DEVELOPING Defence rests without Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
The latest powerful atmospheric river to drench California put nearly 27,000 people under evacuation orders Tuesday due to flooding and landslide risks. On the central coast, workers hauled truckloads of rocks to plug a broken river levee amid steady rain and wind.
Forecasters warned of damaging winds with gusts up to 70 mph (113 kph), and there were numerous reports of falling trees. Power outages hit more than 330,000 utility customers in northern and central areas, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
Crews raced to stabilize the Pajaro River's ruptured levee Tuesday, placing rocks and boulders to finish filling the gap that opened late Friday, about 70 miles (110 kilometres) south of San Francisco. Workers will then raise that portion's elevation to match the rest of the levee over the next few weeks to make it impermeable, officials said.
Tuesday's storm initially spread light to moderate rain over the state's north and center. But the National Weather Service said the storm was moving faster than expected and that most of the precipitation would shift southward.
"Even a small amount of rain could potentially have larger impacts," Shaunna Murray of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency said Tuesday during a news conference.
Gusting winds damaged windows in a San Francisco high-rise, causing glass to rain down and forcing evacuations from the building in the financial district. No injuries were immediately reported.
So far this winter, California has been battered by 10 previous atmospheric rivers -- long plumes of moisture from the Pacific Ocean -- as well as powerful storms fueled by arctic air that produced blizzard conditions. On the East Coast, the start of a winter storm with heavy, wet snow caused a plane to slide off a runway and led to hundreds of school closings, cancelled flights and thousands of power outages Tuesday.
Along the Southern California coast, evacuation orders began at 8 a.m. in Santa Barbara County for several areas burned by wildfires in recent years, creating increased risk of flash floods and debris flows.
A crew uses heavy machinery to repair a levee rupture at the Pajaro River in Monterey County, Calif., Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
The storm caused emergency declarations for 40 counties.
In addition to evacuation orders, more than 71,600 people were under evacuation warnings and 546 people were in shelters by Tuesday morning, said Brian Ferguson, spokesperson for the California Office of Emergency Services. Updated figures were not immediately available.
More flooding was expected on the central coast, where the Pajaro River swelled with runoff from last week's atmospheric river. Authorities had not received reports of any deaths or missing persons related to the storm as of Monday.
The levee breach grew to at least 400 feet (120 meters) since the failure late Friday, officials said. A roughly 20-foot (6.10-meter) gap remained Tuesday afternoon.
Pajaro, an unincorporated community known for its strawberry crops, was largely flooded. More than 8,500 people were told to evacuate, and nearly 250 people have been rescued by first responders since Friday.
Some residents of the largely Latino farmworker community stayed. One shelter was already full by midday Tuesday, and officials were forced to open two more to accommodate the evacuees.
"We live seven houses away from the river and the water level was six feet high, seven probably," said evacuee Andres Garcia. "So we probably lost everything."
A second 100-foot (30-meter) breach in the levee opened closer to the Pacific coast, providing a "relief valve" for floodwaters to recede near the mouth of the river, officials said at a news conference Monday.
Built in the late 1940s to provide flood protection, the levee was a known risk for decades and had several breaches in the 1990s. Emergency repairs to a section of the berm were undertaken in January. A $400 million rebuild is set to begin in the next few years.
"We had so many years of drought and they could've fixed the levee way back and they didn't," said Garcia, the Pajaro evacuee. "This is the second time it happened. Back in 1995, same thing. We lost everything."
The river separates Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Highway 1, a main link between the two counties, was closed along with several other roads.
------
Antczak reported from Los Angeles. AP writers Stefanie Dazio and Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
As the month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores wears on, small independent food retailers and alternative grocery options say they're seeing a boost in traffic and sales.
Prince Harry can't expand his privacy lawsuit against The Sun tabloid publisher to include allegations that Rupert Murdoch and some other executives were part of an effort to conceal and destroy evidence of unlawful information gathering, a London judge ruled Tuesday.
For those who go to their local libraries often, they know there’s much more to their library than just borrowing books. Local libraries in Atlantic Canada are now renting out a broader range of items for people.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.