EDM Friday Briefing: Carnival Ride Turns Deadly; Train Crash; Cruise Ship Death

Emergency and disaster management briefing for July 28, 2017: A commuter train crash in Barcelona, Spain injures more than 50 people, a thrill ride breaks apart at the Ohio State Fair and kills one person, a mock disaster tested one county’s response to an EF3 tornado, a proposed tax in Congress could push rates sky high on disaster insurance, a man is in custody after a woman’s death on an Alaskan cruise, extreme heat and little rain worsens drought conditions, two adolescents in France are arrested on suspicion of arson in recent wildfires, and Montana receives FEMA grant assistance to fight the nation’s largest wildfire.

1. At least 50 people were injured, one seriously, in [link url=”http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40750343″ title=”a commuter train accident in Barcelona, Spain on Friday morning”].  A commuter train entering Barcelona, Spain’s Francia Station on Friday morning [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/07/28/train-crash-in-barcelona-leaves-at-least-48-injured.html” title=”crashed into a railroad buffer”] after it allegedly failed to brake properly, tearing open the nose of the locomotive. 19 people were moderately injured, and the rest were treated for minor injuries in a makeshift triage established on the train platform by emergency services. [relink url=”http://edmdigest.com/response/train-versus-vehicles/” url2=”http://edmdigest.com/response/train-versus-vehicle-pt-2/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/trains-and-train-crossings-safety-first/”]
2. Multiple state officials across the nation ordered the shut down of various amusement park rides following [link url=”https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/fairs-across-the-us-are-shutting-down-attractions-after?utm_term=.wiNVxmVmZd#.wlkAWoAobK” title=”a deadly accident involving an extreme thrill ride at the Ohio State Fair”] on Wednesday night that killed one person. The accident, which occurred on the opening day of the fair, killed Tyler Jarrell, 18, of Columbus, Ohio after [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/critical-injured-report-incident-ride-ohio-state-fair/story?id=48873623″ title=”the ride snapped apart mid-swing”] and he, along with other riders, were tossed into the air. In an abundance of caution, other county fairs, including several in California, shut down multiple rides following the accident in Ohio.  [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/coordinated-attacks-mass-casualty-planning-part-i/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/coordinated-attacks-mass-casualty-planning-part-ii/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/murder-vehicle-terrorist-attack/”]
3. [link url=”http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Mass-Care-Exercise-Tests-Staffords-Disaster-Readiness.html?utm_content=buffer69ff5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer” title=”Stafford County, Virginia conducted a full-scale mass-care exercise”] on Wednesday that involved more than 200 participants, and included multiple local and state agencies. The mock exercise [link url=”http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/local/stafford/mass-care-exercise-tests-stafford-s-disaster-readiness/article_c1e41d83-8591-5208-99da-546c18aba4bc.html” title=”tested the county’s ability to establish and coordinate a reception center and separate shelter after an EF3 tornado”] with wind speeds of 140 mph whipped through the county, destroying homes and businesses and leaving multiple people injured or dead. The full scale mass-care exercise is one of the many training drills conducted in the county throughout the year that help forge better partnerships and working relationships among individuals and agencies at every level. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/do-we-set-ourselves-up-for-failure/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/we-do-not-have-a-plan-for-training/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/we-do-not-have-a-plan-for-training-part-2/”]
4. A new tax proposal in Congress may [link url=”http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/27/federal-tax-proposal-could-raise-insurance-costs-in-earthquake-country/” title=”skyrocket the cost of earthquake insurance for residents of California”] if the proposed tax is passed. Insurance rates remain at affordable costs due to insurance firms buying reinsurance, where insurers spread risk through the purchase of global reinsurance to diversify investments and reduce risk. Unless an exemption for financial services is included in the tax proposal, the proposed tax, known as a “border-adjustment tax” or BAT, [link url=”https://freedompartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FP-Report-BAT-By-Industry.pdf” title=”would tax imports, including international reinsurance”], likely raising insurance costs in California $1.91 billion over the next decade. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/hazard-mitigation-where-do-public-policy-and-public-safety-intersect/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/femas-strategic-initiatives-policy-considerations/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/education/lets-avoid-billion-dollar-disasters-before-they-happen/”]
5. A man is in custody following [link url=”http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-cruise-ship-death-victim-kristy-manzanares/” title=”the death of his wife on an Alaskan cruise ship”] that departed Seattle on Sunday. The man, Kenneth Manzanares, 39, from Santa Clara, Utah, allegedly killed his wife, Kristy, 39, because she would not stop laughing at him. The ship was diverted to Juneau for the investigation which is being [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/07/27/fbi-man-says-killed-wife-on-cruise-over-her-laughing.html” title=”led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)”] since the incident occurred in U.S. waters.

The FBI has arrested a suspect in the death of a woman aboard an Alaska cruise ship https://t.co/rOeT5rVGU7

— TIME (@TIME) July 27, 2017

6. Extreme heat and the continued lack of significant rain have worsened drought conditions in several states during the past week, stressing crops and some livestock. Numbers released by the [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/07/27/worsening-drought-conditions-in-parts-us-stressing-crops.html” title=”National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) drought summary”] indicate that nearly 11 percent of the continental United States is in a moderate or worse drought, including Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, parts of the Dakotas, and the majority of Montana. Crops impacted by the worsening drought conditions include [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/worsening-drought-conditions-in-parts-of-us-stressing-crops/2017/07/27/f85da276-72e4-11e7-8c17-533c52b2f014_story.html?utm_term=.175e547e32cd” title=”soybeans, corn, and wheat”]. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/benefits-of-the-water-resources-development-act/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/water-management-in-the-united-states/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/water-management-too-much-or-too-little/”]
7. Two adolescents are in custody in France on suspicion of arson for the wildfires that [link url=”http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fires-force-thousands-to-evacuate-french-riviera-towns/” title=”rapidly spread across southeastern portions of France”], burning 370 acres and causing the evacuations of thousands of residents. The boys, aged 16, [link url=”http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-boys-suspected-of-arson-over-french-wildfires/” title=”were arrested on Wednesday on the suspicion that they started the blaze in Carro”]. A 41 year-old-man also admitted to accidentally starting the Peynier wildfire with a metal-cutting device. That blaze consumed more than 177 acres. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/drones-emergency-management-2/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/firefighting-right-resources/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/business-continuity-planning-fire-police/”]
8. [link url=”http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/wildfires/us-government-reverses-decision-on-fire-aid/594212507″ title=”The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has reversed an earlier decision”] to not provide assistance to Montana in its fight against the state’s, and the nation’s, largest wildfire. After the state’s governor, Steve Bullock, declared a fire state of emergency in Montana due to the Lodgepole Complex fires, the state filed a grant application for federal assistance that was originally rejected by FEMA on Sunday. The grant request was finally approved Thursday, [link url=”https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/montana/articles/2017-07-27/the-latest-us-government-reverses-decision-on-fire-aid” title=”paving the way for Montana to recover 75 percent of its costs to fight the Lodgepole Complex wildfires”] that have consumed more than 256,000 acres and destroyed at least 16 homes. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/disaster-declaration-problems-again/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/do-we-set-ourselves-up-for-failure/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/the-eoc-what-is-this-mystical-place/”]