Emergency and disaster management briefing for April 2, 2021: A bomb threat shut down the Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale International Airport for several hours on Thursday morning; 51 people are dead after a Taiwanese express train hit a crane and derailed in a mountain tunnel; the slow process of rebuilding homes is finally underway in Santa Cruz after the CZU Complex Fires; the Broward County Public School district refuses to pay ransom after their data systems were hacked; Egyptian officials are holding the Evergreen ship that was lodged in the Suez Canal while an investigation is conducted; the BLM has closed the Cottonwood Day Use Area near Carlsbad after a brush fire damaged visitor structures; forecasts call for above-average Atlantic Ocean tropical activity based on ENSO patterns; the Halema’uma’u crater lava lake grows deeper as the Kilauea eruption continues.
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1. A bomb threat shut down the Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale International Airport in Florida very early Thursday morning. Entrances and roadways to FLL shut for about six hours while police investigated what were allegedly suspicious wires coming from a vehicle outside Terminals 1 and 2. The Bomb Squad from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office declared the scene all clear at around 7 a.m., and the airport was able to resume operations.
#BREAKING 🚁 views of the gridlock at & all around #FLL. I-595, Griffin Rd, US1 seeing MAJOR traffic. Entrances to the airport are closed while BSO investigates a suspicious incident/bomb threat
— Vanessa Morales (@NewsDeskChica) April 1, 2021
Check your ✈️: https://t.co/IltaYT2WQR… @nbc6 update here: https://t.co/DudJKWeQVR pic.twitter.com/jtQuFiTSRG
2. An express train derailment inside a tunnel in Taiwan on Thursday has left at least 51 dead and another 66 people with moderate to severe injuries. The No. 408 Taroko Train, operated by Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), was carrying 350 people when it departed Shulin, New Taipei bound for Taitung. Just before the Qingshui Tunnel, the train hit a crane that had fallen onto the tracks. The first five carriages derailed and piled up inside the narrow tunnel, which posed challenges to rescue efforts.
Taiwan train crash, derailment leaves at least 36 dead, dozens injured
— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) April 2, 2021
Latest: https://t.co/KB8gh33sls pic.twitter.com/MTKrqLMZrh
3. The slow process of rebuilding homes is finally underway in Santa Cruz, California, after the CZU August Lightning Complex fires devastated homes in 2020. The county saw a total of 911 homes get destroyed when the massive wildfire swept through the region, where it destroyed a total of 1,400 structures. Phase I and II of the region’s recovery included inspecting fire-damaged homes, removing hazardous waste, the removal of hazardous trees and other debris, cleaning up ash, and sampling soils for contaminates.
Rebuilding begins for homes lost during the CZU Lightning Complex https://t.co/fXtQoJ4IMv
— KSBW Action News 8 (@ksbw) April 1, 2021
4. Broward County Public Schools in Florida are refusing to pay the $40 million dollar ransom demand to hackers who allegedly breached their systems earlier this month. The district announced the internet outage on March 7 that disrupted online student learning, but it did not disclose the details of what had occurred. In a statement allegedly released Thursday, the school district stated they had hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate the hack and also cast doubt that the hackers had actually obtained personal data on students or employees.
Hackers hit Broward County Public Schools with $40 million ransom for student, teacher information https://t.co/hep1EhRZEA#cybersecuritynews #hack
— 24By7Security (@24By7Security) April 1, 2021
5. Officials in the shipping industry note that the fallout from the Suez Canal blockage by a massive Evergreen container ship could impact global trade for months. The Suez Canal Authority is investigating the incident and has prohibited the ship from departing the canal. Physical and financial losses — along with the costs of dislodging the ship — have been estimated near $1 billion, with another $9 billion in delayed global trade. The ship was stuck sideways in the Suez Canal for nearly a week, blocking all global ship traffic through the canal.
After tugs managed to free the Ever Given on Monday, the Suez Canal Authorities have launched an investigation to confirm events that lead to the ship's grounding. #suezcanal #evergiven #evergreen #maritimelaw #marinelaw #maritime #shipping #containers pic.twitter.com/FtIoPtFtN2
— Marasi news magazine (@MarasiNews) April 1, 2021
6. The Bureau of Land Management closed a portion of the Black River Recreation Area near Carlsbad, New Mexico, after a brush fire scorched at least 150 acres. The Cottonwood Day Use Area has been closed temporarily after the fire destroyed riparian habitat and damaged the wildlife viewing platform, educational signage, and many cottonwood trees. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the wildfire, which began on March 30.
Due to fire damage, the BLM Carlsbad Field Office will temporarily close the Cottonwood Day Use Area, located within the BLM-managed Black River Recreation Area. https://t.co/PvcPcg149w pic.twitter.com/FBPclwxZ9T
— Bureau of Land Management New Mexico (@BLMNewMexico) April 1, 2021
7. Forecasters are predicting that the 2021 hurricane season will be above average in regards to tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean. The season is forecast to bring 16-20 named storms, including seven to 10 hurricanes, of which 3-5 are likely to become major hurricane strength (Category 3 or higher). Water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean have a role in Atlantic hurricanes, with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns (El Niño or La Niña) and the presence or lack of wind shear preventing or allowing the development of storms.
What water temps in late March mean for 2021 Atlantic hurricane season#HurricaneSeason2021 https://t.co/m8CURHY1uW
— Adam Eckstein (@AdamGlobalPhone) April 2, 2021
8. The lava lake in the Halem’uma’u crater continues to rise in the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates the lake to hold about 10 billion gallons of lava and noted it is only about 170 feet from becoming viewable from the Kilauea overlook. Tuesday marked 100 days of eruption at the volcano, with the lava flow covering approximately 109 acres to date.
VOLCANO WATCH: #Ocean Provides Clues To #Kilauea Activity
— Hawaii Pacific Parks (@HIPacParks) March 22, 2021
In this week's article, the #USGS Hawaiian #Volcano Observatory writes about using the ocean to track volcanic activity at Kīlauea.https://t.co/LuwFSSO9op
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