EDM Thursday Briefing: Flint Water Crisis, U.S. Investigates Ukraine Cyber Attack, Terrorism in Philadelphia

Emergency and disaster management Thursday Briefing for January 14, 2016: The Michigan National Guard joined FEMA and others already providing aid in Flint, MI for the city’s ongoing water crisis, Flint reports a spike in reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the region, and the U.S. lends a hand in Ukraine’s investigation of a December cyber attack.

1. The [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/michigan-national-guard-fema-flint-amid-water-crisis-36259438″ title=”Michigan National Guard“] arrived in Flint, MI yesterday to help distribute bottled water, filters and other supplies to residents as the city attempts to recover from a [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/15/michigan-mayor-declares-manmade-disaster-lead-tainted-water-supply” title=”man-made disaster“] that resulted in dangerously high levels of lead in the city’s drinking water. [link url=”http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/01/governor_asks_for_fema_to_help.html” title=”FEMA“] and [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/Health/michigan-police-delivering-water-door-door-amid-contamination/story?id=36244428″ title=”Michigan State Police“], among others, have already provided aid in the ongoing crisis.

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2. A sharp rise in [link url=”http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2016/01/legionaires_disease_spike_disc.html” title=”cases of Legionnaires’ disease has been discovered in the Flint area“]. The state Health and Human Services Department reported 87 confirmed cases and 10 deaths between June 2014 and November 2015. Legionnaires’ disease is a [link url=”http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/legionnaires-disease/basics/definition/con-20028867″ title=”severe form of pneumonia caused by bacteria“]. Officials say that, at this point, there’s [link url=”http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2016/01/legionaires_disease_spike_disc.html” title=”no clear evidence of a link between the bacterial outbreak and the current water contamination crisis“].

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3. The U.S. government [link url=”http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-helping-ukraine-investigate-power-grid-attack/3142792.html” title=”said it is helping Ukraine investigate the cyber attack“] that occurred in December and resulted in a blackout for an estimated 80,000 customers. Security researchers widely believe that the outage was caused by a cyber attack and [link url=”http://qz.com/587520/russian-hackers-are-suspected-in-a-cyber-attack-that-caused-a-huge-blackout-in-ukraine/” title=”Russian hackers are suspected“] as having a prominent role. Some are questioning whether this attack on Ukraine’s power grid is a [link url=”http://theconversation.com/the-cyberattack-on-ukraines-power-grid-is-a-warning-of-whats-to-come-52832″ title=”sign of things to come“].

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4. Alabama announced that it will [link url=”http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/alabama_will_seek_federal_disa.html” title=”ask for federal disaster help“] to aid recovery from [link url=”http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/12/alabama_flood_waters_still_ris.html” title=”historic floods“] that hit the state during the week of Christmas and extended into the new year. The state is asking for funds to help from [link url=”http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/alabama_will_seek_federal_disa.html” title=”cover millions of dollars in damage to roads, bridges and other public facilities“].

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5. The FBI is now calling the shooting ambush of a Philadelphia police officer that took place last week [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fbi-treating-shooting-ambush-of-officer-as-terrorist-attack/2016/01/13/5af5df4e-ba58-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html” title=”a terrorist attack“]. Alleged shooter Edward Archer reported told police that he was “acting in the name of Islam” and investigations continue into whether Archer has terror connections. Authorities are still looking into a tip that placed Archer as [link url=”http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/01/10/phila-police-fbi-investigate-claims-regarding-suspect-after-the-ambush-shooting-of-officer/” title=”one member of a group of four“] that could potentially try to do harm to other officers.
6. The city of Chicago reversed course yesterday and agreed to [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/13/us/chicago-police-shooting-cedrick-chatman-video/” title=”release yet another police shooting video“] to the public. The Chicago Police Department agreed to release a video that contains footage of the fatal police shooting of unarmed teen Cedrick Chatman in January 2013. This will be the third release of a fatal police shooting involving Chicago Police in the past few months, following the release of the [link url=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ronald-johnson-shooting-video_5665bc58e4b08e945ff01fd8″ title=”Ronald Johnson video“] in December 2015 and the [link url=”https://amuedge.com/ripple-effects-of-the-release-of-the-laquan-mcdonald-shooting-video/” title=”Laquan McDonald video“] in November 2015.

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7. [link url=”http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2015-wildfire-season-sets-ominous-record-19879″ title=”California had two of the ten largest wildfires“] in the U.S. in 2015, a year in which [link url=”http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2015-wildfire-season-sets-ominous-record-19879″ title=”U.S. wildfires scorched a record-setting 10.12 million acres“]. Now, [link url=”http://m.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/california-landslides-el-nino-willdfire-burn-scars-debris-flow/54769650″ title=”wildfire-charred California communities face serious landslide threats“] as El Niño-fueled storms continue to pummel various regions of the state.
8. While California authorities are concerned about landslides associated with heavy rains from El Niño-fueled storms, they are also [link url=”http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/How-much-El-Ni-o-rain-needed-to-end-drought-6754540.php” title=”welcoming the rain as a potential end to the state’s ongoing drought“]. Storms have already dropped a lot of rain in some areas — as much as [link url=”http://nanonews.org/hola-el-nino-weeks-of-storms-hit-drought-parched-california/” title=”1.4 inches in Los Angeles on Tuesday alone“] — and officials are focused on [link url=”http://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-699831-county-rain.html” title=”catching as much rain water as possible“] before the water [link url=”http://www.marketplace.org/2016/01/08/world/down-drain” title=”runs out to sea“].