Death toll in Hurricane Michael continues to rise

Mexico Beach, Florida: Rescue crews confronted with shattered roads, fallen trees and kilometres of ruins struggled on Friday to get to Florida Panhandle communities hardest hit by Hurricane Michael, saying they expected the death toll of 14 to rise.

This photo released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office
shows a Florida school bus that ploughed through a
fence and into a backyard pool after a collision, but
 no one on board was hurt.CREDIT:

None of the confirmed 14 fatalities were reported from the ocean front communities, such as Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe and Panama City, that bore the brunt of the storm's wrath, and rescuers have so far been unable to conduct thorough searches there.

Read the story from The Age by Rod Nickel - “Death toll in Hurricane Michael continues to rise.”

Southern California Mudslides: Death Toll Rises to 15, With Dozens More Missing

Rescue crews waded through thick mud in Southern California on Wednesday to extricate stranded residents and clear roads made impassable by mudslides that have left at least 15 people dead and destroyed around 100 homes.

Emergency workers carrying a woman rescued in Montecito, Calif., on Tuesday.

Two dozen people were missing and 28 people were injured after the mudslides struck on Tuesday in an area northwest of Los Angeles that was recently scorched in the state’s largest wildfire on record. The authorities were working to reach 300 people stuck in their homes Wednesday and declared a “public safety exclusion zone,” barring all but emergency crews from the area.

Amber Anderson, a spokeswoman for the joint recovery effort, which involves helicopters, firefighters and emergency workers from several counties, said the affected area was nearly 20,000 acres.

Read the New York Times story - “Southern California Mudslides: Death Toll Rises to 15, With Dozens More Missing.”