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Ida live updates: Louisiana governor expects death toll to go up ‘considerably’

August 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.

It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record — by both wind speed and pressure — to roar ashore in Louisiana.

Ida, now a tropical storm, is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:

Aug 30, 10:40 am

New Orleans airport expects all flights to be canceled

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is conducting damage assessments and said it expects all flights to be canceled Monday.

The airport added that passengers should check directly with their airlines for more information.

Aug 30, 10:29 am

Historic landmark tied to Louis Armstrong collapses

The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, a historic national landmark in New Orleans, is one of the multiple buildings that collapsed when Ida walloped the city.

The brick two-story shop, a former tailor business in the Central Business District of the city, dates back to 1913 and is where Louis Armstrong worked before embarking on his legendary jazz career.

The family that owned the shop provided a second home for Armstrong and loaned him money to purchase his first cornet, according to the National Park Service.

Aug 30, 10:17 am

Governor expects death toll to go up ‘considerably’

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told MSNBC Monday that search and rescue efforts are ongoing and he expects Ida’s death toll to “go up considerably throughout the day.”

Helicopters are surveying damage because it will take “many days” to reach Louisiana’s southern coastal areas by ground, he said.

Nearly all of southeast Louisiana is without power, the governor said. All eight major lines that feed electricity to the New Orleans area have failed.

Aug 30, 8:20 am
‘We’re a broken community right now’

The president of hard-hit Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday that all communication lines with Grand Isle were down.

Cynthia Lee Sheng said about 40 people are believed to have stayed on the barrier island, located about 100 miles south of New Orleans.

“We have lost contact with them since yesterday afternoon,” Sheng said. “We have first responder teams out there planning their strategy for today, ready to go out.”

Sheng also said there were concerns about Lafitte, Louisiana, saying officials had received reports of people trapped in their attics by high water.

“This is an area if you want to think of it like swampland, there’s alligators out there,” Sheng said.

She said rescue workers have not been able to reach the area due to darkness and downed power lines.

In addition to thousands in the area losing power, Sheng said the parish was losing pressure in its water system.

“We’ve had a lot of water main breaks,” she said. “Our water system is losing pressure and so in order to be able to fight fires, that is a very critical element. So, we’re trying to clear roads to do those water repairs.”

Sheng added, “We’re a broken community right now.”

Aug 30, 7:33 am
Over 1.1 million customers without power in 2 states

Ida, with its blustery winds and torrential rain, has left more than 1.1 million utility customers without power in Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday morning.

More than 1 million customers were without electricity in Louisiana, mostly in the southeast part of Bayou State where Ida made landfall, according to state emergency management officials.

In Mississippi, another 105,417 homes and businesses were without electricity, state officials said.

Aug 30, 5:41 am
Ida downgraded to tropical storm

About 16 hours after making landfall in Louisiana, Ida was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday morning.

As of 4 a.m. CT, Ida was moving north at 8 miles per hour with the eye of the storm located about 95 miles south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, and 50 miles north-northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The storm’s maximum sustained winds have decreased near 60 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.

The storm surge warning has been discontinued from Morgan City to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued west of Grand Isle. The hurricane warning has been replaced with a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans. Storm surge and tropical storm warnings remain in effect for Grand Isle to the Alabama-Florida border, according to the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, 16 states from Mississippi to New Jersey are still on alert for flash flooding. A flash flood watch is in place from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey.

So far, the highest rainfall total was recorded in LaPlace, Louisiana, which received 15 inches. A flash flood emergency remains in effect there, according to the National Weather Service.

Ida is forecast to rapidly weaken even more over the next day or so, becoming a tropical depression by Monday evening.

The storm will move farther inland over southeastern Louisiana early Monday and into southwestern Mississippi later in the morning. Ida is then forecast to move over central and northeastern Mississippi on Monday afternoon and evening before moving across the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Aug 30, 4:40 am
Tornado warning issued for parts of southern Mississippi

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for eastern Harrison County and northwestern Jackson County, both in southern Mississippi.

As Hurricane Ida approaches the Magnolia State, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located via radar over Biloxi in Mississippi’s Harrison County early Monday at 2:46 a.m. CT. The “tornadic thunderstorm” was moving north at 65 miles per hour, according to an alert from the National Weather Service, which urged people to “take cover now!”

“Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows,” the National Weather Service said. “If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”

The storm could impact the Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport as well as several miles of Interstate 10 and 110 in Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado warning will remain in effect until 3:45 a.m. CT.

“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the National Weather Service warned. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”

Aug 30, 4:16 am
New Orleans ‘experiencing technical difficulties’ with 911 system

The emergency communications center for New Orleans said it is “experiencing technical difficulties” with its 911 system, after the city lost power due to Hurricane Ida.

“If you find yourself in an emergency, please go to your nearest fire station or approach your nearest officer,” the Orleans Parish Communication District announced via Twitter early Monday. “We will update you once this issue has been resolved.”

First lady Jill Biden shares back to school message for teachers, parents as year begins amid COVID-19

August 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Dr. Jill Biden, a mom of three, has been an educator for over 30 years. Dr. Biden is the First Lady of the United States and she continues to teach as a professor of writing at Northern Virginia Community College

Parenthood is experiencing conflicting emotions at the same time—loving your children more than life itself, never wanting to let them go, while also understanding they will one day walk out the door without looking back, ready to conquer the world on their own.

It’s the tangled joy and fear of watching your child take their first step onto a school bus alone.

It’s wrestling with complicated problems and weighing risks—losing sleep, worrying about what path to take, wondering if you’re making the right choices.

As children return to in-person learning at schools across the country, however, it’s not the routine risks of childhood that are keeping parents awake at night. It’s the complicated realities of this pandemic.

Experience has already shown that virtual learning can leave kids feeling isolated and alone: The kindergartener who is exhausted by constantly focusing on her computer screen—but doesn’t have the language to express her discomfort. The middle-schooler who can’t get the hands-on guidance he needs and starts to believe that he is a failure—that he’s falling behind because he just isn’t smart enough. The talented high-schooler, hoping for an athletic scholarship in a sport she’s unable to play because sports have been canceled.

As this school year begins, families across the country thought we could exhale after so many difficult months and now we’re holding our breath once again.

So many are asking: How can I be sure that my child is safe? What do I do if our family is exposed to the virus? What will we do if we have to return to virtual learning?

Parents, I want you to know that your child, your school, and your family are at the heart of all that my husband, Joe, is doing to help our country defeat and ultimately recover from this pandemic.

As a teacher for over 30 years, and a mom even longer, I know that classrooms are so much more than places where our children learn math and reading.

We’ve all seen it: when our kids make friends that last for years, when they learn to settle disagreements or find confidence trying out for sports teams.

Parents rely on schools, too, heading to our jobs or pursuing our own education, knowing that our kids are in a safe and trustworthy environment.

This Administration is doing all we can to keep schools open and at the same time safeguard our children.

Public health officials have laid out clear guidelines on how schools can bring kids back to the classroom safely and the American Rescue Plan has provided the support schools need to hire additional staff, including nurses.

As we’ve seen this year, so many children are dealing with grief, loss, and trauma. In order to truly serve our kids, schools must support mental health with the social and emotional resources that students need to recover, learn and grow. That’s why we are helping schools hire more counselors and social workers.

I have so much faith in the community of educators who serve our students—from teachers to bus drivers to cafeteria workers. Their job is more than just a paycheck. They come to work because they care about students almost as much as parents do.

With classes beginning again, the uncertainty of COVID-19 remains.

Still, we do know that vaccines and wearing masks provide the best protection available against this virus.

To keep our schools open and safe this year, it will take all of us coming together—being honest about the risks we face, listening to science, and working as one.

How school board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for debating mask mandates

August 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(New York) — School board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for parents and local officials who disagree over mask and vaccine mandates as children return to brick-and-mortar learning.

At least nine states — Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — have laws or executive orders prohibiting mask mandates in classrooms.

Those rules have triggered legal challenges and public fury as many children returned to classrooms earlier this month, at a time when COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise due to the delta variant, but children under the age of 12 remain ineligible for the vaccine.

Mask opponents say masks inhibit kids from socializing and restrict breathing.

Advocates cite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s August guidance recommending universal indoor masking by students and staff at K-12 schools — regardless of vaccination status — due to the threat of delta.

Here’s a snapshot of the debate in four states:

Arizona

In Arizona, the Republican-led state that never imposed a mask mandate throughout the pandemic, Gov. Doug Ducey banned mask mandates in schools and required a return to in-person learning in July.

This month he announced that all school districts and charter schools in the state “following all state laws and remaining open for in-person learning” would be eligible for grant funding through the American Rescue Plan, and offered up to $1,800 per student.

So far, over 20 districts have defied the governor and are requiring students and staff to wear masks indoors.

Talitha Baker, a community activist in Arizona, called Ducey’s financial incentive a “bribe” that’s forced some schools to sacrifice face masks for money.

Earlier this month, the Chandler Unified School District voted against requiring face masks in the district of about 49,000 students and staff. Board member Joel Wirth stated, “I don’t think it’s worth losing $50-60 million dollars in funding that we can use to sanitize the facility and provide staff,” radio station KJZZ reported.

“My dad came to the [CUSD] board meeting Wednesday night to speak and he was moved to tears. He just couldn’t believe the way kids were being used as pawns,” Baker said.

“This is personal for us,” she said, noting that her nieces, ages 5 and 8, who attended school in nearby Queen Creek, “did catch COVID in their unmasked school, although they were masked, the week after school started.”

School Board member Lindsey Love was one of two board members who voted against keeping the current optional mask measure in place in Chandler.

She said that school board meetings have turned into a “circus” where people from out of the area have taken over. Love said a majority of parents in the district are in favor of masks.

“In our last meeting, it wasn’t a lot of Chandler parents, It was a lot of parents from some of the surrounding cities. We have a group that’s been going around to all the school board meetings to take over and push out the board,” Love told ABC News. “We’ve had board members receiving death threats. I’ve received death threats throughout this and harassment.”

Initially, people rallied at these meetings to open schools, then for and against masks, and now some people are against even quarantining kids who test positive for COVID-19, Love said.

“These meetings have become a bit of a circus. It’s not just masks that they don’t want. They read from this list, ‘We don’t want you to muzzle our kids, or indoctrinate our kids with your critical race theory agenda,'” she said. “It’s just a really odd cobbling of issues.”

Florida

Meanwhile in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis gave parents the final say over whether children can wear masks or not.

But the first week of school led to chaos with thousands of kids isolated or quarantined due to COVID-19 cases and exposure across the state.

At the Hillsborough County Public School District in Florida, over 10,000 students and staff were isolated or quarantined due to COVID one week into the school year.

In a heated school board meeting last week one mother of a student yelled, “Have any children died?” as a result of the virus. Some people in the audience shouted back that children have. One high school student told the anti-maskers, “This tiny piece of cloth is not taking away your freedom. … Grow up.”

The district ended up voting to institute a mask mandate for at least 30 days, but parents would still have the option to opt their kids out with a medical note.

So far at least 10 Florida school districts have implemented requirements for masks in the classroom with no parental opt-out, according to The Associated Press.

But Florida’s State Board of Education threatened financial penalties to some districts if they didn’t get rid of the mandates.

On Friday, a Florida judge ruled DeSantis’ executive order on banning mask mandates in schools as unconstitutional. DeSantis said he’d appeal that decision.

Texas

In the Lone Star state, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a ban on mask mandates in schools, triggering the Paris Independent School District in east Texas to add face coverings as a part of its dress code to get around the ban.

About 70 school districts have instituted mask mandates of some kind according to a list compiled by Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton.

Houston Independent School District, mandated masks on Aug. 11, a move praised by teachers in the city.

“Gov. Abbott is on the wrong side of science, health and safety,” Jackie Anderson, the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers said in a statement at the time.

One exasperated Texas father stripped down to his swim trunks as he advocated in favor of mask mandates during a meeting Monday for the Dripping Springs Independent School District, near Austin, where masks are currently optional for staff and students in the district.

James Akers, a father of three who has a child currently in high school, said during public comments at the meeting that he hated the jacket, shirt and tie he’s required to wear for work, and proceeded to take off all three.

His bold statement, he said, was to demonstrate that “we follow certain rules for a very good reason.”

On Wednesday, a Dallas judge issued a temporary injunction against Abbott’s ban, allowing mask mandates issued by local leaders and school districts to remain in place for the time being.

Louisiana

At the same time, states that have enacted mask mandates for schools, such as Louisiana, have seen fierce opposition.

Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s meeting earlier this month ended in chaos when a raucous crowd of angry parents packed into a hearing room and refused to wear face coverings, shouting “no more masks.”

One person screamed, “Don’t infringe on our rights!”

At the time, Louisiana had the nation’s highest rate of new COVID-19 cases per capita.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, defended the mask mandate for schools, saying on his monthly radio show, “It is the only way that we have a reasonable shot to keep schools open and kids safe.”

“There is no reasoning with some people,” Edwards said on mask opposers. “The vast majority of the people in Louisiana do take this seriously.”

Afghanistan updates: Multiple rockets fired in attack on Kabul airport

August 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.

Officials said the terror group ISIS-K carried out what the Pentagon called a “complex attack” outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 13 American service members and wounding 20, among scores of Afghan casualties.

When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House last week, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he warned of the threat of attacks on the ground.

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:

Aug 30, 7:23 am
Americans are not being turned away at Kabul airport, ambassador says

The evacuation effort in Kabul remains a “high-risk operation,” according to Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. But he denied that Americans are being turned away by U.S. forces or embassy personnel at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

“This is a high-risk operation,” Wilson wrote on Twitter early Monday. “Claims that American citizens have been turned away or denied access to HKIA by Embassy staff or US Forces are false.”

Several Republican lawmakers and other critics have accused the Biden administration of refusing to admit U.S. citizens at the airport in Kabul and leaving them behind.

The U.S. Department of State said Sunday that 250 Americans were still seeking to get out of Afghanistan. They have been given specific instructions on when or how to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport, although that journey is still fraught and dangerous. All airport gates are closed and the security threat there remains high.

Aug 30, 1:16 am
US anti-missile system fired to intercept rockets at Kabul airport

There are no signs of casualties Sunday night after five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, a U.S. official told ABC News.

The official said the U.S. military’s anti-projectile C-RAM fired to intercept the incoming rockets, though it is not yet clear how many it took out, if any.

The airport remains operational and flights are continuing, the official added.

Aug 30, 1:16 am
Multiple rockets fired in attack on Kabul airport

As many as five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Sunday evening, a U.S. official confirms to ABC News.

ABC News is still trying to assess whether there were any casualties inside the airport, whether the airport’s defensive counter rocket, artillery, and mortar system was used, and if there were any U.S. counter strikes against suspected launch positions.

Aug 29, 8:55 pm
Former acting FEMA administrator to lead Afghan refugee resettlement

Bob Fenton, the former acting Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, is set to lead the efforts to resettle Afghans who are coming to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas chose Fenton after President Joe Biden tasked the agency to lead the federal coordinating efforts.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the resettling group will report directly to Mayorkas and will include a plethora of services from immigration processing to COVID-19 testing.

“The Department of Homeland Security is prepared to serve as the lead federal agency coordinating efforts across the federal government to welcome vulnerable Afghans to our Nation in a way that is consistent with our laws and our values,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

The “Unified Coordination Group” will work with Homeland Security’s partners in state and local governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.

Hurricane Ida live updates: Downgraded to tropical storm, system moves farther inland

August 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.

It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record — by both wind speed and pressure — to roar ashore in Louisiana.

The storm is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.