Aug 27, 2017

Abbott: "Texans need to be prepared for more rainfall"

Erica Pandey, author of @Work

David J. Phillip / AP

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tropical Storm Harvey is bringing "a historic rainfall if not an all-time record" in a press conference Sunday afternoon. The storm hit Texas' southeastern coast and barreled through Houston this weekend. Texans in the affected areas, including Houston, "will continue to receive incredibly heavy rain that will lead to even more flooding and more danger," Abbott said.

  • At least 5 people have been reported dead in the storm. "There obviously have been reported fatalities, but I'm not in position to confirm that they are related to the storms," Abbott said.
  • There have been 316,000 power outages, not including those who lost power today in Houston.
  • 50 counties have been declared emergency areas by the state of Texas; 19 of those are federal emergency areas
  • Texas has received help from Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, California, Missouri, Ohio, Arizona and New York, in addition to federal resources.

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 12 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 8 p.m. ET: 18,185,015 — Total deaths: 691,303 — Total recoveries — 10,836,439 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 8 p.m. ET: 4,711,323 — Total deaths: 155,366 — Total recoveries: 1,513,446 — Total tests: 57,543,852 — Map.
  3. Politics: White House will require staff to undergo randomized coronavirus testing — Pelosi says Birx "enabled" Trump on misinformation.
  4. Sports: 13 members of St. Louis Cardinals test positive, prompting MLB to cancel Tigers series — Former FDA chief says MLB outbreaks should be warning sign for schools.
  5. 1 🎥 thing: "Tenet" may be the first major film to get a global pandemic release.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Rebecca Falconer
Updated 39 mins ago - Energy & Environment

In photos: Thousands evacuated as Southern California fire grows

A plane makes a retardant drop on a ridge at the Apple Fire north of Banning in Riverside County, which "doubled in size" Saturday, per KTLA. Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A massive wildfire that prompted mandatory evacuations in Southern California over the weekend burned 26,450 acres and was 5% contained by Monday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The big picture: As California remains an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., some 15 separate fires are raging across the state. About 7,800 people were under evacuation orders from the Apple Fire, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, as hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze. CalFire said Monday that a malfunction involving a "diesel-fueled vehicle emitting burning carbon from the exhaust system" started the Apple Fire.

See photos (<1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
2 hours ago - Technology

Twitter faces FTC fine of up to $250 million over alleged privacy violations

Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket

The Federal Trade Commission has accused Twitter of using phone numbers and emails from its users to make targeted ads between 2013 and 2019, Twitter said in an SEC filing published Monday.

Why it matters: Twitter estimates that the FTC's draft complaint, which was sent a few days after its Q2 earnings report, could cost the company between $150 million and $250 million. The complaint is unrelated to the recent Twitter hack involving a bitcoin scam.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow