The large barge smashed into the only bridge connecting Galveston, Texas, with Pelican Island, which houses a university. Galveston County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Ray Nolen said one person on the barge had been knocked overboard but was quickly recovered. The segment of the bridge that partially collapsed was an unused railroad bridge that runs alongside the motorway.

According to the Associated Press, David Flores, a bridge superintendent with the Galveston County Navigation District, said the crash occurred when a tugboat lost control of two barges it was pushing.

“The current was very bad, and the tide was high. He lost it,” he said.

The barges were fuel barges for ships, and the crash resulted in an oil spill. Flores said 6.5 miles of the waterway were shut down to contain the spill and cleanup crews are at work.

The bridge was closed as a precaution, though it isn’t known if the key roadway was actually damaged.

“Engineers from the Texas Department of Transportation are also enroute to inspect the roadway and determine if there is damage,” a statement on the City of Galveston government’s Facebook page read. “The bridge will remain closed until it is deemed safe to use.”

Another post from Galveston County listed several organizations responding to the crash, including the Coast Guard and the Texas Department of Transportation.

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It also confirmed there were no injuries in relation to the incident.

The crash occurred just months after a large cargo ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing it and killing six construction workers in the process.

A National Transportation Safety Board report found that the Singapore-flagged Dali cargo ship suffered two power blackouts 10 hours before leaving port, then suffered two more moments before colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The details were discovered as part of an NTSB report, the full version of which may take over a year to complete. A preliminary version was released on Tuesday.

According to the report, four power blackouts occurred in total, two clustered around an incident 10 hours before and two just before the impact with the bridge.

The first series of power outages occurred while the ship was in port. These were caused when a crew member mistakenly closed an exhaust chamber, causing the ship to stall. Though quickly fixed, insufficient fuel pressure caused a second blackout.

The next series of outages occurred just moments before the Dali’s fatal collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. According to the report, the first outage was triggered when the main power breaker, which fed most of the vessel’s equipment and lighting, unexpectedly opened, causing the Dali to lose propulsion.

The ship’s crew restored power and signaled for a tugboat for help. The crew also began the process of dropping anchor but was unable to before a second blackout occurred when two key breakers unexpectedly opened.

According to the report, the crew was able to restore power right before the collision with the bridge but was unable to restore propulsion.

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The collision killed six construction workers who were working on the bridge. The crew of the Dali survived unharmed.

The ship itself was trapped under the rubble of the bridge until Monday when it was largely freed in a controlled demolition.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the blasts went “according to plan.” A series of charges emitted light flames and a small puff of smoke as they broke the bonds that held the bridge together. 

“Over the last seven weeks, we’ve moved a total of 365 commercial vessels through the alternate channels that have been established,” Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said on Monday.

The demolition process began once the body of the sixth victim of the ship crash was recovered last week. Weekend weather delays caused the process to move into Monday.

Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) announced that a 50-foot-deep and 700-foot-wide channel was expected to be available to ships by the end of May as part of efforts to reopen the Port of Baltimore swiftly.

Full removal of the Dali could take an additional two days, but the time frame remains on track to open the port by the end of the month. The boat will likely be floated and returned to the Port of Baltimore once it is fully freed.

Twenty-one crew members remain on board the Dali, where they have been since the collision.

“Even though they are not sailing, they are still performing their normal crew duties,” Darrel Wilson, a spokesman for Synergy Marine Group, which manages the Dali, said. “This is still a large, complicated piece of equipment, and there is a lot they have to look after.”

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The crew’s phones were taken by the FBI as part of the investigation into the collision, which has caused some members to feel disconnected from the outside world, Josh Messick, executive director of the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center, told CNN. 

“They are a little anxious because of the phone situation. We are trying to get their cellphones back to them,” Messick said. “It’s not just a phone. They can’t access their online banking, their finances, their contacts. They can’t look at photos of their loved ones before they go to sleep at night. It’s a lot more than just a phone.”

During rush hour in Atlanta, the storm swept through the area before moving north toward North Carolina. Flights out of Atlanta and Charlotte were delayed as a result. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said there was an “enhanced risk” for severe weather from Texas to South Carolina and those in between.

Storms from Wednesday night left more than 100,000 homes and businesses without power as of Thursday afternoon. One storm turned into a tornado, which created a path of destruction outside Nashville. In one town in particular, more than 100 homes were damaged by a tornado with 140 mph winds. 

Tornado watches were issued by the National Weather Service branches of Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee until 3 a.m. Central on Thursday. 

“I get up and look out, and it was all hell breaking loose outside,” Bob Booth, one area resident, said. “Then the top half of one of my trees goes down across the road.”

Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) said it was “heartbreaking” to see at least two people dead and four others injured in his state following the storms.

“To observe another family in a moment of crisis is hard to watch, but it is hopeful to be able to walk up and see their interaction with their neighbors and comments that they’re going to make it,” Lee said.

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Nashville’s tornadoes moved further southeast, turning into the Thursday storms that affected Atlanta and North Carolina. 

Since Monday, 39 states have been put under severe weather warnings. On Wednesday and Thursday, an estimated 220 million people nationwide were under some manner of severe weather risk. In April, the United States saw 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-highest amount in one month since 2011.

Over the course of the last year, United Airlines lobbyists worked with Washington, D.C.’s local airport authority as well as staff to Virginia lawmakers to coordinate strategy and messaging in a bid to keep Congress from approving additional flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, one of the busiest travel hubs in the country.

Emails obtained via public records request from a rival group looking to expand the number of slots at the airport, known as DCA, give a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the lobbying effort as lawmakers consider a major aviation bill this week. The legislation includes a provision that allows DCA to have five more round-trip flights beyond the airport’s perimeter rule, which currently limits the number that travel more than 1,250 miles from Washington. Both Reagan and Washington Dulles International Airport are owned by the federal government, which means Congress can decide how they operate. 

According to the emails, United Airlines’s lobbying team sought help in crafting talking points and drafting messages as it attempted to persuade stakeholders against allowing more slots. It corresponded with staffers for Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages operations at DCA and IAD. 

The group made the point the airport is too small to accommodate additional air service and that more flights would put passenger safety at risk. Nick Barbash, an aide to Kaine, wrote that making the point about security issues would resonate with fellow members of the Commerce Committee in an email on May 19.

When reached for comment, Kaine’s office highlighted a near-collision between a Southwest Airlines flight and a JetBlue flight at DCA in mid-April, arguing more traffic at the airport is a major safety risk.

“Sen. Kaine’s top priority is passenger safety and avoiding deadly disasters like the one that almost occurred earlier this month when two aircraft came within 300 feet of crashing,” a spokeswoman said.

On the other side of the battle is the Capital Access Alliance, a coalition of business groups and Delta Air Lines, which had initially proposed that lawmakers alter the perimeter requirements at DCA by arguing the regulations are outdated and hurt the economy.

About a year ago, the coalition released a study by Boston Consulting Group that found the addition of long-haul flights could benefit all airlines equally. It also estimated that expanding the number of flights at DCA could reduce ticket prices for passengers and contribute millions in economic growth, benefitting state coffers at the federal and state levels.

In an example of the United coordination, lobbyist Theresa Fariello asked staff with MWAA in an email from May of last year when the group would have a rebuttal to the Boston Consulting Group study.

“I think it’s super important to start rebutting that study,” Fariello wrote.

Toward the end of May, Warner’s staff emailed MWAA and a top United executive, letting them know about a new FAA memo coming that ultimately would find “20 more daily roundtrip operations would increase delays by 25.9% and an increase of 25 daily roundtrip operations would increase delays by 33.2% at DCA.”

In a different email, Warner’s legislative counsel mentioned that their office provided the FAA memo “in Punchbowl this morning” but said they would not be posting the memo on the senator’s website because “we wanted to keep our fingerprints off the release of the doc.”

Warner’s office maintains it has nothing to hide and that the emails revealed “no secrets.”

“Senator Warner’s top priority has been and remains safety and reliability at DCA, which is why he has been so consistent — in public and in private — in making the case to his colleagues and the flying public that adding even more flights to an overburdened runway should be a dangerous non-starter,” a spokeswoman for the senator said in an email.

Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the MWAA, did not comment on the emails but in a statement made the case against adding additional long-haul flights. 

“Reagan National Airport operates at or near capacity for much of the day. Legislating more flights into its already congested schedule would exacerbate delays, crowding and stress on airport infrastructure,” he said.

The messaging strategy comes as groups affiliated with United contributed $44,337 to Kaine’s reelection campaign this cycle. The Virginia senator has received more campaign contributions from United than any other lawmaker, with the exception of Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who received $641 more. The United Airlines PAC gave Kaine $8,000 days after he sent out a letter urging colleagues to reject changes to the slot and perimeter rules. Warner is not up for reelection this cycle but over the course of his career in the Senate has received $57,340 in campaign contributions from groups affiliated with United. 

Affiliates of Delta Air Lines also have been contributing to candidates who support their side, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the ranking member of the commerce committee. Cruz, who has been outspoken about the need to expand the perimeter, received $34,179 this cycle from groups linked to Delta. Cantwell received the most in campaign contributions from Delta this cycle at $44,515.

Leslie Scott, a United spokeswoman, said the company is “proud to work closely with anyone who shares the commonsense understanding that shoehorning additional flights into America’s busiest runway has the potential to put safety at risk.”

“We don’t see anything wrong with engaging with our network of stakeholders who are aligned in supporting safety above the ill-conceived demands of those wishing to put their own financial gains first,” she added.

Commerce committee staffers working with Cruz slammed the strategic coordination between MWAA and United Airlines and have continued to make the case that airlines that have been opposed to the expansion are doing so to protect their own business interests. United Airlines has a major hub at IAD, and American Airlines has a hub at DCA.

“As Sen. Cruz has said previously, ‘MWAA is not United Airlines’ corporate lobbyist, nor should it be.’ Sen. Cruz’s committee probe from last year foreshadowed that MWAA and United Airlines were working together in attempts to extort millions of dollars in fees from airlines that might obtain new flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and effectively transfer such proceeds to United,” a spokesman for the committee said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.

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“It is not the least bit surprising that MWAA and United are teaming up once again to stoke fears citing bogus, unsubstantiated safety concerns, which even the former FAA administrator himself said were ‘not accurate,’” the spokesman added. 

The new lobbying details add a new wrinkle to one of Congress’s final must-pass agenda items ahead of the election. The Maryland and Virginia congressional delegations are working to add an amendment to strip the five flights from the larger bill. Under the current timeline, all 100 senators must come to an agreement to fast-track the legislation in order to finish the FAA reauthorization before the May 10 deadline.

The bus crossed into the path of an E Line train, Dave Sotero, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Metro, told the Associated Press. Firefighters were quick to arrive on the scene.

“Metro offers its sympathy to those injured in the accident,” Sotero said in an email to the outlet.

He added that the Los Angeles Police Department would be investigating the incident.

Videos of the scene showed the front of the bus severely damaged, with the train taking relatively minor damage. The bus was a shuttle bus affiliated with the University of Southern California.

In addition to the two people hospitalized with severe injuries, 16 were hospitalized in fair condition, while another 37 were treated at the scene.

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Officials said over 150 passengers were on the train during the collision.

Before long, the LA Metro announced that the line had reopened, with only residual delays.

Officials in Holdenville, Oklahoma, reported two deaths, and the cities of Sulphur, Oklahoma, and Marietta, Oklahoma, each reported one death. There have been about 100 injuries as well, according to hospitals across the state.

The storms left thousands without power, and Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) issued a state of emergency for 12 counties. The governor implied during a news conference on Sunday that Sulphur had been hit the hardest.

“It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed now here in Sulphur,” Stitt said. “It’s definitely the most damage since I’ve been governor that I’ve seen. I’ve seen a lot of damage. I’ve been around the state for — this is my sixth year. But what I saw in downtown Sulphur is unbelievable.”

The city hosted a mass feeding effort with 200 meals provided by Oklahoma Southern Baptist Disaster Relief for those in need. The town, located in Murray County, is also among the hardest hit with power outages.

White House officials said President Joe Biden spoke with Stitt and promised federal support to Oklahoma.

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“We’ll build back stronger than ever before — that’s my promise to Sulphur, Holdenville, and every Oklahoma community facing loss today,” Stitt wrote on X. “The Oklahoma Standard is alive and well.”

This tornado has since moved south to Louisiana. The National Weather Service predicts it will remain active through Monday but only result in marginal risk.

The BNSF freight train was traveling near Lupton, Arizona, when it derailed and burst into flames with the gasoline and odorless propane it was carrying fueling the fire. No one was injured. Interstate 40 was initially shut down in both directions but has since opened up its westbound lane on Saturday. The eastbound lane from Lupton to Gallup, New Mexico, remains closed.

National Transportation Safety Board staff members are arriving at the scene to investigate the incident alongside the Federal Railroad Administration. Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) assured her followers on X that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was also aware of the situation.

“I am deeply concerned about the train derailment along the Arizona-New Mexico border and am monitoring the situation closely,” Hobbs wrote. “My administration is in contact with Secretary Buttigieg and the New Mexican government. As we learn more about the situation on the ground, the State of Arizona stands ready to deploy the resources necessary to keep our communities safe.”

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This comes after 368 derailment incidents among BNSF trains since 2023, which, in total, injured nine people and cost over $90 million.

Meanwhile, the Senate has yet to vote on the Railroad Safety Act, which would provide new regulations in an attempt to prevent future train accidents.

For instance, the California Air Resources Board is working on a regulation that would mean trains could no longer operate in its state. That isn’t the goal of the regulation, but it would be its consequence.

California’s goal was to have zero-emission trains, which isn’t necessarily a bad goal. But it is attempting to codify the goal in regulation, which is a bad idea. California needs a waiver granted by the Environmental Protection Agency to implement the measure.

If carbon emissions are bad, then how could zero-emission trains be bad? Well, because they don’t exist. Yes, California is calling for a regulation on trains that would require an industry to implement a technology it doesn’t have. And the parts of it that do exist can’t be implemented in time even to come close to fulfilling the regulations.

To make matters worse, when looking at something such as train regulations, even if California backed off of the “zero” emissions part of what regulators are proposing, the new burdens would ripple across the country, causing cost increases everywhere.

Thankfully, there has been some pushback on this impossible plan, most recently by a group of more than 30 conservative organizations in a letter to the EPA that called on the agency to deny the waiver request. The letter pushes back on both the process and the content of the regulation, concluding:

“Ultimately, the negative impact of this CARB rule on commerce and consumers cannot be overstated. It will drive up labor, production, shipping, and supply chain costs. This will create higher prices for goods and services for consumers of goods reliant on rail transportation. At a time when the federal government is focused on driving down inflation, this is the last thing the administration should consider or approve.”

From a national perspective, it is nice to have 50 state experiments going on. But when a state is going after an impossible goal, and that goal will have national implications, it makes sense for the EPA to take its role in approving this regulation seriously.

It is also understandable that California wants zero-emission trains. But instead of pursuing a policy that would cost everyone in the country, even if it were possible, what if the government instead attempted to help create this new technology by promoting innovation? What if California promoted research and development with the goal of advancing technology that would make transitioning over to more energy-efficient vehicles a no-brainer and even more profitable?

Like the first people who built railroads across the United States, California regulators would do better to look out into the future and imagine what is possible rather than forcing businesses to conform to their impossible fairy tale. Admittedly, offering carrots rather than sticks is difficult policy, but innovation is a lot better than government at achieving the impossible.

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In fact, when entrepreneurs imagine impossible things, they never first think, “Well, let’s have the government mandate it.” Instead, entrepreneurs set out to make their dreams reality through innovation.

Trains are an important piece of the national economy. Hopefully, all of the checks and balances in our system will make sure that California’s impossible regulation doesn’t become a national nightmare.

Charles Sauer (@CharlesSauer) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the president of the Market Institute and previously worked on Capitol Hill, for a governor, and for an academic think tank.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the crash, adding that the National Transportation Safety Bureau would investigate.

“A Douglas C-54 crashed southwest of Fairbanks International Airport around 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday, April 23. Two people were on board,” an FAA spokeswoman said in a statement. “The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be the lead agency and provide any updates.”

The Alaska Department of Public Safety gave further details on the crash, saying Alaska state troopers in Fairbanks received word of a plane crash around 7 miles south of the Fairbanks International Airport on the Tanana River.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that a Douglas DC-4 crashed into the Tanana River after taking off from Fairbanks International Airport at 9:55 am with two people on board. The aircraft slid into a steep hill on the bank of the river where it caught fire. No survivors have been located,” the department said.

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A picture of the crash showed an inferno caused by the crash on the edge of a forest.

Another photo taken later showed the fire had been largely put out.