Residents of Asheville, North Carolina, are criticizing what they see as the city’s lack of preparation for Helene’s destruction. Israel launches a ground operation in Lebanon. And vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz will debate.
Here’s what you need to know today.
North Carolina residents are asking questions about disaster response
North Carolina residents are only beginning to pick up the pieces after Helene swept through the western part of the state, causing devastating flooding and catastrophic damage. The total death toll from Helene and its aftermath in six states has surpassed 120, according to an NBC News count, and that number is likely to rise. as the search for survivors continues. At least 49 people have died and dozens of others are missing in western North Carolina. including hard-hit Asheville.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper assured residents that assistance is already available from “federal, state and local partners,” and that more assistance is on the way. FEMA said yesterday it had delivered about 1 million gallons of water and more than 600,000 meals to the state. And there are now more than 1,200 federal workers on the ground, said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
But some North Carolina residents are criticizing what they see as a lack of preparation for the storm. Sara Legatski, a business owner in Asheville, said officials should have brought in emergency water supplies sooner. “None of this is a surprise,” she said. “Anyone who behaves like this is a surprise. He hasn’t been here long enough, he’s not from the mountains and he doesn’t understand how water works.”
Meanwhile, storm survivors were still searching for food and clean water, shuffling from shelter to shelter, three days after Helene first made landfall in Florida.
Meanwhile, storm survivors were still searching for food and clean water, shuffling from shelter to shelter, three days after Helene first made landfall in Florida.
Spokespeople for the city and Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on residents’ criticism.
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More coverage of Helene’s aftermath:
Israel launches a ground operation in Lebanon
Israel announced that its ground forces had launched an operation in southern Lebanon after overnight attacks left a devastating scene in the country’s capital Beirut. The ground offensive is expected to last days, US officials said, aiming to push Hezbollah forces further away from the Israeli border.
Lebanon’s prime minister said the country is facing “one of the most dangerous phases in its history.” And in southern Lebanon, fears are growing about what the coming days, weeks and possibly months will look like after Israel launched what it says are “limited” ground attacks across the border.
The Israeli army’s incursion into Lebanon is the latest escalation in the conflict with Hezbollah, after the militant and political group began shooting at Israel after October 7. In recent weeks, Israel has launched attacks using exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, and unleashed heavy bombardments. in Lebanon and killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Read more about the operation And follow our live blog.
What to watch for in the vice presidential debate
Ohio Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz face off in what could very well be the final debate before Election Day. The 90-minute showdown in New York, hosted by CBS, is scheduled for 9:00 PM ET.
Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, will try to sway voters after making a rough first impression during the 2024 presidential race. And his role in amplifying a debunked rumor about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, could force him to answer questions about racism.
Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, is expected to highlight where his experience contrasts with Vance’s Yale Law School background, focusing on his own background as a high school football coach, a fighter and a fixer-upper dad from the Midwest. Expect the concept of masculinity – and how Walz and Vance have different ideas about what that means – to be an undercurrent in their messages. Here’s what else you should pay attention to in tonight’s debate.
More coveragee of the 2024 elections:
The ports on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast are closed due to a strike
Tens of thousands of longshoremen officially went on strike at midnight ET, forcing the closure of ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. The strike caps months of heated negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association, a union representing 85,000 members, and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents major ocean freight and port operators. Workers want wage increases and limits on automation at ports, which they say could cost jobs.
In the short term, consumers are unlikely to be affected by the strike as companies and logistics companies have taken preventive measures to blunt the impact of the strike before the start of the Christmas shopping season. But things could change if the strikes last several weeks. Here’s what else you need to know.
Politics in brief
Carter the centenarian: Jimmy Carter turns 100 years old today – a feat achieved by no other former US president. And although he has become weaker in recent months, he has told relatives he wants to hold out until at least October 15.
Abortion rights: A state judge in Georgia struck down the state’s six-week abortion banallowing the procedure to be resumed and making it legal up to 22 weeks’ gestation.
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Read all about it
Claudia Sheinbuam officially take office today as the first female president of Mexico and the first of Jewish descent.
Major League Baseball all-time leader Pete Rose, who was banned from the sport after betting on his own team, died at the age of 83.
Sing Sing activist Jon-Adrian Velazquez was acquitted more than two decades after the murder of a retired NYPD officer.
A Kentucky sheriff is accused of fatally shooting a judge in his chambers is retiringsaid his lawyer.
State laws targeting transgender people have made trans and nonbinary youth more likely to commit suicide in the past year. according to a first study of its kind.
Personnel choice: They reveal their origins – secrets and all
Comedian Gadiel del Orbe used to hear his tan-skinned Dominican father say their family was from Spain or the Canary Islands, and their more obvious African roots were never mentioned. But that changed after del Orbe received the results of his DNA test. For him and others, greater access to online archives and DNA testing proves what they have long suspected: their family history, which has long focused on their white, Hispanic ancestry, also include African roots and the legacy of slavery.
At Vanderbilt University, a historian is racing against time to save crumbling, centuries-old logs and archives that provide evidence of these unknown ancestors. This is a fascinating book about how new branches of family trees can challenge stories that have been passed down for generations. — Sandra LilleyNBC Latino Editor-in-Chief
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
