The Wire - February 17, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z February 17, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: SEVERE WEATHER STRIKES APPALACHIA, MAJOR FLOODING REPORTED. MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE CONCLUDES IN EUROPE.//

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-International Events-

Europe: The Munich Security Conference concluded yesterday, with the focus on Ukraine being palpable among participants. While no real progress was made publicly with regards to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, various actors have made their positions more clear. British PM Kier Starmer declared his willingness to send British soldiers to fight in Ukraine. Germany spent most of the time responding negatively to American statements that urged Germany to pay for their own defense. American Vice President JD Vance spent much of the summit pointing out the freedom of speech problems within Europe at large, signaling a new era of American concerns on the topic, as well as indicating a hard turnaround of American foreign policy away from a multipolar Europe. On the sidelines, the Ukrainian War remained a concern, with Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy expressing increasing levels of irritation that Ukraine is being sidelined with regards to the negotiations to end the war.

Canada: This afternoon a catastrophic aircraft crash was reported in Toronto. Delta Flight 4819 suffered a mishap while landing at Pearson International Airport, which resulted in the removal of both wings and the debris coming to a rest on the runway upside down. The fuselage remained mostly intact during the crash landing, and all passengers and crew are reported to have survived at this time. AC: As this is a developing situation, not much is known with any certainly regarding what caused the crash landing. However, weather conditions were less than ideal at the time of the incident.

-HomeFront-

Southeastern U.S. - Disaster strikes Appalachia again as severe storms have caused unprecedented flooding throughout the region over the past few days. Most of the severe flooding has been reported in Kentucky, which has resulted in 8 fatalities so far. Virginia has also been host to severe flooding, and significant power outages have been reported throughout the Mid-Atlantic, to the northeastern United States. FEMA has been activated, and most of the various jurisdictions throughout the region have varying levels of emergency declarations in place.

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Analyst Comments: The weather events throughout the eastern United States are compounded by not only the winter weather that occurred before the flooding, but additional weather systems that are expected to sweep through the region over the next few days. Catastrophic flooding is bad enough during the best of times, but disaster recovery efforts are made exponentially more difficult when heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures are expected throughout the disaster area. Throughout the disaster zone, power outages during cold weather conditions will also undoubtedly result in more complications and more pressing needs, as many people throughout the region rely on electricity to heat their homes.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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