Dr. Lauren Siewny, Emergency Department medical director at Duke University Hospital, has a failsafe forecast around winter weather: When freezing rain falls, so do people.
âAll that is to be expected,â Siewny said Sunday, when she was working her second storm shift in emergency.
A person walks with a dog along an icy street in downtown Durham on Sunday, January 25, 2026. Kaitlin McKeown The News & Observer
While other businesses scale back or shut down when inclement weather moves in, the emergency department pulls in additional resources, Siewny said. The cabinets are stocked with extra supplies and there is food for the beefed-up staff that will be needed to tend to people who obsessively shovel their driveways or underestimate the effects of frigid temperatures on bare skin.
While Siewny and her staff are ready and willing to treat anyone who overdoes it during or after a storm, she offers this advice for anyone who would rather spend their snow day watching the weather than the clock on the wall in the ER waiting room.
Avoid any unnecessary travel. Staying home prevents â or at least limits â exposure to all kinds of weather-related calamities, including car crashes and slips on parking-lot ice.
If you go outside, wear sturdy footwear with good traction.
âDress in layers,â Siewny said. âAnd heed the advice your grandmother gave you to protect your face, head and hands. And donât stay outside too long.â
Remember the first people who show up at the emergency room during a storm are the ones who go out to clear the driveway when itâs icy, Siewny said. The most common medical emergencies from that happen when the shoveler slips and falls, or has a cardiac event.
âI think if I could leave anybody with a message, Iâd say, âSlow down. Stay warm. Avoid unnecessary travel. But do not hesitate to seek care. Call 911. It may take longer for emergency services to get to you, but itâs still safer than trying to tackle the roads yourself.â
This story is available free to all readers thanks to financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider a digital subscription, which you can get here.
Martha Quillin writes about climate change and the environment. She has covered North Carolina news, culture, religion and the military since joining The News & Observer in 1987.
Heavy rain and flash flooding soaked roads in Northern California, leading to water rescues from vehicles and homes and at least one confirmed death, authorities said Monday.In Redding, a city at the northern end of California’s Central Valley, one motorist died after calling 911 while trapped in their vehicle as it filled up with water, Mayor Mike Littau posted online Monday. Police said they received numerous calls for drivers stranded in flooded areas.âRedding police officer swam out into the water, broke the windows and pulled victim to shore. CPR was done but the person did not live,â Littau wrote.The Redding area saw between 3 and 6 inches of rain from Saturday through Sunday night, the National Weather Service said.Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson declared a state of emergency on Monday, which allows the state to assist the county with road conditions, search and rescue operations and hazard mitigation, the sheriff’s office said. As scattered showers lingered into Monday, some local roads remained flooded as street crews worked to clear debris and tow abandoned cars.Dekoda Cruz waded in knee-deep muddy water to check on a friendâs flooded tire business, where the office was littered with a jumble of furniture and bobbing tires.Redding’s mayor warned of even more dangerous weather in the coming days, and the city distributed free sand bags to residents in preparation for the next storm.The National Weather Service expects rain through the Christmas week as a series of atmospheric rivers was forecast to make its way through Northern California. A large swath of the Sacramento Valley and surrounding areas were under a flood watch through Friday.An atmospheric river is a long, narrow band of water vapor that forms over an ocean and flows through the sky, transporting moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.The weather pattern was expected to intensify by midweek, which could lead to potential mudslides, rockslides and flooding of creeks and streams, forecasters warned. Up to 6 feet of snow was predicted for parts of the Sierra Nevada and winds could reach 55 mph (90 in high elevations by Wednesday.Travel in the mountain passes on Christmas day would be âdifficult to near impossible,â the weather service said.Southern California can also expect a soggy Christmas, with some areas in Ventura County are forecast to get up to 11 inchesof rain by Saturday. Parts of Los Angeles, including areas with burn scars from the deadly Palisades fire, will be under evacuation warnings beginning Tuesday.The weather service urged people to make backup plans for holiday travel.Earlier this month, stubborn atmospheric rivers drenched Washington state with nearly 5 trillion gallons of rain in a week, threatening record flood levels, meteorologists said. That rainfall was supercharged by warm weather and air, plus unusual weather conditions tracing back as far as a tropical cyclone in Indonesia.REAL-TIME TRAFFIC MAPClick here to see our interactive traffic map.TRACK INTERACTIVE, DOPPLER RADARClick here to see our interactive radar.DOWNLOAD OUR APP FOR THE LATESTHere is where you can download our app.Follow our KCRA weather team on social mediaMeteorologist Tamara Berg on Facebook and X.Meteorologist Dirk Verdoorn on FacebookMeteorologist/Climate Reporter Heather Waldman on Facebook and X.Meteorologist Kelly Curran on X.Meteorologist Ophelia Young on Facebook and X.Watch our forecasts on TV or onlineHere’s where to find our latest video forecast. You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here. The banner on our website turns red when we’re live.We’re also streaming on the Very Local app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channelKCRA 3 staff and The Associated Press writer Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
REDDING, Calif. â
Heavy rain and flash flooding soaked roads in Northern California, leading to water rescues from vehicles and homes and at least one confirmed death, authorities said Monday.
In Redding, a city at the northern end of California’s Central Valley, one motorist died after calling 911 while trapped in their vehicle as it filled up with water, Mayor Mike Littau posted online Monday. Police said they received numerous calls for drivers stranded in flooded areas.
âRedding police officer swam out into the water, broke the windows and pulled victim to shore. CPR was done but the person did not live,â Littau wrote.
The Redding area saw between 3 and 6 inches of rain from Saturday through Sunday night, the National Weather Service said.
Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson declared a state of emergency on Monday, which allows the state to assist the county with road conditions, search and rescue operations and hazard mitigation, the sheriff’s office said.
This content is imported from Facebook.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from Facebook.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
As scattered showers lingered into Monday, some local roads remained flooded as street crews worked to clear debris and tow abandoned cars.
Dekoda Cruz waded in knee-deep muddy water to check on a friendâs flooded tire business, where the office was littered with a jumble of furniture and bobbing tires.
Redding’s mayor warned of even more dangerous weather in the coming days, and the city distributed free sand bags to residents in preparation for the next storm.
The National Weather Service expects rain through the Christmas week as a series of atmospheric rivers was forecast to make its way through Northern California. A large swath of the Sacramento Valley and surrounding areas were under a flood watch through Friday.
An atmospheric river is a long, narrow band of water vapor that forms over an ocean and flows through the sky, transporting moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.
The weather pattern was expected to intensify by midweek, which could lead to potential mudslides, rockslides and flooding of creeks and streams, forecasters warned. Up to 6 feet of snow was predicted for parts of the Sierra Nevada and winds could reach 55 mph (90 in high elevations by Wednesday.
This content is imported from Facebook.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Travel in the mountain passes on Christmas day would be âdifficult to near impossible,â the weather service said.
Southern California can also expect a soggy Christmas, with some areas in Ventura County are forecast to get up to 11 inchesof rain by Saturday. Parts of Los Angeles, including areas with burn scars from the deadly Palisades fire, will be under evacuation warnings beginning Tuesday.
The weather service urged people to make backup plans for holiday travel.
Earlier this month, stubborn atmospheric rivers drenched Washington state with nearly 5 trillion gallons of rain in a week, threatening record flood levels, meteorologists said. That rainfall was supercharged by warm weather and air, plus unusual weather conditions tracing back as far as a tropical cyclone in Indonesia.
TRAVERSE CITY â A full rollout of Grand Traverse Countyâs Central Dispatch AI assistant has been delayed because of technical problems.
The countyâs implementation of the new automated assistant software program for non-emergency Central Dispatch calls has been plagued by program mistakes, requiring monitoring to ensure itâs working properly, Central Dispatch Director Corey LeCureux said.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
TRAVERSE CITY â A full rollout of Grand Traverse Countyâs Central Dispatch AI assistant has been delayed because of technical problems.
The countyâs implementation of the new automated assistant software program for non-emergency Central Dispatch calls has been plagued by program mistakes, requiring monitoring to ensure itâs working properly, Central Dispatch Director Corey LeCureux said.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
TRAVERSE CITY â A full rollout of Grand Traverse Countyâs Central Dispatch AI assistant has been delayed because of technical problems.
The countyâs implementation of the new automated assistant software program for non-emergency Central Dispatch calls has been plagued by program mistakes, requiring monitoring to ensure itâs working properly, Central Dispatch Director Corey LeCureux said.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) â Washington was under a state of emergency Thursday from a barrage of torrential rain that has sent rivers flowing over their banks, caused mudslides to crash down on highways and trapped people in floodwaters. Tens of thousands of residents were under evacuation orders.
Heavy rain continued to fall over parts of the state, prompting rising rivers, road closures, water rescues and suspension of Amtrak trains between Seattle and Vancouver. Rainfall intensity increased in several counties in Washingtonâs Cascade Mountains, which had seen up to 6 inches (15.2 centimeters) of rain in 24 hours. One area, Snoqualmie Pass, picked up an additional 1.7 inches (4.3 centimeters) of rain in six hours, the National Weather Service said.
Emergency management officials urged residents not to drive through standing water. Those who live near rivers were advised to stay alert to evacuation orders.
After days of unrelenting heavy rain Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency by Wednesday, warning âlives will be at stake in the coming days.â Some residents have already been told to get to higher ground, with Skagit County, in a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering everyone within the Skagit Riverâs 100-year floodplain to evacuate.
Catastrophic flooding is likely in many areas and the state is requesting water rescue teams and boats, Ferguson said on the social media platform X on Wednesday night.
Hundreds of National Guard members will be sent to help communities, said Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard.
In a valley leading out to the foothills of Mount Rainier southeast of Seattle, Pierce County sheriffâs deputies on Wednesday rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including helping one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over concerns about the Puyallup Riverâs extremely high levels and upstream levees.
A landslide blocked part of Interstate 90 east of Seattle, with photos from Eastside Fire & Rescue showing vehicles trapped by tree trunks, branches, mud and standing water. Officials also closed a mountainous section of U.S. 2 due to rocks, trees and mud.
More than 17,000 customers in Washington were without electricity Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Flooding rivers could break records
The Skagit River was expected to crest at roughly 42 feet (13 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete early Thursday, and roughly 39 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon early Friday.
âWe feel very confident that we can handle a ânormal flood,â but no one really knows what a 41, 42 foot river looks like south of Mount Vernon,â Darrin Morrison, a commissioner for Dike District 3 in Skagit County, said during a public meeting Wednesday night.
The county was closing non-essential government services Thursday, including all district and superior court services.
Flooding from the river has long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in the county with some 35,000 residents. Flooding in 2003 displaced hundreds of people.
The city completed a floodwall in 2018 that helps protect the downtown. It passed a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels.
But the city is on high alert. The historic river levels expected Friday could top the wall, and some are worried that older levees could fail.
âIt could potentially be catastrophic,â said Ellen Gamson, executive director of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association.
Sheena Wilson, who owns a floral shop downtown, stacked sandbags by the doors and cleared items off the floor.
âIf the water comes in above table height Iâve got bigger problems than my merchandise,â she said.
Jake Lambly added sandbags, tested water pumps and moved valuables to the top floor of the home he shares with his 19-year-old son.
âThis is my only asset,â he said Wednesday from his front porch. âI got nothing else.â
Cities respond to flooding
Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as âa jet stream of moistureâ stretching across the Pacific Ocean âwith the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.â
In Sumas, a small city along the U.S.-Canada border, a flood siren rang out at city hall and residents were told to leave. The border crossing was also closed to southbound commercial vehicles to leave more room for evacuations, according to the Abbotsford Police Department.
Climate change has been linked to some intense rainfall. Scientists say that without specific study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but in general itâs responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.
Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday.
âThe pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays,â Rademacher said.
Reusable straws took off as more people started paying attention to waste and sustainability. The classic plastic straw gave way to paper, metal, silicone, bamboo, and glass. The options felt endless, and for many, a glass straw seemed like the cleanest and safest choice. But one California woman says that assumption nearly landed her in surgery.
TikTok creator @colorful__chaos is now urging viewers to stay away from glass straws altogether after a piece of one broke off while she was drinking water and ended up inside her body. Her warning video, filmed from a hospital bed, has racked up more than 28.7 million views.
âDonât use glass straws,â she says at the start of the clip. âItâs not worth it.â
Woman Has Important PSA About Glass Straws
In the video, she explains that she had been drinking water like normal when something suddenly felt off. âI was drinking my water with a glass straw and I swallowed something,â she says. âAnd I was like, what was that?â
She looks at the straw and immediately sees the problem. A large shard is missing from the tip. âThereâs a piece about that big gone,â she says, holding her fingers about two inches apart.
At first, she tries to stay calm. âI kind of freaked out a little bit,â she says, then explains why she didnât rush to the hospital right away. âI didnât feel anything, so I thought maybe it was fine.â
Two hours later, that feeling changes fast. âI burped really big and my mouth had blood in it,â she says. Thatâs when she heads straight to the emergency room.
Once there, she says staff initially doesnât treat it like an emergency. âAt first I really donât think that theyâre taking me seriously,â she says. âThey were not trying to get me back quickly.â
That changes when doctors review her case more closely. âThe doctor talked to the gastro, and he said to expedite a CAT scan immediately,â she says. The imaging shows a piece of glass sitting in her stomach.
Doctors rush her in for an emergency procedure. âThey put me to sleep and put the tube down my throat to try to get it,â she says. But by the time they begin the procedure, the shard has already moved.
âBy the time they got me into the room, it had already left my stomach,â she says. âSo Iâve got a piece of glass floating around in my intestines.â
Doctors sent her home with instructions to closely monitor symptoms. âThey told me to watch for bleeding over the next two days and to check my poop,â she says. The doctors explain that since the shard already passed through her throat and stomach, they expect it to pass on its own.
Still shaken, she leaves viewers with an unmistakable warning. âDo not buy these straws,â she says. She also explains that she had previously promoted the product online and is now trying to have that post removed. âI will not promote those. The cups are great, but glass straws will be a no-go forever in my house.â
She reinforces that message in her caption, writing, âSEND THIS to anyone you know who uses glass straws! If youâre using them TOSS THEM OUT. Not worth it.â
In follow-up updates, the creator tells viewers sheâs doing okay so far, with no pain or bleeding as of her last post. However, she says there is still no clear sign that the shard has passed.
Are Glass Straws Actually Dangerous?
Glass straws sit in a strange middle ground. Theyâre reusable, easy to clean, and donât retain flavors like plastic or silicone. But they are still made of glass, which means they can break, chip, or crack if dropped, bitten, or exposed to rapid temperature changes.
There have been previous reports of users swallowing shards when glass straws fracture during use. Dentists have also warned that sipping on hard glass can contribute to chipped teeth, especially for children. Some safety articles also caution against using glass straws with very hot beverages, where heat stress can weaken the glass over time.
None of those risks is common, but when breakage does happen, the injuries can be serious.
The videoâs comment section quickly fills with alarm and disbelief.
âGlass straws should be illegal,â one person writes.
Another shares a photo of herself drinking directly from a cup and adds, âI donât understand why people canât just.â
One parent responds immediately, writing, âMe immediately throwing away my daughterâs glass straws.â
Others steer people toward safer alternatives. âGuys, buy stainless steel or silicon straws,â one commenter urges. âThose glass straws are not it.â
And many echo the phrase now attached to the story. âNew fear unlocked,â one person writes.
The Mary Sue has reached out to @colorful__chaos via TikTok messages for additional information and updates.
Ljeonida is a reporter and writer with a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Tirana in her native Albania. She has a particular interest in all things digital marketing; she considers herself a copywriter, content producer, SEO specialist, and passionate marketer. Ljeonida is based in Tbilisi, Georgia, and her work can also be found at the Daily Dot.
Have you ever been in or traveling through an area where there is no or low traditional cell service and thought, âWhat if I had an emergency and needed to call 911?âNow, because of a well-known cell service providerâs connection to a popular network of satellites, thereâs a solution when you have an emergency and are off the grid and out of reach of a terrestrial cell towerâs signal.Related video above: A different new piece of technology helps guide rescuers to woman stuck in swampThe service is called Text to 911, and its availability is all thanks to T-Mobileâs new T-Satellite with Starlink, a service that, according to a recent release from the mobile carrier, was rolled out in July and connects compatible phones to an array of Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth.But if youâre not a T-Mobile customer, donât fret. You donât need to be a subscriber of the provider to use Text to 911. The service is available to anyone in the U.S. who has a compatible, satellite-capable iPhone or Android phone, and is designed to work anywhere in the 500,000 square miles of the U.S. not reached by traditional cell towers.That means even customers of providers like AT&T and Verizon can sign up for Text to 911.How to sign up for and use Text to 911While the service is free to use, non-T-Mobile customers are required to sign up in advance to use Text to 911. That can be done on the companyâs website. The company said T-Mobile customers can add the service under âManage Data & Add-Onsââ in their account or in T-Life. You donât need to take any special action to use Text to 911. The mobile provider says that all you need is a view of the sky, and that using the service is just like sending a normal text message. All you need to do is enter a message on your phoneâs native messaging app and enter 911 in the number field. From there, all youâll need to do is hit âsend.âWhile some areas around the U.S. already have the ability to text 911, this new service allows users to do so even when they can’t get reception from a traditional cell tower. If that’s the case, Text to 911 finds you a signal from a satellite up in space.The company said it âwas a no-brainerâ to make Text to 911 available and free for any person who enrolls and has a compatible phone.âThereâs a good chance youâve had that moment in your life at some point. Badly rolled ankle deep into a backcountry hike. Stuck in a tree well while skiing. Flat tire on a backcountry road. Or a million other situations that require access to emergency services in a place without cell service. Itâs an absolutely terrifying feeling that we donât want anyone to have ever again,â Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products for T-Mobile, said in announcing the availability of Text to 911 on Nov. 5.
Have you ever been in or traveling through an area where there is no or low traditional cell service and thought, âWhat if I had an emergency and needed to call 911?â
Now, because of a well-known cell service providerâs connection to a popular network of satellites, thereâs a solution when you have an emergency and are off the grid and out of reach of a terrestrial cell towerâs signal.
Related video above: A different new piece of technology helps guide rescuers to woman stuck in swamp
The service is called Text to 911, and its availability is all thanks to T-Mobileâs new T-Satellite with Starlink, a service that, according to a recent release from the mobile carrier, was rolled out in July and connects compatible phones to an array of Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth.
But if youâre not a T-Mobile customer, donât fret. You donât need to be a subscriber of the provider to use Text to 911.
The service is available to anyone in the U.S. who has a compatible, satellite-capable iPhone or Android phone, and is designed to work anywhere in the 500,000 square miles of the U.S. not reached by traditional cell towers.
That means even customers of providers like AT&T and Verizon can sign up for Text to 911.
How to sign up for and use Text to 911
While the service is free to use, non-T-Mobile customers are required to sign up in advance to use Text to 911. That can be done on the companyâs website. The company said T-Mobile customers can add the service under âManage Data & Add-Onsââ in their account or in T-Life.
You donât need to take any special action to use Text to 911. The mobile provider says that all you need is a view of the sky, and that using the service is just like sending a normal text message. All you need to do is enter a message on your phoneâs native messaging app and enter 911 in the number field. From there, all youâll need to do is hit âsend.â
While some areas around the U.S. already have the ability to text 911, this new service allows users to do so even when they can’t get reception from a traditional cell tower. If that’s the case, Text to 911 finds you a signal from a satellite up in space.
The company said it âwas a no-brainerâ to make Text to 911 available and free for any person who enrolls and has a compatible phone.
âThereâs a good chance youâve had that moment in your life at some point. Badly rolled ankle deep into a backcountry hike. Stuck in a tree well while skiing. Flat tire on a backcountry road. Or a million other situations that require access to emergency services in a place without cell service. Itâs an absolutely terrifying feeling that we donât want anyone to have ever again,â Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products for T-Mobile, said in announcing the availability of Text to 911 on Nov. 5.
On her first day in office, Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness.
The declaration allowed the city to cut through red tape, including through no-bid contracts, and to start Inside Safe, Bassâ signature program focused on moving homeless people off the streets and into interim housing.
On Tuesday, nearly three years after she took the helm, and with homelessness trending down two years in a row for the first time in recent years, the mayor announced that she will lift the state of emergency on Nov. 18.
âWe have begun a real shift in our cityâs decades-long trend of rising homelessness,â Bass said in a memorandum to the City Council.
Still, the mayor said, there is much work to do.
âThe crisis remains, and so does our urgency,â she said.
The mayorâs announcement followed months of City Council pushback on the lengthy duration of the state of emergency, which the council had initially approved.
Some council members argued that the state of emergency allowed the mayorâs office to operate out of public view and that contracts and leases should once again be presented before them with public testimony and a vote.
Councilmember Tim McOsker has been arguing for months that it was time to return to business as usual.
âEmergency powers are designed to allow the government to suspend rules and respond rapidly when the situation demands it, but at some point those powers must conclude,â he said in a statement Tuesday.
McOsker said the move will allow the council to âformalizeâ some of the programs started during the emergency, while incorporating more transparency.
Council members had been concerned that the state of emergency would end without first codifying Executive Directive 1, which expedites approvals for homeless shelters as well as for developments that are 100% affordable and was issued by Bass shortly after she took office.
On Oct. 28, the council voted for the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would enshrine the executive directive into law.
The mayorâs announcement follows positive reports about the state of homelessness in the city.
As of September, the mayorâs Inside Safe program had moved more than 5,000 people into interim housing since its inception at the end of 2022. Of those people, more than 1,243 have moved into permanent housing, while another 1,636 remained in interim housing.
This year, the number of homeless people living in shelters or on the streets of the city dropped 3.4%, according to the annual count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The number of unsheltered homeless people in the city dropped by an even steeper margin of 7.9%.
The count, however, has its detractors. A study by Rand found that the annual survey missed nearly a third of homeless people in Hollywood, Venice and Skid Row â primarily those sleeping without tents or vehicles.
In June, a federal judge decided not to put Los Angelesâ homelessness programs into receivership, while saying that the city had failed to meet some of the terms of a settlement agreement with the nonprofit LA Alliance for Human Rights.
Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the City Councilâs Housing and Homelessness Committee, said the end of the emergency does not mean the crisis is over.
âIt only means that we must build fiscally sustainable systems that can respond effectively,â she said. âBy transitioning from emergency measures to long-term, institutional frameworks, weâre ensuring consistent, accountable support for people experiencing homelessness.â
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
Donât be fooled by the fog machine, spooky lights and fake bats: the robotics lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute lab isnât hosting a Halloween party.
Instead, itâs a testing ground for tiny drones that can be deployed in search and rescue missions even in dark, smoky or stormy conditions.
âWe all know that when thereâs an earthquake or a tsunami, the first thing that goes down is power lines. A lot of times, itâs at night, and youâre not going to wait until the next morning to go and rescue survivors,â said Nitin Sanket, assistant professor of robotics engineering. âSo we started looking at nature. Is there a creature in the world which can actually do this?â
Sanket and his students found their answer in bats and the winged mammalâs highly sophisticated ability to echolocate, or navigate via reflected sound. With a National Science Foundation grant, theyâre developing small, inexpensive and energy-efficient aerial robots that can be flown where and when current drones canât operate.
An Inc.com Featured Presentation
Last month, emergency workers in Pakistan used drones to find people stranded on rooftops by massive floods. In August, a rescue team used a drone to find a California man who got trapped for two days behind a waterfall. And in July, drones helped find a stable route to three mine workers who spent more than 60 hours trapped underground in Canada.
But while drones are becoming more common in search and rescue, Sanket and researchers elsewhere want to move beyond the manually operated individual robots being used today. A key next step is developing aerial robots that can be deployed in swarms and make their own decisions about where to search, said Ryan Williams, an associate professor at Virginia Tech.
âThat type of deployment â autonomous drones â that is effectively nil,â he said.
Williams tackled that problem with a recent project that involved programming drones to choose search trajectories in coordination with human searchers. Among other things, his team used historical data from thousands of missing person cases to create a model predicting how someone would behave if lost in the woods.
âAnd then we used that model to better localize our drones, to search in locations with higher chances of finding someone,â he said.
At WPI, Sanketâs project addresses other limitations of current drones, including their size and perception capabilities.
âCurrent robots are big, bulky, expensive and cannot work in all sorts of scenarios,â he said.
By contrast, his drone fits in the palm of his hand, is made mostly from inexpensive hobby-grade materials and can operate in the dark. A small ultrasonic sensor, not unlike those used in automatic faucets in public restrooms, mimics bat behavior, sending out a pulse of high-frequency sound and using the echo to detect obstacles in its path.
During a recent demonstration, a student used a remote control to launch the drone in a brightly lit room and then again after turning off all but a faintly glowing red light. As it approached a clear, Plexiglas wall, the drone repeatedly halted and backed away, even with the lights off and with fog and fake snow swirling through the air.
âCurrently, search and rescue robots are mainly operational in broad daylight,â Sanket said. âThe problem is that search and rescues are dull, dangerous and dirty jobs that happen a lot of times in darkness.â
But development didnât go completely smoothly. The researchers realized that the noise of the bat robotâs propellers interfered with the ultrasound, requiring 3D printed shells to minimize the interference. They also used artificial intelligence to teach the drone how to filter and interpret sound signals.
Still, thereâs a long way to go to match bats, which can contract and compress their muscles to listen only to certain echoes and can detect something as small as a human hair from several meters away.
âBats are amazing,â Sanket said. âWe are nowhere close to what nature has achieved. But the goal is that one day in the future, we will be there and these will be useful for deployment in the wild.â
Copyright 2025. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Â
FILE â Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks during a signing ceremony in Washington, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
SALEM, Ore. â October 29, 2025 â With federal funding for food assistance halted during the ongoing government shutdown, Governor Tina Kotek has declared a 60-day statewide food security emergency and directed $5 million to Oregonâs food bank network to help families facing hunger.
The move comes as thousands of Oregonians lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is entirely funded by the federal government. SNAP supports roughly one in six people in Oregon, including children, working families, seniors and people with disabilities.
Emergency declaration and state response
Kotekâs declaration activates the Oregon Department of Emergency Management to coordinate food distribution efforts through December, aiming to ensure that emergency food reaches vulnerable families during the holiday season.
The order also positions the state to restart SNAP benefits quickly once federal operations resume. âItâs unacceptable that families are being used as leverage in a political standoff in Washington, D.C.,â Kotek said in a statement. âWhile Congress fails to do its job, Oregon will do ours.â
$5 million directed to food banks
The Governor has authorized $5 million from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) carryover funds to bolster Oregonâs network of food banks. According to the state, the funding will be used for food purchasing, distribution, and local operations to meet increased demand during the shutdown.
Call to action for Oregonians
Kotek also urged residents to help their neighbors by donating, volunteering, or supporting food relief efforts. The Oregon Food Bank has launched a âSNAP Gapâ fundraising campaign at OregonFoodBank.org/SNAP-Gap.
In addition, the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative is activating its Emergency Fund from Oct. 30 through Nov. 30, allowing Oregonians to donate bottle and can refunds to food assistance organizations through bottledrop.com/food. Many grocery stores across the state will also host checkout donation drives and food collection campaigns in the coming weeks.
The Department of Administrative Services will expand its annual charitable giving campaign to include statewide nonperishable food drives through December 5.
Federal appeal
Kotek renewed her call for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to release contingency funds authorized under federal law to sustain SNAP benefits nationwide. Earlier this week, Oregon leaders sent a letter to USDA Secretary Rollins urging the department to use all available funds to prevent hunger during the shutdown.
How to get help
Residents seeking food assistance can find resources at needfood.oregon.gov or alimentos.oregon.gov, or by calling 2-1-1. The Oregon Food Bankâs Food Finder tool, available in 19 languages, lists local pantries and meal programs.
Older adults and people with disabilities can contact the Aging and Disability Resource Connection of Oregon at 1-855-673-2372 or visit adrcoforegon.org.
Oura Rings offer round-the-clock health updates with a little bit of glamour, but is it all too good to be true?
TikToker Sonam (@sonam_says) has gone viral after sharing her troubling experience with the popular product.
She begins this clip, which has amassed 18,200 views, by saying, âI used to wear an Oura ring, and I donât anymore, and Iâll tell you why.â
Why did she stop wearing her Oura ring?
âSo many of you have recently found my old video on it, probably because of the Palantir U.S. government news, and also because theyâre launching a new ring.â
The previous video in question consists of an image of a very red, swollen finger with an Oura Ring on it.
âSo hereâs what happened,â she said. âMind you, this is my second Oura Ring. My first ring was in the exact same size. It flew off my hand one day when I was just like, out dancing, and I lost it. So I bought a new one. Told myself that it was just gonna be loose, and thatâs OK.â
She then detailed how she woke up one day while visiting her family with an inflamed âballoonâ finger.
âWe tried all the home remedies and eventually went to the ER, and they couldnât use their ring cutters on me because the ring is way too thick,â she explained. â[They] also said they couldnât drill through it because it would take too long and may cause nerve damage. Really, my only option was for them to submerge my hand in ice water and numb my hand so that I couldnât feel it. And then they went and threaded the ring off.
âI thought maybe I had an allergic reaction to the ring, but they said, âNo, thatâs not the case. âThey just said that you shouldnât be wearing rings to sleep. I was like, âThis is a sleep ring.â So if you have one, stay vigilant, if not for your data, but for the safety of your fingers.â
One commenter wrote, âI put it on a smaller finger at night and put it back on the regular finger when I get up.â
Another added, âYour fingers can swell when sleeping. [Youâre] never advised to wear rings to bed.â
âPreviously, the reason I would never buy it is because Iâve lost weight enough in my life to need another ring size,â a third shared. âNow I have a second reason.â
A couple of commenters could also relate to Sonamâs experience.
âI actually had an allergic reaction to the ring,â said a fourth. âI wear rings all the time and Iâve never had an issue like that before just with the aura ring I think it was like the four or the three whichever one came out.â
âWoke up one day and my wedding ring finger was swollen and my ring was hard to get off,â a fifth noted. âHad to use soap and water. Gave me anxiety for sure.â
The issue is common
Clearly, Sonamâs experience isnât unique. CountlessRedditusers have also reported similar ailments that developed after they started wearing Oura Rings.
In the comments, fellow Redditors, including what appeared to be Ouraâs official Reddit account, suggested trying soap and water to reduce swelling.
âUse cold water and gentle soap to wet your finger, and slowly twist the ring to remove it,â the account wrote. âHold your hand up above your heart until the finger swelling is reduced, and then try to remove it.â
âIn cases of emergency, discomfort, or if you canât remove the ring yourself, seek immediate medical attention.â
The Mary Sue reached out to Oura Ring via email and to the creator for comment.
Charlotte is an internet culture writer with bylines in Insider, VICE, Glamour, The Independent, and more. She holds a Master’s degree in Magazine Journalism from City St George’s, University of London.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate a shooting on the campus of Alcorn State University that left at least one person dead and two injured.According to MBI, the shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday near the Industrial Technology Building on campus. No arrests have been made at this time. Investigators are continuing to gather evidence, and MBI says details remain preliminary and could change as the investigation develops.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate a shooting on the campus of Alcorn State University that left at least one person dead and two injured.
According to MBI, the shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday near the Industrial Technology Building on campus.
No arrests have been made at this time.
Investigators are continuing to gather evidence, and MBI says details remain preliminary and could change as the investigation develops.
Montgomery County Fire officials are urging the public to prepare a “file of life” folder as a means to help first responders provide more accurate care during emergencies.
The “file of life” is a folder with a magnetic strip on the back that can be hung on the family refrigerator. Inside are forms that can be filled out to provide residentsâ medical information, from existing health conditions to allergies.(Credit Montgomery County, Maryland Fire & Rescue Service)
The “file of life” is a folder with a magnetic strip on the back that can be hung on the family refrigerator. Inside are forms that can be filled out to provide residentsâ medical information, from existing health conditions to allergies.(Credit Montgomery County, Maryland Fire & Rescue Service)
Whenever firefighters with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service check homes for smoke detectors, they also offer another potentially lifesaving tool â the âfile of life.â
The âfile of lifeâ is a folder with a magnetic strip on the back that can be hung on the family refrigerator. Inside are forms that can be filled out to provide residentsâ medical information, from existing health conditions to allergies.
The comprehensive health document allows emergency personnel to quickly respond to someoneâs needs if theyâre incapacitated or canât speak.
David Pazos, assistant chief with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, explained, âItâs useful for anybody in the homeâ who may be unable to speak to first responders when help is needed.
The department is urging residents to make sure they get one for their home and fill it out so the information is readily available in the event of an emergency situation.
Pazos explained first responders are trained to look on the refrigerator for the files whenever theyâre called to a home where someone is ill or injured.
Montgomery County residents can get a âfile of lifeâ by calling 311, Pazos said, âand within a certain few days, theyâll have one delivered to your home.â
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
David Stuckenberg, cofounder and chief operations officer at Genesis Systems, explains that the WaterCube uses proprietary liquid and solid sorbentsâmaterials that absorb waterâthat essentially âform a handshake with the water in the air.â The machine then heats these materials to extract the water.
Atmospheric water generators typically require a substantial amount of energy to run, but Stuckenberg claims the companyâs materials work 400 percent better than those that are currently commercially available, and that they have a very high affinity for water.
But the tech comes at a steep price. The WaterCube delivered to St. Petersburg is listed at $860,000. The company just started selling a second, smaller device for home use called the WaterCube 100, which retails for $20,000 and is about the size of an HVAC system. That device can generate about 100 to 200 gallons of water per day. Efficiency ranges from 0.07 to 0.8 kilowatt-hours per gallon of water and costs anywhere from $10 to $80 a day to operate, depending on cost of energy and humidity. A WaterCube can run on either solar or conventional energy.
The machines make more water in a humid environment and work well in atmospheric humidity down to 40 percent. Stuckenberg says the company is constantly improving its technology and is working with the US Department of Defense to be able to generate water at 10 percent humidity.
The WaterCube connects to a buildingâs water supply so that water doesnât have to be harvested directly from the machine. âThe systems are designed to connect to anything from a garden hose to a hospital water system, and provide water that goes through four steps of filtration before it leaves,â Stuckenberg says.
After Typhoon Mawar hit the US territory of Guam in May 2023, Genesis Systems worked with the US Air Force to test the WaterCube 1000 in a disaster response scenario on the island.
At their current price, and for the amount of water theyâre able to generate, these devices are unlikely to be the sole source of water in these types of situations anytime soon. According to figures published by the US Department of Energy, a hospital the size of All Children’s would typically use anywhere from 10,000 to 90,000 gallons a day, depending on the services provided, age of the building, and water use practices. Thatâs far more than the 2,000 gallons that the larger Genesis Systems unit is able to produce in 24 hours.
Still, in scenarios where water canât be restored or transported immediately to an area, these devices may be able to serve as a bridge or a supplementary source of water. But in order to be useful, they need to be in the right place at the right time, and the logistics of moving an 18,000-pound machine in a disaster situation can be tricky.
According to a hospital spokesperson, All Childrenâs didnât end up needing to draw water from the device; shortly after it was dÂelivered, the cityâs sewer system was functional and water service resumed with a boil advisory. âWe were able to modify our operations accordingly,â the spokesperson said on Friday. Over the weekend, Floridaâs AHCA relocated the WaterCube to a shelter where it can be quickly moved to another location if needed.
JUPITER, Fla., October 13, 2024 (Newswire.com)
– A tornado triggered by Hurricane Milton has completely obliterated Furry Friends Ranch, a beloved animal shelter and community center in South Florida. The tornado ripped through the facility on Wednesday night, tearing roofs from buildings, blowing out windows, downing power lines, and ruining the structures that were essential to the organizationâs animal care capacity.
Thankfully, all dogs and cats under Furry Friendsâ care survived the impact and were rescued without injury. However, the damage to the ranch is catastrophic: The facility has been deemed a total loss, with major repairs needed that could take monthsâor even yearsâbefore it is safe for animals to return.
âThe damage is unimaginable,â said Jason Gluck, Chief Executive Officer of Furry Friends. âItâs a miracle that no animals were harmed, but our facility has been decimated. We are heartbroken, and we urgently need the communityâs support to rebuild.â
The ranch was home to hundreds of rescue animals, including dogs and cats in desperate need. With no shelter left to house the ranch animals, Furry Friends is urgently seeking adopters, temporary foster homes and other facilities to help care for the animals in the coming months. The cost of rebuilding is expected to run into the millions, and with no functioning ranch facility, the organization will need to rely heavily on donations from the public and local businesses.
How to Help: Furry Friends is asking animal lovers, philanthropists, and businesses to assist with the recovery effort. Donations of any size will make a difference and go directly toward rebuilding the ranch and providing essential care for the animals. Donations can be made online at: www.furryfriendsadoption.org/donate
“Furry Friends is resilient, and we know the community cares deeply about these animals and our organization,” CEO Jason Gluck added. “With your help, we can rebuild stronger and continue Furry Friendsâ deeply impactful work saving lives in our region and beyond.”
About Furry Friends: Furry Friends is a nonprofit animal shelter and community hub dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in need and supporting the human-animal bond. Serving Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Furry Friends is a safe haven for tens of thousands of animals each year, providing love, care, and advanced behavioral and medical support.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through the American Southeast, hospitals and health care providers in Florida are preparing for yet another destructive storm as Hurricane Milton hurtles toward the stateâs west coast.
Though downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center described the storm as âextremely dangerousâ late Tuesday morning. As it makes landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday near Tampa, Milton is predicted to bring high winds and storm surges of 10 feet or higher to parts of Floridaâs west coast and heavy rains throughout most of the peninsula.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 200 health care facilities in impacted areas were reporting evacuations, including over 100 assisted living facilities and 10 hospitals. In preparation for the storm, the Florida Department of Health has deployed more than 600 ambulances and other emergency response vehicles and has set up 11 special-needs shelters for people with disabilities.
âWe truly are concerned about the magnitude of this hurricane and the potential catastrophic impacts,â Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, tells WIRED. The organization represents the stateâs more than 300 hospitals. In Florida, which gets hit with more storms than any other US state, hospitals have closed in the past because of weather disasters, but Mayhew says what is unusual this time is the high number of health care facilities that have evacuated ahead of Milton.
Affected hospitals are transferring patients to other facilities within their health care systems. Steve McCoy, Floridaâs chief of emergency medical oversight, said during an emergency preparedness briefing on Tuesday that nearly 600 vehicles, including buses, ambulances, and vans, have been deployed to move patients to safety. âThis has been our largest evacuation ever,â he said.
HCA Florida Healthcare, a network of hospitals and physician practices that operates across the state, said Tuesday afternoon that it is temporarily closing or suspending services at several hospitals and emergency rooms. âOnce the patient transfers are complete, the hospitals will be temporarily closed and will reopen when it is safe to do so following the storm,â the health care system said in a statement.
Hospitals that remain open have implemented flood-mitigation plans, moved electrical equipment away from flood areas, and stocked supplies that may be needed in an emergency.
Tampa General Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Miltonâs path, will remain open and has activated its hurricane-preparedness plan. The academic health system is the regionâs only Level I Trauma Center and, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said it is âready to meet the needs of patients throughout the state who require care after the storm has passed.â Health care providers and staff who are trained in emergency management will remain on-site throughout the storm to care for patients. Additional providers and staff will return to work as soon as the storm passes and the roads are safe.
The hospitalâwhich is sited on the Davis Islands at sea level and is protected by various systems including an AquaFence barrierâhas an on-site central energy plant located 33 feet above sea level that can provide a power supply in the event of power disruption. According to Tampa General, the energy plant was built to withstand the impact and flooding of a Category 5 hurricane. The hospital says it has more than five days of supplies, including food and linens, on-site.
You should be sure to keep your personal information up to date. That includes your emergency contacts (which you can configure at Settings > Safety & Emergency > Emergency Contacts) and your Google Account. Your âname, email, phone number, location, device information, and emergency contacts are shared with emergency services and satellite service providers.â
When you tap Start on Satellite SOS, you’ll first be prompted to answer a few questions about your emergency, like whether you’re in a vehicle, and if anyone is in immediate danger. Once you answer these questions, you can then connect to a satellite. You’ll see a giant circle on the screen suggesting directions to point your phone. It’ll need to be flat in your palm, and you’ll need to be outdoors, away from buildings, trees, and mountains (as best as you can). For the best signal, make sure your grip doesn’t interact with the upper half of the Pixel.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Once you point your phone in the right direction, it should connect. Now you’ll get a text message view where you can send messages to emergency services detailing the situation, and hopefully, you’ll have first responders en route soon after.
Now just because you can use smartphones like the Pixel 9 or iPhone 15 to reach emergency responders via satellite doesn’t mean your phone is suddenly the best option for backcountry connectivity. Satellite messengers are more rugged and durable, and since you’re probably not using them all the time like you would be using a smartphone, they have better battery life. They also offer more features, like creating waypoints. All in all, Satellite eSOS is a helpful backup feature, but if you’re regularly going to be in remote areas with limited to no cell connectivity, there’s still a place for dedicated satellite messengers.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED.Get best-in-class reporting that’s too important to ignore for just $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year. Includes unlimited digital access and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.
Juliet and Callie had to meet again to recap the Love Island USA reunion! First, they address the flaws of the show format (01:15) and the girls who came prepared to seek revenge, especially against Andrea (05:56). Then, they talk about the bomb that Aaron dropped without being prompted to do so and what he could do with his current, infamous attention (15:44). They are shocked that the show opened by discussing Kendallâs postshow drama (20:38), and they predict which of the contestants will continue rising in fame (36:54)
Hosts: Juliet Litman and Callie Curry Producer: Olivia Crerie
RICHMOND, Texas â When a hurricane is eyeing up the Texas Gulf Coast, we all want to know the most up-to-date information every single minute.
Technology has given us the resources to do just that. But at the same time, that same technology could be used to spread misinformation just as fast as real updates.
Social media started a fire of misinformation, allowing anyone to post just about anything. It could be true or it could be false.
Now, with advancements in artificial intelligence, itâs becoming harder to sort through whatâs fake and whatâs real.
The introduction of Deepfakes just poured jet fuel on that fire.
Defining Deepfakes
Deepfake (n) – an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said
Thatâs the official definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
To learn a little more, we lean on the experts at the University of Virginia.
âA deepfake is an artificial image or video (a series of images) generated by a special kind of machine learning called âdeepâ learning (hence the name). There two overviews of how deepfakes work in this article: one for the layperson, and one for the technically-minded,â the university shared online. âDeep learning is similar to any kind of machine learning, where an algorithm is fed examples and learns to produce output that resembles the examples it learned from. Humans learn the same way; a baby might try eating random objects, and it quickly discovers whatâs edible and what isnât.â
You Might Use Deepfake Technology Everyday
Thatâs right. The technology that fits in the palm of your hand and lives in your pocket is the same type of tech behind deepfakes.
Apps like Face Swap, filters on Instagram and Snapchat and apps that alter your voice or allow you to type text and have your voice say the words are all examples of the machine learning thatâs used to create deepfakes.
âThey kind of do it now. Itâs kind of like a joke,â said Ariana Elias of Stafford.
The difference is the complexity of the machine learning.
A simple app like Face Swap doesnât use a lot of resources.
Meanwhile, creating a video of someone saying something they never did is a very resource intensive process.
Deepfakes During Dangerous Situations
Deciphering between a deepfake and whatâs real can be really difficult. And hereâs the real problem: itâs only going to get harder.
During an emergency situation, like a hurricane or other natural disaster, taking the time to analyze a piece of information, for example a statement from a press conference held by the local emergency management office, could mean evacuating before a storm hits or staying put.
âI am actually really, really concerned about that on many levels,â said Roderi Holmes of Stafford.
Itâs that exact fear that presents a new challenge for Fort Bend County Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Babst.
Heâs no stranger to the danger deepfakes pose to the community. But it wasnât until a recent training conference that he first hand got to experience a deepfake of himself.
âOne of the cyber analysts came in there and they basically took my information,â Babst explains. âDuring the end of the conference. They were able to put up their presentation and using AI and only an hour of time, that person was able to grab my face off of social media, was able to grab my voice over from press conferences and whatnot that Iâve done in the past on social media from our sites, and then put that capability with AI and putting me in an emergency operation center and telling people to evacuate.â
Itâs that very experience that opened a whole new vulnerability to getting life-saving information out fast, but also accurately.
Gage Goulding: âWas that experience eye opening for you?â
Greg Babst: âYes. I honestly knew it was out there. I didnât know that it could be that almost that real.â
Donât Be Afraid, Be Aware
During a time of emergency, a deepfake video of someone like Babst, a mayor, governor or county judge could put potentially life-threatening or deadly misinformation out into the world.
You shouldnât be scared of the world, but instead donât take everything at face value until you investigate the source and ensure itâs coming from a trusted, vetted place.
âKnow your sources, vet those sources and then continue to follow those exact sources,â Babst said.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
