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Florida faces ‘matter of life and death’ as Hurricane Milton closes in

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Florida residents are rushing to finish emergency preparations – or just leave – as Hurricane Milton races toward landfall on the heavily-populated Tampa Bay.

Milton is currently a category five storm, packing ferocious winds of up to 165mph (270km/h). It is expected to hit with full force on Wednesday night, less than two weeks after the state was struck by the devastating Hurricane Helene.

President Joe Biden warned people in Florida on Tuesday to leave their homes as a “matter of life and death” while the state undertakes its largest evacuation effort in years.

“A category five, that is like a giant tornado coming at you,” one resident of the Gulf Coast city of Bradenton told the BBC from the hotel that he has evacuated to in Kissimmee.

“I wouldn’t want to be there,” said Gerald Lemus. “This will be a life-changing storm no matter where it hits.”

Mr Lemus, who has lived in Bradenton his entire life, said he has never evacuated for any previous storm. But he decided he has to for the safety of his eight-year-old daughter.

“I just looked at her and I couldn’t traumatise her to something like this,” he said on Tuesday night. “It’s a gamble we weren’t willing to make.”

ML Ferguson has been struggling to rebuild her home in Anna Maria, Florida, after it was severely damaged last month by Helene, a powerful category four hurricane when it hit.

“This one is going to be way worse than Helene,” she said on the phone while stalled in highway traffic out of the city.

“My car is totalled, we all were laid off of our job, and [my] belongings were ruined. After this storm hits, I will officially become homeless.”

Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that Florida had prepared dozens of shelters outside of evacuation zones to help house residents left stranded in the wake of the “monster” storm.

Long queues at petrol stations formed in south Florida, as some stations began running out of fuel.

Chynna Perkins told the BBC she is remaining in Tampa, where she lives in a newly constructed home outside the mandatory evacuation zones.

“I don’t think people really understand how much planning has to go into a decision like this,” she said, adding that she has two large Great Danes.

“There’s so much traffic and barely any gas available right now. People are running out of gas on the highway.”

DeSantis said that petrol was being trucked to stations, and electric vehicle charging stations also were deployed along roadways to ease the evacuation.

Tampa resident Steve Crist, spoke to the BBC while boarding up the windows of his dentist office. “Everyone’s gone. I’ve never seen it so quiet,” he said.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, President Biden said the storm could be one of Florida’s worst in a century.

“Evacuate now, now, now,” he told Florida residents.

The White House cancelled Biden’s planned visit to Germany and Angola in order to oversee preparations for Milton and ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene.

(BBC News)

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India’s luxury airline Vistara ends operations

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Indian full-service carrier Vistara will operate its last flight on Monday, after nine years in existence.

A joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Sons, Vistara will merge with Tata-owned Air India to form a single entity with an expanded network and broader fleet.

This means that all Vistara operations will be transferred to and managed by Air India, including helpdesk kiosks and ticketing offices. The process of migrating passengers with existing Vistara bookings and loyalty programmes to Air India has been under way over the past few months.

“As part of the merger process, meals, service ware and other soft elements have been upgraded and incorporates aspects of both Vistara and Air India,” an Air India spokesperson said in an email response.

Amid concerns that the merger could impact service standards, the Tatas have assured that Vistara’s in-flight experience will remain unchanged.

Known for its high ratings in food, service, and cabin quality, Vistara has built a loyal customer base and the decision to retire the Vistara brand has been criticised by fans, branding experts, and aviation analysts.

The consolidation was effectively done to clean up Vistara’s books and wipe out its losses, said Mark Martin, an aviation analyst.

Air India has essentially been “suckered into taking a loss-making airline” in a desperate move, he added.

“Mergers are meant to make airlines powerful. Never to wipe out losses or cover them.”

To be sure, both Air India and Vistara’s annual losses have reduced by more than half over the past year, and other operating metrics have improved too. But the merger process so far has been turbulent.

The exercise has been riddled with problems – from pilot shortages that have led to massive flight cancellations, to Vistara crew going on mass sick leave over plans to align their salary structures with Air India.

There have also been repeated complaints about poor service standards on Air India, including viral videos of broken seats and non-functioning inflight entertainment systems.

(BBC News)

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Cuba works to restore power after hurricane blackout

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Officials in Cuba have begun restoring power after the country suffered a nationwide blackout on Wednesday caused by Hurricane Rafael, the country’s president says.

Hurricane Rafael brought strong winds of up to 185km/h (115mph), causing a shutdown of the country’s electricity system for the second time in just weeks.

At least 70,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the storm made landfall on Wednesday with warnings of storm surges, flash flooding, and mudslides.

No fatalities have been reported.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque as well as the capital Havana were severely hit.

“Every step from this point forward is geared towards recovery. Together we will do it,” he added.

Th western parts of the country saw widespread flooding and damage to properties brought on by the hurricane. Most of the country’s 10 million population are still without power.

In Havana, residents used shovels, brooms and buckets to clear rubbish, mud and branches as they assessed the damage on Thursday.

Fallen electricity pylons lined the motorway from the capital’s west to Artemisa, and towns along the route were strewn with branches and debris from damaged homes.

One Artemisa resident said people were having to “improvise” to deal with the power cuts.

“If you don’t have gas, you have to improvise with coal,” Elias Perez said.

“Yesterday my wife and I got by with coal. It’s a mess, but we have to keep going.”

Last month, millions in Cuba were left without power for four days after issues with the country’s old energy infrastructure caused a blackout.

That blackout also coincided with Hurricane Oscar, a less powerful category one storm that left a trail of destruction along the island’s north-eastern coast.

Natalia Martinez, also from Artemisa, said: “We know how to survive, we’re in the dark all the time, you know.”

(BBC News)

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Snow back on Mount Fuji after longest absence

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Japan’s Mount Fuji has seen its first snowfall after going through the longest period without snow since records began 130 years ago.

Snow fell on Japan’s highest peak about a month later than expected, as the country recovers from one of its hottest summers on record.

It was met with celebration on social media, with locals sharing photos of the mountain.

Mount Fuji is one of Japan’s most popular tourist attractions and has inspired centuries of artwork.

The snow was spotted on Wednesday, 5 November, by the Japan Meteorological Agency’s branch in Shizuoka.

In 2023, snow was first seen on the summit on 5 October, according to AFP news agency. The previous record for the latest snowfall was 26 October, which was seen twice before in 1955 and 2016.

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for this,” one X user commented.

“I’ve never been so excited for the first snowfall this year,” another X user said.

“Finally … Makeup makes you look even more beautiful,” another X user said, referring to the snow-dusted peak.

The weather agency’s Kofu office is expected to make an official announcement on the exact date the snow fell. It said it could not see the peak clearly on Wednesday.

However, Japanese news agency Kyodo was able to take photos of the snowy peak on Wednesday from a helicopter.

Located south-west of Tokyo, Mount Fuji stands at 3,776m (12,460 ft). It last erupted just over 300 years ago and is visible from the capital on a clear day.

Japan had its joint hottest summer on record this year with temperatures between June and August being 1.76C (3.1F) higher than an average.

In September, temperatures continued to be warmer than expected as the sub-tropical jet stream’s more northerly position allowed a warmer southerly flow of air over Japan.

A jet stream is a fast-flowing current of air that travels around the planet. It occurs when warmer air from the south meets cooler air from the north.

(BBC News)

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