WV and National Disaster News - February 23, 2023

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WEST VIRGINIA

COVID
WV Daily COVID Update & Stats for February 22, 2023 (WV DHHR) - here have been nine deaths reported since last week's dashboard update, with a total of 7,935 deaths attributed to COVID-19. For details, see link.

• Official: COVID 'slowly going away'  (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

Guns & Safety

• Concord University students react to Campus Carry bill's passage  (WVVA-TV)
• WVU-Parkersburg community reacts to Senate Bill 10 passing the W.Va. House  (WTAP-TV)

Environment

• WVDEP requiring plant actions to lower cancer-causing chemical emissions (WSAZ-TV), related news:  MetroNews-Radio and WV Public Broadcasting-Radio​

 
Flood Resiliency

• State Senate panel approves bill aimed at strengthening flood resiliency in deluge-prone WV  (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

Mudslide

• Cleanup crews make progress at the site of major Mingo County mudslide  (WCHS-TV)

• Appalshop documentaries on historic WV flood screened in Hazard, KY (WYMT-TV)

 
NATIONAL NEWS
 

FLOOD POLICY
Our disastrous flood-control policies (The Hill) - An opinion article by William S. Becker, a former DoE regional director, says there is no national plan to deal with the increased threat of flooding. The article says experts confirm that America's disaster policy is a disaster itself. National policymakers have allowed the situation to develop by allowing homes to be built in floodplains, which puts these homes and residents at serious risk. More than 40 million Americans in the lower 48 states live in a floodplain. Becker ends article by stating the new mission should be flood avoidance rather than flood control.

FLU & COLDS

• Flu vaccine was 68% effective at preventing hospitalization in children but less protective for seniors this season (CNBC)
• Flu vaccine worked well in season that faded fast, CDC says (Associated Press News)
• Progressives call on FDA to take further action on cold and flu medicines shortage (The Hill)

Train Derailment - OHIO

• Readout of Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Activities in East Palestine, O.H. (US Department of Transportation)
• CNN town hall on toxic train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio (CNN)
• Ohio train derailment: How FEMA and other federal agencies are aiding East Palestine (PolitiFact)
• Prior to East Palestine derailment, another Norfolk Southern train crash in Ohio (ABC)

WEATHER

• Blizzard plunges 850,000 Into darkness as hurricane force winds cause havoc in coast-to-coast storm (Newsweek), related news:  The Weather Channel and AccuWeather 
• Rare EF2 tornado confirmed after heavy damage in New Jersey (AccuWeather)
• Cleanup efforts continue after Tuesday's tornado rips through Mercer County (News12 – New Jersey)
• Record warmth envelops Mid-Atlantic during uneasy, snowless winter (Axios)​