WATCH LIVE: DHS Sec Noem speaks amid frantic search for missing girls after flood
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Grok uses climate change stats to explain Karoline Leavitt's post about Texas floods
Grok, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence bot on X, summarized a post from the White House Press Secretary about the devastating Texas floods, providing information on how global warming increases the likelihood of extreme weather. On Saturday, Karoline Leavitt re-posted a Truth Social message from President Donald Trump acknowledging the intense flooding that has killed at least 32 people and informing the public that the administration is working with local Texas officials to assist. When asked to summarize the post, Grok said Trump was referencing the tragic July 4 flooding event in Texas but then provided some background information on how climate change is making flooding worse. 'Climate models from the IPCC and NOAA suggest that ignoring climate change could intensify such flooding events in Texas, as warmer air holds more moisture, with peer-reviewed studies (e.g., Trenberth et al., 2018) indicating a 7% increase in atmospheric water vapor per 1°C warming, potentially exacerbating future disasters,' Grok summarized. Since January, the Trump administration has drastically rolled back climate regulations, cut research funding, and essentially eliminated climate programs. Trump has called climate change a 'hoax' and downplayed concerns about severe weather becoming more common and deadly despite science showing otherwise. The administration has made cuts to the National Weather Service, the government agency responsible for monitoring weather events, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency tasked with coordinating disaster response and administering recovery efforts. Both NWS and FEMA play major roles in warning people of inclement weather, coordinating a response, and delivering relief to those in need. Yet, Trump has characterized FEMA as an unnecessary federal resource intervening in state-level issues. 'A governor should be able to handle it, and frankly, if they can't handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn't be governor,' Trump said last month. The administration also made cuts to the NWS, which led to the departure of nearly 600 employees – hundreds of whom are critical in monitoring weather and issuing warnings to residents. While the agency is hiring new staff to 'stabilize' itself, former NWS directors warned that cutting staff could understaff offices so much so that 'there will be a needless loss of life.' Further cuts to programs that monitor climate and weather patterns, such as the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which produces congressionally mandated reports on how climate change is affecting life, could hinder preparations for extreme weather. Texas officials said, over the weekend, they were unprepared for the amount of rain that flooded nearby rivers and created lethal flash flooding overnight.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Texas flood witness recalls furniture, trees and RVs swept down river
COMFORT, Texas (Reuters) -Tonia Fucci, a Pennsylvania resident visiting her grandmother for the Independence Day weekend, woke early on Friday to the sound of heavy rain "coming down in buckets." Along with the rain, she heard something else - loud, startling cracking noises. "It's indescribable, the sounds, of how loud they were, which turned out to be ... the massive cypress trees that came down along the river," she told a Reuters reporter in an interview the next day. Flash floods in central Texas have killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, authorities said on Saturday as rescuers continued a frantic search for dozens more campers, vacationers and residents who were still missing. Hardest hit was Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old girls camp, where dozens of young girls were swept away in the flood waters, leaving many dead and many more still missing. Fucci, who was staying in Comfort on the banks of the overflowing Guadalupe River, filmed on her phone a torrent of muddy water flooding the road to her grandmother's house and two recreational vehicles in a parking lot, with their wheels submerged in water. Reuters verified the location of the video by matching buildings and vehicles to satellite imagery and confirmed the date by checking the metadata. "I'm still in shock today," Fucci told Reuters. She said she had little hope anyone would be found alive. "There's so many missing children and missing people. You just want them to be found for the sake of the families. But, you know, it's not going to be a good ending... There's no way people could have survived the swiftness of the water." Fucci said she had received National Weather alerts on her phone hours after the flood had already hit. The residents of the town had to rely on one another, as they ran to their neighbors to see who needed help before rescue teams arrived. "Something I've never seen before. You knew it was tragedy," Fucci said, recalling how quickly the river flooded the town. "It wasn't slowing, it wasn't slowing. And debris and furniture and RVs were coming down the river."
Yahoo
an hour ago
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How to prepare your pets for when a hurricane makes it rain cats and dogs
HOUSTON (AP) — Getting ready for a hurricane's landfall means making sure everyone in your household is prepared, including your furry family members. It's important that the work in gathering essential items for your dog or cat and determining if your pets have their ID tags and are microchipped is done before a storm is bearing down, said Julie Kuenstle, a spokeswoman for the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 'All of that stuff needs to be done in advance because you can't do that obviously if your pet gets away before, during or after a disaster. And that's heartbreaking because we know that our pets are our family members,' Kuenstle said. Put together an emergency kit for your pets Just as the humans in your family require an emergency kit with food, water and medications, pets also need one. Their go bags will be a little different and should include things like chew toys, leashes and poop bags. Kuenstle said it's also important the kit has hard copies of your pets' vaccination records that you can show if you have to evacuate and end up at a hotel or shelter. 'A lot of items that pet owners need and are essential for their go bags, they already have around their house,' Kuenstle said. Cesar Perea, the associate vice president of rescue for the American Humane Society, said people should also verify that their pets have ID tags on their collars and that the information linked to their pet's microchip is up to date and that multiple people are listed as contacts. 'If you decide you want to ride out the storm and stay, we wouldn't recommend that,' Perea said. 'But if they do, typically, we tell people that you should have at least two-weeks worth of (pet) supplies in your home.' Try to reduce your pet's stress Pets can sense any stress their owners feel as they prepare for a hurricane, Kuenstle said. 'When there is a disaster or storm, sirens, things like that, a natural fear response is for them … to hide and to run away. So, you know, making sure that your yard is secure and that they're in a quiet, safe, secure place can help avoid that,' she said. Animal rescue groups say it's important to have your pet crate trained so their crate can be used as a safe space for your pets. People who decide to stay and ride out a storm should keep their pets close, Perea said. Leaving them alone in another room 'is just going to elevate their stress,' he added. Never leave your pets behind Leaving pets behind, particularly if they're left tied to a fence or chained in a backyard, can be deadly. 'If the disaster comes along, they can't move away from it,' Perea said. 'The disaster rolls through and they suffer a horrific death potentially.' Abandoning your pets could also result in animal cruelty charges. The plight of a bull terrier named Trooper, who was rescued last year during Hurricane Milton after being found chained to a fence along a Tampa highway, inspired a new Florida law that imposes tougher penalties on people who abandon pets during natural disasters. Animal rescues are standard part of hurricane response Most emergency operations centers during a natural disaster focus part of their work on animal rescues, Perea said. But both Perea and Kuenstle said most pets and other animals needing rescue are not abandoned on purpose. During Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2017, Kuenstle's group rescued about 2,300 animals, including cats, dogs and horses, reuniting about 300 of them with their humans. 'A lot of it was ... 'We had no idea we wouldn't be able to come back.' They were contacting us in a panic. They were concerned about their pet,' Kuenstle said. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 is filled with countless stories of residents not wanting to leave their flooded homes if they couldn't bring their furry loved ones, Perea said. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano:
