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Epic flooding leads to water rescues and highway closures in California as the storm system threatens more states | CNN

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Epic flooding leads to water rescues and highway closures in California as the storm system threatens more states | CNN



CNN
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Greater than 15 million folks from the West Coast to Wisconsin are beneath winter climate alerts Sunday because the storm system that induced life-threatening flooding in California pushes east.

Hundreds of Californians are nonetheless grappling with energy outages or impassable roads Sunday after excessive winds and record-setting rainfall battered the state.

Emergency crews in Sacramento have rescued a number of flood victims by helicopter for the reason that metropolis began getting deluged Saturday. At the very least one was “in crucial situation after exiting a car and being washed off the roadway and trapped within the chilly water,” the Sacramento Metropolitan Hearth District mentioned Sunday.

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Crews have additionally “responded to fallen timber on houses and autos, disabled autos because of drivers pushing by standing water, floodings, water rescues, and extra,” the hearth company mentioned.

The Sacramento County Workplace of Emergency Providers issued an evacuation warning Sunday to residents dwelling within the areas of Level Nice, Glanville Tract, and Franklin Pond. The company mentioned residents of these areas ought to put together to go away earlier than roadways are minimize off.

“It’s anticipated that the flooding from the Cosumnes River and the Mokelumne River is transferring southwest towards I-5 and will attain these areas in the course of the night time,” the company tweeted. “Livestock within the affected areas ought to be moved to increased floor.”

In close by San Joaquin County, floodwater Sunday compelled the shutdown of all northbound lanes of a stretch of State Route 99, the California Division of Transportation’s Caltrans District 10 tweeted. “SR 99 is likely one of the state’s closely traveled, and commercially essential, corridors,” the Caltrans web site says.

Town of Oakland had its wettest day on report Saturday, with 4.75 inches of rain in a 24-hour interval – beating the earlier report set on January 4, 1982, the Nationwide Climate Service workplace in San Francisco mentioned.

The extreme climate was attributable to a strong atmospheric river – a protracted, slim area within the environment that may carry moisture 1000’s of miles, like a fireplace hose within the sky.

Now, as that very same storm system heads east, it might dump a foot of snow throughout the Sierras and as much as 2 toes of snow in elements of the Rockies by late Monday. Native forecasters warn journey may very well be troublesome.

The extreme climate, which included excessive winds, left about 235,000 houses, companies and different energy clients with out electrical energy in California and Nevada on Sunday, in response to Poweroutage.US.

The storm additionally compelled some Northern California residents out of their houses on New Yr’s Eve as streets began to flood and evacuation orders and warnings have been issued.

Along with city flooding, a number of rivers began overflowing – together with the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers and the Mormon Slough, in response to the climate service in Sacramento.

Regardless of the flooding complications, the moisture is definitely a aid for drought-stricken California – which began 2022 with the driest starting of the 12 months on report and ended the 12 months with drenched roadways and thick mountain snow.

But it surely’s not clear how a lot the storm will make a dent in California’s drought situations.

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Officers ordered residents in Wilton, California, to go away the realm instantly at one level Saturday – warning that rising water might spill onto roadways and minimize off entry to the realm. However two hours later, Wilton residents have been instructed to shelter in place after water made roads “impassable.”

Three communities close to town of Watsonville have been additionally instructed to evacuate by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Workplace because of creek flooding, whereas rising San Lorenzo River waters prompted evacuations within the communities of Paradise Park and Felton.

In San Ramon, police used an armored rescue car to evacuate residents from floodwater.

“Flooding impacts proceed to escalate as this rain continues with too many highway closures to depend at this level,” the NWS mentioned Saturday. The climate service instructed residents to remain put amid reviews of rock and mudslides throughout the foothills and highway closures throughout the Sierra passes.

Sacramento Metropolitan Hearth District crews carried out water rescues and responded to drivers whose autos turned disabled after they drove by standing water Saturday, officers mentioned.

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Calling it “Stormageddon,” the Amador County Sheriff’s Workplace shared a picture of vehicles as much as their doorhandles in floodwater.

Freeway 50 reopened simply after midnight, hours after a bit between Pollock Pines and Meyers was closed because of flooding from the American River. One other part was closed over Echo Summit for avalanche management work.

Interstate 80 was additionally partially closed close to the Nevada line Saturday “because of a number of spinouts over Donner Summit,” the California Division of Transportation mentioned.

By late Sunday morning, I-80 within the Sierra-Nevada Mountains had reopened to passenger autos solely, “with R2 chain restrictions,” California Freeway Patrol in Truckee tweeted. The restriction means chains or traction gadgets are required on all besides four-wheel-drive autos with snow tires on all 4 wheels.

“The roads are extraordinarily slick so let’s all work collectively and SLOW DOWN so we are able to hold I-80 open,” the company mentioned.

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US Freeway 101 – certainly one of California’s most well-known routes – was additionally quickly closed in each instructions in South San Francisco with the California Freeway Patrol reporting “water just isn’t receding because of continuous rainfall & excessive tides stopping the water to displace.”

Within the Sacramento County space, residents have been suggested to keep away from journey as wind gusts of as much as 55 mph toppled timber and coated roads with particles, in response to a tweet from the climate service in Sacramento.

The county proclaimed a state of emergency, saying the atmospheric river has induced “vital transportation impacts, rising creek and river ranges and flooding” within the Wilton space.

Downtown San Francisco obtained 5.46 inches Saturday, making it the second wettest day on report for the realm, in response to the weather service in the Bay Area.

This heavy rainfall is predicted to slip southward to Southern California on Sunday, accompanied by gusty winds of 30 to 50 mph.

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Whereas elements of Northern California grapple with heavy rainfall, mountainous areas are getting coated with snow.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported 7.5 inches of snowfall per hour between 4 and 5 p.m. Saturday in Soda Springs, about 30 miles from Lake Tahoe, and shared video of thick snow blanketing the area.

The lab mentioned it had unofficial measurements of greater than 30 inches of snow on Saturday.

Over a foot of latest snow fell at Mammoth Mountain’s Foremost Lodge on Saturday, the ski resort mentioned on Fb, including that work will happen throughout the mountain since all lifts have been coated in ice and “avalanche hazard is extraordinarily excessive.”

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Trump announces picks for FDA, CDC; Novartis seeks bolt-on deals, raises guidance; RFK Jr., Elon Musk may find banning ads difficult; and more

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Trump announces picks for FDA, CDC; Novartis seeks bolt-on deals, raises guidance; RFK Jr., Elon Musk may find banning ads difficult; and more
President-elect Donald Trump announced leadership picks for health agencies: Marty Makary for FDA, Dave Weldon for CDC, and Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general. Novartis raised sales guidance and acquired Kate Therapeutics for $1.1B. Amgen named Howard Chang as new CSO. Merck’s subcutaneous Keytruda passed Phase 3 testing.
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Donald Trump picks Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary

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Donald Trump picks Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary

Donald Trump has picked Scott Bessent to be his US Treasury secretary, nominating one of his biggest financial backers as the top economic official of his second administration.

Bessent will be responsible for overseeing the president-elect’s most prominent economic pledges, including sweeping tax cuts, while maintaining the stability of the world’s largest economy, its most important bond market as well as the dollar.

The hedge fund manager’s economic philosophy seeks to bridge traditional free-market conservatism with Trump’s populism. He has defended the president-elect’s repeated threat of raising tariffs against accusations that they would upend relations with US allies and raise consumer prices, saying they are a trade negotiating tool and a way to raise government revenue.

In a statement on Friday, Trump described Bessent as “one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists”, who was “widely respected”.

“He will help me usher in a new golden age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the world’s leading economy, centre of innovation and entrepreneurialism, destination for capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the US dollar as the reserve currency of the world.”

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Trump added that with Bessent at the helm, his administration “will reinvigorate the private sector, and help curb the unsustainable path of federal debt”.

Bessent will also be responsible for steering the administration’s sanctions policy, including on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as the rules that govern Wall Street. His appointment will need to be confirmed by the US Senate, which will be controlled 53-47 by Republicans next year.

Trump on Friday evening also selected Russell Vought to once again lead the Office of Management and Budget. “Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People,” Trump wrote. The president-elect also picked Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican Congresswoman from Oregon, to be his labour secretary.

Wall Street bankers across the political spectrum were digesting the news of Bessent’s appointment. They pointed out that a lot would depend on how much independence he would have to manage the economy. 

A dealmaker at a large bank said Bessent had a strong pedigree managing complex financial situations but was concerned that he would be a “puppet” of Trump.

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“Bessent is a very skilled investor, he has a great track record over decades but I fear he won’t have much autonomy,” the dealmaker said.

The 62-year-old Bessent is a Wall Street veteran who has been among Trump’s most vocal advocates and closest economic advisers in recent months.

It will be his first government position. He currently runs the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. Bessent previously worked closely with billionaires George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller.

Trump also went with a Treasury secretary who had Wall Street experience during his first term, when former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin held the post.

“There’s nobody with a better understanding of markets [than Bessent] to manage $36tn in debt, who’s a vocal advocate of the president-elect’s economic agenda, and has the stature around the world to navigate the global economic challenges we need to confront,” said Michael Faulkender, a finance professor at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and chief economist at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute.

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A top corporate lawyer and longtime Democratic donor said that Trump’s decision was encouraging. “[It is a] sensible choice that will reassure the financial community. The Treasury functioned well under Mnuchin and I would expect Bessent to provide similar stability,” the lawyer said.

Apollo Global Management chief executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh were candidates for the Treasury role, travelling to Mar-a-Lago this week for interviews with Trump. So was Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald’s chief executive, who is also co-chair of the Trump transition team. John Paulson, another billionaire hedge fund manager, had also been in the running before dropping out.

In a statement on Friday, Paulson called Bessent an “outstanding pick”.

“He has the market experience and financial acumen to successfully implement President Trump’s economic agenda.”

The nomination of Bessent, who is seen as a pragmatic pick, is among the most important of Trump’s cabinet picks and follows a number of controversial appointments, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defence and vaccine-sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary. The president-elect had also nominated former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to run the justice department, but he withdrew his name from consideration for the role.

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Bessent, a Yale University graduate who grew up in South Carolina, will take the helm of a US economy that is on solid footing. After the worst cost of living crisis in decades, inflation has steadily declined following a period of high interest rates. Unemployment remains historically low at 4.1 per cent, keeping consumer spending strong.

Many economists have warned that Trump’s protectionist economic plans, and his pledge to deport millions of immigrants and slash taxes, could reignite inflation and dent growth — criticism that Bessent has strongly rejected.

In an interview with the Financial Times in October, Bessent framed tariffs as a “maximalist” threat that could be pared back during talks with trading partners. He also denied that the Trump administration would devalue the dollar.

“My general view is that at the end of the day, he’s a free trader,” Bessent told the FT, referring to Trump. “It’s escalate to de-escalate.”

But Bessent has floated more unorthodox ideas, including taking steps that would infringe on the long-standing independence of the Fed.

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Speaking to rightwing ideologue and Trump ally Steve Bannon recently, he also floated cutting government spending by $1tn over the next decade.

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Trump names former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner to lead Housing and Urban Development

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Trump names former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner to lead Housing and Urban Development

President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration repeatedly sought to make deep cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget. Those plans never passed Congress. But many housing and anti-poverty advocates think this time will be different.

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President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Turner spent nine seasons in the NFL with teams in Washington, San Diego and Denver before being twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives, serving from 2013 to 2017.

Turner now chairs the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former staffers from Trump’s first presidency.

In a statement, Trump said during his first term, Turner was the first executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.”

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“Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development,” the statement read. “Under Scott’s leadership, Opportunity Zones received over $50 Billion Dollars in Private Investment!”

Trump’s first administration tried to restrict housing aid and cut HUD’s budget

The first Trump administration repeatedly proposed deep budgetcuts to HUD, but they never passed Congress. Some executive action to restrict public assistance — for housing and other benefits — was made later in the term and never finalized. But many housing and anti-poverty advocates think this time will be different.

Scott Turner, chairman of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, speaks during an event at the institute in January 2022

Scott Turner, chairman of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, speaks during an event at the institute in January 2022

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“The agenda is much more organized now,” says Peggy Bailey, executive vice president for policy and program development at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “We do anticipate some pretty significant budget fights.”

For one thing, she says, there will be fewer moderate Republicans likely to push back in the next Congress. And the Trump team will enter office with an extensive agenda of policy proposals laid out in Project 2025. Trump has denied any connection to the Heritage Foundation document, but the chapter on HUD was written by his first-term HUD Secretary, Carson, and includes many proposals from his time leading the department.

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The Project 2025 proposals include:

  • Ban families with undocumented members from living in federally assisted housing. Undocumented immigrants are already barred from receiving subsidies. But a HUD analysis found the rule would have put tens of thousands of their family members who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, mostly children, at risk of eviction or homelessness.  
  • Eliminating a new federal fund to boost the supply of affordable housing. A footnote to this item says federally subsidized housing distorts the market by raising demand. It suggests a better approach is to encourage construction by loosening local zoning rules and streamlining regulations. 
  • Repealing (again) a rule meant to prevent segregation and comply with the Fair Housing Act. Carson had argued the rule demanded “unworkable requirements.”
  • Ending a homelessness policy known as Housing First, which places people in subsidized housing and then helps them address drug and mental health addictions. Trump and conservative allies have said sobriety should be the first requirement, something homelessness advocates say has been tried before and failed. 
  • Tightening work requirements for people who receive federal housing subsidies. (The first Trump administration also tried this for recipients of food aid, but it was blocked in federal court.)

Beyond Project 2025, Bailey and others point out that congressional Republicans have continued to propose major funding cuts to HUD, along with trillions of dollars in cuts over a decade across a wide array of other social safety net programs including healthcare, food aid and assistance with heating and cooling bills.

When it comes to deep funding cuts, ‘the optics there might not be great’

If all these budget proposals were to be enacted, “you should expect large increases both in the scope of poverty and in the depth of poverty,” says Bob Greenstein, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and the founder and former president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Dr. Ben Carson, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, speaks during this summer's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Dr. Ben Carson, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, speaks during this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

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He also sees an irony, since many of the programs target not only the poor but also modest and moderate-income people. “Among the people who would be hurt most seriously are working-class families, the very people who are now part of [Trump’s] political base,” he says.

But not everyone thinks that’s likely.

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“I would be surprised if there were substantial budget cuts actually enacted,” says Kevin Corinth, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who served as an economic adviser in the Trump White House.

The presidential campaign made clear that the high cost of living is a huge issue for many Americans, he says, and “the optics there might not be great to roll things back.”

He does think the administration will be better able to push through the regulatory changes it started in its first term, restricting noncitizens in public housing and tightening enforcement of work requirements.

Corinth also supports longer-term goals that Project 2025 lays out for HUD. They include selling land owned by public housing agencies to private developers for “greater economic use.” That could mean fewer people living in traditional public housing, and more instead using federal vouchers to rent in the private market. Project 2025 also calls for shifting rental assistance to other agencies, and pushing people to become self-sufficient by setting time limits on rental subsidies.

Corinth says time limits make sense because people do not have a right to rental aid like they do with food or health care; only 1 in 4 people who qualify can actually get it. “So it’d be much more fair to families to say, ‘Look, you’re going to get this assistance but it’s only for a couple of years, get you back on your feet,’” he says.

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But none of those changes are “a real solution,” says Sarah Saadian, with the National Low Income Housing Coalition. She says breaking up HUD would only shift responsibility. And most residents who can work already do, “they’re just not getting paid wages that are high enough to afford housing,” she says.

In any case, Corinth thinks the next Trump administration will have more urgent priorities than a sweeping transformation of HUD’s role. They include pushing through a major tax cuts package in its first year. If housing does then rise on the agenda, he thinks it’s more likely to focus on the private market – and addressing the massive shortage that has sent home prices and rents skyrocketing.

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