EDM Tuesday Briefing: Tornado Recovery, Flight Cancellations, State of Emergency in Multiple States

Emergency and disaster management Tuesday Briefing for December 29, 2015: Cleanup begins after a series of tornadoes bring destruction near Dallas, storms in the Midwest result in a high number of flight cancellations, and multiple states make state of emergency declarations.

1. Residents and emergency crews near Dallas, TX began cleanup after the [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/us/near-dallas-residents-tally-tornadoes-devastation.html?_r=0″ title=”deadliest tornado system to hit the area in 88 years“] left at least 11 people dead and dozens more injured. The severe weather [link url=”http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/seven-confirmed-dead-in-storms-in-garland-and-copeville-50000-without-power-across-north-texas.html/” title=”damaged as many as 1,000 homes and buildings“] in the region and left 50,000 without power at the height of the storm.

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2. Winter storms in the Midwest led to [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/hundreds-flight-cancellations-throw-off-holiday-travel/story?id=35979402″ title=”hundreds of flight cancellations on Monday“], disrupting holiday travel across the country. As of late last night, the nationwide totals were up to [link url=”http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2015/12/28/monday-weather-snarls-flights-second-day-row/77965696/” title=”2,750 flights cancellations and 4,500 flight delays“].
3. The two main Chicago airports made up the bulk of the large flight cancellation numbers with [link url=”http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/12/28/winter-storm-takes-toll-on-chicago-airports/” title=”more than 1,600 flight cancellations“] combined on Monday. O’Hare International Airport had more than 1,300 flights cancellations and Midway International Airport had more than 300 flight cancellations yesterday.

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4. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin [link url=”http://kfor.com/2015/12/28/oklahoma-governor-extends-state-of-emergency-due-to-winter-storms-heavy-rains/” title=”extended a state of emergency“] for all 77 Oklahoma counties, as almost 200,000 homes were without power after severe storms hit the state this past weekend. This comes after state of emergency declarations in [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/us/alabama-declares-state-of-emergency-as-flooding-from-storms-continues.html” title=”Alabama“], [link url=”http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/dec/28/state-emergency-declared-gordon-county/342271/” title=”Georgia“], [link url=”http://www.kmov.com/story/30836309/gov-nixon-declares-state-of-emergency” title=”Missouri“], [link url=”http://www.koat.com/weather/new-mexico-governor-declares-state-of-emergency-because-of-snow/37148308″ title=”New Mexico“], [link url=”http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/30840925/tennessee-remains-at-level-3-state-of-emergency” title=”Tennessee“] and [link url=”http://valleycentral.com/news/local/abbott-declares-state-of-disaster-in-4-texas-counties-amid-severe-weather” title=”Texas“] in recent days.
5. In Cleveland, [link url=”http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/12/28/grand-jury-no-charges-tamir-rice-killing/77977282/” title=”a grand jury declined to bring charges“] against the police officer who fatally shot Tamir Rice, a black youth who was brandishing a toy gun. Prosecutors for the case said that the toy gun held by Rice was [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/toy-gun-tamir-rice-holding-prosecutors/story?id=35982086″ title=”‘functionally identical’ to a real Colt M1911 gun“].
6. Following the grand jury decision in the Tamir Rice case, [link url=”http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/12/protesters_of_tamir_rice_decis.html” title=”demonstrators marched in protest to the Cleveland First District police headquarters“], and another group also [link url=”http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/12/28/tamir-rice-nyc-protest/” title=”marched in New York“] in protest of the decision.
7. The Chicago Police Department is under fire yet again after [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chicago-shooting-police-families-idUSKBN0UA0M020151227″ title=”the families of two black Chicagoans killed by police demand answers“] to what happened in the fatal incident. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-news-guide-fatal-police-shooting-chicago-35970521″ title=”A civil lawsuit on the double shooting“] was already filed Monday but many details are still unknown at this point — including [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-news-guide-fatal-police-shooting-chicago-35970521″ title=”whether or not any video footage of the incident exists“].
8. Southern California residents started to return home after [link url=”http://www.cbsnews.com/news/southern-california-residents-returning-home-after-wildfire/” title=”firefighters contained a wildfire“] that burned more than 1,200 acres north of Ventura. Officials now worry, however, that [link url=”http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4987424-181/landslides-a-worry-after-ventura” title=”landslides could occur“] if heavy rains hit the charred region.
9. Winter Storm Goliath is forecasted to continue its destructive path into today, moving northeast and shifting gears to move into [link url=”https://www.rt.com/usa/327299-monster-winter-storm-twisters-floods/” title=”upstate New York and New England“]. The massive winter storm system is thought to be [link url=”http://www.weather.com/forecast/national/news/winter-storm-goliath-forecast-snow-blizzard” title=”entering its final chapter“] and should bring a wintry mix into the Northeast that lingers into Tuesday night.