Month: August 2026

By La’Tasha Givens

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    CHATTAHOOCHIE HILLS, Georgia (WUPA) — A good amount of summer rain has finally lifted Georgia out of a severe drought, bringing long-awaited relief to local agricultural workers.

For nearly a year, dry conditions heavily impacted farmers across the state, but the recent turn in the weather is giving growers in Chattahoochee Hills a reason to look forward to a promising fall harvest.

The National Weather Service recently announced that Georgia’s drought is officially over.

“During 2025 and 2026, we had an 11-month period we were under a drought here. We were in a severe drought,” CBS News meteorologist Troy Bridges said. “And there was a period of time during that time 100% of us were in a severe drought, and that has never happened. That’s the first time that’s happened in history, so that’s why this one was such a big deal.”

The prolonged dry spell hit local agriculture hard, forcing growers to cope with lost crops and mounting irrigation costs. Brandi Whitney, affectionately known as Farmer Brandi of Serenbe Farms, was among those who felt the daily burden of trying to save her fields.

“Oh, we had to irrigate almost all the way through until the nighttime,” Whitney said. “So I would leave it on during the daytime. I would go home and eat, and then I would come back in the evening time to turn everything off, so yeah, it was a long period of just rotational everyday irrigation.”

Even when relief first appeared on the horizon, it brought its own set of challenges. When the initial downpours arrived, the parched ground was too hard to absorb the moisture properly, leading to field flooding and additional crop loss.

“The soil was so compacted that when it rained it didn’t have anywhere to go, and erosion follows the path of least resistance so we had a lot of flooding in our field areas,” Whitney recalled. “There were a lot of crops that we lost.”

Despite the initial setbacks, the sustained rainfall has set the stage for a strong recovery as the seasons shift. Farmers are now preparing for what they hope will be a promising fall harvest.

“So we’re really excited,” Whitney said. “For us, the fall is the greatest time of the year. It’s the longest-producing on this farm, so we’re just hoping for a steady rain so that we don’t have to irrigate so much. Our plants are healthy and strong in the ground. They’re not having to be stressed by the heat or the lack of water from rain and that sort of thing.”

Bridges noted that the replenished moisture levels are vital for crop success heading into the autumn months.

“We have more water in the soil,” Bridges said. “That soil is gonna be much more healthy to grow that vegetation that we need, so all vegetables, those pumpkins, and all that kind of stuff.”

The benefits extend beyond produce. Farmers with livestock report that recent rains have revived fields into green pastures, which is expected to extend the grazing season. This boost in natural pasture growth will improve livestock nutrition while helping farmers reduce the high cost of winter feed.

While local agricultural communities remain deeply grateful for the moisture, they are keeping a close eye on the skies. Farmers emphasize that balance is key, noting that while rain is desperately needed, too much at once can be harmful. As fall approaches, Chattahoochee Hills growers are holding out hope for steady, moderate rainfall to keep their momentum going.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Rashad Williams

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    GWINNETT COUNTY, Georgia (WUPA) — Six people are alive today thanks to the swift actions of one of the roommates from the group who saved the others during a Gwinnett County house fire.

Forty-six-year-old Christopher Hammond said he got off work around 3:15 a.m., made it to the gym, then returned home to the 700 block of Camp Perrin Road NE in Lawrenceville around 4:15 a.m., about an hour before investigators said firefighters were called about a house fire.

Investigators said they believe the fire was intentionally set.

“It’s a tragedy because we lost everything, so we’re just trying to figure out where to go from here, but just take it one day at a time, you know,” Hammond said. “Just the fact that someone tried deliberately to burn us out and it was six people inside. I’m cleaning my house. I was getting ready to cook. Getting ready to take a shower, and then the power just says pow, and it’s not like lightning struck. The power did something weird, and the lights kind of exploded almost.”

Hammond said he walked outside, noticed an orange glow and heard more noises before he realized that flames had engulfed the side of the house where the garage was. He said he initially thought one of two cars in the garage at the time caught fire.

“All you heard was pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow, and everything was orange … So I knew I had to wake everybody up in the house,” he recalled.

Hammond ran inside and woke his five roommates up. He said everyone made it out and stood together while watching the house burn. The group was unable to pass the driveway due to the severity of the flames and the heat.

Ring camera video obtained by CBS News Atlanta shows a person light something, drag it toward the home, and throw it into the garage. Additional videos show the person return with what appears to be a water gun to spray a fluid onto the fire.

Hammond said he believes it may be a targeted attack on the homeowner and not the renters.

“No one in the house has any enemies or problems with anybody,” Hammond said. “There’s no one that I have any problems with, and I talked to the other roommates, and no one has any problem with anyone to where they would try to come and kill six people. That’s deep.”

Hammond said he’s thankful he was awake when the fire started, and plans to stay in a motel until he can find a more stable living situation.

Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services had several team members out Thursday canvassing the area around the burned house. Public Information Officer Capt. Ryan McGiboney said any time a house fire happens in the county, they go out to the area to ask neighbors if they can come in, check their smoke detectors and replace them if need be for free, they go over a fire escape plan, how to immediately act if a fire is detected, plus other fire safety measures.

“We know the conversation is already happening in the home: ‘How could this happen? How could this have happened to our neighbors? Are we safe?’ That’s prime time for us to come in, join you in that conversation so we can tell you how to get out safely,” McGiboney said. “We don’t want to see these tragedies happen where people lose everything they work for.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Tim McNicholas, Walter Smith Randolph

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — NYCHA says it’s found squatters in just over two dozen units over the past few months as it’s launched a new monthly inspection program for vacant units.

The new inspections are the result of a New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) report from March that revealed squatters took over at least 548 vacant NYCHA units from 2022 through 2025.

In one instance in 2023, a squatter was arrested at an apartment at the Mitchel Houses and charged with child neglect.

That same year, police said they found a pistol and two alleged gang members in vacant units at the Surfside Gardens Houses, and the body of an alleged gang member who’d been shot to death was found in a vacant unit at the Castle Hill Houses.

“It’s a significant risk,” said Nadia Shihata, commissioner of the DOI.

She said she thinks NYCHA is improving, however.

“I think we’ve seen some good progress. They have implemented the recommendation of having a monthly inspection protocol, so they are now inspecting vacant apartments on a monthly basis,” she said.

Dan Greene, NYCHA’s executive vice president of property management operations, says those monthly inspections, which started in April, found and drove out squatters from 27 units so far.

“We have seen some activities … that need to be investigated, so I do think it’s a safety concern and we need to stay on top of it,” he said.

NYCHA says its staff moves right in when someone moves out of a unit to get the home ready for a new tenant ASAP.

But that same DOI report in March found the number of vacant NYCHA apartments more than doubled over the last few years to over 6,000.

“That number increased really due to our use of increased environmental work during the turnover period,” Greene said.

In other words, new requirements for lead and asbestos treatment are adding to the turnover time.

The mayor’s office announced earlier this year it’s dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years to restoring more vacant NYCHA units.

There are currently 159,000 applicants on NYCHA’s waitlist, so in an affordable housing shortage, those turnovers become even more important.

Residents have also voiced concerns about unauthorized people in other parts of the building. The head of the tenants association at the Frederick Douglass Houses on the Upper West Side took photos and videos of individuals sitting on blankets in a stairwell and laying on cardboard in a hallway.

NYCHA says those are not apartment squatters, but loiterers, and they’re now looking into it. The agency says NYCHA staff and residents should call 911 or 311 to report loiterers.

Meanwhile, last winter, a CBS News New York Investigation found that inspectors find about 60-70 cases per year of NYCHA tenants committing various types of housing fraud, including illegally subleasing their homes. NYCHA says they have a zero tolerance policy for that and they work with law enforcement to stop it.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ted Scouten

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    HOLLYWOOD, Florida (WFOR) — A South Florida homeowner is mourning the loss of 12 dogs after a fire tore through her home in Hollywood. Only one of her 13 dogs, a puppy named “Baby Judge,” survived the blaze.

Andrea Santos, who was at work when the fire started in the 1900 block of Rodman Street, said she first realized something was wrong after checking her Ring camera.

“I looked on my Ring camera. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, where’s that coming from?’ Then it just clicked, and I just ran out of work,” she said.

She arrived home to find smoke pouring from the house and first responders performing CPR on Baby Judge, successfully saving the puppy’s life.

“They were family, they were my children. It is very devastating because they were very young; we had a routine, we had fun and smiles, and it’s just very heartbreaking right now,” Santos said.

The family has launched an online fundraiser to help with expenses related to the fire.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.