Hurricane Delta posed a particularly dangerous threat to Louisiana as much of the exact same area was previously hit by Hurricane Laura just six weeks ago.  With massive amounts of debris from Laura still in the cleanup process Hurricane Delta was poised to deliver a troubling double-whammy.  However, that said, first responders and state officials are saying there were no fatalities from Delta – Prayers Answered.

[Via ABC] Hurricane Delta, now a tropical depression, made landfall near Creole, Louisiana, on Friday evening, with nearly 11 million people in the storm’s path. More than 600,000 power outages were reported across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi early Saturday afternoon as the storm’s remnants moved further inland.

Delta is now expected to move across western and northern Mississippi before heading into the Tennessee Valley tonight and Sunday. (more)

Material stuff can be replaced, people cannot.   Now the incredible heroes from across the United States will move in to begin restoring power. Massive numbers of power crews are working to rebuild the grid; tens of thousands of tons of debris being removed. [Much of what is now called “debris” represents the cherished belongings of thousands of lives.]

Now it’s time to try and restore some sense of normalcy for those who have been impacted, and commit to a long-term rebuilding process. Stay strong. Thousands have staged. Help is on the way…

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The false accusations of racism and sexism against our president took a big hit today as the Governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vazquez, has endorsed President Trump for his 2020 re-election.

Governor Vazquez was going to surprise the media with a planned campaign event with President Trump in Central FL, which has a very high Puerto Rican population, last Friday. However, the event had to be canceled due to the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Governor Vazquez made the endorsement today via a television interview [SEE HERE].

While Puerto Rican nationals cannot participate in the U.S. presidential election, there are many U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico, especially in Florida.  In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria many residents of Puerto Rico moved to Florida due to the collapsed infrastructure during the emergency. This endorsement today reflects a strong showing of support for how President Trump has assisted the island.

In addition to the initial recovery funding, recently President Trump announced the largest ever FEMA grant to the island nation, almost $13 billion, in an effort to completely rebuild the roads, utilities and energy infrastructure. The administration’s approach is a smart investment in an island that has a unique set of resources for the pharmaceutical industry; including a previously trained workforce.  The announcement was typical President Trump with optimal and pragmatic policy solutions on display.

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Puerto Rico serves as a strategic economic region to recapture the Pharmaceutical industry.  Historically Puerto Rico was a hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing; however, due to poor and undependable infrastructure, an outcome of terrible management in government, combined with competitive incentives provided by alternative nations, most PR pharma operations moved to India and China.

With the Trump administration confronting Big Pharma on multiple fronts, including the need for a secure supply chain, a cost-effective approach is massive investment to repair and replace the island infrastructure.  Today the White House announces the largest FEMA grant in history as an underpinning to this strategic objective.

WHITE HOUSE – Statement from the Press Secretary on the Largest FEMA Infrastructure Grants Being Awarded to Puerto Rico.

The Trump Administration announced that the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) plans to award two of its largest grants ever for infrastructure projects in Puerto Rico.

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Hurricane Sally moved over the coast near Mobile Alabama as a category two storm and continues to slowly move inland today.  According to the National Hurricane Center the storm still holds strong hurricane force winds around 80mph as it brings massive rainfall into the region.   Severe flooding is the primary concern as Sally moves inland.

Sally remains a very dangerous storm as she travels NE through Florida, Alabama and into Georgia.  Widespread power outages are a predictable concern across the region.

At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Sally was located by NWS Doppler radar and surface observations near latitude 30.6 North, longitude 87.4 West. Sally is moving toward the north-northeast near 5 mph (7 km/h), and a north-northeastward to northeastward motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected later today and tonight. A faster northeastward motion is forecast Thursday and Thursday night.

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According to the latest information from the National Hurricane Center Sally has weakened slightly and has a loosely defined eye wall. This a very slowly moving storm at only 2mph which unfortunately means a longer storm surge event.

Coastal communities in SE Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama should pay close attention. A long duration storm surge and a great deal of rain is anticipated.

Hurricane Center – At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Sally was located near latitude 29.1 North, longitude 88.2 West. Sally is moving toward the northwest near 2 mph (4 km/h). A slow north-northwestward to northward motion is expected this afternoon,followed by a slow northward to north-northeastward motion tonight through Wednesday night.

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Hurricane Sally is now holding with 100mph winds and slowly moving (5mph) toward the West Northwest near the coastal region of the western Florida Panhandle.

The outer bands of Sally are moving onshore in the Florida Panhandle. Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Hurricane-Force Winds, and Flash Flooding Likely Along Portions of the Northern Gulf Coast Starting Later Tonight and Tuesday.

Residents in Western Florida, Alabama coastal area, Mississippi coastal area and Eastern Louisiana should pay close attention.  All hurricane preparations should be rushed to completion. The storm is expected to turn north, but the timing is uncertain.  The wind field is small; however, due to the slow movement the storm surge is a great concern.

Hurricane Center – Sally is moving toward the west-northwest near 5 mph (8 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue through Tuesday morning. A northward turn is likely by Tuesday afternoon, and a slow north-northeastward to northeastward motion is expected Tuesday night through Wednesday night.

On the forecast track, the center of Sally will move near the coast of southeastern Louisiana tonight and Tuesday, and make landfall in the hurricane warning area Tuesday night or Wednesday.

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Earlier today President Trump traveled to McClellan California for a briefing on the current status of current efforts to battle California wildfires.  The briefing was held in a Cal Fire hangar.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Great to be here. Great to be with the Governor. We’ve been speaking a lot about the problem, and it’s a big problem, and it’ll get solved. We want to pay our love and respect, and we say “God bless you” to those that were killed in this horrible fire, because it’s a series of fire. You put them together, and it’s a big monster, Gavin. Right?

GOVERNOR NEWSOM: A big monster.

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Earlier today President Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence traveled to FEMA headquarters or a briefing on response efforts to Hurricane Laura.

[Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – ADMINISTRATOR GAYNOR: So, sir, again — Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Wolf, welcome to FEMA and welcome to the initial brief for Hurricane Laura. And, sir, I’ll defer to you if you have any opening comments, and then we’ll move to the Secretary to get kicked off.

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Laura made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border overnight (Cameron, LA) as a Cat-4 hurricane with a maximum sustained wind speed of 150 mph. At least 670,000+ residents in Louisiana and Texas are without power as of Thursday afternoon as officials worked to recover in the wake of coastal storm surges and destructive flash flooding. Louisiana has the bulk of the outages with 554,000, while Texas reports around 138,000.

Anyone who needs help, feel free to reach out in the comments section or send us an email and we will do everything we can to assist. CTH also has an admin in zone; prayers continue.  The full Louisiana National Guard has been activated to respond.

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REMINDER: Due to the speed of the storm there are already convoys coming to construct a pre-planned electricity grid recovery process.  Convoys from every city, town and state from the east-coast to the mid-west.  A glorious melding of dirty fingernails all arriving for the meet-up.   Depending on your proximity to the bigger picture objectives at hand, you will cherish their arrival.

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Hurricane Laura has increased in strength to 150 MPH sustained winds as it closes in on the coastline communities near the Texas-Louisiana border.  Southwestern Louisiana will see the most significant storm surge.  This is a very dangerous storm. All hurricanes are unnerving, but the nighttime storms arriving in darkness are some of the most unsettling.

[National Hurricane Center] – At 700 PM CDT (0000 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Laura was located near latitude 28.4 North, longitude 92.9 West. Laura is moving toward the north-northwest near 15 mph (24 km/h). A turn toward the north is expected overnight, and a northward motion should continue on Thursday.

A northeastward to east-northeastward motion is expected Thursday night and Friday. On the forecast track, Laura will approach the upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts this evening and move inland within that area tonight. The center of Laura is forecast to move over northwestern Louisiana tomorrow, across Arkansas Thursday night, and over the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday.

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