New York City to DC bracing for dangerous flooding: Latest forecast
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Washington, D.C., is bracing for dangerous flooding on Thursday.
Heavy storms could lead to rainfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour. Widespread rain totals are forecast to be 1 to 3 inches, but the heaviest storms could bring 5 to 8 inches of rain to isolated areas.
The worst flooding is forecast from D.C. to Baltimore to Philadelphia to northern New Jersey. Damaging winds and some hail are also possible.
The storms could begin as early as 1 p.m. Some of the heaviest rain may fall during the late afternoon rush hour, and the heavy rain could continue well into the evening.
New York City has issued a travel advisory for Thursday and Friday, with a flood watch beginning Thursday afternoon.
“We’re preparing for a serious storm,” Mayor Eric Adams warned on social media Wednesday night. “Avoid traveling tomorrow if you can. Roads may become flooded during the evening commute.”
“Anyone living in a basement at risk for flooding should move to higher ground early,” he said. “Don’t wait until flooding begins.”
And in the West, residents of Ruidoso, New Mexico have endured the fourth flash flood event of the month. The Ruidoso Downs Racetrack overflowed and the Rio Ruidoso river at Hollywood crested at 9.4 feet.
More downpours are possible in the area on Thursday night and Friday night.
Meanwhile, more than 50 million Americans across 11 states are under heat alerts as dangerously high temperatures hit the South.
An extreme heat warning remains in effect for the lower Mississippi River Valley on Thursday. Heat indices — what temperature it feels like with humidity — could reach 110 to 120 degrees in Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Over the weekend, the Southwest will feel the heat. In Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson are under extreme heat warnings as temperatures without humidity could reach 105 to 114 degrees.
The entrance to the state-managed immigration detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz/Joe Raedle/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Known for the eponymous reptiles that inhabit the nearby swamps, the migrant detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” faces the possibility of being shut down over concerns about some of the area’s lesser-known inhabitants — the Everglades’ bats, panthers, and storks.
A federal judge on Wednesday is set to hold an evidentiary hearing over whether to block operations at the controversial facility because construction of the site allegedly bypassed federally required environmental impact studies.
The hearing — at which federal, state, and tribal officials are expected to testify — comes amid heightened scrutiny of the facility, which was once touted as a “one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”
Immigrant advocates have alleged that detainees have endured inhumane conditions, including flooded facilities, spoiled food, and sweltering heat — and that they have limited access to their attorneys and are effectively housed in a jurisdictional “black hole.”
In a separate case challenging the legality of the facility, a federal judge ordered federal and state officials by Thursday to provide documentation showing which government or contractor is authorized to detain people at the sprawling complex. With state and federal officials dodging responsibility for the site, advocates have criticized the government for being vague about who runs the facility in order to bypass oversight.
While Wednesday’s hearing is limited to environmental issues — including impacts on the nearby Big Cypress National Preserve — the testimony is expected to shine a light on the operations of the facility and could result in a federal judge ordering the facility to be shut down until the required environmental impact studies are conducted.
“They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don’t have to pay them so much,” Trump said last month when visiting the facility, adding that he’d like to see similar facilities constructed.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced a similar partnership — this time between the federal government and the state of Indiana — to construct a migrant detention facility dubbed the “Speedway Slammer.”
Located 50 miles west of Miami in the heart of the Florida Everglades, “Alligator Alcatraz” was quickly constructed over a matter of weeks, utilizing hundreds of tents, trailers, and other temporary facilities to potentially house more than 3,000 detainees. The facility was built on the grounds of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a sparsely used piece of tarmac owned by Miami-Dade County.
The site was initially conceived in the late 1960s as part of an ill-fated plan to build the “Everglades Jetport.” As President Richard Nixon ushered in an era of new environmental protections — including the law now being used to challenge Alligator Alcatraz — the plan to build the site was scuttled, and the remaining tarmac was later used as an aviation training site.
“Now, history is repeating itself as [plaintiffs] once again must act to prevent destructive development in the heart of the Everglades ecosystem in the same location,” the current lawsuit says.
The facility sits next to the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Big Cypress Area, ecologically sensitive and protected areas that house threatened species including the Everglade snail kite, Florida panther, wood stork, and Florida bonneted bat.
Alligator Alcatraz also neighbors land leased to the Miccosukee Indian Tribe, including villages, a school, traditional hunting areas, and sacred sites. The Miccosukee Tribe joined the lawsuit last month, arguing that the facility threatens to damage nearby tribal villages.
“The hasty transformation of the Site into a mass detention facility, which includes the installation of housing units, construction of sanitation and food services systems, industrial high-intensity lighting infrastructure, diesel power generators, substantial fill material altering the natural terrain, and provision of transportation logistics (including apparent planned use of the runway to receive and deport detainees) poses clear environmental impacts,” the lawsuit said.
The environmental groups and the tribe that brought the case allege that the sprawling facility was built without the federal or state government conducting an environmental impact statement, which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) so the public and lawmakers can understand the impact of a project. They also argue that the government failed to get public input on the project.
The groups are asking U.S. District Judge Kathleen Mary Williams, an Obama appointee, to block ongoing operations at the facility until the government fully complies with NEPA and stop any ongoing construction.
Florida Department of Emergency Management executive director Kevin Guthrie, a named defendant in the lawsuit, has argued the facility is run by the state, which is not subject to NEPA regulations. He also claims that the site’s environmental impact is minimal because it was built on a location already serving as an active airfield.
The Department of Justice has also argued that the environmental groups cannot prove irreparable harm and that NEPA does not give a court the power to block the use of the facility.
(NEW YORK) — Two people have died and at least 58 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in a cluster that broke out in the Harlem area of New York City last week, officials said on Monday.
The New York City Health Department had reported on Thursday that one person had died and 22 people were sick in the cluster.
“People living or working in the area with flu-like symptoms, such as cough, fever, chills, muscle aches, or difficulty breathing should contact a health care provider immediately,” the department said in a statement on Monday. “It is especially important for people at higher risk — including those ages 50 and older, cigarette smokers, and people with chronic lung disease or compromised immune systems — to get care if they have symptoms.”
Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by the bacteria Legionella, which grows in warm water, health officials said, and people can get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria.
“Anyone in these zip codes with flu-like symptoms should contact a health care provider as soon as possible,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “Legionnaires’ disease can be effectively treated if diagnosed early, but New Yorkers at higher risk, like adults aged 50 and older and those who smoke or have chronic lung conditions, should be especially mindful of their symptoms and seek care as soon as symptoms begin.”
Legionnaires’ disease can be caused by plumbing systems where conditions are favorable for Legionella growth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, health officials said.
People can get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria, though officials reminded people that the disease cannot be transmitted from person to person and can be treated with antibiotics.
The respiratory disease takes its name from an outbreak at the Pennsylvania American Legion convention held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in July 1976 and the bacterium believed to be responsible is found in soil and grows in water, such as air-conditioning ducts, storage tanks and rivers.
No details about the two people who died have been released by officials as of Tuesday.
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — An investigation has been opened after a cellphone video that appears to show sheriff’s deputies punching and beating a Black man during a traffic stop went viral on social media, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing a traffic stop represented to be from February 19, 2025,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Sunday. “We have launched an internal investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding this incident. We hold our officers to the highest standards and are committed to thoroughly determining exactly what occurred.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
