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Saints drop fourth straight game in blowout loss at home to Buccaneers [Video]
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Saints drop fourth straight game in blowout loss at home to Buccaneers [Video]

SAINTS COACH DENNIS ALLEN”Just a couple of injury deals to make you guys aware of. Chris Olave is in the concussion protocol, and Tyrann Mathieu had a forearm injury and did not return to the game. Those are the injuries that I am aware of to this point. I am thoroughly disappointed in the game. It was not acceptable. It was not good enough. It wasn’t good enough from a coaching standpoint. It wasn’t good enough from a playing standpoint. We’ve got a lot of getting better to do, and we’ve got a short time to do it. We need to get some guys healthy, but we’ve got to play better than we did today in all areas.”On the defensive issues:”We didn’t tackle. I think that was the biggest thing. I thought our tackling was atrocious in the game. When you don’t tackle, you give up explosive plays, you give up big plays. It just kind of snowballed on us a little bit, but it was not good enough.”On the yardage given up:”We have to tackle better. I thought that was the biggest thing in the game. We didn’t tackle in the game. Look, make no mistake about it, when it comes to the defense, that’s on me. I have to do a better job with our guys. I have to make sure we understand what we’re doing. If we have to do more tackling drills or if we have to whatever the case may be, but it was not a good defensive performance at all. That needs to be an area that we can count on. It’s been an area that we can count on, but right now it’s not.”On Spencer Rattler’s performance:”Overall, I thought he did some good things. There were some encouraging things, some things he’s going to learn from, from a mistake standpoint on his part. I don’t think we did enough around him to help him. It was hard for us to be able to run the football. I thought they really won the interior part of the line of scrimmage, really probably on both sides of the ball on the line of scrimmage. I thought he did some things really well early in the game, in particular the first half. In the second half, it kind of went on. I thought they started pressuring him a little bit more. We weren’t able to be as good in protection, which made it a little more challenging for him.”On any commonalities in the problems with the tackling:”Part of it is angles. It’s technique. It’s wrapping up. There are a lot of fundamental things that were not good enough with tackling. I think it starts with leverage and angles. That’s where it starts, then the fundamentals of actually making a tackle. We have to do a better job of wrapping up, but that’s two weeks in a row that we haven’t done a good job of tackling. That’s probably our biggest concern. You talk about explosive plays, and a lot of those come on underneath plays that become explosive plays.”On if the tackling can be resolved ahead of Thursday’s game against the Broncos:”It’s something we better fix in four days.”On if there is a reason why defense has been struggling:”I don’t really know. You know what I mean? I don’t have that answer right now as to what that challenge is. One of the areas it starts with is being able to put yourself in a position to be able to get off the field. When you get off the field, you play less plays. I think that’s part of our issue too.”On tackling technique vs. effort:”I think it’s a combination of both. I think later on in the game, we could have attacked the ball carrier a little more. We will look at the tape, but it was not good enough. I have to do a better job.”On how to refocus on Thursday night:”You’re probably a little too early to ask me that question.”On the mind-set of the team amid the injuries:”It’s challenging, but we can’t sit here and sulk and moan. We have to figure out how we’re going to get better. I told the team we have to get better, and have a short period of time to do it. Everybody needs to look at themselves coaches, players, everybody and make sure we’re doing everything we possibly can to get this thing going in the right direction because right now, it’s not where we want it to be.”On the effort of the team:”I’m saying we missed a lot of tackles, and need to do a better job of tackling.”On coaching and schematic changes:”We made a couple of changes as the game went on in terms of how we were setting up front in terms of how we were setting up front to try to deal with some of the run plays we were getting. We played poorly, and when you do that, obviously you have to look at yourself as a coach, myself, all the coordinators, position coaches. I think we all need to look at ourselves and see how we can be better. That’s what we will do this week.”On Johnathan Abram’s attempt to call a timeout:”The officials didn’t see it. It happened right about the time the snap was being made. I don’t think anyone really saw it in time to get the timeout called.”On the decision to stick with the corners on the sides:”We matched them the first game last year, and then the second game, we didn’t match. I think we have confidence in our guys. I didn’t feel like that was the challenge today. I felt the challenge was the underneath throws that became long plays and the running plays that became long plays because we didn’t do as good of a job getting them (to the) ground as we needed to.”On the pressure:”There was a lot to be frustrated about. There are not a lot of areas other than having three takeaways in the game there weren’t a lot of areas defensively we can say were good. I want to go back to the drawing board and figure out how we can be better.”On the team morale’s on the sideline:”I think all the way through the first half, our guys were in it, our guys were excited (and) our guys kept battling. Even with losing guys like Chris Olave, who I think’s an important part of what we do, and Tyrann Mathieu and some of those guys, I thought our guys fought. There was a lot of energy in the building at that time. It really didn’t start to snowball until the second half.”On his extra advice for Spencer Rattler ahead of his first start:”Nothing other than just go out there and play. You know what I mean? Let’s don’t put too much pressure on this deal. Just go out and do what you’ve been doing since you were (points) that high (young). Then go have fun doing it. Look, I thought early on in the game, I thought he did some really good things. I think as the game went on, the score changed and things became more difficult.”On if he will stick with starting Rattler at quarterback:”Yeah, that’s my intention.”QUARTERBACK SPENCER RATTLEROn his touchdown pass to Bub Means:”I was definitely happy on how Bub was playing. It was kind of quiet these first four or five games. He’s been grinding in practice. We’ve been talking about when your time comes to make those plays. I was happy for him. I think that he was one of our leading receivers and he made some big-time plays. We all just have to play better as a group.”On losing Chris Olave early:”It was tough. He’ll tell you himself that it is next man up mentality. It’s unfortunate to see your top guy go down really early in the game. I hope it’s a speedy recovery. I hope that he is back fully healthy. It’s tough. We really wanted to get him involved in this game.”On the pressure Tampa Bay was bringing in the second half:”I caused a few of those sacks. The offensive line fought their butts off all day. They played really well. I thought we did some things to help them up front. I just need to continue to work that pocket and get the ball out. I have to give credit to their defense. They played really well in the second half.”On if he felt comfortable with the bootlegs:”Yes, it worked really well in the first half. We were pinning those edges and really getting them on the fakes. That gives you a lot of space and take some pressure off your offensive line definitely early in the game. Stuff was coming open. I thought the tight ends did an amazing job of feeling that space and that zone in the first half. We were making plays of it in the keeper game. We’ll be better. We have to get back to the drawing board and get back to work.”On his emotions:”It felt very calm. It was fun to be out there. It felt really good. I definitely have a lot of stuff to clean up after my first start. I’m going to be better.”On the speed of the game:”Football is football at the end of the day. Every week you are going to play the best guys in the world. We have to execute. We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. I have to be better. We have to be better.”Bub Means on his first career TD | Saints-Buccaneers PostgameRECEIVER BUB MEANSOn the connection with Spencer Rattler:”It just carried over. We had confidence with each other. We had chemistry, so we just went out there and balled. I knew eventually that I would get an opportunity. When my opportunity came I made the play. That’s a blessing. I can never complain about getting an opportunity to play. I just go out there and compete.”On who keeps the ball on the touchdown reception:”I don’t know. We have to figure that out. I forgot about that. It was (Spencer Rattler’s) first touchdown too. I’m proud of him.”Paulson Adebo on 2Q turnovers, Saints defense | Saints-Buccaneers PostgameCORNERBACK PAULSON ADEBOOn what led to the uncharacteristic defensive performance:”We didn’t execute as high as we can. I think every single one of us needs to look ourselves in the mirror starting with me personally. I need to look at myself in the mirror and see what I can do better. How can I have more of an impact on the game? The good thing is that we play quick on Thursday, so we can get the bad taste out of our mouth. There is a lot for us to work on.”On the missed tackles:”The missed tackles were definitely a problem. It is one of those things that we are going to have to look to get fixed before Thursday.”On why the game turned out the way that it did:”Tackles are a part of it. Anytime that you can’t get someone on the ground (it is a problem). It starts with me and the whole defense. I wouldn’t question the effort. Personally, I need to look at myself in the mirror and I will.”On keeping the spirit up:”It’s a long season. We don’t want to have this type of game happen again. We will get to Thursday and we’ll play a lot better. That’s our whole focus right now.”DEFENSIVE BACK JOHNATHAN ABRAMOn if fundamentals were an issue today and can they get fixed:”Of course. You wouldn’t be here as a pro if you didn’t have the fundamentals to tackle. We are all pros. Those guys get paid, so kudos to those guys. They came out and played hard. They outexecuted us today. That’s morseo of what it is. The backs ran hard. The quarterback had a few turnovers, but besides that he played well.”On cleaning up the missed tackles:”We need to make a conscious effort to get 11 guys to the ball. We need to be where we are supposed to be. We need to clean up our angles and approaches. We need to get the guy down. That’s something that we need to work on, but we will get better.”On what they could have done to carry the momentum from the second quarter:”Execution. Football is not a hard sport. They call a play on offense. We call a defense. It’s all about who executes the best. Oftentimes, you don’t see a guy lose because the guy was so much better than the other one. If it is a blown coverage, then it looks a lot worse compared to a guy being near and making a catch. That is why it is a 50-50. We just have to do a better job of executing in the second half. The first half we got off to a slow start and then we started executing well. We just got away from it in the second half.”

Recent hurricanes highlight gaps in flood insurance system [Video]
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Recent hurricanes highlight gaps in flood insurance system [Video]

Back-to-back hurricanes left behind widespread flood damage across the Southeast, exposing significant gaps in the flood insurance system.There are questions about the financial stability of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the countrys largest provider, and many Americans impacted by Hurricanes Milton and Helene dont have coverage. “A majority of the population that gets impacted probably won’t have flood insurance and will probably be reliant on much smaller individual assistance and disaster grants from FEMA,” said Jeremy Porter, who leads climate implications research for the First Street Foundation.We analyzed public data on existing NFIP policies and the U.S. Census Bureaus most recent tally of housing units to estimate coverage levels by state. In North Carolina, which saw some of the worst flooding from Helene, only about 3% of homes are actively insured through the federal governments program. NFIP coverage rates are even lower for mountainous, inland areas like Buncombe County, home to hard-hit Asheville. In Florida, where residents in parts of the state are recovering from both Milton and Helene, NFIP uptake is around 17%.Experts say there are several reasons for low coverage, from outdated flood maps that underestimate risk to a lack of awareness. Flood is not part of a regular homeowner’s insurance policy, Porter said. Tom and Marsha James, whose home in Venice, Florida was damaged by recent storms, said they looked into flood insurance but found it unaffordable.”They really kind of practically price you out of it. They make it impossible,” Marsha James said. Porter says participation in the National Flood Insurance Program dropped significantly after premiums increased for some policyholders. The new pricing scheme, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was designed to more accurately reflect a propertys flood risk and address a funding problem. “The National Flood Insurance Program has over 20 billion dollars in debt,” said Chris Graham, a senior industry analyst at AM Best.FEMA says the program has been in the red since 2005 following years of major flooding events. Annual losses skyrocketed in 2017 after Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Irma. Its still unclear if a surge in claims from recent storms could push the program past its borrowing limit. Laura Peavy, a spokesperson for the House Financial Services Committee, said NFIP currently has approximately $5 billion in cash on hand and $9.9 billion in borrowing authority remaining. “We’re watching very closely the impact on the National Flood Insurance Program to make sure that we can continue to pay these claims,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told us in a press briefing on Thursday. FEMA didnt respond to follow-up questions sent via email, including whether Congress would need to return to Capitol Hill before the election to shore up the flood insurance program.The agency provided a statement from Jeff Jackson, the interim Senior Executive of the NFIP, saying, The NFIP has never failed to pay an eligible claim and is committed to working with Congress, if necessary, to ensure that our valued customers can recover quickly and comprehensively. Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican from flood-prone Louisiana, said he has no doubt that lawmakers will help both insured and uninsured Americans recover. “I give you full assurances that Congress will come in and provide additional assistance but what this really does is it highlights some of the fundamental problems with the flood insurance program. It really does need to be revamped,” Graves said. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) has been working on long-term solutions, from tax relief proposals to expanding alternatives to government flood insurance. I have a variety of proposals to create a private insurance market so hopefully our costs can come down, Scott said. In the short term, FEMA is taking steps to help those recovering from recent storms. For survivors of Helene, the agency is extending the grace period for policy renewal without imposing consequences for lapses in coverage. FEMA says policyholders with flood damage should also ask their insurance agent about advance claims payments to kick-start their recovery. Some may be eligible for up to $20,000 prior to a visit from an adjuster. Officials say affected individuals should begin filing their claims now. Evacuated policyholders can begin the process and provide specifics later once local officials say its safe to return home.As for the uninsured, FEMA says there is financial assistance available for property losses but it won’t go as far as a flood insurance policy. Learn more here.

Biden announces new funding to shore up electric grid in areas impacted by Milton, Helene [Video]
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Biden announces new funding to shore up electric grid in areas impacted by Milton, Helene [Video]

President Joe Biden announced $612 million on Sunday for six projects to improve electric grid reliability in areas hard-hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton.Biden is expected to detail those resiliency efforts during a visit to St. Petersburg, Florida, which is recovering from back-to-back disasters.Taken together, the storms knocked out power for more than 8 million people in less than two weeks, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Ahead of Biden’s trip Sunday, the tracking website PowerOutage.us said more than one million people across the Southeast were still without electricity. The White House says a massive restoration effort is ongoing. “Fifty thousand power line workers from 43 states and the country of Canada have stepped up,” President Biden said on Friday. The Biden administration’s push to shore up the electric grid comes as disruptions are on the rise. The research group Climate Central says weather-related power outages have almost doubled in the last decade compared to the ten years prior. The $612 million investment Biden announced Sunday is part of the $10.5 billion dedicated to electric grid resiliency in the bipartisan infrastructure law, which passed in 2021. “We’ve already gotten the majority of that money out the door, 65 different projects all across the country to build more resiliently,” Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk said in an interview. Turk said those projects include replacing wooden electrical poles with concrete ones and burying overhead transmission lines underground. “We need to do a lot more of that and the storms are, unfortunately, only getting more intense,” Turk added.Without further action to improve the grid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, climate change could increase the risk of hurricane-induced power outages in some places, according to projections from EPRI, an independent, non-profit energy R&D institute.”Some areas might see a doubling of the number of power outages experienced in a given decade in a future climate,” said Andrea Staid, principal technical leader for EPRI’s Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group. In some metro areas, like Miami, Houston and Boston, EPRI’s models found the risk is even higher. “Most utilities understand they have growing risks from hurricanes. We hope this is just material that can be used to try to more systematically approach those risk,” Staid said.

Floridians return home to clean up from two hurricanes with gas and power in short supply [Video]
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Floridians return home to clean up from two hurricanes with gas and power in short supply [Video]

Surrounded by the damage left behind by hurricanes Helene and Milton, people across Florida are facing the daunting task of cleaning up, but many lack the electricity and fuel to do it.Related video above: Federal government combats misinformation amid hurricane recoveryHampered by roads blocked by fallen trees and flooding, fuel suppliers and power companies are working to get the infrastructure of daily life back up and running and police are aiding recovery efforts by providing escorts to fuel tankers trying to reach those most in need.President Joe Biden will visit Florida to survey the damage after the storm, the White House announced. On Sunday morning, he will take an aerial tour to see some of the most heavily damaged areas, meet with first responders, and speak in St. Petersburg.Here’s the latest: Gas stations still waiting for fuel: Just under 30% of the state’s gas stations have no fuel as of early Sunday, according to the monitoring website GasBuddy.com. In the hard-hit Tampa-St. Petersburg area, more than three-quarters of stations, 77%, are out of gas. In the Sarasota area, 62%. Around Ft. Myers and Naples area, it’s 42%, and in the Orlando area, 35%. More than 37.3 million gallons of fuel have been offloaded at Florida ports, according to Kevin Guthrie, director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management. “We have right now 25 Florida Highway Patrol escorts to rush in the fuel tankers from the port, and so those are being brought in to fill out the stations,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. Three public fuel sites in Plant City, Bradenton and St. Petersburg have been opened, where customers can receive 10 gallons of gas each for free. The governor said more will be opened on Sunday in Charlotte, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Power is gradually being restored: As of early Sunday, 1.25 million people remained out of power across the state, down from a peak of nearly 3 million. Crews from across the country are working to reconnect homes and businesses to the grid. The power companies are estimating most people will have electricity by midweek. St. Petersburg offers gas and charging stations: The city of St. Petersburg has set up temporary stations to help residents in need, with a place to charge their phones and pick up essentials like bottled water, batteries and tarps. The city remains under a boil water notice due to multiple line breaks and 25 crews are on the streets picking up debris. “We have weathered two storms in less than two weeks. This is unprecedented from a debris standpoint but it’s still our top priority to get our city cleaned up and resume to some type of normalcy,” said Mike Jefferis, city enrichment administrator. President Biden approves major disaster declaration: President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the state on Saturday, according to FEMA. “Federal disaster assistance is available to the state of Florida to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Milton” from October 5 onward, a FEMA news release stated. Biden’s approval makes funding available for people in more than 30 counties impacted by Milton, according to the release. The funds include grants for temporary housing and home repairs.Flooding continues to slow down recoveryOngoing flooding issues after Milton dumped 16 inches of rain over Hillsborough County has hindered the area’s recovery from the storm, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Saturday.”The water doesn’t subside as rapidly as all of us would like, so, this healing, this recovery, is taking a lot longer,” Chronister said.Meanwhile, the National Weather Service office in Tampa Bay continued flood warnings for rivers in Hillsborough, Sarasota and Manatee counties and several other locations Saturday, with some set to remain in effect “until further notice,” according to the weather service.The Alafia River in Lithia, Florida, and the Hillsborough River, both in the Tampa area, remained at major flood stage by early Sunday.A CNN crew touring the Hillsborough County neighborhood of Valrico with the sheriff’s office on Saturday observed widespread flooding for several blocks, leaving front yards and garages covered in water. Some residents told them they’d never seen such severe flooding in their decades of living there.Chronister said Saturday Hillsborough County’s crews performed more than 300 rescues within 48 hours, adding teams are working around the clock.Drivers seek relief amid gas shortageDozens of Florida drivers likely low on fuel for days waited in lengthy lines Saturday outside gas stations in hopes of filling their tanks and cans, as shortages in the state’s hard-hit areas persisted.Some people told CNN they’ve had to use word of mouth to find out which stations have gas. Drone footage Saturday morning showed long lines of drivers hugging both sides of Thornton’s gas station in Oldsmar in Pinellas County.One of those lines made of at least 20 drivers stretched across the intersection while letting other drivers travel through, a video showed. But relief was en route Saturday for some stations, including at a Wawa in Valrico, Florida, where Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies escorted a gas tanker truck as several drivers awaited the chance to use the pumps.A man standing outside his parked white pickup truck punched a grateful thumbs-up into the air as the tanker pulled in, video showed. Paula Cast told CNN her family visited four or five different gas stations Friday, but everything was closed.Then on Saturday, they got a call from one of their friends saying a Wawa station had gas. “So me and my son immediately ran over here, and we’ve been in line for about an hour and a half, literally on fumes,” Cast said.CNN’s Sam Fossum contributed to this report.

Cal Shakes Theater’s 50-year history could end [Video]
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Cal Shakes Theater’s 50-year history could end [Video]

Cal Shakes Theater has been a landmark in the hills of Orinda for generations of theater-goers, local actors and production workers. On Friday, crews were wrapping up the stage for the winter season, and facing what could be the end of that Bay Area tradition. Declining revenue, donations, and grant funding has made it untenable to continue without a sudden infusion of funds.