Three things for October 25
1. Record-breaking cyclone rattles the West Coast
Over the weekend, the West Coast faced record-breaking storms and rainfall as a system of storms battered the coast.
“The last installment of a parade of storms barreled into the West Coast on Sunday, unloading more heavy rain that resulted in serious flooding and debris flows across drought-stricken and wildfire-ravaged California and even breaking some all-time 24-hour precipitation records,” reports AccuWeather.
Downtown San Fransisco experienced 4.02 inches of rain, making it the most rainfall in a day in October recorded in the city. Many parts of California and the West Coast experienced similar record-breaking rainfall.
Central California experienced widespread rainfall from five to 10 inches. The National Weather Service reported up to 16.53 inches in some places.
The excessive rain and consequential flooding caused a significant uptick in weather-related traffic accidents and rockslides and a number of water rescues.
The storm system caused significant power outages across the West Coast that have continued into Monday afternoon.
“At one point Sunday afternoon, more than 160,000 customers in California were experiencing power outages amid the powerful storm, some 28,000 outages were reported in Oregon and 109,000 had power cut in Washington, according to PowerOutage.us. By Monday morning, those numbers were declining, but about 112,000 customers in California still hadn’t seen power restored,” reports AccuWeather.
2. Deadly prop mishap causes the death of cinematographer on set of ‘Rust’
On Friday, actor and producer Alec Baldwin was involved in the fatal shooting of a crew member on the set of “Rust.”
“Alec Baldwin was handed what was described as a safe ‘cold gun’ on the set of his movie ‘Rust’, but the prop gun contained live rounds when it was fired, according to details of the police investigation into the fatal shooting released on Friday,” reports Reuters.
The shot hit Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer, fatally in the stomach and wounded Joel Souza, director, in the shoulder.
The assistant director who handed Baldwin the firearm was unaware of a live round being loaded.
Ammunition, the prop gun, and camera and set equipment were seized by local police.
“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred, and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna,” said Baldwin, according to CNN.
3. Sudan’s military seizes power
Sudan’s military has seized power in the country today, just hours after arresting the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman to demonstrate as military and paramilitary groups attempted to disperse them.
“As plumes of smoke rose, protesters could be heard chanting, ‘The people are stronger, stronger!’ and ‘Retreat is not an option!’” reports the AP News.
Sudan’s Doctor’s Committee said that three protesters have been killed by gunfire and 80 have been wounded.
General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, disbanded the Sovereign Council, a joint military and civilian body created to function until elections could be held.
“The general declared a state of emergency and said the military will appoint a technocratic government to lead the country to elections, set for July 2023. But he made clear the military will remain in charge,” reports AP News.
The United Nations, the United States and the European Union have all condemned the actions in the country. President Biden has stopped $700 million in aid intended to go towards helping the Sudanese people establish a democratic government.
