Weekly Review

Two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall, killing more than 250 people across seven states and causing at least 30 billion dollars’ worth of damage, Hurricane Milton hit Florida, killing at least 24 and leaving more than three million without power.^{1 2 3 4} It was reported that, eight days into its fiscal year, FEMA had used nearly half its $20 billion budget on hurricane recovery efforts, and that the Small Business Administration, which provides loans to small businesses and homeowners, would run out of money before the end of this month, potentially halting reconstruction efforts.^{5 6 7 8 9 10} “It can wait,” Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson said of reconvening Congress to approve additional disaster funding.¹¹ Donald Trump falsely claimed that the Biden Administration has been diverting FEMA funds toward illegal immigrants, that there were no rescue efforts in North Carolina, and that FEMA was giving people whose homes had been destroyed a maximum payout of $750.^{12 13 14 15} Florida governor Ron DeSantis claimed that FEMA was “running amok,” a North Carolina man armed with a handgun and a rifle threatened FEMA workers, and National Guard troops witnessed an “armed militia” intimidate disaster workers elsewhere in the state.^{16 17 18} At a rally in Coachella, California, Trump said that, if re-elected, he would withhold federal firefighting funds from the state if Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t follow his orders.¹⁹ “It’s not hard to do,” said Trump, who during his presidency delayed the approval of wildfire recovery funding for California because of the state’s record of voting for Democrats, changing his mind only when an aide told him that the area affected by the fires had in fact voted for him.²⁰ The Hurricane Hunters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dropped the ashes of a dead meteorologist into Milton’s eye.²¹

The Tampa Bay Times reported that a crane crashed into the Tampa Bay Times building during Hurricane Milton, and the BBC reported that the BBC weather app was forecasting incorrect data, showing estimates of U.K. wind speeds in excess of 13,000 miles per hour.^{22 23} MP Kemi Badenoch, who has called former prime minister Margaret Thatcher a personal inspiration and “global icon,” and Robert Jenrick, another member of parliament, whose daughter’s middle name is “Thatcher,” reached the final stage of the Conservative Party’s leadership contest in the United Kingdom.^{24 25 26} “We’re going to cleanse the country of all the corrupt and schemers,” said recently re-elected Tunisian president Kais Saied, who, in his first term, suspended parliament, fired the prime minister, and unveiled a new constitution that removed many checks and balances on his executive power, after having claimed victory for a second term in an election that saw a turnout of 28.8% and one of his opponents sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for “document falsification.”^{27 28 29 30 31 32 33} A spokesperson for Cameroon said that rumors of the death of the country’s 91-year-old president, Paul Biya, who has not been seen in public since early September, were “pure fantasy” a few days before the government issued a ban on media outlets discussing the president’s health.^{34 35} A woman claimed to be a “president” and “sovereign ruler” to get her Las Vegas–bound flight to turn back to San Diego, where she had forgotten her cell phone; a Pakistan International Airlines flight took off three hours ahead of schedule with no passengers aboard; and a Turkish Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its pilots died in the air.^{36 37 38}

In Peterborough, England, a man was caught on camera throwing a package containing roughly £20,000 worth of drugs over a prison wall, and in Oregon, police found a bagful of drugs that was printed with the phrase definitely not a bag full of drugs.^{39 40 41} In Stuttgart, Germany, eighteen theatergoers were treated for “severe” nausea after witnessing an opera that featured live piercing, genuine sexual intercourse, and “copious” amounts of blood both fake and real.⁴²  In Lisse, Netherlands, a museum worker unwittingly threw out two dented beer cans that were part of an artwork titled All The Good Times We Spent Together, and in Naples, Italy, a 39-foot art installation resembling a multicolor phallus was unveiled.^{43 44} “I initially thought what everyone else thought,” the city’s mayor said of his reaction to the statue, “a very Neapolitan thought.”⁴⁵ The detached penis of a humpback whale washed ashore near Snogebæk, Denmark.⁴⁶ “Allegations of foul play have been received that somehow King Conker swapped his real conker,” said a spokesperson for the World Conker Championships, after the 82-year-old victor of the men’s competition was accused of using a steel chestnut later found in his pocket.⁴⁷ “My conker disintegrated in one hit,” said his competitor, “and that just doesn’t happen.”⁴⁸—Megan Evershed