Another hurricane looms; Grim anniversary in Israel; Inside the Marines’ littoral regiment; China hacks ISPs; And a bit more.

From Helene to Milton: The death toll from late September’s Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 230 people as recovery efforts continue in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Carolinas, the Associated Press reported Monday. More than 250,000 are still without power across the south, with the majority (136,180) in North Carolina alone, according to Poweroutage.us .?

New this weekend: “The entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia is closed” — that’s 469 miles of road — “as crews continue their assessment of the damage from Hurricane Helene,” the National Park Service said Saturday after erosion washed out significant portions of the scenic highway. “Based on what the teams have seen so far, significant, and in some cases catastrophic, damage has occurred along the parkway, particularly from milepost 280 to milepost 469,” officials said.?

Panning out: Nearly 7,000 federal workers are helping, including more than 1,200 Urban Search and Rescue personnel who have helped rescue or support more than 3,200 people in North Carolina so far, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday. Additional FEMA workers have shipped out meals, water, generators and tarps to those in need.?

The Army Corps of Engineers is on duty conducting assessments around North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Their tasks span water/wastewater checks, bridge and road inspections, debris removal, and more.

Almost 1,000 active duty soldiers from Fort Campbell and Fort Liberty are also helping out around western North Carolina in the vicinity of the hard-hit mountain town of Asheville, where flooding swept away key stretches of road, leaving many folks stranded. An additional 500 active duty soldiers will join the recovery efforts soon, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Sunday.?

The thousand or so active troops come from the 82nd Airborne , the 101st Airborne , the 20th Engineer Brigade, the 18th Airborne Corps , and others, according to officials at Northern Command , which helps coordinate efforts across the U.S. mainland, with FEMA leading overall efforts.?

Worth noting: “The National Guard has activated more than 6,100 Guardsmen, hundreds of high-water vehicles, and dozens of helicopters and rescue boats from 18 different states in State-Active-Duty status,” Ryder said Sunday.?

Status report: The Georgia National Guard has their hands busy passing out supplies. The Tennessee National Guard is clearing debris. The North Carolina National Guard is doing a bit of it all.?

And the Florida National Guard is preparing for another major storm, which could make landfall Wednesday, Hurricane Milton.?

What might lie ahead with Milton: “A possible 8- to 12-foot storm surge (2.4 to 3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and said flash and river flooding could result from 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain in mainland Florida and the Keys,” AP reports, citing forecasters.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration on Sunday to 51 counties across the state in anticipation of Milton. He also cautioned that more power outages were likely, and recommended residents keep at least a week’s worth of food and water available—and be ready to drive elsewhere to safety. For the latest, check out Floridadisaster.org/Updates .

Misinformation and lies are disrupting Helen recovery efforts, so FEMA has had to create a website to dispel some of the rumors being spread.?

According to AP : “Republicans, led by the former president, have helped foster a frenzy of misinformation over the past week among the communities most devastated by Helene, promoting a number of false claims, including that Washington is intentionally withholding aid to people in Republican areas.”

Of particular note: Donald Trump “has lied about the federal hurricane response with staggering frequency and variety,” CNN’s Daniel Dale reported in a fact check published Sunday.?

Also not helping: Georgia conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who wrote on social media Thursday that unspecified humans “control the weather.”?

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