Attorneys for Trump, special counsel file list of available dates for arguments over protective order in Jan. 6 case

Attorneys for Trump, special counsel file list of available dates for arguments over protective order in Jan. 6 case
Attorneys for Trump, special counsel file list of available dates for arguments over protective order in Jan. 6 case
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — A day after the special counsel’s office and President Donald Trump’s legal team filed dueling motions regarding a proposed protective order in the Jan. 6 case, both sides have come up with a list of dates they’ll be available to appear for arguments.

On Monday night, Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered both sides to file their available dates and times after attorneys spent the day filing competing motions over the proposed protective order special counsel Jack Smith asked the judge to impose on Trump to keep him from disclosing evidence obtained during Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the election by enlisting a slate of so-called “fake electors” targeting several states; using the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations”; and trying to enlist the vice president to “alter the election results” — all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.

The former president has denied all wrongdoing and has dismissed the probe as politically motivated.

Smith asked the judge for the protective order on Friday, referencing a social media post Trump made Friday afternoon in which he said, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” In a statement issued after Smith’s filing on Friday, the Trump campaign said the post was aimed at political interest groups.

In their filing on Monday, Trump’s attorneys accused Smith’s team of asking Judge Chutkan to “assume the role of censor and impose content-based regulations on President Trump’s political speech that would forbid him from publicly discussing or disclosing all non-public documents produced by the government, including both purportedly sensitive materials, and non-sensitive, potentially exculpatory documents.”

In a quick response filed Monday night, Smith accused Trump’s legal team of proposing an order “designed to allow him to try this case in the media rather than in the courtroom.”

Responding on Tuesday to Chutkan’s order regarding potential hearing dates, Trump’s attorneys said in their filing that they would prefer arguments to be scheduled for Monday or Tuesday of next week when both of Trump’s attorneys can be present, as attorney Todd Blanche is set to appear in Florida on Thursday for Trump’s arraignment on the new superseding indictment brought by Smith in his probe of Trump’s handling of classified documents.

Trump’s team said that if neither of those days are acceptable, attorney John Lauro would be available for a hearing on Thursday.

The special counsel’s office said they are available for the hearing at any time Wednesday through Friday.

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3 charged with assault in Alabama riverfront melee; no bias charges

3 charged with assault in Alabama riverfront melee; no bias charges
3 charged with assault in Alabama riverfront melee; no bias charges
Christa Owen

(MONTGOMERY, Ala.) — Charges were filed against three white boaters who allegedly assaulted a Black ferry co-captain, sparking a racially charged melee at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama, on Saturday night that was captured on bystander videos that went viral.

Montgomery Police Department Chief Darryl Albert identified the victims in this case as co-captain of the Harriet II and dock employee Damien Pickett, a Black male. He also mentioned an unnamed 16-year-old white male who was allegedly struck by the owners and operators of the private boat that was blocking the riverboat from docking.

Richard Roberts, a 48-year-old white male, is facing two outstanding warrants for assault in the third degree, Allan Todd, a 23-year-old white male is facing one warrant for assault in the third degree and Zachary Shipman, a 25-year-old white male, is facing one warrant for assault in the third degree.

ABC News’ attempts to reach out to the suspects directly were unsuccessful. It is unclear if they have attained legal representation.

Albert also said that police are seeking further interviews with a man who was allegedly seen in bystander videos wielding a folding chair.

Asked if there’s any evidence of a hate crime, Albert said that police “looked at every avenue” and left “no stone unturned,” but “were unable to present any insight in a riot or racial racially biased charges at this time.”

The charges came after police issued four arrest warrants related to the incident and told ABC News in a statement on Monday that additional arrests could come as police continue to review video evidence of the incident.

Police said officers responded to a disturbance on the 200 block of Coosa Street around 7 p.m. Saturday, where they found a large group of people engaged in a physical altercation and several were detained at the scene.

According to videos captured by bystanders and obtained by ABC News, the fight appeared to begin after a white man punched Pickett. Several other white individuals joined the altercation, which seemed to set off a brawl between those individuals, Pickett and bystanders. Other videos captured by onlookers show that bystanders joined the brawl in an apparent attempt to defend the co-captain, with one man seen swimming to the dock from a riverboat.

According to a witness who captured video of the incident, the assault and subsequent brawl came amid a reported dispute over a pontoon boat that was blocking a space of a riverboat.

The witness, Christa Owen, told ABC News Monday that she was on a dinner cruise on the riverboat with her 12-year-old daughter when the incident occurred. She said that after the owners of the pontoon boat were asked multiple times to move the boat but they “refused,” so the crew member got off the boat and tried to move the pontoon boat himself.

“The black pontoon boat parked where the ferry parks. They wouldn’t move when we were trying to pull in. It seems what these guys wanted trumped what a couple hundred people on a stranded ferry needed,” Owen said, adding that prior to the brawl, the people on her boat repeatedly asked the people on the pontoon boat to move.

She added, “They just looked at us, decided not to [move the pontoon boat], shrugged their shoulders and left. That’s when a crewman disembarked onto a small boat to the dock to do it.”

Owen said a couple of hundred people were “stranded on water” until the pontoon boat was moved.

ABC News’ Ben Stein and Kerem Inal contributed to this report.

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NYC struggling to keep up with demand of supporting asylum seekers, Mayor Adams says

NYC struggling to keep up with demand of supporting asylum seekers, Mayor Adams says
NYC struggling to keep up with demand of supporting asylum seekers, Mayor Adams says
Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams says his administration is straining to keep up with the demand of supporting thousands of asylum seekers in the city as he calls on the federal government for more assistance.

“We’re at capacity. We have been providing those food, shelter, clothing, food, educating children, making sure they get the level of dignity they deserve. But we cannot kid ourselves,” Adams told ABC News.

According to the mayor’s office, 57,200 asylum seekers are currently in the city’s care and nearly 100,000 migrants have arrived since last spring. A portion of the migrants have come from Texas as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to bus migrants to so-called sanctuary cities.

“Before we started busing illegal immigrants up to New York, it was just Texas and Arizona that bore the brunt of all the chaos and all of the problems that come with it. Now the rest of American is understanding exactly what is going on,” Abbott said last August.

Adams criticized Abbott’s remarks to “Nightline.”

“[It’s] dehumanizing to treat fellow human beings in this magnitude as political stunts, it’s a wrong thing to do. And I say that with a clear understanding, no city should be going through this,” Adams said.

Migrants arriving to the city from all over the world in recent days told ABC News that they came to New York City for a variety of reasons – to stay and find work or after hearing there are resources being provided to them.

Around 3,000 asylum seekers are being housed in midtown Manhattan at the Roosevelt Hotel, which also serves as an intake center for the migrants, according to the city. Last week, a line of around 130 asylum seekers waiting to be processed began to form around the hotel, before they were moved to a church in queens on Thursday, Adams’ chief of staff said at a news conference.

Many of the people in line told ABC News they didn’t actually know what they were standing in line for, just that it was the very first step to seeking asylum.

Gledis González and her family recently arrived at the Roosevelt.

“We got here without knowing. We asked around, and then came here. And we’re told it’s a process where we might be sent somewhere else, or could stay here. We are waiting to be relocated, because there is no space here for us to stay,” González said.

Asylum seekers can apply for a work permit between five and six months after they submit their asylum applications.

“The delay is because we need to be in a permanent place and have an address, so that we can get our resident cards, and paperwork to start looking for job,” Jesús Longart, González’s husband, said.

Expediting that process is on the mayor’s long to-do list.

“Every migrant I heard from, they said, ‘We don’t want your free food. We don’t want you to clothe us. We don’t want you to wash our clothing. We don’t want you to give us anything. We want to work,'” Adams said.

But Adams says in order to expedite the work permitting process, he needs help from the federal government.

“All we need is the White House to give us that TPS (temporary protected status) to allow the men and women to work. The congressional delegation is calling for it. Local leaders are calling for it. Everyone is calling for it. It is something within our powers and there’s no reason we’re not doing it,” Adams said.

Adams, along with New York’s senators and the city’s House Democrats, met in July with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Washington, D.C. Mayorkas said he would appoint a liaison to the city to coordinate on migrants.

Meanwhile, some New York residents have taken matters into their own hands, including Mammad Mahmoodi and his partner Sasha Allenby, founders of the local nonprofit EVLovesNYC. The couple first began cooking free meals for those in need at the start of the pandemic. Now with the help of around 40 volunteers, their focus has since shifted to delivering meals to thousands of migrants around the city.

“I genuinely feel that we are in the most prosperous city in the world. There are enough resources to provide for everyone. You know, if you look at it, in the grand scheme of things, we have a total of 107,000 people so far. That is less than 1.5% of the population of New York City that have come,” Mahmoodi told ABC News.

ABC News’ Mack Muldofsky, Izzie Mendez, Armando Garcia and Anneke Ball contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast

28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast
28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — At least two people have been killed by severe weather that slammed the East Coast.

Marquin Russell, 28, died after he was struck by lightning in Florence, Alabama, on Monday, according to police.

Evan Kinley, 15, died after being hit by a falling tree outside his grandparents’ home in Anderson, South Carolina, on Monday, according to local officials.

Monday’s storm brought torrential rain, destructive winds, massive hail and loud thunder to the East Coast. The storms led to more than 10,000 flights to be canceled or delayed across the country on Monday in cities including Atlanta, New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Straight-line winds gusted to 71 miles per hour in Georgia and 63 mph in Maryland, where power lines and trees came crashing down. Grapefruit-sized hail was reported in Virginia.

In Washington, D.C., federal employees, including at the White House and the Pentagon, were instructed to leave work early.

In Westminster, Maryland, downed electric poles trapped 33 adults, 14 children and a dog inside cars on a major highway. They were later rescued once the power lines de-energized, officials said.

“This is devastating,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told ABC News. “This is not going to be hours — this is going to be days making sure that we can get everyone back up when it comes to power and be able to restore what’s happening on the roads.”

Baltimore Gas & Electric said it expects 80% of customers experiencing outages to see their power restored by Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, heavy rain, flooding and a confirmed tornado struck eastern Massachusetts, stranding some drivers on the road.

Up to 8 inches of rain was reported in some areas. Flood watches are in effect.

Meanwhile, storms are brewing in two other regions on Tuesday.

Residents from Jackson, Mississippi, to Savannah, Georgia, could see scattered severe storms, and another system is bringing an enhanced risk for storms to Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.

Wednesday into Thursday, the threat for severe storms will be from Missouri to Tennessee. Damaging winds, flash flooding and isolated tornadoes will be possible from St. Louis to Little Rock to Nashville.

ABC News’ Matt Foster and Lauren Minore contributed to this report.

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Man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast

28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast
28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — At least two people have been killed by the severe weather that slammed the East Coast overnight.

A 28-year-old man died after he was struck by lightning in Florence, Alabama, and a 15-year-old boy died after being hit by a falling tree outside his grandparents’ home in Anderson, South Carolina, according to local authorities.

The storms brought torrential rain, destructive winds, massive hail and loud thunder to the eastern part of the country on Monday afternoon and evening.

Straight-line winds gusted to 71 miles per hour in Georgia and 63 mph in Maryland, where power lines and trees came crashing down. Grapefruit-sized hail was reported in Virginia.

In Washington, D.C., federal employees, including at the White House and the Pentagon, were instructed to leave work early Monday afternoon due to the weather.

In Westminster, Maryland, downed electric poles trapped 33 adults, 14 children and a dog inside cars on a major highway. It took several hours for them to be rescued, but there were no reported injuries, according to state authorities.

“This is devastating,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told ABC News. “This is not going to be hours — this is going to be days to making sure that we can get everyone back up when it comes to power and be able to restore, restore what’s happening on the roads.”

More than 10,000 flights were canceled or delayed across the country on Monday, impacting airports in cities including Atlanta, New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The storms knocked out power to 1 million customers Monday night. More than 295,000 customers remained without power Tuesday morning across Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia.

Most of the severe weather has since ended for the East Coast, but a lingering storm system in New England could bring isolated severe thunderstorms with gusty winds and even an isolated tornado. Much of New England also remains under a flood watch until Tuesday evening as heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding.

The main threat of severe weather shifts to the Great Plains on Tuesday, particularly Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, where an isolated tornado and huge hail is possible.

Other areas under threat on Tuesday will be from Mississippi to Georgia, where damaging winds will be possible.

The stormy weather will continue into Wednesday and over the weekend with plenty of rain in the forecast. Areas from the Midwest to the Deep South could see localized flooding.

ABC News’ Matt Foster and Lauren Minore contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Severe weather updates: Two dead as storms pummel East Coast

28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast
28-year-old man killed by lightning, teen fatally hit by tree amid severe storms on East Coast
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Two people have died, and hundreds of thousands of customers are without power across several states, as severe storms target the East Coast on Monday.

More than 630,000 customers were without power across 10 states as of 11:30 p.m. ET, according to poweroutage.us. North Carolina had the most outages, with at least 227,000 customers without power, followed by Pennsylvania, with around 149,000 customers in the state without power.

In Florence, Alabama, police said a 28-year-old man was killed when he was struck by lightning in the parking lot of an industrial park.

The Anderson County Coroner’s Office in South Carolina also confirmed the death of a 15-year-old who was struck and killed by a falling tree during a severe storm.

Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed. Cities seeing major impacts at airports include Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Boston. The Federal Aviation Administration said thunderstorms are also expected to impact airports in Memphis, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

The FAA issued multiple ground stops Monday night for several airports on the East Coast, including JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Atlanta and airports in the Washington, D.C., area.

In Washington, D.C., federal employees, including at the White House and the Pentagon, were instructed to leave work early Monday afternoon due to the weather.

The main threats Monday afternoon and evening are tornadoes and destructive winds.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. A tornado watch is stretching across 11 states including Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The severe weather is expected to be gone by Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, stormy weather spawned tornadoes, triggered flash flooding, knocked out power and uprooted trees across the U.S.

There were more than 300 damaging storm reports from Colorado to Virginia. There were also 10 reported tornadoes — eight across Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Colorado on Saturday and two in Illinois on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Storm damage was reported from Wichita, Kansas, through central Illinois and into Birmingham, Alabama.

Torrential rainfall led to dangerous flash flooding in parts of northeastern Missouri on Friday night, including in the town of Kahoka, where more than 6 inches of rain fell within six hours. Water rescues were reported in the area.

Golf ball-sized hail was reported in Loveland, Colorado, and Almena, Kansas, on Saturday.

More than 40,000 people were left without electricity in Alabama on Sunday as gusty winds up to 61 miles per hour brought trees crashing down on power lines.

ABC News’ Clara McMichael and Teddy Grant contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Crowdfund gives Daniel Penny millions for legal defense in alleged killing of homeless man Jordan Neely

Crowdfund gives Daniel Penny millions for legal defense in alleged killing of homeless man Jordan Neely
Crowdfund gives Daniel Penny millions for legal defense in alleged killing of homeless man Jordan Neely
Tribune News Service via Getty Images, FILE

(NEW YORK) — Daniel Penny, the man charged in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, is one of the latest figures at the center of a controversial case to publicly fundraise for his legal defense.

Penny has raised more than $2.9 million in defense funds against the charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of Neely aboard a New York City subway train in May. Penny has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His next court appearance is October 25.

The collected money that doesn’t go toward legal funds — which could “easily cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to Andrew M. Stengel, a defense lawyer in New York City — will be donated “to a mental health advocacy program in New York City,” according to the fundraising page.

According to court documents and statements, Neely, a homeless man, entered the train at the 2nd Avenue station and began making verbal threats to passengers. According to one witness who recorded and posted about the incident on Facebook, Neely had said: “‘I don’t have food. I don’t have a drink. I am fed up. I don’t care if I go to jail, and if they give me life in prison … I am ready to die.'”

Neely boarded the train and, shortly after, Penny put Neely in a chokehold, which lasted for several minutes.

Penny, 24, pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on $100,000 bail.

Neely’s family raised $150,099 for funeral and burial expenses before closing their GoFundMe to new donations.

GoFundMe restricts certain fundraisers

Fundraisers like Penny’s are not allowed on GoFundMe and is instead hosted on another fundraising website.

According to a statement released by GoFundMe in 2021, the website’s Terms of Service prohibit raising money for the legal defense of an alleged violent crime.

The company has removed fundraisers in connection with the defense before and during the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who claimed he shot three men, two fatally, in self-defense when he attended a 2020 protest in Wisconsin against police brutality.

Rittenhouse was acquitted on two felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, as well as charges of first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide. GoFundMe also removed fundraisers for truckers protesting COVID-19 restrictions in Canada who were accused of violence.

People in legal trouble who have been prevented from raising money through GoFundMe have leaned on other fundraising sites that allow people like Rittenhouse and Penny to house fundraisers as long as “the stated purpose of the fundraising effort is itself a lawful purpose,” according to a site representative.

Support for Penny

Some conservative elected officials have supported Penny’s actions, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. DeSantis promoted Penny’s fundraiser on his social media, saying, “America’s got his back.”

Those who study vigilantism and its historically violent use against marginalized communities say they are alarmed by the outpouring of support for Penny as well as other controversial figures accused of violent self-defense.

Amy Kate Bailey, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor and sociologist, said she fears the encouragement could promote further vigilante efforts.

“White men in this country, particularly those who can put on the mantle of being a veteran, I think typically get lots of support,” said Bailey in an interview with ABC News. “There was lots of support for this kind of violence and particularly this violence that cloaked itself in the mantle of protecting the community.”

Top online fundraising campaigns

These fundraising campaigns are overshadowed by some of GoFundMe’s largest campaigns, which include: America’s Food Fund at $45 million; Stand With Ukraine at $37 million; TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund at $24 million; Official George Floyd Memorial Fund at roughly $15 million and more.

The other top campaigns include millions of dollars given to the victims of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and a fund for first responders during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fundraising site Penny used told ABC News that their largest campaign to date was for the Canadian trucker convoy last year “that raised approx $10M USD,” followed by Penny’s fundraiser.

GoFundMe said the reports of the convoy’s “violence and other unlawful activity” prompted an end to the fundraiser.

However, the funds raised for the truckers were refunded after the Canadian government criminalized the receiving of funds for the trucker campaign and attempted to seize the funds to redistribute, according to the fundraising website.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cousin of Uvalde mass shooter arrested for allegedly threatening to commit school shooting: Affidavits

Cousin of Uvalde mass shooter arrested for allegedly threatening to commit school shooting: Affidavits
Cousin of Uvalde mass shooter arrested for allegedly threatening to commit school shooting: Affidavits
File photo of a San Antonio Police Department police car. — San Antonio Police Department

(SAN ANTONIO) — A cousin of the Uvalde school shooter was arrested Monday on allegations he threatened to commit a school shooting, according to two arrest affidavits filed in a Bexar County, Texas, court and signed by a judge.

Officers from the San Antonio Police Department responded to a mental health call from the mother of a teen Monday. The mother reportedly told police that her son had threatened to “do the same thing” as his cousin, who committed a mass shooting at an elementary school in 2022 — statements police say were made to the suspect’s sister. The mother was concerned because her son is on probation, and she claimed he was intoxicated when the alleged statements were made, according to the affidavits.

The 17-year-old suspect’s sister, who gave a recorded statement at police headquarters, told police she was giving her brother a ride when he allegedly threatened to shoot her in the head and “stated that he would ‘shoot the school.’” She said he added that “school is starting soon,” per the arrest affidavit.

The suspect lives across the street from an elementary school, according to police.

In a statement to police at headquarters, the mother said she overheard a conversation Monday morning where her son was attempting to acquire an AR-15, “through an illegal private sale,” per the affidavits. The identity of the person the suspect was allegedly speaking to is currently unknown, according to authorities.

San Antonio police arrested the 17-year-old for allegedly making terroristic threats: a felony for making a terroristic threat to the public and a misdemeanor for making a terroristic threat to a family member, according to a Bexar County magistrate record. The suspect has denied making threats, per the affidavits.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the suspect has an attorney who could speak on his behalf as his case is listed as pending with the Bexar County magistrate.

The suspect is the cousin of the 18-year-old gunman who opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, killing 19 children and two adults. The gunman was killed by authorities.

The Uvalde shooting is the second-deadliest shooting at an elementary, middle or high school in U.S. history.

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Woman in critical condition after being bitten by shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens

Woman in critical condition after being bitten by shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens
Woman in critical condition after being bitten by shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE

(NEW YORK) — A 50-year-old woman is hospitalized in critical condition Monday after being bitten by a shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York, officials said.

The woman was swimming at Beach 59th Street at around 5:50 p.m. ET when she was bitten by a shark in the left leg, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation confirmed to ABC News.

Lifeguards quickly removed the woman from the water and gave her first aid. The woman was taken in critical condition to Jamaica Hospital, the parks department said. She remains in critical condition, a hospital representative confirmed to ABC News on Monday night.

NYC Parks said in a statement that “shark bites in Rockaway are extremely rare,” adding: “We remain vigilant in monitoring the beach and always clear the water when a shark is spotted.”

Following the shark bite incident, lifeguards at Beach 59th Street cleared everyone from the water. The New York Police Department used a helicopter to survey the area, but they didn’t see any sharks, according to NYC Parks.

Authorities, including the parks department, the NYPD and the Fire Department of New York, will surveil the beach on Tuesday. Due to the surveillance, the beach will not be open until at least 11 a.m.

“We hope for a full recovery for this swimmer,” NYC Parks said.

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Scientists concerned ‘rare’ glacial flooding event in Alaska could happen again

Scientists concerned ‘rare’ glacial flooding event in Alaska could happen again
Scientists concerned ‘rare’ glacial flooding event in Alaska could happen again
Sam Nolan

(JUNEAU, Alaska) — Astonished scientists could not have predicted the severity of a glacial lake outburst flood that inundated a large portion of Juneau, Alaska, over the weekend.

Now, they’re worried the unprecedented event could happen again.

City officials in Juneau, Alaska, issued an emergency declaration Sunday after a glacier lake outburst flood, from the Suicide Basin on the Mendenhall Glacier, wreaked havoc in the city.

Typically, researchers at the National Weather Service expect a steady flow when a break occurs from Suicide Basin, National Weather Service Juneau hydrologist Aaron Jacobs told ABC News. However, the fast-moving waters bursted out of the basin and flowed furiously through the Mendenhall River and into the Mendenhall Lake, eroding river embankments along the way.

The sheer force of Mother Nature was on full display — and nearly difficult to fathom — as the energy from the fast-moving waters were able to decimate hillsides, homes and 100-foot trees, Jacobs said.

How rare was the flooding event from the Mendenhall Glacier

When the Federal Emergency Management Agency created flood maps for the Mendenhall Glacier, it defined a 100-year flooding event as discharge of 17,000 cubic feet per second, and a 500-year flooding event as discharge of 20,000 cubic feet per second, Jacobs said.

The flooding that occurred on Saturday night was the result of a discharge event of about 25,000 cubic feet per second, which FEMA had previously determined had less than 1% chance of occurring, Jacobs said.

“We couldn’t imagine this amount of water coming out so fast,” Jacobs said.

The Mendenhall Lake level crested at 14.97 feet on Saturday around 11:15 p.m. local time, well above the previous record of 11.99 feet in July 2016.

“We haven’t seen these levels, ever, in our lifetimes,” Jacobs said.

Scientists at the National Weather Service will now be tracking the probability of whether the severity of the most recent flooding event could happen again, and when, so they can give the public adequate warning, Jacobs said.

What led to the glacier lake outburst flood

A glacial lake outburst flood occurs when a dam containing a glacial lake breaks. But Mendenhall Glacier actually gets lifted up from pressure building within the basin. So when the glacier is great enough to lift the glacier, the water escapes the basin and flows downstream, Jacobs said.

The basin fills in the summertime from snow melt and rainfall. The Suicide Glacier, which used to feed into the Suicide Basin, still hangs over it, so the melting from that ice contributes to water levels in the basin as well, Jacobs said.

The flooding destroyed several structures along the Mendenhall River, according to the National Weather Service. Two homes have been lost and another partially damaged and washed away, Rob Barr, deputy city manager of Juneau, told ABC News.

“A handful” of other residences, including a condo building were left significantly undermined,” Barr said.

How researchers predict outburst floods from Mendenhall Glacier

Those in charge of monitoring the Mendenhall Glacier and the lakes within it can tell when a flooding event is gearing up, Jacobs said.

The National Weather Service in Juneau has a “well-versed” monitoring program, which involves elevation marks on Suicide Basin and a camera pointed it its direction, in order to see how much the water levels are falling and rising.

A flood watch was issued for the region on July 31, nearly a week before the break on Mendenhall Glacier occurred.

But while it is possible to monitor the water levels in the basin, it is difficult to assess just how much water is in it, Jacobs said.

Concerning flooding from the Mendenhall Glacier has been happening for over a decade

Suicide Basin has been releasing glacier lake outburst floods that cause inundation along Mendenhall Lake and Mendenhall River since 2011, according to the National Weather Service.

As of Monday morning, the Mendenhall River had returned to normal levels, between 5.5 and 6 feet, and flooding had receded, Jacobs said.

Cleanup crews are now assessing the damage and removing the debris scattered in the river and land surrounding it, Jacobs said.

The risk of flooding from melted glaciers to increase as climate warms, a study published in Nature Climate Change in 2021 found.

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