South Korea’s tourism, soft power gains, at risk from extended political crisis

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — From plastic surgery clinics to tour firms and hotel chains, South Korea’s hospitality sector is wary of the potential impact of a protracted political crisis, as some overseas travelers cancel trips following last week’s brief bout of martial law.

South Korea’s travel and tourism industry, which generated $59.1 billion in 2023, around 3.8% of GDP, has held up through previous bumps in the road, including a 2016 presidential impeachment and periodic tensions with North Korea.

But more than a dozen hospitality and administrative sources said the army’s involvement in the latest political crisis was a serious development that could deter leisure and business travel, when the sector is approaching a full recovery in visitor numbers, which stood at 97% of pre-COVID levels as of October.

“There are concerns that safety issues in Seoul would throw cold water on the tourism industry,” Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon said on Wednesday while meeting tourism industry officials to discuss a fall in travel demand.

“There is a growing number of examples of foreign tourists canceling visits to Seoul and shortening their stays,” Oh said, before declaring “Seoul is safe,” in English, Chinese and Japanese to the media.

Daily life and tourist activities have continued as usual, despite ongoing large protests, since President Yoon Suk Yeol rescinded his six hours of martial law on December 4 after parliament voted it down, with analysts noting that South Korea’s institutional checks and balances seem to be holding up.

Some tourists have since canceled bookings, albeit not in great numbers, while others are enquiring whether they could pull out should the situation change, travel and hospitality sources said.

Accor hotel group, which includes the Fairmont and Sofitel brands, said it noted a “slight increase” in cancellation rates since December 3, around 5% higher than in November.

The Korea Tourism Start-up Association said on Friday bookings for the first half of 2025 already had seen a sharp decline.

Rooms in previously fully booked hotels in the capital, Seoul, have become available due to cancellations with some hotels “even lowering their rates and offering special deals to attract more bookings,” said an inbound travel agency that asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

A plastic surgery clinic in Seoul’s upmarket Gangnam neighborhood also said some foreign patients had canceled visits since the martial law incident.

“We are not worried now, but if this situation continues, that would have an impact on foreign visitors,” a clinic representative said, declining to be named.

South Korea is a top global destination for medical and plastic surgery tourism.

Soft power

The latest political crisis also threatens to deal a major blow to the country’s brand, which has been improving thanks to Korean culture and economic success, said Kim Wou-kyung, head of a government brand promotion agency.

The explosion to global prominence of South Korean drama, music and beauty, known as the “Korean Wave,” plus a reputation for safety, and global brands such as Samsung, are key forms of soft power that the government leverages to grow tourist numbers.

South Korea hopes to almost double the number of annual tourists by 2027 from 2019 levels, to 30 million.

Part of the strategy also is to focus on group business travel for events including conferences and exhibitions, a sector known as MICE tourism, which could be impacted if the political crisis continues into early next year, said Ha Hong-kook, secretary-general at Korea MICE Association.

The parliament plans to vote on a motion to impeach Yoon on Saturday, a week after its first impeachment vote was defeated.

“If we get through this immediate, unprecedented period … into a clear route to new elections, then I think actually the impact won’t be that bad,” said Andrew Gilholm, director at risk consultancy Control Risks Group.

He said the country’s reputation “might even be improved” long-term by displaying how it comes through the problems.

Su Shu, founder of Chinese firm Moment Travel in Chengdu, is also sanguine about travel demand for South Korea.

“No matter where there is chaos, there will be people who dare not go,” Su said.

China is the largest source of foreign visitors to South Korea, followed by Japan and the U.S.  
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New data finds fewer US grandparents are taking care of grandchildren

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Fewer grandparents were living with and taking care of grandchildren, there was a decline in young children going to preschool and more people stayed put in their homes in the first part of the 2020s compared to the last part of the 2010s, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday, reflecting some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest figures from the most comprehensive survey of American life compares the years of 2014-18 and 2019-23, timeframes before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the virus’ spread. The American Community Survey data show how lives were changed and family relationships altered by the pandemic and other occurrences like the opioid crisis.

The survey of 3.5 million households covers more than 40 topics, including ancestry, fertility, marital status, commutes, veterans status, disability and housing.

The decrease in grandparents’ taking care of their grandchildren is most likely the result of a decline in opioid-related deaths during the more recent timeframe since substance abuse is a leading reason that grandparents find themselves raising grandchildren. A reduction in the number of incarcerated women also likely played a role, said Susan Kelley, a professor emerita of nursing at Georgia State University.

“It’s very rarely for positive reasons that grandparents find themselves in this situation. Usually, it’s a tragic situation in an adult child’s life, either a death, incarceration or mental health issues which correlate with substance abuse,” Kelly said. “Many grandparents thrive in that role, but there are still socioeconomic and emotional burdens on the grandparents.”

A stronger economy in the most recent period also may be a reason that the number of grandparents living with their grandchildren declined from 7.2 million to 6.8 million by making it less likely that adult children with their own children were seeking housing help from their parents, she said.

The decline in the number of young children enrolled in preschool stemmed from an unwillingness to send young children to school and the closure of many schools at the height of the pandemic, according to the Census Bureau.

“These data show how the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on patterns of early childhood education,” the bureau said in a separate report. “Future research will show if this was the start of a long-term trend or if enrollment will bounce back to prior levels.”

Americans continued to get older, with the median age rising to 38.7 from 37.9 and the nation’s share of senior citizens up from 16.8% from 15.2%. The share of households with a computer jumped to almost 95% from almost 89%, as did the share of households with a broadband connection to almost 90% from 80%.

Additionally, fewer people moved and more people stayed put in the most recent time period compared to the earlier one, in many cases because of rising home values and the limited availability of homes to buy.

Home values increased by 21.7% and the percentage of vacant homes dropped from 12.2% to 10.4%. The median home value jumped from $249,400 to $303,400 nationwide.

In some vacation communities popular with the wealthy, the bump was even more dramatic, such as in the county that is home to Aspen, Colorado, where it went from $758,800 to $1.1 million, and in the county which is home to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where it jumped from $812,400 to $1.1 million. 
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US signals conditional support for future government in Syria

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WASHINGTON — Following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the Biden administration said it would fully support a transparent and inclusive transition process toward a nonsectarian government accountable to the Syrian people.

“The transition process and new government must also uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that any chemical or biological weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.

U.S. recognition of a new government in Damascus could lead to the lifting of sanctions that have crippled the Syrian economy. It’s an incentive the Biden administration can leverage at a moment when the country’s future is deeply uncertain.

“What we want to see in terms of governance in Syria is governance that is seen as credible and legitimate, that is sustainable, that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said in an interview Tuesday with VOA. It has to be “the product of a Syrian-led process.”

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebels who toppled Assad, is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group. Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has a $10 million bounty on his head.

“This victory, my brothers, is a new chapter in the history of the entire Islamic nation,” he said in his first speech since his fighters rapidly took control of the country.

“It is a turning point for the region,” he said, singling out Iran — a message he knows will be received well in Israel and the U.S. “He [Assad] handed Syria over to Iranian ambitions, spreading sectarianism and corruption throughout the country.”

Jolani pledged in a statement Tuesday to “hold accountable” members of Assad’s regime who were “involved in torturing the Syrian people.”

In recent years, he has espoused sectarian tolerance and distanced himself from extremist ideology. He has sought to reassure Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities, which include Christians, Kurds, Druze and the Alawite community, a sect from which the Assad family originates.

But by delivering his victory speech not from the presidential palace but from the Great Mosque of Umayyad in Damascus — built in the eighth century by a Sunni caliphate —Jolani is sending a message to the region about his majoritarian movement.

His speech mirrors that of Islamic State’s first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul in 2014, Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA.

“On the rebels’ own Telegram channel, there were statements saying, ‘We’ve taken the Umayyad Mosque. Next, we’re going to go for Al-Aqsa,’ which is in Jerusalem, of course. ‘Then, we’re going to go for the Kaaba,’ which is in Saudi Arabia,” Rubin said.

US involvement

President Joe Biden has moved quickly, sending Blinken to Turkey and Jordan Wednesday to consult with leaders after ordering more than 70 airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria on Sunday.

“The United States will work with our partners and stakeholders in Syria to help them seize an opportunity to manage the risks,” Biden said.

But on January 20, 2025, Biden will be replaced by President-elect Donald Trump, who is signaling that he wants the U.S. to stay out of the Syrian conflict.

“This is not our fight,” Trump said on social media. “Let it play out. Do not get involved!”

But the U.S. is already involved. It has about 900 troops deployed in Syria and backs a Syrian Kurdish rebel group. Washington also has close ties with all of Syria’s neighbors — Iraq, Lebanon, as well as allies Israel and Jordan, and NATO ally Turkey.

“They are directly impacted by what happens in Syria, and they are also in a position to influence what happens in Syria, for better or for worse,” said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

“Don’t disengage completely, certainly not,” he told VOA. “But if you don’t want to be overly engaged yourself, the United States of America, this is the time to work very closely with partners around the region.”

Under Trump’s “America First” doctrine, it’s unclear whether the U.S. would aim its diplomatic efforts toward what Biden wants — a future Syrian government that’s inclusive and nonsectarian.

Stakeholders make moves

Meanwhile, aside from the U.S., Israel and Turkey have bombed Syrian targets to protect their interests.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military targets to further weaken what remains of the military of Tehran’s once-stalwart ally and keep weapons from falling into extremists’ hands.

In northern Syria, rebel groups supported by Turkey attacked U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters, who Ankara sees as allies of a separatist movement and displacing Syrian Kurds.

For now, Assad’s ally, Tehran, has lost much of its leverage. Weakened by the defeat of its proxies in Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, it may employ pragmatism in dealing with Damascus.

“The Iranian foreign minister has talked about the new Syrians as the victory of the opposition, whereas in the past, they wouldn’t legitimize them as opposition. They spoke of them instead as terrorists,” Rubin said, a signal that Tehran is weighing whether it can work with the incoming government.

Russia, another Assad backer who has provided asylum for the embattled leader and his family, is lobbying to keep its two military bases in Syria. On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would enter talks with incoming authorities about Russia’s future military presence.

Mohammed al-Bashir, Syria’s newly appointed caretaker prime minister who previously led the rebels’ civilian government, will run a transitional government until March 1, 2025, he said in remarks on Tuesday.
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US judge orders CIA analyst accused of Israel-Iran leak held pending trial 

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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — A CIA analyst charged with leaking top-secret details ahead of a planned Israeli attack on Iran earlier this year will remain jailed pending trial, a judge ordered Wednesday. 

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles overruled a magistrate who said last week that Asif Rahman, 34, of Vienna, Virginia, could be free on restrictions while he awaited trial on charges of disclosing national defense information. 

The fight over Rahman’s detention revealed additional details about the government’s investigation of the leak and the analyst who allegedly disclosed the classified documents in October on the Telegram messaging app. 

At Wednesday’s detention hearing, prosecutor Troy Edwards said Rahman was motivated by ideology, though he did not discuss what that ideology might be. 

In fact, he said the conclusion that Rahman’s motive was ideological was essentially the result of the process of elimination, noting that Rahman comes from a wealthy family and has access to a multimillion-dollar family trust, and therefore wouldn’t have a financial incentive. 

Edwards also highlighted eight pages of notes found on Rahman when he was arrested last month in Cambodia, where he worked at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh. Those notes included two separate “to-do” lists, one of which was largely blocks of apparently encrypted text along with an unencrypted sentence pertaining to U.S. missile capabilities. Edwards said investigators have not yet been able to decipher the encryption. 

A separate, unencrypted to-do list included categories labeled “contingencies” and “run,” Edwards said. 

Official court documents are vague about what was leaked, but details discussed in open court made clear that the material references an October disclosure of documents from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, noting that Israel was moving military assets into place to conduct a military strike on Iran after Iran launched its own missile attack on Israel on October 1. 

Israel ended up carrying out an attack on Iran’s air defense systems and missile manufacturing facilities in late October. 

In court papers, the government said the leak caused Israel to delay its attack plans. Edwards said the volatile nature of the Middle East made the leak exceptionally dangerous. 

“It is hard to overstate what other circumstances present graver risks of danger to human life than unilaterally deciding” to transmit information related to plans for “kinetic military action between two countries,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. 

Rahman’s attorney, Amy Jeffress, cited anonymous sources in news articles who have downplayed the leak’s significance. 

Jeffress said the to-do list included the word “run” because Rahman is an avid jogger. She also said it’s rare for defendants facing similar charges to be detained pending trial. 

Rahman was born in California and moved with his family when he was a child to Cincinnati, where he was a high school valedictorian, according to court papers submitted by his lawyer. He went to Yale University and graduated in three years. He and his wife now live in the D.C. metro area, along with his parents. 

His father, Muhit Rahman, who was prepared to serve as his son’s custodian pretrial if he had been released, attended Wednesday’s hearing along with numerous family members and friends in support. 

Rahman made his initial court appearance last month in Guam. 

Jeffress said after Wednesday’s hearing that she intended to appeal the detention order.
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Arizona sues Saudi firm over ‘excessive’ groundwater pumping, saying it’s a public nuisance

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PHOENIX, Arizona — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday she’s suing a Saudi Arabian agribusiness for allegedly violating a public nuisance law, contending that its groundwater pumping threatens the public health, safety and infrastructure of local communities in a rural western county.

The complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court alleges that the pumping at a Fondomonte Arizona, LLC. alfalfa farm has had widespread effects in the Ranegras Plain Basin of La Paz County, harming everyone who depends on basin water by drawing down supplies, drying up wells and causing the ground to crack and sink in some areas.

The lawsuit is the latest action by Arizona against foreign companies that use huge amounts of groundwater to grow thirsty forage crops for export because of climate challenges in other countries. Rural Arizona is especially attractive to international businesses because it has no groundwater pumping regulations.

The lawsuit alleges that since 2014, Fondomonte has extracted huge amounts that accelerated depletion of the basin’s aquifer.

The Associated Press called and emailed Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Dairy giant Almarai Co., seeking a response to the lawsuit Wednesday. Its lawyers have previously said that the company legally leased and purchased land in the U.S. and spent millions on infrastructure improvements.

Years of drought have increased pressure on water users across the West, particularly in states like Arizona, which relies heavily on the dwindling Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater — long used by farmers and rural residents without restriction — even more important for users across the state.

Mayes’ lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte’s actions are a public nuisance under a state statute that prohibits activity that injures health, obstructs property use or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by a community.

Mayes called the company’s groundwater pumping “unsustainable” and said it caused “devastating consequences” for people in the area.

“Arizona law is clear: No company has the right to endanger an entire community’s health and safety for its own gain,” she said.

The lawsuit seeks to enjoin the company from further groundwater pumping it says is “excessive” and require that an abatement fund be established.

Arizona officials have been targeting Fondomonte for more than a year over its use of groundwater to grow forage crops, by not renewing or canceling the company’s leases in Butler Valley in western Arizona. Some residents there had complained that the company’s pumping was threatening their wells.
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Blinken travels to Mideast as Syria navigates post-Assad path

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Jordan and Turkey Wednesday to rally regional countries around an aligned vision for Syria’s future following the ousting of longtime authoritarian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Blinken will travel to Aqaba, Jordan, and Ankara, Turkey, and meet leaders to discuss developments in Syria, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and across the region, said the U.S. State Department.

A spokesperson said Blinken aims to secure consensus among regional leaders on key principles for Syria’s post-Assad transition. He said these include full respect for minority rights, the facilitation of humanitarian aid, the prevention of Syria becoming a haven for terrorism or a threat to its neighbors, and the securing and safe destruction of chemical or biological weapons stockpiles.

Blinken has said that the United States will recognize a Syrian government that upholds those principles.

The spokesperson said that in Aqaba, Blinken will meet with senior Jordanian officials to discuss bilateral issues, highlight the U.S.-Jordan strategic partnership, and reaffirm U.S. support for regional stability.

In Ankara, Blinken will engage with senior Turkish officials to strengthen bilateral cooperation on shared priorities, including counterterrorism and regional stability, with NATO ally Turkey.

On Tuesday, Blinken held talks with counterparts from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt, where he reiterated the need for a Syrian-led transition.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, will hold an emergency session to address the situation in Syria. The OPCW — the implementing body for the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention — said it is monitoring Syria with “special attention” to chemical weapons sites and has reminded the country of its duty to declare and destroy all banned weapons.

The U.S. State Department said it will await the session’s outcome to determine the next steps.

Also, U.S. President Joe Biden will join leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in a virtual summit on Friday to discuss Syria and other pressing issues in the Middle East.

Last Sunday, Syrian rebel groups toppled the Assad regime after a swift offensive of under two weeks, ending a decadeslong reign of brutal oppression.

While many Syrians celebrate Assad’s departure, uncertainty looms over the nation’s future. The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant faction among opposition forces, is rapidly consolidating power. At the same time, foreign actors are vying for influence with the nascent government or seeking to limit its potential as a security threat.

Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war claimed 500,000 lives and displaced half of its 23 million prewar population. Millions of Syrians fled to neighboring countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon, with many continuing their journey to Europe in search of safety.
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Blinken faces critics in Congress who say Afghanistan withdrawal ‘lit the world on fire’

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washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to face questions for the last time about some of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s presidency: the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The hearing comes at the twilight of Blinken’s diplomatic career, with only weeks left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and at the end of the chairmanship of Representative Michael McCaul, who will no longer lead the committee in the next Congress. It’s the capstone to nearly four years of animosity between the two men over the end of America’s longest war.

“This catastrophic event was the beginning of a failed foreign policy that lit the world on fire,” McCaul, a Texas Republican, said in his opening statement. “I welcome your testimony today and hope you use this opportunity to take accountability for the disastrous withdrawal.”

Blinken was expected to defend the decision to withdraw U.S. troops in August 2021. He said previously that the Biden administration was “severely constrained” by Trump’s decisions and those of previous presidents.

His long-awaited testimony comes months after House Republicans issued a scathing report on their investigation into the withdrawal, blaming the disastrous end on Biden’s administration. They downplayed Trump’s role in the failures even though he had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

The Republican-led review laid out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump’s February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America’s fundamentalist Taliban enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens, Afghan battlefield allies, women activists and others at risk from the Taliban.

Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame.
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Biden approves national security memo on China, Iran, North Korea and Russia ahead of Trump’s return

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Washington — President Joe Biden has approved a new national security memorandum ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House that could serve as a road map for the incoming administration as it looks to counter growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the White House said Wednesday. 

Biden administration officials began developing the guidance this summer. It was shaped to be a document that could help the next administration build its approach from Day 1 on how it deals with the tightening relationships involving America’s most prominent adversaries and competitors, according to two senior administration officials. 

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the classified memorandum would not be made public because of the sensitivity of some of its findings. 

The document includes four broad recommendations: improving U.S. government interagency cooperation, speeding up the sharing of information with allies about the four adversaries, calibrating the U.S. government’s use of sanctions and other economic tools for maximum effectiveness, and bolstering preparation to manage simultaneous crises involving the adversaries. 

The U.S. for many years has been concerned about cooperation among the four countries. Coordination has accelerated between the countries in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

The officials noted that as Russia has become more isolated by much of the world, Moscow has turned to Iran for drones and missiles. From North Korea, the Russians have received artillery, missiles and even thousands of troops that have traveled to help the Russians try to repel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region. China, meanwhile, has supported Russia with dual use components that help keep its military industrial base afloat. 

In return, Russia has sent fighter jets to Iran and assisted Tehran as it looks to bolster its missile defense and space technology. 

North Korea has received from Russia much-needed fuel and funding to help build out its manufacturing and military capabilities. The officials added that Russia has “de facto accepted North Korea as a nuclear weapon state.” 

China, meanwhile, is benefiting from Russian know-how, with the two countries working together to deepen their military technical cooperation. The two nations are also conducting joint patrols in the Arctic region. 

Biden and Trump have sharply different worldviews, but officials in both the incoming and outgoing administrations said they have sought to coordinate on national security issues during the transition. 

One of the officials said that the Biden White House memo “isn’t trying to box (the Trump administration) in or tilt them toward one policy option or another.” 

The official said the document is intended to help the next administration build “capacity” as it shapes its policies on some the most difficult foreign policies it will face.
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Atmospheric river and potential bomb cyclone bring chaotic winter weather to East Coast

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PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. East Coast was beginning a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather on Wednesday that was rainy, windy and potentially dangerous, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone.

Places like western Maine could see freezing rain, downpours, unseasonably high temperatures and damaging winds — all in the span of a day, said Derek Schroeter, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

The heavy rain and fierce winds will last until Wednesday night in many areas, and flooding is possible in some locales, forecasters said. Utilities were also gearing up for potential power outages from damage caused by winds that could exceed 97 kph in some areas.

One of the key factors driving the weather is an atmospheric river, which is a long band of water vapor that can transport moisture from the tropics to more northern areas, said Schroeter, who’s based in Gray, Maine.

The storm has the ability to hit New England hard because it could tap moisture from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. Southeast, and transport it to places like Maine. The state was preparing for a “multifaceted storm” that could bring two to three inches of rainfall in some areas, Schroeter said.

Similar conditions had been possible elsewhere from Tuesday night to Wednesday night.

“We’re looking at the risk of slick travel (Tuesday night) with the freezing rain,” Schroeter said, “and we are going to be watching for the potential for flash flooding and sharp rises on streams as temperatures rise into the 50s (10-15 Celsius).”

Forecasters also said the storm had the potential to include a process that meteorologists call bombogenesis, or a “bomb cyclone.” That is the rapid intensification of a cyclone in a short period of time, and it has the ability to bring severe rainfall.

Parts of the Northeast were already preparing for bad weather. In Maine, some schools operated on a delay on Tuesday, which began with a few inches of snow. A flood watch for Vermont runs from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

The city of Montpelier, Vermont, was advising residents to prepare for mild flooding in the area and to elevate items in basements and low areas that are prone to flooding. The city said Tuesday that it has been in contact with the National Weather Service and Vermont Dam Safety and “will be actively monitoring the river levels as this storm passes through.”

Ski resorts around the Northeast were preparing visitors for a potentially messy day on Wednesday. Stratton Mountain Resort, in southern Vermont, posted on its website that patrons “make sure to pack your Gore-Tex gear because it’s going to be a wet one.”
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