PSA

Warnings expand in the Maritimes as Hurricane Lee threatens dangerous impacts

Digital Writers

Fri, September 15, 2023 


Warnings expand in the Maritimes as Hurricane Lee threatens dangerous impacts

Visit The Weather Network's hurricane hub to keep up with the latest on tropical developments in Canada and around the world

Widespread tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches are now in effect across portions of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick expecting hazardous conditions as Hurricane Lee approaches the area beginning late Friday night and peaking through the day Saturday.

SAFETY: Monitor all tropical storm and hurricane watches on Environment Canada and Climate Change's Alerts page

As expected, Lee is expanding in size but has started to weaken as it pushes through cooler waters. While further weakening is expected, Lee is likely to remain a "large and dangerous hurricane into the weekend," says the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC)
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Baron - Hurricane Lee warnings - Sept15.jpg

The footprint of Hurricane Lee’s tropical storm-force winds extended a whopping 520 km from the centre of the storm by Thursday evening, and its hurricane-force winds reached 165 km from the centre of the storm.

On the forecast track, the centre of Lee will continue to move farther away from Bermuda Friday morning and approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada later in the day and Saturday. Lee is then expected to turn toward the north-northeast and northeast and move across Atlantic Canada Saturday night and Sunday.

WATCH: Tropical storm warnings, hurricane watches in effect across Maritimes

Click here to view the video

The hurricane weakened to a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h. It will continue to lose strength as it tracks north toward Atlantic Canada.

Despite Lee’s maximum winds falling, the storm’s sprawling footprint is important for any communities in its path. Lower maximum winds does not mean a lower overall threat from this storm.


ATLImpacts

A threat for heavy rains, high winds, and coastal flooding will extend hundreds of kilometres from the centre of the storm. The biggest concerns will be dangerous surf and coastal flooding, especially during high tide.

As a result of these potential hazards, the Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) issued a tropical storm warning for the following areas in Nova Scotia:

• Annapolis County

• Colchester County - Cobequid Bay

• Cumberland County - Minas Shore

• Halifax Metro and Halifax County West

• Halifax County - east of Porters Lake

• Digby County

• Guysborough County

• Hants County

• Kings County

• Lunenburg County

• Queens County

• Shelburne County

• Yarmouth County

A tropical storm warning is also in effect for the following areas in New Brunswick:

• Fundy National Park

• Grand Manan and coastal Charlotte County

• Moncton and Southeast New Brunswick

• Saint John and County

In addition to the tropical storm warnings, a hurricane watch is in effect for Halifax Metro and Halifax County West, Halifax County - east of Porters Lake, Digby, Queens, Shelburne, and Yarmouth Counties in Nova Scotia, as well as Grand Manan and coastal Charlotte County in New Brunswick, for the potential for near-hurricane conditions during the height of the storm on Saturday.

Click here to stay up-to-date with the latest watches and warnings.

Strongest impacts expected Saturday

The CHC says this will be a Saturday event for the strongest impacts, with lingering impacts expected on Sunday across the Maritimes as the storm weakens and moves away


ATLSaturday

Lee is expected to transform into a post-tropical low while making landfall anywhere from Grand Manan Island New Brunswick to Shelburne County Nova Scotia Saturday evening. It is still expected to be a large and powerful system with impacts extending well away from the storm centre.

RAIN

Lee’s outer rain bands and gusty winds will push into the Maritimes on Saturday morning, with conditions deteriorating through the day as the bulk of the system moves in

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ATLRain

Between 60-100 mm of rain is possible in the southern Maritimes over the weekend. The risk for flooding has increased over western Nova Scotia and the Annapolis Valley.

"There could be heavy amounts in the vicinity of the track itself with indications of possibly 75 mm directly from Lee," the CHC warns. "This combined with the rain that fell there Thursday increases the vulnerability to further flooding in that area."

WATCH: Hurricane Lee prep is underway for Maritimes residents

Click here to view the video

WIND

At the same time, winds will pick up late Friday and peak on Saturday, with gusts of 70-100 km/h expected.

Communities along the coast can expect the storm’s strongest winds, with wind speeds quickly decreasing inland. Areas under the hurricane watch will likely see the strongest winds, with gusts as high as 120 km/h possible at times. These winds would typically result in some tree damage and power outages. Gusty winds are still possible Sunday even as conditions improve.

STORM SURGE

High waves and elevated water levels will be widespread due to the large size of the storm. Rough waves and storm surge flooding will pose the greatest threat to coastal communities on the Bay of Fundy shores and the southwest coast of Nova Scotia.

A storm surge warning has been issued for Halifax Metro and Halifax County West, Halifax County - East of Porters Lake, Lunenburg County, Queens County, Shelburne County, Guysborough County. People near the coast are being urged to monitor for worsening conditions and be prepared to move to a safer location at a moment's notice.

"For Atlantic coastal Nova Scotia, breaking waves of 4-6 metres (15 to 20 feet) are likely," says the CHC. "Elevated water levels (storm surge) combined with waves could result in coastal flooding during the high tide late morning to noon Saturday in Shelburne County then during the high tide late Saturday evening along the coast from Queens County to eastern Halifax County."


Baron - storm surge warning - Sept15.jpg

Folks across the region are understandably weary about tropical systems after the impacts of Dorian in 2019 and Fiona in 2022.

It’s likely that Hurricane Lee will not be as strong as either of those two systems. However, residents do need to stay on high alert for flooding, power outages, tree damage and coastal flooding.

Stay prepared

We’re now in the climatological peak of hurricane season across the Atlantic basin. Anyone along or near the East Coast should prepare for hazards like power outages and flooding regardless of this one storm’s progress.

Ensure you’ve got non-perishable food, water, personal hygiene supplies, flashlights, and batteries to last for several days without electricity or water. Prepare an emergency plan in case of flooding or evacuations.

STAY SAFE: What you need in your hurricane preparedness kit

Anxiety is normal when there’s a big storm out there, and even more so when the storm’s future is uncertain. Preparing for a storm long before one arrives ensures you’ll be ready to go if anything looms on the horizon in the weeks and months ahead.

Stay with The Weather Network for the duration of this storm as we closely monitor this hurricane and its developments.

WATCH: Why having a ham radio during hurricanes and storms could be crucial

Click here to view the video

Millions under storm watches and warnings as Hurricane Lee bears down on New England and Canada

DAVID SHARP, ROBERT F. BUTAKY and PATRICK WHITTLE

Fri, September 15, 2023 

BAR HARBOR, Maine (AP) — Millions of people were under storm watches and warnings Saturday as Hurricane Lee churned toward shore, bearing down on New England and eastern Canada with heavy winds, high seas and rain.

Cruise ships found refuge at berths in Portland, Maine, while lobstermen in Bar Harbor and elsewhere pulled their costly traps from the water and hauled their boats inland, leaving some harbors looking like ghost towns.

Utility workers from as far away as Tennessee took up positions to repair damage from Lee, which by late Friday night remained a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 80 mph (128 kph).

The storm was forecast to brush the New England coast before making landfall later Saturday in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, which along with New Brunswick will see the brunt of it. But Lee's effects were expected to be felt over an immense area. The National Hurricane Center predicted hurricane-force winds extending more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) from Lee’s center with lesser but still dangerous tropical storm-force gusts up to 345 miles (555 kilometers) miles outward.

States of emergency were declared for Massachusetts and Maine, the nation's most heavily forested state, where the ground was saturated and trees were weakened by heavy summer rains.

Lee already lashed the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda before turning northward and heavy swells were likely to cause “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” in the U.S. and Canada, according to the hurricane center.

Parts of coastal Maine could see waves up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) high crashing down, causing erosion and damage, and the strong gusts will cause power outages, said Louise Fode, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Maine. As much as 5 inches (12 centimeters) of rain was forecast for eastern Maine, where a flash flood watch was in effect.

But even as they hunkered down and prepared, New Englanders seemed unconcerned by the possibility of violent weather.

In Maine, where people are accustomed to damaging winter nor’easters, some brushed aside the coming Lee as something akin to those storms only without the snow.

“There’s going to be huge white rollers coming in on top of 50- to 60-mph winds. It’ll be quite entertaining,” Bar Harbor lobsterman Bruce Young said Friday. Still, he had his boat moved to the local airport, saying it’s better to be safe than sorry.

On Long Island, commercial lobsterman Steve Train finished hauling 200 traps out of the water on Friday. Train, who is also a firefighter, was going to wait out the storm on the island in Casco Bay.

He was not concerned about staying there in the storm. “Not one bit,” he said.

In Canada, Ian Hubbard, a meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Hurricane Centre, said Lee won’t be anywhere near the severity of the remnants of Hurricane Fiona, which washed houses into the ocean, knocked out power to most of two provinces and swept a woman into the sea a year ago.

But it was still a dangerous storm. Kyle Leavitt, director of the New Brunswick Emergency Management Organization, urged residents to stay home, saying, “Nothing good can come from checking out the big waves and how strong the wind truly is.”

Destructive hurricanes are relatively rare this far to the north. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 brought gusts as high as 186 mph (300 kph) and sustained winds of 121 mph (195 kph) at Massachusetts’ Blue Hill Observatory. But there have been no storms that powerful in recent years.

The region learned the hard way with Hurricane Irene in 2011 that damage isn’t always confined to the coast. Downgraded to a tropical storm, Irene still caused more than $800 million in damage in Vermont.

___

Sharp and Whittle reported from Portland. Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed

Many boat owners have opted to put their vessels in storage earlier than usual to avoid risking damage from this weekend's storm. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Football coach vs. the Pentagon: Why Tuberville's GOP colleagues aren't stopping his abortion showdown

Tom Vanden Brook, Rachel Looker and Ken Tran, USA TODAY
Updated Fri, September 15, 2023 

WASHINGTON – Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s controversial block on promotions for more than 300 senior Pentagon officers over a Pentagon policy on abortion has been met with indifference among his Republican colleagues, a USA TODAY survey has found.

Democrats and Pentagon leaders maintain that Tuberville’s nine-month hold on military promotions -- a stand he has taken because he opposes Defense Department abortion policy -- has damaged national security by preventing generals and admirals from taking key commands. They say it has created hardships for military families and injected politics into a nomination process that for decades was little more than a formality. An independent analyst said the delays stall development of top military leaders and will prompt seasoned officers to quit.

Tuberville -- a former Auburn and University of Mississippi football coach who is serving his first term in the Senate after winning election in 2021- -- opposes the Pentagon's policy on abortion and reproductive health, which was created after the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion last year. The policy, which Tuberville says is illegal, allows for time off and travel expenses for reproductive health care, including abortion, for troops and their dependents in states where it is not available. The Pentagon pays for abortion only when the mother's life is in danger or when pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

"The Pentagon’s woke leaders are injecting left-wing politics into our most sacred institution and driving away a generation of patriots from recruitment," Steven Stafford, Tuberville's spokesperson, told USA TODAY in a statement.

Republicans in the Senate don't seem to disagree. In interviews, some of Tuberville's colleagues told USA TODAY they feel strongly that the Alabama lawmaker is well within his rights as a senator to block nomination hearings, despite the risks it may pose.

With a few notable exceptions like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the reaction among Tuberville’s GOP colleagues has been a collective shrug act his tactic. Many lawmakers, when asked by USA TODAY, declined to say they supported Tuberville. Instead, the blamed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for failing to seek confirmation hearings for the officers -- a time-consuming process that Democrats have rejected.

"I think there ought to be some kind of negotiation or discussion going on to see if there’s not some compromise or meeting of the mind,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told USA TODAY last week. "...Find some middle ground and move on, but I don't want to see our military continue to be affected as it is."

Three blank fames hang on the wall in the Pentagon representing the lack of three Senate-confirmed four-star members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: the chief of staff of the Army, Commandant of the Marine Corps and Chief of Naval Operations.

The stakes reach the pinnacle of the military's command Sept. 30. That's when Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retires as required by law. His successor, Air Force Gen. Charles Brown, the second African American officer selected for the military's top job, will be left in limbo unless the impasse is broken.

The ripple effects extend down the chain of command, where vacant positions have been filled by officers without the authority to issue strategic guidance, make weapons-buying decisions, or simply move their families to new bases and enroll their children in schools.

'It's become chaotic': Top Senate Democrat on military committee warns of paralysis

"It's become chaotic," Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chair of the Armed Services Committee, told USA TODAY. "Frankly, if someone came to us and said, 'Listen, we have this scheme that would totally paralyze, or at least significantly disrupt the general staff and all of the significant officers in an adversary's army.' We'd say, 'Great.'"

The Armed Services Committee considers about 50,000 nominations a year for civilian and military officials. Most often, nominations are approved in bunches by what is known as unanimous consent. Tuberville has blocked promotions for the most senior generals and admirals.

The effects stretch around the globe. At the Pentagon, Tuberville suggested that Milley could stay on the job after Sept. 30. Federal law prevents that, so, Adm. Christopher Grady, the vice chairman, will have to cover both his and chairman's jobs. In the Persian Gulf, the 5th Fleet awaits a new commander as Iran continues to harass commercial shipping.

No troops left behind: Missing service members buried for decades in an Alaska glacier

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters this week that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "will continue to speak out and urge Senator Tuberville to lift his holds that are putting our readiness and our national security at risk."

Tuberville's disruption to military careers and families has exacted a toll, said Albert Robbert, an adjunct researcher at the nonpartisan think tank RAND Corp.

"Clearly, we are seeing a compounding of the disruptions to organizational management, senior officer development and management, and the interests and welfare of senior leaders’ family members," Robbert said. "It would not be surprising to see some promising leaders retire out of frustration."

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., listens during the Senate Armed Services hearing to examine the nomination of Admiral Lisa Franchetti, United States Navy, for reappointment to the grade of admiral and to be Chief of Naval Operations, Department of Defense, on Sept. 14, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

'Any senator’s got the right to do what he or she wants to do'

To Tuberville, the standoff he has taken over abortion is a win with his GOP colleagues.

“Obviously, some people don’t support it, but they don’t say anything,” Tuberville told reporters on Capitol Hill last week. “But I’ve gotten a lot of support. I’ll put it that way.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., is one lawmaker who falls in Tuberville's corner. If the military changes its policies on abortion, Tuberville would end his blockade on military holds, she said.

“I think this is much ado about nothing,” she told USA TODAY on Capitol Hill last week. “There are ways that other people can address this and should, instead of letting this sit on Sen. Tuberville’s shoulders alone. “

Others, like Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Braun of Indiana, told USA TODAY that Tuberville is not out of bounds by blocking military confirmations.

“I think any senator’s got the right to do what he or she wants to do,” Braun said, “and he obviously think that’s important, and I acknowledge his right to do that.”

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of few GOP senators who has publicly spoken out against Tuberville's hold, said he would like to see a formal vote on the abortion policy to settle the matter so the chamber could move on with the military promotions.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also opposes Tuberville's holds.

"Holding military nominations hostage is not a winning tactic for anyone, especially in light of retention challenges and the very real threats we face in the Pacific and elsewhere. These holds are starting to have cascading impacts that are degrading our national security," she posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaks with reporters as he leaves a luncheon with Senate Republicans in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 13, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

'Just bring them up for a vote'

Other Senate Republicans shifted the blame away from Tuberville, instead targeting Schumer for not bringing separate votes for each military nomination to the floor.

As of August, it would take the Senate nearly 690 hours, or three months of full-day sessions, to approve each nomination individually, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Numerous military nominations are usually taken up as a group by unanimous consent, a process that moves along quickly and allows for multiple nominations to pass at the same time. But when a senator objects to unanimous consent, like in the case with Tuberville, a hold is placed on nominations where the Senate must consider and vote on each nomination separately − an arduous process that takes up much more floor time.

But Senate Republicans told USA TODAY the added floor time is not an excuse for Schumer keep confirmations off the floor.

“It’s past time for Sen. Schumer to schedule these votes and quit pretending Democrats aren’t in control of the Senate floor schedule,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said in a statement to USA TODAY.

'Beyond distressing': Democratic lawmaker knocks Tuberville's hold on military promotions

And a retiring chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff isn't putting added pressure or a time crunch on moving forward with nominations, some Republicans told USA TODAY.

“You could have a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs tonight because all it takes is a motion to move to it and a vote up or down,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., added, telling reporters on Capitol Hill last week.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., talks with reporters as he walks to a vote on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 in Washington.

Stafford, Tuberville's spokesperson, said in a statement to USA TODAY the Alabama lawmaker "has every confidence" that vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Grady will "do the job and advise the president well" handling the duties of his position as well as Milley's after the chair retires.

Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., concluded the quickest way for confirmations to move forward is for either Schumer to schedule votes on nominees or for Secretary Austin to rescind the Defense Department’s abortion travel policy.

“Secretary Austin could literally fix this with the stroke of a pen,” he said in a statement.

Tuberville's campaign fundraising spiked after he announced the hold on military promotions in February. He raised $10,916 in January, with that figure jumping to $90,558 in February, according to Federal Election Commission records. For the first six months of 2023, Tuberville raised about $495,000.

Contributing: Erin Mansfield

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tuberville blocks military promotions. Here's how GOP senators feel

US House panel asks Hawaiian Electric CEO to testify in wildfire probe

Reuters
Thu, September 14, 2023 

The shells of burned houses and buildings are left after wildfires in Lahaina

(Reuters) -The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday asked utility company Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura to testify at a hearing investigating the causes of the wildfire that killed at least 115 people and razed the historic town of Lahaina.

The hearing will take place on Sept. 28 in Washington before the panel that started a probe last month into one of the deadliest wildfires in the United States in more than a century.

Along with Kimura, the committee also summoned officials of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and the Hawai’i State Energy Office.

Last month, the panel sent letters to Hawaiian Electric as well as state utility officials, seeking information about the wildfires.

“As we have done with all the inquiries regarding the events of August 8, we stand ready to share what we know about what happened on Maui," a company spokesperson said, adding that Kimura would testify.

Hawaiian Electric's shares rose about 1%.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy and Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

Time to panic? The home insurance market in California is collapsing because of climate change

Anita Chabria, Erika D. Smith
Thu, September 14, 2023 

CalFire crews defend a Beaumont home from the raging Rabbit fire amid triple-digit heat in Riverside County in July. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

As another legislative session draws to a close in Sacramento, the problem lawmakers failed to fix is one of the most urgent facing Californians: the slow-moving collapse of the property insurance market as costs from climate disasters mount.

It "is not even a yellow flag issue. This is a waving red flag issue," Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday night when asked about the failure of the Legislature to act.

This year, multiple companies, including the state's largest home insurer, State Farm, have announced they are no longer taking on new residential and commercial properties, citing wildfire risk. In fact, seven of the 12 insurance groups operating in California — together, responsible for about 85% of the market — have pulled back.

But backroom talks among elected officials to figure out a fair and workable path forward to entice insurance companies to write more — or in some cases any — policies didn't go anywhere. Instead, lawmakers are vehemently pledging to hold public hearings this fall about the shrinking prospects for Californians seeking coverage for their homes and, by extension, their prospects for getting and hanging onto their mortgage during a deepening housing crisis.

Read more: Column: State Farm is right. California can't keep building housing in high-risk places

If only insurance were as cheap as talk.

It is painfully clear that the speed and ferocity of climate disasters has intensified. Only eight months into 2023, the U.S. has recorded 23 climate-related disasters, each with damages of at least $1 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That shatters the previous record of 22 such disasters the entire year of 2020.

It is increasingly uncertain who is going to pay for all that damage, to, as much as possible, make whole all those upended lives.

Should Californians living in the most dangerous places, whether facing wildfires, flooding or sea-level rise, shoulder more of the cost for their risk? And does it matter that many such communities are low-income, filled with residents who have sought out these places precisely because they were priced out of cities that have refused to build more affordable housing?

Or should risk be shared among us all, no matter where we live? Higher insurance premiums across the board to stabilize an industry that we all need.

Or, should insurance companies be forced to somehow continue carrying the burden of climate disasters?

Rumor has it that a Legislative fix was held up largely because no one could agree on an answer. Even a compromise wouldn't be politically popular, which may be why that part of the debate has stayed largely behind closed doors.

But as Newsom pointed out, the pressure building on the insurance industry is "America's coming attraction in terms of impacts of climate."

That holds true for California with its eroding coastline, mudslides and fire-prone mountains; for Florida, Louisiana and Texas with hurricanes; for places such as Kentucky and Vermont where extreme weather has led to devastating floods.

Even for renters and car owners, the cost of insurance is rising and will rise further as temperatures do.

"People can only afford so much, even middle-class people or upper-middle-class people. Throughout the United States, in different geographies, we're reaching a point where climate change is driving to an uninsurable future," said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and current director of UC Berkeley's Climate Risk Initiative. "The risk is too high, at almost any price."

Let us be clear on this: Of course, insurance companies want to maximize their profits. Of course, some of their claims around climate risk are posturing to increase rates. And yes, other factors including inflation on construction are part of the equation.

Climate change should not be a free pass to gouge consumers — despite all those disaster claims, insurance companies are still making money, though their profit margins might not be as thick as in the past.

But insurance is the safest bet against personal calamity, climate-induced or otherwise, so we need insurers to remain in the market. Which means we need to acknowledge that climate change has altered the math on protecting the places we live and work.

"How do we work together to solve this in a way where everybody feels they're sharing a lot of the burden?" asked Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, who is a member of the Assembly Insurance Committee but wasn't directly involved in the negotiations in recent weeks.

Jones-Sawyer said he's deeply concerned about passing along the financial burden of climate disasters to consumers, specifically citing residents in his South L.A. district. In California, with its poverty and entrenched income inequality, many just can't afford it.

"On the Assembly side, it was a great concern that we did not overprice our constituents," he said. "If your homeowner's insurance went from $2,000 a year, which is relatively low, but skyrocketed to $6,000 a year, in one year, who's monitoring that? When it gets to that number, it becomes a little too much."

Read more: Rebuild | Reburn: Should we be rebuilding tiny, vulnerable Northern California towns?

In the short-term, fixing this mushrooming insurance crisis will probably fall to California's insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara — perhaps through an executive order from Newsom, though the governor doesn't have authority to regulate insurance.

Lara, of course, does, but his power isn't unlimited. And so what we will probably see in coming weeks is a three-pronged plan meant to attack the immediate problem while leaving the larger, more profound questions for later.

First, Lara will probably work to bolster the state's FAIR plan, the insurance of last resort for many — including Newsom, who owns a home covered by it.

Second, how we assess risk will probably be changed from models that look at past disasters to models that project forward, taking risks of climate change into account.

And third, Lara will probably seek to streamline the process of raising rates — which in California can be hard to do with regulations designed to protect consumers from obscene price hikes.

But this isn't just about insurance. It's just that insurance is the first system to face collapse.

"You can have debates about these various proposals, but what's underlying all that is climate change, and it's only going to get worse," Jones said.

::

One way or another, all taxpayers will be forced to pay more for the worsening effects of climate change.

Even if Lara requires insurance companies to account for forest thinning and other other landscape mitigation projects that reduce the risk of disasters — which he should — someone will have to pay for those projects. That "someone" will be taxpayers.

And in the many high-risk places in California, where mitigation probably won't make much of a dent, it will be taxpayers who will be on the hook to rebuild these communities after an increasingly inevitable disaster.

There are already signs we'll be paying more at the federal level.

Consider that just last month, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell took the alarming step of warning that the agency is running out of money after a year of nonstop disasters.

Read more: Every burned town is tragic. But Newsom needs to lead with science, not sentiment

The roughly $3.4 billion it has left in its Disaster Relief Fund, mostly used to reimburse communities for long-term recovery efforts, will be gone by this month. In response, President Biden has asked Congress for an additional $16 billion.

“Every American rightly expects FEMA to show up when they are needed to help in a disaster,” Biden told reporters during a tour of the damage Hurricane Idalia left in Florida. “I’m calling on the United States Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to ensure the funding is there to deal with the immediate crises, as well as our long-term commitments to the safety and security of the American people.”

This isn't the first time FEMA has been in this predicament and it probably won't be the last, leaving taxpayers to continually bail out the agency, so the agency can continually bail out communities destroyed by climate-change-fueled disasters.

Now imagine what will happen if there's also a full-on breakdown of the insurance market. This possible eventuality was the focus of a recent hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

“Without insurance, millions of families will be at greater risk for climate crises,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the committee, said during the hearing. “And as whole communities lose access to insurance, the impact is going to be felt all the way through our economy.”

That would be the greatest of disasters, and a place where California doesn't need to lead on climate.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Alex Jones spent over $93,000 in July. Sandy Hook families who sued him have yet to see a dime

DAVE COLLINS
Updated Thu, September 14, 2023 


 Alex Jones, second from right, arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. Lawyers for several Sandy Hook families are criticizing Alex Jones' personal spending as they seek nearly $1.5 billion they won in lawsuits against the Infowars host, for his calling the 2012 Newtown school shooting that killed 26 a hoax.

(Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — As Alex Jones continues telling his Infowars audience about his money problems and pleads for them to buy his products, his own documents show life is not all that bad — his net worth is around $14 million and his personal spending topped $93,000 in July alone, including thousands of dollars on meals and entertainment.

The conspiracy theorist and his lawyers file monthly financial reports in his personal bankruptcy case, and the latest one has struck a nerve with the families of victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. They're still seeking the $1.5 billion they won last year in lawsuits against Jones and his media company for repeatedly calling the 2012 massacre a hoax on his shows.

“It is disturbing that Alex Jones continues to spend money on excessive household expenditures and his extravagant lifestyle when that money rightfully belongs to the families he spent years tormenting,” said Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut lawyer for the families. “The families are increasingly concerned and will continue to contest these matters in court.”

In an Aug. 29 court filing, lawyers for the families said that if Jones doesn’t reduce his personal expenses to a “reasonable” level, they will ask the bankruptcy judge to bar him from “further waste of estate assets,” appoint a trustee to oversee his spending, or dismiss the bankruptcy case.

On his Infowars show Tuesday, Jones said he’s not doing anything wrong.

“If anything, I like to go to nice restaurants. That is my deal. I like to go on a couple of nice vacations a year, but I think I pretty much have earned that in this fight,” he said, urging his audience to donate money for his legal expenses.

Jones' spending in July, which was up from nearly $75,000 in April, included his monthly $15,000 payment to his wife, Erika Wulff Jones — payouts called “fraudulent transfers” by lawyers for the Sandy Hook families. Jones says they’re required under a prenuptial agreement.

Also that month, Jones spent $7,900 on housekeeping and dished out more than $6,300 for meals and entertainment, not including groceries, which totaled nearly $3,400 — or roughly $850 per week.

A second home, his Texas lake house, cost him nearly $6,700 that month, including maintenance and property taxes, while his vehicles and boats sapped another $5,600, including insurance, maintenance and fuel.

Sandy Hook families won nearly the $1.5 billion in judgments against Jones last year in lawsuits over repeated promotion of a false theory that the school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, never happened.

Relatives of the victims testified at the trials about being harassed and threatened by Jones' believers, who sent threats and even confronted the grieving families in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors” whose children never existed.

Collecting the astronomical sum, though, is proving to be a long battle.

When Jones filed for bankruptcy, it put a hold on the families' efforts to collect the lawsuit judgments in state courts as a federal bankruptcy court judge decides how much money Jones can actually pay his creditors.

Lawyers for the families have said in court that it has been difficult for them to track Jones' finances because of the numerous companies he owns and multiple deals among those corporate entities.

Meanwhile, Jones is still broadcasting. He and his media company, Free Speech Systems, are seeking court approval for a new contract that would pay him $1.5 million a year plus incentive bonuses, up from his current $520,000-a-year salary. The company also filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

On Infowars, Jones said Tuesday that he is more than $1 million in debt. If he gets the salary increase, he said, he would be left with about $300,000 a year after paying his legal bills.

“With all my expenses and things, that’s nothing,” he said. “And I don’t care about that. I’m wearing a shirt I bought, like, eight years ago, and I love it to death.”

Financial documents filed by Jones and his bankruptcy lawyers say his personal net worth is around $14 million. His assets include a home worth $2.6 million, a $2.2 million ranch, a $1.8 million lake house, a $500,000 rental property, and four vehicles and two boats worth more than $330,000 in total. Jones had nearly $800,000 in his bank accounts on July 31, court documents show.

Free Speech Systems, meanwhile, continues to rake in cash from the sale nutritional supplements, survival supplies and other merchandise that Jones hawks on Infowars, bringing in nearly $2.5 million in revenue in July alone, according to Jones' financial reports, which he signed under penalty of perjury. The company's expenses totaled about $2.4 million that month.

Meanwhile, some of the Sandy Hook families have another pending lawsuit claiming Jones hid millions of dollars in an attempt to protect his wealth. One of Jones' lawyers has called the allegations “ridiculous.”

Jones, who is appealing the $1.5 billion in lawsuit awards against him, sat for a deposition in his bankruptcy case Tuesday and Wednesday in his hometown of Austin, Texas, where Infowars is based.

On his show Tuesday, he denied financial wrongdoing.

“I’m not Lex Luthor ... when it comes to finances and life,” he said. “I mean, I’m a straight-up guy. I’m a do-good in Mayberry RFD.”

Alex Jones was supposed to pay victims $1.5 billion. Why is he spending $93K a month on himself?

Will Carless, USA TODAY
Fri, September 15, 2023 

Following a USA TODAY investigation into the US military’s apparently failing efforts to combat extremism, a coalition of human rights groups pressed the Secretary of Defense on his progress. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been spending lavishly on himself, without paying his victims a cent, a pro-Russia propagandist accused of participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection has fled to Russia, and a Boogaloo Boy in Nevada receives a life sentence for threatening a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest.

It’s the week in extremism
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius at the Pentagon in Washington, Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

Coalition calls for transparency in military’s anti-extremism effort

In July, USA TODAY published an investigation of the U.S. military’s two-year effort to combat extremism in the ranks. We found that despite a set of orders from the Secretary of Defense and a later task force, most reforms appear to have either failed or stalled.

On Wednesday, a coalition of 35 human rights groups called on the Secretary of Defense to open up about the military’s extremism reform efforts, citing USA TODAY’s work.

• The coalition wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, urging him to make more information public about the reforms he announced in April 2021.

• In 2021, Austin ordered a study into the extent of extremism in the military’s “total force,” which USA TODAY exclusively reported was completed in June 2022, but has yet to be released.

• “Extremism undermines the strength of the military and our democracy,” the groups, led by Human Rights First, wrote in the letter.

Alex Jones, living the high life, hasn’t paid victims a cent

Last year, conspiracy theorist and extremist broadcaster Alex Jones was ordered to pay more than $1.5 billion in judgments to families of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. A series of court rulings ordered the payments after Jones spread false conspiracy theories about their children’s deaths.  While Jones still hasn’t paid his victims a cent, he spent $93,000 on himself in July, according to bankruptcy filings reported by the Associated Press.

• Jones has been paying his wife $15,000 a month. In July, he spent $7,900 on housekeeping, $6,300 on meals and entertainment, and $6,700 on a second home, the AP reports.

• “If anything, I like to go to nice restaurants. That is my deal. I like to go on a couple of nice vacations a year, but I think I pretty much have earned that in this fight,” Jones said on his Infowars show.

• Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the victims said the families will continue to fight: “It is disturbing that Alex Jones continues to spend money on excessive household expenditures and his extravagant lifestyle when that money rightfully belongs to the families he spent years tormenting,” Mattei said.

Pro-Russian activist reportedly flees to Russia

Charles Bausman, a pro-Kremlin propagandist, has apparently fled to Russia, leaving behind property worth almost $1 million, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC previously reported that anonymous online activists had identified Bausman among people in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

• Bausman, who according to the report has lived in Russia on-and-off for 30 years, founded the pro-Kremlin website Russia Insider in 2014.

• Bausman left the U.S. for Russia soon after Jan. 6, 2021, the report says, apparently abandoning a property in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is reportedly delinquent on the taxes for the property.

• “Of all the people that have been arrested after Jan. 6 ... I might have been one of them had I not fled to Russia!” Bausman said on an appearance on a Russian-language streaming radio show last July, according to the report.

• The Justice Department told the SPLC it would not comment on possible investigations. As USA TODAY has previously reported, many people who have been identified in the Jan. 6 riot have yet to be charged.

Running tally: January 6 arrests Running tally: January 6 arrests

In this file photo a member of the far-right militia, Boogaloo Bois, walks next to protestors demonstrating outside Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Metro Division 2 just outside of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 29, 2020. - A far-right movement whose followers have appeared heavily armed at recent US protests has suddenly become one of the biggest worries of law enforcement, after one killed two California police officers.

 (Photo by Logan Cyrus / AFP)

Boogaloo sentenced to life for threatening BLM protest

Late last week, Stephen Parshall, a 39-year-old former Navy enlistee and Nevada resident, was sentenced to life in prison with parole for his role in a plot to bomb an electrical substation near a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas in 2020.

• According to court documents, Parshall self-identified as a member of the “Boogaloo” movement, a loosely affiliated, mostly online collection of anti-government and pro-gun extremists who advocate for a second civil war they call the “Boogaloo.”

• Parshall also previously pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Statistic of the week: 86%

That’s the percentage of a set of 300 posts promoting hate that were reported to X, formerly known as Twitter, but were not removed, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

The CCDH has previously been highly critical of X’s content moderation efforts. Elon Musk, who owns X, sued the center in late July, claiming it is driving away advertisers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alex Jones hasn't paid Sandy Hook victims any of the $1.5B he owes