WATCH LIVE: Officials hold briefing after deadly flooding reported in Texas
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CBS News
43 minutes ago
- CBS News
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens reinstalls peacock columns after more than 30 years
It's a Miami comeback story more than 30 years in the making. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens has just reinstalled its iconic Peacock Columns—sculptural replicas of the originals removed before Hurricane Andrew. And as hurricane season ramps up again, the timing couldn't be more symbolic. Tucked inside Vizcaya Museum and Gardens' historic Marine Garden, two elegant peacock statues once again stand watch-symbols of serenity and resilience. Originally carved in the 1920s by modernist Gaston Lachaise, the statues were removed for safekeeping ahead of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Now, 33 years later, they've returned—faithfully replicated using original molds and digital fabrication. "We worked with the Lachaise Foundation, and they still had the original molds," said Martha Dickson, Vizcaya's chief facilities officer. "Because of that, we were able to recreate these exactly." Also returning are Samuel Yellin's decorative ironwork gates. Destroyed decades ago by storms, the gates have been meticulously recreated by Homestead artisans and now reconnect the Marine Garden to the Rose Garden. But Vizcaya's restoration isn't just about aesthetics-it's about protection. After Hurricane Irma flooded the gardens in 2017, the estate ramped up its storm preparedness across its 11-acre grounds. "For most people, hurricane season is six months," Dickson said. "For me, I think about it all year long." One of the newest defenses is Vizcaya's Tiger Dam system-large water-filled tubes that act as flood barriers. "We can even use seawater to fill them," Dickson explained. "They're on standby, ready to protect the gardens if needed." Inside the 45,000-square-foot mansion, hurricane windows have been added to some rooms. Others, like those with century-old stained glass, are shielded by removable armor screens made of resilient green mesh designed to deflect windborne debris. From restored sculptures to modern flood protection, Vizcaya's efforts reflect more than preservation—they're a tribute to Miami's enduring spirit and cultural legacy.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Parents of kids swept away in Texas floods beg lawmakers to protect future campers
When floodwaters rushed through a girl's summer camp nestled in the Texas Hill County , Michael McCown's 8-year-old daughter was among 27 campers and counselors swept to their deaths. On Wednesday, McCown joined other Camp Mystic parents, some wearing buttons memorializing 'Heaven's 27,' in demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety, including generally keeping cabins out of floodplains , instituting new requirements for emergency plans and mandating weather radios. 'It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here,' he said. 'Please pass this bill, protect our kids and do not let their deaths be in vain.' His middle child, Linnie, was sandwiched between two brothers. She was sometimes a pest to her 11-year-old brother. But to the youngest, just 3, she was mother figure, making him cereal on weekends so her parents could catch a few minutes of sleep. 'To everyone else she was a joy,' her father told lawmakers. 'She hugged her teachers, was a friend to everybody, and spread an infectious giggle everywhere she went.' Then came the floods. Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. All told, at least 136 people died, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong. County leaders were asleep and out of town. The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it's now unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area, a spokesman for camp's operators said in the immediate aftermath. Some of the camp's buildings — which flooded — were in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency considered a 100-year flood plain. But in response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camp's buildings from the hazard area. Upon learning of the flooding, McCown rushed to the town of Kerrville to pick up Linnie, receiving an email en route that if parents hadn't been personally contacted, then their daughters are accounted for. 'I felt a wave of relief, which was quickly shattered about 30 minutes later when my wife called incredibly distraught to say that Linnie is missing,' he recalled. He joined the search downstream from the camp and found the body of a deceased girl. He also made two trips to a funeral home to identify bodies. One was not Linnie; the other, he believed, was. He later provided authorities with a DNA swab. He's haunted by questions. 'How,' he asked, 'could these girls vanish into the night without anyone having eyes on them while cabins literally just 20 yards away had no casualties? So what went wrong?' Texas State Sen. Charles Perry described the proposed legislation as a 'legacy to the loss' and an answer to what has been learned during hours of public testimony. He said it's dubbed the 'Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act.' 'It's only appropriate,' Perry said, 'to memorialize the 27 little girls that lost their lives at Camp Mystic in this way.'
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Experts at Morton Arboretum helping Chicago fight flooding using trees to absorb rainwater
The city of Chicago is turning to plants and trees to help address issues with stormwater flooding, which has been a repeated problem this summer. This week, Chicago's South and West sides were hit hard by flooding, and have been getting a little help from experts at the Morton Arboretum in west suburban Lisle. "Thinking about trees as sponges, where they soak up rainwater and they help filter it through their roots," said Morton Arboretum plant clinic manager Spencer Campbell. Campbell said Burr Oak trees among a number of plants and trees that can help with flooding mitigation. "Trees have a role to play when it comes to helping mitigate stormwater management," he said. "These [burr oak] trees have developed, over millions of years, the characteristics to help absorb rainwater." Experts at Morton Arboretum have made recommendations to neighborhood groups in the city looking for help. "Making sure that throughout Chicagoland, trees are available to every neighborhood," Campbell said. Some of those neighborhoods have found themselves underwater more than once this summer, with the city's 311 service request line receiving more than 5,600 calls for flooding just since Saturday. "We got partners across the region; from government agencies to municipalities to local community groups," Campbell said. Flood sensors are being installed in some of the city's most flood-prone neighborhoods, like Chatham, where the Morton Arboretum has worked with community groups in the past. Experts have said for years that climate change is bringing more extreme weather and more rain to the Chicago area, making dedicated work to green spaces more important. "We know that trees have a role to play when it comes to climate change mitigation, and we're working hard every day to better understand those relationships, so that we can share that with the public and make a real difference when it comes to trees and plants throughout the Chicaogland region and throughout the world, really," Campell said. A spokesperson for Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation said, since 2022, they've planted more than 23,000 trees meant to soak up stormwater on the city's South and Southwest sides – areas hardest hit by recent severe weather events. "A hundred mature trees can absorb up to a quarter of a million gallons of rainwater in just a single year," Campbell said. The folks at Morton Arboretum have mapped out Chicago's most flood susceptible areas, where trees are most urgently needed, through their Chicago Region Trees Initiative.
