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California Flood Alert, Driverless Car, Meta's Mega Surge

California Flood Alert, Driverless Car, Meta's Mega Surge

Just reporting the facts.

Centrist Chronicle
February 06, 2024

37 million at risk for flooding from blockbuster California rainstorm

Yesterday, approximately 37 million people in California were subject to flood watches or warnings as a powerful storm system made its way inland, moving south from the San Francisco Bay Area. At the time of reporting, wind gusts of up to 85 mph had caused power outages for around 860,000 customers along the coast, and over a hundred flights from San Francisco had been canceled.

The weather forecast indicates that Southern California might receive a month's worth of precipitation within just three days. In response, authorities have issued evacuation orders for communities located near areas affected by recent wildfires, which are at increased risk of landslides and debris flow due to the compromised stability of hillsides. Additionally, the storm is predicted to bring 4 to 8 feet of snow to the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada.

At the start of 2023, California experienced an unprecedented series of nine atmospheric river events over three weeks, which significantly contributed to replenishing the state's diminished water reserves. However, these storms also resulted in the deaths of more than 20 individuals.

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Driverless cars covered 5x more test miles in California in 2023

In California last year, autonomous vehicles without any human drivers logged close to 3.3 million miles, a figure that quintupled the distance covered in the previous year, according to vehicle testing data released by the state on Friday. This increase comes amid growing safety concerns, highlighted by an incident involving a Cruise robotaxi. The majority of these driverless miles were covered by Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM.N), and Waymo, part of Alphabet (GOOGL.O), which contributed 63% and 36% of the total miles respectively, as per reports from California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

In the San Francisco region, it's becoming increasingly common to see taxis operating without anyone in the driver's seat. However, a significant incident involving a Cruise autonomous vehicle, which collided with a pedestrian and dragged them 20 feet (approximately 6.1 meters), led to widespread concern and prompted the company to temporarily cease its operations nationwide. Additionally, the DMV data from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023, indicates that miles driven by autonomous vehicles with a safety driver onboard increased to 5.7 million from 5.1 million.

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Meta shares surge 20% on soaring profit, better-than-expected guidance and first-ever dividend

Meta's stock experienced a significant increase of over 20% on Friday, following the announcement of a substantial rise in its fourth-quarter earnings and the declaration of its inaugural dividend.

The company witnessed a 25% surge in its fourth-quarter revenue, reaching $40.1 billion, up from $32.2 billion in the previous year. This growth rate, the highest since mid-2021, signals a robust recovery in the online advertising sector. Furthermore, Meta's net income soared to $14 billion, more than tripling from $4.65 billion reported a year before.

For the upcoming first quarter, Meta projects its sales to fall between $34.5 billion and $37 billion, surpassing analyst expectations, which were set at $33.8 billion.