Tropical system in Gulf forecast to strengthen to hurricane ahead of Louisiana landfall
(NEW YORK) — A tropical system churning in the southern Gulf of Mexico is forecast on Monday to become Tropical Storm Francine as it moves toward a Wednesday landfall in Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said.
A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for parts of Texas, with the expectation that hurricane watches could be issued later today for parts of the Gulf Coast.
The storm is forecast Tuesday night into Wednesday morning to significantly strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 80 mph.
The storm could then make landfall in western Louisiana late Wednesday afternoon or early evening, as a possible Category 1 hurricane, weather officials said.
Storm surge, rainfall flooding and hurricane wind gusts are forecast from Port Arthur, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, officials said.
A foot of rain is forecast for parts of Louisiana, with up to a half a foot in eastern Texas.
Heavy rain with flood threats is expected to spread into New Orleans and north into the Mississippi River Valley and Mid-South, all the way to Jackson, Mississippi, and even into Memphis, Tennessee, by Thursday, officials said.
(NEW YORK) — Authorities in South Carolina said they believe they have found the body of an endangered Massachusetts man who went missing over a week ago while vacationing with his family on Hilton Head Island.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, had not been seen since leaving his family’s vacation rental in Sea Pines the morning of Aug. 16, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
The body of a man believed to be Kotowski was found under a home in Sea Pines on Monday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities responded to the home around 11:30 a.m. ET Monday “in connection to suspicious activity,” and the body was recovered about four hours later, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Tuesday to determine the manner of death and positively identify the body, the sheriff’s office said.
“We appreciate the assistance provided by other agencies, Sea Pines Security, and the community in the search for Mr. Kotowski,” the sheriff’s office said.
Kotowski was reported missing by his family about two hours after he was last seen, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Master Sergeant Daniel Allen. He was listed as endangered due to his mental state, the length of time he has been missing and because he was last seen on a Ring camera without any shoes on, Allen said.
According to the incident report, Jackie Kotowski told deputies that her husband “believes Sea Pines is a ‘set up’ and has a conspiracy that the people here are out to get him.” She also reported that he had made “several statements of people at this place ‘watching him,'” the incident report stated.
He had been struggling with anxiety before he went missing, his family told ABC Savannah, Georgia, affiliate WJCL-TV following his disappearance.
“He had really bad insomnia for about a month. This is like a brand-new thing,” his wife, Jackie Kotowski, told WJCL. “He doesn’t have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse and he started to get a little paranoid, and he thought someone was chasing him.”
He had not taken any personal items, such as his phone or wallet, when he left the rental, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
(LONDON, Ky.) — An AR-15 rifle investigators believe was used in a Kentucky freeway shooting Saturday evening that left seven people injured and nine vehicles with bullet holes was found Sunday afternoon near the crime scene as a search for a person of interest continued, authorities said.
The person of interest wanted for questioning was identified as 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch, who the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said is “considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached.”
The sheriff’s office released a photo of Couch, who allegedly fled the freeway shooting near London, Kentucky, and is believed to still be in the area, Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said during a news conference Sunday morning.
“We’re not listing him as a suspect at this point, but he probably will more than likely be a suspect before day’s end,” Acciardo said.
On Sunday afternoon, Acciardo said Couch’s vehicle was located in the area of the shootings Saturday night. He also said officers searching the area found an AR-15 rifle in the woods near the interstate.
The weapon, which investigators believe was used in the freeway shooting, was discovered in an area where a shooter could have “shot down upon the interstate from that wooded location,” Acciardo said.
“It’s a random act,” Acciardo said when asked about a possible motive for the shooting.
Police have received more than 100 calls from people reporting they may have spotted Couch, Acciardo said. He said authorities believe Couch is hiding in the woods near the interstate.
Acciardo described the shooting as “sniper-like” and said it was not the result of road rage. He said investigators do not believe the shooter knew any of the victims or had contact with them before the shooting.
Acciardo said that up to 60 members of law enforcement searched the area of the shooting until 3 a.m. Sunday before halting the search out of safety concerns, saying it was pitch black on the highway and describing the terrain where the search was being conducted as very rugged.
The search for Couch resumed at 9 a.m. local time Sunday, Acciardo said.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting local authorities in the investigation, officials said.
The shooting unfolded about 5:30 p.m. local time on Interstate 75, near exit 49 about eight miles north of London, officials said.
Arriving deputies found nine vehicles had been shot in both the north and southbound lanes of I-75, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a news conference late Saturday night.
Root said deputies found five people with serious gunshot wounds, including one who was shot in the face. He said one vehicle contained two people who were shot.
Acciardo said Sunday that none of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries and were all in stable condition.
“A couple of our deputies, because of the severity of the injuries, loaded the people up, the injured persons, and transported them to London Hospital,” Root said.
Two additional people were injured in a car crash that occurred during the shooting, authorities said.
Root said I-75 was immediately shut down in both directions, saying that at the time, deputies didn’t know where the bullets came from.
“We couldn’t risk somebody else being shot,” Root said.
The sheriff declined to say why Couch is a person of interest in the shooting but did say it is “based on our investigation at the scene.”
He said initial reports that the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident were not accurate.
Root said Couch has an address in Woodbine, Kentucky, and the sheriff’s office described him as about 5-foot-10-inches tall and 154 pounds.
Interstate 75 was closed for more than three hours after the shooting as law enforcement officers worked to secure the scene and collect evidence.
Root did not immediately disclose the type of weapon investigators believe was used in the crime.
A motive for the shooting remained under investigation.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement on X that he is monitoring the situation.
In an interview Sunday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Christina Dinoto said she was driving with a friend southbound on I-75, heading to Tennessee, when the shooting erupted.
“All of a sudden we just heard this loud, deafening sound,” Dinoto said. “And my ear, my right ear, started ringing, and we didn’t know what the sound was, but we both looked at each other and said, was that a gunshot?”
Dinoto said that when she pulled off the interstate in Knoxville, she discovered damage to her vehicle that she suspects was caused by a bullet that may have ricocheted off another car.
The Kentucky shooting came less than a week after six people were injured in six shootings that occurred on Sept. 2 on Interstate 5 in the state of Washington between 8:26 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. local time, officials said. A suspect whose vehicle was sought in connection with several of the shootings was arrested in the Tacoma area on Sept. 3, police said.
(NEW YORK) — The hottest weather of the season is spreading across the eastern half of the U.S. — with cities in the Northeast in the bull’s-eye on Wednesday — after baking the Midwest with extreme temperatures early in the week.
Chicago’s actual temperature hit 99 degrees on Tuesday, breaking the city’s daily record of 97 degrees. The heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — soared to a scorching 115 degrees in Chicago on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, heat advisories are in effect from St. Louis, Missouri, to New York City. An excessive heat warning was issued in Philadelphia, where the heat index could hit 105 degrees.
The heat index is forecast to rise Wednesday to 106 degrees in Baltimore, Maryland; 103 in Washington, D.C.; and 97 in New York City.
The final tennis major of the year, the U.S. Open, which is underway in New York City, is operating under an “extreme weather policy,” with stadium roofs partially closed and extended breaks for players.
More than a dozen cities could shatter their record high temperatures, including Washington, D.C., if it reaches 100 degrees.
The extreme temperatures will end in the Northeast on Thursday, but will linger in the Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley through Friday.
On Thursday, the heat index is forecast to climb to 104 degrees in Nashville, Tennessee, and Columbia, South Carolina; 102 degrees in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Louisville, Kentucky; and 105 degrees in Greenville, Mississippi.
Record highs are possible Thursday in cities including Nashville and Louisville.
There are hundreds of deaths each year in the U.S. due to excessive heat, according to CDC WONDER, an online database, and scientists caution that the actual number of heat-related deaths is likely higher.
Last year marked the most heat-related deaths in the U.S. on record, according to JAMA, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association.