Month: September 2022

As of early Friday, Hurricane Ian has continued to grow in strength, with forecasters expecting it to make landfall along the Carolina coast later in the day. Ian strengthened back to a Category 1 hurricane overnight as it moved west over the Atlantic toward the U.S. eastern coast, after making landfall in Florida as a major Category 4 storm on Wednesday with 150 mph winds. Hurricane Ian has left a wake of death and destruction throughout Florida, and forecasters now warn the storm will bring “life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions” to the Carolina coast.

In its 5 a.m. EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said that the center of the storm was located 145 miles south-southeast of Charleston, S.C., and 225 miles south-southwest of Cape Fear, N.C., traveling north-northeast at 9 mph. Forecasters expect that it will reach the coast of South Carolina on Friday before moving farther inland across the Carolinas into Saturday. The storm grew in strength overnight, and had sustained winds of 85 mph hour as of 5 a.m. Forecasters predict there will be little change before it makes landfall, after which it will undergo rapid weakening.

A turn toward the north is expected Friday morning followed by a turn to the north-northwest with an increase in speed Friday night. The National Hurricane Center said: “On the forecast track, Ian will approach the coast of South Carolina on Friday. Ian is forecast to become an extratropical low over North Carolina tonight or on Saturday. The low is then expected to dissipate by Saturday night.” 

The NHC said in its update:“The combination of storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline  Water could reach up to 7 feet in some of the areas under a storm surge watch.” A hurricane warning has been issued for the North Carolina coast; and a storm surge watch is also in effect for north of Cape Fear to Duck, N.C., and for the Pamlico River and the Cape Fear River while a hurricane watch was issued from east of Cape Fear to Surf City, N.C.   A hurricane watch also remains in place for east of Cape Fear to Surf City; and a tropical storm warning remains in place from the Flager/Volusia County Line to Savannah, Ga.; Cape fear to Duck, N.C.; and Pamlico Sound.

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In new court filings. former President Donald Trump argued that he should not have to declare in court whether or not the Justice Department’s updated inventory of the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago is accurate.  In response to Trump’s suggestion that the FBI planted evidence during its search on Aug. 8, Special Master Raymond Dearie said that Trump had to submit a declaration of the accuracy of the Justice Department’s inquiry.  However, Trump argued that Dearie had only asked for a declaration from a government official and not from Trump’s side. Trump also said that he had no access to the documents at issue. The court filings said: “Additionally, the Plaintiff currently has no means of accessing the documents bearing classification markings, which would be necessary to complete any such certification by September 30, the currently proposed date of completion.”

The Justice Department submitted a slightly revised inventory of the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago on Monday, along with a declaration supporting the accuracy of the new list.  The new list adds 55 items to the more than 11,000 documents and photographs that were seized.  The new list also removed two empty folders with “CLASSIFIED” banners in the box. There are now 46 empty folders with classified markings.

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Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning after leaving a path of destruction across Florida with life-threatening storm surges, trapping people in flooded homes and knocking out power to 2 million people.

Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa around 3 p.m. Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds; the storm is believed to be one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded making landfall in Florida. The massive storm also brought torrential rainfall, and a catastrophic storm surge that left entire coastal communities under feet of water. Ian was the first Category 4 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Rita in 2005.

Officials warned, however, that the powerful storm was not over. Early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center reported that Ian had maximum sustained winds of near 65 mph with higher gusts as it moved slowly through central Florida on its way to the western Atlantic.  By 5 a.m., Ian was around 55 miles southwest of Cape Canaveral and moving northeast at 9 mph, the hurricane center said. Florida’s Atlantic coast, from northeast of Orlando into Georgia, could see a 6-foot storm surge. The storm is moving toward the northeast near 8 m.p.h., with a turn toward the north-northeast – and a move off the coast of Florida – expected later today. It’s expected to pick up speed during the day on Friday and into the evening as it approaches the coast of South Carolina.

Life-threatening storm surges and hurricane conditions were possible on Thursday and Friday along the coasts of northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, where Ian was expected to move inland. The governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia all preemptively declared states of emergency.

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The Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Agency announced that between May 23 and Sept. 8, federal agents seized about 10.2 million fentanyl-laced pills and 82 pounds of fentanyl power in more than 100 investigations over the past five months, across all 50 states. The DOJ said those responsible for trafficking it into the U.S. are the Mexican cartels, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). 35 cases were linked directly to one or both of the primary Mexican cartels responsible for the majority of fentanyl in the United States.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a news release:  “Across the country, fentanyl is devastating families and communities, and we know that violent, criminal drug cartels bear responsibility for this crisis  The Justice Department, including the extraordinary professionals of the DEA, is working to disrupt and dismantle the operations of these cartels, remove deadly fentanyl from our communities, and save American lives.”

The operation resulted in 390 cases, including 51 cases linked to overdose poisonings. Garland said: “The amount of fentanyl taken off the streets during this surge is equivalent to more than 36 million lethal doses removed from the illegal drug supply.” Garland also said 338 weapons, including rifles, shotguns, pistols, and hand grenades, were also seized.

The DOJ said fentanyl is a deadly threat to Americans because it is 50 times more potent than heroin, adding that 107,622 deaths were due to drug poisoning or overdose with 66% of those deaths attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.  Drug traffickers have starting selling fentanyl in a variety of bright colors, shapes and sizes. “Rainbow” fentanyl was first reported to DEA in February 2022 and it has now been seized in 21 states.

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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday due to Hurricane Ian, which is forecast to hit Florida as a potential Category 4 storm. The hearing was supposed to be the committee’s ninth and final hearing, and reveal some of the information the committee said they learned this summer.

The committee said in a statement: “In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings. We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path  The Select Committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings.”

Committee Chair Bennie Thompson said earlier this month that the committee plans to put together an interim report in mid-October, and will finalize the report before the end of the year, which would take them past the November midterm elections. The committee’s two Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, are both leaving Congress in January.

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Hurricane Ian was predicted to strengthen to a Category 4 storm as it targets Florida.  According to the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane made landfall in Cuba about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday just southwest of La Coloma in the western province of Pinar del Río with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.

Forecasters expect the storm to continue to intensify as it makes it way north toward the west coast of Florida. Tampa and St. Petersburg had appeared to be among the most likely targets for their first direct hit by a major hurricane in a century, but path projection now show Ian expected to hit further south along the coast. Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders are in place in eight Florida counties: Charlotte, Hillsborough, Levy, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota.  Ian is expected to bring 6 to 12 inches of rain to central-west Florida, 4 to 8 inches to the rest of the peninsula and 4 to 6 inches to the Keys through Thursday.  Winds of at least 130 mph are probable.

With hurricane-force winds extending 40 miles out from its center Tuesday evening, it is anticipated that more areas of Florida will be exposed to dangerous storm impacts once the storm moves onshore in about 24 hours. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Tuesday evening news conference: “You’re going to see impacts all the way to the east coast of Florida. This thing is the real deal. It is a major, major storm.  This is going to be a lot of impacts that will be felt far and wide throughout the state of Florida. As the storm moves in, you’re going to potentially have (evacuation) directives issued from folks in the interior of our state or even the east coast of the state for low-lying areas that absolutely could end up flooding …Heed those instructions.”

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