Silver Fire in California spreads rapidly, no containment reported
A fast-moving wildfire in California's eastern Sierra region has prompted evacuation orders across Inyo and Mono counties, as strong winds drive the flames through dry brush.
Dubbed the Silver Fire, the blaze was reported shortly after 2 pm (local time) near Highway 6 and Silver Canyon Road, just north of Bishop. By 8 pm, it had burned approximately 1,000 acres and was zero percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
Evacuation orders have been issued for several communities, including White Mountain Estates, Laws, and Chalfant, as crews work to contain the fire. A 30-mile stretch of US Highway 6 has been closed for public safety.
'Fire continues to be active in thick brush,' Cal Fire said in an update, noting that all available resources remain deployed.
The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning for the area through 9 pm Monday, with gusts forecast to reach up to 65 miles per hour. Officials say the strong winds are creating hazardous conditions and contributing to the fire's rapid spread.
Firefighters from Cal Fire's San Bernardino Unit are assisting the Bishop Fire Department and Inyo County Sheriff's Office in battling the blaze.
Authorities continue to urge residents to comply with evacuation orders and stay updated through official alerts.
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Business Recorder
07-07-2025
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Desperate search for the missing as more than 80 people dead in Texas floods
HUNT: Rescuers in Texas raced against time to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed more than 80 people, with forecasters warning of new deluges. US President Donald Trump said he would 'probably' visit the southern state on Friday. Trump brushed off concerns his administration's wide-ranging cuts to weather forecasting and related federal agencies had left local warning systems worse off. Instead, he described the flash floods as a '100-year catastrophe' that 'nobody expected.' At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County in central Texas, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Sunday, while nearby areas showed at least 13 more people were killed by flooding. 'Across the state, in all the areas affected by flooding, there are 41 known missing,' Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday. As questions grew about why warnings did not come sooner or people were not evacuated earlier in the area popular with campers, Trump said the situation was a 'Biden setup.' Death toll from Texas floods reaches 59, including 21 children 'That was not our setup,' Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding that he would 'not' hire back meteorologists when probed about staff and budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS). Asked about whether he would change his plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he responded: 'FEMA is something we can talk about later.' Trump, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state-level, also signed a major disaster declaration, activating FEMA and freeing up resources for Texas. Missing girls Around 17 helicopters joined the search in central Texas for missing people, including 10 girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where about 750 people had been staying when disaster struck. In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation. Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings at the camp were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned Sunday that slow-moving thunderstorms threatened more flash floods over the saturated ground of central Texas. Governor Abbott warned that heavy rainfall could 'lead to potential flash flooding' in Kerrville and surrounding areas, as officials cautioned people against going near the swollen river and its creeks. The flooding began at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it coming overnight as people slept. The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) – more than a two-story building – in just 45 minutes. 'Washed away' Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as 'Flash Flood Alley.' Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years. Officials said while rescue operations were ongoing, they were also starting the process of debris removal. 'There's debris all over the place that makes roads impassable, that makes reconstruction projects unachievable,' Abbott said. People from elsewhere in the state converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing. Texans also started flying personal drones to help look but local officials urged them to stop, citing a danger for rescue aircraft. One of the searches focused on four young women who were staying in a house that was washed away by the river. Adam Durda and his wife Amber, both 45, drove three hours to help. 'There was a group of 20-year-olds that were in a house that had gotten washed away,' Durda told AFP. 'That's who the family requested help for, but of course, we're looking for anybody.' Justin Morales, 36, was part of a search team that found three bodies, including that of a Camp Mystic girl caught up in a tree. 'We're happy to give a family closure and hopefully we can keep looking and find some of the… you know, whoever,' he told AFP. 'Help give some of those families closure. That's why we're out here.'
Business Recorder
06-07-2025
- Business Recorder
Death toll from Texas floods reaches 67, including 21 children
HUNT: The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached at least 67 on Sunday, including 21 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp entered a third day. Larry Leitha, the Kerr County Sheriff in Texas Hill Country, the epicenter of the flooding, said the death toll in Kerr County had reached 59, including the 21 children. Leitha said 11 girls and a counselor remained missing from a summer camp near the Guadalupe River, which broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the U.S. Independence Day holiday. A Travis County official said four people had died from the flooding there, with 13 unaccounted for, and officials reported another death in Kendall County. The Burnet County Sheriff's office reported two fatalities. A woman was found dead in her submerged car in the city of San Angelo in Tom Green County, the police chief said. Leitha said there were 18 adults and four children still pending identification in Kerr County. He did not say if those 22 individuals were included in the death count of 59. Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain across the region, about 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San Antonio. It was unclear exactly how many people in the area were still missing. 'Everyone in the community is hurting,' Leitha told reporters. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings and advisories for central Texas that were to last until 4:15 p.m. local time (2115 GMT) as rains fell, potentially complicating rescue efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. United States Coast Guard helicopters and planes are helping the search and rescue efforts, DHS said. Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves. Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm. Trump's administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, said former NOAA director Rick Spinrad. 27 people confirmed dead as flood waters recede in central Texas He said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but that they would inevitably degrade the agency's ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees NOAA, said a 'moderate' flood watch issued on Thursday by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from Texas, told CNN's 'State of the Union' that fewer personnel at the weather service could be dangerous. 'When you have flash flooding, there's a risk that if you don't have the personnel… to do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy,' Castro said. 'Complete devastation' The 11 missing girls and the counselor were from the Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp, which had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flood. Katharine Somerville, a counselor on the Cypress Lake side of Camp Mystic, on higher ground than the Guadalupe River side, said her 13-year-old campers were scared as their cabins suffered damage and lost power in the middle of the night. 'Our cabins at the tippity top of hills were completely flooded with water. I mean, y'all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen,' she said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday. She said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and that all were safe. The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 29 feet (9 meters). A day after the disaster struck, the summer camp was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least six feet (1.83 m) from the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, one had a missing wall. Somerville, who attended Camp Mystic as a child, lauded longtime camp director Richard 'Dick' Eastland, who died while trying to save girls at the camp, according to local media reports.
Business Recorder
06-07-2025
- Business Recorder
Death toll from Texas floods reaches 59, including 21 children
HUNT: The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached 59 on Sunday, including 21 children, law enforcement said, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp entered a third day. Larry Leitha, the Kerr County Sheriff in Texas Hill Country, the epicenter of the flooding, said 11 girls and a counselor remained missing from a camp near the Guadalupe River, which broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the U.S. Independence Day holiday. Leitha said there were 18 adults and four children still pending identification. He did not say if those 22 individuals were included in the death count of 59. Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain across the region, about 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San Antonio. It was unclear exactly how many people in the area were still missing. 'Everyone in the community is hurting,' Leitha told reporters. Death toll from Texas floods reaches at least 43; dozens still missing Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm. President Donald Trump and his administration have overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, said former NOAA director Rick Spinrad. He said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but that they would inevitably degrade the agency's ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees NOAA, said a 'moderate' flood watch issued on Thursday by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from Texas, told CNN's 'State of the Union' that fewer personnel at the weather service could be dangerous. 'When you have flash flooding, there's a risk that if you don't have the personnel… to do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy,' Castro said. More rain More rain was expected in the area on Sunday. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County until 1 p.m. local time. The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 29 feet (9 meters). Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, told a press conference on Saturday he had asked Trump to sign a disaster declaration, which would unlock federal aid for those affected. Noem said Trump would honor that request. Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves. The 11 missing girls and the counselor were from the Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp, which had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flood. A day after the disaster struck, the camp was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least six feet (1.83 m) from the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, one had a missing wall.
