(NEW YORK) — There’s a trio of tropical systems in the Atlantic Basin, with Fred moving up the East Coast as Grace hits Haiti and Henri churns near Bermuda.
Fred
Fred made landfall on the Florida Panhandle Monday afternoon, leading to flooding as Panama City saw 10 inches of rain.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida due to Fred’s flooding.
Fred has now weakened to a tropical depression over Georgia, but the heavy rain should continue from Georgia to the Carolinas and into Virginia. There’s a high risk of flooding for the Southern Appalachians Tuesday as Fred moves north.
The heavy rainfall likely will stretch into the Northeast Wednesday afternoon into Thursday, with 6 inches of rain possible in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Flash flooding is possible for major cities including Philadelphia and New York City.
Grace
Tropical Storm Grace is now leaving Haiti, where it dumped heavy rain that lead to flash flooding in a nation already reeling from an earthquake this weekend that’s killed over 1,400.
Grace should move over Jamaica Tuesday and into the western Caribbean Sea by Thursday before approaching Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsulas as a strong tropical storm or possibly a Category 1 hurricane.
Grace is not expected to threaten the U.S. but Mexico could see flash flooding.
Henri
Henri is forecast to circle Bermuda over the next few days, providing gusty winds and some rain.
The U.S. likely will only see minor impacts from Henri, with high surf and rip currents along the East Coast.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 622,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 59.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 17, 4:56 am
US reports over 200,000 new cases in a day for 3rd time this month
There were 209,988 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the third time this month that the U.S. has reported more than 200,000 newly confirmed infections in a single day.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins data shows an additional 683 fatalities from the disease were registered nationwide on Monday, down from this month’s peak of 1,889 new deaths on Aug. 13.
A total of 36,888,978 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 622,321 have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
Aug 17, 4:38 am
Bangladesh extends COVID-19 vaccines to Rohingya refugees
Bangladesh has launched a COVID-19 vaccination program for Rohingya refugees housed in one of the world’s largest and most densely populated camps in Cox’s Bazar, according to a press release from the World Health Organization.
The campaign, led by the Bangladeshi government with technical support from the WHO and other partners, is initially targeting nearly 48,000 Rohingya refugees who are 55 and older. It’s part of Bangladesh’s national deployment and vaccination plan to ensure equity and fair allocation of vaccines across the country.
“Bangladesh is demonstrating what WHO has been advocating for — equitable access to vaccines,” Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director of the WHO South-East Asia Region, said in a statement Monday. “Inclusion is key to protecting vulnerable populations like the refugees, for safeguarding their health and that of their host communities and societies.”
More than 1 million Rohingya — a stateless ethnic group who predominantly practice Islam — are sheltering in crowded camps in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Aug 16, 11:38 pm
Biden admin expected to recommend boosters for all Americans
The Biden administration could soon be urging Americans to get a booster shot eight months after completing their original vaccination, a source familiar with the discussions told ABC News Monday.
Federal health officials and experts are currently coalescing around the idea that all Americans should receive a booster, the source said. Those booster shots could be rolled out as soon as mid to late September — pending Food and Drug Administration authorization.
The announcement, first reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post, could come as soon as this week.
The new timeline for the booster shots in a significant shift for the administration, which previously had been non-comital on when boosters for the majority of Americans would be needed.
Aug 16, 10:20 pm
El Paso sues state of Texas over ban on mask mandates
The city of El Paso has filed a lawsuit challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates in the state to allow for local protective measures to be ordered in the county.
Starting Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., a local health authority order will mandate that all individuals over the age of 2 wear some form of face covering while in public indoor spaces.
The parents of children under the age of 10 will be responsible for appropriately masking their children while outside their home, city officials said.
The order comes after El Paso City-County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza recommended masks at all indoor facilities in the county.
A face covering is not required on those who are eating or drinking or anyone who has trouble breathing, has a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a face covering.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 622,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 59.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 17, 4:56 am
US reports over 200,000 new cases in a day for 3rd time this month
There were 209,988 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the third time this month that the U.S. has reported more than 200,000 newly confirmed infections in a single day.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins data shows an additional 683 fatalities from the disease were registered nationwide on Monday, down from this month’s peak of 1,889 new deaths on Aug. 13.
A total of 36,888,978 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 622,321 have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
Aug 17, 4:38 am
Bangladesh extends COVID-19 vaccines to Rohingya refugees
Bangladesh has launched a COVID-19 vaccination program for Rohingya refugees housed in one of the world’s largest and most densely populated camps in Cox’s Bazar, according to a press release from the World Health Organization.
The campaign, led by the Bangladeshi government with technical support from the WHO and other partners, is initially targeting nearly 48,000 Rohingya refugees who are 55 and older. It’s part of Bangladesh’s national deployment and vaccination plan to ensure equity and fair allocation of vaccines across the country.
“Bangladesh is demonstrating what WHO has been advocating for — equitable access to vaccines,” Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director of the WHO South-East Asia Region, said in a statement Monday. “Inclusion is key to protecting vulnerable populations like the refugees, for safeguarding their health and that of their host communities and societies.”
More than 1 million Rohingya — a stateless ethnic group who predominantly practice Islam — are sheltering in crowded camps in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Aug 16, 11:38 pm
Biden admin expected to recommend boosters for all Americans
The Biden administration could soon be urging Americans to get a booster shot eight months after completing their original vaccination, a source familiar with the discussions told ABC News Monday.
Federal health officials and experts are currently coalescing around the idea that all Americans should receive a booster, the source said. Those booster shots could be rolled out as soon as mid to late September — pending Food and Drug Administration authorization.
The announcement, first reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post, could come as soon as this week.
The new timeline for the booster shots in a significant shift for the administration, which previously had been non-comital on when boosters for the majority of Americans would be needed.
Aug 16, 10:20 pm
El Paso sues state of Texas over ban on mask mandates
The city of El Paso has filed a lawsuit challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates in the state to allow for local protective measures to be ordered in the county.
Starting Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., a local health authority order will mandate that all individuals over the age of 2 wear some form of face covering while in public indoor spaces.
The parents of children under the age of 10 will be responsible for appropriately masking their children while outside their home, city officials said.
The order comes after El Paso City-County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza recommended masks at all indoor facilities in the county.
A face covering is not required on those who are eating or drinking or anyone who has trouble breathing, has a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a face covering.
(NEW YORK) — Federal officials have declared a shortage in Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country that serves tens of millions of residents in the West and northern Mexico, amid a historic decades long “mega-drought” in the region.
The Bureau of Reclamation announced the first-ever water shortage for the lower Colorado River basin on Monday, which will prompt a reduction in water releases to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico in 2022 to make sure there is enough water in the reservoir to keep generating power and provide water for essential uses.
Lake Mead will be under a Tier 1 shortage, meaning that starting next year, Arizona will receive about 18% less water from the Colorado River than in a typical year. Nevada’s water allowance will be reduced by about 7%, and Mexico’s by about 5%, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. States, local agencies, tribes and water users will negotiate which users see the most reductions.
In Arizona, for example, farmers will bear the brunt of the reductions, while cities and one tribe will see small reductions under the state’s drought contingency plan, though some have also made voluntary efforts to reduce water use.
The impacts of the water cuts to Central Arizona farmers will be serious and representatives from the irrigation districts anticipate as much as 30% of the farmland in Pinal County could be left unplanted next year, Kevin Moran, senior director of the Colorado River Program for the Environmental Defense Fund, told ABC News.
He said that it will be crucial for states and water users to continue to work together to adapt and conserve as much of the watersheds out west as possible to prepare for worsening conditions in the future.
“I think it’s a wake up call for everyone that we need to start planning for the river that scientists tell us we’re probably going to have not the one we remember or might wish for,” he said.
The reservoir hit its lowest water levels in history this summer, the bureau announced in June. The Colorado River system currently has only 40% of the amount of water it can store, down from 49% last year.
The lowering water levels in several reservoirs in the West have been exacerbated by severe drought, meaning less snowpack to feed into rivers, streams and lakes in areas surrounding the mountains. And what little runoff there is from snow in the spring is immediately sopped up by the arid soil before it can reach important bodies of water.
After 22 years of drought conditions, the water levels at the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dam reservoirs hit the lowest water levels since they were filled, Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo told reporters in a press briefing Monday.
“We are seeing the effects of climate change in the Colorado River Basin through extended drought, extreme temperatures, expansive wildfires, and in some places flooding and landslides, and now is the time to take action to respond to them,” Trujillo said.
The Bureau of Reclamation, states, tribes, and water users have been planning for drought conditions to become more severe and created contingency plans on who would have their water allowance reduced first. In addition to helping farmers and other water users voluntarily reduce water use.
Levels of Lake Mead are projected to hit a level that could require additional cuts in July 2023. State officials said they will have to make difficult decisions to adapt to more limited water resources going into the future and that states will need to work together to come up with innovative solutions, according to the new analysis released by the Bureau of Reclamation.
“Today’s Colorado River hydrology is not the same hydrology this basin knew a century ago. Every community, every sector, every industry that uses Colorado River water must do more to conserve and protect this critical water resource upon which 40 million Americans depend,” said John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, called the declaration and projections a “serious turn of events” but not a crisis, saying the state and stakeholders can make changes to limit water usage into the future.
“The challenge before us, to help protect the lake further and to protect 1020 elevation will be daunting, but we can and will address these issues, and be successful together in partnership,” he said.
But the conditions have worsened faster than expected, prompting the shortage declaration this year and possibly more reductions and actions in the future if drought conditions continue.
“The announcement today is a recognition that the hydrology that was planned for years ago but we hoped we would never see, is here,” said Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner Camille Touton.
Moran said the shortage declaration shows the river is “ground zero” for climate change in the US.
“We’re seeing the impact of climate change and the interconnected crises of drought, wildfires and extreme heat, and we need to adapt on an accelerated basis to those impacts,” he told ABC News.
Moran added that he thinks the world is at a point of “accelerated climate change” that is forcing them to “grapple with the health of the hydrologic system and what it can actually sustain.”
“We’re having to face that in ways we have, we have been able to avoid, at least in significant ways until now,” he added.
But Moran said the Bureau of Reclamation and water users were able to come together to plan for this water shortage, adding that “failure is not an option” going forward.
(CAPE SAN BLAS, Fla.) — Tropical storm Fred made landfall near Cape San Blas, along the Florida Panhandle, on Monday afternoon with winds near 65 mph.
One foot of rain is possible in the Florida Panhandle. Fred then is forecast to barrel north through Alabama and Georgia, delivering up to 10 inches of rain.
The flash flood threat will stretch to Atlanta and could even reach Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., by Wednesday.
President Joe Biden warned last week that the hurricane-prone states also are ones with surging COVID-19 cases.
“Let me be clear. If you’re in a state where hurricanes often strike, a vital part of preparing for hurricane season is to get vaccinated now. Everything is more complicated if you’re not vaccinated and a hurricane or natural disaster hits. If you wind up having to evacuate, if you wind up having to stay in a shelter, you don’t want to add COVID-19 to the list of dangers that you’re going to be confronting,” Biden said at a briefing alongside Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.
Fred isn’t the only storm moving through the Atlantic Ocean.
Tropical depression Grace is targeting Haiti, where residents are dealing with a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake this weekend that killed nearly 1,300 people.
Gusty winds and heavy rain are expected in Haiti Monday and Jamaica on Tuesday.
And a new tropical depression formed near Bermuda on Monday morning that could become Tropical Storm Henri later in the day.
A tropical depression near Bermuda could cause high waves and rip currents along the East Coast of the U.S.
Henri is expected to circle around Bermuda, where a tropical storm watch is in effect. Henri’s only impact on the U.S. could be high waves and rip currents along the East Coast.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 621,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.3 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 59.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Monday. All times Eastern:
Aug 16, 9:58 am
Positivity rate climbs to 25% at Children’s Hospital New Orleans
The positivity rate has climbed to 25% at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, Dr. Mark Kline, the hospital’s physician-in-chief, told ABC News on Sunday.
The hospital had 12 pediatric patients on Sunday. Half of them were under 2 years old, Kline said.
Five of the 12 patients in the hospital were in the ICU: an 8-week-old, a 3-month-old, a 13-month-old, a 23-month-old and a 17-year-old, Kline said.
“As we see more children infected and ill with COVID-19, it occurs to me that our children have become the collateral damage of many adults who frame refusal of masks and vaccines as an issue of personal freedom rather than the common-sense public health measures that they are,” Kline said.
“Children currently have no way out of this pandemic other than through the advocacy and personal responsibility of their parents and all adults,” Kline added. “So far, we are failing them miserably.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 620,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.3 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 59.1% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 15, 7:20 pm
Texas Supreme Court sides with Gov. Greg Abbott on mask mandate
Two days after a Dallas appeals court dealt Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a legal setback by upholding Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ order requiring masks in schools and businesses, the Texas Supreme Court shut the mandate down Sunday.
The entirely Republican Court granted a temporary stay at the request of Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“The ban doesn’t prohibit using masks. Anyone who wants to wear a mask can do so, including in schools,” Abbott tweeted Sunday.
Hearings on the mask mandates will continue in lower courts as scheduled, the Court ruled.
“We won’t stop working with parents, doctors, schools, business + others to protect you and intend to win that hearing,” Jenkins tweeted Sunday.
Aug 15, 11:54 am
Nearly 600 patients waiting for hospital beds in Houston
As of Saturday, 575 patients are waiting for a general bed in hospitals in the Houston area. Eighty-seven patients are waiting for an intensive care unit beds.
Hospital officials in Houston said last week that area hospitals with beds had insufficient numbers of nurses to serve them.
Nurses the state was going to surge to the area have yet to arrive, more than two weeks after they were promised.
Gov. Greg Abbott appealed for out-of-state help to fight the third wave of COVID-19 in Texas while two more of the state’s largest school districts announced mask mandates in defiance of the governor last week.
As of Saturday, there are 3.3M confirmed cases of COVID-19 and there have been 54,289 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 46.33% of Texans have been fully vaccinated.
(NEW YORK) — Three major U.S. cities struggling to curb a surge in gun violence collectively had at least 64 people wounded and 12 dead, including a 7-year-old girl, in multiple shootings this weekend, according to police.
The shootings in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago came as all three cities have seen sharp increases in the numbers of shootings in 2021.
In Chicago, at least 46 people were shot between 5 p.m. on Friday and Sunday afternoon, four of them fatally, according to the Chicago Police Department. According to police incident reports reviewed by ABC News, 23 of the shootings occurred over just a 4 hour period between 12:26 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Around 3 p.m. on Sunday, a 7-year-old girl was killed and a 6-year-old girl was seriously wounded when someone opened fire on a parked vehicle they were sitting in the Belmont Central neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side, police said. The 7-year-old was shot in the chest and later died at a hospital.
The 6-year-old girl was also shot in the chest and right armpit and was in serious but stable condition at Loyola University Medical Center Sunday evening, police said.
Police were working to identify the shooter or shooters involved in the incident. Police did not comment on a possible motive.
More than 250 children have been shot and 32 killed in Chicago this year, according to police data obtained by ABC station WLS.
Prior to this weekend, more than 2,123 people had been shot in Chicago this year, which is a 12% increase from the same time period in 2020, according to police department crime statistics. Before this weekend, Chicago has recorded 478 homicides, a 2% increase over last year at this time.
A shooting that occurred Friday night on the Eisenhower Expressway on the city’s West Side left one person dead and two others critically wounded. Illinois State Police said the three victims were in a car on Interstate 290 when a vehicle pulled up alongside them and someone inside opened fire.
In a shooting around 12:36 a.m. on Sunday, a woman and three men, ranging in age from 30 to 45, were shot and wounded as they stood outside a building in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the city’s South Side, police said. The victims told police they did not see where the shots came from, according to an incident report.
Just after 2 a.m. Sunday, three teenagers, the youngest 15, were shot and wounded while standing outside a gas station in the city’s Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, police said. About 20 minutes later, three other people were shot while traveling in a car in the Mayfair neighborhood in northwest Chicago, police said.
The shootings in Chicago followed last weekend’s violence, which saw 73 people shot in the city, 11 fatally.
Chicago police Officer Ella French was among those gunned down last weekend when she and her two partners pulled over a car for having expired tags. One of French’s partners, a 39-year-old officer, was shot in the eye and remains in a hospital in critical condition with a bullet lodge in his brain, police said. Two brothers were arrested and charged in French’s slaying.
The Chicago Police Department has launched several programs this summer in an attempt to curb shootings and reduce the number of illegal guns on the streets.
Last month, Police Superintendent David Brown assembled a team of 50 officers to target gun traffickers, straw buyers, unscrupulous licensed firearms dealers and anyone who facilitates the flow of illegal guns into the city of Chicago.
11 people shot, 5 fatally in Philadelphia
Entering the weekend, 1,333 people had been shot in Philadelphia this year, a 19% increase from the same period a year ago, according to police department crime statistics. By the end of Friday, the city had recorded 329 homicides, a 26% increase from the same time period in 2020, the data shows.
“We need to stop this,” Philadelphia resident and retired Marine Jamal Johnson told ABC station WPVI in Philadelphia.
The weekend gun violence came as Johnson and a group of supporters are marching to Washington D.C. to draw attention to the escalating number of shootings and killings in their city. Johnson calls his action the “Stop Killing us March” and hopes to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus when he reaches the U.S. Capitol later this month.
“I would personally like them to encourage (Philadelphia) Mayor (Jim) Kenney to declare a state of emergency in Philadelphia due to gun violence,” Johnson said. “Most of all to save the lives of our children.”
Kenney said during a news conference last month that the city allocated over $150 million in its fiscal year 2022 budget to address gun violence. He said he has spoken to President Joe Biden “on the urgent need for new and enhanced approaches” to combat the problem.
“An emergency or disaster declaration would not change the direction of this work,” the mayor said.
In the weekend homicides in Philadelphia, a 25-year-old man was shot multiple times on a street in the Tioga-Nicetown neighborhood of North Philadelphia about 9 p.m. on Saturday, police said. The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to Einstein Medical Center and pronounced dead.
Around 5 a.m. Saturday, a man was found shot in the parking lot of a gas station in the Wynnefield neighborhood in the northwest part of Philadelphia police said. The man, who was not named by police, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
A 30-year-old man died after being shot multiple times around 12:44 a.m. Saturday on a street in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of South Philadelphia, police said. And a 46-year-old man died after being shot in the chest around 1:36 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Rite Aid in southwest Philadelphia.
No arrests have been made in any of the homicides, police said.
More than 1,100 shot in New York City this year
In New York City, where more than 1,100 people have been shot this year, an 11% increase from a year ago, police said 15 more people were shot, three fatally, in 11 separate incidents on Friday night alone. The three homicides occurred in just 4 1/2 hours.
The deadly violence started about 12:20 a.m. on Saturday when police discovered a man lying next to a motorcycle with a bullet wound to the head in the Woodlawn neighborhood of the city’s Bronx borough, according to the New York Police Department. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
About 40 minutes later, a 38-year-old man was shot in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of the city’s Queens borough, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Just after 4 a.m. on Saturday, a 27-year-old man was shot dead while standing on a street in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, police said. The shooting also left a 23-year-old man wounded.
No arrests have been made in the New York homicides.
Among the non-fatal New York shootings, four men were wounded just after midnight Saturday at the Louis Armstrong Houses in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in the city’s Brooklyn borough.
(NEW YORK) — The remnants of Fred redeveloped into a tropical storm over the southeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico earlier Sunday morning.
Tropical Storm Fred has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, is moving to the north-northwest at 10 mph and the center is currently about 235 miles south of Panama City, Florida.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for parts of the Florida Panhandle, from Navarre to the Wakulla/Jefferson County line. Parts of Florida, including Panama City, Pensacola, and southeastern Alabama are under a tropical storm watch.
As Fred continues to move across the open waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, scattered thunderstorms will be possible across parts of Florida throughout the day. The main impacts from Fred are expected on Monday.
Fred will likely strengthen more before closing in on the Florida Panhandle on Monday.
Heavy rain and gusty winds will begin to impact the state Monday morning, with the brunt of the impact arriving in the afternoon ahead of a likely landfall Monday evening along the panhandle. Over a half-foot of rain is possible in spots, with flash flooding and storm surge impacts possible during high tide.
Fred will rapidly weaken after landfall and then bring areas of heavy rain into parts of Alabama and Georgia through Tuesday morning. Flash flood watches are also in effect from Tallahassee, Florida, up into portions of southern Alabama and Georgia.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Grace currently has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and is moving west-northwest at 15 mph. The center is about 200 miles east-southeast of Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. Grace remains disorganized as it moves just south of Puerto Rico.
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and parts of the Dominican Republic. A tropical storm watch remains in effect across Haiti, just a day after a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds, injured thousands and left widespread damage throughout the country.
Grace is forecast to impact Hispaniola Monday into Monday night, bringing torrential rain across the Dominican Republic and eventually parts of Haiti with over a half-foot of rain, flash flooding and mudslides possible in spots.
Grace will then likely move into the Gulf of Mexico, however, there remains a great deal of uncertainty, so the track possibilities could range from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
(WASHINGTON) — The upcoming 20th anniversary of 9/11, religious holidays and more pandemic restrictions amid a COVID-19 surge caused by the delta variant, could give rise to terrorist attacks in the U.S, the Department of Homeland Security is warning.
DHS’ National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin issued on Friday, warned that threats from domestic terrorists — individuals engaged in grievance-based violence — and foreign terrorists are exacerbated by the pandemic, “including grievances over public health safety measures and perceived government restrictions.”
The bulletin said that racially or ethnically motivated extremists will exploit the reintroduction of COVID-19 variants as a means to carry out attacks because of re-implemented pandemic restrictions.
This is the third NTAS bulletin the Department has issued since January.
The DHS also warned that because of the upcoming 9/11 anniversary foreign terrorists or people inspired by foreign terrorists might seek to carry out an attack around the anniversary.
Al-Qaeda released an issue of Inspire magazine for the first time in over four years, with the hopes of inspiring people to carry out attacks, according to the bulletin.
The bulletin also warned that domestic violent extremists have targeted houses of worship. “Historically, mass-casualty domestic violent extremist attacks linked to RMVEs have targeted houses of worship and crowded commercial facilities or gatherings,” it read and that some RMVEs (racially motivated violent extremists) “advocate via online platforms for a race war and have stated that civil disorder provides opportunities to engage in violence in furtherance of ideological objectives.”
Reopening of schools and other institutions, as well as religious holidays over the next few months could become “targets of opportunity for violence,” the bulletin further warned.
DHS also cautioned about foreign and domestic groups as well as foreign intelligence services (but did not specify which ones) that “continue to introduce, amplify, and disseminate narratives online that promote violence, and have called for violence against elected officials, political representatives, government facilities, law enforcement, religious communities or commercial facilities, and perceived ideologically-opposed individuals.”
ABC News previously reported on the Department’s concern about the conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated as U.S. president last Friday.
“Law enforcement have expressed concerns that the broader sharing of false narratives and conspiracy theories will gain traction in mainstream environments, resulting in individuals or small groups embracing violent tactics to achieve their desired objectives. With a diverse array of threats, DHS is concerned that increased outbreaks of violence in some locations, as well as targeted attacks against law enforcement, may strain local resources,” the bulletin reads.
Some domestic violent extremists “continue to derive inspiration and obtain operational guidance through the consumption of information shared in certain online communities. This includes information regarding the use of improvised explosive devices and small arms.”
The Department also warned of nation-state adversaries attempting to sow politcal discord, citing examples of Russia, China and Iran attempting to cast doubt on vaccine efficacy.
“DHS remains committed to sharing timely information with the public about the heightened threat environment in order to protect communities across our country,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas in a statement on Friday. “Today’s NTAS Bulletin advises the public about the heightened threat landscape we face and how DHS is working with our partners, at every level of government and in the community, to combat domestic terrorism and targeted violence in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring every initiative undertaken by DHS in response to the threat is consistent with privacy protections, civil rights and civil liberties, First Amendment-protected rights, and other applicable laws.”
