Nor’easter weakens after deadly battering of Northeast
An ABC News graphic shows the forecast for Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — The worst of the deadly nor’easter that’s lashed the Northeast is behind us, and Monday will feature minor impacts as the storm winds down.
The storm claimed at least one life. The New York Police Department confirmed to ABC News that a 56-year old man died after being struck by a falling tree on Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn while walking through a parking lot.
In a statement on social media, Mayor Zohran Mamdani identified the man as Leighton Brown, an employee of the New York City Housing Authority.
The nor’easter is weakening and drifting on Monday slowly northeast from Long Island, New York, to Massachusetts, into the Gulf of Maine by Tuesday.
Mainly light rain continues to spin around the storm throughout New England.
New York City, Long Island and New Jersey should see dry skies in the mid-to-late afternoon on Monday.
By about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Boston is also forecast to be dry. A few lingering light showers are forecast for Maine on Tuesday.
Coastal flood alerts are in place from the Delmarva Peninsula, an area that includes parts of Delaware, Virginia and Maryland, through coastal Massachusetts on Monday.
High tides on Monday morning and Tuesday morning may bring minor to moderate coastal flooding, which is forecast to be less than over the weekend.
A flood watch is in effect for eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island where an additional 1.5 inches of rain is possible today. Widespread issues are not expected but due to saturated soils some urban flooding is possible today.
High surf could reach up to 12 feet today from coastal Massachusetts through coastal Maine.
All wind advisories have been cancelled. Gusts around 20 to 30 mph are possible on Monday from New Jersey to Maine.
A memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered on May 24,2022 during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is seen on January 05, 2026 in Uvalde, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(UVALDE, Texas) — Former Uvalde, Texas, school police chief Pete Arredondo was due to appear in federal court Tuesday, but the hearing was abruptly postponed due to heavy rain and flooding in parts of Texas, and a new date has not yet been scheduled.
Tuesday’s hearing was to be part of Arredondo’s push to compel federal agents to testify at his trial for allegedly endangering students during the response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.
Arredondo is charged with 10 counts of endangering students for allegedly failing to quickly respond to the May 24, 2022, shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed.
Arredondo filed a civil lawsuit this year to compel 19 U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees to testify during his criminal trial, which is set to begin on Feb. 22, 2027.
Arredondo’s attorneys have argued the testimony is vital for him to have a fair trial.
“The testimony will not only be material to determining whether he alone is responsible for the delay, it will also be helpful to show that Mr. Arredondo is not personally responsible for many shortcomings or any delay of CBP agents as part of the law enforcement response,” defense attorney Paul Looney wrote in a court filing.
This year, Looney filed a formal request to make the agents available to testify at trial, arguing that the accounts of the agents who stormed the classroom where the shooter was barricaded is necessary to prove Arredondo was not responsible for the botched response. Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell has sued to compel similar testimony, but CBP declined the requests to facilitate the testimony.
CBP Chief Counsel Andrew Block said in court filings that the testimony is not necessary for Arredondo’s defense, could be sought through other means, could impact CBP operations, and may result in the disclosure of “confidential law enforcement techniques and procedures.”
“You seek testimony from 19 CBP employees, which would require CBP to make all 19 officers available before and during the trial, pulling them off duty, incurring travel costs, and lost work hours, which negatively impacts CBP operations and national security,” Block wrote.
President Donald Trump signs a piece of stone at the construction site of a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Aug. 19, 2026. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed his name on one of the slabs of a new multimillion-dollar granite helipad being built on the White House South Lawn as he showcased the ongoing construction project for the first time.
“It’s very exciting, very exciting, and I think it will be here for a long time,” Trump told reporters as he gave them a tour and touted the project, which will feature the U.S. seal.
But questions are mounting about who is paying for the project and if taxpayers might be on the hook.
Trump announced the helipad in July from the Oval Office, and said that Sikorsky, the manufacturer of the Marine One fleet that carries the president, would pay for the build.
“They are paying for the cost of it. It’s about $5 or $6 million. They’re paying the full cost,” Trump said at the time.
On Wednesday Trump reiterated that Sikorsky was footing much of the bill with additional “donations from numerous people, including me.”
A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky’s parent company, told ABC News in a statement last month that its contribution was “made to the National Park Service.”
They added that their work with the administration was being “guided by rigorous ethics and compliance standards.”
Trump said crews were working nearly around the clock to bring the project in for a landing, starting as early as six in the morning and wrapping at midnight.
In addition to landing Marine One, the helipad would be used for when foreign dignitaries come for state visits and as a cocktail space ahead of events at the ballroom he’s constructing. He has in the past said it could also be used for news conferences.
The president said his signature, and that of those leading the project, will be on the back of the head of the eagle, which is part of the U.S. seal, and would not be visible once the project is complete.
ABC News has asked the White House Historical Association whether there are any past instances of a president inscribing their own name on a project on the grounds.
The president has said the landing zone is being built to allow newer Marine One helicopters that ferry the president to make trips to the White House.
“This is a helipad at the highest level. It can land any helicopter in the world, no matter how big, no matter how powerful, no matter how strong,” he said.
Lockheed Martin delivered a new fleet of Sikorsky helicopters to the Air Force in 2024, but the White House has had to keep using the older fleet for South Lawn departures and arrivals because they burn the grass. The newer helicopters have been used at other locations.
A construction worker told the president that the helipad could be completed by “the 21st,” though it was not clear if that was of August or September. Trump is slated to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept. 24.
“Oh, so we might make it for President Xi? That would be great,” Trump said. He later added, “Not imperative, but it would be very nice to have it done.”
He also admitted that work was delayed for a week after he asked for the helipad to be raised to account for a slope in the lawn.
“Sorry to take an extra week and a half, but lifting it up was one of the best things we’ve ever done, right? Trump said to the construction workers standing around him.
An undated photo of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells, whose body was believed to be recovered after going missing on July 4, 2026. (Courtesy of the Wells Family)
(NEW YORK) — The parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, broke their silence on their son’s mysterious death in an interview with “Good Morning America” anchor Michael Strahan on Friday morning.
“We just want honesty and transparency. We want a thorough investigation,” Christine Wonsley said. “We want that same respect that would be given to anybody else, and that’s it. We just want answers.”
The Wonsleys, who were joined by their attorney Ben Crump, called for a “thorough” and independent investigation.
They also expressed the need to shed more light on unanswered questions, including what they allege are deleted messages from their son’s phone, that have led them to become “suspicious” about his death following a July 4 boating trip.
“Nolan was just like this bright light … his smile, his energy was just, just so infectious,” Christine Wonsley said. “He was just a genuinely a good person. Like I always say, all the best parts of me are with him.”
Elmore Wonsley said Wells “was very loving.”
“There was not a friend that he couldn’t make … he’s gonna be really missed,” he said.
Wells, who played football at Southwest Mississippi Community College, went missing during a Fourth of July celebration with high school friends on Horn Island, a popular undeveloped island just south of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, officials said.
The 18-year-old’s body was recovered on Monday. Authorities said they suspect Wells drowned, but are still investigating. An autopsy was conducted but results could take weeks, officials said.
The disappearance
According to Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter, a friend of Wells contacted the Coast Guard around 11 p.m. last Saturday, July 4. Separately, Wells’ mother contacted the sheriff’s office about her son around midnight leading into Sunday, July 5.
The Wonsleys cast doubt on claims by friends that Wells decided to stay behind on the island, while his friends left.
“That we cannot answer,” Christine Wonsley said when asked why Wells would stay behind. “I just, I can’t — I can’t fathom why he would.”
Elmore Wonsley said that would have gone against the advice they gave Wells.
“We always told him, if you go with a group, you stay with a group,” he said.
Ledbetter told ABC News in an interview that aired on “GMA” on Friday that nothing “yet” from the evidence they collected indicates that foul play was involved in Wells’ death, but the investigation will take time and is ongoing, he added.
“We’re working towards the same goal as the family. We want a thorough investigation. We’re trying to find out everything ,” he said. “We are providing a thorough, professional, and accurate investigation. That’s what we’re going to continue to do, until we arrive at the answers that the family deserves.”
Crump, the attorney representing the Wonsleys, told ABC News Live in an interview on Wednesday that Wells could swim, his family is “not accepting that Nolan drowned accidentally.”
Unanswered questions
Christine Wonsley told “GMA” that his family tracked his phone, but when she went to pick it up from Wells’ friends, she said it appears that some texts and SnapChat messages had been deleted. It is unclear which friends Wells’ phone was retrieved from and who could have been in possession of it prior to that.
“When we finally got his phone, me and my sister went through the phone. We went in his Snapchat. He had two accounts. Absolutely nothing,” Christine Wonsley said. “It wasn’t even 24 hours, which is how long videos and pictures stay in Snapchat … even my sister was like ‘Yeah, that’s suspicious.'”
Crump, who joined the Wonsleys on “GMA” Friday, said that the family has questions about a cell phone video of an “argument” that was posted online.
“You can hear an argument going where Nolan is saying, ‘Give me my freaking phone! What are you freaking doing?’ And so then his phone ends up missing,” Crump said.
“No young person leaves their cell phone,” he added. “It’s not adding up, and that is the problem when you think about the history of Mississippi. Yeah, so there are so many questions that need to be answered.”
Ledbetter told GMA on Thursday night that Wells’ phone has not been turned over to investigators yet.
“It may be important, may be a piece that we haven’t got yet,” he said.
Ledbetter noted that the “argument” video will be part of the investigation.
As the family searches for answers, the investigation will continue in Washington, D.C., Crump said, where “we are having an independent autopsy done at behest of his family.”
He noted that former NFL football star Colin Kaepernick helped pay for it.
“We flew his body up from Mississippi to D.C. because they wanted an autopsy done by a person with no interaction with the Mississippi law enforcement because there’s an issue of trust here that is really important,” Crump said.
Ledbetter told “GMA” that the sheriff’s office welcomes the independent investigation.
“By all means, that’s more information looking into the death of Nolan that will be made available and another set of eyes looking at it,” he said.
Ledbetter asked the public for “patience” as investigators look into a “substantial amount” of tips, in addition to reviewing photo and video evidence.
The sheriff’s department stressed Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone who was on or near the northwest tip of Horn Island to come forward with photos or videos, “particularly those depicting alleged altercations or containing images of, or believed to include Nolan Wells.”
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenick, Kirk Cohall and Mark Guarino contributed to this report.
