In hard-hit Kentucky, more thunderstorms renew flooding threat
Thunderstorms on Friday brought a renewed threat of flooding to parts of Kentucky ravaged by high water a week ago.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch through Saturday morning for nearly the entire state.
As residents continued cleaning up from the late July floods that killed at least 37 people, rain started falling on already saturated ground in eastern Kentucky late Friday morning.
Some places could receive up to 3 inches of rain by Friday night, and the storm system wasn’t expected to let up until at least Saturday evening, the weather service said.
“There’s a lot of debris that’s out there that could cause clogging in waterways that could lead to flooding,” Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference.
Due to unsafe travel conditions, Beshear canceled visits to two flood-ravaged counties Friday.
The White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to eastern Kentucky on Monday to survey the damage from the devastating floods and meet with those affected.
Last week’s storm in eastern Kentucky sent floodwaters as high as rooftops. In the days afterward, more than 1,300 people were rescued as teams searched in boats and combed debris-clogged creekbanks. Beshear said Friday that two people in Breathitt County remained missing.
Many residents are still waiting for their utilities to be restored. About 2,000 Kentucky customers remained without electricity on Friday. Some entire water systems were severed or heavily damaged, prompting a significant response from the National Guard and others to distribute bottled water.
Beshear said authorities were checking on people in homes that were still habitable but who might be stranded in areas where private bridges were washed out.
Emergency shelters and area state parks housed nearly 530 people who fled homes that were destroyed or badly damaged. Many more residents were staying with relatives and friends.
Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to counties flooded after 8 to 10½ inches of rain fell in just 48 hours last week in the Appalachian mountain region.
Spacey ruling: A judge on Thursday ruled that Kevin Spacey and his production companies must pay the makers of “House of Cards” nearly $31 million because of losses brought on by his 2017 firing for the sexual harassment of crew members.
The ruling from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana gives the force of law to the $30.9 million award in favor of the companies that produced the Netflix series by a private arbitrator who heard the case against Spacey.
The 63-year-old Oscar winner’s career came to an abrupt halt late in 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained momentum and allegations against him emerged from several places.
Spacey was fired or removed from projects, most notably “House of Cards,” a political thriller where for five seasons he played a power-hungry congressman who becomes president.
Fatal lightning strike: A husband and wife from Wisconsin celebrating
more than five decades of marriage were killed in a lightning strike outside the White House. A third victim was pronounced dead Friday evening, and one other is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, of Janesville, Wisconsin, died of their injuries after the lightning strike Thursday in Lafayette Park, located directly outside the White House complex, the Metropolitan Police Department said Friday.
A third victim, a 29-yearold male, was pronounced dead Friday. The fourth person, a woman, was in critical condition, police said. Their identities were not immediately released.
DC migrants: The Pentagon rejected a request from the District of Columbia seeking National Guard assistance in what the mayor has called a “growing humanitarian crisis” prompted by thousands of migrants being
bused to the city from two southern states.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined to provide Guard personnel and the use of the D.C. Armory to assist with reception of migrants into the city, according to U.S. defense officials.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet made public, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s food and shelter program has provided funding for the problem, and has indicated funds are sufficient at this point.
Last spring, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, announced plans to send busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C., in response to President Joe Biden’s decision to lift a pandemic-era emergency health order that restricted migrant entry numbers by denying them a chance to seek asylum. The rule remains in effect under court order.
UK monkeypox: British health authorities said Friday the monkeypox outbreak across the country may be peaking and that the epidemic’s growth rate has slowed.
The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said in a statement there were “early signs that the outbreak is plateauing,” with 2,859 cases detected since May. No deaths have been reported. Last month, authorities estimated the outbreak was doubling in size about every two weeks, but the number of new infections has dropped in recent weeks.
British officials noted a small number of infections among women, but said there was not enough evidence to suggest there was sustained spread of monkeypox beyond gay and bisexual men; 99% of all cases in the U.K. are in men.
Thailand pub fire: Fourteen people were killed and dozens badly injured when a fire broke out early Friday
at a crowded music pub in eastern Thailand, police and rescue workers said. At least a dozen survivors were in critical condition.
Videos on social media showed black smoke and then flames pouring from the front entrance as people attempted to flee, some with their clothing on fire.
The Mountain B pub in Sattahip district of Chonburi province, about 100 miles southeast of Bangkok, was lined with flammable soundproofing, and it took two hours for firefighters to put out the blaze, a private emergency rescue service worker told Thailand’s PPTV television news. His group said 40 people had been injured.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha urged business operators and officials to ensure that safety measures are in place for entertainment venues nationwide, especially in areas with large numbers of tourists arriving after measures to control the coronavirus were eased.