Texas flood: Rescue hindered by heavy rain forecast – DW – 07/15/2025
Search and rescue operations in Texas were hampered by rain forecasts for the second day in a row after the devastating July 4 floods killed at least 131 people.
Most rescue crews were held off or ordered to stop amid worries of more heavy rain and the possibility of more flooding.
Meanwhile, authorities lowered the tally of people unaccounted for to 101, with 97 still missing in Kerrville and four more in neighboring counties.
Officials have begun draining nearby reservoirs in a bid to locate submerged vehicles and victims.
The floods, which swept through the Guadalupe River basin after over a foot of rain fell in less than an hour, have left entire trailers buried or missing.
Most of those killed were children at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat.
Authorities say no one has been rescued alive since July 4, when the flooding caught residents and tourists off guard before dawn.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said on Monday that it has been difficult to know how many tourists were in the area when the flooding occurred.
"We don't know how many of them there are," Kelly said.
As the disaster has also raised questions about readiness, Governor Abbott has called for a special legislative session later this month to investigate the emergency response and preparedness measures leading up to the flood.
Kerr County lacked a flash-flood warning sirens, and officials are now facing mounting criticism and even threats.
The high death toll, in one of the deadliest floods in the US in decades, has sparked concerns over the lack of warning sirens in Kerr County and staffing shortages at the National Weather Service after staffing cuts under the Trump administration.
"They're just playing a blame game," said Kerr County Commissioner Rich Paces, who reported receiving death threats.
Heavy rains are forecast to continue through Tuesday, with up to six inches expected in parts of central Texas, including already-hit areas.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Texas flood: Rescue hindered by heavy rain forecast – DW – 07/15/2025
Authorities face growing outrage over warning failures even as heavy rains are forecast to continue through Tuesday. Search and rescue operations in Texas were hampered by rain forecasts for the second day in a row after the devastating July 4 floods killed at least 131 people. Most rescue crews were held off or ordered to stop amid worries of more heavy rain and the possibility of more flooding. Meanwhile, authorities lowered the tally of people unaccounted for to 101, with 97 still missing in Kerrville and four more in neighboring counties. Officials have begun draining nearby reservoirs in a bid to locate submerged vehicles and victims. The floods, which swept through the Guadalupe River basin after over a foot of rain fell in less than an hour, have left entire trailers buried or missing. Most of those killed were children at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat. Authorities say no one has been rescued alive since July 4, when the flooding caught residents and tourists off guard before dawn. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said on Monday that it has been difficult to know how many tourists were in the area when the flooding occurred. "We don't know how many of them there are," Kelly said. As the disaster has also raised questions about readiness, Governor Abbott has called for a special legislative session later this month to investigate the emergency response and preparedness measures leading up to the flood. Kerr County lacked a flash-flood warning sirens, and officials are now facing mounting criticism and even threats. The high death toll, in one of the deadliest floods in the US in decades, has sparked concerns over the lack of warning sirens in Kerr County and staffing shortages at the National Weather Service after staffing cuts under the Trump administration. "They're just playing a blame game," said Kerr County Commissioner Rich Paces, who reported receiving death threats. Heavy rains are forecast to continue through Tuesday, with up to six inches expected in parts of central Texas, including already-hit areas. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
4 days ago
- DW
Spain: Two missing as heavy rains hit Catalonia – DW – 07/13/2025
Firefighters in the northeastern region were searching for two people who were reportedly swept away by floodwaters. The torrential rainfall has also disrupted transport services in and around Barcelona. Two people were missing after torrential rains and floods in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Firefighters said they were searching along the banks and mouth of the Foix river for two people who went missing near the town of Cubelles, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Barcelona. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for "great caution" and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in 10 northern and eastern regions that were on high alert on Saturday. "We are closely monitoring the situation in several communities with warnings for heavy rains and storms," Sanchez wrote on X. The prime minister said troops from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) had already been deployed to municipalities in Aragon. The national weather service, Aemet, said 10 centimeters (four inches) had fallen near Barcelona in a matter of hours. Catalonia and the neighboring region of Aragon were under a red "extreme risk" alert due to rains that could see up to 60 liters per square meter fall in one hour, according to Aemet. As a precautionary measure, Renfe, Spain's rail company, briefly suspended services throughout Catalonia on Saturday. In Barcelona, roads were blocked, while a hospital had to refuse patients after it flooded. A plane that took off from the city for the United States was forced to turn back after sustaining damage to its nose in a hail storm. In October 2024, heavy rains and devastating floods in the eastern region of Valencia killed 225 people in the worst meteorological disaster in Spain in decades. That rain storm, like the one currently affecting the country, was caused by a weather phenomenon known in Spain as a "cold drop" or DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels), in which a mass of cold air drops over the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Int'l Business Times
08-07-2025
- Int'l Business Times
Texas Floods: Misinformation Across Political Spectrum Sows Confusion
Following deadly floods in Texas, misinformation from both left- and right-wing users was roiling social media, with liberals baselessly blaming staffing cuts at US weather agencies for flawed warning systems and conservatives ramping up conspiracy theories. The catastrophic floods over the weekend have left more than a 100 people dead, including more than two dozen girls and counselors at a riverside summer camp, with rescuers racing on Tuesday to search for dozens of people still missing. Multiple left-leaning accounts on the platform X peddled the unfounded claim that staffing cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) by President Donald Trump's administration had "degraded" its forecasting ability. While the NWS, like other agencies, has experienced deep staffing and budget cuts under the Trump administration, experts say its forecasters rose to the challenge despite the constraints. "There have been claims that (weather agencies) did not foresee catastrophic (Texas) floods -- but that's simply not true," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, wrote on Bluesky. "This was undoubtedly an extreme event but messaging rapidly escalated beginning (around) 12 (hours) that flooded catastrophically had at least 1-2+ hours of direct warning from NWS." There were 22 warnings from the NWS for Kerr County and the Kerrville area, which experienced the worst flooding, according to a CBS News analysis. "This truly was a sudden & massive event and occurred at worst possible time (middle of the night). But (the) problem, once again, was not a bad weather prediction: it was one of 'last mile' forecast/warning dissemination," Swain wrote. Meanwhile, right-wing conspiracy theorists on social media falsely claimed that the government caused the flooding through cloud seeding, an artificial technique that stimulates rainfall. Multiple experts have said that such weather-modification technologies were not responsible for the Texas floods. The misinformation echoes past conspiracy theories, including claims that weather manipulation by the government caused Hurricane Milton -- which struck Florida's Gulf Coast last year -- and that cloud seeding efforts were behind last year's flooding in Dubai. "False claims from both the left and right have spread widely on social media following the catastrophic floods in Texas," Sarah Komar and Nicole Dirks from the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard wrote in a report that debunked several falsehoods. "When extreme weather events occur, conspiracy theories about humans creating or controlling them often soon follow." Following natural disasters, misinformation often surges across social media -- fueled by accounts from across the political spectrum -- as many platforms scale back content moderation and reduce their reliance on human fact-checkers. Traditional media outlets were not immune to misinformation swirling on the internet. "Like other disasters before it, the (Texas) floods had attracted fast-spreading misinformation and served as a warning about the vigilance required of journalists during emotionally charged news events," said the nonprofit media institute Poynter. Kerr County Lead, a local outlet, was forced to retract a false story about the miracle rescue of two girls who clung to a tree in the floods. The story first surfaced in social media posts that quickly went viral, but a local official said the reports were "100% inaccurate." "Like everyone, we wanted this story to be true, but it's a classic tale of misinformation that consumes all of us during a natural disaster," Louis Amestoy, Kerr County Lead's editor, wrote in a note to readers on Sunday. "Unfortunately, the story is not true and we are retracting it."
