Month: August 2021

Tropical Storm Fred weakened slightly as it moved inland through the Florida Panhandle, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. update. By Tuesday morning, Fred will have weakened to a tropical depression, a storm with a wind speed of 38 mph or less, the hurricane center said. However according to the hurricane center, Fred brought heavy rain and “a dangerous storm surge” to the Florida Panhandle.

Fred made landfall near Cape San Blas in the eastern Florida Panhandle, pounding the region with heavy rain and 65 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center. Fred brought 4 to 6 inches of rain to parts of Miami-Dade County, with the more southern areas of the county seeing as much as 9 inches. Areas of South Florida farther north saw 2 to 4 inches over the past seven days. As of 11 p.m. Monday, Fred was 10 miles east of Dothan, Ala., moving north-northeast at 12 mph. Fred is forecast to move from western Georgia on Tuesday across the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia by Wednesday, the hurricane center said. Tropical-storm-force winds extended from Fred’s center up to 45 miles. There was also a chance that tornadoes could form on Florida’s west coast and the coastal Panhandle, forecasters said.

More than 20 Florida counties were under a state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Fred.

President Biden spoke on Monday and defended the decision to move forward with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. President Biden’s remarks came after a chaotic day at the Kabul airport as evacuations were halted for several hours. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed that U.S. troops had killed two armed Afghans who were part of the huge crowd that breached the airport perimeter.

In remarks from the East Room of the White House, Biden said: “How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives, American lives, is it worth, how many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery?” While Biden conceded the Taliban had taken over more quickly than anticipated, but he insisted “there was never a good time to withdraw.”

The Taliban took control of the capital, Kabul, on Sunday, with the U.S. military holding on to the airport for evacuations. The U.S. is continuing to process visas for Afghans and their families who aided U.S. troops. Roughly 100 U.S. embassy staffers remain at the airport —they will be the last ones out.