1st or 3rd world, no discrimination here
While nature's fury does not discriminate between rich, not-so-rich and poor nations, costs are far higher for developing countries. Even so, building resilience and minimising losses from climate-induced extreme weather events has now become a concern for the developed world as well. The sequence of events leading to the Texas floods is eerily familiar - a slow-moving storm bringing intense rainfall, overwhelming riverbanks, and inundating small towns with water that rose faster than many could escape.
No country can afford to disregard climate risk in its economic and policy calculus. Strengthening infra and integrating climate risk into planning and construction, improving weather forecasting, and investing in robust early warning systems are critical.
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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Trump-Linked weather privatization plan raises ethics concerns as commerce chief Lutnick faces scrutiny
Plan to replace government with private weather companies Trump picks people with business ties to weather companies Live Events Elon Musk and SpaceX might gain too Lutnick still has financial ties to weather businesses Ethics & legal issues More on Trump's picks and private weather deals FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Howard Lutnick is the U.S. Commerce Secretary now. He used to run a big money company called Cantor Fitzgerald, but handed it over to his two sons after getting the government job, as per the now helps oversee government weather agencies like the National Weather Service and NOAA. These agencies give people free weather info, especially important during natural disasters like the recent deadly Texas flooding, according to the report by team and some Republicans have been trying to privatize weather forecasting for years. If this happens, private companies would sell weather info, and free government data could be cut down, according to the like Rick Spinrad, former NOAA chief under Biden, are worried that poor people might not get accurate weather info unless they pay. Spinrad said: 'It's like turning the weather service into Netflix for weather,' according to the report by Associated picks for weather jobs have ties to private weather companies. His NOAA nominee Neil Jacobs used to work for Panasonic Weather and supports nominee, Taylor Jordan, is a lobbyist for weather clients like AccuWeather, Spire, and Commerce Dept said they'd follow ethics rules and get legal advice before working on issues linked to old clients, as per the report by Associated Musk gave over $250 million to support Trump. His companies SpaceX and Starlink are regulated by the NOAA's space office, which lost 1/3 of its staff after budget cuts pushed by a Trump-linked efficiency staff cuts might help Musk's companies grow in the weather satellite market. Musk has left Washington and is not close to Trump anymore, but his influence remains. Musk didn't respond to questions about this, as per the report by Associated though Lutnick quit as CEO, he's still selling off his shares in Cantor Fitzgerald. His sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, now run the company. He asked for a waiver to work on things that could affect his family's business during his divestment process, as per the Fitzgerald owns part of a weather company called Satellogic, which makes disaster and weather images using satellites. Lutnick helped raise money for Satellogic and was on its board. Cantor still owns around 13% of Satellogic, as mentioned in the report by Associated Press.U.S. officials can't make decisions that help their own or spouse's businesses, but that rule doesn't apply to their adult kids. Lutnick's ethics plan says he's following the rules, but experts are still concerned about conflicts of while under Lutnick, paid a $6.75 million SEC fine for giving misleading info to investors about Satellogic. Trump's 2026 budget plan wants to cut $8 billion from NOAA's satellite program, as stated by NOAA pulls back, companies like Satellogic could take over and profit. Satellogic says it can give real-time weather images and claims it's ready to 'dominate the Earth Observation industry', as per the report by Associated Jacobs, Trump's NOAA nominee, has been acting NOAA head before and wants private firms to do more worked with Spire Global and Lynker, who get millions from NOAA, as per the also said the U.S. should stop giving commercial weather data for free to the world. Taylor Jordan, another nominee, still works at a lobbying firm representing many weather-related companies, according to the report by Associated Lutnick is the U.S. Commerce Secretary and used to run Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm linked to private weather say it could limit free weather info for poor people if private firms take over.
Hindustan Times
21 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Texas Hill Country disaster unfolds in the shadow of 1987's deadly flood
Cindy Manley was a summer camp counselor in 1987 when a different devastating flood scarred the Texas Hill Country. The area, which is known locally as 'Flash Flood Alley,' has hills that quickly gather water and funnel it into narrow river banks.(AP) The Heart O' the Hills camp is on the Guadalupe River, where a massive search continues for more than 160 people who are believed to still be missing after catastrophic flooding over the July Fourth holiday. Decades earlier, Manley said there was an informal system in place when the river started rising: camps upstream would call down a warning and then get kids out of their bunks and to higher ground. During the flood of 1987, Manley recalled a floating canoe injuring camp director Jane Ragsdale. But Ragsdale, 68, was among the more the than 100 victims who died in the flooding that began July 4, many of them in Kerr County. 'This water, it did something different,' Manley said. 'Jane knows floods more than anybody else. There's no way she would have been sitting in her house if she had thought this was dangerous.' It is at least the fifth time in the last century that flooding near the Guadalupe River has turned deadly. The area, which is known locally as 'Flash Flood Alley,' has hills that quickly gather water and funnel it into narrow river banks. Water rises fast, catching people by surprise. Here is a look at the river's deadly history of flooding. Frantic evacuations in 1987 This mid-July flood killed 10 teenagers and injured 33 others. Water overwhelmed the river and its tributaries, forcing hundreds to flee. At a Christian academy, buses evacuating children initially encountered modest flooding. While some vehicles turned around in time, a bus and van were stranded when the river rose rapidly. As the children were trying to leave the stranded buses to safety, a 'wall of water, estimated to be as much as half a mile wide, rushed upon the campers,' according to a government report. It scattered the kids. A bus with Seagoville Road Baptist Church on the side was pictured slammed against tangled trees, at an angle and partly under water. A deadly morning flood in 1978 The amount of rain was extraordinary – 30 inches fell on parts of the Hill Country between Aug. 1 and 3. It killed 33 people. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the flooding that hit the Hill Country struck early in the morning, 'the worst possible time form the point of view of data collection, warning dissemination and community reaction.' Heavy rains in the early 1990s A large portion of the state flooded, killing at least 13 people and causing vast damage, especially to agriculture. Month after month of 1991 was wetter than normal. Then more than half of the state was hit with more than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain over a six-day period ahead of Christmas. That caused flooding not only in the Guadalupe basin but created what officials called 'one of the most voluminous floods recorded in the history of the State of Texas.'
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Cloud seeding in New Mexico? Theory spreads amid flash floods in Lincoln, Ruidoso, and Hollywood
Several homes were swept away and multiple people reportedly trapped as flash floods hit parts of New Mexico on Tuesday afternoon. The affected areas include Lincoln County, Ruidoso, and Hollywood, where a flash flood emergency remains in effect. New Mexico witnessed flash floods, days after Texas saw catastrophic flooding. (AP) Videos circulating on social media show the Rio Ruidoso River rising rapidly. According to a NOAA river graph, the Rio Ruidoso rose 20 feet in just 30 minutes around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The river is located roughly 150 miles southeast of Albuquerque. The National Weather Service wrote in an alert, 'Homes starting to be moved by water.' This marks the third major flash flood event in the US in less than a week. Over the Fourth of July weekend, central Texas saw catastrophic flooding that claimed over 100 lives. Then, on Monday, flash floods struck parts of North Carolina. Following these back-to-back disasters, some social media users have begun speculating about cloud seeding as a possible cause. The unproven theory suggests that artificial weather modification may be triggering extreme rainfall. One person wrote on X, 'Domestic terrorism with cloud seeding? Just an idea. Texas. North Carolina. New within a week.' Another added, 'New Mexico is one of the states doing cloud seeding. This isn't a coincidence. It's all being done on purposes.' A third person wrote, 'Just like Texas, New Mexico has cloud seeding and weather modification as well. Oh wait… y'all think this is just one of those coincidence things and I'm a conspiracy theorist… got it!' Another user wrote, 'Wow, this is North Carolina and now New Mexico all in a week's time? Something is not right! If this has anything to do with cloud seeding, then there needs to be an immediate halt on the weather modification!" New Mexico's 2024 Pilot Project In February 2024, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed a bill establishing a pilot cloud seeding project in southeast New Mexico. Cloud seeding is a method of weather modification intended to enhance precipitation by introducing substances such as silver iodide into clouds. However, there is no evidence linking the ongoing pilot project to the flash flooding that struck New Mexico on Tuesday.
