(NEW YORK) — A busy series of northern lights activity will soon come to a peak as the sun reaches its solar maximum stage in the coming months.
Several regions in the United States were treated to a multicolored light show earlier this week due to an increase in solar storm activity. The Aurora Borealis display stretched as far south as Arizona, Mississippi and Texas on Monday, images show.
The event followed other viewings in the U.S. in May and January. Opportunities to see the northern lights are expected to increase in the coming months.
How are the northern lights created?
Every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic field reaches its solar maximum, in which the number of solar flares is at its highest, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather and Prediction Center.
The northern lights occur when atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere clash with a solar flare, which causes the atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow, creating a spectrum of color in the night sky.
Earth is currently approaching the peak of Solar Cycle 25, in which more sunspots with intense magnetic activity are expected, according to NOAA. Impactful space weather events are possible throughout 2024.
The current cycle is expected to peak between November 2024 and March 2026, according to NOAA. Northern lights activity will be heightened during this time, scientists say.
After the solar maximum is over, the sun’s magnetic field equalizes and returns to normal.
Where can the northern lights be seen?
The northern lights are visible — typically at the poles — as the solar flares travel through space and into Earth’s magnetic field. In the U.S., the northernmost states, such as Maine and Alaska, have the best viewing opportunities.
The lights can be seen closer to the equator depending on the strength of the geometric storms. But the further south you go, a more reddish hue is visible rather than green. This is because the curvature of the Earth causes the particles to interact higher in the atmosphere.
The Space Weather Prediction Center advises star-gazers to get away from city lights and travel to the darkest location possible for the best viewing.
Typically, within an hour or two of midnight tends to be the best time, according to NOAA.
It is notoriously hard to predict when an Aurora Borealis will occur, scientists say. Often, auroras can occur with just a 30-minute warning, according to the Michigan Technological University. Researchers typically use satellites to measure the speed and density of solar wind to forecast when conditions are favorable for the northern lights to occur.
On Thursday, the northern lights may be visible from Fairbanks to as far south as Unalakleet, Talkeetna and Tok in Alaska, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute website, which tracks the phenomenon.
Intense geomagnetic storms can potentially disrupt navigation systems by interfering with radio and GPS signals, as well as electrical power networks, due to the subatomic particles that bombard the Earth, according to NOAA.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — When a California resident began to question the price of his electricity bill every month, he realized an up to 18-year-old mistake was costing him well over his personal usage.
Ken Wilson, a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) customer who has lived alone in an apartment complex in Vacaville since 2006, told ABC News’ San Francisco affiliate he started to notice his bill rise a few months ago.
In an effort to lower costs, Wilson told the outlet he tried to cut back on usage and purchased a device to help monitor how many watts his appliances use.
“Even after I turned off my breakers, I kept going outside to check my meter to see if it was still running and it was still running,” Wilson told ABC7.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he added.
Wilson said he contacted PG&E about the issue and they sent a representative to his apartment to check his meter, who confirmed his suspicions were not unfounded.
The utility company released a statement to ABC News saying Wilson had been paying the electricity bill for the apartment next to him “since potentially 2009,” three years after he had moved in.
“Our preliminary investigation has found the meter number for the customer’s apartment was being billed to another apartment since potentially 2009,” a spokesperson for PG&E said.
PG&E owned up to the mistake and maintained the company is “committed to rectifying the situation with the customer,” the statement said.
Since he’s had the same agreement with PG&E since he moved into the complex in 2006, Wilson told ABC7 and other media outlets he believes the costly mistake has been going on longer.
“We sincerely apologize for the oversight and regret any inconvenience caused by the duration of this issue,” the spokesperson added.
In an update to CBS News’ Sacramento affiliate, Wilson said PG&E fixed his meter so that he would only be paying his share of electric usage and that he was credited $600 to his account with the company.
PG&E also urged fellow customers who are worried about their usage and billing to verify their meter is correct by comparing the meter ID number on the electric panel to that on their monthly bill.
Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — After waiting six months — and losing $4 billion on paper — former President Donald Trump faces a potential windfall from his social media company.
Half a year after the public company behind Trump’s Truth Social platform went public, the “lockup” agreement that prevented Trump from selling any of his 115 million shares expired on Thursday afternoon.
Beginning to sell his shares could allow Trump to profit handsomely from his stake in the company — which is currently valued at approximately $1.7 billion — but it could crater the stock for the company’s diehard supporters, many of whom invested their money in the company as a sign of their support for the former president.
At the same time, holding onto the investment would be a financial leap of faith for Trump, whose shares comprise a large percentage of his net worth but have lost billions of dollars in value over the last six months.
Asked about the choice last week, Trump vowed not to sell.
“They’re worth billions of dollars, but I don’t want to sell my shares,” Trump said. “I’m not going to sell my shares. I don’t need money.”
Trump’s choice comes amid new financial pressures and a significant reshuffling of his financial portfolio.
While Trump’s net worth has grown to $4.3 billion according to the most recent Forbes estimate, the former president owes over $560 million in civil judgments, which he is actively appealing. The majority of his personal wealth — once built on the namesake properties that shot him to fame — now stems from his shares in his social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, which have fallen more than 70% since the company went public.
Analysts, meanwhile, have expressed concern about a further decline if Trump loses the November election.
Shares in Trump Media closed at a new low of $14.70 Thursday ahead of the lockup provision expiring, though the company enjoyed a 25% surge last week after Trump announced his plan to hold his shares.
“When he’s promised to do something, he’s kept his word,” said Jerry Dean McLain, a shareholder who purchased a hundred additional shares after Trump’s pledge. “He’s loyal to his followers — to his people — so I don’t have any reason not to believe him.”
‘Nothing like this’
Trump turned to the idea of creating his own social media company in the months following his ban from Twitter and other social media companies after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Truth Social launched in 2022, billing itself as a beacon for free speech on the internet with larger plans to expand into streaming.
“All of a sudden, I went from being No. 1 to having no voice,” Trump said about the benefit of Truth Social. “I’m not going to let that happen again.”
Despite multiple roadblocks — including a dispute with the company’s cofounders and its special purpose acquisition company paying a fine to settle fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange commission — the social media company went public in March.
Shares in the public company peaked at $66 in April, with analysts comparing the company to so-called “meme stocks” like AMC and GameStop, whose share prices surged based on investor enthusiasm rather than financial metrics.
By the summer, Trump Media’s stock price lingered around $30 before slumping to the teens in September, which some experts still believe is overvaluing the company, which only brought in $836,000 in revenue last quarter — a 30% decline from a year earlier. Based on the company’s cash per share, the stock is overvalued by 1,000%, according to University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter.
With the company losing millions of dollars, reporting limited revenue, and offering an unproven business model, the stock’s performance has frequently tracked with Trump’s personal wins and losses. When Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York, the stock declined 14% in after-hours trading following the verdict. Shares then surged as much as 30% early trading on the Monday after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“It’s much more of a speculative half-proxy for the former president’s reelection prospects and half kind of a long shot early-stage opportunity to get in on a potential new tech company and social media platform,” said Tyler Richey, an analyst at Sevens Report Research.
While it’s not unusual for a company’s stock price to fluctuate based on its corporate leadership, Trump’s relationship to the value of his company stands alone, according to Mike Stegemoller, a finance professor at Baylor University. Trump is the platform’s most notable user, he attracts new members to the platform, and he is the company’s largest shareholder.
“Publicly traded corporations … are somewhat dependent on personalities, but nothing like this,” said Stegemoller. “You’re getting this asset that generates cash flows, and you’re coupling that with a personality that’s pulling revenue to that asset.”
In regulatory filings, the company has acknowledged the risk of being tied to the former president. If Trump were to sell his shares or begin using another social media platform, the company’s stock value could suffer.
Trump, for his part, has vowed to continue posting on Truth Social.
“I love it. I use it as a method of getting out my word,” Trump said last week regarding the platform.
‘A much more profitable deal’
The lockup agreement that’s kept Trump from selling off his shares in the first six months is an arrangement that’s often used by public companies to prevent company leadership from taking actions that could affect the stock price, according to Ritter.
Trump’s 115 million shares means he owns more than half of the company, so selling those shares — which Trump would have to disclose within two days in a public filing — could trigger a massive selloff and tank the company’s stock price.
“As soon as folks know he’s getting out in any large amount, I would imagine shares would fall,” said Stegemoller.
According to Stegemoller, Trump’s announcement last week that he would not sell his shares is reasonable — not only because Trump likely wants the company to succeed, but also because selling his shares too rapidly could cost him money. Because he holds so many shares, Trump would be unlikely to fully offload them all before the stock price plummeted, forcing him to sell his remaining shares at a lower price.
Alternatively, Trump could slowly sell some of his shares, arrange a deal with a buyer, or use the shares as collateral for loans. Selling some of his shares would allow Trump to still own a controlling interest in the company while diversifying his portfolio, according to Stegemoller.
“Selling slowly over time in order to pull money out of his investment is a much more reasonable deal for him, and a much more profitable deal for him, too,” Stegemoller said.
Although Trump has publicly declared that he plans to hold his shares, executives in the company could consider selling their holdings, which could also impact the stock price.
“They might want to get out as quickly as possible, and rather than sell their shares gradually, it might be a rush for the exit,” said Ritter.
‘I’m not leaving’
Trump has suggested that the company’s sluggish stock performance is partially due to speculation about him stepping away from the company — a notion he tried to dispel last week.
“People think that I’m leaving. That’s why they’re down,” Trump said regarding shares in the company. “It’s different if I leave, but I’m not leaving. I love it.”
And some analysts believe the expiration of the lockup provision could prove to be a turning point for the company.
According to Richey, a recent spike in trading volume and other metrics suggest that the stock price might be reaching a bottom, while Trump’s decision to hold his shares could reassure investors.
Speculation about Trump’s chances of winning in the November election could also help the stock price.
“There’s still money in the markets supporting a Donald Trump win if you’re using the stock price as a proxy for the election outcome,” Richey said.
(NEW YORK) — A witness got emotional recounting the day of the doomed Titan submersible dive while testifying Thursday during the U.S. Coast Guard’s hearing into the deadly implosion.
Renata Rojas, a banker who had previously gone on a dive to the Titanic on the experimental vessel, was volunteering and assisting the surface crew during the 2023 expedition when the submersible catastrophically imploded on a deep-sea voyage to the shipwreck site, killing five people, including OceanGate founder Stockton Rush.
The hearing took an approximately 10-minute break on Thursday during Rojas’ testimony so that she could compose herself before discussing the June 18, 2023, dive.
“They were just very happy to go,” Rojas recalled of the passengers, crying during her testimony. “That’s the memory I have. Nobody was really nervous. They were excited about what they’re going to see.”
Rojas testified that beyond issues with a dinghy, there was nothing unusual about the day of the dive — everything was done on time and they had “wonderful weather.”
She said the submersible went into the water on schedule, around 9:15 a.m. local time. She said she was waiting to hear updates on the dive after breakfast a couple hours later, but they had no update on the communications with the sub.
There was a loss of communication with the Titan at approximately 10:47 a.m. local time, according to the Coast Guard. The sub was expected to surface at about 3 p.m. local time, the Coast Guard said.
Rojas said there didn’t seem to be anything of concern until about 5 or 6 p.m. local time.
“Usually they’re allowed at least an hour in the bottom. Could it be possible that if they were in front of the bow, everybody begged in the sub to take another hour?” she said. “Like if it was me in the sub, I probably would have said, ‘Please give me another hour.’ You have to take that into account.”
After three hours of searching the surface for the sub, per OceanGate loss-of-communications protocol, the surface ship Polar Prince contacted the Canadian Coast Guard at 7:10 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Debris from the Titan was found after a four-day search.
In addition to Rush, those killed in the implosion included French explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
Rojas said she had saved “for a long time” for her own expedition to the Titanic. She said she didn’t think it would ever happen until she was connected with OceanGate.
She said she signed up in 2016 or 2017 to go on a dive in 2018, though didn’t go until July 2022. She said OceanGate had to make a new carbon-fiber hull and the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays.
She said she knew the submersible was experimental but felt safe.
“I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never, at any point, felt unsafe by the operation,” she said.
Asked if any OceanGate employees or past employees ever brought up safety concerns to her, Rojas said there was one who told her she wouldn’t get in the sub.
“This is never really sold as a Disney ride,” she said. “This is an expedition where things happen, and you have to adapt to change. That was, at least for me, it was very clear.”
She said as a passenger, she felt she was given the opportunity to voice any safety concerns, though never did personally.
“I knew the risk that I was taking, and still decided to go,” she said.
She said she understood that the sub was not classified by a certification society.
“It was similar to the Apollo program — they tested by doing,” she said. “Neil Armstrong didn’t ask somebody, ‘Is this vessel classed?’ before he went to space. He just got in and went.”
“For me, it was the drive of exploration,” she said. “Exploration requires risks.”
Rojas had done several dives with OceanGate, including a 2016 dive to the Andrea Doria shipwreck on OceanGate’s Cyclops 1 submersible. She said she paid $20,000 to go on it.
David Lochridge, the former director of marine operations for OceanGate, testified on Tuesday that Rush was difficult to work with during that Andrea Doria dive. Lochridge said Rush, who was piloting the sub, ended up getting the vessel stuck in the wreck and panicked. Lochridge said Rush was behaving unprofessionally and refused to relinquish control until Rojas, with tears in her eyes, yelled at Rush to give Lochridge the “effing controller” that piloted the vessel.
Lochridge testified that Rush threw the PlayStation controller at his head and one of the buttons came off, though he said he was able to repair it and get them back to the surface.
Rojas refuted part of Lochridge’s testimony on Thursday, saying, “He must have gone on a different dive. Nobody was panicking, nobody was crying, and there was definitely no swearing and yelling.”
She said Rush put the controller on the floor at Lochridge’s feet, and she did not see it broken.
Rojas, an experienced scuba diver, said she went on other dives with OceanGate until the Titan was ready to go to the Titanic. She recounted a 2015 meeting with Rush.
“He told me a sub had not been made, that he had plans to make a sub to go to Titanic,” she said. “It was going to take time, but he wanted me to go out on other expeditions, and, you know, kind of test the waters of how they did things.”
She said she enjoyed being a mission specialist — what OceanGate called its paying customers.
“It was fun. I was learning a lot. I was working with amazing people,” she said. “Some of those people are the very hard-working individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true.”
Rojas is the first mission specialist to testify during the two-week hearing, which started on Monday. Another, Fred Hagen, is scheduled to testify on Friday.
“We all want to find out what happened,” Rojas said at the close of her testimony on Thursday.
“What we have all gone through — it’s still raw,” she said, crying. “Nothing is going to bring our friends back. I hope that this investigation creates an understanding that with exploration, there’s risk. And without taking that risk and the exploration, the world would still be flat. I hope that innovation continues so that we can make the oceans accessible to people like me.”
(CODY, Wyo.) — A 60-year-old woman was walking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park when she suffered burns from scalding water in a thermal area by Old Faithful, park officials said.
The woman was walking with her husband and their dog in a thermal area near Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon “when she broke through a thin crust” over the extremely hot water, suffering second-degree and third-degree burns to her leg, the National Park Service said.
The woman, who was visiting Yellowstone from New Hampshire, was taken to a park medical clinic and later flown to a hospital for further treatment, officials said.
Her husband and dog were not hurt, park officials said.
“Visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution,” Yellowstone National Park said in a statement. “The ground in these areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface.”
Park spokesperson Linda Veress urges visitors to “follow the beaten path.”
“In thermal areas, boardwalks take you to amazing places, protect the park, and keep you safe,” Veress told ABC News. “People have been severely burned and killed after leaving the boardwalk or reaching into hot water.”
Pets aren’t allowed on boardwalks or hiking trails, or in thermal areas, park officials noted.
The incident is under investigation, park officials said.
(MEMPHIS) — A former Memphis police officer on trial in the beating death of Tyre Nichols texted photos of a bloodied Nichols to his then-girlfriend, she said Wednesday during testimony.
Brittany Leake, an officer with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) who used to date Demetrius Haley, said Haley texted her and one of her family members a photo of Nichols that showed the 29-year-old leaning against a police car, bleeding from his mouth, wearing a torn shirt, appearing dirty and with his eyes closed, according to WATN, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom.
Haley is on trial along with Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, who were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“I wasn’t offended, but it was difficult to look at,” Leake said, claiming she deleted the photo, according to WATN.
Leake said she told Haley that Nichols needed to go to the trauma center, according to WATN. She claimed Haley previously sent her other photos from his patrols, including pictures of a burned suspect. Leake testified that she has never sent photos from the job in her two years as an MPD officer because it is against department policy, according to WATN.
Prosecutors on Wednesday also called to the stand Jesse Guy, a former Memphis Fire Department paramedic who cared for Nichols on the scene and in the ambulance that transported him to St. Francis Hospital, according to WATN.
Guy said when he first arrived on the scene, an emergency medical technician (EMT) told him Nichols “just went out,” according to WATN. Guy claimed he heard one of the officers say Nichols took something.
Guy testified that Nichols was unresponsive, had head swelling, scratches and marks around his neck and blood spilling from his mouth, according to WATN.
“It’s time to go,” Guy told prosecutors he was thinking after Nichols had no pulse and was unresponsive to Narcan, an overdose reversal drug, according to WATN. “I felt like something was going on.”
Guy said he gave Nichols oxygen, intubated him, removed his wet clothes and attempted with no success to defibrillate his heart, according to WATN. After giving Nichols epinephrine, more oxygen and sodium bicarbonate, Guy said there was still no pulse.
“I was trying to save his life,” Guy said, according to WATN.
Guy claimed he decided Nichols must go to the closest hospital to get better care, according to WATN. By the time they arrived at St. Francis Hospital, the former paramedic said they were able to get Nichols’ heart beating again.
Guy noted that when he asked one of the officers involved in the encounter what happened, the officer responded with a sigh.
“Never mind,” Guy said he told the officer because the paramedic thought the policeman was going to give him “B.S.” according to WATN.
Guy said during cross-examination that EMTs on the scene when he arrived had not assessed Nichols and didn’t tell him much about Nichols’ health status, according to WATN.
When defense attorneys asked Guy about information he received from the EMTs who were already on site, Guy claimed that the EMTs told him they heard Nichols moan in response to one of the medics.
Michael Stengel, Haley’s attorney, asked Guy when he knew Nichols was going through a medical emergency, according to WATN.
“When I laid eyes on him,” Guy said.
Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over on Jan. 7, 2023, for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.
Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly.
The prosecution told ABC News last week that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., the two other officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges. Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
ABC News’ Deena Zaru and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
(WILMINGTON, Del.) — The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s conviction in Delaware on gun charges agreed Thursday to push back his sentencing date three weeks, from Nov. 13 to Dec. 4, granting a request by President Joe Biden’s son to allow more time for his attorneys to gather materials for his sentencing memorandum.
In their request this week to delay the sentencing, attorneys for Hunter Biden invoked the upcoming presidential election on Nov. 5 as one reason for the request.
“Several people who plan to submit letters to both Courts as part of sentencing memoranda for Mr. Biden are short of time because they are presently involved in government work and travel with the current Administration, or are involved in the 2024 presidential campaign,” attorneys for Hunter Biden wrote.
Attorneys for Hunter Biden also suggested that they may have “in-person witnesses” prepared to testify on his behalf, including some who “may not be available until after November 5 and the events that could occur right after that date.”
Prosecutors in special counsel David Weiss’ office had opposed the motion to reschedule sentencing.
Hunter Biden was found guilty in June on three felony counts related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.
Earlier this month, in a separate case, he pleaded guilty to nine federal tax-related charges in Los Angeles, where he is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16.
In this Aug. 14, 2024, file photo, broken electricity lines above homes damaged are seen after Tropical Storm Ernesto hit Fajardo, Puerto Rico. (Jaydee Lee Serrano/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)
(NEW YORK) — Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria — nearly seven years after the powerful Category 4 storm caused extensive damage to the island’s already delicate infrastructure.
September marks National Preparedness Month and the start of Hispanic Heritage Month — stark reminders of the work that remains to be done on the island, especially as climate change could lead to more rapidly intensifying hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin.
Getting Puerto Rico to the necessary storm preparedness is about “justice and fairness” in protecting a unique culture and heritage that belongs to the United States, Jorge Gonzalez-Cruz, professor at the University of Albany’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center who has researched urban energy sustainability in Puerto Rico, told ABC News.
“We are U.S. citizens and deserve the best possible opportunity to develop and grow and have a sense of well-being and prosperity,” said Gonzalez-Cruz, who was born and raised on the island.
Hurricane Maria brought 155 mph winds as it made landfall near the city of Yabucoa, on the southeast portion of the island, on Sept. 20, 2017. The storm knocked out 95% of cell towers, leaving residents without the ability to communicate. Power, already scarce due to Hurricane Irma just weeks before, was knocked out on the entire island. Flooding on the island was rampant, with 13 locations reaching record flood stage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Structural damage to buildings was widespread, and nearly all road signs and traffic lights were destroyed, officials said.
Some communities were without power for up to a year, according to Gonzalez-Cruz.
Out of the nearly 3,000 deaths attributed to Maria, only dozens were as a result of the actual storm, Kyle Siler-Evans, senior engineer of RAND, a nonprofit research institute and public sector consulting firm, told ABC News. The rest of the fatalities were caused by lack of access to clean water, food and power for an extended period of time, he added.
The frequency of strong storms that impacted the U.S. in 2017 likely contributed to delays in response to Puerto Rico, Sally Ray, director of domestic funds for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, told ABC News. Hurricane Harvey brought widespread flooding to the Houston area in August 2017. Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage in Florida after striking the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, in early September 2017.
“By the time you got to Maria, you know, everybody had given all their attention and money to Harvey and not as much to the subsequent storms of that season,” Ray said.
The COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent storms that followed and the rise of inflation delayed the reconstruction even more, Siler-Evans said.
Puerto Rico was awarded $34 billion from the federal government for Hurricane Maria recovery efforts, $28.6 billion of which was allocated for permanent work and management costs, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As of September 2023, 86% of FEMA’s Projects for Puerto Rico, including hazard mitigation and management costs had been completed, according to FEMA.
Gonzalez-Cruz described recovery efforts as being at a “good pace,” despite the setbacks. Improvements continue to be made to the power system, new flooding zones are regularly identified and reconstruction is moving steadily across the island, he said.
Thousands of smaller projects, such as the building of baseball fields and repairs to roads and bridges, are currently in the works as well, Siler-Evans told ABC News.
“But, [there’s] still a lot of work to be done,” Gonzalez-Cruz said.
Puerto Rico is often in the bullseye of storm systems that generate in the Atlantic Basin, the experts said. Every extreme weather event to impact the island since 2017 has been a litmus test of what still needs to be done to modernize its aging infrastructure, much of which was built during the mid-20th century.
More than 30,000 homes still had damaged roofs — covered in blue tarp — in 2019 as Hurricane Dorian neared the island, but a direct hit was avoided due to a late shift in track. In 2020, one million customers were without power following back-to-back earthquakes. An explosion and subsequent fire at a substation left 900,000 customers on the island without power in June 2021. Another massive fire at a major power plant caused a massive outage for about 1.3 million customers in April 2022, followed by Hurricane Fiona in September of that year.
Fiona was considered the first big test of the improvements made on the infrastructure since Maria, Gonzalez-Cruz said. The entire island lost power following the impact of the Category 1 storm.
The most recent named storm, Hurricane Ernesto, caused significant flooding on the island and left 730,000 customers without power — about half the island — after striking the island last month, officials said.
“There’s this whole cycle of problems that happens after a storm like Ernesto that [doesn’t] get the attention,” Ray said.
The toll from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria took on the collective psyches of Puerto Ricans cannot be understated, Gonzalez-Cruz said.
“It also shocked the makeup of the Puerto Rican people,” he said. “It revealed a lot of challenges that the island has been dealing with over [the] years.”
FEMA, its federal partners and the Government of Puerto Rico continue working closely on the island’s unprecedented recovery mission, a FEMA spokesperson said in an emailed statement to ABC News.
“FEMA is committed to the work that lies ahead and to ensuring that this historic recovery will have a lasting, positive impact on future generations,” the spokesperson said. “As National Hispanic Heritage Month begins, FEMA is proud to mention that its Hispanic and Latino Employee Resource Group is one of the largest in the agency with nearly 1,000 members across the country, many of whom are Puerto Rican and are leading the island’s long-term recovery efforts.
A request for comment from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority was not immediately answered.
(NEW YORK) — Kentucky State Police announced Wednesday night that the body discovered in the woods earlier in the day not far from where the I-75 shootings took place is believed to be suspect Joseph Couch.
“There were articles associated with the body that at this time we feel is Joseph Couch,” an official said at an evening news conference.
The coroner’s office will make a final determination, officials said.
Troopers and two citizens found the body together in the vicinity of exit 49 in Laurel County, according to the authorities.
Wednesday was the 12th day of a manhunt for the suspect, who was wanted in connection with an interstate shooting that wounded five people.
Couch was initially named as a person of interest after deputies found his SUV abandoned on a forest road near exit 49, officials said. An AR-15 rifle Couch purchased in the hours before the shooting and investigators believe was used in the incident was also found in the woods near Couch’s vehicle along with a bag with Couch’s name written on it, officials said.
A day after the shooting, Couch was upgraded to the primary suspect.
In addition to searching the national forest, a tip prompted investigators this week to search a home in Laurel County, but found no evidence of Couch having been there, officials said.
Before the interstate shooting, according to the arrest warrant, a Laurel County 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman who alleged Couch texted her before the interstate shooting and “advised he was going to kill a lot of people. Well, try at least.” The text message was sent to the woman at 5:03 p.m. on Sept. 7, about a half-hour before the interstate shooting started, according to the arrest warrant.
“Couch sent another message to [the woman] that read, in part, ‘I’ll kill myself afterwards,'” according to the arrest warrant.
Tuesday’s search for Couch focused on the thick woods of the Daniel Boone National Forest, according to the Kentucky State Police.
Both state and federal teams combed through at least 28,000 acres of the more than 700,000-acre national forest.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said additional state resources were being made available to help with the ongoing search efforts.
The manhunt prompted local schools to close for over a week. They reopened Tuesday under heavy police guard.
“We will not live our lives in fear,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Tuesday.
The school district said in a statement that the reopening plan “prioritizes the safety of our students and staff.”
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A former Memphis police officer who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the beating death of Tyre Nichols faced cross-examination from defense attorneys Wednesday.
Emmitt Martin III testified at the trial of the three former officers — Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley — who were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Stephen Leffler, Haley’s attorney, mentioned that the boots of the ex-officers involved in the encounter were taken into evidence after the incident, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom. Martin said that blood was found on his and Haley’s shoes.
Martin Zummach, Young’s lawyer, claimed that the no-snitch rule the former officer’s unit followed didn’t apply to Smith or Bean because they had only worked 11 shifts with Martin. The ex-officer disagreed and said the rule was understood by Smith and Bean as well.
Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., the two officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
Martin said on Monday that on Jan. 7, 2023, the night Nichols was pulled over, he saw the Memphis resident speeding and changing lanes without a signal, WATN reported. The former officer said he ran Nichols’ license plate and it came back clean. Martin claimed that he switched to car-to-car radio channels and reached out to Haley, who said he would take the lead on apprehending Nichols.
Leffler asked Martin why he said, “Let go of my gun,” during the encounter with Nichols. Martin said that he felt pressure on his duty belt, according to WATN. But Martin also pointed out that he had previously told prosecutors that Nichols was not trying to take the weapon out of his holster and had not seen him do it.
The defense said Tuesday that Martin changed his story of what happened the night of their encounter with Nichols after accepting a plea deal from the prosecution, adding that if the ex-officer’s testimony leads to the conviction of even one defendant, Martin could receive a lesser sentence, according to WATN.
Defense attorneys questioned if Martin was lying on the stand to fulfill the terms of his plea deal, according to WATN. But the ex-officer responded by claiming that he was lying in earlier statements to justify his use of force on Nichols.
In police reports filed the night of Nichols’ arrest, narratives read that the Memphis resident swung at officers and tried to grab Martin’s gun. Martin said on Tuesday that he never saw that occur, according to WATN.
Under cross-examination on Tuesday, Martin was asked by John Keith Perry, Bean’s attorney, whether he had ever told Bean that he had “homicidal thoughts.” Martin said he never told that to Bean and had told that to Justin Smith before coming back to work in January 2023 after being hit by a car in November 2022, according to WATN. Martin said Wednesday he never told his former supervisor, about those thoughts.
Martin said Tuesday that he experienced four life-threatening injuries after being struck by the vehicle and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, suffering from loss of sleep, paranoia, irritability and chronic headaches, according to WATN.
Martin told prosecutors Monday that he was scared, angry and eager to show he could still do the job and wanted revenge for being hit by a car, according to WATN.
Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him. Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days later. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly.
The prosecution told ABC News last week that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
