Vox Sentences - America underwater

Extreme weather is affecting Tennessee and the Northeast in the US; chaos is continuing at Kabul International Airport.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

Hurricane Henri and Tennessee flooding

NASA Earth Observatory / AFP

• For the first time in 30 years, a hurricane has made landfall in New England. Tropical Storm Henri brought storm winds and heavy rain to Rhode Island Saturday. [AccuWeather / Mary Gilbert]
• Henri brought a record for rain in one hour in New York City and dumped heavy rain into central New Jersey, leaving more than 120,000 homes without power on Sunday afternoon. [Washington Post / Aaron Gregg, Jason Samenow, and Julianne McShane]
• Rhode Island, New York, and Connecticut have all declared states of emergency, but experts say the storm is weakening as it moves inland across New England. [NYT ]
• As a result of all of the rain, flooding is predicted in Long Island, eastern New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, and parts of New England. President Biden said FEMA is prepared to begin emergency assistance. [USA Today / John Bacon and Katie Mulvaney]
• Meanwhile, flooding in Tennessee has become deadly, with 21 people dead and 20 missing as of Sunday afternoon. [The Tennessean / Keith Sharon, Yue Stella Yu, and Brinley Hineman]
• Infrastructure in Tennessee has been severely damaged by flash floods, with roads, power lines, phone lines, and entire homes having been destroyed. [BBC News]
• This flood is already Tennessee’s second major flood of the year. As climate change intensifies and temperatures become warmer, the state is at greater risk of severe events like floods. [NPR / Nell Clark]

Chaos in Kabul

• As the US continues to struggle with the pace of evacuations out of Kabul International Airport, President Biden suggested in an interview that he may have to extend the August 31 deadline for total withdrawal from Afghanistan. [ABC News]
• Transportation to the airport has remained unsecured and unsettling, with reports of firefights breaking out at checkpoints. [CNBC / Natasha Turak and Amanda Macias]
• Getting to the airport requires taking roads that are either controlled by the Taliban, the US military, or what’s left of Afghan forces. There are multiple reports of the Taliban using force against people trying to get to the airport. [Al Jazeera / Ali M Latifi]
• The G7 has begun talks with the Taliban to try and negotiate a deadline extension. But publicly, the Taliban say any extension will be met with consequences for the US. [BBC News]
• To speed up the evacuation effort, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered commercial airlines to offer transport, though they will not conduct flights in Kabul. The situation at the airport remains rife with violence and health concerns. [Vox / Cameron Peters]

The Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. [Vox / Umair Irfan]

• New York City is instituting a vaccine mandate for all public school teachers and staff. [AP / Jennifer Peltz]
• The Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during the January 6 insurrection has been formally exonerated by the USCP’s Office of Personal Responsibility. [The Hill / Rebecca Beitsch]
• Kacey Musgraves has announced a new album and accompanying film, entitled Star-Crossed. [Pitchfork / Allison Hussey and Evan Minsker]

Support our journalism

"It's a dynamic and challenging environment. As you would imagine, you know, a noncombatant evacuation operation is one of the most challenging operations in the inventory."

[Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on the US military’s capabilities in evacuating people from Kabul]

Vox's Sean Illing talks with Adam Serwer, whose new book The Cruelty Is the Point documents the role of cruelty in American politics, the way it was weaponized by the GOP during the Trump administration, and how these tactics could continue to shape the future of America. [Spotify]

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