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US farmers struggle to face unprecedented threats to key crop: 'It really is kind of like a 1-2-3 punch'

US farmers struggle to face unprecedented threats to key crop: 'It really is kind of like a 1-2-3 punch'

Yahooa day ago
Connecticut farmers are having a hard time with their crops due to lingering issues from extreme weather events, according to Westchester News12.
Strawberry crops in the state are still suffering ill effects from wildfires and floods from two years ago. The excessive moisture has introduced multiple fungal diseases that had not been seen in New England prior.
"When you accumulate all those stresses on the plant, it really is kind of like a 1-2-3 punch on a lot of them," said Shelton farmer Jamie Jones, per Westchester News12.
While the Canadian wildfires impacted crops, human health also suffered significantly. Previous studies suggest that the Connecticut agricultural industry has lost upwards of $50 million between 2023 and 2024 due to flooding.
Food crops of all kinds are being challenged by increasingly destructive weather patterns, and along with them, the livelihood of many farmers.
This instability can directly lead to price increases at the grocery store, which means more food insecurity, and in some parts of the world, migration as a result.
It's possible to reduce personal pollution by making your next car an electric vehicle, switching to a heat pump from a gas heating source, exploring a meatless diet, and using more solar power.
While each of these has loads of benefits to end-users, the climate benefits cascade to the farmers growing our food.
While strawberry crops in Connecticut face challenges, good weather this spring has provided some relief.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is working on more resilient strawberry strains that can deal with increasingly challenging weather.
"If we can try and keep the plant really healthy – in about a one- to two-month window when the disease problem is really bad, we might actually be able to get it through that danger point and then … basically it can go dormant, and we can get potentially another full crop out of it the following year," said the Station's Nate Westrick, per Westchester News12.
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Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?
Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?

Forbes

time16 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday fired back at suggestions that staffing shortages at the National Weather Service or problems with emergency alert systems impacted the response to the deadly Texas floods over the July 4 holiday weekend—but Texas state officials and others have questioned their effectiveness after the disaster. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said blaming the Trump administration's cuts for ... More exacerbating the disaster was a 'despicable lie.' Getty Images One high-profile public official in Texas placed early blame on the early NWS forecasts for failing to predict the severity of the storm—'listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service,' Texas Division of Emergency Management chief W. Nim Kidd said at a press conference Friday, noting 'it did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.' A New York Times report published Saturday then detailed staffing shortages at the NWS offices in San Antonio and San Angelo, but representatives for the NWS employees union told CNN the offices had 'adequate staffing and resources.' The San Antonio office was missing a warning coordination meteorologist, a role that works with officials to send emergency alerts, after the office's 32-year veteran meteorologist took an early retirement offer earlier this year as part of the Trump administration's move to downsize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, local station KXAN reported. The National Weather Service, however, issued alerts of increasing severity ahead of the flash flood, which included an overnight text alert warning of a "dangerous and life-threatening situation." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the NWS, but said President Donald Trump wanted to improve the NWS' warning system, telling reporters at a press conference 'we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years.' When asked on Sunday, President Donald Trump called the situation the 'Biden setup,' but stopped short of directly blaming his predecessor for the destructive floods: 'I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either, I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe." 'Flash Flood Warnings were issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours,' NWS said in a statement to multiple outlets. When Did The First Warnings Go Out? The Texas Division of Emergency Management activated their emergency response resources as early as Wednesday in anticipation of heavy rainfall and potential flash floods. The NWS issued the region's first flood watch on Thursday afternoon, around 1:18 p.m. CDT, then issued a flood warning that evening at 11:42 p.m. CDT. The NWS in San Antonio also sent a text alert to cell phones in the area, warning of a "dangerous and life-threatening situation" around 1:14 a.m. CDT, Reuters reported. The NWS' Weather Prediction Center noted in a 12:26 a.m. CDT discussion that flash flooding was 'likely' over central Texas, with 'significant impacts possible,' predicting up to six inches of rain in the region. Some municipalities in the area ended up recording over 20 inches of rainfall over the course of the holiday weekend, according to data compiled by the NWS. The Guadalupe River rose over 20 feet in just three hours on July 4, according to data from NOAA. In the immediate aftermath of the July 4 floods, state officials said they were caught off guard by the severity of the storm, despite the warnings. 'Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,' Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said at a press briefing Friday. 'We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever.' Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the warnings may not have communicated the acute danger the storm posed for Kerrville, which was severely impacted by the flooding. 'There were alerts or warnings about heavy rain, potential for flash flooding in certain areas,' Abbott said at a press conference Sunday. 'The problem with that is that to most people in the area, flash flooding would mean one thing—not what it turned out to be. Because they deal with flash floods all the time, just like I put people on notice in these regions of Texas right now. There's the potential for flash flooding, but there's no expectation of a water wall of almost 30 feet high.' How Has The Trump Administration Responded? Speaking at a briefing Monday afternoon, Leavitt lashed over claims staffing shortages or policy decisions from the Trump administration contributed to the disaster. 'Unfortunately, in the wake of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,' Leavitt said, praising the NWS' response and disputing reports that they were impacted by staffing shortages. 'The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers the forecasts for Austin, San Antonio, and the surrounding area had extra staff on duty during the storm, despite claims of the contrary.' What To Watch For Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote a letter (first published by Politico) to the Commerce Department's acting inspector general, urging him to open an investigation into whether staffing shortages at the NWS offices in San Antonio and San Angelo contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasts or weakened weather alerts. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, also called for an investigation.. 'I don't think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies,' he said during an interview with CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday, though he didn't directly blame the tragedy on staffing. 'I don't want to sit here and say conclusively that that was the case, but I do think that it should be investigated.'

Texas Floods Killed at Least 95 People
Texas Floods Killed at Least 95 People

New York Times

time28 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Texas Floods Killed at Least 95 People

Search-and-rescue teams combed through debris-ridden parts of central Texas today to find remaining survivors of Friday's catastrophic flash floods. The death toll from the surging waters reached 95 this afternoon, including at least 27 campers and staff members from Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian summer camp. Ten campers and one counselor remain missing. Several of my colleagues are on the ground in the region. Follow here for their updates. More than 850 people have been rescued by emergency responders. Many of the stories have been astonishing: A Coast Guard swimmer saved 165 people at the summer camp; a 22-year-old woman was rescued after being swept 20 miles downriver and clinging to a tree overnight; and a young girl was found after floating on a mattress for hours. But the mayor of Kerrville, Texas — one of the hardest hit areas — warned residents to expect a 'rough week' as chances faded of finding anyone alive. Some of the attention has turned to the decision by local officials to reject the idea of building a flood warning system. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas said flood-warning sirens along the Guadalupe River might have saved lives, and needed to be in place by next summer. Kerr County officials had considered installing them in the past but balked at the price tag. For more on the floods: A new Times analysis showed how torrential rain quickly turned the Guadalupe River from a small stream into a destructive force. About 120,000 cubic feet of water per second came rushing downstream, greater than the average flow rate across Niagara Falls. Here's what we know about the victims. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

How the catastrophic Texas flooding unfolded, in maps and charts
How the catastrophic Texas flooding unfolded, in maps and charts

CNN

time34 minutes ago

  • CNN

How the catastrophic Texas flooding unfolded, in maps and charts

The search for missing bodies continues along Texas' Guadalupe River after catastrophic and deadly flooding killed at least 95 people following a torrential downpour Thursday evening into early Friday. The death toll includes at least 27 from the all-girls Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp nestled on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River, where flood risk was among the highest in the state, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. CNN is tracking updates in maps and charts. Here's what we know so far about how the disaster unfolded: The National Weather Service issued a flood watch early Thursday afternoon at 1:18 p.m. CT, that highlighted Kerrville, among other locations, as being at risk of flash flooding through the night into Friday. That watch forecasted 5 to 7 inches of rainfall for the event. A flash flood warning, upgraded from the earlier watch, was issued for parts of Kerr County at 1:14 a.m. CT on Friday. Then, a flash flood emergency warning was issued for Kerr County at 4:03 a.m. CT, followed by one specifically for Kerrville at 5:34 a.m. CT. Ultimately, the most deluged parts of Texas saw as much as 15 inches of rain, more than double what was forecasted the day prior. One gauge along the Guadalupe River, in Kerrville, shows the water levels hit 23.4 feet at 4:45 a.m. Friday morning, about 45 minutes before the warning specific to the town was issued. Water levels in that spot almost certainly crested above 23.4 feet, but the gauge didn't record data for 3 hours, between 4:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. CT, before picking back up its data measurement. At Camp Mystic, which is located more than 20 miles west of Kerrville in surrounding Kerr County, Texas, about 107 game wardens and an aviation group were trying to access the camp Friday morning, according to officials. Shortly after midday, they were able to enter the camp and start rescuing children. The floods ravaged miles and miles of Kerr County, including the towns of Kerrville, Ingram and Hunt, in addition to some of the summer camp locations along the river. As the storm receded into Friday, stories surfaced of families and homes lost in houses, RVs, AirBNBs and more. CNN's Michelle Krupa and Zoe Sottile share their stories here. FEMA maintains a database of flood zones throughout the country. It maps the regulatory floodways — the places that will flood first and are most dangerous — and the areas that will flood in extreme events. At least two of the summer camps along the Guadalupe River were in known floodways. Ten children and one counselor from Camp Mystic remain missing as of Monday afternoon. Everyone at Camp La Junta has been safe and accounted for, the camp announced Friday. – CNN's Angela Fritz contributed to this report.

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