Nicole Torres, a spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management for the city of Annapolis, Md., ties a sandbag on Friday, Sept. 22, 2022 as residents prepared for an approaching storm. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)
By Sarah Brumfield and Brian Witte
Tropical Storm Ophelia formed off the mid-Atlantic coast and was expected to bring heavy rain, storm surge and windy conditions over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
Ophelia had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), according to a 2 p.m. advisory from the Miami-based center. The storm was centered 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was forecast to make landfall Saturday morning.
Virginia’s governor declared a state of emergency Friday and the intensifying weather system forced schools to close early and canceled weekend events.
Rain was already moving inland across North Carolina by midday Friday with some areas expected to get up to 7 inches (17.7 centimeters) across eastern parts of the state and into southeast Virginia, forecasters said. Storm surge warning was in effect for some areas, with surges between 3 and 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters) forecast for parts of North Carolina, the hurricane center reported.
The system’s center is expected to move inland over eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia and near the Chesapeake Bay through Sunday, Mike Brennan, the hurricane center’s director, said in a livestreamed briefing on Friday.
A storm surge warning was in effect from Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia, and a tropical storm warning was issued from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Fenwick Island, Delaware.
Nancy Shoemaker and her husband Bob stopped by a waterside park in downtown Annapolis, Maryland's capital, to pick up sandbags to help protect their waterfront home.
Last year, at the end of October, they experienced a big surge of water that came into their yard and even washed some sandbags away.
“We’re hoping it won’t be that way this time,” Nancy Shoemaker said. “If we have a lot of wind and a lot of surge, it can look like the ocean out there, so that’s a problem.”
The weather was already affecting water taxis in Annapolis, where water taxi driver Scott Bierman said service would shut down at 6 p.m., and the decision had already been made to close Saturday.
“We don’t operate when it’s going to endanger passengers and or damage vessels,” Bierman said.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon, issuing an executive order intended to ease response and recovery efforts.
“As this storm has organized and strengthened, it’s becoming clear based on the latest forecasts that impacts to the commonwealth are likely,” Youngkin said in a statement. “We want to ensure that all communities, particularly those with the greatest anticipated impact, have the resources they need to respond and recover from the effects of this storm.”
The governor encouraged residents to prepare an emergency kit and follow the weather forecast closely.
Schools in coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia announced plans to dismiss students early Friday and cancel afterschool and weekend activities.
The North Carolina Ferry System announced it was suspending several routes and the State Emergency Response Team planned to move to an enhanced watch Friday to ease coordination of resources, the governor’s office said.
The forecast prompted the cancellation of events across the region, including the Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival, which had been set to return to City Dock in Annapolis on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Nigel was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone centered about 640 miles (1,030 kilometers) northwest of the Azores with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph). There were no associated coastal watches or warnings as the storm moved northeast at 37 mph (59 kph), the hurricane center said in its final update on the system Friday morning.
Dr. Farhan Bhatti, a family physician and Michigan State lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar to discuss the newly discovered and highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19. Bhatti said it is too early to draw any conclusions about the new variant but there is concern that it could eventually mutate and develop a resistance to vaccines. "Time will tell, but for now, it looks like, still, the best thing that we can do to try to limit the spread of this disease is make sure everybody gets a vaccine and make sure everybody avoids large gatherings indoors and wears masks during the wintertime especially," he said.
Jill and Carlo cover the latest developments with the Omicron variant that are spooking markets once again. Twitter's @Jack is leaving, SCOTUS takes up abortion rights and the world has a brand new republic.
A CDC panel unanimously endorsed Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine boosters for all U.S. adults. This comes after the FDA gave its own authorization for everyone 18 and older, scrapping previous eligibility factors like age and underlying conditions. Dr. Shereef Elnahal, President and CEO of University Hospital and former New Jersey Health Commissioner, joined Cheddar News to break down the development.
The Biden Administration is set to buy 10 million courses of Pfizer's Covid pill if it gains emergency use authorization from the FDA. With this purchase, the U.S. will receive more than 13 million courses of antiviral pills aimed at treating Covid and reducing severe illness and death. Pfizer's pill has been shown to reduce risk of hospitalization and death by 89 percent, proving it could be a key tool in the fight against the pandemic. Dr. Soumi Eachempati, Co-Founder, CEO & CMO of Cleared4, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
Dr. David Dodson, Infectious Disease Specialist at Carden & Dodson MD, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down what we know so far about the Omicron Covid-19 variant, and why you shouldn't wait for an Omicron-specific shot to get vaccinated.
Friday saw big sell offs, with the Dow Jones posting its worst day since October 2020, falling 905 points, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each tumbling more than two percent as well. Much of that due to investor concerns over the new Covid-19 'Omicron' variant first detected in South Africa. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda explains what investors should expect this week.
The ocean is an important topic when it comes to the climate. It plays a vital role in shaping our environment, with rising sea levels causing a 35% increase in natural disasters around the world, affecting 1.7 billion people. Dr. Sylvia Earle has been called perhaps the greatest advocate our oceans have ever had, with Time magazine dubbing her its first 'hero of the planet' and the Library of Congress naming her a living legend. She is also the founder of Mission Blue, an organization that inspires action to explore and protect the ocean. Dr. Earle joined Cheddar Climate for more on the importance of caring for the ocean and its impact on climate change.
Scientists are racing to understand the Omicron variant of covid-19 and find out just how dangerous it really is. Omicron, dubbed a variant of concern by the WHO, was first detected in South Africa last week and has already spread to multiple countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and more. Dr. Jonathan Javitt, CEO of Nrx and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, joined Cheddar to discuss what we know and don't know about this new variant.
The House has officially passed the $1.75 trillion social policy and climate big. This new bill is expected to bring some huge investments into working towards fighting climate change. U.S. President of We Don't Have Time, Sweta Chakraborty, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
