Latest news with #MichaelHopkins
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
1 Dead, Multiple Others Injured After Roof Collapses at a Family Dollar Store in Kansas City
A 68-year-old man died, and a 50-year-old woman was critically injured in the incident One person is dead and multiple others are injured after the roof of a Family Dollar store in Missouri partially collapsed. According to reports from the Kansas City Star, FOX 4 and NBC affiliate station KSHB 41, the incident took place at the store, located in midtown Kansas City, on Sunday, July 27. Michael Hopkins, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Fire Department (KCPD), told the outlets that the front facade of the store broke apart. Fire officials from the KCFD arrived on the scene at around 2:45 p.m. local time, he added. A 68-year-old man was killed, and a 50-year-old woman was critically injured, according to Hopkins. Two other people were treated for injuries and released. Officials have not yet shared what caused the Family Dollar building to partially collapse. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Several bystanders who were near the building when the incident occurred told KSHB they helped pull shoppers out from the rubble. Photos taken from the scene show police tape keeping onlookers away from dislodged bricks and other pieces of the wrecked building in the street. Hopkins told the local outlets that he didn't have information tied to when the building was last inspected. He added that the KCFD plans to look into the store's records, to see if any reports were made in the past about the building's structural integrity. Hopkins said the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) will now take over the investigation. In a statement to PEOPLE, a Family Dollar spokesperson said, "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at the leased Family Dollar store on Broadway Boulevard in Kansas City." "Our hearts and thoughts are with those impacted. We are conducting wellness checks with our employees and offering them resources and assistance," the representative continued, adding: "The Company is conducting an investigation into this matter." Kansas City's Broadway Street, between 36th and 38th streets, is expected to remain closed while police investigate and debris is removed from the roads, the local outlets reported. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
‘Very lucky': Kansas City crews rescue woman hanging onto tree after Indian Creek flash flood
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman was rescued Monday after she was found hanging onto a tree near Indian Creek after a morning of flash floods in Kansas City. At about 12:50 p.m., units with KCFD were called to the area of West 101st Terrace on the south side of Kansas City on reports of a water rescue, just north of Indian Creek and the Indian Creek trail. Woman killed in flash floods on Overland Park trail Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins told FOX4 that emergency responders found a woman hanging onto a tree after she had gotten stuck in the floodwaters. 'We received a call from somebody who was walking by or maybe out of these apartments that heard a lady out in the water screaming for help,' Chief Hopkins said. 'We responded, and when we arrived, we found an individual about 50 to 75 yards off the bank, where the water had risen. 'She was holding on to a tree out in the moving water, needing rescue.' Rescue crews used an inflatable rubber boat (IRB) to navigate through the floodwaters and retrieve the victim. KCFD said she was brought to shore tired and shaken—but uninjured. She was evaluated by on-scene EMS crews but refused further treatment or transport. 'Around our city, we have several areas, several creeks, several low-lying areas that tend to flood and hold water, like Indian Creek,' Hopkins said. 'If you live in or work around those areas, be vigilant. If the water starts to rise, get away from it. It's very dangerous. 'The individual today was very lucky that she was able to hold on until we could get her out of the water.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Kansas City Fire Department responds to 23 water rescues during overnight storms
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Fire Department said it has responded to at least 23 water rescues Thursday morning due to a high volume of rain from overnight storms. According to KCFD, in the last 36 hours, the Kansas City metro received between 5 and 8 inches of rain, leaving many low-lying roadways flooded and people trapped in their cars. KCFD said they conducted 23 highwater rescues overnight through 8 a.m. at several locations. The department said most of those incidents involve crews 'simply walking the occupants out.' No injuries have been reported. Overnight storms cause flash flooding, power outages One of those rescues happened at 10th Street and Winner Road. KCFD confirmed the individual was taken out of the car and no one was hurt. Vehicles were also seen stuck in high water near East 14th Street and Jackson Avenue. KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said they expect these incidents to continue until the rain stops. A flash flood warning issued by the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill was set to remain in effect until 9 a.m. Thursday for parts of the Kansas City area. 'KCFD would like to remind citizens to never drive into high water. It only takes a few inches of moving water to sweep a vehicle downstream,' KCFD warned in a statement. 'Never walk in high water. Sewer covers easily become dislodged in this case and it will be deadly if you fall into one. Your vehicle will stall, and you will become stranded if the water level is higher than the tailpipe of your vehicle. If you encounter high water on the roadway, find an alternate route. Turn Around, Don't Drown.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
17-07-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
Heavy Rain Floods Kansas City Area, Prompting Overnight Rescues
Heavy rain in the Kansas City, Mo., area inundated neighborhoods and highways on Thursday, prompting nearly two dozen rescues of people stranded in their cars. More than eight inches of rain fell in some parts of the metropolitan area overnight, meteorologists said. Firefighters and rescuers waded through water, sometimes up to their waists, to reach cars stuck in floods overnight, said Chief Michael Hopkins, the spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department, in an interview. They continued working through the morning even as the rain started to taper off. No injuries or deaths have been reported. Emergency workers had rescued people from at least 23 vehicles by early morning, he said, and more rescues were expected as the work commute got underway. Storm drains along Interstate 435, a beltway that encircles most of the Kansas City metropolitan area, were unable to keep up during the deluge, he said, causing the highway to flood. Most of the rescues from vehicles took place at the highway's 23rd St. exit, he said. Areas to the west and north of the city were also overrun with heavy rain. 'It is taking place all over the city,' he said of the rescue effort. 'Multiple roads tend to get overrun with water.' These included low-lying areas or those near hills, such as the East Bottoms area, the Westport bar and restaurant district, and neighborhoods in Northeast Kansas City. More than eight inches of rain had fallen in Olathe, Kan., southwest of Kansas City, since 10 p.m. on Wednesday, said Randall Collier, a meteorologist at the Kansas City office of the National Weather Service. The highest total was 9.81 inches, near Gardner Lake, he said. In Kansas City, the local office of the National Weather Service reported 2.04 inches of rain had already fallen by 6:40 a.m. Thursday. That marked the second consecutive day with more than two inches of rainfall, tying a local record that has occurred only 12 times in the past 137 years. Flash flood warnings for the area expired by 9 a.m. local time, but flood warnings remained in place for several rivers in northwest Kansas and northeast Missouri. Forecasters said storms could keep developing along the same areas over the next couple of days. Forecast risk of excessive rain for Thursday Some Moderate High More than 13,000 customers were without power early on Thursday in the Kansas City area, in both Kansas and Missouri, according to Evergy, a utilities provider. The rain was part of a slow-moving weather system that has unleashed a series of intense thunderstorms across a broad section of the United States on Thursday, from the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Northeast. Nazaneen Ghaffar contributed reporting.
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Indigenous fire keeper pushes back against searches at London prison
Social Sharing After 27 years of performing pipe ceremonies and providing spiritual counselling for Indigenous inmates at London's Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC), Michael Hopkins says his days of providing the service may be coming to an end. He doesn't want to stop visiting inmates to offer what he sees as crucial support for a population that is notoriously over-represented in Canada's prison system. However, he said a recent move to change the security protocol at EMDC, if it continues, could force him to stop his weekly visits. At issue is what Hopkins said is a new requirement that he be searched upon entry, something he said has never been required in his time working at EMDC. "The last two months I've been going in, they've wanted to look in the pipe bag, and I told them, 'No, you're not touching the bag, you're not looking in it,'" he said. Hopkins said he's opposed to being searched because his bag contains sacred items, which he said should never be touched by anyone other than the person who's entrusted to care for them. "They're not for show and tell to be opened up to whoever is at the front door and doesn't know about them or understand them," said Hopkins, who is also a traditional fire keeper for N'Amerind Friendship Centre. "You can't just look into somebody's sacred items. Nobody touches them. Nobody.'" Access to Indigenous spirituality in jails and prisons is now a well-accepted practice at both the federal and provincial correctional systems. Ontario's Ministry of the Solicitor General has a web page outlining the rules for inmate access to Indigenous spiritual services, which are supposed to be given the same status and protections afforded to faith groups. According to the rules on the web page, visits by an Indigenous elder "are subject to the superintendent's normal control of visits to the institution." The rules also say sacred items such as pipes, drums, and feathers can be temporarily brought into the institution "following clearance by the security manager." However, Hopkins said he'd been allowed to enter EMDC for years without being searched. Hopkins said he underwent security clearance and was issued a photo ID badge by the prison when the visits first began in the late 1990s, which he still has. He said he was even given a key by EMDC staff, allowing him to move between certain areas of the prison to meet with inmates. Hopkins said his weekly visits have never raised a security problem and that EMDC's Native and Indigenous Liaison Officer is with him at all times when he's on the property. CBC News reached out to the Solicitor General's ministry for comment but did not receive a response on Wednesday. Hopkins said he was first told two months ago that all visitors must now be searched, including lawyers and faith leaders who come to visit inmates. Hopkins objected and said he was allowed to continue to visit without searches pending a decision on the matter by the prison's superintendents, which Hopkins said he's expecting to come this week. "They're saying they don't respect or trust me, they don't respect the culture, they don't respect the sacred items," said Hopkins, who plans to raise the issue with Indigenous chiefs in the London area if he isn't allowed to enter without being searched. Lawyer said sacred objects must be respected Katherine Hensel, a lawyer and member of the Indigenous Bar Association, said Hopkins's objection to having people touch the pipes and other sacred objects is not a trivial matter. "These items are sources of safety," said Hensel. "These are pathways to healing. Whether it's a pipe, or an eagle feather, or another sacred item, the people who hold these items have obligations with respect to their care. Some items can only be touched by the person responsible and no one else." Hensel said Hopkins should be given some leeway given his years providing support for inmates. Hopkins said if the visits do stop, it will be a loss to inmates who he said have benefited from taking part in pipe ceremonies. Some people he met as inmates experience personal growth and learning about their Indigenous heritage. Others have worked with him after their release. "They get to smoke that pipe and it calms them, they feel good ... they get the teachings about responsibility and commitment if they want to change their lifestyle," he said.
