Vote on Isaacman, private astronaut and Mars missions advocate, passes 67-30 for him to be agency’s 15th leader

The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to become Donald Trump’s Nasa administrator. The confirmation makes an advocate of Mars missions and an ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk the space agency’s 15th leader.

The vote on Isaacman, who Trump nominated, removed and then renamed for the post of Nasa administrator this year, passed 67-30, two weeks after he told senators in his second hearing that Nasa must pick up the pace in beating China back to the moon this decade.

Record rains have forced hundreds of rescues, swamped communities and left rivers high, with more storms forecast

The extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear after more than a week of heavy rains and record flooding, according to the state’s governor, Bob Ferguson.

A barrage of storms from weather systems stretching across the Pacific has dumped close to 2ft (0.6 metres) of rain in parts of the state, swelling rivers far beyond their banks and prompting more than 600 rescues across 10 counties.

Evacuation order comes after a levee failed following a week of heavy rain as NWS issues flash flood warning

Officials in Washington state ordered immediate evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs on Monday after a levee failed following a week of heavy rains.

The evacuation order from King county covered homes and businesses east of the Green River in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila.