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After Idalia, fears of disaster-relief money running out · Apple News Today

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  Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning! It's Thursday, August 31st. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today's show, concerns that federal aid money could run out as Hurricane Idalia and other disasters strike. After the wildfire, Maui grapples with the pros and cons of the tourism economy, and the Swedish custom that might bring a little peace and comfort to your family.
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  But first, let's take a quick look at some other stories that are in the news. New York's attorney general says former president Donald Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion. The AG is asking for a summary judgment in the civil suit against Trump's businesses. It's seeking $250 million and for the Trump family to be disqualified from running businesses in New York. A trial is set for October. As in other court cases against him, Trump has denied wrongdoing here.
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  In Johannesburg, dozens of people are dead following an overnight fire in a large building. South African officials were not immediately clear on what caused the fire.
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  Here in the States, this week's deadly shooting at UNC is a reminder of how gun violence can terrorize tens of thousands of people, when a large campus is put on lockdown. The student newspaper “The Daily Tar Heel” is getting a lot of attention for a striking front page that covered the shooting. It was this enormous block of text in all caps, of frantic messages that students sent and received as they were hiding from the gunman. The paper's editor-in-chief Emmy Martin spoke to “MSNBC” about the decision to publish it.
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  Emmy Martin: So many students were scared, I was scared in lockdown, didn't know if we were safe, hands were shaking, pulse was racing. But that night, looking through all the messages that I'd received that day and seeing so many other students receiving texts saying, “are you safe, there's someone dead, where are you?” I just figured this is such a universal experience on this campus an on campuses where there have been shootings, that we had to put this on our front page.
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  Turning now to labor news, a new rule proposed by the Biden administration would make millions more workers eligible for overtime pay. Currently, some non-hourly employees in some roles can't get overtime pay unless they make less than $35,568 a year. The new rule would raise that number to $55,000. It's not finalized until a comment period is over. And it could face legal challenges from businesses.
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  In sports, the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team is now in the history books, packing in a record of more than 92,000 fans in the school's football stadium. The crowd went nuts when the announcer gave the total attendance.
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  [START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  [CHEERING]
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  Announcer: 9-2-0-0-3
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  That makes last night's game versus Omaha the largest attendance for a women's sporting event in history.
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  Multiple states are dealing with widespread power outages, damage and flooding, as Idalia tore through Florida and brought severe weather to Georgia and the Carolinas on its way to the Atlantic.
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  Early damage estimates for Hurricane Idalia are in the billions of dollars, possibly tens of billions. The federal government has a Disaster Relief Fund to help rebuilding. But all of that money is set to run out this fall if Congress can not agree on how to replenish the fund.
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  “Inside Climate News” reports that political gridlock is holding up the process. House Republicans want to pull back on government spending. FEMA says communities need relief money because disasters are becoming more common and more intense. And they're hitting places that weren't typically in danger in the past. FEMA says the disaster relief fund could reach a $4.2 billion deficit soon, just as hurricanes and wildfires are peaking.
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  This week the Biden administration announced nearly $3 billion in funding to help communities prepare for extreme weather. But that money is geared toward prevention, so it will not help communities recover from the many disasters so far this year.
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  “Inside Climate News” explains, if Congress does not replenish the Disaster Relief Fund soon, FEMA is going to be forced into a difficult position deciding which disaster efforts to prioritize and fund, and which to postpone.
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  One of the year's deadliest disasters was the Maui wildfires. They killed at least 115 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes and buildings. Since the fires, there's been a debate brewing about whether tourists should stay away and let the area recover or whether their dollars are actually needed more than ever. Julia Wick is covering the story for the “Los Angeles Times.”
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  Julia Wick: Tourism is the driving force of Maui's economy. Pretty much everywhere you go, typically on Maui, this was not the case immediately after the fire, but typically on Maui you're seeing tourists, they are, you know, everywhere on the island.
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  The worst fire damage was in West Maui, where there's an estimated economic loss of $9 million each day, with many businesses closed and no tourists in the area. Many hotels on that part of the island are closed to visitors, because they're housing people who lost their homes. And on other parts of the island, far from Lahaina, business has disappeared, because tourists have canceled their plans. Hotels, restaurants, and tour operators are having to let waves of employees go.
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  Wick: There's been layoffs, people are having their hours cut. Two weeks after the fire, there were about 4,500 new unemployment claims filed on the island. And in a place where, you know, the adult population is about 130,000 people. That is a staggering number of unemployment claims.
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  The “L.A. Times” spoke to dozens of tourism workers. They are forced to deal with the immediate trauma of the fires, but also fears about the long-term economic impact.
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  Wick: Descript Many people who are really worried about their jobs are also people who may have lost their homes in the fire or have family members who lost their homes. Some people even lost family members. So, it's sort of a case of these two very intense things going on at once and the people who are worried about jobs are not necessarily in a separate camp, and the people who are worried about kind of the more profound losses from the fire.
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  And Wick says that's something to keep in mind if you plan to travel to Hawaii anytime soon. A lot of locals want you there, to help revive the economy. But they also want people to be mindful that they're going through profound loss. Wick told us about what locals hope that visitors can understand.
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  Wick: Be aware that even if you are in an area that is physically unaffected, the people you're talking to, the person who's working at your hotel, the person who's you know serving you lunch very likely has a personal connection to the fires. So, you know, be aware about how you're speaking about your vacation in the supermarket checkout line. Be kind to people. Be patient, be really aware that the whole island is grieving.
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  Finally, we're going to talk about a story about what we leave behind for our families, and how we can make it easier for them. When “Washington Post” columnist Michael Coren's mom died, she left behind a will and a seemingly tidy space. Coren didn't think it would take too much time to go though her items.
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  Michael Coren: And it turned out that there was more than we really had ever imagined, despite being such a small space. And so for days and actually weeks, even months, we ended up just going through all the things and trying to get rid of them and trying to figure out why she had so much stuff. And this is something that I've heard from many people, not just from readers, but from friends. And it seems to have become quite a common occurrence.
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  Coren's been reporting on a process meant to ease the burden on your family and friends after you're gone, by getting rid of your stuff now. It sounds a little weird translated into English. It's called, Swedish death cleaning.
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  Coren: So, Swedish death cleaning, I believe it's pronounced dostagning, is basically not about just clearing out closets. It's really about rethinking your relationship with things. So, instead of just making do with less, it's really about understanding why something is important. And by doing so, allowing yourself to let it go or to hold on to it because it actually matters.
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  This is an idea that a lot of people are connecting with these days, similar to what Marie Kondo preaches. But even if you get the philosophy behind it, it can be hard to actually throw stuff away. Research shows that we see our possessions as extensions of ourselves. It's the reason that it can feel SO difficult to part with an old keychain or a notebook from high school. Swedish death cleaning encourages us to determine what's not important and to let it go. And it encourages you to give people items that are important to you while you are still alive. Swedish death cleaning has inspired a best-selling book and there is now a reality TV show about it.
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  Coren heard from a woman from Texas. She had spent a lot of time downsizing her parents' home and realized that so many of their possessions hadn't been used in years. She decided she wouldn't leave her children with the same burden.
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  Coren: And so, she spent six months going through and selling or donating and tossing everything. And at the end, she says, it was liberating. Now life is much simpler, and the clutter is gone and I heard story after story about that.
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  All of this might seem a little overwhelming, so we asked Coren to share some tips.
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  Coren: The key I think is just to start with the easy things. I've heard from others who are essentially put things in a box and if a year they haven't opened that box, the box goes out of the house or they might put it in their closet and they might turn the hanger one direction and if it hasn't been turned the other direction at the end of the year, off it goes.
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  Decluttering won't just help your loved ones feel less burdened in the future, it may also bring you a lot of happiness. And getting rid of clutter can reduce your stress and anxiety.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around.
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  We've got a narrated article coming up next from “Sports Illustrated.” As the college football season gets underway, there's one essential job that's getting tougher to fill, the refs. It's getting harder in part because people don't want abuse from fans. But without trained officials, the sport could be in trouble.
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  That story is cued up to play for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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