1.5 mn to evacuate as Hurricane Florence approaches US
Washington, Sep 12: More than 1.5 million people have been asked to evacuate their homes along the Virginia, North and South Carolina coasts as Category 5 storm Hurricane Florence approaches, an official said.
It is expected to make landfall in the area later this week, Efe news reported.
Hurricane Florence is packing sustained winds of 140 miles (220 km) per hour and remains an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm as it approaches the US eastern coastline, specifically the Carolinas.
In its 5 p.m. advisory on Tuesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said that the eye of Florence was located 580 km south-southwest of Bermuda and 1,260 km east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina. It is likely to become a Category 5 before landfall.
The NHC experts warned that "life-threatening storm surge (is) possible along the coasts of North and South Carolina".
"Further strengthening is forecast tonight and Wednesday. While some weakening is expected on Thursday, Florence is forecast to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane through landfall," the NHC said.
The first waves directly kicked up by the huge storm system should begin coming ashore late Wednesday. Florence was expected to bring very heavy storm surge, rain and flooding to the entire region on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Beyond the Carolinas and Virginia, which were expected to bear the brunt of the storm, rain and flooding were expected through next week in certain parts of Tennessee, Georgia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Maryland and the District of Columbia have declared states of emergency.
President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in North and South Carolina, thus facilitating federal aid to those states. He also cancelled several campaign events he had scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
"The safety of the American people is my absolute highest priority. We are sparing no expense," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after meeting with Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Administration officials.
Trump said that his administration is "ready. We are as ready as anyone has ever been", adding: "This is going to be a very large one ... It's tremendously big and tremendously wet. Tremendous amounts of water."
Hurricane and storm surge warnings have been declared from South Santee River, South Carolina, to Duck, North Carolina.
A hurricane watch has been placed in effect for Edisto Beach South Carolina to the North Carolina-Virginia border, and a storm surge watch is in place for the same zone.
The storm surge will bring significant flooding of between 9-13 feet from Cape Fear to Cape Lookout, including the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers, 6-9 feet between North Myrtle Beach and Cape Fear, and 2-4 feet to the area between Edisto Beach and Murrells Inlet.
A total of 15-20 inches of rain is expected, with isolated areas of up to 30 inches in parts of North Carolina, Virginia and the northern part of South Carolina through Saturday.
So far during in 2018 Atlantic hurricane season there have been nine tropical storms, of which five -- Beryl, Chris, Helen, Isaac and Florence -- have become hurricanes.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
