Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Hurricane Ian Setting Off Major Flooding As It Moves Toward Atlantic
Hurricane Ian is setting off major flooding as he moves across Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. At 1am, the National Hurricane Center reported that Ian was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane. That means it with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles an hour with the eye between Orlando and Cape Canaveral. As Ian continues churning north and east, storm surge warnings remain in effect for a 500-mile stretch of the Gulf Coast from Suwanee to the southern tip of the peninsula, including Tampa Bay, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and Naples. Forecasters say Ian is expected to “turn northward tomorrow and approach the northeastern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coasts.” While he’s weakening, he could regain strength before completely devolving into a tropical depression.
2 U.S. Warns Americans To Leave Russia Immediately
The US Embassy in Moscow is warning Americans to leave Russia – as in, immediately. While limited commercial travel options out of the country remain, the concern centers specifically on Americans with dual citizenship. Not only could they be prevented from leaving – but they could be conscripted under Putin’s war plan. While Russian citizens making a break for the borders, flights out of Russia “are extremely limited at present,” according to the State Department, who notes that flights are often unavailable on short notice.” What to do? According to American officials, “overland routes by car and bus are still open.” Meanwhile, the Biden administration is putting up another one-point-one billion dollar security aid package for Ukraine as its war with Russia drags on. That brings the total committed to just under $17-billion since January 2021. That's under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which the White House says represents the America's continuing support for Ukraine long-term.
3 Aaron Judge Nails His Place In The History Books
It's official, Aaron Judge is now tied with Roger Maris for the American League record for home runs hit in the regular season. At Toronto’s Rogers Centre, in the seventh inning, Judge shot one over the left field wall off Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza. “It’s an incredible honor to get a chance to be associated with one of the Yankee greats, one of the baseball greats,” Judge says in a statement. “To be enshrined with them forever, words can’t describe it. That’s one thing that’s so special about the Yankee organization, all the guys that came before us and paved the way, played the game the right way.” As for the ball, it was almost caught by a gentleman in a Blue Jays jersey who’s probably wishing his arms were just a few inches longer. Either way, the ball landed in the Toronto bullpen...and was retrieved by Reliever Zack Britton, who brokered an in-game exchange of the baseball for Judge, who presented it to his mother, Patty.