Meteorology Monday (4-14-25): Thunderstorm safety
During a thunderstorm, seek shelter indoors, away from windows, and avoid electronics and unplug. Tune into your local TV/Radio/NOAA Weather Radio stations for updated information. Take it seriously- lightning is a killer.
Severe weather season is here: learn how to protect yourself
If you are caught outside, stay away from tall objects like trees and poles, metal objects like fences, and pools or bodies of water. If you are in a car, you should be safe if it has a metal roof, but convertibles and motorcycles are not safe. Seek low-lying ground if you absolutely can't find shelter.
Thunder is the sound of lightning striking the ground, therefore, once you hear it, you're within striking distance. After seeking shelter, you should stay inside until 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder.
If you're interested in becoming a trained weather spotter for the NWS this severe weather season, you can find information on when classes will be available to the Twin Tiers on the NWS Binghamton and State College websites.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Forbes
43 minutes ago
- Forbes
Texas Flood Live Updates: At Least 80 Dead Including 28 Children
At least 80 deaths—including the deaths of 28 children—have now been confirmed in the central Texas flash floods, according to the latest update from officials, though at least 10 children from a summer camp remain unaccounted for as rescuers continued their search for survivors. Members of a rescue team look for missing people on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. AFP via Getty Images Rescue teams are searching for a group of 10 campers who were attending Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, as well as one counselor, Leitha said. More than 850 people have been rescued across Kerr County, which saw some of the worst flooding, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. 'We're seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down,' Kerrville City Manager Rice Dalton said Sunday, as search-and-rescue operations focused on finding the remaining missing campers. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday morning, while Abbott declared Sunday a 'day of prayer.' W. Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, faulted the National Weather Service for not predicting 'the amount of rain we saw,' though alerts were issued beforehand and as it became clear the region was facing a flash flood emergency. The NWS issued a flash flood watch Thursday afternoon that noted Kerr County, where much of the flooding began early Friday morning, was a particularly vulnerable area, along with more urgent flash flood emergency alerts in the overnight hours as the disaster unfolded. The NWS was one of several federal agencies targeted by the controversial cost-cutting efforts of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, and has recently laid off nearly 600 employees—around the same amount of staffers it lost in the 15 previous years, the Texas Tribune reported. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration would 'honor' a federal disaster declaration from Abbott, who also declared Sunday a 'day of prayer' as first responders search for the missing campers. Authorities in Kerr County confirmed at least 59 people, including 21 children, were killed in the floods, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference Sunday, with the death toll expected to rise. One woman was found dead in a submerged car in Tom Green County, the San Angelo Police Department confirmed on social media Saturday, while another person was found dead trapped underneath a vehicle in Williamson County, officials there confirmed Sunday. At least three more people were found dead in Burnet County, the Burnet County Sheriff's Office reported after search-and-rescue operations rescued over 50 residents, and at least four more bodies were recovered in Travis County, according to multiple reports, while officials in Kendall County confirmed in a Sunday morning update two residents died. Why Weren't Summer Camps Evacuated? Although the NWS issued warnings about the incoming weather system and the potential for massive flooding as early as Friday morning, it remains unclear why Camp Mystic and other summer camps in the area were not evacuated sooner. 'That is a great question,' Kerrville City Manager Rice Dalton said when pressed about this Sunday, but did not provide an answer. Instead, Dalton said the city was still focused on searching for the remaining missing children. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, when he was asked why camps along the Guadalupe were not evacuated, told reporters Friday, 'I can't answer that, I don't know,' before saying the county had 'no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here.' There is still a risk for more rain in central Texas. The NWS issued another flood watch for north-central Texas through Sunday evening, as well as a flash flood warning for parts of Bosque, Hill, Johnson and Somervell Counties as heavy rains inundate the region. Was The National Weather Service Properly Staffed? A representative for the union for NWS employees told CNN that the offices in Austin and San Antonio had 'adequate staffing and resources,' but also said the San Antonio office was missing a coordination meteorologist to work directly with emergency managers. When asked by a reporter from Kerrville if the government's preparedness was a 'failure,' Noem said the Trump administration was trying to 'upgrade' the technology the NWS uses to send alerts and notify the public about catastrophic weather events. 'For decades, for years, everybody knows that the weather is extremely difficult to predict, but also that the National Weather Service has done well,' Noem said at a press conference alongside Abbott. 'And at times we have all wanted more time, and more warning, and more alerts, and more notification.' Noem added the Trump administration is working to update what she called an 'ancient system' that 'has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years.' How Has The Nws Been Impacted By Federal Funding Cuts? Some NWS field offices have reported the loss of around-the-clock staffing and reductions in weather balloon launches, which are crucial in collecting data on humidity, pressure, temperature and more elements needed to produce forecasts. Longtime meteorologist Troy Kimmel, who leads his own meteorological services company, told CBS Austin in May that local Texas offices such as the Austin/San Antonio office experienced some staffing shortages. The Austin/San Antonio office's website shows six vacancies across its meteorological, management, observations and technician teams, though it is not clear how many of the vacancies are a direct result of cuts engineered by the Department of Government Efficiency. Forbes has reached out to the NWS for comment. What Has Trump Said About The Flooding? Trump said Friday the deaths reported in Texas were 'shocking' and that the government would work with Abbott to provide federal aid. Trump has insisted states should play a larger role in handling their own weather disasters, saying last month his administration intends to 'wean' states off help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency following this year's hurricane season. Speaking alongside Abbott on Saturday, Noem seemed to double down on this idea. 'We recognize that when something like this happens to a community, happens to a state, that the best responders are those locally because it's your family members, it's your community members that are being impacted, and you can respond quickly,' she said at a press conference. Noem repeated the position that the state should 'run and manage' emergency responses, but said that the federal government would still 'be here for the support and extra resources on the ground.' FEMA has lost hundreds of employees since Trump took office and ended its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which awarded around $4.6 billion to communities throughout the U.S. in an effort to prepare them for future weather disasters. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for San Antonio and several neighboring cities, warning of two to four inches of additional rainfall and excessive runoff that may result in flash flooding for rivers and creeks, low-lying areas and low water crossings. What Do We Know About The Missing Children? The children considered missing as of Saturday were attending an all-girls Christian summer camp known as Camp Mystic. The camp has been around since 1926 and operates two sites along the Guadalupe River. The organization told parents in an email Friday morning it experienced 'catastrophic level floods.' according to The New York Times. Big Number Over 1,000. That is how many rescuers were deployed in Texas on Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported. Key Background The Guadalupe River has had a history of floods, with one of the most prominent incidents occurring in 1987, when five to 10 inches of rain fell in the upper headwaters of the river's basin. The river crested at 31.5 feet and flooding resulted in the deaths of 10 teenagers and 33 injuries. Inclement weather in Texas may continue in the coming months, as it and several other states are approaching the most active part of the 2025 hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, forecasting a range of 13 to 19 named storms, six to 10 of which are forecast to become hurricanes.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
What early warnings did flood-hit Texas receive?
Nearly 80 people have been killed after devastating flash floods swept through parts of central Texas. Rescue efforts are ongoing and the total number of casualties remains unconfirmed, though officials warn the death toll will rise. Questions have been raised about whether adequate flood warnings were provided and why people weren't evacuated ahead of the deluge. Most of the fatalities, including 28 children, were in Kerr County, where a girls' camp was inundated. Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected official in Kerr County, told CBS the severity of the flooding had been unexpected. "We had no reason to believe that this was gonna be any, anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever," Kelly said. The flash floods began on Thursday night and continued into Friday morning, with meteorologists saying several months' worth of rain fell in just a few hours. Within the space of 45 minutes, the Guadalupe River rose by 26ft (8m), causing it to burst its banks. On Wednesday, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) activated state emergency response resources because of "increased threats of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas" On Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flood watch that highlighted Kerr County, central Texas, as a place at high risk of flash flooding overnight At 01:14 local time (06:14 GMT) on Friday a flash flood warning was issued for Kerr Country At 04:03 local time (09:30 GMT) an emergency flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County, followed by another for the Guadalupe River at 05:34 At a news conference on Sunday, Governor Greg Abbott said people in Texas are used to flash flood warnings. "But there's no expectation of a water wall of almost 30ft high," he added. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told reporters: "You have areas where there is no cell phone coverage, plus some coverage. "It doesn't matter how many alert systems you sign up for, you're not going to get that." The public can get desensitised to too many weather warnings, said Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice, according to the Associated Press. A girls' summer camp cut tragically short by a 'horrific' deluge Dozens missing in Texas floods as more rain looms He said he didn't notice any problems and that it was only raining lightly at 03:30 Friday when he went jogging along the Guadalupe River trail. But by 05:20, the water had risen so fast "we almost weren't able to get out of the park", he said. Judge Kelly said there is no county-administered warning system in the area because such systems are expensive. He said that about six years ago, before he took office, the county had looked into a flood warning system along the river, similar to a tornado warning siren. Because of the cost, however, it was never implemented. The NWS said it was "heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County" and defended itself. "On July 3, the NWS office in Austin/San Antonio, TX conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a Flood Watch in the early afternoon. Flash Flood Warnings were issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before warning criteria were met." After some officials in Texas appeared to blame the NWS for underestimating the rainfall, former Weather Service officials told the New York Times newspaper that the forecasts were as good as they could have been given the huge amounts of rainfall and storm's abrupt escalation. Before the tragedy, there had been concerns over the Trump administration's budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - the government agency that operates the National Weather Service. The Fiscal Year 2026 budget includes cuts and closures of some weather research laboratories, while the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) has slashed hundreds of employees at NOAA and the NWS. Meteorologists in the US and elsewhere have expressed concerns over "reduced number of weather balloons" that observe wind, relative humidity and pressure above the ground. They claim that budget cuts have resulted in 20% fewer weather balloons being released for such observations, impacting the accuracy of weather forecasting. The New York Times reported that critical positions of the NWS were vacant on Friday morning, with some experts questioning whether staffing shortages had impeded the agency's efforts to coordinate with local emergency managers. However, Tom Fahy, legislative director of the NWS Employees Organization, told NBC News: "The WFOs [weather forecasting offices] had adequate staffing and resources as they issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm". And the Associated Press quoted Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office, as saying their office that delivers forecasts for that part of central Texas had extra staff on duty at the time of the storms - five, instead of the usual two. Asked whether the tragedy was due to "fundamental failure" by the government to provide early warnings, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the "weather is difficult to predict", but that President Donald Trump was seeking to modernise the current system. In response to questions during a Sunday press conference about the impact of cuts to the NWS, she said that she would "carry your concerns back to the federal government". Over the years the NWS had done well, Noem said, but "we know that everybody wants more warning time, and that's why we're working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected for far too long". Noem said that it was difficult for forecasters to predict how much rain would fall but that the Trump administration would make it a priority to upgrade the technology used to deliver warnings. She added that when Trump took office he "wanted to fix and is currently upgrading the technology" and that "reforms are ongoing". Trump is planning a possible visit to the area on Friday.
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Trump says NWS staffing levels didn't affect Texas storm preparedness
The Trump administration pushed back Sunday on criticism of the National Weather Service's initial forecasting and its staffing levels ahead Central Texas' catastrophic flooding. The big picture: The storm that's killed at least 80 people brought federal cuts to NOAA's NWS under scrutiny after it emerged that two Texas NWS offices were missing key staff at the time, including in San Antonio where a veteran warning coordination meteorologist had taken an early retirement buyout in April. Driving the news: Some in the weather community have raised concern about the staffing issues, which Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told CNN on Sunday should be investigated, saying: "I don't think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies." Experts told Axios' Madalyn Mendoza and Astrid Galván that forecasting models that failed to predict the severity of rainfall, a lack of an adequate warning system and bad timing in part led to the disaster. Texas Division of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd noted at a Friday briefing the original forecast "did not predict the amount of rain we saw" and Dalton Rice, the city manager for Kerrville, said the storm system "dumped more rain than what was forecast." What they're saying: When a reporter asked President Trump whether his administration would investigate if some of the cuts to the federal government left key vacancies at the NWS, he responded: "They did not." Trump described the situation as "a 100-year catastrophe" that's "so horrible to watch." Asked later if he thought meteorologists should be rehired, Trump said: "I would think not. This was the thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people in there and they didn't see it." Zoom in: White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson in a statement to outlets including Axios called criticism of the NWS' action and funding cuts accusations "shameful and disgusting" and accused critics of seeking to politicize a disaster. "False claims about the NWS have been repeatedly debunked by meteorologists, experts, and other public reporting," she said. "The NWS did their job, even issuing a flood watch more than 12 hours in advance." The Department of Homeland Security posted to X a timeline of the NWS' response that the agency had earlier shared with Axios: Between the lines: Miami-based meteorologist John Morales said on X the vacancies did not impact the warning process, but may have impacted coordination. Having five instead of two staffers on as rainfall ramped up is a "pretty common step and well planned" by the local NWS, according to Morales. "My concern is about the breakdown of what is supposed to be the well oiled warning ➡️ comms ➡️ coordination ➡️ evacuation process," he added. Houston-based meteorologist Matt Lanza told Axios the warnings were "meteorologically sound and adequate," but they weren't received by people due to the timing of the storm and because that area didn't have an alert system. What we're watching: The Trump administration last week proposed cuts and changes to NOAA, including eliminating its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which performs and coordinates climate research. Trump signed an executive order in January aimed at revamping the Federal Emergency Management Agency and has spoken about "getting rid of" FEMA altogether. When asked Sunday if he still planned to phase out FEMA, Trump told reporters that this matter was "something we can talk about later, but right now, they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that."
