Hurricane Florence kills 5 in US
Washington, Sep 15 : At least five people, including an infant, were killed in the US state of state of North Carolina as hurricane Florence made landfall, authorities said.
After coming ashore in North Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane, Florence downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday afternoon and trudged into South Carolina later in the night, reports CNN.
The police force of Wilmington, the largest population centre in the impact zone, said via Twitter that a woman and her baby died after a tree fell on their home, while the father was taken to a nearby hospital.
Another person died in nearby Hampstead, North Carolina, reports Efe news.
Tom Collins, director of Pender County's Emergency Management, said that a woman who suffered a heart attack died because an ambulance was unable to reach her in time due to fallen trees blocking the roads.
Soon afterward, the administration of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said that a 78-year-old man died of electrocution as he was attempting to connect a power generator, while CBS 17 television reported that a 77-year-old man was killed after a gust of wind knocked him to the ground.
Some areas have already received 15 inches of rain, according to the National Hurricane Centre, which warned that the storm could bring up to 40 inches of rain to parts of North and South Carolina, producing "catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding",
Authorities were most concerned about inland flooding and storm-surge flooding from Florence.
A storm surge of about 10 ft above normal levels was reported by the National Weather Service's office in Morehead City, North Carolina.
Duke Energy, a utility company that serves the Carolinas, estimated that up to 3 million customers could lose electricity as a result of the hurricane.
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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.
