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Helene aftermath, Hezbollah hit and a star has died

 
Today's NATIONAL story

Hurricane Helene death toll rises, North Carolina reels

What happened
The death toll from Hurricane Helene rose above 95 this morning as officials assessed the damage from catastrophic flooding and scrambled to get potable water, food and electricity to hard-hit regions. At least 30 people died from storm-related causes in Asheville, North Carolina, and its surrounding Buncombe County. South Carolina confirmed 25 deaths and Georgia reported 17. Deaths from Helene were also recorded in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Hundreds of people were still unaccounted for, especially in mountainous western North Carolina.

Who said what
"This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said yesterday afternoon. In Georgia, where Atlanta was among the areas hit by flooding, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said parts of his state looked "like a bomb went off."

Since Helene made landfall in Florida late Thursday, it has "turned neighborhoods into lakes, lifted cars like toys, snapped trees like twigs and left businesses underwater," CNN said. Mud and floating detritus blocked hundreds of roads, including Interstate 40 around Asheville, and ongoing search-and-rescue operations were hampered by cellular and WiFi outages. "This is going to be a really complicated recovery," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CBS's "Face the Nation."

Asheville's Biltmore Village and the River Arts District were "walloped by severe flooding" and still underwater yesterday, The New York Times said. Nearby towns including Swannanoa were largely destroyed. President Joe Biden said Saturday that the "devastation we're witnessing in Hurricane Helene's wake has been overwhelming."

What next?
Biden said yesterday he would visit "impacted communities" this week, "as soon as it will not disrupt emergency response operations." Swollen rivers and creeks and emergency dam releases prompted ongoing flash flood warnings in the Southern Appalachians. Meanwhile, a tropical depression in the eastern Atlantic could turn into a "formidable hurricane" later this week, the National Hurricane Center said yesterday. The hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

 
 
Today's international story

Israeli killing of Hezbollah leader roils Lebanon, Iran

What happened
Israel yesterday attacked Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza, hitting the three Iran-backed proxies as it amassed troops along its northern border for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon over the weekend killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders of the militant group. Two weeks of Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, displaced up to a million others and nudged the region toward all-out war.

Who said what
Nasrallah's death is "major blow to Iran," weakening Tehran's "best armed and most well-equipped ally in the region," Reuters said. In a show of "nervousness by the Iranian authorities," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been "taken to a secure location." The crumbling of Hezbollah has opened "fissures" in Iran's government, The New York Times said. Significantly, Khamenei "signaled that it would be Hezbollah, not Iran," that struck back, suggesting he's choosing "lying low in the interest of self-preservation" over "all-out war with Israel."

Israel didn't just kill Nasrallah and his senior leadership team, it also "eviscerated decades of myths and assumptions about Hezbollah's military might" and its stature as a "regional powerhouse," The Washington Post said. Hezbollah "appears to have gravely overestimated its own strength and underestimated Israel's willingness to take it on" and the "extent to which Israeli intelligence had penetrated the organization."

What next?
Hezbollah may have "become a victim of its own hubris," The Wall Street Journal said, but "Israel now risks falling into a similar trap, especially if it launches a ground invasion of Lebanon," where Hezbollah "retains thousands of battle-hardened fighters and a large arsenal." Hezbollah is expected to pick Hashim Safieddine, head of its executive council and Nasrallah's cousin, as its new leader.

 
 
Today's Culture Story

Kris Kristofferson, singer-songwriter, is dead at 88

What happened
Kris Kristofferson, an Oxford-educated Rhodes Scholar and Army veteran who wrote hit songs for Janis Joplin and Johnny Cash before starring in Hollywood movies, died Saturday at his home in Maui, a family spokesperson said yesterday evening. He was 88 and no cause of death was offered.

Who said what
Kristofferson, "who could recite William Blake from memory, wove intricate folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance into popular country music," The Associated Press said. His "rugged brand of sensitivity brought him acclaim as a poet laureate of intimacy and longing," The Washington Post said. In 1970, the year Kristofferson released his first album, three of his songs hit No. 1 on the country charts: "Sunday Mornin’ Comin' Down," sung by Cash, his friend and mentor; Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee," her last recording before her fatal overdose; and Sammi Smith's version of "Help Me Make it Through The Night."

A gig opening for Linda Ronstadt in Los Angeles led to a second career in acting, where Kristofferson won a Golden Globe for  1976's"A Star is Born" and had starring roles in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "Lone Star," and the "Blade" vampire-slayer franchise. His music career rebounded when he began touring with Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings in the supergroup The Highwaymen between 1985 and 1995, and despite health problems, he "remained active into his 80s," The New York Times said.

What next?
“There's no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson," Nelson — the last living Highwayman — said in 2009 at a BMI award ceremony for Kristofferson. "Everything he writes is a standard and we're all just going to have to live with that."

 
 

It's not all bad

Scientists have demonstrated how a nuclear blast could deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The experiment, conducted by physicists from Sandia National Laboratories, showed that radiation from a nuclear blast could vaporize part of an asteroid's surface, creating a gas that pushes it off course. This method could protect the Earth from large asteroids when time is short. Researchers are interested in exploring ways to shield the Earth from massive impacts, given the potentially "existential nature of the threat," The Guardian said.

 
 
Under the radar

Why is the Taj Mahal crumbling?

Cracks in the marble façade of the Taj Mahal have prompted concerns that the Indian government is choosing to look the other way as the much-loved monument crumbles. The Taj Mahal is a UNESCO World Heritage site and India's most famous building, attracting about eight million visitors each year. But the marble mausoleum in Uttar Pradesh had "long been a source of political point-scoring," said The Times of London, and there are suggestions that Hindu nationalism could be contributing to its declining health. 

The Taj Mahal was built in the 17th century by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favorite queen, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. Recent photographs on social media include a leaking dome, cracks in the walls and a tree sprouting from a pillar.

There is a "pervasive influence" of Hindu nationalism in the "highest echelons" of Indian politics, La Croix said, and "an intent to establish a Hindu hegemony at the expense of religious minorities," a policy known as Hindutva. Some Hindu fringe groups had "set their sights" on the Taj Mahal, which they believe was built on the site of a shrine to the Hindu deity Shiva, said France24. 

Political opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP accuse the party of turning a blind eye to the neglect.  "The BJP government and its dormant departments have completely failed to maintain the Taj Mahal," Uttar Pradesh's former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on X, in a post translated by the Deccan Herald.

 
 
On this day

September 30, 1955

Actor James Dean died in a car accident near Cholame, California, at age 24. Dean's death stunned Americans, who had come to see the young actor as a symbol of youthful angst in films like "Rebel Without a Cause." The accident remains one of the most well-known Hollywood tragedies.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Helene's death toll continues to rise," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says on Monday's front page, and "states struggle with storm damage." USA Today has "6 things to watch at the VP debate" tomorrow. The debate gives J.D. Vance and Tim Walz, "both new on the national stage," a chance to "shine" and "expose each other's weaknesses," The Boston Globe says. Their "key debate audiences may diverge," The Washington Post adds. The Wall Street Journal says the "gender gap widens" as "young men in U.S. keep falling behind" their female peers.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

The wedding slinger

A Spanish man who charges $550 to "ruin weddings" is booked through December, The Independent said. Initially, Ernesto Reinares Varea was joking when he placed an ad saying he would object during ceremonies, giving "brides who are unsure how to call off their own nuptials" an out. But when people started to call him, Varea turned his joke service into a real one. He has added to his repertoire as well, letting family members "slap him" for $55 per smack.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Melissa Sue Gerrits / Getty Images; AFP via Getty Images; Per Ole Hagen / Redferns; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images