Hurricanes

Newsweek -   Federal emergency response workers operating in North Carolina's Rutherford County in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene were told to evacuate on Saturday over concerns that an "armed militia" was threatening workers in the area, it has been reported.

An official with the U.S. Forest Service, which is supporting recovery efforts along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sent an message to numerous federal agencies at around 1 p.m. on Saturday warning that FEMA has advised all federal responders in Rutherford County to "stand down and evacuate the county immediately," The Washington Post reported.

National Guard troops had come across two trucks of "armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA," the email said. "The IMTs [incident management teams] have been notified and are coordinating the evacuation of all assigned personnel in that county."

 ‘Hurricane Milton Historic, Not Unprecedented’ – Hurricanes of ‘similar size & strength hit Tampa Bay area in 1848 & 1921’ – Even UN concedes there’s no climate signal in tropical storms

CNN -  President Joe Biden announced more than $600 million for electric grid resilience during a visit to Florida on Sunday to survey damage from Hurricane Milton. His visit came as leaders have urged Congress to pass additional funding for disaster relief and small-business programs as extreme weather events this year have rapidly drained the government's aid funds. Biden empathized with Florida residents who had lost everything, describing them as "heartbroken and exhausted, and their expenses are piling up." As of early today, more than 400,000 customers remained out of power across the state, according to PowerOutage.us — down from a peak of nearly 3 million. The power companies estimate most people will have electricity by midweek.