A wildfire on Maui kills at least 6 as it sweeps through historic town, forcing some into the ocean

Wed, August 9, 2023



KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — A wildfire tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island of Maui in total darkness Wednesday, reducing much of a historic town to ash and forcing people to jump into the ocean to flee the flames. At least six people died and dozens were wounded.

Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke said the flames “wiped out communities," and urged travelers to stay away.

“This is not a safe place to be,” she said.

The wind-driven conflagration swept into coastal Lahaina with alarming speed and ferocity, blazing through intersections and leaping across wooden buildings in the town center that dates to the 1700s and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aerial video revealed entire blocks of homes and businesses flattened, including on Front Street, a popular shopping and dining area. Other images portray a scene of near-complete devastation. Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront and gray smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of scorched trees.

“It was apocalyptic from what they explained,” Tiare Lawrence said of 14 cousins and uncles who fled as the inferno descended on the family’s hometown. “The heat. Smoke and flames everywhere. They had to get my elderly uncle out of the home.”

The relatives took refuge in Lawrence's house in Pukalani, east of Lahaina. She was also frantically trying to reach her siblings Wednesday morning, but there was no phone service.

Lahaina resident Keʻeaumoku Kapu was tying down loose objects in the wind at the cultural center he runs in Lahaina when his wife showed up Tuesday afternoon and told him they needed to evacuate. “Right at that time, things got crazy, the wind started picking up,” said Kapu, who added that they got out “in the nick of time.”

Two blocks away they saw fire and billowing smoke. Kapu, his wife and a friend jumped into his pickup truck. “By the time we turned around, our building was on fire," he said. "It was that quick.”

Crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes concentrated in two areas: the tourist destination on the western coast and an inland, mountainous region. In West Maui, 911 service was out and residents were directed to call the police department directly.

“Do NOT go to Lahaina Town,” the county tweeted hours before all roads in and out of the community of 12,000 residents were closed to everyone except emergency personnel.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers), was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph (97 kph) that knocked out power, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters. Aircraft resumed flights Wednesday as the winds diminished somewhat.

The Coast Guard on Tuesday rescued 14 people, including two children, who had fled into the ocean to escape the fire and smoky conditions, the county said in a statement.

Fires killed six people on Maui, but search and rescue operations continued and the number could rise, County of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said at a Wednesday morning news conference. He said he had just learned the news and didn't know the details of how or where the deaths happened.

Six patients were flown from Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night, said Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air-ambulance company. Three of them had critical burns and were taken to Straub Medical Center’s burn unit, he said. The others were taken to other Honolulu hospitals. At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, he said.

Authorities said earlier Wednesday that a firefighter in Maui was hospitalized in stable condition after inhaling smoke.

Luke issued an emergency proclamation on behalf of Gov. Josh Green, who is traveling, and activated the Hawaii National Guard to assist.

“Certain parts of Maui, we have shelters that are overrun," Luke said. "We have resources that are being taxed.”

There’s no count available for the number of structures that have burned or the number of people who have evacuated, but officials said there were four shelters open and that more than 1,000 people were at the largest.

Kahului Airport, the main airport in Maui, was sheltering 2,000 travelers whose flights were canceled or who recently arrived on the island, the county said.

Officials were preparing the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to take in up to 4,000 of displaced tourists and locals.

“Local people have lost everything,” said James Tokioka, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “They’ve lost their house, they’ve lost their animals.”

Kapu, the owner of the Na Aikane o Maui cultural center in Lahaina, said he and his wife didn't have time to pack up anything before being forced to flee. “We had years and years of research material, artifacts,” he said.

Alan Dickar said he's not sure what remains of his Vintage European Posters gallery, which was a fixture on Front Street in Lahaina for 23 years. Before evacuating with three friends and two cats, Dickar recorded video of flames engulfing the main strip of shops and restaurants frequented by tourists.

“Every significant thing I owned burned down today,” he said. “I’ll be OK. I got out safely.”

Dickar, who assumed the three houses he owns are also destroyed, said it will take a heroic effort to rebuild what has burned.

“Everyone who comes to Maui, the one place that everybody goes is Front Street,” he said. “The central two blocks is the economic heart of this island, and I don’t know what’s left.”

The fires weren't only burning on Maui.

There have been no reports of injuries or homes lost to three wildfires burning on Hawaii’s Big Island, Mayor Mitch Roth said Wednesday. Firefighters did extinguish a few roof fires. One blaze is “pretty much under control,” he said. Another was 60% contained, and the other near Mauna Kea Resorts continued to have flareups, he said.

There are 30 power poles down around Lahaina, leaving homes, hotels and shelters without electricity, Bissen said. About 14,500 customers in Maui were without power early Wednesday, according to poweroutage.us.

“It’s definitely one of the more challenging days for our island given that it’s multiple fires, multiple evacuations in the different district areas,” County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said.

In the Kula area of Maui, at least two homes were destroyed in a fire that engulfed about 1.7 square miles (4.5 square kilometers), Bissen said. About 80 people were evacuated from 40 homes, he said.

Fires in Hawaii are unlike many of those burning in the U.S. West. They tend to break out in large grasslands on the dry sides of the islands and are generally much smaller than mainland fires.

Fires were rare in Hawaii and on other tropical islands before humans arrived, and native ecosystems evolved without them. This means great environmental damage can occur when fires erupt. For example, fires remove vegetation. When a fire is followed by heavy rainfall, the rain can carry loose soil into the ocean, where it can smother coral reefs.

A major fire on the Big Island in 2021 burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

Lahaina is often thought of just a Maui tourist town, Lawrence said, but “we have a very strong Hawaiian community.”

“I’m just heartbroken. Everywhere, our memories,” she said. “Everyone’s homes. Everyone’s lives have tragically changed in the last 12 hours.”

___

This story was edited to correct that Bissen is the mayor of the County of Maui, not Lahaina.

___

Sinco Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this report.

Audrey Mcavoy And Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, The Associated Press

911 service, cell service, and some landlines are down in parts of Maui as 'unprecedented' wildfires rage, lieutenant governor says

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Aug 9, 2023,

A wildfire raging in Maui on Tuesday. Dominika Durisova/Reuters

Wildfires, fueled by winds from Hurricane Dora, have been raging across Hawaii this week.
911 service, cell phone service, and some landlines are down in parts of Maui.

The lieutenant governor called the situation in Hawaii right now "unprecedented

Cell phone service, 911 service, and some landlines are down in parts of Maui as "unprecedented" fires rage across the island, the lieutenant governor said on Wednesday.

Catastrophic wildfires have been devastating Maui and the big island of Hawaii since Tuesday, destroying homes and even prompting some residents to jump into the ocean to escape the fires. The state's lieutenant governor Sylvia Luke has called on President Joe Biden to declare a federal emergency, CNN reported.

High winds from Hurricane Dora, located about 500 miles from the Hawaiian islands, have made the fires especially difficult to control, according to the Maui Emergency Management Agency.

"The fact that we have wildfires in multiple areas as a result of indirectly from a hurricane is unprecedented; it's something that Hawaii residents and the state have not experienced," Luke told CNN on Wednesday morning.

The winds have also downed cell towers, making rescue efforts more challenging, CNN reported.

"911 is down. Cell service is down. Phone service is down," Luke told CNN. "That's been part of the problem. The Maui County has not been able to communicate with residents on the west side, the Lahaina side."

A spokesperson for the Maui Emergency Management Agency told CNN that even landlines are out in some areas of the island.

"What we are trying to do is deploy individuals to go into areas with satellite phone service," Luke told CNN, adding that emergency services have only been able to contact one hotel in the region because it has a satellite phone.


"That's the only way you can make connection," Luke added. "It's impeding communication. It's impeding efforts to evacuate residents and we are very concerned about that."

The Maui County Fire Department and the lieutenant governor's office did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Wildfires on Hawaii’s Maui island: Evacuations, high winds fueling flames, emergency services down — here's what we know

The Big Island and Maui's town of Lahaina have been affected by wildfires fanned by Hurricane Dora’s powerful winds.



Niamh Cavanagh
·Reporter
Updated Wed, August 9, 2023 

At least six people were killed on the island of Maui on Wednesday after ferocious winds caused by Hurricane Dora in part fueled devastating wildfires across Hawaii, officials said.

Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said "we are still in a search and rescue mode," and added that several people were unaccounted for.

Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation after what she called the “unprecedented wildfires,” which started on Tuesday, continued to spread on the islands of Hawaii (known as the Big Island) and Maui. “The safety of our residents is paramount, and this emergency proclamation will activate the Hawaiʻi National Guard to support emergency responders in the impacted communities,” Luke said in a statement. The National Guard was immediately activated.

As the fires continued into Wednesday, Maui’s hospitals became overwhelmed with patients suffering from fire-related injuries and illnesses. Schools were shut around the island and thousands of residents were left without power after dozens of utility poles were downed.

What caused the wildfires?

Wildfires were recorded on Hawaii's Big Island and Maui. (Yahoo News)

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the wildfires, but Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu, said they were sparked “kind of because of Hurricane Dora, but it’s not a direct result.”

Hurricane Dora, which is expected to pass western Johnston Island on Wednesday, passed 700 miles south of Honolulu and created winds of 130 mph on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The National Weather Services warned of wind speeds as high as 60 mph and alerted those in the affected areas to expect power outages and difficulty traveling.

A wildfire burns in Lahaina, Hawaii, on the island of Maui on Wednesday. 

(Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via Reuters)

Read more on Yahoo News:

The Associated Press: Emergency official says multiple Maui wildfire burn patients have been flown to Honolulu hospital


The Independent: Climate-fueled wildfires take toll on tropical Pacific isles


Fox Weather: Hurricane Dora continues to trek well south of Hawaii as raging wildfires burn in Maui


The Weather Network: People forced to flee into sea to escape flames in popular Hawaii destination

The NWS said that “very dry conditions” and “potentially damaging easterly winds” would continue the “dangerous fire weather conditions” into Wednesday afternoon. “The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” Maui County fire assistant chief Jeff Giesea said.

“The fact that we have wildfires in multiple areas as a result of indirectly from a hurricane is unprecedented; it's something that Hawaii residents and the state have not experienced,” Luke said.

Wildfires burn land, damage homes

Smoke and flames from raging wildfires fill the air on Front Street in downtown Lahaina, Hawaii. (Alan Dickar/AP)

Swaths of land on the Big Island and Maui, as well as town buildings and infrastructure, have been damaged from the fires. Videos shared on social media show parts of the historic town of Lahaina in Maui County, a community that is home to 12,000 people, engulfed in flames. A dozen Lahaina residents were forced to escape the fires by jumping into the surrounding sea. The U.S. Coast Guard launched a rescue operation to save those in the water.

“Multiple structures have burned and multiple evacuations are in place, as firefighter crews continue battling brush and structure fires in Upcountry and Lahaina areas,” county officials said.

In the last 24 hours, patients, including one firefighter, suffering from fire-related illnesses and emergencies have packed hospitals in Maui. Strong winds from the hurricane have cut off 911 emergency and cellphone services, Luke said.

A wildfire on Maui, Hawaii. (Dominika Durisova/Reuters)

At least 10 schools on the island have closed following the continued spread of brush fires while one, located in Central Maui, remains open as an evacuation shelter. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 14,000 in Hawaii are still without electricity.

"It's definitely one of the more challenging days for our island, given that it's multiple fires, multiple evacuations in the different district areas," Mahina Martin, a spokesperson from Maui County, said.

Hip-hop was born in the Bronx amid poverty, despair. 50 years later, there's pride, still hard times

Hip-Hop at 50-Bronx 

Majora Carter, owner of the Boogie Down Grind, poses for a portrait in the Bronx in New York on Monday, July 24, 2023, in New York. Hip-hop rose from the ashes of a borough ablaze with poverty, urban decay and gang violence. From breaking to graffiti “writing” to MC-ing or rapping, the block parties and various elements of hip-hop served as an outlet for creativity and an escape from the hardships of daily life. Carter, 56, said “I do find it ironic that one of the richest parts of American culture comes from a place that is still one of the poorest parts of our country.”

 (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)

NOREEN NASIR
Wed, August 9, 2023 

BRONX, NEW YORK (AP) — Before it was a global movement, it was simply an expression of life and struggle: a culture that was synonymous with hardship and suffering, but also grit, resilience and creativity.

Hip-hop rose from the ashes of a borough ablaze with poverty, urban decay and gang violence. It was music that “had the sound of a city in collapse, but also had an air of defiance,” said Mark Naison, history professor at Fordham University in the Bronx. Block parties and the various elements of hip-hop served as an outlet for creativity and an escape from the hardships of daily life.

The four foundational elements of hip-hop — DJing or turntablism, MCing or rapping, B-boying or break dancing and graffiti “writing” — emerged from the Bronx as a "cultural response to a community that was institutionally abandoned,” said Rodrigo Venegas, also known as “Rodstarz” of the hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz, made up of two Chilean brothers in the Bronx.

“You want to cut our art programs? We’re going to turn the whole city into a canvas. You want to cut our music programs? We’re going to turn turntables into instruments. You want to silence our communities? Then we’re going to grab these microphones and use our voices,” Venegas said.

Subway cars heading into Manhattan were covered in graffiti in the 70s and 80s, after young “writers” tagged their names and messages from top to bottom. At a time when New York City politicians disparaged the Bronx and deemed it unworthy of investment, it was a way for teenagers and young adults to express themselves and take control of their narrative.

“It was a way to feel like we mattered,” said Lloyd Murphy, who tagged his name as “Topaz1." “We saw New York City and the trains going by as a billboard to put your name on and say, ‘I’m somebody.’”

Hip-hop eventually expanded across New York City, then to different parts of the country and the world. But as artists and hip-hop giants mark the 50th anniversary of a multi-billion dollar global industry this month, the original birthplace of the movement remains the poorest section of New York City. The Bronx has yet to capitalize off of the culture it created in any significant way.

At the time of hip-hop's inception, the Bronx had the highest poverty rate of not just New York City, but of all 62 counties in New York state. Fifty years later, it holds that same status.

“I do find it ironic that one of the richest parts of American culture comes from a place that is still one of the poorest parts of our country,” said Majora Carter, an urban revitalization strategist and founder of The Boogie Down Grind, a cafe in the South Bronx that has images of old hip-hop party flyers from the 70s and 80s lining the walls and classic hip-hop jams playing over the speakers. Carter, 56, grew up just blocks away from where the cafe now sits in Hunts Point and lived the realities of urban blight. Her brother was killed in gang violence and she saw her neighborhood fall prey to drugs, prostitution and violent crime throughout her childhood.

The earliest hip-hop culture was a reflection of those difficult realities in the South Bronx.

“Poverty was the flavor of the day,” said Murphy, who also grew up in the South Bronx in the 1960s. He remembers multiple families crammed into public housing units, sometimes up to 15 people living in a two or three-bedroom apartment, sharing the space with rats and roaches and dealing with negligent landlords.

New York City as a whole was facing bankruptcy in the 70s, and the Bronx, which was already suffering from disinvestment, redlining, resident displacement and white and middle-class flight, descended into urban decay. Privately-owned housing buildings across the borough went up in flames, often set ablaze by landlords themselves for insurance money. The Bronx was on fire, and Vietnam veterans – often missing limbs, addicted to heroin and other drugs – found themselves returning home to a war zone. Life in the Bronx was bleak, and Murphy said his neighborhood of Fort Apache was infamous for its violent crime.

“The world was not flowers and butterflies and sunshine, especially if you were living in the Fort Apache section of the South Bronx,” said graffiti writer Edward Jamison, also known as “Staff 161.” In December, 1972, Jamison painted an entire subway car with an image of the Grim Reaper, “because that’s what I knew.”

Originally, the Fort Apache neighborhood was supported by the Black Panther Party. They worked security and distributed food through programs around the neighborhood. When they left, block crews filled the void. Those turned into street gangs.

“A block crew was the protector of that block and the street gang was the security for the community, more than the police department,” Murphy said. “We felt forgotten. We felt like we were our own world where we just had to fend for ourselves. And we did.”

It took the murder of peace keeper “Black Benjie” of the Ghetto Brothers, a gang and music group in the South Bronx, for rival gangs to convene and sign a peace treaty. It was this truce that paved the way for block parties to be held in the Bronx, and for residents from different neighborhoods to attend them freely, without fear of street violence.

In the wake of that peace treaty, 18-year-old Clive Campbell, also known as DJ Kool Herc, threw a back-to-school party with his younger sister in the recreation room of an apartment building on Sedgwick Avenue one August day in 1973. Herc introduced the attendees to “the break” – extending the musical beat between verses to allow for longer periods of dancing. A musical phenomenon was born.

“It’s very easy to look at the Bronx during this period in terms of deficits, redlining, disinvestment, white flight, the loss of economic opportunity,” Naison said. “But during those years, the Bronx was also creating more varieties of popular music than any place in the world.”

For those who call the Bronx home today, it can be an uphill battle to counter the narrative that their neighborhoods are a lost cause.

“We’re literally trying to give people reasons in our community to feel as though there’s something worthwhile about it – that all of the hype that we hear in the media about how awful these neighborhoods are, that there are actually amazing things going on in them,” Carter said.

After years of proposals, the Universal Hip-Hop Museum is expected to open its doors in 2025. The hope is that the development, which will include affordable housing and retail space, will make the South Bronx a destination for tourists and New York City residents, and will capitalize off of the legacy of hip-hop.

But in the poorest section of New York City, some are cautious when it comes to new buildings. The Mott Haven neighborhood, a waterfront enclave located in the South Bronx, has undergone a wave of new development in recent years, and many residents fear gentrification and displacement. In 2021, the poverty rate for the district that includes Mott Haven was about 36%.

“You have hip-hop museums being built in The Bronx that I view, personally, as concessions to the real estate buyouts that have been happening here,” Venegas said.

Venegas and his brother grew up in Chicago but formed their musical identities after moving to the Bronx in the early 2000s. They lead workshops and host events at the BronxArtSpace to support the culture of hip-hop in the Bronx as the birthplace of the movement, with a particular emphasis on using it as a tool in struggles against oppression, from the Bronx to around the world.

"We’re trying to maintain the legacy of hip-hop through liberation,” he said.

Amid the commemorations and celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the Bronx basks in a momentary spotlight for its contributions to a global movement. For the early pioneers who shaped and molded an entire culture out of their daily plight, that value can’t be fully measured.

“These kids had everything taken away from them, and they created something to give their lives direction, meaning, safety, and a sense that their talent meant something,” said Mark Naison. “Big money? Nobody involved in Bronx hip-hop made big money. But they saved lives. They gave lives meaning.”

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Noreen Nasir is a New York-based member of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on social media: https://www.twitter.com/noreensnasir.

Prigozhin’s mutiny was a planned special operation – Danilov

The New Voice of Ukraine
Tue, August 8, 2023 

NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov

The June mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group private military company was a special operation coordinated with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) secretary Oleksiy Danilov told Ukrainian TV broadcasters on Aug. 8.

"Today we can already say that it was a special operation coordinated with Putin to expose those generals who were not entirely loyal to Putin and his entourage," said Danilov.

Read also: Former Wagner prisoner kills 5 Russians in drunken rampage after return from Ukraine

The official suggested that Kyiv is aware of the number of these generals. According to him, some of them are behind bars and have been relieved of duty.

Danilov said that the "divergences" within the Russian state will continue to gain momentum.

Read also: Ukraine won’t be able to develop an independent nuclear deterrent – Danilov

"And we believe that this will happen in the fall or winter of this year because the number of people who understand where Putin has led them to is increasing every day," he added.

When asked by a journalist about who could provoke the next uprising in Russia, Danilov said this question “requires time.”

Read also: Polish PM concerned that Wagner mercenaries in Belarus could infiltrate Poland

He believes that it could be an unexpected figure who will be quickly supported by the people because in Russia, "love is just one step away from hate," suggesting that public opinion in the country could quickly turn against Putin’s rule.

Previously, The Washington Post reported that Russian intelligence agencies informed Putin about the Wagner mutiny at least several days before it took place.

Kremlin says Russia 'theoretically' doesn't need to hold elections next year because it's 'obvious' Putin will win


Sonam Sheth
Tue, August 8, 2023
Business Insider

Russian President Vladimir Putin.GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

The Kremlin's spokesperson said Russia "theoretically" doesn't need to hold presidential elections next year.


The elections don't need to happen because "it's obvious that Putin will be reelected," Dmitry Peskov said.


Putin has maintained a tight grip on power, making his 2024 re-election all but certain.

A spokesperson for the Kremlin said this week that Russia "theoretically" doesn't need to hold presidential elections next year because it's "obvious" that Vladimir Putin will win.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's chief spokesperson, described Russia's presidential election as "not really democracy" but "costly bureaucracy" in an interview with The New York Times over the weekend.

"Mr, Putin will be reelected next year with more than 90 percent of the vote," he added.

After the article was published, Peskov claimed he was misquoted by The Times and tried to clarify his comments, telling Russia's RBK news outlet that the 2024 election "theoretically" doesn't need to happen because "it's obvious that Putin will be reelected."

Putin's reelection in March 2024 is indeed almost certain; but the Russian leader has largely maintained his grip on power by cracking down on the independent press, reportedly approving the assassinations and imprisonment of dissidents and political rivals; and approving a sweeping change to Russia's constitution that allows him to stay in power until 2036.

Next year's presidential election — if it happens — will also come amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Putin, who described the invasion as a "special military operation," has characterized it as being essential to Russia's survival as a nation, but the war is increasingly unpopular among Russian citizens and even within the Russian military.

One Russian inmate told The New York Times in June that he believed he was signing up to become an army construction worker when a government official recruited him from prison. Instead, he was sent to the frontlines in eastern Ukraine and captured by Ukrainian forces a few days later.

Other Russian soldiers said that they were "fucking fooled like little kids" and had no clue they were being sent to a war zone. In one audio recording previously obtained by The Times, a Russian soldier told his mother during a phone conversation that "no one told us we were going to war. They warned us one day before we left."

Russian elections are 'costly bureaucracy' that 'don't have to be held,' Putin spokesman says


Timothy Nerozzi
Tue, August 8, 2023

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the unified coalition around the leader makes democratic elections unnecessary and irrelevant.

Press secretary Dmitry Peskov remarked to Russian media that democratic elections have become a "costly bureaucracy" that serves no purpose due to the supposed widespread support for Putin.

"Elections are what a democracy demands and Putin himself decided to hold them, but theoretically, they don’t even have to be held," Peskov told state media outlet RBK.

RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY SENTENCED TO 19 YEARS IN PRISON

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a joint news conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow.

He added, "Because it’s clear that Putin will be elected. That’s completely my personal opinion."

Peskov told RBK he was seeking to clarify his statement to The New York Times earlier this week that he claims was misquoted.

"Our presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy," Peskov told the New York Times in an article published Aug. 6. "Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90 percent of the vote."


Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via a video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow.

The press secretary's comments on Russian democracy follow the conviction of political opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was found guilty of extremism by a Russian court on Friday.

Navalny, already serving a nine-year sentence on separate political charges, was sentenced to an additional 19 years.

"I understand perfectly that, as many political prisoners, I’m serving a life sentence, which is measured by the length of my life or the length of life of this regime," Navalny told his supporters via social media.

Navalny has long been Putin's most outspoken critic, leading anti-corruption watchdog organizations and protesting Kremlin policy.

In 2020, he sought medical attention in Germany after being poisoned with a nerve agent. He was arrested after returning to Moscow in January 2021.

Oil-Friendly Climate Advocates Shocked to Learn Big Oil Is Bad



Kate Aronoff
Tue, August 8, 2023 

In the last several weeks, more mainstream voices have started to echo the long-held concerns of climate activists: that—despite their deluge of green advertising and rhetoric—fossil fuel companies are not leading the way toward an energy transition.

It was an easy line to swallow for a while. ExxonMobil and other oil majors all went out of their way to voice support for the Paris Climate Agreement after its signing in 2015. As the U.N. climate talks approached in 2021, majors recommitted to net-zero promises, on the back foot after pandemic-era shutdowns cratered prices and profits.

That’s all changed now. As major U.S. and European producers rake in record earnings, even ostensibly more forward-thinking companies like BP and Shell are doubling down on fossil fuels and walking back climate pledges. That about-face, it seems, has allowed some industry-friendly advocates to finally see the light.

In an op-ed for The New York Times published Monday, Obama White House staffer Jason Bordoff—who now runs the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University—bemoaned that drillers have reversed or downplayed climate pledges and continue to invest small amounts of cash in green ventures. “The fact that shareholders seem to prefer that oil profits be distributed as dividends rather than reinvested more in low-carbon energy solutions suggests they are also skeptical about the industry’s ability to be as profitable in clean energy,” he wrote.

In 2020, Bordoff was optimistic about climate pledges made by BP, after the oil giant announced it was aiming to cut its emissions to zero by 2050. “While skepticism is warranted, the latest corporate pledges are compelling,” he wrote then. “If backed by real action, they mean these firms’ own economic interests will require they move away from oil and gas and push for stronger climate policy.” (It’s important to note that the academic center Bordoff runs routinely accepts millions of dollars in donations from the fossil fuel industry, including BP and those name-checked in his recent New York Times piece.)

But this week, Bordoff seemed to conclude such “real action” had not occurred, arguing BP and other drillers face a choice: “Either match their rhetoric with actions demonstrating convincingly that they are prepared to invest at scale in clean energy or acknowledge that their plan is to be among the last producers and bet on a slower transition.”

Bordoff wasn’t the only one to have a recent change of heart. Christiana Figueres—a key architect of the Paris Agreement—has talked frequently over the years about the leading role that oil companies could play in helping solve the climate crisis. She co-authored a 2021 piece for CNN with BP CEO Bernard Looney where the pair acknowledged they were “strange bedfellows” united by their “stubborn optimism” and “fierce commitment to inclusivity.”

“If anything,” they continued, “companies are outpacing governments in embracing the Paris goals—which is exactly what the world needs. Governments regulate and incentivize, but actually cutting emissions largely falls on others to implement. Companies have to do much of that—and society has a stake in helping them.”

Figueres struck a different tone last month, offering a mea culpa in Al Jazeera:

More than most members of the climate community, I have for years held space for the oil and gas industry to finally wake up and stand up to its critical responsibility in history.

I have done so because I was convinced the global economy could not be decarbonised without their constructive participation and I was therefore willing to support the transformation of their business model.

But what the industry is doing with its unprecedented profits over the past 12 months has changed my mind.

Like Bordoff, she ended with an ultimatum:

Do they want to gain some public license (if any is left for them) by speeding the winds of change or do they want to be the last men standing? If they choose the latter, the transition to clean energies will occur despite them, but it will likely be too late for humanity. The fossil fuel industry will have powered human development in the 20th century and then destroyed it in the 21st.

Both Figueres and Bordoff might be a bit late to the party, but it’s nice to have them. Over the coming decades, drillers are poised to become even more whiny and reactionary than ever. As Bordoff alluded to in his piece, the possibility of peak oil demand in the early 2030s will potentially drive companies to scramble to sell the last barrel by any means necessary.

What might seem like good news to climate advocates could soon yield an even meaner, uglier cadre of top executives. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the industry is having trouble attracting young talent, especially for white-collar posts. Enrollment in Petroleum Engineering programs at U.S. colleges is at its lowest point since before the shale boom, having dropped 75 percent since 2014. Where enrollment in those programs tends to track closely with oil prices, the last few years of higher prices and profits have seen that relationship dissolve. Despite the attractive salaries oil companies offer, younger graduates aren’t being swayed. Climate concerns and bleak long-term prospects mean that students are choosing other careers, forcing some schools to rebrand programs.

If going into white-collar oil and gas jobs is becoming an increasingly political choice, what might that say about the people who choose to do it? A decade or two ago, going to work for Chevron or Exxon might have been just another corporate gig. Declining interest in those careers across the board may well mean that those opting to go against the grain of more climate-conscious peers are increasingly right-wing. As today’s already paranoid, reactionary top executives age out and retire, the generations that replace them could lean even harder to the right.

Regardless, there may well just not be enough money in low-carbon ventures to make it worth oil companies’ while. That’s certainly true of wind and solar: Shell CEO Wael Sawan cited low returns as the reason the company was dialing back its plans to invest more in clean energy. But it’s also not clear what margins will be in businesses where fossil fuel companies’ expertise and capital are better suited to succeed, like carbon capture and storage. Will keeping carbon dioxide underground forever be more profitable than selling oil? Can decarbonizing industrial processes with green hydrogen compete with selling liquefied natural gas to emerging market economies?

Outgoing Financial Times energy editor Derek Brower urged readers, at the end of June, to keep expectations for oil and gas climate leadership low, suggesting drillers will give the wrong answers to the questions Bordoff and Figueres posed. “Remington was good at typewriters, but not the personal computer,” he wrote. “Why expect ExxonMobil or Saudi Aramco to lead—or even survive—a shift from their core business of digging up fossil fuels and selling them? And do you really want them to?”

Five people killed in Cape Town taxi strike violence

Nomsa Maseko & Antoinette Radford - BBC News
Tue, August 8, 2023 

Residents of Masiphumelele set up burning barricades amidst an ongoing strike by taxi operators against traffic authorities in Cape Town, South Africa, August 8, 2023

Five people have died in violent protests relating to a taxi strike in Cape Town, South Africa, officials say.

The victims include a 40-year-old British national whose family is being supported by the UK Foreign Office.

The week-long strike was called in response to what drivers said was "heavy-handed tactics" by law enforcement authorities.

The taxi drivers and owners said their vehicles were being targeted and impounded for minor offences.

Infringements included not wearing a seatbelt and illegally driving in the emergency lane, drivers said. They claimed others doing the same only faced fines.

Minibus taxi operators across Cape Town also aired frustrations that the government was impounding taxis they claimed were not roadworthy.

On Tuesday, South Africa's transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga ordered the immediate release of the minibus taxis impounded by the City of Cape Town.

Ms Chikunga said the legislation used by the city had been "executed and implemented wrongly" and added that "it doesn't exist" under current laws.

The South African Ministry of Police said 120 people had been arrested since the strikes began on 3 August and they were aware of incidents of looting, stone throwing and arson.

Police Minister Bheki Cele also confirmed a police officer was among those who died.

On Tuesday, residents in the Masiphumelele township set up barricades, preventing other residents from leaving. Many of those barricades were set alight.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Mr Cele called for co-operation between the Cape Town government and taxi operators. He said those affected by the strike included children who could no longer get to school.

"People must swallow their pride, come together and resolve this issue", he said.

The UK has issued a travel warning after the strike was listed as a high security threat for tourists visiting South Africa.

Typhoon Khanun lashes southern Japan, South Korea, another storm looms



Reuters
Tue, August 8, 2023 

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) -Flights were cancelled and trains halted on Wednesday as heavy rain from Typhoon Khanun pounded southern regions of Japan and South Korea, just as another storm approached from the east to threaten Tokyo ahead of Japan's peak summer holiday season.

Khanun could make landfall at the southeastern South Korean port city of Tongyeong on Thursday, before tracking up the Korean peninsula, authorities said.

North Korea's state media KCNA also said on Wednesday that industries such as textile mills there were working to minimise potential damage by typhoons and downpours.

The storm is currently in the sea south of Kyushu, Japan's southwestern main island some 860 km (530 miles) from Tokyo, after wreaking havoc in the southwestern Okinawa region. It is maintaining its strength and moving at an unusually slow 10 kph (6 mph), meaning the wind and rain will linger for longer.

Areas of Kyushu have already been inundated with a whole month's worth on rainfall in the past week, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

The agency issued heavy rain and high wind warnings to many parts of southern and western Japan, prompting automakers including Toyota to suspend some production. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cancelled his attendance at a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, in Kyushu.

Railway operator West Japan Railway Co suspended some bullet train services in Kyushu, while a baseball game scheduled there was cancelled.

South Korea issued its highest alert as Khanun forced the cancellation of nearly 80 flights and the closure of dozens of sea routes and roads, the interior ministry said.

On Tuesday, officials evacuated more than 30,000 scouts from their campsite in the southwest ahead of the typhoon, the latest snag to hit the World Scout Jamboree.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered authorities to prevent any further damage especially in regions hit by last month's torrential rain.

Another storm, Lan, had formed in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan and was predicted to strengthen as it heads north, possibly affecting Tokyo early next week, JMA said.

The two storms arrive at the start of Obon, Japan's peak summer holiday season when many people leave big cities for their ancestral hometowns.

(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura, Elaine Lies, Chang-Ran Kim in TOKYO, Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL; Additional reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Miral Fahmy)

Scientists look beyond climate change and El Nino for other factors that heat up Earth





 People cool off at the Bosphorus as forest fire smoke rises, background, during a hot summer day in Istanbul, Turkey, July 26, 2023. Scientists say by far the biggest cause of the recent extreme warming is human-caused climate change and a natural El Nino. But some say there’s got to be something more. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

SETH BORENSTEIN
Updated Wed, August 9, 2023 

Scientists are wondering if global warming and El Nino have an accomplice in fueling this summer’s record-shattering heat.

The European climate agency Copernicus reported that July was one-third of a degree Celsius (six-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) hotter than the old record. That’s a bump in heat that is so recent and so big, especially in the oceans and even more so in the North Atlantic, that scientists are split on whether something else could be at work.

Scientists agree that by far the biggest cause of the recent extreme warming is climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas that has triggered a long upward trend in temperatures. A natural El Nino, a temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide, adds a smaller boost. But some researchers say another factor must be present.

“What we are seeing is more than just El Nino on top of climate change,” Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo said.

One surprising source of added warmth could be cleaner air resulting from new shipping rules. Another possible cause is 165 million tons (150 million metric tons) of water spewed into the atmosphere by a volcano. Both ideas are under investigation.

THE CLEANER AIR POSSIBILITY

Florida State University climate scientist Michael Diamond says shipping is "probably the prime suspect.”

Maritime shipping has for decades used dirty fuel that gives off particles that reflect sunlight in a process that actually cools the climate and masks some of global warming.

In 2020, international shipping rules took effect that cut as much as 80% of those cooling particles, which was a “kind of shock to the system,” said atmospheric scientist Tianle Yuan of NASA and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

The sulfur pollution used to interact with low clouds, making them brighter and more reflective, but that’s not happening as much now, Yuan said. He tracked changes in clouds that were associated with shipping routes in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, both hot spots this summer.

In those spots, and to a lesser extent globally, Yuan’s studies show a possible warming from the loss of sulfur pollution. And the trend is in places where it really can’t be explained as easily by El Nino, he said.

“There was a cooling effect that was persistent year after year, and suddenly you remove that," Yuan said.

Diamond calculates a warming of about 0.1 degrees Celsius (0.18 degrees Fahrenheit) by midcentury from shipping regulations. The level of warming could be five to 10 times stronger in high shipping areas such as the North Atlantic.

A separate analysis by climate scientists Zeke Hausfather of Berkeley Earth and Piers Forster of the University of Leeds projected half of Diamond's estimate.

DID THE VOLCANO DO IT?

In January 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano in the South Pacific blew, sending more than 165 million tons of water, which is a heat-trapping greenhouse gas as vapor, according to University of Colorado climate researcher Margot Clyne, who coordinates international computer simulations for climate impacts of the eruption.

The volcano also blasted 550,000 tons (500,000 metric tons) of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere.

The amount of water "is so absolutely crazy, absolutely ginormous,” said Holger Vomel, a stratospheric water vapor scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who published a study on the potential climate effects of the eruption.

Volmer said the water vapor went too high in the atmosphere to have a noticeable effect yet, but that effects could emerge later.

A couple of studies use computer models to show a warming effect from all that water vapor. One study, which has not yet undergone the scientific gold standard of peer review, reported this week that the warming could range from as much as 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of added warming in some places to 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of cooling elsewhere.

But NASA atmospheric scientist Paul Newman and former NASA atmospheric scientist Mark Schoeberl said those climate models are missing a key ingredient: the cooling effect of the sulfur.

Normally huge volcanic eruptions, like 1991’s Mount Pinatubo, can cool Earth temporarily with sulfur and other particles reflecting sunlight. However, Hunga Tonga spouted an unusually high amount of water and low amount of cooling sulfur.

The studies that showed warming from Hunga Tonga didn’t incorporate sulfur cooling, which is hard to do, Schoeberl and Newman said. Schoeberl, now chief scientist at Science and Technology Corp. of Maryland, published a study that calculated a slight overall cooling — 0.04 degrees Celsius (0.07 degrees Fahrenheit).

Just because different computer simulations conflict with each other "that doesn’t mean science is wrong,” University of Colorado's Clyne said. “It just means that we haven’t reached a consensus yet. We’re still just figuring it out.”

LESSER SUSPECTS

Lesser suspects in the search include a dearth of African dust, which cools like sulfur pollution, as well as changes in the jet stream and a slowdown in ocean currents.

Some nonscientists have looked at recent solar storms and increased sunspot activity in the sun's 11-year cycle and speculated that Earth's nearest star may be a culprit. For decades, scientists have tracked sunspots and solar storms, and they don’t match warming temperatures, Berkeley Earth chief scientist Robert Rohde said.

Solar storms were stronger 20 and 30 years ago, but there is more warming now, he said.

LOOK NO FURTHER

Still, other scientists said there’s no need to look so hard. They say human-caused climate change, with an extra boost from El Nino, is enough to explain recent temperatures.

University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann estimates that about five-sixths of the recent warming is from human burning of fossil fuels, with about one-sixth due to a strong El Nino.

The fact that the world is coming out of a three-year La Nina, which suppressed global temperatures a bit, and going into a strong El Nino, which adds to them, makes the effect bigger, he said.

“Climate change and El Nino can explain it all,” Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto said. “That doesn’t mean other factors didn’t play a role. But we should definitely expect to see this again without the other factors being present.”

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Bahrain prison inmates are on hunger strike, the latest sign of simmering unrest in island kingdom

SHIA MAJORITY SUNNI RULERS

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center near Jaw, Bahrain, July 26, 2023. Bahrain prison inmates are taking part in a hunger strike over conditions there, activists and authorities said Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, the latest sign of simmering unrest in the island kingdom a decade after the Arab Spring.

 (Planet Labs PBC via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

JON GAMBRELL
Updated Wed, August 9, 2023 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Inmates at a Bahrain prison are on a hunger strike over conditions there, activists and authorities said Wednesday, the latest sign of simmering unrest in the island kingdom a decade after Arab Spring protests.

The strike is underway at the Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center, a facility holding many of the prisoners identified by human rights activists as dissidents who oppose the rule of the Al Khalifa family. The country's Sunni rulers have long faced complaints from the island's Shiite majority of discrimination.

A statement published by the outlawed Al-Wefaq opposition group said the prisoners started the hunger strike over what it described as prison officials blocking inmates from worshipping and 23-hour lockdowns daily. The statement also alleged prison officials put inmates in isolation arbitrarily, interfered with family visits and provided inadequate health care to those incarcerated.

“Our demands are not trifles, but very necessary and required for human life, even at the lowest levels known to human history,” the prisoners' statement read.

Two prison blocks at the facility started their hunger strike on Monday, while three others started on Tuesday, said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, an exiled activist in Britain with the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Alwadaei described those in the blocks taking part in the strike as “political prisoners.”

The prisoners put the number of those taking part in the strike in the hundreds; The Associated Press could not independently confirm that. Several audio messages, later shared by activists, confirmed the hunger strike.

On Wednesday, imprisoned activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja joined the hunger strike, his daughter Maryam said. Al-Khawaja is serving a life sentence at the prison after leading protests during the 2011 Arab Spring.

The 62-year-old activist earlier drew attention to his imprisonment with a lengthy hunger strike in 2012, a detention considered “arbitrary” by a United Nations panel. Bahrain convicted him on internationally criticized terrorism charges.

“I am worried for my father’s life. I don’t know that he can survive another hunger strike and it’s unfathomable that he is being pushed, yet again, to resort to this as a means of protest,” his daughter said in a statement.

“I don’t want my father to be released to us in a coffin,” she added.

Responding to questions from the AP, Bahrain's General Directorate of Reform and Rehabilitation said that some inmates at the facility had “returned their meals” on Tuesday. It did not provide a number of those taking part in the hunger strike, but insisted prisons allowed Shiites to commemorate Ashoura and “enjoy their full rights” and health care.

Officials “will continue to monitor the conditions of the inmates who have returned their meals to ensure the quality of the services provided and to address their concerns within the framework of adherence to the law and respect for human rights,” the government statement said.

The Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center is located toward the southern end of Bahrain, an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf that's about the size of New York City with a population of around 1.5 million people. Concerns over medical care at the prison have been raised before by activists.

The U.S. State Department's recent human rights report on Bahrain noted prisoners' families reported a tuberculosis outbreak at the prison in June 2022. The government denied an outbreak took place, but inaugurated a 24-hour clinic at the prison months afterward, the State Department said.

Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet, is in the midst of a decadelong crackdown on all dissent following the Arab Spring protests, which saw the island’s Shiite majority and others demanding more political freedom.

Since Bahrain put down the protests with the help of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it has imprisoned Shiite activists, deported others, stripped hundreds of their citizenship and closed its leading independent newspaper.

Meanwhile, Bahrain has recognized Israel diplomatically and hosted Pope Francis last November.

Dam in Norway partially bursts after days of heavy rain, flooding and evacuations


















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Water breaks through the dam at Braskereidfoss, Norway, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. Authorities in Norway say a dam has partially burst following days of heavy rain that triggered landslides and flooding in the mountainous southern parts of the country. Communities downstream already had been evacuated. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP)

JAN M. OLSEN
Updated Wed, August 9, 2023 
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A dam in southern Norway partially burst Wednesday following days of heavy rain that triggered landslides and flooding in the mountainous region and forced downstream communities to evacuate, officials said.

Authorities initially considered blowing up part of the dam at the Braskereidfoss hydroelectric power plant on the Glåma, Norway’s longest and most voluminous river. The idea was to prevent communities downstream from being inundated by using a limited, controlled blast to release pressure on the dam.

But that proposal was scrapped after water later broke through the structure, police spokesman Fredrik Thomson told reporters.

“The damage from a possible explosion of the concrete plant would be so great that it would serve no purpose,” Thompson said.-

Now officials are hopeful that they will see a gradual, even leveling of the water, Thompson said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre warned that flooding would continue to be a threat as excess water flows downstream.

“This is by no means over,” he said. “It could be the highest water level in 50 years or more."

The dam’s generators stopped working early Wednesday after a power grid failure, plant operator Hafslund Eco said in a statement.

An automatic system that should have opened the floodgates to release water failed. Rapidly rising water then spilled over the dam and into the power station itself, which caused major damage, officials said.

Huge volumes of water were pouring over the western parts of the dam, Thomson said.

The water ripped apart a two-lane road and fences that ran across the top of the dam.

Per Storm-Mathisen, a spokesman for the power station operator, told the Norwegian news agency NTB that the water diversion seemed to be “going well.”

At least 1,000 people live in communities close to the river in the area, and authorities said that all were evacuated before the dam began to fail.

In other developments Wednesday, a Norwegian woman in her 70s died after falling into a stream the day before. She managed to crawl up onto the bank, but because of the floods, it took rescue teams several hours to bring her to a hospital, police said.

More than 600 people were evacuated in a region north of Oslo, and police in southern Norway reported that the situation there was “unclear and chaotic.” All main roads between Oslo and Trondheim, Norway’s third-largest city, were closed, according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

”We are in a crisis situation of national dimensions,” Innlandet County Mayor Aud Hove said. “People are isolated in several local communities, and the emergency services risk not being able to reach people who need help.”

The weather system known as Storm Hans has battered parts of Scandinavia and the Baltics for several days, causing rivers to overflow, damaging roads and knocking down branches that injured people.

Scientists have not done the intricate data analysis needed to see how much, if any, human-caused climate change played a role in the flooding. But they have long warned that, as the world warms, extreme storms will produce larger amounts of rain in bigger bursts.

One major reason is that the warmer the air is, the more water it can hold. Also, many scientists say changes in the jet stream — the atmospheric currents that propel weather systems — often lead to storms stalling over places and dumping more rain. Those changes could be connected to climate change.

Two hydrologists said the conflict between old dams and heavier amounts of rain is becoming a more frequent problem.

University of Virginia hydrologist Venkat Lakshmi said his research shows that older dams are unprepared to handle rainfall that comes in heavier, harder-to-manage bursts.

Many of those dams were designed to withstand floods that were supposed to happen only once a century, but those events are now happening much more often, he said.

“This type of conflict between climate and our hydrological infrastructure, such as dams, is going to become more common,” said UCLA hydrologist Park Williams. As rainfall intensifies, reservoirs and dams "will be increasingly out of tune with the changing climate.”

Meanwhile, the flooding in southern Norway and central Sweden carried away sheds, small houses and mobile homes.

Norwegian meteorologists predicted that up to 30 millimeters (1.2 inches) of additional rain could fall by Wednesday evening, saying “the quantities are not extreme, but given the conditions in the area, the consequences may be.”

In neighboring Sweden’s second-largest city, Goteborg, large parts of the harbor were under water.

Weather agencies for both countries issued urgent warnings.

Erik Hojgard-Olsen, a meteorologist with the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, told the Aftonbladet newspaper that the weather was unusual for this time of year.

"It is exceptional to have such a low pressure (system) as Hans, which has brought so much rain for several days in a row,” he said. “Especially for being a summer month, it has lasted a long time.”

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate said record high flood levels were recorded in several places in the Drammensvassdraget, a drainage basin west of Oslo, the capital.

Erik Holmqvist, a senior engineer at the agency, said four lakes. including the Randsfjorden, the fourth-largest in Norway, were particularly vulnerable to flooding.

“We have to go all the way back to 1910 to get the same forecasts for the Randsfjorden,” Holmqvist told the VG newspaper.

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Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.