Latest news with #KXAN
New York Post
3 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Texans shaken as thousands of fire ants seen forming rafts on river using their bodies
This army is in formation. Thousands of fire ants have been spotted floating on floodwaters through the Texas city and forming rafts using their bodies with residents now reporting the gross behavior. KXAN Austin took to X to post a video taken by Austinite David Todd of the little critters, seen nestled into a large cluster in the waters of Lake Travis. Advertisement X users weighed in on the scary sight. 'A floating ball of pure hate,' one observed. Advertisement 'I've done more than seen them. I've run into them at night wading out to the ramp on my dock when the lake is rapidly rising,' another wrote. 'Sucks.' 'Bring out the torch,' someone else suggested. Fire ants are forming rafts out of their own bodies in Texas floodwaters. KXAN The pesky bugs, which can cause painful stings, are rife in Texas. But when their underground nests flood, they sink their teeth into each other, interlock their limbs and create rafts to stay alive. Advertisement 'It's called a self-organizing or self-assembling process. And it's something only social insects do,' Ed LeBrun, a research scientist at the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Lab, told the outlet. 'There are a lot of other structures that ants make in a similar way. For example, army ants will make bridges across rivers.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
A massive raft of fire ants found on Austin's Lake Travis
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Residents of Texas's capital are reporting fire ants floating on floodwaters, forming living rafts out of their own bodies. On Wednesday morning, one Austinite shared video of one such raft drifting on Lake Travis. Texas woman starts AI awareness series after seeing fake photos of Texas floods shared online When their underground nests flood, fire ants link their legs and jaws together to create buoyant, self-assembled mounds. These floating colonies can contain thousands of ants — and they can still bite or sting if disturbed. Fire ants are widespread in Texas, and researchers at Texas A&M University are studying how they respond to flooding. The insects bite one another and interlock their limbs, forming tightly packed rafts that don't sink. Their waxy skin helps repel water and keep the group afloat, as seen in the video from David Todd, a viewer of Nexstar's KXAN: 'It's called a self-organizing or self-assembling process. And it's something only social insects do,' Ed LeBrun, a research scientist at the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Lab in central Austin, said. 'There are a lot of other structures that ants make in a similar way. For example, army ants will make bridges across rivers,' LeBrun added. Creating a 'raft,' however, is more rare in the ant world: Fire ants are the only kind that do this, according to LeBrun. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
4 days ago
- Science
- The Hill
A massive raft of fire ants found on Austin's Lake Travis
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Residents of Texas's capital are reporting fire ants floating on floodwaters, forming living rafts out of their own bodies. On Wednesday morning, one Austinite shared video of one such raft drifting on Lake Travis. Texas woman starts AI awareness series after seeing fake photos of Texas floods shared online When their underground nests flood, fire ants link their legs and jaws together to create buoyant, self-assembled mounds. These floating colonies can contain thousands of ants — and they can still bite or sting if disturbed. Fire ants are widespread in Texas, and researchers at Texas A&M University are studying how they respond to flooding. The insects bite one another and interlock their limbs, forming tightly packed rafts that don't sink. Their waxy skin helps repel water and keep the group afloat, as seen in the video from David Todd, a viewer of Nexstar's KXAN: 'It's called a self-organizing or self-assembling process. And it's something only social insects do,' Ed LeBrun, a research scientist at the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Lab in central Austin, said. 'There are a lot of other structures that ants make in a similar way. For example, army ants will make bridges across rivers,' LeBrun added. Creating a 'raft,' however, is more rare in the ant world: Fire ants are the only kind that do this, according to LeBrun.
The Hill
5 days ago
- Climate
- The Hill
Data: Kerr County sent first targeted alert two days after deadly flood
HUNT, Texas (KXAN) — Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) data does not show a record of Kerr County officials issuing a locally targeted emergency alert to warn people in the area of the rapidly rising waters until two days after the deadly flood. The emergency flash flood warnings issued on July 4 and 5 came from the National Weather Service, which were distributed through CodeRED, a mass notification system that requires members of the public to register to receive alerts. As Kerr County leaders avoid alert questions, new audio surfaces in CodeRED timeline Records show the earliest warnings of the flash floods, which claimed more than 100 lives in Kerr County alone as of July 15, were issued by the NWS at 1:14 a.m. on July 4, telling people to move to higher ground. The county shared a San Antonio meteorologist's post on Facebook at 5:31 a.m. on July 4. County officials added their warning to the shared post, saying, 'Flooding along the Guadalupe River is happening now. Be safe and move to higher ground. Do not drive through water. Turn Around – Don't Drown!' After the initial alert at 1:14 a.m., an additional 21 flash flood alerts were issued by the NWS on July 4 in Kerr County, according to archived alert data. FEMA records indicate that the county itself never issued an alert on July 4 about the dangerous flash flooding through the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), which can alert all phones in a geographical area, regardless of whether a person has enrolled for emergency alerts. Sheriff hints at 'after action' review, as records reveal warning of 'worst-case flood event' KXAN reached out to Kerr County officials about the timing of their alerts. This story will be updated when a response is received. Contrary to alerts issued by the NWS, IPAWS provides authorities the ability to write their own warning message, which is delivered through multiple communication pathways 'to reach as many people as possible to save lives and protect property,' according to FEMA. 'Utilizing multiple pathways for public alerts increases the likelihood that the message will successfully reach the public,' according to FEMA. The only IPAWS alerts Kerr County issued occurred on July 6 and July 13 due to the 'high probability' and 'high confidence' of river flooding, according to FEMA IPAWS data. Records show these Kerr County IPAWS alerts classified the severity of the weather events as 'Extreme' and the presence of an 'Imminent Threat' with headlines stating 'Evacuation Immediate' and 'Local Area Emergency.' According to FEMA IPAWS alert data, Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William 'Dub' Thomas is the person who authorized and issued the IPAWS alerts. KXAN reached out to Thomas for additional details regarding the alerts he authorized. A county commission meeting video from Nov. 16, 2020, shows Thomas advocating for the emergency alert system as lifesaving shortly before the commissioner approved the measure.
The Hill
14-07-2025
- The Hill
Kerrville City Council extends disaster declaration; talks debris, threats
AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — The Kerrville City Council met in an emergency session Monday morning, where they approved the indefinite extension of a local disaster declaration, and discussed ongoing rescue operations, threats made against the city, and donations. The declaration, which was initially started on July 4, will now run until it is ended by Mayor Joe Herring. It allows the city to operate under a 'City Emergency Management Plan,' but the reauthorization also paused the city's tree preservation ordinance. It was approved unanimously by the council. Another resolution that passed unanimously suspends the city's responses to open records requests for seven days. Kerrville City Attorney Mike Haynes said that city staff would start working this week on received requests, but wouldn't respond until next week. 'At the end of that seven day period, we will have to start responding, and we obviously had a number of requests for information, so we'll start working on those probably this week,' Haynes said. 'This, again, is just pursuant to state law. Essentially, through early next week, we will be gathering information, but we won't respond.' Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice updated the council about search and rescue operations in the area. He noted that inclement weather and staff scheduling would be challenges as those searches continue. 'Those folks are doing everything that they can, and they do their business well. And so we try to stay out of their way,' said Michael Hornes, Kerrville assistant city manager. Hornes also explained a debris management plan for the city. Debris will be sorted – construction materials to the landfill, while vegetation will be set out to dry before being burned. Following the updates from Rice and Hornes, Council Member Brenda Hughes spoke about threats made against city staff and officials, including harassing phone calls to City Hall. 'We're not only dealing with all of the aftermath from this tragic event, but now we have to worry about threats that are coming to staff, targeted threats that are specific to individual staff members,' Hughes said. 'I wanted on the record that I would like additional security here, and I'm not leaving here till we get it.' Hornes promised that Hughes' concerns would be taken up with Texas DPs and Kerrville Police. He noted that each council meeting since the floods has had law enforcement officers present. 'Yes, ma'am, we certainly will. We will put that up the chain,' Hornes said. 'We'll make sure we continue to do that.'
