{"id":12175,"date":"2025-11-17T04:07:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T04:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/a34-flooding-causes-complete-collapse-of-riverside-buildingssee-more-2\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T04:07:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T04:07:47","slug":"a34-flooding-causes-complete-collapse-of-riverside-buildingssee-more-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/?p=12175","title":{"rendered":"A34.Flooding causes complete collapse of riverside buildings!See more"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A34.Flooding<\/p>\n

Melissa becoming major threat to Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic<\/p>\n

Melissa becoming major threat to Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic<\/p>\n

Melissa is expected to strengthen from a tropical storm into a major hurricane this weekend, and it could bring \u201clife-threatening and catastrophic\u201d flash flooding and landslides to Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic early next week, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center warns.<\/p>\n

Melissa, the 13th named storm of the Atlantic season, isn\\\\\\\\\\\\\u2019t expected to have major impacts on the mainland United States<\/p>\n

Melissa\\\\\\\\\\\\\u2019s forecast and path<\/p>\n

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On Friday night, Melissa\\\\\\\\\\\\\u2019s core was about 180 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 245 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the hurricane center said. Maximum sustained winds were 65 mph, with tropical storm-force winds extending some 140 miles east from the storm\\\\\\\\\\\\\u2019s center. It was inching north at 3 mph.<\/p>\n

Map shows the forecast path for Melissa, which is forecast to become a major hurricane in the Caribbean. \/ Credit: CBS News<\/p>\n

It was forecast to become a hurricane by Saturday and a major hurricane \u2014 meaning a\u00a0Category 3\u00a0or higher \u2014 by Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\\\\\\\\\\\\\u2019s going to intensify very rapidly,\u201d CBS News weather anchor Lonnie Quinn said Friday evening.<\/p>\n

Jamaica, Haiti and eastern Cuba should brace for \u201ccatastrophic rainfall, up to nearly 3 feet of rain,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cMountainous terrain \u2014 there\\\\\\\\\\\\\u2019s going to be mudslides. I am fearful for what we will find by the time we get into next week for this portion of the Caribbean.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On top of that, he warned, the storm could be packing 140 mile per hour winds.<\/p>\n

\u201cJamaica, I think, is going to take the worst of it,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n

A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica. A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning were in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti, from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n

Although Melissa was moving north Friday, the hurricane center said it was forecast to take a turn to the west on Saturday and continue that westward movement through Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the forecast track, the center of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica early next week and could be near or over eastern Cuba by the middle of next week,\u201d the hurricane center said.<\/p>\n

Melissa is expected to drop up to 25 inches of rain on parts of southern Haiti, the southern Dominican Republic and Jamaica through Tuesday, with higher amounts possible in some areas, the hurricane center said. Southeast Cuba could see up to 12 inches of rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cPotentially catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are possible across portions of Jamaica and the southern Dominican Republic, while catastrophic flash flooding is anticipated in southern Haiti,\u201d forecasters said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A satellite image of Tropical Storm Melissa in the Caribbean at 1:50 p.m. Eastern Time on Oct. 24, 2025. \/ Credit: NOAA\/NESDIS\/STAR<\/p>\n

Additional heavy rainfall is likely beyond Tuesday, the hurricane center said, but uncertainty remains about the more extended forecast.<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Melissa forecast to become major hurricane as Jamaica under threat<\/p>\n

Topical Storm Melissa has been called a \u2018slow-moving disaster\u2019 amid warnings of catastrophic flash flooding in Haiti<\/p>\n

\"\"open image in gallery<\/p>\n

A woman is standing on a street flooded by rains caused by Tropical Storm Melissa, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic\u00a0(REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Melissa\u00a0could soon strengthen into a\u00a0powerful hurricane\u00a0and brush past Jamaica, forecasters have warned.<\/p>\n

The storm is currently almost stationary in the central Caribbean, but threatens catastrophic\u00a0flash flooding\u00a0and landslides in southern\u00a0Haiti, where at least\u00a0three deaths\u00a0have already been reported.<\/p>\n

Copious amounts of rainfall are expected to drop across\u00a0Jamaica, southern Haiti, and the\u00a0Dominican Republic\u00a0throughout the weekend as a result of the erratic storm.<\/p>\n

Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, highlighted the danger, stating: \u201cThe rainfall is a huge risk with the storm. Rainfall has historically been the biggest cause of loss of life of tropical storms and hurricanes in the\u00a0Caribbean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The storm was located approximately 215 miles (345 kilometres) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 250 miles (405 kilometres) southwest of\u00a0Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It maintained maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was moving east-southeast at a sluggish 2 mph (4 kph), according to the U.S. centre.<\/p>\n

A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning were in effect for Jamaica and the southwestern peninsula of Haiti.Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain is forecast for portions of southwestern Haiti and eastern Jamaica through Monday, with higher amounts possible in some areas.<\/p>\n

Up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain was expected for the remainder of southern Haiti and for the southern Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

\"\"open image in galleryPeople place plastic tarps over their tents ahead of expected rain at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti\u00a0(AP)Catastrophic warnings for Haiti<\/p>\n

The\u00a0National Hurricane Center\u00a0warned that heavy rainfall would cause \u201ccatastrophic flash flooding and landslides across southwestern Haiti by this weekend into early next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt noted that strong winds could also potentially last for a day or more over Haiti\\\\\u2019s Tiburon peninsula.<\/p>\n

Haiti\\\\\u2019s Civil Protection Agency said Friday that a landslide in Port-au-Prince killed two people and injured another, with the death toll rising to three. Earlier this week, a large tree fell on an elderly man in southern Haiti and killed him, while five other people in the country\\\\\u2019s central region were injured in flooding.<\/p>\n

The U.N. said it has prepared more than 100 emergency shelters in Haiti\\\\\u2019s southern region.<\/p>\n

A slow-moving disaster<\/p>\n

Melissa was expected to slowly begin moving closer to Jamaica over the weekend. It was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane by Saturday and become a major hurricane by Sunday, possibly reaching\u00a0Category 4\u00a0status before dawn on Monday.<\/p>\n

Forecasters said that Jamaica could see life-threatening flooding and landslides because the ground is already saturated from recent heavy rains unrelated to the storm.<\/p>\n

The storm is moving so slowly that parts of Jamaica could experience hurricane conditions for 72 hours or longer, said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather\\\\\u2019s lead hurricane expert.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelissa is evolving into a slow-motion disaster,\u201d he said. \u201cMillions of people are at risk of catastrophic impacts. We are increasingly concerned about the threat of a humanitarian disaster unfolding, especially if this storm stalls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schools, health centers and government offices closed across Jamaica on Thursday, with authorities warning that all airports would close within 24 hours if a hurricane warning is issued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is indeed serious,\u201d said Matthew Samuda, Jamaica\\\\\u2019s minister of economic growth and job creation.<\/p>\n

The Bahamas\\\\\u2019 Foreign Affairs Ministry announced it would evacuate Bahamian students out of Jamaica on Friday ahead of the storm.<\/p>\n

Flooding persists in Dominican Republic<\/p>\n

The storm has damaged nearly 200 homes in the Dominican Republic and knocked out dozens of water supply systems, affecting more than half a million customers. It also downed trees and traffic lights and unleashed a couple of small landslides.<\/p>\n

All public schools across the Dominican Republic were closed Friday, while government offices in 12 provinces under alert would do the same, officials said. Nearly two dozen communities were cut off by floodwaters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an event that we should be following minute by minute,\u201d said Juan Manuel M\u00e9ndez Garc\u00eda, emergency operations director in the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

Officials noted that evacuations in areas under alert were mandatory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing here is to save lives. The risk is the enormous amount of rain,\u201d said Dominican President Luis Abinader.<\/p>\n

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the first named storm to form in the Caribbean this year.<\/p>\n

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal season with 13 to 18 named storms. Of those, five to nine were forecast to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, which pack winds of 111 mph (178 kph) or greater.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

Nancy Pelosi says sex changes for trans kids is something she\u2019s working for \u2018at the national level\u2019.Pelosi said she flies a transgender flag outside her office.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that sex changes for transgender children is something she\u2019s working for \u201cat the national level.\u201dEarlier in the day, Pelosi toured the San Francisco VA Medical Center to review health-system upgrades, research initiatives and\u2014according to a press release from her staff\u2014the threat that House Republicans might slash core veterans\u2019 services.<\/p>\n

While speaking with reporters, she was asked how her office was responding to pauses to \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is something I\u2019m working for at the national level, and we are hoping we can have gender-affirming care for our trans kids,\u201d Pelosi said. \u201cIt\u2019s a sad thing for us\u2026 I don\u2019t know what effect we can have nationally with what we have going on in the White House and in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called the situation \u201creally sad, adding that a transgender-pride flag\u2014five horizontal stripes of light blue, pink and white\u2014hangs outside her office. Pelosi also said several colleagues display the same flag<\/p>\n

She acknowledged that many Republicans on Capitol Hill oppose medical transition for transgender youth.<\/p>\n

Still, she is not alone in her stance on sex changes for kids.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, over a dozen officials from Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from blocking access to sex change procedures and treatments for people under the age of 19.<\/p>\n

The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, argues that the Trump administration wants to impose a nationwide ban on sex change procedures by threatening providers with \u201cbaseless criminal charges\u201d and investigations.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit names President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department as defendants. It challenges Trump\u2019s Jan. 28 executive order barring government support for sex change operations and treatments and two memos by Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate.<\/p>\n

Pelosi\u2019s office told Fox News Digital the Democrat was referring to this lawsuit when she spoke about supporting sex changes for children.<\/p>\n

Bondi\u2019s memo directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate and prosecute those who offer sex-change treatments to minors. Shumate\u2019s memo directs prosecutors to prioritize investigations against doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that perform such procedures.<\/p>\n

In July, Kaiser Permanente announced that it would pause sex change surgeries for patients under 19 beginning Aug. 29 in response to the Trump administration\u2019s efforts on the matter. The same month, Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles shuttered its Center for Trans Youth Health and Development, one of the nation\u2019s largest clinics for transgender young people.<\/p>\n

The Children\u2019s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., also announced that it will no longer provide gender transition-related medical interventions.<\/p>\n

Many states have laws restricting or banning sex change surgeries for children. The states named in the lawsuit \u2013 California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. \u2013 allow such procedures.<\/p>\n

In one of the most jaw-dropping political dramas of the decade, New York Attorney General Letitia James\u2014long a crusader against high-profile corruption\u2014now finds herself at the center of her own scandal, ensnared by a relentless expos\u00e9 led by former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. What began as whispers of a real estate irregularity exploded into a maelstrom of congressional inquiries, public outrage, and, ultimately, criminal charges that could end a political career and reshape the conversation about accountability at the highest levels.<\/em><\/p>\n

The story opens in Brooklyn, where a seemingly innocuous brownstone\u2014officially listed in mortgage paperwork as a four-unit dwelling\u2014drew unexpected scrutiny. The problem? Anyone walking by could see five doorbells, five families, five separate floors. For ordinary real estate investors, \u201caccidental\u201d misclassification might result in a fine. But for Letitia James, the state\u2019s top enforcer and a vocal advocate for property law compliance, this apparent discrepancy triggered a chain reaction.<\/p>\n

Conservative watchdog groups, investigative journalists, and even some within her own party questioned if the paperwork was a technical glitch\u2014 or a methodical maneuver to receive preferential loan rates. Financial analyst Ed Martin, acting as an unofficial DOJ observer, was spotted examining the property, confirming suspicions that the story had found legs.<\/p>\n

By the time the hashtag #JamesGate went viral, even mainstream outlets couldn\u2019t ignore the unfolding spectacle.<\/p>\n

Sensing political opportunity or true injustice (or both), the House convened a rare bipartisan hearing. Despite waves of media spin, Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike packed the room, along with an overflow of journalists from every major network. Letitia James arrived polished and defiant, prepared to \u201cown the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

But across the aisle sat Tulsi Gabbard, calm, composed, and quietly armed with a mountain of documentation. With the sharp timing of a trial lawyer and the restraint of a seasoned military officer, Tulsi delivered an opening salvo that set the tone: \u201cWhen you say you have nothing to hide, does that include your mortgage declaration on the Brooklyn brownstone\u2014listed as four units, despite five active tenants?\u201d<\/p>\n

For the first time, James wavered. Attempts to brush aside the questions as \u201cinternet conspiracy theories\u201d only made things worse. Gabbard countered with hard filings from city property records, mortgage applications showing suspiciously low interest rates, and statements cross-checked by independent watchdog groups.<\/p>\n

What followed was a barrage of evidence rarely matched in modern congressional proceedings. Gabbard exposed:<\/p>\n

Delayed FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) Requests:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tulsi unveiled lawsuits from the Empire Center for Public Policy, documenting nine-month delays for basic nursing home statistics\u2014redacted far beyond legal reason. When pressed, James could only cite \u201cstaffing shortages\u201d and bureaucratic backlog, raising eyebrows in a chamber that saw her office swiftly subpoena political enemies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa becoming major threat to Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic Melissa becoming major threat to Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic Melissa is expected to strengthen from a tropical storm into a major hurricane this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t