Tornadoes, flash flooding, damaging winds headed to Midwest, South, East Coast
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A multiday severe weather outbreak is set to bring tornadoes, flash flooding and damaging winds from the Midwest to the South and the East Coast.
The severe weather begins in the Midwest on Friday night. Residents from Peoria, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Paducah, Kentucky are in the bull’s-eye for damaging winds and potential tornadoes. This region is labeled level 4 out 5 for severe weather.
On Saturday afternoon and evening, the highest threat for tornadoes moves to the Deep South, focusing on Mississippi and Alabama.
A level 4 out 5 severe risk is in effect for New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Birmingham, Alabama, where strong/significant tornadoes and destructive winds are expected.
A level 3 out of 5 severe risk has been issued from Nashville, Tennessee, to Atlanta to the Florida Panhandle.
Severe storms could even stretch as far north as the Ohio Valley on Saturday.
On Sunday, the severe storms will be weaker as they target the East Coast from Florida to Pennsylvania.
Damaging winds, large hail and brief tornadoes will be possible for the Southeast on Sunday afternoon, while heavy rain and damaging winds will hit the Northeast on Sunday night.
(TOULUMNE COUNTY, CA) — The parents of a 1-year-old child have been arrested after the child tested positive for fentanyl and THC in California, authorities said.
The incident occurred on April 22 when deputies from the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) responded to a report of a medical emergency where a 1-year-old child had reportedly choked and temporarily stopped breathing at a residence near Dutch Mine Road in Jamestown, California, according to a statement from the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office.
The child was revived on scene, police said, before being taken to a local hospital for evaluation, and later released to their parents.
“The following day, Wednesday, April 23, just before 4:00 in the afternoon, TCSO received a report from Child Welfare Services stating that the child had been brought back to the hospital for a second time on Tuesday by their parents—22-year-old Rory Kerr and 32-year-old Denaun Davis—after becoming unresponsive,” authorities said in their statement regarding the case. “During this visit, the child was administered CPR, successfully resuscitated, and later transferred to an out-of-area hospital for treatment related to Fentanyl poisoning after testing presumptively positive for Fentanyl and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).”
TCSO Detectives “immediately launched an investigation,” authorities said, working on it through the evening into the early morning hours the next day before issuing multiple warrants for the parents of the child.
“Detectives executed the search warrant and located numerous items of drug use paraphernalia containing narcotics residue, along with a used Narcan, inside the motorhome where the family lived,” police said.
During their investigation, officials discovered evidence that one of the child’s parents had administered Narcan during the medical emergency, police said.
Davis and Kerr were arrested and taken to the Dambacher Detention Center, where they were booked on felony child abuse charges, including abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death.
The child involved in this case has since been placed in protective custody.
“We want to remind the public that while Narcan (naloxone) is a critical and often life-saving tool in reversing the effects of opioid overdoses, including those caused by Fentanyl, it is not a substitute for proper medical care,” TCSO said. “Narcan is temporary in nature and can wear off while dangerous levels of narcotics remain in the body. If you or someone else has been exposed to a suspected overdose, it is essential to seek immediate medical attention—even if Narcan appears to have worked. Being honest and forthcoming with emergency responders and healthcare professionals about potential drug exposure is critical to receiving appropriate and timely treatment.”
“We want to thank our community partners including Child Welfare Services and Adventist Health Sonora for their assistance and clear lines of communication which were critical to life-saving measures and a successful investigation,” police said.
This remains an active investigation, and no further details will be released at this time.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Boston Thursday will consider pumping the brakes on a controversial Trump administration policy of removing migrants to countries where they have no prior connection without allowing them to raise concerns about their safety.
A group of noncitizens with final removal orders filed a federal lawsuit challenging the policy last month, arguing that being removed to countries like El Salvador, Honduras or Panama — despite having no connection to those countries — risks their safety and violates their rights.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee who temporarily blocked the policy last month, will consider extending his order and certifying a class of noncitizens who would be protected from removal to a so-called third country.
“The need for preliminary injunctive relief in this case is vital,” lawyers representing the men argued in a recent court filing. “Indeed, it may be the difference between safety and torture, life and death, for many noncitizens, including ones who have been living and working in this country for decades.”
The hearing also comes as the Trump administration faces new allegations that they violated Judge Murphy’s order by removing more than a dozen migrants to El Salvador last month despite the judge’s order barring such transfers.
The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit argue that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy results in the removal of migrants to third countries without providing them a chance to raise concerns about potentially being persecuted, tortured, or killed. In one instance, they allege that the Trump administration removed a Guatemalan man to Mexico without giving him the chance to raise concerns that he was previously raped there and now fears prosecution in that country.
“Defendants have resorted to violating noncitizens’ clear statutory rights to apply for protection from removal to countries where they face persecution or torture,” the lawyers wrote.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that Judge Murphy lacks the jurisdiction to intervene in DHS’ policies after a final order of removal has been issued by an immigration judge.
They have also argued that a preliminary injunction is no longer necessary because DHS implemented a new policy of getting “diplomatic assurances that aliens removed from the United States will not be persecuted or tortured,” or screening noncitizens for their eligibility for protections under the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture.
“As this Court indicated during the hearing on Plaintiffs’ motion, Defendants are entitled to issue guidance to satisfy any potential due process concerns. Defendants have now done so,” they argued.
But lawyers for the men who brought the lawsuit have argued that those measures are “woefully inadequate” and pointed to two recent examples where they allege that DHS potentially violated the court’s temporary order.
Two days after Judge Murphy blocked the deportations, the Trump administration announced that it had removed 17 alleged members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison. According to the plaintiffs, at least two of the men on those flights had final orders of removal to Venezuela and were never given the right to challenge their removal to El Salvador.
According to the plaintiff’s lawyers, one of those men is Maiker Espinoza Escalona, who entered the United States last year with his partner Yorely Bernal Inciarte and their one-year-old baby.
After the three turned themselves in to immigration authorities, they were separated, their family told ABC News. Inciarte has been detained at a detention center in El Paso, Texas, their baby has been in government custody, and Escalona is detained at CECOT in El Salvador, according to Inciarte’s mother.
The Trump administration alleged that Escalona is a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, an accusation his family denies.
“They are liars,” said Inciarte’s mother Raida of the Trump administration. “I cannot believe that half of Venezuela is Tren de Aragua. That can’t be.”
“For them to be sent [to El Salvador] you have to investigate and prove they are what they are being accused of,” Raida said. “We’re distraught, I don’t wish this on anyone.”
Columbia County Deputy Brandon Sikes, a crime suppression officer with the department since 2018, was killed during a standoff along Interstate 20, according to Columbia County Sheriff Clay N. Whittle on Sunday.
Sikes is survived by his wife, Amber, who is also an employee of the sheriff’s office in Columbia County, Georgia.
Another deputy, Gavin White, who is also a crime suppression offering, was shot during the incident and taken to the hospital for treatment, Whittle said.
The deadly encounter began Saturday afternoon around 6:30 p.m. when the two deputies attempted to serve a temporary protective order to a suspect identified as James Blake Montgomery. During the encounter, both deputies were shot.
Montgomery then barricaded himself inside an RV, police said.
Montgomery tried to drive away under fire, police said, and the RV crashed into a median barrier on I-20, westbound next Exit 194.
Law enforcement quickly surrounded the vehicle, they said, deploying drones and robots to assess the situation. Initially, they said, it was unclear whether Montgomery was alive inside.
After a prolonged standoff, Montgomery was found dead inside the motorhome, officials said. Sheriff’s officials, aided by local, state and federal agencies, discovered multiple pipe bombs and bomb-making materials inside the RV, including at least one device rigged with a remote switch, according to Whittle on Sunday.
Beneath the motorhome, investigators found several propane cylinders, raising concerns about the potential for a catastrophic explosion, the sheriff continued.
Deputy Andrew Brown was among those who engaged Montgomery during the firefight. Whittle credited Brown with saving the life of another wounded deputy, Gavin White, by dragging him across three patrol cars and driving him directly to Doctor’s Hospital while still under fire.
“Probably saving his life, according to the doctors,” Whittle said.
Authorities also recovered an illegally modified fully automatic AR-style rifle, numerous magazines, several handguns and boxes of ammunition from the motorhome, they said.
Investigators also found jars containing unknown liquids, which could be bomb-making materials or related to Montgomery’s previously known illegal steroid operation, Whittle added.
Both Sikes and Montgomery are undergoing autopsies at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Atlanta.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson posted a statement on Facebook on Saturday, saying, “Heartbroken and praying for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and our neighbors in Columbia County. Our prayers are with the families of the fallen, the entire Sheriff’s Office, and all who are grieving this unimaginable loss. We honor their sacrifice and pray for the difficult days ahead.” Columbia County is situated within the Augusta-Richmond County metropolitan area.
Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp also shared a statement on X on Saturday, offering condolences and saying that he is “painfully reminded of why those who wear a badge have more than earned our enduring respect and appreciation.”
ABC News’ Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.
