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Critics blast damage inflicted by Hurricane Helene cleanup

Critics blast damage inflicted by Hurricane Helene cleanup

E&E News5 days ago
A $1.6 billion cleanup effort in communities hit by Hurricane Helene has spawned fears that the aggressive operation damaged rivers and hurt endangered species, raising bigger questions about the federal response to ever-frequent disasters.
Federal contractors are wrapping up a FEMA-funded effort to clear staggering amounts of storm debris from the mountains of North Carolina. But some survivors say that the cleanup has stripped streams, wetlands and streambanks of plants and wood key to the ecosystem's recovery.
'We're scratching our heads and thinking the recovery activities were actually more damaging than the storm itself to these animals and some of their habitats,' said one state official, granted anonymity to speak freely. 'Of course, we're always going to prioritize reducing danger to people, but we need to do that in a way that's responsible to our natural environment.'
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Local fishing guides, biologists and environmentalists are calling for changes to the federal cleanup process, which they say lacks sufficient oversight.
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North Shore reporter digs into story of Lutsen Lodge fire in new podcast
North Shore reporter digs into story of Lutsen Lodge fire in new podcast

CBS News

timean hour ago

  • CBS News

North Shore reporter digs into story of Lutsen Lodge fire in new podcast

It's been almost a year and a half since the Lutsen Lodge burned to the ground, and there are still more questions than answers in what remains an active investigation. A North Shore reporter is digging into the twists and turns of the story for a forthcoming project: "The Fire: A Lutsen Podcast." "I've been here for 13 years, and in my opinion, it's the biggest story that's happened up here," said Joe Friedrichs, an independent North Shore journalist. He was the first reporter on scene the morning of Feb. 6, 2024, as the Lutsen Lodge burned. By the time WCCO arrived hours later, only two chimneys were left standing. The next day, WCCO learned Lutsen Lodge's most recent fire safety inspection found seven violations, three of which were unresolved. "That's when the speculation really started," explained Friedrichs. Speculation around the resort's owner, Bryce Campbell. Multiple lawsuits from contractors, former employees, and rental property owners accused Campbell of owing them thousands of dollars. Except for a strongly worded email sent to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Campbell refused interviews for a year until he sat down with Friedrichs. "I ask him point blank if he started the fire," said Friedrichs. "Pretty straight forward question. I can also answer no, of course not," explained Campbell in a clip from "The Fire: A Lutsen Podcast." Campbell has not been charged, and the fire investigation is still active. Friedrichs and podcast editor Julie Censullo plan to tell the complete story of what happened before, during and after the fire. "This is really sad. What had happened there under his ownership, too. A lot of people felt pushed out," said Friedrichs. While the unanswered questions are an important piece to "The Fire: A Lutsen Podcast," Friedrichs says at its heart it focuses on the toll it took on many in the community. "Ours is about the history of this cherished place, and this mournful, sad, tragic feeling that the state of Minnesota now has around that place," said Friedrichs. "Very, very personal experiences with the place, and then to see it go down in the way that it did with the fire and these changes that I think the easiest way to sum it up . . . is that it people are really sad about what happened there." A Kickstarter campaign is underway to raise $5,000 by Sept. 1 to fund the production and distribution of the podcast.

FACT FOCUS: No, Oprah Winfrey didn't block access to a private road amid tsunami warning evacuations
FACT FOCUS: No, Oprah Winfrey didn't block access to a private road amid tsunami warning evacuations

Associated Press

timean hour ago

  • Associated Press

FACT FOCUS: No, Oprah Winfrey didn't block access to a private road amid tsunami warning evacuations

Even as the threat of a tsunami swamping Hawaii had passed on Wednesday, social media posts were still circulating claims that Oprah Winfrey had refused immediate access to a private road that would allow residents a shorter evacuation route. The warnings followed one of the century's most powerful earthquakes, an 8.8 magnitude quake that struck off a Russian peninsula and generated tsunami warnings and advisories for a wide swath of the Pacific. Posts on X and TikTok contended Winfrey refused to open her private road, or was slow to do so during the evacuation. But the roadway does not actually belong to Winfrey, and efforts to open the road to the public started soon after the tsunami warning was issued. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: Winfrey owns the private road and refused to allow public access for residents trying to reach higher ground, only relenting following public pressure. FACT: This is false. Despite being commonly known as 'Oprah's road,' the portion of Kealakapu Road is privately owned — but not by Winfrey. It belongs to Haleakala Ranch, which also owns the land surrounding the road, its president Scott Meidell told The Associated Press. Winfrey has an easement agreement with the ranch, which allows her to use and make certain improvements to the road, her representative told the AP in a statement. Winfrey has paved the road as part of the agreement, Meidell said. The decision to open the road to the public is principally up to the landowner, Winfrey's representative noted. Meidell said Haleakala Ranch 'had conversations with Ms. Winfrey's land management staff during this process. So, they're consulted to be sure.' Haleakala Ranch contacted the local fire department and the Maui Emergency Management Agency just after 3 p.m. local time, shortly after the tsunami warning went into effect, Meidell said. The road was made accessible shortly after 5 p.m., he said, and ranch personnel assisted in the evacuation of around 150 to 200 vehicles until the final group of cars were escorted up the road at 7 p.m. Maui County officials said in a press release shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday that 'Oprah's road' was accessible to the public, an advisory repeated in a 9:30 p.m. update. But Meidell said further evacuations weren't necessary after 7 p.m. because police had confirmed 'at that point the highway was completely empty of traffic.' Maui police and the Maui Emergency Management Agency did not immediately return the AP's requests for comment. 'As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false,' a representative for Winfrey wrote in a statement first disseminated to news outlets Tuesday night. The decision to open the road was made quickly 'when the warning was issued to evacuate, working with local officials and Oprah's Ranch,' the representative added in a statement Wednesday. Cars were escorted in separate caravans that each 'had a lead vehicle and a sweep vehicle to make sure that there weren't any incidents on the mountain road,' Meidell said. Haleakala Ranch encompasses nearly 30,000 acres of open space from the southern shoreline to Upcountry Maui, according to its website, and has been family-owned and operated since the late 1800s. The private road connects a public roadway with a highway on the island's oceanside. Some Hawaii residents have long expressed frustration with the large swaths of land that wealthy public figures like Winfrey own on Maui and have advocated against short-term rentals that dot the region and worsen the already low housing supply. The islands have faced a chronic housing shortage only exacerbated in 2023 when a deadly wildfire destroyed most of Lahaina, a town on Maui and the historic former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. The wildfire was the deadliest in U.S. history in a century that left more than 100 people dead. Users claimed with no evidence then that Winfrey had hired private firefighters to protect her land before the fires started, and hired security to keep others of her land during the evacuations. Some X users also spread false claims linking Winfrey to the cause of the blaze. Winfrey teamed up with Dwayne Johnson to launch the People's Fund for Maui and committed $10 million to help residents who lost their homes in the wildfires. The fund raised almost $60 million as of April 2024. In 2019, Winfrey confirmed on X, then Twitter, that county officials were given permission to use the private road immediately after a brush fire started on Maui's southern area. The road ultimately was not used, Maui County spokesperson Chris Sugidono told the AP at the time. ___ Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie contributed reporting. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here:

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