AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

EDM Friday Briefing: Tennessee Wildfire, Atlanta Twister, Officers Shot in Arizona

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for December 2, 2016

    1. The death toll from the devastating [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/30/its-devastating-death-toll-rises-in-tennessee-wildfires/” title=”wildfires that swept through eastern Tennessee”] stands at 11, but officials expect it to rise. Emergency and disaster personnel have widened their search efforts, but authorities noted that some buildings in and around Sevier County were destroyed to the point that finding and identifying victims would require a forensic approach. Meanwhile, officials are set to provide the public with a computerized map which will be updated as the searches progresses. The map will [link url=”http://www.wbir.com/news/local/gatlinburg-officials-a-fire-for-the-history-books/357912872″ title=”show which structures were damaged or destroyed.”] In some areas, the aluminum rims of cars and other vehicles melted.

    1. The metropolitan Atlanta area is cleaning up from a [link url=”http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/tornado-outbreak-leaves-damage-across-metro-atlanta/471817337″ title=”confirmed tornado that touched down”] Wednesday. According to local reports, the twister was almost a mile long and 100 yards wide with top wind speeds of 100 mph. The National Weather Service reported that the tornado materialized in Mableton, Ga., and then proceeded northward. More than [link url=”http://www.ajc.com/weather/update-wednesday-tornado-confirmed-atlanta/mMGZaxapfU5ip1VQxmG2LN/” title=”50 counties, including Clayton, Cobb, and DeKalb”] were placed under a tornado watch. The Atlanta-area tornado came on the heels of at least 13 other twisters that damaged structures and uprooted trees in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.
    2. An aggravated assault suspect in Tucson, Ariz., [link url=”http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-tucson-police-officers-shot-1-hospitalized/” title=”opened fire on the two police officers”] sent to arrest him. Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus stated Thursday that both officers were shot and injured. One of the officers was is in critical but stable condition, while the other was in good condition. “This highlights the fact that we are dealing with very dangerous individuals who are willing to use firearms on police officers,” said Magnus. The suspect in the case died at the scene. The two men became the second and third [link url=”http://tucson.com/news/local/crime/gunman-dead-two-tucson-police-officers-wounded-in-south-side/article_2ab70f2e-b7d7-11e6-aee0-5fbad6c01452.html” title=”Tucson police officers shot in the line of duty”] in the past six weeks. On Oct. 24, Officer Robert Miranda was shot by a suspect on the south side of the city, but he sustained only minor injuries.

    1. The [link url=”http://www.businessinsider.com/airplane-crash-brazil-soccer-team-out-of-fuel-2016-11″ title=”pilot of the doomed charter plane which crashed into the Andes Mountains”] in Colombia earlier this week reportedly told ground controllers that his airplane had run out of fuel. In the audiotape from the air traffic tower, the pilot is heard repeatedly requesting permission to land due to a “total electric failure” and a “lack of fuel.” The crash killed nearly the entire squad of Chapecoense, a soccer team that plays in the Brazilian league. Meanwhile, [link url=”http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/plane-carrying-doomed-brazilian-soccer-team-ran-out-fuel-crash-n690281″ title=”investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)”] were dispatched from the U.S. to Colombia to help in the investigation. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/winter-operations-part-ii-equipment-adjustments/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/importance-versatility-emergency-management/”]
    2. A woman aboard a United Airlines flight from New Orleans to Houston inexplicably [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2016/11/29/woman-jumps-from-taxiing-airplane-at-houston-airport.html” title=”jumped from the plane as it was taxiing”] into a restricted area earlier this week. Immediately after the flight landed, the woman opened an emergency door on Flight 1982 and leaped out. Passengers sat on the tarmac for over an hour while law enforcement personnel tracked down the fleeing woman. The [link url=”http://www.fox26houston.com/news/220272698-story” title=”FBI was called in but turned the case back to local police”] after deeming there was no federal jurisdiction. The yet-unnamed woman who jumped was caught and is undergoing a psychological evaluation.
    3. Tropical Cyclone Nada has [link url=”http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/tropical-cyclone-to-threaten-southern-india-with-flooding-rain-into-this-weekend/70000124″ title=”developed to the east of Sri Lanka and will impact southern India”] this weekend. Torrential rainfall will increase the risk of flooding inland. “Nada will rapidly weaken further after making landfall, becoming a tropical rainstorm as it crosses southern India into Friday evening,” stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Douty. Farmers are cautiously hoping that [link url=”http://scroll.in/article/823039/cyclone-nada-brings-rainfall-to-tamil-nadu-reviving-hopes-for-good-crop-and-memories-of-flood” title=”Nada will save their crop harvest”] which has suffered from an unusually disappointing monsoon season. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/megadrought-now-99-certain/” url2=”edmdigest.com/preparedness/be-an-expert-in-your-arena-and-understand-others/”]
    4. The [link url=”https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/01/poland-earthquake-killed-eight-underground-miners-says-owner” title=”death toll has risen to eight”] following a minor earthquake that caused rocks to fall in a deep underground copper mine in southwest Poland. The quake hit the Rudna copper mine just after 9 p.m. on Tuesday. A frantic search uncovered five deceased miners Tuesday night and a further three Wednesday. The [link url=”http://www.euronews.com/2016/11/30/at-least-three-dead-in-earthquake-at-polish-copper-mine” title=”epicenter of the 3.4 magnitude tremor”] was almost one mile below the surface.
    5. A [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/28/health/thunderstorm-asthma-australia/” title=”rare illness known as ‘thunderstorm asthma'”] has killed at least eight people in Australia, while as many as 8,500 people are hospitalized. Patients suffer from breathing issues as the result of a rare combination of weather, fungal spores and pollen. Researchers and scientists believe that [link url=”https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/27/thunderstorm-asthma-oure-talking-an-event-equivalent-to-a-terrorist-attack” title=”global climate change may be causing”] thunderstorm asthma.

Glynn Cosker is a Managing Editor at AMU Edge. In addition to his background in journalism, corporate writing, web and content development, Glynn served as Vice Consul in the Consular Section of the British Embassy located in Washington, D.C. Glynn is located in New England.

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