150 lines
12 KiB
Python
150 lines
12 KiB
Python
"""Hand-curated "notable weather/climate event" per city.
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Unlike the auto-fetched Wikipedia summaries (cities_flavor.json), these are written
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and fact-checked by hand — a keyword search can't reliably tell the *right* iconic
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event from a wrong one, so this stays a small, verified, editable list. Cities not
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listed here simply show their flavor blurb instead. Add entries as {slug: {text, url}};
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`text` should be one or two accurate sentences, `url` the Wikipedia event article.
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"""
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EVENTS: dict[str, dict] = {
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# --- United States ---
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"new-orleans-louisiana-us": {
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"text": "In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the city's levees and flooded roughly 80% of New Orleans, one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in U.S. history.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Katrina_in_New_Orleans"},
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"houston-texas-us": {
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"text": "In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey stalled over the region and dropped more than 50 inches of rain, a record for a U.S. tropical cyclone, causing catastrophic flooding across Houston.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Harvey"},
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"chicago-illinois-us": {
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"text": "A brutal heat wave in July 1995 pushed the heat index past 120°F and caused an estimated 700 heat-related deaths in Chicago, reshaping how the city prepares for extreme heat.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Chicago_heat_wave"},
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"new-york-city-new-york-us": {
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"text": "In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy drove a record storm surge into New York City, flooding subway tunnels and much of Lower Manhattan and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy"},
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"miami-florida-us": {
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"text": "In August 1992, Category 5 Hurricane Andrew devastated the Miami metropolitan area just south of the city, destroying tens of thousands of homes around Homestead.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew"},
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"boston-massachusetts-us": {
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"text": "The Blizzard of 1978 paralyzed Boston for a week, dropping about 27 inches of snow, stranding thousands of motorists, and flooding coastal neighborhoods.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States_blizzard_of_1978"},
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"seattle-washington-us": {
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"text": "During the June 2021 Western North America heat wave, Seattle hit an all-time record 108°F, a temperature the normally mild city had never before approached.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Western_North_America_heat_wave"},
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"portland-oregon-us": {
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"text": "In the June 2021 heat dome, Portland reached an all-time record 116°F across three consecutive record-shattering days.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Western_North_America_heat_wave"},
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"phoenix-arizona-us": {
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"text": "In July 2023, Phoenix endured a record 31 straight days at or above 110°F during one of the most extreme urban heat waves ever recorded in the U.S.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_North_American_heat_waves"},
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"oklahoma-city-oklahoma-us": {
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"text": "Deep in Tornado Alley, the Oklahoma City area was struck by the May 3, 1999 tornado, which produced the highest wind speed ever measured on Earth, around 302 mph.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Bridge_Creek%E2%80%93Moore_tornado"},
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"los-angeles-california-us": {
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"text": "In January 2025, wind-driven wildfires, chiefly the Palisades and Eaton fires, swept through Los Angeles, destroying thousands of structures in one of the most destructive fire disasters in California's history.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2025_Southern_California_wildfires"},
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# --- Canada ---
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"toronto-ontario-ca": {
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"text": "In December 2013, a major ice storm coated Toronto in freezing rain, downing trees and power lines and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity over the holidays.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2013_North_American_storm_complex"},
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"calgary-alberta-ca": {
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"text": "The June 2013 Alberta floods, among the costliest disasters in Canadian history, forced the evacuation of downtown Calgary as the Bow and Elbow rivers overflowed.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Alberta_floods"},
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"montreal-quebec-ca": {
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"text": "The January 1998 ice storm encased Montreal in ice, collapsing power pylons and leaving parts of the region without electricity for weeks in midwinter.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm"},
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# --- UK / Europe ---
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"london-england-gb": {
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"text": "The Great Smog of December 1952 blanketed London in toxic coal fog for days, killing thousands and prompting the UK's landmark Clean Air Act.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_London"},
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"paris-ile-de-france-fr": {
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"text": "The August 2003 European heat wave was catastrophic around Paris, contributing to roughly 15,000 heat-related deaths across France.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_European_heat_wave"},
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"moscow-ru": {
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"text": "In the summer of 2010, a record heat wave and surrounding peat and forest fires smothered Moscow in smog for weeks, with temperatures near 38°C and thousands of excess deaths.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Russian_wildfires"},
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"madrid-es": {
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"text": "In January 2021, Storm Filomena buried Madrid under its heaviest snowfall in decades, around 50 cm, paralyzing the city for days.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Filomena"},
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"athens-attica-gr": {
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"text": "In July 2018, wind-driven wildfires swept through Attica near Athens during extreme heat, killing more than 100 people in Greece's deadliest fire disaster.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Attica_wildfires"},
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# --- Australia ---
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"sydney-new-south-wales-au": {
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"text": "During the 2019–20 'Black Summer' bushfires, hazardous smoke repeatedly blanketed Sydney, pushing its air quality to some of the worst of any major city.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_Australian_bushfire_season"},
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"melbourne-victoria-au": {
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"text": "On 'Black Saturday' in February 2009, extreme heat and wind drove bushfires across Victoria, around Melbourne, that killed 173 people in Australia's deadliest bushfires.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires"},
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"brisbane-queensland-au": {
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"text": "The 2010–11 Queensland floods peaked in January 2011 when the Brisbane River burst its banks, flooding thousands of homes and businesses across the city.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Queensland_floods"},
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# --- Asia ---
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"mumbai-maharashtra-in": {
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"text": "On 26 July 2005, a record ~944 mm of rain fell on Mumbai in a single day, paralyzing the city and killing hundreds in the Maharashtra floods.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtra_floods_of_2005"},
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"chennai-tamil-nadu-in": {
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"text": "The December 2015 South Indian floods submerged much of Chennai after its heaviest rains in over a century, displacing hundreds of thousands.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_South_India_floods"},
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"kolkata-west-bengal-in": {
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"text": "In May 2020, Cyclone Amphan, the most powerful storm recorded in the Bay of Bengal, struck Kolkata directly, uprooting trees and cutting power across the city.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Amphan"},
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"karachi-sindh-pk": {
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"text": "A severe heat wave in June 2015 killed an estimated 1,200 people in Karachi as temperatures reached about 45°C during Ramadan.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Pakistani_heat_wave"},
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"manila-national-capital-region-ph": {
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"text": "In September 2009, Tropical Storm Ketsana (Ondoy) dumped a month's worth of rain on Metro Manila in hours, causing some of the worst flooding the capital had ever seen.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Ketsana"},
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"jakarta-id": {
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"text": "Low-lying, subsiding Jakarta floods most rainy seasons; the January 2020 floods were among the worst, inundating large areas of the capital and displacing tens of thousands.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Jakarta_flood"},
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"bangkok-th": {
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"text": "The 2011 Thailand floods, the country's worst in decades, inundated areas around Bangkok for months and disrupted global electronics and auto supply chains.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Thailand_floods"},
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"dhaka-dhaka-division-bd": {
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"text": "Low-lying Dhaka floods severely in heavy monsoons; the 1998 floods submerged about two-thirds of Bangladesh and much of the capital for weeks.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Bangladesh_flood"},
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"beijing-cn": {
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"text": "On 21 July 2012, Beijing's heaviest rain in six decades triggered sudden flooding that killed at least 79 people and stranded thousands.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Beijing_flood"},
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"hong-kong-hk": {
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"text": "Super Typhoon Mangkhut battered Hong Kong in September 2018 with fierce winds and a storm surge, flooding low-lying districts and swaying skyscrapers.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Mangkhut"},
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"tokyo-jp": {
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"text": "In October 2019, Typhoon Hagibis, one of the most powerful to strike Japan in decades, brought record rainfall and widespread flooding to the Tokyo region.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Hagibis"},
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"seoul-kr": {
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"text": "In August 2022, record-breaking rainfall flooded Seoul, submerging roads and low-lying semi-basement homes and killing several people across the capital region.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_South_Korea_floods"},
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# --- Middle East ---
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"dubai-ae": {
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"text": "In April 2024, Dubai was deluged by about two years' worth of rain in a single day, its heaviest on record, flooding highways and bringing its international airport to a standstill.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_Arab_Emirates_floods"},
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"jeddah-mecca-region-sa": {
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"text": "In November 2009, sudden flash floods swept through Jeddah after record rainfall, killing more than 100 people in one of the city's worst modern disasters.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Jeddah_floods"},
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# --- Latin America ---
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"sao-paulo-br": {
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"text": "From 2014 to 2017, the worst drought in about 80 years drove São Paulo's main Cantareira reservoir system toward empty, forcing water rationing across the megacity.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%932017_Brazilian_drought"},
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"rio-de-janeiro-br": {
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"text": "In January 2010, torrential rains triggered deadly floods and mudslides across the Rio de Janeiro area, among the region's worst weather disasters.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2010_Rio_de_Janeiro_floods_and_mudslides"},
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# --- Africa ---
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"cape-town-western-cape-za": {
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"text": "From 2015 to 2018 a severe drought pushed Cape Town toward 'Day Zero', the day municipal taps would be shut off, narrowly averted through drastic water conservation.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town_water_crisis"},
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"durban-kwazulu-natal-za": {
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"text": "In April 2022, extreme rainfall triggered catastrophic floods and landslides around Durban, killing more than 400 people in one of South Africa's deadliest storms.",
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"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_KwaZulu-Natal_floods"},
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}
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def get(slug: str) -> dict | None:
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return EVENTS.get(slug)
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