San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Caribbean braces for floods, slides along storm path
Tropical Storm Fiona is expected to strengthen as at approaches Puerto Rico, threatening to dump up to 20 inches of rain as people across the Caribbean braced for potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages.
The storm already has battered eastern islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. Regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte said Saturday that the body was found on the side of a road after floods washed away a home in the capital of Basse-Terre. More than 20 other people were rescued amid heavy wind and rain. Fiona was moving west on a path forecast to pass near or over Puerto Rico by Sunday night. A hurricane warning was issued for the territory.
“We are already starting to feel its effects,” said Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. “We should not underestimate this storm.”
He said the heavy rains anticipated are dangerous because the island’s soil is already saturated. Meanwhile, many Puerto Ricans worried about serious power outages since the reconstruction of the island’s power grid razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 only recently began. The grid remains fragile and power outages occur daily.
Fiona is expected to swipe past the Dominican Republic on Sunday and Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands on Monday and Tuesday with the threat of extreme rain.
In Puerto Rico, authorities opened shelters and closed public beaches, casinos, theaters and museums as they urged people to remain indoors.
Pierluisi said $550 million in emergency funds are available to deal with the storm’s aftermath along with enough food to feed 200,000 people for 20 days.
Strike on airport kills 5 soldiers
An Israeli strike early Saturday on the Damascus International Airport and nearby military posts south of the Syrian capital killed five soldiers, state news agency SANA reported Saturday. SANA, quoting an unnamed military official, said the strikes also caused “material losses.” It added that some of the Israeli missiles were shot down before reaching their targets.
The Israeli army declined comment, saying it does not react to “foreign reports.”
On June 10, Israeli air strikes on Damascus International Airport caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways and rendered the main runway unserviceable. The airport opened two weeks later following renovation work.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
But Israel has acknowledged that it targets bases of Iranallied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Oktoberfest opens after virus hiatus
The beer is flowing at Munich’s famed Oktoberfest for the first time since 2019.
With three knocks of a hammer and the traditional cry of “O’zapft is” — “It’s tapped” — Mayor Dieter Reiter inserted a tap into the first keg at noon Saturday, officially opening the festivities after a two-year break forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
Oktoberfest typically draws about 6 million visitors every year to festival grounds in Bavaria’s capital.
The event did not take place in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with the unpredictable development of COVID-19 infections and restrictions.
“I’m glad that we can finally celebrate together,” Bavarian governor Markus Soeder said at the opening ceremony. “We need joie de vivre and strength.”
Revelers will need significantly deeper pockets than at the last Oktoberfest, with brewers and visitors facing pressure from inflation.
A 1-liter mug of beer costs between 12.60 and 13.80 euros this year, which is an increase of about 15% compared with 2019, according to the festival’s official homepage.
This year’s Oktoberfest, the 187th edition of the event, runs through Oct. 3.
Major storm slams coastal regions
Communities along Alaska’s western coast faced widespread flooding Saturday as a powerful storm — the remnants of Typhoon Merbok — roared across the Bering Sea, with wind gusts tearing the siding off buildings and a storm surge pulling homes from their foundations.
The impact was felt across hundreds of miles of coastline as the storm raked the state from south to north. In Nome, raging waters pushed into six of the city’s streets, including part of Front Street, near where mushers finish the Iditarod sled dog race. In Chevak, about 200 miles south, images showed sheds floating in tumbling waves next to sunken boats.
In Golovin, about 70 miles east of Nome, Dean Peterson said water had jumped the 20-foot berm that protects the community of 170 people, rushing through the lowerlying areas, pulling three homes from their foundations and destroying another.
Forecasters said the storm’s size and strength made it one of the most powerful systems to move through the Bering Sea area in decades, with waves north of the Aleutian Islands peaking at 50 feet high Friday. Many communities experienced wind gusts that were close to hurricane strength.