Important Takeaways:
- A massive wildfire whipped up by extreme winds has swept through a Los Angeles hillside dotted with celebrity homes – with a state of emergency declared.
- [Fox reported 200,000 without power]
- The enormous blaze in the Pacific Palisades forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, some of whom abandoned their cars and fled on foot to safety with roads blocked.
- Firefighters battling the blaze, which is burning through about five football fields a minute, warned they were running out of water and supplies, as evacuation warnings spread to Malibu and Calabasas.
- Tankers full of water had been dousing the inferno from the skies all afternoon, but all aircraft were later grounded amid deteriorating wind conditions and visibility.
- Residents were warned the worst is still yet to come as the raging wildfire burns through more than 2,900 acres of Los Angeles land at an extraordinary rate.
- At least 30,000 residents are now under mandatory evacuation orders with more still warned they should be prepared to leave, after a fire that broke out in the foothills near Eaton Canyon has grown to 1,000 acres in just six hours since it began.
- A third brush fire has broken out in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley which recent estimates is around 100 acres big.
- The Hurst Fire was estimated at 300 acres with a ‘rapid rate of spread’ and mandatory evacuations this morning. Governor Gavin Newsom announced early today that the state had secured federal funding to help with the fire.
- Firefighters, which have said there is no hope of containing the fires overnight, are now focusing their efforts on helping residents get to safety
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Important Takeaways:
- A significant earthquake just hit the Los Angeles area, striking two miles southwest of Pasadena, California.
- According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake was magnitude 4.4 and felt through the nearby counties.
- The tectonic plate responsible for the LA quake is the same one responsible for the Japan quake last Thursday, sparking fears of a ‘megaquake.’
- Emergency response groups have warned residents to “be prepared for aftershocks.” The quake caused no injuries or major damage, and the National Weather Service said a tsunami was not expected.
- The quake comes less than a week after a 5.2 magnitude temblor hit southern California and was also widely felt in Los Angeles.
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Important Takeaways:
- Los Angeles earthquake follows cluster of California temblors: ‘Almost don’t believe it’
- A magnitude 4.4 earthquake rumbled underneath Los Angeles on Monday, less than a week after a bigger one jolted much of Southern California.
- The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter of Monday’s quake near the Highland Park neighborhood in the city’s northeast and three miles from Pasadena, California, site of the New Year’s Day Rose Parade. The tremor, which struck about 12:20 p.m. PT, was felt as far north as Bakersfield, California, and further south in San Diego, both more than 100 miles from Los Angeles.
- “No significant infra/structure damage or injuries have been noted within the city”, the Los Angeles Fire Department said after conducting a survey.
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Important Takeaways:
- The worst of the storm occurred on Monday, but rainfall is still forecast for major cities across California
- A firehose of rain has parked over Southern California, worsening the risk of flooding. At least two people have died as a result of falling trees and more than 16 million people are under a rare high risk of excessive rainfall, with downtown Los Angeles receiving 75% of its annual rainfall in only the second month of 2024.
- The storm is impacting travel and power in the Golden State. The Pacific Coast Highway, a major north-south thoroughfare, closed in two locations on Monday, as thousands of flights in or out of the state were canceled or delayed. More than 200,000 California power customers are facing outages.
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Important Takeaways:
- Deadly storm pummeling California with more than a foot of rain threatens to burst banks of LA River after killing three across state – as flash floods rip through Malibu and cause more than 120 mudslides – putting A-listers homes on red alert
- A deadly Pacific storm, the second ‘Pineapple Express’ weather system to pummel the West Coast in less than a week, dumped torrential rain over Southern California on Monday, leading to streets being flooded and triggering more than 120 mudslides.
- On Monday afternoon, LA Mayor Karen Bass issued a state of emergency declaration because of the flooding.
- President Joe Biden spoke to California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Bass, pledging to provide federal aid to areas hit hard.
- The deluge raised concerns for the region’s large population of homeless people, many of whom set up encampments along the river and on small dirt outcroppings and brush-covered islands.
- Winds gusting to 75 miles per hour on Sunday downed trees and utility lines across the San Francisco Bay Area and California’s Central Coast, knocking out power to roughly 875,000 homes at the storm’s peak in that region.
- About 215,000 people statewide were without power late on Monday night.
- The greatest flash-flooding threat on Monday centered on Southern California, the NWS said, as the system slowly pivoted and pushed farther into the interior of California, but forecasters said ‘catastrophic’ impacts were unlikely.
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Important Takeaways:
- Catastrophic flooding swamps Los Angeles area as deadly atmospheric river slams California
- NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has placed about 14 million people in Southern California, including Los Angeles, under a rare “high risk” of flash flooding as the storm has already dumped several inches of rain, with much more to come.
- The “high risk” is the highest rung on NOAA’s flash flood threat scale and is only issued under the most dire of flooding forecasts. “Life-threatening flash and urban flash flooding possible in the high risk area,” the WPC said.
- Los Angeles picked up 4.10 inches of rain on Sunday, which far exceeded the daily rainfall record for that date set in 1927, which was 2.55 inches.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency for several counties in California to help support storm response and recovery efforts.
- The state had mobilized and prepositioned a record 8,500 emergency responders ready to respond to flooding, landslides and travel emergencies, according to the governor’s office.
- The State of Emergency included Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
- The atmospheric river storm had also prompted emergency officials in several areas to order evacuations and open emergency shelters for residents.
- Several schools in the area were also closed because of the extreme weather event
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Important Takeaways:
- Shoplifting surged 64% in NYC — more than any other US city in past 4 years
- New York City has led the US with the sharpest increase in the number of reported shoplifting incidents since before the pandemic, according to a study.
- The Big Apple saw a 64% increase in reported incidents of retail theft during the four-year period between mid-2019 and June of this year, while Los Angeles experienced a 61% surge in the same metric, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.
- A New York Police Department spokesperson pointed to crime statistics showing that there were more than 93,000 incidents of petty larceny so far this year — which is 29% higher compared to the same period two years ago but 5% lower compared to the same period last year.
- LA, meanwhile, saw a 109% increase in reported retail theft incidents in the first six months of this year — the highest in the country, the report found.
- Dallas was second with a 73% bump in the number of reported shoplifting incidents in the first half of 2023.
- Virginia Beach, Dallas, Raleigh, Boston, and Pittsburgh are the other cities that saw a spike in the number of shoplifting incidents that were reported over the course of the last four years
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Important Takeaways:
- Shoplifting up 73% in Dallas as retailers rush to put merchandise out of reach
- Shopping experience in Dallas is starting to change as retail theft increased 73% through the first six months of this year, according to a report released Tuesday.
- Dallas and Los Angeles, where shoplifting increased 109%, experienced the highest reported retail theft in the first half of this year, according to an analysis of 24 major cities by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice
- At a Walmart in northeast Dallas flashing lights frame a camera above an aisle of locked cases holding men’s underwear, socks and wallets. It comes with a warning: “Security camera in use.” Electric toothbrushes are also behind locked cases. The electric razors are behind lock and key at a nearby Target.
- Kroger has added security gates to some Dallas stores to prevent quick exits of full shopping carts of consumables such as laundry detergent. Tide and Oxi are behind new locked cases at a Kroger on Mockingbird Lane. A box asks shoppers to press the button if they need help. Armed guards in uniform are more visible in Dallas stores and malls.
- Gary Huddleston, grocery industry consultant at the Texas Retailers Association, said it’s more than shoplifting. Texas is seeing an increase in “organized retail crime,” or the coordinated theft and reselling of merchandise for profit by criminal groups.
- Based on national estimates, the annual loss to Texas retailers has reached more than $2.5 billion, Huddleston said. The National Retail Federation estimated total shrinkage — or loss from employee theft, shoplifting, errors, vendor fraud and damage — was over $112.1 billion last year in the U.S., up from $93.9 billion in 2021.
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Important Takeaways:
- RIP Beverly Hills: Startling video shows how once-thriving shopping mecca is now a desolate wasteland as high-end shops, banks, and restaurants shutter their doors amid economic woes and crime
- The closed shops, which also include convenience retailers like Rite Aid and Chipotle, and even popular workout class option SoulCycle, have shuttered their doors on Wilshire Boulevard, leaving the area bereft of its former appeal. Their sad decline marks a departure from the area’s lengthy heyday…
- The reasons for the ample number of closures vary, as many brands see a decrease in demand for in-person retail experiences, while others pivot business strategies following acquisitions by other brands. The downturned economy has also negatively impacted most brands, but especially those marketing luxury products.
- Businesses in Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles in general, are also in the midst of contending with a major spike in crime that has left many stores defenseless against mobs of robbers.
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Important Takeaways:
- Thugs brutally attack street vendor in front of his special needs daughter, 8, steal all his money; single dad already was struggling to keep them both afloat
- A group of masked males brutally attacked a street vendor in front of his 8-year-old special needs daughter and stole all his money in south Los Angeles over the weekend, KTLA-TV reported.
- The robbers made off with some of Carbajal’s merchandise, but they also stole $2,200, his car registration, his passport, and his debit card, which the robbers used to purchase gas, KTLA reported.
- Carbajal and his daughter are living in a hotel, the station said, adding that he said he was saving up for an apartment.
- The robbery, however, has forced him to start from scratch, KTLA reported.
- Some good news
- The station noted that individuals have been reaching out to Carbajal and making donations through a GoFundMe campaign; the goal was $1,000 — but as of Tuesday afternoon, the total has exceeded $32,300.
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