Introduction
Wild weather is wreaking havoc up and down California as record rainfall drowns an already soaked state. We’ll tell you what’s behind it.
Plus… how much do you remember from this week? Greg is here with the weekly Notice News Quiz!
All that and more today on… Notice News.
Storms Continue to Pummel California
Congratulations guys, we made it to Friday and we’re looking forward to a long weekend. I’m Maeve here at Notice HQ in Brooklyn, but our top story today is what’s happening out in california.
At least 17 people have died since the start of the new year as a result of floods, mudslides and other extreme weather conditions. Storms have dumped a record-breaking amount of rainfall on the state since Christmas, with some places receiving more than half of the rain they usually get all year – in just two and a half weeks.
This was the scene near Ellen DeGeneres’ house near Santa Barbara.
Sound: Ellen: “This is crazy / we are having unprecedented rain, this creek next to our house never flows, ever / we need to be nicer to mother nature.”
Meteorologists attribute this onslaught of storms to atmospheric rivers, which are long and narrow regions of the atmosphere that funnel water vapor from the tropics into California – think of it like rivers in the sky.
Sound: “This storm was different from the standpoint that it was here much longer. It was more intense because of the prior storm, the ground was much more saturated, which led to a lot more flooding and a lot more rescues because of the ground saturation.”
Experts say the frequency and intensity of these storms are symptoms of man-made climate change. More storms are predicted to continue across California into next week.
Headlines
Here’s what else is making news right now.
The Justice Department has launched an independent investigation into how President Biden handled classified documents while he was a private citizen. It comes after a second batch of documents were found at the president’s home in Delaware.
There might be an answer for why thousands of flights were delayed and canceled on wednesday. After investigating, the government says the crisis was likely due to a corrupt file in a safety system.
And, bad news for Sierra Mist lovers. Pepsi is ditching the Sprite competitor after 24 years.
Don’t worry too much though. Pepsi is replacing Sierra Mist with a new soda brand called Starry.
The Notice News Quiz
And now, from Brooklyn… It’s time for the Notice News Quiz!
I’m your host Greg and this is the game where we ask: have you been paying attention this week?? Let’s get started.
Question one: The House of Representatives finally elected a new speaker, Kevin McCarthy earlier in the week.
What delayed his election?
a – Republican infighting
b- Donald Trump’s endorsement
c – Rising inflation
d- Prince Harry’s new book
The correct answer is… A! Ultra-Conservative Republicans initially refused to vote for McCarthy.
Question two: A pet once belonging to Logan Paul was found sick and malnourished by an animal sanctuary this week. What kind of pet was it?
a – a cat
b – a dog
c – a snake
d – a pig
The correct answer is… D! Logan re-homed Pearl the pig two years ago, saying he had no knowledge of her current state.
And now it’s time for a nonsense question! Guess the phrase that rhymes with this sentence:
Curses Moron Bike
Say it in your head fast.
These people felt underpaid and overworked.
So they did this.
The answer… nurses were on strike!
On Monday, nurses at two of New York City’s biggest hospitals stopped working, demanding more pay and better working conditions.
They reached a deal yesterday and are now back at work. That’s it for the Notice News quiz, we’ll see you next week!
Conclusion
That’s it for today but you can learn more about the weather fueling those massive floods in California on our website, NoticeNews.com.
Thanks so much for being with us on this very first week of Notice News. We’re off Monday just like you but we’ll be back on Tuesday. Have a great weekend.