By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and LUIS ALBERTO CRUZ

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Authorities in southern Mexico were still assessing damage and watching rising rivers Friday as rain from the remnants of Hurricane Erick doused the region.

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Torrential rains over steep coastal mountains and the landslides and flooding they could generate became the ongoing concern for officials after Erick dissipated following a landfall early Thursday on a sparsely populated stretch of coast.

The storm’s death toll remained at one Friday, a 1-year-old boy who drowned in a swollen river, President Claudia Sheinbaum said. She also said she planned to visit the affected region Friday.

Power had been restored to about half the 277,000 customers who lost it and soldiers, marines and National Guard were helping to remove debris and reopen roads in Guerrero and Oaxaca state where Erick passed.

Erick came ashore down southern Mexico’s Pacific coast in the morning as a Category 3 major hurricane, but it landed between the resort cities of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido. It dissipated Thursday night over the mountains in Michoacan state.

Authorities reported landslides, blocked highways, downed power lines and some flooding as coastal residents, above all in Acapulco, took the storm seriously with memories of the devastating Hurricane Otis in 2023 still fresh in their minds.

Erick once had Category 4 strength

Erick had strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it approached the coast but weakened before making landfall to a Category 3.

Having doubled in strength in less than a day, Erick churned through an ideal environment for quick intensification. Last year, there were 34 incidents of rapid intensification — when a storm gains at least 55 kph (35 mph) in 24 hours — which is about twice the average and causes problems with forecasting, according to the hurricane center.

One death reported

Authorities had warned the heavy rain would become the problem. On Friday, National Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez said a river in Juchitan, Oaxaca had spilled over its banks and some families had moved to shelter.

Forecasters had expected up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) of rain could fall across Oaxaca and Guerrero, with lesser totals in Chiapas, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco states. The rainfall threatened flooding and mudslides, especially in areas with steep terrain.

Late Thursday, Guerrero state Civil Defense Director Roberto Arroyo said that a 1-year-old boy had died in San Marcos, an inland community southeast of Acapulco in the path of Erick. The child’s mother had tried to cross a swollen river while carrying the child, but he slipped from her arms and drowned.

Acapulco still scarred by Otis

Restaurants, shops and supermarkets gradually reopened in Acapulco, but schools were to remain closed across Guerrero on Friday as authorities continued to assess damage, clear debris and monitor rising rivers.

On Friday, the port was cloudy, but the rain had stopped.

Acapulco residents had braced for Erick’s arrival with more preparation and trepidation because of the memory of the devastation two years earlier.

The city of nearly 1 million was hit in October 2023 by Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 hurricane that rapidly intensified and caught many unprepared. At least 52 people died in Otis and the storm severely damaged almost all of the resort’s hotels.

“Many of us were frightened, but now it has passed,” Juan Carlos Castañeda, a 49-year-old security guard at an Acapulco condominium complex, said the previous night. He said the “tragedy of Otis marked all of us.”

Despite the rain, Castañeda decided to go out for a walk.

Cruz reported from Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

Aflac says that it has identified suspicious activity on its network in the U.S. that may impact Social Security numbers and other personal information, calling the incident part of a cybercrime campaign against the insurance industry.

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The company said Friday that the intrusion was stopped within hours.

“We continue to serve our customers as we respond to this incident and can underwrite policies, review claims, and otherwise service our customers as usual,” Aflac said in a statement.

The company said that it’s in the early stages of a review of the incident, and so far is unable to determine the total number of affected individuals.

Aflac Inc. said potentially impacted files contain claims information, health information, Social Security numbers, and other personal information, related to customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents, and other individuals in its U.S. business.

The Columbus, Georgia, company said that it will offer free credit monitoring and identity theft protection and Medical Shield for 24 months to anyone that calls its call center.

Cyberattacks against companies have been rampant for years, but a string of attacks on retail companies have raised awareness of the issue because the breaches can impact customers.

United Natural Foods, a wholesale distributor that supplies Whole Foods and other grocers, said earlier this month that a breach of its systems was disrupting its ability to fulfill orders — leaving many stores without certain items.

In the U.K., consumers could not order from the website of Marks & Spencer for more than six weeks — and found fewer in-store options after hackers targeted the British clothing, home goods and food retailer. A cyberattack on Co-op, a U.K. grocery chain, also led to empty shelves in some stores.

A security breach detected by Victoria’s Secret last month led the popular lingerie seller to shut down its U.S. shopping site for nearly four days, as well as to halt some in-store services. Victoria’s Secret later disclosed that its corporate systems also were affected, too, causing the company to delay the release of its first quarter earnings.

The North Face said that it discovered a “small-scale credential stuffing attack” on its website in April. The company reported that no credit card data was compromised and said the incident, which impacted 1,500 consumers, was “quickly contained.”

Adidas disclosed last month that an “unauthorized external party” obtained some data, which was mostly contact information, through a third-party customer service provider.

The congressmen were denied entry to the building’s 10th floor, where they say immigrants detained after their court hearings—part of the federal government’s recent tactic to target undocumented people for deportation—are being held, sometimes for several nights at a time.

Congressmembers Goldman and Nadler outside 26 Federal Plaza on Wednesday. (Photo by Goldman’s office)

On Wednesday, off the heels of the earlier arrest of mayoral candidate and City Comptroller Brad Lander at 26 Federal Plaza as he attempted to escort migrants without attorneys out of court, Congressmen Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler observed court proceedings and attempted to enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York Field Office at the same location. 

Despite giving notice to ICE ahead of time that they would be present, the congressmen were denied entry to the building’s 10th floor, where they say immigrants who’ve been detained after their court hearings—part of the Trump administration’s recent tactic to target undocumented people for deportation—are being forced to wait for days.

The lawmakers reiterated that the Appropriations Act of 2024 gives members of Congress the power to conduct oversight visits to facilities “operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.” 

Nadler said ICE officials claimed that the 10th floor of the federal building is not technically a detention center and so not subject to that same oversight. In a video the lawmakers shared, ICE Deputy Field Director Bill Joyce tells them the location is being used for detained people who are “in transit” and set to move to another location.

But Nadler countered that people are being held there “for one or two nights or three nights,” and forced to sleep on the floor or on benches. 

“Why can’t we go in? What are they hiding? If they’re going to treat comptroller Lander, if they’re going to treat Senator Padilla, if they’re going to treat Congresswoman McIver the way that these agents have been treating them, as if it’s a police state, out in the open, in the public, how are they treating immigrants behind closed doors, who have to sleep on floors for multiple nights?” said Congressman Goldman, referring to politicians both here and in other states who have been barred from entering immigration enforcement facilities. 

Video shared by Congressman Dan Goldman’s office of the two lawmakers confronting ICE Deputy Field Director Bill Joyce over access to the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, where detained immigrants are being held.

Neither ICE or DHS’ press office returned City Limits’ request for comment on the lawmakers’ criticisms.

“It is unacceptable that they denied our access, and we will be continuing to push for access with the executives at the Department of Homeland Security because they are violating the law, and we will not stop until we get to go in and observe what is going on in these detention centers with these non-criminal, non-violent immigrants going through the process the correct way,” Goldman added. 

The congressmen also sat in for two court hearings. Goldman says the government is dismissing cases so that it can expedite people’s deportation.

“We have to streamline the asylum system so that people who have legitimate claims can get them adjudicated,” he said, after observing an asylum hearing be set for 2029. 

Goldman, who is part of the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee, said he plans to ask his Republican colleagues to make a joint request to inspect the facility. 

On Friday, the lawmakers sent a letter to DHS, also signed by several other New York federal elected officials, demanding the agency grant Congress members oversight access to “any facility where people are detained by or for DHS including field offices where immigrants kept overnight.”

“Your cooperation, or lack thereof, will determine whether the Department of Homeland Security is committed to transparency and upholding the law with integrity or to secrecy and obstruction of congressional oversight,” the letter reads.

With additional reporting by Jeanmarie Evelly. To reach the reporter behind this story, contact VictoriaM@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post ‘What Are They Hiding?’: Congressmen Seek Access to ICE Holding Area at Manhattan Federal Building appeared first on City Limits.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Game 6 of the NBA Finals had been over for only about 10 or 15 minutes, and the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder were turning the page. What happened over the previous couple of hours in Indianapolis had already been deemed irrelevant.

The only thing on their minds: Game 7.

“A privilege,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

“A great privilege,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

A back-and-forth title matchup — Indiana led 1-0 and 2-1, Oklahoma City led 3-2 — will end on Sunday night with an ultimate game, the first winner-take-all contest in the NBA Finals since 2016. It will be Pacers at Thunder, one team getting the Larry O’Brien Trophy when it’s over, the other left to head into the offseason wondering how they let the chance slip away.

“We have one game for everything, for everything we’ve worked for, and so do they,” Thunder guard and reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The better team Sunday will win.”

History favors the home team in these moments: 15 of the previous 19 Game 7s in the NBA Finals were won by the club playing on its own court.

The Thunder played a Game 7 at home earlier in these playoffs and won by 32, blowing out Denver to reach the Western Conference finals. Indiana’s most recent Game 7 was at Madison Square Garden in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals; the Pacers blew out New York by 21 in that game.

All-time, home teams are 112-38 in Game 7s (excluding the 2-2 record “home” teams had in the bubble in the 2020 playoffs, when everything was played in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.). But in recent years, home sweet home has been replaced by road sweet road; visiting teams have won nine of the past 14 Game 7s played since 2021.

“It’s exciting, man. It’s so, so, exciting,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “As a basketball fan, there’s nothing like a Game 7. There’s nothing like a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. Dreamed of being in this situation my whole life. So, to be here is really exciting. Really exciting for our group. What happened in the past doesn’t matter. What happened today doesn’t matter. It’s all about one game and approaching that the right way.”

The fact that Haliburton is playing at all right now is a story in itself. He looked good as new in Game 6 even with a strained right calf, something that he’s needed around-the-clock treatment on this week. The Pacers haven’t had to coax him into it; Haliburton’s own family is offering up constant reminders that he needs to be working on his leg.

“My family has been on me,” Haliburton said. “If they call me, they are like, ‘Are you doing treatment right now?’ … My family has been holding me accountable.”

There’s a lot of accountability going on among the Thunder right now, as well. A different kind, of course.

They were massive favorites going into Game 6 — +3000 odds to win the series, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. That means a $100 bet on the Thunder would have returned a whopping $103 or so if they had won the game and clinched the title. A 36-9 run by Indiana turned a one-point lead early in the second quarter into a full-fledged blowout early in the third. And with that, a Thunder team that finished with the best record in the NBA this season now has zero room for error.

Win on Sunday, and all ends well for Oklahoma City. Lose on Sunday, and they’ll go down in history as one of the best regular-season teams that failed to win a title. And Indianapolis will win its first NBA championship.

“If they had won by one, they would have probably walked out of this game with confidence,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said of the Pacers before leaving Indy’s arena for the final time this season. “That’s what makes them a good team. That’s what makes us a good team. … They’re going to go into Game 7 confident, and so are we.”

The Thunder flew home after the game on Thursday night. The Pacers were scheduled to fly to Oklahoma City on Friday afternoon after looking at film and a final practices of the season — not much more than glorified walk-throughs — on Saturday.

And then, Game 7. For everything.

“I think we played to exhaustion,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said after Game 6. “But we have to do it again on Sunday.”

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