Increase in threats against U.S. Jewish institutions

Synagogue

Important Takeaways:

  • A Time Of High Anxiety For American Jews: Jewish Institutions Receive 199 Threats In Just 24 Hrs, Causing Evacuations
  • Hundreds of synagogues and Jewish institutions across the United States received bomb threats by email this weekend, in a substantial acceleration of a months-long spree of hoax threats.
  • The Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide, said early Sunday that it had tracked 199 threats over the past 24 hours, with nearly 100 in California and 62 in Arizona. Synagogues in at least 17 states plus Washington, D.C., were affected, according to local media reports.
  • None of the threats were deemed credible after local investigations. But some of them caused significant disruption: A Boulder, Colorado, synagogue evacuated its Shabbat morning services on Saturday, for example, while a congregation in western Massachusetts canceled its Sunday religious school.
  • In Alabama, the state’s only Jewish lawmaker, Philip Ensler, posted a video to social media showing the moment that the Torah reading at his synagogue was interrupted and everyone in attendance was ushered outside.
  • “This is exhausting,” he tweeted. “I pray for the day that we can worship and live in peace.”
  • The surge in threats comes at a time of high anxiety for American Jews amid a spike in reports of anti-Semitic incidents amid the Israel-Hamas war. It also follows multiple arrests of people who have been charged with sending bomb threats targeting Jewish and other institutions, including a minor in California last week and a man in Peru in September.

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7.6 earthquake shakes the Philippines

Earthquake-damage-Philippines

Important Takeaways:

  • 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Philippines prompts evacuations more than 1,000 miles away
  • The earthquake near the southern Philippines island of Mindanao was strong enough and close to land to shake nearby communities, the U.S. Geologic Survey said in a post on X, formally known as Twitter. It occurred just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday local time
  • The Tsunami Warning Center initially said that based on the magnitude and location, it expected tsunami waves to hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia. But the center later dropped its tsunami warning.
  • In Japan, authorities issued evacuation orders in various parts of Okinawa Prefecture affecting thousands of people. Okinawa is more than 1,200 miles from Mindanao.
  • More than three hours after the quake hit, there was no report of a tsunami hitting the coast, Teresito Bacolcol, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told The Associated Press. Based on the quake’s magnitude, Bacolcol said a 3.2-foot tsunami could hit, but the wave could be higher in enclosed coves, bays and straits.

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U.S. plans for evacuation of its 600,000 citizens in worst-case scenario

Ship-ready-evacuation

Important Takeaways:

  • U.S. readies plans for mass evacuations if Gaza war escalates
  • The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials familiar with the U.S. government’s contingency planning
  • The specter of such an operation comes as Israeli forces, aided by U.S. weapons and military advisers, prepare for what is widely expected to be a perilous ground offensive against Hamas militants responsible for the stunning cross-border attack that has reignited hostilities. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail internal deliberations, said Americans living in Israel and neighboring Lebanon are of particular concern, though they stressed that an evacuation of that magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely.
  • Still, one official said, it “would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything.”
  • There were about 600,000 U.S. citizens in Israel and another 86,000 believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas attacked, according to State Department estimates.

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Fires, Drought and Extreme Heat over the Canary Islands

Tenerife Wildfire

Important Takeaways:

  • Thousands more evacuated as Tenerife fire rages on Spain’s Canary Islands
  • Canary Islands (AP) — Thousands more residents of Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands have fled their homes as a wildfire that authorities deemed “out of control” raged on for a fourth day.
  • The regional government for the Canary Islands said that 4,000 more people were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Those were in addition to the 4,500 people who on Friday were forced to move out of harm’s way on the Atlantic island that is home to around a million people and is also a popular tourist destination.
  • That figure of more than 8,000 evacuees is expected to rise, and perhaps sharply.
  • The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.
  • The Tenerife fire comes as Spain’s mainland is bracing for another heat wave. Spain’s state weather service issued a warning Saturday that temperatures would be on the rise in the coming days, hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in parts of the mainland.
  • Spain had a record-hot 2022 and is setting new heat records this year amid a prolonged drought that has authorities on alert for wildfires.

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Uncontained wildfire burning on US- Canada border as alert goes out to “Be Ready to Evacuate”

Important Takeaways:

  • Explosive wildfire crossed US-Canada border, forcing evacuations
  • An out-of-control blaze burning in northern Washington State exploded in size, crossed the Canadian border and set off a cascade of evacuations over the weekend.
  • The so-called Eagle Bluff Fire has burned thousands of acres on both sides of the border and forced hundreds to evacuate their homes since it ignited Saturday in Washington’s Okanogan County.
  • Evacuations were ordered on Saturday for more than 700 properties in the Canadian town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, after the fire crossed the border. By Monday, that number fell to 192 properties after firefighters made progress fighting the fire, with an additional 2,635 properties in the area under an evacuation alert to be ready to evacuate should conditions change.
  • There are no active evacuation orders for the Eagle Pass Fire in the US, but at least three structures had burned in Okanogan County, Washington, and portions of the county were under a Level 2 evacuation notice – “Be Ready to Evacuate” – according to fire officials.
  • The fire exploded in size due to dry, warm and breezy conditions and has burned through more than 10,000 acres. At least 3,500 acres have burned in Canada alone. The fire remains completely uncontained in both countries, according to Washington and Canadian fire officials.

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Wildfire season has begun in Canada; 29,000 evacuated with over 100 fires raging

Alberta Canada Wildfire

Luke 21:25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves

Important Takeaways:

  • More than 29,000 people are evacuated from communities throughout Alberta as wildfires rage in Canada
  • In the past 24 hours alone, 16 new fires have ignited in Alberta, Wildfire Information Unit Lead Christie Tucker said during a Sunday evening news conference.
  • Fighters across the province are still battling 98 wildfires, 27 of which were burning “out of control,” according to Alberta officials.
  • In a news conference Monday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith asked residents with firefighting experience who can “lend a helping hand” to contact emergency services.
  • This type of ferocious wildfire activity isn’t typical this early in the year, and firefighters don’t usually see such a large area burned, Tucker said Sunday morning.
  • But bone-dry conditions, abnormally hot weather and high winds have converged to fuel this “really extreme wildfire activity,” Tucker said.
  • Wildfires have burned a total of 390,000 hectares in Alberta so far this year, and recent blazes have burned a “huge amount of ground” over the last few days, Tucker said.

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Large scale fire at recycling plant in Indiana; Evacuation orders in effect

Revelations 13:16-18 “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Indiana fire at recycling plant prompts evacuation of more than 2,000 residents
  • More than 2,000 residents were told to evacuate Tuesday afternoon after a large fire broke out at a recycling plant in Indiana, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky.
  • The fire broke out in the City of Richmond, which is about 70 miles east of Indianapolis and near Ohio’s western border.
  • Indiana State Police said the blaze was at the former Hoffco factory, which closed in 2009.
  • Wayne County EMA said the evacuation order applied to residents and persons within 0.5 miles of the fire. Those outside that zone were advised to keep windows closed and pets inside.
  • Richmond Mayor Dave Snow described it as a “serious, large-scale fire.”
  • “Many units are on scene,” Snow said. “Please avoid this area if possible, as it is dangerous, and allow our first responders room to get this under control.”
  • “The smoke is definitely toxic,” said the Indiana State Fire Marshall on scene according to Fox 59.
  • “This fire is going to burn for a few days,” he added.
  • No other details were immediately available.

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Another Train derails in Minnesota carrying hazardous materials

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • Fiery train derailment in Minnesota prompts evacuations
  • The train “had numerous rail cars derail” and several caught fire, Tollefson said. Homes in an area 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometers) around the site were evacuated, according to Tollefson, and residents were taken to a shelter in nearby Prinsburg.
  • The BNSF train derailed in the town of Raymond, roughly 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Minneapolis,
  • U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN that about 14 cars were carrying hazardous materials, including ethanol.

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Powerful storm hits Northern California forcing evacuation

Luke 21:25-26 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Important Takeaways:

  • As another powerful storm walloped California, a 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters Monday on the state’s central coast and an entire seaside community… was ordered to evacuate
  • Tens of thousands of people remained without power, and some schools closed for the day. Streets and highways transformed into gushing rivers, trees toppled, mud slid and motorists growled as they hit roadblocks caused by fallen debris.
  • The death toll…climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people were killed by falling trees, state officials said.
  • In Los Angeles, a sinkhole swallowed two cars in the Chatsworth area
  • Up the coast, evacuation orders were issued in Santa Cruz County for about 32,000 residents living near rain-swollen rivers and creeks

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Late season hurricane Floridians take cover

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Nicole, Rare November Hurricane, Pounds Florida Coast
  • The rare November hurricane had already led officials to shut down airports and theme parks and order evacuations that included former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
  • Nicole was a Category 1 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph
  • It was centered about 30 miles (25 kilometers) east-southeast of Fort Pierce and was moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph (22 km/h).
  • Tropical storm force winds extended as far as 485 miles (780 kilometers) from the center in some directions.
  • The sprawling storm is then forecast to head into Georgia and the Carolinas later Thursday and Friday, dumping heavy rain across the region.
  • Winds were the biggest concern and significant power outages could occur, but that 16,000 linemen were on standby to restore power as well as 600 guardsmen and seven search and rescue teams.

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