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New York Storm Topples B-52 Bomber, Tears Roof off 19th Century Church

A picture showing some of the damage resulting from the hurricane that struck New York (The AP)
A picture showing some of the damage resulting from the hurricane that struck New York (The AP)
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New York Storm Topples B-52 Bomber, Tears Roof off 19th Century Church

A picture showing some of the damage resulting from the hurricane that struck New York (The AP)
A picture showing some of the damage resulting from the hurricane that struck New York (The AP)

A storm powerful enough to knock a B-52 bomber off a platform and tear the roof off a 19th century church ripped through central New York state, killing a man who went outside to check on his antique car.

Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday surveyed the destruction from Tuesday's storm and declared a state of emergency for the entire state, which remained in effect with damaging wind and heavy rain expected in many parts of New York on Wednesday night, Reuters reported.

One of the hardest hit areas was the Mohawk Valley. A confirmed tornado rolled through the city of Rome, destroying four buildings and causing major structural damage to 22 other structures, said Hochul at a press conference in Rome. The storm was so powerful that it knocked a 185,000-pound (83,000-kg) B-52 bomber jet off its platform at the Griffiss Air Force Base, according to Hochul.

"You cannot imagine the impact of seeing from the sky how vast the destruction is. When you see entire swaths of trees just collapsed like they were toothpicks, and then houses - the roofs gone," said Hochul.

She spoke in front of St. Mary's Church, built in 1862 according to the church's website, with much of its roof torn off by the storm.

At least three other reported tornadoes touched down in nearby Hamilton County and Warren County, according to NBC5 meteorologists. The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed them as tornadoes.

Robert Popple, 82, from the village of Canastota, west of Rome, was identified as the person who died during the storm. A neighbor reported that he went outside to check on his antique car when he was swept away, Hochul said.

Roughly 300,000 customers across New York State lost power during the height of the storm and 38,000 were still without electricity. Nearly half of those still without power are in Oneida County.

Hochul said that an unusual number of weather events have occurred in her three years as governor, including the current heat wave, recent flash flooding in Lewis County and a record-breaking 42 tornado warnings issued across New York last week, seven of which were confirmed.

She also warned New York residents to expect compromised air quality in the coming week due to Canadian wildfires, a reminder of last June's wildfires that gave Syracuse and New York City the worst air quality in the world on some days.

"These extreme weather events are no longer the abnormal. They are the new normal," she said.

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Turkish Legislators Hold Tense Debate on Bill to Control Stray Dogs

Stray dog in Istanbul's Türkiye - File/The AP
Stray dog in Istanbul's Türkiye - File/The AP
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Turkish Legislators Hold Tense Debate on Bill to Control Stray Dogs

Stray dog in Istanbul's Türkiye - File/The AP
Stray dog in Istanbul's Türkiye - File/The AP

A Turkish parliamentary commission began a tense debate Wednesday on a bill to manage the country's large stray dog population that animal advocates fear could result in the widespread killing of the animals.

The legislation, submitted to parliament by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, is pitting groups advocating for safer streets free of the feral dogs against animal rights activists who are demanding the withdrawal of the bill.

Erdogan has stated that approximately four million stray animals are wandering the streets and rural areas of Türkiye. While many of them are docile, an increasing numbers of dogs are seen roaming in packs and numerous people have been attacked.

The legislation being debated in parliament's agriculture and rural affairs commission is a diluted version of an initial proposal that would have required the strays to be rounded up, housed in shelters and euthanized if they are not adopted within 30 days.

That proposal, which was leaked to the media, had ignited a public uproar, with animal rights activists arguing it would result in the mass extermination of unadopted dogs.

The revised proposal forces municipalities to remove the stray dogs from the streets and place them into shelters where they would be neutered and spayed. Dogs that are sick, believed to have rabies or exhibiting aggressive behavior would be euthanized.

Municipalities would also be required to build dog shelters or improve conditions in existing shelters by 2028.

The revised bill has failed to ease concerns, with activists arguing that certain municipalities may opt for the easy solution of conducting a mass culling of the stray animals instead of allocating resources toward shelters.

The parliament’s agriculture and rural affairs commission meeting began tumultuously when the committee chair demanded that media, NGO representatives and other observers exit the room, citing insufficient space to accommodate everyone. The meeting was later moved to a larger room.

Meanwhile, activists staged a protest in a park close to the Turkish Grand National Assembly for a second day despite the rain, shouting: “withdraw, withdraw, withdraw the legislation!” and “we won't allow a massacre.”

The center-left, main opposition Republican People's Party and other smaller parties oppose the bill. Erdogan's ruling party and its nationalist allies, however, hold a majority in parliament, and the bill is likely to pass when it reaches the full assembly for final approval.

A report released by the Safe Streets and Defense of the Right to Life Association, an organization campaigning for the removal of all stray dogs from the streets, says that 65 people have died in street dog attacks since 2022, The AP reported.

Erdogan has said at least 55 people also were killed in the past five years in more than 3,500 traffic accidents that were caused by cars swerving to avoid strays. He also has warned that the dog population increases the risk of rabies.

The government promised to tackle the issue earlier this year after a child was severely injured when attacked by dogs in the capital Ankara.

Existing regulations requires stray dogs to be caught, neutered and spayed, and returned to the spot where they were found. But a failure to implement those rules over the past years has caused the feral dog population to explode, animal rights groups say. They argue that proper implementation of the existing regulations would be sufficient to control the population.