Key Facts Of The Day 10/03

Hurricanes

• Days after Hurricane Ian hit, communities on the east coast are facing the devastating aftermath. 
  • Officials confirmed Ian has killed at least 76 people in Florida, four in North Carolina, and three in Cuba. 
  • On Sunday, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said more than 1,600 people have been rescued from Hurricane Ian’s path in parts of southwest and central Florida since last week. 
    • Lee County officials faced criticism about why the first mandatory evacuations weren’t ordered until a day before Ian’s landfall, despite an emergency plan which suggests evacuations should have happened earlier.
    • Coast Guard, municipal and private crews have been using helicopters, boats, and even jet skis to evacuate people over the past several days.
  • As of Monday morning, more than 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida still do not have power.
    • Some customers may not be back on the grid for “weeks or months” because some buildings with structural damage will need safety inspections. 
  • More than 100 boil-water advisories remained in place as of Monday morning. 
  • Southwestern coastal cities like Fort Myers and Naples took the hardest hit from Ian and some neighborhoods were annihilated.
  • Ian’s remnants have formed a nor’easter which is expected to drive more water into an already inundated Chesapeake Bay.
    • The significant increase in water could produce the worst tidal flooding in  Virginia’s Hampton Roads region in the last 10 to 15 years.
• Weeks after Hurricane Fiona hit the island, President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell will meet with Hurricane Fiona victims and announce $60 million in infrastructure funding for Puerto Rico.
  • An estimated 120,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Puerto Rico on Monday.
  • The Ponce region experienced significant storm damage and power had been restored for 86% of residents there as of Sunday evening.
  • The Biden administration also approved a Jones Act waiver last week, opening up the potential for additional diesel to be shipped to Puerto Rico.
• More Americans are moving into hurricane zones even as climate risks increase.
  • The Southeast’s low cost of living beckons retirees and younger workers, but the boom is putting more people in harm’s way.
  • Charleston, South Carolina has greenlit plans for a more-than 9,000 acre residential and commercial development that, environmental advocates say, would locate about half of its homes in a flood plain.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, there are currently 72 large active wildfires that have burned 766,553 across CA, ID, MT, OR, SD, TX, and WA. As of Monday, 54,184 wildfires have burned 6,924,968 acres across the country.
• In California, 1 fire has burned 76,788 acres as of Monday.
  • The Mosquito Fire has burned 76,788 acres and is 90% contained as of Monday.
• In Oregon, 5 fires have burned 327,016 acres as of Thursday.
  • The Cedar Creek Fire has burned 120,694 acres and is 32% contained as of Monday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 1,800 acres as of Monday.

Extreme Heat

• Since Aug. 24, Oregon OSHA has received multiple complaints about hazardous conditions at schools including heat stress at schools, or staff and students lacking access to cold water.
  • Complainants describe staff bringing in their own window units from home to cool classrooms, students and staff feeling faint, and schools lacking functioning windows to increase airflow.
• According to Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO, Ryan Jacobsen, farmers in California have lost more than 300 thousand acres of rice production due to the ongoing drought.
• Below-average pecan harvest due to drought and summer heat in Texas.
• Texas farmers are facing the worst cotton harvest in years due to the historic drought.
  • The International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech University estimates this year’s cotton production in the High Plains will be down by about $2 billion.
  • Texas farmers planted about 7.9 million acres of cotton, but less than half—about 2.5 million acres—are expected to be harvested. 

New Reports and Data

• An October 2022 study found that the frequency of rainy days in the Arctic could roughly double by 2100.
• A September 2022 study found that the Pacific Northwest deadly heat dome in 2021 was a 10,000-year event.