By AccuWeather Staff
Just before the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s devastating and deadly impacts in Puerto Rico, many unanswered questions remain among angry survivors — and even the media — wondering why tens of thousands of undistributed, unopened and expired water bottles were recently found on a field.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed the existence of the water bottles on the United States territory on Monday, July 29, following the release of footage from international news agency AFP that showed crates of water sitting on a private estate in Dorado, about 25 miles west of San Juan.
A FEMA spokesman said the bottles were initially intended to be distributed as part of Hurricane Maria relief efforts after the powerful storm ravaged the island in September 2017, killing thousands and leaving many others without electricity and easy access to water for showering, drinking and flushing toilets.
“FEMA had a surplus of water in its inventories that is now near or passed their expiration dates,” FEMA told CBS News in a statement. “FEMA followed federal acquisition processes in order to dispose of the expiring water that included offers to federal and territorial governments and public auction. As a final step in the process, FEMA contracted to have the expired water removed and disposed. This process is underway, in accordance with contract terms, and is on target for September 2019 completion.”
A similar discovery occurred in September 2018, when thousands of pallets of bottled water were found sitting on a runway in Ceiba.
Tens of thousands of FEMA water bottles for hurricane victims were discovered unopened and expired in farmland in Puerto Rico. (Video Screenshot/ Ricardo Arduengo/ AFP)
3 more children perish in sweltering hot vehicles
Tragedy continues to strike during a summer of record-breaking heat as three more kids die after being left behind in scorching-hot vehicles, bringing the total of 2019 child-related hot car deaths up to 24, according to kidsandcars.org.
One-year-old twins died in the Bronx, New York, after heartbroken father Juan Rodriguez said he accidentally left them in their car seatsamid outdoor temperatures in the 80s Fahrenheit while he went to work on Friday, July 26. The babies’ bodies were 108 F when they were discovered, the medical examiner reported.
“I will never get over this loss, and I know he will never forgive himself for this mistake,” Rodriguez’s wife, Marissa, said in a statement, calling the tragedy “horrific.”
Rodriguez was arraigned on charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child, according to CNN. He entered a not-guilty plea and posted bail, which was set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond. However, on Thursday, a judge ruled that there was no criminal case at this time against Rodriguez, according to NBC New York. A spokeswoman for the Bronx district attorney's office said the case would not be put before a grand jury yet because further investigation is needed.
Another hot car death occurred in Oakland Park, Florida, on Monday, July 29. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office found that a toddler had been left in a van parked outside a daycare center, where temperatures soared to 91 F that day, according to ABC 7.
An average of 38 child vehicular heatstroke deaths happens annually, according to Kids and Cars. 2018’s total of 52 fatalities was the most deaths in a single year, the site reported.
Heroic father drowns off Atlantic City coast
A 58-year-old man attempting to save his 11-year-old son died at a beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Monday morning. Thanh Bui and his family were vacationing in the area when the accident occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. EDT, prior to beach patrol’s arrival for duty.
"The son was able to make it back to shore, but the father was going further out," said former police officer Jim Glorioso Jr., who noticed the struggling dad out in the water. Glorioso entered the ocean with a boogie board and found Bui after he had gone underwater and tried to pull him onto the board.
"Instinct took over. I dropped all my stuff and I began to swim out as fast as I could... I was hoping it was a log because he was floating,” Glorioso said. “I pulled him up on the boogie board and tried to give him CPR, but with the waves and a small boogie board, it was almost impossible to do so."
Bui was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. A moderate risk of rip currents was in effect on Monday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Coalnado spotted in West Virginia
Here’s something you don’t see every day. Some residents in West Virginia spotted a dust devil on Monday afternoon as it hovered over a coal mine. The whirlwind kicked up a vortex of coal, giving the unusual occurrence the name “coalnado.”
Coal mine employee Randy Walters filmed the cool sight. He said the dust devil spun over a coal stockpile that had been cleaned up and loaded away.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell explained that vortices most often occur in warm, dry weather and are caused by stark differences between Earth's warm surface and the colder air above.
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“The twisting columns of air can be amplified by many different materials,” Ferrell said. “The most common instance is with dust, hence the name ‘dust devil.’”
In this coalnado, the black coal likely helped the vortex spin with the heat absorbed from the ground.
Florida lightning strike hurts 6 people
Half a dozen people were struck by lightning in South Florida on July 30 while working on a rooftop in Wellington, the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue reported.
One woman was struck while standing next to an air conditioning system and fell off the roof, while another man toppled off a ladder and hit his head, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Two victims were hospitalized at a trauma center, while two others were treated at a non-trauma center and the other two injured workers were seen to and released at the scene, according to Fox 4.
Lightning had struck that afternoon around 2 p.m. EDT, WPEC reported.
Weekend severe weather strikes Wisconsin, Minnesota
Residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin encountered severe weather and tornadoes last weekend as a cluster of rain and thunderstorms moved through the northern Plains and progressed eastward through the states from Saturday night into Sunday.
(Photo/National Weather Service Twin Cities)
A shed was destroyed by a tornado in Silver Lake, Minnesota on Sunday, July 28, 2019.
@robdoggydogg8
This monsterous tornado caught the eye of a Minnesota resident as it churned near Silver Lake and Lester Prairie, Minnesota on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019. (Twitter/@robdoggydogg8)
(Twitter/@BrianHalverson)
Photos of damage show a snapped tree and a building missing a roof after a tornado-warned storm passed through Scandia, Minnesota, on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019.
(Twitter/@BrianHalverson)
A tree was found snapped and parts of this house's front porch in pieces after a tornado-warned storm passed through Scandia, Minnesota, on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019.
(Twitter/@BassmanJB2/Midwest Intercept Storm Chasers)
A tornado-warned storm passed northwest of MN 97 in Scandia, Minnesota, and through a solar farm, scattering numerous panels through the neighborhood.
(Twitter/@BassmanJB2/Midwest Intercept Storm Chasers)
Power lines were found downed after a tornado-warned storm passed through the area northwest of MN 97 in Scandia, Minnesota, on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019.
(Twitter/@BrianHalverson)
Downed trees block a road in Scandia, Minnesota, after a tornado-warned storm passed through the area on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019.
(Twitter/@BrianHalverson)
A large tree blocks the road after a tornado-warned storm passed through Scandia, Minnesota on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019. There were also reports of a tree another tree in the area falling on two houses.
Damage reports confirmed at least five tornadoes occurred in Minnesota on Sunday, the National Weather Service reported. Those five ranged from EF0 to EF1 in strength.
Wisconsin’s Polk County Fair was evacuated as severe weather crossed state borders, according to KARE 11.
Many residents posted storm damage on social media following the severe weather, showing mostly downed trees and some solar panels strewn about a farm in Minnesota. One photo out of Minnesota showed a completely ripped-off barn roof. Another person captured video of the tornado that hit Scandia, Minnesota, on Monday evening as it roared across a field and road.
No injuries have been reported.
Multiple AccuWeather staff writers contributed to this story.
