SWEPCO cuts power to avoid 'catastrophic damage' to power grid
SWEPCO said it's working with the Southwest Power Pool in what it deemed an "emergency situation." SWEPCO and Southwest Power Pool manage the flow of electricity in northeastern Louisiana's population hub.
"In this instance, our grid operators were instructed to take immediate action, which did not give us time to inform you before the outage occurred," SWEPCO said in a news release.
The utility didn't say when power would be restored, only calling it a temporary outage.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: SWEPCO cuts power to avoid 'catastrophic damage' to power grid
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USA Today
6 hours ago
- USA Today
Officials ignored 'critical' warnings on Grand Canyon blaze, fire plan shows
National Park Service officials say there was no way to predict the Dragon Bravo Fire would turn into an inferno, jump containment lines and rip through the Grand Canyon's North Rim, leaving a historic lodge and 100 other structures in smoking ruin. But records, including the Grand Canyon's fire management plan, are at odds with the official narrative. They show officials downplayed threats to public safety – and decided to let the fire burn for seven days – even as fuel and weather conditions repeatedly reached the brink of critical thresholds for fire risk. The management plan lists four conditions that signal when a fire could get out of control. Two days after lightning sparked the July 4 fire, a combination of high temperatures, low humidity, wind speed and gusts began coalescing in a way the park's plan warned could "greatly increase fire behavior." That was the first time. An analysis by The Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, using data recorded by the National Weather Service at the North Rim found temperature, humidity and wind came even closer to reaching critical thresholds on July 9 and closer still on July 10. Three of the threshold conditions were sustained for nearly six hours on July 10, when at one point only 2 mph of wind speed prevented all four from being met. Added to the critical conditions is a warning about the North Rim's landscape of spruce-fir trees and mixed conifer forests, which the fire plan says "supports the potential for extreme fire behavior that leads to large fire growth." Park officials chose to manage the fire "under a confine and contain strategy" despite weather and fuel conditions. They said in public statements and in social media posts that letting the fire burn "allows for the natural role of fire on the landscape while minimizing the risk to infrastructure and park values." National Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz maintained the fire was "expertly handled" and said the quick response by firefighters saved hundreds of lives. The Dragon Bravo Fire is now the seventh-largest in Arizona history. The wildfire decimated tourism at the North Rim, unleashed toxic chlorine gas when it destroyed a water treatment plant in Grand Canyon National Park and forced residents out of their homes. The fire was 62% contained on Aug. 20. As flames continue to chew up the northern Arizona landscape, elected officials, former park staff and evacuated residents are asking why the National Park Service let the fire burn in a treasured location at the peak of fire season. State and federal lawmakers across the political spectrum are calling for investigations into the fire response. "Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park," Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said on July 13. Top National Park Service officials have declined to answer questions about the fire, the fire-management plan or firefighter staffing. The Republic's questions were routed to communications staff in Arizona and Washington, D.C. Information requests were required to be filed through a public records portal, and staff said it could take years for those requests to be fulfilled. Park Service spokespeople instead have sought to change the story of how the agency handled the fire's early days, saying unpredictable winds blew the fire out of control on July 11. "I will restate that the park's fire management approach all along was to suppress the fire as safely as possible," Pawlitz told The Republic in an Aug. 11 email. Brant Porter, National Park Service fire information officer, said the fire was "managed under a suppression strategy from the beginning." Their statements conflict with the service's own social posts about managing the fire, which do not mention suppression until July 12, less than five hours before the destruction of the Grand Canyon Lodge. Mark Rose, a former National Park Service employee, said fire service officials weren't realistic about their ability to control the fire and then tried to cover themselves. "It was growing and they just didn't react soon enough," said Rose, who managed commercial services at the North Rim for 12 years beginning in 2007. 'It didn't feel all that unpredictable to me, or extraordinary." Rose said the house he lived in while working at the Grand Canyon burned to the ground in the fire. He called it heartbreaking and described the official response as "spin." "It's just too hot and dry at that time of year, and a little bit of wind comes up, and boy, it gets away from them," he said. Dueling narratives: Park Service social posts vs. weather conditions Officials said they lost control of the Dragon Bravo Fire on July 11, but the data show the blaze was at risk of spiraling out of control much earlier. Critical thresholds are met at the North Rim when temperatures exceed 70 degrees, relative humidity is below 15%, wind gusts are over 15 mph and wind speeds surpass 10 mph, according to the fire management plan. At 1:07 p.m. on July 6, National Weather Service data show the temperature and wind gusts neared two of the four critical conditions. The temperature was 80 degrees and wind gusts hit 15 mph. The humidity level hovered at 17%. It stayed hot and got windier on July 7. Compare that to a July 7 post on the Park Service's Facebook page, when the fire was reportedly at 10 acres: "The fire is being managed for resource objectives, which means it is being used to help maintain a healthy, resilient landscape in the fire-adapted ecosystem of the North Rim." The post said "there are no threats to infrastructure or public safety at this time.' At 2:07 p.m. on July 9, two of the conditions were met. The temperature was 89 degrees and wind gusts hit 18 mph. The humidity level was 17%. In a July 9 Facebook post, the Park Service repeated that the fire was being managed "for resource benefit objectives" and assured the public that there was nothing to worry about. It said naturally ignited wildfires play an essential role in fire-dependent ecosystems like the North Rim. "Sunny weather and light winds contributed to moderate fire behavior and growth yesterday," the post said. "Fire crews continue to monitor the fire closely, using real-time weather data and on-the-ground observations to guide management decisions." The next day, the weather was nearly perfect for the wildfire to spread. Three of the four critical thresholds were met and held steady for nearly six hours. Beginning at 2:07 p.m. July 10, temperatures hit 90 degrees, wind gusts fluctuated between 14 and 25 mph and humidity dropped from 14% in the afternoon to 5% that night. On Facebook, the Park Service wrote the fire was being managed to minimize the risk to infrastructure and the park. "Weather conditions remain favorable for moderate fire behavior, with sunny skies and light winds contributing to a steady rate of spread," according to the July 10 post. The Park Service made its post at 4:45 p.m. Minutes later, the wind picked up. At 5:07 p.m., the National Weather Service showed the 9 mph wind speed was only 2 mph away from meeting the fourth critical threshold. The National Park Service did not change its confine and contain strategy to reflect the worsening conditions and maintained that there was still no threat to public safety or developed areas. Officials lost control of the fire less than 24 hours later. The Dragon Bravo Fire grew to 1,500 acres on July 11, a blaze so powerful that Grand Canyon National Park issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents at the North Rim. On July 12, the Park Service announced on social media firefighters were engaged in a 'full suppression strategy.' The fire has grown nearly tenfold since then. It is the nation's largest fire of 2025 and was mapped at 145,498 acres as of Aug. 20. National Weather Service meteorologist Darren McCollum, who is based in Flagstaff, summed up the first days of the fire bluntly. 'It was hot and dry and breezy. That's all there is to it,' he said. Fire plan came with plenty of warnings The Grand Canyon National Park fire plan was updated in April, but much of it relies on strategies and programs from 2012. The plan, which recognizes the Grand Canyon as a World Heritage Site for its "place of significance and universal value," is supposed to serve as a road map for anticipating and fighting wildfires. Depending on how a fire is started, where it is burning and if it threatens structures, the response could take a variety of routes. Fire Management Officer Sherman "Ed" Waldron and Park Superintendent Edward Keable signed off on the fire plan. The cover sheet includes handwritten notes adjacent to boxes labeled "preparedness" and "fire danger operating" plans. "Working off old plans" and "working w/forests on updating zone plan," the notes say. "The wildland fire management strategies ... and approved fuels management activities first described in the 2012 FMP (Fire Management Plan) remain unchanged," according to the executive summary. The 51-page plan lays out everything from the park's geographic zones, terrain, organizational charts, response procedures and climate change to fire behavior, resource management and fuel removal with and without prescribed burns. And it includes plenty of warnings, particularly when it comes to fires near some of the park's sensitive or developed sites, which are deemed "exclusion areas" to be protected. Eight areas are identified in the plan as the park's most important "infrastructure clusters" and high-use tourist attractions, including the lodge and cabins on the North Rim, Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim, Phantom Ranch, Hermits Rest and Havasupai Gardens. Some wildfires in sections of the park can be managed for enhancement of wildlife habitat, tree reduction or brush thinning. Protection is the sole objective for fires in the eight areas. "Suppression strategies and tactics will be used, especially in the immediate proximity to developments, utilities, hazardous materials," the plan states. Maps show the Dragon Bravo Fire was about 4 miles away from the Grand Canyon Lodge when it started. Porter defended the Park Service response to the fire and blamed its expansion on dynamic and extreme weather conditions. A designated duty officer was assigned at all times to oversee the fire, as outlined in the management plan, he said. Firefighters were "building and improving containment features in the days prior to the fire impacting facilities," he said. Winds originally predicted to be 8 mph and moving away from the developed area turned and increased to 20 mph, he told The Republic in an Aug. 7 email. " Winds shifted unexpectedly during the firefight, resulting in wind gusts that caused the fire to jump multiple containment features and move toward facilities," he said. "On July 11, at approximately 3:30 p.m., increasing and unpredictable shifting winds compromised the eastern flank containment line of the Dragon Bravo Fire and led to rapid fire growth." Keable, the park superintendent, was uncertain of how the Park Service described its effort to fight the fire. He was pressed on whether the National Park Service said Dragon Bravo was a 'managed fire' during an Aug. 18 community meeting in Fredonia. 'Honestly, I don't recall what we said. This may be a function of terminology. All wildfires are managed, to some extent,' Keable said. 'The point I want to make is that from the very beginning, this was a suppression incident. We were not managing this. This was not a prescribed fire. We weren't managing the fire for resource effects. We were working to suppress the fire from the very beginning.' 'Tipping the scale': Warmer, drier weather raises fire risk The fire plan makes clear the park is heating up, with projections showing more extremely warm days, a decrease in snowmelt and a rise in landscape dryness. And it will likely get worse. "The modeled climate patterns result in tipping the scale further toward highly receptive wildland fire conditions," it states. Bobbie Scopa is a retired firefighter and board member of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters advocacy group. 'I know from experience that the fire behavior we're seeing these days is not the same fire behavior that we would see 20, 30 years ago,' she said. The fire plan sets five goals attempting to balance safety and preservation with the "ecological role of fire." Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers and a former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, questioned if the fire plan needed to be revised. "Some of those management plans and the policies probably need to be updated. Maybe this one should have been,' said Wade, who now lives in southern Arizona. 'With fires getting bigger and happening longer periods of time during the year and so forth, it certainly would call attention to the fact that perhaps some of the criteria and some of the policies and some of the plans need to be updated.' Pawlitz said now is not the time to talk about whether or not the plan was followed. "The National Park Service is committed to transparency and in due time we will conduct any investigations that are required under our protocols," she said in her email. "For now, with the fire still actively burning, our focus is on suppressing Dragon Bravo Fire and preventing any further impacts to communities and resources." Residents not getting answers from Park Service Residents are desperate for answers about why the National Park Service allowed the Dragon Bravo Fire to burn in July, but officials have been tight-lipped about the first days of the wildfire. They pressed Eric Smith, the agency administrator representing Grand Canyon National Park, during an Aug. 6 community meeting in Page, which is being smothered in smoke from the fire. Smith said he was unable to answer their questions about the fire's early days because he wasn't there. He was assigned to work on the blaze weeks later, starting July 30. Instead, those decisions were up to leaders like Keable, the park superintendent. Residents asked to hear from Keable, but he did not attend the community meeting. 'I don't know where Ed is tonight. I just know they brought me to manage the fire,' Smith said. 'I'm the only one here right now, and I just, I don't have the information that you're looking for.' Keable was out of the office at the time of the Page meeting. The park superindent said he left for a preplanned annual leave 23 days after the lodge burned. Keable said he had worked the first weeks of the fire for 12-18 hours a day. At times, the meeting in Page grew tense. One man who attended the listening session said that it seemed officials never learn their lesson about fires getting out of control in the middle of the summer. Smith acknowledged 'there's a lot of emotion' in the community and that many in the room wanted to know more about decisions surrounding the start of the fire. With the blaze still growing, it wasn't the right time to address them, Smith said. 'There's a lot of questions that need to be answered. And there is, there will be a time to ask those questions and the Park Service will answer those questions,' Smith said. 'I would imagine there will be community meetings after the fire is over, and that we can start looking backwards. Just right now, we're looking forwards.' He echoed the Park Service claim that the blaze was suppressed 'from the start' and said, 'Confine and contain strategy is a suppression strategy.' Over the course of the 75-minute meeting, a Coconino County supervisor discussed an emergency disaster loan program for businesses that rely on the busy summer tourism season at the North Rim. An air quality expert demonstrated how to build an air purifier with a box fan for people struggling with smoke in their homes. Time and time again, weather and fire experts at the meeting described 'historically dry' weather that made it difficult to stop the fire. The Canyon's steep landscape made the fight even more challenging, they noted, along with the dried-out fire fuel like twigs and pine needles that covered the area and quickly spread the blaze. Those are the same factors that left observers baffled by how the fire was handled a month earlier. 'I seriously question a lot of allowing a fire to burn in July in northern Arizona,' said Mark Nebel, Grand Canyon National Park's former geosciences program manager. 'That's the peak of fire season.' Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and Reach her via email at and on X, Bluesky, TikTok and Threads @stephanie_murr. Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at Follow him on X @robertanglen.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Got a minute? Here's the latest on Hurricane Erin, and impacts continuing in Florida
Tight on time? This story is for you. It's an abbreviated, text view of what's happening with Hurricane Erin. Click here for more details and to see the latest spaghetti models. Sign up to get weather alerts via text based on your interests or location. Is there another hurricane coming toward Florida? Hurricane Erin missed Florida, staying well offshore as it passed by Wednesday, Aug. 20. Indirect impacts of rough surf and dangerous rip currents continue to be felt Thursday. Farther east in the Atlantic are two disturbances that could become tropical depressions. It's too early to tell whether they pose any risk to Florida or the U.S. ➤ Hurricane forecast: Erin brings thunderous surf, likely quiet spell till mid-September Where is Hurricane Erin right now? Erin is located 205 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, or 619 miles east of Jacksonville. ➤ Spaghetti models for Hurricane Erin How strong is Hurricane Erin? At 5 a.m., maximum sustained winds were at 105 mph, making Erin a Category 2 storm. How big is Hurricane Erin? Erin is a large and growing hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 320 miles. Watches, warnings issued for Florida, US No watches or warnings are in effect for Florida. A storm surge warning is in effect for: Cape Lookout to Duck, North Carolina A tropical storm warning is in effect for: Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina to Chincoteague, Virginia, including Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds What impacts is Hurricane Erin having on Florida? Erin continues to bring frequent and life-threatening rip currents to Northeast Florida beaches. Breakers could be 5 to 8 feet. Along east central Florida beaches, life-threatening rip currents continue Thursday, along with 5-7 foot breakers. What should you do if you live in Florida? Officials continue to urge people to stay out of the ocean to avoid the dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents. Remember, the busiest period of hurricane season will last through mid-October. Now is the time to: Update and check your hurricane supplies. Check your home insurance. Make sure your home is ready for a storm. See what your evacuation zone is. Determine if you live in a flood-prone area. Keep an eye on weather updates. and make sure you monitor the latest conditions. What's next? We will continue to update our tropical weather coverage daily. Download your local USA TODAY Network newspaper site's app to ensure you're always connected to the news. And look for our special subscription offers here. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Hurricane Erin, quick answers to questions, Florida impact
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Dozens rescued from rip currents as Hurricane Erin brings danger to East Coast beaches
Lifeguards have rescued dozens of people from the churning waters along East Coast beaches even as Hurricane Erin moves hundreds of miles offshore. Authorities in North Carolina said about 60 people had to be rescued from rip currents at Wrightsville Beach, prompting a no-swim order through the rest of the week, according to the Wilmington Star-News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Another person was rescued from rip currents at a South Carolina beach, and a dozen rip currents were reported at South Carolina and Georgia beaches Aug. 18, the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina, said. Erin has made conditions prime along East Coast beaches for life-threatening rip currents that can catch people off guard, National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan said in a news briefing over the weekend. Weather conditions might look ideal for a beach trip, but dangerous rip currents can be hard to spot. Rip currents threaten beaches along entire East Coast The threat exists up and down the entire East Coast, hurricane forecasters said. Beaches as far north as Massachusetts are closed to swimmers because of rough surf. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, officials said beachgoers were restricted to getting knee-deep into the water and were prohibited from using boogie boards. "The force of the rip currents and rough surf along the Atlantic coast this week is life-threatening. Hurricane Erin is producing a tremendous amount of energy that will create hazardous beach conditions from Florida to New England," said AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva. Brennan urged beachgoers to heed posted warnings and beach closures and swim only close to lifeguards. "Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water," the National Weather Service in Charleston said Aug. 19 in a warning to South Carolina and Georgia. How to stay safe from rip currents Rip currents kill dozens in the United States every year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Since 2010, more than 800 people have died in rip current drownings. As of late July, at least 52 people died from surf zone dangers, nearly half of which were rip current drownings, the data shows. A rip current is a fast-moving channel of water that flows away from the shore and can drag a swimmer out into the ocean. The narrow, strong currents flow quickly and perpendicular to the coastline. Rip currents are so dangerous because they can catch swimmers off guard and cause them to panic while trying to swim to shore. The exertion causes fatigue before they are able to break free from the current, which continues to pull them out, experts say. Officials say you should check for any warnings before entering the water and keep an eye on weather and water conditions. Always swim near a lifeguard. If you do end up caught in a rip current, try to remain calm. The current won't pull you under, it will just pull you away from the shore. Don't swim against the current, because you'll risk tiring yourself out; instead, swim parallel to the shore and then swim back to land at an angle once you're free of the current. If you see someone else struggling in a rip current, you should try to get help from a lifeguard, according to the NOAA's Rip Current Survival Guide. You can also throw something that floats to the person while you find a lifeguard. If there is no lifeguard on duty, call 911. Do not enter the water to try to help; experts say people who try to help often get caught in rip currents themselves. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Erin leads to dozens of water rescues from rip currents
