(MAYFIELD, Ky.) — In the days and weeks leading up to this weekend — which marks one year since a devastating tornado outbreak tore through Kentucky — Mayfield pastor Al Chandler has sensed anxiety among residents in the region.

“It was a whirlwind for several days there and weeks,” Chandler, a pastor at Northside Baptist Church, told ABC News. “Everybody was impacted one way or the other.”

On Dec. 10 and 11 of last year, multiple states in the Midwest and South were struck by a series of intense tornadoes, including a massive EF-4 tornado that traveled some 165 miles in Kentucky alone.

Once state officials were able to fully assess the damage, it was determined that at least 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and 76 people were killed in hard-hit Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear has said.

Memorials and vigils will be held throughout the state this weekend to remember and honor those killed as communities continue to heal from the trauma and devastation of the tornadoes.

“Now that Dec. 10 is creeping up on us, I get afraid. I can’t help but get afraid and I get stressed,” Deloris Williams, whose Dawson Springs home was one of many destroyed in the city, told ABC Louisville affiliate WHAS. “I think, ‘Please God, don’t let this happen again. Please don’t.'”

Kentucky native Misty Thomas recalled waking up on Dec. 11, 2021, to what was unprecedented devastation for most Kentuckians.

“We weren’t prepared for the reality of the possibility of an EF-4 tornado, period,” Thomas, the executive director for the American Red Cross Western Kentucky Chapter, told ABC News. “I think my mindset that night was, we will have some tree limbs down, we’ll have some power outages.”

“It took our breath — of what that storm, what Mother Nature was capable of,” she said.

The past year has been one of rebuilding and repairing. And while much progress has been made, many people are still waiting for a permanent place to call home.

As chair of the Mayfield Graves County Long Term Recovery Group, which partners with dozens of nonprofit organizations, Chandler has been involved in the efforts to provide free assistance to survivors in the weeks and months after the tornadoes. That could mean anything from food and power needs to helping file FEMA claims for damaged homes and cars.

Chandler said the group has closed some 155 cases since it was founded in the weeks after the tornado, though still has nearly 170 open cases and more than 250 that are awaiting case management.

A year after the tornado, one of the biggest concerns remains housing, he said. Upwards of 800 homes in the area were hit, with renters in particular impacted, he said.

“We determined that about 70% of our survivors were in rental units,” Chandler said, which presents a “unique gap” for the community’s recovery to help keep people in the area. “There are very few resources available for [renters].”

Through state and federal assistance, some people have been housed in campers and trailers while waiting for more permanent housing, and the humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse has built 60 new homes, said Chandler. He estimates nearly 200 people are still in need of permanent housing, while currently living in campers, hotels or with family.

To help survivors find a pathway to homeownership, the long-term recovery group launched what it’s dubbed the Home for the Holidays program — wherein it acquires homes in the community to rent to families for a year, at which point the renters will have the chance to purchase the home. The group has 13 people under contract right now, he said, with the goal to find 25 families homes by Dec. 25.

“That’s one of our creative ways to help meet some needs for our renters and get them into a home quickly,” he said.

Even those who do find a new place to live may have difficulty calling it home. After Williams lost everything when the tornado leveled her Dawson Springs home, she eventually ended up moving some 25 miles away to Hopkinsville to find an affordable apartment.

“I truly believe if it wasn’t for my cousin that helped me because he works at an apartment complex, I still would not have a place to call home,” she told WHAS. “Even though I’ve found an apartment with the help of my cousin, which I am truly grateful for, you don’t feel like you’re at home.”

‘Herculean’ recovery work

There are nine long-term recovery groups like the one Chandler chairs that are located in the Western Kentucky chapter of the Red Cross, Thomas said. Most of the volunteer-run groups sprung up in the wake of the December tornadoes to help with what will likely be a years-long recovery effort, she said.

“This is going to be such a long process because of the amount of homes destroyed, and the people who were displaced,” she said. “I would say, a year into this, there’s still a lot to do, but there’s been a lot accomplished.”

Thomas said she was impressed with the “creativity and ingenuity” of the long-term recovery groups as they step up and work to restore their communities, pointing to programs like Home for the Holidays.

“I’m really impressed with the people who’ve banded together, continue to be resilient and persevere for the good of the survivors,” she said. “There’s so many people working on behalf of survivors that it’s very heartwarming to watch this happen in real-time.”

Once the groups help those recovering from the disaster, they will likely pivot to community preparedness — to be ready if and when the next disaster strikes, Thomas said. Though for now, they’re still very much in the recovery phase.

“It’s just been incredible to get to know these people after this disaster, in these communities, doing such herculean work for the people they love,” she said. “It just reminds me, there’s so much good out there.”

Chandler has been thankful for the volunteers who continue to come from all over to help rebuild Mayfield, which in addition to residents has seen scores of businesses displaced.

“It’s a whole new town right now, in the sense that we’re all temporarily dislocated,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of good things happen, but there’s still a lot more to do.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MACCLENNY, Fla.) — First responders rescued an eagle impaled by a lightning rod atop a 120 -foot radio tower at St. George Elementary in MacClenny, Florida.

Fire department crews responded to a call Friday about the eagle stuck on top of the tower and contacted wildlife authorities from the scene. It was determined that someone would need to go to the top of the tower to help the eagle, MacClenny Fire and Rescue Department said in a post on Facebook.

Engineer Louis Castle and Lt. Garret Williams loaded up into a 100-foot tall tower and headed toward the elementary school, according to the fire department.

Crews gained access to the area by cutting a fence then went up 100-feet in the tower, the department said in a statement on Facebook.

Castle then exited the bucket of the fire department’s ladder and hooked himself onto the tower, using safety equipment, and climbed the remaining 20-feet, according to the department.

The eagle was found in “obvious distress,” according to the department.

Once he was at the top, Castle was able to free the bird of its impalement. It then soared down and was captured by wildlife rescuers.

As of Saturday afternoon, the fire department did not have an update on the eagle’s health status.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SILVER SPRING, Md.) — Officers seeking a suspect in a fatal shooting at a Maryland gas station made a “surprising discovery” when they found the decomposing body of a likely pregnant woman at the man’s apartment, police said.

Torrey Moore, 31, of Silver Spring, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Friday for allegedly killing an employee at the Dash In Convenience Store in Silver Spring during an altercation the previous day, Montgomery County police said.

The investigation of the gas station shooting led detectives to an apartment complex across the street, where they executed a search warrant in Moore’s apartment, police said.

“When SWAT made entry, and after arresting Moore, they discovered a deceased female, believed to be an adult, on the floor in the apartment in an advanced stage of decomposition,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told reporters during a press briefing Friday.

Moore allegedly told police that he was in a relationship with the woman and that she was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. He also allegedly said that “there had been some type of fight between the two about one month prior that led to the victim becoming deceased prior to today,” Jones said.

Police are waiting for the medical examiner to determine the cause and manner of death, to confirm whether the woman was pregnant and how far along and to verify the woman’s identity, Jones said. That process could take several days, he said.

Police were not aware of anything amiss at that apartment, or of any missing persons from that location, the chief said.

“This is very new to us, again a surprising discovery upon our entry this morning. So we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Jones said Friday. “We’re a little bit amazed that we did not receive any calls, none that we have seen, thus far, that would have given us any indication that something was occurring within that apartment.”

“We’re very concerned about what has been occurring between these two,” he said.

Jones said Moore was captured on footage leaving the gas station following the shooting Thursday afternoon and heading toward the apartment complex across the street. Detectives were able to positively identify him from several witnesses, he said, and store employees said Moore was a “problem customer” at that location.

Moore is alleged to have shot Ayalew Wondimu, 61, of Silver Spring, following a dispute at the gas station. The footage captured Moore grab a bottle of iced tea and bring it to the counter, where the altercation occurred, according to Jones.

“We did observe Moore pick up items from in front of the counter and began throwing them at the clerk,” Jones said.

Wondimu then picked up a metal pole behind the counter and attempted to strike Moore, who was on the other side of the counter, Jones said.

“Moore stepped back and for reasons unknown he retrieved a silver handgun from his vest pocket and he shot Wondimu at a point-blank range,” Jones said.

Moore allegedly then reached over the counter and fired again multiple times, before grabbing the iced tea bottle and leaving the store, said Jones, who called the incident “very troubling.”

Wondimu suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene, Jones said.

Moore was charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm while committing a felony and is being held on no bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

Additional charges could be likely depending on the medical examiner’s determination of the cause and manner of death of the woman found in his apartment, police said.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — A rally for Shanquella Robinson, the American woman who died while vacationing in Mexico in what local authorities are investigating as a femicide, is scheduled to be held Saturday.

The rally is calling for justice for Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, who died in October while on a trip with six friends to San Jose del Cabo, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.

The event is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Little Rock AME Zion Church in Charlotte and will be livedstreamed via the Million Youth March Of Charlotte & Salisbury Teen Advisory Board’s Facebook page. Robinson’s family will be in attendance, organizers said.

“There were thousands of people that didn’t make it into the services a couple weeks ago, so this is the opportunity to come and show their support with the Robinson family again and to love on them and basically let them know that we stand with them,” Mario Black, the founder of Million Youth March of Charlotte, told reporters during a press briefing announcing the rally. “It’s justice for Shanquella Robinson until justice is served.”

Questions have mounted amid conflicting reports on what happened in the hours leading up to Robinson’s death.

The original autopsy report obtained by ABC News said Robinson died from a severe spinal cord injury and a dislocated neck. According to the document, which was dated Nov. 4, Robinson was found unconscious in the living room of a residence on Padre Kino Avenue in San Jose del Cabo on the afternoon of Oct. 29 and was declared dead within 15 minutes.

That report differs from a recent update from Mexican authorities, who said that Robinson may have been alive and received care from a medical professional for several hours before authorities arrived and she was pronounced dead, ABC News has learned.

The medical professional at the scene allegedly told Robinson’s friends that Robinson was drunk and dehydrated, and that they should take her to a hospital. However, they declined to do so, according to authorities.

Authorities have not responded to ABC News’ request for comment on the difference between their report and the autopsy.

An arrest warrant was issued last month in Robinson’s death for the crime of femicide, a form of gender-based violence, according to a local prosecutor. The warrant was issued for an unnamed alleged perpetrator, “a friend of hers who is the direct aggressor,” Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, local prosecutor for the state of Baja California Sur, said.

The FBI opened an investigation last month into Robinson’s death, though no further details were released due to the ongoing probe.

Robinson went to the Mexican resort city on Oct. 28, according to her family. Robinson’s parents said they got a frantic telephone call from their daughter’s friends the next day saying she had died from alcohol poisoning.

The Mexican Secretariat of Health’s autopsy report and death certificate do not mention alcohol.

With all the new and developing information, Robinson’s family is still seeking answers from her friends.

Sallamondra Robinson, the mother of Shanquella Robinson, told ABC News she’s happy the FBI has stepped in to help solve her daughter’s case so it “won’t go in vain.”

None of Robinson’s friends who were with her in Cabo have responded to ABC News’ repeated requests for comment.

ABC News’ Erica Y. King, Anne Laurent and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LOS ANGELES) — Two French bulldogs were stolen from a pregnant woman during an armed robbery in Los Angeles, police said.

Around 10 a.m. Friday, the nine-months pregnant woman was walking her two French bulldogs in the Studio City neighborhood when a man armed with a pistol approached, pointed the gun at her and took both dogs, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The suspect then fled with the French bulldogs in a gray SUV, according to police, who shared images of the vehicle and dogs. Police described the suspect as a Black man between the ages of 20 and 30 who was approximately 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.

The dogs — Gizmo and puppy Milo — were reunited with their owners Friday evening, ABC Los Angeles station KABC reported.

Cindy Nelson told the station she was walking the dogs by a parked car when the incident occurred.

“A man jumped out of the car with a gun in his hand and held it in front of my face and grabbed my dogs,” Nelson told KABC. “It happened all so fast.”

The dogs were left with a woman walking her dogs in the Hollywood area who then called the number on their tags, helping to reunite them with Nelson and her husband, the couple told KABC.

Nelson wasn’t hurt but was worried for her pets, including 7-year-old Gizmo, who has a spinal condition and leg problems, KABC reported.

French bulldogs are the No. 1 dog breed target for thieves, according to the American Kennel Club, with their popularity and price tag making them a prime target in dog thefts.

“I know Frenchies are a target, and I never thought that would happen here, and never thought I would be targeted in this neighborhood,” an emotional Nelson told KABC.

Last year, two French bulldogs owned by singer Lady Gaga were stolen during a violent robbery in which her dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot and seriously wounded. Authorities had said at the time they didn’t believe Fischer was targeted because he works for Lady Gaga, but because the suspects were motivated by the high value of the dogs, which can fetch thousands of dollars.

This week, the man arrested for shooting Fischer took a plea deal and was sentenced to 21 years in prison, according to The Associated Press. The suspect, James Howard Jackson, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder, the AP said.

In a victim impact statement shared on Instagram, Fischer called the incident a “life-changing, earth-shattering event.”

“A part of me is still desperately trying to save those dogs knowing you were going to shoot me,” Fischer said in his statement while addressing Jackson in court.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A large and powerful storm is making its way onshore from the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, bringing a range of hazards to the west over the weekend.

This storm is already in progress in Washington, Oregon and northern California. The storm will drift south during the day on Saturday, with heavy rain moving as far south as Los Angeles and San Diego heading into Sunday.

One to 2 inches of rain are likely across a wide area of the west coast, with some localized patches of 2-4 inches possible. With that kind of rain in a relatively short period of time, flash flooding will be a risk across coastal California throughout the weekend.

Storm totals may end up leaving as much as 4 to 8 feet of snow in some of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in central-northern California.

There will not be extreme snowfall in the lower elevations, where most cities are located, so don’t expect to see any snowfall in Sacramento or the rest of the San Joaquin Valley.

The storm then heads east into next week, expanding in size. By Tuesday, it may stretch from the Gulf Coast to southern Canada — more than 1,500 miles long.

By Tuesday, there are two main concerns: blizzard conditions in the northern plains and severe weather in the Deep South.

Heavy snowfall and gusty winds will lead to whiteout conditions from Nebraska to Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday. While the other side of the storm will bring a chance for powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi on Tuesday.

Sunday snow in the Northeast

A smaller, less powerful storm system will be heading through the Great Lakes and into the Northeast on Sunday. While not a giant storm, it will bring portions of the Northeast the first accumulating snowfall of the season.

Snow will mix with rain along the coastal areas, so the major cities along the I-95 corridor, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, aren’t looking at much, if any, snow accumulation.

Upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, northwest Connecticut and western Massachusetts may see a few inches of wet snow from this storm.

Travel on Sunday evening may be tricky with snow and rain across the area. It all clears out by Monday.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.