Latest news with #BernadetteWoodsPlacky
CNN
09-07-2025
- Climate
- CNN
Live updates: Texas flooding rescue efforts, climbing death toll, latest on Camp Mystic
Update: Date: 8 min ago Title: Before-and-after images show destruction from Texas floods Content: New before-and-after satellite images reveal the extensive destruction caused by catastrophic flooding in central Texas over the weekend. New before and after satellite images show the massive destruction left behind from catastrophic flooding in central Texas. #cnn #news #texas Update: Date: 12 min ago Title: Texas officials will hold a news conference in about an hour. These are some of the questions they may face Content: Texas officials are facing heated questions from reporters and community members over how much was — or was not — done in the overnight hours of Friday as the Guadalupe River flooded, sweeping away buildings and people in its path. But five days after the flooding, officials still have not provided a clear timeline. At a briefing yesterday, several deflected or got defensive when asked about how Kerr County's response unfolded. 'We're in the process of trying to put a together a timeline; that's going to take a little bit of time,' County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. More than 110 are dead and 170 others are missing in the catastrophic flooding. As search efforts continue, questions linger about what happened during those crucial hours, if existing warning systems had worked and whether additional preparations before the flooding could have saved lives. At the local level, there's a key, three-hour gap where it's unclear if alerts sent by the National Weather Service were relayed to local officials; and at a summer-camp level, there are questions about policies that included banning cellphones and limiting walkie-talkie use, according to a counselor. These are the questions that still need to be answered: Update: Date: 1 min ago Title: Experts warn extreme weather is just a snapshot of what's to come. Listen to CNN's "One Thing" podcast Content: As rescue and recovery efforts continue in central Texas, climate scientists are stressing we will see extreme weather events like this more often as the planet heats up. Hear why Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at the nonprofit Climate Central, thinks federal cuts to climate science and weather office are hindering preparations for the future. Check out the podcast here. Update: Date: 1 hr 36 min ago Title: Mules carry heavy equipment and assist in searches along Guadalupe River Content: Mission Mules, a Christian nonprofit organization that uses mules to provide disaster relief, arrived on scene of the flooding disaster in central Texas on Tuesday, going straight to work, founder Mike Toberer told CNN. A team of six mules have helped to get gear into tough locations for multiple chainsaw crews and have assisted in searches along the Guadalupe River since their arrival, according to the organization. Toberer said the first thing he noticed when they got on scene was the large volume of water that had come through the area. 'If you look across this river here, you see how high the water mark is. Some of that stuff is 30 and 35 (feet) off the ground,' Toberer said of the debris carried by the water. The mules, who also assisted in recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina, are able to climb what remains in the washed-out riverbed, which includes often large rocks, Toberer told CNN. Update: Date: 1 hr 55 min ago Title: Cajun Navy coordinator believes weather conditions are making it "harder to survive" for those still missing Content: Teams are still working through brutal heat and humidity today in the ongoing search for at least 170 people missing in Texas. Ryan Logue, an incident coordinator with the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue and relief group, just spoke with CNN's Sara Sidner. His group is based on the Guadalupe River, downriver from several RV parks and campgrounds, which were likely filled for the Fourth of July holiday, Logue said. 'All of those locations that I've gone and visited, there's nothing remaining there,' he said. While teams are still looking for the missing, no one has been found alive since Friday. 'I will never ever give up hope on a single soul that is out there, but at the same time if I'm somebody in their situation, had to live through what I've been living through the last couple days with this weather, it would be getting increasingly, increasingly harder to survive,' he said. Update: Date: 1 hr 37 min ago Title: Everyone inside cabin swept away by floodwaters in Texas escapes safely Content: A cabin at Camp La Junta was captured on video floating along the Guadalupe River on Friday during the catastrophic flooding event with camp staff inside. Seth Stover told CNN his son was among those in the cabin at the time. 'They were woken up around 4am to the sound of the breakers flipping,' Stover said. 'They didn't know they were floating at first.' Stover, who was a camper at Camp La Junta in the 80s, says the cabin had four men inside, ages 19 to 22. His son, 19, is a member of staff at the camp and can be seen inthe doorway of the cabin in the video, according to Stover. The cabin was ripped off its foundation and floated along the waters for only about 30 seconds, according to Stover. He says he imagines to his son it felt a lot longer. The cabin eventually hit a tree and got wedged between the tree and a stone wall, bringing the cabin to a stop. 'It was pure luck that the cabin was stopped,' Stover said. All the men inside were eventually able to exit the cabin safely and evacuated from camp. Stover says he received a message from the camp that morning that all campers and staff were safe but when he saw the video he couldn't help but worry. Eventually, his son called him around 7 a.m. to let him know he was safe and had been evacuated. Stover and his wife traveled to the area on Saturday to pick up their son. Stover credited the bravery of the other staff members and camp counselors who did everything they could for the campers. 'The courage and sacrifices that all the camp counselors and staff did throughout the entire incident, keeping the kids safe,' he said. 'The stories of what they did for these kids are amazing.' CNN's David Williams contributed to this report. This post has been updated with additional information. Update: Date: 3 hr 53 min ago Title: Family of Texas flood victim Tim Walker confirms death Content: The family of Texas flood victim Tim Walker has confirmed his death. 'My father's body was recovered,' Walker's daughter, Bronwyn Walker, posted on Facebook. 'I'm sharing a brief update here to thank the masses for getting the word out through my earlier post. My family and I are deeply moved by your support.' More than 110 people have died as a result of the tragic holiday weekend flooding, officials have confirmed. CNN spoke with Bronwyn Walker earlier and has reached out for more information. Update: Date: 4 hr ago Title: HUD announces foreclosure relief for Texans impacted by floods Content: The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a 90-day freeze on foreclosures for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed single-family mortgages in Kerr County, Texas, after devastating floods hit central Texas, killing more than 100 people. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump declared the flood zone to be a major disaster area. In Kerr County, the hardest-hit region, search efforts continue for more than 160 people still unaccounted for as of Tuesday. There are more than 900 FHA-insured mortgages in the declared disaster area for Kerr County, HUD said in its statement Tuesday. 'HUD is working with mortgage servicers and others to assess the extent of properties with FHA-insured mortgages in the designated area that have been severely damaged or destroyed,' it said. 'Our hearts break as we witness the catastrophe unfolding in Texas,' HUD Secretary Scott Turner said. 'The flash floods have claimed the lives of more than 100 Americans and displaced countless others. It is an unfathomable tragedy, and HUD will continue to provide resources and support as we pray for the Texas Hill Country community.' Update: Date: 2 hr 36 min ago Title: Here's what we learned yesterday about the catastrophic flooding in Central Texas Content: More than 110 people have died in the catastrophic flooding in central Texas, according to officials. In the hard-hit Kerr County, at least 161 people are reported missing, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said yesterday after touring the scenes of destruction. Now, as search and rescue efforts continue, questions linger about existing warning systems and whether additional preparations could have saved lives. Here's the latest: At least 161 people are known to be missing in Kerr County as a result of the flood, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who cited 'combined law enforcement efforts.' #CNN #News You can also watch this video on YoutTube Shorts. Update: Date: 4 hr 29 min ago Title: No one has been found alive in Kerr County since Friday, police officer says Content: No one has been found alive since Friday in Kerr County, Texas, as rescuers carry out search operations, Sgt. Jonathan Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department said. While crews go through the debris and destruction, Lamb said the more time that passes 'it becomes harder and harder to become optimistic.' He said regardless of if it is a rescue to a recovery operation, the goal of responders will stay the same. 'We're going to continue to search and look to try to reunite families, because that's where our focus is; on reuniting families with their missing loved ones and bringing them closure,' Lamb said. Responding to CNN reporting that officials have known for a couple of days that the number of people missing was much higher than had been publicly disclosed by local authorities, Lamb pointed to the number of RV's camped in the area. 'If nobody reports them missing, if nobody is looking for them, we may not know that they're missing — and that really has been the big challenge for this thing,' Lamb said. 'Getting a handle on exactly how many people we're looking for has been tough,' he added. Update: Date: 2 hr 28 min ago Title: Camp Mystic counselors did not have walkie talkies during flood, counselor says Content: Counselors at Camp Mystic, the youth camp devastated by deadly flash flooding last week, did not have access to walkie talkies in the event of a disaster, according to one counselor at the camp. The owners of the camp and a few leaders in the camp office did have access to communication devices, she told CNN. The counselor also indicated to CNN that they had not received evacuation training. Other communication issues came to light earlier in the week. Camp Mystic has a no screen policy and counselors must turn their phones off when they are at work, according to one counselor, Caroline Cutrona. Because of this policy, Cutrona did not get the weather emergency alerts sent out, she previously told CNN's Anderson Cooper. Despite the lack of communication, many counselors jumped into action by themselves, including several who helped campers escape their cabin, guiding them through chest deep water. The mother of three of those campers says the counselors saved the lives of her children, calling them heroes. 'Two counselors were in the rapids and one on the dry hill moving the kids from hand to hand,' the mother told CNN. 'A lot of them lost their shoes and then climbed up the rocky hill to safety.' Once safe, the children cuddled because they were cold and wet as they sang songs and prayed, she said.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
For Eastern US, temperatures swing high, then swing low. They'll soon go back up
After days of blistering heat, the nation's sweaty East Coast got to open windows, step outside and get temporary relief on Friday as temperatures plummeted as much as 40 degrees and humidity dropped alongside. At least 68 record highs were set and more than 20 places logged triple-digit heat from Sunday through Wednesday before a cold front from the north broke a heat dome's grip on the region Friday. Boston, which hit a record 102 Fahrenheit (about 39 Celsius) on Tuesday, was at 61 (about 16 Celsius) on Friday. That blast of cool comfort brought temperatures as much as 10 to 15 degrees below normal but didn't come close to breaking cold records, said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. About the only place that could break a cool record of any kind Friday is one tiny station in Philadelphia, at the Franklin Institute, where the lowest recorded high for the day is 75 (about 24 Celsius). It was expected to get up to only about 72 (about 22 Celsius), Pereira said. But records don't go back very far at that site and meteorologists in Philadelphia don't consider it representative of the area, which is unlikely to get a record for cool, said meteorologist Ray Martin in the local weather forecast office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. That's what's so telling about this weather whiplash from hot to cool — and soon to go back to hot — said Climate Central chief meteorologist Bernadette Woods Placky. 'We've had so many record highs, not only our daytime maximum temperatures, but our overnight low temperatures throughout a widespread region of the country, so this massive shift feels great and it's giving everyone a break, which is nice,' Woods Placky said. 'But it's not necessarily coming with record lows on the other side.' That's a signature of human-caused climate change from the burning of fossil fuels, she said: 'We're getting so many record highs any more that it doesn't feel like it's big news because it's happening so often. But we just don't get as many record lows as frequently.' Climate Central's record tracker shows 68 high temperature marks set since Sunday and only three low ones: Billings, Montana; Casper, Wyoming; and Jackson, Idaho — all recorded on Sunday. For the first five months of this year, there have been nearly twice as many daily high records — 14,863 — set in the United States as low records — 7,855 — according to records compiled by meteorologist Guy Walton, who tracks NWS records. For the 2020s as a whole it's well over double with 221,971 daily high records set and 93,429 daily low records set. Except for the Dust Bowl era — which the ratio of highs to lows still don't come close to doubling — the number of record daily highs and lows were within 20% of each other from the 1920s to the 1980s, but since then the ratio of record heat to record cold has taken off. This Eastern cooling won't last, the weather service's Pereira said. Soon the heat will be back and temperatures in the East will once again be above normal, even for summer. But, he said, 'We're not looking at temperatures that are as oppressive as they were earlier in the week.' Weather whiplash from one extreme to another is often a sign of human-caused climate change because the jet stream — the river of air high above us that moves weather systems along generally from west to east — is weakening, getting wavier and getting stuck more because of global warming, Woods Placky and other scientists said. When that happens, it means more extremes such as a heat wave or a drought or downpours. And then when the stuck jet stream moves on, it sometimes results in opposite extreme weather. ___ Isabella O'Malley contributed from Philadelphia. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Climate
- Associated Press
For Eastern US, temperatures swing high, then swing low. They'll soon go back up
After days of blistering heat, the nation's sweaty East Coast got to open windows, step outside and get temporary relief on Friday as temperatures plummeted as much as 40 degrees and humidity dropped alongside. At least 68 record highs were set and more than 20 places logged triple-digit heat from Sunday through Wednesday before a cold front from the north broke a heat dome's grip on the region Friday. Boston, which hit a record 102 Fahrenheit (about 39 Celsius) on Tuesday, was at 61 (about 16 Celsius) on Friday. That blast of cool comfort brought temperatures as much as 10 to 15 degrees below normal but didn't come close to breaking cold records, said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. About the only place that could break a cool record of any kind Friday is one tiny station in Philadelphia, at the Franklin Institute, where the lowest recorded high for the day is 75 (about 24 Celsius). It was expected to get up to only about 72 (about 22 Celsius), Pereira said. But records don't go back very far at that site and meteorologists in Philadelphia don't consider it representative of the area, which is unlikely to get a record for cool, said meteorologist Ray Martin in the local weather forecast office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. That's what's so telling about this weather whiplash from hot to cool — and soon to go back to hot — said Climate Central chief meteorologist Bernadette Woods Placky. 'We've had so many record highs, not only our daytime maximum temperatures, but our overnight low temperatures throughout a widespread region of the country, so this massive shift feels great and it's giving everyone a break, which is nice,' Woods Placky said. 'But it's not necessarily coming with record lows on the other side.' That's a signature of human-caused climate change from the burning of fossil fuels, she said: 'We're getting so many record highs any more that it doesn't feel like it's big news because it's happening so often. But we just don't get as many record lows as frequently.' Climate Central's record tracker shows 68 high temperature marks set since Sunday and only three low ones: Billings, Montana; Casper, Wyoming; and Jackson, Idaho — all recorded on Sunday. For the first five months of this year, there have been nearly twice as many daily high records — 14,863 — set in the United States as low records — 7,855 — according to records compiled by meteorologist Guy Walton, who tracks NWS records. For the 2020s as a whole it's well over double with 221,971 daily high records set and 93,429 daily low records set. Except for the Dust Bowl era — which the ratio of highs to lows still don't come close to doubling — the number of record daily highs and lows were within 20% of each other from the 1920s to the 1980s, but since then the ratio of record heat to record cold has taken off. This Eastern cooling won't last, the weather service's Pereira said. Soon the heat will be back and temperatures in the East will once again be above normal, even for summer. But, he said, 'We're not looking at temperatures that are as oppressive as they were earlier in the week.' Weather whiplash from one extreme to another is often a sign of human-caused climate change because the jet stream — the river of air high above us that moves weather systems along generally from west to east — is weakening, getting wavier and getting stuck more because of global warming, Woods Placky and other scientists said. When that happens, it means more extremes such as a heat wave or a drought or downpours. And then when the stuck jet stream moves on, it sometimes results in opposite extreme weather. ___ Isabella O'Malley contributed from Philadelphia. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
The Independent
27-06-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
For Eastern US, temperatures swing high, then swing low. They'll soon go back up
After days of blistering heat, the nation's sweaty East Coast got to open windows, step outside and get temporary relief on Friday as temperatures plummeted as much as 40 degrees and humidity dropped alongside. At least 68 record highs were set and more than 20 places logged triple-digit heat from Sunday through Wednesday before a cold front from the north broke a heat dome's grip on the region Friday. Boston, which hit a record 102 Fahrenheit (about 39 Celsius) on Tuesday, was at 61 (about 16 Celsius) on Friday. That blast of cool comfort brought temperatures as much as 10 to 15 degrees below normal but didn't come close to breaking cold records, said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service 's Weather Prediction Center. About the only place that could break a cool record of any kind Friday is one tiny station in Philadelphia, at the Franklin Institute, where the lowest recorded high for the day is 75 (about 24 Celsius). It was expected to get up to only about 72 (about 22 Celsius), Pereira said. But records don't go back very far at that site and meteorologists in Philadelphia don't consider it representative of the area, which is unlikely to get a record for cool, said meteorologist Ray Martin in the local weather forecast office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. That's what's so telling about this weather whiplash from hot to cool — and soon to go back to hot — said Climate Central chief meteorologist Bernadette Woods Placky. 'We've had so many record highs, not only our daytime maximum temperatures, but our overnight low temperatures throughout a widespread region of the country, so this massive shift feels great and it's giving everyone a break, which is nice,' Woods Placky said. 'But it's not necessarily coming with record lows on the other side.' That's a signature of human-caused climate change from the burning of fossil fuels, she said: 'We're getting so many record highs any more that it doesn't feel like it's big news because it's happening so often. But we just don't get as many record lows as frequently.' Climate Central's record tracker shows 68 high temperature marks set since Sunday and only three low ones: Billings, Montana; Casper, Wyoming; and Jackson, Idaho — all recorded on Sunday. For the first five months of this year, there have been nearly twice as many daily high records — 14,863 — set in the United States as low records — 7,855 — according to records compiled by meteorologist Guy Walton, who tracks NWS records. For the 2020s as a whole it's well over double with 221,971 daily high records set and 93,429 daily low records set. Except for the Dust Bowl era — which the ratio of highs to lows still don't come close to doubling — the number of record daily highs and lows were within 20% of each other from the 1920s to the 1980s, but since then the ratio of record heat to record cold has taken off. This Eastern cooling won't last, the weather service's Pereira said. Soon the heat will be back and temperatures in the East will once again be above normal, even for summer. But, he said, 'We're not looking at temperatures that are as oppressive as they were earlier in the week.' Weather whiplash from one extreme to another is often a sign of human-caused climate change because the jet stream — the river of air high above us that moves weather systems along generally from west to east — is weakening, getting wavier and getting stuck more because of global warming, Woods Placky and other scientists said. When that happens, it means more extremes such as a heat wave or a drought or downpours. And then when the stuck jet stream moves on, it sometimes results in opposite extreme weather. ___ Isabella O'Malley contributed from Philadelphia. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
