Downgraded Isaias batters Florida
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Bands of heavy rain from Isaias lashed Florida's east coast Sunday while officials dealing with surging cases of the coronavirus kept a close watch on the weakened tropical storm.
Isaias was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, but was still threatening to produce heavy rain and flooding as it crawled just off Florida's Atlantic coast.
"Don't be fooled by the downgrade," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned at a news conference after the storm spent hours roughing up the Bahamas.
Upper-level winds took much of the strength out of Isaias, said Stacy Stewart, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm also slowed down considerably.
"We were expecting a hurricane to develop and it didn't," Stewart said Sunday. "It's a tale of two storms. If you live on the west side of the storm, you didn't get much. If you live east of the storm, there's a lot of nasty weather there."
Florida is on the west side of Isaias.
The storm's maximum sustained winds declined steadily throughout Saturday, and were at 65 mph Sunday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm's center was located about 45 miles east-southeast of Vero Beach, Fla.
Marines: Missing troops presumed dead
SAN DIEGO -- Eight troops missing after their landing craft sank off the Southern California coast during a training exercise are presumed dead, the Marine Corps announced Sunday.
The Marines said they had called off the search that started late Thursday afternoon when the amphibious assault vehicle sank with 15 Marines and one Navy sailor aboard. Eight Marines were rescued, but one later died and two are in critical condition.
The 26-ton, tank-like craft took on water and quickly sank in hundreds of feet of water -- too deep for divers -- making it difficult to reach.
"It is with a heavy heart that I decided to conclude the search and rescue effort," said Col. Christopher Bronzi, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
All of the Marines aboard were attached to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at nearby Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. They ranged in age from 19 to early 30s and all were wearing combat gear, including body armor and flotation vests, according to Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
The craft was one of 13 amphibious assault vehicles that had just completed an exercise. It was heading back to a Navy ship when it began taking on water about a half-mile from the Navy-owned island off San Diego.
2 guards stabbed in Georgia prison riot
ATLANTA -- Officials say a riot broke out Saturday night at Ware State Prison near Waycross, Ga., where two guards were stabbed and officers deployed "non-lethal ammunition" on inmates.
Officials said the situation started about 10:40 p.m. EDT and was under control with the facility on lockdown at 1 a.m.
"Two staff members suffered received minor, non life-threatening injuries," the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement Sunday morning. "A golf cart was set on fire and several windows were broken, but no major damage to the facility has been reported. Officers deployed non-lethal ammunition, and the incident was brought under control."
"Three inmates received non life-threatening injuries during the incident," according to the statement.
Late Saturday night, multiple Facebook Live videos went out from men purporting to be inmates at the prison. One video, in which the men filmed say they are at Ware State Prison, showed one inmate covered in blood. Two inmates helped him clean what appeared to be a wound and carried him out of his cell. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution couldn't immediately confirm the authenticity of the videos.
Thousands told to flee fire east of LA
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BANNING, Calif. -- Thousands of people were under evacuation orders Sunday after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles expanded as crews battled the flames.
The blaze straddling Riverside and San Bernardino counties consumed more than 23 square miles of dry brush and timber, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
There was zero containment early Sunday. The cause is under investigation.
The blaze began as two adjacent fires reported Friday evening in Cherry Valley, an unincorporated area near the city of Beaumont about 85 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
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Flames leapt along brushy ridge tops and came close to homes while firefighters attacked it from the ground and air.
One home and two outbuildings were destroyed, Cal Fire said. No injuries were reported.
Evacuation orders and advisories were issued for mountain, canyon and foothill neighborhoods. Campgrounds and hiking trails were closed in the San Gorgonio Wilderness area of the San Bernardino National Forest.
A smoke plume was visible for miles around and contributed to poor air quality.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports