Georgia declares state of emergency in all counties ahead of Irma
September 11, 2017 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
Comments Off
Georgia officials declared a state of emergency in all counties on Sunday in preparation for Hurricane Irma after the National Weather Service issued a tropical storm warning in Atlanta – for the first time in the city’s history.
Gov. Nathan Deal declared the state of emergency in 159 counties after Irma’s forecasted path threatened to unleash deadly wind gusts, heavy rain and possible flooding as early as Sunday night, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
“I want to caution all Georgians that just because the weather appears calm now, do not take that for granted,” Deal said in an earlier news conference.
The National Weather Service issued a Tropical Storm Warning in Dodge County. Wind gusts up to 60 mph with tropical storm-force winds could whip through starting Monday morning and into Tuesday, forecasters said. Peak winds were expected to reach 30 to 40 mph. Officials said Irma, a Category 3 storm as of Sunday afternoon, can damage porches, carports, sheds and unanchored mobile homes.
State government offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday along with several schools. Parts of south Georgia are under a Hurricane Warning.
Atlanta hotels and shelters filled with evacuees by Sunday morning. At the luxury Georgian Terrace Hotel, staff were flexible with rules to accommodate evacuees. Guests walked pit bulls through the lobby. Large families pulled roller bags and clutched blankets as they squeezed into small rooms without enough beds.
A block away, a church offered free hugs for evacuees.
Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane just after 9 a.m. Sunday, bringing 130 mph winds and inches of rain within hours. In Miami, a crane – one of the two dozen in the city – collapsed due to gusty winds.
The storm threatens to wreak havoc in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee has it heads north. President Trump spoke to the governors in the states from the Camp David presidential retreat.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Share and Enjoy
On last day in Colombia, Pope Francis carries on after being hurt in popemobile mishap
September 11, 2017 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
Comments Off
Pope Francis wrapped up his Colombia trip with a deeply personal final day Sunday honoring St. Peter Claver, a fellow Jesuit who ministered to hundreds of thousands of African slaves who arrived in the port of Cartagena to be sold during Spanish colonial times.
Francis’ visit to Cartagena got off to a rocky start, however, when he banged his head on his popemobile when it stopped short amid swarms of well-wishers. Francis, who had only a hip-high bar to hold onto, lost his balance and suffered a black left eye and a cut on his eyebrow that dripped blood onto his white cassock.
The cut was quickly bandaged with a butterfly patch and Francis carried on without incident with his program. Devotees reacted to the injury with a mix of amazement and concern.
“This holy blood is staying in Colombia,” said Ricardo Morales, a lawyer who lined up outside St. Peter Claver’s church for a glimpse of the pope. “He made a great effort to be here and from now on it’s our obligation to make a similar effort to thank him for everything he has done.”
Once recovered, Francis visited the St. Peter Claver church, where he praised the 17th century missionary for having recognized the inherent dignity of slaves. Francis, known for his own simple and austere style, said Claver was “austere and charitable to the point of heroism.”
Claver, the self-described slave of the slaves forever, has been revered by Jesuits, popes and human rights campaigners for centuries for having insisted on treating slaves as children of God and worthy of love when others considered them mere merchandise to be bought and sold.
In a prayer Sunday in front of Claver’s church, Francis said the legacy of the Spanish priest should serve as a model for the Catholic Church today to “promote the dignity of all our brothers and sisters, particularly the poor and the excluded of society, those who are abandoned, immigrants and those who suffer violence and human trafficking.”
“Here in Colombia and in the world, millions of people are still being sold as slaves; they either beg for some expressions of humanity, moments of tenderness, or they flee by sea or land because they have lost everything, primarily their dignity and their rights,” he said.
Nicolas Maduro. Francis met with Venezuelan bishops in Colombia but refrained from taking the same strident tone adopted by the Vatican in recent statements in which it has called on Maduro to respect human rights and withdraw plans to rewrite Venezuela’s Constitution.