EDM Monday Briefing: Tour Bus Crash, Officers Shot, Cyber Attacks, Drones

Emergency and disaster management briefing for October 24, 2016: A tour bus crash in California leaves 13 dead, a suspect shoots two police officers in Oklahoma, a crippling cyber attack blocks access to popular websites, Tropical Storm Seymour churns off the coast of Mexico, a gas leak in Philadelphia prompts a neighborhood evacuation, the Red Cross trains volunteers to help in shelters in North Carolina, and police fire at a drone that places a law-enforcement helicopter and its passengers in danger.

1. After leaving a casino near the Salton Sea, a [link url=”http://abc7.com/news/crash-involving-tour-bus-and-semi-truck-prompts-closure-of-wb-i-10-in-desert-hot-springs-chp/1569000/” title=”tour bus barreled into the back of a semi-truck”] loaded with food products on I-10 just north of Palm Springs, CA. The bus went nearly fifteen feet into the semi-trailer, killing thirteen, including the bus driver, and injuring thirty-one additional people. Injured passengers were transported to three area hospitals, where [link url=”http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2016/10/23/least-three-dead-after-interstate-10-bus-crash/92641620/” title=”four remained in critical condition”], with one listed in serious condition at the area trauma center, Desert Regional Medical Center, on Sunday evening.

Tour bus crash in California kills 13, closes I-10 https://t.co/BJkEJMAff7

— nala (@CAllstadt) October 24, 2016

2. [link url=”http://www.news9.com/story/33456201/two-law-officers-injured-in-lincoln-county” title=”Two police officers were shot in Lincoln County, Oklahoma”], near the town of Wellston on Sunday evening. The officers were responding to a call that indicated shots had been fired when a man began firing an AK-47 at the officers. The officers returned fire, before the man took a patrol car and fled the scene then carjacked another vehicle. Two bodies, believed to be family members of the victim, were found a short while later, and another shooting around 3:30 a.m. early Monday at a Flying-J off of I-40 resulted in one victim with a gunshot wound to his thigh. The [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/24/authorities-on-desperate-search-for-gunman-after-2-oklahoma-officers-shot-2-others-dead.html” title=”suspect, Michael Dale Vance, Jr., is still at large”] and is believed to be armed and dangerous.
3. On Friday, a [link url=”https://amuedge.com/major-ddos-attack-slams-east-coast/” title=”crippling cyberattack”] on Dyn Inc., a major Manchester, NH internet firm, known as a distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) led to access being temporary blocked to some popular websites including Netflix, Twitter, and PayPal. The [link url=”https://amuedge.com/major-ddos-attack-slams-east-coast/” title=”attacks flooded the servers with junk data requests”], in this case, 1.2 trillion bits of data per second – effectively shutting down the networks. The attacks began around 7:00 a.m. and were contained about two hours later, but a second attack created issues across the nation and in Europe until early Friday evening. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/could-a-ddos-cyber-attack-take-down-a-911-emergency-system/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/fear-of-cyber-attacks-affects-trust-in-american-democracy/”]
4. [link url=”https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/tropical-depression-twenty-e-tropical-storm-hurricane-seymour” title=”Tropical Storm Seymour is churning off the coast of Mexico”] and is forecast to become a hurricane at some point today. Seymour became the 18th named storm in this eastern Pacific hurricane season, but is not currently a threat to land. Current sustained winds are at 65 mph, with a central pressure of 999 millibars and a west-northwest movement at about 15  mph.
5. A gas leak in South Philadelphia near 10th St. and Christian St. [link url=”http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Gas-Leak-South-Philadelphia-Homes-Evacuation–398113411.html” title=”caused the evacuation of nearly 20 homes in the same neighborhood on Sunday afternoon”]. A worker had struck a gas line in the basement of a nearby home, causing the leak and prompting the evacuation. After several hours, crews were able to contain the leak and residents were permitted to re-enter their homes.
6. The American Red Cross in Liberty, OH has been [link url=”http://wytv.com/2016/10/18/local-red-cross-volunteers-training-for-national-disasters/” title=”training people to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew”] and other disasters. Many people have expressed interest in assisting the victims of the most recent disaster in North Carolina and conducted the training session on Saturday, which takes about ten hours total – some classroom and some online. Recently trained volunteers will be deployed to assist with Red Cross shelters in North Carolina that still house about 1,200 people. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/ngos-filling-gaps-in-planning-response-recovery/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/citizen-preparedness-guide/” url 3=”https://amuedge.com/churches-lend-a-helping-hand/”]
7. Pakistan is set to release its new national disaster plan in 2017 and part of its goal is to [link url=”https://www.yahoo.com/news/pakistans-plan-cut-disaster-risk-aims-target-schools-055727899.html” title=”reduce the risk for schools from natural disasters”]. In 2010, mega-floods damaged or destroyed nearly 10,000 educational institutions in just a quarter of the country, while subsequent flooding events have impacted at least an additional 10,000 schools. The new plan seeks to [link url=”http://news.trust.org/item/20161024055251-rlry7/” title=”reduce risk by improving construction standards, ensuring the creation of disaster plans, practicing evacuation drills, and raising awareness”]. Officials note that recent extreme weather and shifting rainfall patterns are likely linked to climate change and risk reduction is key, but funding and support are critical to ensuring the success of the nation’s efforts. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/disaster-risk-reduction-and-resilience-from-an-indigenous-perspective/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/lowering-disaster-risk-with-emerging-technology/”]
8. Two passengers [link url=”http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/passengers-gain-unauthorized-access-american-airlines-plane-article-1.2841892″ title=”gained unauthorized access to an American Airlines plane”] on Sunday morning in Philadelphia that was scheduled to fly to Boston. After discovering that the father and daughter had boarded the plane and dropped off their luggage, the airline swapped the aircraft for another plane citing “an abundance of caution.” Airline officials do not believe there was any malicious intent or that it was a security breach, since the passengers had already cleared airport security.
9. Police fired at a [link url=”http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/23/north-dakota-pipeline-protesters-drone-shot-after-/” title=”drone being controlled by protest activists that flew too close to a law-enforcement helicopter”] being operated near a protest above the Dakota Access pipeline construction area. Officers fired at the drone using less-than-lethal ammunition after it placed passengers in the helicopter in jeopardy. The operation of a drone near manned aircraft is a direct violation of [link url=”https://www.faa.gov/uas/” title=”Federal Aviation Administration rules”].
10. Last month, [link url=”https://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/150781911849/an-important-message-about-yahoo-user-security” title=”Yahoo”] became the latest victim in a string of high-profile cases of stolen account information from large companies, joining the likes of [link url=”http://www.networkworld.com/article/2861023/security0/worst-security-breaches-of-the-year-2014-sony-tops-the-list.html” title=”Sony Pictures Entertainment, Target, Home Depot”], and others. Yahoo CISO Bob Lord, [link url=”https://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/150781911849/an-important-message-about-yahoo-user-security” title=”released a statement”] letting all users know that measures are being taken to reestablish control of their systems, but technology firm Raytheon said that companies [link url=”https://amuedge.com/the-aftermath-of-the-yahoo-data-breach-what-now/” title=”need to be hunting cyber threats”] in order to eliminate them and keep the company safe.