1 Dorian Stomps Along Carolina Coast
Hurricane Dorian is losing some steam, but not soon enough as she’s well made her presence felt in the Carolinas – especially North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center says hurricane conditions are spreading along areas of the coast as the storm continues moving northeast at about 13 miles per hour. Now a category two storm, folks in southeast Virginia and southeast Massachusetts will also feel the impacts today and tomorrow. What’s that mean? Heavy rain and high winds – and not just on the coast. Tropical storm conditions have been battering North Carolinians more than 50 miles inland. Meanwhile, the death toll in the Bahamas is increasing. Officials say at least 30 people are dead in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. As we’ve been telling you, the storm devastated the islands over the weekend, hitting as a category five hurricane and hardly moving for nearly two days. Images from the islands show homes and debris scattered everyone. Health officials expect the death toll to rise as search efforts continue.
2 U.S. Service Member Killed In Kabul
A U.S. service member is dead after a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan – and the Taliban is claiming responsibility. The incident happened near the U.S. embassy and the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan says a Romanian soldier was also killed, along with at least ten Afghan civilians. The attack came as the U.S. continues efforts to broker a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government. In fact, the top U.S. negotiator was returning to Qatar to resume talks with the militant group when this attack took place. A deal could lead to the withdrawal of several thousand U.S. troops from Afghanistan. But with locals seeing the terrorist group using violence as a negotiating tactic, hopes are diminishing that any deal can be reached. More than a dozen U.S. service members have been killed in the war-torn country this year.
3 Cell Charger Station May Have Sparked Deadly Boat Fire
As the NTSB continues delving into the deadly boat fire off the Southern California coast, we’re learning more about what those faced in their final moments – and what may have caused the blaze. The “Los Angeles Times” is reporting that the surviving crew members told the owner of the vessel Conception that carried them to safety, that the fire started in the galley near where cellphones and cameras had been plugged in to charge overnight. In other words – a cell phone charging station may be the culprit. But there is another theory – that isn’t much better: it involves lithium battery chargers near the bunk area. Also complicating matters the actual conditions – specifically, the small size of the escape hatch. Still, Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, says they aren’t making any official determinations as yet. She notes, “We are not ruling anything out at this point.”