West Virginia death toll rises amid deadly flash flooding, building collapse
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(WHEELING, W.Va.) — The death toll in West Virginia has climbed to six after heavy rains and devastating flash flooding struck the state, according to Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
Two people are unaccounted for, according to the governor’s office, and a state of emergency is in effect.
Flash flooding occurred throughout the city of Wheeling and the towns of Triadelphia and Valley Grove. Roughly 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in the area in a short period of time, prompting significant flash flooding along US 40 (National Road), Middle Wheeling Creek, Little Wheeling Creek and various runs and streams through Ohio County.
On Sunday, a residential building in the city of Fairmont, in Marion County, partially collapsed, prompting the emergency declaration, according to the governor.
Footage from the scene showed water rushing out of the severely damaged structure as emergency crews responded to the scene.
“As flash floods continue throughout North Central West Virginia, emergency officials are on the scene in Marion County at a partial apartment collapse,” Morrisey said in his emergency declaration.
“State resources are being dispatched to the region immediately. Please — stay off the roads. Do not underestimate the strength and speed of these floods. Pray for our friends and neighbors during this challenging time for our state.”
There have been no hospitalization for injuries due to the collapse and an emergency shelter for those who were living in the apartment building has been set up in the Falcon Center on the Fairmont State campus, according to ABC Clarksburg, West Virginia, affiliate, WBOY-TV.
Multiple cars in the apartment parking lot were also totaled, the outlet reported.
Morrisey mobilized the National Guard to support local emergency operations.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Several dozen wildfires burning in Canada have led local authorities to declare states of emergencies and forced thousands of people to evacuate. Now, they are expected to send smoke drifting into the United States on Friday.
As of Friday, there are 174 active wildfires in Canada, with 94 of these considered to be “out of control,” meaning fires that are being observed and assessed, but not immediately suppressed, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Smoke blowing into the United States
Some of the smoke from these fires will run along winds that are turning south in the coming days — carrying it into the United States.
Northern Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and most of Wisconsin are under air quality alerts, with the smoke considered dangerous for sensitive groups. Most people can still remain active outdoors, but should take breaks indoors and monitor if symptoms like shortness of breath or coughing arise.
Heavy smoke will reach Green Bay, Wisconsin, at approximately noon local time on Friday, creating hazy skies. Going into Friday afternoon and evening, noticeable smoke is expected over Michigan and Chicago.
Sunset in Milwaukee and Chicago on Friday may have an orange hue, as well, with heavy wildfire smoke projected to reach the area by nightfall and potentially spreading as far as Detroit.
The smoke will continue to disperse as it moves into Appalachia and the Southeast on Saturday, with another batch of smoke expected to travel into the Dakotas and Great Plains.
What we know about the fires
As of Friday, the areas in Canada with the most fires include British Columbia with 61 and Alberta with 51. The country is also now at the highest National Preparedness Level, meaning they have requested international help to put out the flames and equipment and personnel from every jurisdiction in Canada is being put to use.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe declared a state of emergency for the Canadian province on Thursday amid a spate of wildfire outbreaks.
There were 17 active wildfires in Saskatchewan as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency President and Fire Commissioner Marlo Pritchard said during an afternoon press conference.
Of those, three were contained, eight were not contained and five were under assessment, he added, while one was listed as “protecting values” — referring to a process of setting up tactics, such as water sprinklers, to guide the fire away from areas that could increase risk or damage.
“Travel may be impacted due to forest fires in northern Saskatchewan,” the Saskatchewan Highway Hotline said in a post on the Government of Saskatchewan’s Facebook page on Thursday afternoon.
“We’ve had to evacuate and support the evacuation of about 15 communities,” Moe said during the same press conference on Thursday.
He explained there has been a “significant lack of moisture” in the northern parts of the province causing “over 200 wildfires” in Saskatchewan this spring.
Amid his emergency declaration, wildfires continued to spread in the northern part of the province and into other parts of Canada.
The neighboring province of Manitoba had first declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as wildfires forced some 17,000 people to flee, according to The Associated Press.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney offered “Canada’s full support” to the province in a post on X on Wednesday.
“The premier and I are in close contact, and the federal government stands ready to assist Manitoba’s provincial wildfire teams,” Carney wrote in the post.
The region saw 15 active fires as of Thursday night, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Kenton Gewecke and Daniel Manzo contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) — The wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran migrant whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador is at the center of a legal battle with the Trump administration, had a temporary order of protection against him in 2021 in which she cited being slapped, hit with an object, and being detained against her will, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
In a lengthy statement within a petition for protection “from domestic violence,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura mentioned an incident on May 4, 2021, in which she alleges that Abrego Garcia “punched and scratched her eye,” causing her to bleed.
That same day, Vasquez Sura said that when she told Abrego Garcia that she needed to go to a store, he “got angry, started yelling again to the point that he ripped [her] shorts and shirt off.”
“And I ran to the bathroom, he [ran] behind me and grabbed me by my arm,” Vasquez Sura said. “I have marks on my left arm as well.”
“At this point I am afraid to be close to him,” Vasquez Sura added. “I have multiple photos/videos of how [violent] he can be.”
Vasquez Sura obtained a temporary protective order against Abrego Garcia in May of 2021, according to state court records in Maryland. The order required that Abrego Garcia have no contact with Vasquez Sura, and that he stay away from their shared residence, the records show.
In a statement released to ABC News Wednesday through her attorney, Vasquez Sura — who has been vocal in her support of Abrego Garcia during his incarceration in El Salvador — said, “After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a protective order in case things escalated.”
“We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling,” Vasquez Sura said. “Kilmar has always been a loving partner and father, and I will continue to stand by him and demand justice for him.”
Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration alleges is a member of the criminal gang MS-13, is entering his second month in an El Salvador mega-prison after he was deported there on March 15 despite being issued a 2019 court order barring his deportation to his home country due to the fear of persecution.
He had been living in Maryland with Vasquez Sura , their 5-year-old child, and two step-children. Vasquez Sura has denied that he is affiliated with MS-13.
In the 2021 documents obtained by ABC News, Vasquez Sura noted two past incidents, alleging that in 2020, Abrego Garcia hit her with his work boot and that in August 2020, he hit her in the eye.
The protective order was dismissed a month after it was issued, on June 17, 2021, after Vasquez Sura failed to appear in court, according to a signed order of dismissal by a judge.
ABC News also obtained documents submitted to a Maryland court in August 2018 by a man who claimed to be the father of two of Vasquez Sura’s children. In a five-page motion for an emergency hearing, he said he feared for the children’s lives, in part, “because she is dating a gang member and attempted self-harm,” the records state.
The man did not include the name of the individual he alleged is a gang member. It is not known if he was referring to Abrego Garcia.
The initials of his children’s names, listed in a custody complaint, match the ones that Vasquez Sura listed for her kids in a declaration submitted in Abrego Garcia’s case.
He appears to have left some sections of the complaint unfinished, including what custody terms he was requesting. However, in the filing he said he would allow Vasquez Sura to visit the children on the condition that “we both agree on the time and date.”
According to court documents dated January 18, 2019, the case was dismissed because Vasquez Sura wasn’t served.
Vasquez Sura’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment on documents involving her ex.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered government officials to testify under oath because, she said, they had “done nothing to aid in Abrego Garcia’s release from custody and return to the United States,” despite the Supreme Court directing the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador.
The Department of Homeland Security, in a social media post Wednesday, shared a 2021 court record from Abrego Garcia’s protective order case and said in the post that he “was not the upstanding ‘Maryland Man’ the media has portrayed him as.”
Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — The rain may have stopped, but Kentucky’s governor warned the danger isn’t over from the four days of deadly storms that devastated the central U.S. with catastrophic flooding and destructive tornadoes.
Many roads remain flooded and some rivers and creeks are at or above flood stage, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference Monday.
“Do not drive through water, do not move barricades,” Beshear pleaded.
He stressed that even when water is receding, it’s still dangerous to drive.
Twenty people have died since Wednesday from the storms, with the fatalities spanning Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and Indiana.
Two of the 20 deaths were in Kentucky: a woman and a 9-year-old boy who both died in the floodwaters, the governor said.
The governor said the death toll may have been higher if not for the swift water rescue teams.
One person last seen boating in floodwaters has been reported missing in McCracken County, Kentucky, Beshear said.
The rainfall from these storms was historic. More than 15 inches of rain deluged Benton, Kentucky — the most rain on record in a four-day period for the western part of the state — and over 14 inches of rain inundated Arkansas and Tennessee.
Some rivers are expected to continue to rise this week. Up to 40 river gauges across the region are forecast to be in the flood stage.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Michael Muller, the judge/executive in hard-hit Franklin County, Kentucky, about 30 miles outside of Lexington.
“Stay at home, help your neighbors, don’t be out if you don’t have to be out,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced a new website, Floodsmart.gov, to help people directly access flood insurance quotes.
“It’s quick and easy and takes just a few minutes. Insured survivors recover faster,” Cameron Hamilton, senior official performing the duties of FEMA administrator, said in a statement. “With spring flooding and hurricane season both approaching fast, it’s important to take this first step so you can better protect the life you’ve built.”
ABC News’ Max Golembo and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
