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Fairfax urban search and rescue team deployed to Florida ahead of Ian

By InsideNoVa.com

This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today. Read the article on Inside Nova. 

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.

Members of Virginia Task Force 1, Fairfax County’s international urban-search-and-rescue team, have been deployed to Florida ahead of what is now Tropical Storm Ian.

In partnership with FEMA, a 45-person task force from Fairfax will head to Florida along with two other FEMA teams.

Ian is forecast to approach Florida’s west coast at or near major hurricane strength early next week. The National Hurricane Center reported Saturday “increasing confidence in multiple life-threatening hazards: storm surge, hurricane-force winds and rainfall flooding.”

Va. Task Force 1 is a self-contained team consisting of technical search-and-rescue specialists, structural engineers, physicians, paramedics, search canines, and communications and planning specialists from all over Northern Virginia.

You can follow the team’s travels on their Twitter page.

EPA proposal could leave the public in the dark on data center plans

By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan by the Environmental Protection Agency could make it harder for the public to learn about and comment on proposed AI data centers that have sparked backlash in communities across the United States and transformed the midterm election landscape. The EPA proposal would eliminate a federal requirement that states notify the public and seek comment before issuing air pollution permits for data centers and other industrial facilities. States could still offer opportunities for public comment, but the EPA would no longer mandate them as a condition for states to grant permits. Critics say the move could thwart local residents from learning about proposed data centers or making their voices heard before projects are approved and construction begins. The move comes during a widespread backlash as tech giants build hundreds of massive server warehouses to fuel artificial intelligence and cloud computing. “By eliminating the long-standing federal requirement for public notice, this proposal continues efforts by the Trump administration to turn its back on the fundamental EPA principle of transparency,” said Mike Koerber, a former deputy director of EPA’s air quality office.
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