Tag Archives: catastrophic

Science

China’s Mars rover finds hints of catastrophic floods

Leave a comment

China’s Zhurong rover has peered deep under the surface of Mars, finding evidence of two major floods that probably shaped the region the robot has been exploring since it landed in May 2021.

An analysis published in Nature today1 is the first result from Zhurong’s radar imager, which can probe up to 100 metres below the surface. “It is a very interesting paper, and I was particularly impressed by how deep they can see with this radar,” says Svein-Erik Hamran, a planetary scientist at the University of Oslo, who analysed the only previous data from ground-penetrating radar used on the planet, collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover.

The history of Zhurong’s landing site — on Utopia Planitia, vast plains in Mars’s northern hemisphere — has puzzled scientists. Some have theorized that water or ice was once a feature of the landscape. Observations from space have identified sedimentary deposits that suggest the region was once an ancient ocean or submerged by huge floods, and geological features, such as pitted cones, resemble structures formed by water or ice. In May, researchers analysed infrared images of the landing site taken by China’s Mars orbiter, Tianwen-1, and found hydrated minerals that could have formed when groundwater rose through the rock or ice melted.

But the region could have also been covered in lava, concealing some of these hydrological processes in the subsurface. Eruptions from the volcano Elysium Mons to the east of the landing site, or other volcanic activity, could have covered the region in magma, as has been observed in other parts of the Utopia basin. By studying the radar data, researchers hope to understand what happened, and whether water or ice could still be lurking below the rocks. “We want to know what is going on beneath the surface,” says study co-author Liu Yang, a planetary scientist at the National Space Science Center in Beijing.

Below the surface

Zhurong is China’s first rover on the red planet, and it has been exploring the southern part of Utopia Planitia. The rover’s ground-penetrating radar transmits high-frequency radio waves that can penetrate the surface to a depth of between 3 and 10 metres, and low-frequency waves that can reach up to 100 metres underground but offer poorer resolution. The study authors analysed low-frequency data taken between 25 May and 6 September over more than 1,100 metres of terrain as Zhurong travelled south of its landing site. Radar signals reflect off materials under the surface, revealing the size of their grains and their ability to hold an electric charge. Stronger signals typically indicate larger objects.

The radar did not find any evidence of liquid water down to 80 metres, but it did detect two horizontal layers with interesting patterns. In a layer between 10 and 30 metres deep, the team reports, the reflection signals strengthened with increasing depth. The researchers say this is probably due to larger boulders resting at the base of the layer, and smaller rocks settling on top. An older, thicker layer between 30 and 80 metres down showed a similar pattern.

The older layer is probably the result of rapid flooding that carried sediments to the region more than three billion years ago, when there was a lot of water activity on Mars, says co-author Chen Ling, a seismologist at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing.

The upper layer could have been created by another flood some 1.6 billion years ago, when there was lots of glacial activity. Chen says it is unlikely that the upper layer contains intact lava flows, because it has a smaller ability to hold an electric charge than would be expected for intact volcanic rocks. Furthermore, the researchers didn’t see any sudden changes in layering, which would be expected when lava flows meet sedimentary material.

Volcanic or sedimentary?

But, Chen says, it is possible that a thin coat of lava once covered the upper layer and it has gradually been broken down into smaller pieces. Radar data alone cannot definitively reveal whether material is sedimentary or volcanic, says Xu Yi, a planetary scientist at Macau University of Science and Technology.

Radar data are good at indicating the layering and geometry of subsurface material, but not so good at pinpointing its composition, including whether the material is ice or rock, says Hamran. Often, researchers rely on other clues, such as rocks peering out from the surface, to build a picture of past events, he says. The authors say they can’t rule out the possibility that the region contains buried saline ice.

More radar results are expected from the mission, including data taken during Zhurong’s continued traverse of Mars, results from the high-frequency radar measurements already made, and Tianwen-1’s orbital radar observations, which penetrate deep into the planet. They could help to clarify details of the terrain. “This is only the first step,” say Ling.

Read original article here

World

Hurricane Fiona slams Dominican Republic after knocking out power in Puerto Rico and causing “catastrophic” damage

Leave a comment

Hurricane Fiona unleashed more rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island, and National Guard troops rescued hundreds of people who got stranded.

The governor warned that it could take days to get the lights back on.

The blow from Fiona was made more devastating because Puerto Rico has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017. Five years later, more than 3,000 homes on the island are still covered by blue tarps.

The storm stripped pavement from roads, tore off roofs and sent torrents pouring into homes. It also took out a bridge and flooded two airports.

Authorities reported two deaths from the hurricane — a Puerto Rican man who was swept away by a flooded river and a person in the Dominican Republic who was hit by a falling tree.

The storm was still expected to dump up to 15 inches of rain in some places as it spun away from the U.S. territory that is home to 3.2 million people.

A flooded road is seen during the passage of hurricane Fiona in Villa Blanca, Puerto Rico, on September 18, 2022. 

JOSE RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images


Forecasts called for the storm to grow into a major hurricane of Category 3 or greater. It was on a path to pass close to the Turks and Caicos islands on Tuesday and was not expected to threaten the U.S. mainland.

One death in Puerto Rico was associated with the blackout — a 70-year-old man who was burned to death after he tried to fill his generator with gasoline while it was running, officials said.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi declined to say how long it would take to fully restore electricity, but he said for most customers it would be “a question of days.”

Since the start of the storm, National Guard troops have rescued more than 900 people, Gen. José Reyes told a news conference.

Meanwhile in the Dominican Republic, authorities closed ports and beaches and told most people to stay home from work. Nearly 800 people were evacuated to safer locations, and more than 700 were in shelters, officials said.

The hurricane left several highways blocked, and a tourist pier in the town of Miches was badly damaged by high waves. At least four international airports were closed, officials said.

The Dominican president, Luis Abinader, said authorities would need several days to assess the storm’s effects.

Back in Puerto Rico, the National Weather Service office said flash flooding was occurring in south-central parts of the island and tweeted, “MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!”

Up to 22 inches of rain fell in some areas of Puerto Rico, and forecasters said another 4 to 8 inches could fall as the storm moves away, with even more possible in some places.

“It’s important people understand that this is not over,” said Ernesto Morales, a weather service meteorologist in San Juan.

He said flooding reached “historic levels,” with authorities evacuating or rescuing hundreds of people across Puerto Rico.

“The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,” Pierluisi said.

Water service was cut to more than 837,000 customers — two thirds of the total on the island — because of turbid water at filtration plants or lack of power, officials said.

The National Hurricane Center said Monday evening that “heavy rains” from Fiona would continue to fall over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic throughout the night. As of 5 p.m. Eastern time Monday, it was centered about 130 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island and heading northwest at 10 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

A man stands amidst debris on the seashore in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, September 19, 2022.

RICARDO ROJAS / REUTERS


Deanne Criswell, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement to CBS News on Sunday night that the agency was “actively supporting” Puerto Rico and “immediately deployed hundreds of FEMA personnel before the storm made landfall.”

“Our focus right now is on life-saving efforts and response to immediate needs such as power restoration,” Criswell said. 

A Biden administration official told CBS News on Monday that more than 300 FEMA and federal personnel were already in Puerto Rico. That included power restoration experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams.

More federal responders were set to arrive in the coming days, the official said. FEMA is working with Puerto Rico power distribution company Luma to restore power to the island, and has also brought in generators. 

Luma tweeted Monday night that it had restored power to about 200,000 customers, including a hospital. 

On Monday afternoon, President Biden shared a photo of himself speaking by phone with Pierluisi. 

“Today, I spoke with @GovPierluisi to address the immediate needs of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Fiona,” the president said. “We discussed federal personnel working to assist the island’s recovery, and I assured the Governor that we’ll increase support substantially in the coming days.”

Before dawn Monday, authorities in a boat navigated the flooded streets of the north coast town of Catano and used a megaphone to alert people that the pumps had collapsed, urging them to evacuate as soon as possible.

Authorities said at least 1,300 people spent the night in shelters across the island.

Brown water poured into streets and homes and closed airports in Ponce and Mayaguez.

The system also ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police said was installed by the National Guard after Maria hit as a Category 4 storm.

Fiona also tore the roofs off homes, including that of Nelson Cirino in the northern coastal town of Loiza.

“I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off,” he said as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colorful curtains into the air.

After roaring over the Dominican Republic, Fiona moved into the open Atlantic, where it was projected to strengthen, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Fiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floodwaters washed his home away, officials said.

The system hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm.



Read original article here

World

Pope apologizes for ‘catastrophic’ school abuses in Canada

Leave a comment

MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis issued a historic apology Monday for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.

“I am deeply sorry,” Francis said, to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta, the first event of Francis’ weeklong “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada.

The morning after he arrived in the country, Francis traveled to the lands of four Cree nations to pray at a cemetery. Four chiefs then escorted the pontiff in his wheelchair to powwow ceremonial grounds where he delivered the long-sought apology and was given a feathered headdress.

“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Francis said near the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, now largely torn down.

His words went beyond his earlier apology for the “deplorable” acts of missionaries and instead took responsibility for the church’s institutional cooperation with the “catastrophic” assimilation policy, which Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said amounted to a “cultural genocide.”

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.

The discoveries of hundreds of potential burial sites at former schools in the past year drew international attention to the legacy of the schools in Canada and their counterparts in the United States. The discoveries prompted Francis to comply with the truth commission’s call for him to apologize on Canadian soil for the Catholic Church’s role; Catholic religious orders operated 66 of the 139 schools in Canada.

Many in the crowd Monday wore traditional dress, including colorful ribbon skirts and vests with Native motifs. Others donned orange shirts, which have become a symbol of residential school survivors, recalling the story of one woman whose favorite orange shirt, a gift from her grandmother, was confiscated when she arrived at a school and replaced with a uniform.

Despite the solemnity of the event, the atmosphere seemed at times joyful: Chiefs processed into the site venue to a hypnotic drumbeat, elders danced and the crowd cheered and chanted war songs, victory songs and finally a healing song.

One of the hosts of the event, Chief Randy Ermineskin of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, said some had chosen to stay away — and that that was understandable. But he said it was nevertheless a historic, important day for his people.

“My late family members are not here with us anymore, my parents went to residential school, I went to residential school,” he told The Associated Press as he waited for Francis to arrive. “I know they’re with me, they’re listening, they’re watching.”

Felisha Crier Hosein traveled from Florida to attend in the place of her mother, who helped create the museum for the nearby Samson Cree Nation and had planned to attend, but died in May.

“I came here to represent her and to be here for the elders and the community,” said Hosein, who wore one of her mother’s colorful ribbon skirts.

“Sorry is not going to make what happened go away,” she said. “But it means a lot to the elders.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who last year voiced an apology for the “incredibly harmful government policy” in organizing the residential school system, was also attending along with the governor general and other officials.

As part of a lawsuit settlement involving the government, churches and approximately 90,000 survivors, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. Canada’s Catholic Church says its dioceses and religious orders have provided more than $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions and hope to add $30 million more over the next five years.

While the pope acknowledged institutional blame, he also made clear that Catholic missionaries were merely cooperating with and implementing the government policy of assimilation, which he termed the “colonizing mentality of the powers.”

“I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools,” he said.

He said the policy marginalized generations, suppressed Indigenous languages, severed families, led to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse and “indelibly affected relationships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren.” He called for further investigation, a possible reference to Indigenous demands for further access to church records and personnel files of the priests and nuns to identify who was responsible for the abuses.

“Although Christian charity was not absent, and there were many outstanding instances of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic,” Francis said. “ What our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The first pope from the Americas was determined to make this trip, even though torn knee ligaments forced him to cancel a visit to Africa earlier this month.

The six-day visit — which will also include other former school sites in Alberta, Quebec City and Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the far north — follows meetings Francis held in the spring at the Vatican with delegations from the First Nations, Metis and Inuit. Those meetings culminated with an April 1 apology for the “deplorable” abuses committed by some Catholic missionaries in residential schools and Francis’ promise to deliver an apology in person on Canadian soil.

Francis recalled that during in April, one of the delegations gave him a set of beaded moccasins as a symbol of the children who never returned from the schools, and asked him to return them in Canada. Francis said in these months they had “kept alive my sense of sorrow, indignation and shame” but that in returning them he hoped they could also represent a path to walk together.

Event organizers said they would do everything possible to make sure survivors could attend the event, busing them in and offering mental health counselors to be on hand knowing that the event could be traumatic for some.

Francis acknowledged that the memories could trigger old wounds, and that even his mere presence there could be traumatic, but he said remembering was important to prevent indifference.

“It is necessary to remember how the policies of assimilation and enfranchisement, which also included the residential school system, were devastating for the people of these lands,” he said.

Later Monday, Francis was scheduled to visit Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a Catholic parish in Edmonton oriented toward Indigenous people and culture. The church, whose sanctuary was dedicated last week after being restored from a fire, incorporates Indigenous language and customs in liturgy.

___

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Read original article here

US

Tulsa shooting: Four dead, multiple injured in “catastrophic scene” at Saint Francis Hospital

Leave a comment

Four people were killed in a shooting Wednesday evening in a medical building on a hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said. The gunman is also dead, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

Tulsa Police Department Capt. Richard Meulenberg told CNN multiple people were wounded — he said it was fewer than ten and no one had wounds that were considered life-threatening. He told The Associated Press the medical complex was a “catastrophic scene.”

The identities of the victims and gunman haven’t been released.

The shooter’s motive wasn’t immediately known.

The shooting occurred a little before 5 p.m. local time on the campus of Saint Francis Hospital, Tulsa Deputy Police Chief Eric Dalgleish told reporters. Officers responded to the scene within three minutes and made contact with the gunman about five minutes later, he said.

“I was very happy with what we know so far regarding the response of our officers,” Dalgleish noted.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said he wanted “to express our community’s profound gratitude for the broad range of first responders who did not hesitate.” 

The amount of time it took police in Uvalde, Texas, to engage the gunman during last week’s deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School has become a key and controversial focus of that probe. Officers waited more than an hour to breach the classroom where the gunman attacked.

There have been a dozen shootings in the U.S. this year in which four or more people have been killed, an Associated Press/USA Today/Northeastern University database shows.

Dalgleish described the gunman as a Black male believed to be between 35 and 40 years old and said he was armed with a long gun and a handgun.

Officers encountered the suspect on the second floor of the hospital’s Natalie Building, Dalgleish said.

“The officers that did arrive were hearing shots in the building, and that’s what directed them to the second floor,” he said. 

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a shooting at the Warren Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 1, 2022.

REUTERS


Both weapons appeared to have been fired, Dalgleish disclosed.

He said it wasn’t immediately clear if the gunman had targeted anyone in particular or if the shooting was random.

Police later received information that the shooter may have left a bomb in a residence in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Muskogee police said Wednesday night. The home was searched by a bomb squad and no explosives were found, CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV reported, citing Muskogee Police.

Surrounding homes were either evacuated or residents were told to shelter in place.

Muskogee is located about 50 miles southeast of Tulsa.

Tulsa police asked family and friends of the victims and survivors to go to Memorial High School, a block from the hospital campus, to wait to learn the fate of the people at the shooting scene, KOTV said.  

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a statement calling the shooting a “senseless act of violence and hatred,” adding, “Sarah and I are praying for the families of those who lost their lives and for those who were injured.”

The White House said President Biden had been briefed, adding that the situation was being closely monitored and that the White House had reached out to state and local officials to offer support.

Jan Hodges, who works on the hospital campus, said she was in another building about 100 yards from the shooting scene.

She told KOTV, “I just knew that something horrible was happening. I mean, police officers running into a building with shields and with rifles and I thought, ‘I’ve seen this on the news multiple times in other areas.’ It was almost like it was a repeat of something I’d seen before. I just really couldn’t believe it was happening in my own neck of the woods and I’m sick because I know people that work in the Natalie Building and I’m scared for them and I don’t know anything about their wellbeing at this point.”

Hodges said she was in lockdown for just under two hours.

Another employee wondered out loud, “What’s going on with the world these days?”

A witness observed, “I mean, it’s a doctor’s office, like, you can’t go nowhere no more without something happening. I’s just crazy.”

Kevin Forrestal, whose wife was in the building for a procedure, told CBS News, “As vast as that complex is, the first thought is, ‘Is that where she is? Is it somewhere else?’ But luckily, she was safe.” 

Read original article here

US

Tulsa shooting: Police confirm four killed in ‘catastrophic’ mass attack on medical clinic

Leave a comment

At least four people have been killed and others injured in a shooting at a medical clinic in Oklahoma on Wednesday, according to police.

The Tulsa Police Department confirmed that five people total, including the shooter, were dead, with officers still clearing the building as of Wednesday evening.

Officers responded to reports of a man with a rifle at St Francis Hospital’s Natalie Building, which then turned into an “active shooter situation”. The building houses an outpatient surgery centre and a breast health centre.

“We’re treating this as a catastrophic scene right now,” Tulsa police captain Richard Meulenberg told a group of reporters.

Deputy police chief Eric Dalgleish said police were called at 4.52pm and arrived four minutes later, making contact with the suspect at 5.01pm on the second floor of the building.

He said the suspect was a black man between 35 and 40 years old, identity unknown, carrying a pistol and a rifle, and that he is believed to have killed himself. No police officers were injured.

Police do not yet know the shooters motive, he added, nor whether he was targeting any particular person or group.

Later that evening, police in nearby Muskogee said they were investigating a possible bomb, which according to reports may have been left by the Tulsa shooter.

An officer who had been inside the Natalie Building told Fox 23 Tulsa that one of the dead was found dressed in a doctor’s uniform, while the other two wore nurses’ clothes.

The Tulsa Police Department said: “Officers are currently going through every room in the building checking for additional threats. We know there are multiple injuries, and potentially multipled casualties.

“We’re asking family members and friends to go to Memorial High School west of LaFortune Park for a reunification site.”

The shooting follows a string of similar attacks in Oklahoma and nearby Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were shot dead by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last week.

Only ten days earlier, an alleged die-hard white supremacist killed ten black people and injured three others in a live-streamed terror attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Then, on Sunday, one person was killed and seven injured when gunshots erupted at a Memorial Day festival in Taft, Oklahoma.

(DataWrapper/Independent)

Last Friday the Tulsa Police Department conducted a long-scheduled active shooter drill at a school that was standing empty for the summer holidays, teaching police trainees how to enter and clear classrooms.

Dr Kevin Howarth, who was working in the building just across from the Natalie Building, told Fox 23 that he had heard people yelling and then saw a lady in scrubs “frantically” leaving the building, before “the entire campus flooded with police”.

A video that appeared to be from the scene showed law enforcement officers armed with semi-automatic rifles sprinting across a grassy outdoor space between hospital buildings, while Tulsa Police cars moved into position and a police offier retrieved a rifle from his car trunk.

Federal agents including from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were also on the scene to assist with the investigation.

The White House said that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting and that his staff were monitoring the situation.

Kevin Hern, a Republican serving in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, said: ”There’s still a lot we don’t know about what happened tonight in the Natalie Building.

“But what we do know is this: multiple lives were taken from us, and many more changed forever. My prayers are with those who lost loved ones tonight.”

St Francis Health System chief executive Dr Cliff Robertson said: “There are over 10,000 people that are part of the St Francis health system that every day commit their lives to taking care or people in need, taking care of everyone in need.

“This sensless, horrible, incomprehensible act is not going to change that.”



Read original article here

US

Police failed to act quickly in Uvalde. Experts say their inaction allowed for the massacre to continue and led to catastrophic consequences

Leave a comment

While 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was inside adjoining classrooms, a group of 19 law enforcement officers stood outside the classroom in the school for roughly 50 minutes as they waited for room keys and tactical equipment, CNN has reported. Meanwhile, children inside the classroom repeatedly called 911 and pleaded for help, Texas officials said.

Texas Department of Public Safety Col. Steven McCraw acknowledged errors in the police response to Tuesday’s mass shooting. The on-scene commander, who is also the Uvalde school district police chief, “believed that it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject,” McCraw said.

“It was the wrong decision. Period. There’s no excuse for that,” McCraw said of the supervisor’s call not to confront the shooter.

‘Every second counts’ during active shootings

Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association (NTAO), said the commander’s determination was “100% flawed.” A barricade calls for officers to slow down their response, analyze whether the subject is alone and negotiate, he said.

“If you’re in a classroom with innocent victims and I know that shots have been fired, I need to engage you. Even if you stopped firing, I’m going to make entry into the room so we can begin to administer life-saving aid to any potential victims,” Eells said.

The delayed police response in Uvalde runs contrary to well-established, commonly taught active shooter protocol established after the Columbine school shooting of 1999, Eells said.

“Even under fire, officers are trained to go to that threat because every second counts,” said Jonathan Wackrow, a CNN law enforcement analyst. “What we saw here was that delay cost children their lives, full stop.”

As the Columbine shooting unfolded, Colorado police waited roughly an hour after gunfire erupted in the school for SWAT teams to arrive, during which two young men killed 13 people.

Prior to Columbine, law enforcement was commonly trained in tactical principles called ICE, which stood for isolate (the suspect), contain (the suspect) and evacuate (the scene). After engaging in ICE protocol, police would request a specialized unit from tactical SWAT teams that would respond and engage with the suspect or suspects, according to Eells.

The Columbine shooting forced law enforcement to reprioritize their focus in responding to active shooter situations. After Columbine, police began acting on behalf of those who are in harm’s way rather than protecting themselves, Eells said. First responders also started to undergo tactical training to prepare for active shootings, taking some of the responsibility out of the hands of SWAT teams, he added.

There are no national guidelines to standardize law enforcement’s training and response to active shooter situations. The NTAO was the first to develop an active shooter curriculum and training courses, which have since been adopted or modified by other training organizations around the country, Eells said.

The curriculum includes safety priorities to guide decision making while officers respond to active shootings, based on a person’s proximity to injury or death. They have been instructed in all 50 states, according to Eells.

All training prioritizes engaging the subject first. The safety priorities list deems hostages and innocent civilians as top priority, followed by law enforcement and then suspects, Eells said.

As their tactics evolved, law enforcement recognized that waiting even a few seconds to respond during an active shooter scenario is potentially catastrophic, Eells said. This prompted police training organizations to develop a more rapid response strategy. Now, officers are taught to do everything they can to stop the shooter as quickly as possible and even bypass helping the injured, Eells added.

“This is unfortunately an ongoing and continual learning process,” he said. “There’s a very good chance that there’s going to be some critical lessons learned out of Uvalde, which may then find their way into our recommendations of how you might alter your response.”

Case shows how rapid response saves lives

Eells pointed to a 2013 shooting at a Colorado high school that shows how a rapid response by police can lead to vastly different results. The shooting transpired within two minutes, during which a male high school student ignited a Molotov cocktail and fired his pump-action shotgun in the school, fatally shooting a 17-year-old girl.

But the attack might have resulted in many more casualties had it not been for the quick response of a deputy sheriff who was working as a school resource officer at the school, CNN previously reported. Upon learning of the threat, the deputy ran to the shooter, identified himself as a county deputy sheriff and told people to get down. While he was containing the scene, the shooter took his own life.

Ramos was not confronted by police before he entered the school, DPS Regional Director Victor Escalon said on Thursday.

While active shooter protocols are widely recognized among the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the country, the fundamental issue is the decentralized nature of police standards at the local, state and federal level, according to Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at John Jay College.

“The way the Uvalde officers responded aligned with the fact that they likely did not have proper training,” Haberfeld said. Local police agencies typically rely more heavily on specialized tactical units, she said.

All law enforcement officers in Texas are trained to follow guidelines for handling active shooters. In March, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District hosted active shooter training for Uvalde-area law enforcement officers, according to its Facebook page.

The manual states: “Officer’s first priority is to move in and confront the attacker. This may include bypassing the injured and not responding to cries for help from children.”

The safety priorities list, Eells said, would have served to guide officers in that moment. The decision to wait in the hallway rather than breach the classroom door kept innocent civilians in danger while benefiting the shooter, he said.

“All of the time that they were standing in the hallway,” Eells added, “even while they were evacuating children, simultaneous to that they should have been engaging with the suspect.”

Read original article here

US

Michigan tornado causes ‘catastrophic’ damage

Leave a comment

First responders are assessing the damage caused from the tornado, according to Gorno, who described the scene as being “catastrophic,” with cars flipped over and structures destroyed.

“It is a busy downtown area, and it went right through it,” he said.

“We aren’t used to it up here,” he said. “We don’t have sirens like in other parts of the country.”

Michigan State Police wrote on Twitter injured people were taken to hospitals but there were no immediate reports of fatalities.

Earlier, they tweeted: “Trees and power lines blocking roadways. Multiple homes and businesses damaged. Avoid the Gaylord area. Emergency crews are responding.”

They also wrote, “Heavy damage throughout the area,” while posting photos of damage to a shopping center, a pizza place and a Goodwill location.

National Weather Service meteorologist Sean Christensen told CNN the twister hit west of the city center near Interstate 75 and moved east-northeast.

About 35 percent of utility customers in Otsego County — which includes Gaylord — were experiencing an electricity outage Friday afternoon, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.

About 25,000 people live in Gaylord and Otsego County, according to the US Census Bureau. The village is about 235 miles north of Detroit.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.



Read original article here

Business

US airline officials warn of ‘catastrophic’ crisis in aviation with new 5G service | 5G

Leave a comment

US airline chiefs have warned that the introduction of a new 5G service could cause US commerce to “grind to a halt” due to possibly grounding a significant number of aircraft and might “strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas”.

Warnings of an impending “catastrophic” crisis in aviation came in a letter sent to White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Reuters reported Monday.

“Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” the letter, signed by the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue, as well as freight and parcel carriers UPS and FedEx, said.

They warned new C-Band 5G technology could interfere with critical airplane instruments such as radio altimeters – which judge the distance from the ground to the bottom of the flying vessel – and have an impact on low-visibility operations.

“This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays,” the letter cautioned, adding a call for urgent action to be taken.

“To be blunt, the nation’s commerce will grind to a halt,” the executives said.

Airlines for America, the lobbying group that organized the letter, and government agencies were not immediately available for comment.

In a letter dated 4 January, the group thanked Buttigieg, Dickson and Deese for “reaching the agreement with AT&T and Verizon to delay their planned 5G C-band deployment around certain airports for two weeks and to commit to the proposed mitigations”.

“Safety is and always will be the top priority of US airlines,” it said. “We will continue to work with all stakeholders to help ensure that new 5G service can coexist with aviation safely.”

As part of the agreement – which was dated 3 January – AT&T and Verizon agreed to create buffer zones around 50 US airports to reduce interference risks and take other steps to cut potential interference for six months.

But the agreement to delay wider implementation of the technology to 19 January is about to expire. The airlines had requested “that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles (3.2 km) of airport runways” at some key airports.

“Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” Reuters reported the letter as saying.

It also warned that flight restrictions will not be limited to poor weather operations.

“Multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable causing a much larger problem than what we knew … Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely
grounded.”

The airlines urged action to ensure “5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption”.

On Sunday, the FAA said it had cleared an estimated 45% of US commercial airplanes to perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed starting on Wednesday.

The warning follows previous alerts that Medevac helicopters or the aircraft that hospitals and rescue missions may also be affected by the technology.

According to a Bloomberg report, 5G interference on radio altimeters on emergency helicopters could ground operations. The 5G will not necessarily shut down the altimeter, but could cause it to give inaccurate readings.

Read original article here

US

Hawaii at risk of ‘catastrophic flooding’ from storms, National Weather Service warns

Leave a comment

The Hawaiian Islands could face “catastrophic flooding” this week from a storm system moving over the archipelago, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

In an update on Sunday, the weather service said a “kona low,” a type of seasonal cyclone in the Hawaiian Islands, would linger just west of Kauai with a slow westward drift until Wednesday.

It warned that that the storm could bring “widespread heavy rainfall…capable of producing catastrophic flooding, and strong southwest winds.”

By early Monday morning, the weather service said flash flood warnings continued for a number of areas, including Kaunakakai, Ualapu’e and Mauna Loa.

Meanwhile, a flash flood warning was extended for Maui, where video posted to social media on Sunday night showed heavy rains.

A high wind warning was in effect for the summits Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island, as well as over over Haleakala on Maui through Monday morning, with wind speeds observed at nearly 90 mph by employees of the National Park Service on Haleakala on Monday.

A blizzard warning also remained in effect for the highest summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

As residents across the islands braced for the storm, Hawaii County Mayor Mitchell Roth declared a state of emergency on Sunday “due to the threat of imminent disaster” the storm posed.

Maui County public schools canceled classes Monday, while Kamehameha Schools, a private school system in Hawaii, said it would be closing its Hawaii Island and Maui campuses, preschools and offices.

In a Twitter thread on Sunday, Hawaii Gov. David Ige said preparations were underway for emergency officials to respond to any impacts from the kona low weather system.

“This storm has the potential to cause major flooding, landslides, road closures and damage to homes,” Ige warned. “Now is the time to make sure you have an emergency plan in place and supplies ready should you need to move away from rising water.”

The governor added that residents should also “make sure that your neighbors have what they need as well. Our community is always stronger when we work together to ensure that we’re all protected.”

The weather service said weather conditions were expected to start to improve by late Tuesday, with drier air spreading into the western islands on Wednesday.

Chantal Da Silva is a breaking news editor for NBC News Digital based in London. 



Read original article here

US

Hawaii faces ‘catastrophic flooding’ from storms until Tuesday, National Weather Service warns

Leave a comment

Rainfall total amounts of 10 to 15 inches are anticipated, with isolated areas of 20 to 25 inches possible, the NWS said. Flash flood warnings were issued for the entire islands of Maui and Molokai Sunday by the NWS, along with the eastern half of the Big Island.

Landslides are expected and in some cases, highways may be closed due to flooding and landslides, potentially cutting off communities.

“Rain events of this size can cause catastrophic flooding and affect areas that do not usually flood. Low spots in roads will become dangerous and impassable due to severe runoff. Debris in streams and gulches may clog bridges and culverts resulting in dangerous flooding,” according to the NWS.

“Numerous landslides are expected in areas with steep terrain. Urban areas, especially on Oahu, may have severe flooding,” the NWS cautioned. “Isolated highways, such as the Belt Highway in the Big Island’s Kau District, and Piilani Highway on Maui, may be closed in one or more locations, resulting in long detours or even the isolation of communities.”

Public schools in Hawaii’s Maui County are closed Monday because of the potential for flooding.

“Parts of Maui County are already experiencing flash flooding and power outages, causing unsafe conditions,” Hawaii Public Schools said Sunday evening.
Blizzard warnings remained in effect over the weekend for mountain summits on the Big Island, where high winds and winter weather temporarily closed access to the summit on Mauna Loa last week.



Read original article here