Indiana, Hawaii reel after heavy storms
At least seven people in Indiana were killed during the storms
What happened
A week of relentless storms caused widespread destruction in the Midwest and killed at least seven people in Indiana and another one in Ohio, officials said Sunday. President Donald Trump approved Indiana GOP Gov. Mike Braun’s disaster emergency declaration for the entire state. Across the country in Hawaii, Hurricane Lala grazed the state over the weekend, battering the islands with heavy rains and winds, but did not make landfall.
Who said what
Lala “continued to punish” Hawaii over the weekend with “strong gusts and pounding rain, reaching a total of nearly three feet” in places, The Associated Press said. The Ka’u District on the southeastern side of the Big Island “appeared to suffer the worst damage,” The New York Times said. There were no confirmed deaths, Gov. Josh Green (D) said, though officials are still investigating. “But boy, a lot of work ahead.”
Days of heavy rains in Indiana “caused significant flooding along the White River,” including in Indianapolis, The Wall Street Journal said. The National Weather Service in Indianapolis “had never issued a flash flood emergency — its most dire flood alert — until Wednesday,” the Times said. “It issued the warning three times that day.”
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What next?
As the Midwest shifts to recovery efforts, the “heavy rainfall has moved eastward” to the central Appalachians, the Journal said, bringing the “threat of flash flooding to West Virginia” on Monday.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.