Mardi Gras parades canceled due to extreme winds: Mother Nature ‘decided not to work with us’
ABC News Illustration
(NEW ORLEANS) — Parades on Mardi Gras day have been canceled due to the dangers posed by extreme winds that could reach 60 mph in the New Orleans area on Fat Tuesday.
“The range of where we consider it dangerous and we bring in our people is around 30 to 35 mph,” Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, President Cynthia Lee Sheng said at a news conference Monday, noting that transit buses stop operating when winds reach 35 mph.
The gusty winds will be severe enough that there’s “no other choice” but to cancel Tuesday’s scheduled parades, she said.
“These are not conditions where we would invite family, including the elderly and children, to stand on our streets out in the open,” Sheng said. “These are not conditions for people to be elevated on floats, God forbid, having a float tip over and there’s people on the street just under those floats.”
The winds also bring the danger of flying debris, like tents and chairs, she said.
“I know many, many people have planned all year long for tomorrow … and I know there are many, many scheduled parties for tomorrow. But Mother Nature has just decided not to work with us,” Sheng said.
“I have to look at the safety first,” she said.
Damaging winds are the biggest threat from the severe thunderstorms expected to strike Louisiana on Tuesday, but an isolated tornado and flash flooding are also possible.
“This is disappointing for all of us,” Sheng said, adding, “We still have a lot of festivities today.”
Mardi Gras celebrations ramp up one week before the day itself, with about five days of parades across the city culminating in a final day of parades on Mardi Gras Tuesday.
(WASHINGTON) — Natalya Gudin and her husband, Alexandr Kirsanov, who coached two young figure skaters aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, had a choice to make before the plane took off: Who would go and who would stay.
The couple decided Kirsanov would fly to Wichita, Kansas, to accompany their skaters at the National Development Camp for figure skating, Gudin told ABC News in an interview.
On Wednesday night, the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter both crashed into the icy Potomac River after colliding in midair, launching a desperate overnight search and rescue mission. No survivors are expected, officials said.
“I lost everything. I lost my husband. I lost my students. I lost my friends,” Gudin said.
The last time she spoke to her husband was on Wednesday afternoon, when Kirsanov was at the gate at the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.
“It’s time for boarding,” Gudin said her husband told her on the phone. They were supposed to talk again when he landed at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia.
That call never came.
Instead, Gudin said she heard from the mother of one of the other figure skaters aboard the flight that there was a crash. Gudin said they should “immediately go to D.C.”
Just before 9 p.m., while on its final approach to the airport, the regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter with three people aboard. Dive teams and other first responders worked through the night in the frigid waters of the Potomac River, where the aircraft had crashed.
Gudin said she stayed up through the night, hoping for good news.
But by Thursday morning, she learned her husband and their students had likely died. Officials said on Thursday that what began as a rescue rescue mission had become a recovery mission.
Authorities had recovered 30 bodies from the jet and one body from the helicopter as of Thursday afternoon, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told ABC News. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said they do not expect any survivors.
On Thursday afternoon, Gudin was at a hotel in Virginia waiting for more information about Kirsanov’s remains.
“I need my husband back,” Gudin said. “I need his body back.”
(VALLEJO, Calif.) — A California school was forced to cancel classes until further notice after its copper wiring was stolen, knocking out power to the property.
Repairs at the Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy are expected to take about a week, but if the school needs to be closed for longer, the district will arrange alternate student placements, according to the school.
“Students have been set up with alternative learning hubs or can complete work at home for the time being,” the school told ABC News in a statement.
The school will open alternative learning hubs on Wednesday to continue learning,
“Alternative learning hubs will open at six school sites: Cooper, Dan Mini, Federal Terrace, Highland, and Patterson Elementary Schools, as well as Loma Vista Environmental Science Academy. These hubs will provide academic instruction and resources, with educators from elementary and middle schools supporting students as they complete independent study work prepared by their teachers,” the school announced.
Parents and guardians were sent an online form that they can use to sign up for the alternative learning hubs.
“We are committed to ensuring that our students’ education remains as uninterrupted as possible,” Vallejo City Unified School District Superintendent Rubén Aurelio said. “The dedicated staff at Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy has worked rapidly to prepare learning materials and establish a system that keeps our students engaged during this temporary closure.”
Free breakfast and lunch will be provided at all the hubs.
For families not attending a hub, staff will be available at Solano Widenmann on Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to distribute independent study materials.
Vallejo Police did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for a comment on the investigation.
The booking photos for Isaiah Smith, left, and Kyle Thurman (Baton Rouge Police Department)
(BATON ROUGE, LA) — Two more suspects have been arrested in connection with the death of a Southern University and A&M College student during an alleged hazing incident, police said Tuesday.
Caleb Wilson, a 20-year-old junior at the college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died following an off-campus incident last month, school officials said.
Wilson collapsed after being punched in the chest multiple times while pledging to a fraternity, according to Baton Rouge Police Chief TJ Morse.
A group of males dropped him off unresponsive at a local hospital and reported he collapsed after being struck in the chest while playing basketball at a city park, according to court filings. But upon investigation, officers learned that the incident actually occurred at a warehouse in Baton Rouge while he was pledging to the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, according to Morse.
One suspect, 23-year-old Caleb McCray, turned himself in to the East Baton Rouge Parish prison last week with his attorney and has been charged with criminal hazing and manslaughter, Morse said.
Two additional suspects were arrested this week for criminal hazing, a felony, the Baton Rouge Police Department said Tuesday.
Kyle Thurman, 25, was arrested in Port Allen, Louisiana, on Monday by the U.S Marshals Fugitive Task Force and Baton Rouge Police Department’s Violent Crimes Apprehension Team, police said. He was extradited to Baton Rouge and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, police said. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Isaiah Smith, 28, turned himself in early Tuesday and was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, police said.
“A fair bond was set and his family are going through the process of bonding him,” his attorney, Franz Borghardt, said in a statement Tuesday evening to ABC News. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Wilson family in this time of mourning.”
The three suspects allegedly punched some of the pledges with boxing gloves while the students stood in a line during a meeting at a flooring company warehouse on Feb. 26, according to their arrest warrants. McCray is the only suspect specifically accused in the documents of punching Wilson.
Smith held the title of dean of pledges and was in charge of the nine pledges at the time of the alleged hazing, according to the affidavit in his arrest warrant. He is accused of punching “at least one pledge” during the alleged hazing, according to the affidavit.
Thurman allegedly punched pledges in one group, while McCray is accused of punching pledges in another group that included Wilson, according to the affidavits in their arrest warrants. Both suspects are current members of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the affidavits said.
McCray allegedly punched Wilson four times in the chest, at which point Wilson fell to the floor, becoming unresponsive and appearing to have a seizure, according to the affidavits.
Wilson was brought to a local hospital in a vehicle registered to Smith, according to the affidavits. Officers also identified Smith as the person seen on surveillance video removing an unresponsive Wilson from the car, according to the affidavits.
Following McCray’s arrest, his attorney said they are reviewing the facts of the case and are committed to ensuring that “due process is followed.”
“At this time, I have not been presented with any evidence to support such serious accusations,” his attorney, Phillip Robinson, said in a statement Friday. “I maintain my client’s innocence and urge the public to withhold rushing to judgment until all the evidence is heard.”
Wilson was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on Feb. 27, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office.
The cause of Wilson’s death has not yet been determined while awaiting the results of the additional forensic testing that was ordered by the pathologist, the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed to ABC News on Friday.Additional suspects and arrests are possible, Morse said.
Southern University, a historically Black college and university, said it is cooperating with the criminal investigation. The school is also conducting an internal investigation into what led to Wilson’s death following reports of “unsanctioned off-campus activities” and will “take appropriate action” once completed.
“Hazing is a violation of the University’s rules and regulations as well as Louisiana law, and it will not be tolerated in any form at Southern University,” the school said.
Last week, the university said it had begun its student judiciary process for any alleged breaches of school policy amid its hazing investigation. It has also indefinitely banned membership intake for all student organizations in the wake of Wilson’s death.
Ricky Lewis, the highest-ranking national official in the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, previously said in a statement that they are “actively working to gather accurate information” amid the investigation by local authorities and “we fully support their efforts to seek the truth.”
A public memorial is scheduled to be held for Wilson at Southern University on Friday to “mourn this tremendous loss,” school officials said.
“He was a bright light in Jaguar Nation, a dedicated scholar, and a proud member of the world-renowned Human Jukebox,” Southern University Chancellor John Pierre said in a statement. “Caleb Wilson’s kindness, passion, and unwavering spirit left a lasting impact on all who had the privilege of knowing him.”
