Part of Mississippi highway collapses, kills 2, injures 10 after Ida – National & International News – TUE 31Aug2021

Part of Mississippi highway collapses, kills 2, injures 10 after Ida. Millions will be evicted this year and next. Last US soldier leaves Afghanistan.

NATIONAL NEWS

Part of Mississippi highway collapses, kills 2, injures 10 after Ida

Both lanes on a stretch of Highway 26 west of Lucedale (60 miles northeast of Biloxi) collapsed late last night. A deep hole opened up and swallowed seven vehicles after Hurricane Ida blew through. The rain and wind likely washed out the earth beneath the asphalt. Mississippi Highway Patrol Cpl. Cal Robertson says the hole is about 50 or 60 feet long and 20 to 30 feet deep.

Drivers likely could not see the hole ahead of them in the darkness and torrential rain as there were no nearby streetlights. “You can imagine driving at night with heavy rain coming down,” Robertson said. “It’s just nothing but a wall of water, your headlights kind of reflecting back on you”.

Mississippi southern district Transportation Commissioner Tom King says inspectors were out checking other stretches of highway that were in Ida’s path.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

With eviction moratorium gone, millions will lose their homes this year and next

A recent estimate from Goldman Sachs predicts that at least 3.5 million people will lose their homes in the coming months, hundreds of thousands by the end of December. Other estimates put the number slightly higher, around 6 million. Earlier this month, it was estimated that as many as 11 million were behind on their rent. 

So far, states have only distributed about 11% of the nearly $47 billion in rental assistance from Congress. Even with the urgency of an impending homeless crisis, many states, including Mississippi, have only handed out about 5% of their rental assistance money.

So what, if anything, is being done to keep people in their homes as COVID rages throughout our state and many others? Landlords in many areas of the country are reluctant to wait for promises of rental assistance. That despite knowing they will never get that money back if they evict.

The Mississippi Home Corporation, which handles rental assistance for the majority of the state, says it has sent out letters to judges asking them not to evict people who have applied for the assistance. It’s unclear at this point how many judges will heed this advice in a state where evictions have never really stopped.

MHC has also relaxed documentation requirements for applicants in 50 counties. In the other 32 counties, the program will still require proof of income and other documents.

I haven’t been able to learn which counties are in which category. The full requirement for tenants in the 32 “un-relaxed” counties is here.

For further information and to find out if you qualify for “relaxed” documentation, you can call the MHC/ERA call center at:

Local: 601-533-8401
Toll-Free: 1-888-725-0063

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Last US soldier leaves Afghanistan

Shortly after midnight local time this morning, the last U.S. soldier boarded a C-17 at the Kabul airfield. That was U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps. US Central Command provided a blurry night vision video of Gen. Donahue as he boarded the plane, bringing an end to 20 years of U.S. military combat in Afghanistan.

Reports indicate that as many as 200 Americans (or 100, according to Sec. Blinken) and thousands of our Afghan allies were unable to make it to the airport to board the last plane for the withdrawal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that although the military mission is over, a “new diplomatic mission” has begun. But U.S. diplomats for matters related to Afghanistan will now be based in Doha, Qatar, rather than in Kabul.

Blinken says that the U.S. will use its diplomatic powers to ensure the Taliban allow any remaining American citizens or Afghan allies with documentation to leave the country safely, either by air or overland. The U.S. will be able to leverage the Taliban’s need for international support to form a functional government. For years, the Afghan economy has been largely dependent on foreign aid. At present, that aid has come to a standstill as the U.S. and other countries wait to see how the Taliban conducts itself. Blinken says the Taliban’s adherence to its promise to allow U.S. citizens and SIVs to leave will be one of those considerations. 

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).