Getting the opportunity to attend the Olympics Games is a life-long dream for many fans.

Some will have been fortunate enough to have achieved this at least once. Others more than once.

However, it’s safe to assume that few will have as many under their belt as Olympics enthusiast Jeff Kolkmann, who has traveled to a staggering 17 Olympics Games in his lifetime.

Kolkmann, from California, says his passion for the Olympics began at the age of six, when his father rented a television for a month so that the family could watch the 1968 Winter Games, which was held in Grenoble, France.

He tuned in to the international multi-sport event regularly from that point on, but it would be several years before he’d be able to watch it in person.

Long-standing passion

At the age of 18, Kolkmann went to school in France to learn French, which along with English is one of the official languages of the Olympic Games, and made a point of introducing himself to the Olympics Organizing Committee.

But it was his connection to a famous basketball player, former Los Angeles Lakers star Brad Holland, that finally paved the way for him to go to his first ever Olympic Games – the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Kolkmann says he was able to get his foot through the door by landing a gig working behind the scenes at the Olympic basketball games because he was related to Holland, a member of the 1980 Los Angeles Lakers championship team.

“Everybody knew who my cousin was,” he explains.

Kolkmann recalls getting particularly emotional while watching the France international basketball team play against Uruguay during the event.

“When I saw France, I started to cry,” he says. “Because it was a country that I’d lived in and had very special feelings for. It just brought a lot of pride to me.”

He was given his first ever Olympic pin while at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, and has been collecting them ever since.

Four years later, he scored his first television job working for ABC Sports television at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary.

As he didn’t have his own car, Kolkmann’s parents helped him to buy a Volkswagen Jetta, so that he could drive up to Canada for the event.

It was during the Calgary Winter Olympic Games that Kolkmann received his first Olympic pin from a gold medalist, which was given to him by Swedish cross-country skier Gunde Svan.

Sporting history

“I said, ‘Hey, do you know, where can I get one of those Swedish Olympic pins that you’re wearing?’” he recalls.

“He pulled it off his jacket, and said, ‘I can get another one. This one’s for you.”

In the years that followed, Kolkmann made it his mission to be at every Olympic Games, and would take pretty much any job he was offered if it meant being able to do so.

Although he had to skip the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea as he was unable to find work, Kolkmann made it to the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games, the last Winter Games to be staged in the same year as the Summer Games, the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

He fondly recalls witnessing American sprinter Michael Johnson break the world record for the 200-meters at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and getting the opportunity to congratulate him afterwards.

“He came into the television studios,” he explains. “And I said, ‘Michael, thank you for making history for us.’”

However, Kolkmann missed out on seeing one of the other most talked about moments from that event – legendary boxer Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic torch – in person.

“I was working that night,” he recalls. “So I had to see that on television.”

In 1998, he flew to Japan for the Nagano Winter Olympic Games, and two years later, he was in Sydney, Australia for the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he worked for an Australian TV channel.

He jubilantly recounts snagging tickets to the figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which he attended as a spectator, in 2002, much to the delight of his then-wife.

Collecting memories

“Figure skating tickets are like the hardest Winter Olympic tickets ever to get,” he explains.

He went on to travel to Greece for the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, taking a job working for a radio station, and was in Turin, Italy two years later for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

In 2008, Kolkmann flew to Beijing, China for the Summer Olympics after finding work as a ticket agent.

“The airport was the most impressive thing to me,” he says. “Landing there in Beijing. That is one the most impressive airports in the world.”

Although he struggled with the language barrier, he says he thoroughly enjoyed his time in the city, and spent many hours pounding the streets and meeting fellow Olympics fans.

“You always want to be out and about,” he explains. “You’re either trading Olympic pins with people from around the world, or you’re trying to get tickets to the events.”

Kolkmann was watching from the stands when Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt made history with a record-breaking time during the men’s 100-meter sprint.

“Watching Usain Bolt win that gold medal, and then going to London four years later and seeing him do it again, that was impressive,” he recalls.

In 2010, Kolkmann brought his son Jordan, then 13, along with him to the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Having spent so many years of his childhood watching the event on TV with his own father, this was a particularly special moment for him.

“It was a thrill,” says Kolkmann. “We were running around so much.”

While in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics, he bumped into one of Jordan’s heroes, basketball player Lebron James, who was playing for Team USA, in front of the Olympic Village.

Kolkmann’s passion for the Olympics has seen him travel to places he never have imagined he’d visit, including Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 2016 summer Olympics, well as South Korea, for the 2018 Winter Olympics,

“Because the Olympics are held in different places, that’s what’s basically taken me around the world,” he says. “That’s where the basis of my travels has come.”

Lifelong pursuit

Over the years, Kolkmann has managed to collect around 4,000 Olympic pins, as well as some extraordinary memorabilia, including a signed jersey from Brazilian volleyball player Alexandre Ramos Samuel, known as Tande.

He’s also made many friends in the Olympic community – he and his closest Olympic enthusiast friends call themselves “pinheads.”

After missing out on the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, where spectators were banned, and the 2022 Winter Olympics, which was held in Beijing, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kolkmann is excited to be attending the Summer Olympics in Paris next year.

“I’ve been to 17 Olympics altogether now and I’m planning to go to Paris for 2024,” he says.

“I’m almost floating off the ground already.”

He loves sharing stories with fellow Olympic fans and says that many are stunned when they find out just how dedicated a fan he is.

“The funny thing is when I meet these [important] international Olympic people, they look at me and they’re like, ‘You’ve actually been to more Olympic Games than we have.” he says.

Being able to travel to so many different countries and meet people from all walks of life while pursuing his passion has helped to change his outlook on the world, and he says he worries a lot less as a result.

“You can find something beautiful in every country. If you realize that people are just like you, you’re not going to worry about stuff,” he says.

“You don’t even have to have the language. You have eye contact. You have body language. And you might share food together.

“You might trade an Olympic pin. But there’s so much connection that you can make.”

As one of the few people to have been to 17 Olympic Games over nearly three decades, as well as every single Olympics from 1992 to 2018, Kolkmann, now 60, says he’s often asked which has been his favorite.

While he’s undoubtedly made wonderful memories at each and every event, there’s one in particular that stands out.

“It has to be the very first one,” says Kolkmann, who currently works in sales for solar projects. “Because that’s the one that inspired me to go to the others.

“But literally each and every Olympic Games,  it’s its own history. You can just have gone to one, and it’s a lifelong memory.

“People always say it [going to the Olympics] will be ‘the dream of a lifetime.’ And sure enough, each and every time, it really is.”

Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango made history on Monday by winning his nation’s first-ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships with victory in the triple jump.

The 30-year-old jumped 17.64 meters in his fifth attempt to see off the competition in Budapest, Hungary.

“Look at my big, big, big smiling mouth,” Zango told reporters, per Reuters.

“It tells you everything. I had so many difficulties and doubts, I have been struggling a lot. I had to travel a very long way to get this gold medal.

“I am proud to be the man who keeps his word. I promised to make history and I did it tonight.”

World No. 2 Zango has been flirting with winning gold for quite some time.

He won bronze at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, before picking up silver at the 2022 edition.

He also won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2022.

“I cannot imagine the level of celebration in my country when I go back home, but I’m going to start the celebrations in Budapest,” Zango added.

“We have some troubles in our country now and it is an incredible mission to bring some positive emotions to them.”

Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez won silver with a 17.41-meters jump, edging out compatriot Cristian Napoles who picked up bronze with a jump of 17.40 meters.

Some of the files allegedly included confidential information such as play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and materials and more, according to the Knicks in the complaint.

Per the suit, the Raptors began to recruit Azotam, who worked for the team from October 2020 to August 2023 in several roles including, most recently, as a Director of Video/Analytics/Player Development Assistant, to join the franchise around the same time that the team named Rajaković as head coach in June of this year.

The lawsuit alleges that Rajaković and other Raptors personnel conspired with Azotam, while he was still employed by the Knicks, to act as a “mole” and funnel information to aid the rookie head coach “organize, plan, and structure the new coaching and video operations staff.”

After Azotam informed the Knicks he had received an offer of employment from the Raptors in July, he allegedly started to secretly forward the propriety information from his team account to his personal Gmail account, and then sharing it with the Raptors personnel, according to the complaint.

Furthermore, the Knicks allege that not only did the Raptors defendants know about what was going on but that they directed Azotam to misuse his access to the Knicks’ confidential files “to create and then transfer to the Raptors Defendants over 3,000 files consisting of film information and data,” according to the complaint.

The Knicks reveal in the suit that the team’s insider threat security team identified the theft on August 15, one day after Azotam’s last day with the team, with records showing that the stolen files were “accessed over 2,000 times by the Raptors Defendants.”

“MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from [Madison Square Garden] on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention,” said a statement from MLSE and the Raptors, according to ESPN.

“MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and to fully cooperate.”

“MLSE has not been advised that a lawsuit was being filed or has been filed following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties,” the statement reads, according to ESPN.

Among the damages, the Knicks are seeking that the Raptors personnel refrain from engaging in further acts of misappropriation of any of the Knicks propriety information, a judgement that the Raptors and Azotam’s violations and breaches were “willful and malicious” and for the former Knicks employee to “have no benefit as a result of his misappropriation and wrongful acts,” the suit says.

Spain’s Women’s World Cup heroes received a royal welcome on their return to Madrid, with Queen Letizia once again in attendance for the celebrations, as she was in Sydney for the final.

The team enjoyed an open-top bus parade through the Spanish capital, taking in the adulation of the tens of thousands of fans that had lined the streets wearing Spain’s famous red jersey.

Other fans twirled scarves above their heads or waved flags as the bus passed by, with the players dancing and waving back from the top of the bus.

The World Cup heroes eventually arrived at the Madrid Río Park, where a stage had been set up for the team to celebrate.

There was a particularly emotional moment soon after the players had taken to the stage when the team lifted defender Olga Carmona into the air.

Carmona, who scored the match-winning goal in the Women’s World Cup final, was told soon after the final whistle that her father had passed away.

Fans showed their support for the country’s newest sporting icon, chanting her name repeatedly as her teammates hoisted her aloft.

After speeches from the players and plenty more singing and dancing – including a singalong with Spanish singer Vicco – the celebrations eventually finished in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

There will have likely been some tired eyes when the players met Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, just a handful of hours later to have a photo taken with the trophy outside of the Moncloa Palace.

Many of the players are likely exhausted and sleep-deprived, but the celebrations for their historic achievement could go on for a few days yet.

US Men’s National Team captain Christian Pulisic scored a sensational goal on his debut for Italian side AC Milan on Monday night.

Pulisic, who joined the Rossoneri from Chelsea earlier in the summer, played a neat one-two with Olivier Giroud before rifling his effort into the back of the net.

The 24-year-old’s thunderous 21st-minute strike was the second of the night in AC Milan’s 2-0 victory over Bologna as the team began its Serie A campaign strongly.

“It just felt like the perfect step for my career, I feel really welcome and excited to be part of this club,” Pulisic told DAZN afterwards when asked about his move to Italy.

“For me, just a great start personally. Nice to get a goal, while a clean sheet and a win are always nice.”

Giroud scored Milan’s opening goal, tapping home from close range after just 11 minutes.

Following a disappointing Serie A title defense last season – though the Italians did reach the semifinals of the Champions League – AC Milan has recruited heavily this offseason in the hope of reclaiming the Scudetto.

Although midfield fulcrum Sandro Tonali has joined English Premier League side Newcastle United, Milan has reinvested the transfer fee to improve other areas of the squad.

Midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Luka Romero, Tijjani Reijnders and Yunus Musah, as well as forwards Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze, have all joined, though Pulisic is arguably the star acquisition.

After an underwhelming end to his time in London, where he made 145 appearances and scored 26 goals for Chelsea, Pulisic is hoping for a new lease of life in Italy.

“We want to fight to win this championship, of course, to compete for all the titles we can,” Pulisic said.

“Personally, it is to continue creating and scoring goals the way I did tonight and to help this team win titles.”

Milan manager Stefano Pioli said he never had any doubts about Pulisic’s abilities.

“I always knew Pulisic was a talent, this was never in doubt,” Pioli told DAZN. “In the phone call I had with him before he signed it was evident that he was bringing a lot of quality to the squad.”

Almost half of all deaths from tropical cyclones come from storm surge.

While many people focus on the storms’ wind speed, the bigger danger often comes from water flowing in from the ocean.

And storm surge accounts for nearly half of all hurricane-related fatalities, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the storm surge reached as high as 25 to 28 feet above normal tide levels. In Hurricane Ian in 2022, it reached as high as 18 feet in Southwest Florida.

All that water has nowhere to go

Storm surge also can exacerbate flooding. As water piles up along the coast, rivers and streams that typically drain into the ocean can get clogged farther upstream, forcing water levels to rise.

That water just doesn’t leave. Depending on how much water gets pushed ashore and the area’s watershed, it may hang around, causing further damage.

Due to the climate crisis, storm surge has become an even greater threat in recent years.

“Sea levels have risen in most places by about 1 foot over the past century. The higher baseline ocean level allows storm surges to reach even higher, increasing their destructive capabilities,” Miller said.

Rates of sea level rise are increasing as ocean temperatures climb to new highs every year, which will continue to increase the threat to coastal communities, especially during significant storms.

‘Reverse’ storm surge can be dangerous

“Reverse storm surge” also can happen during strong storms. This is when the water actually recedes away from the shoreline back into the ocean as winds push water out of shallow areas.

Just before a hurricane’s landfall, the water recedes along the coast as the storm’s winds blow from the land out toward the ocean, exposing land usually under water.

Ultimately, that water comes back onshore with much greater force, inundating coastal communities.

This can be dangerous because people often will go out to the bare or uncovered land to take photos, grab seashells, etc. But the water can come back in just as quickly as it went out, catching people off guard.

Hilary has triggered flooding, heavy rains and powerful gusts across parts of the western US and Mexico, transforming streets into raging rivers and forcing some residents to flee, and leaving others in need of rescue, even after the storm weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.

More rain was expected to fall throughout Monday and Tuesday as officials cleaned up the aftermath. After hitting Southern California on Sunday as a tropical storm – the state’s first since 1997 – Hilary headed into Nevada as its first-ever recorded tropical storm. As Hilary and its remnants moved up the western US, the storm brought power outages, flooding and calls for residents to evacuate or shelter in place.

Live updates: Hilary brings major flood risk to California

The storm broke rainfall records across Southern California: Palm Springs got nearly a year’s worth of rain with 4.3 inches in 24 hours, one of its rainiest days ever. Death Valley nearly set a record with 1.68 inches, and the Furnace Creek area, which usually gets about two-tenths of an inch in August, got 0.63 inches.

And the storm is the rainiest tropical storm system in Nevada’s history, nearly doubling the state’s 116-year-old all-time record, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center. Hilary has released 9.20 inches of rain on Lee Canyon, Nevada, smashing the previous record of 4.36 inches in 1906.

Hilary also became the rainiest tropical system in Idaho, Oregon and Montana history.

In Montana, Hilary dropped 2.3 inches of rain, breaking the record for the rainiest tropical system to hit the state set by Kathleen in 1976. In Oregon, 3.29 inches that fell on Morgan Mountain from Hilary broke the old record of 1.35 inches, also from Kathleen.

And the 3 inches of rain that fell on Dollarhide Summit, Idaho, from Hilary broke the record of 2.20 inches set by Olivia in 1982.

Localized flooding was possible into Tuesday morning across northern portions of the Intermountain West.

In Palm Springs, a section of Interstate 10 was shut down for part of Monday while road crews cleared mud left by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Hilary, but other routes in and out of the desert oasis near Joshua Tree National Park were open.

In addition, many freeway off-ramps were limited because of mud, and CalTrans crews are working to clear those in an effort to ease accessibility.

Emergency telephone service, which had been down since midmorning, has been restored, the police department said, but an outage continues to affect other areas of the Coachella Valley.

“With what we’re expecting, it may overwhelm us.”

Here’s the latest:

• Heavy rains and some flooding may continue Tuesday morning in parts of the Intermountain West, according to the National Hurricane Center. The rain will cause “mostly localized areas of flash flooding,” the National Weather Service Prediction Center said. Flood watches remained in place Monday night across seven Western states.

• Strong and gusty winds were expected in Nevada, western Utah, southern Idaho and southwest Montana, the hurricane center said. Coastal tropical storm warnings have been discontinued.

• Some portions of Southern California lost power during the storm but electricity was mostly restored by Monday evening. A total of about 41,000 customers in Los Angeles were without power at one point, Marty Adams, general manager and chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Monday.

• People in parts of Southern California should not travel unless they are fleeing an area under flooding or under an evacuation order, the National Weather Service has warned.

• Flooding, mudslides and downed trees and wires were widely reported across Southern California on Sunday and Monday. At least nine people were rescued Sunday in a San Diego riverbed, San Diego Fire-Rescue said, with water rescues also reported in Ventura County and Palm Springs.

• In Mexico, where the storm first landed, power has been restored to 80% of customers in the three states affected by Hilary, according to the national power company. “379,850 users have been affected, and electricity supply has been restored to 302,134, equivalent to 80%,” said the Federal Electricity Commission in a statement Monday.

To the west, Los Angeles and Ventura counties saw “considerable damage” Sunday night amid reports of dangerous flash flooding, and rock and mudslides, the National Weather Service said, adding up to half an inch of rain could fall per hour.

Cars were stuck in floodwaters in the Spanish Hills area, the National Weather Service reported.

Crowley urged residents to take precautions on the roads.

“A relatively small amount of water can sweep a vehicle away,” she said.

In Los Angeles, the worst of the storm was over as of Monday morning, according to officials. All weather warnings in the city were canceled. “We are past the brunt of the impact,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ariel Cohen.

First day of school is a wash for some students

Schools in San Diego and Los Angeles are set to reopen Tuesday after closing Monday in anticipation of the storm. Officials canceled classes for the more than 121,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the nation, also shut down Monday. The district spans about 700 square miles, meaning the impact of the storm varied for its students.

Schools in the Los Angeles district will reopen on Tuesday, according to superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

“Our teams have been scouring our schools, and so far, conditions are pretty good,” Carvalho said. A couple dozen schools have lost phone and internet service, and one school has been impacted by a minor mudslide.

“It would have been reckless for us to make a different decision,” Carvalho said of the decision to close schools Monday.

“Los Angeles was tested but we came through it and we came through it with minimal impacts, considering what we endured,” said Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian.

The Nye County School District in Nevada also canceled classes Monday, with plans to reopen Tuesday.

Cars stranded in roads deluged with mud and water

Once a hurricane, Hilary weakened as it made landfall Sunday in Mexico – where at least one person died – then crossed into the Golden State. The storm’s center was roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles around 8 p.m. local time Sunday, moving north with weakened 45-mph winds, according to the hurricane center.

The Los Angeles Fire Department fielded more than 4,000 emergency calls on Sunday and responded to about 1,800 incidents, Chief Kristin Crowley said in a news conference on Monday. The calls included a request for help for five cars stranded in a flooded intersection of Sun Valley. One person was safely rescued and no one was injured in the Sun Valley incident, Crowley said.

Flood water affected an underground power vault, leading to an outage for about 6,000 customers in the Beverly Grove area, with other outages reported in Hollywood, Hyde Park and Brentwood. The vast majority of city power customers remain unaffected by the storm, according to Los Angeles officials.

As the storm barreled through, covering roadways with debris and water, roads were blocked across Southern California by Sunday night. A section of Interstate 8 in Imperial County, east of San Diego, was closed Sunday after boulders came loose from an adjoining slope and fell into the road.

In San Bernardino County, a stretch of State Route 127 covered in floodwaters was closed, while a section of Interstate 15 was shuttered in Barstow because of downed power lines after a lightning strike, authorities said.

Crews across the region Sunday evening rescued people caught in the storm, including at least nine in a riverbed area in San Diego. “Crews are still looking for more people who may need help. #riverrescue,” San Diego Fire-Rescue said.

And Ventura County firefighters searched the Santa Clara River for people trapped in the waters on Sunday night, videos show.

The storm led to other disruptions across Southern California, with many parks, beaches and other locations closed as officials called on residents to stay indoors.

And Hilary continued to cause damage as it moved into Nevada. In Mt. Charleston, Nevada, the storm brought significant flooding on Monday morning, washing out the roadways. Residents are sheltering in place, the power is shut off, and the Nevada National Guard is on its way to assist, according to a Facebook post from Clark County.

West of Las Vegas, rushing water is flowing like a river down Echo Road, leaving vehicles stranded from Mary Jane Trailheads and Trail Canyon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency crews are evaluating and ask for people to stay out of the area, the service said.

Record rainfall in Southern California

California had been preparing for difficult conditions, positioning first responders across Southern California to brace for water rescues in flood-prone areas like wildfire burn scars and deserts amid fears areas unaccustomed to rain could suddenly receive a year’s worth or more, triggering flash floods and landslides.

Rainfall totals have been significant:

In California, Mount San Jacinto received 11.74 inches from Hilary as of Monday night, while Raywood Flats got 11.73 inches, and Heart Bar got 9.67 inches. In Nevada, Mt. Charleston received 7.80 inches and Lower Angel Peak recorded 6.52 inches.

Daily and monthly rainfall records were broken Sunday, with 1.53 inches falling in downtown Los Angeles, 1.56 inches in Long Beach and 2.95 inches in Palmdale, according to the weather service.

In Cathedral City, a desert community roughly a 110-mile drive east of Los Angeles, at least 14 people were rescued from a senior boarding care facility Monday afternoon after “a blockade” of mud trapped them inside, city spokesperson Ryan Hunt said.

All of the people rescued are doing well, Hunt said.

The fire department had to borrow a dozer truck from a recycling center so they could carry out the rescue, Hunt said. The department had firefighters sit in the dozer and then had those being rescued sit on top to be brought out of the structure, he added.

Despite the “unorthodox method,” everyone stayed calm, he said.

Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles, experienced steady rain for about 10 hours, with the storm dropping well over four inches of rain on the valley. Parts of Sand Canyon Road could be seen falling into rushing water.

ATTN DRIVERS: State Route 127 is now closed between Baker Blvd. in Baker (San Bernardino County) and Tecopa Hot Springs Road (Inyo County) due to flooding. @Caltrans9 maintenance crews are on scene. pic.twitter.com/fvcI9Vhss3

— Caltrans District 9 (@Caltrans9) August 21, 2023

As the storm continues to affect the West, officials with Oregon’s emergency management are bracing for possible flooding across portions of the state.

“We have reports of minor flooding currently and communities using sandbags to mitigate the impacts, but there have been no requests for state support at this point,” Crabb went on.

According to Crabb, the office is working with county and tribal partners.

Portions of Oregon are under a flood watch through Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

“The remnants of Hurricane Hilary will bring periods of moderate to heavy rain to portions of northeastern Oregon through Tuesday,” the weather service said in a forecast message.

A tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico has strengthened into a tropical storm as it continues to churn toward South Texas, where residents were bracing for heavy rain, flooding, powerful winds and dangerous rip currents Tuesday.

Tropical Storm Harold had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph around 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, when its center was about 195 miles east-southeast of Port Mansfield, Texas, the National Hurricane Center said. More than 1 million people are under tropical storm warnings.

Heavy rain and tropical-storm-force winds are expected over parts of South Texas Tuesday morning, and the latest track has the system making landfall south of Corpus Christi by midday.

The storm, which formed as a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico late Monday afternoon, is expected to dump 3 to 5 inches of rain – and up to 7 inches in some areas – across South Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday. Across Mexico, 4 to 6 inches of rain are expected.

Tropical storm conditions are expected, with winds of 40 to 50 mph lashing the region and rising waters moving inland from the shoreline and bringing floods, forecasters said. Storm surge of 1 to 3 feet is expected along the mouth of the Rio Grande to Sargent, Baffin Bay, Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay.

Life threatening surf and rip currents conditions are expected across Southern Texas Tuesday, and it’s possible the state will also see multiple tornadoes.

“The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the north of the landfall location, where the surge will be accompanied by large waves,” the hurricane center said.

South Beach and North Beach were closed for driving and camping Monday in anticipation of the storm’s arrival, Padre Island National Seashore officials said. The national seashore is located along a barrier island south of Corpus Christi.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Port O’ Connor, Texas, with tropical storm watches in effect from Port O’Connor to Sargent, Texas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard, swift water rescue boat squads, among other emergency resources ahead of the storm’s arrival. “Texas stands ready to deploy all available resources to South Texas as tropical storm conditions impact the region this week,” he said in a statement.

“I encourage Texans to remain weather-aware and heed the guidance of state and local officials and emergency management personnel as they work together to keep communities safe,” the governor added.

The storm threat is moving into southern Texas as the region continues to battle one of its hottest, driest summers on record.

While this tropical system’s rains could help quench parts of the drought-stricken state, some of the worst drought conditions – areas of extreme and exceptional drought in Central Texas – might miss out on much of the rain.

Corpus Christi officials told residents who must be outside during the incoming storm to drive slower than usual, turn on their headlights and be aware of possible flooding in low-lying areas.

Crews across the Corpus Christi area could be seen working Monday to prep critical canals and drainage infrastructure for the heavy rainfall.

About 40 miles northeast, the city of Port Aransas has declared a local state disaster on Monday ahead of impacts from the storm.

The city is “under the threat of imminent disaster, injury, or loss of life or property, resulting from a Tropical Storm, which will impact the coastal beaches of the City of Port Aransas Nueces County, Texas with flooding or severe damage,” the proclamation said.

Naval Air Station Kingsville ordered those in the RV Park on the installation to evacuate, while voluntary evacuations were called in Riviera, Baffin Bay and Loyola Beach, authorities said.

Meanwhile, AEP Texas, which delivers power to South Texas, said it is lining up crews, equipment and other resources in anticipation of possible power outages.

The system headed to Texas is the latest sign the Atlantic hurricane season is ramping up. Three tropical systems formed in 24 hours Saturday into Sunday, and the Texas storm marks the fourth.

On Sunday, Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Mexico before crossing into California, knocking out power, turning streets into raging rivers and forcing evacuations and water rescues.

Conditions in the Gulf of Mexico are ripe for tropical development. Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are warmer than they’ve ever been on record, according to analysis of NOAA data by hurricane expert Michael Lowry.

Two tropical storms are lined up in the Atlantic Basin, including Tropical Storm Franklin, which is set to impact Hispaniola by mid-week.

Franklin’s center had sustained winds of 50 mph as of 11 p.m. ET Monday, located over the Caribbean about 275 miles south of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is expected to make a hard turn to the north by Tuesday morning and make landfall in Hispaniola Wednesday.

A large red cargo ship named Pyxis Ocean set out on its maiden voyage this month. But unlike most others before it, this one is powered, in part, by wind.

The ship, chartered by US shipping firm Cargill, has been retrofitted with two WindWings – large steel sails 37.5 meters (123 foot) tall, designed by UK company BAR Technologies and produced by industrialization partner Yara Marine Technologies.

The wings are expected to generate emissions savings of up to 30%. If used in combination with alternative fuels, developers say that the savings would be even higher.

The voyage, which began in China and is currently headed towards Brazil, will put the technology to the test.

Wind power

The shipping industry produces more than one billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, accounting for nearly 3% of human-caused global emissions. In July, the sector pledged to reduce its planet-heating pollution to net zero “by or around 2050.” The use of wind is one way towards this. While it’s not a new concept (sailing ships date back more than 5,000 years) new wind assisted propulsion technologies have been making an appearance in recent years.

Huge kites and rotor technologies have been tried on cargo ships in attempts to reduce their dependence on diesel. But according to the International Windship Association, there are only around 20 large commercial vessels equipped with wind propulsion operating today.

The entrance of Cargill – one of the world’s largest agricultural traders, transporting around 225 million tons of commodities each year – could be influential.

Scaling up

One of the major benefits of the WindWings project, which is co-funded by the European Union, is that it offers a retrofit solution that could help to reduce the carbon emissions of existing vessels. According to Cargill, 55% of the world’s cargo fleets are up to nine years old.

Not only do the wings help to reduce the emissions of the ship, they will also help vessel owners meet new industry rules on energy efficiency, and save money by cutting fuel consumption, according to Cargill. The company says that on an average global route, WindWings can save 1.5 metric tons of fuel per wing per day, with the possibility of saving more on trans-ocean routes. The firm notes that this could become even more important when using greener future fuels (such as ammonia and methanol), which are expected to cost more.

Experts have noted that for wind-assisted technologies to become widespread, their cost must be in line with the fuel savings they provide.

The WindWings are made from steel and glass composite, and before the ship enters a port or passes under a bridge, they can be folded on deck to avoid collisions. They were fitted onto Pyxis Ocean in Shanghai, before the ship traveled to Singapore, where it was loaded with fuel and officially launched.

The performance of the wings will be carefully monitored along the route so that improvements can be made to the design before it is produced at scale.

Cooper says that BAR Technologies already has other contracts in the works, including a vessel chartered by Vale that is equipped with four WindWings and is scheduled to set sail from Shanghai in September.

“We look forward to supporting the global shipping industry as it transitions to greener, cleaner propulsion and design,” he says.

Air travel between the Hermit Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom is possible once again.

Air Koryo flight JS151 from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, arrived at Beijing’s PEK airport on Tuesday at 9:17 a.m. local time, according to the Beijing Capital International Airport website.

This is the first known international commercial flight to leave North Korea since the country closed its borders in January 2020, after deciding to cut almost all contact with the outside world to prevent an influx of coronavirus cases.

The resumption of North Korean flag carrier Air Koryo’s regular flights between China and the DPRK was approved by Chinese authorities amid the changes in Chinese covid travel restrictions in January, according to a statement by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The one-hour flights travel between Pyongyang and the southeastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for a summit in 2019.