Preparedness

New Jersey Task Force 1 — made up of police, fire and emergency personnel specializing in boat water rescues — deployed to Columbia, South Carolina, on Monday night.

As Hurricane Idalia approaches the coastline in northwest Florida as a major hurricane, the storm will bring sustained winds of about 40 mph to Orange County, with gusts up to about 55 mph.

Idalia is expected to make landfall Wednesday morning along Florida’s central Gulf Coast, including cities such as Tampa and Orlando, as a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds.

Officials issued the region's first tropical storm watch for a broad swath of the Southland as the cyclone's path grew more clear, likely to become the first storm of that strength to hit the region in decades.

There are numerous historical use cases that illustrate the point that drones deployed for search and rescue operations or to provide assistance to victims made great contributions to rescue efforts for limited time periods.

Fires today burn materials with more petroleum products, which produces a byproduct that causes cancer. Firefighters need to clean their gear after use and make sure that the gear has not gone past its life expectancy.

Early warning capabilities are part of a new AI pilot project operated by Cal Fire in partnership with UC San Diego's ALERTCalifornia system, which maintains 1,039 high-definition cameras in strategic locations throughout the state.

“Unusual would be an understatement,” said Los Angeles County Meteorologist John Dumas. “Obviously there’s no correlation between the earthquake and the storm, but just the odds of one and then the other are pretty out there.”

"Due to a forecast of storm impacts and possibly prolonged utility outages, Catalina Island residents and visitors, especially those with medical, access and functional needs, are advised to leave the island on August 19."

Several local school districts, including Houston ISD, already have a police officer stationed at every middle school and high school, and they also have additional officers who rotate among several elementary schools.

One Texas school district is adopting the My eBodyGuard app, which victims of violence or bullying can quietly voice activate to record an incident as it is happening and, if necessary, command the app to call the cops.

Washington's updated smoke management plan will give firefighters more planning time and a longer season to ignite controlled burns that help prevent massive wildfires.

A red flag law, which allows people to obtain gun violence restraining orders, is a commonsense proposal to disarm people who allegedly present a danger to themselves or others around them.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron sent a letter to the industry last month urging it to wake up. All seven former heads of FEMA from the Clinton through Trump administrations sent a similar letter in February.

Inspired by mass shootings at schools, the "Lightguard" temporarily impairs the vision of shooters and other assailants, giving people time to negate threats and seek safety until law enforcement intervenes.

In New Mexico, the Portales and Clovis school districts are going into the new school year with some tangible safety measures, including a new system with an app that teachers and administrators can access via their cellphones.

Some are already ordering a new tool from FirstNet, a wearable, silent panic button alarm system that, preloaded with key data, notifies the local PSAP and other personnel of an incident via text message or phone call.

The music festival promises to be the largest attraction in terms of attendance in a summer that’s already seen several high-profile happenings in the downtown area. Chicago police said they would be ready for the mega-event.