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Record Highs in Flash Flood Warnings Issued

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This summer has been notably impacted by intense rainfall and flooding. States including Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey have faced significant flood events recently. Earlier this month, the nation experienced at least four rainfall events classified as 1,000-year storms within a single week.

In June, flash floods claimed at least nine lives in West Virginia after 2.5 to 4 inches of rain fell in parts of Ohio County in just half an hour.

In early July, over 120 people lost their lives in Central Texas’s Hill Country when heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to surge near Carville in just 90 minutes.

A few days later, a devastating flash flood in a remote village in Ruidoso, New Mexico, resulted in at least three fatalities.

Earlier this week, Central Park in New York City recorded more than two inches of rain within an hour, marking the second-highest hourly rainfall in the city’s history, according to New York City’s emergency management.

Las Schumacher, the director of Colorado State University and the Colorado Climate Center for State Climate Scientist, noted that the recent flash floods can partly be attributed to the summer months being the peak time for storms.

“From June to October, we often see significant rainfall in various parts of the country,” he mentioned, highlighting that the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th.

However, studies indicate that climate change is likely to exacerbate storm frequency and severity, increasing the chances of heavy rains and flooding.

“A warmer atmosphere holds a greater amount of water vapor, which contributes to rainfall,” Schumacher explained. “The evidence supporting this is very compelling.”

Despite this, the surge in warnings today compared to the past can be attributed to advancements in the ability to detect and track weather systems.

Over the past four decades, radar technology and meteorological models have seen substantial improvements, leading to an increase in the number of warnings issued during extreme weather situations.

“The systems we had in the ’80s are not comparable to those we use today,” he remarked. “With enhanced radar and a broad array of data sources, it’s expected that we’ll see more warnings simply because our technology is evolving.”

These warnings are vital not only for saving lives but also for safeguarding infrastructure like susceptible dams, levees, and drainage systems during flood events, Aghakouchak stated.

“It serves as a reminder that such events can lead to catastrophe,” he said. “The floods in Texas were a significant disaster, and we must always be prepared.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Africa Experiences Record Highs of Internet Shutdowns as Access is “Weaponized”

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In 2024, Africa experienced a surge in digital blackouts, prompting many governments to disconnect millions of citizens from the internet over the past decade. A report by Internet Rights Group Access Now and #Keepiton revealed a record 21 internet shutdowns in 15 countries, surpassing previous years. Countries like Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritius, as well as repeat offenders like Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya, were cited for these actions. Authorities in Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania were also implicated, along with non-state actors like militias. Telecommunications and internet service providers that comply with government shutdown orders are complicit in violating people’s rights, according to Felicia Anthonio, #Keepiton Campaign Manager at Access Now.

Most closures were linked to conflict, protests, and political instability, with restrictions often imposed during elections. The global trend of escalating internet shutdowns continued, with 296 closures in 54 countries in 2024 compared to 283 closures in 39 countries the previous year. Access to the internet has faced its worst challenges since 2016, reflecting a pattern of weaponization and restriction of internet access worldwide.

The impact of these closures on individuals and communities during times of turmoil and conflict was highlighted in the report. While some African countries had endured year-long internet restrictions by the end of 2024, others faced ongoing limitations like in Uganda and Equatorial Guinea. However, efforts to reverse this trend were seen in the passing of a landmark resolution by the African Human and People’s Rights Committee in March 2024.

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Despite efforts to address the issue, election-related internet shutdowns persisted in Africa and other regions in 2024, even after the adoption of the ACHPR resolution. Antonio emphasized the importance of civil society advocacy in holding governments accountable for these shutdowns. While progress may be slow, there have been instances where authorities reconsidered their shutdown orders, offering a glimmer of hope for a more open and connected future.

Source: www.theguardian.com

The highs and lows of Fintech in 2023

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welcome home interchangeHere are the hottest fintech news from the past week. If you would like to receive The Interchange directly in your inbox every Sunday, please visit: here Sign up!

What a year!

This is the last edition of The Interchange for 2023. I can’t believe the year is almost over.

It’s been an eventful 12 months, even with reduced funding. We’ve seen a lot of M&A activity (read about it here, here, here, and here), BNPL has (sort of) made a comeback, and new fintech-focused ventures are raising money (Flourish and Vesey), several startup closures (Daylight being one example) and more layoffs than we would have liked.

And remember when FedNow went live in the US in July? At the time, the list included 35 financial institutions, and five months later, more than 330 of them were on the network. Participating in

There’s never a dull day in the world of fintech. For a broader look back, keep an eye out for a deeper dive into the top fintech stories we reported on through the end of the year.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all the readers who have supported this magazine thus far. There are a lot of fintech newsletters out there, so the fact that you subscribe to this newsletter and keep coming back means a lot to us.

As we look forward to 2024, we wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with lots of love, peace, and happiness. Thank you very much. — Mary Ann and Christine

weekly news

Christine reported on her dismissal: bolt, an e-commerce and fintech company that was at one time the subject of a federal investigation. The company confirmed through a spokesperson that the one-click checkout company has laid off 29% of its workforce. A Bolt spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the company is working to make Bolt an “operating model optimized for sustainable growth and efficiency” and is committed to “the next steps for our business.” “We can ramp up with the speed and agility necessary for this step.” ” We have been following Bolt for years, and this layoff is the latest of several other cuts that have taken place beyond 2022. In May 2022, Mary Ann reported that at least 185 employees, one-third of its workforce, had been laid off. Let go. Bolt, which provides software to retailers to speed up checkout, has raised a total of about $1 billion in venture backing and was once valued at $11 billion.

Mary Ann reported on several high-profile executive departures this week.She announced the following news credit karma Co-founder Nicole Mustard is stepping down after more than 16 years with the company. Mr. Mustard’s decision to step down marks the third high-profile departure of an executive at Credit Karma in 2023. She then wrote: open door Co-founder Eric Wu is leaving his job at a real estate fintech company after nine years to return to his startup roots. Notably, Wu has invested in startups during his time at Opendoor.according to crunch baseMr. Wu has backed dozens of companies, including Airtable, Scribe, Roofstock and the now-defunct Zeus Living.

At TC+, Jacqueline Melinek wrote about the following facts: robin hood‘s foray into cryptocurrencies isn’t necessarily new, and the company is still looking to expand its efforts in cryptocurrencies, even among groups that tend to stay away from the platform. “I think cryptocurrencies have always been created by and for very technical people,” said Johan Kerblatt, general manager of cryptocurrencies at Robinhood. chain reaction podcast. “At the end of the day, I don’t think customers care too much about what the underlying protocol is when they use cryptocurrencies. What network are they using? They just want things to work. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Other items we are reading

Google Pay to add BNPL option in early 2024 (Apple made Apple Pay Later available to all users in the U.S. in October, after releasing it to a limited number of users in March.)

Visa acquires Brazilian fintech company Pismo in US$1 billion deal (See TechCrunch’s coverage of how the Pismo and Visa acquisitions first happened.)

Dallas-based Apex Fintech Solutions files for IPO in second public offering bid

Melio introduces real-time payments

HR technology platform Checkr moves to payments for gig workers

Deel launches compliance hub

Repay partners with Green Dot to enable cash-based bill payments

Klarna plans to replace employees with AI to boost profitability

Neobank Dave’s new chatbot achieves 89% resolution rate, CEO says (Go here to read Mary Ann’s Q&A with Dave’s founders in March.)

Funding and M&A

As seen on TechCrunch:

SumUp raises another €285m in growth funding to weather the fintech storm

Comun Channelizes Local Bank Approach to Serve Latino Immigrants

UK International Investment backs India’s Aye Finance with $37 million funding

Hyperplane wants to bring AI to banks

Kapital secures $165 million in equity and debt to provide financial visibility to Latin American small businesses

Prevu’s home sales process rewards homebuyers with cashback rebates

can be seen elsewhere:

Launch of Stairs Financial platform to assist first-time home buyers

Waste management payments company CurbWaste raises $10 million

Fintech startup Pontera raises $60 million, plans to expand jobs in Israel

Completed $12 million Series B financing in January

Necto raises $8 million in seed funding

HSBC supports Aii’s decarbonization grant fund

E-commerce financier SellersFi secures Citi-led credit facility

Image credits: Bryce Durbin

Source: techcrunch.com