Emergency and disaster management briefing for March 14, 2016: Louisiana, Mississippi and other states in the South battle rising floodwaters, an Amtrak train bound for Chicago derails in Kansas, and the FBI turns up the heat on Apple.
- The South continued to deal with the aftermath of severe flooding that slammed the region late last week and [link url=”https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-flooding-south-impacts” title=”resulted in at least six deaths.“] More than 24 inches of rain fell in the hardest-hit places, and rivers continued to rise long after the rain ended. The list of [link url=”https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-flooding-south-impacts” title=”impacted states“] includes Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/unusually-widespread-flooding-louisiana-mississippi-37611626″ title=”Louisiana and Mississippi“] have suffered the most damage thus far.
- In Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/11/state-of-emergency-in-louisiana-as-atmospheric-river-unloads-disastrous-rains-in-south/” title=”declared a state of emergency for the entire state“] due to the extreme rains and resulting flooding. There have been [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/unusually-widespread-flooding-louisiana-mississippi-37611626″ title=”at least four deaths“] and [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/louisiana-mississippi-thousands-of-homes-damaged-in-floods/2016/03/14/58ab77c0-e9a7-11e5-a9ce-681055c7a05f_story.html” title=”nearly 5,000 homes have been damaged.“] Edwards also utilized [link url=”https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-flooding-south-impacts” title=”the National Guard“] to assist with multiple water rescues.
- There have been no reported deaths Mississippi due to the floods, but [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/unusually-widespread-flooding-louisiana-mississippi-37611626″ title=”two fisherman are still missing.“] At least [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/louisiana-mississippi-thousands-of-homes-damaged-in-floods/2016/03/14/58ab77c0-e9a7-11e5-a9ce-681055c7a05f_story.html” title=”800 homes have been damaged“] in the state, and more than [link url=”https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-flooding-south-impacts” title=”2,100 residents have been rescued“] either by high-water vehicle or boat. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant [link url=”http://www.fox13memphis.com/news/state-of-emergency-declared-in-mississippi-due-to-flooding/155272138″ title=”declared a state of emergency“] late last week.
- An Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WG0J1″ title=”derailed in Kansas“] early this morning. Five cars of the train, which carried 128 passengers and 14 crew, derailed about 20 miles west of Dodge City, KS, [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WG0J1″ title=”injuring 11.“] None of the injuries are life threatening. Amtrak is working with BNSF, the owner of the track, to determine the cause for the derailment.
- Apple is still resisting a court order that compels the company to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. Now, the FBI hinted that it could [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/11/fbi-could-force-apple-to-hand-over-private-key” title=”force Apple to turn over the source code“] to its entire iPhone operating system instead if the tech giant doesn’t ultimately comply with the court order. With the entire source code, the FBI could theoretically [link url=”http://fortune.com/2016/03/11/apple-fbi-source-code-signature/” title=”create its own version of iOS “] that has minimal security features.
- There may be a new [link url=”https://amuedge.com/privacy-vs-security-the-debate-that-cannot-end/” title=”privacy vs. security debate“] brewing alongside the Apple/FBI iPhone case. WhatsApp, the largest mobile messaging service in the world ( owned by Facebook since February 2014), [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/whatsapp-encryption-said-to-stymie-wiretap-order.html” title=”is at odds with the Justice Department over message encryption.“] WhatsApp encryption has reportedly [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/whatsapp-encryption-said-to-stymie-wiretap-order.html” title=”impeded investigations“] and the DOJ may be mulling legal action.
- In the wake of the December cyber attack in Ukraine that hit the power grid and [link url=”http://www.wired.com/2016/03/inside-cunning-unprecedented-hack-ukraines-power-grid/” title=”cut power to more than 230,000 Ukrainians,“] the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that there is [link url=”http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/272270-dhs-no-evidence-of-ukraine-power-grid-hack-in-us” title=”no evidence that the threat has hit the U.S.“] But despite the fact that a similar threat has yet to extend to the U.S., the DHS urged that the Ukraine attack [link url=”http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/272270-dhs-no-evidence-of-ukraine-power-grid-hack-in-us” title=”should be, and must be, a wake-up call“] to anyone not already fully aware of the immediate risks.
- A Maryland police officer [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/one-officer-shot-possible-active-shooter-outside-prince-georges-police-headquarters/2016/03/13/e398064e-e95e-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html” title=”was fatally shot“] in a shootout outside of a district station in Landover, MD yesterday. A suspect reportedly [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/one-officer-shot-possible-active-shooter-outside-prince-georges-police-headquarters/2016/03/13/e398064e-e95e-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html” title=”walked up to the station and opened fire“] unprovoked. Police are uncertain of a motive at this time, but have currently have two men, the shooting suspect and his brother, in custody.
- A nuclear power plant in Homestead, FL is reportedly [link url=”http://www.newsweek.com/biscayne-bay-florida-nuclear-power-plant-leaking-435721″ title=”leaking radioactive material into Biscayne Bay“] and threatening the [link url=”http://www.npr.org/2016/03/10/469897682/as-nuclear-plant-threatens-miami-dade-s-water-mayor-says-this-isn-t-flint” title=”drinking water supply of Miami-Dade County.“] Well fields close to the nuclear plant provide drinking water for more than 2 million people. The leak, coupled with the plant’s proximity to the rising sea, is prompting worst-case scenario comparisons to [link url=”https://amuedge.com/an-historical-look-at-japans-triple-disaster-on-31111/” title=”Fukushima“].
- Emergency officials in South Carolina [link url=”http://www.wsoctv.com/news/south-carolina/emergency-officials-holding-3day-earthquake-drill-in-sc/160566851″ title=”will hold a three-day earthquake drill“] this week to test emergency response to a big quake. Both county and state emergency response officials will take part in the exercise. Recently, FEMA announced that it will be [link url=”https://amuedge.com/fema-to-stage-pacific-northwest-megaquake-in-june/” title=”staging a huge quake“] in the Pacific Northwest in June — an exercise that will involve thousands of emergency personnel from around the U.S.
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