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Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Climate
- Boston Globe
How the cataclysmic Texas floods unfolded, minute by minute
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It made like a swirl right around those cabins like a toilet bowl,' said Craig Althaus, who worked at the camp in Texas Hill Country for 25 years. Advertisement At least 78 people died in the floods that swept through Central Texas on Friday - including 28 children - authorities said Sunday, and dozens more remain missing in one of the deadliest freshwater floods in decades. Ten children are still missing from Camp Mystic, the Christian camp on the banks of the river where for nearly a century girls have come to escape the heat of their hometowns: singing praise songs, learning how to fish and ride horseback. Advertisement Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Sunday that rescue operations and efforts to find the missing were ongoing, even as serious flood conditions threaten again. Abbott said he visited Camp Mystic on Sunday and called the scene 'nothing short of horrific - to see what these young children went through.' Authorities said they had little hint of the cataclysmic events to come when the National Weather Service issued its first flood watch for the area at 1:18 p.m. Thursday. The areas along the river in Kerr County were not only packed with campers at about 18 summer camps but thousands more celebrating the holiday in tents and cabins, some of which had been in Texas families for generations. The Weather Service cautioned that 1 to 2 inches of widespread rainfall was likely, with 'the potential for a lower probability but much higher impact flood event overnight.' But extraordinary conditions were working against them, meteorologists say. Atmospheric conditions sent plumes of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico deep into Texas - an area so prone to flooding that it is called 'Flash Flood Alley'- a system that then stalled and eventually dumped catastrophic levels of rain onto the same area in hours. The Weather Service said it gave localities enough time to warn residents, but the most dire alerts came in the early hours Friday, with the flash flood warnings blasting from phones at 1:14 a.m. Many locals said those alerts never reached them. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice told reporters that he went for a jog along the river between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Friday and noticed only a light rain. He went home to shower and returned to a park to check conditions. By 5:20 a.m., the river had risen dramatically, surging from 7 to 29 feet within a few hours, authorities say. Advertisement Thomas Rux, 65, said he was awakened by thunder and fire officials with a bullhorn banging on his door, which convinced him to leave his trailer by the river about 4:30 a.m. He grabbed his keys and wallet, and fled to a nearby business on higher ground. From there, he could see the river rise with shocking speed. Eventually his 44-foot-long RV drifted by, carried by the raging waters, lodging between two trees. His alarm company called to see if someone has broken in. No, he told them, the river had just carried away his home. Serena Aldrich, an attorney from San Antonio, said in an interview that her two girls, ages 12 and 9, were asleep at Camp Mystic - the beloved summer camp about to celebrate its centenary - when the storm bore down. The older girl, who was bunking in an elevated area they call 'Senior Hill,' was awakened by loud thunder. The younger girl, who was in a different cabin, woke up when water started flooding in. Groups of girls in their pajamas, some without shoes, were guided by their counselors up the side of a tall hill to a camp area with the pavilion and the famous lighted sign - that can be seen for miles around - that says 'Mystic.' They were eventually rescued from a neighboring camp by helicopter. She said that the family was 'heartbroken' by the experience, but that the young counselors had been heroic. Advertisement Amid the darkness and chaos, Camp Mystic director Richard 'Dick' Eastland was also trying to help evacuate the youngest campers in the Bubble Inn cabin, witnesses said. He and his wife, Tweety, had been directing the camp since 1974, now alongside their sons. Eastland taught the girls how to bait a hook and fish, said Paige W. Sumner, the director of philanthropy at the local senior center who attended the camp for years. 'He was like a dad to everyone,' Sumner said in an interview. Whenever one of the campers was injured or there was another emergency, she recalled, Eastland would jump up and quickly buzz to the scene in a golf cart. Eastland was found in a black SUV, along with three girls he had tried to save, and died on the way to the hospital, local authorities said. Around 5 a.m., Collene Lucas left her job at a convenience store, not thinking much about the rain and wildly rushing river, which sits less than 100 yards from the home she shares with her husband, David. 'We're familiar with that sound,' Lucas, 62, said. When she got news of the flooding, she tried to head home to reach her husband, but was stymied when her truck stalled out in the water. Only when his dogs began raising a ruckus and emergency responders arrived at his door did David step out of bed - into two feet of water. 'I've been here close to 40 years, and I've never seen anything like this,' said David Lucas, 73, gray-bearded and weary. Never had water come close to the house, he said, not until the day it all but swallowed it whole. Advertisement The river would eventually leave miles of devastation in its wake, with pecan, cypress and live oak trees toppled, and houses ripped from their foundations. At Camp Mystic, cots were overturned, swimming towels still on the line covered in muck and stuffies abandoned. More than 850 people would be saved in the next 36 hours, authorities said. One little girl survived by clinging to a mattress for hours as it floated down the river, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told reporters. By Sunday, rescue operations continued, with helicopters crisscrossing the cloudy skies above the First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville, and authorities vowed to continue searching until everyone believed lost had been found. Rain threatened and authorities warned ominously of another 'wall of water' headed their way. Inside the church, the morning light streamed through stained glass windows where the roughly 200 parishioners wrestled with all their community had faced in recent days, and all that lay ahead. The church had lost one of its beloved members. Jane Ragsdale, the director and co-owner of the nearby Heart O' the Hills camp, had died in the flooding. The camp, along the banks of the Guadalupe River, was not in session when the disaster hit. But Ragsdale had been described as the 'heart and soul' of the camp, where she had served since the 1970s, according to the camp website. Inside her church Sunday morning, the service began with hymns and a long silence. The pastor giving the children's message told the young faces before her: 'It's okay to be angry about what's happened. It's okay to be really scared. It's okay to be terribly sad.' The Rev. Jasiel Hernandez Garcia said he, too, had struggled to find the right words amid such tragedy. Advertisement 'This is not how this weekend was supposed to be,' Garcia said from the pulpit. It was supposed to be a time of celebrations and fireworks, of time with family and making new friends at nearby camps. 'In the blink of an eye, everything changed. The waters came quickly, too quickly. Homes flooded, roads disappeared, and people were swept away,' he said. 'What felt strong was made fragile. What seemed secure was taken away in just a moment.' Dennis reported from Kerrville and Ingram, Texas, Gowen from Lawrence, Kansas, and Gregg from Washington. Scott Dance, Ben Noll and Matthew Cappucci contributed to this report.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Heat wave starts to break in Southern California. More May gray looms on the horizon
By Wednesday afternoon Southern Californians had made it through the brunt of this week's heat wave with slightly lower temperatures on tap for Thursday and Friday. Woodland Hills hit 95 degrees Wednesday, which was among the hottest temperatures recorded in Los Angeles County, but the mercury remained below levels necessary to topple heat records, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld. The Weather Service's heat advisory for the Los Angeles area, which was expected to be in place through Thursday, expired at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Inland areas experienced more extreme heat this week, with Palm Springs hitting 104 degrees at 2 p.m. Wednesday and Blythe in eastern Riverside County reaching 102 degrees. Los Angeles area temperatures are expected to remain above average Thursday — reaching the low 80s along the coast and into the 90s in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. By Friday, however, a low pressure system will sweep into the region, bringing with it the return of May gray and cooler temperatures, Schoenfeld said. That system will remain in effect over the weekend and into Monday, posing the possibility of overcast beach weather on Memorial Day, she said. May gray is fueled by onshore breezes that push the layer of cool moist air that hangs above the Pacific Ocean further inland, creating persistent cloud cover. Read more: What causes the May gray that stubbornly blocks the sun for days in Southern California? Another round of heat may be on the horizon starting by the middle of next week, but forecasters aren't yet certain how hot it will get, Schoenfeld said. This week's blistering weather brought an elevated risk of fires in tall grass and brush areas across the region. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department rushed to halt the spread of a 4-acre brush fire in the Sepulveda Basin that left one person with minor burns and caused temporary disruptions to Metro bus service. The fire was reported shortly after noon near Victory and Balboa boulevards in Van Nuys and fire crews were able to stop the fire's advance by 2 p.m., according to LAFD. A heightened risk of brush fires will continue this week due to breezy onshore winds, with the strongest gusts predicted across the Antelope Valley and in mountain and foothill areas, Schoenfeld said. Despite the wind, the region is not under a red flag alert since recent rains lowered the risk of widespread wildfires. However, as temperatures continue to climb through the summer, grasses and brush will dry out and become ideal wildfire fuel, Schoenfeld said. "We do want people to start thinking about our next fire season," she said. "It's important the public start thinking about what they need to do to prepare their homes, their family, their go bags, learn evacuation routes and sign up to get emergency notifications." 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.
Los Angeles Times
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
Heat wave starts to break in Southern California. More May gray looms on the horizon
By Wednesday afternoon Southern Californians had made it through the brunt of this week's heat wave with slightly lower temperatures on tap for Thursday and Friday. Woodland Hills hit 95 degrees Wednesday, which was among the hottest temperatures recorded in Los Angeles County, but the mercury remained below levels necessary to topple heat records, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld. The Weather Service's heat advisory for the Los Angeles area, which was expected to be in place through Thursday, expired at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Inland areas experienced more extreme heat this week, with Palm Springs hitting 104 degrees at 2 p.m. Wednesday and Blythe in eastern Riverside County reaching 102 degrees. Los Angeles area temperatures are expected to remain above average Thursday — reaching the low 80s along the coast and into the 90s in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. By Friday, however, a low pressure system will sweep into the region, bringing with it the return of May gray and cooler temperatures, Schoenfeld said. That system will remain in effect over the weekend and into Monday, posing the possibility of overcast beach weather on Memorial Day, she said. May gray is fueled by onshore breezes that push the layer of cool moist air that hangs above the Pacific Ocean further inland, creating persistent cloud cover. Another round of heat may be on the horizon starting by the middle of next week, but forecasters aren't yet certain how hot it will get, Schoenfeld said. This week's blistering weather brought an elevated risk of fires in tall grass and brush areas across the region. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department rushed to halt the spread of a 4-acre brush fire in the Sepulveda Basin that left one person with minor burns and caused temporary disruptions to Metro bus service. The fire was reported shortly after noon near Victory and Balboa boulevards in Van Nuys and fire crews were able to stop the fire's advance by 2 p.m., according to LAFD. A heightened risk of brush fires will continue this week due to breezy onshore winds, with the strongest gusts predicted across the Antelope Valley and in mountain and foothill areas, Schoenfeld said. Despite the wind, the region is not under a red flag alert since recent rains lowered the risk of widespread wildfires. However, as temperatures continue to climb through the summer, grasses and brush will dry out and become ideal wildfire fuel, Schoenfeld said. 'We do want people to start thinking about our next fire season,' she said. 'It's important the public start thinking about what they need to do to prepare their homes, their family, their go bags, learn evacuation routes and sign up to get emergency notifications.'
eNCA
22-04-2025
- Climate
- eNCA
Heavy rain, flooding risk in EC coastal regions
EAST LONDON - The Weather Service has issued an Orange level 5 warning for disruptive rain. It's warning of flooding, dangerous driving conditions, and communities being cut off. WATCH | Severe storm batters Eastern Cape Those engaged in marine activities are being warned of strong winds. According to Sisa Msiwa, spokesman for Amathole District Municipality, their disaster management team has been activated and is on standby. They inform the community through WhatsApp groups, and they encourage people to prioritise their safety above all else.. eNCA reporter Ronald Masinda files this report.
New York Times
31-03-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
Silver Fire in California Prompts Evacuations
A wildfire in eastern California that ignited on Sunday has spread to 1,250 acres and has prompted evacuations, state fire officials said. The wildfire, named the Silver fire, began around 2:11 p.m. north of Bishop, a city about halfway between Yosemite National Park and Death Valley National Park, according to Cal Fire, the state fire agency. The agency shared photos on social media that showed bright flames and clouds of smoke burning a grassy, rural area below towering mountain ranges. Strong winds helped intensify the fire overnight, Cal Fire said on social media Monday morning, adding that it had 'significantly increased' resources to stifle the blaze. 'The fire is actively threatening structures, critical infrastructure, endangered species habitats, watersheds, and cultural and heritage resources,' the agency said. Officials ordered evacuations in parts of Inyo County and Mono County and closed a 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 6. The fire was zero percent contained, and there were no known injuries from the fire as of late Sunday night, according to Cal Fire. On Sunday, efforts to fight the fast-moving fire were complicated by strong winds that grounded some aircraft, Cal Fire said. The National Weather Service said a high wind warning was still in place in the region on Monday morning and would remain through the evening. The Weather Service warned that gusts could reach up to 65 miles per hour and that strong winds could blow down power lines and trees.
