state media reported.

    Two more planes of aid are scheduled to arrive in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Faleh al-Subei, the head of the aid department at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

    Meanwhile, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay has denied reports of food and aid shortages. There were “no problems with feeding the public” and “millions of blankets are being sent to all areas,” he said on live television.

    Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said more than 9,200 foreign personnel are taking part in the country’s search and rescue operations, while 100 countries have offered help so far.

    Syrians pictured in the northwestern province of Idlib on Monday dig graves for their relatives who died as a result of last week's deadly disaster.

    People displaced by the earthquake take refuge in shelters and temporary camps on the outskirts of Jenderes, northwest Syria, on Monday.

    On Monday, UN aid chief Griffiths said the rescue phase of the response was “coming to a close” during a visit to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

    “And now the humanitarian phase, the urgency of providing shelter, psychosocial care, food, schooling, and a sense of the future for these people, that’s our obligation now,” he said.

    After announcing an end to their search and rescue operation last week, the “White Helmets” group, officially known as Syria Civil Defense, on Monday declared a seven-day mourning period in rebel-controlled areas in the north of the country.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) stressed the need to “focus on trauma rehabilitation” when treating populations stricken by the devastating disaster.

    The WHO’s Turkey Representative Batyr Berdyklychev highlighted the “growing problem” of a “traumatized population,” forecasting the need for psychological and mental health services in the affected regions.

    “People only now start realizing what happened to them after this shock period,” Berdyklychev said while speaking at a media briefing from the Turkish city of Adana on Tuesday.

    The WHO is negotiating with Turkish authorities to make sure quake survivors can access mental health services, Berdyklychev added, noting that many people displaced by the quake to other areas of Turkey “will also need to be reached.”

    WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge told the briefing that the “immediate priority” for the 22 emergency medical teams deployed by the WHO to Turkey is “working particularly to deal with the high number of trauma patients and catastrophic injuries.”

    CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify where the 18-year-old boy and a man were rescued, which was in the city of Adiyaman.

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  • Quake-hit Turkey and Syria face years of rebuilding. Experts say it didn’t have to be this way | CNN

    Quake-hit Turkey and Syria face years of rebuilding. Experts say it didn’t have to be this way | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Five days after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria the number of dead is staggering.

    Drone footage and satellite imagery have conveyed the stark reality of widespread destruction in an area that straddles two very different nations.

    The scale of the disaster is enormous. “We’ve done a bit of mapping of the size of the affected area,” said Caroline Holt, director of disasters, climate and crises at the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). “It’s the size of France.”

    United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that “we haven’t yet seen the full extent of the damage and of the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes,” while estimates from the World Health Organization suggest up to 23 million people could be impacted by the natural disaster.

    Once search efforts have ended, attention will turn to longer-term reconstruction. Turkey has suffered earthquakes in the past, and has rebuilt. But how much can be learned from this history and will these lessons be implemented? And will the same efforts be matched across the border?

    The death toll broke the grim milestone of 22,000 on Friday. As it continues to climb, so too have feelings of anger and resentment. Turkey is no stranger to earthquakes and many feel that the government failed to prepare for another catastrophic event.

    This frustration dogged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he made a whistle-stop tour of the Kahramanmaras region – near the epicenter of the deadly earthquake – on Wednesday and Thursday. Erdogan defended his government’s response, admitting to “shortcomings,” before stressing that it’s “not possible to be prepared for such a disaster.” He also announced that the government’s target was to rebuild “in one year,” though experts told CNN it could take much longer.

    Major earthquakes such as these are infrequent, but many in Turkey are still harrowed by memories of the 1999 Izmit earthquake in the Marmara region.

    Ajay Chhibber, an economist who was World Bank director for Turkey when that 7.6 magnitude quake struck two decades ago, told CNN that “it’s like a bad movie [that’s] come back again.” Similar to this week’s event, that tremor struck in the early hours but it occurred in the country’s northwest – a densely populated area closer to Istanbul. He said it lasted around 45 seconds, leaving more than 17,000 dead and an estimated 500,000 people homeless.

    Flying into the region in the immediate aftermath, Chhibber told CNN he “hadn’t seen that much devastation before.” He recalled traveling in with the Japanese and German ambassadors at the time, who told him “this looks to us like World War II.”

    Buildings “flattened like pancakes” were among the apocalyptic scenes Chhibber encountered in 1999. In the city of Golcuk, where a naval base was located, he remembered seeing “submarines that were tossed up out of the water, lying 300, 400 feet up a mountain.”

    “You could see submarines sitting there. It was unbelievable. And what I’m seeing now is just a redo,” he said.

    Some may question if the Turkish president’s current target of a year for reconstruction is achievable, given he also said that more than 6,000 buildings had collapsed. But Chhibber pointed out that “Turkey is capable of moving very, very swiftly – if they can get their act together on this.”

    Chhibber helped implement a four-part recovery plan in the wake of the 1999 disaster that provided cash to residents, aided in reconstructing infrastructure and housing, established an insurance system and developed an organizational system that cascaded from a national level down to the community for overall coordination efforts.

    “Compared to disasters around the world, it was one of the most rapid reconstruction and recoveries that I ever saw,” Chhibber said. He added that the majority of the work was completed in two years.

    Ismail Baris, professor of social work at Istanbul’s Uskudar University and former mayor of Golcuk at the time of the quake, told CNN in an email that “in addition to the collapsed private and public buildings, the city’s water transport pipes, water supply network, sewage system [and] storm water system were completely destroyed,” as well as 80% of the city’s roads. He added that the full reconstruction of the city took four years.

    In photos: Deadly quake strikes Turkey and Syria


    However, much of the reconstruction then was aided by the Turkish army, which was brought in when many local administrations collapsed. Chhibber said this enabled the rubble clearing to be done quickly.

    “But Izmit is in the heartland of Turkey,” said Chhibber. Many Kurds live in the areas hit by the earthquake and bringing in the army may cause problems.

    “This is a huge challenge,” said Ilan Kelman, professor of disasters and health at University College London. While the army has the personnel and resources, “they also have the unfortunate history of often abusing their power,” Kelman told CNN.

    “The Kurds in that region and many Turks in that region, understandably, would be very hesitant to have the army in the streets even more than they have been,” he said.

    Experts said there also needs to be a review of what went wrong. The country has strict rules that came into place after 1999 – construction regulations were implemented that required the more modern builds to be able to withstand these quakes. Yet many of the apartment blocks within the earthquake zone appeared to have been newly-constructed and still collapsed.

    Stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

    Sinan Ulgen, a Turkish former diplomat currently chairing the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy, said there had been awareness regarding the preparations that still needed to be done but that “unfortunately over the past two decades, this has remained mostly on paper.”

    “There was a special fund with taxes raised for rehabilitation of cities to withstand these types of natural disasters. Some of that money got squandered, didn’t go to the right places. And then the lack of enforcement, which is really the big liability,” Ulgen told UK broadcaster Channel 4. “The regulations have certainly been improved … but it’s really a matter of enforcing those regulations. And there, Turkey really needs to upgrade its game.”

    Chhibber too said Turkey hadn’t learned enough from the lessons of the past and questioned why there was a failure to enforce building regulations. He said the Turkish government had regularly allowed for so-called “construction amnesties” – essentially legal exemptions that, for a fee, allowed for projects without the necessary safety requirements. The most recent amnesty was passed in 2018.

    He said building amnesties were “a huge issue.”

    “They just go ahead and make the building. They don’t follow the code. They know that at some point some politicians – because they’re financing their political parties – they’ll grant them an amnesty. That’s a huge problem.”

    Turkey’s justice minister said Friday that investigations into builders in earthquake regions had begun, according to Turkish state media Anadolu. “As a result, as I said, whoever has faults, negligence or deficiency will be brought to justice and they will be held accountable before the law,” Bekir Bozdağ said.

    Across the border in Syria, rebuilding efforts will be even more complicated. Guterres warned Thursday that Syrians face “nightmares on top of nightmares,” and the World Food Programme has described the situation in the northwest of the country as a “catastrophe on top of catastrophe.”

    “We have the perfect humanitarian storm in Syria,” said Caroline Holt, IFRC director for disasters, climate and crises.

    The UN estimates more than four million people were already dependent on humanitarian aid in the worst-affected parts of rebel-controlled Syria, due to the civil war that has ravaged the country since 2011. When the earthquake struck there, many traumatized residents first wondered if they were being woken by the sound of warplanes once again.

    “After 12 years of constant pain, suffering and living in a vulnerable context, your ability to withstand – especially in winter – the harsh conditions that you’re facing [is diminished],” Holt told CNN.

    In Syria, political fault lines run deep. Some of the areas most impacted by the earthquake are controlled by the Assad regime, others by Turkish-backed and US-backed opposition forces, Kurdish rebels and Sunni Islamist fighters. These political divisions create logistical knots. Negotiating them will frustrate recovery efforts.

    “The conflict – or conflicts – are much worse in that area of Syria than in that area of Turkey,” Kelman said.

    While Turkey has political problems of its own, “they do have a comparatively strong government and comparatively strong military in comparison to Syria, which is at war,” he added.

    Turkey also has greater “pre-earthquake resources,” Kelman said. “Neither country is especially rich, but Turkey at least has that baseline where they’ve not been in a major conflict dividing the country for 12 years. They have not been isolated through sanctions.”

    The sanctions have created geopolitical obstacles that humanitarian aid has to maneuver around. The Assad regime insists that all aid to the country, including aid that is meant for areas outside its control, be directed to the capital Damascus. The Syrian government on Friday approved sending aid into rebel territory in the northwest, according to a statement, but provided no timeline for delivery.

    Syrian soldiers look on as rescuers use heavy machinery to sift through the rubble of a collapsed building in the northern city of Aleppo.

    But the regime has long siphoned off aid intended for rebel-controlled regions. As such, relief workers attempting to clear the rubble depend on resources sent via a single road, the Bab al-Hawa crossing – the only humanitarian aid corridor between Turkey and Syria.

    The result is that “most of the work is done by hand,” according to Mohammad Hammoud, Syria manager for the Norwegian Red Cross. Hammoud told CNN how Syria lacks the machinery available to Turkey – and the little machinery they have has no fuel to run on, after supplies from Damascus were shut off. “We are mainly reliant on manpower,” he said.

    These discrepancies mean Syria’s recovery is likely to progress along a stunted timeline. Given its lack of coordination, basic questions may go unanswered for some time.

    “It’s about, first of all, removing the debris and the rubble. What do you do with that? It can either become an environmental hazard, or it can become an asset, if you choose to pave roads with it,” said Holt.

    The IFRC director estimates that in Turkey much of the recovery work will be done within two to three years. But in Syria, “we’re looking at a five to 10-year frame just to get recovery underway,” she said.

    While disasters like this wreak havoc, they also create opportunities to prevent such havoc being wrought again. There is a man-made part of every natural disaster, according to Chhibber.

    Earthquakes are inevitable; their effects are not. Chhibber said he saw this point illustrated after the Izmit earthquake in 1999. “You’d have one building completely erect, the next building completely flat like a pancake.” The same sights can now be seen in Turkey’s Gaziantep.

    A person walks among tents of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency in the southeastern city of Kahramanmaras, on February 8.

    Aerial photo showing the destruction in Kahramanmaras city center on February 9.

    For Chhibber, this is the result of choices. “There is an earthquake, but it need not be a disaster to this scale, unless it’s man-made. And the man-made part comes from the lack of a proper building code being enforced. There’s no reason these buildings should have collapsed that easily. Some of them were built only a year or two ago,” he said.

    Kelman also stressed that disasters create the opportunity for things to be done differently. He hopes the quake can be used as a spur for “disaster diplomacy,” which asks “whether or not dealing with disasters in any way can end conflict and create peace.”

    However, not all governments choose to take these opportunities.

    Related article: How to help victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

    “We do have examples where people have taken the opportunity to say there has been a disaster, and we want to help people, so let’s try to reconstruct in such a way that we are supporting peace,” Kelman said.

    “At the moment, I do not see either government responding in that way, and I do not see the world responding in that way.”

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  • Several rescue operations suspended in Syria and Turkey as chances of survival diminish | CNN

    Several rescue operations suspended in Syria and Turkey as chances of survival diminish | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Security risks put a handful of search and rescue operations on hold on Saturday, as the death toll of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey surpassed 25,000.

    Germany and Austria have suspended rescue operations in Turkey, citing security concerns.

    Meanwhile, rescue efforts in the rebel-controlled areas in north and northwest Syria have ended, announced volunteer organization Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, on Friday.

    After searching for 108 hours, the group said it believes no one trapped under the rubble is still alive.

    Syria has been ravaged by civil war since 2011, and 4 million people were already reliant on humanitarian aid in the worst-affected parts of rebel-controlled country before Monday’s disaster.

    As many as 5.3 million people in Syria could have been affected by the quake and be in need of shelter support, according to preliminary data from the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which has been trying to distribute supplies to vulnerable populations.

    However, the country’s political set-up complicated rescue efforts, with some of its most impacted areas controlled by the internationally-sidelined, heavily-sanctioned regime, others by Turkish-backed and US-backed opposition forces, Kurdish rebels and Sunni Islamist fighters.

    It took three days after the quake struck for the first UN convoy to cross through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is the only humanitarian aid corridor between Turkey and Syria.

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma visited rescue teams and civilians in affected regions on Saturday, including injured survivors in a hospital in the city of Latakia.

    On Friday, he had criticized the lack of humanitarian aid from Western countries, stating that they “have no regard for the human condition.” The Syrian government approved sending aid into the rebel-held territories Friday but did not provide a specific timeline.

    Rescue work could take two to three years to complete in Turkey, but five to 10 years to just get underway in Syria, according to Caroline Holt, director of disasters, climate and crises at the International Federation of the Red Cross.

    Syrian-American actor Jay Abdo expressed frustration on Saturday, telling CNN: “Earthquakes, they have no borders. So why do borders and politics deprive Syrian civilians in the northwest of the country from their human rights to be rescued?”

    He called on the international community to “act immediately” as “there’s no time” and “civilians are not receiving any support, aid or attention.”

    The World Health Organization’s director-general arrived in Syria’s earthquake-hit Aleppo city on Saturday on a plane carrying more than $290,000 worth of trauma emergency and surgical kits.

    Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks with a man as he visits quake survivors at a hospital in Aleppo.

    The extent of devastation is “unprecedented,” according to Belit Tasdemir, UN liaison officer at AKUT Search and Rescue Association, who was working in Turkey.

    He told CNN on Saturday that “freezing” temperatures and “extreme fatigue” was beginning to affect rescue workers as they approach the end of the rescue window and the probability of finding survivors becomes lower.

    Some astonishing rescues still provide a glimmer of hope, however.

    Sezai Karabas and his young daughter were found alive in Gaziantep, southern Turkey, 132 hours after the earthquake struck.

    Sezai Karabas and his young daughter were rescued from rubble after 132 hours.

    A 70-year-old survivor, a woman named Menekse Tabak, was pulled out from the rubble in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, 121 hours after the quake hit.

    Yet attempts at search and rescue have also been hampered in Turkey.

    The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief stopped its rescue and relief work due to security concerns in the Hatay region, the organization said in a statement Saturday.

    German rescue operators, who had been working in coordination with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), said they “will resume their work as soon as AFAD deems the situation to be safe.”

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan met victims on Saturday.

    The Austrian Army made a similar decision, citing “increasing aggression between groups in Turkey,” but said they will “keep our rescue and recovery forces ready.”

    Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that those looting and committing other crimes would be punished, and that university dorms would be used to house victims made homeless, with classes going online.

    United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths described the earthquake in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria as the “worst event in 100 years” to hit the regions, and said that a “clear plan” to give “an appeal for a three-month operation” would be set out on either Sunday or Monday.

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  • Survivors are still being pulled from the rubble more than 24 hours after Turkey earthquake | CNN

    Survivors are still being pulled from the rubble more than 24 hours after Turkey earthquake | CNN

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    Istanbul, Turkey
    CNN
     — 

    Survivors are still being pulled from the rubble in Turkey and Syria, more than 24 hours after a powerful earthquake toppled thousands of homes, killing more than 5,000 people.

    Among the survivors was a 14-year-old boy with a black eye who appeared to be conscious as rescuers carried him on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance in the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.

    “Finally! He has been rescued,” said a reporter with CNN affiliate CNN Turk, which broadcast the rescue live.

    While the boy’s rescue offers a glimmer of hope that others will survive the freezing conditions, the death toll continues to climb as search terms navigate blocked roads, damaged infrastructure and violent aftershocks to reach the affected area.

    The 7.8-magnitude quake hit just after 4 a.m. local time Monday, sending tremors hundreds of miles and creating disaster zones on both sides of the Turkey-Syria border, including areas home to millions of people already displaced by the civil war in Syria.

    Up to 23 million people, including 1.4 million children, could be affected by the quake, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calling efforts to help them a “race against time.”

    Here’s what we know:

    In Turkey, the death toll has risen to 3,549, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total deaths across Turkey and Syria to at least 5,151. Erdogan also declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces for three months.

    The region has experienced several aftershocks, creating treacherous conditions for rescuers and survivors – dramatic video showed buildings collapsing hours after the initial quake, sending dust piles into the air as people ran away screaming.

    The weather and the scale of the disaster were making it challenging for aid teams to reach the affected area, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that helicopters were unable to take off on Monday due to the poor weather.

    People walk past destroyed buildings in Iskenderun, Turkey, on Tuesday.

    Heavy snowstorms have recently hit parts of Syria and Turkey, according to CNN meteorologist Haley Brink, and by Wednesday already cold temperatures are expected to plummet several degrees below zero.

    Photos taken in earthquake-hit cities in southeastern Turkey show families huddling around fires to keep warm. Some sought shelter in buses, sports centers, mosques and underneath temporary tarpaulin tents – structures sturdy enough to withstand further aftershocks or flimsy enough not to cause severe injury should they collapse.

    At least 5,606 structures crumbled during the quake and in the hours after, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) said. Iskenderun State Hospital in the city of the same name was among them, Koca, the health minister said.

    A rescue team works on a collapsed building, following an earthquake in Osmaniye, Turkey, on Monday.

    “We are trying to save the medical workers and patients there,” he added. “These sorts of disasters can only be overcome with solidarity.”

    Authorities in Turkey have advised drivers to stay off the roads to leave them clear for rescue operations. Broken concrete, scraps of metal, and overturned cars remain strewn across many roads and streets, making it difficult for rescuers to reach some areas.

    By late Monday, at least 300,000 blankets, 24,712 beds, and 19,722 tents had been sent to the quake-affected areas, AFAD said.

    In neighboring Syria, a country already suffering the effects of civil war, the devastation is widespread. At least 1,602 were killed across government-controlled areas and opposition-controlled areas, officials said.

    The “White Helmets” group, officially known as the Syria Civil Defense, which operates in opposition-controlled areas, said Tuesday “the numbers are expected to rise significantly because hundreds of families are still under the rubble.”

    Much of northwestern Syria, which borders Turkey, is controlled by anti-government forces, and aid agencies warn of an acute humanitarian crisis that is likely to be felt for months to come.

    Dr. Bachir Tajaldin, Turkey country director at the Syrian American Medical Society, told CNN’s “This Morning” that the situation in Syria is complicated by political instability.

    “The situation in Turkey is coordinated through a very well developed government. They have infrastructure, they have rescue teams,” Tajaldin said.

    “In northern Syria, most of the services are provided by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and through humanitarian aid. There is no central government to take care of the multi-sectoral response,” he said.

    El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the United Nations’ Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, told CNN the search and rescue mission was being hampered by the lack of heavy equipment and machinery.

    He said the UN’s supply of stock has been distributed and more medicine and medical equipment is needed, and especially fresh water or tools to repair damaged water tanks.

    Rescuers in the Syrian town of Jandaris on Tuesday.

    “Most of the communities depend on elevated tanks of water. Most of these elevated tanks of water were the first ones to fall, or to fall into disrepair. They need replacements or they need repair. We need all of this,” he said.

    Around 4 million people in northern Syria were already displaced and relying on humanitarian support as a result of war, according to James Elder, spokesman for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. This winter had been particularly tough due to the freezing conditions and a cholera outbreak.

    “Everyone is overstretched in that part of the world … there is an enormous amount do,” he said. “People have fled their homes often standing around in bitterly cold conditions really without access to safe water. So water is key. Blankets, food, psychological support.”

    In photos: Deadly quake strikes Turkey and Syria


    Hospitals in the country are overwhelmed as victims seek help, with some facilities damaged by the quake. And there is particular concern about the spread of illness, especially among children, who were already living in extreme hardship.

    A volunteer with the “White Helmets” said the organization does not have enough help to handle this disaster.

    “Our teams are working around the clock to help to save the injured people. But our capabilities, our powers are not enough to handle this disaster. This disaster is bigger than any organization in northwest Syria,” Ismail Alabdullah told CNN. “This disaster needs international efforts to handle.”

    The international community has been quick to offer assistance to Turkey and Syria as the full scale of the disaster becomes clear.

    By Tuesday morning, planes carrying aid from Iraq and Iran, including food, medicines and blankets, arrived at Damascus International Airport in Syria, Syrian state media SANA reported.

    Japan announced it would send the country’s Disaster Relief Rescue team to Turkey, and on Monday night, the first of two Indian disaster relief teams left for Turkey with dog squads and medical supplies. Pakistan has also dispatched two search and rescue teams to the ravaged country, while Australia and New Zealand committed funds for humanitarian assistance.

    The European Union activated its crisis response mechanism, while the United States said it would send two search and rescue units to Turkey. Palestinian civil defense and medical teams will also be sent to Turkey and Syria to help in rescue operations.

    Meanwhile, 10 units of the Russian army with more than 300 soldiers are clearing debris and helping in search and rescue operations in Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. Russia is the strongest foreign power operating in Syria, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has long allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said emergency response teams from the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) and the WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) are being mobilized to Turkey to assist in the humanitarian response.

    “The UN and partners are closely monitoring the situation on the ground and are looking to mobilize emergency funds in the region,” the UNOCHA said in a report Monday.

    But on Tuesday, UNOCHA spokesperson Madevi Sun-Suon told CNN that aid shipments from Turkey to Syria have been “temporarily disrupted due to road challenges.”

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  • American volunteer aid worker killed in Bakhmut while helping Ukrainian civilians | CNN

    American volunteer aid worker killed in Bakhmut while helping Ukrainian civilians | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An American volunteer aid worker, Pete Reed, was killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Thursday while aiding civilians, according to a statement from Global Response Medicine, the humanitarian aid group he founded.

    Reed, a US Marine veteran, was listed as “killed while rendering aid” on a mission with another organization, GRM said in a statement posted on social media.

    “Yesterday, GRM founder Pete Reed was killed in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Pete was the bedrock of GRM, serving as Board President for 4 years. In January, Pete stepped away from GRM to work with Global Outreach Doctors on their Ukraine mission and was killed while rendering aid,” according to a post shared on Instagram.

    “This is a stark reminder of the perils rescue and aid workers face in conflict zones as they serve citizens caught in the crossfire. Pete was just 33 years old, but lived a life in service of others, first as a decorated US Marine and then in humanitarian aid. GRM will strive to honor his legacy and the selfless service he practiced,” the statement said.

    Reed was also listed as the Ukraine country director on the Global Outreach Doctors’ website.

    A US State Department spokesperson confirmed “the recent death of a US citizen in Ukraine” when asked for comment.

    “We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” the State Department spokesperson said. “Out of respect for the privacy of the family during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add.”

    Reed’s wife, Alex Kay Potter, wrote on Instagram that her husband not only lived for his duty but apparently died saving another team member’s life.

    “He was evacuating civilians and responding to those wounded when his ambulance was shelled. He died doing what he was great at, what gave him life, and what he loved, and apparently by saving a team member with his own body,” the post said.

    Reed started his humanitarian career working after Superstorm Sandy hit his home state of New Jersey, according to the biography pages on the Global Response Medicine and Global Outreach Doctors websites.

    Reed led medical teams during the Battle for Mosul in Iraq, treating over 10,000 trauma patients, according to the websites.

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  • New York City to open a fifth relief center amid the continued influx of asylum seekers, mayor says | CNN

    New York City to open a fifth relief center amid the continued influx of asylum seekers, mayor says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    New York City is set to open a relief center in a terminal for cruise ships, which will provide temporary respite to the continued influx of asylum-seekers entering the city, officials said.

    The new site will be located at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, one of three terminals for cruise ships in the New York City metropolitan area, Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday. It will serve approximately 1,000 asylum-seekers, specifically single adult men who will be moved from another humanitarian relief center, in addition to newly arriving single men, the mayor said.

    The cruise terminal site will be the fifth Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center to open in the city to manage the arrival of immigrants who have been bused in over recent months from other parts of the country, according to the mayor’s announcement. The city has also opened 77 hotels as emergency shelters, according to New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.

    A spokesperson for the mayor did not provide a timeline for when the new site will open, saying it is expected to be up and running “very soon.” The spokesperson also declined to provide a cost for the new site but said the city would be hiring an outside vendor to complete the process.

    The center is expected to be in operation until the spring, when the terminal reopens to the public for cruise season, officials said, and it will also offer on-site medical care, food, laundry, reconnections, and a place to stay.

    “With more than 41,000 asylum-seekers arriving in New York City since last spring and nearly 28,000 asylum-seekers currently in our care, our city is at its breaking point,” Adams said in a statement Saturday.

    CNN has reached out to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which leases and operates the cruise terminal, for comment.

    The cruise terminal structure will be “similar” to the tent structures the city opened on Randall’s Island back in October, the spokesperson said. The center on Randall’s Island closed in mid-November in response to the dwindling number of asylum-seekers at the time, city officials said in a news release in November.

    The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless, which have both been critical of Adams’ plans to set up tent-like structures, issued a statement raising concerns about whether the shelter will comply with the city’s right to shelter policy.

    The statement said the site is in a “high-risk flood zone,” which will “needlessly expose future residents to the elements during some of the coldest months of the year.”

    “Hotels have always been the better short-term option, in contrast to erecting tents in inaccessible parts of New York City that are prone to flooding,” the statement said.

    The spokesperson for Adams said the new cruise terminal structure will be housed inside an existing building on the terminal, stressing it would provide “double insulation” from the elements; a concern advocates had raised about previous structures.

    In October, Adams declared a state of emergency to help respond to the city’s migrant crisis, which he said would cost the city $1 billion this fiscal year.

    The mayor also called for emergency federal and state aid to handle the continued influx of asylum-seekers.

    Adams’ declaration directed all relevant city agencies to coordinate efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis and to construct the city’s Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a program last April to bus migrants who have been processed and released by immigration authorities in Texas border communities to Washington DC, New York City, and Chicago.

    Abbott and others who favor increasing immigration restrictions argue Biden administration policies have provided an incentive for more people to cross the border illegally. The busing campaign has led to sparring between Abbott and Adams, whose administration has accused the governor of using human beings as political pawns and whose city has been long considered a sanctuary for migrants.

    Since March 2020, the controversial Trump-era border restriction known as Title 42 has allowed officials to swiftly expel migrants who crossed the border illegally, all in the name of Covid-19 prevention. There have been nearly 2.5 million expulsions, mostly under the Biden administration.

    Earlier this month, President Joe Biden public decried Title 42 and his administration said it’s preparing to end it. But officials have repeatedly turned to the Trump-era policy as a tool to manage a spiraling situation at the border.

    Officials have claimed court decisions left them with no other choice, but they’ve also chosen to expand the policy beyond any court’s order.

    The Supreme Court ruled in December Title 42 will remain in effect while legal challenges play out, a victory for Republican-led states urging the Supreme Court to step in and block a lower court opinion which ordered the termination of the authority.

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  • Here’s what’s in the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill | CNN Politics

    Here’s what’s in the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Senate leaders unveiled a $1.7 trillion year-long federal government funding bill early Tuesday morning.

    The legislation includes $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding, according to a bill summary from Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

    The sweeping package includes roughly $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, boosts in spending for disaster aid, college access, child care, mental health and food assistance, more support for the military and veterans and additional funds for the US Capitol Police, according to Leahy’s summary and one from Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

    However, the bill, which runs more than 4,000 pages, left out several measures that some lawmakers had fought to include. An expansion of the child tax credit, as well as multiple other corporate and individual tax breaks, did not make it into the final bill. Neither did legislation to allow cannabis companies to bank their cash reserves – known as the Safe Banking Act. Also, there was also no final resolution on where the new FBI headquarters will be located.

    The spending bill is the product of lengthy negotiations between top congressional Democrats and Republicans. Lawmakers reached a “bipartisan, bicameral framework” last week following a dispute between the two parties over how much money should be spent on non-defense domestic priorities. They worked through the weekend to craft the legislation.

    The Senate is expected to vote first to approve the deal this week and then send it to the House for approval before government funding runs out on December 23. The bill would keep the government operating through September, the end of the fiscal year.

    Congress originally passed a continuing resolution on September 30 to temporarily fund the government in fiscal year 2023, which began October 1.

    More aid for Ukraine: The spending bill would provide roughly $45 billion to help support Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s attack.

    About $9 billion of the funding would go to Ukraine’s military to pay for a variety of things including training, weapons, logistics support and salaries. Nearly $12 billion would be used to replenish US stocks of equipment sent to Ukraine through presidential drawdown authority.

    Also, it would provide $13 billion for economic support to the Ukrainian government.

    Other funds would address humanitarian and infrastructure needs, as well as support European Command operations.

    Emergency disaster assistance: The bill would appropriate more than $38 billion in emergency funding to help Americans in the west and southeast affected by recent natural disasters, including tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. It would aid farmers, provide economic development assistance for communities, repair and reconstruct federal facilities and direct money to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, among other initiatives.

    Overhaul of the electoral vote counting law: A provision in the legislation aims at making it harder to overturn a certified presidential election, in a direct response to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

    The changes would overhaul the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which then-President Donald Trump tried to use to overturn the 2020 election.

    The legislation would clarify the vice president’s role while overseeing the certification of the electoral result to be completely ceremonial. It also would create a set of stipulations designed to make it harder for there to be any confusion over the accurate slate of electors from each state.

    Higher maximum Pell grant awards: The bill would increase the maximum Pell grant award by $500 to $7,395 for the coming school year. This would be the largest boost since the 2009-2010 school year. About 7 million students, many from lower-income families, receive Pell grants every year to help them afford college.

    Increased support for the military and veterans: The package would fund a 4.6% pay raise for troops and a 22.4% increase in support for Veteran Administration medical care, which provides health services for 7.3 million veterans.

    It would include nearly $53 billion to address higher inflation and $2.7 billion – a 25% increase – to support critical services and housing assistance for veterans and their families.

    The bill also would allocate $5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, which provides additional funding to implement the landmark PACT Act that expands eligibility for health care services and benefits to veterans with conditions related to toxic exposure during their service.

    Beefing up nutrition assistance: The legislation would establish a permanent nationwide Summer EBT program, starting in the summer of 2024, according to Share Our Strength, an anti-hunger advocacy group. It would provide families whose children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meal with a $40 grocery benefit per child per month, indexed to inflation.

    It would also change the rules governing summer meals programs in rural areas. Children would be able to take home or receive delivery of up to 10 days worth of meals, rather than have to consume the food at a specific site and time.

    The bill would also help families who have had their food stamp benefits stolen since October 1 through what’s known as “SNAP skimming.” It would provide them with retroactive federal reimbursement of the funds, which criminals steal by attaching devices to point-of-sale machines or PIN pads to get card numbers and other information from electronic benefits transfer cards.

    More money for child care: The legislation would provide $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, a 30% increase in funding. The grant gives financial assistance to low-income families to afford child care.

    Also, Head Start would receive nearly $12 billion, an 8.6% boost. The program helps young children from low-income families prepare for school.

    Help to pay utility bills: The bill would provide $5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Combined with the $1 billion contained in the earlier continuing resolution, this would be the largest regular appropriation for the program, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Home heating and cooling costs – and the applications for federal aid in paying the bills – have soared this year.

    Enhance retirement savings: The bill contains new retirement rules that could make it easier for Americans to accumulate retirement savings – and less costly to withdraw them. Among other things, the provisions would allow penalty-free withdrawals for some emergency expenses, let employers offer matching retirement contributions for a worker’s student loan payments and increase how much older workers may save in employer retirement plans.

    More support for the environment: The package would provide an additional $576 million for the Environmental Protection Agency, bringing its funding up to $10.1 billion. It would increase support for enforcement and compliance, as well as clean air, water and toxic chemical programs, after years of flat funding.

    It also would boost funding for the National Park Service by 6.4%, restoring 500 of the 3,000 staff positions lost over the past decade. This would be intended to help the agency handle substantial increases in visitation.

    Plus, the legislation would provide an additional 14% in funding for wildland firefighting.

    Additional funding for the US Capitol Police: The bill would provide an additional $132 million for the Capitol Police for a total of nearly $735 million. It would allow the department to hire up to 137 sworn officers and 123 support and civilian personnel, bringing the force to a projected level of 2,126 sworn officers and 567 civilians.

    It would also give $2 million to provide off-campus security for lawmakers in response to evolving and growing threats.

    Investments in homelessness prevention and affordable housing: The legislation would provide $3.6 billion for homeless assistance grants, a 13% increase. It would serve more than 1 million people experiencing homelessness.

    The package also would funnel nearly $6.4 billion to the Community Development Block Grant formula program and related local economic and community development projects that benefit low- and moderate income areas and people, an increase of almost $1.6 billion.

    Plus, it would provide $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which would lead to the construction of nearly 10,000 new rental and homebuyer units and maintain the record investment from the last fiscal year.

    Increased health care funding: The package would provide more money for National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. The funds are intended to speed the development of new therapies, diagnostics and preventive measures, beef up public health activities and strengthen the nation’s biosecurity by accelerating development of medical countermeasures for pandemic threats and fortifying stockpiles and supply chains for drugs, masks and other supplies.

    More resources for children’s mental health and for substance abuse: The bill would provide more funds to increase access to mental health services for children and schools. It also would invest more money to address the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder.

    Tiktok ban from federal devices: The legislation would ban TikTok, the Chinese-owned short-form video app, from federal government devices.

    Some lawmakers have raised bipartisan concerns that China’s national security laws could force TikTok – or its parent, ByteDance – to hand over the personal data of its US users. Recently, a wave of states led by Republican governors have introduced state-level restrictions on the use of TikTok on government-owned devices.

    Enhanced child tax credit: A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates pushed hard to extend at least one provision of the enhanced child tax credit, which was in effect last year thanks to the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Their priority was to make the credit more refundable so more of the lowest-income families can qualify. Nearly 19 million kids won’t receive the full $2,000 benefit this year because their parents earn too little, according to a Tax Policy Center estimate.

    New cannabis banking rules: Lawmakers considered including a provision in the spending bill that would make it easier for licensed cannabis businesses to accept credit cards – but it was left out of the legislation. Known as the Safe Banking Act, which previously passed the House, the provision would prohibit federal regulators from taking punitive measures against banks for providing services to legitimate cannabis businesses.

    Even though 47 states have legalized some form of marijuana, cannabis remains illegal on the federal level. That means financial institutions providing banking services to cannabis businesses are subject to criminal prosecution – leaving many legal growers and sellers locked out of the banking system.

    FBI headquarters: There was also no final resolution on where the new FBI headquarters will be located, a major point of contention as lawmakers from Maryland – namely House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer – pushed to bring the law enforcement agency into their state. In a deal worked through by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the General Services Administration would be required to conduct “separate and detailed consultations” with Maryland and Virginia representatives about potential sites in each of the states, according to a Senate Democratic aide.

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  • Stevie Nicks, Lauren Daigle, 38 Special and More Partner With Greater Good Music On Truckloads of Thanksgiving Food for Florida Disaster Zone

    Stevie Nicks, Lauren Daigle, 38 Special and More Partner With Greater Good Music On Truckloads of Thanksgiving Food for Florida Disaster Zone

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    Music artists team up with Greater Good Music to deliver food to families hit by Hurricane Ian

    Press Release
    –

    Nov 22, 2022 13:00 EST


    NASHVILLE, Tenn., November 22, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Earlier this fall, Hurricane Ian roared through Florida as one of the worst disasters in the state’s history. In the Fort Myers area, more than 5,000 homes were destroyed with thousands more sustaining damage. With many grocery stores and restaurants closed, food has not been readily available for Southwest Florida residents. It can also be difficult to afford food for families who suffered financial impacts of the disaster.

    Greater Good Music is partnering with music artists from across the nation to provide help in the way of truckloads of grocery supplies delivered directly to Florida neighborhoods damaged by Hurricane Ian. 

    Stevie Nicks, Lauren Daigle, 38 Special, Foreigner, and more music artists are partnering with Greater Good Music to have food trucks delivered to Florida residents in need during the Thanksgiving season. 

    Greater Good Music has teamed up with the Harry Chapin Food Bank to organize these food distributions, donated by music artists, during the holiday season. Each distribution delivers 40,000 pounds of food and provides six hundred families with a week’s worth of groceries.

    Food distributions will continue into December bringing fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein to Florida families. The holidays are a particularly critical time for this help as other relief organizations end their operations, yet hurricane impacted families are still feeling the strain of recovery efforts.

    “It’s critical to be here for these families around the holidays. This could be a sad time in Southwest Florida with so much destruction. We want to bring comfort and nourishment. Music has so much power to heal, and these music artists sending food is a hands-on way to provide that healing,” stated Sheila Jones, director of Greater Good Music. Online donations can be made at GreaterGoodMusic.org

    Greater Good Music’s mission is to prevent food insecurity by partnering with music artists to help families in need. According to the US Department of Agriculture, more than 34 million people, including 9 million children, in the United States are food insecure. 

    About Greater Good Music: Greater Good Music brings people and music together to do good. We partner with music artists on concert tours across the nation to supply food distributions before show time to low-income families and disaster victims. Find us at www.GreaterGoodMusic.org, and on Instagram (@GreaterGoodMusicCharity) and Facebook (facebook.com/GreaterGoodMusic). Greater Good Music is operating through a fiscal sponsorship with Players Philanthropy Fund (Federal Tax ID: 27-6601178), a Maryland charitable trust with federal tax-exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Greater Good Music are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

    Source: Greater Good Music

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  • Morgan Wallen Foundation and Greater Good Music Provide Thanksgiving Dinners for 2,000 Families

    Morgan Wallen Foundation and Greater Good Music Provide Thanksgiving Dinners for 2,000 Families

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    Press Release
    –

    Nov 21, 2022 11:30 EST


    NASHVILLE, Tenn., November 21, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    It’s been a tough year to make ends meet with rising inflation and historically high food costs making it difficult for families to afford Thanksgiving this year. Tennessee and Kentucky residents were both especially hard hit with catastrophic floods that tragically took lives and destroyed thousands of homes. This is why Tennessee-based non-profit Greater Good Music approached supporter and entertainer/songwriter Morgan Wallen and his Found­ation to partner for a giveaway this holiday season. Working together, 2,000 families in need received turkeys along with complete meals ahead of Thanksgiving this week.

    On Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, Greater Good Music delivered turkeys to more than 300 Middle Tennessee families waiting in line at Waverly High School, in Waverly, Tennessee, where a historic flood gutted the town last year and residents have been working to rebuild. Volunteers from Joseph’s Storehouse food ministry were on hand to distribute turkeys, stuffing, and fresh fruits and vegetables to families who were impacted by the flood disaster near Nashville.

    Additional communities in Tennessee also received food deliveries including Wallen’s hometown of Sneedville in Eastern Tennessee where 450 families received Thanksgiving meal boxes. The distributions at local high schools and food pantries took place this weekend. In addition, 600 families in Pike County, Kentucky, who lost homes in the flood there this summer, received complementary holiday dinners. 

    Earlier this year, Greater Good Music worked with Wallen and his Foundation to help communities in need on several stops on his 2022 Dangerous Tour. Greater Good Music identified food insecure communities on the tour and organized food distributions donated by Wallen that fed more than 500,000 people in need before show time on tour stops across the United States.

    Greater Good Music’s mission is to prevent food insecurity by partnering with music artists to organize mobile food distributions in cities on tour. According to the US Department of Agriculture, more than 34 million people, including 9 million children, in the United States are food insecure and may not have enough food to eat each week. Covid-19, climate change, and global conflicts have exacerbated the problems of food insecurity in America and the world this year.

    About Greater Good Music: Greater Good Music brings people and music together to do good. We partner with nationally known music artists on tour to supply healthy food distributions before show time to low-income families and disaster victims, so they do not have to go hungry. Greater Good Music teamed up with musicians and volunteers on tour across the United States to deliver over one million meals to food insecure people in America in 2022. We turn concert day into a day of giving. Find us at www.GreaterGoodMusic.org, and on Instagram (@GreaterGoodMusicCharity) and Facebook (facebook.com/GreaterGoodMusic). Greater Good Music is operating through a fiscal sponsorship with Players Philanthropy Fund, a Maryland charitable trust with federal tax-exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Greater Good Music are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

    About Morgan Wallen:

    The east Tennessee superstar and recent ACM Milestone Award recipient shares, “Awards are awesome, but my true measure of success is my fans, who this year I got to see every single night out on the road and will continue to do so for many years to come.” Thanks to nearly 1 million of his fans, $3 for every ticket sold during his 2022 Dangerous Tour has raised nearly $3 million benefitting the Morgan Wallen Foundation which funds causes close to his heart.

    #   #   #

    Source: Greater Good Music

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  • Black residents in 2 Florida neighborhoods raise questions about hurricane relief efforts and say they’ve been left out | CNN

    Black residents in 2 Florida neighborhoods raise questions about hurricane relief efforts and say they’ve been left out | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Latronia Latson said she feels like she has been neglected in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian.

    Latson, who lives in the Dunbar neighborhood in Fort Myers, Florida, said she can’t get to a relief center to get bottled water and other necessities being distributed because she doesn’t have transportation; the bus system is not running in her neighborhood. Her stove and microwave also mysteriously stopped working after the hurricane, despite power being restored.

    Latson said the more affluent, predominately White communities seem to be getting prioritized in the storm recovery.

    “They need to make it convenient for those that don’t have transportation,” said Latson, who is disabled. “We just don’t get the same service (as people in other parts of town).”

    Latson is among the residents and community leaders in Florida who say the poor, majority Black neighborhoods of Dunbar and River Park in Naples are forgotten as rescue and relief teams descend on the areas hit by Hurricane Ian last week.

    The residents say they were among the last to get their power restored and shelters and relief centers are being set up too far away for people who don’t have access to vehicles.

    Officials in Fort Myers did not immediately provide a response to these concerns when contacted by CNN.

    The city of Naples released a statement on Thursday outlining its efforts to assist the River Park community since the storm. The statement said officials opened a comfort center at the River Park Community Center on Sept. 29 that provided access to phone charging, air conditioning, water, ice and restrooms. Additionally the city said staff members visited River Park to speak with residents, developed a plan for debris removal, transported residents to shelters and partnered with local groups to serve and deliver hot meals, water and clothing to the community.

    Yet Black residents’ complaints and questions about the warnings and response lay bare the racial disparities in natural disaster recovery each time a major storm affects part of the country. Several studies found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides less aid to people of color facing disaster relief compared to White people. Poor communities and communities of color are also often built in locations that are more physically vulnerable to extreme weather events and have less investment in their infrastructure, experts say.

    Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged the inequity when she spoke last week at the National Committee Women’s Leadership Forum.

    “It is our lowest-income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making,” Harris said. “And so we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity.”

    Deanne Criswell, FEMA administrator, agreed that there are barriers to receiving federal resources. Criswell said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” earlier this week that her office is working to create more equitable access to FEMA’s disaster relief programs.

    “One of our focus areas since I’ve been in office is to make sure that we’re removing those barriers,” Criswell said. “So these people that need our help the most are going to be able to access the help that we offer.”

    Black activists and residents in Florida are pleading for more help from officials.

    Vincent Keeys, president of the Collier County NAACP, said residents in River Park were already more vulnerable because it is a coastal community. The city of Naples, Keeys said, has worked to gentrify the area in recent years but has not built a sea wall that could provide more protection during hurricanes.

    Some residents complained that they never even received a notification to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm, Keeys said.

    The timing of evacuation orders has been a point of contention for Florida officials since the storm. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said officials in Lee County, where Dunbar sits, acted appropriately when they issued their first mandatory evacuations less than 24 hours before Hurricane Ian made landfall on the state, and a day after several neighboring counties issued their orders. Lee County officials have faced mounting questions about why the first mandatory evacuations weren’t ordered until a day before Ian’s landfall – despite an emergency plan that suggests evacuations should have happened earlier.

    The city of Naples said in its statement Thursday that it issued mandatory evacuation notices to residents via email, the CodeRed system, social media and a press release sent to media outlets.

    In River Park, many homes suffered 4 to 6 feet of flooding, downed trees and structural damage. Keeys said there are no shelters in close proximity to the neighborhood, leaving residents with nowhere to go if their homes are uninhabitable.

    “Please, you cannot put our people in a flood prone situation and expect them to survive,” Keeys said. “At least, if humanly possible, help us improve, plan and make things better for human beings.”

    Sharda Williams, of River Park, said she never received an evacuation order but people in nearby communities were told to leave. “No one came to our neighborhood and told us to get out,” Williams said. “Not one person.”

    Now Williams said all she can do is “sit and wait until the help comes through.”

    “You try and do what you can and that’s why, you know, we’re all pitching together and trying to help each other with what we can,” she said.

    Curtis Williams (no relation to Sharda), another River Park resident, was also frustrated he didn’t get an evacuation order.

    “Not one city employee, police or whatever, came through the neighborhood before the flood water and said there was a mandatory evacuation, not one,” he said. “They could have easily rode down here with a bullhorn, before the storm, and say ‘you people need to vacate.’ They didn’t do that.”

    However, Naples said in its statement that the city’s first responders were trapped and its fire station was flooded. As a result, the North Collier Fire Rescue (NCFR) team responded to the River Park community with the high water vehicle. NCFR drove three vehicle loads of residents to high ground, which was at the Coastland Center Mall. Numerous people in the area were trapped and the city said its goal was to get everyone to safety and high ground.

    More than 100 miles away in Dunbar, one pastor said while the Black community hasn’t received much support from officials, residents are leaning on each other to get through the recovery.

    “We are trying to give some moral support, you know, with our neighbors and friends,” said Pastor Nicles Emile of Galilee Baptist Church. “We are working on helping our neighbors as much as we can and I can say that whatever we have and share with them.”

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  • Noru became a super typhoon in 6 hours. Scientists say powerful storms are becoming harder to forecast | CNN

    Noru became a super typhoon in 6 hours. Scientists say powerful storms are becoming harder to forecast | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Residents on the small resort island of Polillo are accustomed to severe weather – their island sits in the northeastern Philippines, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean where storms typically gather strength and turn into typhoons.

    But even they were stunned by the intensity of Typhoon Noru, known locally as Typhoon Karding, that turned from a typhoon into a super typhoon in just six hours before hitting the region earlier this week.

    “We’re used to typhoons because we’re located where storms usually land,” said Armiel Azas Azul, 36, who owns the Sugod Beach and Food Park on the island, a bistro under palm trees where guests drink coconut juice in tiny thatched huts.

    “But everything is very unpredictable,” he said. “And (Noru) came very fast.”

    The Philippines sees an average of 20 tropical storms each year, and while Noru didn’t inflict as much damage or loss of life as other typhoons in recent years, it stood out because it gained strength so quickly.

    Experts say rapidly developing typhoons are set to become much more common as the climate crisis fuels extreme weather events, and at the same time it will become harder to predict which storms will intensify and where they will track.

    “The challenge is accurately forecasting the intensity and how fast the categories may change, for example from just a low-pressure area intensifying into a tropical cyclone,” said Lourdes Tibig, a meteorologist and climatologist with the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.

    The same happened in the United States last week when Hurricane Ian turned from a Category 1 storm into a powerful Category 4 hurricane before making landfall along the southwestern coast of Florida on Wednesday.

    Such rapid intensification, as it’s known in meteorological terms, creates challenges for residents, authorities and local emergency workers, including those in the Philippines, who increasingly have no choice but to prepare for the worst.

    When Azul received warning that Typhoon Noru was approaching the Philippines last Saturday, he began his usual preparations of setting up his generator and tying down loose items.

    At that stage, Noru was predicted to make landfall on Sunday as the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane.

    But as the storm grew closer, it strengthened into a super typhoon, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, making landfall Sunday evening with ferocious winds that lifted waves and lashed properties on the shoreline.

    Typhoon Noru toppled beach huts and coconut trees at Sugod Beach and Food Park on Polillo Island, Quezon province, in the Philippines.

    Azul said his community was fortunate to have TV signal in the resort, and as soon as they found out that the typhoon was much stronger than forecast, his staff brought in all the bistro’s outdoor furniture and tied down the roofs of their guesthouses, while local government units evacuated people living near the shore.

    “But other parts of the island which don’t have internet connectivity and only rely on radio signals might not have got the message in time,” he said.

    The typhoon damaged the resort town, as strong winds toppled beach huts and damaged nearby fishing cages.

    Azul added that coconut trees planted across the island about a decade ago after Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) battered the area had just started to bear fruit but were now completely wiped out.

    “We have to pick up the pieces, and rebuild again,” he said.

    Typhoon Noru lashed through Sugod Beach and Food Park on Polillo Island, Quezon province, in the Philippines.

    On the main island of Luzon, Noru left a trail of destruction in the province of Nueva Ecija, known as the “rice granary” of the country.

    Ruel Ladrido, 46, a farmer owner in Laur, Nueva Ecija, said his rice fields were not flooded but strong winds damaged his crops.

    “It didn’t rain hard near me, but the winds uprooted some of my fields. It will affect our harvest this season, but what can we do? I don’t know the extent of the damage yet, but we’ll have to plant again,” he told CNN on Tuesday.

    High winds brought by Typhoon Noru flattened rice fields at the Ladrido Farm in Laur, Nueva Ecija ,in the Philippines.

    As of Friday, 12 people had died in the aftermath of Noru, including five rescue workers in Bulacan province, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

    The estimated damage to agriculture ballooned to some 3 billion Philippine pesos (about $51 million), affected 104,500 farmers and fisher folk, and damaged over 166,630 thousand hectares of crop land, according to the NDRRMC.

    The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, is already vulnerable to typhoons, but as sea levels rise and ocean temperatures warm, the storms expected to become more powerful, according to research published in 2018.

    The study found that the stronger typhoons carry more moisture and track differently. They are also “aggravated by sea level rise, one of the most certain consequences of climate change.”

    A separate study published last year, by researchers at the Shenzhen Institute of Meteorological Innovation and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, found that typhoons in east and southeast Asia now last between two and nine hours longer and travel an average of 100 kilometers (62 miles) further inland than they did four decades ago. By the end of the century, they could have double the destructive power.

    As such, it’ll become more difficult to forecast their track and predict ones that will quickly gain strength, or undergo rapid intensification – defined as when wind speeds increase by at least 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) in 24 hours or less.

    Although rare, the Philippines is no stranger to this phenomenon as 28% of all tropical cyclones that made landfall in the country dating back to 1951 underwent rapid intensification based on official data, according to Gerry Bagtasa, a professor with the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology.

    Bagtasa said factors such as high moisture, warm ocean surface temperatures and low wind shear determine the scale of rapid intensification, but those weather readings “don’t have to be extraordinary in their values” to create rapid intensification.

    He remarked that Typhoon Noru’s track across the Philippine Sea before making landfall was “just average for this season” and the wind shear – or the change of wind speed and strength with height in the atmosphere – was not extraordinarily low.

    Bagtasa also said forecasters find it difficult to predict rapid intensification in the Pacific, because even though satellite monitoring has improved, there isn’t enough data to forecast worsening weather events.

    “There are also many unprecedented events happening recently worldwide, and since forecasters typically rely on their past experiences, new events can ‘throw off’ forecasts, so to speak,” he said.

    Mirian Abadilla, a doctor and municipal health officer in Cabangan, Zambales province, on the Philippine island of Luzon, has been involved in her community’s disaster management response since 1991.

    She says in that time, typhoons have become harder to forecast, and her community has no choice but to prepare for the worst.

    “The typhoons are definitely getting stronger because of climate change, and getting harder to predict,” she said. “But each time we get hit with a typhoon, we try to keep improving our disaster response – that’s the only way for us to stay alert.”

    She said local governments held meetings as Typhoon Noru approached the coast to go over relief and rescue plans.

    “Filipinos are getting better at disaster preparedness … because we have to be,” she said.

    Every province, city, municipality and barangay in the Philippines is required to follow national disaster risk reduction and management system under an act imposed in 2010 to address the island nation’s climate vulnerability.

    Local governments must conduct preemptive evacuation based on the projected warnings from the national weather department, and it’s recommended they hold regular disaster rescue drills with responders and host briefing seminars for communities.

    Residents wade through waist-deep flood waters after Super Typhoon Noru, in San Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines, September 26, 2022.

    In a press briefing on Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. praised local government units for “doing a good job” in explaining the situation to the local population as Noru approached, and for carrying out evacuations that may have prevented mass casualties.

    But he also seemed to acknowledge the unpredictability of the storms that regularly threaten the Philippine coast, and the need to always be prepared.

    “I think we may have gotten lucky at least this time, a little bit,” Marcos Jr. said.

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  • Gen Z Grad Student and Hurricane Katrina Survivor to Send Comfort to Children in Hurricane Ian

    Gen Z Grad Student and Hurricane Katrina Survivor to Send Comfort to Children in Hurricane Ian

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    Press Release
    –

    Sep 28, 2022


    PHOENIX, September 28, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Mimi Hymel, a 20-year-old graduate student at Grand Canyon University, is sharing how her experience as a Hurricane Katrina survivor prompted her to start her own organization, Comfort Bears in a Catastrophe. 

    Mimi shared that while essential living items are thought of, it’s the comfort items children miss that no organization is thinking of.  

    “As a young child in Hurricane Katrina, there were lots of organizations focused on providing the essentials- food, water and shelter. The 3-year-old Mimi couldn’t comprehend that food on the table suddenly wasn’t there, but I did understand that my teddy bear and childhood best friend couldn’t evacuate with me, leading me to feel isolated and alone. This is why I created Comfort Bears in a Catastrophe, to give children comfort items as a top priority.” 

    This week, as Hurricane Ian hits parts of Puerto Rico and Florida, Comfort Bears in a Catastrophe is stepping in to provide these children with the comfort and hope of a teddy bear. The organization has released the following statement:

    “We have an ongoing donation drive now through Oct. 5 to fundraise and send additional stuffed animals and cards to children impacted by Hurricane Ian. We have partners locally in the area who will be working with us to ensure as many children as possible will receive a Comfort Bear.” 

    Comfort Bears in a Catastrophe was founded in December of 2020. They have given out over 600 Comfort Bears to children impacted by disasters in various states across the U.S. They tag each stuffed animal with a handwritten card of encouragement to further uplift each child in these difficult situations. You can find out more about their organization here: www.comfortbearsinacatastrophe.org 

    Source: Comfort Bears in a Catastrophe

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  • Author Suzanne Jones’s New Book ‘From the Flood’ is a Poignant New Memoir Marking the 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Agnes

    Author Suzanne Jones’s New Book ‘From the Flood’ is a Poignant New Memoir Marking the 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Agnes

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    Press Release
    –

    Jun 21, 2022


    BOSTON, June 21, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Trauma recovery specialist Suzanne Jones (There Is Nothing To Fix) shines in this first-rate memoir chronicling a life defined by a hurricane 50 years ago. Pre-flood, Jones was a typical 1970s kid — but after Hurricane Agnes roars through Wilkes-Barre, PA, on June 23, 1972, Jones’s entire life changed. 

    Jones, now 57, says she wanted to mark the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Agnes by writing of her childhood experiences through what was then the worst natural disaster in American history. “There are many books and documentaries about this historic flood, but I wanted to write about the impact of a natural disaster on one family that loses everything. It took years for us to piece our lives back together.”

    Jones was compelled to pen her story after she realized her experiences of the flood and the following years of displacement were drastically different from her parents’. Jones states, “As a trauma specialist, I can now look back and see that as kids, we had everything we needed to thrive – community, play, and the opportunity to use our experiences in our games of imagination. Ironically, the best years of my childhood were the worst years for my parents.”

    With sparkling prose and a fine eye for detail, Jones easily pulls readers into her engaging narrative, choosing to share much of her ordeal through a lens of childhood wonder and naiveté, and recounting her experiences with a child’s frankness. With descriptions that alternate between laugh-out-loud funny and heart-breakingly sad, From the Flood offers lessons of resilience that are as relevant today as they were half a century ago.

    “This book feels not only like a gift to my parents, but a lesson to parents everywhere that children can thrive through traumatic events if we allow them to be kids.”

    “As a person who has worked with children and families who have survived both acute and chronic trauma, I gained more perspective from this wise and beautiful seven-year-old than I learned from many experts in the field.” —Steve Gross, Chief Playmaker, Life Is Good Kids Foundation

    From the Flood: A Memoir by Suzanne Jones                      

    Media Contact: sue@suzanneejones.com – 617-899-9474

    Website: http://www.suejonesempowerment.com

    Publication date: June 7, 2022                                               

    6×9″ Paperback, $15.99 

    978-1734083521

    315 pages

    Source: Suzanne Jones, author

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  • Sudan’s Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces sign agreement intended to lay groundwork for humanitarian assistance in Sudan, say US officials | CNN Politics

    Sudan’s Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces sign agreement intended to lay groundwork for humanitarian assistance in Sudan, say US officials | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The warring Sudanese parties have signed an agreement intended to lay the groundwork for humanitarian assistance to resume in Sudan, senior US State Department officials said Thursday.

    The agreement signed in Jeddah by representatives from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is not a ceasefire, but rather “a declaration of commitment to protect the civilians of Sudan.”

    The purpose of the declaration “is to guide the conduct of the two forces so that we can get in humanitarian assistance, help begin the restoration of essential services like electricity and water, to arrange for the withdrawal of security forces from hospitals and clinics, and to perform the respectful burial of the dead,” one of the officials explained.

    The next step will be to negotiate a ceasefire which would allow those actions to take place, the official told reporters, and talks on that could begin as early as Friday.

    Children caught in the crossfire as rival factions fight in Sudan

    “We will move as fast as we can with the parties to get to actual actions. We’ve already made specific recommendations to each side to take actions and some of that is happening,” the official told reporters on a call.

    A ceasefire monitoring mechanism has been developed to “help hold the parties accountable to what they’ve agreed to do,” the official said.

    The declaration, the name of which was “requested by the parties to emphasize that they’re interested in trying to help the civilians who are suffering from this fighting,” was signed following days of “pre-negotiation talks” which have been mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

    Those talks began this weekend in Jeddah, weeks after the outbreak of fighting in Sudan that has left hundreds dead and thousands injured, caused tens of thousands to flee their homes and left the country on the brink of civil war and a massive humanitarian catastrophe.

    A second senior State Department official said that it took longer than expected to get an agreement on the declaration, and “the negotiations were very tough,” particularly given “the depth of enmity” between the RSF and the SAF.

    The first official said that the SAF and RSF negotiators “with the support of the Saudi and American mediators,” will now “begin to negotiate an actual short term ceasefire.”

    The goal is to reach a ceasefire of up to 10 days, they said, “but we’ll have to see what’s possible to facilitate those activities.”

    A ceasefire monitoring mechanism, which will be supported by the United Nations, Saudi Arabia, the US, “and other members of the international community,” has been developed. The second official said the mechanism includes “overhead imagery, including satellite data,” social media analysis, and on the ground reporting from Sudanese civil society members.

    The official noted that “we’ve seen violations by both sides in all the ceasefires to date and don’t expect that to change.”

    They said they intend to establish a committee that the ceasefire monitoring mechanism would report to, which would include representatives from the RSF, SAF, and international community. Asked about punitive measures, the official said that “the biggest one here would frankly be public attribution where possible,” which would help combat propaganda and misinformation about who was responsible for the violations.

    The first official noted that this was just the initial phase of talks, telling reporters, “this is going to be a process so we are just at the first stage.”

    “We did this in partnership with the Saudis, at the request of the two sides,” the first official said of the talks in Jeddah. “The two sides asked us to help them out with this, but there is every expectation that this process will be expanded to include, first and most importantly, Sudanese civilians, and secondly, regional partners in Africa and in the Arab world, and then the international community.”

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