Richard Arnold: US correspondent on Hurricane Helene and Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leaders

Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency Deanne Criswell has said she doesn’t believe anyone could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding that has been brought on by Hurricane Helene. In her assessment, Criswell stated the damage was a result of warm waters, which is a result of climate change.

The storm was a category four hurricane and has been catastrophic across multiple states.

US correspondent Richard Arnold tells Heather du Plessis-Allan close to 500 rescues have been performed, with people lifted off roofs of flooded buildings.

Meanwhile, Israel has claimed to have killed 30 top leaders of Hezbollah. The US was not aware of plans to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Richard Arnold says “there is no question that the Hezbollah of today is not the Hezbollah that was even just a week ago.”

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The US correspondent Richard Arnold's with us.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hey Richard, good morning, Good morning Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Okay, what's the latest on the hurricane.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
You know, when it comes to natural disasters, the emergency
services typically saying they're on at the mobilized things are
occurring much as anticipated. Well, this time it is a
different take from Diane Criswell, who runs FEMA, the federal agency.
She says she doesn't believe that anyone could be fully
prepared for the amount of flooding brought on by this
Hurricane Helene. This massive storm barreled on shore as a

(00:28):
Category four hurricane early on Saturday, your time.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
It was.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
The storm surge has been catastrophic and the amount of
water falling inland has been just devastating. Place after place
just looks like a disaster's owned. The desktoll Ride at
the minute is sixty four and increasing. Ashville in North Carolina,
Mountain Town has been isolated. They're sending food into that
place through air drops because more than four hundred roads
have been closed, damaged or washed out. FEMA chief Criswell says,

(00:55):
we have right.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Now, I believe it's nine search and rescue teams in
North Carolina. We have more that are coming in today.
I talked to our lead on the ground there this
morning and the current information I have is they've done
close to five hundred rescue.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, some people are being taken off roofs of flooded buildings.
It's reminiscence of Hurricane Contriter in my mind, going back
way back to five. Eastern Tennessee also is badly his.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
I don't think anyone thought it would be this bad.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
At A number of places just looked like a bomber's kit.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
They don't have homes, they don't have oxygen, they don't
have water.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
They're just trying to keep everybody alive.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, the full scale of this really isn't known at
the minute. But this fellow who lost half his home says, what.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Do we do now?

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Do we keep? Do we continue to do?

Speaker 1 (01:41):
This?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Good question? Our things changing. We know the Gulf waters
are getting warmer by a few degrees and the behavior
of these storms is shifting, says the FEMA chief in
her assessment of it.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
We're seeing so much more water damage, and I think
that is a result of the warm waters, which is
a result of climate change.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, and there's been a lot of debate about that, obviously,
and by the sound of it, there's going to be
a lot more. Richard, the US must be feeling pretty
upset with Israel over the ceasefire talk ahead of the
weekend and now nowhere near spot on. Of course, we've
seen President Biden talking about his hopes receies fire over
weeks and months, but is Ready leader that Yahoo not
Biden seems to be the one who is setting the course,

(02:21):
and this is ongoing. We have another high ranking Hasbela
leader who has been killed by an Israeli airstrike following
on from the assassination of the head of the terror
group huss And Israela, who led her for more than
thirty years. US says he did not know of the
assassination plans. Take that as you will. President Biden says
in a statement that no Israela's death is a quote
measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis,

(02:44):
and Lebanese civilians. The US is as Ready forces now
have killed the top thirty or so leaders of Hasbola
over the past few weeks. One was a man named
Ibrahim Akiel, who was sought by the Americans over his
role in the bombing of the US Marine cor barracks
in Beirut way back in nineteen eighty three. As for Israela,
he would go to extraordinary lengths to try to conceal

(03:05):
his location, and the New York Times reporter Neil mccarcua
recalls being taken to interview him. This was twenty something
years ago.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
We were taken in a darkened vand with blindfolds on,
driven around for a while, and then they let us
into an apartment complex, not unlike those.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
That were bombed.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, the Israeli has found him clearly, and from the
images of the building damage, it looks like Israel employed
a US made bunker busting bomb as a national security aid.
Here John Kirby is saying now of Hesbula.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
The command structure has been nearly decimated, thousands of missiles
and drones destroyed by Israel over the last few days.
There's no question that the Hesbeler today is not the
Hesbeler that was even just a week ago.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
But can you destroy a terror group by assassinating its leader?
And what will Iran, which has supported Hasbela as its proxy,
what will Iran do about all of This is a
very good question, Richard, thank you very much. My appreciate
It's Richard Arnold, US correspondent. For more from the micro
Hosking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks at B from
six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio