AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

EDM Monday Briefing: West Palm Beach Tornadoes, Northeast Power Outages from Nor’Easter

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for October 30, 2017: Strong winds and heavy rains slam the Northeast, a horse-drawn buggy accident leaves 3 children dead, a father and son die in a double opioid overdose, a boy jumping from an interstate bridge kills a woman in her SUV, Tennessee White Lives Matter protests fall flat in face of strong community and counter-protestors, a police chase ends with an officer shot and the suspect killed, two EF0 tornadoes touched down in West Palm Beach on Saturday, and police in New York seize more than 1 million street doses of fentanyl in a joint drug bust.

  • Tropical storm Philippe dissipated on Sunday, but not before merging with a low pressure system moving east from the Great Lakes region and [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/29/us/new-york-northeast-storm/index.html” title=”impacting the Northeast with heavy rain and strong winds”]. The system struck the region on the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, downing power lines and leaving more than [link url=”http://www.courant.com/weather/hc-br-weather-20171028-story.html” title=”a million customers without power in its wake”]. The storm has also prompted [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/29/us/new-york-northeast-storm/index.html” title=”flash flood warnings across the Northeast region”] due to the heavy rainfall amounts.  [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/fema-updates-the-national-incident-management-system/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/disaster-logistics-curricula/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/irma-florida-keys-miami/”]
  • A pick-up truck slammed into a horse-drawn buggy carrying nine people in central Michigan on Sunday, [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/10/29/michigan-buggy-crash-3-children-killed-6-hurt-after-truck-slams-into-carriage.html” title=”killing three children and injuring six others”], who were listed in critical condition at area hospitals. The driver of the pick up truck was not hurt and the horse survived the morning accident. Police are investigating the incident and have indicated [link url=”http://woodtv.com/2017/10/29/msp-3-children-killed-6-injured-in-pickup-vs-buggy-crash/” title=”drugs and alcohol did not play a part”] and the driver has been cooperative.

  • A 44-year old father and his 22-year old son, out celebrating a family birthday, [link url=”http://nypost.com/2017/10/29/father-son-die-of-overdoses-after-leaving-meal-with-wives/” title=”died together in a suspected double opioid overdose on Sunday”]. The two excused themselves and allegedly went outside to smoke but instead snorted what authorities believe was a mix of  heroin and fentanyl. [link url=”http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/father-son-drug-overdose-family-birthday-party-joseph-andrade-carlos-brooklyn-new-york-a8026856.html” title=”First responders administered the drug Narcan”], but both victims were pronounced dead at Lutheran Medical. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/trump-calls-for-liberation-from-scourge-of-drug-addiction/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/resource-management-opioid-epidemic/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/cycle-drug-use-epidemics/”]
  • A woman driving her SUV was [link url=”https://www.cbsnews.com/news/interstate-66-boy-jumps-overpass-woman-killed-apparent-suicide-attempt/” title=”killed when a 12-year old boy jumped from a bridge”] on Interstate 66 in Virginia in what authorities believe was an attempted suicide. The boy landed on the SUV and incapacitated the vehicle’s driver, Marisa W. Harris, 22, who died at the scene. The boy was taken to a local hospital where [link url=”http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Police-Suicide-Attempt-by-Boy-Jumping-From-Overpass-Kills-Driver-Below-453994753.html” title=”he was receiving treatment for life-threatening injuries”].

  • [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/28/us/tennessee-white-nationalist-rally-shelbyville-murfreesboro/index.html” title=”Police in two rural cities in Tennessee geared up for White Lives Matter protests”] on Saturday as dozens of counter-protestors gathered to oppose the rallies. The first protest began in Shelbyville, and was met with a large police presence and dozens of counter-protestors carrying signs that said “Shelbyville says Boo to Hate.” The intent of the White Lives Matter protest group was to have a second rally later that day in Murfreesboro, but [link url=”http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/10/28/murfreesboro-white-lives-matter-rally-canceled-abruptly-shelbyville-rally-ends-peacefully/810321001/” title=”allegedly due to an overwhelming community response and counter-protestors”], it was cancelled by the group. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/new-poll-reveals-police-fear-for-their-safety/” url2=”http://edmdigest.com/response/riot-response-considerations-for-protection-and-tactics/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/chicago-police-feds-team-up-on-new-effort-to-curb-violence/”]
  • An officer has been shot and a suspect is dead following [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/driver-dead-officer-shot-after-police-chase-on-interstate/2017/10/30/4efac396-bd51-11e7-9294-705f80164f6e_story.html?utm_term=.71ea7dd66bd7″ title=”a standoff on Interstate 55 near Senatobia in Mississippi”]. The incident occurred after police say the suspect allegedly refused to stop for Hernando police on Sunday, which led to a police chase. The suspect crashed his vehicle, which led to the standoff and [link url=”http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/driver-dead-officer-shot-after-police-chase-on-interstate” title=”the exchange of gunfire that killed the suspect and injured the officer”].

  • The National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed that [link url=”http://cbs12.com/weather/weather-app/2-confirmed-tornadoes-touch-down-in-palm-beach-county” title=”two EF0 tornadoes touched down in Palm Beach County”] on Saturday as a result of Tropical Storm Philippe. Preliminary damage assessments indicate that [link url=”http://cbs12.com/news/local/it-was-just-debris-all-over-the-place-man-encounters-tornado-while-driving-on-i-95″ title=”one tornado touched down near I-95 and Forest Hill Boulevard”] in West Palm Beach, and the other farther south in Boynton Beach, [link url=”http://cbs12.com/news/local/severe-storms-damage-multiple-homes-in-boynton-beach” title=”near the Parry Trailer Village”]. According to the NWS, the maximum sustained winds from the tornadoes was estimated to be between 75-80 mph. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/congress-approves-another-round-of-hurricane-wildfire-funding/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/businesses-role-disaster-assistance/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/education/changing-prepare-communities-disasters/”]
  • Authorities in [link url=”https://www.cbsnews.com/news/authorities-seize-enough-fentanyl-for-1-million-overdoses/” title=”New York seized 750 grams of fentanyl from a home in Mastic Beach on Saturday”], enough for one million doses on the street. The amount of fentanyl seized was shipped in from China and was enough to cause hundreds of thousands of overdoses of the deadly drug. [link url=”http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/10/28/authorities-seize-over-one-million-doses-of-fentanyl-from-long-island-home/” title=”Three men were arrested in connection with the drug seizure”], and police also seized $7,400 in cash, numerous rounds of ammunition, two cellphones and a 2007 Mercedes-Benz.

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

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