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Newsweek
3 days ago
- Climate
- Newsweek
Texas Could Be Hit by More Floods as up to 8 Inches of Rain Forecast
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. More rain will hit Texas this weekend, with localized amounts as high as 8 inches, only a week after the region was inundated with flash floods. National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists issued widespread flood watches across the Lonestar State on Friday, warning of additional heavy rainfall that could cause further flooding. Why It Matters Flooding is the second-deadliest weather hazard in the U.S. behind extreme heat. The new round of flood watches signals potential renewed threats in communities that are still reeling from the deadly floods that swept the Texas Hill Country over the Independence Day weekend. More than 100 people were killed by the floods, including 27 young campers and counselors at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. Trees emerge from flooding along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Trees emerge from flooding along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Eric Vryn/Getty What To Know The NWS indicated that persistent storms and a slow-moving cold front could produce rainfall totals between 2 and 5 inches in much of western and central Texas, with isolated areas possibly receiving up to 8 inches. Meteorologists placed large swathes of west, central and southeast Texas, as well as nearby regions in southeast New Mexico, under a flood watch. Impacted areas include major cities and rural communities such as Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Abilene, Brownwood, Pecos, Andrews and Kermit, with watches also covering Concho Valley, Heartland and the Guadalupe and Davis Mountains. Flood watches are set to take effect on Saturday afternoon and continue through at least Sunday afternoon for most affected counties. Meteorologists warn that as a weak cold front moves southward across the region, thunderstorms will develop and expand, intensifying overnight and into Sunday morning. Saturated ground conditions—resulting from previous storms—are expected to worsen the risk of flash flooding. Officials have emphasized that the expected rainfall could quickly overwhelm rivers, streams and urban drainage systems. Low-water crossings are especially vulnerable and could become impassable. The NWS urges all residents in flood-prone areas to be especially vigilant. Flood warnings may be issued with short notice, and officials advise anyone living in or traveling through the region to avoid driving through flooded roads and to monitor local alerts closely. What People Are Saying NWS warning coordination meteorologist Mike Castillo, who works at the San Angelo office, told Newsweek: "What we don't know is which locations are going to see those rainfall amounts. We can't say if it will specifically be over the areas that had flooding last weekend, but any rainfall we areas are more prone to flash flooding, as opposed to the areas that did get rain but didn't have flooding issues we saw last week." NWS Midland, in a flood watch: "Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Low-water crossings may be flooded." What Happens Next Flood watches remain in effect through Sunday afternoon, with additional updates and potential flood warnings likely as weather developments unfold. Recovery and search operations continue in areas affected by last weekend's floods, and state and federal resources remain on alert.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Rescue teams find three more bodies after central Texas floods
By Rich McKay and Jonathan Allen Flood waters left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on 5 July 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Photo: Eric Vryn / Getty Images / AFP The death toll in Kerr County crept up to 87 on Tuesday (US time) as search and rescue teams recovered three more bodies in the flood-ravaged hills of central Texas, according to officials in the county worst hit by the disaster. Rescue teams from federal agencies, neighboring states and Mexico have joined local efforts to search for survivors, which have been hindered by thunderstorms and downpours. As they work through lists of people reported missing, the teams have not found a living survivor in Kerr County since Friday. The floods have killed at least 109 people including dozens of children . "The work is extremely treacherous, time-consuming," Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said at the press conference. "It's dirty work. The water is still there." Flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP Torrential rains before dawn on Friday deluged the Guadalupe River, which burst its banks and killed dozens of people, leaving behind mangled piles of debris, trees and cars. Local and federal emergency officials have faced days of angry questions about whether they could have warned people in flood-prone Texas Hill Country sooner. At least 56 adults and 30 children have been killed in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference in Kerrville, the county seat, with more than two dozen victims yet to be identified. Authorities have not determined if the 87th victim was an adult or child. Some of the flood victims were sleeping at Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian girls' summer camp near the town of Hunt; five children and one camp counsellor were still unaccounted for on Tuesday. The sheriff rebuffed several questions about the county's emergency management operations and preparedness, and declined to say who in the county was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing a flood warning or evacuation order. He said his office first started getting 911 emergency calls between 4am and 5am on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash-flood alert. "We're in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline," Leitha said. The floods killed at least another 22 people outside Kerr County, according to local sheriffs' and media reports, with seven dead in Travis County, seven dead in Kendall County, five dead in Burnett County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County. US President Donald Trump, a Republican, plans to visit the devastated region this week, a spokesperson said. Democrats in Washington have called for an official investigation into whether the Trump administration's job cuts at the National Weather Service affected the agency's response to the floods. -Reuters
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Climate
- Newsweek
DOGE Cuts Contributed to Texas Flood Impact—Former NOAA Administrator
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Tuesday that some people in the path of the devastating Texas floods didn't receive urgent weather alerts because of a warning coordination meteorologist job vacancy at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Austin/San Antonio. A NOAA spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement that extra personnel were staffed at the NWS Austin/San Antonio and San Angelo offices during the flood and that the "NWS remains dedicated to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services." Several experts have commended the NWS on its job alerting people in the impacted areas. Flooding left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Flooding left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Eric Vryn/Getty The Context Job cuts that hit NOAA and NWS this year drew renewed focus following catastrophic flooding in Texas over the weekend in which some parts of the state saw more than 20 inches of rain. More than 100 people have died, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. The reductions, carried out under the White House's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), impacted hundreds of NOAA and NWS employees, significantly raising vacancy rates at forecast offices. In June, NWS began a hiring process to fill more than 100 vacant positions, NPR reported. What To Know In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said the NWS "did their job" in regard to issuing watches, warnings and wireless emergency alerts to notify people in the path of the floods before danger arrived. However, some people didn't receive the warnings. "We need to understand why that last mile is where the problem was in terms of getting alerts out," Spinrad said in an interview with CNN. Spinrad added that "one of the problematic issues" with the most recent flood was the "lack of a warning coordination meteorologist" at the Austin/San Antonio office, which he said was a critical position. "The individual who had that position took one of the retirements that the administration had offered up a couple of months ago," Spinrad said. In an interview with CNN earlier this week, Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS employees' union, said the NWS forecast offices had "adequate staffing and resources" but confirmed that the Austin/San Antonio office was missing a warning coordination meteorologist. Critics have raised concerns that job cuts at the NWS and NOAA left offices short-staffed and compromised forecasting coordination and emergency communication. Representative Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, said there needed to be an inquiry into whether NWS job cuts played a role in people in the flood zone not being prepared. However, other experts believe that the job cuts that hit NOAA earlier this year didn't disrupt NWS services at all. Alan Gerard, former director of the analysis and understanding branch at the National Severe Storms Laboratory of the NOAA, wrote in a Substack post that "just as what I have been able to see about this event shows me the NWS did a solid job, similarly there is little evidence that any of the recent cuts to NOAA/NWS negatively impacted services for this event, regardless of what may be being said on social media." Houston-based meteorologist Matt Lanza wrote in a Substack post that there was "absolutely nothing" to suggest that current staffing or budget issues at the NOAA or NWS played a role. What People Are Saying Former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad, in an interview with CNN on Tuesday morning: "I've talked with any number of my friends in the weather service and colleagues in the commercial weather community and to a person, one of the first questions they asked was, 'Where was the WCM—the warning coordination meteorologist?' I am convinced that the staff cuts that we saw were a contributing factor to the inability of the emergency managers to respond. The staffing was just fine, and the White House has concurred with this, to get the forecast out and to get the watches and warnings issued, but when you send a message there's no guarantee it's being received. So someone needs to follow up, and that's the warning coordination meteorologist—a position that was vacant." A NOAA spokesperson told Newsweek: "All forecasts and warnings were issued in a timely manner. Additionally, these offices were able to provide decision support services to local partners, including those in the emergency management community." President Donald Trump told reporters, after being asked on Sunday if he thinks the government needs to hire back meteorologists whose jobs were cut: "I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people are there, they didn't see it. It's, I guess they said, once in 100 years. They've never seen anything like this." Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS employees' union, said, according to a Breitbart report: "[T]he forecasters did their job. There [are] very few times when I'll be in a position that I have to agree with the President of the United States. When he spoke last night that the forecasters at the National Weather Service offices at San Angelo and San Antonio got the forecast right, the President said they did their job, and they did." CBS Austin meteorologist Avery Tomasco, on X, formerly Twitter: "All I'll say is this. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the catastrophic flood. A flash flood warning was issued for Hunt & Ingram 3 HOURS before the Guadalupe started to climb. They did their job and they did it well." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a press conference: "These offices were fully staffed. The San Angelo office was fully staffed with 12 forecast meteorologists. There were no vacancies. The San Antonio office was operating with 11 forecasters union themselves said there was adequate staffing, so I think those words speak for themselves, and the numbers speak for themselves. This was a once-in-a-century flash flood, a tragic natural disaster, and the administration is doing all that we can on the ground to help these families during this time of need." What Happens Next Debate about DOGE job cuts at NOAA and NWS will likely continues. Meanwhile, flood warnings have expired for most of Texas.
Hindustan Times
05-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Camp Mystic victims: Shocking details emerge about girls missing after Texas floods, who they are?
A frantic search is underway in Texas after the deadly flash floods struck Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' summer retreat, killing at least 24 and leaving nearly two dozen young girls missing. Located along the banks of the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, the camp, according to the New York Post, was caught off guard late Thursday night after torrential rains triggered a catastrophic rise in water levels. A search is ongoing in Texas after flash floods at Camp Mystic killed at least 24, with around 23 girls still missing. (Photo by Eric Vryn / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP) Within 90 minutes, the river surged by over 26 feet, submerging cabins, vehicles, and surrounding roads. Meanwhile, of the 750 girls aged 7 to 17 attending Camp Mystic over the Fourth of July weekend, around 23 remained unaccounted for as of Friday evening. While many were evacuated in time, others were swept away by the rising waters. The authorities were quoted as saying the final number of missing children is likely to vary since the communication lines are down. Also Read: Photos: Deadly Texas flash floods put millions at risk as NWS issues several urgent warnings: 'Move immediately' Details of a few missing girls from Camp Mystic emerge According to the report, family members have confirmed the identities of several missing girls. Among the missing girls are: Hanna Hadley, aged 8, was described as 'cherubic' by her parents. The family rushed from Dallas to be near the search operation site. Eloise Peck, another Dallas native, was reportedly seen in a photo with two other missing friends—Lila Bonner and Renee Smajstria. Lila has not been seen since the waters rose, and Renee's family has also confirmed that she is among the missing. Lainey Landry, aged 9, was described as 'brave and sweet' by her mother. She reportedly swept away during the flood. A student of Sinclair Elementary School in Houston, Greta Toranzo, was confirmed missing. Kellyanne Lytal, Virginia Hollis, and Janie Hunt, who were attending the camp, have been missing since. Hunt's mother was quoted in the NY Post report saying that the family was just praying for a safe return. According to another BBC report, officials have stressed that not all children are necessarily lost; some could be stranded in trees or remote areas and unable to communicate. Texas Governor asks parents not to lose hope Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick was quoted in the BBC report saying parents should assume their child is safe if they have not been contacted. He added that if their children are missing, it does not imply they are lost; they could be out of communication. As per the news report, emergency responders have deployed helicopters, drones, boats, and night search equipment. Camp Mystic reportedly has no power, water, or Wi-Fi, and portions near the highway have been washed out. Also read: Central Texas floods: Kerrville submerged as Guadalupe River swells to record level | Watch Why was there no warning for the Texas floods? Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, as per BBC, said the flood rose faster than anything they had witnessed since 1987, when a similar incident killed 10 teens in a church bus. Kelly added that they don't have a warning system, and no one knew the area was going to be hit by a flood. The National Weather Service had predicted eight inches of rain, but the actual rainfall, as per reports, exceeded the forecasts, causing widespread destruction. President Donald Trump called the Texas floods 'shocking' and pledged federal assistance. FAQs Q: Where is Camp Mystic located? A: Camp Mystic is in Hunt, Texas, on the Guadalupe River, about 100 km northwest of San Antonio. Q: How many girls are still missing? A: Around 23 girls are unaccounted for as of the latest reports. Q: What caused the disaster? A: Unexpected flash flooding caused the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in less than an hour, overwhelming the area.
