Hurricane Michael Devastation

Ken AshfordDisasters, Trump & Administration, WeatherLeave a Comment

Where I am, we are being hit by what’s left of Michael, but the wind and the rain is nothing to what hit the panhandle in Florida yesterday.  Mexico Beach appears to be the hardest hit.  Here’s what it was like yesterday: And now…. people are just getting in there, to find this: Aerial view of devastation at #MexicoBeach, Fl … Read More

Michael, the Hurricane

Ken AshfordDisasters, Local Interest, WeatherLeave a Comment

Unlike Florence, which seemed to take her sweet time coming to the mainlaind, Michael just kind of sprang up in the past few days. It was a tropical depression in the Gulf Of Mexico, and very quickly moved to a Category 3.  Today, as it makes landfall, it is a Category 4. Here’s the latest: • The hurricane is expected … Read More

A Weakened Florence Hits The NC Coast

Ken AshfordDisasters, Local Interest, WeatherLeave a Comment

After lingering for days, Hurricane Florence hit the NC coast this morning.  It had slowly been downgraded over the past two days, so it hit as a Category One.  Still pretty serious. The real threat from Florence isn’t the wind; it’s the rain coupled with its slow speed.  This morning, Wilmington got hit with heavy winds, knocking down trees and … Read More

Trump Tweets Over 30 Times From Friday To Monday, But One Tweet Gets Him Into Big Legal Trouble

Ken AshfordDisasters, Economy & Jobs & Deficit, Immigration and Xenophobia, L'Affaire Russe, Race, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

No, that’s not the one.  I mean, yes it is clearly racist, but that won’t plunge Trump into legal trouble.  Besides, Keith Boykin had the perfect response: In Trump's World:Obama: KenyanLeBron James: dumbDon Lemon: dumbMaxine Waters: low IQblack countries: shitholesblack athletes: SOBsBlack tenants: unwelcomeBlack workers: lazyCentral Park 5: guiltyMexicans: rapistsMuslims: terroristsIndians: fakeNazis: very fine people — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August … Read More

Hurricane Maria: Death Toll For Puerto Rico Much Higher Than Official Count

Ken AshfordDisasters, WeatherLeave a Comment

The official count is 64 dead in PR due to Hurricane Maria last September. A new Harvard study places that amount higher.  Much higher.  MUCH higher: As hurricane season begins this week, experts are still trying to count the number of deaths caused by last year’s devastating Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The latest estimate: roughly 4,600, many of them … Read More

Amazing Photo And Video OF Kilauea Eruption

Ken AshfordBreaking News, DisastersLeave a Comment

For nearly three weeks, images of volcanic activity on Hawaii’s Big Island have been mostly focused on the East Rift Zone on Kilauea’s slopes, where fissure upon fissure has opened up in the earth, spewing forth red-orange lava and sending thousands of residents fleeing from their homes. Yesterday, the volcano’s Halemaumau Crater snapped people’s attention back to the summit with … Read More

Puerto Rico Disaster

Ken AshfordDisasters, WeatherLeave a Comment

CONFIRMED: There is a black out in Puerto Rico. The entire island is without power. There is “ZERO power generation at this point”, according to a spokesman. A fault was detected on the line 50700 which starts in Aguirre Central It may take 24 to 36 hours to restore power. The latest blackout prompted Gov. Ricardo Rossello to call on … Read More

Breaking: Pedestrian Bridge Collapse

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Disasters, InfrastructureLeave a Comment

Tweet from four days ago: First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place. “FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” -President Mark B. Rosenberg. https://t.co/x8gPM9A4DG #worldsahead pic.twitter.com/mPEMeh2zmw — FIU (@FIU) March 10, 2018 And in case it gets taken down, here’s a screen cap: Well…. it collapsed. Reports of several dead. BREAKING: New pedestrian bridge … Read More

FEMA Is A Boy’s Club?

Ken AshfordDisasters, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This won’t make headlines, but it concerns me because it relates to a governmental body that I consider important. FEMA flourished under the Obama years — it has been less than stellar so far during the Trump Administration, especially its (non)handling of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.  And now this: Two top public-affairs officers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency … Read More

FEMA Response To Puerto Rico Even Worse That We Thought

Ken AshfordCongress, DisastersLeave a Comment

In November, The Associated Press found that after Hurricane Maria, FEMA awarded more than $30 million in contracts for emergency tarps and plastic sheeting to a company that never delivered the needed supplies to Puerto Rico. And now this: The mission for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was clear: Hurricane Maria had torn through Puerto Rico, and hungry people needed food. Thirty … Read More

Breaking: Amtrak Derailment

Ken AshfordBreaking News, DisastersLeave a Comment

An Amtrak passenger train derailed and at least one passenger car is dangling on to Interstate 5 in Pierce County, Washington, according to the Washington state Department of Transportation. One train car was beneath the bridge sitting parallel to the roadway, an eyewitness said. Another train car was dangling from a rail bridge that crosses I-5 horizontally. Amtrak tweeted that it … Read More

Trump: Blaming The Victim

Ken AshfordDisasters, Immigration and Xenophobia, Race, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This is outright inhumane: Trump is laying the groundwork for abandoning Puerto Rico, and blaming it for its infrastructure problems that existed pre-hurricane. Lost in his “analysis” is that the people suffering there (still no power or clean water on most of the Island) are AMERICANS. If Bush was negligent with Katrina response, Trump is being outright punishing. According to … Read More