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Hurricane Helene kills at least 44 and cuts a swath of destruction across the Southeast

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PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene left an enormous path of destruction across Florida and the southeastern U.S. on Friday, killing at least 44 people, snapping towering oaks like twigs and tearing apart homes as rescue crews launched desperate missions to save people from floodwaters.

Among those killed were three firefighters, a woman and her 1-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman whose house was struck by a falling tree. According to an Associated Press tally, the deaths occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

The Category 4 hurricane knocked out power to some hospitals in southern Georgia, and Gov. Brian Kemp said authorities had to use chainsaws to clear debris and open up roads. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) when it made landfall late Thursday in a sparsely populated region in Florida’s rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where the state’s panhandle and peninsula meet.

Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.

The wreckage extended hundreds of miles northward to northeast Tennessee, where a “ dangerous rescue situation ” by helicopter unfolded after 54 people were moved to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital as water rapidly flooded the facility. Everyone was rescued and no one was left at the hospital as of late Friday afternoon, Ballad Health said.

In North Carolina, a lake featured in the movie “Dirty Dancing” overtopped a dam and surrounding neighborhoods were evacuated, although there were no immediate concerns it would fail. People also were evacuated from Newport, Tennessee, a city of about 7,000 people, amid concerns about a dam near there, although officials later said the structure had not failed.

Tornadoes hit some areas, including one in Nash County, North Carolina, that critically injured four people.

Atlanta received a record 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain in 48 hours, the most the city has seen in a two-day period since record keeping began in 1878, Georgia’s Office of the State Climatologist said on the social platform X. The previous mark of 9.59 inches (24.36 cm) was set in 1886. Some neighborhoods were so badly flooded that only car roofs could be seen poking above the water.

Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes in a matter of hours.

When Laurie Lilliott pulled onto her street in Dekle Beach, Florida, after Helene plowed through, she couldn’t see the roofline of her home beyond the palm trees. It had collapsed, torn apart by the pounding storm surge, one corner still precariously propped up by a piling.

“It took me a long time to breathe,” Lilliott said.

As she surveyed the damage, her name and phone number were still inked on her arm in permanent marker, an admonition by Taylor County officials to help identify recovered bodies in the storm’s aftermath. The community has taken direct hits from three hurricanes since August 2023.

All five who died in one Florida county were in neighborhoods where residents were told to evacuate, said Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff in Pinellas County in the St. Petersburg area. Some who stayed ended up having to hide in their attics to escape the rising water. He said the death toll could rise as crews go door-to-door in flooded areas.

More deaths were reported in Georgia and the Carolinas, including two South Carolina firefighters and a Georgia firefighter who died when trees struck their trucks.

Video on social media showed sheets of rain and siding coming off buildings in Perry, Florida, near where the storm hit land. A news station showed a home that was overturned, and many communities established curfews.

Also in Perry, the hurricane peeled off the new roof of a church that was replaced after Hurricane Idalia last year.

When the water hit knee-level in Kera O’Neil’s home in Hudson, Florida, she knew it was time to escape.

“There’s a moment where you are thinking, ‘If this water rises above the level of the stove, we are not going to have not much room to breathe,’” she said, recalling how she and her sister waded through chest-deep water with one cat in a plastic carrier and another in a cardboard box.

President Joe Biden said he was praying for survivors, and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency headed to the area. The agency deployed more than 1,500 workers, and they helped with 400 rescues by late morning.

In Tampa, some areas could be reached only by boat.

Officials urged people who were trapped to call for rescuers and not tread floodwaters, warning they can be dangerous due to live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.

More than 3 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas as of late Friday, according to poweroutage.us. The site also showed outages as far north as Ohio and Indiana due to Helene’s rapid northward movement throughout the day.

In Georgia, an electrical utility group warned of “catastrophic” damage to utility infrastructure, with more than 100 high voltage transmission lines damaged. And officials in South Carolina, where more than 40% of customers were without power, said crews had to cut their way through debris just to determine what was still standing in some places.

The hurricane came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of where Idalia hit last year at nearly the same ferocity. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the damage from Helene appears to be greater than the combined effects of Idalia and Hurricane Debby in August.

“It’s tough, and we understand that. We also understand that this is a resilient state,” DeSantis said at a news conference in storm-damaged St. Pete Beach.

Soon after it crossed over land, Helene weakened to a tropical storm and later a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters said it continued to produce catastrophic flooding, and some areas received more than a foot of rain.

A mudslide in the Appalachian Mountains washed out part of an interstate highway at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.

Another slide hit homes in North Carolina and occupants had to wait more than four hours to be rescued, said Ryan Cole, the emergency services assistant director in Buncombe County. His 911 center received more than 3,300 calls in eight hours Friday.

“This is something that we’re going to be dealing with for many days and weeks to come,” Cole said.

Forecasters warned of flooding in North Carolina that could be worse than anything seen in the past century. Evacuations were underway and around 300 roads were closed statewide. The Connecticut Army National Guard sent a helicopter to help.

School districts and universities canceled classes. Florida airports that closed due to the storm reopened Friday. Inspectors were examining bridges and causeways along the Gulf Coast, the state’s transportation secretary said.

Helene also swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, flooding streets and toppling trees as it brushed past the resort city of Cancun this week. It also knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in western Cuba.

Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.

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Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodríguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed.

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Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi steps down to pursue other opportunities

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TORONTO – Ahmed El-Awadi is stepping down as the chief executive officer of Swimming Canada.

The governing body said Wednesday that El-Awadi is leaving to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with family.

El-Awadi joined Swimming Canada as CEO in 2013. He had been on a personal leave of absence since May 25, 2023.

Canada has become a consistent medal contender in the pool on his watch, particularly on the women’s side.

Toronto’s Summer McIntosh was one of the big stars of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with four medals (three gold, one silver).

She has also won seven long-course world championship medals (four gold, one silver, three bronze) among other hardware.

Other swimmers to flourish since 2013 include Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak (six Olympic medals, including one gold), Maggie Mac Neil of London, Ont., (three Olympic medals, including one gold, seven short-course world titles) and Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., (five Olympic medals, three world titles).

“We commend Ahmed on what he has accomplished with Swimming Canada over the course of his 11-year tenure,” Swimming Canada past president Mary C. Lyne said in a release.

“During his time with us, Ahmed was a key contributor to the success of Swimming Canada, growing the organization from a small staff of 10 to a globally recognized leader in swimming.”

Swimming Canada said Suzanne Paulins will continue to serve as acting CEO. Paulins joined Swimming Canada’s staff in 2017 and became a director in 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Alberta asks municipalities to name oil companies not paying taxes, reeve says no use

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EDMONTON – The Alberta government is asking rural municipalities to send letters naming oil and gas companies that aren’t paying their property taxes, but one rural leader says there’s no hope for enforcement.

Rural Municipalities of Alberta estimates oil and gas companies owe more than $250 million in overdue property taxes to rural communities across the province.

Energy Minister Brian Jean sent letters to rural municipalities in September asking officials to name companies that haven’t paid up.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver says once the government gets those names, action can be taken against them.

But Rural Municipalities of Alberta president Paul McLauchlin says the name submission process comes with conditions and he and other rural officials aren’t confident there would be enforcement.

McLauchlin also says he doesn’t expect the Alberta Energy Regulator to shut down oil companies for unpaid taxes, leaving municipalities with no choice but to shoulder the cost.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Woman’s killing by male partner in Nova Scotia all too familiar: researcher

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COLE HARBOUR, N.S. – As police investigate the killing of a 71-year-old woman in Nova Scotia by her male partner, the head of an Ontario research group on violence against women says the situation is all too familiar.

Homicides involving older couples are among the fastest-rising rates of intimate partner killings in Canada, said Katreena Scott, who runs the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University.

“It makes me feel all the more determined to do something about this,” Scott said in an interview Wednesday. “People don’t think about this happening (among older people). It can, and it does.”

RCMP said officers found the bodies of a 71-year-old woman and a 72-year-old man in a residence in the community, located across the harbour from downtown Halifax. A police investigation determined the man had killed the woman, and that he died from self-inflicted injuries, the Mounties said in a news release Tuesday.

“The investigation shows this to be an incident of intimate partner violence,” the release said.

It does not provide the name of the deceased man or his victim. A spokesperson for the RCMP said the names were withheld because of privacy concerns.

Police-reported intimate partner violence among people aged 65 and older increased by 45 per cent between 2014 and 2022, according to Statistics Canada. In 2022, about 34 in 100,000 senior women and 23 in 100,000 senior men reported being victims of intimate partner violence, the figures show.

Older adults face several unique risks for such violence, Scott said. For example, retirement is a massive change for some people that can add stress and uncertainty to their lives. As well, retired people can lose access to workplace resources that can help protect them from domestic violence.

Strain from declining health can be a “tipping point” that either initiates abuse or exacerbates violence already taking place, she added.

Older adults are at a high risk of becoming socially isolated, and “violence thrives in isolation,” she said.

“We need to bring in our health services, and our services around dementia and elder care, and think about how we, as a community, are connecting with older people and supporting them,” Scott said.

No matter the age of the victim, there are often clear warnings signs that precede intimate partner killings. Those signs include a history of violence in the relationship, or a spike in the perpetrator’s paranoia, obsessiveness or depression.

She pointed to the report from a public inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia, during which the perpetrator killed 22 people after abusing his common-law spouse. One of the core recommendations from the report, Scott said, is for people to learn to recognize and respond to risk factors and warnings signs of intimate partner violence.

During a campaign stop in Halifax Wednesday, Claudia Chender, leader of the provincial NDP, said the killing in Cole Harbour was more evidence that intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Nova Scotia.

“We have to have epidemic-level funding to the front-line organizations that are working with women in communities to ensure this doesn’t happen,” she told reporters in Halifax. “If the (current) funding were sufficient, we would be seeing progress.”

RCMP in Nova Scotia said they are investigating the deaths alongside the provincial medical examiner service.

The Canadian Femicide Observatory says that as of Oct. 31, at least 155 women and girls have been killed so far this year in Canada and in 95 per cent of those deaths, a male was accused in their killing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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