1 China Angry About First "Spy" Balloon, While Second Balloon Spotted Over South America
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says lawmakers will be briefed next week about the Chinese balloon that was shot down over the weekend, and the briefing will also include information on China's military capability. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions saying the country reserved the right to “take further actions;" a second balloon is reportedly floating over Latin America and could reach America’s east coast by next week. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the decision to shoot the balloon down was delayed due to the chance of debris falling in American airspace.U.S. Navy divers are now dealing with the recovery efforts from the downed balloon in waters off the coast of South Carolina. Officials expect the search to be relatively easy since the debris came down about six miles off the coast in less than 50 feet of water. The wreckage will be taken to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia for analysis upon recovery
2 Texas Governor Greg Abbot Issues Disaster Declaration Following Ice Storms
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is issuing a disaster declaration following a devastating winter storm. Seven counties were hit hard by the storm, which caused at least 10 deaths across three southern states. Abbot said in a statement, "The State of Texas has provided all assistance requested throughout the severe weather this week, and we continue to ensure that communities across our state have the resources and support they need to recover from the winter weather event.” As for day-to-day living, nearly 100,000 people mostly in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth areas lost power. Fortunately, many of those residents have had their power restored. How would a declaration help? Abbott say it would enable the state to provide assistance to people and communities with property damage and encouraged residents to report damage, with details and photos to the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool Survey.
3 New Hampshire's Mount Washington Has Set The Lowest Windchill Record In The U.S
A new record has been set in New Hampshire…one that its residents probably wish didn’t happen. The temperature was so bone-chillingly cold on Saturday that the summit of Mount Washington clocked in at a wind chill of minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit. The Mount Washington Observatory at the peak of the Northeast’s highest mountain also recorded an actual temperature of minus 47. That record is now tied with one set in 1934. Much to the chagrin of the rest of New England, wind chills dropped to as low as minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service reported.