Hurricane Dorian has begun moving north, finally starting to lessen the impact on Grand Bahama Island.  The strongest winds have diminished to 110 mph, but the wind field has expanded and now covers 60 miles from center.  The storm surge along the U.S. Southeast is anticipated to be very significant through all tide cycles.
At 500 PM EDT (2100 UTC), the center of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 27.7 North, longitude 78.7 West. Dorian is moving toward the northwest near 6 mph (9 km/h), and a slightly faster motion toward the northwest or north-northwest is expected tonight. A turn toward the north is forecast by Wednesday evening, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast Thursday morning.

On this track, the core of Hurricane Dorian will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast and the Georgia coast tonight through Wednesday night. The center of Dorian is forecast to move near or over the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina Thursday through Friday morning.
Maximum sustained winds are near 110 mph (175 km/h) with higher gusts. Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next couple of days.
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During the latest update from California officials, four bodies have been recovered and four more have been located on the floor of the ocean as divers work to recover them,
A total of 30 people are missing after a catastrophic fire aboard a 75-foot chartered dive boat near Santa Cruz Island.  During a press conference Santa Barbara officials reveal  the discovery of four more bodies in addition to the four victims already recovered:

OXNARD, Calif. (Reuters) – Four bodies were recovered on Monday and 30 people were missing after a predawn fire sank a scuba diving boat off a Southern California island, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said.
The fire broke out aboard the Conception, a 75-foot (23-meter) boat, at about 3.15 a.m. while it was moored just off the shore of Santa Cruz Island, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

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The latest updates from Paradise, California, according to Butte County Sheriff and Cal Fire:

• Two more bodies located Friday.  Death toll now: 81
• Number of Missing Persons rises again to: 870  [list here]
• Number of homes lost is now: 12,637
• Number of commercial buildings lost is now: 483

Important video information below:
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Boy, is this video ever interesting.  In the first several minutes of the video (briefing) Governor Brown and Governor-elect Newsom are absent.  Likely both are receiving massive inbound communication from their political teams and national democrats who are watching every granular moment/optic for political damage and giving advice.
After Brown and Newsom finally show up, their lack of actual connection to the crisis being explained in front of them is jaw-dropping. Watch their body language, they are oblivious to the actual issues at hand and have no questions for the SME’s. Stunning.  Absolutely stunning.

As a comparative mental exercise in competence.  Compare two states, of similar size, similar populations, amid similar crises.
Contrast Governor Brown in these moments against Florida Governor Rick Scott following the hurricanes.  Brown appears detached, lost, and incapable (perhaps unwilling) to understand the details of the challenge (past and present); whereas Florida Governor Rick Scott was/is entirely engaged, entirely absorbed in the details of rescue and recovery, and entirely understanding of the challenges in each event.
What a contrast.
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President Trump meets with Pastor Andrew Brunson after he is released from prison in Turkey.

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The parallels between Homestead after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Mexico Beach after Hurricane Michael are stunning.  There are remarkable similarities including the first 48 hours of media incomprehension due to their inability to gain access.

For those who might not remember, immediately following hurricane Andrew (’92) no-one initially realized the scale of devastation in/around Homestead, FL, because all eyes were focused on the more well-known Miami area.  It took a few days for people to fathom where the real devastation took place.  Homestead was almost entirely obliterated.
Fast forward 26 years and the exact same scenario exists near Mexico Beach, FL.  The difference between Michael and Andrew is the width of the devastation.  Andrew was a much wider storm than Michael; but the aftermath is eerily similar.  Seriously, it’s PTSD flashback central…. stunningly so.
Just like the area around Homestead AFB ’92, the area around Tyndall AFB in 2018 is identical. Complete devastation.  Amazing. I mean the comparisons are spookily similar, right down to the displayed fighter jets being torn from their concrete pedestals.
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Are you concerned about President Trump’s suspension of the declassification directive? No-one, well, almost no-one… has any idea how Donald J Trump creates leverage from places few can fathom.
Example:

Think about how President Trump took Kim Jong-un out of the hands of Chairman Xi Jinping (one of the most looming influence agents on the planet), and handed young Chairman Kim to Moon Jae-in on a joy-filled optimistic platter.

“The impossible is only our starting point”..

~Donald J Trump

There’s a reason why Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laughs when people question the more distracting aspects to President Trump (ex. tweets); there’s a very good reason.

Earlier today President Trump traveled to North Carolina for a briefing by local, state and federal officials who are responding to the recovery efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Florence. Following the briefing, President Trump toured some of the impacted regions and thanked those who are assisting in ongoing recovery efforts.

[Transcript] – Cherry Point, North Carolina – 10:47 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much everybody. We appreciate it very — the job you’ve done has been incredible. Incredible. They’re talking about it all over the world. And we want to keep it going that way, because some of the hard work is now. We’ve gone through very dangerous work, and still dangerous, but some of the hard work is taking place right now, even though its nice and beautiful and sunny.
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Terrific news. All twelve boys and their coach have been rescued in Thailand after more than two weeks trapped in flooded caves. An international coalition of divers led by Thailand SEAL’s and rescuers from over 50 countries were able to rescue the remaining boys earlier today.

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — A daring rescue mission in the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in northern Thailand has saved all 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped deep within the labyrinth, ending a grueling 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced diver and riveted people around the world.
Thailand’s Navy SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, said on their Facebook page that the remaining four boys and their 25-year-old coach were all brought out safely by early Tuesday evening. Several hours later, a medic and three SEAL divers who had stayed for days with the boys in their tiny refuge in the cave also came out.

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Four more Thai schoolboys have been rescued from the underwater cave complex in Northern Thailand during the second mission.  This brings the total rescued to eight so far with four remaining and one adult; their soccer coach.

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) – Eight of the 12 boys trapped with their soccer coach in a labyrinthine flooded cave complex in northern Thailand have been freed, authorities said on Monday, adding that the time for rescuing the others will depend on the weather.
The mission which started Sunday is a race against the clock with heavy rain expected this week which would again flood the tunnels with fast-flowing, rising water.

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