35 guns, thousands of rounds of ammo found during manufacturing firearm investigation

Updated: 6:24 PM PDT Jun 24, 2020

Two people were arrested for stolen firearms and illegally manufacturing guns and "destructive devices", according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. Deputies arrested James Lauderdale, 44, of Salinas, and Robert Lauderdale, 55, of Prunedale. A search of two different homes turned up 35 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and evidence of manufactured firearms and destructive devices, reported the Sheriff's Office. Firearms located at both locations were determined to be stolen during a residential burglary in Salinas.James and Robert were both arrested and booked into the Monterey County Jail on several weapons related charges.Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jason Sullivan at 831-759-7279 or Detective Sergeant David Vargas at 831-755-3771.

Two people were arrested for stolen firearms and illegally manufacturing guns and "destructive devices", according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies arrested James Lauderdale, 44, of Salinas, and Robert Lauderdale, 55, of Prunedale.

A search of two different homes turned up 35 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and evidence of manufactured firearms and destructive devices, reported the Sheriff's Office.

Firearms located at both locations were determined to be stolen during a residential burglary in Salinas.

James and Robert were both arrested and booked into the Monterey County Jail on several weapons related charges.Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jason Sullivan at 831-759-7279 or Detective Sergeant David Vargas at 831-755-3771.

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35 guns, thousands of rounds of ammo found during manufacturing firearm investigation - KSBW Monterey

If tropical weather threatens Pinellas County this year, residents and businesses on the barrier islands and those living in mobile or manufactured homes would be first in any evacuation order.

That was just one of the messages shared during the first-ever Barrier Islands Virtual Preparedness Summit June 4 presented by Emergency management and beach representatives.

The summit focused on extra preparedness needs for the barrier islands, but much of the information was pertinent to all residents. The biggest difference for those on the barrier islands is the threat from storm surge, which is the reason those areas are first to be evacuated.

Joe Borries, Emergency Management operations manager, said when the order is given it is because storm surge is expected to get high enough to enter homes and businesses.

Its not safe to stay, he said.

And the estimated storm surge doesnt account for wave action. Borries said 4 feet of storm surge plus 4 feet of wave action would mean 8 feet of water inside homes and businesses.

Run from water and hide from wind, Borries said, which is a common phrase when talking about tropical weather.

He said all parts of the barrier islands were vulnerable to storm surge. And he cautioned those who live in a condominium that think they can evacuate up instead of out.

Thats not a great idea, he said.

Electrical equipment at ground level is vulnerable to salt water and when it gets wet, power losses follow, disabling elevators and other systems. Although some believe that Duke Energy cuts the power to the barrier islands during evacuations, Borries said thats not true.

He reminded residents that heat rises, so it would be uncomfortable quick with no air conditioning. And winds are stronger up high with no trees to protect structures from straight line winds.

Plus, vehicles would be parked on the ground, so deciding to stay instead of evacuating could cost you your car, Borries said.

Fire departments move their equipment inland as does public works, so the equipment will be safe and ready to respond after a storm has passed.

Mike Burton, chief of Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District, said his department had a plan to follow if tropical weather occurred, and he asked the community to do the same.

When an evacuation order is given is not the time to think of where you would go, he said.

He said there was a finite window of time to have a chance to leave safely. When sustained winds get to 50 mph, first responders will be grounded, so no one will be coming if you need help, he said. Even before that, bridges will be closed.

Burton said 911 telecommunicators have the toughest job, as they take phone calls from desperate people and have to tell them help is not on the way.

Thats gut wrenching, he said, adding that its a difficult decision thats in conflict with what they to do serve and help.

Depending on the damage, it could be many hours or days before help will come. Before any response can happen, bridges have to be inspected and debris and downed power lines have to be removed to clear the roads. And thats before damage can be accessed on the barrier islands.

Burton said there is just no way to know how long it might be before help will be available on the barrier islands after a hurricane.

Many in Pinellas, including all those living in a mobile or manufactured home, will need to evacuate, depending on where you live and the strength of the storm. You can find out your evacuation zone by visiting http://www.pinellascounty.org/knowyourzone, looking at your county Utilities bill or property appraiser records. Those with a landline can call 727-453-3150.

If your plan calls for evacuating, its not necessary to go hundreds of miles. Its better to go tens of miles and stay with family, friends in host homes or even check into a hotel, Borries said. Public shelters should be used as a last resort only.

Mecca Serfustini, Health and Human Services program lead with Emergency Management, said there were three types of shelters special needs, general and pet-friendly. General and pet-friendly are essentially the same, except one accepts pets, she said. Special needs shelters provide different access and functional needs, she said.

Serfustini said general shelters dont have generators, so evacuees are encouraged to bring battery-operated fans and flashlights. Space is limited and even more so this year, as social distancing is included in plans due to COVID-19. People from the same household can stay together, but apart from others.

She said theres space for a twin-size air mattress, camping cot or pool lounge chair. Its noisy, so ear plugs are recommended, and the lights are on all the time, so people might want to bring a sleep mask.

Speaking of masks, due to the pandemic, cloth face masks are required, so bring your own if possible, as well as hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.

Water and food will be available; however, Serfustini said its school food, so if you have special dietary requirements, you should bring you own. And snacks wont be provided, so bring those too.

Bring necessary medications, regardless of which shelter type you choose.

Evacuees going with their cats and/or dogs to a pet-friendly shelter should bring documentation that shows the animal has a county license. Bring them in a crate or carrier. Bring any necessary medications. Pets wont get to sleep with their humans because of potential allergies of others in the shelter. Serfustini said to bring toys, a favorite blanket or a shirt that smells like you to provide comfort to your pets.

She also talked about staffing shortages. She said many of those who traditionally volunteer to help out in shelters are elderly and they dont want to risk exposure to COVID-19. She advised anyone going to a special needs shelter to bring a family member or other caregiver to look after them.

People who have medical conditions, need transportation to get to a shelter or other special needs are urged to sign up now, so they can be included in the countys preparedness plans. Visit http://www.pinellascounty.org/specialneeds or call Emergency Management at 727-464-3800.

Joe Primosch, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 11-3 in Madeira Beach, offered lots of preparedness tips for the thousands of registered boat owners in the county.

Everything starts with the plan, he said, including understanding your insurance policy.

Decide what you will do, which could include pre-arranging boat hauling or going to protected water. If you plan to affix your boat to docks or pilings, make sure to orient into the wind. Use multiple anchors, chafe gear and new, larger lines.

Whatever you do dont stay aboard, Primosch said.

If your boat is on a trailer, check the trailer, tires and axle condition in advance. Find a safe place, then lash the boat and trailer together and block the wheels. Secure it to a fixed object and tie to screw anchors.

If your boat is not on a trailer, put it in dry storage. Primosch said to never leave a boat on davits. If the boat is in wet storage, secure it in the marina berth, moor it in a safe area or haul it out.

For all boats, regardless of anything else, Primosch said remove all you can from it. Tape up the seams, windows and doors and prepare early. The safest place is on shore, tied down with screw in projectiles on all four corners.

If you plan to leave it in the water, use spring lines, 15-20 feet long, doubled up, stretched front to back to allow the boat to move up and down.

Tampa Bay Newspapers interviewed Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins on the first day of hurricane season, June 1.

She said one of the most important things the public should do this year is to stay informed, as things will likely be changing between now and the end of the season on Nov. 30 due to COVID-19.

Perkins recommends Alert Pinellas as a good place to get emergency notifications by phone, text or email. Sign up at http://www.pinellascounty.org/alertpinellas. She also recommended the Ready Pinellas app, which can be downloaded for free onto a mobile device.

Ready Pinellas allows the public to look up their evacuation zone, create an emergency plan, provides a list of supplies for a hurricane kit, as well as a checklist of what should be done before a storm arrives. Ready Pinellas is available to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

In addition, Pinellas County governments Facebook and Twitter accounts are good sources for updated information, and the website http://www.pinellascounty.org/emergency.

A NOAA Weather Alert Radio is another good tool to receive automatic alerts from the National Weather Service. And dont forget to visit the National Hurricane Center at https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/.

Tampa Bay Newspapers and other local media sources also will have information on any hurricanes or tropical storms that threaten the area.

One of the best local sources is the countys All Hazard Guide available online at http://www.pinellascounty.org/emergency/PDF/All_Hazard_Guide.pdf or visit http://www.pinellascounty.org/emergency.

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is off to busy start with three named storms already on the books as of June 2.

Tropical Storm Arthur formed May 16 off the east-central coast of Florida. Tropical Storm Bertha followed on May 27 forming near the coast of South Carolina and making landfall the same day.

Tropical Storm Cristobal came next on June 2 and set a record for being the third named storm ever to form before June 5. Pinellas felt its effects with National Weather Service issuing a flood watch, coastal flooding statement, high surf advisory and rip current statement, as well as small craft advisories that lasted through the weekend and into Monday.

NOAAs Climate Prediction Center released its 2020 Atlantic hurricane season outlook May 21. Forecasters say it is most likely that the season will be above average and could possibly be very active.

Odds are 60% that the season will be above normal, 30% it will be near normal and 10% it will be below normal.

Forecasters gave a 70% chance that 13-19 named storms would form with winds of 39 mph or higher, six-10 hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher and three-six major hurricanes, which are Category 3 or above with winds of 111 mph or higher.

An average season includes 12 named storms with six strengthening into a hurricane and three becoming a major hurricane.

Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30.

Suzette Porter is TBNs Pinellas County editor. She can be reached at sporter@tbnweekly.com.

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Hurricane season is here and it's time to get ready - Tampa Bay Newspapers

By wsmith@mihomepaper.com | on June 11, 2020

Fire was visible from a home on Van Buren Court in Broadview Estate Mobile Home Community as firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control, June 5. Photo provided

RICHFIELD TWP. A manufactured home on Van Buren Court in Broadview Estates, at Richfield Road and M-15, was mostly destroyed and a couple of surrounding mobile homes were damaged during at blaze, June 5.

The Davison-Richfield Area Fire Department responded to the fire at about 7:15 p.m., but theyd already been on that same street earlier in the day when a car fire was reported. Chief Brian Flewelling said the two blazes were unrelated.

The more serious fire took place in the mobile home and Flewelling said no one was injured, but the structure was destroyed, as well as a shed, where the fire is believed to have started. The heat from the fire also damaged to adjacent mobile homes.

It started out in shed and spread to trailer, and did damage to two other homes, said Flewelling. There were no injuriesdespite the heat that day, everyone was just fine.

He said the department spent three hours at the scene fighting the fire. They received assistance from the Forest Township Fire Department, while Atlas Township fire fighters manned Station No. 1 in their absence.

Flewelling said the cause of the fire has not been determined and is still under investigation.

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Fire department called to unrelated fires on the same street, hours apart - Browncitybanner

Key points

Sell in May and go away? Well, not quite.

For equity investors, the rally that began 23 March continued through May. Incredibly, despite a one in 100-year pandemic, calendar year-to-date (at 1 June 2020) the Nasdaq is now up +8%, global equities (in AUD) only down -4%, and the S&P500 down -7%. By contrast, US REITs and listed global real estate are both down ~20%.

Source: Bloomberg, Quay Global Investors

Despite the tsunami of dire economic indicators (jobless claims, GDP estimates, industrial production), one can make an argument that the recent bounce in equities is based on the massive fiscal response from most governments. Indeed, last month we made the case using the Kalecki-Levi profit framework.

So why has real estate lagged?

One argument is that real estate is exposed to sectors that may be challenged in a post COVID-19 world. Retail and office (not a small part of the market) are good examples. However, like the broader equity market, the real estate universe includes many sectors that are unlikely to be impacted solely by the virus, such as industrial property, single family homes, apartments, data storage and self-storage, etc.

Of course, if the world is headed for a deep and protracted recession, the performance of the real estate indices is justifiable. But the broader equity market is telling a different story. Either the recovery is extremely quick, or investors are willing to look past the downturn all together.

Either way, there seem to be inconsistencies. In Australia, retailers such as JB Hi-Fi are down just -7% and Premier Investments -14%, while Scentre Group (a senior creditor to both the aforementioned businesses) is down around -40%.

Of course, its early days, and the equity market may well be wrong the world could be headed for a significant and prolonged economic downturn and markets may need to re-adjust. Time will tell.

However, we think a better explanation is a strong recency bias against real estate.

During the GFC, real estate was one of the worst performing asset classes and justifiably so. Part of the reason was that the financial crisis began as a real estate crisis (US housing), before morphing into a credit crisis. Real estate relies on credit, and back in 2008 many real estate companies were significantly levered (50-60% loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) were not uncommon). Further, since it was almost 80 years since the last major financial crisis, little value was placed on access to liquidity. So when the crisis hit and liquidity was needed, the cupboard was bare; and for many, the only alternative was equity at painfully depressed prices.

Big losses were locked in, and many investors today still remember those costs.

Our observation is the current climate is different.

While we cannot speak to the entire REIT universe, balance sheets across Quays coverage list (including investees) are in much better shape than those prior to the GFC. We estimate the average LVR across our portfolio at 26% measured by debt to enterprise value, or 5.4x measured by net debt/EBITDA. Additionally, all of our companies have significant access to liquidity. And even if they were to fall short, central banks have taken the highly unusual step of buying investment (and sub investment) grade credit, providing a credit backstop for all industries including real estate.

By way of example, one of our investees, Camden Property Trust, issued 10-year notes at an all-in rate of 2.9% in the middle of April. There was over $8bn of investor demand for the $750m issue. Credit markets have improved since. In our opinion, access to liquidity and credit is generally not a problem.

Therefore, its more about the economy. Which means it is hard not to conclude that either the equity market is wrong, or there is a significant opportunity in global real estate.

One of the initial concerns stemming from stay-at-home orders was the inability (or unwillingness) of tenants to pay rent. Lack of rent would squeeze the cashflows of real estate owners, which (under a worst-case scenario) would lead to potential breaches of fixed-charge cover ratios within lending agreements.

The swift response of governments around the world with payments supporting wages and small businesses has ensured rents continue to flow. Indeed, outside of retail, most US REITs have reported mid-90% cash rent collection (with May collections generally better than April for apartments, healthcare and malls). Most of the rents not yet paid are on deferral agreements. Only slightly worse cash rent numbers were reported from Europe/UK.

Source: NAREIT

While the current environment is challenging, there are other elements that support REIT pricing in the medium term.

While there seems to be a disconnect between equity market euphoria and real estate depression, within the sector there appear to be anomalies.

Last year, we highlighted sectors within real estate that historically outperformed or underperformed during economic downturns. The chart is re-created below.

Source: Green Street Advisors, Quay Global Investors

However, the performance of these sectors to date have not matched the last downturn. Traditionally defensive sectors not directly affected by COVID-19, such as manufactured homes and apartments, are performing just as poorly or worse (when adjusted for leverage) than the more economically sensitive sectors of office and industrial. Given the high rate of rent collection to date, we see no reason why this should be the case.

Source: Green Street Advisors, Quay Global Investors

Again, similar to the relationship between equities and real estate, it seems even within the real estate sector investors cannot make up their mind whether we are having a recession or a recovery.

The opportunity is to buy the sectors where there is a prolonged recession implied in the market price this offers investors a skewed bet. If the worst-case economic scenario plays out, this should mostly be reflected in the price if not, significant upside is potentially available.

Where to from here for the market is subject to much debate. While there seems to be a degree of enthusiasm reflected in equity market indices, listed real estate has been a significant underperformer. Across most of our investees, we are seeing solid rent collection with robust balance sheets and good access to credit. Despite this, in some instances many years of share price gains have been erased and we believe this represents opportunity.

Continue reading here:
Real estate and COVID-19 - the story so far - Livewire Markets

The novel coronavirus isnt the only thing that has ravaged the U.S. this year.

Tornadoes have killed 76 people in the first five months of 2020, already making it the worst year for tornado-related deaths since the historically deadly year of 2011. The National Weather Service tracked 351 tornado reports last month, making it the second most-active April on record.

It is a frequent and deadly phenomenon. But scientists say the public has a misperception of who is truly at risk: The Deep South and Florida can be more prone to twisters than Tornado Alley itself.

Professor P. Grady Dixon, a physical geographer at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, says Tornado Alley the Great Plains states running from South Dakota to Texas is a vernacular that he wishes would go away, because it doesnt accurately describe the regions most susceptible to powerful tornadoes.

Its a misleading term, Dixon said. I understand why people use it, but I wish it would go away because I dont want people to think its only those square states in the Great Plains that get tornadoes.

He is one of the authors of a 2011 study that discovered some parts of the South and Southeast are the most prone to tornadoes in the nation. So far in 2020, southern states have suffered the most deaths: Tennessee leads the nation with 28 deaths and Mississippi has lost 13. No lives have been lost in Florida this year.

The study concluded that the Tampa Bay region and other parts of the Interstate 4 corridor experience as many tornadoes as some parts of the Great Plains however, theyre not powerful enough to cause significant damage.

Youre not going to have strong tornadoes most of the time in Florida, Dixon said. Counting the number of days with tornadoes, though, Florida has as many as any other state in the country.

The Washington Post wrote about how prevalent and deadly tornadoes have been in the south and why Tornado Alley is misleading.

Villanova University assistant professor Steven Strader, who specializes in environmental hazards and societal interactions, told the Post that the South is more vulnerable to tornadoes because it is denser than the spread-out farmland communities of the Plains.

Not only do Southern states have more sprawl, he said they also have more people living in mobile and manufactured homes. In Florida, those residents are always the first to be evacuated during a hurricane.

When a tornado does occur in either region, odds are much greater in the [South or Southeast] of it hitting something, Strader told the Post.

But Florida also has a natural advantage that protects it from the kinds of powerful tornadoes that have taken lives in other southern states. Its the Gulf of Mexico.

Tornadoes form when fronts cold or warm collide, producing severe weather. Thunderstorms are the most common result. Pressure and temperature changes can also come together to form a tornado. Those violent columns last minutes, but can produce devastating winds of 100 mph to an extreme of 300 mph.

Cold fronts can cause tornadoes in states such as Louisiana and Mississippi, but those fronts typically lose a lot of its power by the time they reach Central Florida.

"The warm Gulf has a way of helping slow down the forward momentum of cold air that causes tornadoes elsewhere," Dixon said. "It comes down to latitude."

The problem in Florida, he said, is that residents seem to keep being surprised by tornadoes.

"Anytime this happens, people in Florida who have grown accustomed to great weather, say Oh my gosh, this isnt supposed to happen here, he said. Well, theyre wrong. Florida has tornadoes frequently.

The difference between Alabama or Oklahoma with Florida is, they have far fewer tornadoes per event."

Floridians should be especially cautious now that hurricane season is almost here. Twisters often accompany storms as they make landfall, and hurricane season officially starts June 1.

The last thing you need during a hurricane is another hazard embedded with it, which is what makes the hurricane-induced tornadoes so scary, Dixon said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday that the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season could be an extremely active one. If that prediction holds, that also means residents may find themselves dealing with more tornado watches and warnings this year.

A tornado watch means conditions are ripe for tornadoes to form in the area, so residents should start seeking shelter or take precautions, according to the weather service. A tornado warning is issued when a potential twister has been detected or reported.

During a tornado watch or warning, Dixon suggests residents take shelter toward the center of their home. An underground shelter isnt necessary.

What about manufactured housing? Its not the units themselves that are at risk, Dixon said, its how theyre anchored to the ground. If those fail, the results could be catastrophic.

For any tornado youre going to experience in Florida, you dont need a really strong storm shelter, Dixon said. Its about putting walls between you and the outside.

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Florida is more prone to tornadoes than you think - Tampa Bay Times

EMERGENCY OFFICIALS ARE STARTING TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO START GETTING READY FOR IT NOW. BUT AS WESH 2S MEGAN MELLADO REPORTS, THEY SAY PREPARATIONS WILL LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR. MEGAN: THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FOR THIS UPCOMING HURRICANE SEASON HAS TO DO WITH SHELTERS. MANY OF THE SHELTERS IN OSCEOLA COUNTY USUALLY ACCOMMODATE ABOUT 200 PEOPLE, BUT WITH CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS IN MIND, EMERGENCY OFFICIALS ARE LIMITING THAT NUMBER TO 50. >> WERE ENCOURAGING OUR RESIDENTS THIS YEAR, BECAUSE OF COVID AND THE IMPACT IT WILL HAVE ON OUR EMERGENCY SHELTERS, TO, IF YOU CAN, AND YOURE IN A SITE-STRUCTURED BUILT HOME, TO SHELTER IN PLACE AT YOUR HOME. IF YOU CANT DO THAT, THEN WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO WITH FRIENDS OR FAMILY IN THE AREA TO RIDE OUT THE STORM. MEGAN: PEOPLE WHO FALL INTO THESE THREE CATEGORIES WILL TAKE PRIORITY WHEN IT COMES TO SHELTERS -- FIRST, IF YOU LIVE IN A MANUFACTURED HOME, LIKE A MOBILE HOME OR RV, SECOND, IF YOU LIVE IN A LOW-LYING OR FLOODPLAIN AREA, AND THIRD, IF YOU HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS OR REQUIRE MEDICAL CARE DUTCH MEDICAL CARE. THE SHELTERS WILL REQUIRE SCREENING AND TEMPERATURE CHECKS. >> WERE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE ISOLATION CENTERS. IF WE HAVE A SICK PERSON, ITLL BE TO MOVE THEM FROM THE POPULATION, ESPECIALLY IF THERES WINDS UP AND ITS A HURRICANE OUTSIDE, WE CANT MOVE THEM AT THAT POINT IN TIME. MEGAN: OSCEOLA COUNTY IS WORKING ON FINALIZING EXACT LOCATIONS AND PLANS. IN THE MEANTIME, THEY SAY NOW IS THE TIME FOR RESIDENTS TO PLAN AHEAD, BUILD A KIT,

Hurricane shelters will have limited capacity due to COVID-19

Many of the hurricane shelters in Osceola County usually accommodate about 200 to 300 people, but with COVID-19 concerns in mind, emergency officials are limiting that number to 50.

Updated: 6:21 PM EDT May 22, 2020

Many of the hurricane shelters in Osceola County usually accommodate about 200 to 300 people, but with COVID-19 concerns in mind, emergency officials are limiting that number to 50.Were encouraging our residents this year, because of COVID and the impact it will have on our emergency shelters, to if you can, and youre in a site-structured built home, to shelter in place at your home. If you cant do that, then we encourage you to go with friends or family in the area to ride out the storm, Emergency Management Director, Bill Litton, said.People who fall into these three categories will take priority when it comes to shelters:-Those who live in manufactured homes, like mobile homes or RVs-Those who live in low-lying or flood prone areas-Those who have special needs or require medical careThe shelters will require screening and temperature checks. They'll also have isolation areas if someone tests positive for COVID-19.Were going to have to have isolation centers. If we have a sick person, itll be to move them from the population especially if theres winds up and its a hurricane outside, we cant move them at that point in time.Osceola County is working on finalizing exact locations and plans In the meantime, they say NOW is the time for residents to plan ahead, build a kit, stay informed, and take action.

Many of the hurricane shelters in Osceola County usually accommodate about 200 to 300 people, but with COVID-19 concerns in mind, emergency officials are limiting that number to 50.

Were encouraging our residents this year, because of COVID and the impact it will have on our emergency shelters, to if you can, and youre in a site-structured built home, to shelter in place at your home. If you cant do that, then we encourage you to go with friends or family in the area to ride out the storm, Emergency Management Director, Bill Litton, said.

People who fall into these three categories will take priority when it comes to shelters:

-Those who live in manufactured homes, like mobile homes or RVs

-Those who live in low-lying or flood prone areas

-Those who have special needs or require medical care

The shelters will require screening and temperature checks. They'll also have isolation areas if someone tests positive for COVID-19.

Were going to have to have isolation centers. If we have a sick person, itll be to move them from the population especially if theres winds up and its a hurricane outside, we cant move them at that point in time.

Osceola County is working on finalizing exact locations and plans In the meantime, they say NOW is the time for residents to plan ahead, build a kit, stay informed, and take action.

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Hurricane shelters will have limited capacity due to COVID-19 - WESH 2 Orlando

Ted Fujita examines the circulation produced by a tornado vortex generator in his lab at the University of Chicago.

When people challenge a long-held belief, there is often pushback, and the famed weather researcher Dr. Tetsuya Theodore Ted Fujita was no exception. In his landmark studies of thunderstorms and tornadoes, Fujita made more than one discovery that his peers just couldnt acceptuntil they did.

Fujita, who carried out most of his research while a professor at the University of Chicago, will be profiled on Tuesday in Mr. Tornado, an installment of the PBS series American Experience.

Fujita is best known for the scale he created with meteorologist Allen Pearson to estimate tornado winds by the level of destruction found. Introduced in 1971, and updated as the Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007, the scale (also known simply as the F-scale, running from EF0 to EF5) is the near-universally accepted yardstick for gauging tornado strength.

Fujita was delighted when the National Weather Service adopted the original Fujita-Pearson Scale in the 1970s. He wasnt so thrilled when people refused to accept the concept of suction vortices. These mini-whirls spin around the edge of a multiple-vortex tornado, completing a circuit in mere seconds and adding as much as 100 mph to the parent tornados top winds.

A multi-vortex tornado developing near Katie, Oklahoma, on May 9, 2016.

Countless photos and videos have confirmed the existence of suction vortices, which produce some of the worst tornado damage as well as its often-haphazard-seeming nature.

Such images werent available in 1970, when Fujita first came up with the concept after analyzing damage from a tornado in Lubbock, Texas. His colleagues literally couldnt see it.

I got into a tremendous argument, Fujita recalled in a 1988 oral history conducted by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. You talk about a tornado; people take lots of pictures of a nice tornado [which has] one funnel. How can I say there's a small vortex running around, dancing around?

[They] said: You're dead wrong. But I still pursued my concept.

What turned the tables was a catastrophe: the Super Outbreak on April 3, 1974, which produced 148 twisters across the eastern U.S. and killed more than 300 people. The only comparable event in modern U.S. history is the Super Outbreak of April 27, 2011, that ravaged the South.

Fujita carried out aerial and ground surveys of the extensive damage, and they made the existence of suction vortices crystal clear.

Indianapolis TV stations sent me a beautiful [movie] that showed my suction vortices dancing around, and I went to the spot to find exactly what I expected. One house was damaged; the one right next to it was standing, untouched. Houses located in between the path of suction vortices left standing confirmed everything.

Fujita's aerial surveys in 1974 helped spur another of his great contributions: the discovery of microbursts. These compact, intense downdrafts led to the deaths of hundreds of air passengers in catastrophic wrecks, until a warning system was developed and implemented in the 1990s.

Since 1994, not a single U.S. airline passenger has been killed by a microburst.

In this 1980s photo, rain-cooled air from a thunderstorm crashes to the ground in the form of a downburst near Denvers former Stapleton International Airport, one of the main sites where microburst warning systems were developed and tested.

As a 24-year-old assistant university professor in Japan during World War II, Fujita visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima just weeks after nuclear bombs dropped by the U.S. devastated both cities. He mapped out how the catastrophic damage radiated from a central point, and theorized that thunderstorms must have similar downdrafts.

A landmark U.S. study in the 1940s and 1950s called the Thunderstorm Project independently came up with the same conclusion. But the dynamics behind these downdrafts didnt seem to be intense enough to cause major damage.

Fujita returned to the downdraft concept after he noticed starburst-like damage patterns from the 1974 Super Outbreak. These differed dramatically from the cyclonic swirls typical of tornado damage.

On June 24, 1975, an Eastern Airlines flight crashed in a thunderstorm at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing 113 of the 124 people aboard. Fujita was asked to investigate the accident. I analyzed about an eighteen-minute period when there were more than ten aircraft around [the apparent weather feature]. Some reported very bad wind shear, but the next one didn't. Even the control tower was confused.

Harking back to his first hand look at nuclear bomb damage, Fujita concluded that a much smaller, more intense downdraft must have been at work.

I got quite a bit of resistance at the time, but I'm glad that I went through it, Fujita said. What rescued me at the time were the pilots.They said, We had the same experience. It looked very innocuous and we went through it and all of a sudden, it was not a downdraft, there was a loss of airspeed.

Fujita surmisedand later studies confirmedthat the loss of airspeed occurred as pilots encountered a headwind, sinking air, and tailwind in rapid succession while flying through a microburst.

Among Fujitas other key insights:

He coined the terms collar cloud, tail cloud, and wall cloud in a paper analyzing a 1957 tornado that devastated Fargo, North Dakota. Storm spotters and chasers still use these terms often.

He introduced the concept of tornado families, in which a long-lived supercell thunderstorm produces several tornadoes in sequence. Storm surveyors now watch for distinct breaks between damage paths in order to distinguish members of a tornado family.

Greg Forbes, the longtime severe weather expert with The Weather Channel, was among those who earned a doctoral degree with Fujita as his advisor. Another was Roger Wakimoto, an eminent tornado researcher and former AMS president who is now vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Los Angeles.

I consider my time spent with Ted the personal highlight of my professional career, Wakimoto said in an email. I started at the University of Chicago unsure of my abilities to succeed. I left with a wealth of knowledge and confidence that I could successfully embark on a teaching and research career."

Fujita was a demanding advisor, but his enthusiasm, deep insights, and ability to conceptualize mesoscale processes were truly inspiring," Wakimoto added. "Ted loved to argue with other researchers when there was pushback for his suction vortex model, the existence of microbursts, and the accuracy of his windspeed estimates based on the F-scale. Debates on these topics seem to energize him, and he often said that time would prove that his theories were correct."

I was always in awe that his seminars and other public events would be literally packed to the rafters. He was a brilliant speaker and one of the greatest spokespersons for our community. I often think that today's TED talks were appropriately named after him.

Fujitas research continues to influence and inspire scientists delving into severe weather.

As a tornado nerd growing up in Minnesota in the 1980s, Fujita was a supernatural figure, said Robin Tanamachi, an assistant professor at Purdue University. Though Tanamachi never met him, I consider myself an heir of his scientific legacy. No matter which line of scientific inquiry I make in my tornado research, I always seem to come back to Fujita's books and papers.

While based at the University of Oklahoma, Tanamachi carried out measurements with a University of Massachusetts mobile Doppler radar of the very first tornado rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scalethe one that decimated Greensburg, Kansas, on May 4. 2007. She marvels at Fujitas exhaustive work in developing the original version of the scale.

Even today with mobile Doppler radars, accurate wind measurements in tornadoes are exceedingly rare, said Tanamachi. Fujita recognized that the only consistently available indicator of a tornado's wind speed is the damage path that it leaves behind.

By studying hundreds of tornado damage tracks, he was able to correlate damage to a standard indicator (a well-built house) to wind speeds, thereby creating the Fujita scale that is the basis for the Enhanced Fujita scale that we use today. All of this research was done without the aid of Doppler radars, drones, or machine learning.

This three-dimensional illustration of a microburst by Roger Wakimoto is based on a figure produced by Ted Fujita in 1985.

Tanamachi also points to Fujitas exceptionally meticulous illustrations, which became legendary in meteorological circles.

I was struck, as a child first learning about Fujita's work, by how even I could understand many of his graphics. They were simultaneously highly complex and yet crystal clear in their content and messaging.practically works of art, even more so because each image or frame of animation was painstakingly drafted by Fujita's own hand."

As a junior scientist, the lesson I took is that one can almost never spend too much time perfecting a figure," Tanamachi said. "It will be remembered long after the accompanying, explanatory text is forgotten.

Fujitas best-known legacythe tornado intensity scalehas continued to evolve long after Fujitas death in 1998 at age 78. Interest in an upgrade to the original F-scale grew as it became increasingly clear that peak tornado winds were likely lower than originally thought and that construction quality has a huge impact on tornado damage.

Following the April 26-28, 2011, tornado outbreak in the southeastern United States, James LaDue and Kevin Scharfenberg (NOAA/NWS) provided on-the-ground reports which, combined with information from aerial reconnaissance and emergency manager reports, led to an EF4 rating for the tornado affecting this location.

The Enhanced Fujita Scale that debuted in 2007 includes 28 separate damage indicators, ranging from single-family homes, manufactured homes, motels, and malls to transmission lines and hardwood trees. Each indicator has its own mini-scale that feeds into the tornados overall EF-scale rating. (The scale is calibrated so that a tornado with a given F rating in the old scale is comparable to the same EF rating in the new scale, even though estimated winds are now lower.)

Now theres another major upgrade in the works. James LaDue (NWS Warning Decision Training Division) is co-chairing a committee with the American Society of Civil Engineers that is charged with incorporating other types of data into the EF-rating process. For example, this could include observations from mobile radars, which can estimate peak winds in places where no visible damage occurred.

Ted had an amazing curiosity to investigate everything, said LaDue. He noted that when Fujitas health began to decline in the late 1990s, he applied his usual observational rigor and graphic skills to documenting his own health indicators, an account that was published in his memoirs.

Ted Fujita's publications still set the standard which we can only improve upon but never replace, LaDue said.

The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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How Ted Fujita Revolutionized Tornado Science and Made Flying Safer Despite Many Not Believing Him - The Weather Channel

Rick Gilder, site manager at allnex North Augusta and Langley, and his team recently delivered drums of its hand sanitizer to more than a dozen community organizations, including hospitals, first responders and a variety of nonprofits.

Our team is privileged to be able to assist our community organizations during this challenging time, Gilder said. It is tremendously fulfilling knowing that our healthcare workers, first responders and neighbors will benefit from our work.

The South Carolina team joins its fellow allnex colleagues across the globe who have been producing the much-needed product as demand continues to rise amid the COVID-19 crisis. Following the guidelines from the World Health Organization, the pharmaceutical-grade hand sanitizer will help many in the community to stay healthy.

Like other allnex sites, the raw materials for the "liquid gold" were sourced through new vendors and other allnex locations to support the Langley initiatives. Once permits were in hand, operators were able to quickly and easily manufacture the hand sanitizer, making it readily available to their colleagues and their families.

The FDA recently published guidelines on the production of hand sanitizers for industries who are not currently licensed or registered drug manufacturers. The document provides detailed information about acceptable ingredients and measurements, ensuring that the product is being manufactured in a safe and clean environment.

Im especially proud of the team at Langley and our entire organization, who have demonstrated their commitment to giving back as well as to keeping colleagues and their families safe and healthy, Gilder said.

Current recipients include: ACTS, CanHope, Child Advocacy Center, Childrens Place, Community Medical Clinic, Family Y, Golden Harvest, Helping Hands, Helpline 211, Project Vision, Tri Development Center, United Way of Aiken County, 360 Mechanical, Aiken County EMS, Aiken County Sheriff Department, Aiken Housing Authority, Augusta Industrial, Augusta Industrial, Augusta Industrial, Brothers And Sisters, Halocarbon, Helping Hands Hospice, Langley Volunteer Fire Department, Mental Health America, Pruitt Nursing Homes, SFC, University Hospital, UW Aiken Center and Walking Tall.

Allnex is the leading global producer of industrial coating resins and additives for architectural, industrial, protective, automotive and special purpose coatings and inks. Allnex is recognized as a specialty chemicals pioneer and offers an extensive range of products including innovative liquid resins and additives, radiation cured and powder coating resins and additives, and cross linkers for use on wood, metal, plastic and other surfaces. Today, allnex has a strong global presence with 4,000 employees worldwide, 35 manufacturing sites, two of which are in Augusta, Georgia and Langley, and 23 research and technology support facilities.

Excerpt from:
Allnex South Carolina donates hand sanitizer to area organizations - Aiken Standard

With more emphasis than ever on the supply of protective equipment for health care professionals, universities, nonprofits and businesses around the nation have figured out creative ways to help.

3-D printing has proven to be one viable way to increase the production of this equipment and Lehigh is taking advantage.

Using the 3-D printers in Wilbur Powerhouse and the laser cutters in the Design Labs on Mountaintop, Brian Slocum, Michael Moore, and Trevor Verdonik, all Wilbur staff members, have manufactured and donated 1,500 face shields for local hospitals in the Lehigh Valley. They plan to make about 2,000 more over the next three weeks.

Among the organizations receiving the shields are Lehigh Valley Hospital, Good Shepherd Hospital and the Lehigh and Northampton County Emergency Management Agencies (EMAs). The EMAs distribute the shields to first responders such as EMS, police and fire, as well as nursing homes and others in need.

Brian Slocum, managing director of Lehighs Wilbur Powerhouse and design labs, said he was contacted in March by hospitals who knew of Lehighs 3-D printing capabilities and were in need of more personal protective equipment, or PPE.

We were exploring this to maybe send to New York, not knowing that we would have the need right here, in the Lehigh Valley, Slocum said.

After receiving approval from the university, Slocum said he began working with Moore and Verdonik, assistant managers of Wilbur Powerhouse, to 3-D print and laser cut the face shields.

Slocum, Moore and Verdonik developed the prototype for the face shields with the help of a Lehigh alum at Knoll Inc. in East Greenville, Pennsylvania. Slocum said they began with a vetted design for face shields from the Czech Republic, which they modified to meet the needs of hospitals.

The face shields consist of five components, Slocum said. These include a headband which lays across the forehead, a neoprene comfort band and roof which wrap over the face shield, an adjustable neoprene strap in the back, the clear PET plastic shield and a 3-D printed component at the bottom of the shield which curves the plastic to the face, he said.

Verdonik oversees the 3-D printing process at Wilbur, while Moore works at Mountaintop doing the laser cutting. Slocum serves as the project manager and delivers the shields to the hospitals.

These face shields are designed to be washed and reused, and many doctors who have received the shields said that they are tremendously more comfortable than the commercially available shields.

Ive heard that theyve been fighting over the ones that were providing, Slocum said.

Verdoniks wife, who is a physician assistant, can attest to the shields quality. Verdonik said she was one of the primary reasons why he was excited to start this project.

Moore and Slocum, too, said this project has proved to be impactful.

You sit back and ask, What can I do in this crisis, and its nice to be able to at least do something, Slocum said. You dont feel quite so inept.

Moore said being able to physically work on this project has helped him with the negative mental effects brought by social distancing.

Wilbur Powerhouse already had the filament necessary for 3-D printing, but Slocum said he needed to source the neoprene and PET plastic for the face shields. DuPont chemical company has donated an additional 1,000-foot roll of PET plastic to Lehigh, he said.

This project has been fully funded by Lehigh, but they are relying on donations of materials to continue manufacturing once the budget is exhausted. However, Lehigh has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise $5,000 so they can continue. Theyve also shared their design so other universities can continue to help.

The face shields are not replacements for face masks, and are intended to be worn in conjunction with an N95 respirator, Slocum said. He said the face shield protects the eyes and most of the face from any droplets, which a mask does not.

Slocum, Moore and Verdonik are the only people working to produce the masks, but volunteers from the Lehigh Valley Health Network have helped to assemble the masks, Slocum said.

Tim Docherty, director of occupational safety and health management at LVHN, and Frank Hyland, executive director of Good Shepherd, said they are appreciative of the face shields Lehigh has provided.

Im truly appreciative of the phenomenal generosity, innovation and expertise that the Lehigh University school of engineering has offered, Docherty said. We certainly want to extend our gratitude to the entire Lehigh community.

Good Shepherd has been getting out-of-state referrals for rehabilitation, making the demand for face shields much higher, Hyland said.

Slocum said in the coming weeks, face shields will be sent to Lehigh and Northampton County emergency agencies, so that they may be distributed to first responders, nursing homes and doctor offices throughout the area.

Read more:
Lehigh Works to Produce Face Shields - The Brown and White

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Midland, Mich., Thursday, May 21, 2020, with floodwaters along the Tittabawassee River. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - It took seven years to settle on a plan for cleansing two rivers and floodplains polluted with dioxins from a Dow Chemical Co. plant in central Michigan. The work itself has lasted nearly twice as long, with plenty still to do.

Now, scientists and activists fear some of the progress may have washed away with floodwaters that overwhelmed two dams this week, chasing 11,000 people from homes in and near Midland, the company's headquarters city.

The Tittabawassee River flows past the Dow plant and eventually meets the Saginaw River, which continues into Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay. That 50-mile stretch is tainted with dioxins - highly toxic compounds that researchers say can damage reproductive and immune systems and cause cancer. The area is on the federal Superfund list of hazardous sites.

Regulators and company officials said Thursday it was too early to tell whether the swollen river had damaged spots that had been repaired or swept pollutants farther downstream. Dow said it would inspect each cleanup location as floodwaters recede and sample for new contamination.

The projects "held up remarkably well" during a 2017 flood "and we are confident that we will see a similar outcome this time," spokesman Kyle Bandlow said.

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows Sanford Dam in Sanford, Mich., Thursday, May 14, 2020, before it was damaged. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows Sanford Dam in Sanford, Mich., Thursday, May 21, 2020, after it was damaged. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would team with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to evaluate any chemical releases from the plant, although Dow had reported none. Damage from the flood three years ago was "minimal" and required only minor repairs, EPA's regional office in Chicago said.

But a similar outcome is unlikely after this week's considerably bigger flood, said Allen Burton, a professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan.

"There's no reason to expect that everything would remain in the same place after a massive flood like this," Burton said. "No scientist out there would predict that will happen."

Erik Olson, a toxic chemicals specialist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said floods produced by hurricanes have covered hazardous waste sites and carried contaminated wastes long distances.

"You can think you've contained toxic chemicals to a limited area, but a flood can scour that up and move it," Olson said. "We saw that with Katrina. What happened there is exactly what we're worrying about happening in Midland."

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows Edenville Dam in Beaverton, Mich., Thursday, May 14, 2020, before it was damaged. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows Edenville Dam in Beaverton, Mich., Thursday, May 21, 2020, after it was damaged. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

In a report last year, the Government Accountability Office said EPA should take additional steps to safeguard Superfund sites from the effects of climate change, including flooding that might result from heavier downpours. It said 60 percent of Superfund sites not on federal property were vulnerable to floods, storm surge, wildfires, and sea level rise associated with global warming.

Dioxins are byproducts of some of the hundreds of chemicals manufactured over the years at the Dow plant, which began operating in 1897. It now produces silicones used in a variety of home and personal care products and electronics.

The plant also has a small nuclear reactor, used for research, Bandlow said. Dow notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday that it had been shut down earlier because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Liquid wastes containing dioxins from the plant were dumped into the river in the early 20th century. The compounds later were incinerated, producing air pollution that settled into sediments, riverbanks and floodplains over decades.

Their discovery along the Tittabawassee River in 2000 sparked a lengthy clash between Dow, regulators and environmental groups over the seriousness of the problem and how to fix it.

Dow began cleanup in 2007, supervised by EPA. The Tittabawassee and its banks were divided into seven segments. The first five are mostly complete. Work on the remaining two began last year.

A Cadillac sits in a pile of sand as residents and business owners dig out after flooding swept through the town of Sanford, Thursday, May 21, 2020. Senior citizens are among the scores of displaced people staying in shelters after flooding overwhelmed two dams, submerged homes and washed out roads in Central Michigan. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)

Thousands of cubic yards of contaminated sediments have been removed and banks have been stabilized. In areas where digging up the dioxins was judged too difficult or impractical, tainted soils were covered with protective mats and deep-rooted plants.

More cleanup is planned along 21 miles of floodplains. EPA expects the Tittabawassee section to be finished next year, followed by work on the Saginaw River.

"We've been feeling pretty confident that this is going to be a successful cleanup," said Terry Miller, chairman of the advocacy group Lone Tree Council and member of a community advisory panel. "But this 500-year flood is a wild card."

Thorough inspections and analysis will be crucial to determine whether the projects are intact and need repairs, he said.

"The post-flood assessments will help identify if any additional cleanup is needed," EPA said.

Environmentalists said they were concerned about releases of pollutants aside from dioxins, although Dow said there had been none.

"The long-term threats to the health and safety of the community are significant, given what we know is in the river and the holding ponds and the Superfund site," said Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

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The Daily Standard World News - The Daily Standard