
Watch: Floodwaters Submerge Roads
Officials announced that at least four people lost their lives due to severe storms near the Texas-Mexico border amidst heavy rainfall and flooding.
Local officials reported that Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron counties in Texas experienced one of the most intense storms that lasted for about 48 hours.
Hidalgo County reported at least three deaths "linked to law enforcement efforts."
The Associated Press quoted authorities in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas as saying that an 83-year-old man drowned in the city of Reynosa.
ABC News reported that thunderstorms began on Wednesday, followed by heavy rains on Thursday afternoon and evening, with rainfall continuing until yesterday afternoon, Friday.
The U.S. National Weather Service issued several emergency warnings about potential flash floods in some areas. In a statement, it added: "The situation is extremely dangerous."
ABC News stated that water partially flooded the first floor of the South Texas Health System hospital in McAllen. It also noted that classes were suspended in several schools in the region.
Watch the attached video for more.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Join scientists as they drive into hailstorms to study costly weather extreme
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 June 2025, 16:09 As severe storms once again soak, twist and pelt the nation's midsection, a team of dozens of scientists is driving into them to study one of the nation's costliest but least-appreciated weather dangers: Hail. Hail rarely kills, but it hammers roofs, cars and crops to the tune of $10 billion a year in damage in the U.S. So in one of the few federally funded science studies remaining after Trump administration cuts, teams from several universities are observing storms from the inside and seeing how the hail forms. Project ICECHIP has already collected and dissected hail the size of small cantaloupes, along with ice balls of all sizes and shapes. Scientists in two hail-dimpled vehicles with special mesh protecting the windshields are driving straight into the heart of the storms, an area known as the "shaft" where the hail pelting is the most intense. It's a first-of-its-kind icy twist on tornado chasing. "It's an interesting experience. It sounds like somebody on the outside of your vehicle is hitting you with a hammer," said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini, one of the lead researchers. A team of journalists from The Associated Press joined them this week in a several-day trek across the Great Plains, starting Tuesday morning in northern Texas with a weather briefing before joining a caravan of scientists and students looking for ice. Driving toward the most extreme forecasts The caravan features more than a dozen radar trucks and weather balloon launching vehicles. At each site, the scientists load and unload drones, lasers and cameras and other specialized equipment. There are foam pads to measure hail impact and experimental roofing material. There are even special person-sized funnels to collect pristine hail before it hits the ground and becomes tainted with dirt. Already in treks across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the team has found hail measuring more than 5 inches (13 centimeters) in diameter — bigger than a softball, but not quite a soccer ball. The team's equipment and vehicles already sport dings, dimples and dents that scientists show off like battle scars. "We got a few good whacks," said forensic engineer Tim Marshall, who was carrying roofing samples to see if there were ways shingles could better handle hail. "I look at broken, busted stuff all the time." At Tuesday's weather briefing, retired National Weather Service forecaster David Imy pointed to potential hot spots this week in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Computer models show the potential for a "monster storm down here near the Red River" later in the week, he said. Acting on the latest forecasts, Gensini and other leaders told the team to head to Altus, Oklahoma, but be ready to cross the Red River back into Texas at a moment's notice. A few hours after his briefing, Imy had the opportunity to chase one of the bigger storms, packing what radar showed was large hail at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) in the air. Because of the warm air closer to the surface, the hail was only pea sized by the time it hit the ground. But the outing still provided good data and beautiful views for Imy, who was with a group that stationed themselves about a half-mile from the center of the storm. "Beautiful colors: turquoise, bluish green, teal," Imy said, pointing to the mushroom shaped cloud dominating the sky. "This is beauty to me and also seeing the power of nature." A costly but overlooked severe weather problem This is not just a bunch of scientists looking for an adrenaline rush or another sequel to the movie "Twister." It's serious science research into weather that damages a lot of crops in the Midwest, Gensini said. Hail damage is so costly that the insurance industry is helping to pay for the mission, which is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation. "These are the stones that do the most damage to lives and property," Gensini said. "We want the biggest hail possible." A 2024 study by Gensini found that as the world warms from human-caused climate change, small hailstones will become less likely while the larger ones become more common. The bigger, more damaging ones that the ICECHIP team is studying are projected to increase 15% to 75% this century depending on how much the world warms. That's because the stronger updrafts in storms would keep stones aloft longer to get bigger, but the heat would melt the tinier ones. The experiment is unique because of the combination of driving into the hail and deploying numerous radars and weather balloons to get an overall picture of how the storms work, Gensini said, adding that hail is often overlooked because researchers have considered it a lower priority than other extreme weather events. Outside scientists said the research mission looks promising because there are a lot of unanswered questions about hail. Hail is the No. 1 reason for soaring costs in billion-dollar weather disasters in the United States, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, who cofounded Weather Underground and is now at Yale Climate Connections. "Now a large part of that reason is because we simply have more people with more stuff in harm's way," said Masters, who wasn't part of the research. "Insurance has become unaffordable in a lot of places and hail has become a big reason." In Colorado, hail is "actually our most costly natural disaster," said Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado, adding that "hail does such incredible damage to property."


Nahar Net
3 days ago
- Nahar Net
Death toll reaches at least 200 in Nigerian town submerged in floods
by Naharnet Newsdesk 02 June 2025, 17:02 The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 200 on Sunday, a local official said. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The deputy chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Musa Kimboku, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Sunday. He said rescue operations have been called off, as authorities no longer believe there are any survivors. To prevent the outbreak of disease, officials are currently exhuming bodies buried beneath the rubble, Kimboku added. On Saturday, the spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, said an additional 11 people were injured and more than 3,000 people were displaced. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden and intense flood that built rapidly in about five hours, leaving roofs barely visible and surviving residents waist-deep in water, trying to salvage what they could and rescue others. Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. In a statement on Friday night, President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences and said he had directed the activation of an emergency response to support victims and "accelerate" recovery. Flooding is common during Nigeria's wet season. Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season. But this flood has been particularly deadly in Mokwa, a farming region near the banks of the River Niger. Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa said the villagers are not used to such flooding. The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.


Nahar Net
22-05-2025
- Nahar Net
Greece doubles drone fleet, deploys record firefighters to tackle growing wildfire risk
by Naharnet Newsdesk 7 hours Greece is deploying a record number of firefighters and nearly doubling its drone fleet this summer to address growing wildfire risks driven by climate change, officials said Thursday. Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said 18,000 permanent and seasonal personnel, supported by thousands of volunteers, would be mobilized as wildfire damage has increased steadily over the past two decades. "It is clear that the conditions this year will be particularly difficult," Kefalogiannis told reporters after attending a firefighting exercise south of Athens. Rising average temperatures and low rainfall have significantly worsened conditions in recent years. Greek Fire Chief Lt. Gen. Theodoros Vagias told The Associated Press that additional elite firefighting units would be deployed to high-risk areas during the May 1–Oct. 31 fire season. "The climate crisis is here to stay, and we must be more effective in surveillance, preparedness, and how we mobilize our resources," Vagias said. Wildfire damage surged to more than 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) in 2021 and 1,745 square kilometers (675 square miles) in 2023 — roughly three times the 2011–2020 average — according to data from the European Union's Forest Fire Information System. Firefighters held an exercise Thursday to test Greece's evolving wildfire response, which increasingly relies on advanced technologies such as drone surveillance and mobile command centers. Fire planes skimmed treetops, releasing plumes of water in coordinated low-altitude drops, as commanders on the ground huddled over tablets streaming real-time drone footage. The coast guard and armed forces took part in a drill simulating the evacuation of a children's summer camp threatened by fires on multiple fronts. Officials said the number of firefighting personnel has increased by roughly 20% over the past two years, while the fleet of fire-surveillance drones has grown to 82, up from 45. Around 300 firefighters from the Czech Republic, France, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria are being sent to Greece under a European Union prepositioning program, officials said.