Latest news with #LisaMiller
BBC News
3 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
County Durham residents fear fires at battery storage sites
Residents living near proposed battery energy storage systems (BESS) say they fear massive fires and environmental are being built across the UK to help balance the electricity grid, which is becoming increasingly powered by there are no laws that specifically govern the safety of BESSs, and people living near proposed sites in South Hetton, County Durham, have voiced experts are calling for a pause in their deployment until Health and Safety regulations are established. The government said it had "high safety standards in place for the industry". BESSs are made up of huge numbers of lithium-ion batteries inside metal there is excess renewable energy in the grid, the batteries store the energy, then release it back into the grid when needed. According to a government database, there is one BESS site already operational on Tyneside and at least 40 BESS sites in the planning or construction stage in the North the database is not fully up to date. South Hetton is home to an electricity substation, which makes it a prime location for a said planning applications had been submitted for seven sites around the village. For Lisa Miller, who lives 300m (965ft) away from one proposed site called West Lane BESS, fire safety is her biggest concern."These things can burn for days," she government maintains battery storage fires are rare in the UKMrs Miller said she was also worried about toxic gases and respiratory has set up a national petition to push for safety legislation and to keep BESS sites off agricultural said it was "an absolute lie to say that this is going to benefit the environment". Ian Atkinson moved to the village because the quiet location was suitable for his autistic son, who suffers heightened sensory issues. Mr Atkinson said if the West Lane site was approved, it would have "a significant impact" on his son's well-being, and ultimately his family. "This was supposed to be our forever home."Another resident, Becky Wood, called it "a monstrosity"."They're using agricultural land to put something that is ugly and industrious on our doorstep." The company planning the West Lane BESS site, Rewe 8 Ltd, did not respond to requests for comment, but the project website says BESS sites "play a crucial role in decarbonising our national grid and are identified through government policy as critical national infrastructure". 'Irresponsible and crazy' Retired Oxford University engineering science professor Peter Dobson has warned BESSs could become the next legacy fire safety issue, with major risks to the public."The energy stored in one container is the equivalent of three tonnes of TNT," he said. "As soon as the thing goes critical and starts burning or exploding, you've got all the chemical potential of those volatile liquids in the batteries."Fires can start in lithium batteries if they overheat or are damaged, and lithium is difficult to extinguish, he Dobson said it would be like "putting a chemical refinery right next door to somebody's house"."I think it's irresponsible and crazy."He has called on the government to halt all BESS installations until mandatory safety regulations were in place. In England and Wales, decisions on BESSs are made by local planning County Council declared its own climate emergency in 2019, and introduced ambitious carbon-neutral targets. It has since said it is reviewing its net zero commitments under new leadership. Council planning manager Stephen Reed said: "In each application for a battery storage site, we consider any potential safety risks, as well as the broad support for such proposals in national planning policies." A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: "We have high safety standards in place that require manufacturers and industry to ensure batteries are safe throughout their lifespan." Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Climate
- New York Times
As Texas Flood Raged, Camp Mystic Was Left to Fend for Itself
In the first three hours after the National Weather Service sent out an alert at 1:14 a.m. on July 4, warning of 'life-threatening flash flooding' near Kerrville, Texas, the Guadalupe River would rise 20 feet. Yet local leaders would remain largely unheard from, raising questions about both local preparedness and whether the state of Texas should be doing more to notify flood-prone rural counties when they are in danger. Camp Mystic, a girls' camp along the river where at least 27 people lost their lives, experienced severe flooding sometime between 2 and 3 a.m., according to accounts from parents whose children were at the camp. Counselors in one cabin had to force open windows to help young girls get out. 'The girls were saying it was a rushing river,' said Lisa Miller, whose 9-year-old daughter, Birdie, had to climb onto a counselor's back to escape. At the nearby Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly camp, a facilities manager was awake around 1 a.m. when he saw the rising waters and alerted his boss, which prompted a quick effort to move people to higher ground, camp officials said. No lives were lost. Yet even as these dramas were unfolding, many of the key local leaders in Kerr County were still asleep or had not been alerted to the danger. The survival of people in local camps and low-lying areas in many cases depended not on official evacuations, but on whether they were paying attention, on their own, to weather alerts in the middle of the night. After the flood alert shortly after 1 a.m., the National Weather Service went on to put out a series of warnings of mounting intensity, with one at 4:03 a.m. warning of 'catastrophic' flooding. 'This came at night when people were asleep, in bed,' Kerrville's mayor, Joe Herring Jr., said at a news conference. He later told CNN that he had not received the weather alert and was not awakened until 5:30 a.m. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Mom shares daughters escape from Camp Mystic
A couple who had three daughters at Camp Mystic during the tragic flash flooding over Fourth of July holiday weekend has shared their miraculous story of survival. At least 27 little girls and their counselors from the century-old, all-girls Christian camp tragically died when the 'tsunami wall of water' struck the campsite before daybreak on Friday. Five campers and one 19-year-old counselor are among at least 173 people still missing in the floodwaters five days on from the tragedy. Lisa Miller's three daughters, 14-year-old Eliza, 12-year-old Genevieve and nine-year-old Birdie, all miraculously survived the horrific conditions. Little Birdie had the closest brush with danger as she was in a cabin closest to the Guadalupe River with other girls her age. Birdie's father, Miller's husband Nicholas, shared in a post on X that his daughter 'was witness to friends floating away on mattresses and screaming coming from filled cabins.' She was woken about 2.30am to the horrendous storm, unable to go back to sleep due to the noise. When she went to use the bathroom, she noticed the water. Miller said shortly after, the counselors began waking the girls up and asking them to move their belongings onto the bed. Moments later, 'there was too much water outside the door to open it.' She told People that the owner of the camp, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, arrived at the window of the cabin in an effort to rescue the girls and get them to higher ground. A counselor was forced to break a window and little Birdie waited on the cabin porch for each of her friends to be hoisted to safety. The water rose so fast that it was lapping at her shoulders by the time she was finally hoisted onto another counselor's back and whisked to safety. Eastland, considered a camp 'dad' for generations of campers who have come through his doors, tragically died trying to save the lives of girls in his care. 'The evacuation began with my middle daughter's cabin between 2 and 2.30 am,' Nicholas said on X. 'The evacuation warning from officials did not come until 4. No matter your party, please insist on funding the NWS, NOAA and FEMA. Lives can be saved with early detection and rapid response.' The Trump administration has faced mounting criticism for its broad attacks on FEMA and the National Weather Service, raising questions about whether the limited resources and staff after DOGE cuts impeded on the services' ability to broadcast information quickly and effectively. Lisa Miller told the publication she and Nicholas were vacationing in Nice, France, when they first received the alert about flooding at the camp ground. As a former camper and counselor, she initially wasn't too concerned, knowing that staff followed strict protocol and that flooding in the region has historically been minor. It wasn't until a friend informed her that two girls from her youngest daughter's cabin were found further down the Guadalupe River that she realized there had been a 'catastrophic' tragedy. She and her husband frantically tried to book seats on the first flight out of Nice but were met with frequent road blocks, leading Nicholas to make a desperate call-out on X. Miller initially hadn't heard from the staff at the camp itself. She understood that they were 'consumed with the crisis at hand', but fired off a text message to director Mary Liz Eastland, who assured her that all three of her girls were accounted for. Eastland informed her that dozens of other girls - and an entire cabin - were missing, along with several counselors and the owner of the camp, Eastland. It has since emerged the camp sent an email to Camp Mystic families letting them know they'd been in direct contact with the families of all the missing girls. Those who hadn't been contacted were assured their daughters were accounted for. Genevieve's cabin in an area referred to as 'the flats' was one of the first to begin taking in water at about 2am. One of the counselors ran to alert the camp office, sparking the initial wave of evacuations. She and her friends were rushed to the Rec Hall, but as the building began filling with water, they had to once again move to higher ground - a balcony up above the floor. 'Water began rising quickly, coming so close to the balcony that they could touch it, and the waves were lapping just beneath them against the balcony,' Miller said. She praised the 'heroic counselors' who even in the face of such danger kept the youngsters calm by singing camp songs and leading them in prayer. As the chaos was unfolding in the cabins below, Miller's eldest daugher Eliza was blissfully unaware of the dangerous conditions facing the youngest camp members. Her cabin was up on 'Senior Hill' - the highest point of the camp and removed from the bulk of the danger. 'They were totally isolated from the rest of the camp,' she said. 'Their impression was it was just a very bad storm they were weathering together — at the time, it was a bit more of an adventure, or a crazy camp memory, than anything tragic. They were taking pictures and had no idea what was happening below.' Ultimately, all three girls were evacuated from the camp via a Black Hawk helicopter and taken to a reunification center. As the Millers desperately tried to get home from Nice, the girls' grandparents met them and took them home. Nicholas said when he and his wife arrived home, the family huddled in one room and each of the girls began sharing their tales of survival.
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Mom-of-three describes miraculous survival of daughters from Camp Mystic during Texas floods
A couple who had three daughters at Camp Mystic during the tragic flash flooding over Fourth of July holiday weekend has shared their miraculous story of survival. At least 27 little girls and their counselors from the century-old, all-girls Christian camp tragically died when the 'tsunami wall of water' struck the campsite before daybreak on Friday. Five campers and one 19-year-old counselor are among at least 173 people still missing in the floodwaters five days on from the tragedy. Lisa Miller's three daughters, 14-year-old Eliza, 12-year-old Genevieve and nine-year-old Birdie, all miraculously survived the horrific conditions. Little Birdie had the closest brush with danger as she was in a cabin closest to the Guadalupe River with other girls her age. Birdie's father, Miller's husband Nicholas, shared in a post on X that his daughter 'was witness to friends floating away on mattresses and screaming coming from filled cabins.' She was woken about 2.30am to the horrendous storm, unable to go back to sleep due to the noise. When she went to use the bathroom, she noticed the water. Miller said shortly after, the counselors began waking the girls up and asking them to move their belongings onto the bed. Moments later, 'there was too much water outside the door to open it.' She told People that the owner of the camp, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, arrived at the window of the cabin in an effort to rescue the girls and get them to higher ground. A counselor was forced to break a window and little Birdie waited on the cabin porch for each of her friends to be hoisted to safety. The water rose so fast that it was lapping at her shoulders by the time she was finally hoisted onto another counselor's back and whisked to safety. Eastland, considered a camp 'dad' for generations of campers who have come through his doors, tragically died trying to save the lives of girls in his care. 'The evacuation began with my middle daughter's cabin between 2 and 2.30 am,' Nicholas said on X. 'The evacuation warning from officials did not come until 4. No matter your party, please insist on funding the NWS, NOAA and FEMA. Lives can be saved with early detection and rapid response.' The Trump administration has faced mounting criticism for its broad attacks on FEMA and the National Weather Service, raising questions about whether the limited resources and staff after DOGE cuts impeded on the services' ability to broadcast information quickly and effectively. Lisa Miller told the publication she and Nicholas were vacationing in Nice, France, when they first received the alert about flooding at the camp ground. As a former camper and counselor, she initially wasn't too concerned, knowing that staff followed strict protocol and that flooding in the region has historically been minor. It wasn't until a friend informed her that two girls from her youngest daughter's cabin were found further down the Guadalupe River that she realized there had been a 'catastrophic' tragedy. She and her husband frantically tried to book seats on the first flight out of Nice but were met with frequent road blocks, leading Nicholas to make a desperate call-out on X. Miller initially hadn't heard from the staff at the camp itself. She understood that they were 'consumed with the crisis at hand', but fired off a text message to director Mary Liz Eastland, who assured her that all three of her girls were accounted for. Eastland informed her that dozens of other girls - and an entire cabin - were missing, along with several counselors and the owner of the camp, Eastland. It has since emerged the camp sent an email to Camp Mystic families letting them know they'd been in direct contact with the families of all the missing girls. Those who hadn't been contacted were assured their daughters were accounted for. Genevieve's cabin in an area referred to as 'the flats' was one of the first to begin taking in water at about 2am. The family of Blakely McCrory (left)) confirmed on Tuesday she was one of the Camp Mystic campers who died in the flood. Mary Grace Baker (right) also tragically died One of the counselors ran to alert the camp office, sparking the initial wave of evacuations. She and her friends were rushed to the Rec Hall, but as the building began filling with water, they had to once again move to higher ground - a balcony up above the floor. 'Water began rising quickly, coming so close to the balcony that they could touch it, and the waves were lapping just beneath them against the balcony,' Miller said. She praised the 'heroic counselors' who even in the face of such danger kept the youngsters calm by singing camp songs and leading them in prayer. As the chaos was unfolding in the cabins below, Miller's eldest daugher Eliza was blissfully unaware of the dangerous conditions facing the youngest camp members. Her cabin was up on 'Senior Hill' - the highest point of the camp and removed from the bulk of the danger. 'They were totally isolated from the rest of the camp,' she said. 'Their impression was it was just a very bad storm they were weathering together — at the time, it was a bit more of an adventure, or a crazy camp memory, than anything tragic. They were taking pictures and had no idea what was happening below.' Ultimately, all three girls were evacuated from the camp via a Black Hawk helicopter and taken to a reunification center. As the Millers desperately tried to get home from Nice, the girls' grandparents met them and took them home. Nicholas said when he and his wife arrived home, the family huddled in one room and each of the girls began sharing their tales of survival. 'I have no doubt we will be facing trauma issues,' he said. 'I am still reeling,' Miller added. 'The layers of this loss are unfathomable - the absolute heartbreak of the loss of these little girls, and their families' sorrow, is of course paramount on all of our minds.'
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Why spirituality shouldn't be dismissed as unscientific.
spiritual practices health about 1 hour ago Depression, anxiety, and stress are hitting teens and adults harder than ever. But part of the answer is something many overlook or dismiss as unscientific says Dr. Lisa Miller. Spirituality. A psychologist at Columbia University and author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain, Dr. Miller tells Jesse she uses research to show that spirituality isn't just a belief system, it's a measurable force that shapes how we think, feel, and cope.
