AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

EDM Wednesday Briefing: Terror Attack in New York City

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for November 1, 2017: A terrorist attack in New York City kills eight and injures 11, a male suspect is dead after holding a teacher hostage for hours in a Riverside, California elementary school, tens of thousands are still without power in New England after a strong storm, a Michigan official may face additional charges in the Flint water crisis, claims for October wildfires in California now top $3.3 billion, and a suspect is now in custody following a deadly car jacking attempt outside the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

  1. Eight people are dead and at least 11 others are injured after [link url=”https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-city-terror-attack-truck-crash-lower-manhattan-live-updates/” title=”a terrorist attack in New York City on Tuesday”]. Police said the suspect, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, 29, drove a rented truck onto a busy west side Manhattan bike path for about four blocks, [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/10/31/nyc-terror-attack-leaves-8-dead-several-injured.html” title=”striking multiple people that were walking and riding bicycles”]. Saipov then veered back onto the road where he struck a school bus then exited the vehicle brandishing “imitation firearms,” before being shot in the abdomen by police. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/response-considerations-vehicles-become-terrorist-weapons/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/murder-vehicle-terrorist-attack/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/media-blockouts-terrorism/”]
  2.  A male suspect who [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/parent-barricades-person-california-classroom-50843172″ title=”held a teacher hostage for nearly seven hours at an elementary school in Southern California on Tuesday”] was shot and killed by authorities. Authorities had contact with the male suspect, but had not heard from the hostage all day and as fears for her safety rose, a SWAT team breached the room. The suspect allegedly barged into Castle View Elementary School in Riverside, early in the morning, and after refusing to sign in, [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/10/31/parent-barricades-self-other-person-in-california-classroom.html” title=”had an altercation with a male teacher”] before he barricaded himself in a room with the 70-year-old teacher, Linda Montgomery. There were no students in the room at the time, and the entire school was safely evacuated. 

  3. More than 35,000 people are [link url=”http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/tens_of_thousands_still_withou_1.html” title=”still without power in Massachusetts”] three days after a strong storm knocked down power lines and trees, [link url=”http://beta.latimes.com/nation/la-na-northeast-weather-20171030-story.html” title=”originally disrupting service to over one million people throughout the Northeast”]. Majority of the customers without power are in Essex County, although at least 11,000 homes remain without service in Middlesex County. The loss of power forced the closure of some schools on Monday and Tuesday and officials stated that [link url=”https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-10-30/severe-weather-leaves-thousands-without-power-in-northeast” title=”power may not be fully restored for at least a week in some areas”]. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/whole-community-first-responders-helpers/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/emergency-management-lessons-hurricanes/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/hurricane-irma-mutual-aid-agreements/”]
  4. Nick Lyon, director for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/01/michigan-official-charged-in-deadly-flint-water-crisis-heads-back-to-court.html” title=”is due back in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing”] to determine if his role in the Flint water crisis warrants him facing criminal liability charges. Multiple sanitary and health concerns arose shortly after the city switched its water supply to the Flint River, [link url=”http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/10/31/flint-water-crisis-update” title=”which resulted in criminal charges against 15 individuals”]. Elevated lead levels in the water supply prompted the city’s mayor to declare a state of emergency on December 14, 2015, which erupted into a years long crisis that has not yet been fully resolved. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/flint-justice-its-happening/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/guest-blog-flint-michigan-water-crisis-from-a-red-cross-volunteer-perspective/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/heres-to-the-heroes-of-flint/”]
  5. Claims for homes and businesses in California as a result of recent [link url=”http://beta.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-california-wildfire-insurance-claims-20171031-story.html’ title=”devastating wildfires has topped $3.3 billion”], nearly triple the previous estimate of $1 billion, and officials expect that number to continue to rise. The deadly fires killed 43 people when they rapidly tore through Northern California in October, forcing at least 100,000 people to evacuate. The wildfires also destroyed nearly 9,000 buildings, [link url=”http://beta.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-california-wildfire-insurance-claims-20171031-story.html#nt=oft07a-13gp2″ title=”becoming the costliest and most deadly series of fires in California history”]. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/northern-california-may-need-years-to-recover-from-wildfires/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/congress-approves-another-round-of-hurricane-wildfire-funding/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/for-sonoma-countys-deaf-the-fires-were-a-silent-emergency/”]
  6. An attempted car jacking led to [link url=”https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900003136/u-on-lockdown-amid-reports-of-shots-fired.html” title=”the death of one person late Monday outside the University of Utah campus”], forcing the university to lockdown while police searched for an armed gunman. The victim was found in a car at the gate of the Red Butte Canyon, and police identified the suspect, Austin Boutain, 24, as armed and dangerous. [link url=”http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/10/31/as-manhunt-continues-in-fatal-university-of-utah-carjacking-officials-announce-suspect-is-also-wanted-for-a-colorado-homicide/” title=”An alert librarian helped identify the suspect”] who was apprehended without incident by security officers at the Salt Lake City Main Library Tuesday afternoon. 

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

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