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US Capitol Evacuation Over False Alarm Provokes Fear And Fury

US Capitol Evacuation Over False Alarm Provokes Fear And Fury

Washington (AFP) - The US Capitol was briefly evacuated Wednesday after authorities sounded a threat alarm over a harmless parachute stunt, prompting top lawmaker Nancy Pelosi to blast aviation officials for an "inexcusable" failure.

Police tasked with protecting the complex at the heart of US government in Washington issued an initial statement shortly after 6:30 PM ET saying they had ordered an evacuation as they were "tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat."

They did not give further details. But it turned out the mini-crisis was triggered by a pre-planned flyover at nearby Nationals Stadium.

The news became a top headline within minutes in the United States, where the memories of September 11, 2001 attacks -- which saw Al-Qaeda fly passenger jets into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington -- and the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol by protesters are still powerful.

US Capitol Police swiftly issued a second statement to say the order had been given "out of an abundance of caution," that there was now "no threat" to the complex and that buildings had reopened for use.

Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate, the chambers of Congress that are located in the Capitol, were in session at the time of the scare.

But the incident enranged Speaker of the House Pelosi, who fired off a withering statement soon after the evacuation order was lifted blasting the Federal Aviation Administration over the apparent misunderstanding.

The FAA's "apparent failure" to notify Capitol police of the planned flyover was "outrageous and inexcusable," Pelosi said.

"The unnecessary panic caused by this apparent negligence was particularly harmful" for those still facing trauma from the January 6 attack on the Capitol, she said, adding that Congress would review "what precisely went wrong today and who at the Federal Aviation Administration will be held accountable for this outrageous and frightening mistake."

There was no immediate explanation for the order, but Pelosi was clear it came after a parachute display that was part of a baseball pregame show for "Military Appreciation Night" at Nationals Stadium.

'Very Stressful 15 Minutes'

NBC's Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake tweeted that he had "Just watched some people parachute down over/near the US Capitol amid an evacuation order."

NBC, citing police, said they were part of a demonstration by the Golden Knights at the stadium. The Golden Knights are the US Army's official aerial parachute demonstration team.

"Seems they might not have told Capitol Police they'd be in the airspace. One officer here told me she saw the small plane appearing to circle before the parachuters jumped," Haake tweeted.

The stadium is roughly 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) from the Capitol. The Nationals were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks there Wednesday.

The US Capitol was the focal point of an actual violent attack just 15 months ago, when supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to stop certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

Despite Wednesday's scare being a false alarm, lawmakers and visitors were shaken by the warning.

"We just went through a very stressful 15 minutes, but we are thankful that everyone is safe," Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) said on Twitter.

CNN's congressional correspondent Ryan Nobles said he was among those evacuated, and that "for a good 15 minutes it was pretty frantic."

"The alarms were loud and intense and Capitol Police were not messing around getting people out," he tweeted.

Two young Swiss tourists visiting Washington said they were walking towards the historic white domed Capitol to take a tour when police waved them away from the structure.

"They shut the security barriers behind us. They didn't tell us why and I thought it was better not to ask," one of the tourists, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

Hawaii Volcano Lava Wave Nears Homes

Hawaii Volcano Lava Wave Nears Homes

Los Angeles — Smoldering lava from a slow-erupting volcano has reached within yards (several meters) of homes on Hawaii’s Big Island, emergency officials said Monday as villagers braced to evacuate.

The lava flow from the Kilauea volcano has been threatening nearby homes for weeks, and was 100 yards (91 meters) from the nearest house by early Monday. The lava front was moving at between 10-15 yards (9-14 m) an hour.

“Based on the current flow location, direction and advancement, residents in the flow path were placed on an evacuation advisory,” said the County of Hawaii’s Civil Defense force in an online update.

The slow-moving waves of lava, burning everything in its path, had advanced some 275 yards (251 m) in the past 24 hours towards Pahoa town, on the eastern tip of the island, officials said.

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi declared a state of emergency last month after the lava advanced to within a mile (1.6 km) of a residential area known as the Ka’ohe Homesteads.

Last week, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration to unlock federal resources to help local emergency protective measures.

As the lava threatens a main road in the area, measures needed include providing alternative routes and accommodating some 900 children that will be displaced by the lava, according to Abercrombie’s office.

Hawaii Island, or the Big Island, is the largest of the eight main islands which make up the Pacific U.S. state — an archipelago that includes hundreds of smaller volcanic islands.

AFP Photo

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Residents Told To Prepare To Evacuate As Lava Threatens In Hawaii

Residents Told To Prepare To Evacuate As Lava Threatens In Hawaii

By Javier Panzar, Los Angeles Times

Residents in the flow path of the slowly erupting Kilauea volcano in the Puna district of Hawaii Island have been told to prepare for a possible evacuation in the next three to five days, county officials said Sunday.

A slow moving strip of lava that has been flowing since June crossed into the Pahoa Cemetery Sunday morning and is crawling along at 10 yards per hour toward downtown Pahoa, the county said in an alert Sunday.

The lava has advanced approximately 250 yards since Saturday morning, according to the alert. The lava may advance faster once it reaches the slopes at or just below the cemetery, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Residents in the flow path are being asked to prepare for a possible evacuation in the next three to five days.

The flow began June 27 and traveled through an uninhabited rain forest, skirting the Ka’ohe Homesteads subdivision in September before slowing down.

The volcano has been erupting continuously for 31 years, and the threat in September prompted the building of emergency access roads, but it’s possible that those roads could be covered by lava as the flow advances toward the ocean.

AFP Photo/Patrick Baz

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Two Dead, Five Missing As Powerful Typhoon Slams Into Japan

Two Dead, Five Missing As Powerful Typhoon Slams Into Japan

TOKYO — A powerful typhoon battered many parts of Japan Monday, including Tokyo, disrupting transport and leaving at least two people dead and five missing, local media reported.
Typhoon Phanfone made landfall at the city of Hamamatsu, central Japan, shortly after 8 a.m. (2300 GMT Sunday), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
About 2.7 million people had been advised to evacuate their homes, but most of the advisories were lifted, the Kyodo News agency reported.
The weather agency was still warning of mudslides, swollen rivers and strong winds in some areas of the country.
Tens of thousands of households lost electricity in eastern and central Japan, while rainfall reached 87 millimetres per hour in the city of Shizuoka.
Two people were missing in Yokohama, near Tokyo, after two separate mudslides struck a temple and an apartment building Monday morning.
On Sunday, a 58-year-old woman was found dead after falling from a cliff in strong winds on the island of Okinawa, the Okinawa Times reported.
Three U.S. airmen were swamped by high waves on the island. One of the three was recovered and later pronounced dead at a local hospital while the other two remained missing, U.S. Kadena Air Base said.
Authorities were searching for a university student off the coast of Fujisawa city, south of Tokyo, who also went missing while surfing in the area, broadcaster NHK said.
Airlines cancelled more than 600 flights scheduled for Monday and many train services were temporarily suspended, including Shinkansen bullet trains, it reported.
The approach of Phanfone halted search operations for 12 people missing on Mount Ontake in central Japan after it erupted late last month and left at least 51 dead.
Authorities warned that heavy ash on the flanks of the 3,067-metre volcano posed a mudslide risk as the typhoon reached the country’s main island.
As of 3 pm, the eye of the storm was 210 kilometres off the coast of Ishinomaki city, travelling north-east at 85 kilometres per hour, the agency said.
The fast-moving typhoon carried maximum sustained winds of 126 kph and gusts of 180 kph, the agency said.
Tokyo Electric Power Co suspended all outdoor work at the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan, which suffered a triple meltdown after an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

AFP Photo/Charism Sayat

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