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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2018)
Page 10A NATION/WORLD East Oregonian Saturday, October 13, 2018 Trump vows to unearth truth about Khashoggi disappearance By ZEKE MILLER AND SUZAN FRASER Associated Press Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP Jay Faulk, 56, surveys the damage to his home on Friday in Mexico Beach, Fla. Residents of the small beach town of Mexico Beach began to make their way back to their homes some for the first time. Official: Searchers find body in hurricane-stricken town By RUSS BYNUM AND BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press MEXICO BEACH, Fla. — Search-and-rescue teams found at least one body in Mexico Beach, the ground- zero town nearly obliter- ated by Hurricane Michael, an official said Friday as the scale of the storm’s fury became ever clearer. The death toll across the South stood at 14, includ- ing the victim discovered in Mexico Beach. Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban, leader of a search- and-rescue unit that went into the flattened town, said: “We have one confirmed deceased and are working to determine if there are oth- ers.” Zahralban said search- ers were trying to determine if that person had been alone or was part of a family. Zahralban spoke as his team — which included a dog — was winding down its two-day search of Mex- ico Beach, the town of about 1,000 people that was nearly wiped off the map when Michael blew ashore there Wednesday with devastating 155 mph winds. Blocks and blocks of homes were demolished, reduced to splintered lum- ber or mere concrete slabs by the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental U.S. in nearly 50 years. As the catastrophic dam- age across the Florida Pan- handle came into view 48 hours after the hurricane struck, there was little doubt the death toll would rise. How high it might go was unclear. But authorities scrapped plans to set up a temporary morgue, suggest- ing they had yet to see mass casualties. State officials said that by one count, 285 people in Mexico Beach defied man- datory evacuation orders and Chris Urso/The Tampa Bay Times via AP Destruction can be seen all over Mexico Beach, Fla., on Friday. The death toll across the South stood at 14, including the victim discovered in Mexico Beach. stayed behind. Some of them successfully rode out the storm. It was unclear how many of the others might have gotten out at the last minute. Emergency officials said they have received thou- sands of calls asking about missing people. But with cellphone service out across vast swaths of the Florida Panhandle, officials said it is possible that some of those unaccounted for are safe and just haven’t been able to con- tact friends or family. Across the ravaged region, meanwhile, author- ities set up distribution cen- ters to hand out food and water to victims. Some sup- plies were brought in by trucks, while others had to be delivered by helicopter because of debris still block- ing roads. Residents began to come to grips with the destruction and face up to the uncer- tainty that lies ahead. “I didn’t recognize noth- ing. Everything’s gone. I didn’t even know our road was our road,” said 25-year- old Tiffany Marie Plushnik, an evacuee who returned to find her home in Sandy Creek too damaged to live in. When she went back to the hotel where she took shelter from the storm, she found out she could no lon- ger stay there either because of mold. “We’ve got to figure something out. We’re start- ing from scratch, all of us,” Plushnik said. President Donald Trump announced plans to visit Florida and hard-hit Geor- gia early next week but didn’t say what day he would arrive. “We are with you!” he tweeted. Shell-shocked survivors who barely escaped with their lives told of terrifying winds, surging floodwaters and homes cracking apart. Emergency officials said they had completed an initial “hasty search” of the stricken area, looking for the living or the dead, and had begun more careful inspections of thousands of ruined build- ings. They said nearly 200 people had been rescued. Gov. Rick Scott said state officials still “do not know enough” about the fate of those who stayed behind in the region. “We are not completely done. We are still getting down there,” the governor added. Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency chief Brock Long said he expects to see MCKAY CREEK ESTATES Are you worried about falling? McKay Creek Estates 1601 Southgate Pl. • Pendleton, OR 97801 www.PrestigeCare.com WE HEAR YOU! Phonak Virto™ B Phonak Virto B are the world’s fi rst hearing aids with Biometric Calibration and are precisely calibrated to your individual ear anatomy for better hearing performance. The smallest Phonak custom hearing aid is now even more discreet. Made from medical grade titanium, it is durable and light weight. 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Call (541) 704-7146 today to schedule your FREE FALL REDUCTION EVALUATION. the death toll rise. “We still haven’t gotten into the hardest-hit areas,” he said, adding with frustra- tion: “Very few people live to tell what it’s like to experi- ence storm surge, and unfor- tunately in this country we seem to not learn the lesson.” Long expressed worry that people have suffered “hurricane amnesia.” “When state and local officials tell you to get out, dang it, do it. Get out,” he said. On the Panhandle, Tyn- dall Air Force Base “took a beating,” so much so that Col. Brian Laidlaw told the 3,600 men and women sta- tioned on the base not to come back. Many of the 600 families who live there had followed orders to pack what they could in a single suit- case as they were evacuated ahead of the storm. WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared Friday the U.S. will uncover the truth about what happened to journal- ist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, whose possi- ble murder at Saudi hands after disappearing in Istan- bul has captured worldwide attention. Trump promised to personally call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman soon about “the terrible situation in Turkey.” “We’re going to find out what happened,” Trump pledged when questioned by reporters in Cincinnati where he was headlining a political rally. Khashoggi, a forceful critic of the Saudi govern- ment, went missing more than a week ago after enter- ing a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Turkish offi- cials have said they believe he was murdered there. U.S. officials say they are seek- ing answers from the Saudi government and are not yet accepting the Turkish gov- ernment’s conclusions. The Saudis have called accusations that they are responsible for Khashog- gi’s disappearance “base- less.” Widely broadcast video shows the 59-year- old writer and Washington Post contributor entering the consulate on Tuesday of last week, but there is none showing him leaving. Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, the State Department said Friday. No details of the conversation were released. In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the Saudi consul- ate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage. “He said, ‘See you later my darling,’ and went in,” she told the AP. Citing anonymous sources, the Post reported Friday that Turkey’s gov- ernment has told U.S. offi- cials it has audio and video proof that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered. The AP has not been able to confirm that report. In written responses to ques- tions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any record- ings and Khashoggi was officially “still missing.” She said investigators were examining his cell- phones, which he had left with her. Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi left the consul- ate. He hasn’t been seen since, though his fiancée was waiting outside. Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are important U.S. allies in the region. Trump said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will eval- uate whether to attend a Saudi investor conference later this month. Mnuchin had indicated earlier Friday he still planned to attend. On Thursday, Trump had said U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia were “excel- lent” and he was reluc- tant to scuttle highly lucra- tive U.S. weapons deals with Riyadh. A number of members of Congress have pressed the Trump adminis- tration to impose sanctions on the country in response to the Khashoggi affair. SERVICE YOU CAN RELY ON! 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