Mount Kilauea’s latest eruption on Hawaii’s Big Island seen in new images
H. Winslow/USGS/Anadolu via Getty Images
(HILO, Hawaii) — Mount Kilauea, a volcano that has been active in recent years, erupted again on Hawaii’s Big Island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Sustained high fountains of lava flowed from Mount Kilauea’s two vents, according to the USGS.
This is the volcano’s 35th eruptive episode since Dec. 23, 2024, according to the USGS.
Fountains of lava rapidly grew to about 500 feet when the south vent began erupting at 8:50 p.m. local time on Friday, according to USGS.
The plume of gas above the fountains of lava extended to 16,0000 feet above ground level, according to USGS.
Tephra, or volcanic fragments, have reportedly fallen in the area, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.
“Fine ash and Pele’s hair [a type of volcanic glass] can be carried long distances and may impact a broad area of Kaʻu along the southern and southwestern parts of Mauna Loa,” according to USGS.
This ABC News graphic shows the forecast for Hurricane Melissa as of Oct. 27, 2025. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Melissa, now a powerful Category 5 storm, will slam into Jamaica on Monday as the worst storm the island has ever seen.
Here is Melissa’s forecasted path:
Melissa is expected to make landfall in central or western Jamaica late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, likely as a Category 4 or 5 hurricane. Most of the destruction will unfold from noon on Monday to noon on Tuesday.
Tropical storm-force winds are already underway and will steadily increase throughout the day. Winds are expected to reach hurricane strength by Monday night and will last through Tuesday afternoon.
The rain and storm surge will be even more dangerous than the wind for some. Melissa is moving very slowly, so it will bring a deluge of rain to Jamaica, with totals forecast to reach 15 to 30 inches and even up to 40 inches in localized areas. This will spark catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding on Monday and Tuesday.
Storm surge will decimate parts of the southern coast with water surging up to 13 feet above ground level.
Next, the heavy rain will move to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where 8 to 16 inches of rainfall is possible. Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are also in the forecast.
Melissa will then hit southeastern Cuba on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as a major hurricane, dumping 10 to 20 inches of rain and leading to catastrophic flooding and numerous landslides.
On Wednesday, the southeastern Bahamas will see rain totals of 4 to 8 inches, hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge.
Melissa may still be a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday night or Friday morning when it passes near or over Bermuda.
(NEW YORK) — The sun was getting ready to rise over a rural lake in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, when a sheriff’s deputy shined his flashlight inside Ryan Borgwardt’s minivan parked just yards away from the water’s edge.
There was no one inside the car.
As the deputy took out his binoculars and gazed over the pier to see if he could spot anyone in the distance that morning in August 2024, he almost certainly could not have imagined that not only would Borgwardt not be found stuck in the lake, but would end up being traced across the world to the country of Georgia.
“I guess everything kind of hinged on me dying in the lake,” Borgwardt told investigators in a December 2024 interview obtained by ABC News this week.
A husband and father of three, Borgwardt gained national attention last year after disappearing following an apparent trip to the lake to kayak and resurfacing months later in a video recorded in an undisclosed location where he maintained he was safe.
Borgwardt, who could not be reached for comment for this report, pleaded no contest last month to obstructing an officer and was sentenced to 89 days in jail. He also agreed to pay $30,000 in restitution to law enforcement to cover what was spent searching for him and apologized for his actions at his sentencing.
According to law enforcement, Borgwardt texted his wife of 22 years on the day he went kayaking that he was getting ready to head back to shore.
He never made it home that night. A team of first responders eventually found Borgwardt’s kayak, but he was nowhere to be found.
Now, hundreds of records released by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office are shedding light on how Borgwardt made it from that Wisconsin lake all the way to Georgia, where he sought to build a life with a woman he met on the internet, according to prosecutors.
Officials previously declined to release these records to ABC News while the case against Borgwardt was pending.
The newly released documents range from receipts for Borgwardt’s bus tickets –from Madison, Wisconsin, to Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport — to footage of Borgwardt crossing the border into Canada, and communications between American law enforcement and the woman he was in contact with while he was overseas.
“It is extremely important to explain why we want to speak with you,” Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Matthew Vande Kolk wrote to the woman, who had written in Russian that Ryan had become a good friend of hers over the previous year when she had been going through problems in her life.
“When is the last time that you spoke with Ryan,” Vande Kolk asked in one email. “We need to know he is ok.”
The communications show that Vande Kolk was ultimately able to get in touch with Borgwardt over email and Telegram, a messaging app.
“I realize I created this mess and now everyone is trying to put the pieces together,” Borgwardt wrote in one email to Vande Kolk. “I am really sorry about that. It would have just been much easier if no one looked for me.”
In another email, Borgwardt explained how, back in Wisconsin, he made it from the edge of the lake all the way to the bus station in Madison.
“I kayaked out there with my small fishing net,” he wrote. “I tossed the phone. I inflated a small child inflatable raft good for about 250 lbs. After flipping the kayak, I spent the next 1 – 2 hours trying to paddle back to shore. (seemed like forever) But the winds, waves and the short “toy” paddles didn’t work well that night, but worked enough. I got to shore somewhere across from the area that I parked.”
Borgwardt wrote that he then rode an electric bike he had left in the brush for 66 miles.
“No one will truly ever forgot [sic] what I did, even if they somehow forgive me,” Borgwardt wrote to Vande Kolk. “I can possibly come back to try and clean up as much as possible.”
Borgwardt ultimately made the choice to fly from Batumi, Georgia, back to the United States, where he was ultimately brought in for questioning by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
“I think the only thing I was keeping secret was where I was at,” Borgwardt told investigators, according to a video of the interview. “I was adamant not to lie … so I really don’t think there’s anything that was a lie. I think I just didn’t say too much.”
ABC News Correspondent Jim Avila. Randy Sager/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Jim Avila, a former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, whose investigative journalism earned him several of the most prestigious awards in broadcast news, has died. He was 70.
His death after a long illness was announced internally by ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic.
“Jim was a gifted journalist and a generous colleague,” Karamehmedovic said in an email to staff.
Avila had also a been 20/20 correspondent based in Los Angeles before departing from the network in 2021. He specialized in politics, justice, law and consumer investigations.
“As the Senior Law and Justice Correspondent, he has covered every major trial from Jerry Sandusky and Penn State to Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson and countless others,” according to his ABC News official biography. “He led reports on immigration, making several trips to the southern border to document stories of immigrants, and also covered the death of Freddie Gray and civil unrest in Baltimore.”
He covered the White House from 2012 to 2016, during President Barack Obama’s second term.
“He won the prestigious Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for breaking the news that the United States and Cuba had reopened diplomatic relations,” the biography said.
He earned numerous awards, including two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards, the biography said. His work also won him the prestigious Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting and five Chicago-area Emmy Awards in the category of Spot News.
“In 1999, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists honored him with reporter of the year,” the biography said. “In addition, he garnered three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Headline Club of Chicago, winning for his coverage of the Peru drug wars and the death of Mayor Harold Washington, and was named Best Reporter of 1989.”
He was a named a 2019 honoree by National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect Avila’s correct age.
Avila was most recently a senior investigative reporter at KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, where he continued “covering a wide range of stories with depth and fairness,” Karamehmedovic said.
Even after his health challenges began, Avila “continued to contribute to journalism through opinion writing and local reporting, sharing his experience and deep curiosity to tell the stories that mattered most to his community and viewers,” the email said.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, including his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan, and we thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to seeking out the truth,” Karamehmedovic said.
