TV News LIES

New York City’s subway system was fully operational for the Tuesday morning commute, however some roads remained closed in sections of New York and New Jersey after heavy rain swept across the U.S. Northeast overnight, causing flash floods.

The region was hit with heavy rain Monday evening, resulting in flash floods that not only impacted roads and air travel, but also the transit system.

Multiple subway lines ran with severe delays in several boroughs, and some were even suspended due to issues caused by the floods.

Video taken by Veronica Zhang shows water spewing across the 28th Street Station in Manhattan as well as flooding at the street level.

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The historic Grand Canyon Lodge on the monument’s North Rim has been destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire, the park said on Sunday. The blaze has forced officials to close access to that area for the season.

The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing also were lost.

Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim, known as the White Sage fire and the Bravo Dragon fire, and have collectively burned more than 45,000 acres. The White Sage fire burned 40,126 acres (16,200 hectares) near the North Rim, while the Dragon Bravo fire, burning to the south within Grand Canyon national park, reached 5,000 acres according to InciWeb, a federal government wildfire tracker.

The Bravo Dragon fire is the one that impacted the lodge and other structures. The park initially was managing it as a controlled burn but then shifted to suppression as it rapidly grew, fire officials said. It was sparked by lightning on 4 July.

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Another potential tropical disturbance popped up on the National Hurricane Center's tracking chart on Saturday, July 12.

For those who watch every potential storm closely, this initial map looks a lot like the first one that popped up for Tropical Storm Chantal. The possible development area swoops from the Atlantic to the Gulf across much of Florida, but this time the system is moving toward the Gulf, and the advisory includes the southern shores of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. 

A broad area of low pressure could develophttp sometime within the next several days offshore of the southeastern U.S. coast, the hurricane center said on the afternoon of July 12. Environmental conditions could become "marginally conducive" for the gradual development of a system within five to seven days as it moves westward across Florida. The chances of development are low, only 20%.

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In the wake of the deadly flash floods in Texas on July 4, Texas leaders are betting on the lifesaving potential of flood warning sirens.

"What can we do better looking forward? We need sirens," said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in an interview this week with NBC 5 in Dallas-Fort Worth. The floods killed at least 120 people.

Weather warning sirens are installed outside on tall poles and make a loud wailing sound to warn people in the area when water levels rise, signaling an imminent flood. Some also broadcast spoken warnings and directions about how to get to safety. These types of sirens are widely used in the United States to warn people about tornadoes and tsunamis but are much less common in areas that flood.

"If you had sirens blasting," Patrick said, "and if people had known 'if you hear a siren get to high ground,' maybe that would have saved some lives."

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Local offices at the National Weather Service had staffing shortages that might have led to a harder time forecasting Central Texas's severe rain and deadly floods, according to The New York Times.

Former officials told the Times the staffing shortages meant there were less experienced workers who could have helped communicate with local authorities after the flash flood warnings were issued.

Along with the staffing shortages, it seems local communities weren't properly prepared.

Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge, told the Times that the county did not have a warning system because residents are hesitant to spending money on something so expensive.

“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Kelly said.

He added that he doesn't know if residents might reconsider getting them after this deadly flood.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is placing staffers who signed a letter of dissent against the Trump administration’s actions and policies on leave.

The EPA says it has placed 144 staffers on administrative leave as it investigates the letter. It’s not entirely clear whether they will face further punishment after the probe.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said in a written statement.

In a letter made public on Monday, current and former EPA staffers said that the administration’s policies “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

They expressed concerns about five issues in particular, saying that the administration is undermining public trust, ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters, reversing EPA’s progress in America’s most vulnerable communities, dismantling the Office of Research and Development and promoting a culture of fear.

“Your decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come. EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety,” the staffers wrote to Administrator Lee Zeldin.

In response, the EPA said Monday that it would “continue to work with states, tribes, and communities to advance the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

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