A month of outrage later, Senate to vote on Sandy relief

updated 12:55 AM EST, Mon January 28, 2013

Sandy victims suffer through cold snap

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Senate is expected to vote on $50 billion relief package for Superstorm Sandy victims
• House's failure to vote on relief in December outraged politicians from both parties
• New House passed a bill on January 15 over cost objections from some Republicans

(CNN) -- The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on more than $50 billion in aid to Northeastern states battered by October's Superstorm Sandy, four weeks after a delay that sparked bipartisan fury.

Sandy killed at least 113 people in the United States, flooded much of Lower Manhattan and Long Island and smashed New Jersey's seaside towns when it struck October 29. Officials in New York and New Jersey, the hardest-hit states, say tens of thousands of families are still displaced or lack adequate heat to deal with the Arctic blast that swept through the region last week.

Nicola Chati, a resident of New York's Staten Island, said living in temporary housing has been "really hard on the kids."

"They don't know when they're going home," said Chati, whose family awaits a decision on whether their home will be repaired or condemned. "That's all they want."

Christie: Boehner wouldn't take my calls

The Senate approved a $60 billion aid package for the hard-hit region in late December. But House Speaker John Boehner scrapped a vote on the bill before the clock ran out on the last Congress on January 1, leading to howls of outrage from residents and officials in New York and New Jersey.

"We have never had a natural disaster before where Congress walked away," thundered Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, called it "a total collapse of leadership on the part of Speaker Boehner." And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the keynote speaker at last year's GOP convention, said the move explained "why the American people hate Congress."

Chastened House leaders quickly scheduled new votes, passing $9 billion to bolster the federal flood insurance program in the first week of January and voting 241-180 to approve another $50 billion on January 15. Most Republicans voted against the second bill, complaining that the spending should have been offset by cuts elsewhere.

The Senate, which already has passed the flood insurance bill, is slated to vote on the rest of the funding late Monday afternoon. They'll also vote on a proposal by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to cut other spending before approving new disaster-relief funds.

28 January 2013 

Brazil mourns Santa Maria nightclub fire victims

The BBC's Garry Duffy says there is a sense of national shock in Brazil

Brazil has declared three days of national mourning for 231 people killed in a nightclub fire in the southern city of Santa Maria.

The fire reportedly started after a member of a band playing at the Kiss nightclub lit a flare on stage.
Authorities say most of the victims were students who died of smoke inhalation. The first funerals are expected on Monday morning.
It is the deadliest fire in Brazil in five decades.
The BBC's Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo that the national sense of loss is profound.

Eyewitness - Fernanda Bona

"I am the official photographer at the club and I was taking photos of people. I was watching a band on stage and the fireworks.
I was in the VIP area and I could see the whole club. The area was close to the exit. I saw the fire going through the club.
People were screaming 'fire, fire' and to run. People were scared and were running everywhere.
I ran as quickly as I could to the door of the street. But it was hard to get out because there were so many people.
It took a few minutes for me to get out of the club. I know people who are in hospital or who are missing. A lot of people died from not so much the fire but the toxic smoke.

Brazil postponed a ceremony due on Monday in the capital, Brasilia, to mark 500 days to the 2014 football World Cup. In Santa Maria, 30 days of mourning were declared.

President Dilma Rousseff, who cut short a visit to Chile, has been visiting survivors at the city's Caridade hospital along with government ministers.
"It is a tragedy for all of us," she said.
Authorities have released the names of the victims, after revising down the death toll from 245.
More than 100 people were being treated in hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation.
Officials will now investigate reports that a flare was lit on stage, igniting foam insulation material on the ceiling and releasing toxic smoke.
They will also look at claims that many of those who died were unable to escape as only one emergency exit was available.
'Dark, heavy smoke' The fire broke out as students from the city's federal university (UFSM) were holding a freshers' ball, the Diario de Santa Maria, a local newspaper, reported.
A local journalist, Marcelo Gonzatto, told the BBC that the flare had "started a huge and fast fire that grew quickly and made a very dark and heavy smoke."

"Lots of people couldn't get out and died mainly because of the smoke not the fire," he said.

Witnesses spoke of scenes of panic after the fire started, and a stampede as people tried to escape.
One, Mattheus Bortolotto, told local television: "It was sheer horror. The emergency exits did not work, and then I lost my friend in the confusion. Then a girl died in my arms. I felt her heart stop beating."
A large number of victims were trapped in the club's toilets, they said, possibly after mistaking them for an exit.
Survivors and police inspector Marcelo Arigony said security guards briefly tried to block people from leaving the club, the Associated Press news agency reported. Bars in Brazil commonly make customers pay their whole tab at the end of an evening before they are allowed to leave.
One of the owners of the club is reported to have confirmed that they were in the process of renewing its license to operate, and that its fire safety certificate had expired last year.
He is said to have received threats on the internet - in addition to surviving members of the band that was performing on stage when the blaze started.
Its guitarist, Rodrigo Martins, told local radio: "It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks.
"It's harmless; we never had any trouble with it. When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher. The singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."
He said the band's accordion player had died in the fire.
Brazilian broadcaster Globo said most of the victims were aged between 16 and 20.
A temporary morgue was set up in a local gym as the city's main morgue was unable to cope.
Family members came to identify the dead, led in one by one to see the bodies, Diario de Santa Maria reported.

A teenage boy in New Mexico has been arrested in connection with the fatal shootings of five people. Two adults and three children were found dead with apparent multiple gunshot wounds at a house near Albuquerque on Saturday evening. Bernalillo County sheriff's spokesman Aaron Williamson said it was not yet clear what the suspect's motive was, or his connection to the victims. He faces two counts of murder and three of child abuse resulting in death. Mr Williamson said they were trying to identify if the victims were related. The authorities have not released the name or age of the suspect, although local media reported that he was aged 15. Investigators are also trying to determine who owns a number of guns that were found at the home, including a semi-automatic military-style rifle, the Associated Press news agency reports. The shooting came hours after pro-gun activists staged rallies across the United States to demonstrate against stricter gun control laws. President Barack Obama has pledged a raft of measures to tighten gun laws following the mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in mid-December that killed 20 children and six adults.

A teenage boy in New Mexico has been arrested in connection with the fatal shootings of five people. Two adults and three children were found dead with apparent multiple gunshot wounds at a house near Albuquerque on Saturday evening. Bernalillo County sheriff's spokesman Aaron Williamson said it was not yet clear what the suspect's motive was, or his connection to the victims. He faces two counts of murder and three of child abuse resulting in death. Mr Williamson said they were trying to identify if the victims were related. The authorities have not released the name or age of the suspect, although local media reported that he was aged 15. Investigators are also trying to determine who owns a number of guns that were found at the home, including a semi-automatic military-style rifle, the Associated Press news agency reports. The shooting came hours after pro-gun activists staged rallies across the United States to demonstrate against stricter gun control laws. President Barack Obama has pledged a raft of measures to tighten gun laws following the mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in mid-December that killed 20 children and six adults.

A teenage boy in New Mexico has been arrested in connection with the fatal shootings of five people. Two adults and three children were found dead with apparent multiple gunshot wounds at a house near Albuquerque on Saturday evening. Bernalillo County sheriff's spokesman Aaron Williamson said it was not yet clear what the suspect's motive was, or his connection to the victims. He faces two counts of murder and three of child abuse resulting in death. Mr Williamson said they were trying to identify if the victims were related. The authorities have not released the name or age of the suspect, although local media reported that he was aged 15. Investigators are also trying to determine who owns a number of guns that were found at the home, including a semi-automatic military-style rifle, the Associated Press news agency reports. The shooting came hours after pro-gun activists staged rallies across the United States to demonstrate against stricter gun control laws. President Barack Obama has pledged a raft of measures to tighten gun laws following the mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in mid-December that killed 20 children and six adults.