ON THE TIMES WE ARE NOW IN

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Tornado sweeps through suburban Chicago, causing damage"


21 JUNE 2021

CHICAGO (AP) — A tornado swept through communities in heavily populated suburban Chicago, damaging more than 100 homes, toppling trees, knocking out power and causing multiple injuries, officials said.

There was relief Monday, though, as authorities reported that it appeared no one had died.

Less than a dozen people were hurt in the tornado that touched down after 11 p.m. Sunday, and all were expected to recover.

At least eight people were hospitalized in Naperville, where 22 homes were left “uninhabitable” and more than 130 homes were damaged in the suburb of 147,500 people that’s about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Chicago.

Two people initially described in critical condition had improved by Monday afternoon, said Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis.

“It could have been a lot worse, I will say that,” Puknaitis said.

“When you look at the destruction that has occurred over this five square block area or so, it’s amazing that we can stand here and report that we only had eight people that were transported to a hospital.”

Officials in the nearby village of Woodridge said a tornado damaged at least 100 structures.

The village’s fire chief said three people were taken to hospitals, but he could not provide more detail on their injuries during a Monday press conference.

Woodridge Police Chief Brian Cunningham said early warnings likely minimized the number of injuries.

“It was a nighttime event, a lot of people were sleeping, weren’t aware of what was going on,” he said.

“The early warning got people to shelter."

"And the fact that there’s only three people injured and the amount of devastation that’s in the community, it’s just amazing.”

The storm destroyed the second floor of Bridget Casey’s Woodridge home.

She sat in a lawn chair in the driveway before sunrise Monday.

Her 16-year-old son, Nate, said he was watching TV when the storm swept through and he raced to help his mother get his three younger siblings to the basement.

“I just heard a loud crash and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, what are my brothers up to?’"

"I go look and I see the sky, and then I hear my brothers screaming from the room,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Mayor Gina Cunningham called the damage to homes and other property in the village “extensive.”

“I’m just emotional because it is devastating to drive through the community that I grew up in and worked in and share with so many wonderful neighbors,” she said.

The tornado was confirmed by radar, and a team with the National Weather Service began surveying damage Monday to determine its strength and path.

The agency said one tornado likely caused damage in Naperville, Woodridge and Darien.

“If there were no fatalities — and there haven’t been any reported to us — that’s great news considering the population of the area, the level of damage and the time of day, after 11 p.m. when many people may be asleep,” Matt Friedlein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville, said.

Radar also showed storm rotation over several other areas of suburban Chicago, and in northwestern Indiana in the Hobart and South Haven areas, Friedlein said.

The weather service was surveying areas of northern Indiana and southern Michigan to determine if damage there was caused by tornadoes or high winds, said Nathan Marsili with the National Weather Service.

He noted that the town of Fremont in Indiana’s far northeastern corner sustained “pretty significant damage.”

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported that more than 15,000 of its customers remained without power at mid-afternoon Monday.

Severe storms also hit other parts of the Midwest.

A tornado damaged several buildings and knocked down power lines and trees in eastern Iowa on Sunday night.

And in Missouri, a thunderstorm with strong winds whipped through parts of the state, knocking down trees and power lines.
___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the Chicago suburb of Woodridge, from Woodbridge.

https://apnews.com/article/chicago-envi ... a17a1bcbcd
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REUTERS

"Pacific Northwest cities shatter heat records again, life grinds to a halt"


Reuters

June 28, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore., June 28 (Reuters) - The cities of Portland and Salem in Oregon, and Seattle in Washington set new temperature records on Monday as the Pacific Northwest baked under a heatwave that has shut down much of daily life for residents.

In Salem, Oregon's state capitol, temperatures reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47.2 degrees Celsius), the hottest since record-keeping began in the 1890s.


Seattle-Tacoma International Airport set an all-time high temperature of 106 Fahrenheit, breaking the record set one day earlier.

Portland's airport temperature reached 115 on Monday, breaking the all-time high for the third day in a row.

Before setting a record of 112 on Sunday and 108 on Saturday, the previous mark of 107 had not been reached since 1981, the National Weather Service said.

"To put it in perspective, today will likely go down in history as the hottest day ever recorded for places such as Seattle, WA and Portland, OR," the National Weather Service said, predicting the heatwave could begin to ease on Tuesday.

The heat has been attributed to a dome of atmospheric high pressure over the upper U.S. Northwest and Canada, similar to conditions that punished California and southwestern states earlier this month.

Portland, known for rainy weather and sparse sunshine, was especially ill-prepared to handle the high temperatures.

Stores sold out of air conditioning units and ice was hard to find.


Bars and restaurants closed because kitchen vents could not keep up with the rising temperatures, creating dangerous conditions for cooks.

'SHUTTING DOWN OUR LIFE'

"It's completely shutting down our life; my kids are stuck inside," said Jake Edgar, 30, a chef at a Portland restaurant.

Multnomah County, which includes Portland, has opened 11 emergency "cooling shelters," most of them in public libraries, where people without air conditioning could escape the sweltering heat.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, eased COVID-19 restrictions for theaters, swimming pools and shopping malls and residents flocked to public pools and even fountains to cool off.

But Portland Parks and Recreation closed down public swimming pools on Monday after several lifeguards experienced heat-related illnesses, the agency said.

Some companies with AC stayed open as informal cooling shelters for employees, said Sarah Shaoul, co-founder of Bricks Need Mortar, a business advocacy and consulting group.

In Seattle, Washington state's largest city, the mercury climbed on Sunday to an all-time high of 104 degrees F, surpassing a 2009 record of 103 degrees.

The state capital of Olympia likewise set a new benchmark high of 105 degrees, exceeding its 2009 record by 1 degree, according to the Weather Service.

The heat wave was expected to ease somewhat west of the Cascade range by Tuesday but persist through the week to the east of those mountains, it added.

Experts say extreme weather events such as the heatwaves that have descended on parts of the United States this year cannot always be linked directly to climate change.

But more unusual weather patterns could become more common amid rising global temperatures, weather service meteorologist Eric Schoening said in an interview this month.

Reporting by Sergio Olmos in Portland Writing and additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Alistair Bell

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pacifi ... 021-06-28/
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USA TODAY

"Elsa becomes first hurricane of 2021 Atlantic season; Florida in path early next week"


Diane Pantaleo and Doyle Rice

USA TODAY NETWORK

2 JULY 2021

Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic storm season on Friday as it battered the eastern Caribbean, where officials closed schools, businesses and airports.

The storm could impact Florida early next week and officials are urging residents there to make preparations.

Friday morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he is putting together a potential emergency order as Elsa approaches.

DeSantis said South Florida could see tropical storm force winds as soon as Sunday night.

Sustained winds were near 75 mph, making the storm a Category 1 hurricane, according to an 11 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Elsa was located 5 miles south of St. Vincent and was moving west-northwest at 29 mph.

Elsa became the earliest E storm on record, beating out Edouard, which formed July 6, 2020.

Elsa is the fifth named storm of the season in the Atlantic.

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season typically forms around Aug. 10, University of Georgia meteorologist Marshall Shepherd wrote in Forbes.

We usually do not see the E storm, the fifth of the season, “E” (5th) storm of the season until around Aug. 31,he said.

The Florida Public Radio Emergency Network said Elsa could turn north and weaken after strengthening into a hurricane.

Even though a track into the eastern Gulf is most likely, Elsa could potentially track northward over the Florida Peninsula – or even just to the east of the Sunshine State, according to AccuWeather forecasters.

There is a risk of storm surge, wind and rainfall impacts to the Florida Keys and portions of Florida early next week, the Hurricane Center said.

"Impacts to the contiguous United States would begin Monday night at the earliest after the system passes through the Caribbean."

"Residents from the central Gulf Coast, across Florida and to the Carolina coast should monitor the progress of Elsa," said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty.

The forecast uncertainty remains larger than usual because of Elsa's potential interaction with the Greater Antilles over the weekend.

AccuWeather predicts 15 inches of rain in Cuba and Florida from late in the weekend into early next week.

Where the heaviest rain pours down will depend on the exact track of Elsa, but significant rain can occur well away from the center of the storm.

Hurricane warnings were issued for Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Officials in St. Vincent and the Grenadines closed schools, businesses and an international airport on Friday.

Heavy rains and winds were already lashing Barbados, which imposed similar closures late Thursday.

Authorities opened dozens of shelters in St. Vincent and urged people to evacuate if they lived near a valley, given the threat of flash flooding, mudslides and lahars, especially in the northern part of the island where La Soufrière volcano is located.

Hurricane Elsa is expected to produce rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches Friday across the Windward and southern Leeward Islands, including Barbados.

This rain may lead to isolated flash flooding and mudslides.

Over Puerto Rico, rainfall of 1 to 3 inches with localized amounts of 5 inches is expected late today into Saturday.

This rain may lead to isolated flash flooding and minor river flooding, along with the potential for mudslides.

Contributing: Rick Neale, N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Elsa becomes first hurricane of 2021 Atlantic season; Florida in path early next week

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USA TODAY

"New York City subway stations flooded in waist-high water ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa"


Ryan W. Miller and Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

9 JULY 2021

NEW YORK — Heavy thunderstorms caused a deluge of rain, flooding subway stations and roadways in New York City hours before Tropical Storm Elsa arrived Friday.

The thunderstorms Thursday evening caused flash flooding in Manhattan and the Bronx that submerged at least one subway stop with waist-high water and soaked several others as traffic on busy roadways came to halt.

The rains prompted flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings from the National Weather Service.

Some pockets of the city saw nearly 3 to 3.5 inches of rain Thursday, according to weather service data.

Elsa had not yet reached New York when the flooding started but the tropical storm is expected to bring even more rainfall to the city, which had seen another severe thunderstorm Wednesday evening.

More than a dozen people were rescued from vehicles that got stuck on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx, police said, and parts of Harlem River Drive also temporarily closed due to the floods.

Photos and videos shared on social media showed cars in several inches of water, yet still driving through the drenched roads.

At the No. 1 station on West 157th Street in upper Manhattan, subway riders trekked into waist-high waters in attempts to catch their trains.

Videos showed one woman stepping into the murky waters of a flooded station while another man tried to walk through with a garbage bag around his legs.

At other stations, videos and photos showed water pouring down stairs or leaking through the ceiling.

Sarah Feinberg, interim president of New York City Transit, said crews were working to address issues as the water receded.

"Drains are working remarkably well," she said in a tweet.

Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee for mayor, blamed the flooding issues on "bad spending decisions for decades" and called for "green infrastructure to absorb flash storm runoff."

"This cannot be New York," he said in a tweet sharing the video of the woman trudging through the water at the No. 1 station.

Farewell, Elsa: Tropical storm wallops Northeast as it heads offshore

Friday morning, Elsa soaked the city after having killed at least one person and injuring 10 others in its path up the East Coast.

Much of the city was under a flood advisory.

Heavy rainfall and gusty winds continued to hit much of the Northeast.

As of 11 a.m. ET, the center of the 50-mph storm was located over eastern Long Island, New York, the National Hurricane Center said.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect for portions of the coasts of Long Island and southern New England.

In all, some 17 million people live where the tropical storm warning was in effect.

On the current forecast track, the center of Elsa will move near eastern Long Island and the coast of southern New England through Friday afternoon, and then offshore of the northeastern United States coast by this evening, the hurricane center said.

The hurricane center also said a tornado or two was possible through early afternoon Friday over parts of Long Island and southeastern New England.

The system should move over Atlantic Canada by late Friday night and Saturday, then it will gradually dissipate as it spins over the Labrador Sea.

Scattered power outages were still being reported along Elsa’s path Friday morning, with about 24,000 homes and businesses without electricity from Delaware to Massachusetts, according to the website poweroutage.us.

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York City subway stations flooded in waist-high water ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa

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USA TODAY

"Midwest storms leave 850K customers without power as region braces for more severe weather"


Kyle Davidson, Grace McDermott, Elliot Hughes, Hannah Kirby and Sophie Carson, USA TODAY NETWORK

12 AUGUST 2021

DETROIT — Storms swept through Wednesday leaving more than 850,000 customer in the Midwest without power, according to data from Poweroutage.us, with the most residents in the dark in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Illinois.

On Wednesday evening in Michigan, more than 400,000 DTE customers and more than 200,000 Consumers Energy customers throughout the state were reportedly without power.

By 8 p.m. Wednesday, each company had dispatched hundreds of power restoration crews.

Heavy rains and 60 mph winds damaged more than 2,000 power lines, DTE said in a news release.

Teams will be working 16-hour shifts around-the-clock to restore power, as the company brings in 1,000 additional line workers from out of state to help with restoration efforts.

DTE customers can expect a more accurate restoration estimate once a crew has been assigned to their outage, DTE said.

According to a statement on the Consumers Energy website, more than 200,000 customers were left without power after a powerful storm on Tuesday night.

With Wednesday's storms and more turbulent weather forecast for Thursday, the company is also bringing in additional crews from out of state to assist in restoring power.

Consumers Energy customers without power can expect to have it restored by the end of the day Friday, although additional storms could delay restoration into the weekend, the company said.

Metro Detroit could see more severe weather overnight between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday, said Megan Varcie, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Detroit/Pontiac weather forecast office.

Since these storms will be coming late in the evening and overnight, it's important to have several ways to receive warnings, Varcie said.

There will be a marginal risk for severe weather on Thursday, with a risk of damaging winds and hail, but those storms will be more isolated than Wednesday's storms, Varcie said.

Milwaukee residents on Wednesday cleaned up from one major thunderstorm in the August heat while preparing for the next one.

Thankfully, the worst of Wednesday's storms missed the Milwaukee area.

As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, about 85,000 customers were still without power.

The situation was made more urgent by the forecast.

Meteorologists expected Wednesday evening's storms to pack a punch as well, but those storms largely missed the Milwaukee area.

Around 6 p.m., a line of severe storms in western Wisconsin was moving slowly eastward, bringing a risk of tornadoes, hail and damaging winds.

Additional thunderstorms were developing ahead of the line in the southern portions of Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, and afternoon storms in northeast Wisconsin had already produced at least three tornadoes, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service.

Compounding the issue, roughly 100,000 customers in southeast Wisconsin spent the day without power — and without air conditioning.

The weather service projected heat indices would top 100 degrees.

Officials opened cooling centers and reminded the public how to stay safe in the heat.

More than 85,000 northern Ohioans remained without power Wednesday night as a series of severe thunderstorms pummeled the area, knocking down trees with 80 mph winds.

Though Wednesday night was relatively quiet, another band of storms is currently forming and will move into the region Thursday, said the weather service in Cleveland.

"Damaging winds will be the primary weather hazard," they wrote.

"Heavy rainfall with these thunderstorms may also lead to localized flooding."

And upwards of 35,000 Illinois residents were still without power around midnight Wednesday due to the storms speeding through the Chicago area overnight Tuesday at at least 70 mph.

Residents in Evanston, Illinois, and Plainfield, Illinois, reported extensive tree damage.

In Evanston, there were reports of malfunctioning street lights, traffic signals and street flooding, National Weather Service meteorologist Ricky Castro told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The weather service said a survey crew had confirmed Tuesday that at least seven tornadoes touched down Monday in northern Illinois.

A heat advisory remains in effect across north-central Illinois, northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana until Wednesday night, when the weather service said more severe weather is possible in that region.

Contributing: Associated Press

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THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

"Tornado confirmed north of Charlotte as thousands still without power in NC, SC"


Joe Marusak, The Charlotte Observer

19 AUGUST 2021

About 12,000 Duke Energy customers remained without power on Wednesday afternoon after the remnants of Tropical Depression Fred ripped through the company’s electric grid in the mountains and foothills of the Carolinas, company officials said.

Duke Energy blamed high winds and heavy rains from Tuesday’s storm for “significant structural damage to the electrical grid in western parts of the Carolinas,” according to a statement on the Charlotte utility’s outage map site.

A tornado with peak 110-mph winds damaged a couple of homes and snapped trees 20 feet in the air Tuesday on the Iredell-Alexander county line, a National Weather Service storm damage survey team confirmed late Wednesday afternoon.

No one was hurt as the EF-1 twister — second weakest on the Enhanced Fujita Scale for tornado intensity and damage — carved a 5.1-mile path through a rural stretch of the counties, the NWS team reported.

Thirty people remained missing Wednesday in Haywood County floods, west of Asheville, and Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency for the state, citing ongoing mountain flood rescues and widespread outages across North Carolina.

Tuesday night, Duke Energy reported 39,000 customers without power in the Carolinas.

By noon Wednesday, the number fell to 19,000, according to the company’s outage map.

35 people missing, bridges and roads washed out in parts of western North Carolina

The NWS Greer office issued a total of 37 tornado warnings across its coverage area on Tuesday, according to its online tornado warning count chart.

The count for the year totaled 62 warnings by Wednesday, one more than all of last year and the most warnings for a year since at least the mid-1980s, according to NWS records.

The coverage area includes the Charlotte region, Upstate South Carolina and parts of the foothills and mountains of the Carolinas.

Duke works to restore power

By Tuesday evening, 39,200 Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas were without power, including about 3,000 in the Charlotte area.

At 6 p.m., about 2,000 of the outages were just north of Charlotte’s airport, according to the Duke Energy outage map.

Virtually all power was restored in Mecklenburg County by 8:30 p.m., while 14,400 customers in McDowell County in the mountains remained without electricity at that hour.

Most outages should be restored on Wednesday, “but some may linger” into Thursday, Duke Energy spokeswoman Meghan Musgrave Miles told the Observer just before noon.

“Workers have made great progress making repairs and restoring service for customers, and crews from the Charlotte area and the Triad traveled from their home-base locations to assist with power restoration in the hardest-hit areas as well,” Miles said in an email.

“We will continue to update the outage map with estimated times of restoration,” she said.

This week’s weather

Sunshine finally returned to Charlotte on Wednesday and should remain on Thursday, before showers are expected again on Friday, according to the NWS forecast at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Mostly sunny skies are expected Saturday and Sunday.

Highs the rest of the week are predicted to hover in the high 80s to low 90s, NWS meteorologists said.

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USA TODAY

"Hurricane warnings issued as Henri takes aim on Long Island, New England; 4 dead, 5 still missing in North Carolina after Fred"


Ryan W. Miller and Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

21 AUGUST 2021

NEW YORK — Tropical Storm Henri, which was forecast to become a hurricane by Saturday, had the Northeast in its sights as the path of the storm has continually shifted closer to land.

A landfall along Long Island or southern New England Sunday morning or afternoon is now most likely, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.

Threatening to bring damaging winds, as much as 10 inches of rain and up to 5 feet of storm surge, Henri could be the first significant hurricane to make landfall in New England in years.

The storm sparked memories of Hurricane Bob, which made landfall 30 years ago on Cape Cod, knocking out power and running water for days.

Bob was the last hurricane to hit Cape Cod and the Islands.


The impact of every storm is slightly different, and with Henri, storm surge could be a significant threat, said Da'Vel Johnson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in New York.

"Going into Sunday, the waves and the swell of the water will start to rise," he said.

Meanwhile, five people remained missing in western North Carolina on Friday afternoon after severe flooding from Tropical Storm Fred inundated the state earlier this week, down from around 20 people reported missing on Thursday.

Gov. Roy Cooper assessed the damage Thursday, where some 200 water rescues took place along the still-swollen Pigeon River.

And in the Gulf, Grace regained hurricane strength Friday before it was expected to crash into central Mexico for its second landfall in the country.

Hurricane and storm surge warnings were issued Friday afternoon for portions of Long Island and southern New England, the National Hurricane Center said.

"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the Hurricane Center said.

Tropical storm warnings and watches were also in effect further away from where the storm is expected to make landfall.

A combination of storm surge, damaging winds and heavy rain could bring serious damage to the Northeast from Henri.

Storm surge could reach 3 to 5 feet from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, to Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts.

The surge along Long Island and into Rhode Island could reach 2 to 4 feet, while the Jersey Shore could see 1 to 3 feet of surge, the National Hurricane Center said.

Winds from Henri may arrive as soon as late Saturday into Sunday.

Winds were up to 70 mph as it was spinning about 720 miles south of Montauk Point, New York, as of 5 p.m. ET Friday.

Rainfall of 2 to 5 inches was expected in southern New England, with some isolated patches of up to 10 inches, possibly causing flash flooding.

"Given these amounts, especially with how primed we are from an extremely wet summer, flash flooding will be a significant threat as well as urban and small stream flooding," the National Weather Service in Boston said in an online forecast.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday urged people vacationing on the Cape to leave well before Henri hits, and those who planned to start vacations there to delay their plans.

“We don’t want people to be stuck in traffic on the Cape Cod bridges when the storm is in full force on Sunday,” he said.

When Bob roared ashore on Aug. 19, 1991, much of the Cape and Islands in Massachusetts were devastated for days.

"We shut the entire system down in response to Bob 30 years ago, but we wouldn't have to do that today," said William Hinkle, a spokesperson for the utility company Eversource.

Cape Cod is more prepared now than for Hurricane Bob.

What if the storm is worse?

The boating public in Massachusetts was already getting ahead of the storm.

"'When in doubt, haul it out' is my motto," said Barnstable Harbormaster Brian Taylor. Like other Cape and Islands harbormasters, Taylor sent emails out to those with slips and moorings to keep an eye on Henri and begin taking precautionary steps.

At the U.S. Navy’s submarine base in Groton, Connecticut, personnel on Friday were securing submarine moorings, installing flood gates in front of doors on some waterfront buildings, and doubling up lines on small boats, officials said.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service office in New York issued its first hurricane watches for part of its area in 10 years, when Hurricane Irene threatened in late August 2011.

Sandy in 2012, though officially not a hurricane at landfall, also caused widespread devastation to the area.

"Everybody along the Long Island area and New York City needs to be watching," Johnson said.

4 dead, 5 still missing in North Carolina from Fred's flooding

Damaging floods from Tropical Storm Fred were still causing problems Friday in western North Carolina near Asheville, where at least four people were killed and five others are still missing days after the storm rolled through.

Cooper on Thursday visited the hardest-hit areas of the state.

In some areas, floods washed houses away like unmoored boats and drowned residents caught in waters that rose at at lightning pace.

"We know that the search and rescue efforts are not stopping until we know where people are or we've been able to find somebody," Cooper said as rescue missions, with assistance from the Air National Guard, continued.

About 10 to 15 bridges were damaged or destroyed, officials said, creating more difficulties in reaching people.

Water levels reached the point of a 100-year flood, an event that has a 1% chance of happening each year.

There was hope to get a damaged water plant back online by the weekend, Cooper said.

He issued a state of emergency along with an executive order that eased rules for first responders and farmers needing to save existing crops.

Grace strikes Mexico a second time

Hurricane Grace crossed over Mexico's Gulf shore as a major Category 3 storm early Saturday, drenching small fishing towns and beach resorts as it made its second landfall in the country in two days.

The storm had lost power while crossing over the Yucatan Peninsula Thursday, swirling through Mexico's main tourist strip, but it rapidly drew in power from the relatively warm Gulf of Mexico as it moved toward the country's mainland.

The Hurricane Center said Grace had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph early Saturday when it made landfall about 30 miles south-southeast of Tuxpan.

It was heading west at 10 mph.

Forecasters said Grace would quickly lose strength as it swirled inland over a mountain range carrying its heavy rains toward the heart of the country, including the Mexico City region.

Forecasters said it could drop 6 to 12 inches of rain, with more in a few isolated areas — bringing the threat of flash floods, mudslide and urban flooding.

Contributing: Doug Fraser and Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times; Joel Burgess, Asheville Citizen Times; The Associated Press

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Coastal evacuations urged as Hurricane Henri heads north"


By PHILIP MARCELO and PAT EATON-ROBB, Associated Press

21 AUGUST 2021

Preparations for a storm grew more urgent Saturday as the newly upgraded Hurricane Henri closed in on the Northeast.

The storm’s latest track put it course to collide Sunday with a long stretch of coastline, with hurricane warnings extending from near the old whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, across the luxurious oceanfront estates of New York’s Hamptons, to the summer getaway of Fire Island.

Intense winds and potentially dangerous tidal surges were expected as far east as Cape Cod and as far west as the New Jersey shore, and utilities warned ensuing power outages could last a week or even more.

Henri was veering a bit further west than originally expected, and if that track holds, it would have eastern Long Island in its bull's-eye rather than New England, which hasn't taken a direct hit from a hurricane since the deadly Hurricane Bob in 1991.

New York hasn’t had a direct hit from a powerful cyclone since Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in 2012.

Some of the most important repairs from that storm have been completed, but many projects designed to protect against future storms remain unfinished.

Residents and visitors on Fire Island, a narrow strip of sandy villages barely above sea level off Long Island’s southern coast, were urged to evacuate.

The last boats out will leave at 10:40 p.m. Saturday; after that, officials said, there may be no way out for people who decide to ride out the storm.

“If they do not leave the island today, they will be stuck on the island and we do not know what kind of conditions they may be facing."

"But they could be difficult."

"They could be dangerous,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

With a top wind speed of 75 mph (120 kph) Saturday morning, Henri sped up slightly to move north-northeast at 14 mph (23 kph).

It’s still about 465 miles (750 kilometers) south of Montauk on New York’s Long Island.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said the town was considering issuing a voluntary evacuation advisory for about 6,000 people.

He said current storm models show that the storm’s center would run “smack on the town of Southampton.”

He described a run on supplies like batteries and flashlights as people “are starting to wake up.”

“Right now it seems like a sunny summer day, but, you know, by this time tomorrow we’re going to be in the middle of potentially a severe hurricane,” he said.

Regardless of its exact landfall, broad impacts were expected across a large swath of the Northeast, extending inland to Hartford, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, and eastward to Cape Cod, which is teeming with tens of thousands of summer tourists.

Storm surge between 3 and 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) is possible from Flushing, New York, to Chatham, Massachusetts, and for parts of the North Shore and South Shore of Long Island, the hurricane center said.

Rainfall between 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 centimeters) is expected Sunday through Monday.

The weather service warned of the potential for damaging winds and widespread coastal flooding, and officials in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York cautioned that people could lose power for days.

Authorities advised people to secure their boats, fuel up their vehicles and stock up on canned goods.

Gov. Ned Lamont warned Connecticut residents they should prepare to “shelter in place” from Sunday afternoon through at least Monday morning as the state braces for the first possible direct hit from a hurricane in decades.

In the Hamptons, the celebrity playground on Long Island’s east end, officials warned of dangerous rip currents and flooding that’s likely to turn streets like the mansion-lined Dune Road into lagoons.

“We have a lot of wealthy people."

"There’s no doubt that we do, but everybody pulls together in an emergency," Schneiderman said.

“So, you know, yeah, there are people hanging out on their yachts at the moment drinking martinis, but they’re also starting to talk about this storm and I’m sure they’re going to want to be helpful.”
___

Marcelo reported from Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Eaton-Robb reported from Columbia, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister, Michael R. Sisak and Bobby Caina Calvan in New York, and William J. Kole in Warwick, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

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Re: ON THE TIMES WE ARE NOW IN

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Tropical Storm Henri makes landfall in Rhode Island"


By DAVID KLEPPER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and DAVID PORTER, Associated Press

22 AUGUST 2021

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — Tropical Storm Henri made landfall in Rhode Island early Sunday, packing heavy winds and drenching rains as it began lashing the northeastern U.S. coastline.

WESTERLY, R.I. — Tropical Storm Henri steamed toward the northeastern U.S. coastline Sunday morning, packing high winds and heavy rains that were projected to leave a wide swath of devastation from New Jersey and New York to Massachusetts.

The storm was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm but still packed wind gusts of up to 75 mph.

Officials warned of the danger of widespread flooding in inland areas as the storm was expected to sweep west from the coast before turning back to the Northeast.

Millions on New York’s Long Island and in southern New England braced for the possibility of flooding, toppled trees and extended power outages.

Residents up and down the coast hoped to be spared the storm’s wrath but prepared for the worst.

Driving surf and sheets of rain scoured the beach towns of southern Rhode Island as the storm approached, leaving some coastal roads nearly impassable.

Some small trees had already fallen to the winds and rain, which had swollen local inlets and creeks.

Westerly resident Collette Chisholm, a 20-year resident, said the waves were much higher than normal, but said she wasn’t concerned about her home suffering extensive damage.

“I love storms,” she said.

“I think they’re exciting, as long as no one gets hurt.”

In Newport, Paul and Cherie Saunders were riding out the storm in a home that her family has owned since the late 1950s.

Their basement flooded with 5 feet of water during Superstorm Sandy nine years ago.

“This house has been through so many hurricanes and so many things have happened,” Cherie Saunders, 68, said.

“We’re just going to wait and see what happens.”

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported Sunday morning, just shy of hurricane status.

The highest winds measured were 75 mph (121 kph) off the coast of Rhode Island.

Experts warned that the storm’s biggest threat likely won’t come from wind but from storm surge and inland flooding, caused by what are expected to be heavy and sustained rains.

Some of the highest rain totals were expected inland.

In one of his final appearances as governor before he is set to step down at the end of Monday over a sexual harassment scandal, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that with the threat to Long Island diminishing, the state’s primary concern were inland areas like the Hudson River Valley, north of New York City, which was projected to get inches of rain over the next few days.

Rainfall in the Catskills “is a significant problem,” Cuomo said.

“In the Hudson Valley you have hills, you have creeks, the water comes running down those hills and turns a creek into a ravaging river."

"I have seen small towns in these mountainous areas devastated by rain."

"That is still a very real possibility.”

Troy Buckner of Southampton, in eastern Long Island’s Hamptons, wouldn’t let the storm interrupt his near-daily routine of getting coffee with his dad at the Golden Pear, one of the few spots open on Main Street Sunday morning.

“Today we thought we’d still try to keep a little bit of normalcy, but we’re heading back home for the remainder,” Buckner said as the rain pelted down.

“We plan for the worst."

"You just never know."

"We always anticipate Southampton could be the center, the bull’s eye.”

A lack of major roadways on the eastern end of Long Island makes mass evacuations untenable, East Hampton Mayor Jerry Larsen said.

“We have one lane of travel leaving the Hamptons so it’s a little difficult to order evacuations,” Larsen told The Associated Press.

“So most people will shelter in place and, God willing, everyone will come through this OK.”

In preparation for the storm, officials in Providence, Rhode Island, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, closed giant hurricane barriers that were built in the 1960s, after devastating storms in 1938 and 1954.

Massachusetts’ Steamship Authority canceled all Sunday ferry service between the mainland and the popular vacation islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket after the U.S. Coast Guard shut down ports on Cape Cod and New Bedford.

Tourists waiting in their cars, hoping for a last-minute ferry off the islands, were stranded until the worst of Henri passes.

The first thunderstorms bringing what could be up to half a foot (15 centimeters) of rain arrived late Saturday, and flash flooding began in some areas overnight.

Bands of heavy rain overwhelmed storm drains and drivers plowed through foot-deep water in a few spots in New York City, and Newark and Hoboken, New Jersey.

Gov. Ned Lamont warned Connecticut residents they should prepare to “shelter in place” from Sunday afternoon through at least Monday morning as the state braces for the first possible direct hit from a hurricane in decades.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee issued a similar warning.

Coastal evacuations urged as Hurricane Henri heads north

President Joe Biden declared disasters in much of the region, opening the purse strings for federal recovery aid.

The White House said Biden discussed preparations with northeastern governors and that New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who succeeds Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, also participated.

Major airports in the region remained open as the storm approached, though hundreds of Sunday’s flights were canceled.

Service on some branches of New York City’s commuter rail system was suspended through Sunday, as was Amtrak service between New York and Boston.

New York hasn’t had a direct hit from a powerful cyclone since Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in 2012.

Some of the most important repairs from that storm have been completed, but many projects designed to protect against future storms remain unfinished.

Regardless of its exact landfall, broad impacts were expected across a large swath of the Northeast, extending inland to Hartford, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, and eastward to Cape Cod, which is teeming with tens of thousands of summer tourists.

Storm surge between 3 and 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) was possible in much of Long Island Sound all the way to Chatham, Massachusetts, and slightly less on Long Island’s Atlantic coast, the hurricane center said.

Flash flooding was possible in inland areas already saturated by recent rain.
___

Kunzelman reported from Newport, Rhode Island. Associated Press writers David Porter in New York, William J. Kole in Warwick, Rhode Island, Mike Melia in Hartford, Connecticut, and Mark Pratt in Waltham, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

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Re: ON THE TIMES WE ARE NOW IN

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NEWSWEEK

"Hurricane Ida Developing Into a 'Dangerous, Catastrophic' Storm Overnight"


Scott McDonald

29 AUGUST 2021

Night has fallen across the entire Gulf of Mexico and the coastlines surrounding it.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ida is fiercely gaining intensity into midnight, and its landfall along the Louisiana-Mississippi border on Sunday could be more impactful than Hurricane Katrina, whose 16-year anniversary mark is also Sunday.

The last update from the National Hurricane Center on Saturday indicated that Ida is still a Category 2 storm packing sustained winds of 105 mph.

However, the eyewall of Ida has become more defined, and the storm has begin looking like some of the monsters that have clobbered the Gulf Coast in years past.


The hurricane center at 10 p.m. CT on Saturday said Ida is expected to "strengthen rapidly before landfall."

"Life-threatening storm surge, potentially catastrophic wind damage, and flooding."

"Rainfall expected to impact the Northern Gulf Coast beginning Sunday morning."

Hurricane #Ida is approaching the Louisiana coast and forecast to rapidly intensify into a dangerous major hurricane before landfall. Here are the latest Key Messages. See https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB for details. pic.twitter.com/f6GMTR8NOr

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 29, 2021

The latest forecast on Saturday had Ida as a Category 2 storm.

The next forecast by the National Hurricane Center will be at 1 a.m. CT.

Storms hit category 3 status when the sustained winds are at least 111 mph, and Category 4 storms begin at 130 mph.

A Category 3 or 4 by sunrise is not out of the question as Ida roars toward the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

Though Ida is moving as a Cat 2 storm in the night, it's moving across very warm waters in the central-to-northern Gulf, with water temperatures at 84 degrees or higher.

That's like adding more kindling to a fire that's just getting hot.

Several parishes in southeast Louisiana issued mandatory evacuations, but many who live in South Louisiana have already begun their own evacuations — something ignited by the shellshock of Katrina, and one menacing storm after another over the last fie years, 10 years, 16 years and last century.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Saturday that Hurricane Ida could be one of the most devastating storms to hit the state since the 1850s, which is before the U.S. Civil War.

"One of the things we were told today by the National Weather Service during our unified command group meeting is that they are are extremely confident in the current track and the intensity as forecasted for Hurricane Ida."

"And you don't really hear them speaking very often about that level of confidence," Edwards said.

"So, we can sum it up by saying this will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s."

Ida formed as a tropical storm in the Caribbean Sea a few days ago and gained intensity as a Category 1 storm Friday as it moved over Cuba.

By Saturday afternoon, as the storm was moving northwest of Cuba, the outer bands reached from Cuba to Lafayette, Louisiana, and all the way east to the Naples and Fort Meyers region of southwest Florida.

Hurricane Katrina took a similar path as Ida in 2005, moving over South Florida and the Florida Keys as a Category 1 storm before quickly growing into a Category 5 storm aiming for New Orleans.

Katrina dropped in windspeed and eventually shifted east and battered the Mississippi coast as a high-level Category 3 storm, wiping out towns like Pass Christian and Long Beach.

Katrina's rainfalls in southeast Louisiana, and specifically New Orleans, caused a levee to breach, completely flooding the city's Ninth Ward, some houses with water on the second levels.

Flights going in and out of Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans on Sunday have already been canceled.

Edwards and local officials are warning residents who have not evacuated that time is running short, and to either go north or hunker down and hope for the best.

"We can also tell you that your window of time is closing, it is rapidly closing," Edwards said.

"By the time you go to bed tonight, you need to be where you intend to ride this storm out and you need to be prepared as you can be."

Hurricane Katrina landed as a Category 3 storm in 2005, with its eyewall going just east of Louisiana and thrashing the Mississippi coast line.

There were more than 1,800 lives lost in the aftermath of Katrina.

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