Latest news with #Suchan
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
After L.A. firestorms and Texas floods, forecasters haunted by warnings not being heard
Meteorologists warned about the chance of flash floods days before Texas' Fourth of July disaster that killed at least 133. Yet, local officials in the hardest-hit areas say they were shocked by the scale of the devastation. "I have cried on multiple occasions," Chris Suchan, chief meteorologist with WOAI-TV Channel 4, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, wrote in a recent Facebook post. "At times, I've been overwhelmed with forecaster regret that I could have done more the night before in my weather report." Forecasters often issue alerts for possible flooding, landslides and "red flag" fire warnings multiple times a year. Sometimes, those warnings are followed by major catastrophes, but other times they are not. And that has led some to become complacent, rather than heeding the alerts. Read more: Warnings ignored: The grim connection between the L.A. wildfires and Texas floods Two massive disasters this year — the Texas floods and Los Angeles firestorms — are leading some to grapple with the question of how to get officials and the public to care and take action. In the case of Texas, Suchan said he is experiencing what he calls "forecaster regret." That's despite having presented viewers a weather forecast showing "a signal of localized flash flooding" on the afternoon of July 3 — hours before the disaster struck. During the 6 p.m. broadcast later that day, Suchan pointed to an area "where we could see storms develop and then train over the same area. ... And that is a classic flash-flooding signal here in 'Flash Flood Alley.'" The disconnect between available warnings and the action officials and the public takes has been seen repeatedly over the years, from inadequate preparations in California ahead of fire weather or flood alerts, to the failure of some communities to evacuate ahead of the catastrophic tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. Of course, there are times when alerts are taken seriously, and forecasters and officials are in the same room. For instance, the publicity around Hurricane Hilary in 2023 reached a fever pitch as it headed toward Southern California. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass stood at press briefings along with then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and the National Weather Service. No deaths were reported in California, despite significant flooding and harrowing rescues in the Coachella Valley. There are other instances where preparation has helped Southern California emerge from periods of severe fire weather or landslide danger — such as through public safety power shutoffs, or crews emptying debris basins to catch mud pouring from landslides. Read more: L.A.'s flood-control system survived epic storm. But it's losing battle with climate change The National Weather Service office in Oxnard, which issues forecasts for Los Angeles, has also made attempts to more clearly get its messages across. In 2019, the weather service issued an "extreme red flag" fire weather warning that got plenty of attention. During last fire season, the agency issued an unprecedented five "particularly dangerous situation" warnings ahead of forecast extreme fire weather conditions — including one on Jan. 6, a day before L.A. County's devastating wildfires began. Despite the weather service giving briefings as early as Dec. 30 about forecasted increasing fire weather danger, Bass was overseas in Ghana on Jan. 7, when the fire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades began spreading rapidly. And the L.A. Fire Department, a Times investigation found, chose not to assign roughly 1,000 available firefighters for emergency deployment in advance of the Palisades fire, which ultimately killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes, businesses and other structures. The Times has previously reported that the day before Bass left for Ghana, her aides received an email, on Jan. 3, from the city's emergency management department warning of "high confidence in damaging winds and elevated fire conditions occurring next week." A spokesperson for the mayor said the email did not suggest imminent catastrophe. Bass later fired Crowley as fire chief, and accused her of failing to provide adequate warning of the potential for a cataclysmic wind event. One simple lesson that could be learned from past disasters is that both officials and the public need to better respond to forecasters' warnings. Read more: Six months after the fire, has Mayor Karen Bass done enough for the Palisades? An after-action report by the weather service from the Joplin, Mo., tornado disaster in 2011 found that most residents didn't immediately head to shelter after hearing the first warning. Among the reasons: apathy, a bias toward optimism and a feeling that sirens were activated too often in Joplin. But the weather service at that time also said it could do a better job at supporting "effective decision-making," which would help empower people to quickly make appropriate decisions. The agency said it should ensure that tools are in place to easily conduct conference calls with key entities, such as sheriff's offices and other emergency officials. Suchan remembers listening to weather service meteorologists recall the Joplin tornado, which resulted in 158 deaths — the first single tornado in the U.S. to cause more than 100 deaths since 1953. "I listened to them describe feeling scarred by the disaster. They asked themselves if their warnings were early enough, strong enough," Suchan wrote in his Facebook post. "The room was very silent through that presentation. It left a mark on me but you can't fully understand that feeling until you experience it for yourself." In Texas, flooding alerts circulated in the hours and days before the Fourth of July disaster. On July 2, Texas state officials, citing the weather service, warned that "heavy rainfall with the potential to cause flash flooding" was anticipated over the following days. They said swift-water rescue boat squads would be available to assist with flood rescues. At 1:18 p.m. on July 3, the weather service issued a flood watch for Texas' Kerr County and other areas. On July 4 at 1:14 a.m., a flash-flood warning was issued, sounding the alarm for "life threatening flash flooding." At Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors died, leadership was aware of the earlier flood watch, and also got a cellphone alert of the weather service's flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. But they did not begin to evacuate campers in cabins near the Guadalupe River until more than an hour later, the Washington Post reported. The Post reported that waters began rising at the all-girls camp around 2 a.m., and breached at least one cabin around 3 a.m. Parts of Camp Mystic are considered at high risk of flooding, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At a different camp along the same river, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, a facilities manager saw the river rising around 1 a.m., and told his boss, who had been monitoring reports of the storms approaching, the Associated Press reported. Camp officials there acted quickly to relocate 70 children and adults from a building near the river, and no one died. There was no warning from local authorities, the AP said. Read more: FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show In an interview, Suchan said he wonders "are there things that you could have done faster, stronger, or do things differently?" "We're looking at a massive casualty event and it weighs on my heart," he said. His counterpart at a local CBS affiliate offered a similar warning ahead of the flooding. Bill Taylor, weather chief at KENS-TV Channel 5 in San Antonio, showed a forecast weather model showing a severe storm "just sitting still" for hours in the area around Kerr County. "This would be a huge flood problem if this happens," Taylor told his viewers on July 3. In an interview, Taylor said he doesn't feel guilt about how he conveyed his forecast, saying he gave all the information he had about the flood risk. Still, "moving forward, in all honesty, I've even thought to myself recently how much of my verbiage will now change because of this disaster." He and other forecasters say they hope people take things like flood watches more seriously moving forward, especially if they live in or visit low-lying areas prone to flooding. Read more: Unusual summer storms in SoCal bring dry lightning, flooding concerns for weekend "When we say 'flood watch' in this region, I mean, you've really got to be paying attention," Taylor said. One lingering question is how closely officials in Kerr County — like the sheriff's office and emergency managers — were monitoring the storm. "If those emergency managers were sleeping that night, oh my gosh ... they won't have a job anymore," said Alex Tardy, a former weather service meteorologist who owns Weather Echo, a consulting company. Alerts about possible future floods should've triggered some kind of action well ahead of the storm — especially given the campgrounds located in the area, Tardy said. Suchan said a proper alerting system should be installed along the Guadalupe River. He noted that further downstream in neighboring Kendall County, the community of Comfort has sirens that were activated to warn of flooding on July 4, "and there were no casualties." "I don't want to ever see a nightmare like [this]," Suchan said. "It's 2025. We shouldn't be doing this." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
After L.A. firestorms and Texas floods, forecasters haunted by warnings not being heard
Meteorologists warned about the chance of flash floods days before Texas' Fourth of July disaster that killed at least 133. Yet, local officials in the hardest-hit areas say they were shocked by the scale of the devastation. 'I have cried on multiple occasions,' Chris Suchan, chief meteorologist with WOAI-TV Channel 4, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, wrote in a recent Facebook post. 'At times, I've been overwhelmed with forecaster regret that I could have done more the night before in my weather report.' Forecasters often issue alerts for possible flooding, landslides and 'red flag' fire warnings multiple times a year. Sometimes, those warnings are followed by major catastrophes, but other times they are not. And that has led some to become complacent, rather than heeding the alerts. Two massive disasters this year — the Texas floods and Los Angeles firestorms — are leading some to grapple with the question of how to get officials and the public to care and take action. In the case of Texas, Suchan said he is experiencing what he calls 'forecaster regret.' That's despite having presented viewers a weather forecast showing 'a signal of localized flash flooding' on the afternoon of July 3 — hours before the disaster struck. During the 6 p.m. broadcast later that day, Suchan pointed to an area 'where we could see storms develop and then train over the same area. ... And that is a classic flash-flooding signal here in 'Flash Flood Alley.'' The disconnect between available warnings and the action officials and the public takes has been seen repeatedly over the years, from inadequate preparations in California ahead of fire weather or flood alerts, to the failure of some communities to evacuate ahead of the catastrophic tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. Of course, there are times when alerts are taken seriously, and forecasters and officials are in the same room. For instance, the publicity around Hurricane Hilary in 2023 reached a fever pitch as it headed toward Southern California. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass stood at press briefings along with then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and the National Weather Service. No deaths were reported in California, despite significant flooding and harrowing rescues in the Coachella Valley. There are other instances where preparation has helped Southern California emerge from periods of severe fire weather or landslide danger — such as through public safety power shutoffs, or crews emptying debris basins to catch mud pouring from landslides. The National Weather Service office in Oxnard, which issues forecasts for Los Angeles, has also made attempts to more clearly get its messages across. In 2019, the weather service issued an 'extreme red flag' fire weather warning that got plenty of attention. During last fire season, the agency issued an unprecedented five 'particularly dangerous situation' warnings ahead of forecast extreme fire weather conditions — including one on Jan. 6, a day before L.A. County's devastating wildfires began. Despite the weather service giving briefings as early as Dec. 30 about forecasted increasing fire weather danger, Bass was overseas in Ghana on Jan. 7, when the fire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades began spreading rapidly. And the L.A. Fire Department, a Times investigation found, chose not to assign roughly 1,000 available firefighters for emergency deployment in advance of the Palisades fire, which ultimately killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes, businesses and other structures. The Times has previously reported that the day before Bass left for Ghana, her aides received an email, on Jan. 3, from the city's emergency management department warning of 'high confidence in damaging winds and elevated fire conditions occurring next week.' A spokesperson for the mayor said the email did not suggest imminent catastrophe. Bass later fired Crowley as fire chief, and accused her of failing to provide adequate warning of the potential for a cataclysmic wind event. One simple lesson that could be learned from past disasters is that both officials and the public need to better respond to forecasters' warnings. An after-action report by the weather service from the Joplin, Mo., tornado disaster in 2011 found that most residents didn't immediately head to shelter after hearing the first warning. Among the reasons: apathy, a bias toward optimism and a feeling that sirens were activated too often in Joplin. But the weather service at that time also said it could do a better job at supporting 'effective decision-making,' which would help empower people to quickly make appropriate decisions. The agency said it should ensure that tools are in place to easily conduct conference calls with key entities, such as sheriff's offices and other emergency officials. Suchan remembers listening to weather service meteorologists recall the Joplin tornado, which resulted in 158 deaths — the first single tornado in the U.S. to cause more than 100 deaths since 1953. 'I listened to them describe feeling scarred by the disaster. They asked themselves if their warnings were early enough, strong enough,' Suchan wrote in his Facebook post. 'The room was very silent through that presentation. It left a mark on me but you can't fully understand that feeling until you experience it for yourself.' In Texas, flooding alerts circulated in the hours and days before the Fourth of July disaster. On July 2, Texas state officials, citing the weather service, warned that 'heavy rainfall with the potential to cause flash flooding' was anticipated over the following days. They said swift-water rescue boat squads would be available to assist with flood rescues. At 1:18 p.m. on July 3, the weather service issued a flood watch for Texas' Kerr County and other areas. On July 4 at 1:14 a.m., a flash-flood warning was issued, sounding the alarm for 'life threatening flash flooding.' At Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors died, leadership was aware of the earlier flood watch, and also got a cellphone alert of the weather service's flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. But they did not begin to evacuate campers in cabins near the Guadalupe River until more than an hour later, the Washington Post reported. The Post reported that waters began rising at the all-girls camp around 2 a.m., and breached at least one cabin around 3 a.m. Parts of Camp Mystic are considered at high risk of flooding, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At a different camp along the same river, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, a facilities manager saw the river rising around 1 a.m., and told his boss, who had been monitoring reports of the storms approaching, the Associated Press reported. Camp officials there acted quickly to relocate 70 children and adults from a building near the river, and no one died. There was no warning from local authorities, the AP said. In an interview, Suchan said he wonders 'are there things that you could have done faster, stronger, or do things differently?' 'We're looking at a massive casualty event and it weighs on my heart,' he said. His counterpart at a local CBS affiliate offered a similar warning ahead of the flooding. Bill Taylor, weather chief at KENS-TV Channel 5 in San Antonio, showed a forecast weather model showing a severe storm 'just sitting still' for hours in the area around Kerr County. 'This would be a huge flood problem if this happens,' Taylor told his viewers on July 3. In an interview, Taylor said he doesn't feel guilt about how he conveyed his forecast, saying he gave all the information he had about the flood risk. Still, 'moving forward, in all honesty, I've even thought to myself recently how much of my verbiage will now change because of this disaster.' He and other forecasters say they hope people take things like flood watches more seriously moving forward, especially if they live in or visit low-lying areas prone to flooding. 'When we say 'flood watch' in this region, I mean, you've really got to be paying attention,' Taylor said. One lingering question is how closely officials in Kerr County — like the sheriff's office and emergency managers — were monitoring the storm. 'If those emergency managers were sleeping that night, oh my gosh ... they won't have a job anymore,' said Alex Tardy, a former weather service meteorologist who owns Weather Echo, a consulting company. Alerts about possible future floods should've triggered some kind of action well ahead of the storm — especially given the campgrounds located in the area, Tardy said. Suchan said a proper alerting system should be installed along the Guadalupe River. He noted that further downstream in neighboring Kendall County, the community of Comfort has sirens that were activated to warn of flooding on July 4, 'and there were no casualties.' 'I don't want to ever see a nightmare like [this],' Suchan said. 'It's 2025. We shouldn't be doing this.'
Hamilton Spectator
16-06-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Pan American Energy Signs Option Agreement to Acquire 100% Interest in the Tharsis Project, Northwest Territories
CALGARY, Alberta, June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE: PNRG | OTC: PAANF | FRA: SS60) ('Pan American' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive option agreement (the 'Agreement') with Northern Critical Minerals Corp. ('NCM'), under which Pan American has the right to acquire an up to 100% interest in the Tharsis project (the 'Project'), located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. The Project consists of seven mineral claims totaling 8,750 hectares and encompasses the prospective Squalus Lake Alkaline Complex (SLAC). The Project is located approximately 180 kilometers north-northeast of Yellowknife and 55 kilometers southeast of Wekweètì. Exploration to date has confirmed the presence of carbonatite-bearing rocks and potential for associated rare earth elements (REE) and high field strength element (HFSE) mineralization. Under the terms of the Agreement, Pan American may earn up to a 100% interest in the Tharsis Project over four stages by making aggregate cash payments of $400,000, issuing 800,000 common shares, and funding a total of $5 million in exploration expenditures over four years, as follows: During the option period, NCM will act as operator of the Tharsis Project, and will manage exploration activities in coordination with Pan American. Upon completion of the fourth stage, Pan American will hold a 100% interest in the Tharsis Project, subject to a 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty in favour of NCM, of which 1% may be repurchased for $1 million. The Project covers the SLAC, which is a Proterozoic-aged intrusive complex featuring ringed and core carbonatite intrusions, which are globally recognized for their potential to host high-grade light rare earth element (LREE) mineralization. Located north-northeast of Yellowknife, the Project is accessible by helicopter and floatplane. Exploration work completed to date by NCM has included detailed geochemical sampling and a high-resolution UAV magnetic survey. The Project features strong magnetic anomalies interpreted to reflect zoned carbonatite phases, with surface rock samples returning elevated concentrations of REEs and HFSEs. The mineralization is spatially associated with mega-crystic pyroxene-rich fenite alteration zones and narrow carbonatite dykes, interpreted to be the surface expression of a vertically extensive intrusive system. This style of alteration and mineralization is analogous to other globally significant REE deposits and represents a high-priority target for future exploration and drilling. Qualified Person The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed, verified, and approved by Jared Suchan, Ph.D., Technical Advisor at the Company and a 'Qualified Person' as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Suchan has verified the data through a comprehensive review of drill logs, core samples, and geological interpretations. For a discussion of the Company's data verification and QA/QC procedures and processes, please see its technical report, entitled TECHNICAL REPORT On the Big Mack Property Kenora Mining District Northwestern Ontario, Canada , a copy of which may be obtained from the Company's profile at . About Pan American Energy Corp. Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE: PNRG) (OTC: PAANF) (FSE: SS60) is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties containing battery and critical metals in North America. The Company has executed an option agreement in Canada with Magabra Resources pursuant to which it has acquired a 75% interest in the Big Mack Lithium Project, 80 km north of Kenora, Ontario, with the right to earn an additional 15% for a total 90% interest. Pan American has also entered into an option agreement with Northern Critical Minerals Corp. to acquire up to a 100% interest in the Tharsis REE Project, located in the Northwest Territories. The project hosts the Squalus Lake Alkaline Complex, a Proterozoic-age carbonatite-bearing intrusion prospective for rare earth and high field strength elements. On Behalf of the Board of Directors: Adrian Lamoureux CEO Contact: Phone: (587) 885-5970 Email: info@ Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding the Company's ability to earn an interest in the Project, and the geological potential of the Project generally, as well as future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are 'forward-looking statements.' These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.
