Declarations

Stormy Relations

“Storm surge and wind-driven waves flooded homes and moved them off their foundations in Kapoho, Hawaii County.”

—Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie describing the damaging force of the tropical storm Iselle. His petition for disaster assistance for the storm was denied by FEMA.

The Worst

“This is the worst storm I’ve seen in 40 years here.”

—Mayor Pro Tem Ron Hanson of Sergeant Bluff City, Iowa, comments on the storm system that that wreaked havoc in Northwest Iowa on Labor Day. Winds of at least 70 miles an hour knocked down numerous trees and left limbs and other debris strewn about in Denison and Sergeant Bluff.

More Cold, Fewer Tornadoes

“One factor that played into lower tornado totals were the cooler temperatures during winter … But that flips around in the summer. Higher temperatures usually correlate with fewer tornadoes.”

—Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center. Oklahoma experienced the least number of tornadoes this past spring since the same period in 1988. There were 13 tornadoes in Oklahoma through June 2014; in 1988 10 were documented during the same time frame.

Regulation Welcome

“We welcome regulation. We just hope that the regulation actually acknowledges this unique model: personal drivers, personal cars,”

—Annabel Chang, a national public policy manager for ridesharing firm Lyft, comments on emergency regulations that will take effect in Kentucky in October and govern ridesharing companies. The companies are operating in Louisville and Lexington, Ky., and Cincinnati.

Mass. Data Breaches

“Last year was an unprecedented year for high-volume and high-profile data breaches.”

—Massachusetts Consumer Affairs Undersecretary Barbara Anthony on last year’s data breach incidents.