Latest news with #TomAmbrose
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Texas floods: rescue teams continue search for missing with more heavy rains forecast
Update: Date: 2025-07-07T11:35:11.000Z Title: Residents in central', 'Texas', 'were observing a day of prayer on Sunday for at least 82 people killed and dozens missing in Friday's', 'devastating flash flooding', ', as a search and rescue operation for survivors began to morph into a grim exercise of recovering bodies. Content: At least 82 people have been killed and dozens remain missing after devastating flash flooding Rescue turns into grim recovery operation Tom Ambrose Mon 7 Jul 2025 13.35 CEST First published on Mon 7 Jul 2025 11.51 CEST From 11.51am CEST 11:51 Hello and welcome to the Texas floods live blog. I am Tom Ambrose and I'll be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours. Residents in central Texas were observing a day of prayer on Sunday for at least 82 people killed and dozens missing in Friday's devastating flash flooding, as a search and rescue operation for survivors began to morph into a grim exercise of recovering bodies. Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counselor still unaccounted for from a riverside summer camp that was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning after torrential pre-dawn rain north of San Antonio. Kerr county's sheriff, Larry Leitha, said at a briefing on Sunday afternoon that 68 people have been confirmed dead there, including 28 children, with the search continuing for the missing girls and their counselor from Camp Mystic, along the river. Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, said in an earlier briefing that another 10 fatalities have been confirmed in neighboring counties. Abbott said that officials were still searching for 41 known missing persons across the state. 'We are seeing bodies recovered all over up and down,' Kerrville's city manager, Dalton Rice, told reporters at an earlier briefing on Sunday. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued, with more than 400 people involved in the search and rescue operation. By Sunday morning, water levels had fallen to just a foot or two higher than before the flood. On Sunday afternoon, people in Kerrville received an emergency alert on their phone, reading: 'High confidence of river flooding at North Folks of river. Move to higher ground.' Further rain on Saturday and into Sunday morning hampered search efforts of crews using boats, helicopters and drones. Abbott promised responders would remain at the scene until every individual was recovered. He said he instructed responders to assume all missing persons were still alive. Read our full report here: Here are the latest headlines from Texas: Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, Associated Press cited local officials as saying. Abbott said additional stretches of heavy rain lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated. Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counsellor from the riverside Camp Mystic still unaccounted for after it was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning. Families were allowed to look around the camp from Sunday morning as nearby searches continued. The Texas Division of Emergency Management chief said on Sunday he was receiving unconfirmed reports of 'an additional wall of water' flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday's rains. 'We're evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,' Nim Kidd said. Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said there would be a full review of the emergency response. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr county and said he would likely visit on Friday, calling what took place 'absolutely horrible'. Asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), he said that was something 'we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working'. 1.35pm CEST 13:35 Here are some of the latest images of the devastation caused by the tragic flash flooding in Texas… 12.54pm CEST 12:54 People have recounted their ordeal after deadly flooding swept through central Texas on Friday morning… 12.29pm CEST 12:29 President Donald Trump, who said on Sunday he would visit the disaster scene, probably this coming Friday, has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves. Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm, Reuters reported. Trump's administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said. Ahead of Friday's floods, the Weather Service office near San Antonio, which oversees warnings issued in Kerr County, had one key vacancy - a warning coordination meteorologist, who is responsible for working with emergency managers and the public to ensure people know what to do when a disaster strikes. The person who served in that role for decades was among hundreds of Weather Service employees who accepted early retirement offers and left the agency at the end of April, media reported. Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the Weather Service under Trump's oversight. 'That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup,' he said referencing his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. 'But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe.' 12.11pm CEST 12:11 As the death toll continues to rise after deadly flash flooding in central Texas, a frantic search is under way for missing campers, vacationers and residents. Hunt resident Macon Ware's five granddaughters had just finished a summer camping session at Camp Mystic, the all-girl camp where dozens of campers were swept away in the flood. 'Some of their friends were there for the second session and my heart goes out to all those little girls,' he says. See the full video below… 12.04pm CEST 12:04 Ramon Antonio Vargas Pope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced his sympathies for the families whose lives have been upended by the flooding in Texas's Hill Country, which left about 80 dead – many of them children – and others missing. After reciting Angelus prayers at the Vatican, the American-born pontiff remarked in English: 'I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in a summer camp in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas. 'We pray for them.' The worldwide Roman Catholic church leader's comments were notable in that they addressed what is the deadliest natural disaster in his home country since he became the first US-born pope ever in May. They were also ecumenical in the sense that the girls' summer camp to which he referred is a Christian – though not specifically Catholic – institution. Updated at 12.26pm CEST 11.51am CEST 11:51 Hello and welcome to the Texas floods live blog. I am Tom Ambrose and I'll be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours. Residents in central Texas were observing a day of prayer on Sunday for at least 82 people killed and dozens missing in Friday's devastating flash flooding, as a search and rescue operation for survivors began to morph into a grim exercise of recovering bodies. Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counselor still unaccounted for from a riverside summer camp that was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning after torrential pre-dawn rain north of San Antonio. Kerr county's sheriff, Larry Leitha, said at a briefing on Sunday afternoon that 68 people have been confirmed dead there, including 28 children, with the search continuing for the missing girls and their counselor from Camp Mystic, along the river. Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, said in an earlier briefing that another 10 fatalities have been confirmed in neighboring counties. Abbott said that officials were still searching for 41 known missing persons across the state. 'We are seeing bodies recovered all over up and down,' Kerrville's city manager, Dalton Rice, told reporters at an earlier briefing on Sunday. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued, with more than 400 people involved in the search and rescue operation. By Sunday morning, water levels had fallen to just a foot or two higher than before the flood. On Sunday afternoon, people in Kerrville received an emergency alert on their phone, reading: 'High confidence of river flooding at North Folks of river. Move to higher ground.' Further rain on Saturday and into Sunday morning hampered search efforts of crews using boats, helicopters and drones. Abbott promised responders would remain at the scene until every individual was recovered. He said he instructed responders to assume all missing persons were still alive. Read our full report here: Here are the latest headlines from Texas: Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, Associated Press cited local officials as saying. Abbott said additional stretches of heavy rain lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated. Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counsellor from the riverside Camp Mystic still unaccounted for after it was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning. Families were allowed to look around the camp from Sunday morning as nearby searches continued. The Texas Division of Emergency Management chief said on Sunday he was receiving unconfirmed reports of 'an additional wall of water' flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday's rains. 'We're evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,' Nim Kidd said. Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said there would be a full review of the emergency response. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr county and said he would likely visit on Friday, calling what took place 'absolutely horrible'. Asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), he said that was something 'we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working'.
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's 100-day Michigan rally ‘pathetic', Democrats say
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I'm Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours. Let's start with the president's Michigan rally last night. Donald Trump has celebrated his 100th day in office with a campaign-style rally in Michigan and an attack on 'communist radical left judges' for trying to seize his power, warning: 'Nothing will stop me.' The president also served up the chilling spectacle of a video of Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador, accompanied by Hollywood-style music and roars of approval from the crowd. Trump's choice of Michigan was a recognition not only of how the battleground state helped propel him to victory over Vice-President Kamala Harris in last November's election, but its status as a potential beneficiary of a tariffs policy which, he claims, will revive US manufacturing. But the cavernous sports and expo centre in the city of Warren, near Detroit, was only half full for the rally, and a steady stream of people left before the end of his disjointed and meandering 89-minute address. 'We're here tonight in the heartland of our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country!' Trump declared. 'In 100 days, we have delivered the most profound change in Washington in nearly 100 years.' The 45th and 47th president falsely accused the previous administration of engineering massive border invasion and allowing gangs, cartels and terrorists to infiltrate communities. 'Democrats have vowed mass invasion and mass migration,' he said. 'We are delivering mass deportation.' Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said: 'Trump's pathetic display tonight will do nothing to help the families he started screwing over 100 days ago. 'Michiganders and the rest of the country see right through Trump, and as a result, he has the lowest 100-day approval rating in generations. If he's not already terrified of what the ballot box will bring between now and the midterm elections, he should be.' Read our full report of the event here: In other news: As Trump defended his broadly unpopular handling of the economy, he criticized Fed chair Jerome Powell , saying: 'I have a Fed person who's not really doing a good job, but I won't say that.' The businessman president who used bankruptcy law to rescue his failed enterprises six times added: 'I know much more about interest rates than he does'. Trump mistakenly attacked the Michigan representative John James , calling the Republican he had endorsed 'a lunatic' for trying to impeach him. That was someone else. Trump supporters praised by the president at a rally included the former member of a violent cult who founded Blacks for Trump, and a retired autoworker who once told people to read David Duke's 'honest and fair' book about race. The US Department of Justice has begun the first criminal prosecutions of immigrants for entering a newly declared military buffer zone created along the border with Mexico, according to court filings. Trump called Amazon executive chair Jeff Bezos on Tuesday morning to complain about a report that the company planned to display prices that show the impact of tariffs. Trump told reporters later that Bezos 'was very nice, he was terrific' during their call, and 'he solved the problem very quickly'. Share
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump claims tariffs bringing in ‘record numbers' amid reports US seeking to isolate China
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I'm Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours. We begin with Donald Trump having claimed that the cost of all products including gasoline and groceries have been coming down as the US takes in 'record numbers' in tariffs. The president also claimed inflation in the US is down, without disclosing any specific data, according to a post on social media platform Truth Social. US government data released on 10 April showed consumer prices unexpectedly fell in March, before Trump's so-called Liberation Day. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the US wants to use trade negotiations with countries to limit their trade with China. This strategy includes asking over 70 nations to block Chinese goods from passing through their territories, discourage Chinese companies from setting up operations there and resist importing low-cost Chinese industrial products. The broader goal is to weaken China's economic position and reduce its leverage ahead of possible high-level negotiations between president Trump and president Xi Jinping. It comes as Chinese state media said the US needs to 'stop whining' about being a victim after 'taking a free ride on the globalisation train', as the trade war between the two countries continued to spiral. In figures earlier today, China revealed better than expected growth of 5.4% for the first quarter, before the effect of Trump's tariffs. In other news: Trump signed a series of new executive orders and memorandums, taking action on a range of issues including social security fraud, federal contracts and the import of critical minerals. The Trump administration is 'looking into' the legality of deporting American citizens to El Salvador if they commit violent crimes, a view the president reiterated in an interview on Fox News today. The White House also said Harvard 'should apologize for antisemitism on its campus' as Trump threatened to remove the university's tax-exempt status. Trump said the school 'should be taxed as a political entity' after it refused to cave in to pressure from his administration to adhere to a list of demands including banning face masks, closing its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Trump responded by cutting $2.3bn in federal grants to the university. A federal judge ruled that Trump could not bar the federal government from working with Susman Godfrey , the law firm that won a $787bn settlement from Fox News for a voting machine maker over lies aired about the 2020 election. The Associated Press has still not been allowed in the White House press pool even after a judge overturned a ban from Trump blocking the news agency. The justice department will have to prove it tried to comply with a federal judge's order to facilitate the release of Kilmar Ábrego García from a Salvadorian prison, after the Trump administration claimed it was powerless to force the return of the accidentally deported refugee who had legally lived in the US for nearly 25 years. In a memorandum, Trump increased pressure on fraud prosecutor programs to ensure undocumented immigrants aren't receiving Social Security funds. Former president Joe Biden dedicated his first major speech since leaving the White House to the importance of social security. Following Biden's speech on the importance of Social Security, a person running the Social Security Administration social media accounts posted a thread accusing the former president of lying. Share
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump's tariffs come into full effect after he signs executive orders boosting coal production
5m ago 11.44 CEST Trump tariffs kick in, spurring more market carnage Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I'll be bringing you all the latest news over the next few hours. We start with news that president Donald Trump's new tariffs have gone into full effect today. When Trump announced the latest round of tariffs on 2 April, he declared that the US would now tax nearly all of America's trading partners at a minimum of 10% – and impose steeper rates for countries that he says run trade surpluses with the US. The 10% baseline had already gone into effect on Saturday. Trump's higher import tax rates on dozens of countries and territories took hold at midnight, Washington DC time, AP reported. The steeper levies run as high as 50% – with that biggest rate landing on small economies that trade little with the US, including the African kingdom of Lesotho. Some other rates include a tax of 47% on imports from Madagascar, 46% on Vietnam, 32% on Taiwan, 25% on South Korea, 24% on Japan and 20% on the European Union. Some of these new tariffs build on previous trade measures. Trump last week announced a tariff of 34% on China, for example, which would come on top of 20% levies he imposed on the country earlier this year. He has since threatened to add an another 50% levy on Chinese goods in response to Beijing's recently promised retaliation. That would bring the combined total to 104% against China. China said it will take 'resolute measures' to defend its trading rights, but gave no details on how it will respond. In other news:
The Guardian
10-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Donald Trump's tariffs hurting US business, Republican lawmakers warn
Republican lawmakers warn Trump tariffs hurting US business Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I'm Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you the latest news over the next few hours. We start with news that Republicans are growing concerned that president Donald Trump's tariffs are hurting the US economy, with constituents telling them they are struggling financially. Business owners, exporters and farmers have told lawmakers that Trump's expanding trade war and threat of steep tariffs against Canada, Mexico and Europe are having a direct impact on business in the US, The Hill reports. 'The Canadian tariffs will definitely have a detrimental impact on the economy of Maine and on border communities in particular,' said senator Susan Collins. 'We have for example a major paper mill in northern Maine right on the border that gets its pulp from Canada.' 'That mill alone, which is by far the biggest employer in the region, employs 510 people directly. I've talked to the owner of that mill, the imposition of a 25% tariff could be devastating,' she added. 'I have every major industry in Kentucky lobbying me against them; the cargo shippers, the farmers, the bourbon manufacturers, the home-builders, the home sellers – you name it – fence manufacturers,' senator Rand Paul told The Hill. 'The bourbon industry says they're still hurt from the retaliatory tariffs' during Trump's first term, he said. 'So do the farmers.' Share
