Flash flooding threat in South as major storm moves across country
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A large storm over the central U.S. is bringing a range of weather issues, from flooding rain and severe weather to heavy snow in the Rockies.
This early season snowstorm has brought more than three feet of snow to portions of New Mexico.
Angel Fire, New Mexico, is home to a popular ski resort that has picked up 40 inches of snowfall in the last 36 hours. That’s still 8 inches below their record snowfall for one storm.
Las Vegas, New Mexico, has picked up 31.7 inches of snow from this storm, breaking their all-time record snowfall of 27 inches in 1958.
Rociada, New Mexico, had 36 inches of snow; 28 inches of snow fell in Genoa, Colorado; 24.5 inches fell in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 20 inches fell in Kenton, Oklahoma.
Denver, Colorado’s snow total of 19.2 inches makes this their third-largest November snowstorm on record.
Winter Storm Warnings have been allowed to expire across parts of Colorado Saturday morning, as the snow tapers off and quieter weather moves in.
Rafael feeds flood threat
Tropical Storm Rafael is meandering around the central Gulf of Mexico with winds of 50 mph.
After seeing so much activity in the Gulf of Mexico this hurricane season, it’s a relief to see a storm that will not be making landfall as a dangerous storm.
There will be indirect impacts from Rafael as some of the moisture from this storm is pulled into a front as it moves across the south Saturday.
There is a High Risk for Excessive Rainfall in parts of Louisiana today with up to 8 inches of rain in the forecast. That flash flood risk extends as far north as Kentucky today.
Rafael is also churning up the seas enough to bring a dangerous rip current risk to several beaches along the Gulf Coast this weekend.
Waves up to 7 feet have prompted High Surf Advisories through Sunday, with minor coastal flooding also possible in parts of Louisiana.
Wildfire risk
While there are several dangerous wildfires still burning in the west, the conditions have improved enough to limit fire growth this weekend across California.
In the Northeast, a Red Flag Warning remains in effect for portions of 6 states on Saturday due to elevated fire weather concerns.
Wind gusts up to 35 mph and humidity as low as 25% could help to rapidly spread any fires that flare up, so residents are urged to avoid open flames this weekend.
Rain will move into the northeast by Sunday night, offering a bit of relief to an area that hasn’t seen much measurable rainfall in more than a month.
While any rainfall is better than nothing, this is not looking to put a dent in the severe to extreme drought across much of the northeast.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — “I wanted some kind of revenge. I was seeing red,” one of the former Memphis, Tennessee, officers who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the death of Tyre Nichols said on the witness stand Monday evening.
The federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the January 2023 beating death of Nichols continued Tuesday morning after prosecutors called ex-officer Emmitt Martin III to the stand, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom.
Martin, whose nickname on the force was “Full Can” for what prosecutors said was his use of pepper spray against suspects, started Tuesday’s testimony by watching the footage from the night of Nichols’ stop, WATN reported.
“They were assaulting him,” Martin said of his former partners. “I was already angry that he ran. I kicked him … They [his former partners] were holding him up. He was helpless.”
Martin admitted to kicking Nichols four times and punching him five times and said the Memphis resident remained passive even when officers were aggressive with him, according to WATN.
Martin testified at the trial of former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — 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.
Martin 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.
“You get your a– beat,” Martin said when prosecutors asked about a term his former unit used called the “run tax”, which referred to the consequences suspects paid for running from police, WATN reported.
Body camera video shows Martin tossing his camera so their confrontation with Nichols wouldn’t be recorded. Martin admitted to not using his body camera video and said he was unaware of the Skycop camera recording the incident above them until he saw it on the news, WATN noted.
“If I couldn’t justify, I would have to cover it up. I’m not going to tell on them [my partners] and they’re not going to tell on me. It was understood,” Martin said. “I lied.”
According to WATN, in police reports, narratives read that Nichol swung at officers and tried to grab Martin’s gun. Martin said he never saw that occur.
The ex-officer claimed that he was hit by a car in November 2022 and returned to work Jan. 3, 2023, according to WATN. Martin said he was scared, angry and eager to show he could still do the job and wanted revenge for being struck by a vehicle.
On Jan. 7. 2023, the night Nichols was pulled over, Martin said he saw Nichols 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.
Prosecutors noted that Martin and Haley were called the “Smash Brothers,” according to WATN.
Martin said he blocked Nichols’ car once he caught up to him — a maneuver department policy designates only for felonies — resulting in Martin escalating it to a felony stop even though it wasn’t, WATN reported.
Martin claimed that he and Haley both approached Nichols’ vehicle with guns drawn and Haley pulled him out, WATN noted.
“No, never got a chance to,” Martin said when asked if he gave Nichols any reasons for why they pulled him over, according to WATN. “Just didn’t.”
“You can be charged by the department and possibly [end up] here,” Martin said when prosecutors asked what his police training taught him about use of force, WATN reported.
Martin said they should’ve analyzed the situation first and gotten control of Nichols’ hands, WATN noted. He added that conflicting commands were given to Nichols during the arrest.
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 after. 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 Thursday 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.
SCORPION’s goal was to get guns and drugs off the street. Martin said that officers were picked based on productivity and remaining a member of the team depended on their statistics, WATN reported. Martin said they had zero arrests the night he spotted Nichols and they were told that if one officer had hands on someone that everyone had to have hands on them, WATN noted.
The trial was paused for lunch and Martin’s testimony continued after, according to WATN.
(LONDON, Kent.) — As the hunt for the suspected gunman in an eastern Kentucky interstate shooting that left five people injured entered its sixth day, Gov. Andy Beshear said law enforcement officers will be posted at high school football games and stationed along school bus routes in an attempt to ease fear in nearby communities.
Beshear on Thursday said four of the victims shot in Saturday’s sniper-like attack on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky, have been released from hospitals and that the fifth victim is also expected to survive.
The governor said he is confident that law enforcement teams with the help of agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives will catch suspect Joseph Couch and bring him to justice.
“I don’t yet have the evidence in front of me of what fully led him to this point, but there’s no excuse,” he said. “When you put a plan in place to take the lives of our fellow human beings and try to take as many of them as possible, you can and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Beshear said the Kentucky State Police believe Couch, 32, is still in the thick woods of the 708,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest, which he described as “some of the most rugged terrain that anyone could hide in.”
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip “PJ” Burnett said more than 100 officers are combing the forest, where on the day of the rampage investigators found an AR-15 rifle believed to have been used in the the shooting as well as Couch’s vehicle abandoned on a forest road.
“We have no significant updates at this time, but we are following up on leads,” Burnett said.
The commissioner said police are using sophisticated technology in the search, including Kentucky National Guard Black Hawk helicopters, aircraft equipped with thermal imaging and multiple K-9 units, including cadaver-sniffing dogs and FBI bloodhounds brought in from Illinois.
Burnett said the search, which has focused on the area near I-75’s Exit 49, is being expanded in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
“We will keep working until we exhaust every single lead,” Burnett said.
Beshear said he’ll consider deploying National Guard troops to the forest to help in the ground search.
“Right now what was requested is some aerial assistance. The Black Hawks have proven to be very helpful. Right now we don’t have an extra request, but that’s something we would certainly look at,” Beshear said of deploying the National Guard on the ground.
However, Beshear said investigators believe Couch could still be armed and dangerous.
“This isn’t the type of search where you can put a whole bunch of people out there at once because this is an individual that we believe is still armed, would be very difficult to spot and we want to make sure we don’t lose anybody throughout this,” Beshear said.
According to an arrest warrant, Couch, a former member of the U.S. Army Reserves, is wanted on charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture.
Couch was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute on Saturday morning and legally purchased an AR-15 rifle and ammunition at a gun store hours before allegedly opening fire on vehicles traveling on I-75, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Up to 30 rounds were fired from a hillside near Exit 49, officials said. At least 12 vehicles were struck by gunfire, leaving five people with gunshot wounds, including one victim who was shot in the face, officials said.
Investigators said they believe all of the victims were shot at randomly and that Couch had no previous contact with any of them.
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 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. Saturday, 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.
London city officials told ABC News the woman Couch texted is the mother of his child.
Burnett said Thursday that the police “understand there is fear in the community.” To ease fears, he said state troopers and officers will be posted at every high school football game in Laurel County on Friday night.
Beshear said the presence of law enforcement officers is being boosted at area public schools and that state police are helping local police with some bus routes to ensure students get to school safely.
The governor implored citizens not to turn Couch into a folk hero for evading capture.
“There is no notoriety, there is no celebrity in committing an act like this,” Beshear said. “There’s just evil.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Navy identified on Monday two “trailblazing” women aviators who were killed when their jet crashed in northeast Washington during an Oct. 15 training mission.
A day after Navy officials declared them dead, they were identified as Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay P. “Miley” Evans, a Naval flight officer, and Lt. Serena N. “Dug” Wileman, a Naval aviator. Both women were 31 years old and from California, according to the Navy.
Evans and Wileman were described by Navy officials as “two highly skilled, combat decorated aviators.”
“More than just names and ranks, they were role models, trailblazers, and women whose influence touched countless people on the flight deck and well beyond,” the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group Two and Carrier Air Wing 3 said in a statement.
The aviators were identified a day after Cmdr. Timothy Warburton of the Navy’s Electronic Attack Squadron 130 — which goes by the nickname “Zappers” — announced they had been declared dead.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the loss of two beloved Zappers,” Warburton said in a statement. “Our priority right now is taking care of the families of our fallen aviators and ensuring the well-being of our Sailors and the Growler community. We are grateful for the ongoing teamwork to safely recover the deceased.”
Wreckage of the EA-18G Growler jet was located Wednesday on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier, military officials said.
Search-and-rescue crews faced mountainous terrain, cloudy weather and low visibility during the search for the crew, Navy officials said in a statement last week.
The jet, from Electronic Attack Squadron 130, crashed at about 3:23 p.m. on Oct. 15, about 30 miles west of Yakima, according to the Navy.
The jet crashed after launching a training flight from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, officials said.
Evans and Wileman had recently returned from a nine-month deployment to the Red Sea in the Middle East, where they were part of the Carrier Air Wing 3 and stationed aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to the Navy. During their deployment, the aviators were involved in what the Navy described as “the most dynamic combat action.”
“During their deployment, both Evans and Wileman distinguished themselves in combat operations,” Capt. Marvin Scott, a Navy flight commander, said in a statement.
Scott added, “These role models cemented legacies by making history that will inspire future generations of Naval officers and aviators.”
Evans completed multiple combat strikes into Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen, making her one of the few women to fly combat missions over land, according to the Navy.
In 2023, Evans was part of an all-female Super Bowl flyover of State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which the Navy said was “a historic moment marking 50 years of women flying in the Navy.”
In 2024, Evans was also named the Growler Tactics Instructor of the Year, according to the Navy.
In 2023 and 2024, Wileman also flew on multiple combat missions into the Houthi-controlled territories of Yemen.
“I have personally flown with both of these great Americans in both training and dynamic combat operations, and they always performed professionally and precisely. I could not be more proud to have served with each of them,” Capt. Marvin Scott, a Navy flight commander, said in a statement.
The cause of the crash that killed Evans and Wileman is under investigation, according to the Navy.
The Growler aircraft, which according to the Navy is worth about $67 million, is “the most advanced technology in airborne Electronic Attack and stands as the Navy’s first line of defense in hostile environments.”
The 130 squadron adopted the nickname “Zappers” when it was commissioned as the Carrier Early Warning Squadron 13 in 1959, the military said.
The squadron was most recently deployed to the Southern Red Sea, where it carried out seven pre-planned strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, according to a statement.
The Zappers also carried out some 700 combat missions “to degrade the Houthi capability to threaten innocent shipping,” according to a press release announcing the squadron’s return to Washington in July.
