DEATHS and LIFE

The Lahaina apocalypse is into month two now, and finally I see that the fire is 100% contained.  There remain 115 deaths, and the unaccounted for missing is down to 66.  7282 are in temporary housing.

An online, centralized hub to respond to the impacts of the Maui Wildfire Disaster is available at mauinuistrong.info. The County of Maui’s “Maui Nui Strong” site offers information on how to donate, volunteer, offer services and locate support. Support information on the Maui Nui Strong site includes resources for Financial Assistance, Government Services, Medical Care, Mental Health Services and more.

A 6.8 earthquake struck about 72 miles southwest of Marrakech, Morocco on September 8, the deadliest in the country in 60 years.  The death toll passed 2900.  Considerable damage because buildings are not built to handle earthquakes.  In 1960 a 5.9 earthquake killed up to 15,000.

Flash floods and broken dams in Libya over the weekend killed at least 2800, with thousands more missing.  This was European Storm Daniel, which caused similar damage to Greece last week.  Portions of the country received more rain in one day than London does in a year.  Followed huge wildfires and Greece's hottest summer on record.  I wonder if Daniel derived from Hurricane Danielle, who made landfall as a tropical storm over Europe this weekend?

In Maoming, China, rainstorms killed only seven, but released more than 70 crocodiles from a farm.  Residents were advised to stay home.

Narcan, a medication that stops opiod overdose, became available for the first time last week.  From the New York Times this morning:

Source: C.D.C. | By The New York Times

From Wikipedia, Narcan is...

...Naloxone, a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids.^[13] It is used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose.^[13] Effects begin within two minutes when given intravenously, and within five minutes when injected into a muscle.^[13] The medicine can also be administered by spraying it into a person's nose.^[14] Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids for 30 to 90 minutes.^[15]

Naloxene was patented 62 years ago and approved for opiod overdose in 1971.  Narcan as a nasal spray was approved in 2015, although a generic version was not made available until 2021.  Brand names of naloxone include Narcan, Kloxxado, Nalone, Evzio, Prenoxad Injection, Narcanti, Narcotan, and Zimhi, among others.  In March 2023, the US FDA approved naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray (Narcan) for over-the-counter (OTC), nonprescription, use – the first naloxone product approved for use without a prescription.^[87] Other formulations and dosages of naloxone remain available by prescription.^[87] In July 2023, the FDA approved Rivive nasal spray for OTC use.^[88][89]

Mark Dickey is alive and well.  Who?  That 40-year old speleologist from New York who was exploring a cave in Turkey and became ill with gastrointestinal bleeding 3400 feet below the surface.  Fortunately, his fiancée was exploring with him.  That was 10 days ago.  Parts of the cave system were blasted with explosives to aid in the recovery.  Ironically, Dickey has been teaching cave rescue courses for a decade.

On the sports front:

We're inside three weeks until the regular season ends, and Matt Snyder's Power Rankings are still going strong. Here's the latest top five:

Braves (previous: 1) (they're also the first team to clinch a playoff spot) Orioles (3) Rays (4) Dodgers (2) Astros (6) The New York York Yankees are today in last place in the AL East.  They also lost for the year pitcher Luis Severino and outfielder Jasson Dominguez.

• After losing to Germany in the semifinals, Team USA lost to Canada in the third-place game, leaving the FIBA World Cup medal-less. Sam Quinn handed out grades for every player.  Note, this World Cup is basketball.

USA vs Europe in Rome later this week.  This golf.

Major tennis titles:  Coco Gauff (age 19) = 1, Novak Djokovic (age 36) = 24.

Aaron Rodgers, new quarterback for the New York Jets tore his achilles minutes into his first game for them.  Is out for the season, if not forever, as he is kind of old already.

A final sporting event, Kim to meet Putin today.  Jong Un took a long time to get to Vlaldivostok because he used his armored green train.

One more to end this posting, by Maureen Dowd...Jimmy Buffett:  living, dying in 3/4 time.  That was the title in The New York Times.  However, some of your can't read TNYT, so here is the article covered in The Irish Times.

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