Monday, September 30, 2024 |
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Monday, September 30, 2024 |
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Good Monday afternoon. Urgent search and rescue operations are underway after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast, Israel is planning to launch a limited ground operation into Lebanon as soon as tonight, and more than 90,000 people are under a shelter-in-place advisory after a chemical plant fire in Georgia. Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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Helene death toll surpasses 100, hundreds missing in Southeast |
The number of deaths linked to Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 116, and crews are desperately searching for nearly 600 people who remain missing, days after the hurricane roared ashore in Florida as a monster Category 4 storm. The devastation is widespread across the Southeast. In western North Carolina, hundreds of miles inland from the coast, massive floods have washed away highways and left entire communities underwater. At least 35 people have died in Buncombe County, where the popular tourist city of Asheville is among the hardest hit communities. Power is being restored to some of the impacted areas, but about 2 million homes and businesses remain without service across several states. While the Southeast is still reeling from Helene’s impact, forecasters are monitoring another potential tropical system that could develop in the western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico over the next week. |
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Israel launches small operations into Lebanon ahead of “limited” ground operation |
Israel is planning a limited ground operation into Lebanon that could begin imminently according to a U.S. official, an administration official, and a source familiar with the planning. Israel informed the U.S. that the incursion into southern Lebanon could begin as early as today and that the goal is to push Hezbollah forces further away from the Israeli border and target their infrastructure, including stockpiles and weapons, the officials explained. The offensive will be limited in duration and scope, and last for days, not weeks, and the geographical reach will be limited, they said. Israel began probing operations already, the U.S. official said, including small-scale ground missions with their special forces. The Israeli military has also expanded attacks on Iran-backed militant groups in the Middle East, after killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike last week. |
Shelter-in-place advisory extended in Georgia county after chemical lab fire |
Authorities have indefinitely extended a shelter-in-place advisory for an entire Georgia county after chlorine was detected in the air, following a fire at a chemical lab that sent a massive plume into the sky Sunday. About 17,000 residents were evacuated near the site of the plant in Conyers, east of Atlanta, and a shelter-in-place recommendation is in effect for all of Rockdale County, which has a population of more than 90,000. The Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement that it’s investigating “numerous reports of a haze and strong chemical smell.” |
Trump tours hurricane damage in Georgia, Harris to be briefed by FEMA |
Hurricane Helene is having an impact on the presidential race, forcing the campaigns to change up their plans after the storm carved a path of destruction across the two critical battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump visited the devastated city of Valdosta, Georgia, this afternoon, where his campaign said he received a briefing and toured the damage. Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has canceled events in Nevada after a rally in Las Vegas Sunday to travel back to Washington, D.C., where she will receive a briefing at FEMA headquarters about the storm damage. Trump and Harris’ running mates, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are in their final preparations for their debate tomorrow night. It could be the last debate of the 2024 campaign cycle. |
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What else we're watching: |
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Verizon said it was “aware of an issue impacting service for some customers,” after hundreds of thousands of reports indicating users were unable to access their mobile phone services. |
Ryan Routh, the man charged in what federal authorities have called the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty today in court. |
NORAD has released dramatic video of a Russian warplane buzzing a U.S. F-16 fighter jet last week in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. |
A potential dockworker strike at ports up and down the East Coast and along the Gulf Coast, which is expected to have a major impact on the U.S. supply chain, is set to begin after midnight. |
Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, the subject of our NBC News podcast “Letters from Sing Sing,” was exonerated in court this morning after serving nearly 24 years for the murder of a retired police officer that he did not commit. |
Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, one of the greatest shot blockers in the game and the NBA's first "global ambassador,” has died at 58 after a battle with brain cancer, the league announced today. |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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