New storm bringing blizzard conditions to Heartland, tornadoes to the South
ABC News Illustration
(NEW YORK) — A strengthening storm system will move across the country this week, bringing blizzard conditions to the Heartland and tornadoes and damaging winds to the South.
On Monday, the storm is focused on the Rockies and the Southwest, bringing mountain snow from Southern California to Colorado.
Meanwhile, there’s an extreme fire danger in New Mexico and western Texas. The combination of gusty winds up to 65 mph and relative humidity down to 5% will make conditions ripe to spread wildfires.
As this storm moves east, severe weather will break out across the South starting Monday night and Tuesday morning from Dallas to Oklahoma City.
Damaging winds and a few tornadoes will be the biggest threat.
On Tuesday, the storm will bring dangerous winter weather conditions to the Heartland.
A blizzard warning is in effect for Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.
Winter storm watches have been issued in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where more than 6 inches of snow and near-whiteout conditions are possible.
In the South, severe thunderstorms are expected Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Strong tornadoes are possible in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Damaging winds over 60 mph will be possible during Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans; Mobile, Alabama; and Birmingham, Alabama.
(LOS ANGELES) — Much-anticipated rain could be headed to drought-stricken Southern California this weekend — but rainfall also brings the threat of landslides in the wake of Los Angeles County’s devastating fires.
Rain and mountain snow are expected in Southern California on Saturday and Sunday.
Rainfall rates are expected to be light, up to 1 inch over the course of the weekend.
But thunderstorms are possible; lightning could spark new fires and the thunderstorms would cause heavier rainfall.
Heavy rain over the vulnerable wildfire burn scars would be extremely dangerous because it could lead to landslides.
The extreme burn scars are the result of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which erupted on Jan. 7. The wildfires ripped across the LA communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, destroying neighborhoods, claiming more than two dozen lives and forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate.
“We’ve never seen a burn scar in an urban area of this scope and magnitude,” LA City Council member Traci Park said Tuesday.
“I normally pray for rain. God knows, we generally need it,” Park said during a news conference. “But right now, let me point out the obvious: The burn scar of the Palisades Fire not only sits feet from the ocean itself, but already on hillsides that are already prone to slide, and which have already absorbed a tremendous amount of water from firefighting, broken pipes and melted pools.”
“Adding water to this mess and saturated, unstable hillsides is the last thing we need,” she continued. “But we already know at some point, it’s going to happen. And let me remind folks burn scars don’t absorb water at a normal rate. They simply add to the risk of floods, landslides and debris flow.”
LA Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order on Tuesday to shore up the burn areas ahead of the rain.
“This is to prevent additional damage to areas already ravished by fire, and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff,” Bass said during the news conference. “The action plan I have directed our city Public Works bureaus to implement includes the installation of barriers, debris removal and diverting runoff from our stormwater system and into our sewer system where it can be treated.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he’s deploying specialized debris flow teams to Southern California ahead of the rain.
Among the state resources will be more than 400 California Conservation Corps members who’ll “be working on watershed protection at firestorm burn scar areas to place silt fencing, straw wattles, and compost socks to act as physical barriers to filter contaminants found in rainwater runoff,” the governor’s office said. “More Corpsmembers will be trained to augment capacity in the coming days.”
More than 80 California National Guard service members are also headed to the scene “with 2 dozers, 1 excavator, 1 loader, 4 dump trucks and other engineering assets to haul 527,000 cubic yards of materials in local debris basins,” the governor’s office said.
The storm moves into the Golden State on Wednesday, with the heaviest rain falling on Thursday and Friday.
Some areas could see as much as 5 to 10 inches of rain while the Sierra Nevada mountain range could see 5 to 8 feet of snow.
A flood watch is in effect from the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles.
The biggest concern for mudslides and landslides will be on the burn scar areas from last month’s devastating Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles. These burn scar spots could see 3 to 5 inches of rain over the next three days.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city is preparing by clearing catch basins of fire debris; offering residents over 6,500 sandbags; setting up over 7,500 feet of concrete barriers; and having systems in place to capture polluted runoff.
Sheriff’s deputies “are helping residents prepare with sandbags and passing out mud and debris safety tips,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference Wednesday. “Our homeless outreach teams … are actively notifying individuals living in flood-prone areas like the LA River, Coyote Creek and other key waterways, urging them to relocate.”
The sheriff urged residents to prepare now in the event evacuation orders are issued.
“Unfortunately, we’ve witnessed numerous, numerous instances in the past of swift-water rescues where people were caught in dangerous, fast-moving water, and obviously, we want to prevent that,” he said.
“Nothing that you have back home is worth your life. If you decide to stay in your property in an evacuated area, debris from the burn scar areas and storm may impede roads, and we may not be able to reach you,” he warned.
Landslides from burn scars could be a threat in the region for years to come.
Post-wildfire landslides can exert great loads on objects in their paths, strip vegetation, block drainage ways, damage structures and endanger human life, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Additionally, wildfires could destabilize pre-existing, deep-seated landslides over long periods. Flows generated over longer periods could be accompanied by root decay and loss of soil strength, according to the USGS.
ABC News’ Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.
(BUFFALO, N.Y) — Payton Gendron, the teenager who killed 10 Black people at the Topps supermarket in East Buffalo in 2022, claims he cannot get a fair trial in Western New York, so his federal death-penalty eligible case should move to New York City, his attorneys said in a new court filing.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November 2022 to state charges, including domestic terrorism motivated by hate, and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted of federal crimes.
His federal trial is scheduled to begin in September.
Gendron’s attorneys argued that “due to the overwhelming amount of pretrial publicity, combined with the impact of this case on Buffalo’s segregated communities of color, it is impossible for Payton Gendron to select a fair and impartial jury in the Western District of New York.”
The lawyers asked for change of venue to the Southern District of New York, encompassing Manhattan, the Bronx and the northern suburbs, because it is “far enough from the local media market to be less impacted by it” and because “the S.D.N.Y. also has sufficient minority representation that has not been directly impacted by the shooting and its aftermath that a diverse and representative jury should be able to be selected.”
There was no immediate comment from federal prosecutors, who would be expected to file their opposition or consent in court papers.
Barbara Massey Mapps — whose 72-year-old sister, Katherine “Kat” Massey, was among those killed in the May 14, 2022, massacre — told ABC News on Tuesday that she and her family would oppose a change of venue.
“We don’t want that. No, no no,” said Massey. “Me and my family would be against that.”
Massey said she expects federal prosecutors to oppose the change-of-venue motion at Gendron’s next court date later this month.
Wayne Jones — whose mother, 65-year-old Celestine Chaney, was also killed in the attack — said he also wants Gendron’s federal trial to remain in Buffalo.
“What could you really call a ‘fair trial’ and you’re on video doing it?” Jones told ABC News, referring to the livestream video of the killing rampage that Gendron recorded. “We all know you did it. You already pleaded guilty once.”
Jones said he expects prosecutors to play for the federal jury selected for the trial the video Gendron recorded with a helmet camera, as well as surveillance video from the Topps market.
“The only way you could watch that video and not give him the death penalty is if you’re really against it,” said Jones, who has viewed the video Gendron live-streamed.
Jones also said a change of venue would deprive him and the families of the other victims of the opportunity of watching the trial in person.
“I want him to stay here so I can see the trial,” Jones told ABC News. “In New York City, we wouldn’t be able to go to the trial.”
Gendron has separately asked the judge to strike the death penalty as a possible punishment, arguing the decision to seek it had a “discriminatory intent and discriminatory effect.”
The judge has yet to rule.
During his February 2023 sentencing hearing, Gendron, who was 18 when he committed the mass shooting, apologized to the victims’ families, saying he was sorry “for stealing the lives of your loved ones.”
“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot people because they were Black,” Gendron said.
Gendron planned the massacre for months — including previously traveling twice to the Tops store he targeted, a more than three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York — to scout the layout and count the number of Black people present, according to state prosecutors. Wearing tactical gear, body armor, and wielding an AR-15 style rifle he legally purchased and illegally modified, Gendron committed the rampage on a Saturday afternoon when prosecutors said he knew the store would be full of Black shoppers.
