Weekly wrap-up: Human activity linked to devastating Gatlinburg fire; Coldest night of season yet grips UK

A deadly wildfire exploded in Tennessee this week, charring a popular resort town and causing devastating damage.

The fires damaged at least 700 homes and businesses in eastern Tennessee, including two popular tourist towns outside the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

At least 50 people have been treated for injuries as a result of the fire and seven have been reported dead.

The wildfires were “likely to be human-caused,” Cassius Cash, the park superintendent, said on Wednesday.

The City of Gatlinburg was burdened the most. Nearly half of the fire damage occurred in Gatlinburg, which is located about 35 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee. About 14,000 residents and tourists were ordered to evacuate on Monday night to escape the flames.

“We’re going to be okay,” Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner said in a news conference on Wednesday.

Fundraisers have begun to help raise awareness and funds to rebuild.

Dollywood, a theme park dedicated to the country music icon Dolly Parton, was in the path of the flames. Parton launched her own fundraiser and pledged to donate $1,000 per month for six months to families who were affected by the wildfires.

Nearly 24 hours of heavy rainfall helped to extinguish the flames in eastern Tennessee, allowing local officials to lead cleanup and recovery efforts.

Rainfall was not only present in Tennessee, but also throughout much of the southeastern United States through Wednesday evening.

Severe thunderstorms, with strong winds of 40 and 60 mph, threatened lives and property in the eastern United States.

One tornado touched down outside Atlanta and another tornado struck Charlotte, North Carolina.

A basketball game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Sacramento Kings was postponed on Wednesday night as a result of condensation on the court at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

The Center hosted the Philadelphia Flyers NHL game the night before and the ice surface remained under the basketball court. This is standard procedure at the center; however, the surface was affected by Wednesday’s unseasonably warm and humid weather.

"With our ice surface, sometimes humidity is our biggest opponent when we prepare for a game," John Page, president of the Wells Fargo Center complex, said.

The Center has never experienced this issue before, but it will enforce efforts to ensure that it never happens again, Page said.

The United Kingdom and Wales experienced their coldest night of the season this week. Temperatures dropped as low as -9.4 C (15 F), in Sennybridge, Wales, on Wednesday. This is the lowest temperatures have been in November since 2010.

Tragedy unfolded as a plane ran out of fuel and crashed into a mountainside in Medellín, Colombia, on Monday.

The plane was carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense. Only six of 77 passengers survived. Rainy weather hindered recovery efforts immediately after the crash.

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