Data Vis Dispatch, September 1: Flash floods, ICE arrests, and the Hugging Face incident

Welcome back to the 260th edition of Data Vis Dispatch! Every week, we’ll be publishing a collection of the best small and large data visualizations we find, especially from news organizations — to celebrate data journalism, data visualization, simple charts, elaborate maps, and their creators.

Recurring topics this week include the Nepal-Tibet floods, ICE arrests, and the Hugging Face incident.

A glacier collapse triggered devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, destroying various pieces of infrastructure along the way.

Bloomberg: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-nepal-flash-flood/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4NzkyMTc1NiwiZXhwIjoxNzg4NTI2NTU2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUS0hDMjJLR1pBSVQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJFQzUzMkU0NDM2OTc0ODRGOTJGOUY3MTdGQ0QzQUZBQiJ9.mzBjWXm2fGeWHm8vCmvNXmZyvHhZUCbu39ThnwW0J30"><strong>How Nepal’s Deadly Floods Wrecked Homes, Power Plants and Bridges</strong></a>, August 28 — Bloomberg: **How Nepal’s Deadly Floods Wrecked Homes, Power Plants and Bridges**, August 28

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/26/world/asia/nepal-china-flash-flood.html"><strong>Maps and Images Show the Devastation in Nepal’s Flooding</strong></a>, August 27 — The New York Times: **Maps and Images Show the Devastation in Nepal’s Flooding**, August 27

Reuters: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/NEPAL-FLOODS/MAP/byvrdywwlve/"><strong>How a glacier collapse triggered a deadly landslide and flooding along the Nepal-China border</strong></a>, August 28 <span class="badge">Various charts depicting the floods</span> — Reuters: **How a glacier collapse triggered a deadly landslide and flooding along the Nepal-China border**, August 28 Various charts depicting the floods

CNN: <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/28/asia/map-nepal-china-flood-landslide-damage-vis"><strong>Landslides and floods have wreaked havoc in Nepal and China. Follow the river down the path of destruction</strong></a>, August 28 — CNN: **Landslides and floods have wreaked havoc in Nepal and China. Follow the river down the path of destruction**, August 28

Taking a look at U.S. politics, Trump's endorsement record is largely based on low-risk bets, while an investigative review has revealed the vast sums of dark money being poured into elections. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator John Fetterman has attracted more popularity among Republicans than among members of his own Democratic Party.

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/26/us/politics/trump-primary-midterms-endorsements.html"><strong>Trump Loves to Pick Winners. He Also Plays It Safe</strong></a>, August 26 — The New York Times: **Trump Loves to Pick Winners. He Also Plays It Safe**, August 26

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/us/politics/the-least-transparent-midterm-how-dark-money-is-washing-over-the-2026-election.html"><strong>Millions of Dollars in Secret Spending Could Upend the 2026 Midterms</strong></a>, August 31 — The New York Times: **Millions of Dollars in Secret Spending Could Upend the 2026 Midterms**, August 31

The New York Times:<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/us/politics/john-fetterman-poll-republicans-democrats-pennsylvania.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8FA.zFqy.xtu4Tg5kuakD&smid=url-share"> <strong>Fetterman’s Popularity With Republicans Surges as He Angers the Left, Poll Finds</strong></a>, August 25 — The New York Times: **Fetterman’s Popularity With Republicans Surges as He Angers the Left, Poll Finds**, August 25

The number of ICE arrests of people with no criminal record is increasing, amid reports of local county jails in Florida bypassing immigration regulations by rebooking immigrants.

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/27/us/ice-immigrant-arrests-trump-deportation-dhs.html"><strong>ICE Arrests Soar as People With No Criminal Record Are Increasingly Targeted</strong></a>, August 27 — The New York Times: **ICE Arrests Soar as People With No Criminal Record Are Increasingly Targeted**, August 27

ProPublica: <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/immigrants-rebooking-ice-jails-florida?utm_campaign=propublica-sprout&utm_content=1787998738&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky"><strong>These Local Jails Were Supposed to Detain Immigrants for Only 72 Hours. One Woman Was Held for a Total of 26 Days</strong></a>, August 27 — ProPublica: **These Local Jails Were Supposed to Detain Immigrants for Only 72 Hours. One Woman Was Held for a Total of 26 Days**, August 27

On the topic of markets, Shein finally made its stock market debut after several failed attempts in recent years. The Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market has been significantly affected by the war in Iran, with trade routes and supplies being restructured.

Vineet Sachdev: "As Shein’s shares debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange today, we looked at the timeline of its attempt to list in past few years - from initial attempts in New York to London and finally in Hong Kong amid setbacks from US-China trade tensions and opposition from Chinese regulators," September 1 (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7500454552530325505/"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/shein-listing-live-online-fashion-giant-begin-trading-shares-hong-kong-after-2026-09-01/"><strong>project website</strong></a>) — Vineet Sachdev: "As Shein’s shares debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange today, we looked at the timeline of its attempt to list in past few years - from initial attempts in New York to London and finally in Hong Kong amid setbacks from US-China trade tensions and opposition from Chinese regulators," September 1 (**LinkedIn**, **project website**)

Bloomberg: How Cooking Gas Became a Barometer for the Iran War’s Energy Shock, August 31

Turning to the labor force, wages across different countries can be compared using the Big Mac Index, revealing annual and hourly differences. Reasons for women not being in the labour force vary between different age groups.

The Economist: <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2026/08/25/how-many-big-macs-does-your-salary-buy"><strong>How many Big Macs does your salary buy?</strong></a>, August 25 — The Economist: **How many Big Macs does your salary buy?**, August 25

FlowingData: <a href="https://flowingdata.com/2026/08/25/who-is-not-working-and-why/"><strong>Why Americans are not working</strong></a>, August 25 — FlowingData: **Why Americans are not working**, August 25

We present a selection of maps examining rivers and annual precipitation in South America, Germany's rail movement, and the European countries where non-citizens are excluded from voting.

Perrin Remonté: "Ode à la pluie et aux rivières : après l'Asie du Sud et l'Amérique du Nord, vient l'antre des géants et des extrêmes, l'Amérique du Sud ! Il y coule l'Amazone, qui fait transiter dans ses bras 20 POURCENT de toute l'eau douce des fleuves sur Terre. Il est suivi d'autre colosses cmme l'Orénoque ou le Rio Tocantins.[...] [<em>An ode to rain and rivers: after South Asia and North America, comes the den of giants and extremes, South America! It flows the Amazon, which carries 20 PERCENT of all the fresh water in the rivers on Earth. It is followed by other colossi such as the Orinoco or the Rio Tocantins [...]</em> ], August 31 (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7500073642937020417/"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a>) — Perrin Remonté: "Ode à la pluie et aux rivières : après l'Asie du Sud et l'Amérique du Nord, vient l'antre des géants et des extrêmes, l'Amérique du Sud ! Il y coule l'Amazone, qui fait transiter dans ses bras 20 POURCENT de toute l'eau douce des fleuves sur Terre. Il est suivi d'autre colosses cmme l'Orénoque ou le Rio Tocantins.[...] [An ode to rain and rivers: after South Asia and North America, comes the den of giants and extremes, South America! It flows the Amazon, which carries 20 PERCENT of all the fresh water in the rivers on Earth. It is followed by other colossi such as the Orinoco or the Rio Tocantins [...] ], August 31 (**LinkedIn**)

Alikhan (Alin) Beisenbayev: "Visualization of Germany's rail movement, August 25. I came across a Reddit post showing some of the EU country train movements (u/chillchamp) and found it quite lovely. So, I wanted to make an animation of train movement in Germany for today, 25.08.2026. For the train data, I used DELFI e.V.’s GTFS timetable for August 25. It contains 26,346 scheduled services, stations, stop times, categories, and route shapes [...]," August 25 (LinkedIn) Captivating visualization!

The European Correspondent: <a href="https://europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/those-most-threatened-by-the-far-right-cant-vote-against-it"><strong>Those most threatened by the far right can't vote against it</strong></a>, August 27 — The European Correspondent: **Those most threatened by the far right can't vote against it**, August 27

We end this dispatch with some other interesting topics: Michael Jackson, the Hugging Face incident, and rankings of directors' favorite directors.

Oscar Iván Castro García: "El 29 de agosto se conmemora el natalicio de Michael Jackson, nació en 1958 en Gary, una pequeña ciudad muy al norte de Indiana, un niño que, años más tarde conquistaría al mundo con su música y su extraordinaria manera de bailar [...] [<em>On August 29, Michael Jackson is commemorated, born in 1958 in Gary, a small town far north of Indiana, a boy who, years later, would conquer the world with his music and his extraordinary way of dancing [...]</em> ], August 29 (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7499145070000939008/"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a>) — Oscar Iván Castro García: "El 29 de agosto se conmemora el natalicio de Michael Jackson, nació en 1958 en Gary, una pequeña ciudad muy al norte de Indiana, un niño que, años más tarde conquistaría al mundo con su música y su extraordinaria manera de bailar [...] [On August 29, Michael Jackson is commemorated, born in 1958 in Gary, a small town far north of Indiana, a boy who, years later, would conquer the world with his music and his extraordinary way of dancing [...] ], August 29 (**LinkedIn**)

OpenAI: The Hugging Face incident and the road ahead, August 26

Information is Beautiful: "Interesting if you know your film directors: Who is your favourite director's favourite director?by Reddit user u/maglortiwele," August 28 (Bluesky)

What else we found interesting

Bloomberg: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-kid-friendly-mobile-games-addiction/?srnd=phx-graphics-v2"><strong>Designed for Addiction</strong></a>, August 28 <span class="badge">Sound on!</span> — Bloomberg: **Designed for Addiction**, August 28 Sound on!

PerThirtySix: How The Heck Do Record Players Work?, August 27

Cabinet of Infographic Curiosities: <a href="https://attilabatorfy.substack.com/p/seeds-leaves-and-berries-visualizing"><strong>Seeds, leaves and fruits: visualizing Muslim brotherhoods in Algeria</strong></a>, August 25 — Cabinet of Infographic Curiosities: **Seeds, leaves and fruits: visualizing Muslim brotherhoods in Algeria**, August 25

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A Digital Graphics Designer at The Straits Times

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Data Vis Dispatch, September 1: Flash floods, ICE arrests, and the Hugging Face incident

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