Newsbytes: Rainstorms, Chemical Spill, Rescue in Libya, Rich Chigga

By Staff Writers Jonathan Ko & Vicki Xu

Local — Rainstorms Cause Outages & Flight Delays
Storms began to hit the Bay Area on October 24, sparking fears of erosion and hopes that the rainfall will alleviate the five-year California drought. The wet weather caused power outages, airport delays, and poor road conditions, slowing commutes. Most cities have received several inches of rainfall, with more expected in the coming weeks and months. The sudden rain on arid soil is expected to cause erosion and possibly flooding. Golden Gate Weather Services Meteorologist Jan Null said to the New York Times, “This is barely a drop in the bucket. We are still looking at [a] great big rain deficit … We just need to keep it going.”

National — Kansas Chemical Plant Spill Sends More Than 60 to Hospital
Noxious plumes from a chemical spill at the Midwest Grain Products Ingredients distillery plant in Atchison, KS on October 21 prompted evacuations and sent 102 people to the hospital. According to authorities, inadvertent mixing of sulfuric acid and sodium hypochlorite caused the incident. The plume dissipated after a few hours and most people who had been hospitalized recovered enough to be released. Midwest Grain Products Ingredients took responsibility for the issue and said in a press release that it was engaging “outside experts to assist the investigation and response.”

International — Libyan Forces Rescue 13 at Sirte
Libyan pro-government forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Surt, a main ISIS stronghold outside of its controlled territory, freed 13 foreign captives with support from American airstrikes on October 22. This movement is part of an ongoing six-month campaign led mainly by nearby Misrata militia aimed toward recapturing the city, which fell to ISIS more than a year ago. If the campaign succeeds, ISIS will lose its most important bastion in North Africa, a gateway to other North African countries.

Quirky — Indonesian Rapper Rich Chigga Gains Recognition
Rich Chigga, the Internet sensation whose hit song and music video “Dat $tick” went viral, is starting to gain widespread recognition for his technical skills as a rapper and for his inspirational success story. Chigga, whose real name is Brian Imanuel, is a web comedian who learned English from YouTube videos and grew popular through his Vines and YouTube videos. His song “Dat $tick” received positive feedback from many big-name rappers, including Ghostface Killah, Pouya, and Desiigner, and garnered more than 22 million views on YouTube. On his future plans as a rapper, Chigga said to XXL, “A lot of things are coming. A lot of different stuff.”

Photos by sfgate.com, koat.com, dailytimes.com, i.ytimg.com