Environment – Page 45 – The Tarbabys Blog

Florida’s insurance crisis isn’t about ‘woke.’ It’s about state leaders in a stupor

The Miami Herald – Opinion

Florida’s insurance crisis isn’t about ‘woke.’ It’s about state leaders in a stupor | Opinion

The Miami Herald Editorial Board – July 24, 2023

Upon Farmers Insurance’s announcement that it was pulling out of Florida, Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer went right to the heart of the state’s continuing insurance crisis: “The more we learn about Farmers Insurance, the more it’s clear its leadership doesn’t know what they’re doing. While they’re bad at helping people, they’re good at virtue signaling.”

As reported in the Herald, Patronis criticized what he called Farmers’ “ ‘sustainable insurance’ and aligning investments with its social values, like avoiding investing in polluters or companies that sexually or racially discriminate against employees.” The concept is called environmental, social and governance investing — ESG, for short — a political target for Republicans lately.

Basically, Patronis blames Farmers for doing business while incorporating a “woke” ideology, the go-to scapegoat these days, the convenient and facile argument in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida.

We beg to differ.

Whether Farmers Insurance rightly values the principles of ESG is irrelevant here. What’s important is that 100,000 policies in Florida — auto, property — are going belly up.

The wrong excuse

It’s not that the company might be woke; it’s that state lawmakers and the governor were asleep at the wheel as other insurance companies fled Florida long before Farmers.

It’s that lawmakers have been in a stupor as Floridians cried out for relief from soaring property insurance rates.

It’s that those same elected leaders were single-minded zombies who protected insurance companies, not homeowners, during two special sessions.

And yet these are the same legislators who were filled with boundless energy when it came to carrying out Gov. DeSantis’ culture wars in his now-lackluster drive toward to the White House.

Now Patronis, not to be left out, is skirmishing with Farmers. When the Editorial Board asked his office what specifically the insurance company had done in the offending area of ESG, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Frank Collins III doubled down: “While Farmers Insurance is keeping their commitment to the United Nations, they’re dumping 100,000 Florida policyholders; too bad their affection for ESG standards couldn’t stop these Floridians from being dropped.”

Know what else is too bad? That this is Patronis’ politically lame attempt to distract Floridians from the fact that 13 companies have gone insolvent in Florida. Others have stopped writing policies in the state, sending property owners’ premiums soaring into the stratosphere and leaving Citizens as the insurer of last resort for so many property owners. Tim Cerio, Citizens president and CEO, has predicted that the number of policies to reach 1.5 million by the end of the year.

Launch a probe?

And while he was denigrating Farmers, Patronis added he planned to look into complaints against the company, which could trigger a market investigation and — perhaps — fines and fees. This, of course, sounds like a retaliatory move in the same vein as our thin-skinned governor’s costly fight against Disney.

If there truly is something for Patronis to investigate, why did he wait until now to actually do his job? As CFO, the state’s so-called “business manager,” he oversees insurance and consumer services, responding to Floridians on finance-related queries, especially complaints about insurance fraud and related matters.

Interestingly, he found the time this month to tout the launch a new online site: “This morning, we deployed the Florida IRS Transparency Portal where Floridians can submit complaints about individual IRS agents,” Patronis announced on July 13. “We will take this information to look for patterns on how the IRS is targeting Floridians, which will help us craft laws to protect our businesses. We also want to provide the public with a tool where they can report harassment by the IRS.”

His curious use of the militaristic word “deploy” aside, we, too, don’t believe individuals and entities should be targeted by the IRS, especially for their political beliefs, and hope that Floridians across the political spectrum will have equal access to his concern.

But while Patronis is protecting Floridians from the tax collector, he’s among the many state leaders who have left us exposed and vulnerable to the state’s insurance crisis.

“Woke” isn’t the problem; willful neglect is.

CDC: Toxic blue-green algae is infecting humans, animals in Michigan summers

Detroit Free Press

CDC: Toxic blue-green algae is infecting humans, animals in Michigan summers

Mika Travis, Detroit Free Press – July 21, 2023

Harmful algae blooms in Michigan and other states are spiking during the summer in freshwater bodies such as lakes, according to a recent CDC report.

Harmful algae blooms are often caused by a rapid growth of cyanobacteria, known as blue-green algae, a naturally occurring bacteria. Gary Kohlhepp, Lake Michigan unit supervisor of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, said that a small amount of cyanobacteria is a safe and natural part of the water system, but it can become toxic when it begins to cluster in large quantities and creates blooms. Toxins produced in these blooms can lead to illness in humans and animals.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, blue-green algae blooms are a common occurrence in the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Erie.

CDC report results

The CDC report collected voluntary data from public health agencies across 16 states on harmful algae bloom events in 2021, referred to as harmful algal blooms in the report. Here were the findings:

Most reported events occurred during the summer, with a peak in August (25% of reported events).
Most of the events (90%) reported were in lakes, reservoirs or other freshwater bodies.
A third of the reports of human illness occurred in June.
The most common symptoms in humans were gastrointestinal, generalized (headaches and fevers, for example), and dermatologic.
Reports of animal illnesses occurred primarily in August (86%), mostly involving wildlife.
The most common symptoms in domestic pets were gastrointestinal, such as vomiting, and generalized, such as lethargy.
A harmful algae bloom event in Washington killed 2,000 bats.
There were 368 harmful algae bloom events reported, resulting in 117 human cases of illness and at least 2,715 animal cases of illness. (Animal cases are underrepresented because some group animal reports did not provide the number of total animals impacted, or indicated that the number they gave was an underestimate.)

Kohlhepp said that EGLE had seen an increase in reporting on harmful algae blooms, though that may not indicate an actual increase in the quantity of blooms in the state.

“I think some of that increase is just that people are more aware of it and more likely to report it,” he said.

Pets: Dogs are dying from blue green algae. What owners need to know

Spotting harmful algae blooms

These harmful algae blooms can appear as accumulations of algae that coat the surface of the water or as a neon green color in the water.

Kohlhepp said that if there aren’t any visible signs of a harmful algae bloom in the water, there’s a good chance it’s safe, though the only certain way to tell whether a body of water is toxic is by testing.

In one instance, Kohlhepp’s team tested a clear spot in a lake that had a harmful algae bloom in another part of it. In the spot that appeared clear, there was only a miniscule amount of cyanobacteria picked up.

“The good news is, generally, if you don’t see a bloom, the toxins are not present,” Kohlhepp said. “There’s almost always an indication that there’s something going on when the toxins are present, either that bright color or the surface accumulation.”

Great Lakes: Antibiotics for humans, livestock found in waters flowing to Lake Erie

Symptoms of exposure

According to Michigan Sea Grant, the most common type of blue-green algae in the Great Lakes is microcystis, a bacteria which produces a liver toxin and skin irritant.

When exposed to these harmful algae blooms, humans often develop a rash. Other possible symptoms include nausea, headache and fever.

Animals, such as dogs, who experience symptoms may appear sluggish. Other symptoms found in animals include vomiting and dark urine.

Steps to take after exposure

Because humans usually experience dermatologic symptoms, Kohlhepp recommends washing off as soon as possible after coming in contact with a harmful algae bloom. If they notice symptoms, they should visit a doctor for next steps.

Dogs and other animals should also be rinsed off after exposure, though symptoms may still arise if they ingested the algae-filled water. Pet owners should watch for symptoms and take them to a veterinarian if they notice any symptoms.

How to report a harmful algae bloom

EGLE collects reports of harmful algae blooms through email at algaebloom@michigan.gov. They recommend sending a photo alongside the report, so that they can more easily identify algae blooms and send someone to test the water.

Anti-woke distractions leave Florida property insurance crisis unrepaired

Palm Beach Daily News – Opinion

Anti-woke distractions leave Florida property insurance crisis unrepaired | Opinion

Bruce Anderson – July 21, 2023

Farmers Insurance this month announced it would depart the Florida market with all its proprietary products – no new housing contracts, and no renewals for things like auto insurance. Pulling up stakes. Getting out.

While the Florida governing apparatus grappled with inapt hogwash, an actual crisis of critical impact was creeping from the shadows — despite the Legislature’s two-year policy of aggressively whistling past this particular graveyard.

The housing insurance rate in Florida is four times the national average, and the national average is higher than ever.

The problem has its roots in several ugly places – several likely out of the direct control of lawmakers. The reinsurance folks, who indemnify the insurers, have jacked up their rates in Florida by as much as 30%. They lost money here over the past 4-5 years and are looking to repair their profit margins. So, as costs to insurers rise, they are passed on to customers. Additionally, the hurricane seasons of the past few years have been brutal. The loss of life and property has risen and climate change, altered coastlines, beach erosion and failing breakwaters have contributed, as well.

More: Editorial: Badmouthing Farmers is not a fix for Florida’s property insurance crisis

All this damage comes with a gargantuan price tag. The cost of simply fixing things has risen – whether it be lines of roof tiles or an entire apartment block falling into the sea. That damage is covered by insurance – we hope – and the insurance folks pay out. And pay out. Squeezed between reinsurers and the insured, they raise premiums to preposterous levels until finally the roof caves in. They are, after all, in business and business demands a profit, and the profits the insurance folks are used to making are pretty astronomical.

There is an interconnectedness to all this, too. No housing insurance, no loans; no loans, no new moderate income or middle-class homeowners. No homeowners, no loans, and banking profits spin for the floor. It begins to look like a negative reversal of the housing “bubble” of 2007, which was driven by banks loaning too much on housing, whatever the risks.

Now, home loans are drying up because they cannot insure them. There’s a ripple effect spreading out into truly damaging areas. Middle management in businesses is often peopled by folks recruited out of college, and they have to have a place to live. When a potential employee is offered a job here, the appeal is high but unless the employer wants to take on the additional housing costs, the potential employee is likely to look elsewhere.

More: Does your Florida county rank in the most expensive home insurance premiums?

The cost of simply employing people in Florida could theoretically go through the uninsured roof. And the folks that are already here? Wages cannot keep pace with the rising costs. Moving from Florida is not popular, but it could become so, if the cost of living continues to soar.

Another oddity is the backwash from one thing the Legislature did do, although not with the intent of affecting the insurance world. The new immigration bill is causing what appears to be an ever-growing flood of immigrant workers out of the state or an increasing hesitancy to come at all. This has immediate implications on the construction labor market, much of which comes from immigrant labor. As it dries up, and as wages rise to attract scarce labor, the price of rebuilding goes higher each day.

I’d love to have a fistful of answers to this but I don’t. What we do know is, as long as the governing and policymaking end of government here in Florida is laser-focused on banning books and drag queens, we’re not going to find them.

Florida’s insurers “woke” up to the fact they’re losing money in the state. Florida’s CFO blames wokeness for insurers leaving the state:

Fortune

Florida’s CFO blames wokeness for insurers leaving the state: ‘I do call them the Bud Light of the insurance industry’

Chris Morris – July 20, 2023

As yet another insurance company is pulling back from issuing policies in Florida following a string of natural disasters, the state’s chief financial officer has accused the industry of pulling out not because of losses, but due to wokeness.

Jimmy Patronis, CFO of the state, lit into Farmers Insurance for its plans to leave the state on CNBC recently, saying “if they would just leave ESG [environmental, social, and corporate governance ] and put it away, and focus on the bottom line, they may not have made this decision to leave the state of Florida with the tail between their legs.”

“I do say they’re too woke,” he added. “I do call them the Bud Light of the insurance industry. I do feel like they have chaos in their C-suite.”

The accusations aren’t helping the state hang onto insurers, though. This week, AAA announced it would not renew the auto or homeowners policies of some customers in Florida, making it the fourth insurer in the past year to back away from the state. (Bankers Insurance and Lexington Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG, left Florida last year.)

All of the companies that have reduced or eliminated their presence in the state have said the string of local hurricanes, including last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Ian, have made it too expensive to cover residents of the state.

The shrinking number of insurance options and the growing number of disasters is hitting Floridians in the wallet. The average homeowner’s premium in the state costs over $4,000, compared to the U.S. average of $1,544, according to E&E News, a division of Politico that focuses on environmental and energy news.

The companies are leaving the state despite legislation meant to encourage them to stay. Last year, Florida created a $1 billion reinsurance fund and set up laws meant to prevent frivolous lawsuits.

Insurance companies have also stepped back from California, with AIG, Allstate and State Farm no longer taking new customers, as wildfires in that state have driven up costs.

Phoenix heat, people ration AC due to cost

Associated Press

Homes become ‘air fryers’ in Phoenix heat, people ration AC due to cost

Isabella O’Malley – July 20, 2023

FILE - Manuel Luna, left, a volunteer at the Salvation Army, gives out items to a patron at a cooling station on July 19, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) — Manuel Luna, left, a volunteer at the Salvation Army, gives out items to a patron at a cooling station on July 19, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - JP Lantin, right, owner of Total Refrigeration, and service tech Michael Villa, work on replacing a fan motor on an air conditioning unit July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) — JP Lantin, right, owner of Total Refrigeration, and service tech Michael Villa, work on replacing a fan motor on an air conditioning unit July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - After finishing up an air conditioning repair call, Michael Villa, a service tech with Total Refrigeration, finds shade as he wipes sweat from his face July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) — After finishing up an air conditioning repair call, Michael Villa, a service tech with Total Refrigeration, finds shade as he wipes sweat from his face July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - Michael Villa, a service tech at Total Refrigeration, works on a commercial air conditioning roof unit July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - Tony Berastegui Jr., 15, right, and his sister Giselle Berastegui, 12, drink water July 17, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Temperatures have peaked at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) the entire month of July in Phoenix. Air conditioning, which made modern Phoenix even possible, is a lifeline.

When a cloudless sky combines with outdoor temperatures over 100 F, your house turns into an “air fryer” or “broiler,” as the roof absorbs powerful heat and radiates it downward, said Jonathan Bean, co-director of the Institute for Energy Solutions at the University of Arizona. Bean knows this not only from his research, he also experienced it firsthand this weekend when his air conditioner broke.

“This level of heat that we are having in Phoenix right now is enormously dangerous, particularly for people who either don’t have air conditioning or cannot afford to operate their air conditioner,” said Evan Mallen, a senior analyst for Georgia Institute of Technology’s Urban Climate Lab.

Yet some are cutting back on AC, trying to bear the heat, afraid of the high electricity bills that will soon arrive.- ADVERTISEMENT -https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-11-1/html/r-sf-flx.html

Camille Rabany, 29, has developed her own system to keep herself and her 10-month-old Saint Bernard Rigley cool during the Arizona heat wave. Through trial and error, Rabany found that 83 F is a temperature she is willing to tolerate to keep her utility bill down.

By tracking the on-peak and off-peak schedule of her utility, Arizona Public Service, with the help of her NEST smart thermostat, Rabany keeps her home that hot from 4 to 7 p.m., the most expensive hours. She keeps fans running and has a cooling bed for Rigley, and they both try to get by until the utility’s official peak hours pass.

“Those are the hours that I have it at the hottest I’m willing to have it because I have a dog,” she said. Last month, Rabany said her utility bill was around $150.

Emily Schmidt’s home cooling strategy in Tempe, Ariz. also centers around her dog. Air conditioning is “constantly a topic of conversation,” with her partner, too, she said.

“Sometimes I wish I could have it cooler, but we have to balance saving money and making sure the house isn’t too hot for our pets.”

With the unrelenting heat of the recent weeks, “I’m honestly afraid what the electric bill will be, which makes it really hard to budget with rent and other utilities.”

Katie Martin, administrator of home improvements and community services at the Foundation for Senior Living, said she sees the pet issue, too. Older people on limited incomes are making dangerous tradeoffs and often won’t come to cooling centers when they don’t allow pets.

“In recent years we are finding that most of the seniors we serve are keeping their thermostat at 80 F to save money,” she said.

Many also lack a support network of family or friends they can turn to in case of air conditioner breakdowns.

Breakdowns can be dangerous. Models from Georgia Tech show that indoors can be even hotter than outdoors, something people in poorly-insulated homes around the world are well acquainted with. “A single family, one-story detached home with a large, flat roof heats up by over 40 degrees in a matter of hours if they don’t have air conditioning,” Mallen said.

The Salvation Army has some 11 cooling stations across the Phoenix area. Lt. Colonel Ivan Wild, commander of the organization’s southwest division, said some of the people visiting now can’t afford their electricity bills or don’t have adequate air conditioning.

“I spoke to one elderly lady and she that her air conditioning is just so expensive to run. So she comes to the Salvation Army and stays for a few hours, socializes with other people, and then goes home when it’s not as hot,” he said.

While extreme heat happens every summer in Phoenix, Wild said that a couple of Salvation Army cooling centers have reported seeing more people than last year. The Salvation Army estimates that since May 1, they have provided nearly 24,000 people with heat relief and distributed nearly 150,000 water bottles in Arizona and Southern Nevada.

Marilyn Brown, regents professor of sustainable systems at Georgia Tech, said that high air conditioning bills also force people to cut spending in other areas. “People give up a lot, often, in order to run their air conditioner… they might have to give up on some medicine, the cost of the gasoline for their car to go to work or school,” she said.

“That’s why we have such an alarming cycle of poverty. It’s hard to get out of it, especially once you get caught up in the energy burden and poverty,” Brown added.

Beatrice Dupuy contributed to this story from New York and Melina Walling contributed from Chicago.

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations.

Bring manufacturing back to America’s safe heartland: Tornado damages Pfizer plant in North Carolina as scorching heat and floods sock other parts of US

Associated Press

Tornado damages Pfizer plant in North Carolina as scorching heat and floods sock other parts of US

Ben Finley and Hannah Schoenbaum – July 19, 2023

Debris is scattered around the Pfizer facility on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Rocky Mount, N.C., after damage from severe weather. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)

Pessoas em situação de rua tentam se refrescar com água gelada diante do Centro Justa, um centro de convivência para pessoas sem teto acima de 55 anos de idade, sexta-feira, 14 de julho de 2023, no centro de Phoenix, EUA. (Foto AP/Matt York)

The Pfizer plant is damaged after severe weather passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Rocky Mount, N.C. (WTVD via AP)

A truck is overturned and the Pfizer plant is damaged after severe weather passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Rocky Mount, N.C. (WTVD via AP)

A patron tries to cool off at the Justa Center as temperatures are expected to hit 116-degrees Fahrenheit, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Phoenix. Tuesday marks a new record for the most consecutive days in a row over 110-degrees. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Heat waves rise off the pavement as vehicles drive along a downtown street as temperatures are expected to hit 115-degrees Fahrenheit, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Phoenix. Tuesday marks a new record for the most consecutive days in a row over 110-degrees. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A person tries to cool off in the shade as temperatures are expected to hit 116-degrees Fahrenheit, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Phoenix. The extreme heat scorching Phoenix set a record Tuesday, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A parking lot is flooded after heavy rain passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Paducah, Ky. The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches and warnings, estimating that as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain could fall in the area where Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri meet at the convergence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. (Courtesy of Marilyn Gabel via AP)

Workers cross roadway impacted by recent storms and flooding, Monday, July 17, 2023, in Belvidere, N.J. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Homes are damaged after severe weather passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Rocky Mount, N.C. (WTVD via AP)

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, right, listens to Perry Hollyer, owner of the Inn by the River, describe flood waters, which destroyed his family's hotel, along the banks of the Lamoille River, Monday, July 17, 2023, in Hardwick, Vt. Last week's storms dumped up to two months' worth of rain in a couple of days in parts of Vermont and New York. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A senior swimmer clears his nose as he cools off in hot weather, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Utility wires cover a school bus after severe weather passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Rocky Mount, N.C. (WTVD via AP)

JP Lantin, owner of Total Refrigeration, works on a commerical air conditioning roof unit as temperatures are expected to hit 117-degrees, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A patron tries to cool off at the Justa Center as temperatures are expected to hit 116-degrees Fahrenheit, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Phoenix. The extreme heat scorching Phoenix set a record Tuesday, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

JP Lantin, left, owner of Total Refrigeration, talks to a home owner on the repairs needed on her air conditioning unit as temperatures are expected to hit 117-degrees, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

JP Lantin, left, owner of Total Refrigeration, and service tech Michael Villa, pick up their gear after replacing a fan motor on an air conditioning unit at a home as temperatures are expected to hit 117-degrees, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Michael Villa, a service tech at Total Refrigeration, works on a commercial air conditioning roof unit as temperatures are expected to hit 117-degrees, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

After finishing up an air conditioning repair call, Michael Villa, a service tech with Total Refrigeration, takes a drink of water as temperatures are expected to hit 117-degrees Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A billboard sign displays an unofficial temperature of 115-degrees Fahrenheit (46.1 Celsius) on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

JP Lantin, right, owner of Total Refrigeration, and service tech Michael Villa, work on replacing a fan motor on an air conditioning unit as temperatures are expected to hit 117-degrees Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A hiker passes a sign warning hikers of extreme heat at the start of the Golden Canyon trail on July 11, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. A 71-year-old Los Angeles-area man died at the trailhead on Tuesday, July 18, as temperatures reached 121 degrees (49 Celsius) or higher and rangers suspect heat was a factor, the National Park Service said in a statement Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

Tourists hike the Golden Canyon trail on July 11, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. A 71-year-old Los Angeles-area man died at the trailhead on Tuesday, July 18, as temperatures reached 121 degrees (49 Celsius) or higher and rangers suspect heat was a factor, the National Park Service said in a statement Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

A sign stands warning hikers of extreme heat at the start of the Golden Canyon trail on July 11, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. A 71-year-old Los Angeles-area man died at the trailhead on Tuesday, July 18, as temperatures reached 121 degrees (49 Celsius) or higher and rangers suspect heat was a factor, the National Park Service said in a statement Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A tornado heavily damaged a major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, while torrential rain flooded communities in Kentucky and an area from California to South Florida endured more scorching heat.

Pfizer confirmed that the large manufacturing complex was damaged by a twister that touched down shortly after midday near Rocky Mount, but said in an email that it had no reports of serious injuries. A later company statement said all employees were safely evacuated and accounted for.

Parts of roofs were ripped open atop its massive buildings. The Pfizer plant stores large quantities of medicine that were tossed about, said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.

“I’ve got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility and damaged through the rain and the wind,” Stone said.

The plant produces anesthesia and other drugs as well as nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medications used in U.S. hospitals, Pfizer said on its website. Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health, said the damage “will likely lead to long-term shortages while Pfizer works to either move production to other sites or rebuilds.”

The National Weather Service said in a tweet that the damage was consistent with an EF3 tornado with wind speeds up to 150 mph (240 kph).

The Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office, where part of Rocky Mount is located, said on Facebook that they had reports of three people injured in the tornado, and that two of them had life-threatening injuries.

A preliminary report from neighboring Nash County said 13 people were injured and 89 structures were damaged, WRAL-TV reported.

Three homes owned by Brian Varnell and his family members in the nearby Dortches area were damaged. He told the news outlet he is thankful they are all alive. His sister and her children hid in their home’s laundry room.

“They got where they needed to be within the house and it all worked out for the best,” Varnell said near a home that was missing exterior walls and a large chunk of the roof.

Elsewhere in the U.S., an onslaught of searing temperatures and rising floodwaters continued, with Phoenix breaking an all-time temperature record and rescuers pulling people from rain-swamped homes and vehicles in Kentucky.

Forecasters said little relief appears in sight from the heat and storms. For example, Miami has endured a heat index of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) or more for weeks, with temperatures expected to rise this weekend.

In Kentucky, meteorologists warned of a “life-threatening situation” in the communities of Mayfield and Wingo, which were inundated by flash flooding this week from thunderstorms. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency there Wednesday as more storms threatened.

Forecasters expect up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain could yet fall on parts of Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri near where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers converge.

The storm system is forecast to move Thursday and Friday over New England, where the ground remains saturated after recent floods. In Connecticut, a mother and her 5-year-old daughter died after being swept down a swollen river Tuesday. In southeastern Pennsylvania, a search continued for two children caught in flash flooding Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Phoenix broke an all-time record Wednesday morning for a warm low temperature of 97 F (36.1 C), raising the threat of heat-related illness for residents unable to cool off adequately overnight. The previous record was 96 F (35.6 C) in 2003, the weather service reported.

Lindsay LaMont, who works at the Sweet Republic ice cream shop Phoenix, said business had been slow during the day with people sheltering inside to escape the heat. “But I’m definitely seeing a lot more people come in the evening to get their ice cream when things start cooling off,” LaMont said.

Heat-related deaths continue to rise in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located. Public health officials Wednesday reported that six more heat-associated fatalities were confirmed last week, bringing the year’s total so far to 18. All six deaths didn’t necessarily occur last week as some may have happened weeks earlier but were confirmed as heat-related only after a thorough investigation.

By this time last year, there had been 29 confirmed heat-associated deaths in the county and another 193 under investigation.

Phoenix, a desert city of more than 1.6 million people, had set a separate record Tuesday among U.S. cities by marking 19 straight days of temperatures of 110 F (43.3 C) or more. It topped 110 again Wednesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Hirsh said Phoenix’s 119 F (48.3 C) high Wednesday tied the fourth highest temperature recorded in the city ever. The highest temperature of all time was 122 F (50 C), set in 1990.

Across the country, Miami marked its 16th straight day of heat indexes in excess of 105 F (40.6 C). The previous record was five days in June 2019.

“And it’s only looking to increase as we head into the later part of the week and the weekend,” said Cameron Pine, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

The region has also seen 38 consecutive days with a heat index threshold of 100 F (37.8 C), and sea surface temperatures are reported to be several degrees warmer than normal.

“There really is no immediate relief in sight,” Pine said.

A 71-year-old Los Angeles-area man died at a trailhead in Death Valley National Park in eastern California on Tuesday afternoon as temperatures reached 121 F (49.4 C) or higher and rangers suspect heat was a factor, the National Park Service said in a statement Wednesday.

It is possibly the second heat-related fatality in Death Valley this summer. A 65-year-old man was found dead in a car on July 3.

Human-caused climate change and a newly formed El Nino are combining to shatter heat records worldwide, scientists say.

The entire globe has simmered to record heat both in June and July. Nearly every day this month, the global average temperature has been warmer than the unofficial hottest day recorded before 2023, according to University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer.

Atmospheric scientists say the global warming responsible for unrelenting heat in the Southwest also is making extreme rainfall a more frequent reality.

Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Anita Snow in Phoenix, Freida Frisaro in Miami, JoNel Aleccia in Temecula, California, and Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

Precious: Biden uses clips of Marjorie Taylor Greene speech for new campaign ad

CNN

Biden uses clips of Marjorie Taylor Greene speech for new campaign ad

Shania Shelton – July 19, 2023

Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Tuesday posted a campaign ad promoting his legislative wins by using clips from a recent speech GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene gave at the Turning Point Action Conference where she compared Biden to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.

“Joe Biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete,” Greene said in the video set to cheerful music.

The ad continues with another clip from the speech Greene gave over the weekend in which she explains the Biden administration’s investments. “Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid labor unions, and he still is working on it,” Greene said.

In response to Greene’s speech, the White House tweeted on Monday: “Caught us. President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families.”

The congresswoman from Georgia – who was recently ejected from the House Freedom Caucus – tweeted on Tuesday, “This is really what Joe Biden approves,” in response to the campaign ad alongside a longer clip of her speech. In the new clip, she discusses economics in the country, explaining that “we are now $32 trillion in debt with record high homelessness, 40-year record inflation.”

The Biden administration has been promoting “Bidenomics” over the past few weeks – an economic theory which rejects the idea of “trickle-down” policies in favor of focusing on the middle class. It is expected to be a centerpiece of Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.

The president first embraced the idea in June at a time when the administration was searching for a solution to Americans’ negative perception of the economy and a vehicle to take credit for an economy that is increasingly trending in the right direction.

In Florida, Swimmers Brave an Ocean That Feels Like Steamy Syrup

The New York Times

In Florida, Swimmers Brave an Ocean That Feels Like Steamy Syrup

Patricia Mazzei – July 19, 2023

The water temperature near Key Biscayne, a barrier island just east of Miami, had already passed 89 degrees Fahrenheit one morning this week. And though the ocean off South Florida was slightly cooler than the recent record highs that had stunned scientists and threatened marine life, it remained phenomenally hot.

But on this serene patch of the Atlantic Coast, it was still a summer day at the beach, when nothing satisfies quite like a dip — even when the ocean feels like a thick, simmering syrup. Almost gooey.

“I like it warm,” shrugged Niki Candela, 20, a Miami native, moments after a powerful siren warned of approaching lightning.

Few of the heat-dazed people on the largely empty beach paid it any mind. The shore, usually clogged this time of year with rotting clusters of seaweed, was pristine, no longer menaced by a huge sargassum blob that unexpectedly shrank last month in the Gulf of Mexico. The shallow water was a crystalline teal, rolling oh so gently, not a cresting wave in sight.

So the undeterred regulars, people who savor being hot and abhor the cold, came out to enjoy themselves.

“This is as close as America gets to paradise,” said Lauren Humphreys, 40, who is originally from England but splits her time between Miami and Los Angeles. There, she prefers hiking to swimming in the Pacific, which Tuesday reached about 72 degrees by the Santa Monica Pier.

Humphreys was making her second visit to Key Biscayne’s beaches that day, having come earlier to meditate. “There’s something quite special here,” she said. “It’s peaceful.”

Off the coast of neighboring Virginia Key, measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that the water temperature peaked at 90.5 degrees on Monday, and the air temperature at 87.6 degrees. On Saturday, the water temperature at that location reached 92.5 degrees, a record.

The water in South Florida is always warm this time of year, but unusually so this year, with six record-high temperatures measured off Virginia Key this month. The sea surface hit 98 degrees in some areas of Florida Bay last week; the average ocean temperature in Miami in July is around 86.

Miami’s unrelenting heat this summer has meant 16 consecutive days with a heat index at or above 105 degrees, a record, according to Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami. The National Weather Service forecast a heat index of 110 degrees Sunday, issuing its first-ever extreme heat advisory for Miami-Dade County.

At the beach the next day, the scorching sand was to be avoided at all costs. “Talk to me here, so I don’t burn my feet,” Eduardo Valades, 51, told a reporter, beckoning toward the lapping water.

The water was “really hot,” he said, “but only as soon as you go in. Once you walk 50 yards out, it feels cooler.”

“I love it,” his wife, Jennifer Valades, 50, said.

The couple moved three years ago to Key Biscayne, an affluent village of about 14,000, from California. “Here, you can literally swim for hours,” she said, though she conceded that the beach was more pleasant — “perfect,” in fact — during the mild South Florida winter, when the water temperature is more likely to be in the mid-70s. Coastal temperatures are also more moderate than those inland.

Valades said she had recently spotted six or seven manatees. Valades showed a cellphone video he recorded last month of a large shark feeding right at the shore.

“We see one every three or four days,” he said, appearing far from worried about the sightings.

This week, toweling off seemed unnecessary: No one felt cold leaving the water.

“It feels like a Jacuzzi!” Sasha Mishenina told her two friends following a brief dip. They had declined to join her.

Yet going for a quick swim still felt refreshing, with the occasional cool current swirling by and little fish darting by people’s feet.

“I’m so happy, because they said we were going to have the sargassum,” Adriana Campuzano said of predictions this year, as she was gathering her stuff to leave before the looming thunderstorm. “It’s clearer than it’s been in years. Maybe in a decade.”

Candela had come to the beach with three friends. The ocean felt fine, she said, though she added that sometimes with such hot water, “you think, ‘What if someone’s peeing here?’”

She and her friends laid out their towels on beach chairs under an umbrella, put music on and waded in.

“It actually feels pretty cold,” said Taylor Dutil, 20, a fellow Floridian.

“It’s a good change,” said Benny Perez, 22, who is from Chicago, where Lake Michigan was far cooler that day.

The siren blared three more times, signaling the end of the lightning threat. Not a raindrop had fallen. The four friends stayed in the water, chatting and laughing.

Kansas Republicans have managed to sink nearly as low as infamous and heartless duke

The Kansas City Star

Kansas Republicans have managed to sink nearly as low as infamous and heartless duke

Charles Hammer – July 19, 2023

I was impelled to write this column by a recent history book: “Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester,” by Nigel Pickford.

The war frigate Gloucester sank in 1682 during a storm off the British coast, imperiling not just its lowly crew but many nobles and — above all — James, Duke of York, who would soon be King of England. James escaped through the frigate’s big rear windows into his own lifeboat.

The tale reminded me of a column I wrote nearly five years ago. In it, I praised Kansas Republican leaders for being more generous to the poor than were the British grandees who starved millions in the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, forcing scurvy-ravaged millions more onto “ghost ships” sailing for America. Our Kansas Republicans are better people than Sir Charles Trevelyn, the British official who cheered the Potato Famine on.

“The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson,” Sir Charles wrote. “That calamity must not be too much mitigated. …The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”

OK, but just how much better are today’s Republican leaders? In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, millionaire President Donald Trump tweeted moral criticism of the suffering Puerto Ricans.

“They want everything done for them,” he groused.

Former Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley once justified cutting estate taxes on the rich as a way to honor “the people that are investing, as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”

Every darn penny they have? Precisely because of Kansas Republicans, our poor folks have few pennies to blow on women and booze. We stand as a stingy island in the middle of four surrounding states — three of them Republican — that have raised the minimum wage above the lousy national $7.25 hourly.

Citizens of Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma dodged past their leaders with initiative petitions that permitted a vote on the issue. These same three — against the will of fulminating Republican politicians — also voted to expand Medicaid to help the poor.

But in miserly Republican Kansas, we don’t tolerate voter initiatives. Nor do we suffer throwing more money away on doctors for the poor. Kansas stands rock solid among America’s 10 states that refuse to expand Medicaid. It was killed once by the Kansas senate, a second time when vetoed by then Gov. Sam Brownback. An aide to Brownback, Melika Willoughby, explained:

“This isn’t just bad policy, this is morally reprehensible…”

Morals again. Morals are very important to Republicans.

Here’s one good thing about Kansas legislators: By stiffing our own poor folks, Republicans helped fund care for the needy in the 40 states that did expand Medicaid. Our Kansas legislators thus have nobly given away billions in free federal dollars to lavish on health care for the poor of other states.

Republicans demand poor folks work a job to get care under Medicaid. But if a single mother with two children earns $8,751 a year, we cut her off because she is too rich.

So how moral were those fancy rich Britons in 1682 as the frigate Gloucester battled the raging Atlantic ocean? As I said, the Duke of York escaped through the frigate’s rear windows into his own lifeboat, leading Sir John Berry later to write:

“His highness took as many persons of quality with him in the boat as she could carry.”

Persons of quality. Of course. Nearly all of the “quality” was saved. An estimated 130 to 250 others drowned.

“But here I cannot pass in silence,” one observer later wrote, “that those that could swim made up to the Boat where the Duke was, and grappled on the sides thereof, endeavoring to get into it, but their hands were ordered to be cut off…and thereby they were deprived not only of getting into the Boats that came from other Ships, but also of the ability of swimming.”

Surely, then, our Kansas Republican legislators must be better than that.

Or are they?

‘Life or death’: Arizona heat wave poses lethal threat to homeless

AFP

‘Life or death’: Arizona heat wave poses lethal threat to homeless

Romain Fonsegrives – July 19, 2023

Hundreds of homeless people live in 'The Zone,' an encampment in Phoenix, the capital of the southwestern US state of Arizona (Patrick T. Fallon) — Hundreds of homeless people live in ‘The Zone,’ an encampment in Phoenix, the capital of the southwestern US state of Arizona (Patrick T. Fallon)

On a sidewalk in Arizona’s capital Phoenix, where a record-setting heat wave has prompted warnings for people to limit their time outside, Dana Page struggles to stay hydrated in her tarpaulin shelter.

The 49-year-old, surrounded by bottles of water, knows full well the dangers heat poses to the homeless population.

Days earlier, she watched emergency responders perform CPR on a fellow resident of “The Zone,” an encampment where hundreds live in tents and makeshift shelters, near downtown.

“He died just inches away from water,” she told AFP.

Phoenix, like much of the US southwest, is surrounded by desert, and its 1.6 million residents are used to brutal summer temperatures.

But this year’s heat wave is unprecedented in its length: it has already helped the city break its previous record of 18 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), with similar highs forecast into next week.

Page, a native of Phoenix, said she has had heatstroke three times in the past five years, describing it as a “secret killer” that sneaks up if not monitoring one’s water intake.

– Jump in heat-related deaths –

The absence of typical monsoon rains has also compounded the problem: no respite from searing heat during the day allows temperatures to remain dangerously elevated overnight.

“If this continues, we will see more heat-related deaths,” said Amy Schwabenlender, head of the Human Services Campus, a large facility near “The Zone” where 16 associations cooperate to provide social services, medical treatment and a shelter for those in need.

“It is a life-and-death situation,” she warned.

With its population growth among the highest in the United States, coupled with a lack of affordable housing, Arizona has seen the number of homeless people go up 23 percent in recent years.

And as global warming fuels more frequent extreme weather events, homeless people are increasingly vulnerable to the elements.

Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, recorded a 25 percent increase last year in heat-related deaths, with 425 fatalities — many among the homeless population.

The National Weather Service warns that extreme heat is the top weather-related killer, and has recommended people in Phoenix “stay indoors and seek air-conditioned buildings” during the heat wave.

– ‘Enough resources to help everybody’ –

To deal with the emergency, the Human Services Campus is running at full speed. Its associations send out early morning patrols to distribute 2,000 bottles of water every day, as well as sunblock and hats.

Like some sixty other sites around the city, the facility also serves as a cooling center, where homeless people can find shade, misters and a vast air-conditioned cafeteria with film showings to pass the time.

Schwabenlender warns that scorching hot surfaces outside also pose a significant danger, especially for those with worn shoes or bare feet, as well as people who fall or lie on the ground.

“I saw a man who laid on something and all the side of his neck was burned,” she said.

Asphalt in the summer sun can climb to temperatures above 160F (71C).

A few days ago, former house painter Jose Itafranco collapsed on the sidewalk after consuming methamphetamine, but the 30-year-old said he was lucky to have his wife Alvira nearby to prop his body up.

“When you do meth… it really just makes you think that you’re tougher than you are… like you’re untouchable,” Itafranco told AFP.

“But what happens, really, is you get dehydrated.”

Schwabenlender argues the hundreds of heat-related deaths in Maricopa County could have been avoided with a more coordinated response, and calls for federal emergency action commensurate with other natural disasters.

The White House, for its part, outlined last week various federal initiatives related to “extreme heat fueled by the climate crisis,” including a forthcoming meeting with local officials to discuss preparedness, as well as the drafting of a “National Heat Strategy.”

“We have enough resources to help everybody, we just have to figure out how to put them all together,” Schwabenlender said.