//The Wire//2130Z October 2, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: IRAN STRIKES ISRAEL WITH BALLISTIC MISSILES. MASS SHOOTING REPORTED IN TEL AVIV. CONTROVERSY CONTINUES TO MOUNT IN SOUTHEASTERN DISASTER ZONE.//

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-International Events-

Middle East: Last night, multiple Iranian ballistic missiles stuck various targets in Israel. Video footage from people on the ground indicate dozens (possibly hundreds) of missiles were launched, many of which were intercepted by David’s Sling defense systems. So far, the casualty count appears to be minimal, though official numbers may change over time. Initial Israeli media reporting indicates that Iran targeted military sites, not civilian centers.

Nearly simultaneously, a mass shooting was reported in Tel Aviv, resulting in 10 fatalities and 20 wounded so far. AC: Due to the Iranian strikes, the details of this developing mass shooting event have been hard to verify with any confidence.

Far East: This morning a WWII era bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan. The bomb, which had been dropped during WWII, cratered a taxiway and caused the diversion and/or delay of dozens of flights. Local authorities have confirmed there is no further threat to aviation and normal aviation operations will commence on Thursday.

-HomeFront-

United States: Bank of America customers reported widespread issues this afternoon, resulting in either a total outage of banking systems or their accounts showing a zero balance. AC: No word has been provided regarding the cause of the outage.

Southeast: Recovery efforts continue, despite federal involvement. Reports continue to mount regarding federal agencies discouraging people from helping, or outright threatening citizens with arrest for trying to aid disaster victims. There have been some limited reports of federal aid agencies confiscating disaster supplies from volunteer groups. FEMA resources, largely unseen throughout the affected disaster zone, are allegedly being deployed at the moment. However, this afternoon DHS Secretary Mayorkas stated that while FEMA funding is adequate for now, FEMA lacks the required resources and funding to manage federal emergencies that may need management by a federal agency this hurricane season.

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Analyst Comments: With any disaster, there are always those with a good heart that try to help, but inevitably make the situation worse. These situations are quite rare, but do sometimes happen. Similar situation with those who try to volunteer but end up needing rescue themselves…the nuance of various situations on the ground inevitably results in conflict that is not exactly indicative of a top-down policy sometimes.

However, overall the atmospherics on the ground in this situation appear to be more nefarious in nature than the standard tensions that arise during any disaster. The prevailing story throughout some areas is that federal (and even some local) agencies don’t want citizens to help, because the government is in charge…but these same agencies don’t do anything at all, or at minimum are way over their heads with regards to the scale of the response needed. Roads are being closed to only “official” vehicle traffic, despite well-prepared and skilled citizens that are more than capable of providing aid more professionally and efficiently than formalized agencies. Similar situation with private pilots who can outfly any National Guard asset any day of the week, and yet are somehow held to higher standards and formalization than even the policing agencies themselves. With this disaster, the red tape has begun to entangle even private volunteer efforts, with many volunteers learning valuable lessons regarding how little the government values their efforts, and as most clearly demonstrated during the Maui crisis, are sometimes outright adversarial.

The reasons for this vary wid