The soggy end to an otherwise bone-dry year came as something of a surprise. Only weeks earlier, officials sounded the alarm about a rare third appearance of La Niña — a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific that is often associated with dry conditions in the state. On Thursday, skiers in Mammoth enjoyed some of the deepest snow in the nation.
Officials said the parade of atmospheric rivers dousing the state will probably continue in the days ahead, providing a glimmer of optimism after a year marked by water restrictions, drying wells and perilous lows on the Colorado River.
But though California’s wet season has defied expectations so far, the pattern must persist to truly undo several years of significant rain deficits.
“The moisture that we’re getting now is a big help, but we need more — a lot more — to really put a major dent in the drought,” said Richard Heim, a meteorologist with the National Centers for Environmental Information and one of the authors of the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Still, the damp December has come as a welcome change. While the drought monitor shows nearly 81 percent of the state under severe, extreme or exceptional drought, that’s a notable improvement from three months ago, when about 94 percent of the state was classified in the three worst categories.
Heim said next Thursday’s update should show even more gains.
“When we’re dealing with drought in the West, in some regards we have to take it slow in showing improvement because reservoirs take forever to refill and you really need a good mountain snowpack,” he said.
“And we don’t know if we have a good mountain snowpack for the snow season until somewhere around April 1.”
State climatologist Mike Anderson of the Department of Water Resources said the storms could signal the decay of La Niña, which arrived as anticipated but started to weaken around the winter solstice on Dec. 21, when Earth stopped tilting away from the sun in the Northern Hemisphere. Around the same time, regional high-pressure systems weakened, which allowed some of the storms to push through, he said.
“We’re kind of seeing things that are more in tune with what we would expect climatologically, and lot of it has to do with that high pressure yielding in its strength,” Anderson said. “In previous winters, it hung in there strong and prevented storms from making their way into California.”
The late December storms have also delivered some improvements when it comes to the state’s snowpack and reservoirs.
California’s snow water equivalent, or the amount of water contained in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, was at 156 percent of normal for the date on Thursday.
The state’s two largest reservoirs also saw gains, with storage in Lake Shasta at 1.47 million acre-feet, up from 1.4 million at the start of December, and Lake Oroville at 1.12 million acre-feet, up from 965,000 at the start of December, Anderson said.
But he cautioned that more moisture is needed. Though high for the date, the snow water equivalent is still only 51 percent of its April 1 average, meaning that if no more rain and snow were to fall, the wet season would end with about half of what’s needed.
Similarly, though Shasta and Oroville have improved, both remain well below normal for the time of year.
“It just has to sustain itself, because we still have two more of the wettest months of the year to go, and we really need them to be wet as well, where this year they were record dry,” Anderson said.
But though the storms have brought welcome moisture, they have also created instances of havoc across the state.
Winter hazards, including snow, ice and fog, have already prompted some road closures in portions of Central and Northern California, and travel could be “near impossible” in some places through the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
Hannah Chandler-Cooley, a meteorologist with the weather service in Sacramento, said the atmospheric rivers are coming from the tropics, not the Arctic, so they are warm systems that could bring rain instead of snow to elevations as high as 7,000 feet.
Flood watches and warnings have been issued in several areas, including Lake Tahoe, Hanford and Sacramento, where several inches of rain are expected to fall.
Officials in the region are particularly concerned about flooding in communities along the Cosumnes, Mokelumne and Sacramento rivers, as well as potential urban flooding in areas with poor drainage and low-lying areas and roadways, she said.
“There will be small towns and homes and roads and farms that could be impacted, but it will be a bit more localized to just those few river points, and not all of the river systems in Northern California,” she said.
Despite the potential hazards, the storms are undoubtedly beneficial for the parched state. The latest outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center now shows an equal chance of above- or below-average precipitation in Northern California in January, but it’s not a guarantee.
Heim recalled that 2021 saw a similarly wet December, which was then followed by California’s driest-ever January through March on record in 2022. He feared a similar pattern could play out next year.
“A few months of really wet weather, well, it’s not going to make much of a dent in these deficits that have accumulated over the years and are reflected in the low reservoirs,” Heim said.
He added that Lake Mead, the largest reservoir on the Colorado River, has more than 20 years of precipitation deficits to make up for.
But such dire conditions seemed a world away from the scene at Mammoth Mountain on Thursday, where officials were bracing for up to 5 feet of snow on top of the 2 to 3 feet received earlier this week.
“This has been an incredible start to the season here at Mammoth,” said Lauren Burke, the resort’s spokesperson. “It is a true winter wonderland up here.”
(Hayley Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The driving ban in New York’s second-most-populous city was lifted just after midnight Thursday, Mayor Byron Brown announced.
At least 40 deaths in western New York, most of them in Buffalo, have been reported from the blizzard that raged across much of the country, with Buffalo in its crosshairs on Friday and Saturday.
“Significant progress has been made” on snow removal, Brown said at a news conference late Wednesday. Suburban roads, major highways and Buffalo Niagara International Airport had already reopened.
Still, Brown urged residents not to drive if they didn’t have to.
The National Guard was going door-to-door to check on people who lost power, and authorities faced the possibility of finding more victims as snow melted amid increasingly mild weather. Buffalo police and officers from other law enforcement agencies also searched for victims, sometimes using officers’ personal snowmobiles, trucks and other equipment.
Some victims have yet to be identified, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a storm briefing Thursday.
“There are families in this community who still have not been able to identify where a loved one is, they’re missing,” he said.
With the death toll already surpassing that of the area’s notorious Blizzard of 1977 and rising daily, local officials faced questions about the response to last week’s storm. They insisted that they prepared but the weather was extraordinary, even for a region prone to powerful winter storms.
“The city did everything that it could under historic blizzard conditions,” the mayor said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, officials watched a forecast that calls for some rain later in the week as snow melts in temperatures approaching or topping 50 degrees.
The National Weather Service forecast that any flooding would be minor, but state and local officials said they were preparing nonetheless. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state was ready to deploy nearly 800,000 sandbags and more than 300 pumps and generators for flooding response efforts if needed.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The “deep and fast-moving” storm system — a channel of wind in the atmosphere that transports water vapor from the tropics — pummeled parts of northwest California and Oregon on Tuesday, killing five people in three car crashes all involving felled trees, Oregon authorities said. The system was expected to continue through the week, delivering excessive rainfall that could cause flash flooding, mudslides and debris flows, forecasters said.
At times, the rate of rainfall could be up to an inch per hour, said William Churchill, a forecaster and meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.
Though the West often experiences atmospheric storms, what made this one unusual, he added, was the expected strength and duration. “California in general can largely use this precipitation,” Churchill said. “Unfortunately, when too much occurs all at once, it does cause problems.”
The greatest risk, he added, was in previously burned areas along the coast, where rapid, prolonged rainfall could cause mudslides or debris flows.
As of Wednesday afternoon, about 3 to 6 inches of rain had fallen in the hardest hit areas, Churchill said.
The storm system was expected to sweep through the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, as well as the central Plains. Areas across the West Coast as well as parts of Central and Southern California saw rain through early Wednesday.
Another system was expected today, resulting in more rain to the Pacific Northwest southward to Central California, forecasters said, adding that this “unsettled weather pattern” would likely continue into the weekend.
Close to 5 million people in the Seattle and Portland, Ore., metro areas were under high wind warnings Tuesday, with sustained wind speeds reaching up to 30 mph and gusts of up to 60 mph, Churchill said. The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had recorded gusts of more than 50 mph Tuesday, he added. “That’s the more damaging component,” Churchill said of the wind gusts.
In Portland, the heavy downpour flooded roads and rivers, while high winds felled trees and power lines, knocking out power. As of Wednesday afternoon, some 50,000 customers were without power across Oregon, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks power interruptions. Some 25,000 customers were without power in California and Washington state, according to the site.
Some regions already soaked Tuesday could receive up to 7 more inches of rain, Churchill said.
The area likely to be hardest hit, he added, was the port city of Eureka and the surrounding region.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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More than 56,000 people were still in emergency shelters after bad weather disrupted Christmas celebrations in the eastern, central and southern Philippines.
Most of the deaths were from drowning while among the missing were fishermen whose boats capsized, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
Over 4,000 houses were damaged by the floods along with roads and bridges, and some areas were without power or water, the agency reported.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“The city, unfortunately, is always the last one to open,” Mark Poloncarz, the county executive, said at a news briefing. “It’s embarrassing, to tell you the truth.
“I don’t want to see this anymore — I’m sick of it — I’m a city resident myself,” Poloncarz said. “I know the mayor’s not thrilled to hear it, but I don’t care anymore. I want it done.”
Mayor Byron Brown, in a separate news conference, suggested that Poloncarz was struggling with the stress of the crisis. “People have been working around the clock since the beginning of this storm,” he said. “You know, some people handle that pressure a lot differently. Some keep working. Some keep trying to help the residents of our community, and some break down and lash out.”
Asked by a reporter if he believed he should resign over the public’s frustration and the loss of life from the storm, Brown defended his actions over the past week.
“I don’t think I should resign,” he said. “Again, these were historic blizzard conditions.”
The public finger-pointing was a dramatic development in a region where residents have been increasingly frustrated with the pace of storm response. The blizzard — which officials have characterized as one of the worst in recent memory — arrived Friday. The snow lasted roughly 36 hours and was accompanied by blinding winds. Six days later, residents were still attempting to dig out. Many had been trapped in their homes without heat, as utility crews struggled to fix substations encased in ice.
Late Wednesday, with many roads finally cleared, officials announced that they would lift a travel ban in Buffalo today, starting at 12:01 a.m.
Poloncarz, too, has come under criticism from residents who believe he should have banned motorists from county roads sooner than he did. Hundreds of drivers became stranded on highways and smaller streets, beginning Friday, as whiteout conditions and heavy snowfall trapped them for hours. Of the 37 deaths attributed to the storm in Erie County, four victims were found in their cars.
“I feel like there’s still more that could have been done,” said Felicia Williamson, who has run a day care called My Precious Angels in Buffalo for more than 20 years and has been part of a grassroots rescue and recovery effort. “If you were going to create a driving ban, you could have created a driving ban on Thursday to make people stay home.”
Poloncarz acknowledged the controversy on Twitter on Wednesday. “As I said earlier today in response to whether the driving ban should have been instituted earlier, I do not know if it would have changed anything but it was my decision and I bear full responsibility,” he wrote. “As JFK said, ‘Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.’ ”
Of those who died in the storm, more than a dozen were found outside. Other deaths were attributed to delays by emergency personnel. Some people froze in their homes. Some died in their cars. Several suffered cardiac arrest while trying to shovel or use snowblowers. Officials have said they expect the death toll to rise as more victims are found and identified.
On Wednesday, hundreds of National Guard troops fanned out across the area. Officials said that their mission had largely shifted from rescue operations to checks of homes that lost power and to the enormous project of removing snow from streets.
As the temperature rose, four-person crews in about 25 Humvee vehicles checked on some of the hundreds of homes that still remained without power, officials said.
Soldiers armed with shovels helped ease access for utility companies fixing downed lines.
“Any place that is out of power, we’re sending people to check on them,” said Eric Durr, director of public affairs at the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.
(Michael D. Regan, Lola Fadulu & Hurubie Meko, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Officials unveiled the new map — which ranks the likelihood of certain areas to experience wildfire as “very high,” “high” or “moderate” — this month and are taking public comments through February. If approved, nearly 17 million acres will fall under the worst ranking from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, a 14.6 percent increase since the map was last updated in 2007.
The change is largely a reflection of the state’s worsening fire activity, said Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire’s deputy director of community wildfire preparedness and mitigation. That includes larger, faster and more frequent blazes, many of which are being fueled by a buildup of vegetation and California’s warming, drying climate.
“That increase really is reflective of what our firefighters have been experiencing over the last several years — more severe wildfires in areas that maybe historically, or decades ago, didn’t have the same susceptibility to wildfires as they do today,” Berlant said. “While the results of the map aren’t necessarily surprising, they really are reflective of a changing climate and an increasing severity of wildfires.”
The proposed map covers about 31 million acres that are categorized as the State Responsibility Area, or the area for which the state is responsible for preventing and suppressing wildfires. The SRA is composed primarily of rural and unincorporated areas and represents about a third of California’s land, Berlant said. It does not include federally managed areas, such as those overseen by the U.S. Forest Service, or cities and large urban areas managed by local governments. Such urban areas will be folded into a second round of map updates next year.
But the findings paint a stark portrait of the escalating danger posed by California’s blazes, which killed nine people this year, primarily in rural communities. The update puts nearly 55 percent of the state’s SRA acreage into the “very high” category, up from about 48 percent in 2007.
Toggling between the previous map and the current iteration, it’s easy to see how “the zones kind of oozed ‘high fire severity’ down into what used to be low severity or moderate areas,” said Doug Teeter, incoming chair of the Rural County Representatives of California.
Among the counties with the biggest changes were Colusa, which saw a 53 percent increase in its “very high” fire hazard areas; Yolo, which saw a 51 percent increase; and Santa Clara, which saw a 47 percent increase.
In San Diego County, nearly 1.2 million acres are considered State Responsibility Area. Of those, 73.4 percent were ranked as very high, 10.9 percent as high and 15.7 percent as moderate. The “very high” category saw grew 5.8 percent since 2007.
“In reality, a lot has changed just in the last several years as far as our climate, the severity of wildfires,” Berlant said, adding that 2017 was really the year of “defining change.” According to Cal Fire, 12 of the state’s 20 largest blazes on record have happened since that year. The state’s worst-ever fire year, 2020, saw more than 4.3 million acres burned.
Officials said the hazard map is based primarily on physical conditions — such as an area’s topography, vegetation and fire history — and is intended to show the likelihood of fire behavior over a 30- to 50-year period.
It is not the same as risk mapping, which is used by insurance companies and can account for short-term efforts such as defensible space clearing and fire-resistant building upgrades.
“Public education about where current wildfire hazards exist is essential to reducing the threat to local communities and maintaining access to affordable insurance,” said a statement from Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “I encourage Californians to ask questions in this public process and to learn more about the tools that exist to help communities and governments reduce their local risks.”
Cal Fire said the map could help guide residents’ decisions about where to live and local governments’ decisions about where to build. It will not have direct implications for homeowners insurance, the agency said, although many residents in recent years have reported skyrocketing rates related to worsening fires.
“While insurance companies use similar methodologies to calculate risk as they price their insurance offerings to consumers, insurance risk models also incorporate many factors beyond this process, and many of these factors can change more frequently than those that Cal Fire includes in its hazard mapping,” the agency said in a news release.
Insurance Department spokesperson Michael Soller said that California this year became the first state in the nation to require insurance premium discounts for owners of homes and businesses that are made safer from wildfires.
The new rules mandate that insurance companies reward consumers who take mitigation actions under the state’s Safer From Wildfires framework, which includes a list of actions that home and businesses owners can take to protect themselves from fires.
He said updated hazard mapping was also among the recommendations in the agency’s first report on climate insurance, issued last year.
“Really one of the biggest uses is to give people information, whether they’re deciding where to move, or where to build, or where to put local resources into fire breaks and things like that,” he said. “We’re on record in terms of continuing to support update mapping. It’s a benefit for the public.”
Teeter said the map could have implications for new developments in particular, including factors such as the width of roads, turnaround areas or spacing between homes. It may also affect property owners, who must provide documentation of defensible space compliance when they sell properties in high or very high fire hazard severity zones in accordance with state law, he said.
Berlant, of Cal Fire, said some of the map’s changes come from improved science, and some areas even saw their hazard levels decrease since 2007. That’s largely because better tools have allowed for more accurate mapping of weather and wind at a local scale, meaning the map is “more fine-tuned and refined to specific canyons and specific county areas, versus the entire portion” of a region, he said.
Cal Fire will be holding public hearings on the drafted map in the 56 counties that have State Responsibility Areas until Feb. 3, and the public is invited to weigh in and ask questions. Berlant said officials are particularly interested in scientific input.
Cities and other incorporated areas will undertake a similar process next year and will be added to the map in a second phase of the project, he said.
The final map is expected to be adopted later in 2023.
(Hayley Smith & Sean Greene, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Seven people were found dead overnight in Buffalo, according to Mayor Byron Brown, bringing that city’s total storm-related fatalities to over two dozen. Hours later, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed several more bodies had been discovered.
He said more than half of the deceased had been located outdoors.
Local officials warned the death toll could increase as emergency responders began to examine cars left buried in snowdrifts in areas where more are feared to have died. Meanwhile, the area is bracing for a few more inches of precipitation atop the roughly 4 feet of snow that has blanketed western New York since late last week.
A driving ban remained in place in Buffalo, a city of roughly 276,000 people, where many roads were still impassable, and nearly 5,000 people remained without power. Residents began to venture out in search of food and supplies as some local grocery stores reopened, even as authorities urged people to stay off the roads because of fears the traffic could hinder rescue and recovery efforts.
Poloncarz, whose jurisdiction includes Buffalo, said 100 New York State Police members were being deployed to the city along with additional National Guard troops in an attempt to keep drivers off the roads as the county tries to clear streets and allow trucks to bring in food and fuel.
The police will be positioned at entrances to Buffalo and major intersections throughout the city to enforce the ban on driving in New York’s second-largest city. Many of the major highways into Buffalo remained closed Tuesday.
“Please, please, please do not drive in the city of Buffalo unless you are an emergency responder,” Poloncarz said in a news conference Tuesday. “I am begging. Stay home.”
Poloncarz’s comments came as he and other local officials expressed worry about a forecast of rain and warmer temperatures later in the week that could elevate the risk of major flooding across the region as the snow melts.
“We are a little bit concerned,” said Dan Neaverth Jr., the Eric County commissioner of emergency services.
He said crews were being deployed not only to plow the streets but also to attempt to remove ice and blockages from county storm drains ahead of what Poloncarz described as a potential “rapid melt.”
Across the city, thousands of stranded residents remained without power — and some without water because of pipes that had burst in the below-freezing temperatures. Scores of people had taken refuge at shelters across the city, where food and supplies were rapidly dwindling.
Eric Walker drove to Buffalo from Rochester on Thursday to be with his family, including his 84-year-old mother, Annie Brown, for the holidays.
At her senior living center on the city’s east side, the automatic doors were stuck open during the height of the storm. The cold caused pipes to burst, flooding the lobby and stopping water service in the 100-apartment building. Icicles formed on the shades of wall sconces.
Walker said he tried to close the door manually, but as others came into the building to get to their elderly friends and family, it kept being reopened. He had been taking jugs down to the first floor, trudging through water in the lobby and taking water to flush the toilet from the burst pipes. The company that runs the building had not updated residents on when water might be restored.
In the Allentown neighborhood, north of downtown, Christina Banas said she and her husband had been without power since Friday. Without any means to cook, the couple lived off protein shakes until they were able to dig out one of their cars on Monday. They picked up pizza and chicken fingers, the first warm food they’d had since Thursday.
“It’s so cold in the house, it just put us into survival mode,” Banas said. “We weren’t even hungry. It’s almost like being in a state of stasis.”
While officials expressed hope Tuesday that power would be restored to most of the city later in the week, business owners in some of the stricken areas expressed concern they could be without power for months because of supply chain issues.
(Holly Bailey & Justin Sondel, WASHINGTON POST)
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With the storm nearing its end, Buffalo residents started to venture out, particularly as their supplies of food ran low. But with many roads in western New York impassable, thousands still without power and more snow expected to continue falling through the end of the night on Monday, officials said that conditions remained dangerous and that they expected the death toll could rise.
“This has been a very difficult and dangerous storm,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference on Monday. “It’s been described as a once-in-a-generation storm. And everything that has been forecast, we have gotten in the city of Buffalo, and then some.”
A driving ban remained in place in Buffalo, a city of around 270,000 people, and in some of its immediate suburbs as authorities pleaded with residents to remain home. Brown said many of the city’s streets had yet to be plowed, with the early focus on clearing paths for ambulances, police officers, rescue vehicles and medical workers.
Complicating efforts, Gov. Kathy Hochul said, were “scores and scores of vehicles” that had been abandoned in ditches and snowbanks during the storm and had yet to be removed. In some cases, she said, snowplows and rescue vehicles had been trapped.
On Monday night, President Joe Biden approved an emergency disaster declaration for the state.
Mark C. Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, said 27 deaths were linked to the storm in his county. Fourteen of those dead were found outside, and three were in a vehicle, he said. Four others died because they did not have heat, and three died in “cardiac-related events” while removing snow from outside homes and businesses.
In Niagara County, the sheriff’s office said a 27-year-old man in Lockport died of carbon monoxide poisoning after heavy snow blocked an external furnace, causing carbon monoxide to enter the house.
Western New York, where residents take pride in their resilience in the face of brutal winter weather, appeared to have suffered the worst of a fierce storm that brought bitter cold to much of the United States. At one point on Friday, roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population was under winter warnings or advisories.
Other regions appeared to be recovering after strong winds took down power lines in the central, eastern and northern United States. In Maine, one of the states hit hardest by power outages, more than 17,000 homes and businesses remained without power on Monday afternoon, according to state utility companies’ maps.
But the storm has lingered in the Buffalo area. “We can see, sort of, the light at the end of the tunnel,” Poloncarz said. “But this is not the end yet. We are not there.”
Police officers and rescue workers roamed the streets of Buffalo on snowmobiles and trucks, while members of the National Guard, wearing military gear, patrolled in jeeps. Even as residents took steps to dig themselves out, many restaurants and supermarkets remained closed, sending people to social media to try and find needed supplies.
Dave Lewis, 52, of Buffalo, walked for 45 minutes while navigating snow drifts before he found an open corner store, Buff City Market. Lewis said he purchased “tuna fish, jerky and pop.”
“I had to get food,” Lewis said. “I’ll take what I can get.”
The shop’s owner, Ali Omer, said a metal barrier he had placed over the window of the store froze shut on Friday. He managed to pry it open on Sunday, and residents had been pouring in ever since to buy whatever supplies they could.
Latasha Leeper, 38, paid a man $100 to remove a 4-foot snow drift behind her car that had forced her to miss her Sunday shift at a nearby group home.
Leeper, who cares for teenagers with autism, said three of her colleagues who were scheduled to work only on Friday ended up working through the weekend because others like her remained unable to drive.
“Our staff is struggling,” she said.
Brandon Andrews, 23, said his 80-year-old step-grandmother was trapped without power for several days until neighbors helped clear a pathway through the snow to her apartment building. Andrews, a student at the University at Buffalo, said she kept warm with a blanket and space heater powered by a battery or generator.
“She couldn’t feel her feet,” he said Monday, as he helped her navigate through the snow and ice to a relative’s house down the street.
The snow is expected to end today and to be mostly concentrated north of the city, before moving south overnight, said Jon Hitchcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
With very little wind in the forecast, he added, the Buffalo region should not expect the same level of blizzard-like conditions it experienced over the weekend.
The weather service said Monday that more than 49 inches of snow was recorded over three days at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, the highest total in Erie County. Jefferson County received between 22 and 41 inches of snow, Niagara County recorded up to 24 inches of snow, and Lewis County saw up to 30 inches of snow over the same time period, according to the weather service.
More than 11,000 customers remained without power in Erie County as of Monday evening. Poloncarz said electricity “might not get restored until Tuesday.” Officials said the airfield at the Buffalo airport would remain closed until Wednesday morning.
(Michael D. Regan, Michael Gold & Mihir Zaveri, NEW YORK TIMES)
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The problems were happening Monday in large, troubled water systems like Jackson, Miss., where residents were required over Christmas to boil water months after most lost service because of a cascade of problems from years of poor maintenance.
They also are happening in Shreveport, La., where some residents had no water Monday. In Selma, AL, the mayor declared a state of emergency because they city worried it would run out of water. Workers at a food bank in Greenville, SC, opened their doors to a rush of water and were trying to save $1 million in food. Police departments around Atlanta said their 911 systems were being overwhelmed by unnecessary emergency calls about broken pipes.
Dozens of water systems either had boil advisories in place because of low pressure or warned of bigger catastrophes if leaks from broken pipes weren’t found and water shut off.
The culprit was temperatures that dropped below freezing Thursday or early Friday and have spent only a few hours if any above 32 degrees since then.
Water expands when it freezes, bursting pipes that aren’t protected. Then when the temperature rises, those broken pipes start leaking hundreds or thousands of gallons of water.
And over a holiday weekend, when many businesses are closed, those leaks can go undetected for days, Charleston, S.C., water system spokesperson Mike Saia told WCSC-TV.
Charleston was on the verge of a boil water requirement for its hundreds of thousands of customers that could close restaurants and other businesses.
The system puts out about 50 million gallons of water during a typical winter day. Over the holiday weekend, its output was about 100 million gallons. More than 400 customers reported burst pipes, so between unreported leaks, closed businesses and empty vacation homes, the system figures thousands of leaky pipes are gushing water.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts,” Saia told the TV station.
The situation in Jackson was not as dire as August, when many of the capital’s 150,000 people lost running water after flooding exacerbated longstanding problems in one of the capital city’s two water treatment plants. Residents had to wait in lines for water to drink, cook, bathe and flush toilets.
But there were people without water pressure and the city set up an emergency water distribution site on Christmas.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The scope of the storm has been nearly unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60 percent of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.
Travelers’ weather woes continued, with hundreds of flight cancellations already and more expected after a bomb cyclone — when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm — developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow. More than 3,000 domestic and international flights were canceled on Sunday, and there were more than 9,500 delays, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
The storm unleashed its full fury on Buffalo, with hurricane-force winds and snow causing whiteout conditions, paralyzing emergency response efforts. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said almost every firetruck in the city was stranded Saturday and implored people Sunday to respect an ongoing driving ban in the region. Officials said the airport would be shut through Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service said 4 feet of snow had fallen by Sunday.
Daylight revealed cars nearly covered by 6-foot snowdrifts and thousands of houses, some adorned in unlit holiday displays, dark from a lack of power. With snow swirling down untouched and impassable streets, forecasters warned that an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow was possible in some areas through early this morning amid wind gusts of 40 mph. Police said Sunday evening that there were two “isolated” instances of looting during the storm.
Two people died in their suburban Cheektowaga, N.Y., homes Friday when emergency crews could not reach them in time to treat their medical conditions. County Executive Mark Poloncarz 10 more people died in Erie County during the storm, including six in Buffalo, and warned there may be more dead.
“Some were found in cars, some were found on the street in snowbanks,” said Poloncarz. “We know there are people who have been stuck in cars for more than 2 days.”
Freezing conditions and day-old power outages had Buffalo residents scrambling to get to anywhere that had heat amid what Hochul called the longest sustained blizzard conditions ever in the city. But with streets under a thick blanket of white, that wasn’t an option for people like Jeremy Manahan, who charged his phone in his parked car after almost 29 hours without electricity.
“There’s one warming shelter, but that would be too far for me to get to. I can’t drive, obviously, because I’m stuck,” Manahan said. “And you can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes without getting frostbit.”
Ditjak Ilunga of Gaithersburg, Md., was on his way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, for Christmas with his daughters Friday when their SUV was trapped in Buffalo. Unable to get help, they spent hours with the engine running, buffeted by wind and nearly buried in snow.
By 4 a.m. Saturday, their fuel nearly gone, Ilunga made a desperate choice to risk the howling storm to reach a nearby shelter. He carried 6-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy clutched their Pomeranian puppy, following his footprints through drifts.
“If I stay in this car I’m going to die here with my kids,” Ilunga recalled thinking. He cried when the family walked through the shelter doors. “It’s something I will never forget in my life.”
The storm knocked out power in communities from Maine to Seattle. But heat and lights were steadily being restored across the U.S. According to poweroutage.us, fewer than 68,000 customers were without power Sunday at 6 p.m. — down from a peak of 1.7 million.
Concerns about rolling blackouts across eastern states subsided Sunday after PJM Interconnection said its utilities could meet the day’s peak electricity demand. The mid-Atlantic grid operator had called for its 65 million consumers to conserve energy amid the freeze Saturday.
Across New England, there were about 40,000 customers still without power Sunday evening, including 34,000 in Maine. In New York, about 16,000 households were still without power Sunday evening, including 14,000 in Erie County, where utility crews and hundreds of National Guard troops battled high winds and struggled with getting stuck in the snow.
Storm-related deaths were reported in recent days all over the country: 12 in Erie County, N.Y., ranging in age from 26 to 93 years old, and another in Niagara County where a 27-year-old man was overcome by carbon monoxide after snow blocked his furnace; 10 in Ohio, including an electrocuted utility worker and those killed in multiple car crashes; six motorists killed in crashes in Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky; a Vermont woman struck by a falling branch; an apparently homeless man found amid Colorado’s subzero temperatures; and a woman who fell through Wisconsin river ice.
In Jackson, Miss., city officials on Christmas Day announced that residents must now boil their drinking water due to water lines bursting in the frigid temperatures.
In Buffalo, William Kless was up at 3 a.m. Sunday. He called his three children at their mother’s house to wish them Merry Christmas and then headed off on his snowmobile for a second day spent shuttling people from stuck cars and frigid homes to a church operating as a warming shelter.
Through heavy, wind-driven snow, he brought about 15 people to the church in Buffalo on Saturday, he said, including a family of five transported one-by-one. He also got a man in need of dialysis, who had spent 17 hours stranded in his car, back home, where he could receive treatment.
“I just felt like I had to,” Kless said.
(Carolyn Thompson & Jake Bleiberg, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Arctic blast sent temperatures tumbling, some at record-breaking speeds, as blizzards throttled the Great Lakes region and western New York. Even winter-tested cities like Chicago and Detroit shuttered holiday attractions and urged people to stay inside.
The air was so chilly that vapor rose from the waters of Ohio River and Lake Michigan.
The storm that the National Weather Service described as “once in a generation” began Thursday and is expected to last through Christmas weekend, ultimately carving a 2,000-mile path across much of the country. By Friday evening, the blitz of elements had intensified into a “bomb cyclone,” which forms when cold, dry air from the north slams into warm, moist air from the tropics. The danger zone extended from Canada to Mexico, and from Washington state to Florida.
In the United States, where almost half of the Lower 48 states were subject to powerful winds, 12 governors declared states of emergency. Outages caused by storm gusts zapped power along the East Coast and in Texas, with the worst impacts in Virginia and North Carolina.
“I called it a kitchen sink storm because it is throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a Friday news conference. “We’ve had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures and everything that Mother Nature could wallop at us this weekend.”
Travelers nationwide who defied suggestions to stay home were forced to plow through logistical nightmares.
A total of 5,100 flights within, into or out of the country were canceled, and 8,400 others were delayed Friday, disrupting holiday travel plans for thousands of travelers, according to Flight Aware, a flight tracking service.
Major airports in Cleveland, Chicago and Buffalo, New York, reported Friday morning that more than half of their departing flights were canceled, according to Flight Aware. Freezing rain led to the closure of all runways at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, scrambling holiday trips for thousands of people.
Some carriers, including Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air, canceled more than one-third of their flights Friday. Train and bus systems shut down. Road closures stretched for hundreds of miles. Highway traffic froze to a standstill.
Authorities tallied at least nine deaths on the road as the storm moved through the country — the Kansas Highway Patrol and Oklahoma Highway Patrol each reported three deaths from storm-related crashes; Kentucky reported two traffic deaths; Ohio reported one.
Chey Eisenman, who runs a car service in Minneapolis, said drivers were struggling on the slick pavement.
“They barely get the cars pulled out of the ditch, and there’s more cars in the ditch,” she said. “I think people are just frazzled trying to take their loved ones to the airport, and maybe some inexperienced Uber drivers.”
More than 200 million Americans were under alerts for potentially hazardous weather in their area, the National Weather Service said, amounting to “one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever.” Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tallahassee were all expected to set records, respectively, for their coldest Christmas Eves.
Defying its adage to power through any conditions, the U.S. Postal Service said the storm had forced dozens of post offices to close, and both Amazon and FedEx also warned of package delays interrupting the frenzied pre-Christmas rush.
Throughout the frozen zone, public libraries and police stations opened their doors to those seeking warmth, and charities focused on helping vulnerable people kicked into high gear. Lisa Freeman, executive director of Compass House, a homeless shelter in Buffalo, said outreach teams had to act quickly to avoid suffering or deaths. As the storm rolled in, volunteers scoured areas where people were known to sleep in tents or piles of blankets.
“You walk and try to find people,” Freeman said. “Then you go back to your car and warm up. It’s crazy and cold and you just have to try to manage.”
By midafternoon, authorities in the area had imposed a travel ban. “This is why,” one Buffalo weather account tweeted, embedding a video of blinding whiteout conditions on the road. Winds peaked at 71 mph. Visibility remained less than one-quarter mile on Friday and, at times, dropped to zero.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown delivered an afternoon update on the dire conditions from his darkened home after he and thousands of other residents lost power as the storm dumped what is expected to total as much as 4 feet of snow on the lakefront city. As of 5 p.m., when the temperature stood at a frigid 7 degrees, the city’s electricity provider, National Grid, was estimating that as many as 20,000 customers were without power.
Even the city’s two warming centers were without electricity but conditions were too dangerous, the utility provider said, for its crews to work to restore it.
“If you lose power in your home, probably the safest thing right now is to shelter at home as opposed to going out and trying to find a shelter,” Brown said.
The city instituted a driving ban on Friday because of “whiteout conditions” across the region, but the mayor said stranded drivers who ignored the ban were “clogging up the 911 system” and that their calls were not being considered “high priority calls at this time.”
“I didn’t think it would be this bad,” said Jaeger Martino, a 23-year-old college student from Niagara Falls who said he left his home to try to move his car to keep it from getting stuck in the snow. “But when I got in my car, my windshield was frozen and it was just a complete whiteout, you couldn’t see anything ahead of you.”
In Colorado, ice and snow coated roads. Airlines canceled 647 flights out of Denver International Airport in 24 hours. The Coliseum, home of the National Western Stock Show every January, became a warming center for hundreds of people who lacked shelter.
In Michigan, the wind was blowing too hard Friday for anyone to fix the power outages that affected thousands, utility officials said, but hundreds of field workers were prepared to keep at the problem through Christmas Day.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said she was deploying the National Guard to haul timber to the Oglala Sioux and Rosebud Sioux tribes and help with snow removal.
“We have families that are way out there that we haven’t heard from in two weeks,” Wayne Boyd, chief of staff to the Rosebud Sioux president, said.
Fearing that some are running out of food, the tribe was hoping to get a helicopter on Saturday to check on the stranded.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe, meanwhile, was using snowmobiles to reach members who live at the end of miles-long dirt roads.
“It’s been one heck of a fight so far,” said tribal President Frank Star Comes Out.
(Danielle Paquette & Emmanuel Felton, WASHINGTON POST; NEW YORK TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The high-tide mark will reach 7 feet at 8:08 a.m. on Friday and the same level at 8:54 a.m. on Saturday. At the same time, waves will be in the 3-to-5-foot range at some beaches.
The weather service says flooding is most likely to occur at Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Seaside and Cardiff state beaches, as well as the Oceanside Strand.
There will be a minus 1.8-foot low tide at 3:33 p.m. Friday and a minus 1.5-foot low at 5:08 p.m. on Saturday. The drop will expose the wonders to be found in local tide pools. Beachgoers should not turn their backs to the ocean when visiting the pools.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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King tides occur around the world each year, but they most often impact the Pacific coast of the U.S. in the winter from December to February. This year, the king tides are predicted to hit the California coast this week and Jan. 21 and 22. Researchers expect them to reach nearly 8 feet in parts of San Diego County.
What are king tides?
The largest tides of the year, king tides occur when the moon, Earth and sun are aligned — specifically during a perigee, or when the moon is closest to the Earth during a new or full moon. These perigean events result in larger tides and typically happen three to four times a year.
In general, California’s tides are mixed semidiurnal, meaning we see two high tides and two low tides each day. King tides “are the furthest end of this spectrum,” explains Laura Engeman, a coastal resilience specialist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanology’s Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaption.
So, while San Diegans will see very high tides during this event, we’ll also see very low tides, which offer the chance to see tide pools and critters that are typically hidden underwater.
How high will the tide be?
In San Diego, scientists measure tides with gauges located in Imperial Beach, National City, the Broadway Pier, Quivira Basin in Mission Bay and in La Jolla.
This year, the first king tides are expected to reach San Diego’s coast, in La Jolla, at 8:08 a.m. on Friday. The tide gauge in National City predicts tides will be 7.72 feet at 8:17 a.m. that morning, which is the highest tide prediction in San Diego.
Engeman notes, however, that different locations have varying thresholds for high tides based on their elevation. For example, in a low-lying place like the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve in Imperial Beach, it won’t take much for a king tide to spill over onto the road or a bike path.
What can we learn from these tides?
King tides can give us an idea of what the coast will look like as sea levels continue to rise. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that sea levels along the U.S. coast will increase up to 12 inches by 2050.
“These [water level] extremes will become more frequent,” said Engeman, and what looks like a very high tide today may, in the future, be our new normal.
By observing king tides, experts and city officials can plan for the impacts of flooding and erosion that come with sea level rise, but Engeman notes that we don’t just have flooding potential during king tidal events.
High tides throughout the year can cause flooding and erosion, especially when coupled with large waves from coastal storms and sea level rise.
Where can San Diegans see king tides?
There are many places along San Diego’s coast to see the highs and lows that come with king tides. You can find tide predictions for a beach near you at https://tinyurl.com/2p96ts96.
Generally, at places like Oceanside or Cardiff-by-the-Sea, which have very little beach, visitors can see how king tides will push the water up the sand. At Torrey Pines State Beach, the tide can come up as far as the stairs leading to the cliffs above. Imperial Beach can also offer a good view of the high tides.
Low tides will come in about seven hours after the high tides peak. At this time, San Diegans can explore tide pools or parts of the beach that are typically underwater. Engeman points to the La Jolla Tide Pools or Torrey Pines State Beach and encourages visitors to be careful not to step on any marine animals while there.
Are there any organized events?
On Jan. 21, the Tijuana Estuary Visitor’s Center will host a hike for participants to learn about how the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve measures water depth, as well as how it’s adapting to sea level rise and flooding.
On Jan. 22, the Friends of Rose Creek will host an event to view the king tides at Rose Creek Marsh and Estuary.
(Maura Fox, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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“Batteries or candles?” a worker asked a woman toting a toddler on her hip, and handed the child a plastic candy cane filled with sweets.
Just days before Christmas in Rio Dell, the former lumber town was grappling Wednesday with the aftermath of early Tuesday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake that injured at least 17 people, shook homes off foundations, damaged water systems and left 72,000 Humboldt County customers without electricity, some for more than a day.
By Wednesday afternoon, power was restored to the homes of tens of thousands of county residents, and Christmas lights wrapped around trees on Rio Dell’s main street came back on. Still, about 2,500 people remained without electricity and most of the town’s 3,500 residents lacked safe drinking water, according to Pacific Gas & Electric and local officials.
Boil water advisories were issued for Rio Dell and parts of nearby Fortuna because of damaged water systems. In Rio Dell, portable toilets were set up downtown.
Twenty-six homes were deemed unsafe, leaving an estimated 65 people displaced, most of whom were expected to be staying with family and friends, said Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp. Another 37 homes were damaged, and even those that suffered no physical cracks required intense cleanup inside, where the floors are cluttered by toppled shelves and broken dishware.
Two people ages 83 and 72 died because they couldn’t get timely care for medical emergencies during or just after the quake.
Along this stretch of Northern California’s coast, earthquakes are common, and people talk about them much like the weather. But the one that shook people from their homes was different to many who found themselves tossed violently from their beds.
When his house began to shake, Chad Sovereign ran into his 10-year-old son Jaxon’s room, grabbed him, and dove under a door frame. The brick chimney collapsed, pulling the wall with it and leaving a gaping hole in their home.
“It felt like the end of the world,” Sovereign said. “I was telling him I love him. I didn’t say goodbye to him, (but) in my head I was. I was just telling him, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you,’ over and over.”
On Wednesday, the community fire station was turned into a drive-thru hub. Residents pulled up their cars and had water loaded into their trunks, while a local food truck handed out tacos and burritos courtesy of World Central Kitchen. Other volunteers propped up folding tables and gave out apples, peaches, bagels and canned food.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The combination of a rapidly intensifying storm system called a “bomb cyclone” and a large arctic air mass will bring blizzard conditions and extremely dangerous wind chills to the Plains and Midwest, as well as freezes and high winds that will disrupt travel across the eastern half of the country before the holiday weekend, forecasters said.
As the powerful storm approaches, the warnings have grown increasingly ominous. Even in places where bitter cold and heavy snowfall are facts of life this time of year, officials and forecasters have cautioned residents to expect something particularly severe.
In Buffalo, N.Y., the National Weather Service described the coming event as a “once-in-a-generation storm.” In Cheyenne, Wyo., forecasters said the cold front had swept in and immediately broken records as the temperature dropped from 43 degrees to 3 degrees in a half-hour.
The conditions arrive at a particularly inopportune moment, coming during a busy week of holiday travel, toward the end of Hanukkah and extending through Christmas on Sunday. The storm had already caused more than 1,000 flights to be canceled for today and could create havoc on the roads.
Wind chills as low as 70 degrees below zero are possible in the High Plains, and subzero to single-digit temperatures are expected throughout much of the Midwest, forecasters said.
In the Central and Southern Plains, a cold front was expected to sweep through the region through Friday, causing dramatic temperature declines of as much as 20 degrees within hours, which could bring flash freezes to roads, the National Weather Service warned. The Great Lakes may see more than 1 foot of snowfall between Wednesday evening and Friday.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Depending on their distance from the quake’s epicenter — which was about 7.5 miles southwest of Ferndale — many residents were informed of the coming temblors before the shaking began, according to Robert de Groot, part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert operations team.
About 270,000 users of the MyShake app, which is funded by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, were notified of the earthquake. Most of the 3 million who were notified through Google are Android users who have the alerts preprogrammed into their phone operating system, de Groot said.
The alerts gave users up to 20 seconds to prepare for the earthquake, de Groot said.
“I believe it may be the actual biggest event that we’ve had (for the system) so far,” he said. “The system is doing exactly what it should be. This is actually a really big success for us.”
It takes the ShakeAlert operations team time to detect the event using seismometers that pick up the earthquake as it reaches the surface, then informs a processing center that takes the info and produces it into a data package that can be turned into user-friendly alerts.
People with iPhones may have received alerts even if they do not have an earthquake-detecting app. They could be notified by a Wireless Emergency Alerts system push notification, which is similar to an Amber Alert, de Groot said.
People who got the alerts ranged from those already experiencing the shaking to some who didn’t feel the quake at all.
“Thank goodness for shake alert! I’d have fainted otherwise! 8+ second warning of severe shaking,” said one Twitter user.
Others complained they were notified despite being out of the quake’s range.
“Scared the heck outta my wife! Glad to know the notification works, but I wish there was a way to modify the location range a bit more. Now I’m trying to fall back asleep,” another Twitter user said.
De Groot said the alert system must balance unnecessary notifications for those outside an earthquake’s range with making sure as many residents as possible who could be affected receive a notification.
The number of people notified exceeded the 2.1 million earthquake alerts sent in October when a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck under the mountains of San Jose.
There are many apps that can deliver alerts in California triggered by the USGS ShakeAlert system: MyShake, QuakeAlertUSA and ShakeReadySD, an app developed for San Diego County but that works statewide.
(Noah Goldberg, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Even in this seismically active region of Northern California known for large temblors, the magnitude 6.4 quake felt particularly violent to many longtime residents and left a swath of destruction that officials are still trying to tally.
The force of the shaking shattered windows, sent objects flying and damaged at least one historic bridge in the small communities south of Eureka. Eleven people were injured.
“It was the most intense earthquake that I’ve felt,” said Rio Dell Mayor Debra Garnes, whose hamlet was hard hit. “It was a long-duration earthquake, so it was not only significant in size at 6.4, it was also long.”
The quake was reported at 2:34 a.m. just offshore about 7 miles southwest of Ferndale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No tsunami warning was issued, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter, but the agency advised residents to prepare for aftershocks.
Sheriff William Honsal declared a local state of emergency, which allows the county to seek state and federal reimbursement for damage repairs and other associated impacts.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, two individuals died as a result of medical emergencies occurring during or just following the earthquake, and at least 12 people were injured.
There was one fatality in Rio Dell during the earthquake, Garnes, said, but it is unclear if it was among the two deaths reported by the Sheriff’s Office.
A call came in during the earthquake about someone having difficulty breathing. The person went into cardiac arrest and medics performed CPR, Garnes said. The person was taken to a hospital but did not survive.
The small communities of Ferndale, Fortuna and Rio Dell were among the hardest hit areas, Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Residents shared photos across social media of destroyed homes, with appliances and furniture toppled over, and tales of violently strong shakes, the strongest they’ve experienced in decades. Ghilarducci said the quake could be felt as far east as Redding and as far south as in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“It wasn’t as large as it could have been, but still we have seen this one resulting in damage, both structural and nonstructural damage,” he said.
The earthquake battered homes, knocking some off their foundations and causing at least one structural fire, and damaging critical infrastructure such as water, power and gas lines. An estimated 71,000 people lost power Tuesday, Ghilarducci said.
Pacific Gas & Electric said it expected electricity to be restored within 24 hours. Crews had restored power to about 40,000 customers — more than half of those impacted by outages — by Tuesday evening.
But it could take two days to fully restore power to the county, officials said Tuesday.
Ghilarducci said the state sent out an early warning, a new system that pushed out an alert 10 seconds in advance of the earthquake’s shaking to some 3 million people in Northern California, giving residents the opportunity to drop, cover and hold or get to a place of safety.
“The system did operate as we had hoped, and that we’ve been working to design,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom activated the State Operations Center to coordinate the emergency response with local and tribal governments, and provide any resources needed, according to a Tuesday afternoon statement.
The governor has directed state agencies and departments to take “appropriate action as necessary” in order to support local communities, according to the statement.
Damage assessments throughout the county were ongoing Tuesday, including by teams inspecting local infrastructure. One bridge, the Fernbridge, a historic structure connecting the community of Ferndale with U.S. Highway 101, suffered some damage and was closed, officials said.
Agencies are also determining impacts to water delivery systems and transmission lines, and how many people may be displaced because of the quake.
The earthquake was 2 miles off-shore, said Cindy Pridmore, a geologist with the California Geological Survey, and was on the Gorda Plate, a complex area where several plates, including the Pacific Plate, the North America plate and small pieces of other plates intersect. The area has registered over 40 earthquakes in the last 100 years that were magnitudes 6 to 7.
There have been an estimated 80 aftershocks, including a 4.6 quake near Rio Dell, where much of the damage is concentrated. There was no tsunami risk because the plates were moving side by side, Pridmore said.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake forecast shows a 13 percent chance of a magnitude 5 or larger earthquake in the next week, Pridmore said, but that could change. “People do need to be prepared, especially if they’re in weakened structures, to be mindful of where they’re staying,” Pridmore said.
Officials stressed the importance of having a plan and advised residents to download the ShakeAlert early warning system app on their smartphones, which they described as a critical tool for residents.
In Rio Dell, the city building department and volunteer fire department were checking on the structural integrity of homes as well as fielding the dozens of emergency calls that were flooding in from residents.
According to city officials, after assessing about half of the city’s home, 15 were red-tagged — deemed uninhabitable — and 18 were yellow-tagged, meaning they had moderate but not life-threatening damage. City officials expect 50 to 150 people to be displaced by the earthquake.
“Our biggest issues are no electricity and no water. Structural damage is the next thing on the list,” Garnes, the mayor, said. “Our water system got really wrecked. So many leaks.”
A boil-water order was issued for Rio Dell and parts of nearby Fortuna.
Nearby Eureka looked like a ghost town. Strip malls were dark, and the parking lots in front of Old Navy, Chipotle and Bed, Bath and Beyond were empty.
The city’s Costco, however, was buzzing with a steady stream of shoppers flowing into the store, which was powered by a generator.
Nino and Jessica Lopresti heard Costco was open via the “ice cream truck express” — a local description of the slow, steady, informal mode of information sharing that occurs in Humboldt County.
Lifelong Humboldt County resident, Andrea Wrisley, 34, woke up Tuesday morning and immediately recognized an earthquake. Wrisley went to check on her two daughters and saw that everything in the kitchen, including all of her glassware and the contents of the fridge, had been emptied onto the floor. The power and water were also both out.
Rio Dell then evacuated Wrisley’s entire neighborhood because it is near an elementary school that had a gas leak. She and her family went to her in-laws’ house for about five hours before they were allowed to return to their residence.
“This definitely has been the most serious one we’ve had in quite some time,” she said.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The blast of frigid weather began hammering the Pacific Northwest Tuesday morning, and is expected to move to the northern Rockies, then grip the Plains in a deep-freeze and blanket the Midwest with heavy snowfall, forecasters say. By Friday, the arctic front is forecast to spread bone-chilling cold as far south as Florida.
Even warm-weather states are preparing for the worst. Texas officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of the February 2021 storm that left millions without power, some for several days. Temperatures were expected to dip to near freezing as far south as central Florida by the weekend.
The drop in temperatures will be precipitous. In Denver, the high today will be around 50 degrees; by Thursday, it is forecast to plummet to around zero.
The heaviest snow is expected in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, according to the National Weather Service, and frigid wind will be fierce across the country’s mid-section.
“I would not be surprised if there are lots of delays due to wind and also a lot of delays due to the snow,” said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in College Park, Md.
The Northwest was already experiencing the effects by Tuesday. In Vancouver, Canada, authorities at the city’s YVR airport said the conditions have resulted in an “unprecedented number of cancelled flights,” adding that cancellations and delays “will persist for the majority of scheduled flights” and that de-icing operations will continue to be necessary. In Seattle, a combination of snow, rain and low visibility caused nearly 200 flight cancellations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Greyhound canceled bus service between Seattle and Spokane, Wash.
In Oregon, one person died Tuesday after a semi-truck collided with an SUV. Police said a thin layer of ice on the highway may have been a contributing factor.
Nearly 113 million Americans were expected to travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday season, up 4 percent from last year but still short of the record 119 million in 2019, according to AAA. Most were planning to travel by car; around 6 percent were planning to fly.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The agreement comes as biodiversity is declining worldwide at rates never seen before in human history. Researchers have projected that 1 million plants and animals are at risk of extinction, many within decades. The last extinction event of that magnitude was the one that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
While many scientists and activists had pushed for even stronger measures, the deal, which includes monitoring mechanisms that previous agreements had lacked, clearly signals increasing momentum around the issue.
“This is a huge moment for nature,” Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, a coalition of groups pushing for protections, said about the agreement. “This is a scale of conservation that we haven’t seen ever attempted before.”
Overall, the deal lays out a suite of 23 environmental targets. The most prominent, known as 30x30, would place 30 percent of land and sea under protection. Currently, about 17 percent of the planet’s land and roughly 8 percent of its oceans are protected, with restrictions on activities like fishing, farming and mining.
The United States is just one of two countries in the world that are not party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, largely because Republicans have blocked U.S. membership. That means the American delegation was required to participate from the sidelines. (The only other country that has not joined the treaty is the Holy See.)
President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that would similarly place 30 percent of U.S. land and waters under protection, but any legislative efforts to support that goal are expected to face strong opposition when Republicans take control of the House in January.
Countries also agreed to manage the remaining 70 percent of the planet to avoid losing areas of high importance to biodiversity and to ensure that big businesses disclose biodiversity risks and impacts from their operations.
Now, the question is whether the deal’s lofty targets will be realized.
A previous 10-year agreement failed to fully achieve a single target at the global level, according to the body that oversees the Convention on Biological Diversity, the U.N. treaty that underpins the old agreement and the new one reached here Monday. But negotiators said they had learned from their mistakes, and the new pact includes provisions to make targets measurable and to monitor countries’ progress.
“Now you can have a report card,” said Basile van Havre, a Canadian who was a co-chair of the negotiations. “Money, monitoring and targets” would make the difference this time, he said.
While there are multiple causes of biodiversity loss, humans are behind each one. On land, the biggest driver is agriculture. At sea, it’s overfishing. Other factors include hunting, mining, logging, climate change, pollution and invasive species.
The agreement aims to address these drivers. Target 17, for example, commits to reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly toxic chemicals by at least half, while also addressing fertilizer runoff.
Conservation groups had pushed for stronger measures related to extinctions and wildlife populations.
Anne Larigauderie, an ecologist and the executive secretary of the intergovernmental scientific platform on biodiversity, known as IPBES, regretted that omission but praised the overall agreement as ambitious and quantified.
“It’s a compromise, but it’s not a bad one,” Larigauderie said.
Questions over how to balance the deal’s ambition with the ability of countries to pay for it generated sharp disagreements at the talks, along with demands to create a new global biodiversity fund. China, which led the talks, and Canada, which hosted, worked to strike a delicate middle ground.
The European Union had sought more forceful conservation targets. Indonesia wanted more leeway on how it used nature.
An outsize amount of the world’s biodiversity lives in countries of the global south. But these nations often lack the hefty financial resources needed to restore ecosystems; to reform harmful agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry practices; and to conserve threatened species.
Developing countries pushed hard for more funding, with representatives of dozens of countries from Latin American, Africa and Southeast Asia walking out of meetings Wednesday in protest that they weren’t being heard.
Congo expressed fierce opposition and held up final approval into the early hours of Monday morning. When the president of the talks proceeded over the Congolese objections, delegates from several African countries spoke out in protest.
The deal reached Monday would roughly double overall biodiversity financing to $200 billion a year from all sources: governments, the private sector and philanthropy. It earmarks up to $30 billion per year to flow to poor countries from wealthy nations. The financial commitments are not legally binding.
Representatives of developing countries said that money should not be seen as charity.
Joseph Onoja, a biologist who directs the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, noted that the former colonial powers had grown rich by exploiting natural resources all over the world. “They came around and plundered our resources to develop themselves,” he said.
Now that developing countries are trying to use natural resources for their own growth, he said, they’re being told they must preserve them in the name of global conservation.
Onoja, a conservation biologist, said he believed in protecting nature but wanted industrialized countries to be held accountable for past actions.
A study by the Paulson Institute, a research organization, found that reversing biodiversity decline by 2030 would require closing a financing gap of about $700 billion per year.
A major source of funding could come from reallocating the hundreds of billions or more per year currently spent on subsidies that harm nature, such as certain agricultural practices and fossil fuels. Target 18 has the world reducing those by at least $500 billion per year by 2030.
(Catrin Einhorn, NEW YORK TIMES)
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“We’re looking at much-below normal temperatures, potentially record-low temperatures leading up to the Christmas holiday,” said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The polar air arrives as an earlier storm system gradually winds down in the northeastern U.S. after burying parts of the region under 2 feet of snow. More than 80,000 customers in New England were still without power on Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages across the country.
The incoming arctic front brings “extreme and prolonged freezing conditions for southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana,” the National Weather Service said in a special weather statement Sunday.
By Thursday night, temperatures will plunge as low as 13 degrees in Jackson, Miss.; and around 5 degrees in Nashville, Tenn., the National Weather Service predicts.
For much of the U.S., the winter weather will get worse before it gets better.
The coming week has the potential for “the coldest air of the season” as the strong arctic front marches across the eastern two-thirds of the country in the days before Christmas, according to the latest forecasts from the federal Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.
The center warned of a “massive expanse of frigid temperatures from the Northern Rockies/Northern Plains to the Midwest through the middle of the week, and then reaching the Gulf Coast and much of the Eastern U.S. by Friday and into the weekend.”
Florida will not have a white Christmas, but forecasters are expecting that weekend to be unusually cold throughout the state.
Northern Florida cities such as Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Pensacola have predicted lows in the 20s on Christmas Eve, with highs of about 40 degrees.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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That dire scenario — which would cut off water supplies to California, Arizona and Mexico — took center stage at the annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas this week, where officials from seven states, water agencies, tribes and the federal government negotiated over how to decrease usage on a scale never seen before.
Outlining their latest projections for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the nation’s two largest reservoirs, federal water managers said there is a risk Lake Mead could reach “dead pool” levels in 2025. If that were to happen, water would no longer flow downstream from Hoover Dam.
“We are in a crisis. Both lakes could be two years away from either dead pool or so close to dead pool that the flow out of those dams is going to be a horribly small number. And it just keeps getting worse,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
He said there is a real danger that if the coming year is extremely dry, “it might be too late to save the lakes.”
The Colorado River has long been severely overallocated, and its flows have shrunk dramatically during a 23-year megadrought supercharged by global warming.
Over the last six months, federal officials have pressed water managers in the seven states that rely on the river to come up with plans for major cutbacks. But negotiations have so far failed to produce an agreement, and the voluntary cuts states and water agencies have proposed remain far from the federal government’s goal of reducing water use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet per year — a decrease of roughly 15 percent to 30 percent.
Faced with the prospect of federal authorities imposing mandatory, large-scale cutbacks, officials from states and water districts have been holding private, backroom talks in an effort to reach an agreement.
“We’re still talking among the states to try to figure something out,” Buschatzke said. “I think the scale is daunting.”
Buschatzke and other water managers say they fear the talks on voluntary cuts aren’t enough. Officials from Arizona, Nevada and other states have urged federal officials to take such steps as accounting for the evaporation losses from canals, as well as redefining what is considered a “beneficial use” of water — a change that could, possibly, open the pathway for large, federally mandated cuts.
The U.S. Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Reclamation have already begun a process of revising the existing rules for water shortages. They have also started reducing the amount of water they release from Glen Canyon Dam over the next five months, in hopes of boosting reservoir levels until the spring runoff arrives. And they have warned they may need to further cut the amount of water they release from the dam, which would shrink the flow downstream and accelerate the decline of Lake Mead.
“I think the states and the federal government aren’t moving quickly enough,” said John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. “The circumstances on the ground are overtaking the pace of discussions and negotiations.”
Entsminger said the negotiations are continuing but he didn’t see anything of significance coming out of the conference.
“One way or another, physics and Mother Nature are going to dictate outcomes if we don’t come up with some solutions,” Entsminger said. “I would like every water user on the Colorado River to recognize that the 21st century has substantially less water than the 20th century. And all of the institutions we built in the 20th century need to be adjusted — in months, not years — in order to face the reality of less water for every user, in every sector, in every state.”
Federal officials have given the states and water suppliers a Jan. 31 deadline to deliver an alternative plan for the Bureau of Reclamation to consider as part of its review, said Henry Martinez, general manager of California’s Imperial Irrigation District, which uses the single largest share of the river to supply about 500,000 acres of farmland in the Imperial Valley.
“We have about six weeks of heavy work to be done collectively with all seven states to come up with something different,” Martinez said.
“It’s not going to be easy, to say the least,” Martinez said. “But there was a commitment from all of us to be working over the next six weeks to actually come up with something we can provide back to the bureau to consider as another plan.”
So far, four California water districts have proposed to reduce water use by up to 400,000 acre-feet per year. That would amount to about 9 percent of the state’s total water allotment from the river through 2026.
In return, the Biden administration has agreed to provide $250 million for projects at the shrinking Salton Sea in an effort to accelerate work on wetlands and dust-control projects. The federal government is also offering to pay farmers and others who agree to forgo some of their water, tapping into $4 billion set aside for drought response efforts in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The largest share of California’s reductions would come from the Imperial Irrigation District, while cities throughout the region could face mandatory water rationing by April under a plan being considered by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Water managers, tribal leaders and others at the conference discussed how the climate-change-driven aridification of the West is dramatically shrinking the flow of the river.
“The water is going away. And it is a crisis for everyone,” said Melvin Baker, chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in southwestern Colorado. “We actually have seven rivers that flow through our reservation. And right now, some of those rivers are looking like creeks in midsummer. There’s no water.”
Ted Cooke, the outgoing manager of the Central Arizona Project, which delivers Colorado River water to some 5 million people, said the real risk of reservoirs bottoming out must lead to action.
“This is on our doorstep,” Cooke said. “Reclamation and the states and the tribes must reach a compromise approach quickly to reduce significantly the risks, in a way that can do the least harm, and prevent the complete draining of the reservoirs.”
Speaking at the conference, James Prairie of the Bureau of Reclamation presented a black-and-white photo of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, before the reservoir was filled. He noted that the water level in Lake Powell is now 37 feet above “minimum power pool,” a point at which Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity.
Prairie said the agency is looking to maintain Lake Powell above that level. If the reservoir falls much lower, he said, dam managers would need to stop using the main intakes, called penstocks, and could release water only through lower bypass tubes, which have reduced capacity.
“These are elevations that we don’t want to be seeing at Lake Powell,” he said.
The federal government’s leadership role will be critical in moving toward a solution, said Felicia Marcus, a researcher at Stanford University and a former chair of California’s State Water Resources Control Board.
“I think there’s a lot of peril and promise at the place we’re at right now,” Marcus said. “It’s a shame that we’re this close to Armageddon in order to get folks to be able to rise to the occasion.”
Even though giving up water may be politically challenging, the cuts have become inevitable.
“We’ve got to do something that’s going to be painful for everybody, although the shape of that pain is going to be different depending on the party,” based on their water rights, Marcus said.
What will be key in any agreement, Marcus said, is “to come up with something that may seem painful, but that people can acknowledge as being fair.”
The crisis presents an opportunity, not only to address the shortage but also to begin to change the system of managing the river, said Kathy Jacobs, director of the University of Arizona’s Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions.
“I think right now, everybody’s blinders are on, and they’re so focused on protecting their own interests that they’ve lost sight of the long-term opportunities here,” Jacobs said. “We really need to be prepared for really significant long-term consequences.”
(Ian James, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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More than 90 people were sleeping on an organic farm when the dirt tumbled from a road above the site. Two of the dead were found locked in an embrace, according to the state fire department chief.
Authorities told local media that the landowners did not have a license to run a campground. At least seven people were hospitalized and dozens more were rescued unharmed, said district police chief Suffian Abdullah.
It is currently the season for monsoon rains in Malaysia, and the country’s government development minister, Nga Kor Ming, said all campsites nationwide that are near rivers, waterfalls and hillsides would be closed for a week to assess their safety.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Three straight days of volatile weather in the South continued as a possible tornado wrecked a building housing a cotton gin in rural Georgia and forecasters issued a stream of tornado warnings across the Florida peninsula.
The same storm front spawned twisters as it marched from central Texas across Louisiana, where all three storm deaths were confirmed, before destroying farm buildings in Mississippi and tearing roofs off other buildings in Alabama.
In Union Parish, La., near the Arkansas line, volunteers stocked a gymnasium with donated clothing and other supplies for dozens whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed.
“It shows that people love you,” said Patsy Andrews, who survived the storm hunkered in a bathtub with her three children. “It shows that people care.”
An 8-year-old boy and his mother were killed in rural Keithville, La., when their mobile home was swept away Tuesday. Authorities found a third victim outside a home in St. Charles Parish after a possible tornado struck the opposite corner of the state Wednesday.
Further to the north, the National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings Thursday in the Dakotas as well as portions of Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. As the storm moves eastward, interior parts of the Northeast could accumulate as much as 1 foot of snow, said Zach Taylor, a weather service meteorologist in College Park, Md.
In Bismarck, N.D., an additional 4 inches of snow were expected Thursday to top a foot that has already accumulated. Wind gusts of 60 miles per hour prompted a no-travel advisory for major highways.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A total of 94 people were believed to have been at the campsite in Batang Kali in central Selangor state, around 31 miles north of Kuala Lumpur, when the incident occurred, Malaysia’s fire and rescue department said in a statement. The campsite, where people can pitch tents or rent them from the farm, is popular with locals.
A child and a woman were found dead, a fire department official told The Associated Press. Three people were injured while rescuers were searching for the estimated 25 missing people, the department said. Another 53 people have been rescued.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Elsewhere, the huge system hurled blizzard-like conditions at the Great Plains.
Several injuries were reported around Louisiana by authorities, and there were more than 40,000 power outages statewide as of Wednesday night.
The punishing storms barreled eastward Wednesday after killing a mother and son in the northwestern part of the state a day earlier. The system spun off a suspected tornado that killed a woman Wednesday in southeast Louisiana’s St. Charles Parish and another that pummeled parts of New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes — including areas badly damaged by a March tornado.
Forecasters said a severe threat of more tornadoes would continue overnight into parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
New Orleans emergency director Collin Arnold said businesses and residences in the city suffered significant wind damage, largely on the Mississippi River’s west bank. One home collapsed. Four people were injured there.
Similar damage was reported nearby.
“Several homes and businesses have suffered catastrophic damage,” the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a statement from that large suburb west of New Orleans. Among the heavily damaged buildings was the sheriff’s office’s training academy building.
In St. Bernard Parish — where the March twister caused devastation — Sheriff Jimmy Pohlman said the latest tornado damage covered a roughly 2-mile stretch. Parish President Guy McInnis said the damage was less than in the March tornado, though numerous roofs were blown away or damaged.
Authorities in St. Charles Parish, west of New Orleans, said a woman was found dead there after a suspected tornado on Wednesday struck the community of Killona along the Mississippi River, damaging homes. Eight people were taken to hospitals with injuries, they said.
“She was outside the residence, so we don’t know exactly what happened,” St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said of the woman killed. “There was debris everywhere. She could have been struck. We don’t know for sure. But this was a horrific and a very violent tornado.”
Forecasters now expect the vast system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, and also move into the central Appalachians and Northeast. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm. Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet.
In the Black Hills of western South Dakota, snow piled up to nearly 2 feet in some spots. In northern Minnesota, wet, heavy snow left tree limbs sagging and made driving treacherous Wednesday.
(Jake Bleiberg & Kevin McGill, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Situated on the Big Island, Mauna Loa stopped erupting Saturday, the day after Kilauea, another volcano on the Big Island, stopped erupting, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Scientists were not sure whether the timing was coincidental. The two volcanoes share the same magma source.
“The volcanoes are not directly connected, but might ‘feel’ one another via stress effects,” the U.S. Geological Survey said on Twitter. “Mauna Loa’s eruption could have allowed Kilauea to ‘relax.’ That said, Kilauea’s eruption was already pretty tenuous, occurring at very low rates.”
Lava flow from Mauna Loa’s eruption, which began Nov. 27, posed little danger to the surrounding communities, stalling about 1.7 miles from Daniel K. Inouye Highway. As such, it became an attraction for both locals and visitors to the Big Island.
Raymond Naeyaert, who moved to the Big Island about a year ago, said in an interview Tuesday that the eruption was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He and his wife drove 60 miles to witness it closely on Nov. 28, the day after it began.
“It was really, truly one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen,” he said. “There was a presence about it that is kind of hard to put in words, but witnessing it with my wife, I was just kind of awestruck.”
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Sherriff’s deputies, firefighters, volunteers and dog teams were searching the debris after a tornado touched down about 10 miles from Shreveport, La., the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office said. Two people were missing, one was hurt and several buildings were destroyed, Sgt. Casey Jones said.
Far to the northwest, an area stretching from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado was under blizzard warnings, and the National Weather Service said as much as 2 feet of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Ice and sleet were expected in the eastern Great Plains.
Forecasters expect the storm system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into the Northeast and central Appalachians. Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch out for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm.
The severe weather threat also continues into Wednesday for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.
In the South, a line of thunderstorms brought tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain across North Texas and Oklahoma in the early morning hours, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Bradshaw. Authorities on Tuesday reported dozens of damaged homes and businesses and several people injured in the suburbs and counties stretching north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The weather service examined about a dozen different areas across North Texas to determine if Tuesday’s damage was caused by high winds or tornadoes.
A tornado warning prompted the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to issue a “shelter in place” order Tuesday morning, asking passengers to move away from windows, the airport announced via Twitter.
More than 1,000 flights into and out of area airports were delayed, and over 100 were canceled, according to the tracking service FlightAware.
In the Fort Worth suburbs, about 20 local homes and businesses were damaged, according to the North Richland Hills police department.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde said officials were still searching for more bodies.
“We came to assess the damage and the primary damage we see is human,” Lukonde said Tuesday.
Some 12 million people live in the 24 neighborhoods of Kinshasa hit by the floods, according to three officials who said people were killed, houses submerged and roads ruined.
In the Ngaliema area more than three dozen people died and bodies are still being counted, said the area’s mayor, Alid’or Tshibanda. In another part of town five members from one family were killed, some by electrocution.
Pierrot Mantuela, 30, lost his mother, 9-year-old daughter and three brothers. “It’s sad to lose all the members of my family,” he said. He was spared because he was working Monday night when the rains began, he said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Colorado River Water Users Association conference, normally a largely academic three-day affair, comes at a time of growing concern about the river’s future after more than two decades of record drought attributed to climate change.
“The Colorado River system is in a very dire condition,” Dan Bunk, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation water manager, declared during presentations streamed Nov. 29 and Dec. 2 that invited public comment about possible actions.
“Flows during the past 23-year period are the lowest in the past 120 years and (among) the lowest in more than 1,200 years,” Bunk told the webinar audience. The deadline for public submissions is Dec. 20 for a process expected to yield a final report by summer.
Bunk said the two largest reservoirs on the river — Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona state line and Lake Powell formed by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona-Utah line — are at unprecedented low levels. Lake Mead was at 100 percent capacity in mid-1999. Today it is 28 percent full. Lake Powell, last full in June 1980, is at 25 percent.
Scientists attribute extended drought to warmer and drier weather in the West to long-term, human-caused climate change. The effect has been dramatic on a vast river basin where the math never added up: The amount of water it receives doesn’t meet the amount that is promised.
Lake Powell’s drop last March to historically low water levels raised worries about losing the ability — perhaps within the next few months — to produce hydropower that today serves about 5 million customers in seven states. If power production ceases at Glen Canyon Dam, rural electric cooperatives, cities and tribal utilities would be forced to seek more expensive options.
Reclamation water managers responded with plans to hold back more water in Lake Powell but warned that Lake Mead water levels would drop.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in June told the seven states that are part of the Colorado River Basin — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — to determine how to use at least 15 percent less water next year, or have restrictions imposed on them. Despite deadlines, discussions have not resulted in agreements.
This year’s meeting of water recipients begins today at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. The event theme, “A New Century for the Colorado River Compact,” marks 100 years since a 1922 interstate agreement divvied water shares among interests in the seven states now home to 40 million people and millions of farmed acres.
(Ken Ritter, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The National Weather Service warned that there would be “numerous, widespread, and impactful weather hazards in the heart of the country this week.” Across the Rockies and into the northern Plains and parts of the Midwest, people were warned to prepare for blizzard-like conditions. Those farther south in Texas and Louisiana could get heavy rains with flash flooding, hail and tornadoes. The storm will continue southeast into Florida later in the week, forecasters said.
A swath of country stretching from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado was under blizzard warnings Monday, and the National Weather Service said that as much as 2 feet of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska.
Meanwhile, ice and sleet were expected in the eastern Great Plains.
National Weather Service warned that up to about half an inch of ice could form and winds could gust up to 45 mph in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Power outages, tree damage, falling branches and hazardous travel conditions all threatened the region.
The weather is part of the same system that dumped heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada over the weekend.
In Northern California, most mountain highways had reopened Monday.
Remaining warnings in Southern California mountains were expected to expire late Monday night, the National Weather Service said.
The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab northwest of Lake Tahoe reported that the storm dropped 54.5 inches of snow.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Rain was expected to fall through Sunday evening and become more scattered overnight, said meteorologist Casey Oswant of the National Weather Service’s San Diego office.
A winter storm warning was issued from 6 p.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. today for the San Diego County mountains.
“We could start to see snow in the mountains (Monday) morning into the afternoon,” Oswant said.
Schools in Julian, along with those in the Spencer Valley and Warner Unified school districts, will be closed today due to the anticipated icy and snowy conditions, the county Office of Education said in a statement Sunday.
County officials said Country Club Drive in Escondido was closed south of Harmony Grove Road due to flooding and will remain closed until the storm passes. Quarry Road in Spring Valley was also closed Sunday from Elkelton Boulevard to state Route 125 due to flooding.
Forecasters said snow could fall down to 3,000- to 3,500-foot elevation, with Julian expected to see up to 3 inches. Palomar Mountain could see around 7 inches, while nearly a foot of snow was possible at Mount Laguna, Oswant said.
San Diego’s urban areas saw from one-quarter to one-half of an inch of rain fall as of Sunday afternoon. Over the next 24 hours, Oswant said the region can expect another three-quarters of an inch of rain at the coast and up to another inch of rain inland.
Precipitation totals are about what was predicted, said meteorologist Stefanie Sullivan, who also works at the NWS in San Diego. She said that while the county’s annual rainfall total is still below average for the year, that could soon change.
“So far, we are slightly below normal for the water year, but we can easily make up for it tonight and tomorrow,” Sullivan said.
The winter storm brought strong winds to the coast, with gusts of up to 40 mph detected at North Island and 37 mph in La Jolla, Oswant said.
A wind advisory remained in effect until early this morning for areas near Borrego Springs. Forecasters said they expected winds of up to 25 mph blowing from the west to the northwest, with occasional gusts of 45 mph.
A small craft advisory was issued until 4 p.m. today for coastal waters from San Mateo Point to the Mexican border and out to 30 nautical miles, and waters from San Mateo Point to the Mexican border extending 30 to 60 nautical miles out, including San Clemente Island.
Sullivan said winds with the second wave of the storm won’t be as strong as they were Sunday.
“(Monday) will be a little weaker — especially over the land areas,” she said. “It’ll be pretty breezy over coastal waters but for the most part the winds will be weaker.”
Most temperatures Sunday were in the 50s, with overnight lows in the 40s. The mountains were expected to be in the mid-40s, dropping into the mid-30s overnight, and highs in the deserts were forecast in the mid-60s with lows in the mid-40s.
Tuesday and Wednesday were expected to be dry and cold followed by minor warming Thursday and Friday.
San Diego County issued a general rain advisory for beaches from San Onofre State Beach south to the U.S.-Mexico border. During rain events, bacteria levels in the ocean can rise significantly due to urban runoff so swimmers, surfers and divers are advised to stay out of the water at least 72 hours after it rains, according to the county’s Department of Environmental Health and Quality.
Other parts of California were pummeled by the storm, which triggered flood watches and avalanche warnings on Saturday as heavy snowfall and rain began falling. In Northern California, snow and gusty winds closed mountain highways and shut down some ski resorts. Downpours at lower elevations triggered flood watches Sunday across large swaths of California into Nevada.
The Heavenly ski resort at Lake Tahoe shut down some operations on Saturday when the brunt of the storm hit. The resort posted video of lift chairs swaying violently because of gusts that topped 100 mph.
Some Ventura County mountain areas saw 7 inches of rain since Saturday night, and the National Weather Service was predicting travel delays in the mountains near Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported.
(Andrew Dyer, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE; ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than 250 miles of the Sierra remained under a winter storm warning at least until tonight or early Monday from north of Reno to south of Yosemite National Park.
As much as 4 feet of snow is expected to fall by the end of the weekend in the upper elevations around Lake Tahoe, and as much as 6 feet in more remote parts of the Sierra to the north and south.
A 70-mile stretch of eastbound U.S. Interstate 80 was closed “due to zero visibility” from Colfax to the Nevada state line, transportation officials said. Chains were required on much of the rest of I-80 in the mountains from Reno toward Sacramento.
The U.S. Forest Service issued an avalanche warning for the backcountry in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe, where it said “several feet of new snow and strong winds will result in dangerous avalanche conditions.”
Gusts of wind up to 50 mph that sent trees into homes in Sonoma County on Saturday could reach 100 mph over Sierra ridge tops by early today, the National Weather Service said.
Heavy rain was forecast through the weekend from San Francisco to the Sierra crest with up to 2 inches in the Bay Area and up to 5 inches at Grass Valley, northeast of Sacramento.
The weather service issued a flash flood warning on Saturday when inches of rain fell on burn scars left by wildfires south of Monterey and farther south of Big Sur.
More than 30,000 customers were without power in the Sacramento area at one point Saturday morning, but it was restored to all but a few hundred late in the day.
Bay Area officials reported power outages and fallen trees, some of which damaged cars and homes.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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One year ago Saturday, a massive tornado obliterated wide swaths of her Kentucky hometown of Dawson Springs, leaving her homeless after a terrifying night of death and destruction.
Things look much different now.
In August, Bullock and her family moved into their new home, built free of charge by the disaster relief group God’s Pit Crew. It sits on the same site where their home of 26 years was wiped out.
“God’s sent blessings to us,” Bullock said in a phone interview Friday. “Sometimes we feel there’s a little guilt, if you will. Why were we spared?”
The holiday season tragedy killed 81 people across Kentucky and turned buildings into mounds of rubble as damage reached into hundreds of millions of dollars. Elsewhere in the state, Mayfield took a direct hit from the swarm of December tornadoes, which left a wide trail of destroyed buildings and shredded trees. In Bowling Green, a tornado wiped out an entire subdivision.
It was part of a massive tornado outbreak across the Midwest and the South.
In Dawson Springs and other Kentucky towns in the path of the storms, homes and businesses have been springing up steadily in recent months. Government assistance, private donations and claims payouts by insurers have poured into the stricken western Kentucky region.
“It’s more than encouraging,” said Jenny Beshear Sewell, the mayor-elect of Dawson Springs and a cousin of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “In a storybook, it is like the turn to the next chapter. That’s how it feels. That’s what it looks like.”
On Saturday, the governor led commemorative events recalling the horrifying opening chapters of the tragedy. The gatherings in Dawson Springs, Mayfield and Marshall County remembered those who died and paid tribute to the rescue workers who pulled people from the wreckage — as well as the volunteers who have pitched in for the massive rebuild.
“Nothing I’ve ever seen had prepared me for what I saw in first light that day,” Beshear said leading up to the anniversary. “As we continue to mourn those we lost, my faith tells me that while we may struggle with the whys — why does it hit us, why do human beings suffer — we see God’s presence in the response.”
Beshear’s family has deep connections to Dawson Springs. The Democratic governor’s father, former two-term Gov. Steve Beshear, grew up in the tight-knit western Kentucky community.
The devastation sparked an outpouring of love and help that started almost as soon as daylight revealed the scope of the damage. Beshear, who led the state’s response, said the effort should restore “everyone’s faith in humanity.”
A full year later, the help keeps coming.
But plenty of storm victims continue to struggle, including some of Bullock’s neighbors who lost homes and loved ones. Others are not nearly as far along in rebuilding. Still, progress is steady, and Bullock said it “warms your heart” to see her neighborhood coming back together.
Bullock remembers in detail the harrowing chain of events a year ago.
She rushed to the basement with her husband Barry, 17-year-old son Stevie and miniature poodle Dewey moments before the storm hit.
“They say it was 33 seconds,“ she said. “It felt like 33 minutes.”
Bullock was trapped under a crumbled brick wall in the basement with her son and dog. Her husband pulled them from the rubble with minor injuries.
Bullock admitted Christmas brings a mix of feelings amid so much ongoing struggle — “Why are we getting to be in our house for Christmas?” while others aren’t — but said she and her husband have always gone all out for the holidays. She said leaning in to do some of the things they enjoy feels a little like taking a stand.
So her husband went “overboard“ stringing Christmas lights on their new home, she said, and she bought plenty of new decorations. But it will take time before the display is completely revived.
“I can’t make it look like that yet,” she said. “It’s going to have to wait another year.”
(Bruce Schreiner, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kan., about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City, also was the biggest in the system’s history, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data. The operator, Canada-based TC Energy, said the pipeline that runs from Canada to Oklahoma lost about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons.
The spill raised questions for environmentalists and safety advocates about whether TC Energy should keep a federal government permit that has allowed the pressure inside parts of its Keystone system — including the stretch through Kansas — to exceed the typical maximum permitted levels. With Congress facing a potential debate on reauthorizing regulatory programs, the chair of a House subcommittee on pipeline safety took note of the spill Friday.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report last year said there had been 22 previous spills along the Keystone system since it began operating in 2010, most of them on TC Energy property and fewer than 20 barrels. The total from those 22 events was a little less than 12,000 barrels, the report said.
“I’m watching this situation closely to learn more about this latest oil leak and inform ways to prevent future releases and protect public safety and the environment,” U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., tweeted.
TC Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the spill has been contained. The EPA said the company built an earthen dam across the creek about 4 miles downstream from the pipeline rupture to prevent the oil from moving into larger waterways.
Randy Hubbard, the county’s emergency management director, said the oil traveled only about a quarter-mile and there didn’t appear to be any wildlife deaths.
The company said it is doing around-the-clock air-quality checks and other environmental monitoring. It also was using multiple trucks that amount to giant wet vacuums to suck up the oil.
Past Keystone spills have led to outages that lasted about two weeks, and the company said it still is evaluating when it can reopen the system.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Mauna Loa was still erupting Thursday morning, but the lava that was feeding the flow heading toward the crucial road has been cut off, said David Phillips, deputy scientist-in-charge at U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The blocked supply of lava to the flow front is likely because of a reduced production rate, Phillips said.
“That’s good news for us,” Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said. Still, county officials said they will stay on the alert — because scientists say things could always change.
Lava from Mauna Loa, which began erupting Nov. 27 after being quiet for 38 years, was 1.76 miles from Saddle Road, also known as Route 200 or Daniel K. Inouye Highway, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
“So just to emphasize, there is no current threat to any island communities or infrastructure at this time,” Phillips said.
Last week, officials said the earliest the lava could hit the road was one week, prompting motorists to brace for upheaval from a possible closure that could add hours to commute times on alternate coastal routes. But, as expected, the lava slowed considerably in recent days as it moved across flatter ground, leaving scientists unable to estimate a clearer timeline.
Phillips said the active fissure is still generating lava flows, but they’ll be localized around the fissure.
If there are additional flows in the channel, it’s very unlikely that supply from the top will push the flow front ahead to become a threat, said Frank Trusdell, a geologist with the volcano observatory.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The National Disaster Risk Management Unit said in a statement that eight children were among the dead.
The mudslide Sunday divided a highway in two in the town of Pueblo Rico in the district of Risaralda. There were 33 people aboard the bus which was buried in 2 meters of mud and earth. A car with six passengers and a motorcycle with two people were also affected.
More than 70 search-and-rescue workers using backhoes and other equipment tried to reach survivors but they ended their search Monday after 24 hours.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The live, online auction for the five leases — three off California’s central coast and two off its northern coast — has attracted strong interest and 43 companies from around the world are approved to bid. The wind turbines will float roughly 25 miles offshore.
The growth of offshore wind comes as climate change intensifies and need for clean energy grows. It also is getting cheaper. The cost of developing offshore wind has dropped 60 percent since 2010 according to a July report by the International Renewable Energy Agency. It declined 13 percent in 2021 alone.
Offshore wind is well established in the U.K. and some other countries but is just beginning to ramp up off America’s coasts, and this is the nation’s first foray into floating wind turbines. Auctions so far have been for those anchored to the seafloor.
Europe has some floating offshore wind — a project in the North Sea has been operating since 2017 — but the potential for the technology is huge in areas of strong wind off America’s coasts, said Josh Kaplowitz, vice president of offshore wind at the American Clean Power Association.
“We know that this works. We know that this can provide a huge slice of our our electricity needs, and if we’re going to solve the climate crisis we need to put as many clean electrons online as we can, particularly given increases in load demand with electric vehicles,” he said. “We can reach our greenhouse gas goals only with offshore wind as part of the puzzle.”
Similar auctions are in the works off Oregon’s coast next year and in the Gulf of Maine in 2024. President Joe Biden set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 using traditional technology that secures wind turbines to the ocean floor, enough to power 10 million homes. Then the administration announced plans in September to develop floating platforms that could vastly expand offshore wind in the United States.
Minimum bids for the leases range from $6 million to $8 million, but sales could go higher. An auction earlier this year for traditional offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey netted more than $4 billion, the record for the U.S. so far.
The nation’s first offshore wind farm opened off the coast of Rhode Island in late 2016, allowing residents of small Block Island to shut off five diesel generators. Wind advocates took notice, but with five turbines, it’s not commercial scale.
The sale is designed to promote a domestic supply chain and create union jobs. Bidders can convert part of their bids into credits that benefit those affected by the wind development — local communities, tribes and commercial fishermen.
As envisioned, the turbines — possibly nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower — will float on giant triangular platforms roughly the size of a small city block with cables anchoring them underwater. They’ll each have three blades longer than the distance from home plate to the outfield on a baseball diamond, and will need to be assembled onshore and towed, upright, to their open-ocean destination.
Modern tall turbines, whether on or offshore, can produce more than 20 times more electricity than shorter machines, say, from the early 1990s.
As for visibility, “in absolutely perfect conditions, crystal clear on the best days, at the highest point, you might be able to see small dots on the horizon,” said Larry Oetker, executive director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Conservation and Recreation District, which has been preparing its deep-water port for the projects.
Offshore wind is a good complement to solar energy, which shuts down at night. Winds far out to sea are stronger and more sustained and also pick up in the evening, just when solar is going offline yet demand is high, said Jim Berger, a partner at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright who specializes in financing renewable energy projects.
California has a 2045 goal of carbon neutrality. But “when the sun goes down we’re relying more on fossil fuel generation,” Berger said. “These projects are huge so when you add a project or a couple projects, you’re adding significantly to the power generation base in the state,” he said.
The lease areas have the potential to generate 4.5 gigawatts of energy — enough for 1.5 million homes — and could bring big changes to communities in the rural coastal regions nearest the leases.
In remote Humboldt County, in Northern California, the offshore projects are expected to generate more than 4,000 jobs and $38 million in state and local tax revenue in an area that’s been economically depressed ever since the decline of the timber industry in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Conservation and Recreation District.
The district already received $12 million from California to prepare its deep-water port for the potential assembly of the massive turbines, which are too tall to fit under most bridges as they are towed out to sea, said Oetker, the district’s executive director.
“We have hundreds of acres of vacant, underutilized industrial property right on the existing navigation channel and there’s no overhead bridges or power lines or anything,” he said.
(Gillian Flaccus, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Monsoon rains eroded and finally collapsed the lava dome atop 12,060-foot Mount Semeru, causing the eruption, according to National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
Several villages were blanketed with falling ash, blocking out the sun, but no casualties have been reported. Several hundred residents, their faces smeared with volcanic dust and rain, fled to temporary shelters or left for other safe areas.
Thick columns of ash were blasted nearly 5,000 feet into the sky while searing gas and lava flowed down Semeru’s slopes toward a nearby river.
Increased activities of the volcano on Sunday afternoon prompted authorities to widen the danger zone to 5 miles from the crater, said Hendra Gunawan, who heads the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.
He said scientists raised the volcano’s alert level to the highest and people were advised to keep off the southeastern sector along the Besuk Kobokan River, which is in the path of the lava flow.
Semeru’s last major eruption was in December 2021, when it blew up with fury that left 51 people dead in villages that were buried in layers of mud. Several hundred others suffered serious burns and the eruption forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. The government moved about 2,970 houses out of the danger zone.
Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted numerous times in the past 200 years. Still, as is the case with many of the 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, tens of thousands of people continue to live on its fertile slopes.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines, and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Authorities in the Russian province of Dagestan said it was unclear why the mass die-off happened but that it was likely due to natural causes.
Regional officials initially reported Saturday that 700 dead seals were found on the coast, but the Dagestan division of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment later raised the figure to about 2,500.
Zaur Gapizov, head of the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, said in a statement that the seals likely died a couple of weeks ago. He added that there was no sign that they were killed or caught in fishing nets.
Experts of the Federal Fisheries Agency and prosecutors inspected the coastline and collected data for laboratory research, which didn’t immediately spot any pollutants.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The dead and missing were all part of the congregation, which was conducting religious rituals along the river on Saturday, officials said. Rescue workers reported finding the bodies of two victims that day and seven more bodies when the search and recovery mission resumed Sunday morning.
The teams were interviewing people from the congregation to establish how many others were unaccounted for.
Religious groups frequently gather along the Jukskei River, which runs past townships such as Alexandra in the east of Johannesburg, for baptisms and ritual cleansing.
Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said Sunday that officials had warned residents about the dangers of conducting the rituals along the river.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Green Sprouts, maker of reusable and natural baby products, discovered that some of its cups were made with a small piece of metal that contains lead. This piece is typically inaccessible, but when the bottom of the cup is broken off, the lead piece is exposed. The company’s voluntary recall affects about 10,500 cups. They are sold at Whole Foods, Buy Buy Baby, Amazon and bedbathandbeyond.com.
“Testing of this component was omitted by the CPSC-approved third party lab because this part of the product is inaccessible under normal use,” the company said in a statement. “Had we been aware that a component containing lead in these products could become accessible, we wouldn’t have put them on the market; now that we know, we are voluntarily recalling these products.”
The company received seven reports of the base breaking off, exposing the small piece, called a “solder dot.” No injuries have been reported.
This recall isn’t entirely unusual: Bentex children’s clothing sets, specifically clothing in Disney-themed styles for young children, was recalled Nov. 23 because of lead in the textile ink on the clothing. About 87,000 units, sold at retailers such as TJ Maxx and Amazon.com, were involved. The CPSC website contains the item and batch numbers of the clothes involved in the recall.
“We are always concerned about lead,” said Patty Davis, Consumer Protection Safety Commission spokesperson. “The good news is that these were caught and recalled.”
Lead poisoning is extremely dangerous and toxic if ingested by children, and can cause neurological impairments, developmental delays and other serious health issues. Currently, the biggest and most common risk of lead poisoning to children is old lead-based paint used in houses. Water in Flint, Mich., had dangerously high levels of lead leading to a horrific human and environmental disaster, starting in 2014.
There is a strict lead limit on children’s products. In 2008, Congress passed a law limiting the amount of lead and other chemicals permitted in products, along with other toxic chemicals. This year, the CPSC seized 2 million products that did not meet U.S. safety standards, and 300,000 of those contained lead.
The sippy cup recall involves 6- and 8-ounce Green Sprouts Stainless Steel cups and bottles with tracking numbers 29218V06985, 35719V06985, and 33020V06985, which can be found on the bottom of the base.
Consumers can sign up for recall notices at CPSC.gov.
(THE WASHINGTON POST)
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The lava flowing down Mauna Loa has “slowed considerably” since it reached flat ground, Ken Hon, scientist in charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said at a news conference.
The lava is moving 30 to 40 yards per hour and is 3 1/2 miles south of Route 200, he said. At that rate, it would be at least a week before it reaches the highway.
“We don’t really know which way the lava flow will ultimately go,” Hon said.
Route 200, known as Saddle Road, bisects the island, connecting the cities of Hilo and Kailua-Kona. If it becomes impassable, the alternative is a longer coastal road that adds several hours of driving time to a trip that normally takes about 1 1/2 hours.
The distance from the road doesn’t mean much when thinking about when or if the lava will meet it, Hon said. The flow has become very viscous since it hit flat ground.
“Sometimes the lava flow is driving, sometimes it’s crawling,” he said.
Hon on Wednesday had given a timeline of two days for the earliest lava could reach the road, but on Thursday he said that was based on conditions at the time. He also stressed that one week would be the earliest it would reach the road at its current rate.
Officials were initially concerned that lava would head toward the community of South Kona, but scientists later assured the public the eruption had migrated and wasn’t threatening communities.
Gov. David Ige has issued an emergency proclamation to allow responders to arrive quickly or limit access as needed.
If lava does cross the highway, the Hawaii National Guard can help plan for alternatives and try to set up bypass routes, the governor said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The three communities — two in Alaska, and one in Washington state — will each get $25 million to move their key buildings onto higher ground and away from rising waters, with the expectation that homes will follow. The federal government will give eight more tribes $5 million each to plan for relocation.
“It gave me goose bumps when I found out we got that money,” said Joseph John Jr., a council member in Newtok, a village in southwest Alaska where the land is quickly eroding. It will receive $25 million to relocate inland. “It will mean a lot to us.”
The project, funded by the Interior Department, is an acknowledgment that a growing number of places around the United States can no longer be protected against changes brought by a warming planet. The spending is meant to create a blueprint for the federal government to help other communities, Native as well as nontribal, move away from vulnerable areas, officials said.
“There are tribal communities at risk of being washed away,” President Joe Biden said on Wednesday afternoon at a gathering of tribal leaders. The new funding, he said, will help tribes “move, in some cases, their entire communities back to safer ground.”
Relocating whole communities, sometimes called managed retreat, is perhaps the most aggressive form of adaptation to climate change. Despite the high initial cost, relocation may save money in the long run, by reducing the amount of damage from future disasters, along with the cost of rebuilding after those disasters.
In addition to Newtok, the other tribes to receive $25 million were Napakiak, a village on the shore of the Kuskokwim River that is losing 25 to 50 feet of land each year to erosion, and the Quinault Indian Nation, on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, whose main town, Taholah, faces a growing risk of flooding.
The Quinault nation has selected a new site on higher ground, said Fawn Sharp, the nation’s vice president. She said the money will be used to build a community center, which will also house a health and wellness center and be the site of general council meetings. The structure will also serve as an emergency evacuation center.
The $25 million will make up about one-quarter of the total cost of Quinault’s relocation project, said Sharp, who is also president of the National Congress of American Indians.
Eight other tribes will get $5 million each to consider whether to relocate and to begin planning for relocation if they decide to do so. They include the Chitimacha Tribe, in Louisiana; the Yurok Tribe, in Northern California; and other Native villages in Alaska.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Two people have been found dead and six were rescued alive since the landslide on Monday, state officials said. The landslide hit the BR-376 highway in the city of Guaratuba following intense and continuous rain in the region. A search and rescue team continued to work Wednesday in spite of bad weather, using tow trucks, search dogs and drones with thermal cameras to help detect any signs of life.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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One of dozens of tornadoes kicked up by a severe weather front that spent two days rolling from east Texas across several Southern states, the storm shocked people from their sleep in Flatwood, a sparsely populated community not far from the Alabama state capital of Montgomery.
In the early morning darkness, family members emerged from splintered homes to the sounds of screaming. Several homes in their community had been hit by falling trees, and a large pine tree crushed the bedroom of the mobile home where a father, mother and son were believed to be sleeping.
“The tree fell right slap in the middle of the bed while they were asleep. It fell on the wife and the kid,” family member Norman Bennett said of the victims.
The Montgomery County Sherriff’s Office said the victims were a 39-year-old-woman and her 8-year-old son, but did not release their names. A man, who is the woman’s husband and boy’s father, was injured and taken to the hospital.
Bennett said the man was trapped under the tree and debris, and could not see what had happened to his wife and child. “He was hollering. ‘Find my baby. Find my baby,’” Bennett said.
For one couple in Flatwood, a split-second decision may have just saved them.
Caroline Bankston said she and Tim Wiseman were at home watching news reports about the weather and trying to figure out where the twister was when she looked out the dining room window and realized it was already on top of them. They ran to a safer corner as their roof caved in, burying their sofa under debris.
“We just prayed, prayed, prayed, ‘Please, God. Please take care of us. Please,’ and he did. You can replace stuff, but you can’t replace a person,” Bankston said, her voice still trembling. “We were just sitting there on the couch. Thank God we moved.”
The storm system fueled by record high temperatures spawned dozens of tornadoes on Tuesday and early Wednesday as it moved from east Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and neighboring states. Tornadoes damaged homes, destroyed a fire station and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi. In Alabama, the same storm system also destroyed a community center and left a mess of toppled trees, downed power lines and debris.
A total of 73 tornado warnings and 120 severe thunderstorm warnings were issued from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning, said Matthew Elliott, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.
Montgomery County Sherriff Derrick Cunningham said a community center in Flatwood, on the same road where the fatalities occurred, was destroyed, and that search and rescue teams were going door to door Wednesday to account for all residents.
Record high temperatures in Texas and Louisiana intensified the storm front before it moved into Mississippi and Alabama, forecasters said Wednesday.
Shreveport, La., heated up to 81 degrees on Tuesday; and Tyler, Texas, hit 82 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Shreveport. Both those marks broke the old record of 80, set in 1949, the weather service said.
(Kim Chandler & Jeff Martin, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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It was just four years ago that Nicole Skilling fled her home near a community where more than 700 residences were destroyed by lava. She relocated to the South Kona area, only to find herself packing her car with food and supplies this week after Mauna Loa erupted late Sunday.
Officials were initially concerned that lava flowing down the side of the volcano would head toward South Kona, but scientists later assured the public that the eruption migrated to a rift zone on Mauna Loa’s northeast flank and wasn’t threatening any communities.
Still, the uncertainty is somewhat unnerving.
“It just happened last night, so I really haven’t had a lot of time to worry about it yet, basically,” Skilling said Monday. “And thankfully, right now, it’s at the northeast rift zone. But if it breaks on the west side, that’s when we’re talking about coming into a large populated area. That’s why I do have a little bit of PTSD.”
Despite that, some in the area were preparing for unpredictable changes.
Kamakani Rivera-Kekololio, who lives in the South Kona community of Hookena, was keeping supplies like food and blankets in his car.
“We’re being makaukau for anything,” Rivera-Kekololio said, using the Hawaiian word for “ready.”
Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said Tuesday that the lava was flowing “not super fast” at less than 1 mph, though the exact speed wasn’t yet clear. It was moving downhill about 6 miles from Saddle Road, which connects the east and west sides of the island. The flow was likely to slow down about 4 miles from the road when it hits flatter ground.
It was not clear when or if the lava will reach the road.
“We’re not even sure it will reach the highway, but that is certainly the next step in progress if it continues on these trends,” he said, adding that it’s also possible a fissure could open up and drain away some of the supply feeding the flow.
The smell of volcanic gases and sulfur was thick in the air Tuesday along Saddle Road, where people were watching a wide stream of lava creep closer. Clouds cleared to reveal a large plume of gas and ash rising from an open summit vent above the flow.
Gov. David Ige issued an emergency proclamation.
“We’re thankful the lava flow is not affecting residential areas at this time, allowing schools and businesses to remain open,” he said in a statement. “I’m issuing this Emergency Proclamation now to allow responders to respond quickly or limit access, if necessary, as the eruption continues.”
Hon said lava crossed the Mauna Loa Observatory access road Monday night and cut off power to the facility. It could move toward the county seat of Hilo, he added, but that could take a week or longer.
Meanwhile, scientists are trying to measure the gas emitted from the eruption.
“It’s just very early in this eruption right now,” Hon said.
The eruption is drawing visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is open 24 hours a day. “The viewing has been spectacular,” especially before sunrise and at night, park spokesperson Jessica Ferracane said.
Visitors there are currently able to witness two eruptive events: the glow from Kilauea’s lava lake and lava from a Mauna Loa fissure.
“This is a rare time where we have two eruptions happening simultaneously,” Ferracane said.
Hilo resident Lea Ferreira said she doesn’t plan to be one of those spectators. And she’s not worried about this eruption because she remembers the last one in 1984.
“This is nothing. She came out quiet, very quiet,” she said, referring to Pele, the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes and fire. “In 1984, you could see the flow high in the air.”
(Caleb Jones & Jennifer Since Kelleher, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography has operated the equipment at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1958, which generates the famed Keeling Curve. Named for Scripps scientist David Keeling, the measurements have helped link climate change to the burning of fossil fuels.
Mauna Loa started spurting and oozing lava around 1:30 a.m. Monday, with the carbon dioxide-tracking device losing power around 6:30 p.m. The volcano’s first eruption in nearly 40 years has yet to seriously threaten any human communities, although two neighboring volcanoes on the island simultaneously erupted Tuesday.
Scripps geoscientist Ralph Keeling, son of the Keeling Curve creator, said the situation is “very troubling.” He and others at the research university are now looking for a temporary site to operate backup monitoring equipment, as it could take weeks or even months to get electricity back at the equipment’s current location.
“The observatory will eventually come back, but it’s going to take a long time before it’s really back to normal,” Keeling said. “There’ll be a gap, and it’s too bad. It’s a really fantastic and important long-term record.”
The Keeling Curve shows a dramatic rise in carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere over more than half a century. The curve, today considered one of the most important records in scientific history, is carved into a wall at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C.
Mauna Loa was chosen for the carbon dioxide measurements because the big island of Hawaii is remote. However, there have been interruptions in the past.
In 1964, budget cuts within the federal agencies supporting the monitoring project suspended operations for several months. Then in 1984, the last Mauna Loa eruption cut off power from March 26 to April 29 of that year. Since 1974, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has made complementary carbon dioxide measurements at the agency’s observatory on Mauna Loa. That equipment is also dark now.
Last year, the monitoring data showed that carbon dioxide concentrations continued to increase despite a temporary economic slowdown triggered by the pandemic.
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap heat on the planet that would otherwise radiate into space. The highest monthly averages for carbon dioxide typically happen in May, before plants in the Northern Hemisphere start to suck up large amounts of the greenhouse gas. Oceans and other natural ecosystems also act as carbon sinks.
The institution is tweeting updates on the situation in Hawaii at @Keeling_Curve.
(Joshua Emerson Smith, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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There were no immediate reports of severe damage or injuries as multiple tornado warnings were issued starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing into the nighttime hours as heavy thunderstorms rolled from eastern Texas to Georgia and as far north as Indiana. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes hit the ground in Mississippi on Tuesday evening, and Alabama was in the forecast path of the storms during the overnight hours.
More than 25 million people were at risk from the vast storm system. The national Storm Prediction Center said in its storm outlook that affected cities could include New Orleans; Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee; and Birmingham, Ala.
The weather service received reports of people trapped at a grocery store in Caledonia, Miss., just after 6 p.m. Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence told WTVA-TV the people inside the grocery store made it out safely. Lawrence also said a family trapped in a house about a mile from the store escaped.
Additional reports of property damage near Columbus were received by the NWS, according to Lance Perrilloux, a forecaster with the agency.
Heavy rain and hail as big as tennis balls were also possible as forecasters said the weather outbreak was expected to continue today.
Craig Ceecee, a meteorologist at Mississippi State University, peered out at “incredibly black” skies through the door of a tornado shelter in Starkville. He estimated that about 100 people had already arrived as a lightning storm persisted outside.
The Oktibbeha County Emergency Management agency is operating the shelter, about three miles from the university’s campus. Ceecee said the dome-shaped multipurpose facility capable of withstanding 250 mph winds.
Before Tuesday’s storm, Ceecee built a database of Mississippi tornado shelters. He said there are several towns without any.
“I’ve had to go through events without (shelters), and trust me, they were scary,” Ceecee said.
In the small town of Tchula, Miss., hail stones crashed against the windows of City Hall, as the mayor and other residents took cover during a tornado warning. “It was hitting against the window, and you could tell that it was nice-sized balls of it,” Mayor Ann Polk said after the storm passed.
Flood watches were issued for parts of southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama, where 3 to 5 inches of rain could lead to flash flooding, the National Weather Service said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but officials told residents to be ready to evacuate if lava flows started heading toward populated areas.
Many living in the area weren’t around when Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago. The U.S. Geological Survey warned the roughly 200,000 people on the Big Island that an eruption “can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.”
Lifelong Big Island resident Bobby Camara, who lives in Volcano Village, said everyone across the island should be alert and keep track of the eruption.
“I think everybody should be a little bit concerned,” he said. “We don’t know where the flow is going, we don’t know how long it’s going to last.”
He said he’s seen three Mauna Loa eruptions in his lifetime and knows that people need to be vigilant.
The eruption began late Sunday night following a series of earthquakes, said Ken Hon at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
There’s been a surge of development on the Big Island in recent decades — its population has more than doubled, from 92,000 in 1980.
More than a third of the island’s residents live either in the city of Kailua-Kona to the west of the volcano, which has about 23,000 people, and Hilo to the east, with about 45,000. Officials were most worried about subdivisions 30 miles to the south of the volcano, which are home to about 5,000 people.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Orange County Transportation Authority board directed the agency’s chief executive officer Monday morning to take “all necessary actions to address the emergency,” including measures already under way to expand the boulder seawall below the slope and install steel anchors in the hillside to stop the slide.
Freight trains carry $1 billion in goods annually on the LOSSAN corridor between San Diego, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast, according to the state of California. The corridor is also part of the Strategic Rail Corridor Network, which delivers military vehicles and equipment to Camp Pendleton and the Navy ports in San Diego.
Passenger rail service between San Diego and Orange counties has been suspended since September, when new advances were discovered in a landslide that was halted a year earlier by placing tons of boulders in a seawall along the beach. Until last week, freight trains, largely from the Port of San Diego, continued to pass through the area at reduced frequencies and speeds, usually traveling at night.
“On Wednesday afternoon, a measuring device in the hillside reported out-of-the-ordinary movement in the slope,” said Scott Johnson, a spokesperson for the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Metrolink regional passenger rail service.
“Out of an abundance of caution, all freight rail service was stopped to confirm the readings,” he said. “Once it was determined the concerning slope movement had stopped, freight rail service resumed Friday morning at approximately 4 a.m. and has continued since.”
The tracks have moved more than 28 inches laterally toward the ocean since September 2021, according to OCTA measurements. Most of the movement occurred in late 2021 and was corrected in the previous repair work.
The 2021 slide cracked the foundations of several single-family homes in the nearby gated community of Cyprus Shores. Two of the homes were red-tagged as unfit for habitation and remain unoccupied, Dave Rebensdorf, San Clemente’s utilities director, said Monday. A third home was initially red-tagged, but after additional inspections the occupants were allowed to return.
Assessments of the slope in September of this year showed that a larger area of the slope was beginning to move. More than a dozen homes in the gated community of Cyprus Shores, mostly on the street Calle Ariana, are partially or completely within the slide area outlined on the agency’s current map of the site. No additional structural damage has been reported to the city so far, Rebensdorf said.
“We measure the slope movement hourly through remote equipment,” James Beil, OCTA executive director of capital programs, said at an OCTA meeting Nov. 14. “We are showing daily incremental movement, very slight, but every day it moves a little bit. It seems to move a little more every time we have large tidal fluctuations.”
The repairs under way this time, in addition to placing more rocks on the beach, include installing 220 “tiebacks,” which are steel anchors drilled deep into the hillside that hold flat panels at the edge of the slope to stop the earth from sliding. The ground on the seaward side of the panels will be backfilled so the tiebacks will not be visible when the work is finished.
“Construction began on the repairs last week and is expected to last approximately 90 days, which could mean into February,” OCTA spokesperson Eric Carpenter said Monday.
“Discussions will take place in December about when to safely restore passenger service ... which could possibly happen before the entire construction phase is complete,” Carpenter said. “Those discussions will involve OCTA, Metrolink and the LOSSAN rail authority, which oversees Amtrak service.”
Metrolink is OCTA’s regional passenger rail service, which normally stops as far south as the Oceanside Transit Center. LOSSAN is the rail corridor that runs 350 miles between San Diego, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo.
The route is the only rail connection between San Diego and Los Angeles and all other points north and east.
Amtrak passenger trains and the North County Transit District’s Coaster commuter trains continue to operate regularly between Oceanside and San Diego. Amtrak provides buses between the Oceanside Transit Center and the train station at Irvine so passengers can make connections around the repair site.
The 700-foot-long section of track between the beach and the homes at the southern end of San Clemente is one of several sections along the coastal LOSSAN corridor that are close to the beach and subject to erosion.
Another vulnerable section is in Del Mar, where the San Diego Association of Governments has been working for more than 20 years on a series of projects to stabilize the eroding bluffs. Construction on the next phase is expected to start next year to add more seawalls, soldier piles and drainage structures.
SANDAG’s long-term plan calls for moving about 1.7 miles of track off the bluffs and into a tunnel to be bored beneath Del Mar. The agency received a state grant of $300 million this year to pursue the project. Construction has been estimated at more than $4 billion.
So far, no plans have been announced to move the tracks in San Clemente.
(Phil Diehl, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The Naples prefect confirmed that five people remained missing, and feared buried under the debris of an enormous landslide that struck Casamicciola before dawn on Saturday. Its force collapsed buildings and pushed vehicles into the sea.
The other victims were identified as the infant boy’s parents, a 5-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother, a 31-year-old island resident and a Bulgarian tourist.
“Mud and water tend to fill every space,” Luca Cari, the spokesperson for Italian firefighters, told RAI state TV. ”Our teams are searching with hope, even if it is very difficult.“
“Our biggest hope is that people identified as missing have found refuge with relatives and friends and have not advised of their position,” he added.
The risks of landslides remained in the highest part of the town, near where heavy rainfall loosened a chunk of mountainside, requiring search teams to enter by foot, he said.
Small bulldozers first focused on clearing roads to allow rescue vehicles to pass, while dive teams were brought in to check cars that had been pushed into the sea.
“We are continuing the search with our hearts broken, because among the missing are also minors,“ Giacomo Pascale, the mayor of the neighboring town of Lacco Ameno, told RAI.
Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the people of Ischia during the traditional Sunday blessing in St. Peter’s Square. “I am praying for the victims, for those who are suffering and for those who are involved in the rescue,” he said.
The Naples prefect, Claudio Palomba, said Sunday that 30 homes had been inundated and more than 200 people had been displaced. Five people were injured.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The dry northeast winds also pushed the temperature to 82 degrees at San Diego International Airport — almost 10 degrees higher than forecast by the National Weather Service. The relative humidity in San Diego fell to 7 percent, low enough to give many people sinus headaches.
“The winds were stronger than we thought they would be and they went all the way to the coast, which is where the warmest temperatures were,” said Dan Gregoria, a weather service forecaster.
The Santa Anas began blowing before dawn on Thursday and gusted 70 mph to 87 mph in the Cuyamaca Mountains, not far from Julian. The winds also hit the 50 mph to 60 mph range along eastern Interstate 8, roughly between Alpine and Pine Valley, buffeting cars and trucks.
An unexpected moment came at about 11:30 a.m. when strong Santa Anas suddenly began to hit La Jolla Cove and Children’s Pool. The winds intensified, reaching the 25 mph to 30 mph range, sweeping sand and dirt off the coastal bluffs, producing a dust storm that drove many people off the beach, including outdoor vendors.
The winds also roiled the surface of the ocean, making it hard for swimmers, divers and kayakers to clearly see incoming waves. La Jolla lifeguards guided some swimmers out of the water and onto shore. They also rescued about six kayakers who were unable to return to shore, said Jose Ysea, public safety media services manager with the city of San Diego.
Thursday’s high wind events made travel difficult for some drivers, and there were multiple reports of downed trees.
In one instance, the California Highway Patrol worked to remove a large tree that blocked lanes on state Route 94 near Forrest Gate Road just before 1 p.m. A CHP dispatcher said one vehicle had run into the tree. No injuries were reported.
Winds also blew several road signs and barrels onto freeway lanes. Around 10 a.m., CHP officers responded to reports of an electronic traffic signal that had fallen and spilled battery acid onto the right-hand shoulder of Interstate 8 near Route 79 in Descanso. There were no injuries reported.
Workers at San Diego Gas & Electric kept busy during the early-afternoon hours of the holiday restoring power to more than 2,000 customers in rural communities.
Some of those outages started around noon in the areas of Julian, Santa Ysabel and Morettis Junction in San Diego County. Power was expected to be restored by 5:30 p.m., according to SDG&E’s outage map.
Campo, Dulzura, Potrero, Live Oak Springs and Jacumba also experienced outages between 8:40 a.m. and 10 a.m., leaving fewer than 100 customers without power.
Service was expected to resume at around 6 p.m.
SDG&E crews worked to determine potential causes but “given these outages are happening in some of the most wind-prone areas, winds could be the culprit,” said spokesperson Alex Welling.
“Given the holiday and Santa Ana winds, we have crews ready to go and make sure we restore power,” he added.
Forecasters said the winds will weaken in most areas by this morning. Temperatures will still be above normal. The weather will turn even cooler Saturday through Monday as low-pressure systems approach Southern California.
| Location | Peak Speed (mph) |
| Sill Hill Cuyamaca Mountains | 87 |
| Viejas Grade | 62 |
| Big Black Mountain | 61 |
| Mount Laguna Observatory | 61 |
| Palomar Mountain | 60 |
| North Descanso | 59 |
| El Cajon Mountain | 51 |
| Pine Valley | 51 |
| Campo | 49 |
| Olivenhain | 41 |
| Julian | 40 |
| Poway | 38 |
| Jamul | 37 |
| Escondido | 36 |
| La Jolla | 32 |
| San Diego International Airport | 32 |
Many of the more than 1,000 rescuers were using backhoes, sniffer dogs and life detectors — as well as their bare hands — to search the worst-hit area of Cijendil village in mountainous Cianjur district where a landslide set off by Monday’s quake left tons of mud, rocks and broken trees.
Suharyanto, chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the rescuers are planning to use more heavy equipment to search the landslide after using maximum human power.
“Hopefully in the next two days, after the weather is good, we can use heavy equipment and more victims will be found,” Suharyanto said.
Rescue efforts were temporarily suspended Wednesday as heavy monsoon rains fell.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Cianjur on Thursday and said rescuers will focus on one location where 39 people are missing.
“The search process will be our priority for now,” Widodo said. “The soil is unstable, so you need to be careful,” he warned.
On Wednesday, searchers rescued a 6-year-old boy who was trapped for two days under the rubble of his collapsed house.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The death toll was likely to rise with about 40 people still missing, some remote devastated areas still unreachable and more than 2,000 people injured in Monday’s 5.6 magnitude quake. Hospitals near the epicenter on densely populated Java island were already overwhelmed, with patients hooked up to IV drips lying on stretchers and cots in tents set up outside awaiting further treatment.
More than 12,000 army personnel were deployed Wednesday to bolster search efforts by police, the search and rescue agency and volunteers, said Suharyanto, chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said aid was reaching thousands of people left homeless who fled to temporary shelters, where supplies were being taken by foot over the rough terrain as authorities struggled to get vehicles and heavy equipment over washed-out roads.
He said rescuers recovered three more bodies Wednesday and rescued a 6-year-old boy, who was found alive next to the dead body of his grandmother under the rubble of his house.
Police, soldiers and other rescue personnel used jackhammers, circular saws, farm tools and their bare hands to desperately dig in the worst-hit area of Cijendil village, where a landslide left tons of mud, rocks and trees.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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“It’s a disaster,” said rice farmer Don Bransford. “This has never happened. Never. And I’ve been farming since 1980.”
Bransford typically farms about 1,800 acres of rice. But the drought was so severe this year that water deliveries to area farms were drastically cut. Bransford, board president of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, didn’t plant a single acre. Many other farms went idle as well.
California has just gone through the state’s driest three-year period on record, and this year the drought has pushed the fallowing of farmland to a new high.
In a new report on the drought’s economic effects, researchers estimated that California’s irrigated farmland shrank by 752,000 acres, or nearly 10 percent, in 2022 compared with 2019 — the year prior to the drought. That was up from an estimated 563,000 acres of fallowed farmland last year.
Nearly all the farmland that was left unplanted and dry falls within the Central Valley, and a large portion of it in the valley’s northern half. The state’s main rice-growing regions in Sutter, Colusa and Glenn counties were hit particularly hard, the report said, with about 267,000 acres fallowed this year.
“The severity of the ongoing drought has been unprecedented for the Sacramento Valley,” said Josué Medellín-Azuara, a water resources economist and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Merced. “It’s been more severe over the past year, and you have the cumulative effects of the previous dry years.”
Medellín-Azuara and colleagues from his university, University of California Davis and the Public Policy Institute of California prepared the report for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. They estimated changes in the acreage of irrigated land by surveying irrigation districts, analyzing water data and reviewing satellite data.
They found that water deliveries in the Central Valley were cut by 43 percent in both 2021 and 2022. Growers partially made up for those reductions by pumping more groundwater.
Gross crop revenues fell $1.7 billion, or 4.6 percent, this year. Revenues of the state’s food processing and manufacturing industries declined nearly $3.5 billion, or 7.8 percent.
An estimated 12,000 agricultural jobs were lost, representing a 2.8 percent decline.
The researchers said California lacks sufficient programs to assist laborers who lose farm jobs. They said it’s crucial “to identify and assist communities that rely on seasonal and permanent agricultural jobs that are vulnerable to drought.”
The amount of farmland left dry this year surpassed the peak of fallowed land during California’s last drought from 2012 to 2016.
Medellín-Azuara said the situation could have been worse this year if reservoirs that supply the San Joaquin Valley hadn’t risen somewhat with rains in late 2021, making more water deliveries possible.
Still, the losses for agriculture were severe.
“It’s a really remarkable hit,” said Daniel Sumner, a professor of agricultural economics at UC Davis. He said the effects on the farm economy in the Sacramento Valley, which typically has more water and fares better than the San Joaquin Valley, were especially pronounced, representing the biggest contraction he has seen in the region in decades.
High milk prices helped mitigate the overall decline in farm revenues, Sumner said. And farmers made various adjustments to cope with reduced water supplies.
“We cut back on cotton. We cut back on some other crops. And the fruits and vegetables that we’re most known for, we continue to produce most of them,” Sumner said. “California agriculture is incredibly resilient.”
But pressure on agriculture is increasing as climate change unleashes more intense and longer-lasting droughts, as well as heat waves that can harm crop yields.
During the past two years, growers have dramatically increased groundwater pumping in the Central Valley, including many areas where water levels are declining and a growing number of household wells have gone dry. The researchers estimated that farms have pumped 27 percent more groundwater this year than in 2019.
Such heavy reliance on wells will face new limitations in the coming years. Local water agencies across the San Joaquin Valley are required to begin reining in over-pumping under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires them to balance water use with available supplies by 2040. Researchers have projected that meeting the law’s sustainability rules will require that vast areas of farmland be taken out of production permanently.
For now, farmers with wells have been able to rely on aquifers. But in areas where rice farms have long depended solely on flows from the Sacramento River, many growers have no wells. Without water flowing in canals, farmers were left without options.
California harvested the state’s smallest rice crop since the severe drought of 1977-78, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We typically plant about 100,000 acres of rice in our district. And this year, we planted 1,000 acres,” said Thad Bettner, general manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District. “It’s just a massive, massive impact.”
With the Sacramento River watershed parched and Shasta Lake at low levels, wildlife officials dedicated some water to try to help the spawning of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, which contributed to the cuts in water deliveries to farms, Bettner said.
Bransford said he has crop insurance and can receive compensation for the rice he couldn’t plant. He has kept a couple of employees on his payroll. But much of the area’s farming economy has shriveled, leaving many laborers suffering.
“They’re an embedded, important part of our community,” he said. “And the problem we have as owners of farms is if these people leave, there’s no replacement.”
California farms primarily produce short- and medium-grain Japonica rice, which is used for sushi and other dishes. The rice is sold domestically and also exported to Asia and other parts of the world.
The area’s vast rice fields have long provided habitat for migrating birds, which over the last century have lost most of the natural wetlands where they once stopped to rest and feed.
Usually, after growers harvest their crops, the fields are left with chopped-up rice straw and fallen kernels. The farmers will again send water flowing to fields, attracting geese, ducks and other birds, which arrive in large flocks to feed.
With many fields bone dry, Bransford and other farmers say they’re concerned about how the birds and other species will fare.
The California Rice Commission said this year’s rice crop is estimated to be about half the size of a typical harvest. The organization said the drastic water cuts have also dried up what were once reliable habitats for more than 200 wildlife species, among them migrating ducks and geese, which typically depend on rice fields for a large portion of their food during the fall and winter.
Tim Johnson, the commission’s president and CEO, said the lack of water now threatens millions of wetland-dependent birds, and could affect the migratory path along the Pacific Flyway.
He said while the long-term environmental effects are unknown, rice farmers have been working with government agencies and conservation groups to provide as much habitat as possible and “assist in tracking the impacts this historic drought will have on waterbirds, with the goal of using that science to better help the Pacific Flyway in the years ahead.”
On the west side of the Sacramento Valley, waterbirds typically move between wildlife refuges and rice fields. Because the local wildlife refuges had their water deliveries cut this year, Bransford said, the irrigation district sold the government additional water to help nourish the habitats.
With fewer rice fields to turn to, the birds will likely be concentrated where there is water, Bransford said. And such concentrations of birds can lead to outbreaks of avian botulism or other deadly illnesses. A wave of avian flu has already left millions of birds dead in parts of North America, and has been circulating in California.
“Hopefully, it will not have an impact on the waterfowl. But there is potential for that,” Bransford said.
Because migrating birds are also encountering parched landscapes elsewhere, he said, “it’s really going to be difficult on them.”
While the dry fields show the drought’s immediate toll, farmers expect it could take a year to determine how severe the ecological ripple effects turn out to be.
(Ian James, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The scope of the destruction and aftershocks of Monday’s earthquake that killed at least 268 complicated the ongoing rescue effort in Indonesia’s most populous province, as workers were hampered by blocked roads, power outages and stretched medical resources. Anxious family members awaited news of loved ones, some of whom were trapped in villages with weak phone and Internet services. Hospitals were overrun, with the injured being treated outside in makeshift tents.
After being trapped by the fallen bricks of her home, Supartika, 47, was eventually rescued by her husband and neighbors. She was taken to the hospital hours later, around 8 p.m. Monday, because of the limited number of ambulances.
“I was shocked. It was very sudden,” said Supartika, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name. Her right hand was broken, right shoulder dislocated and leg cut by broken glass. “My house is flat to the earth.”
The full extent of the damage from Monday’s shallow, magnitude 5.6 earthquake remained unclear with more than 1,000 injured and 150 still missing. Most of the dead had been crushed in collapsed buildings. Many were women and children in homes or schools that crumbled when the earthquake struck in the afternoon, Ridwan Kamil, governor of West Java province, said at a news conference.
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia on Tuesday visited Cianjur, the city closest to the epicenter, pledging to provide aid to victims to rebuild and to improve construction standards.
“It’s important to have quake-proof buildings,” he said. “We’re focusing first on opening road access in landslide-affected areas. I’ve instructed that evacuation and rescue of buried victims be prioritized.”
More than 58,000 residents were displaced from their homes, according to officials. Many of the injured were being treated in makeshift tents outside overwhelmed hospitals in Cianjur. Some victims were being transferred to nearby regions because of a shortage of medical professionals, Ridwan said.
More than 22,000 homes were damaged, at least 6,500 of them severely, officials said. In the Cianjur area, 13 schools and 10 office buildings were also hit, according to emergency officials.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The two-week job is done every year or so to maintain tidal flushing of the San Dieguito wetlands, where Edison completed a four-year, $100 million restoration of about 150 acres in 2011 along the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Nearly all of the sand removed in the past two weeks came from deposits that had accumulated over the past year or longer in the river channel at the edge of the lagoon just east of the Camino Del Mar bridge. Heavy equipment crews dug a trench in the sand beneath the low-lying bridge so that loaded dump trucks could drive underneath to reach the beach. The final step of the project was to refill the trench.
“We dredge the same portion of the lagoon to the same (depth) every year,” Edison project manager Jenny McGee said Monday.
Maintaining the open lagoon allows fish from the ocean to enter the wetlands and lay their eggs, she said. It also preserves nesting sites for birds, many of which are rare or endangered.
“It’s creating a fish nursery and a bird habitat,” McGee said.
Most of San Diego County’s lagoons are dredged routinely to prevent stagnation and restore the tidal movements that support healthy saltwater wetlands.
Edison was required to restore the San Dieguito wetlands and maintain the open river mouth as part of a mitigation agreement approved in 2003 by the California Coastal Commission. The San Dieguito restoration is one of several mitigation projects the agency required of Edison to compensate for marine life such as small fish and larvae that were killed by the seawater intakes of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Other mitigation projects required for SONGS included the white sea bass fish hatchery in the Agua Hedionda Lagoon at Carlsbad, and an artificial reef built to anchor a kelp forest off the coast of San Clemente.
The nuclear power plant ceased operations in 2013 and is being demolished. The distinctive twin domes are expected to come down in 2026.
(Phil Diehl, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The temblor originated off the coast of Vicente Guerrero, Mexico — about 105 miles south of Ensenada and roughly 192 miles southeast of San Diego. There was no immediate indication that the quake would produce a tsunami.
The USGS says the shaking was felt in San Ysidro, Imperial Beach, Del Mar, San Diego, La Jolla, Lakeside, Encinitas, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, Miramar, Chula Vista, Santee, Oceanside and Borrego Springs. Shaking also was felt in Imperial County, notably El Centro.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The petition filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contends it was an error to take manatees off the endangered list in 2017, leaving the slow-moving marine mammals listed only as threatened. They had been listed as endangered since 1973.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service now has the opportunity to correct its mistake and protect these desperately imperiled animals,” said Ragan Whitlock, attorney for the Florida-based Center for Biological Diversity.
Under the Endangered Species Act, a species is considered endangered if it is “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” A threatened species is one that may become endangered in the foreseeable future.
The petition, also sponsored by the Save the Manatee Club, Miami Waterkeeper and others, contends that pollution from fertilizer runoff, leaking septic tanks, wastewater discharges and increased development is triggering algae blooms that have killed much of the seagrass on which manatees depend, especially on Florida’s east coast.
That resulted in the deaths mainly from starvation of a record 1,100 manatees in 2021 and is continuing this year, with at least 736 manatee deaths reported as of Nov. 11, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The 2021 deaths represented 13 percent of all manatees estimated to live in Florida waters.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has 90 days to determine whether restoring the manatee to endangered status is warranted and, if so, 12 months from the date of the petition to complete a review of the manatee’s status.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said in an email that officials are “aware of the petition. Service staff will review the petition through our normal petition processes.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief in 11 counties hit by the lake-effect snowstorm Friday and Saturday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul thanked Biden for granting her request for emergency aid, and added in a news release, “My team and I will continue working around the clock to keep everyone safe, help communities dig out, and secure every last dollar to help rebuild and recover from this unprecedented, record-shattering historic winter storm.”
National Weather Service observers reported 80 inches in the Buffalo suburbs of Hamburg and Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and 74 inches in Natural Bridge, a hamlet near Watertown off the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The storm forced the Bills to move Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit.
On Monday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz raised the death toll from the storm from two to three. All of the victims were men who had heart attacks while clearing snow, he said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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There were no immediate reports of widespread damage or injuries.
The quake’s epicenter was in the ocean about 35 miles southwest of the capital, Honiara, at a depth of 8 miles, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Hazardous waves are possible for islands in the region, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, but it advised there was no wider tsunami threat expected.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Many of the dead were public school students who had finished their classes for the day and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools when they collapsed, West Java Gov. Ridwan Kamil said as he announced the latest death toll in the remote, rural area.
Hospitals were overwhelmed by injured people, and the toll was expected to rise. No estimates were immediately available because of the area’s far-flung population, but many structures collapsed, and residents and emergency workers braced for grim news.
“Buildings were completely flattened,” said Dwi Sarmadi, who works for an Islamic educational foundation in a neighboring district.
Roughly 175,000 people live in the town of Cianjur, part of a mountainous district of the same name with more than 2.5 million people. Known for their piety, the people of Cianjur live mostly in towns of one- and two-story buildings and in smaller homes in the surrounding countryside.
Kamil said that more than 13,000 people whose homes were heavily damaged were taken to evacuation centers.
Emergency workers treated the injured on stretchers and blankets outside hospitals, on terraces and in parking lots in the Cianjur region, about a three-hour drive from the capital, Java. The injured were given oxygen masks and IV lines. Some were resuscitated.
NB: The USGS reports that the quake's magnitude was a relatively low M 5.6. Yet the shaking reached intensity IX. significant portions of the local population was exposed to mass movements and liquefaction. The depth was reported at 10 km, and the earthquake type was a strike-slip.
About 2.5 days earlier, a larger M 6.9 occurred about 750 km to the west in the open ocean in the Java Trench. Even though this quake was a reverse earthquake, a tsunami was not reported though some
sea level stations indicated sea surface fluctuations up to 1 m.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Many businesses in the hardest-hit areas remained closed, but highways reopened and travel bans in many areas were lifted, though bands of lake-effect snow were expected to bring up to 2 feet by this morning in some parts of the state that were largely spared in earlier rounds.
“This has been a historic storm. Without a doubt, this is one for the record books,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a briefing Sunday.
Snow began falling Thursday in towns south of Buffalo. By Saturday, the National Weather Service recorded 77 inches in Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and 72 inches in Natural Bridge, a hamlet near Watertown off the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
Similar multiday storms have brought bigger snowfall totals than that in the past to New York, but the ferocity of the storm on Friday appeared to threaten the state’s record for most snowfall in a 24-hour period: the 50 inches that fell on Camden, N.Y., on Feb. 1, 1966.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Alumbaugh, who is based in Buffalo, said it was too early to say whether any of this year’s snowfalls exceeded that record.
Hochul is asking for a federal disaster declaration for the affected areas, which would potentially unlock some aid. She said teams were checking on residents of mobile home parks in areas that got enough snow to potentially crumple roofs.
Due to the heavy snowfall, a Sunday football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns was moved to Detroit.
New York is no stranger to dramatic lake-effect snow, which is caused by cool air picking up moisture from the warmer water, then releasing it in bands of windblown snow over land.
This month’s storm is at least the worst in the state since November 2014, when some communities south of Buffalo were hit with 7 feet of snow over the course of three days, collapsing roofs and trapping drivers on a stretch of the New York State Thruway.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The storm’s severity varied widely due to the peculiarities of lake-effect storms, which are caused by frigid winds picking up moisture from the warmer lakes, and dumping snow in narrow bands.
Residents in some parts of Buffalo awoke to blowing, heavy snow, punctuated by occasional claps of thunder, while just a few miles north, only a few inches had fallen overnight and there were patches of blue sky.
The heaviest snowfall was south of the city. The National Weather Service reported single-day totals of 3 feet in many places along the eastern end of Lake Erie, with bands of heavier precipitation bringing 66 inches in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, 48 inches in Elma and more than 3 feet in Hamburg, where rescue crews were called to help a resident whose home buckled under the weight.
Schools were shuttered. Amtrak stations in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Depew were closed. Numerous flights in and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport were canceled.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for parts of western New York. The declaration covers 11 counties.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s unanimous vote on the lower Klamath River dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone for a $500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and environmentalists for years. The project would return the lower half of California’s second-largest river to a free-flowing state for the first time in more than a century.
Native tribes that rely on the Klamath River and its salmon for their way of life have been a driving force behind bringing the dams down in a wild and remote area that spans the California and Oregon border. Barring any unforeseen complications, Oregon, California and the entity formed to oversee the project will accept the license transfer and could begin dam removal as early as this summer, proponents said.
“The Klamath salmon are coming home,” Yurok Chairman Joseph James said after the vote. “The people have earned this victory and with it, we carry on our sacred duty to the fish that have sustained our people since the beginning of time.”
The dams produce less than 2 percent of PacifiCorp’s power generation — enough to power about 70,000 homes — when they are running at full capacity, said Bob Gravely, spokesperson for the utility. But they often run at a far lower capacity because of low water in the river and other issues, and the agreement that paved the way for Thursday’s vote was ultimately a business decision, he said.
PacifiCorp would have had to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in fish ladders, fish screens and other conservation upgrades under environmental regulations that were not in place when the aging dams were first built. But with the deal approved Thursday, the utility’s cost is capped at $200 million, with another $250 million from a California voter-approved water bond.
“We’re closing coal plants and building wind farms and it all just has to add up in the end. It’s not a one-to-one,” he said of the coming dam demolition. “You can make up that power by the way you operate the rest of your facilities or having energy efficiency savings so your customers are using less.”
Approval of the order to surrender the dams’ operating license is the bedrock of the most ambitious salmon restoration plan in history and the project’s scope — measured by the number of dams and the amount of river habitat that would reopen to salmon — makes it the largest of its kind in the world, said Amy Souers Kober, spokesperson for American Rivers, which monitors dam removals and advocates for river restoration.
More than 300 miles of salmon habitat in the Klamath River and its tributaries would benefit, she said.
The decision is in line with a trend toward removing aging and outdated dams across the U.S. as they come up for license renewal and confront the same government-mandated upgrade costs as the Klamath River dams would have had.
Across the U.S., 1,951 dams have been demolished as of February, including 57 in 2021, American Rivers said. Most of those have come down in the past 25 years as facilities age and come up for relicensing.
Commissioners on Thursday called the decision “momentous” and “historic” and spoke of the importance of taking the action during National Native American Heritage Month because of its importance to restoring salmon and reviving the river that is at the heart of the culture of several tribes in the region.
“Some people might ask in this time of great need for zero emissions, ‘Why are we removing the dams?’ First, we have to understand this doesn’t happen every day . a lot of these projects were licensed a number of years back when there wasn’t as much focus on environmental issues,” said FERC Chairman Richard Glick. “Some of these projects have a significant impact on the environment and a significant impact on fish.“
Glick added that, in the past, the commission did not consider the effect of energy projects on tribes but said that was a “very important element” of Thursday’s decision.
Members of the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley tribes and other supporters lit a bonfire and watched the vote on a remote Klamath River sandbar via a satellite uplink to symbolize their hopes for the river’s renewal.
“I understand that some of those tribes are watching this meeting today on the (river) bar and I raise a toast to you,” Commissioner Willie Phillips said.
The vote comes at a critical moment when human-caused climate change is hammering the Western United States with prolonged drought, said Tom Kiernan, president of American Rivers. He said allowing California’s second-largest river to flow naturally, and its flood plains and wetlands to function normally, would help mitigate those impacts.
“The best way of managing increasing floods and droughts is to allow the river system to be healthy and do its thing,” he said.
The Klamath Basin watershed covers more than 14,500 square miles and the Klamath itself was once the third-largest salmon producing river on the West Coast. But the dams, constructed between 1918 and 1962, essentially cut the river in half and prevent salmon from reaching spawning grounds upstream. Consequently, salmon runs have been dwindling for years.
The smallest dam, Copco 2, could come down as early as this summer. The remaining dams — one in southern Oregon and two in California — will be drained down very slowly starting in early 2024 with the goal of returning the river to its natural state by the end of that year.
Plans to remove the dams have not been without controversy.
Homeowners on Copco Lake, a large reservoir, vigorously oppose the demolition plan and ratepayers in the rural counties around the dams worry about taxpayers shouldering the cost of any overruns or liability problems. Critics also believe dam removal won’t be enough to save the salmon because of changing ocean conditions the fish encounter before the return to their natal river.
“The whole question is, will this add to the increased production of salmon? It has everything to do with what’s going on in the ocean (and) we think this will turn out to be a futile effort,” said Richard Marshall, head of the Siskiyou County Water Users Association. “Nobody’s ever tried to take care of the problem by taking care of the existing situation without just removing the dams.”
U.S. regulators raised flags about the potential for cost overruns and liability issues in 2020, nearly killing the proposal, but Oregon, California and PacifiCorp, which operates the hydroelectric dams and is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway, teamed up to add another $50 million in contingency funds.
PacifiCorp will continue to operate the dams until the demolition begins.
The largest U.S. dam demolition to date is the removal of two dams on the Elwha River on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula in 2012.
(Gillian Flaccus, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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In two appearances, da Silva laid out a vision for management of the world’s largest rainforest, critical to fighting climate change, that was in stark contrast to that of President Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration witnessed some of the most rapid cutting of forests in decades.
“There will be no climate security if the Amazon isn’t protected,” said da Silva, adding that all crimes in the forest, from illegal logging to mining, would be cracked down on “without respite.”
Brazilian presidents have a wide range of powers when it comes to monitoring and regulating the Amazon. The Ministry of Environment oversees the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, known as Ibama, which patrols the forests. Federal police work across Brazil, including in states with large forest areas, and the armed forces can also be deployed.
Bolsonaro, who pushed development both in his pro-business rhetoric and policies, made several moves that weakened protections. For example, he appointed forest managers from the agribusiness sector, which opposes the creation of protected areas such as Indigenous territories and pushes for the legalization of land robbing.
Many Brazil experts have argued those changes opened the door to widespread criminality: The deforested area in Brazil’s Amazon reached a 15-year high from August 2020 to July 2021, according to official figures. Satellite monitoring shows the trend this year is on track to surpass last year.
The Amazon rainforest, which covers parts of several nations in South America, combats climate change by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide. It’s also home to some of the planet’s most rare animals and plants, along with tribes that have lived in the forest for thousands of years.
The appearance at COP27 of da Silva, who made an extraordinary political comeback after being convicted of corruption and jailed a few years ago, lent both symbolic and practical weight to discussions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help developing nations confront the impacts of climate change. That’s because da Silva oversaw large reductions in deforestation as president between 2003 and 2010.
In his first appearance, da Silva met with several Brazilian governors, including from important rainforest states like Amazonia and Para. He also argued that the U.N. climate summit in 2025 should be based in the Amazon, so “people who defend the Amazon and defend the climate get to know the region close up.” He said he would pitch the idea to U.N. leadership this week.
During both speeches, da Silva took several swipes at Bolsonaro. Da Silva beat Bolsonaro in October’s elections and will assume power Jan. 1.
“Brazil can’t remain isolated like it was these last four years. (Officials from Brazil) didn’t travel to any other countries, and no other countries traveled to Brazil,” said da Silva.
Da Silva also had some strong words for world leaders. He mentioned a pledge by rich countries, made during the climate conference in 2009, to contribute $100 billion a year to help developing nations adapt to the impacts of climate change. That effort has never been fully funded.
“I don’t know how many representatives of rich countries are here,” said da Silva, pausing to smile and look out at the crowd. “I want to say that my return here is also to collect on what was promised.”
(Peter Prengaman, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Forecasters originally thought the region would only get strong winds Tuesday night and much of today. The winds already started Tuesday. And it now appears that a second windstorm will begin Friday and last into Saturday.
“The first Santa Anas could lead to elevated wildfire risk and the second could make things critical,” said Casey Oswant, a weather service forecaster.
Earlier, the fire danger didn’t look bad because of recent rains. But the prolonged wind events will significantly dry the region’s chaparral, one of the most explosive fire sources in the county.
The first storm could cause power outages and damage trees countywide, forecasters said.
A high-wind warning will be in effect until 10 p.m. today. The strongest winds will occur between 8 a.m. and noon today.
The first storm will peak today when winds gust up to 60 mph in the mountains and foothills, notably along eastern Interstate 8 near Alpine and Pine Valley. Winds also are expected to gust to 60 mph in Campo, 51 mph in Julian, 45 mph in Escondido, 43 mph at Mount Laguna, 38 mph in Mira Mesa, 33 mph in Oceanside, 22 mph in San Ysidro, and 14 mph at San Diego International Airport.
The region also will experience very low relative humidity today. The relative humidity is expected to drop to 9 percent in Escondido, 10 percent in El Cajon and Alpine, 14 percent in Julian, and 21 percent in San Diego.
Similar conditions are expected early Saturday, when the second windstorm arrives.
The daytime high is forecast to hit or exceed 71 degrees today in San Diego for the first time this month.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Since then, the world population has shot up in the shape of a hockey stick, boosted by the triumphs of modern medicine and public health.
The latest marker was passed Tuesday, when the United Nations said the world population had reached 8 billion, just 11 years after it passed 7 billion. (It is an inexact number, since there is no official count, but the international organization said its projections crossed the line Tuesday.)
The growth rate, which is expected to slow globally over the coming decades, has been uneven around the world. Slowing growth rates in populous nations such as China and the United States have caused some alarm, threatening to upend their societies. Rising birthrates in poorer nations threaten to strain systems that are already struggling.
About 70 percent of the growth to 8 billion from 7 billion happened in low- and lower-middle-income countries, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, the United Nations said. The trend is expected to become even more pronounced in the years ahead.
“When the next billion is added between 2022 and 2037, these two groups of countries are expected to account for more than 90% of global growth,” the organization said.
Meeting the needs — including education, public health, employment, and water and sanitation — created by that growth will require “a significant increase in public expenditures,” the organization said.
The growing population has helped fuel consumption at what experts say is an unsustainable pace. It has contributed to environmental challenges, including climate change, deforestation and the loss of biodiversity, the United Nations said.
“Slower population growth over many decades could help to mitigate the further accumulation of environmental damage in the second half of the current century,” the organization said.
While it took 11 years for the population to grow to 8 billion from 7 billion, the United Nations said it expects 15 years to pass before we reach 9 billion, in 2037, and another 22 to pass before 10 billion, in 2058.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The move will allow crews to take equipment such as substations, transformers and breakers offline for long-needed repairs that are expected to take anywhere from 12 to 18 months, said Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. It will also provide a boost to a system whose generation capacity has long been waning.
“We know the grid is in a critical state,” he said. “We cannot endure these outages.”
The move is part of a deal reached last month with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which agreed to help the U.S. territory stabilize a power system that was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and pummeled again by Hurricane Fiona in September.
Nancy Casper, FEMA federal coordinator, said additional generation of 600 to 700 megawatts will be available in two to three months via barges and temporary land-based generators.
She said the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the project and Puerto Rico’s government the remaining 10 percent, but that no estimated cost is yet available because teams will reach out to vendors by the end of November.
The announcement was expected to quell some of the anger and frustration building up across the island of 3.2 million people whose lives have been increasingly disrupted by lengthy power outages.
The latest outage occurred on Monday, leaving 178,000 customers in the dark for reasons unknown. Previous outages have been blamed on exploding transformers, iguanas, sargassum and aging infrastructure.
Puerto Rico’s power grid was already crumbling due to decades of mismanagement and neglect when Hurricane Maria hit in November 2017 and destroyed most of the grid.
It took a year to patch the system back together, but actual long-term reconstruction work started just a couple of months ago. FEMA has set aside nearly $10 billion for the work, but only $183 million in projects have been approved.
Hurricane Fiona caused further damage when it hit Puerto Rico’s southwest coast in September, once again knocking out power to the whole island. Luma, a private company that has faced sharp criticism since taking over transmission and distribution of power last year, estimates the storm caused $4 billion in damages.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently visited Puerto Rico twice in less than two weeks and warned of various “critical failures.”
(Danica Coto, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The temblor, first reported by the U.S. Geological Survey, struck at 11:48 p.m. local time, at a depth of 15 miles. Tsunami advisories were issued for Tonga, Niue and American Samoa.
In Tonga — which experienced a devastating volcanic eruption that led to a tsunami on Jan. 15 — officials issued an urgent national tsunami warning, advising people to get to the third floor of buildings if they were unable to flee to higher ground. Residents posted photographs online of evacuation centers filling up.
After a few hours, authorities lifted the tsunami warning.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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As waves washed over pieces of lumber and concrete blocks that once were part of homes at Wilbur-by-the-Sea, workers tried to stabilize remaining sections of land with rocks and dirt. It was too late for some, though: The front of one house laid on the sand, where it was sheared away from the rest of the structure.
Parts of otherwise intact buildings hung over cliffs of sand created by pounding waves that covered the normally wide beach. Dozens of hotel and condominium towers as tall as 22 stories were declared uninhabitable in Daytona Beach Shores and New Smyrna Beach after seawater undercut their foundations. Six weeks ago, Hurricane Ian caused damage that contributed to problems from Nicole.
As Nicole’s leftovers pushed northward, forecasters issued multiple tornado warnings in the Carolinas and Virginia, although no touchdowns were reported immediately. In south Georgia, Keith Post tried to clean up the damage at a coastal submarine museum that was submerged by floodwaters.
“At one point it was up to my knees,” said Post, whose St. Marys Submarine Museum sits on the river that forms the Georgia-Florida line at the Atlantic coast. “From the front of the museum looking across to Florida, you did not see any green. It was all water.”
Downgraded to a depression, Nicole could dump as much as 8 inches of rain over the Blue Ridge Mountains, forecasters said, and there was a chance of flash and urban flooding as far north as New England.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Preliminary government satellite data collected by space research agency Inpe and released on Friday showed that approximately 904 sq km (349 sq miles) were cleared in the region in October, the highest for the month since tracking began in 2015.
From January to October, 9,494 sq km (3,666 sq miles) were cleared, equal to an area more than 12 times the size of New York City and also a record for the period, exceeding the previous high set in 2019 by 12.7 percent.
Incoming Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is set to take office on January 1, has promised to bolster environmental safeguards and funding for state agencies tasked with protecting the Amazon.
The rainforest, which is critical to the global fight against climate change, has seen years of increased deforestation under the administration of Lula’s predecessor, outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.
The far-right former army captain had pushed for more mining and other development projects in the Amazon, saying they would stimulate the economy.
But rights groups accused Bolsonaro of gutting Brazil’s environmental and Indigenous protection agencies, leading to an uptick in deforestation and violence across the sprawling region.
Annual statistics released last year showed deforestation had already surged to a 15-year high under Bolsonaro. His office and the Ministry of the Environment did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency on Friday.
For his part, Lula, in a victory speech after narrowly defeating Bolsonaro in an October 30 run-off, said Brazil was “ready to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis”, especially by protecting the Amazon.
He also has pledged to “fight for zero deforestation”.
Lula, who previously served as Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010, will travel to Egypt next week to take part in the COP27 global climate summit and meet international leaders.
“I will travel to Egypt on Monday. I will have more conversations with world leaders in a single day than Bolsonaro did in four years,” Lula said on Thursday during a meeting with legislators in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia.
The Workers’ Party leader did not specify who he would meet with, but said he planned to reposition Brazil at the centre of international geopolitics.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Friday that the increase in Amazon deforestation in October was expected, “but the preliminary data for the first days of November is terrifying.”
“It’s a true, frantic race towards devastation” before the change in government, WWF-Brasil said.
“The new government will have a lot of work to do to put the country back on track, to put an end to the perception that the Amazon is a lawless land,” WWF-Brasil’s Raul do Valle said in a statement.
(AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES)
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Nicole, the first hurricane to come ashore on the state’s Atlantic coast since Katrina in 2005, became a tropical storm shortly after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at around 3 a.m. local time south of Vero Beach. At least four deaths were attributed to the storm as it crossed the peninsula, and then swung offshore over the Gulf of Mexico and turned north, going back over land in the Big Bend region of Florida, east of the Panhandle.
The storm mostly spared southwest Florida, the area worst hit by Hurricane Ian, which slammed into the state as a Category 4 storm in September. But Ian was such a large system that it also damaged parts of the Atlantic coast, leaving them particularly vulnerable to Nicole, a far weaker storm.
The double whammy was most evident in Volusia County, where officials said that building inspectors had deemed 24 hotels and condominiums unsafe, leading to the evacuation of about 500 mostly older residents, according to a spokesperson for Daytona Beach Shores. At least 25 houses in Wilbur-by-the-Sea, an unincorporated community on a barrier island in the Daytona Beach area, were also evacuated.
“The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented,” George Recktenwald, the Volusia County manager, said in a statement, adding, “This is going to be a long road to recovery.”
In the city of Daytona Beach Shores, which is also on a barrier island, 23 buildings had been compromised, Mayor Nancy Miller said.
The back-to-back storms left the city with little time to begin beach restoration efforts after Ian. Miller said the beach, which is managed by the county, had not been replenished yet, and several high tides prevented repairs to condominiums’ damaged sea walls.
“Ian did the initial damage, and this was just on top of that,” she said. “If this had been a stand-alone storm, we still would have had property damage but not as much as we see together.”
Two people in Orange County, home to Orlando, were electrocuted by a downed power line, and two others died in a crash on the Florida Turnpike, officials said.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The inventory was compiled by Climate TRACE, a coalition of researchers, data analysts and non-governmental organizations who use multiple open sources including satellite coverage, remote sensing and artificial intelligence to track who exactly is polluting, and how much.
Emissions stemming from oil and gas production were already estimated to be about double what was reported to the U.N. last year and new data on methane leaks and flaring suggests that emissions are likely three times higher than what was reported, Gore said. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is around 80 times more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide.
Gore said the data shows the extent of the “deep cut in greenhouse gas pollution we need to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis.”
Hailing the launch of the inventory, the U.N. Secretary General said the data was vital to address a problem “in front of our eyes, but also hidden in plain sight.”
“We have huge emissions gaps, finance gaps, adaptation gaps. But those gaps cannot be effectively addressed without plugging the data gaps. After all, it is impossible to effectively manage and control what we cannot measure,” Antonio Guterres said.
Some 56 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions were produced in 2021, and the U.S. Permian Basin was at the top of emitters with more than 200 million tons, the data said. Russia’s Urengoyskoye gas field was second on the list with 152 million tons.
Saudi Arabia, which owns the giant energy company Aramco, produced 900 million tons of emissions from 252 oil and gas assets, the data showed. Egypt, the host of COP27, produces 383 million tons of emissions from 166 assets; the country’s giant offshore Zohr gas field was the top polluter followed by the capital city of Cairo.
The data showed that power plants were responsible for just over 100 billion tons of emissions, or 26 percent, followed by manufacturing with around 68 billion tons, or 17 percent. Fossil fuel operations were responsible for around 65 billion tons of emissions.
Addressing Climate TRACE, Guterres said: “You are making it more difficult to greenwash or — to be more clear — to cheat.”
Gavin McCormick, a co-founder of Climate TRACE, said they estimated greenhouse gas emissions of nearly all the largest emitters globally.
McCormick added that climate negotiators and others working to combat climate change have described the data as “a game changer that can help them make better decisions and decarbonize faster.”
The inventory was released as climate negotiators are convening in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for two weeks to look for ways to implement global climate goals. The conference focuses on several prickly issues, including how to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Gore said the world could reduce emissions by 50 percent by the end of this decade, and reach net zero by 2050, with the help of now-available technologies.
“We are capable of solving this crisis because once the world reaches true net-zero, temperatures will stop increasing in as little as three to five years,” he said.
(Sam Magdy, NEW YORK TIMES)
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The storm had already bombarded the Bahamas on Wednesday, including the Abaco Islands, where residents still had not recovered from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
And as Nicole approached Florida, it threatened communities still grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in September. Those effects include property damage as well as the far-reaching emotional toll felt across much of the state after Ian shifted course dramatically before making landfall.
“I watched Hurricane Ian intently,” said Sally Long, who had fled her home in Briny Breezes, a town in Palm Beach County, “and the destruction and the change in paths and all the dangers that were inherent with that hurricane, and decided, we are on a barrier island in a mobile community, and we need to be safe.”
Officials in Palm Beach and Volusia counties ordered evacuations. Flights were canceled at some of the state’s busiest airports, including those in Orlando and West Palm Beach. Disney World’s theme parks and the Universal Orlando Resort closed early on Wednesday.
State emergency officials urged residents to prepare their homes and hunker down, as Nicole could cause coastal flooding, beach erosion and isolated tornadoes.
“Due to the size of the storm, strong wind gusts will be felt across the entire peninsula,” Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Wednesday. “There is a high risk of rip currents statewide,” he added.
Nicole’s center was expected to sweep across Florida, with the warm water of the Gulf Stream helping the storm climb to hurricane status before reaching the coast. Forecasts showed the storm then moving into southern Georgia by tonight and then the Carolinas on Friday. Meteorologists warned that waters could rise several feet above normal levels along the coasts of those states.
The storm passed over the northwestern Bahamas early Wednesday with maximum winds of 70 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The tropical-storm-force winds stretch well over 400 miles from the center and could already be felt along the East Coast on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden approved federal emergency aid to 45 counties in Florida, as well as the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Nicole, which formed in the southwestern Atlantic on Monday as a subtropical storm, was packing 65 mph winds Tuesday evening.
Hurricane warnings were issued for the northwestern Bahamas and a 200-mile stretch of the Florida coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was expected to pass over or near the northwestern Bahamas today before approaching the east coast of Florida tonight, the hurricane center said.
Three to 5 inches of rain were expected across the northwestern Bahamas and much of Florida through Friday. The center warned that up to 8 inches were possible in some locations as the heart of the storm moves across central and northern Florida and into southern Georgia by Thursday night.
A hurricane warning was issued for the east coast of Florida, from Boca Raton to the Flagler-Volusia county line. A hurricane watch and tropical storm warning were in effect for other parts of the state, including Lake Okeechobee and from Hallandale Beach to Boca Raton.
The storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches the Florida Peninsula, said Jamie Rhome, acting director of the hurricane center in Miami.
Evacuation orders were issued for parts of Palm Beach County, including barrier islands and low-lying areas. The county’s mayor, Robert Weinroth, said at a news conference that nine emergency shelters would open today.
Officials in Volusia County, which is home to Daytona Beach, also announced mandatory evacuation orders beginning this morning, including for people who live in mobile homes and in low-lying areas, and for those who live east of Interstate 95 and the Intracoastal Waterway.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The draft of the National Climate Assessment, the government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge, provides the most detailed look yet at the consequences of global warming for the United States, both in the present and in the future. The final report isn’t scheduled to be published until late 2023, but the 13 federal agencies and hundreds of scientists who are compiling the assessment issued a 1,695-page draft for public comment Monday.
“The things Americans value most are at risk,” says the draft report, which could still undergo changes as it goes through the review process. “More intense extreme events and long-term climate changes make it harder to maintain safe homes and healthy families, reliable public services, a sustainable economy, thriving ecosystems and strong communities.”
As greenhouse gas emissions rise and the planet heats up, the authors write, the United States could face major disruptions to farms and fisheries that drive up food prices, while millions of Americans could be displaced by disasters such as severe wildfires in California, sea-level rise in Florida or frequent flooding in Texas.
“By bringing together the latest findings from climate science, the report underscores that Americans in every region of the country and every sector of the economy face real and sobering climate impacts,” said John Podesta, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden on clean energy, adding that the draft report was still undergoing scientific peer review and public comment.
The assessment isn’t entirely fatalistic. Many sections describe dozens of strategies that states and cities can take to adapt to the hazards of climate change, such as incorporating stronger building codes or techniques to conserve water. But in many cases, the draft warns, adaptation efforts are proceeding too slowly.
Under a law passed by Congress in 1990, the federal government is required to release the National Climate Assessment every four years, with contributions from a range of scientists across federal agencies as well as outside experts. The last assessment, released in 2018, found that unchecked warming could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy.
The Trump administration tried, but largely failed, to halt work on the next report, and its release was pushed back to 2023.
The draft report comes as world leaders are meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, this week for the annual United Nations climate change summit. This year’s talks are focused on the harm that global warming is inflicting on the world’s poorest nations and the question of what rich countries should do to help. But the forthcoming U.S. assessment will offer a stark reminder that even wealthy nations will face serious consequences if temperatures keep rising.
The United States has warmed 68 percent faster than Earth as a whole over the past 50 years, according to the draft report, with average temperatures in the lower 48 states rising 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit during that time period. That reflects a global pattern in which land areas are warming faster than oceans are, and higher latitudes are warming faster than lower latitudes are as humans heat up the planet, primarily by burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal for energy.
Americans can now feel the effects of climate change in their everyday lives, the draft says. In coastal cities such as Miami Beach, Fla., the frequency of disruptive flooding at high tide has quadrupled over the past 20 years as sea levels have risen. In Alaska, 14 major fishery disasters have been linked to changes in climate, including an increase in marine heat waves. In Colorado, ski industries have lost revenue because of declining snowfall.
Across the country, deadly and destructive extreme weather events such as heat waves, heavy rainfall, droughts and wildfires have already become more frequent and severe.
In the 1980s, the nation suffered an extreme weather disaster that caused at least $1 billion in economic damage about once every four months, on average, after adjusting for inflation. “Now,” the draft says, “there is one every three weeks on average.” Some extreme events, like the Pacific Northwest heat wave last year that killed at least 229 people, would have been virtually impossible without global warming.
Bigger hazards are on the way if global temperatures keep rising, the draft report says, although the magnitude of those risks will largely depend on how quickly humanity can get its fossil fuel emissions under control.
(Brad Plumer, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Nicole was forecast to approach the Bahamas today, then strengthen and move near or over those islands Wednesday, meteorologists said. The storm, which was packing 45 mph winds Monday evening, will head toward Florida’s east coast as a hurricane by Wednesday night.
In preparation, the government of the Bahamas issued a hurricane watch that was upgraded Monday afternoon to a hurricane warning for the Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center. Two to 4 inches of rain was expected across the northwest Bahamas and central and northern parts of Florida from today through Thursday, with up to 6 inches possible in some locations.
The warning, which means that hurricane conditions were expected within 36 hours, included Abaco, Berry, Bimini and Grand Bahama islands. A tropical storm warning, anticipating tropical storm conditions, was in effect for the Andros, New Providence and Eleuthera islands.
In the United States, a hurricane watch, anticipating possible hurricane conditions within 48 hours, was issued for the east coast of Florida, from the Volusia-Brevard county line to Hallandale Beach north of Miami in Broward County, and for Lake Okeechobee in the southern part of the state.
A storm surge watch was issued from Altamaha Sound in Georgia to Hallandale Beach, and from the mouth of the St. Johns River, east of Jacksonville, to East Palatka, which is about 50 miles south. A tropical storm watch was in effect from Altamaha Sound to the Volusia-Brevard county line, and from Hallandale Beach to north of Ocean Reef in South Florida.
Meteorologists said they did not expect Nicole to have much of an impact in Florida until after today, when voters in Florida and Georgia, and the rest of the United States, will cast ballots in the midterm elections.
The storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches the Florida Peninsula, said Jamie Rhome, acting director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “The worst of the impact will be coming onshore during the day on Wednesday, and possibly lingering on Thursday,” Rhome said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Monday declared a state of emergency for 34 counties that could be in the path of the storm, authorizing the state’s emergency management division to pursue emergency measures and seek federal assistance.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,” warned U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, as he opened two weeks of talks, known as COP27, in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. Countries have agreed to start talking for the first time about the world’s wealthy nations paying a form of climate reparations to the most vulnerable countries.
The annual U.N. climate gathering is the main venue for nations to come together to try to cooperate on efforts to fight global warming. This year, policymakers have agreed to start talking about the developing world’s demands for more help with the harm they are already suffering from climate change, as farmland dries up, towns relocate to escape rising seas, and conflicts increase over access to increasingly scarce resources.
“We are getting dangerously close to the point of no return,” Guterres said.
But there was every indication that talks about “loss and damage” would end without significant breakthroughs. After hours of bargaining over the weekend about what items to include in the agenda, rich nations said that even including the subject in the official talks was a major step. Vulnerable countries said it was the bare minimum.
The gathering “offers us an opportunity to either make history or, if you like, be a victim of history,” Senegalese President Macky Sall told leaders Monday, speaking on behalf of African nations in his capacity as chair of the African Union.
“Those who pollute the most should pay the most in order to get our planet off this track of climate crisis,” Sall said.
After a year of catastrophic flooding in Pakistan and Nigeria, widespread drought and the hottest-ever summer in Europe, policymakers said the toll of climate change is becoming ever more apparent. But they worried that the political will by the world’s richest nations to help their more vulnerable peers is limited. Fury among those most affected by global warming is rising in proportion.
Amid soaring global inflation, the war in Ukraine and a narrowing political path in Washington for President Joe Biden to act ambitiously on climate issues, expectations for the talks were lower than for those in Scotland a year ago. Last year, advocates for action held hopes that the Biden administration was ready to re-engage on climate issues after President Donald Trump’s term in office. This year, the frustration is more palpable, with countries failing to live up to their existing promises even after some in Glasgow pledged to deliver more-ambitious climate goals.
The bitterness is compounded by the choice of Egypt, a nation with a long record of human rights violations, as host. The climate movement gained steam through free speech and demonstrations, but Egyptian authorities have banished protests to the periphery of Sharm el-Sheikh, all but eliminating them and forcing activists to employ more subdued strategies. And one of the country’s most prominent political prisoners, the British Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, entered his second day of withholding both food and water in a prison cell outside Cairo to protest his detention.
He is serving five years after being convicted of spreading false news to undermine national security, which rights groups have decried as a sham. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday vowed to press for his release.
The headwinds do not bode well for efforts to limit average global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with preindustrial levels, a level beyond which scientists say disastrous effects become more likely.
“The Global South remains at the mercy of the Global North on these issues,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley told leaders.
“What will our choice be?” she asked. “We have the power to act or the power to remain passive and do nothing. I pray that we will leave Egypt with a clear understanding that the things that are facing us today are interconnected.”
Policymakers from the most vulnerable nations say they want clear financial commitments from the rich world, and a fund set up specifically to help countries that are already suffering from loss and damage related to climate change. Leaders from richer nations are cautious, partly because they fear opening themselves to compensating for all historic climate change.
They also say that mechanisms to unlock trillions of dollars in potential private investment for climate transition efforts may be a better use of limited bandwidth than focusing on billions in public compensation that will never be enough to meet the needs of the developing world.
Studies on the costs of loss and damage vary, but all are immense, ranging from $400 billion per year by 2030 to more than $1 trillion a year by 2050.
Even among rich nations there are divisions, with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday vowing to push the United States and China to “step up” emissions reduction efforts and funding for vulnerable countries.
“The Europeans are paying, but the simple problem is that we’re the only ones paying,” Macron said during an event in Sharm el-Sheikh with African and French climate activists.
“And so now, one must put the pressure on rich, non-European countries, to tell them, ‘You must pay your part.’ ”
Macron’s effort may have to wait until next week at a summit of the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, since neither Biden nor Chinese President Xi Jinping were in Egypt on Monday.
American policymakers have focused on bolstering private investment to support the transition to clean energy in developing countries. Along with various partners at the summit, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is expected to announce a plan for the private sector to earn “high quality” carbon credits from channeling funds toward projects that speed the energy transition in developing countries, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview the effort.
Experts said that the conversations on loss and damage would probably take years to develop, and that the best-case outcome from Egypt was probably an agreement on a framework to keep talking. Even that is uncertain, said Jonathan Pershing, Kerry’s deputy until earlier this year, who is now the program director of environment at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
“This is the answer that the political moment would accept, but ultimately we will need to have more specificity to move forward,” he said. He noted that the current emissions reduction framework had been under discussion for decades before it was settled in Paris in 2015.
Leaders of climate-hit countries said that regardless of pressures from the war in Ukraine and political crosswinds in rich nations, their needs were urgent and expanding. Humanitarian aid is not sufficient to meet disaster-struck countries’ growing need for funds, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
Some climate advocates said they would view the talks as a success if any concrete progress is made on what some call climate reparations. Putting it on the agenda was a “little milestone,” said Harjeet Singh, an Indian climate expert who is head of global political strategy for Climate Action Network International, an advocacy group.
A dedicated fund for loss and damage, overseen by the U.N. climate agency, could establish a mechanism for assessing all those losses, Singh said. It could produce technical reports on the developing world’s needs and set recommendations for how much funding rich countries must deliver. It would also offer a way to hold wealthy nations accountable for fulfilling their promises.
He said he hoped that the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh would strike an agreement to establish a fund, as well as broad outlines for how it will operate and who will oversee it.
(Michael Birnbaum, Allyson Chiu & Sarah Kaplan, WASHINGTON POST)
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One community hit hard was Powderly, Texas, near the border with Oklahoma and about 120 miles northeast of Dallas.
Randi Johnson, chief of the Powderly Volunteer Fire Department, told The Paris News newspaper that she wasn’t aware anyone had been killed but knew of injuries.
“It’s going to take a long time to get this cleaned up, but the community came together,” Johnson said. “It’s really heartbreaking to see.”
Lamar County Judge Brandon Bell — the highest elected official in the county that includes Powderly — declared a disaster in the area, a step in getting federal assistance and funding. Bell’s declaration said at least two dozen people were injured across the county.
A strong cold front moved into central and eastern Texas on Friday, bringing a risk of thunderstorms, large hail, destructive winds and tornadoes.
Nearly 12 million people were in the bull’s-eye zone where the odds of dangerous thunderstorms and tornadoes were the highest. Among them were residents in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metro area east toward the Louisiana and Arkansas borders.
Friday morning, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch until 8 p.m. Central time in the zone from roughly Waco, Texas, to Tulsa, Okla., including Dallas, cautioning that a few tornadoes were likely “with a couple intense tornadoes possible.”
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was 50 miles south-southwest of Bahia de Kino in the Gulf of California.
The Baja California Sur state civil defense agency said that despite an initial tsunami alert issued by the Mexican Navy, there was no notable variation in sea level.
The temblor occurred around 3 a.m. local time. Civil defense in the state of Sonora, on the other side of the gulf, also said there were no initial reports of damage, but the quake was felt in coastal communities.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Lisa had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph Thursday. The storm’s center was about 45 miles southwest of Ciudad del Carmen, on Mexico’s Gulf coast and was expected to cross into the Gulf of Mexico today.
Belize’s National Emergency Management Organization said the storm came ashore Wednesday between the beach town of Dangriga and Belize City.
It reported “significant damage, including dangerous debris, leaning lampposts and downed electrical lines.”
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Even if global warming is limited to just 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), which now seems unlikely, all the glaciers in Yosemite and the ice patches in Yellowstone National Park, as well as the few glaciers left in Africa, will be lost.
Other glaciers can be saved only if greenhouse gas emissions “are drastically cut” and global warming is capped at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Paris-based UNESCO warned in its report.
About 50 of the organization’s more than 1,150 World Heritage sites have glaciers, which together constitute almost a tenth of the world’s glaciered area.
The almost 19,000 glaciers located at heritage sites are losing more than 60 billion tons of ice a year, which amounts to the annual water consumption of Spain and France combined, and accounts for about 5 percent of global sea-level rise, UNESCO said.
“Glaciers are retreating at an accelerated rate worldwide,” said Tales Carvalho Resende, a hydrology expert with UNESCO.
The organization described a “cycle of warming” in which the melting of glaciers causes the emergence of darker surfaces, which then absorb even more heat and speed up the retreat of ice.
Throughout history, glaciers have grown during very cold periods and shrunk when those stretches ended. The world’s last very cold period ended over 10,000 years ago, and some further natural melting was expected in Europe after the last “Little Ice Age” ended in the 19th century.
But as carbon dioxide emissions surged over the past century, human factors began to quicken what had been expected to be a gradual natural retreat. In Switzerland, glaciers lost a record 6 percent of their volume just this year.
While the additional melting has to some extent balanced out other impacts of climate change — for instance, preventing rivers from drying out despite heat waves — it is rapidly reaching a critical threshold, according to UNESCO.
In its report, the organization writes that the peak in meltwater may already have been passed on many smaller glaciers, where the water is now starting to dwindle.
If the trend continues, the organization warned, “little to no base flow will be available during the dryer periods.”
The changes are expected to have major ramifications for agriculture, biodiversity, and urban life. “Glaciers are crucial sources of life on Earth,” UNESCO wrote.
“They provide water resources to at least half of humanity,” said Carvalho Resende, who cautioned that the cultural losses would also be immense.
Around the world, global warming is exposing ancient artifacts faster than they can be saved by archaeologists.
“Some of these glaciers are sacred places, which are really important for Indigenous peoples and local communities,” he said.
(Rick Noack, WASHINGTON POST)
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Between 2011 and 2020, wildfires, drought and bark beetle infestations contributed to the loss of nearly a third of all conifer forests in the lower half of the mountain range, according to a recent study published in the journal Ecological Applications. Eighty-five percent of the southern Sierra’s high-density mature forests either lost density or became non-forest vegetation.
The losses could have grave consequences for California wildlife, including protected species such as spotted owls and Pacific fishers that rely on mature tree canopies for their habitats. Researchers said the findings are not only another indication of the state’s shifting climate regime, but also offer new insights that could help guide forest management and conservation strategies moving forward.
“Thirty percent of conifer forests in the southern Sierra Nevada are no longer considered forests,” said Zachary Steel, a research scientist with the United States Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station and the lead author of the study. “They’re either sparsely treed landscapes or, more often, are transitioning either in the short term or long term to more of a shrubland-type system.”
The Sierra covers about a quarter of California’s land area, with the southern portion of the range running from Lake Tahoe to Tehachapi. Hundreds of plants and animals call the region home, and the forest helps sequester carbon and store water for the state’s residents.
Steel, who conducted the study as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Berkeley, said the numbers were alarming.
“What’s most concerning is the pace at which this is happening,” he said. “Fire always occurred in these landscapes, drought always occurred in these landscapes ... but the declines are going so rapidly that the succession, or the regrowth, of these forests is not going to be able to keep up.”
The problem is multi-faceted, he said. For starters, human-caused climate change is contributing to warmer, drier conditions that are turning once-green forests into brittle tinder and lengthening the window of time in which wildfires can burn each year.
What’s more, thirsty trees are weaker and more susceptible to deadly attacks from bark beetles, which bore into them and chew away at their inner cores. The study found that the combination of drought and beetle attacks caused even greater declines than areas where drought and wildfire overlapped.
But forest management is also part of the story, Steel said, because a century of suppressing wildfires and outlawing Indigenous burning practices has allowed for an unnatural buildup of vegetation in the landscape. While wildfires once regularly simmered along the forest floors, today’s megafires are burning at high severity and searing some trees up to the top.
“One of the important takeaways is if we’re going to still have old forests on the landscape, we need to manage what’s left to be more resilient,” Steel said. That includes prescribed burns, mechanical thinning and also allowing naturally occurring fires to play out on the landscape when it is safe to do so, he said.
Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley, said the study makes a good case for active stewardship in the face of climate change.
“If it was actually the smaller size trees or even medium size that were dying, I think in some way it would be a different story. But it’s the big ones, and the big ones are already in a deficit in a lot of areas,” he said. “The culmination of these last 10 years has really been much more severe on the largest trees in the landscape, which are actually the ones we need the most.”
But while the loss of so much forestland may be jarring to humans, it’s downright devastating for some creatures that call the Sierra home. California spotted owls, which typically occupy nest sites with at least 70 percent canopy cover, have fewer options in younger, sparser forests, the study says.
Decades ago, the state began setting aside protected areas for spotted owls and other species in an effort to preserve them. But that strategy may have backfired, as the protected areas, too, saw a buildup of explosive vegetation. The study found that spotted owl Protected Activity Centers experienced a 49 percent decline in canopy cover, compared with a 42 percent decline in non-protected areas.
“It appeared to us in our naivete ... that if we just put a box around something and left it alone it would stay the same and we could protect it and we’d be effective at it — and for a long time we were,” said Gavin Jones, a research scientist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station and co-author of the study.
“The places that we’re trying to protect are now more difficult to protect because we’ve been protecting them,” he said.
Jones said the protections for those areas still serve important purposes and shouldn’t be eliminated, but that the approach could be refined by allowing for some prescribed burns or other methods of management.
The losses could have other cascading effects in California, the researchers said, since forests play an important role in the state’s water supply and also help with carbon sequestration. Jones said that humans still have some control over the outcome — at least when it comes to forest and habitat management.
“The take-home is that there’s still time, but what we’ve been doing isn’t working very well,” he said.
The state is ramping up its efforts, including more than $2 billion in allocated funding for wildfire response and forest resilience projects over the last two years, much of it for forest thinning, prescribed burns and other projects intended to reduce fire risks. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act also includes a $5 billion investment in forest management and wildfire risk reduction.
But Steel stressed that climate change is a “threat multiplier” driving big — and often irreversible — disturbances over time.
“With changing fire patterns and with climate change, there’s going to be winners and losers,” he said. “We’re, in this piece, highlighting a couple of the ‘losers’ and trying to figure out how we can put numbers to that, so that we can work toward keeping them from disappearing from this landscape.”
(Hayley Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Almost 2 million others were swamped by floods in several provinces, officials said today.
At least 53 of 98 people who died — mostly in flooding and landslides — were from Maguindanao province in a Muslim autonomous region, which was swamped by unusually heavy rains set off by Tropical Storm Nalgae.
The storm blew out into the South China Sea on Sunday, leaving a trail of destruction in a swath of the archipelago.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Scientists say an eruption isn’t imminent, but they are on alert because of a recent spike in earthquakes at the volcano’s summit. Experts say it would take just a few hours for lava to reach homes closest to vents on the volcano, which last erupted in 1984.
Hawaii’s civil defense agency is holding meetings across the island to educate residents about how to prepare for a possible emergency. They recommend having a “go” bag with food, identifying a place to stay once they leave home and making a plan for reuniting with family members.
“Not to panic everybody, but they have to be aware of that you live on the slopes of Mauna Loa, there’s a potential for some kind of lava disaster,” said Talmadge Magno, the administrator for Hawaii County Civil Defense.
The volcano makes up 51 percent of the Hawaii Island landmass, so a large portion of the island has the potential to be affected by an eruption, Magno said.
There’s been a surge of development on the Big Island in recent decades — its population has more than doubled to 200,000 today from 92,000 in 1980 — and many newer residents weren’t around when Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago. All the more reason why, Magno said, officials are spreading the word about the science of the volcano and urging people to be prepared.
Mauna Loa, rising 13,679 feet above sea level, is the much larger neighbor to Kilauea volcano, which erupted in a residential neighborhood and destroyed 700 homes in 2018. Some of its slopes are much steeper than Kilauea’s so when it erupts, its lava can flow much faster.
During a 1950 eruption, the mountain’s lava traveled 15 miles to the ocean in less than three hours.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which is part of the U.S. Geological Survey, said Mauna Loa has been in a state of “heightened unrest” since the middle of last month when the number of summit earthquakes jumped from 10 to 20 per day to 40 to 50 per day.
Scientists believe more earthquakes are occurring because more magma is flowing into Mauna Loa’s summit reservoir system from the hot spot under the Earth’s surface that feeds molten rock to Hawaii’s volcanoes.
Magno said his agency is talking to residents now because communities closest to vents likely wouldn’t have enough time to learn how to respond and prepare once the observatory raises its alert level to “watch,” which means an eruption is imminent.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin said that “global emissions have rebounded since the COVID-related lockdowns” and that the increases in methane levels in 2020 and 2021 were the largest since systematic record-keeping began in 1983.
“Methane concentrations are not just rising, they’re rising faster than ever,” said Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University.
The study comes on the same day as a new U.N. report which says that the world’s governments haven’t committed to cut enough climate emissions, putting the world on track for a 4.5 degree Fahrenheit increase in global temperatures by the end of the century.
The analysis said that the level of emissions set out in countries’ commitments was lower than a year ago, but would still lead to a full degree of temperature increase beyond the target level set at the most recent climate summits. Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said that “we are still nowhere near the scale and pace of emission reductions required to put us on track toward a 1.5 degrees Celsius world.”
The quickest way to affect the pace of global warming would be cutting emissions of methane, the second largest contributor to climate change. It has a warming impact 80 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. The WMO said the amount of methane in the atmosphere jumped by 15 parts per billion in 2020 and 18 parts per billion in 2021.
Scientists are studying whether the unusually large increases in atmospheric methane levels in 2020 and 2021 are the result of a “climate feedback” from nature-based sources such as tropical wetlands and rice paddies or whether they are the result of human-made natural gas and industrial leakage. Or both.
Methane emitted by fossil sources has more of the carbon-13 isotope than that produced from wetlands or cattle.
“The isotope data suggest it’s biological rather than fossil methane from gas leaks. It could be from agriculture,” Jackson said. He warned that “it could even be the start of a dangerous warming-induced acceleration in methane emissions from wetlands and other natural systems we’ve been worrying about for decades.”
The WMO said that as the planet gets warmer, organic material decomposes faster. If the organic material decomposes in water — without oxygen — this leads to methane emissions. This process could feed on itself; if tropical wetlands become wetter and warmer, more emissions are possible.
“Will warming feed warming in tropical wetlands?” Jackson asked. “We don’t know yet.”
(Steven Mufson, WASHINGTON POST)
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the 11:42 a.m. quake was centered 12 miles east of San Jose at a depth of about 4 miles. The area is hill country about 40 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco.
Lucy Jones, a veteran California seismologist, told KNTV-TV that the quake happened on the Calaveras fault, one of eight major faults in the Bay Area.
“The Calaveras fault is one that tends to have smaller earthquakes,” Jones said.
It was the largest earthquake in the Bay Area since a magnitude 6.0 jolt in the Napa wine country in 2014, Jones said in a social media post.
The 138-mile-long Calaveras fault is a major branch of the San Andreas fault and runs from San Juan Bautista in the south to San Ramon in the north, Jones said.
Numerous moderate earthquakes have occurred along the Calaveras fault, including the 6.2 Morgan Hill earthquake in 1984, Annemarie Baltay, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said in a video statement posted on Twitter.
People reported feeling the quake as far south as the scenic Big Sur coast, 75 miles south of the epicenter in the region of Joseph Grant Ranch County Park, a huge natural area.
Nearly 100,000 people reported receiving a warning before the shaking started through California’s earthquake early warning system, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, or Cal OES.
“Advance notice varied from two seconds for those very near the epicenter to 18 seconds for those in San Francisco,” the agency said.
MyShake, a statewide cellphone app that went live to the general public in late 2019, relies on an earthquake detection and notification system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners.
A 3.1 aftershock followed about 5 minutes later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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By Sunday evening, Roslyn had winds of 35 mph, down from its peak of 130 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn was about 60 miles east-southeast of the northern city of Torreon.
The hurricane was moving northeast at 21 miles per hour and was expected to lose strength further as it moves inland. The center expects Roslyn would dissipate before reaching Texas.
Local media reported two people died after taking shelter in unstable structures that collapsed during the storm, but Nayarit officials could not confirm those deaths.
While it missed a direct hit, Roslyn brought heavy rain and high waves to Puerto Vallarta, where ocean surges lashed the beachside promenade.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Then there are the lives that have been lost.
At least 603 people have died, more than 2,400 other people injured and more than 1.4 million displaced. For some states, more than a month of floods is likely still to come.
Residents of affected states carry their belongings up to the tops of their houses and get around by canoe on roads now deluged with water. Trucks full of food and fuel become stuck for days. In some areas, water levels are almost up to the eaves of the West African country’s distinctive pitched, painted metal roofs, making them appear to float. In other places, the tops of cars are just visible, but the water around them ripples with raindrops, closing in fast.
The rain is not the only factor.
Every year, neighboring Cameroon — which runs along the length of Nigeria’s eastern border — releases water from a dam in northern Cameroon, causing flooding downstream in Nigeria. At the time of the dam’s construction, in the 1980s, the two countries agreed that a twin dam would be built on the Nigerian side to contain the overflow. But the second one was never realized.
Nigeria’s minister of humanitarian affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq, blamed the scale of the disaster on the failure by branches of government other than her own to take action. “There was enough warning and information about the 2022 flood, but states, local governments and communities appear not to take heed,” the minister wrote on Twitter.
Another critical factor is climate change.
Matthias Schmale, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for the country, said in a briefing last week that this largely explains the extreme flooding.
“Climate change is real, as we are yet again discovering in Nigeria,” he said.
The phenomenon is causing ruin across Africa, and as the continent is heavily dependent on agriculture, the effects are particularly devastating economically.
Nigeria, which is by far Africa’s most populous country with more than 200 million people, lists in a national climate policy document droughts, poor air quality, imperiled human health and habitat loss alongside floods as the effects of climate change.
A recent paper on climate justice by the nonprofit Africa Center together with the Energy for Growth Hub, a Washington research institute, says almost all African countries have contributed “essentially nothing” to climate change. On the other hand, it says, the United States, the European Union, China, India and Russia are the big emitters of carbon, known to contribute to climate change. But despite pledges to help fund climate adaptation in Africa, rich nations have produced very few funds, high-level African officials say.
So far, 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states have been affected by the floods.
Farouq warned that five of those states are still at risk of experiencing floods up until the end of November.
“We are calling on the respective state governments, local government councils and communities to prepare for more flooding by evacuating people living on flood plains to high grounds,” Farouq said.
(Ruth Maclean, NEW YORK TIMES; ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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It comes as the country is still reeling from previous disasters, in a year that has seen record-breaking rainfall and relentless flooding, with some communities inundated multiple times.
The states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have experienced flash flooding over the past week as torrential rain fell onto already saturated land, causing rivers to swell and overflow. Because of those conditions, flooding will continue to remain a risk for weeks, with even moderate rainfall posing a threat, authorities said.
In many areas, the water is expected to continue to rise in the days ahead.
The state of Victoria is bearing the brunt of the disaster, with its premier, Daniel Andrews, calling it a “very, very significant flood event.”
About 500 homes in Victoria had been flooded and another 500 isolated by floodwater, he said, adding that those numbers were expected to increase.
David Clayton, the state’s assistant police commissioner, said Saturday that in coming days, authorities anticipated “we would see some of the largest evacuations we’ve ever seen.”
Sydney, on the east coast and the nation’s biggest city, had its wettest year on record this year. It recorded 86.6 inches of rain by Oct. 6, beating the previous record, 86.4, set in 1950.
(Yan Zhuang, NEW YORK TIMES)
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The extension passed on a 9-0 vote but commissioners said they weren’t enthused with the prospect of spent nuclear fuel remaining at the plant for the foreseeable future because the U.S. government has not been able to find a permanent repository to store the waste from commercial nuclear facilities like the one in San Onofre.
“I have a lot of concerns (but) we’re in a challenging situation without any options from the federal government,” said commissioner Effie Turnbull-Sanders.
The permit was extended to a facility at San Onofre where up to 63 canisters of spent fuel and other highly radioactive waste are stacked horizontally. The storage site has been in operation since 2003 and its permit was set to expire next month.
A second, more recently built storage facility holds 73 canisters that have been lowered vertically into storage cavities. Its permit runs through October 2035.
Both storage sites sit at the north end of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, known as SONGS for short.
Southern California Edison — the utility that operates the plant that is currently in the process of being dismantled — came to the commission and requested a 13-year extension so that both storage facilities will have permits that will run concurrently.
“Having those together, so that we’re looking at the totality of (both storage sites), seems to make sense to us and certainly it was the view of the Coastal Commission staff that it made sense as well,” said Manuel Camargo, manager of strategic planning at Edison and SONGS, after the meeting.
Camargo said aligning the timeline of the permits at both storage facilities will make it easier in the event that the sites need to be modified if sea level rise in the coming years exceeds current projections or if both permits need to be changed, should the federal government find places where canisters at SONGS could be sent.
The new permit calls for Edison to meet a number of conditions, including requiring the utility to provide an analysis of future coastal hazards, pay for a third-party review that ensures the canisters remain in good condition and report each year to the commission on any progress made on finding alternative locations for SONGS waste.
During the meeting, which was held at a Shelter Island hotel and conference center, a San Diego-based consumer group brought up concerns about one section of the permit. Public Watchdogs worried that a specific paragraph could open the door for waste canisters from other nuclear facilities — such as Diablo Canyon, operated by Pacific Gas & Electric — to potentially end up at SONGS.
Camargo said Edison had “no interest in storing spent fuel from another facility” and after follow-up questions from three commissioners, the language in the permit was cleaned up to ensure that SONGS will not accept any spent fuel from any other plant.
More than 3.55 million pounds of spent fuel dating back to the time when the plant was generating electricity for Southern California remain near the beach on San Onofre because — as is the case at nuclear plants across the country — the federal government has not found a permanent repository to store the roughly 86,000 metric tons of spent fuel that has built up over the decades at commercial nuclear facilities.
Yucca Mountain in Nevada had been slated to take the waste but the Obama administration cut off funding for the site in 2010, following years of protests from lawmakers in the Silver State who had long opposed the project. The federal government has recently announced plans to actively search for communities willing to accept the nation’s stockpile on an interim basis.
SONGS is in the process of being decommissioned and it’s currently in the third year of a scheduled eight-year, $4.5 billion dismantlement project that expects to see about 1.1 billion pounds of material removed by 2028.
(Rob Nikolewski, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Smaller aftershocks followed, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The series started with a 4.6 magnitude quake seconds before the larger one, which the USGS previously reported as having magnitude of 5.1.
The first one was slightly offshore and south of the town of Pahala, followed by the larger quake just south of Pahala beneath a highway, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Karl had winds of 40 mph Tuesday afternoon. Mexico declared a tropical storm warning from Veracruz northward to Cabo Rojo.
Karl formed one day after former Hurricane Julia dissipated in the Pacific after having directly or indirectly caused the deaths of 28 people in Central America.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Officials raised the death toll from the slide in Las Tejerias to at least 43 and warned that it could go up further as bodies are found downstream from the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
Crews extended their search perimeter to include that area, along a river located about a mile outside the city.
At least 56 people were said to be missing, and some local residents have joined in the hunt for them.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Jose Medina recalled how the water streaming into his home in the town of Las Tejerias on Saturday night had reached waist level. He and his family were trapped, he realized.
So the 63-year-old turned his refrigerator sideways, opened its door and used it as a boat for his granddaughter. Meanwhile he held on to the fridge with his wife, and pinned it to a table so that the strong currents of water would not push them downstream.
Medina described their survival as a “miracle.”
“I’m happy that we’re alive but I’m also sad,” said the retired construction worker who lost his home and all of his belongings.
His plight began when torrential rains caused by Hurricane Julia unleashed mudslides and floods that destroyed several mountainside neighborhoods in Las Tejerias.
On Monday, Venezuelan officials said at least 34 people died in the flooding and 60 are missing following the worst natural disaster to hit the cash-strapped country in recent years.
In Las Tejerias, a city of 50,000 people located along Venezuela’s main industrial corridor, crews were using heavy machinery to clear debris from neighborhoods whose streets were still blocked with mud. Meanwhile rescue workers used drones and dogs to find people buried under the debris.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Residents of Las Tejerias in Santos Michelena, an agro-industrial town in Aragua state about 50 miles southwest of Caracas, had just seconds to reach safety late Saturday as debris swept down a mountainside onto them.
The official death toll rose to 22 after the recovery of 20 bodies on Sunday, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez told state-owned Venezolana de Television.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The storm was about 140 miles north-northwest of the seaport city of Barranquilla in northern Colombia, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
The Colombian and Nicaraguan governments issued hurricane warnings for several areas.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The floods also killed seven people whose homes were swept away in the state's Ibaji council area, the Kogi commissioner for information said as authorities struggled to evacuate residents in affected areas.
Nigeria's floods are blamed mainly on the release of excess water from Lagdo dam in neighboring Cameroon and unusual rainfall. More than 300 people have been killed this year.
Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello has asked Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of national disaster to help accelerate a government response.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“Think of a snow globe. Pick it up and shake it — that’s what happened,” said Fred Szott.
For the past three days, he and his wife Joyce have been making trips to their damaged mobile home in Fort Myers, cleaning up after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast.
As for the emotional turbulence, he says: “You either hold on, or you lose it.”
The number of storm-related deaths rose to at least 101 on Thursday, eight days after the storm made landfall in southwest Florida. According to reports from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission, 92 of those deaths were in Florida. Five people were also killed in North Carolina, three in Cuba and one in Virginia.
Ian is the second-deadliest storm to hit the mainland U.S. in the 21st century behind Hurricane Katrina, which left more than 1,800 people dead in 2005. The deadliest hurricane ever to hit the U.S. was the Great Galveston Hurricane in 1900 that killed as many as 8,000 people.
Residents of Florida’s devastated barrier islands are starting to return, assessing the damage to homes and businesses despite limited access to some areas. Pamela Brislin arrived by boat to see what she could salvage.
Brislin had stayed through the storm, but is haunted by what happened afterward. When she checked on a neighbor, she found the woman crying. Her husband had passed away, his body laid out on a picnic table until help could arrive. Another neighbor’s house caught fire. The flames were so large that they forced Breslin to do what the hurricane could not — flee with her husband and a neighbor’s dog.
Ian, a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, unleashed torrents of rain and caused extensive flooding and damage. The deluge turned streets into gushing rivers. Backyard waterways overflowed into neighborhoods, sometimes by more than a dozen feet, tossing boats onto yards and roadways. Beaches disappeared as ocean surges pushed shorelines far inland. Officials estimate the storm has caused billions of dollars in damage.
The broken causeway to Sanibel Island might not be passable until the end of the month. Officials on the island had ordered a complete curfew after the storm passed, allowing search and rescue teams to do their work. That meant residents who evacuated were technically blocked from returning.
The city of about 7,000 started allowing residents back from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. City manager Dana Souza told residents in a Facebook Live stream that he wished the municipality had resources to provide transportation but that, for now, residents would have to arrange visits by private boat.
Pine Island is closer to the mainland than Sanibel, and temporary repairs to its causeway were finished on Wednesday.
But the island was hit hard by the storm. Cindy Bickford’s house is still standing. Much of the damage was from flooding, which left a thick layer of rancid muck on her floors. She’s hopeful that a lot can be salvaged.
“We’ll tear the home apart so we can live in it,” said Bickford, who wore a T-shirt that had the words “Relax,” “Refresh” and “Renew.”
“It’s not our stuff we’re worried about. It’s our community. Pine Island is extremely close-knit,” said Bickford, who arrived Thursday for the first time.
Jay Pick said the island still feels cut off from the outside, and a bit chaotic.
“People are trying to do the right thing and help people, and yet other people are stepping up and taking their gas cans and stealing generators,” he said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at a news conference Thursday in the Sarasota County town of Nokomis, praised the widespread restoration of running water through the storm-hit zone and the work toward restoring power. Some 185,000 customers remain without electricity, down from highs above 2.6 million across the state.
He said rescue workers have conducted around 2,500 missions, particularly on barrier islands on the Gulf coast as well as in inland areas that have seen intense flooding. More than 90,000 structures have been inspected and checked for survivors, he said.
(Stephen Smith & Bobcaina Calvan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The crop generated just $82.8 million throughout the region last year, down from $152.9 million in 2020, according to the county’s annual crop report. It was the first time the fruit generated less than $100 million a year since 1996.
Productivity was the main issue facing avocado growers in 2021. Trees produced an average of 2 tons an acre, down from 4 tons an acre the previous year. The amount of land harvested remained steady, while the crop’s value bumped up slightly to $3,117 per ton.
Lack of precipitation played a significant role, according to the report. San Diego has recorded two straight years of below-average precipitation, and farmers said they’re feeling the impacts.
“We’re hoping to hell that we have a wet winter,” said Bob Lucy of Del Rey Avocado Company in Fallbrook. “The last couple of years because of the drought, it’s been really hard.”
Growers have had to irrigate year-round, which not only costs more but doesn’t flush salts from the ground as effectively, Lucy said. “We haven’t had these winter rains that will leach out the soil and make the trees happier.”
As California grapples with record dry conditions, heat waves have also exacerbated woes for growers in the county. Spiking temperatures have caused trees to aggressively shed avocados before they’re ripe, Lucy explained.
“We always see a little bit of August drop; that’s natural,” said the longtime farmer, “but when you get 100-degree temperatures for four or five days in a row, it can be really a challenge.”
Avocado farmers have increasingly taken land out of production as the cost of water has skyrocketed. Growers harvested 14,458 acres last year, down from more than 26,000 acres in 2007. During the timeframe, the wholesale cost of water has roughly tripled.
For more than a year, Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District have been trying to cut ties with the county’s wholesaler, the San Diego County Water Authority. Those agencies want to join the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County, where they believe water rates will be less volatile.
“Our hope is that it helps to stabilize agriculture,” said Jack Bebee, general manager of Fallbrook’s water agency.
Demand for water in Fallbrook has dropped over the last two decades from about 20,000 acre feet a year to just 8,000 acre feet a year. (An acre foot is enough water to cover an acre a foot deep, or 325,851 gallons.)
The situation has forced the agency to increase its rates to cover an array of fixed costs, Bebee said. “Our system was built for big avocado groves, and if they all go away, it just puts more pressure on the cost of water for residential customers.”
Water authority officials have argued that any savings those water agencies reap would be short-lived. They’ve also said joining Eastern could expose those agencies to state drought restrictions, which the San Diego wholesaler has aggressively tried to avoid.
San Diego’s Local Agency Formation Commission is expected to decide on the largely unprecedented request early next year.
The biggest cash crops last year in San Diego County’s $1.75 billion agricultural industry were bedding plants, perennials, cacti and succulents, according to the report. They supplanted ornamental trees and shrubs, which had held the distinction for the last 12 years.
Honey and beeswax suffered the largest decline. While only a small part of the overall farm economy, the products fell 85 percent largely as a result of drought interfering with bees’ ability to make honey.
(Joshua Emerson Smith, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The fire started near the Roseburg Forest Products Co. mill on Sept. 2 in the small town of Weed near the California-Oregon border. It eventually burned more than 6 square miles — nearly 4,000 acres — destroyed 118 buildings and killed two people. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is still investigating the cause of the fire.
The mill produces its own electricity from wood remnants, a process that produces hot ash that is then sprayed with water from a machine. The company says it is investigating whether that machine, which it says is supplied by a third party, failed to cool the ash enough, which could have started the fire.
On Tuesday, lawyers for 61-year-old Robert Davies sued the company, saying it did not make sure the machine was adequately designed, inspected and maintained — making the shed where the ashes were stored “a tinderbox awaiting a spark.”
Instead of fixing the machine, the lawsuit says the company relied on its employees to put out fires, resulting in “a number of unreported fires at the facility.”
“It begs the question, what was done from a safety standpoint to be able to address these fires that had occurred by using the correct technology and systems that would not rely solely on humans to be able to intervene,” Frank Pitre, one of Davies’ lawyers, said during a news conference on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
The company has set aside $50 million to support victims of the fire, and so far it has compensated more than 300 people. That included Davies, who received $5,000. The lawsuit says this wasn’t enough to compensate him for the loss of his home of over 30 years and everything inside it.
Pitre said he doesn’t believe the fire was a freak accident, saying multiple fires occurred on the site leading up to the blaze, known as the Mill fire, which began on Sept. 2. He added the area was notorious for high winds during certain parts of the year.
Terry Anderlini, another lawyer representing Davies, said Wednesday that the fire should never have happened.
“We’re here to bring this forward and get to the truth of the matter,” Anderlini said.
Wildfires have devastated communities in California, which, in the last five years, has seen the largest and most destructive fires in history.
The Mill fire started less than a quarter-mile from the Weed City Fire Department and burned for 11 days. It prompted Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency in Siskiyou County and resulted in federal grant money to fight the blaze and support residents.
Davies, who previously worked for an engineering company that contracted with the U.S. military, said he was in his home with his 25-year-old son when the fire started. After hearing helicopters flying from above, Davies walked outside and saw smoke coming over a hill. Within less than an hour, the smoke reached his house, he said.
Davies and his son left their home with laundry baskets and clothes. Among the items left behind in Davies’ house were Disney collectibles he planned to will to his 36-year-old daughter.
Davies said his family moved to the house in the mountains at least in part to avoid crime in larger cities.
“In a way, it was kind of like a fairy tale,” Davies said. “We never had to worry. And that’s all been stripped from, not only myself, but my children.”
(Sophie Austin, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Transit officials suspended Amtrak passenger and Metrolink commuter rail service Friday until further notice between Orange and San Diego counties because of the gradually moving hillside along about 700 feet of the tracks just north of Camp Pendleton.
The 140-year-old coastal rail line is the only viable route for passenger and freight trains between San Diego and the rest of the United States. The 350-mile LOSSAN corridor between San Diego, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo is one of the nation’s busiest rail routes.
Coaster commuter service between Oceanside and San Diego is not affected. However, the tracks on the coastal bluffs in Del Mar also are threatened by coastal erosion. Trains have been halted or slowed there in the past for a series of stabilization projects and repairs.
Passenger service between Orange County and Oceanside was suspended for about three weeks after heavy rain and storm surge in September 2021 caused some movement of the tracks at San Clemente. More than 18,000 tons of boulders were brought in by BNSF freight trains and placed on the coastal side of the railroad as riprap for stabilization.
Annual ridership is nearly 3 million on Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains and 5 million on Coaster and Metrolink commuter trains, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority. Freight trains carry $1 billion in goods annually on the LOSSAN corridor, according to a 2021 report by state Secretary of Transportation David S. Kim.
BNSF uses the rails under a “shared-use agreement” that allows the freight company to make its own determination when its trains can run. Normally it operates about six trains daily to and from rail terminals at the Port of San Diego, carrying everything from new foreign cars to building supplies and wind turbine blades. A company spokesman did not respond to messages Tuesday.
One company, The Pasha Group, has its own 157-acre terminal at San Diego’s port, where it processes up to 400,000 vehicles annually, nearly all of which are shipped by rail.
“Our understanding is that one train for goods movement will operate daily through the corridor, although BNSF is also delivering riprap to the site, so there may be additional trains, all operating at reduced speeds through the area,” Orange County Transportation Authority spokesman Eric Carpenter said in an email Tuesday.
Geologists and engineers monitoring the slide area detected new movement at the rate of 0.01 inch to 0.04 inch per day after another storm last month. Passenger service was halted Sept. 30, and BNSF is again bringing in rock for more riprap.
In addition to the immediate repair work, the Orange County Transportation Authority is reviewing long-term options to protect the coastal rail line, officials said.
“This stabilization effort is clearly an interim fix, and OCTA will continue to work with its partners on a long-term solution,” Carpenter said. “That could include rerouting the track further from the ocean. But such a fix would require years of planning and would be expensive. So right now we are focused on this interim fix.”
Studies to reroute the tracks in Del Mar, probably through a tunnel, have been under way for years. Construction costs could exceed $4 billion, and completion is probably decades away. But the state awarded $300 million earlier this year to local agencies for further planning to advance the project.
The emergency declaration approved Monday by the OCTA board of directors cleared the way to hire a contractor to proceed with the stabilization work in San Clemente.
“Our first priority, of course, is the safety and well-being of all rail passengers and crew members who travel through this area,” said OCTA Chair Mark A. Murphy, who is also the mayor of Orange, in a news release.
“We greatly appreciate Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission taking decisive action on this and working with us so quickly on advancing a solution,” said OCTA CEO Darrell E. Johnson.
“We understand the urgency of this issue and are working around the clock with all of our partners, including at Metrolink, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, the state and our elected leaders to complete this work as efficiently as possible, always prioritizing safety,” Johnson said.
OCTA is working with federal and state officials to secure additional funding for the emergency construction, which is expected to cost about $12 million overall.
“A timeline for completing the work is still being completed,” Carpenter said. “Clearing vegetation and staging for emergency work is anticipated to begin this week, with installation of ground anchors as soon as possible.”
The metal ground anchors will be inserted at a 45-degree angle into the bedrock beneath the slope to keep it from slipping farther toward the track and the ocean, he said.
Like the blufftop segment in Del Mar, the San Clemente section of track is one of the few places on the corridor where there’s not enough right-of-way to add a second set of tracks. Relocation could solve that problem.
Multiple sets of rails allow trains to pass each other and speeds up service. More than two-thirds of the San Diego County segment has been double-tracked so far, with plans to eventually double-track more than 97 percent of the corridor, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
OCTA owns the railroad right-of-way between Fullerton — near Anaheim — and the San Diego County border. North County Transit District owns the right-of-way from the Orange County border to the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego.
Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General issued a memorandum Dec. 6, 2021, which noted that while Amtrak met all its regulatory obligations, it “may be missing opportunities to gather all the information it needs” to assure safety in places such as San Clemente and Del Mar.
The inspector general’s memo urged the national railroad operator to participate more actively in related working groups and discussions with the OCTA, NCTD and other agencies.
Amtrak’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Scot Naparstek said in response he would designate a company representative to participate in any future discussions of evolving coastal conditions, remediation efforts and the potential realignment of the train’s Pacific Surfliner route.
(Phil Diehl, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The dismissal was significant but not a complete surprise after the Michigan Supreme Court in June unanimously said a different judge acting as a one-person grand jury had no authority to issue indictments.
Judge Elizabeth Kelly rejected efforts by the attorney general’s office to just send the cases to Flint District Court and turn them into criminal complaints, a typical path to filing felony charges in Michigan. It was a last-gasp effort to keep things afloat.
Kelly’s decision doesn’t affect former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. That’s only because he was charged with two misdemeanors — willful neglect of duty — and his case is being handled by another judge. But he, too, was indicted in a process declared invalid by the Supreme Court. His next hearing is Oct. 26.
In 2014, Flint managers appointed by Snyder took the city out of a regional water system and began using the Flint River to save money while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was being built. But the river water wasn’t treated to reduce its corrosive qualities.
Lead broke off from old pipes and contaminated the system for more than a year.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The number of storm-related deaths has risen to at least 80 in recent days, both because of the dangers posed by cleaning up and as search and rescue crews comb through the hardest-hit areas. Officials said that as of Monday, more than 2,350 people had been rescued throughout the state.
At least 71 people were killed in Florida, five in North Carolina, three in Cuba and one in Virginia since Ian made landfall on the Caribbean island on Sept. 27, a day before it reached Florida’s Gulf Coast. After churning northeastward into the Atlantic, the hurricane made another landfall in South Carolina before pushing into the mid-Atlantic states.
There have been deaths in vehicle wrecks, drownings and accidents. A man drowned after becoming trapped under a vehicle. Another got trapped trying to climb through a window. And a woman died when a gust of wind knocked her off her porch while she was smoking a cigarette as the storm approached, authorities said.
In hardest-hit Lee County, Fla., all 45 people killed by the hurricane were older than 50.
As floodwaters begin to recede, power restoration has become job one.
In Naples, Kelly Sedgwick was just seeing news footage Monday of the devastation. Her electricity was restored four days after the hurricane slammed into her community of roughly 22,000 people. She praised the crews for their hard work: “They’ve done a remarkable job.”
Ian knocked out power to 2.6 million customers across Florida after it roared ashore with 150 mph winds and a powerful storm surge. State officials said they expect power to be restored by Sunday to customers whose power lines and other electric infrastructure is still intact.
About 400,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without power Tuesday.
Eric Silagy, chair and CEO of Florida Power & Light — the largest power provider in the state — said he understands the frustration and that 21,000 utility workers from 30 states are working as hard as they can to restore power. The utility expects to have power restored to 95 percent of its service areas by the end of the day Friday, he said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Ten additional deaths were blamed on the storm in Florida as frustration and desperation mounted in the path the storm cut through state. And the hurricane’s remnants, now a nor’easter, weren’t done with the U.S.
The mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts were getting flooding rains. The storm’s onshore winds piled even more water into an already inundated Chesapeake Bay.
Norfolk and Virginia Beach declared states of emergency, although a shift in wind direction prevented potentially catastrophic levels Monday, said Cody Poche, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Va.
Coastal flooding temporarily shut down the only highway to part of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and flooding was possible all the way to Long Island, the National Weather Service said.
At least 78 people have been confirmed dead: 71 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba since Ian made landfall on the Caribbean island on Sept. 27 and in Florida a day later.
Search and rescue efforts were still ongoing Monday in Florida. More than 1,600 people have been rescued statewide, according to Florida’s emergency management agency.
Washed-out bridges to barrier islands, flooded roadways, spotty cellphone service and a lack of water, electricity or the Internet left hundreds of thousands isolated. The situation in many areas wasn’t expected to improve for several days because waterways were overflowing, leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.
In DeSoto County, northeast of Fort Myers, the Peace River and tributaries reached record high levels and boats were the only way to get supplies to many of the county’s 37,000 residents.
The county was prepared for strong winds after being hit by Hurricane Charley in 2004, but it was not prepared for so much rainfall, which amounted to a year’s worth of precipitation in two days, DeSoto County Commissioner J.C. Deriso said.
“This flood has been pretty catastrophic,” said Deriso, adding that officials hope to open one of the area’s main highways by today.
Ian washed away bridges and roads to several barrier islands. About 130 Florida Department of Transportation trucks started work on building a temporary bridge to Pine Island and by the end of the week should be finished on a structure drivers can carefully traverse at slow speeds, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference Monday.
The governor said a similar temporary bridge is planned for nearby Sanibel, but it will take a little more time.
“They were talking about running ferries and stuff,” he said. “And honestly, you may be able to do that, but I think this is an easier thing, and I think people need their vehicles anyways.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Across the most affected parts of the state, local and federal rescue crews continued to scour neighborhoods for survivors. “We are not in a recovery phrase,” said Chase Fabrizio, leader of Maryland Task Force 1, a search-and-rescue crew of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “We are still in the search.”
Across the southwest and central regions of the state, about 800,000 homes and businesses remained without power on Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. In North Carolina, more than 16,000 customers are still without power.
Meanwhile, several bridges were destroyed, complicating rescue efforts. The causeway to Sanibel, a 12-mile barrier island, was rendered impassable, cutting off the island from the mainland.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are planning to travel to Puerto Rico today and to Florida on Wednesday to see hurricane damage, the White House announced late Saturday.
Their visit comes as the president warned that Ian could be Florida’s deadliest hurricane. The confirmed death toll is expected to rise as autopsies are completed and recovery efforts continue.
Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission on Sunday night said the hurricane had caused at least 58 deaths in the state, most of them from drowning. Their tally does not include Charlotte County, where local officials have also confirmed multiple deaths. Many of the victims were older than 60, according to the state’s medical examiners. Bodies were found inside flooded cars, floating in water and on the beach. There were four storm-related deaths in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said.
Officials said 42 of the victims in Florida were found in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Cape Coral. The county does not have running water, and nearly 70 percent of it is without power.
Across the affected region, residents turned to cleanup work on Sunday. Many had waited days to return home amid floods and washed-out roads.
In Iona, a small coastal community between Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach, towering piles of soggy couches, mattresses and kitchen cabinets were strewn across front lawns.
In one predominantly Latino neighborhood, some residents were drying their clothes in the sun. Volunteers drove around passing out cases of water. “Everyone will stay here, but we will clean up and put our stuff outside,” said Luis Hernandez, 33. “But we have no water, no clothes.”
As he helped his parents clean out their house, Rafael Martinez, 15, said the water rose so fast that “everything got destroyed.” He and his family climbed atop a table and chairs to stay above the water, he said, adding that he is thankful that his family — and he thinks all of his neighbors — survived.
Many storefronts were damaged by floodwaters. John Henson, who owns a two-story commercial office in the area, returned to his business to find that someone had broken in during the storm.
“If someone needed shelter or food, I would give them both of these,” Henson said. “But they stole stuff and tried to move stuff from one room to another ... and broke and kicked doors down for no reason.”
Henson predicted that this part of Fort Myers “isn’t ever going to be what it once was.”
“You don’t even understand how bad it is until you start driving the side roads,” said Henson, who lived nearby on Shell Point. “It’s just brutal out there.”
In Punta Gorda, 25 miles north of Fort Myers, Johnny Riggs and his family were waiting inside a shelter Saturday night for the power to return to their home in nearby Port Charlotte.
Riggs, 73, said he evacuated with his daughter and granddaughter just before Ian made landfall, going to a shelter near their apartment. When the rain ended, they returned home.
Their building had little damage, but the lack of power in the region made it hard to stay. Food inside the refrigerator was spoiling and there were few restaurants and stores open in the area.
Worse, the building no longer had running water, he said. After three days, the family left the apartment Saturday morning and checked into a shelter at a high school gymnasium that is part of the Babcock Ranch planned community.
“We’d been using bottled water to flush the commode but now that’s all gone,” Riggs said, finishing up a free spaghetti dinner while his daughter, Courtney Riggs-Johnston, and granddaughter Trevlyn, 14, rummaged through boxes of donated clothing.
Even as they promised aid, officials on Sunday acknowledged the long road to recovery. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told ABC News’ “This Week” that Sanibel, the barrier island near Fort Myers, will be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
“I think our priority now is to identify the people that remain on Sanibel who wanted to stay there, but eventually have to come off because there’s just no way to continue with life there,” Rubio said, adding that it will take “a couple of years at least” to rebuild the bridge that connected Sanibel to the mainland.
Rubio said the total damage was more devastating than anything he could recall in Florida history. “Fort Myers Beach no longer exists. It’ll have to be rebuilt,” he said. “It was a slice of old Florida that you can’t recapture.”
(Tim Craig, Antonio Olivo & Jeanne Whalen, WASHINGTON POST)
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The U.S. national Hurricane Center said Orlene had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph on Friday. It was projected to grow to hurricane force before falling back to tropical storm strength ahead of a forecast Monday strike in Sinaloa state.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The powerful storm, estimated to be one of the costliest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S., has terrorized people for much of the week — pummeling western Cuba and raking across Florida before gathering strength in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean to curve back and strike South Carolina.
While Ian’s center came ashore near Georgetown, S.C., on Friday with much weaker winds than when it crossed Florida’s Gulf Coast earlier in the week, the storm left many areas of Charleston’s downtown peninsula under water. It also washed away parts of four piers along the coast, including two at Myrtle Beach.
Online cameras showed seawater filling neighborhoods in Garden City to calf level. As Ian moved across South Carolina on its way to North Carolina Friday night, it dropped from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone.
Ian left a broad swath of destruction in Florida, flooding areas on both of its coasts, tearing homes from their slabs, demolishing beachfront businesses and leaving more than 2 million people without power.
Many of the deaths were drownings, including that of a 68-year-old woman swept away into the ocean by a wave. A 67-year-old man who was waiting to be rescued died after falling into rising water inside his home, authorities said.
Other storm-related fatalities included a 22-year-old woman who died after an ATV rollover from a road washout and a 71-year-old man who fell off a roof while putting up rain shutters. An 80-year-old woman and a 94-year-old man who relied on oxygen machines also died after the equipment stopped working during power outages.
Another three people died in Cuba earlier in the week as the storm churned northward. The death toll was expected to increase substantially once emergency officials have an opportunity to search many of the hardest-hit areas.
Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through riverine streets in Florida after the storm to save thousands of people trapped amid flooded homes and shattered buildings.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that crews had gone door-to-door to more than 3,000 homes in the hardest-hit areas.
“There’s really been a Herculean effort,” he said during a news conference in Tallahassee.
Hurricane Ian has likely caused “well over $100 billion” in damage, including $63 billion in privately insured losses, according to the disaster modeling firm Karen Clark & Company, which regularly issues flash catastrophe estimates. If those numbers are borne out, that would make Ian at least the fourth-costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said first responders have focused so far on “hasty” searches, aimed at emergency rescues and initial assessments, which will be followed by two additional waves of searches. Initial responders who come across possible remains are leaving them without confirming, he said Friday, describing as an example the case of a submerged home.
“The water was up over the rooftop, right, but we had a Coast Guard rescue swimmer swim down into it and he could identify that it appeared to be human remains. We do not know exactly how many,” Guthrie said.
Desperate to locate and rescue their loved ones, social media users shared phone numbers, addresses and photos of their family members and friends online for anyone who can check on them.
Orlando residents returned to flooded homes Friday, rolling up their pants to wade through muddy, knee-high water in their streets. Friends of Ramon Rodriguez dropped off ice, bottled water and hot coffee at the entrance to his subdivision, where 10 of the 50 homes were flooded and the road looked like a lake. He had no power or food at his house, and his car was trapped by the water.
“There’s water everywhere,” Rodriguez said. “The situation here is pretty bad.”
The devastating storm surge destroyed many older homes on the barrier island of Sanibel, Fla., and gouged crevices into its sand dunes. Taller condominium buildings were intact but with the bottom floor blown out. Trees and utility poles were strewn everywhere.
Municipal rescuers, private teams and the Coast Guard used boats and helicopters Friday to evacuate residents who stayed for the storm and then were cut off from the mainland when a causeway collapsed. Volunteers who went to the island on personal watercraft helped escort an elderly couple to an area where Coast Guard rescuers took them aboard a helicopter.
Hours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. Ian made landfall in South Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. When it hit Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday, it was a powerful Category 4 hurricane with winds in excess of 150 mph.
After the heaviest of the rainfall blew through Charleston, Will Shalosky examined a large elm tree in front of his house that had fallen across his downtown street. He noted the damage could have been much worse.
“If this tree had fallen a different way, it would be in our house,” Shalosky said.
Ian’s heavy rains and winds crossed into North Carolina on Friday evening. Gov. Roy Cooper warned residents to be vigilant.
“Hurricane Ian is at our door. Expect drenching rain and sustained heavy winds over most of our state,” Cooper said. “Our message today is simple: Be smart and be safe.”
In Washington, President Joe Biden said he was directing “every possible action be taken to save lives and get help to survivors.”
“It’s going to take months, years to rebuild,” Biden said.
“I just want the people of Florida to know, we see what you’re going through and we’re with you.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Hours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane today, with winds picking up to 80 mph late Thursday night.
The devastation inflicted on Florida came into focus a day after Ian struck as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the U.S. It flooded homes on both of the state’s coasts, cut off the only road access to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.67 million Florida homes and businesses — nearly a quarter of utility customers.
Mayors, sheriffs and other officials surveying the damage struggled to even describe its scope. The sheriff in Volusia County, near Orlando on the state’s east coast, said by text message that the coastal county was seeing “unprecedented flooding.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there had been “biblical” storm surge on Sanibel Island, normally a tourist haven of beaches and mangroves southwest of Fort Myers.
“The damage that was done has been historic,” DeSantis said in a briefing Thursday. “We’ve never seen a flood event like this. We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude.”
On Fort Myers Beach, a laid-back strip dotted with hotels, bars and restaurants that for many southwest Florida residents offered a cherished escape from the mainland, the storm had laid waste to beloved landmarks, including the fishing pier and Times Square, a communal gathering spot where sunset was celebrated each night. Several residents of the island reported not hearing from friends who rode out the storm there.
“When you look at Fort Myers Beach in particular, there’s no words to describe it,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said after taking a helicopter tour of his county, which is just to the north of where Hurricane Ian came ashore on Wednesday.
Four people were confirmed dead in Florida. They included two residents of Sanibel Island along the west coast, Sanibel City Manager Dana Souza said late Thursday. Three other people were reported killed in Cuba after the hurricane struck there on Tuesday.
The causeway to Sanibel Island had a missing section and a collapsed section, said Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s former emergency management chief, who flew over the area Thursday. “Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island look like they will need to be 80 percent rebuilt,” he estimated.
The storm’s heavy blow to infrastructure complicated efforts to gauge the damage — early estimates said insured losses could reach up to $40 billion — and to reach the hard-hit barrier islands, where homes and businesses were now heaps of wood pulp and broken concrete. Cell service was spotty or nonexistent up and down the coast, another agonizing impediment to residents’ efforts to seek help or reach missing family members.
In the Fort Myers area, homes were ripped from their slabs and deposited among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats and fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.
“I don’t know how anyone could have survived in there,” William Goodison said amid the wreckage of the mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he’d lived for 11 years. Goodison rode out the storm at his son’s house inland.
The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, many of them destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison’s single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.
DeSantis said at least 700 rescues, mostly by air, have been conducted so far involving the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Guard and urban search-and-rescue teams.
After leaving Florida as a tropical storm Thursday and entering the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral, Ian spun up into a hurricane again with winds of more than 75 mph.
A hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast and extended to Cape Fear on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. With tropical-storm force winds reaching about 415 miles from its center, Ian was forecast to shove a storm surge of 5 feet into coastal areas in Georgia and the Carolinas. Rainfall of up to 8 inches threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia.
National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston, a 350-year-old city.
But an uncertain forecast meant it was possible Ian could strengthen into a Category 2 hurricane as it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
Flooding, both from a dangerous storm surge and heavy rainfall, was likely in and around Charleston, forecasters said. A “life-threatening” storm surge was possible within vulnerable areas, and a flood watch was posted with 4 to 8 inches of rain likely, with localized higher amounts. There was an isolated risk of a tornado or two, as well.
Meanwhile, sheriffs in southwest Florida said 911 centers were inundated Thursday by thousands of stranded callers, some with life-threatening emergencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began rescue efforts hours before daybreak on barrier islands near where Ian struck, DeSantis said. More than 800 federal urban search-and-rescuers were also in the area.
In the Orlando area, Orange County firefighters used boats to reach people in a flooded neighborhood. Patients from a nursing home were carried on stretchers across floodwaters to a bus.
In Fort Myers, Valerie Bartley’s family spent desperate hours during the storm holding a dining room table against the patio door, fearing Ian “was tearing our house apart.”
“I was terrified,” Bartley said. “What we heard was the shingles and debris from everything in the neighborhood hitting our house.”
The storm ripped away patio screens and snapped a palm tree in the yard, Bartley said, but left the roof intact and her family unharmed.
A 72-year-old man in Deltona died after falling into a canal while using a hose to drain his pool in the heavy rain, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said. A 38-year-old man from Lake County died Wednesday in an accident after his vehicle hydroplaned, according to authorities.
Marceno, the Lee County sheriff, said his office was scrambling to respond to calls for help, but many roads and bridges were still impassable.
Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.
No deaths or injuries have been confirmed in the surrounding county, and flyovers of barrier islands show “the integrity of the homes is far better than we anticipated,” said county Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller.
South of Sanibel Island, the historic beachfront pier in Naples was destroyed, with even the pilings torn out. “Right now, there is no pier,” said Collier County Commissioner Penny Taylor.
Ian struck Florida with winds up to 155 mph that tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the U.S.
While scientists generally avoid blaming climate change for specific storms without detailed analysis, Ian’s watery destruction fits what scientists have predicted for a warmer world: stronger and wetter hurricanes, though not necessarily more of them.
“This business about very, very heavy rain is something we’ve expected to see because of climate change,” said MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel. “We’ll see more storms like Ian.”
(U-T NEWS SERVICES; ASSOCIATED PRESS; NEW YORK TIMES)
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Orlene had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving west-northwest at 8 mph. It forecast that Orlene would become a hurricane tonight or Saturday.
The storm was centered about 290 miles southsouthwest of Manzanillo.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Floridians braced for extensive and catastrophic damage around Fort Myers, near where Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm, with winds up to 150 mph, Wednesday afternoon. But a huge stretch of coastline from Naples to Sarasota appeared severely affected by lapping brown waves that drowned streets, cars and homes as frightened residents sought refuge.
The storm was so massive that almost the entire state faced warnings about its possible effects, with officials fearing widespread inland flooding — as much as 2 feet in some areas — and more storm surge along Florida’s Atlantic Coast today, when Ian is expected to cut diagonally across the peninsula. It is forecast to move offshore around Daytona Beach by this evening, before turning north toward Georgia and South Carolina.
Ian will go down in history as one of the worst storms to hit the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, after the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935, Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Michael in 2018.
It will “rank as one of the top five hurricanes to ever hit the Florida Peninsula,” he said.
Authorities linked at least one death to the storm hours before landfall. More than 2 million customers were without electricity in the state by evening.
Not since Hurricane Charley buzz-sawed through Southwest Florida in 2004, making landfall almost exactly where Ian did, had the densely populated, suburban communities around Fort Myers suffered a direct hit. But while the former was a compact, fast-moving storm that inflicted destruction mostly with its winds, the latter lumbered ashore with such sheer size that it dwarfed Charley.
In Lee County, which is home to Fort Myers, officials said they did not yet have a clear picture of the damage. But the county manager, Roger Desjarlais, said at a news briefing: “We are beginning to get a sense that our community has been, in some respects, decimated.”
The storm first made landfall on the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of Fort Myers, and later on the mainland near Punta Gorda, about 25 miles north of Fort Myers.
The wind was so intense at Robert Goodman’s home in the Gulf Harbor neighborhood of Fort Myers that he and his son-in-law had to physically hold their sliding doors shut to keep it out. He was under a mandatory evacuation order but decided to stay.
“I don’t know what’s worse, being here for it or leaving. I’d be stressed out either way,” Goodman, 60, said, adding, “And the flooding hasn’t even started yet.”
Videos showed storm surge in Fort Myers Beach reaching nearly to the roofs of some one-story homes, with streets turned into rivers. Just to the west, large swaths of the barrier island of Sanibel also appeared to be underwater.
Forecasters projected up to 18 feet of storm surge in some areas, although DeSantis said it might have peaked at 12 feet. Water levels in Naples reached more than 6 feet above normal high tide, a record. The previous record of 4.25 feet above high tide there was set in 2017 during Hurricane Irma, the storm that had most recently swamped the region.
The most vulnerable communities up and down the Gulf Coast had been under evacuation orders — which many, if not most, people seemed to heed. Even inland residents sought shelter: Busloads of farmworkers arrived at a high school in Plant City, Fla., east of Tampa, Wednesday morning, to escape their mobile homes.
Among the evacuees at another shelter was Arthur Hembree, 63, who has ridden out plenty of hurricanes in his nearly 50 years of living in Florida.
There was the one in the 1980s that he spent playing Nintendo in his trailer home as the water rose toward his doorstep. During Hurricane Charley, he cowered with his landlord’s Rottweiler, Chopper, in the back of a junkyard pickup. And in 2018, Hurricane Michael sent him scrambling for cover through the drive-up window of an old bank.
But when he heard how bad Ian might be, he decided his days of disregarding hurricane warnings were over. On Wednesday, he was one of more than 6,000 people who had arrived at shelters in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa. Hembree, who is retired from a job cleaning oil tankers and uses a wheelchair, was staying at a shelter at Erwin Technical College that had been designated for people with special needs.
“I live two blocks from the Hillsborough River,” he said. “We’re not going through this again.”
Instead of bringing storm surge to Tampa Bay — one of forecasters’ biggest fears when it comes to storms hitting Florida — Hurricane Ian pushed the water out, leaving it less than 1 foot deep in some areas. The phenomenon, which also occurred during Hurricane Irma, is sometimes referred to as a reverse, or negative, storm surge. Winds to the north of the storm blew in from the east, pushing water away from the shoreline, said Christopher Slocum, a physical scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Florida has one of the most rigorous building codes in the country, a result of construction rules adopted after Hurricane Andrew destroyed tens of thousands of homes in South Florida in 1992. In more recent storms, such as Hurricane Irma, structures built under modern codes have performed better than older buildings. By contrast, in states without mandatory and up-to-date building codes, such as Tennessee and Kentucky, the damage from extreme weather events tends to be far worse.
Although the full extent of the havoc Hurricane Ian has wreaked in southwest Florida will not be known for some time, other parts of the state that were pounded by the storm assessed their flood damage Wednesday.
The death of a 34-year-old man in Martin County, on the east coast north of Palm Beach County, was being investigated as tied to the storm. Officials said the man had been clearing debris in a yard and was found face down in 10 inches of water.
Tornadoes were reported in Broward County, overturning small planes, stripping siding from homes and uprooting trees.
And in Key West, where storm surge had swept over the tourist strip of Duval Street, businesses opened their doors wide to dry out the wet floors. The authorities predicted even worse flooding through Friday because of high tides.
In Port Charlotte, the storm surge flooded a hospital’s lower-level emergency room, while fierce winds tore part of its fourth-floor roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.
Water gushed down from above onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital’s sickest patients — some of whom were on ventilators — to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital.
The medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients were forced into just two because of the damage. Bodine planned to spend the night at the hospital in case people injured from the storm arrive there needing help.
The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country’s electrical grid.
(NEW YORK TIMES; ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Ian made landfall in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, and took steps to protect crops in the nation’s main tobacco-growing region. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Cuba suffered “significant wind and storm surge impacts” when the hurricane struck with top sustained winds of 125 mph.
Ian was expected to get even stronger over the warm Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 130 mph approaching the southwest coast of Florida, where 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate.
Tropical storm-force winds were expected across the southern peninsula late Tuesday, reaching hurricane-force today — when the eye was predicted to make landfall. With tropical storm-force winds extending 140 miles from Ian’s center, damage was expected across a wide area of Florida.
It was not yet clear precisely where Ian would crash ashore. Its exact track could determine how severe the storm surge is for Tampa Bay, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. Landfall south of the bay could make the impact “much less bad,” McNoldy said.
Gil Gonzalez boarded up his windows Tuesday and had sandbags ready to protect his Tampa home. He and his wife had stocked up on bottled water and packed flashlights, battery packs for their cellphones and a camp stove before evacuating.
“All the prized possessions, we’ve put them upstairs in a friend’s house and nearby, and we’ve got the car loaded,” Gonzalez said on his way out.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged people to prepare for extended power outages, and to get out of the storm’s potential path.
“It is a big storm, it is going to kick up a lot of water as it comes in,” DeSantis told a news conference in Sarasota, a coastal city of 57,000 that could be hit. “And you’re going to end up with really significant storm surge and you’re going to end up with really significant flood events. And this is the kind of storm surge that is life threatening.”
He said 30,000 utility workers have already been positioned around the state, but it might take days before they can safely reach some of the downed power lines.
“This thing’s the real deal,” DeSantis said. “It is a major, major storm.”
DeSantis said nearly 100 shelters had been opened by Tuesday afternoon, with more expected. He said most buildings in Florida are strong enough to withstand wind, but the 2.5 million people who have been told to evacuate face the greatest danger from flooding.
Hundreds of residents were being evacuated from several nursing homes in the Tampa area, where hospitals were also moving some patients. Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West closed. Busch Gardens in Tampa closed ahead of the storm, while several Orlando-area theme parks, including Walt Disney World and SeaWorld, planned to close today and Thursday.
(Christiana Mesquita & Curt Anderson, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Federal attorneys also sent a letter to city officials Monday threatening legal action against the city if it does not agree to negotiations related to its water system.
Regan returned to Mississippi’s capital city Monday to meet with Jackson officials about the city’s troubled water system. At the meeting with Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim, Regan said the federal government would work with the city to “deliver long overdue relief for Jackson residents.”
“The people of Jackson, Mississippi, have lacked access to safe and reliable water for decades. After years of neglect, Jackson’s water system finally reached a breaking point this summer, leaving tens of thousands of people without any running water for weeks,” Regan said. “These conditions are unacceptable in the United States of America.”
In a Monday letter sent to city officials and obtained by the news station WLBT-TV, Kim and attorneys for DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Section said they were “prepared to file an action” against the city under the Safe Drinking Water Act, but hoped the matter could be resolved through an “enforceable agreement.” The letter said that state and local officials “had not acted to protect public health.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Authorities urged residents to begin evacuating low-lying areas, with a troubling combination of dangerous storm surges, flooding and powerful winds predicted for the coming days.
“Safety is paramount,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news briefing. “There is going to be damage.”
Meteorologists said Ian would most likely become a major hurricane — meaning Category 3 or stronger, with winds of at least 111 mph — as soon as Monday night as it neared Cuba. People in western Cuba were also warned to brace for punishing winds and storm surges. The storm was set to move into the Gulf of Mexico, follow a course west of the Florida Keys late today, and approach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday.
But forecasters stressed that the track could change and that where, exactly, Ian would hit hardest could not be known.
In the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico were calm Monday, under mostly sunny skies, but those same warm waters could provide the storm with much of its destructive power.
Forecasters tracking the hurricane expect high storm surges in and around Tampa Bay. Sturdy buildings could suffer structural damage, and mobile homes could be destroyed. Large debris could make roads impassable, and power outages could affect communication.
On Monday, homeowners moved lawn furniture inside and put plywood over their windows. Others made grocery runs: At least three Publix grocery stores in the St. Petersburg area ran out of bottled water, and charcoal and propane supplies were running low.
“I couldn’t have possibly bought more,” said Lauren Muskaj, 30, who was loading her SUV with a large cooler she had bought in case the power went out. She and her husband will probably stay in St. Petersburg with their 3-month-old son, she said, because their house is not in a flood zone — but they may all end up at her parents’ home in Lakeland, farther inland.
Vacationers were also jolted from their beachy bliss. Saxon Deck, a resident of Austin, Texas, who was enjoying her first vacation in a year on Pass-a-Grille Beach, a barrier island community south of St. Petersburg, woke up Monday to her phone pinging. It was a real estate agent with whom she and her husband had planned to meet to look at houses. Instead, the agent canceled their appointment and advised Deck to get out of town.
“We naively thought we might be able to stay put,” Deck said.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year slammed into the coast in Burdeos town in Quezon province before nightfall on Sunday then weakened as it barreled overnight across the main Luzon region, where thousands of people were moved to emergency shelters, some forcibly, officials said.
Gov. Daniel Fernando of Bulacan province, north of Manila, said five rescuers, who were using a boat to help residents trapped in floodwaters, were hit by a collapsed wall then apparently drowned in the rampaging waters.
“They were living heroes who were helping save the lives of our countrymen amid this calamity,” Fernando told DZMM radio network. “This is really very sad.”
More than 17,000 people were moved to emergency shelters from high-risk communities prone to tidal surges, flooding and landslides in Quezon alone, officials said.
More than 3,000 people were evacuated to safety in Metropolitan Manila, which was lashed by fierce wind and rain overnight. Classes and government work were suspended today in the capital and outlying provinces as a precaution although the morning skies were sunny.
The entire northern provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were hit by the typhoon, remained without power today and repair crews were at work to bring back electricity, officials said.
Noru underwent an “explosive intensification” over the open Pacific Ocean before it hit the Philippines, Vicente Malano, who heads the country’s weather agency, said Sunday.
From sustained winds of 53 mph on Saturday, Noru was a super typhoon just 24 hours later with sustained winds of 121 mph and gusts of up to 149 mph at its peak late Sunday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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After surging north from the Caribbean, Fiona came ashore before dawn Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, rains and waves.
Defense Minister Anita Anand said troops would help remove fallen trees, restore transportation links and do whatever else is required for as long as it takes.
Fiona was blamed for at least five deaths in the Caribbean, and one death in Canada. Authorities found the body of a 73-year-old woman Sunday in the water who was missing in Channel-Port Aux Basques, a town on the southern coast of Newfoundland.
Police said the woman was inside her residence moments before a wave struck the home Saturday morning, tearing away a portion of the basement.
“Living in coastal communities, we know what can happen, and tragically the sea has taken another from us,” said Gudie Hutchings, the member of parliament from Newfoundland.
As of Sunday evening, more than 211,000 Nova Scotia Power customers and more than 81,000 Maritime Electric customers in the province of Prince Edward Island — about 95 percent of the total — remained in the dark. So were more than 20,600 homes and businesses in New Brunswick.
More than 415,000 Nova Scotia Power customers — about 80 percent in the province of almost 1 million people — had been affected by outages Saturday.
Utility companies say it could be days before the lights are back on for everyone.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Amanda McDougall said Sunday that more than 200 people were in temporary shelters. More than 70 roads were completely inaccessible in her region. She said she couldn’t count the number of homes damaged in her own neighborhood.
McDougall said it is amazing there are no injuries in her community.
“People listened to the warnings and did what they were supposed to do and this was the result,” she said
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Forecasters said that Ian, which was about 430 miles southeast of the western tip of Cuba as of Sunday night, was expected to become a hurricane today and a major hurricane Tuesday. The storm was expected to strengthen rapidly today and Tuesday.
“Ian is going to be a large and powerful hurricane in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and spread its impacts over a large portion of the Florida Peninsula,” Jamie Rhome, acting director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a briefing Sunday.
A hurricane warning was in effect Sunday for areas in western Cuba, which could see “life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds” beginning Monday, the Hurricane Center said. On Sunday night, the center issued a tropical storm watch for parts of the Florida Keys.
“Efforts to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” it said Sunday.
Ahead of the storm, some school districts in Florida announced closures. Hillsborough County Public Schools said it had “no choice but to close schools” today through Thursday because county officials planned to use many schools as storm shelters starting today. Pasco County Schools said schools and offices would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Florida Keys could get 2 to 4 inches of rain, with some areas receiving up to 6 inches through Tuesday evening, the Hurricane Center said, adding that flash and urban flooding could occur across the Keys and Florida Peninsula. Flash flooding and mudslides are also possible in high terrain in Jamaica and Cuba.
At a Sunday news conference, a day after declaring a state of emergency for all of Florida’s 67 counties, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida emphasized the continued uncertainty of the storm’s path.
“Just don’t think if you’re not in that eye, that somehow you don’t have to make preparations,” he said. He cautioned residents to anticipate possible power failures, fuel disruptions and evacuation orders.
While satellite imagery of Ian may not currently look “overly impressive,” that will change as the storm unfolds and become “a little unsettling as that satellite really builds out,” Rhome warned.
“A lot of people are going to run to the stores when they see that, so I stress that you use the rest of today to finalize your preparation while it’s calm,” he said.
“The surge vulnerability along the west coast of Florida is very extreme,” Rhome said, adding, “I’m telling you, it doesn’t take an onshore or direct hit from a hurricane to pile up the water.”
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Hurricane Fiona, which had weakened a bit to a Category 3 storm, was forecast to make landfall this morning.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch over extensive coastal expanses of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Fiona should reach the area as a “large and powerful post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds.”
“This is is definitely going to be one of, if not the most powerful, tropical cyclones to affect our part of the country,” said Ian Hubbard, meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. “It’s going to be definitely as severe and as bad as any I’ve seen.“
Fiona was a Category 4 hurricane when it pounded Bermuda with heavy rains and winds earlier Friday as it swept by the island on a route heading for northeastern Canada. Authorities in Bermuda opened shelters and closed schools and offices ahead of Fiona. Michael Weeks, the national security minister, said there had been no reports of major damage.
The U.S. center said Fiona had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph early Friday evening. It was centered about 215 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, heading north at 46 mph.
Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 115 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 345 miles.
Hubbard said the storm was weakening as it moved over cooler water and he felt it highly unlikely it would reach land with hurricane strength. Hurricanes in Canada are somewhat rare, in part because once the storms reach colder waters, they lose their main source of energy.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was 6.2 miles below the surface, about 88 miles west of Ancud, a town 696 miles south of the Chilean capital, Santiago.
The Chilean navy’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service ruled out the possibility of a tsunami.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The monsoon rains and flooding, which many experts say are fueled by climate change, have affected 33 million people, caused at least 1,596 deaths and damaged 2 million homes across Pakistan since July.
Waterborne and other diseases in the past two months have killed 334 flood victims. The death toll prompted the World Health Organization last week to raise the alarm about a “second disaster,” with doctors on the ground racing to battle outbreaks.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The new analysis reveals a picture of daily exposure to wildfire smoke in better geographic detail than ever before. Researchers found a twenty-sevenfold increase over the past decade in the number of people experiencing an “extreme smoke day,” which is defined as air quality deemed unhealthy for all age groups. In 2020 alone, nearly 25 million people across the contiguous United States were affected by dangerous smoke.
Although the growing threats posed by fire have been explored in detail, particularly for populations in the most fire-prone regions, the risks that smoke pollution pose have been stymied by lack of precise data until now.
“People may be less likely to notice days with a modest increase in fine particulate matter from smoke, but those days can still have an impact on people’s health,” said Marissa Childs, who led the research while getting her doctorate from Stanford. She also noted that the most extreme smoke days were rarely seen from 2006 to 2010. But in the more recent study years, from 2016 to 2020, she said the research shows that more than 1.5 million people, particularly in the Western United States, were routinely exposed to levels that carry immediate risks.
Childs, a fellow at Harvard’s Center for the Environment and School of Public Health, had originally intended to focus on the health effects of fire-related air pollution. “When we started, we realized there were a lot of questions about how smoke affected people’s health that we didn’t have answers to,” she said, including questions around estimated mortality from smoke fine particulate matter, and how the health effects of smoke compare with other sources of pollution.
Filling in that gap was an arduous process. The analysis began with satellite data to map the geographic spread of particulate matter from above and incorporated ground-level monitors to measure pollution where it matters most to human health. The research isolated wildfire smoke from background pollution from other sources, which has actually decreased in recent decades.
“We have been remarkably successful in cleaning up other sources of air pollution across the country, mainly due to regulation like the Clean Air Act,” said Marshall Burke, co-author of the research and professor of earth system science at Stanford. “That success, especially in the West, has really stagnated. And in recent years this started to reverse.”
The research indicates that wildfire smoke is a leading cause of that reversal, wiping out most of the progress. Some areas in the Western United States had increases in particulate pollution from smoke that were about the same amount as the improvements in air quality from regulating factories and other point-source pollution. As climate change intensifies fire risk across the country and smoke plumes can travel thousands of miles from their source, no one is safe from the effects.
Particulate pollution causes more than short-term irritation. It has been linked to chronic heart and lung conditions, as well other negative health effects, such as cognitive decline, depression and premature birth. But more work remains to be done on pollution specifically from wildfires.
“There is no safe concentration,” said Tarik Benmarhnia, an environmental public health researcher at the University of California San Diego who contributed to an earlier study on hospitalizations showing that smoke from wildfires can be 10 times more harmful than other sources of air pollution.
And yet, much of the existing research sees wildfires as something “rare, exceptional and intense,” according to Benmarhnia. But in a changing climate, he sees the health impacts of chronic exposure as one of the biggest questions to answer.
Subsequent research with this data will have important policy implications, both for local governments at the source of wildfires and for wider populations affected by smoke.
One solution, experts say, is to reduce the potential for wildfires to grow into long-lasting and destructive infernos. In recent years, California has recognized that decades of fire suppression have led to a buildup of fuel in forests where smaller, contained fires actually contribute to the health of the forest. The state has been increasing prescribed fires and other forest management techniques to help reduce the risk of out-of-control megafires.
(Mira Rojanasakul, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Save the Children said data provided by the Syrian government indicated there had been 23 cholera-related deaths this week. Health authorities in the autonomous region of northeast Syria, which broke away from Syrian government control in 2013, reported 16 additional deaths. Aid officials said thousands of others are believed to have contracted cholera in the country’s first major outbreak in years.
“The outbreak of cholera threatens more misery for hundreds of thousands of Syrians already at risk from hunger, conflict and the coming winter,” said Tanya Evans, Syria director for the International Rescue Committee. “A decade of conflict has left the health care system in Syria extremely fragile and severely under-resourced, making it much harder to mobilize a response to any potential epidemics.”
After 11 years of war, roughly 7 million Syrians are internally displaced and dependent on humanitarian aid. Years of drought in Syria coupled with extensive damage to the country’s infrastructure have left millions of Syrians short of clean water and lacking access to basic health care.
The Syrian Health Ministry two weeks ago declared a cholera outbreak in the northern province of Aleppo after reporting nine deaths throughout the country.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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A total of eight deaths, including one confirmed, are “attributable to the virus,” said Dr. Henry Kyobe, a Ugandan military officer who is tracking Ebola cases. He spoke of a “rapidly evolving” situation where “we think cases may rise in a few days.”
The epicenter of the outbreak is the central Ugandan district of Mubende, whose main town lies along a highway into the capital, Kampala. That travel link and several crowded artisanal gold mines there is concerning, Kyobe told the World Health Organization.
Ugandan authorities have not yet found the source of the outbreak, nor have they discovered the key first case.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The earthquake struck at 1:19 a.m. near the epicenter of a magnitude 7.6 quake that hit three days earlier in the western state of Michoacan. It was also blamed for two deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday’s earthquake was centered in a sparsely populated area 31 miles south-southwest of Aguililla, Michoacan, at a depth of 15 miles.
Michoacan’s state government said the quake was felt throughout the state. It reported damage to a building in the city of Uruapan and some landslides on highways.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that it was an aftershock from Monday’s quake and was also felt in the states of Colima, Jalisco and Guerrero.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said via Twitter that two people died — a woman who fell down the stairs of her home and a man who had a heart attack. Residents huddled in streets as seismic alarms blared.
It also knocked out power in some areas, though service was soon restored.
The earthquake rattled an already jittery country. Monday’s more powerful quake was the third major earthquake to strike on Sept. 19 — in 1985, 2017 and now 2022.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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As of 5 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, Fiona, the strongest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season so far, was 305 miles west-southwest of Bermuda and moving north-northeast at 20 mph, picking up speed from earlier in the day, the National Hurricane Center said.
The Category 4 storm had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Bermuda, which was expected to receive 2 to 4 inches of rain. The center of the storm will pass to the west of Bermuda on Thursday night, and then approach Nova Scotia today, moving across the Atlantic province and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Saturday, the hurricane center said.
The storm will be a “large and powerful post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds,” when it moves over Nova Scotia, the center said.
Canada’s hurricane center issued a hurricane watch for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Isle-de-la-Madeleine and parts of the coast of Newfoundland. Tropical storm watches have been issued for much of Atlantic Canada.
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and western Newfoundland could receive 3 to 6 inches of rain, with up to 10 inches possible in some areas, the hurricane center said.
Officials in Bermuda have been urging residents to make sure they had food, medicine and water on hand, and to secure their homes, property and boats. The storm surge could bring high water levels and large, destructive waves to the coast, they warned.
Public schools, government services and offices, which were operating Thursday, will be closed today, Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s minister of national security, said at a news conference Thursday. Emergency shelters would be open, he said.
People living in low-lying and coastal areas of Bermuda were said to be vulnerable to dangerous surf and surge conditions. “Keep out of the water,” Weeks said.
Forecasters did not anticipate that Fiona would threaten the East Coast of the United States.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Several days of sporadic rain helped firefighters reach 60 percent containment on the Mosquito fire in the Sierra foothills about 110 miles northeast of San Francisco. At least 78 homes and other structures have been destroyed since flames broke out Sept. 6 and charred forestland across Placer and El Dorado counties.
Sheriff’s officials in both counties announced Wednesday they were lifting the last of the evacuation orders that during the fire’s height kept some 11,000 people out of their homes.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara invoked a law Thursday aimed at protecting homeowners in the wildfire-plagued state who say they are being pushed out of the commercial insurance market.
Lara ordered insurance companies to preserve residential insurance for one year for Californians who live near one of several major wildfires that have burned across the state in recent weeks.
The Department of Insurance estimates the moratorium will affect policies covering about 236,000 people in portions of Placer, El Dorado and Riverside counties.
“Wildfires are devastating even if you did not lose your home, so it is absolutely critical to give people breathing room after a disaster. This is not the time to be having to search for insurance,” Lara said in a statement.
The law was implemented in 2019, when more than 15 major wildfires burned homes across the state.
Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. In the last five years, California has experienced the largest and most destructive fires in its history.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Sweat rolled down the faces of people in a long line of cars in the northern mountain town of Caguas, where the government had sent a water truck, one of at least 18 so-called “oases” set up across the island.
The situation was maddening for many people across an island once again left without basic services following a storm.
“We thought we had a bad experience with Maria, but this was worse,” Gerardo Rodriguez said in the southern coastal town of Salinas, referring to the 2017 hurricane that caused nearly 3,000 deaths and demolished the island’s power grid.
Fiona dumped roughly 2 feet of rain on parts of Puerto Rico before blasting across the eastern Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Swelled to Category 4 force, the storm was on a track to pass close by Bermuda late today or early Friday and then hit easternmost Canada by late Friday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The storm played havoc with Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, which had been patched but never fully rebuilt after Maria caused a blackout that lasted 11 months in some places.
As of Wednesday afternoon, roughly 70 percent of Puerto Rican customers lacked electricity, according to government figures.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency traveled to Puerto Rico on Tuesday and the agency announced it was sending hundreds of additional personnel to boost local response efforts. On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration, which would allow for more federal assistance.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The storm was about 75 miles north of North Caicos Island on Tuesday night, churning on a path that, after a shift to the north-northwest, will take it to Bermuda by late Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm has had sustained maximum winds of 125 mph, the center said, and was forecast to continue strengthening.
By early afternoon on Tuesday, 163 people in Turks and Caicos were in shelters, officials said, and power outages were reported on the islands of Providenciales, Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, North Caicos and Middle Caicos. The hurricane center warned of life-threatening flooding, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.
Even as Fiona drenched Turks and Caicos, its effects continued to be felt in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico, where most people remained without electricity and running water Tuesday.
The authorities in Puerto Rico said they had restored power to more than 300,000 utility customers, but 1.2 million customers were still without power Tuesday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks interruptions. Two-thirds of the island’s water and sewer customers — more than 760,000 — still did not have service because of a lack of power to pumps or turbid water at filtration plants, officials said.
Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi of Puerto Rico said it would take at least a week for his government to estimate how much damage Fiona had caused. The storm was expected to bring 1 to 2 inches of rain to Puerto Rico on Tuesday night, drenching portions of the island that had received up to 35 inches of rain since Sunday.
Flash flooding continued in the eastern portion of the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, with an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain expected, and a total of 20 inches reported in eastern portions of the country.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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New damage was reported in southern Japan, where Typhoon Nanmadol hit over the weekend before weakening as it moved north.
On Tanegashima island, south of Kyushu island, a wall was damaged at a Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency’s space center, the Economy and Industry Ministry said. The extent of damage to the building used for rocket assembly was being assessed.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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There were at least some reports of damage to buildings from the quake, which hit at 1:05 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which had initially put the magnitude at 7.5.
It said the quake was centered 23 miles southeast of Aquila near the boundary of Colima and Michoacan states and at a depth of 9 miles.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that the secretary of the navy told him one person was killed in the port city of Manzanillo, Colima when a wall at a mall collapsed.
In Coalcoman, Michoacan, near the quake’s epicenter, buildings were damaged, but there were not immediate reports of injuries.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum tweeted that there were no reports of damage in the capital.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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No growth was reported on the 119-square-mile Mosquito fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of Sacramento. The blaze was 38 percent contained Monday after downpours allowed sheriff’s officials in two counties to lift or downgrade some evacuation orders. It’s the state’s largest wildfire of the year so far.
More rain was expected, which fire spokesperson Scott McLean called a mixed blessing for firefighters.
“It did help a bit to stifle that aggressive fire,” McLean said. “But we’re going to have new safety issues now with all the mud that’s out there. And the ground moisture could cause some of those damaged trees to fall over.”
Lingering showers over the Mosquito fire will increase the risk of ash and mud flows, the National Weather Service said. To the northwest, localized flooding and mudslides were reported in parts of the Coast Range scarred from a massive wildfire two years ago.
Snow and ice in the eastern Sierra Nevada on Sunday led officials to close state Route 108 high up over the Sonora Pass, the California Department of Transportation said. The pass reopened Monday.
Roads remained closed at Lassen Volcanic National Park, but the park’s main entrances was open, officials said in a statement.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than 1.3 million utility customers in Puerto Rico were still without electricity Monday, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks power interruptions. Puerto Rico’s power company, LUMA, said it had restored power to about 100,000 customers but warned that full restoration could take several days.
As the storm moved out to sea, rain from Fiona’s outer bands continued to lash Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic on Monday night. The rain was expected to be heavy enough to produce what the National Weather Service called “life-threatening and catastrophic flooding along with mudslides and landslides” through Monday evening in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic through the night.
Hurricane Fiona had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph as of 5 p.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. Its center was about 130 miles off the Grand Turk Island, the capital of the Turks and Caicos, and was moving northwest at 10 mph.
The storm is expected to become a major hurricane today, meaning it would be a Category 3 or higher with sustained winds of more than 110 mph, according to forecasts. The current forecasts did not anticipate the storm nearing the East Coast of the United States.
The weather service warned that tropical-storm conditions were possible in the northern and eastern regions of the Dominican Republic through Monday night. Tropical-storm conditions were possible in portions of the southeastern Bahamas by early today.
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico urged residents to stay home, and said in a news conference Monday that the island had received more than 30 inches of rain — more than fell during Hurricane Maria five years ago, he said.
He added that 30 rescue operations had been conducted, rescuing more than 1,000 stranded residents in 25 municipalities.
The storm was blamed for at least one death in Puerto Rico, where a man died while trying to operate a generator, government officials said. The man’s wife was also severely burned, but survived, the officials said. Another death was attributed to the storm in Guadeloupe, which was struck by the storm Saturday.
“We’re going through a tough moment, but our people are strong,” Pierluisi, speaking in Spanish, said at the news conference.
Overflowing waterways and the loss of power caused pumps to fail across the island, leaving 70 percent of households and businesses that rely on the public water and sewer system without potable water.
Pierluisi said he had been coordinating with the White House to receive assistance. President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration on Sunday, unlocking federal funding and FEMA support.
States also lined up to send mutual aid. New York said more than 100 Spanish-speaking members of the State Police would help clear streets, direct traffic and respond to other needs in Puerto Rico.
Most customers who had electricity on Monday, including a couple of hospitals, were in the San Juan metropolitan area, which was spared the worst of Hurricane Fiona’s rains.
The damage from Fiona’s floodwaters is expected to be vast — in the “billions,” Pierluisi estimated — a sobering reminder that a storm’s categorization under the Saffir-Simpson scale considers its maximum wind speeds, but not its rainfall or storm surge potential.
“I’ve never seen this in my life, not even in Maria,” said Ada Belmot Plaza, who had to be rescued by the Puerto Rico National Guard as waist-high floodwaters rose outside her daughter’s house in the El Coquí neighborhood of Salinas, on Puerto Rico’s southern coast.
In the Dominican Republic, officials were only beginning to evaluate the extent of the damage from the worst natural disaster in at least five years, Luis Abinader, the country’s president, told reporters at the National Palace on Monday afternoon. His energy minister, Antonio Almonte, added that it may take days to restore water and electricity to the worst-hit communities.
Abinader said three of the worst-hit provinces would be declared “disaster zones,” including the area around the city of Punta Cana, one of the biggest tourist destinations in the Caribbean.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES; NEW YORK TIMES; ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The quake was centered in Taitung County and registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said. Its epicenter was shallow, at about 6 miles below Earth’s surface, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, meaning a greater possibility of damage than a deeper earthquake.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Weather experts predict Typhoon Nanmadol could be one of the most destructive tropical storms to strike Japan in recent decades, bringing damaging winds and flooding across most of the country.
The storm’s forecast track passes over much of Honshu, Japan’s main island, meaning major cities including Kyoto and Tokyo will feel its effects. The storm is projected to gradually weaken as it sweeps northeastward and will exit over the Pacific on Tuesday.
When Nanmadol came ashore in Kagoshima Prefecture, the southernmost point of Kyushu — the third-largest of Japan’s five main islands — its pressure was fourth lowest on record for a typhoon striking the country dating back to 1951. The lower the pressure, the more intense the storm. The storm’s peak winds at landfall were estimated to be around 90 mph with gusts to 115 mph, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday afternoon urged residents of affected areas to “evacuate to a safe place while it is still light,” as he convened a meeting of emergency personnel. “Pay close attention to weather information and evacuation information, stay away from dangerous places such as rivers, waterways and places where there is a risk of landslides, and evacuate without hesitation if you feel even the slightest danger.”
Prior to landfall, Japan’s weather agency said the typhoon was carrying wind gusts of up to 168 mph near the remote Minami Daito island, southeast of Okinawa. The storm weakened some as it drew north and made landfall. Some smaller islands of southern Japan were also under tsunami advisories Sunday afternoon after an earthquake struck Taiwan, according to national broadcaster NHK.
A Level 5 alert, the highest on Japan’s disaster warning scale, was issued to more than 330,000 people, according to national broadcaster NHK, with Level 4 evacuation orders affecting more than 8 million people across Kyushu, the southwestern-most of Japan’s main islands as well as the Shikoku and Chugoku regions. Dozens of flights were canceled or diverted Sunday because of the bad weather, and some areas were without power. Bullet train services to Kyushu were also suspended, local media reported.
Ryuta Kurora, the head of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s forecast unit, told a news conference that “unprecedented” storms — including high waves, storm surges and record rainfall — could strike the region. Through Sunday evening, some locations in far southern Japan had already seen about 2 feet of rain.
Authorities earlier advised residents to “be extremely cautious of storms, high waves, and storm surges,” along with landslides and flooding. Waves of up to 46 feet were predicted in some areas.
(WASHINGTON POST)
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The remnants of Typhoon Merbok were weakening Sunday as the storm system moved north from the Bering Strait into the Chukchi Sea on Alaska’s northwest coast, where it still threatens smaller communities, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kaitlyn Lardeo.
“This guy is going to hang out in the Chukchi Sea for the next few days and just rapidly weaken because it’s so stationary,” she said.
Several communities reported homes were knocked off their foundations by the force of the incoming water, often propelled by winds gusting near 70 miles per hour. One house in Nome floated down a river until it got caught under a bridge.
Many homes were flooded and about 450 residents on the western coast sought refuge in shelters, with more than half of them at a school in Hooper Bay, where they ate processed moose donated by village residents. Others rode out the storm on higher ground outside their communities.
It was a massive storm system — big enough to cover the mainland U.S. from the Pacific Ocean to Nebraska and from Canada to Texas. It influenced weather systems as far away as California, where a rare late-summer storm dropped rain on the northern part of the state, offering a measure of relief to wildfire crews but also complicating fire suppression efforts because of mud and loosened earth.
The storm’s crashing waves caused widespread flooding and damage along 1,000 miles of the Alaska coastline, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said.
There have been no reports of injuries, deaths or missing people in Alaska, the governor said during a Sunday news conference. A child reported missing Saturday was later found, he said.
Dunleavy said roads are damaged and state officials are assessing potential damage to seawalls, water and sewage systems, airports and ports. He identified five communities — Hooper Bay, Scammon Bay, Golovin, Newtok and Nome — as being greatly impacted by a combination of high water, flooding, erosion and electrical issues in either the towns or their airports.
Emergency management and American Red Cross personnel will deploy to those communities as soon as today, while Alaska National Guard members will be sent to Nome, Bethel and Hooper Bay to assist residents. Red Cross volunteers from the Lower 48 will also conduct needs assessments for food, water and shelter in other flooded villages.
The storm caused Nome’s highest water level since 1974 — 11.1 feet above the normal tide — and other communities may have surpassed levels seen in 48 years ago.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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As the wind and rain escalated Sunday, all 3.2 million people on the island were without power, according to PowerOutage.us, a site that tracks power failures. Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, confirmed in a tweet on Sunday afternoon that power was out on the entire island.
Luma, the private consortium contracted by Puerto Rico to manage its electrical transmission and distribution system, said the deteriorating weather and strong winds were “extremely dangerous and impeding our ability to evaluate the entire situation.” Luma said it could take several days to restore power, and it asked customers for “patience.”
The storm made landfall along the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon at 3:20 p.m. local time, according to the National Hurricane Center. The center warned that both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic should expect “catastrophic flooding” from the slow-moving storm.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the entire U.S. territory, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra, and the eastern Dominican Republic. Tropical storm warnings cover the U.S. Virgin Islands and the north coast of the Dominican Republic west to Puerto Plata, regions that are also under a hurricane watch to account for Fiona’s possible intensification.
Emanuel Rodriguez, a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said flooding had started in Puerto Rico and was expected to continue overnight. At least 10 rivers had flooded, Rodriguez said, and he advised people to stay away from rivers, streams and flood areas. He added that NOAA had received multiple reports of minor damage to fragile structures across the island.
Numerous locations had received rainfall in the double digits, with some totals near 20 inches as of Sunday afternoon. Flash-flood warnings blanketed the island as the National Hurricane Center increased projected storm totals to up to 30 inches by today.
President Joe Biden approved Puerto Rico’s emergency declaration Sunday morning to free up federal resources to provide assistance in supporting local disaster-relief efforts.
All flights at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan were canceled Sunday, according to the airport authority. The airport urged passengers not to travel to the facility even if they had not received a cancellation notice from their airline.
The Puerto Rican government has set up a website for residents to receive updates and learn about additional resources.
Wind gusts in southern Puerto Rico reached 50 to over 100 mph on Sunday, compromising its beleaguered electrical grid. The strongest gust of 103 mph was clocked in Ponce, a city on the southern coast that is the second-most populous on the island after the capital, San Juan.
Puerto Rico has a long history of power grid crises and attempts to fix its system. Since Hurricane Maria left the island without power for months in 2017, residents have called on local and federal governments to improve natural disaster response and recovery efforts.
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the state-run utility provider, was awarded $9.4 billion for projects to “transform the island’s electrical system,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced in 2021. And this year, FEMA announced 15 new projects — totaling more than $107 million in funds — dedicated to making Puerto Rico’s power grid more reliable.
In a statement at the time, FEMA Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José Baquero said the projects would take time but that the agency was “focused on the goal of an unprecedented recovery.”
After making landfall in extreme southwest Puerto Rico on Sunday, Fiona’s center passed back over the waters of the Mona Passage to its west. Late Sunday evening, the storm was positioned about midway between the west coast of Puerto Rico and the east coast of the Dominican Republic.
It was headed northwest at 9 mph, with landfall in the Dominican Republic anticipated early today.
Even though the center had passed to its west, the storm was drawing a conveyor belt of torrential rain over Puerto Rico that was anticipated to last through much of the night.
Some 12 to 18 inches of rain was predicted across Puerto Rico, with localized 30-inch totals. The heaviest totals will be found in eastern and southeastern Puerto Rico, where a persistent onshore flow east of Fiona’s center will tug ashore a nonstop stream of tropical moisture ripe for a serious deluge. The territory’s high terrain will also enhance torrential rainfall in the mountains.
Sharp rises in rivers have been noted across Puerto Rico — with some topping 10 feet in just a few hours. That will contribute to mudslides and landslides, especially in hilly or mountainous areas, that could prove dangerous or deadly.
Travel was discouraged even as the harsh conditions begin to subside southeast to northwest, although stagnant high water and some mudslide risk will remain.
As a Category 1 storm, Fiona was not expected to be a widespread, destructive wind event like Maria was in 2017, which was a Category 4. Even so, gusts of 40 to 60 mph inland and 70 to 100 mph along the southern coast were enough to cut power to the island and cause damage to trees and some structures.
The size and strength of Fiona was not sufficient to produce more than a minor storm surge, or a rise in ocean water above normally dry land, of a foot or two in most areas, but rip currents will remain a problem through the start of the workweek.
There was a high risk of rip currents along Puerto Rico’s southern beaches, and a moderate risk on the north shore of the island. Rip currents will remain dangerous through Tuesday, and care should be taken to avoid the water.
The center of Fiona was expected to cross the Mona Passage between western Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic early today. That could bring the eyewall close to Punta Cana. Four to 8 inches of rain, with localized totals up to a foot, are projected for the eastern Dominican Republic.
(THE WASHINGTON POST)
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Some 48 million people are now suffering from acute hunger, the group said, up from 21 million in 2016. Nearly 18 million of those people — in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and Zimbabwe — are on the brink of starvation, their lives already disrupted by war, displacement, economic insecurity and the coronavirus pandemic.
Conflict remains the primary driver of hunger, but “the onslaught of climate disasters is now outpacing poor people’s ability to cope, pushing them deeper into severe hunger,” Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International, said.
The report found a strong correlation between extreme weather and rising hunger in 10 climate hot spots, including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia and Zimbabwe. The countries were identified as hot spots because they had the highest number of United Nations humanitarian appeals for weather-related crises since 2000.
While it is difficult to measure the exact direct impact of climate change on hunger, the report said, as extreme weather “becomes more fierce and more frequent,” it is devastating the lives of millions of people, destroying homes and crops.
The majority of the countries listed are in Africa, where the worst drought in nearly half a century has ravaged communities and caused food shortages, worsened by the war in Ukraine.
Four of the 10 countries — Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia and Zimbabwe — have consistently suffered poor food security “primarily due to weather-related disasters,” according to the World Food Program’s Global Report for Food Crises.
Oxfam International says Somalia is facing its worst drought on record — and that famine is “expected to unfold” in at least two districts. One million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result, the report said.
“Climate change is no longer a ticking time bomb, it is exploding before our eyes,” Bucher said.
The report notes that countries “least responsible” for the climate crisis are suffering the most from its impact. Together, the most vulnerable nations account for just 0.13 percent of global carbon emissions, but “sit in the bottom third of countries least ready for climate change,” the report says.
(Karina Tsui, THE WASHINGTON POST)
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Forecasters welcome the incoming rain but stress it is unlikely to end the fire season, considering how hot and dry the state has been for so long. A return of hot, dry and windy conditions after this rainy spell could once again increase the fire risk.
Wildfires have turned destructive and deadly amid record-breaking September heat. But at least some help is on the way.
“A significant fire season slowing event is expected for most of the region,” beginning late today and possibly lasting into midweek, according to a forecast from the Northern California Predictive Services office, a branch of the National Interagency Fire Center.
The surprise early-season storm stems from ex-Typhoon Merbok’s sprint into Alaska, which has disturbed the jet stream, causing it to dip southward along the U.S. West Coast and channel moisture into California.
The weather system is predicted to bring widespread and beneficial rainfall to the northern half of the state, generally ranging from a half-inch to 2 inches, with higher amounts possible in the coastal ranges and the northern Sierra Nevada. The Intermountain West is also expecting a moisture influx, helping to further quell fire activity in Idaho and Montana, where several large wildfires are burning.
Before the rain arrives in California, however, strong winds ahead of the storm could cause existing blazes to spread further.
Current forecasts call for strong winds across much of Northern California into Nevada today, including over the Mosquito fire, more than 71,000 acres and the state’s largest so far this year. Peak gusts could range from 25 to 40 mph with higher gusts possible in mountainous terrain.
“Obviously, this will be a concern for any ongoing or new fires before that rain sets in,” said Edan Weishahn, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno, Nev.
Record-dry vegetation has driven volatile fire behavior on the Mosquito fire, including a major flare-up on Tuesday that destroyed structures and threatened the town of Foresthill.
Firefighters are bracing for significant growth on the eastern side of the fire today, before conditions improve when the core of the rain arrives later in the weekend.
“This is a slowing down of the fire season and a slowing of the fire progression, especially coming off this extreme heat and dryness,” said Eric Kurth, an incident meteorologist on the Mosquito fire, who cautioned that the upcoming rain doesn’t necessarily mean quick and easy containment of the fire. “This is a big fire, and it’s been quite active, so we’ll see.”
That point was echoed by Weishahn.
“The fuels are still critically dry, and warm and dry weather will follow this rain,” she said.
Given the extreme dryness this September, repeated rains, rather than a single storm, are needed to substantially reduce wildfire risk this autumn.
(THE WASHINGTON POST)
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Dogs aided the hunt for a person missing in a heavily damaged area of the San Bernardino Mountains, where thunderstorms unleashed rocks, trees and earth that washed away cars, buried homes and affected 3,000 residents in two remote communities.
The force of mud barreling down the mountain late Monday drove a dumpster through the walls of the Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon. A massive tree lodged in the dining room, muck was waist-deep in the kitchen and wine bottles were slathered in mud.
“We have trees in there 30 feet long that came straight through our building,” said Brandon Gallegos, whose family owns the restaurant. “It’s crushing.”
As the search, cleanup and damage assessment continued, firefighters in Northern California tried to tamp down a fire that flared up Tuesday and jumped a fork of the American River and on Wednesday became the largest blaze in the state this year. Evacuations were increased to more than 11,000 people as the fire threatened more than 9,000 structures.
The muddy damage in Oak Glen and Forest Falls served as a powerful warning to residents of areas that have burned or are facing high fire danger of the damage wildfires can cause months or even years after flames are extinguished and the smoke clears.
An intense amount of rain even over a short period of time can have catastrophic effects on hillsides where fire has stripped vegetation that once held the ground intact.
Jim Topelski, a San Bernardino County fire chief, said mudslides had been a concern in the area burned by the deadly El Dorado fire two years ago. On Monday, nearly 2 inches of rain fell atop Yucaipa Ridge between Oak Glen and Forest Falls.
“The mud and debris flow came down through the high steep terrain,” Topeleski said. “This entire area is blanketed with up to 6 feet of mud, debris, large boulders.”
It was a different story in Northern California, where the Mosquito fire burned more buildings Tuesday afternoon, just hours after officials reported making “great strides.” The blaze on Wednesday surpassed the size of the previous largest fire in 2022, the McKinney fire, although this season has seen a fraction of last year’s fire activity so far.
Firefighters were able to keep flames from crossing a key road and entering the town of Foresthill and cooler temperatures overnight helped keep it in check, fire spokesperson Scott McLean said Wednesday. He said more buildings burned, but the exact number won’t be known until damage assessment teams were able to canvass the area.
The blaze has grown to more than 63,000 acres — roughly 100 square miles — with 20 percent containment Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. At least 64 homes and other buildings have been destroyed.
(Amy Taxin & Brian Melley, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Mosquito fire has grown to more than 50,000 acres, with 25 percent containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
In San Bernardino County, crews searched street by street for people who might be trapped by mudflows that washed rocks, trees and other debris with astonishing force the day before into Forest Falls, Oak Glen and Yucaipa and left a muddy mess and untold destruction.
Homes and other buildings were damaged, including a commercial building buried so high its roof collapsed, said Eric Sherwin, spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
“We have boulders that moved through that weigh multiple tons,” Sherwin said. “It could take days just to find all the cars that are missing because they are completely covered by mud.”
A video showed a slow-moving black river of sludge rolling past the sign for the Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon on Monday followed seconds later by a surging wave of deeper mud carrying logs. The mud appeared to be head-high in places Tuesday.
Sherwin said crews were searching for one missing person.
Residents who tried to return home found it tough going in the sticky mess.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Perla Halbert, whose feet were caked in mud after trying to walk to her home. “If you try and take two steps, you get submerged. You just get stuck.”
Halbert had been out of town and returned to her Oak Glen home late Monday to find the driveway covered with a few inches of mud. Her family stayed the night with family members and returned after first light to discover several feet of mud and a fence washed away.
Her husband went to buy boots and coveralls before trekking through the muck to assess the damage.
“There’s lots of rocks and so much mud. But hopefully the house itself is OK,” she said.
Officials lifted some mandatory evacuation and shelter in place orders Tuesday evening.
The rains were the remnants of a tropical storm that brought high winds and some badly needed rainfall to drought-stricken Southern California last week, helping firefighters largely corral the Fairview fire that had been burning out of control about 20 miles south of the mudslides.
The mud flows and flash flooding occurred in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains where there are burn scars — areas where there’s little vegetation to hold the soil — from the 2020 wildfires.
“All of that dirt turns to mud and starts slipping down the mountain,” Sherwin said.
About 40 miles west, Cal State San Bernardino reopened Tuesday, a day after the campus was closed when several buildings were flooded during heavy rains.
(Marcio Sanchez & Christopher Weber, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The rains started early this year — in mid-June — and swept away entire villages, bridges and roads, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. At one point, a third of the country’s territory was inundated with water.
Authorities said the overall death toll reached 1,481 on Tuesday, with 54 more people dying in rain-related floods in the past 24 hours, with the majority of those deaths in the hard-hit province of Sindh. Experts have said that climate change has been blamed in large part for the deluge, the worst in recent memory.
Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s minister for climate change, warned that the rains, which had abated late last month only to restart this week, are predicted to continue lashing much of the country in the coming weeks.
Rehman also expressed fears the downpours would hamper ongoing rescue and relief operations in flood-hit areas, where swirling deluges from overflowing rivers, fast melting glaciers and floods have already affected 33 million people.
So far, rescuers have evacuated 179,281 people from flood-hit areas.
It will take up to six months to drain water in flood-hit areas, officials say. Waterborne diseases have already sickened thousands of people in flood-stricken areas — and now there are fears of mosquito-borne dengue fever. Mosquitoes have spread because of stagnant waters following the flooding.
“With 584,246 people in camps throughout the country, (the) health crisis could wreak havoc,” Rehman said in a statement.
She added that so far, the southern port city of Karachi has registered an outbreak of dengue fever. Karachi is also the capital of Sindh province, one of the regions worst affected by the floods.
The floods have also destroyed crops, including 70 percent of the onion harvest, along with rice and corn, Rehman said. Much of the country’s agriculture belt is underwater and Pakistan is in talks with several nations to import wheat. Iran has already dispatched fresh vegetables to Pakistan.
In Sindh, officials said more downpours could delay the return of about 600,000 people from camps to their villages, towns and other urban areas. Strong winds the previous day blew away several relief camps in remote areas in Sindh.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s government has started distributing money to those who lost homes in the flooding to help them restart their lives.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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From The San Diego Union, Sunday, Sept. 12, 1976:
Storm’s Toll Reaches 10, Damages Set In Millions(Jennifer Williamson)
Tropical storm Kathleen moved out of the Southwest yesterday, leaving in its wake at least 10 dead, 30 to 40 missing, and millions of dollars in damage to buildings, crops, roads and highways.
The storm, which raced through Southern California Friday, caused the most extensive damage in Imperial County, where three confirmed deaths were reported and a Sheriff’s Department spokesman estimated the damage to crops, buildings and highways in excess of $10 million.
The Board or Supervisors of Imperial County declared a countywide state of emergency yesterday and scheduled a meeting with officials handling disaster relief to discuss a possible application for state and federal assistance today. Imperial County health officials issued a warning advising people with private water systems from wells or tanks to chlorinate their wells and boil any water they drink because of possible water contamination.
The storm hit the area Friday with heavy rains that sent excess water pouring down through little valleys between the hills in 3 to 4-foot high walls that became 20 to 30 foot wide. The water accumulated as it came rushing down, collapsing a 60-foot high bridge six miles east of Ocotillo and sending water rushing through the small town at estimates of 40 mph.
Sheriff’s deputies identified the dead as John Patrick Reilly, 63, whose body was found in his destroyed home in Ocotillo Friday; William Meana, 52, of El Centro, whose body was pulled from a mudbank in the center of town Friday; and an unidentified man found in Ocotillo late yesterday. Other persons were reported killed in Mexicali, Los Angeles and Yuma.
Deputies estimated that about 12 persons were airlifted from Ocotillo Friday and said ground units rescued another 50.
Thirty homes in Ocotillo were reported damaged, including eight that were destroyed. A sheriff’s task force was assigned to the area yesterday and a night curfew was established to stop any looting.
Red Cross volunteers from San Diego, who went to Ocotillo Wells to provide emergency services including food and shelter, said five times the town’s normal population was there and CHP officers were turning motorists back.
Flooding and mudslides caused extensive damage to railroad tracks in Carrizo Gorge.
Historical photos and articles from The San Diego Union-Tribune archives are compiled by Merrie Monteagudo. Search the U-T historic archives at sandiegouniontribune.newsbank.com
(S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Major fires were also burning in Oregon and Washington, blanketing swaths of the Western states in thick smoke and prompting alarms about unhealthy air quality.
The Mosquito fire in the foothills east of Sacramento spread to 73 square miles, with 10 percent containment, according to Cal Fire.
Forecasters predicted a respite from the hot and gusty weather that dogged firefighters last week, but possible fuel sources from fine grass to big trees remain very dry and flammable, according to a Cal Fire incident report Sunday night.
After a reconnaissance flight Sunday afternoon, Incident Commander Rick Young said that although the fire’s growth had slowed, “where it was burning, it was really burning.”
More than 5,800 structures in Placer and El Dorado counties were under threat, and some 11,000 residents of communities including Foresthill and Georgetown were under evacuation orders.
In Southern California, milder temperatures and rain aided crews battling the massive Fairview fire about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles after days of sweltering heat.
The 44-square-mile [28,200-acre] blaze was more than half-contained Monday morning. The fire has destroyed at least 30 homes and other structures in Riverside County. Two people died while fleeing the blaze Sept. 5.
The southern part of the state welcomed the cooler weekend weather after what’s left of Tropical Storm Kay veered off the Pacific Coast and faded, helping put an end to blistering temperatures that nearly overwhelmed the state’s electrical grid.
But unstable air persisted, and powerful thunderstorms unleashed flash floods that inundated roads and highways — closing one roadway along the California-Nevada border — across inland areas.
More than 50 people were rescued after mudslides trapped at least 24 cars and a responding fire truck in the mountainous Lake Hughes area north of Los Angeles on Sunday. No injuries were reported.
In San Bernardino County, officials reported flash flooding and mudslides in areas that burned during wildfires in 2020, including the El Dorado fire that was sparked by a gender reveal party. A firefighter was later killed in the blaze, and the couple accused of starting the fire have been criminally charged in a pending case.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Environmentalists are saying the study is a wake-up call to local sewer agencies and political leaders, contending that swift and large financial investments are needed to upgrade many local sewer pipes that are well over 50 years old.
The cost of replacing the pipes, which could run into the billions of dollars, would be passed on to sewer and water ratepayers by the sewer agencies that fund the upgrades.
Fecal bacteria in the San Diego River is a major problem because the river flows into the ocean, potentially contaminating water and forcing closures of beaches that attract tourists and are used frequently by many local residents for swimming, surfing and other activities.
Recent closures of beaches in Coronado and Imperial Beach are unrelated to bacterial outbreaks in the San Diego River. Those closures are the results of sewage being released south of the international border.
The study comes roughly two years before a more comprehensive analysis of bacteria sources in the river is expected to be completed.
The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered that analysis in 2019 when it found that the river consistently has high bacteria levels, directing the study be completed by sewer agencies in San Diego, El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and nearby areas in the river’s lower watershed.
“I predict the SDSU study is a precursor to what the larger study will show,” said Matt O’Malley, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper. “This study confirms a lot of what we had thought. All indications are wastewater infrastructure throughout the region is aging and leaking.”
The SDSU study attempted to pinpoint the source of fecal matter in the river by testing for the presence of two substances used only by humans — caffeine and artificial sweetener — and a virus and bacterium frequently found in human feces.
“We were interested to know where it was coming from,” said SDSU environmental engineering professor Natalie Mladenov, the study’s primary author.
Local officials have previously said the most likely sources of the fecal material in the river are leaky sewer lines, illegal dumping, broken septic systems and homeless encampments where there are no restrooms.
The two-year study analyzed how long caffeine, the artificial sweetener sucralose, the bacterium HF183 and the RNA virus PMMoV had been present in the river water — and in what concentrations they were present.
For example, caffeine leaves wastewater more quickly than most other chemicals, so it would not be expected to be in high concentrations in the river for very long. Because the study found that it is in high concentration in the river, the caffeine must be coming from a relatively fresh source.
Based on that, the researchers conclude that homeless encampments and septic tanks, where the caffeine would be expected to dissipate rather quickly by the time pollution enters the river, are not likely sources of the fecal material in the river.
And consequently, the study concludes that the most likely sources of the fecal matter are leaky sewer lines.
The study analyzed the sites of 13 homeless encampments along the river. There are also roughly 17,000 septic tanks located in the river’s watershed area.
One thing the SDSU study didn’t analyze is whether the leaks from sewer pipes were from municipal pipes or “private lateral” lines — privately owned pipes that connect homes to a municipal sewer line.
O’Malley said that will be a key determination moving forward. If the problem is mostly municipal lines, sewer agencies must replace the leaky pipes. If the problem is mostly private lines connecting houses to the system, the agencies may need to give property owners incentives to upgrade those pipes.
It’s a relatively new idea that leaky pipes may be to blame for beach closures.
Local swimmers have been told for many years to avoid beaches for 72 hours after it rains because polluted urban runoff washes into rivers and then into the ocean.
Conventional wisdom has been that heavy rains make ocean water dangerous because rain picks up chemicals and bacteria as the water races across concrete, pavement and other hardscapes. But that could turn out to be misleading if the primary source of the bacteria during rainstorms ends up being leaky sewer pipes.
Some scientists believe the untreated sewage that slowly leaks out of the pipes stays mostly in place when it’s not raining. But in a rainstorm, that leaked sewage gets flushed quickly into local waterways in large quantities.
San Diego officials, including Mayor Todd Gloria, frequently acknowledge that the city’s aging infrastructure — including sewer pipes — badly needs major upgrades and repairs.
In February, the city’s infrastructure backlog surpassed $4 billion for the first time.
“There were so many more assets built in the 1950s and 1960s than there were before that period of time, and those assets are now coming due — they are reaching the end of their useful lives,” said James Nagelvoort, a longtime city public works official. “So we should anticipate a larger quantity of things to be addressed as we look toward the future.”
A city spokesperson Friday didn’t comment directly on the SDSU study but said the city rate of sewage spills is 0.04 spills per 100 miles of pipeline. That rate does not take into account any possible additional leakage in pipelines.
The spokesperson, Arian Collins, also said the city has identified several pipe segments as potential candidates to understand if sewer leaks are affecting the river.
Mladenov, the lead author of the SDSU study, said she hopes the research will spur action. The study will be published in ES&T Water, a journal of the American Chemical Society.
“We want it to be relevant, not just sit on a shelf,” said Mladenov, who came to the university eight years ago from Colorado.
(David Garrick, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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However, the gravity of the situation set in when Mitchell stepped outside into whipping winds and triple-digit heat.
“The fire was rolling, creating its own atmosphere,” he said a week later, looking over three obliterated metal storage containers on his property. “It came through that canyon, and it wasn’t waiting for nobody.”
The Border 32 fire — which started Aug. 31, destroyed 19 homes and critically injured at least two people — was just one of many conflagrations across California ignited during a recent record-breaking heat wave.
Scientists warn that humanity’s ever-increasing carbon footprint is largely to blame, driving up temperatures especially in the late summer and early fall when dry conditions and high winds can turn a small spark into a deadly fire.
“The best estimate right now is that global warming has approximately doubled the annual burned area in the West,” said David Romps, professor of climate physics at the University of California Berkeley’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science.
“What’s terrifying to me is the trajectory we’re on,” he added. “We’re not tamping down the cause of global warming. We’re burning fossil fuels at an ever-increasing rate.”
The situation has recently taken a surprising toll on emergency crews across the state. At least 14 firefighters in San Diego County, for example, have suffered heat-related illnesses over the last week and a half, including during the Border 32, Sandia and Caesar fires.
“The high number of firefighter injuries on these incidents is not a common or typical occurrence,” said Capt. Thomas Shoots, spokesperson for Cal Fire in San Diego. “The long-duration heat wave coupled with multiple fires in San Diego County added to the already challenging firefighting conditions.”
When firefighter Joshua Kremensky arrived at the Mitchells’ home that Wednesday afternoon, it was 105 degrees. Winds reportedly blowing up to 27 mph had fanned flames through a dry creek bed filled with thick brush and cottonwood trees surrounding the structure.
“When stress is at that level, I’m not thinking too much about the heat,” said Kremensky, 30. “I’m hyper-focused on the fire and the structure and the safety of the civilians. But as it starts to progress, you can really start to feel the fatigue set in. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of hydration.”
Kremensky hosed down the vegetation around the home as best he could, at one point ripping flaming brush away from a propane tank that eventually exploded with a bang, shooting a jet of flame into the air.
The fire continued to spread so quickly that many in the area were forced to shelter in place as more fire crews arrived. The Mitchells survived without injury, but up the road, others weren’t as lucky.
“We had two victims who had sustained critical burn injuries,” said Kremensky. “At this point the fire was very intense and rapidly growing.”
The people were treated and flown to UC San Diego Health’s Regional Burn Center in Hillcrest, where they remained in critical condition as of Sept. 4, according to Cal Fire. Their names were not released, and it’s unknown if they survived.
Fueled by a parched landscape, extreme heat and high winds, the Border 32 fire roared to more than 4,200 acres by 10 p.m. the first night. The blaze wouldn’t get much larger before being completely extinguished five days later.
The rapid spread of such fires also highlights a growing concern across the state about how best to notify residents of life-threatening natural disasters. Many people have ditched their landlines in favor of cellphones, which can lose service if flames destroy the nearest cell tower. And such alerts often don’t reach residents before they’re in harm’s way.
Mitchell said his cellphone never received any alerts about the fire, which are routinely sent out by the county Office of Emergency Services. His stepson, who lives across the road, said he received one but only after he had already evacuated.
The county said it sent out a wireless evacuation order around 2:40 p.m. However, by then David Quintanilla’s mother was already trapped in the area, watching her mobile home burn to the ground.
“She wasn’t able to get any belongings,” said Quintanilla, 46. “It was seconds, and the home was engulfed.”
The Border 32 fire was one of about half a dozen blazes that started in their community this summer, Quintanilla said. “The first couple fires, they had helicopters and firefighters on it immediately. This fire for some reason just snuck up on everybody.”
That’s probably because San Diego had enjoyed a relatively mild summer until the recent heat wave blanketed the state.
Tropical Storm Kay brought much-needed precipitation to San Diego on Friday. However, any relief provided by the 1 to 4 inches of rain that fell in eastern parts of the county may be short-lived.
“The rain won’t have much of an impact on the live fuels,” said Eric Just, unit forester for Cal Fire in San Diego, who added that vegetation will likely be bone dry again in a “couple weeks.”
It’s not just that California is getting hotter under climate change but that temperatures are rising fastest in August through October when wildfire conditions are at their worst, said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University.
“We’re getting more severe daily-scale heat events and not just in the summer months, but critically in the fall period prior to the onset of the rainy season,” he said.
Rising autumn temperatures and decreasing rainfall over the last four decades have contributed to an increase in wildfire across the state, according to a paper from Stanford and UCLA published in 2020 in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Specifically, the frequency of “extreme fire weather” has more than doubled since the early 1980s.
“California’s warming over all 12 months, but the most rapid warming is in September, followed by August and October,” said Diffenbaugh, who was a co-author on the study.
San Diego is now gearing up for its traditional fire season, when Santa Ana winds start blowing in from the east. Another extreme heat wave under those conditions could trigger a disaster on a scale the region hasn’t seen in over a decade.
(Joshua Emerson Smith, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The sky surrounding the Fairview fire had become a steel gray by early afternoon, making it difficult to distinguish the billowing smoke from incoming tropical storm clouds, which officials said were bringing dangerous winds but also some rain that could assist firefighting efforts.
It was not yet clear whether Tropical Storm Kay would further intensify the Fairview fire — with possible lightning strikes, strong winds and the added danger of flooding — or bring just enough moisture to help quell the flames. Light rain Friday afternoon dampened some freshly burned land near Avery Canyon, though officials said more severe storms remain a worry.
“The concern we have is as we get more moisture from Kay itself, it could transition into thunderstorms, and thunderstorms would be too much rain too quick,” said Matt Mehle, an incident meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Flash flood and high wind warnings were in effect through Friday evening for much of the area near the wildfire, which had already displaced more than 20,000 people and killed at least two.
Mehle said less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation had fallen on the fire — not enough to be considered a “wetting rain” or one that would seep into vegetation and greatly alter the blaze. But stronger rainfall was expected as storm bands move up from Mexico, he said.
Tropical Storm Kay was churning along the northern coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula Friday afternoon, about 160 miles off the coast of San Diego. The system brought intense rain and winds topping 100 mph to some parts of San Diego, sparking concerns about coastal flooding in Los Angeles County and flash flooding more inland.
The storm was forecast to bring up to 7 inches of rain to Riverside County, as well as strong winds and muggy conditions across Southern California through at least today.
Almost 24,000 people from Hemet to Temecula are under evacuation orders for the Fairview fire, which grew almost 4,000 acres overnight, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Richard Cordova said Friday morning. At least 12 homes have been destroyed, and only 5 percent of the 27,463-acre blaze had been contained by Friday evening, according to fire officials.
Before noon Friday, nearly 120 people had checked in to the Temecula Community Recreation Center, one of three evacuation shelters set up for the Fairview fire, according to shelter manager John Stone, and more were expected as the flames raged nearby.
Dozens of evacuees sat huddled around tables, many wrapped in blankets against the chilly drizzle outside.
“It was so hot when we left, we didn’t bring any warm clothes,” said Annamay Hughes, 71, who evacuated her Wilson Valley home late Thursday night with her husband and son. The turn in the weather marked another anomaly for Hughes, who said she has never experienced a wildfire evacuation in her 40-plus years as a Californian.
“You don’t think of things like this until it happens to you,” she said.
According to Cal Fire, more than 18,000 structures are threatened by the Fairview fire.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The formidable but dying storm also sent early morning temperatures soaring into the 80s and 90s countywide, an unusual and startling event that has happened twice this week.
The heat and winds could easily have started multiple wildfires in the parched backcountry. Winds gusted from 60 mph to more than 100 mph, stressing power lines and toppling trees from Valley Center to Alpine. Roadways became clogged, and some school districts closed for the day.
But temperatures started to drop before noon. And the winds eased in many areas by early afternoon. The National Weather Service said that Kay, which was about 130 miles south of San Diego at 5 p.m., was veering away from shore after an impressive run up the coast of Baja California.
The storm may take a while to fully leave the stage.
Forecasters say the storm could still end up dropping about a half-inch of rain at the coast, about twice that amount in the valleys, 3 to 4 inches in Julian, and 5 inches in the mountains by early today.
Through 6 p.m. Friday, Mount Laguna had reported 4.67 inches of rain and Volcan Mountain near Julian had recorded 2.05 inches, while Ranchita reported 1.80 inches and Lake Cuyamaca reported 1.73 inches. Borrego Springs got 1.32 inches and San Diego International Airport received 0.61 inches.
The bad news: Much of the rain was falling on the desert side of the mountains. It’s needed on the western side to reduce the wildfire potential of the region’s chaparral, the most flammable mix of brush land vegetation in the country.
The rain had tapered off by 6 p.m. Friday and the Padres home game with their greatest rival, the Dodgers, began at 7:25 p.m. after a delay. But the threat of foul weather led singer Alicia Keys to postpone her sold-out Friday night show at San Diego State University.
Forecasters say the rain will last well into this afternoon, and that some cells could contain lightning. And the air will be muggy. But the storm will probably be gone by 5 p.m., when the SDSU football team hosts Idaho State at Snapdragon Stadium. Last week, during the first official game at Snapdragon, the temperature eclipsed 100 degrees on the field, a testament to the severity of the heat wave.
“Our heat waves don’t usually last this long, and it rarely gets as hot as it has been at night,” said Liz Schenk, a weather service forecaster. “Then there was Kay.”
California’s main power grid operator asked the public to greatly curtail their use of electricity from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday to help the state avoid rolling blackouts. It’s been doing that for more than a week. But the plea may not be necessary today, as temperatures moderate.
Friday’s winds won’t soon slip from people’s memories. They began blowing before dawn and quickly became fierce, topping out at 109 mph at 7:27 p.m. at Cuyamaca Peak, about 9 miles south of Julian.
Soon, it was windy from the deserts to the mountains to the valleys to the coast. The wind hit 96 mph at Big Black Mountain, 81 mph at Otay Mountain, 80 mph at Mount Laguna Observatory, 79 mph at Jamul, 75 mph at Pine Valley, 62 mph at Morena Dam, 59 mph at Julian, 47 mph at Sunrise Highway, 44 mph at Escondido, 38 mph at Campo, 32 mph at Imperial Beach, and 31 mph at Carlsbad.
The winds sent construction barrels bouncing across eastern Interstate 8.
“I’m wondering what planet I’m on,” forecaster Miguel Miller said early in the day, marveling at the unfolding conditions.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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A report published in June by Spanish university researchers in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters estimated that the leak contained about 40,000 tons of methane.
The article estimated that would be equivalent to releasing about 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The gas release came in December when one of the company’s oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico stopped flaring, or burning off oil well gases.
The company, known as Pemex, said the gases escaped unburned for a few hours. Researchers said it happened over a period of over two weeks.
Petroleos Mexicanos acknowledged Thursday that the leak occurred accidentally after winds and rains extinguished flames meant to burn off the gas.
But the company said only 22 percent of the gas release was methane, and the rest was innocuous nitrogen.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The Fairview fire near Hemet more than doubled in size from Wednesday to more than 23,000 acres Thursday evening and was just 5 percent contained. The blaze continued to burn past fire lines and forced officials to expand evacuation orders since it ignited Monday, according to Cal Fire.
Eastern winds have pushed the fire to the west, where it continued to spread even after winds had subsided, according to Cal Fire. At least 2,500 structures were threatened and at least seven have been destroyed.
Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Brandi Swan said about 3,700 homes were previously affected by evacuation orders, but she didn’t know the total since the more recent ones were issued.
Two people died while fleeing flames on Monday and at least seven structures have been destroyed.
In the Sierra, the Mosquito fire burned out of control, scorching at least 6,800 acres, forcing evacuations for some 2,500 residents in Placer and El Dorado counties, while blanketing the region in smoke.
Flames jumped the American River, burning structures in the mountain hamlet of Volcanoville and moving closer to the town of Foresthill, home to about 1,500 people. Fire spokesperson Chris Vestal called the fast-moving blaze an “extreme and critical fire threat.”
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection warned the Reno area that air quality could be very unhealthy to hazardous due to smoke from the Mosquito fire 100 miles away.
The fire’s cause remained under investigation. Pacific Gas & Electric notified the state Public Utilities Commission that the U.S. Forest Service placed caution tape around the base of a PG&E transmission pole but that no damage could be seen. PG&E said unspecified “electrical activity” occurred close in time to the report of the fire on Tuesday.
Another dangerous blaze, the Radford fire, burned in stands of timber near the Big Bear Lake resort region in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was just 2 percent contained after scorching nearly 1,300 acres.
Up the West Coast, forecasters predicted strong, gusting winds and low humidity across western Oregon beginning today, and authorities warned of heightened wildfire danger after an unseasonably hot and dry late summer.
An Oregon utility said it would cut power to about 12,500 customers to the south and west of Portland just after midnight in anticipation of strong, dry winds that pose a severe wildfire danger in the region today. Another utility said about 30,000 additional customers could see their power cut as well in a bid to prevent fire from sagging or broken power lines.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The hot, dry winds will arrive from the desert before dawn and will greatly increase the risk of wildfires in a county where already dry vegetation was made worse by the heat wave, which will finally end late today.
Forecasters say that Kay, which was downgraded to a tropical storm late Thursday, will begin producing heavy rain by early this afternoon. Coastal areas could get up to 1 inch of precipitation while Julian could get 3 to 4 inches, and the far side of Mount Laguna could get 5 to 7 inches.
The system also is expected to produce heavy rain and strong winds from Ensenada up to Tijuana.
The storm, which will come within 100 to 150 miles of San Diego as it churns off the coast of northern Baja California, will bring bone-dry streams and tributaries to life countywide.
And the San Diego River might rise by several feet, likely limiting access to Fashion Valley mall in Mission Valley.
The rain also could disrupt or cancel the game the Padres are scheduled to play against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park tonight, as well as the Alicia Keys concert at San Diego State University. Kay also could scrub afternoon horse racing at Del Mar.
“There’s the potential for damaging winds anywhere in San Diego County,” said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster. “With a forecast of winds exceeding 50 mph in most places, there’s going to be trees down, branches broken, maybe shingles ripped off, maybe a power line cut here and there.”
The conditions will be especially fierce this afternoon and tonight along eastern Interstate 8.
“I would not (drive there), and I like weather,” Tardy said.
It’s not unusual for the county to get strong offshore winds in September. But they’re typically in the form of Santa Anas that develop in the Great Basin. Today’s winds also will blow offshore. But they were produced by Kay, which originated off the western coast of Mexico.
The weather service issued a startling forecast Thursday, saying the winds today could reach 53 mph in San Diego, 62 mph in Oceanside, 67 mph in Escondido, and 81 mph near Alpine. An earlier forecast said that it’s possible that some gusts will approach 100 mph in the mountains.
A high wind warning for the county’s valleys will go into effect at 6 a.m. today. A gale watch will be in effect for the waters off San Diego County.
Forecasters also emphasized that, at times, the rain will be unusually heavy, which will pose a hazard to motorists. It’s possible there will be lightning with the rain.
Kay was never expected to make landfall in Southern California. But it has moved unusually far north, tapping the warm water off Mexico for strength. The ocean is warmer than normal, partly due to drought conditions along the coast, said forecasters.
As of late Thursday, Kay was expected to veer off to the west by early today, roughly when it is located just off Ensenada.
Baja California state officials were preparing for the equivalent of one year’s worth of rainfall — nearly 8 inches forecasted to pour down within the next 48 hours — prompting concerns about possible deadly landslides in the drought-stricken state.
The heaviest rains were forecasted for the southern area of the state of Baja California in San Quintín, San Felipe and Ensenada.
Salvador Cervantes Hernández, the state coordinator for Civil Protection for Baja California, said there were more than 80 temporary shelters being prepared, especially in areas including the sandy San Quintín, a small agricultural town located 116 miles — or about a two-hour drive — south of Ensenada.
“All the people who live on hillsides, in the canyons, we have to be very alert. If they have the slightest sign that there is any cracking, they should evacuate and report it to the authorities,” Cervantes said.
“If your house is in a risk zone, go to a relative’s house,” he added, “and if you cannot go to a relative’s house, ask for support (by calling 911) so that the Civil Protection authorities can move you to a safe place, to a temporary shelter while it passes.”
(Gary Robbins & Wendy Fry, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The Fairview fire, which has killed two people, has forced officials to continue expanding evacuation orders as the flames move dangerously close to homes and communities over two days. It remained at 5 percent containment as it continued to burn past fire lines, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
By Wednesday evening, the most active flames were moving mostly in a south and southeast direction, officials said.
“Unfortunately the fire continued to outpace our efforts and burned actively on all flanks,” Cal Fire Chief Josh Janssen said during a Wednesday morning news conference. “It was clear that the fire was outpacing our air and ground resources.”
In the morning, Janssen estimated that the fire could grow past 7,000 acres. By evening, the flames had outpaced those predictions as the fire closed in on 10,000 acres.
Riverside County proclaimed a local emergency Wednesday, a move that could make the county eligible for state and federal assistance for damages and costs associated with the fire.
Evacuation orders were issued for an area from Thomas Mountain Ridge south to Cactus Valley Road to Bautista Canyon Road to a forest boundary. A previous evacuation order was issued for the area south of Stetson Avenue, north of Cactus Valley, west of Fairview Avenue and east of State Street.
By Wednesday afternoon, officials expanded the evacuation area again, to include residents south of Cactus Valley Road, north of Minto Way, north of Red Mountain Road, east of Sage Road and west of the U.S. Forest Service boundary.
The fire was slightly active overnight and Cal Fire decided to establish a unified command with the Hemet Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service after the blaze outpaced Cal Fire’s ground and aerial resources, Janssen said.
More than 280 firefighters continued to toil in triple-digit heat. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures reached a high of 106 degrees. Today is not likely to bring respite for firefighters, with a forecast high of 103.
On Friday, there is a chance of showers hitting the fire area, which could aid firefighters in extinguishing flames but could also trigger dangerous mudflows in areas that have been burned.
Two people were found dead inside a vehicle on Avery Canyon Road in eastern Hemet, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Brandi Swan. The people appeared to be trying to flee the fire.
A female family member of the victims was also found “severely burned” outside the vehicle, was transported to a local hospital and is expected to survive, Swan said. None of the three have been publicly identified.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, but Southern California Edison said there was “circuit activity” around the same time the fire was reported at 3:37 p.m. Pacific time on Monday.
It’s unclear whether Edison’s equipment played a role in the blaze and what the circuit activity was. Edison reported the incident Monday night to the California Public Utilities Commission.
(Summer Lin & Salvador Hernandez, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The county also will be hit by strong offshore winds that will greatly increase the risk of wildfires.
Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for the U.S.-Mexico border out of concern that Hurricane Kay will travel north-northwest along the Baja California peninsula and bring heavy rain to Tijuana and Southern California.
The storm is expected to be off central Baja California today and northern Baja California by early Friday. Forecasters say that Kay will likely diminish and become a tropical storm by the time it nears the border region. But it’s possible the cyclone will come within 150 miles of San Diego as it weakens, throwing off lots of tropical moisture at the end of the long, oppressive heat wave that has strained the state’s power grid.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the California Independent System Operator issued a Flex Alert for today, which calls on customers to voluntarily reduce energy usage from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Unlike Tuesday, the grid manager did not issue a stage 3 Energy Emergency Alert Wednesday, a measure that warns energy users that rotating outages may be imminent due to sustained electricity demand eating into reserve margins.
Millions of Californians received messages on their phones Tuesday alerting them to “conserve energy now to protect public health and safety.” The alerts were credited with preventing blackouts Tuesday night.
“Within moments, we saw a significant amount of load reduction showing up, to the tune of approximately 2,000 megawatts over the next 20 to 30 minutes,” said Elliot Mainzer, the president and chief executive of the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid. “That significant response from California consumers to the wireless emergency alert allowed us to restore our operating reserves and took us back from the edge of broader grid disturbance.”
The unprecedented demand and oppressive temperatures have imposed continuous stress on the power grid.
The state was again under a Flex Alert on Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., the eighth day in a row and the longest number of consecutive days of alerts since 2001. California had 12 consecutive Flex Alerts, called a “power watch” in those days, in January 2001 during the energy crisis that saw large-scale blackouts.
Electricity demand Tuesday evening surged to 52,061 megawatts on the ISO system, a new record. The previous all-time high was 50,270 megawatts, set on July 24, 2006, when California’s grid looked much different than it does today. The forecasted peak was 50,184 megawatts as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
SDG&E spokesperson Hadley Candace said Wednesday afternoon that conservation efforts were working and encouraged consumers to keep up the effort by not using major appliances, if safe to do so, during the Flex Alert.
California has been in the throes of the most brutal September heat wave in state history, with stifling hot days leading into nights that are setting record-high lows and offering little relief. Coastal areas — often a refuge from heat — were also hit with scorching temperatures.
While forecasters say Southern California’s heat wave will ease by Friday, potentially more dramatic weather is on the way.
“As the center of Kay passes just offshore, heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding, including landslides, across the Baja California peninsula and portions of mainland northwestern Mexico through Saturday morning,” the National Hurricane Center said in a statement.
“Flash, urban, and small stream flooding is possible across Southern California, especially in and near the peninsular ranges, and Southwest Arizona, Friday night into Saturday,” it said.
Forecast models indicate that Kay could produce 0.75 inches of rain along the San Diego County coast, and roughly twice that amount across inland valleys and foothills. It is possible that some mountain areas could get 3 to 6 inches of rain.
The precipitation is expected to begin late Friday night in San Diego County and last through most of Saturday.
Mark Moede, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Diego for nearly 30 years, called this week a particularly “extraordinary” weather event for the region.
“We could go from a day where we get hot, dry, maybe Santa Ana-type weather, and the following day ... there will be areas of rain,” Moede said of the shift in weather patterns from Friday to Saturday. “It is going to be a very dynamic end of the week regarding weather.”
(Philip Molnar & Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE; LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Chattooga County officials said water for 8,000 customers in Summerville, Menlo and surrounding areas would remain out of service through at least today.
Chattooga County emergency management officials said Tuesday that one raw water pump was operable at the city of Summerville’s plant but work continues to restore two others.
Officials are worried that flooding damaged electrical components in the plant, but flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries loaned fans to the city to try to dry out critical components. Other machinery that controls the pumps that push water into distribution pipes was being replaced Tuesday.
Some other areas were being told to boil water to remove possible impurities.
Water was being distributed by government agencies and private groups, with showers being offered to those without water in nearby Trion. Affected residents were also being offered hot meals, flood cleanup supplies and clothing.
Three trucks full of bottled water and relief supplies arrived at North Summerville Baptist Church before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
“It’s a God thing,” Pastor Sammy Barrett told WGCL-TV. “If you put the word out, and if you pray hard enough, God answers your prayers.”
County schools canceled classes through at least today.
“Without water, we are unable to flush toilets, wash hands, drink from the fountains, or prepare lunches,” Chattooga County Superintendent Jared Hosmer wrote in a message to the district’s students and families.
The smaller Trion city school district, which gets its water from a separate supplier, held classes Tuesday. Chattooga County offices and courts were closed, with some county buildings among those flooded in Summerville.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is scheduled to tour damage today in Summerville after earlier declaring a state of emergency in Chattooga and Floyd counties.
The National Weather Service says radar estimates show 10 to 12 inches of rain fell within several hours, with higher amounts in some areas. Forecasters say a very moist atmosphere and winds that pushed storms along a stationary frontal boundary, set up conditions for what they called “an anomalous event.”
It’s the second time since 2020 that some Summerville residents have gone without clean water.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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He and his wife gathered what they could — clothes, their son’s inhalers, insurance papers — and ran out to escape the flames Monday, slipping on pink fire retardant on the ground. There was no time to move their animals, so they let loose their horses, chickens and a pet goat, hoping they’d survive on their own.
“If we wouldn’t have left the second we left, we would have been blocked in,” Fields said.
By Tuesday evening, the Fairview fire near Hemet had burned through 4,500 acres and fire officials continued to expand evacuation orders as the blaze threatened about 3,500 structures.
At least seven structures were destroyed and several more were damaged, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
Two residents in Avery Canyon were killed while trying to flee, officials said. A third was injured.
The cause of the fire remained unknown, but Southern California Edison reported “circuit activity” about the same time the first flames were reported at 3:37 p.m., the utility said.
It’s unclear what the circuit activity was or whether Edison’s equipment played a role in starting the fire. Edison reported the incident Monday evening with the Public Utilities Commission as the Fairview fire quickly spread.
“Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the Fairview fire, especially those who have lost loved ones and suffered injuries,” said David Eisenhauer, a spokesperson for Edison.
“Our information reflects circuit activity occurring close in time to the reported time of the fire.”
Eisenhauer declined to elaborate on what the activity was.
“With safety as our No. 1 priority, we continue to make progress on our wildfire mitigation efforts through grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices,” he said.
A Cal Fire spokesperson said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The agency will take Edison’s report into account.
The fire tore through 2,000 acres Monday and continued to grow Tuesday, forcing evacuation orders as it burned near homes. By Tuesday evening, it was 5 percent contained.
Winds pushed the fire west into Avery Canyon on Monday, a surprising development for firefighters who said flames burned in the opposite direction from what fire models and history predicted. Instead, high pressure in the area had winds sweeping the canyon from the east, pushing flames west into the canyon and overtaking the three residents who were killed or injured trying to escape.
Fields said fire tornadoes swirled around his family as they drove out Monday. Deer and horses ran loose, crossing in front of them.
On Tuesday, Fields and his family were waiting at the Tahquitz High School gymnasium, which was turned into a Red Cross shelter.
“I’m just trying to keep it together,” he said.
His family was among the last to leave Avery Canyon, he said.
They moved into the neighborhood just north of Hemet from Riverside in 2020, seeking more space and a ranch-style life during the pandemic’s earlier months, said Fields, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who owns 10th Planet gyms throughout Southern California.
Even then, a blaze like the Fairview fire felt inevitable.
“We live in this dry canyon that hasn’t burned for 23 years — it was prone to burn,” Fields said. “We knew this was going to happen.”
Since moving, they haven’t been able to get insurance for their property due to the high fire risk, a common challenge for their neighbors.
Fields said he had noticed smoke coming from over the ridge Monday, but warnings to leave didn’t come until there were only minutes left.
Without insurance, Fields said, he felt compelled to stay longer, trying to do what he could to protect his family’s property. They made the decision to leave as soon as he saw nearby homes explode into flames.
“It was the worst evacuation plan ever,” Fields said. “They didn’t even know what to do. I mean, they’re just shoving people down the road, screaming at us. Half of us neighbors wanted to stay, which we luckily didn’t.”
The two people who died appeared to be attempting to flee before being overcome by the fire as it tore through the canyon, officials said.
It is unclear whether the third person, who officials said was in the same area, was related to the two victims or was from the same household. No other fatalities or injuries were reported as of Tuesday morning.
Details on why the residents were unable to escape were unclear, and sheriff’s officials said the burn area was still too hot Tuesday for investigators to find out.
Officials said the fire’s atypical burn pattern was a major concern.
Fire teams attacked from both ground and air Tuesday, including several air tankers and helicopters.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Janssen, incident commander for the fire overnight, said fire officials were able to get additional resources. According to Cal Fire, 286 firefighters were on the ground, including 38 engine companies and one water tender.
California’s heat wave is leading to elevated fire risks because of the high temperatures, low humidity and severely dry vegetation. Scorching temperatures are expected to last through Thursday and have raised concerns over public health and power outages.
On Tuesday evening, California’s energy grid operator issued its highest-level emergency alert, a sign that the grid could not meet electrical needs and was on the verge of rolling blackouts.
In Hemet, the high was 107 degrees Tuesday, with wind gusts up to 20 mph.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brandi Swan said that schools in Hemet Unified School District were closed because of the fire.
(Alexandra E. Petri, Jaimie Ding, Jessica Garrison & Salvador Hernandez, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The National Weather Service came up with the scenario on Tuesday while trying to figure out what Kay, a newly formed hurricane off Mexico, is going to do to the weather in Southern California through the weekend.
Kay is currently south of Cabo San Lucas, where it was packing 85 mph winds late Tuesday and slowly moving northwest on a path that could take it a long way up the coast of Baja California.
“Are we going to take a direct hit? The short answer is no,” said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster. “But an indirect hit from significant moisture and the offshore winds” is possible.
Hurricanes rarely move far enough north to heavily impact Southern California. But such storms can cause flooding damage. In September 1997, remnants of Hurricane Linda caused heavy rainfall in Southern California and brought waves that reached 18 feet high in Newport Beach. There was a brief period in which forecasters thought Linda would make landfall.
In September 2015, a hurricane by the same name — Linda — also sent heavy rain to Southern California.
Tardy said that Kay could affect atmospheric circulation, helping generate winds that would whip across the drought-stricken landscape of San Diego County, where temperatures are expected to hit the 90s and low 100s in many places today and Thursday.
In places like Alpine, winds could range from 40 mph to 70 mph, he said.
The winds are expected to arrive Thursday night and early Friday, when temperatures will be far above normal. The remnants of Kay are then likely to flow into San Diego County, where they could drop up to 1 inch of rain at and near the coast, up to 1.15 inches in Escondido, and as much as 2.5 inches in Julian and Palomar Mountain. Mount Laguna could get as much as 3 inches.
The rain will largely fall from Friday night until Saturday afternoon.
Tardy said it is possible that Kay will help start wildfires, then later help extinguish them with its own rains.
“This is not the monsoon. This is direct moisture from Hurricane Kay,” Tardy said.
The weather service emphasized Tuesday that this is only one scenario. It’s possible that Kay will wander farther out to sea, minimizing its impact on Southern California.
Daytime highs ticked upward Tuesday in San Diego, hitting 101 in Santee, Alpine and Escondido. Valley Center got to 103, and San Diego International Airport reached 86. Further warming is expected, especially at the coast. San Diego could hit 90 or higher on Thursday and Friday.
The record-setting heat wave continued to make life uncomfortable in much of the West, with California stretching into the second week of excessive heat that taxed the state’s power supply.
In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California is experiencing unprecedented heat and the state is headed into the most severe stretch of the heat wave, with triple-digit temperatures taxing the power grid.
He said the heat wave is “on track to be the hottest and longest on record” for California and parts of the West for September. “Everyone has to do their part to help step up for just a few more days.”
Sacramento tied a record Tuesday with its 41st day of temperatures reaching at least 100 degrees. And there was a chance the city would break its all-time high temperature of 114 degrees Fahrenheit set in 1925, according to the National Weather Service. The city of Ukiah shattered its record for any day, reaching at least 117 degrees.
In San Francisco, temperatures hit 94 degrees just before noon Tuesday in a region known for its mild summer weather where most people don’t have air conditioning.
In Los Angeles, temperatures were in the upper 90s on Tuesday, prompting the nation’s second-largest school district to limit the use of asphalt and concrete playgrounds.
In neighboring Nevada, Reno set a record of 102 degrees on Monday while in Utah’s Salt Lake City — at more than 4,000 feet elevation — temperatures were about 20 degrees higher than normal, hitting 105 degrees on Tuesday, the hottest September day recorded going back to 1874.
Though the heat wave was likely to have peaked in some places Tuesday, extremely high temperatures are expected to continue for several more days.
“It is a genuinely dangerous event from a human health perspective,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California Los Angeles Institute for Environment and Sustainability.
Swain said that the heat that had settled over much of the West had been “extraordinary in almost every dimension except humidity.”
The cumulative impact, Swain said, has not only superheated air masses during the day but has also made nights warmer, worsening drought, turning trees and brush into tinder, and intensifying fire risks.
More than a dozen large fires roared Tuesday throughout the state, with 45 new blazes erupting on Sunday alone, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE; ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES)
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More than 50 others were injured, according to China’s state media.
The full extent of the damage remained unclear at nightfall, however, as the quake damaged communications in the remote, isolated region. In a sign that damage might be heavy, Xi Jinping, China’s leader, personally ordered that the government “spare no effort to rescue the affected people,” state television announced Monday night.
The quake struck a mountainous area in Luding county shortly after noon, the China Earthquake Networks Center said.
Sichuan, which sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where tectonic plates meet, is regularly hit by earthquakes. Two quakes in June killed at least four people.
Power was knocked out and buildings damaged in the historic town of Moxi in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Garze, where 29 people were killed. Tents had been erected for more than 50,000 people being moved from homes rendered unsafe by the quake, the official Xinhua News Agency reported today.
State broadcaster CCTV showed rescue crews pulling a woman who appeared uninjured from a collapsed home in Moxi, where many of the buildings are constructed from a mix of wood and brick. Around 150 people were reported with varying degrees of injuries.
Earlier, authorities had reported seven deaths in Luding county and 14 more in neighboring Shimian county to the south. Three of the dead were workers at the Hailuogou Scenic Area, a glacier and forest nature reserve.
Along with the deaths, authorities reported stones and soil falling from mountainsides, causing damage to homes and power interruptions, CCTV said. One landslide blocked a rural highway, leaving it strewn with rocks, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
Buildings shook in Chengdu, 125 miles from the epicenter. Resident Jiang Danli said she hid under a desk for five minutes in her 31st-floor apartment. Many of her neighbors rushed downstairs, wary of aftershocks.
“There was a strong earthquake in June, but it wasn’t very scary. This time I was really scared, because I live on a high floor and the shaking made me dizzy,” she told The Associated Press.
The earthquake follows a heat wave and drought that led to water shortages and power cuts due to Sichuan’s reliance on hydropower. That comes on top of the latest lockdown under China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy.
The past two months in Chengdu “have been weird,” Jiang said.
The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude of 6.6 for Monday’s quake at a relatively shallow depth of 6 miles. Preliminary measurements by different agencies often differ slightly.
China’s deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008 that killed 90,000 people in Sichuan. The temblor devastated towns, schools and rural communities outside Chengdu, leading to a years-long effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Government officials have put the nation on alert about potential damages from flooding, landslides and tidal waves unleashed by Hinnamnor, which they said would be the most powerful storm to hit the country in years.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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LaRue shared the news of the fatalities Sunday afternoon during a community meeting held at an elementary school north of Weed, the rural Northern California community charred by one of California’s latest wildfires. He did not immediately provide names or other details such as age or gender of the two people who died.
“There’s no easy way of putting it,” he said before calling for a moment of silence.
Both LaRue and other officials acknowledged uncertainties facing the community, such as when people would be allowed back into their homes and when power would be restored. About 1,000 people were still under evacuation orders Sunday as firefighters worked to contain the blaze that had sparked out of control Friday at the start of the holiday weekend.
The blaze, known as the Mill fire, hadn’t expanded since Saturday morning, covering about 4,200 acres with 25 percent containment, according to Cal Fire. But the nearby Mountain fire grew in size on Sunday, officials said. It also started Friday, though in a less populated area. More than 300 people were under evacuation orders.
Power outages, smoky skies and uncertainty about what the day would bring left a feeling of emptiness around the town of Weed the morning after evacuation orders were lifted for thousands of other residents.
“It’s eerily quiet,” said Susan Tavalero, a city councilor who was driving to a meeting with fire officials.
She was joined by Mayor Kim Greene, and the two hoped to get more details on how many homes had been lost. A total of 132 structures were destroyed or damaged, fire officials said Sunday, though it wasn’t clear whether they were homes, businesses or other buildings.
Three people were injured, according to Cal Fire, but no other details were available.
Two people were brought to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta, Cal Fire Siskiyou Unit Chief Phil Anzo said Saturday. One was in stable condition and the other was transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, which has a burn unit. It’s unclear if these injuries were related to the deaths reported Sunday.
Weed, home to fewer than 3,000 people about 280 miles northeast of San Francisco, has long been seen by passersby as a whimsical spot to stop along Interstate 5. But the town, nestled in the shadow of Mount Shasta, is no stranger to wildfires.
Phil Anzo, Cal Fire’s Siskiyou Unit Chief, acknowledged the toll fires have taken on the rural region in recent years.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen lots of fires in this community, we’ve seen lots of fires in this county, and we’ve suffered lots of devastation,” Anzo said.
Dominique Mathes, 37, said he’s had some close calls with wildfires since he has lived in Weed. Though fire dangers are becoming more frequent, he’s not interested in leaving.
“It’s a beautiful place,” he said. “Everybody has risks everywhere, like Florida’s got hurricanes and floods, Louisiana has got tornadoes and all that stuff. So, it happens everywhere. Unfortunately here, it’s fires.”
The winds make Weed and the surrounding area a perilous place for wildfires, whipping small flames into a frenzy. Weed has seen three major fires since 2014, a period of extreme drought that has prompted the largest and most destructive fires in California history.
That drought persists as California heads into what traditionally is the worst of the fire season. Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
Crews battled flames while much of the state baked in a Labor Day weekend heat wave, with temperatures expected to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of San Diego County and Los Angeles, exceptionally warm weather for Southern California. Temperatures were expected to be even hotter through the Central Valley up to the capital of Sacramento.
The California Independent System Operator issued its fifth Flex Alert, a plea for people to use their air conditioners and other appliances sparingly from 4 to 9 p.m. to protect the power grid.
(Adam Beam & Kathleen Ronayne, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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While officials hope the cut in the sides of Lake Manchar will protect about half a million people who live in the city of Sehwan and the town of Bhan Saeedabad, villages that are home to 150,000 people are in the path of the diverted waters. The hometown of Sindh province’s chief minister was among the affected villages, whose residents were warned to evacuate ahead of time, according to the provincial information minister.
More than 1,300 people have died and millions have lost their homes in flooding caused by unusually heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan this year that many experts have blamed on climate change. In response to the unfolding disaster, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week called on the world to stop “sleepwalking” through the crisis. He plans to visit flood-hit areas on Friday.
Several countries have flown in supplies, but the Pakistani government has pleaded for more help, faced with the enormous task of feeding and housing those affected, as well as protecting them from waterborne diseases.
While floods have touched much of the country, Sindh province has been the most affected.
With meteorologists predicting more rain in the coming days, including around Sindh’s Lake Manchar, and its level already rising, authorities ordered that water be released from it. Sindh’s chief minister, Murad Ali Shah, made the call even though his own village could be flooded, said Sharjil Inam Memon, the provincial information minister.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon in Chattooga and Floyd counties, directing all state resources to help with “preparation, response and recovery activities.” The National Weather Service said rainfall of up to 1 inch per hour was causing creeks, streams, roadways and urban areas to experience unusually high levels of water. Up to 12 inches of rain was estimated to have fallen in the area, according to Kemp’s executive order.
“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order,” the service said.
The service declared a “flash flood emergency” for Summerville, Lyerly and James H. Floyd State Park in Chattooga County. Floyd County — to the south — was under a flash flood warning.
At 3:10 p.m., the service advised locals to avoid nonemergency travel as another round of rainfall entered the area.
The city of Summerville advised residents who use the city’s water utility services to boil water prior to drinking, cooking or preparing baby food due to flash flooding at the Raccoon Creek Filter plant.
“Water should be boiled for at least one minute after reaching a rolling boil. Citizens should continue to boil their water until they are notified by their drinking water utility that the water system has been restored to full operation, and that the microbiological quality of the water in the distribution system is safe for human consumption,” the city said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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This week he sat on the empty, sun-drenched patio of Johnny T’s Bistro and Blues and lamented all the business he has lost as tainted water flows through his pipes — just like other users in the majority-Black city of 150,000, if they were lucky enough to have any pressure at all. The revival he and others envisioned seems very much in doubt.
“The numbers are very low for lunch,” Tierre told The Associated Press. “They’re probably taking their business to the outskirts where they don’t have water woes.”
Torrential rains and flooding of the Pearl River in late August exacerbated problems at one of Jackson’s two treatment plants, leading to a drop in pressure throughout the city, where residents were already under a boil-water order due to poor quality.
Officials said Sunday that most of Jackson should have running water, though residents are still advised not to drink straight from the tap. The city remains under a boil-water notice. Officials also said future repairs leave potential for fluctuations in water pressure.
The water crisis has compounded the financial strain caused by an ongoing labor shortage and high inflation. And the flow of consumer dollars from Jackson and its crumbling infrastructure to the city’s outskirts hits Black-owned businesses hardest, the owners say.
Another Black entrepreneur who has taken a hit is Bobbie Fairley, 59, who has lived in Jackson her entire life and owns Magic Hands Hair Design on the city’s south side.
She canceled five appointments Wednesday because she needs high water pressure to rinse her clients’ hair of treatment chemicals. She also has had to purchase water to shampoo hair and try to fit in whatever appointments she can. When customers aren’t coming in, she’s losing money.
“That’s a big burden,” she said. “I can’t afford that. I can’t afford that at all.”
Jackson can’t afford to fix its water problems. The tax base has eroded over the past few decades as the population decreased, the result of primarily White flight to suburbs that began about a decade after public schools integrated in 1970. Today the city is more than 80 percent Black, and 25 percent of its residents live in poverty.
Some say the uncertainty facing Black businesses fits into a pattern of adversity stemming from both natural disasters and policy decisions.
“It’s punishment for Jackson because it was open to the idea that people should be able to attend public schools and that people should have access to public areas without abuse,” said Maati Jone Primm, who owns Marshall’s Music and Bookstore up the block from Johnny T’s. “As a result of that, we have people who ran away to the suburbs.”
Primm thinks Jackson’s longstanding water woes — which some trace to the 1970s when federal spending on water utilities peaked, according to a 2018 Congressional Budget Office report — have been made worse by inaction from Mississippi’s mostly White, conservative-dominated Legislature.
“For decades this has been a malignant attack, not benign. And it’s been purposeful,” Primm said.
Political leaders have not always been on the same page. Jackson’s Democratic mayor, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, has blamed the water problems on decades of deferred maintenance, while Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has said they stem from mismanagement at the city level.
Last Monday the governor held a news conference about the crisis, and the mayor was not invited. Another was held later in the week where they both appeared, but Primm said it’s clear that the two are not in concert.
“The lack of cooperation speaks to the continued punishment that Jackson must endure,” she said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The National Weather Service attributed the phenomenon to the nearly week-old heat wave, which will deepen today — Labor Day.
The projected jump led the primary operator of the state’s power grid to ask consumers to curtail their use of electricity today for a sixth straight day to help avoid possible outages.
The record-setting heat wave has made the ground warmer than normal. Before dawn Sunday, weak winds started to carry some of that heat toward the ocean. The weather service says that counterwinds off the ocean, out of the south, popped up and basically trapped the air at the coast.
By about 9 a.m., Oceanside Harbor had reached 95 degrees while Encinitas got to 92 and San Diego International Airport and Chula Vista were 91.
“It’s very unusual for temperatures to get that hot in the early morning,” said Liz Schenk, a weather service forecaster.
Santa Ana winds can produce really warm mornings. But they arrive from the Great Basin. Sunday’s winds blew in from the ocean.
Forecasters say it is possible that a Catalina eddy — a column of air that rotates in a counterclockwise direction — steered the blocking winds ashore. It’s also possible that the change involved Javier, a tropical storm off Baja California that brought clouds and heavy surf to San Diego County on Sunday.
In many places locally, the temperature started to moderate or fall when the clouds spread across the region. But the county still experienced another day of record-breaking heat.
The 95 degrees logged in Oceanside Harbor was 5 degrees above the previous high for Sept. 4. The earlier high was recorded in 1961. Escondido got to 101, 1 degree above the record set in 1997. And Ramona hit 102, tying a record set in 2010.
Weather models predict Escondido, Ramona, Valley Center, Lakeside, Fallbrook, Poway, Santee, El Cajon, Barona and Rancho San Diego will be in the 100- to 105-degree range today through Thursday. San Marcos and Vista are expected to be in the upper 90s. And eastern San Diego is expected to be in the low 90s.
Much of the state is experiencing hot weather, which led the California Independent System Operator (ISO) on Sunday to ask consumers to reduce electricity consumption today.
“We are facing a load forecast of 48,817 megawatts and energy deficits between 2,000 and 4,000 megawatts for Monday, resulting in the highest likelihood of rotating outages we have seen so far this summer,” Cal-ISO said in a statement.
“Because of the increasingly extreme conditions, we will need significant additional consumer demand reductions during the hours of 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday and access to all the emergency tools that the state and utilities have established for an extreme event like this one.”
Beaches up and down the coast were packed over the weekend. About 180,000 people flocked to San Diego beaches Saturday, resulting in a busy day for lifeguards, who were involved in 299 water rescues and one cliff rescue, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department officials said. Figures for Sunday were not immediately available.
The hot, dry weather made firefighters jump quickly — and with force — when brush fires popped up Sunday from Santee to Fallbrook.
Firefighters quickly put out an early morning vegetation fire in Santee that burned in thick brush in the riverbed of the San Diego River around 6:30 a.m., officials said.
Water dropped from a helicopter helped douse the blaze within about an hour.
A few hours later, San Diego firefighters responded to a brush fire near Interstate 5 in the Bay Ho neighborhood that sent smoke over the freeway and charred about a quarter of an acre of vegetation.
It was not known what sparked the fire, which was reported around 12:20 p.m. on Santa Fe Street near Damon Avenue in a brushy area between I-5 and some buildings, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Matt Nilsen.
The fire burned an area south of state Route 52 and north of Garnet Avenue in a riverbed. He said the fire was knocked down shortly after 1 p.m.
Officials sent two helicopters, four engines, two brush rigs and some support units to the blaze initially. A couple of additional brush rigs were requested to assist in the mop-up, Nilsen said.
Because of the extended heat wave, fire officials are acting quickly to send plenty of resources to respond when fires are reported.
“We are definitely bumping things up quicker than we would to first-alarm fires,” Nilsen said. “There is a concern.”
Along with the oppressive heat, Mother Nature tossed in a little monsoonal moisture, with some areas seeing scattered rain showers overnight. That was a welcome development for firefighters.
“It was kind of wet out there. That has helped a lot with the fuels,” Nilsen said. “It dampened down what was supposed to be extreme conditions today.”
A third brush fire burned 30 acres in rural North County on Sunday before aircraft dropped retardant and helped “box in” the blaze, a fire official said. That blaze was reported around 1:35 p.m. off Sandia Creek Road north of De Luz Road, in an unincorporated community north of Fallbrook. The flames took off at a moderate rate, up a rugged hillside, according to Cal Fire San Diego Capt. Thomas Shoots.
He initially said the fire was a “big concern” because of the heat and the dry, ready-to-burn brush in the area. The temperature there hit 92 degrees around the time the fire broke out, according to the National Weather Service.
Four planes that drop fire retardant and two water-dropping helicopters were sent to assist firefighters on the ground. Shoots said the retardant drops helped slow down the fire, which was 10 percent contained as of 4:40 p.m.
In rural East County, firefighters continued to build lines around a brush fire that burned about 4,400 acres last week near state Route 94 in the Barrett Junction area, east of Dulzura and west of Potrero.
The Border 32 fire was 90 percent contained as of Sunday evening, and the progress allowed strike teams from other parts of the state to return to their home base.
Eight firefighters have suffered minor, heat-related injuries since the fire started Wednesday, including three Saturday. Nearly 300 firefighters were expected to continue building containment lines and extinguishing hot spots overnight.
The heat “is just taking a toll” on firefighters, Shoots said.
As the temperatures baked the region, many residents dealt with power outages. According to San Diego Gas & Electric, thousands of people from De Luz in North County to Chula Vista were without power for at least part of the day.
More than 4,700 customers in the Oceanside area were without electricity in the early afternoon, although their service appeared to be restored by 3 p.m. Several hundred people in La Jolla lost power mid-morning, and it was still out around 7 p.m. The online map identified the reason: “Weather affected SDG&E equipment.”
(Gary Robbins, Karen Kucher, David Hernandez, Kate Morrissey, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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By Friday afternoon, all evacuation orders had been lifted and residents were allowed to return to their homes.
The fast-moving fire, called the Border 32 fire, ignited Wednesday afternoon and quickly erupted, threatening the community of Potrero in San Diego County’s backcountry before flames pushed south, jumping state Route 94 and burning toward the U.S.-Mexico border in the Tecate area.
“Everything went really well overnight in continuing to build that contingency line,” Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots said Friday.
Firefighters continued to work in extreme heat Friday. Temperatures at Barrett Lake, about 6 miles north of where the fire appeared to have originated, were expected to reach 105 degrees, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Moede.
“It’s gonna be really, really hot all the way through the holiday weekend, and that’s just going to be tough on these firefighters,” Moede said.
Three firefighters were injured in the blaze. Their injuries were heat-related, Shoots said.
“There are a lot of really steep, rugged terrain areas that we’re working in that are quite a challenge for our crews, so we opted to fly some of our crews out to the more rugged areas,” he explained. “That allows them to have less exposure in the 107-degree temperatures and hopefully help us minimize any future injuries.”
Two people suffered second- and third-degree burns earlier in the week and were taken by helicopter to the UCSD Burn Center, officials said.
Temperatures are expected to remain hot through the holiday weekend in the area, with highs of 109 degrees today and Sunday, Moede said.
“We’ll start to see a gradual downward trend after Tuesday — Tuesday’s 103 (degrees) — and then we should fall below 100,” he added.
The fire began near Barrett Junction, east of Dulzura and a few miles northwest of Tecate. At the height of the firefight, nearly 400 firefighters, aided by 14 aircraft, worked to gain control of the flames, according to Cal Fire officials.
A total of 10 structures were destroyed in the blaze, including three homes and two outbuildings, two sheds, three RVs, two barns and a commercial structure, Shoots said.
More than 1,500 residents had to evacuate due to the blaze, sheriff’s officials said.
The Tecate Port of Entry is expected to reopen today at 6 a.m., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Jackie Wasiluk. The Port of Entry was closed Wednesday night because of conditions in the area brought on by the fire.
“We are working hard to button up the line out there and continue to assess and figure out if we can get more people back home,” Shoots said.
Sheriff’s officials advised residents entering burned areas to use caution as hazards may still exist from hot spots, downed power lines, burned trees, gas leaks and debris.
(Emily Alvarenga, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The National Weather Service says people also will be seeking relief because the dew point will reach 70 degrees or higher, making the air seem tropical. And overnight temperatures will be unusually warm, coming in at 70 to 79 degrees across the county.
Even the surf will be warm; it’s expected to be 70 to 75 degrees in many areas.
The heat wave began on Tuesday and will peak today and Sunday. But Monday — Labor Day — will only be marginally cooler.
The soaring temperatures led to yet another Flex Alert called by the operator that manages 80 percent of California’s electric grid.
Concerned that surges in energy demand — primarily from homeowners and businesses turning up their air conditioning units — may push the power system to the brink, the California Independent System Operator on Friday extended its call for consumers to voluntarily reduce energy consumption between the hours of 4 and 9 p.m. today.
Combined with Flex Alerts already issued earlier this week and Friday, the latest round means energy conservation measures have been extended to run for at least four consecutive days.
“The major concern now is even higher temperatures forecast for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday,” the California ISO said in a statement, “with projected loads (on the state’s energy grid) climbing to more than 49,000 megawatts on Tuesday.”
That’s more than Thursday’s peak of 47,357 megawatts, which represented the highest level seen on the state’s grid since September 2017. The all-time record is 50,270 megawatts, set on July 24, 2006.
Cal ISO president Elliot Mainzer thanked utility customers for doing their part in helping avoid statewide rotating outages, estimating that homeowners and businesses, as well as other conservation measures, reduced about 1,200 megawatts of load off of the power system on Thursday.
But Mainzer said, in an online message, “the hottest weather in this extended heat wave is still ahead of us. Much of California will see record triple-digit temperatures, with only moderate cooling at night, right through the Labor Day holiday weekend and into the middle of next week so electricity conservation is going to be essential in keeping the power flowing in California without interruption.”
Grid officials say they’re keeping an eye on a wildfire in San Diego’s East County and another north of Los Angeles near Castaic that may threaten power lines or electricity generation from nearby power plants. The fire in East County, dubbed the Border 32 fire, has burned about 4,400 acres near the backcountry town of Potrero, with flames moving south near the U.S.-Mexico border.
During Flex Alerts, the ISO recommends utility customers:
Suzi Brady, a Cal Fire spokesperson, said as many as 7,500 people were being evacuated and several people were injured and taken to a hospital. She said she didn’t know the extent of their injuries.
However, Allison Hendrickson, spokesperson for Dignity Health North State hospitals, said two people were brought to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta. One was in stable condition and the other was transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, which has a burn unit.
Brady said the blaze, which had charred more than 2,500 acres by Friday evening, was spreading rapidly amid 36 mph winds.
She said more resources had been requested to aid at least 200 firefighters battling the blaze on the ground and from the air.
California is in the grip of a prolonged drought and now a brutal heat wave that is taxing the power grid as people try to stay cool. The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning for Siskiyou County from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday because of the high heat and strong winds.
The Mill fire started on or near the property of Roseburg Forest Products, a lumber mill north of the town of Weed, and quickly burned through homes and prompted evacuation orders for all of Weed and the nearby communities of Lake Shastina and Edgewood, said Weed Councilmember Sue Tavalero.
She said there were burned homes in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood but “I don’t know how many. I’m positive several homes have been lost.”
Evacuees described heavy smoke and chunks of ash raining down from massive flames near Weed, about 50 miles south of the Oregon border.
Willo Balfrey, 82, an artist from Lake Shastina, said she was painting Friday afternoon when her grandson, who is a member of the California Highway Patrol, called to warn her of the fast-spreading flames.
“He said, ‘don’t linger, grab your computer, grab what you need and get out of the house now. It’s coming your way.’ So I did,” Balfrey said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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For others, it could be a life-threatening situation, especially for low-income seniors and young children living in dense, urban areas with little tree cover.
“It’s so hot out there,” said Scott Pemberton, a 58-year-old homeless man who took refuge on Thursday at the library in his hometown of El Cajon, which reached a blistering 99 degrees that day. The forecast there today: 102. “I really appreciate this place. There’s nowhere else to go.”
Public health officials have repeatedly warned Southern California residents about the dangers of extreme heat, especially when nighttime temperatures remain elevated as they’ve been during the last week.
Heat has killed dozens of people in San Diego County since 2010, with many more being admitted to hospitals and emergency departments for related illnesses, according to data provided by the county.
However, these types of figures don’t capture the total impact of soaring temperatures, said Tarik Benmarhnia, an environmental epidemiologist at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
“It’s a total underestimation of the real burden of heat,” he said. “Most of the time when somebody goes into shock in the hospital, it’s very unlikely that the physician or coroner is going to indicate the main cause of death is heat, unless it’s very obvious.”
This is because heat is “sneaky,” often exacerbating underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, asthma or diabetes, he explained. This can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory complications, even kidney failure.
The situation only gets worse when monsoonal weather patterns usher in significant amounts of humidity. The wet air elevates evening temperatures while limiting the human body’s ability to cool itself through perspiration.
“That leads to exhaustion over multiple days,” Benmarhnia said. “Even after a heat wave ends, we still see an increase in hospitalizations three to five days later.”
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that roughly 700 people a year die from heat-related illness across the country, he said, studies have shown the actual death toll is closer to 12,000 people.
Even using the current methodology, extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather event, according to the National Weather Service.
The most impacted neighborhoods have been dubbed “urban heat islands,” where, according to research, temperatures can be up to 20 degrees hotter than in more affluent coastal communities.
These residents are often low-income renters of color without access to air conditioning, said Jennifer Burney, a scientist at UC San Diego who has studied the impacts of heat on vulnerable populations.
“Across the country, this pattern is incredibly persistent,” she said. “When we look at the San Diego region, typically places with the highest urban heat are El Cajon, La Mesa, more inland, densely populated, less green areas.”
People can escape to libraries, pools, the beach and movie theaters, but not everyone has equal access to such temperature-controlled havens, Burney said. “Income plays into who has those spaces nearby, who can afford to get there.”
Some of these so-called cool zones are free to the public and located throughout the county. These air-conditioned facilities include libraries and churches, as well as recreation and community centers.
Meanwhile, the housing stock in such communities is often in “substandard condition,” especially because many renovations have been put on hold since the pandemic started, said Carol Lewis, director of the El Cajon Collaborative, a nonprofit that provides resources to low-income, often refugee communities.
“They’re all aging,” she said of apartment buildings in East County. “Most of them still have the old aluminum windows, which don’t do a lot to protect from the heat.”
Kim Clark, 69, rents a room in a house in El Cajon that does have air conditioning. However, he said, the owner, who also lives there, doesn’t turn it on during the day. He said he’s forced to look for respite at libraries or shopping malls.
“It’s hot right now,” he said of his rented room. “I have a big window that faces east, and the heat stays in there.”
Local governments have acknowledged the situation, although they appear ill equipped to address the problem.
The city of San Diego, for example, adopted a plan in 2015 to dramatically expand its tree canopy cover from around 13 percent to 15 percent by 2020. So far, no progress has been made toward that goal, with the city often planting just as many trees as it rips out for new development, according multiple climate plan reports.
Mayor Todd Gloria recently doubled down on the tree-planting pledge, focusing on disadvantaged neighborhoods and recommitting the city to 35 percent canopy coverage by 2035.
That would require the planting of an estimated 100,000 trees, according to city records. The city planted about 1,600 trees in 2019.
The goal is admirable but unrealistic, especially given the limited resources being allocated, said Anne Fege, chair of the Community Forest Advisory Board at the city of San Diego.
“Balboa Park has a 38 percent tree cover,” she said. “Are we going to be like Balboa Park everywhere?”
A city spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
Fege said one of the major issues is a lack of funding and coordination around ensuring adequate irrigation, especially amid the ongoing drought. State officials have ordered jurisdictions to dial back watering of everything from lawns to highway medians.
“You’re losing trees to drought because people aren’t watering them,” she said. “When you plant a new tree where you’ve taken one out, it takes 20 years before you get the same amount of shade.”
This issue of extreme heat is expected to only get worse as the planet continues to warm.
A 2020 study from the California Institute of Technology and University of Hawaii, which analyzed 50 years of data, found that heat waves in urban areas across Southern California were starting earlier and ending later in the year, a trend linked to “human-induced climate change.”
The situation illustrates the contradictions between modern living and efforts to rein in greenhouse gases.
As climate change sends temperature soaring ever higher, people are cranking up their air conditioning to deal with the heat, which ironically requires the burning of more fossil fuels.
It also puts stress on the electrical grid, as exemplified by the recent statewide call to conserve energy. The California Independent System Operator has repeatedly issued Flex Alerts between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to prevent rolling blackouts.
The situation can be confounding for San Diegans, who this week drove past highway signs urging people to stay cool while also conserving energy.
(Joshua Emerson Smith, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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At twilight, none of it was contained as it continued to rage, headed east.
The fire led authorities to close the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Tecate, and state Route 94 was closed essentially from Campo to Dulzura. Barrett School Road is closed at SR-94. Schools in the Mountain Empire Unified School District will be closed today and the Jamul-Dulzura Union School Districts adjusted their bus pickup routes.
The fire erupted around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday near Barrett Junction, east of Dulzura and a few miles northwest of Tecate, sending several residents near Barrett Lake Road north of state Route 94 scrambling to evacuate. Smoke could be seen for miles.
Apolonio Gilbert said he was working in the Barrett Lake Mobile Home Park when he saw flames and smoke in a nearby canyon. Gilbert, 62, jumped into his truck and drove around the park, honking and warning people to get out. He and his wife grabbed their three dogs and fled.
The fire burned through the park, but no homes were lost. In the early hours of the fire, moderate winds fanned it eastward along the highway. Gusts reached 27 mph.
By 6 p.m., the fire jumped to the south side of SR-94 and burned “very aggressively” in the direction of Tecate and Portrero, Cal Fire San Diego Capt. Thomas Shoots said.
“The winds have died down, but the fire remains very active,” he said just before 8 p.m.
Shoots said there were “multiple close calls” as residents rushed to evacuate. At least four structures, including at least one residence, was destroyed, Shoots said.
“We had multiple 911 calls from folks unable to evacuate” because their homes were surrounded by the fire, Shoots said.
Mobile home park resident Martin Ledezma was at work when his mother called to tell him about the fire. He drove home, grabbed some belongings and started to flee, but stopped to help fire crews, using a shovel to help tamp down flames.
The park is a small community, he said, while covered in sweat and ash. “If one of us burns, we all burn.”
The fire raged as an excessive heatwave gripped the western states, and California’s state’s grid operator called for consumers to cut energy use. Campo reached a blistering 105, tying a record high for that date, according to the National Weather Service. The heat will continue into next week.
The large Barrett Junction blaze started near Barrett Lake Road north of state Route 94, Shoots said, and by 4:45 p.m. it had roared past 1,400 acres as it pushed northeast toward Potrero.
Two people suffered burns and were taken to hospitals. One was taken by ground and the other was flown in an air ambulance.
Nearly 600 people were ordered to evacuate, and another nearly 800 were given evacuation warnings. More than 300 customers lost power.
The flames were racing toward homes in the Round Potrero Road area, Shoots said. Evacuations were ordered for residences along Barrett Lake Road, Coyote Holler Road and Round Potrero Road, according to Shoots and the county Sheriff’s Department.
José Lopez and his wife were watching television inside their mobile home when they got alerts on their cellphones warning them to evacuate.
“We started preparing clothes and documents and things,” Lopez said. “Then the sheriff’s (deputies) began going through the park and saying, ‘you need to evacuate immediately.’”
He said as the couple drove away from the mobile home park, the flames were coming down a hill toward it. He didn’t know if his home would survive.
“It is what it is; you hope for the best,” said Lopez, who said that the flames had burned all the way to the edge of Barrett Lake Road as they fled.
Lopez’s wife went to an evacuation center at Jamul Casino, but Lopez stayed at the dirt lot on the corner down the road from the fire, hoping he’d be able to get home earlier.
David Galván lives about two miles up Barrett Lake Road off SR-94 and said he waited until the last minute to evacuate with his dog Jack, who had crawled under Galván’s pickup. Galván, who works as a handyman, sprayed the roof of his home before he left.
“You could hardly breathe,” Galván said, his eyes still puffy and moist from inhaling the smoke a few hours earlier.
As neighbors who live along Barrett Lake Road — most of them from the Barrett Lake Mobile Home Park — gathered at the corner where their street meets state Route 94, a Cal Fire firefighter approached and told them it would be a “day or two” until they’d be able to go back home.
“It’s not over, but we’re doing well up there,” said the firefighter, who declined to give his name. “When I went through the trailer park, at that time — and it was not over — but it has burned through, and there could be embers, but all the trailers were saved.”
Crews attacked the flames from the air and from the ground. “We’ve requested every wildland engine from Cal Fire in San Diego County,” Shoots said.
By 5:30 p.m., more than 200 firefighters were battling the fire and “many more” were en route, Shoots said. Six air tankers, seven helicopters and several fixed-wing aircraft have been deployed, he said.
In addition to the temporary evacuation point set up at Jamul Casino on Campo Road south of Lyons Valley Road, a second evacuation point was set up at Camp Lockett Event & Equestrian Facility at 799 Forrest Gate Road in Campo. The Campo site is accepting large animals.
Families with pets and large animals can go to the San Diego County Animal Shelter at 5821 Sweetwater Road in Bonita.
(Alex Riggins, Teri Figueroa, Karen Kucher, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The water system in Jackson, the state’s largest city, has been in crisis for years, hobbled by aging and inadequate infrastructure and, many in the city argue, a failure to devote sufficient resources to fix it. Residents have long contended with disruptions in service and frequent boil-water notices, including one that has been in effect for more than a month because of cloudiness in water samples.
But the situation worsened dramatically this week as officials said that the city’s largest water treatment plant was failing, pushed to the brink by torrential rains. Homes and businesses were left with little to no water pressure, schools switched to virtual learning, and hospitals brought in portable restrooms as a vital element of a functioning city suddenly collapsed.
“Until it is fixed, it means we do not have reliable running water at scale,” Gov. Tate Reeves said during an emergency briefing Monday evening. “It means the city cannot produce enough water to fight fires, to reliably flush toilets and to meet other critical needs.”
And, he added, it was unclear how long it would take to fully restore service.
The troubled water system is among a crippling array of challenges that confront Jackson, a majority Black city that has struggled with chronic poverty and high crime as well as access to even the most basic public services, including reliable trash pickup and regular road repairs.
The water crisis has stoked tensions between the Republican-led state government and the Democratic city leadership. On Monday, when the governor called an emergency briefing, the mayor of Jackson, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, was not included.
In a news conference Tuesday, Lumumba expressed gratitude for the state’s support — even though, he added, it was help the city had long been waiting for.
“We’ve been going it alone for the better part of two years,” Lumumba said. “We are in a constant state of emergency.”
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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That’s because of something that could be called zombie ice. That’s doomed ice that, while still attached to thicker areas of ice, is no longer getting replenished by parent glaciers now receiving less snow.
Without replenishment, the doomed ice is melting from climate change and will inevitably raise seas, said study co-author William Colgan, a glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
“It’s dead ice. It’s just going to melt and disappear from the ice sheet,” Colgan said in an interview. “This ice has been consigned to the ocean, regardless of what climate (emissions) scenario we take now.”
Study lead author Jason Box, a glaciologist at the Greenland survey, said it is “more like one foot in the grave.”
The unavoidable 10 inches in the study is more than twice as much sea level rise as scientists had previously expected from the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet. The study in the journal Nature Climate Change said it could reach as much as 30 inches. By contrast, last year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projected a range of 2 to 5 inches for likely sea level rise from Greenland ice melt by 2100.
What scientists did for the study was look at the ice in balance. In perfect equilibrium, snowfall in the mountains in Greenland flows down and recharges and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges. But in the last few decades there’s less replenishment and more melting, creating imbalance.
Study authors looked at the ratio of what’s being added to what’s being lost and calculated that 3.3 percent of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt no matter what happens with the world cutting carbon pollution, Colgan said.
“I think starving would be a good phrase,” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan said.
One of the study authors said that more than 120 trillion tons of ice is already doomed to melt from the warming ice sheet’s inability to replenish its edges. When that ice melts into water, if it were concentrated only over the United States, it would be 37 feet deep.
The figures are a global average for sea level rise, but some places further away from Greenland would get more and places closer, like the East Coast, would get less.
Although 10.6 inches may not sound like much, this would be over and above high tides and storms, making them even worse, so this much sea level rise “will have huge societal, economic and environmental impacts,” said Ellyn Enderlin, a geosciences professor at Boise State University, who wasn’t part of the study.
“This is a really large loss and will have a detrimental effect on coastlines around the world,” said NYU’s David Holland, who just returned from Greenland, but is not part of the study.
This is the first time scientists calculated a minimum ice loss — and accompanying sea level rise — for Greenland, one of Earth’s two massive ice sheets that are slowly shrinking because of climate change from burning coal, oil and natural gas.
Scientists used an accepted technique for calculating minimum committed ice loss, the one used on mountain glaciers for the entire giant frozen island.
Pennsylvania State University glaciologist Richard Alley, who wasn’t part of the study but said it made sense, said the committed melting and sea level rise is like an ice cube put in a cup of hot tea in a warm room.
“You have committed mass loss from the ice,” Alley said in an email. “In the same way, most of the world’s mountain glaciers and the edges of Greenland would continue losing mass if temperatures were stabilized at modern levels because they have been put into warmer air just as your ice cube was put in warmer tea.“
Time is the key unknown here and a bit of a problem with the study, said two outside ice scientists, Leigh Stearns of the University of Kansas and Sophie Nowicki of the University of Buffalo.
The researchers in the study said they couldn’t estimate the timing of the committed melting, yet in the last sentence they mention, “within this century,” without supporting it, Stearns said.
(Seth Borenstein, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The rains stopped more than two days ago, and floods in some areas were receding. But Pakistanis in many parts of the country were still wading through waters that filled their homes or covered their town’s streets as they struggled with how to deal with the damage to homes and businesses.
In one of the worst single incidents of the flooding, at least 11 people were killed Monday when a boat that volunteer rescuers were using to evacuate two dozen people capsized in the flood-swollen waters of the Indus River near the southern city of Bilawal Pur, media reported.
Climate Minister Sherry Rehman and meteorologists told The Associated Press that new monsoons were expected in September. Monsoons have hit earlier and more heavily than usual since the start of summer, officials say.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Pearl River, which has been swollen by heavy rains that started Aug. 22, is expected to crest at 35 feet, 6 inches today, said Marty Pope, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Jackson.
That figure is 6 inches lower than initially forecast, which means some structures that otherwise might have flooded could be spared, he said. Subdivisions in northeast Jackson had water in the streets as of Sunday but the flooding had not yet reached any houses.
“As of now, we’ve just seen most of the water in the streets,” Pope said. “If we keep that by not going higher, hopefully it will keep it out of any big structures.”
In Jackson, from 100 to 150 homes could be affected, said Melissa Payne, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi issued a state of emergency Saturday in anticipation of the flooding. “I encourage individuals in the flood zones to be cautious, take appropriate precautions and evacuate if necessary,” Reeves said in a statement.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency deployed 126,000 sandbags. It also advised residents to take photos of valuables, save copies of important documents, elevate and anchor utilities and wires, and clear debris.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Flash flooding from the heavy rains has washed away villages and crops as soldiers and rescue workers evacuated stranded residents to the safety of relief camps and provided food to thousands of displaced Pakistanis.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority reported the death toll since the monsoon season began earlier than normal this year — in mid-June — reached 1,061 people after new fatalities were reported across different provinces.
Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani senator and the country’s top climate official, said in a video posted on Twitter that Pakistan is experiencing a “serious climate catastrophe, one of the hardest in the decade.”
“We are at the moment at the ground zero of the front line of extreme weather events, in an unrelenting cascade of heatwaves, forest fires, flash floods, multiple glacial lake outbursts, flood events and now the monster monsoon of the decade is wreaking non-stop havoc throughout the country,” she said. The on-camera statement was retweeted by the country’s ambassador to the European Union.
Flooding from the Swat River overnight affected northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where tens of thousands of people — especially in the Charsadda and Nowshehra districts — have been evacuated from their homes to relief camps set up in government buildings. Many have also taken shelter on roadsides, said Kamran Bangash, a spokesperson for the provincial government.
Bangash said some 180,000 people have been evacuated from Charsadda and 150,000 from Nowshehra district villages.
Khaista Rehman, 55, no relation to the climate minister, took shelter with his wife and three children on the side of the Islamabad-Peshawar highway after his home in Charsadda was submerged overnight.
“Thank God we are safe now on this road quite high from the flooded area,” he said. “Our crops are gone and our home is destroyed but I am grateful to Allah that we are alive and I will restart life with my sons.”
The unprecedented monsoon season has affected all four of the country’s provinces. Nearly 300,000 homes have been destroyed, numerous roads rendered impassable and electricity outages have been widespread, affecting millions of people.
Pope Francis on Sunday said he wanted to assure his “closeness to the populations of Pakistan struck by flooding of disastrous proportions.” Speaking during a pilgrimage to the Italian town of L’Aquila, which was hit by a deadly earthquake in 2009, Francis said he was praying “for the many victims, for the injured and the evacuated, and so that international solidarity will be prompt and generous.”
Rehman told Turkish news outlet TRT World that by the time the rains recede, “we could well have one fourth or one third of Pakistan under water.”
“This is something that is a global crisis and of course we will need better planning and sustainable development on the ground. We’ll need to have climate resilient crops as well as structures,” she said.
In May, Rehman told the BBC that both the country’s north and south were witnessing extreme weather events because of rising temperatures. “So in north actually just now we are experiencing what is known as glacial lake outburst floods which we have many of because Pakistan is home to the highest number of glaciers outside the polar region.“
The government has deployed soldiers to help civilian authorities in rescue and relief operations across the country. The Pakistani army also said in a statement it airlifted a 22 tourists trapped in a valley in the country’s north to safety.
Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif visited flooding victims in the city of Jafferabad in Baluchistan. He vowed the government would provide housing to all those who lost their homes.
(Zarar Khan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Bryant May is lead pastor of the Southern Baptist congregation in the Jackson suburb of Pearl. He said it was the second time in four years the church flooded. The church will conduct online services this weekend, and May said he hopes the building will be in working order soon after that.
“The good news in it is that we have a little bit of experience — that’s good news/bad news — so we have a little bit of a game plan on how to attack it,” May said Thursday.
Weather radar showed heavy rainfall Thursday in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and in the Florida panhandle.
Several flash flood warnings were issued, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation reported water covering highways Thursday from the central part of the state down to the Gulf Coast. Flowing water washed away part of a state highway in rural Newton County, between Jackson and Meridian.
The National Weather Service predicted the Pearl River near Jackson, Miss., will crest early next week at nearly the level it reached during flooding in 2020. Emergency officials said residents in low-lying areas near the river should prepare for the possibility of evacuating in the next several days.
After Wednesday’s deluge caused creeks to overflow, law enforcement officers carried toddlers out of a flooded day care center in Florence, Miss., south of Jackson. The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department posted video on Facebook of deputies walking through brown, knee-deep water to take children to an elevated truck, placing them gently on benches.
Tony Banks said Thursday that when he returned to his apartment in the Jackson suburb of Flowood after work Wednesday, the parking lot was knee-deep in water. He said a creek overflowed, flooding some cars and trucks. Banks said he caught a fish near the vehicles.
In Alabama, vehicles traveling along flooded roads created boat-like wakes on low-lying Dauphin Island, a popular beach community off the coast. Flooding was likely across southwestern Alabama through nightfall, forecasters said.
A few schools around Mobile, Ala., dismissed early because of flooding or power outages. The National Weather Service said rain was falling at a rate of as much as 3 inches an hour along the coast.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Amplify Energy Corp., which owns the pipeline that ruptured and faces a criminal charge for its oversight, said in a statement that claims have been settled in the class-action lawsuit filed by businesses affected by the October spill of about 25,000 gallons of crude into the Pacific Ocean.
The company did not say how much the businesses would be paid but said its insurance policies will cover the cost of the settlement, which would still need to be approved by a federal court.
“Although we are unable to provide additional detail at this time, we negotiated in good faith and believe we have come to a reasonable and fair resolution,” Martyn Willsher, Amplify’s president and chief executive, said in the statement.
The pipeline rupture sent blobs of crude washing ashore in surf-friendly Huntington Beach and other coastal communities.
While less severe than initially feared, the spill about 4 miles offshore shuttered beaches for a week and fisheries for more than a month, oiled birds and threatened wetlands that communities have been striving to restore.
Attorneys for the businesses that sued said in a statement that the settlement includes monetary relief but they didn’t provide details. The agreement doesn’t apply to the operators of ships accused of dragging anchors in the harbor and causing damage to the pipeline months before the spill.
The settlement also doesn’t resolve Houston-based Amplify’s claims against an organization that helps oversee marine traffic.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The State Water Resources Control Board issued a draft cease-and-desist order Friday to the Shasta River Water Association, warning its members to stop taking water from the Shasta River watershed.
The association has 20 days to request a hearing or the order becomes final and could subject the organization to fines of up to $10,000 a day, according to the state water agency.
The diversions were continuing as of Tuesday, said Ailene Voisin, a state water board information officer.
Since last year, the state agency has curtailed water use in the watershed to keep water flowing in the Shasta River, a main tributary of the Klamath River and a nursery for a fragile and federally protected salmon species.
Three weeks ago, thousands of fish — including salmon and other species — turned up dead along a miles-long stretch of the Klamath.
Biologists believe a flash flood caused by heavy rains sent mud and debris from a massive wildfire burning upstream into the river, dropping the oxygen level to zero for a couple of days, said Craig Tucker, natural resources consultant for the Karuk Tribe.
Then, beginning on Aug. 17 and Aug. 18, the Shasta River flow dropped to about half of the minimum emergency flow requirement of 50 cubic feet per second, the state water agency said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the flow was at 14 cubic feet per second, according to state figures.
Ranchers appear to be pumping water from the river or diverting springs on or near their land to irrigate cattle pastures or alfalfa fields, Tucker said.
A message to an email associated with the Shasta River Water Association wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The blaze was sparked in the spring by two errant prescribed fires conducted by the U.S. Forest Service. More than 530 square miles — 339,200 acres — of the Rocky Mountain foothills burned, hundreds of homes were destroyed, livelihoods were lost and drinking water supplies were contaminated.
Local officials say there are years of work ahead of them to restore the landscape and protect against post-fire flooding.
San Miguel County Manager Joy Ansley and her team have been working nonstop since the first plumes of smoke began rising from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They helped coordinate the evacuation of thousands of people from small mountain villages and worked with the state and the city of Las Vegas as flames approached.
With the summer rainy season in full swing, Ansley said parts of northern New Mexico are flooding on a weekly basis.
“It’s going to be a long process and just because the fire is contained, we’re certainly not out of the woods,” she said Tuesday.
In addition to costs related to fighting the fire, federal emergency managers have paid out more than $4.5 million in aid to affected individuals and households and $6.7 million in low-interest loans for smalls businesses.
While more than 1,200 applications for individual assistance have been vetted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would not say how many total applications have been received or denied.
(Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tropical Storm Ma-on weakened slightly after barreling across mountainous northern provinces then exited overnight with sustained winds of 59 miles per hour and gusts of up to 71 mph after making landfall in Maconacon town in Isabela province Tuesday morning, forecasters said.
The storm may intensify at sea as it heads toward southern China, they said.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The landslide struck Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine near the holy city of Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, on Sunday.
According to Iraq's civil defense, the landslide hit the ceiling of the shrine, which lies in a natural depression, causing it to cave in and dumping a torrent of rock and mud inside the structure. The entrance, walls and the minarets of the shrine, which was built on the place of a water source in the desert, remained standing.
Among the dead were five women, two men and a child, the civil defense said, adding that search teams had rescued six people. On Monday, rescuers were using a bulldozer to try to remove the rubble and search for survivors.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“The Dallas-Fort Worth area was pretty much ground zero for the heaviest rain overnight,” said Daniel Huckaby, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The official National Weather Service record station at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reported 9.19 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at 2 p.m. Monday. That ranked second for the top 10 most rain over 24 hours in Dallas on record. The most was 9.57 inches that fell Sept. 4-5, 1932.
“We’ve been in drought conditions, so the ground soaked up a lot of it but when you get that much rain over that short a period of time, it’s certainly going to cause flooding, and that’s what we saw, definitely in the urban areas here,” Huckaby said.
Across the area, rainfall amounts ranged from less than 1 inch to over 15 inches, said National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Barnes.
By Monday afternoon, the rain had moved out of the area, she said.
“There was quite a bit of variation in the rainfall totals,” Barnes said.
At least one fatality was blamed on the downpours as emergency responders across the area reported responding to hundreds of high-water calls.
A 60-year-old woman was killed in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite when flood waters from South Mesquite Creek swept her vehicle from Texas 352 westbound at Interstate 635, officials said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The two men were running in the Six Peaks race, which passes through the six highest peaks of Mount Falakro in northern Greece, when lightning struck a group of runners at 4 a.m. at an altitude of 4,400 feet, a police officer told The Associated Press.
Two fire service rescue squads came up the mountain from the nearby town of Drama to find one runner, 55, already dead and another, 56, seriously injured. The injured runner was airlifted to a hospital in the city of Kavala, where authorities said he was in serious condition.
Neither was identified.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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At Zion National Park in Utah, a flash flood Friday afternoon swept multiple hikers off their feet in the Narrows, a popular section of Zion canyon that requires wading in the Virgin River.
At least one person was swept downstream and injured, and several others were able to find high ground and were rescued by emergency responders, the National Park Service said.
But later that evening, friends reported Jetal Agnihotri of Tucson, Ariz., missing. She has not returned from hiking in the Narrows, the park service said. Her brother, Pujan Agnihotri, told KSLTV that his sister could not swim.
Portions of the park remained closed Sunday, according to its website.
On Saturday, in New Mexico, visitors at Carlsbad Caverns National Park were forced to shelter in place for more than nine hours because flooded roads became impassable, according to the Eddy County Office of Emergency Management.
Authorities said that they responded to calls of visitors who attempted to cross streams and became stuck in their cars. Noting that water just 1 foot high can sweep away vehicles, emergency responders on Facebook repeated the mantra of the weekend to drivers: “Turn around, don’t drown.”
Jennifer Armendariz, the emergency manager for Eddy County, said officials had conducted a few rescues, including for a family whose vehicle had turned on its side and a couple stranded on the roof of their car. No injuries were reported.
Armendariz said educating the public about not crossing streams in vehicles during a flood was a constant challenge.
An order to shelter in place at Carlsbad Caverns was lifted late Saturday, and about 200 visitors and staff members were evacuated, she said. On Sunday, crews began clearing debris from the roadway.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The industry’s setback was short-lived, however. The climate measure President Joe Biden signed Tuesday bypasses the administration’s concerns about emissions and guarantees new drilling opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. The legislation was crafted to secure backing from a top recipient of oil and gas donations, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, and was shaped in part by industry lobbyists.
While the Inflation Reduction Act concentrates on clean energy incentives that could drastically reduce overall U.S. emissions, it also buoys oil and gas interests by mandating leasing of vast areas of public lands and areas off the nation’s coasts. And it locks renewables and fossil fuels together: If the Biden administration wants solar and wind on public lands, it must offer new oil and gas leases first.
As a result, U.S. oil and gas production and emissions from burning fuels could keep growing, according to some industry analysts and climate experts. With domestic demand sliding, that means more fossil fuels exported to growing foreign markets, including from the Gulf where pollution from oil and gas activity plagues many poor and minority communities.
To the industry, the new law signals Democrats are willing to work with them and to abandon the notion fossil fuels could soon be rendered obsolete, said Andrew Gillick with Enverus, an energy analytics company whose data is used by industry and government agencies.
“The folks that think oil and gas will be gone in 10 years may not be thinking through what this means,” Gillick said. “Both supply and demand will increase over the next decade.”
The result would be more planet-warming carbon dioxide — up to 110 million tons annually — from U.S.-produced oil and gas by 2030, with most coming from fuel burned after export, according to some economists and analysts. Others predict smaller increases.
The law reinstates within 30 days the 2,700 square miles of Gulf leases that had been withheld. It ensures companies like Chevron will have the chance to expand and overrides the concerns of U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras that the government was “barreling full-steam ahead” without adequately considering global emission increases.
The measure’s importance was underscored by Chevron executives during a recent earnings call, where they predicted continued growth in the Gulf and tied that directly to being able “to lease and acquire additional acreage.”
The fossil fuel industry’s ambitions are now directly linked to wind and solar development: The bill prohibits leasing of federal lands and waters for renewable energy unless the government has offered at least 2 million acres of public land and 60 million acres in federal waters for oil and gas leasing during the prior year. The law does not require leases to be sold, only offered for sale.
The measure’s critics say that’s holding renewables hostage unless the fossil fuel industry gets its way. Some accuse Biden and Democrats of abandoning pledges to confront the industry.
“It’s 10 more years of mandatory leases,” said Brett Hartl with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We will do our damnedest, but it’s hard to fight them all.”
Communities near polluting industrial plants will continue to suffer if the oil and gas industry remains vibrant, said Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. She worries that incentives in the law for technology that captures carbon from industrial processes could also perpetuate harm to these poor, mostly minority residents.
In Louisiana’s St. James Parish, where petrochemical plants dominate the landscape, environmental justice activist Sharon Lavigne said the legislation will allow pollution from fossil fuels to keep harming her community.
“That’s just like saying they’re going to continue to poison us, going to continue to cause us cancer,” said Lavigne, a former high school teacher who founded the group Rising St. James.
The leasing provisions mark a failure in efforts by environmentalists and social justice advocates to impose a nationwide leasing ban. The movement’s high point came when Biden followed campaign pledges to end new drilling on federal lands with an order his first week in office suspending lease sales.
Republicans complained the administration still wasn’t holding enough sales even after a federal judge blocked Biden’s order. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court struck down an injunction that had blocked the leasing suspension, but the impact could be minimal because of the new law’s mandates.
A stream of potential drilling sites is crucial for companies to maintain future production because wells can take years to develop and some yield nothing, said Jim Noe, an industry lobbyist who worked with Senate staff on the climate bill’s leasing provisions.
“The industry is in constant need — almost like a treadmill — of lease sales,” said Noe, an attorney at Holland & Knight who represented offshore oil and gas companies. Noe said demand for oil and gas won’t decline immediately and Gulf drilling brings jobs and more energy security.
A United Nations report before Biden took office warned that the U.S. and other nations need to sharply decrease investments in oil, gas and coal to keep temperatures from rising more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit since pre-industrial times.
Other bill provisions that focus on renewable energy and capturing carbon dioxide from industrial plants would result in net emission reductions 10 to 50 times greater than emission increases from burning more oil and gas, analysts say.
The increase in oil and gas emissions still could be substantial — as much as 77 million to 110 million tons of additional carbon dioxide annually by 2030 from new leasing, according to economist Brian Prest with the research group Resources for the Future.
Other experts had lower projections: The San Francisco-based climate research group Energy Innovation predicted up to 55 million tons of additional carbon dioxide annually from new leasing. Researchers from Princeton and Dartmouth said the impact could be negligible or as much as 22 million tons in the U.S., plus much more abroad.
Any increase hinges on global oil and natural gas prices staying high — and that in turn depends on a range of factors including the ongoing war in Ukraine, said Robbie Orvis with Energy Innovation.
“It may increase oil and gas production somewhat, but that is very much offset by all of the other pieces of the bill,” Orvis said.
Yet there’s uncertainty about how quickly other pieces of the bill could bring emission cuts. Wind and solar construction could run into the supply chain problems hindering many economic sectors. And technology to capture and store carbon dioxide is still being refined and is in limited use.
Other provisions could make it potentially more expensive to drill on public lands and waters. There are modest increases in royalty and rental rates and a new $5-per-acre fee when companies want particular parcels offered for lease. Another fee would require companies to pay for natural gas, or methane, that enters the atmosphere as a potent greenhouse gas.
The higher costs could dampen interest among companies, said Mark Squillace, a natural resources law professor at University of Colorado Law School.
“Even though the industry is going to be getting more oil and gas leasing if they want it, it’s an interesting question: Do they want it?” Squillace asked.
(Matthew Brown & Michael Phillis, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The death toll since the rainy season kicked off in May stood at 77 people, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Abdul- Rahim, spokesman for Sudan’s National Council for Civil Defense, said.
On Monday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that more than 136,000 people have been affected by floods in the eastern Sudan and Kordofan states.
Sudan’s rainy season usually lasts until September, with floods peaking just before then.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Rescuers, who earlier reported 36 people missing, had found 18 of them by early afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said in an online update. The Wednesday night disaster affected more than 6,000 people in six villages in Qinghai province, CCTV said.
China is facing both heavy rains and flooding in some parts of the country this summer. State media have described the prolonged heat and drought as the worst since record keeping started 60 years ago.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The states and managers of affected water agencies were told to come up with plans to reduce water use drastically, by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet, by mid-August. After weeks of negotiations, which some participants say have at times grown tense and acrimonious, the parties have yet to reach an agreement.
The absence of a deal now raises the risk that the Colorado River crisis — brought on by chronic overuse and the West’s drying climate — could spiral into a legal morass.
Interior Department officials have warned that they are prepared to impose cuts if necessary to protect reservoir levels. Managers of water agencies say they have been discussing proposals and will continue to negotiate in hopes of securing enough reductions to meet the Biden administration’s demands, which would mean decreasing the total amount of water diverted by roughly 15 percent to 30 percent.
But some observers worry the talks could fail, saying they see growing potential for federal intervention, lawsuits and court battles.
“There are a lot of different interests at loggerheads. And there’s a lot to overcome, and there’s a lot of animosity,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network.
Roerink said that if the regional tensions and dividing lines continue and deepen alongside more dry winters, the Colorado River Basin seems headed for conflicts.
“It’s going to be a mess,” Roerink said. “I don’t see how we ever get over some of what I believe are irreconcilable differences among the states.”
The federal Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to hold a news conference today to present the government’s latest projections of reservoir levels, which will dictate water cuts for the Lower Basin states under a previous 2019 deal. Lake Mead and Lake Powell have fallen to record-low levels, now nearly three-fourths empty, and are projected to continue dropping.
Reclamation officials are expected to give an update on the proposals for water cuts that have been discussed. They haven’t said how they will respond to the lack of an agreement among the states.
The federal government’s call for urgent action came in a congressional hearing on June 14, when Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton announced that cuts of 2 million to 4 million acre-feet will be needed in 2023 to address declining reservoir levels. She warned that the bureau has the authority to “act unilaterally to protect the system.”
Touton called for negotiating a plan for the reductions within 60 days, a schedule that hasn’t been achieved.
The Upper Basin states have looked to the Lower Basin states, which use more water, to contribute much of the reductions. In a July 18 letter to Touton, Charles Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, said the four upper states have “limited” options available to protect reservoir levels.
Cullom wrote that “previous drought response actions are depleting upstream storage by 661,000 acre-feet,” and that the four states’ water users “already suffer chronic shortages under current conditions.”
Cullom offered a plan with various steps in the Upper Basin but said “additional efforts to protect critical reservoir elevations must include significant actions focused downstream.”
One of the entities that many water managers are looking to for major contributions is the Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies farmlands in Imperial Valley and controls the single largest share of Colorado River water.
Imperial Irrigation District board member J.B. Hamby said California’s water districts have made significant proposals laying out “where we think we can be in a very short period of time.” He declined to discuss how much water those proposals would conserve and leave in Lake Mead.
“We’re seeing different approaches from other states,” Hamby said. “The Upper Basin is not contributing anything firm whatsoever at this point, and things are still in flux with Arizona and Nevada.”
Even as the river is in a crisis that demands contributions from across the region, Hamby said, it remains “a ways from any agreements being inked.”
“Significant contributions are not really forthcoming at this time, which is unfortunate, because that’s really what’s needed in order to prevent the system from completely crashing,” Hamby said.
He said it’s especially critical to ensure Lake Mead doesn’t decline to “dead pool” levels, at which water would no longer pass through Hoover Dam to Arizona, California and Mexico.
“Everybody across the board needs to take a serious look at making contributions that, while not comfortable, are what’s necessary,” Hamby said. “Everybody needs to commit to a significant sacrifice in order to avoid having nothing at all.”
In a letter to Interior Department officials on Monday, John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said that “despite the obvious urgency of the situation, the last 62 days produced exactly nothing in terms of meaningful collective action to help forestall the looming crisis.”
Entsminger also lamented the “absence of political will to forge collective action,” saying that missing the federal government’s deadline is “doing a disservice” to everyone who relies on the Colorado River. He criticized some water users for focusing on the prices that would be paid for each acre-foot of conserved water to growers and other water users.
“The unreasonable expectations of water users, including the prices and drought profiteering proposals, only further divide common goals and interests,” Entsminger wrote.
The Colorado River has long been severely over-allocated. For decades, so much water has been diverted to supply farms and cities that the river’s delta in Mexico has dried up, leaving only remnants of its once-vast wetlands.
Since 2000, the flow of the river has shrunk dramatically during a “mega-drought” that research shows is being intensified by global warming.
Even years before the current shortage, scientists and others repeatedly alerted public officials that the overuse of the river combined with the effects of climate change would probably drain the reservoirs to perilously low levels. In recent years, researchers have warned that while dry and wet cycles will continue, the West is undergoing climate-driven aridification and will have to permanently adapt to drier conditions.
Some experts, such as former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, have said it’s time to revamp the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which divided the river among the states, because it allocated much more water than is available.
Thorny negotiations lie ahead over the next three years, when the states are due to negotiate rules for managing shortages after 2026, when the current rules expire.
For now, the immediate task facing water management officials is to find ways to rapidly reduce water use.
Congress’ newly passed Inflation Reduction Act included $4 billion to help address the Colorado River’s shortfall. Much of that money is expected to be used to pay farmers and others to voluntarily use less water. Under one proposal offered by Arizona farmers, participating growers would forgo one acre-foot of water for each acre of farmland, generating roughly 925,000 acre-feet of savings.
Funds will also be available for environmental projects, such as controlling dust and restoring habitat around the shrinking Salton Sea, which is fed by agricultural runoff in the Imperial Valley. Imperial Irrigation District officials have pointed out that water reductions will hasten the shrinking of the Salton Sea, where the retreating shorelines are already releasing lung-damaging dust, and they have demanded protection of the lake as part of any deal.
Henry Martinez, the Imperial Irrigation District’s general manager, said the talks have gone over various proposals aimed at moving toward the Bureau of Reclamation’s targets.
“It’s going to require quite a bit of cooperation for everybody to achieve that goal,” Martinez said, describing the talks as being on “unsure ground at this point.”
“We see that California has a large contribution to make,” Martinez said, but those numbers “will have to be firmed up with all the California participants and then submitted to the bureau for consideration.”
Federal officials have also been negotiating separately with Mexico.
Another major player in the talks is the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies drinking water for 19 million people. Bill Hasencamp, the MWD’s manager of Colorado River resources, said he’s hopeful the negotiations will eventually lead to a plan that meets the federal government’s goals, “maybe not next week, but at some point later this year.”
Last week, the MWD’s board held a three-hour meeting at which the district’s staff discussed the need to reduce the region’s reliance on the Colorado River.
“We are in discussions with our board about the possibility of extending mandatory conservation throughout Southern California,” Hasencamp said. The district has already ordered restrictions on outdoor watering in areas that depend on severely limited supplies from the State Water Project, which brings water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
How soon the district might adopt these additional conservation measures has yet to be decided, Hasencamp said. And once a plan is developed, he said, each member city and local water district would determine how to achieve the necessary reductions in 2023.
The negotiations that are happening now, Hasencamp said, are one step in a multiyear process of determining how the western United States lives with less water from the Colorado River. He said he hopes the states agree on a plan because the alternative would be worse.
“If the federal government does have to take unilateral action, it will likely lead to litigation, which will make it even harder to develop new guidelines for the Colorado River. So that’s a big risk,” Hasencamp said. “I think everyone would agree that a consensus-based plan is better than either the courts or the federal government taking action to determine our future.”
(Ian James, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The break was discovered early Saturday, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority, and nearly 1 million Michigan residents were initially instructed to boil water before use as a precaution.
The leak came from a 120-inch water-transmission main and was found about 1 mile west of the water-treatment facility in Lake Huron, authorities said, adding that they expected it would take about two weeks until they could return the pipeline to service.
Water flow and pressure had been restored to many communities before noon on Sunday, they said.
On Saturday afternoon, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the state’s emergency operations center to respond to the continuing water-main break, making state disaster resources available to help communities get necessities such as bottled water.
“Our top priority right now is protecting the public health and safety of Michigan residents until this water main is fixed as quickly as possible,” Whitmer said in a statement.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The continental United States in July set a record for overnight warmth, providing little relief from the day’s sizzling heat for people, animals, plants and the electric grid, meteorologists said.
The average low temperature for the Lower 48 states in July was 63.6 degrees, which beat the previous record set in 2011 by a few hundredths of a degree. The mark is not only the hottest nightly average for July, but for any month in 128 years of record keeping, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climatologist Karin Gleason. July’s nighttime low was more than 3 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
Scientists have long talked about nighttime temperatures — reflected in increasingly hotter minimum readings that usually occur after sunset and before sunrise — being crucial to health.
“When you have daytime temperatures that are at or near record high temperatures and you don’t have that recovery overnight with temperatures cooling off, it does place a lot of stress on plants, on animals and on humans,” Gleason said Friday. “It’s a big deal.”
In Texas, where the monthly daytime average high was over 100 degrees for the first time in July and the electrical grid was stressed, the average nighttime temperature was a still toasty 74.3 degrees — 4 degrees above the 20th century average.
In the past 30 years, the nighttime low in the U.S. has warmed on average about 2.1 degrees, while daytime high temperatures have gone up 1.9 degrees at the same time. For decades climate scientists have said global warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas would make the world warm faster at night and in the northern polar regions. A study earlier this week said the Arctic is now warming four times faster than the rest of the globe.
Nighttime warms faster because daytime warming helps make the air hold more moisture, then that moisture helps trap the heat in at night, Gleason said.
“So it is in theory expected and it’s also something we’re seeing happen in the data,” Gleason said.
NOAA on Friday also released its global temperature data for July, showing it was on average the sixth hottest month on record with an average temperature of 61.97 degrees, which is 1.57 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. It was a month of heat waves, including the United Kingdom breaking its all-time heat record.
“Global warming is continuing on pace,” Colorado meteorologist Bob Henson said.
(Seth Borenstein, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Japan Meteorological Agency said that Meari made landfall in Shizuoka prefecture southwest of Tokyo in the afternoon, bringing sudden heavy rains and blasting winds to a widespread area and prompting warnings about mudslides and flooding.
More than 72,000 people in the area’s main city of Shizuoka were told to evacuate due to possible landslides.
Meari, packing sustained winds of up to 45 miles per hour, passed over Shizuoka and was traveling at a speed of about 12 miles an hour. The storm was expected to continue northward before veering eastward, swinging over the Pacific Ocean by early today.
The Tokyo area was hammered by periodic downpours starting in the late morning. Warnings on high waves in coastal areas were issued for Tokyo, Kanagawa prefecture southwest of Tokyo, and other nearby areas.
The authorities warned against going near rivers and other waters, as the levels may rise suddenly. Rainfall was expected to worsen in Tokyo and areas north of Tokyo in the evening, they said. Warnings of flooding, strong winds and heavy rainfall were issued for the Tokyo area.
Japanese media reports showed video of rivers rising perilously, almost reaching bridge decks, as rain splashed down on homes and people scurried in the streets, clinging to their umbrellas.
Japan is in the middle of the Bon summer holidays and vacationers are traveling in droves, though some have had to cancel or change plans.
All Nippon Airways canceled some local flights in response to the storm. Low-cost carrier Skymark Airlines also canceled some flights. Bullet train services were delayed, and speed limits in tunnels in Shizuoka were temporarily lowered as a cautionary measure. Sections of the Tomei Expressway, which connects Tokyo with Nagoya, were temporarily blocked off because of the heavy rainfall.
Northern Japan has had some heavy rainfall lately and worries were growing about landslides. Rainfall was forecast to subside by early Sunday in the Tokyo area before hitting northeastern Japan.
The world’s third-largest economy has often seen deaths and injuries caused by seasonal storms and torrential rainfall that damage dams, blow off rooftops and bring down power lines.
(Yuri Kageyama, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tons of dead fish have been seen floating or washed ashore on the Oder’s banks over the past two weeks but the issue only erupted into a major scandal late this week.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose government is under pressure for its handling of what appears to be a major environmental catastrophe, vowed that Polish authorities would hold the perpetrators to account.
“Huge amounts of chemical waste were probably dumped in the Oder River with full awareness of the risks and consequences,” he said in a video on Facebook.
“We will not let this matter go. We will not rest until the guilty are severely punished.“ German media have reported that the poison is mercury, although this has not been officially confirmed.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The declaration came after a group of officials and experts, including the National Drought Group, met to discuss the government’s response to “the driest summer in 50 years,” the Environment Agency said in a statement. Extreme-heat warnings have also been issued for parts of southern England and Wales, just weeks after Britain withered under some of its highest temperatures on record.
“We are currently experiencing a second heat wave after what was the driest July on record for parts of the country,” Britain’s water minister, Steve Double, said in a statement released after the drought group’s meeting.
Eight parts of England are officially experiencing a drought, according to the agency, which makes the designation for each region rather than the entire country.
The declaration, signaling the first official drought in the country since 2018, will allow water companies to impose stricter conservation measures. Several water companies have temporarily banned the use of hoses to water yards and gardens and to wash vehicles.
Additional steps may include diverting more water than usual from rivers and using desalination plants in cities like London to produce more drinking water.
The Met Office, Britain’s national weather service, issued an extreme-heat warning through Sunday for much of the southern half of England and for parts of Wales.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The changes were largely attributed to shifting weather patterns across a huge swath of the northern, Alaskan and Canadian regions of the Pacific ocean and the waters off California.
The findings were published in the journal Climate Dynamics on July 17 and reflect similar and related discoveries made in recent years by other research teams.
“We’re seeing more frequent hot, dry Santa Ana winds during the winter months,” said Kristen Guirguis, a climate researcher at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and lead author of the study. “We’re distinguishing them from cold Santa Anas.”
Hot Santa Ana winds can be especially dangerous because they can rapidly dry the landscape. That represents a particular threat in places such as San Diego County, which is heavily covered with chaparral, the most flammable mix of brush land vegetation in the country.
The study also notes that changing weather patterns are warming the atmosphere, which makes some atmospheric river systems capable of holding more water, which regularly falls in heavily populated areas, contributing to mudslides, raging rivers and urban flooding.
The term atmospheric river refers to huge plumes of airborne moisture that periodically surge out of the subtropics and plow into various places on the West Coast, particularly California. These plumes enhance winter storms.
UCSD published a report in 2019 that says this phenomenon represents a billion-dollar risk in flood damages each year in the western U.S.
(Gary Robbins, SD UNION TRIBUNE)
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Scores of homes in Sanaa and the provinces of Dhamar and Ibb have completely collapsed or have been significantly damaged, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The areas are controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are at war with forces loyal to the country’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition.
Meanwhile, UNESCO on Thursday voiced concern over the impact of the rainfall on the the Old City of Sanaa, a World Heritage site, where rebels said the previous day that 10 of the city’s historic houses have fully collapsed and about 80 have been damaged by the rains.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“Since June, our country has been facing exceptional fires,” Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said Thursday during a visit to Hostens, a small town in the southwestern region of Gironde, which has endured the worst of the recent blazes.
Borne announced a reinforcement of firefighting equipment and a set of new measures to “prepare for events that we know are also linked to climate change.”
The wildfires, which have torn through several regions near the Atlantic coast and parts of the south, have resulted in a tragic repetition of the scenes observed last month, when France was first engulfed by extreme blazes. Firetrucks raced back and forth under black-and-orange skies, as water-dropping planes flew overhead. Residents frantically left their homes, dark smoke billowing in the background.
But the havoc caused by the wildfires in France is just the latest consequence of a series of heat waves that has been scorching Europe this summer, highlighting how vulnerable countries in the West are to the new reality of extreme weather as it challenges cities’ climate change mitigation plans and plagues entire regions with water shortages.
Barely three weeks after extreme temperatures first baked the continent’s capitals, shattering records in Britain, a heat wave is engulfing Europe’s west this week.
Several areas in France and Spain are under heat alerts, with parts of both countries expected to approach or exceed temperatures of around 38 degrees Celsius, or 100 degrees Fahrenheit, in the next few days. In Britain, the country’s National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning for much of the southern half of England and parts of Wales through Sunday, noting that high temperatures could disrupt travel and raise the risk of heat-related illnesses.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Over the past four decades, the region has been heating up four times faster than the global average, not the two to three times that has commonly been reported. And some parts of the region, notably the Barents Sea north of Norway and Russia, are warming up to seven times faster, they said.
One result of rapid Arctic warming is faster melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which adds to sea-level rise. But the impacts extend far beyond the Arctic, reaching down to influence weather such as extreme rainfall and heat waves in North America and elsewhere. By altering the temperature difference between the North Pole and the equator, the warming Arctic appears to have affected storm tracks and wind speed in North America.
Manvendra Dubey, an atmospheric scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, and an author of an earlier study with similar findings, said the faster rate of warming of the Arctic was worrisome, and points to the need to closely monitor the region.
“One has to measure it much better, and all the time, because we are at the precipice of many tipping points,” like the complete loss of Arctic sea ice in summers, he said.
The two studies serve as a sharp reminder that humans continue to burn fossil fuels and pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at rates that are dangerously heating the planet and unleashing extreme weather.
Weeks after a deadly heat wave clamped down on European capitals, extreme temperatures are again engulfing western Europe this week. The heaviest rainfall in decades inundated Seoul, South Korea, killing at least nine and damaging nearly 3,000 structures. The McKinney wildfire continues to rage in Northern California, killing four people and triggering a mass fish kill.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Photos and videos from the Seoul metropolitan area, home to about 25 million people, showed half-submerged cars, people walking through waist-deep water and subway stations overflowing. Eight people died in floods, landslides and other incidents, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Seven other people are missing, including four in Seoul’s Seocho district, where South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol lives.
Yoon was giving instructions remotely overnight from his high-rise apartment, which was partly flooded on the ground level, according to his office.
“Nothing is more precious than life and safety. The government will thoroughly manage the heavy rain situation with the central disaster safety measures headquarters,” Yoon wrote in a Facebook post Monday.
(WASHINGTON POST)
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The park near the California-Nevada state line received at least 1.7 inches of rain at the Furnace Creek area, which park officials in a statement said represented “nearly an entire year’s worth of rain in one morning.” The park’s average annual rainfall is 1.9 inches.
About 60 vehicles were buried in debris and about 500 visitors and 500 park workers were stranded, park officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The California Department of Transportation estimated it would take four to six hours to open a road that would allow park visitors to leave.
During Friday’s rainstorms, the “flood waters pushed dumpster containers into parked cars, which caused cars to collide into one another. Additionally, many facilities are flooded including hotel rooms and business offices,” the park statement said.
A water system that provides it for park residents and offices also failed after a line broke that was being repaired, the statement said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Four people — two men and two women — were critically hurt in the strike just before 7 p.m. in the center of the park, in a grove of trees about 100 feet southeast of the statue of Andrew Jackson, fire department spokesman Vito Maggiolo said at a news briefing Thursday night.
Among those who died were Wisconsin residents Donna Mueller, 75, a retired teacher, and her husband, James Mueller, 76, who owned a drywall business for decades before retiring, according to one of their daughters-in-law, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy.
The other person killed was a 29-year-old man, police said in announcing his death Friday afternoon. His identity was withheld pending notification of relatives.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Storms Thursday were expected to stay east of San Diego’s urban areas.
A flash-flood watch went into effect in the mountains and deserts Thursday afternoon and was extended into the evening, with up to an inch of rain per hour possible, according to the National Weather Service.
The storms are part of the monsoon that’s been leaving the region sticky and humid since last weekend. High humidity from the monsoon is expected to continue to affect the region every day through next week, Brotherton said.
Urban areas of San Diego could see storms of their own next week, said James Brotherton, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
“For the city, the best chance would be on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday,” he said.
Temperatures through the monsoonal event should remain in the 70s near the coast and 80s inland.
(Andrews Dyer, SD UNION TRIBUNE)
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“There’s more than just the normal ooze that’s coming?” asked Imperial Beach native Colette Dominguez who happened to walk by.
“It’s an active spill,” explained Wraight, a marine safety sergeant with the city’s lifeguards. “A big pipeline broke.”
Shorelines from the border up through Coronado were closed to swimming Thursday as the result of a pipeline that ruptured in Tijuana near Smuggler’s Gulch over the weekend. Sewage has been spilling over the border into the river’s estuary for days, but it’s just now making its way to the ocean and floating up the coast on surging northward currents.
The situation will likely persist into next week, when public utility workers in Baja California are expected to complete repairs, according to federal officials in San Diego.
“That pipeline handles 80 percent of the wastewater generated in Tijuana. It’s huge,” said Morgan Rogers, area operations manager at the San Diego field office of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.
More than 135 million gallons of treated and raw wastewater have spilled over the border since Saturday, with roughly 25 million to 30 million gallons more coming every day. Most of that has flowed through the Tijuana River, after the pipeline break forced officials to shut down a diversion system that pumps water out of the main concrete channel.
Another roughly 10 million gallons a day of raw sewage are being rerouted to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant along the border in San Diego. The situation is putting some strain on the plant, which is now processing more than the 25 million gallons a day that it was designed for, Rogers said.
“I think we could probably sustain 35 million gallons a day for a few weeks until the repairs are done,” he said. “We’ll probably have some cleanup in the plant to do, but no real damage.
Summertime beach closures in the South Bay have become more prevalent since county public health officials rolled out a new DNA-based test for ocean water quality in May. Beaches saw a wave of closures earlier this summer when conditions were far less severe than under the current sewage spill.
Leaders in Coronado and Imperial Beach have questioned whether the new testing is too sensitive. The county has, so far, not publicly embraced the idea of overhauling its new approach, which replaced the traditional culture method in which scientists look for bacteria growth in water samples.
The presence of bacteria is considered an indicator for pathogens, such as E. coli, Vibrio and salmonella. Exposure can result in diarrhea, fever, respiratory disease, meningitis and even paralysis.
The county started posting blue warning signs that give beachgoers discretion over whether to get in the water when bacteria levels are elevated but the presence of sewage hasn’t been confirmed.
Current beach closures can be tracked at sdbeachinfo.com.
While many residents and tourists have ignored the new blue signs, surf camps, junior lifeguard programs and several events have been closed as a result.
Still, even the yellow and red placards that went up across the South Bay this week aren’t enough to keep everyone out of the water.
The risk of illness didn’t deter Armie Ferrer, who was surfing at Imperial Beach Pier with her husband on Thursday. The 45-year-old Chula Vista resident said she relies more on her nose than any signage.
“It’s always been dirty because of the TJ sewage,” she said. “There are certain times when it’s really polluted. We base it on the water color and sometimes it has a really strong smell. Sometimes when the wave breaks, you’ll see the brownish bubbles.”
It can be hard to determine just how polluted the water is in Imperial Beach and Coronado because sewage often floats up along the coastline from a crumbling wastewater plant about 6 miles south of the border. Officials estimate the plant is spewing 25 million to 35 million gallons of mostly raw sewage into the ocean every day.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a $630 million plan to address the pollution coming from the plant and through the Tijuana River. Officials have said projects could break ground in the next three to five years.
In the meantime, Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina is pushing hard for interim fixes, especially at the aging facility in Mexico, known as the San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant.
“People are really traumatized and they’re losing hope,” he said. “We need to make some improvements here and show people that we’re actually trying.”
(Joshua Emerson Smith, SD UNION TRIBUNE)
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In the days since historic flooding swamped the Appalachian region, the availability of water surfaced as a big concern for victims after the floodwaters badly damaged water systems. As donations poured into the region, water was a main priority, along with cleaning supplies.
“We’re going to deliver water until these counties and areas beg us to stop delivering water,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. “As hot as it is, with as many systems that are out, we want a mountain of water there.”
National Guard soldiers have delivered more than 11,600 cases of water, the governor said, as intense heat and humidity added to the misery as people continued shoveling out from the wreckage left by flooding that struck in the middle of the night a week ago.
In Knott County, Kirsten Gomez said she’s going through about five cases of water daily — for drinking and for cleaning mud-caked possessions that can be salvaged.
Her doublewide trailer was badly damaged by floodwaters from nearby Troublesome Creek. She was reconnected to the local water system Wednesday, but the water was so “murky looking” that her family was only using it to wash themselves, she said.
Volunteers are driving through the area multiple times a day, dropping off cases of water and other essentials, she said.
“It looks like an assembly line, people bringing water,” Gomez said. “We try not to take as much because we know other people need it as well.”
Water service has been restored to many people in the region, the governor said. But about 13,500 service connections remained without water and another 41,000 service connections have boiled water advisories, Beshear said. Work is continuing on heavily damaged water systems, but other systems were “wiped out,” the governor said. In some areas, it could take weeks or even months to repair water systems, he said.
Water crews from across the state are assisting in the repairs, Beshear said.
Kentucky’s bourbon distillers also stepped up by sending tankers and totes of water — usually reserved for spirits — into the flood-ravaged region, said Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. Gregory said his group was working with state emergency officials to prioritize areas and coordinate deliveries.
“When Kentucky hurts, we hurt,” Gregory said. “We’re all in this together and it’s our obligation as a signature industry to step up and do whatever we can for our fellow Kentuckians.”
Beshear said a special legislative session will likely be needed to craft a relief package for the region. The governor holds the power to reconvene lawmakers for a special session.
The Democratic governor said a state relief package should include aid to repair water systems to spare ratepayers from footing the repair costs through higher water rates.
“Because otherwise, they’re going to go to ratepayers,” he said. “So people who just lost everything that are rebuilding would have their water rates just skyrocket in what it would cost.”
Damage to area schools will total at least in the tens of millions of dollars, Beshear said.
Scattered thunderstorms were moving through the area again Thursday, but most had been on the lighter side as of mid-afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Philomon Geertson said.
He said storms were expected to continue moving through overnight that had the potential to cause some isolated flash flooding. In addition, a cluster of storms have the potential to cause isolated or scattered flash flooding today, he said.
(Bruce Schreiner, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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At about 1:30 p.m. the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that homes in Lind had burned.
“At this time all residents of the town of Lind need to evacuate immediately,” the sheriff’s office said in the post.
Later Thursday, Sheriff Dale Wagner said six homes had burned as well as eight other structures. With the help of state and local resources, Wagner said the fire was starting to calm down and only the south end of town remained under evacuation orders.
“They will be fighting it through the night to make sure it doesn’t flare up anymore or get worse,” he said, adding that firefighters were dealing with high heat and windy conditions.
He said one firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and was flown to Spokane for treatment.
Lind is a community of about 500 people approximately 75 miles southwest of Spokane.
The State Fire Marshal’s office said the blaze had burned through about 2,500 acres. Homes, infrastructure and crops were threatened. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Meanwhile, in California, forecasters warned Thursday that spiking temperatures and plunging humidity levels could create conditions for further wildfire growth.
After five days of no containment, the McKinney fire in Siskiyou County near the Oregon border was 10 percent surrounded Thursday evening. Bulldozers and hand crews were making progress carving firebreaks around much of the rest of the blaze, fire officials said.
At the fire’s southeastern corner, evacuation orders for sections of Yreka, home to about 7,800 people, were downgraded to warnings, allowing residents to return home but with a caution that the situation remained dangerous.
About 1,300 people remained under evacuation orders, officials said at a community meeting Wednesday evening.
The fire didn’t advance much at midweek, following several days of brief but heavy rain from thunderstorms that provided cloudy, damper weather. But as the clouds clear and humidity levels drop in the coming days, the fire could roar again, authorities warned.
“This is a sleeping giant right now,” said Darryl Laws, a unified incident commander on the blaze.
Weekend temperatures could reach triple digits as the region dries out again, said meteorologist Brian Nieuwenhuis with the National Weather Service office in Medford, Ore.
“The heat, the dry conditions, along with afternoon breezes, that’s the kind of thing that could keep the fire pretty active,” he said Thursday.
The blaze broke out last Friday and has charred nearly 59,000 acres of forestland, left tinder-dry by drought. More than 100 homes and other buildings have burned and four bodies have been found.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The four adults were found just before 7 p.m. in the center of the park, about 100 feet from the statue of Andrew Jackson, said fire department spokesperson Vito Maggiolo.
All four people were taken to the hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.
The precise cause of their injuries remains under investigation, authorities said.
The lightning was unleashed by a severe thunderstorm that swept across Washington just before 7 p.m. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for much of the Beltway area between 6:30 and 7:15 p.m., cautioning of the threat of damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph and quarter-size hail.
Chris Vagasky, an analyst for Vaisala, which operates a national lightning network, said in a message that there was a “6 stroke flash near the White House that hit the same point on the ground” at 6:49 p.m. He explained that means six individual surges of electricity hit the same point on the ground within half a second.
Numerous storms containing lightning flared up in the region Thursday evening after temperatures soared into the mid-to-upper 90s earlier in the day, prompting a heat advisory. Heat indexes, a measure of how hot it feels factoring in humidity, reached 100 to 110 degrees.
The heat-fueled storms unleashed a wind gust to 58 mph at Reagan National Airport and toppled trees around Winchester, Columbia and Baltimore. The torrents also spurred multiple reports of flooded roads around Baltimore.
(WASHINGTON POST)
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The scope of the devastation and the conversations with people who lost everything keeps the rescuers going, said Dix, who leads the Memphis, Tenn.-based team.
“It’s a job to us, but talking to the local people, that kind of brings it down to the human level, which our guys have to deal with,” Dix said Wednesday. “You can’t just turn that switch off when you’re talking to someone who’s lost everything they had.”
Nearly a week since floodwaters consumed parts of Appalachia, rescue missions were winding down while supplies poured into what looms as a massive relief effort. Floodwaters wrecked homes and businesses, and some escaped the surging waters with only the clothes they wore.
Initial expenditures from a relief fund opened by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear were being distributed to pay funeral expenses of flood victims. The statewide death toll is 37, Beshear said.
Temperatures surged as people continued shoveling out from the wreckage. The rising heat and humidity meant heat index values were near 100 Wednesday, a steam bath that will continue through this evening, the National Weather Service said.
“The guys are tired,” Dix said from Knott County, where his crew resumed their mission on foot and boats. “So you’ve got to watch them, make sure they’re hydrated more than usual.”
That included tending to the dogs assisting the crews. The K-9s were being rotated to keep them from overheating, said Deborah Burnett, a K-9 coordinator.
“We’re splashing some water on the dogs just to keep them nice and hydrated,” she said.
Dix’s team rescued 16 people during a two-day stretch, he said. The rescued had no cell service, no electricity, no way out due to damaged roads and bridges and some were running short of food. The team reunited families, but also found two bodies.
“The area that we were in, the houses were just gone,” Dix said. “These people that have lost everything they’ve got, they still make it a point to thank us for being up here.”
More than 1,300 people were rescued and crews were still trying to reach some people cut off by floods or mudslides. About 5,000 customers still lacked electricity in eastern Kentucky, the governor said.
An outpouring of support was evident across the area. Volunteers helped remove debris from homes, while others served up meals. Beshear said it’s a time for people to lean on each other and urged them to seek help in dealing with the trauma.
“Remember, it’s OK not to be OK,” the Democratic governor said. “I don’t think our brains or hearts are designed to deal with trauma and loss at this level.”
(Bruce Schreiner & Brynn Anderson, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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At an evacuation center Wednesday, Bill Simms said that three of the four victims were his neighbors. Two were a married couple who lived up the road.
“I don’t get emotional about stuff and material things,” Simms said. “But when you hear my next-door neighbors died that gets a little emotional.”
The 65-year-old retiree bought his property six years ago as a second home with access to hunting and fishing. He said Klamath River is a place people are attracted to because they can have privacy and enjoy nature.
He went back to check on his property Tuesday and found it was destroyed.
“The house, the guest house and the RV were gone. It’s just wasteland, devastation,” Simms said. He found the body of one of his two cats, which he buried. The other cat is still missing. He was able to take his two dogs with him to the shelter.
The McKinney fire broke out Friday and was still out of control on Wednesday, despite progress by firefighters who took advantage of rain from thunderstorms and lower temperatures.
But even the welcome precipitation brought problems. On Tuesday, heavy rain swelled rivers and creeks and a private contractor in a pickup truck who was aiding the firefighting effort was hurt when a bridge gave out and washed away the vehicle, said Courtney Kreider, a spokesperson with the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. The contractor was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.
More than 100 buildings ranging from homes to sheds have burned. Identifying the four people who were killed could take several days, Kreider said.
The fire has charred nearly 58,000 acres and is the largest in California so far this year. The cause is unknown.
With the rain and cooler temperatures, the blaze grew very little and fire officials said crews used bulldozers to carve firebreaks along a ridge to protect homes and buildings in and around Yreka, which has about 7,800 residents and is the largest city in Siskiyou County.
On Wednesday, evacuation orders for residents of Yreka and Hawkinsville were downgraded to warnings, allowing people to return home. But they were warned the fire remains a threat and were urged to be ready to flee again if necessary.
Skies were mostly clear on Wednesday and temperatures were in the mid- to high 90s, baking an already parched landscape.
California and much of the rest of the West is in drought and wildfire danger is high, with the historically worst of the fire season still to come. Fires are burning in Montana, Idaho and Nebraska and have destroyed homes and threaten communities.
When it began, the McKinney fire burned just several hundred acres and firefighters thought they would quickly bring it under control. But thunderstorms came in with ferocious wind gusts that within hours had pushed it into an unstoppable conflagration.
Roger Derry, 80, and his son, Rodger, were among the few families from Klamath River whose homes were spared by the inferno. The elder Derry, who has lived in the unincorporated town for more than four decades, said the fire was terrifying.
“When that fire came over that ridgeline, it had 100-foot flames for about 5 miles and the wind was blowing. It was coming down like a solid blowtorch,” he said. “There was nothing to stop it.”
(Haven Daley & Christopher Weber, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An extreme drought has seen taps run dry across the country, with nearly two-thirds of all municipalities facing a water shortage that is forcing people in some places to line up for hours for government water deliveries.
The lack of water has grown so extreme that irate residents block highways and kidnap municipal workers to demand more supply.
The numbers underlining the crisis are startling: In July, eight of Mexico’s 32 states were experiencing extreme to moderate drought, resulting in 1,546 of the country’s 2,463 municipalities confronting water shortages, according to the National Water Commission.
By mid-July, about 48 percent of Mexico’s territory was suffering drought, according to the commission, compared with about 28 percent of the country’s territory during the same period last year.
While tying a single drought to human-caused climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that global warming can alter rainfall patterns around the world and is increasing the likelihood of droughts.
Across the border in recent years, most of the western half of the United States has been in drought, with conditions ranging from moderate to severe. For the region, this period is now the driest two decades in 1,200 years.
The crisis is particularly acute in Monterrey, Mexico’s second-largest city and one of its most important economic hubs, where the entire metropolitan area of about 5 million people is affected by drought, according to officials.
Some neighborhoods in Monterrey have been without water for 75 days, leading many schools to close before the scheduled summer break.
The situation in the city has gotten so dire, a visiting journalist could not find any drinking water for sale at several stores, including a Walmart.
Buckets, too, are scarce at local stores — or being sold at astronomically high prices — as Monterrey’s residents scrape together containers to collect water supplied by government trucks sent to the driest neighborhoods. Some residents clean out trash cans to ferry water home, children struggling to help carry what can amount to 450 pounds of water.
While Monterrey’s poorest neighborhoods are the hardest hit, the crisis is affecting everyone, including the wealthy.
“Here you have to chase the water,” said Claudia Muñiz, 38, whose household is often without running water for up to a week. “In a moment of desperation, people explode,” she said about the violence that has flared as people fight over what water there is.
Monterrey is in northern Mexico, the most parched region of the country, which has seen its population grow in recent years as the economy boomed. But the area’s typically arid weather is struggling to support the population as climate change reduces what little rainfall the region has.
Monterrey’s residents can now walk across the floor of the reservoir that was created by the Cerro Prieto dam and that was once one of the city’s largest sources of water.
The reservoir also used to be a major tourist attraction that the local government marketed for its lively waterfront restaurants and its fishing, boating and water-skiing.
Now Cerro Prieto is mostly popular because of the coins buried at the bottom of the reservoir that bakes under the sun. Residents swipe metal detectors across exposed rock and scrub, filling pouches with peso coins once tossed in by visitors as they made a wish.
Along with the Cerro Prieto reservoir, a seven-year drought — interrupted only by strong rains in 2018, according to a local official — has also dried up water along two other dams that provide most of Monterrey’s water supply. One dam reached 15 percent of its capacity this year, while the other reached 42 percent. The rest of the city’s water comes from aquifers, many of which are also running low.
The amount of rain in July in parts of the state of Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas and whose capital is Monterrey, was just 10 percent of the monthly average recorded since 1960, according to Juan Ignacio Barragán Villarreal, the general director of the city’s water agency.
“In March, it did not rain a single drop in the entire state,” he said, adding that it was the first rain-free March since the government started keeping records in 1960.
Today, the government distributes a total of 9 million liters of water daily to 400 neighborhoods. Every day “pipas,” large trucks filled with water and pipes for distribution, fan out across Monterrey and its suburbs to tend to the needs of the driest neighborhoods, often illegal settlements that are home to the poorest residents.
Alejandro Casas, a water truck driver, has been working for the government for five years and said that when he started, he supported the city’s firefighters and was called perhaps once or twice a month to deliver water to a fire scene. His workdays were often spent staring at his phone.
But since Monterrey’s water shortage became so acute that taps started running dry in January, he now works every day, making up to 10 daily trips to various neighborhoods to supply about 200 families with water with each trip.
By the time Casas arrives, a long queue snakes through neighborhood streets with people waiting their turn. Some families carry containers that can hold 200 liters, or 53 gallons, and wait in the sun throughout the afternoon before finally receiving water at midnight.
The water he delivers can be all the family gets for up to a week.
No one polices the lines so fights break out, as residents from other communities try to sneak in instead of waiting for trucks to reach their neighborhood days later. Residents are allowed to take home as much water as their containers are able to hold.
In May, Casas’ truck was stormed by several young men who got into the passenger seat and threatened him as he was delivering water to the San Ángel neighborhood.
“They spoke to me with a very threatening tone,” Casas said, explaining that they demanded he drive the truck to their neighborhood to distribute water. “They told me that if we don’t go to where they wanted, they were going to kidnap us.”
Casas headed to the other neighborhood, filled residents’ buckets and was set free.
Edgar Ruiz, another government water truck driver, has also seen the crisis worsen. Starting in January he has delivered water from the wells the government controls and has watched nervously each week as their levels plunge.
“In January, I distributed two or three pipes,” he said, referring to individual water tanks that can carry up to 15,000 liters.
“Now I distribute 10, and they have hired many more people” to drive water trucks. Neighboring states have also sent drivers and trucks to help out.
He now fears doing his job. Residents used to be grateful when they saw his water truck entering their neighborhood; now they are irate the government has not been able to fix the water shortage.
“They stoned a water truck,” he said.
María De Los Ángeles, 45, was born and raised in Cienega de Flores, a town near Monterrey. She says the water crisis is straining her family and her business.
“I have never experienced a crisis like this before,” De Los Ángeles said. “The water only comes through our taps every four or five days.”
The crisis, she said, is pushing her into bankruptcy — a garden nursery she owns is her family’s only source of livelihood and needs more water than can be provided by the occasional water that flows through her home’s taps.
“I have to buy a water tank every week that costs me 1,200 pesos,” equal to $60, from a private supplier, she said. That consumes about half of her weekly income of $120.
“We can’t handle it anymore,” De Los Ángeles said.
Small-business owners like De Los Ángeles are frustrated that they are left to fend for themselves while Monterrey’s big industries are largely able to operate normally.
Factories are able to draw 50 million cubic meters of water per year because of federal concessions that give them special access to the city’s aquifers.
The government is struggling to respond to the crisis.
To try to mitigate future shortages, the state is investing about $97 million to build a plant to treat wastewater and plans to buy water from a desalination plant under construction in a neighboring state.
The government has spent about $82 million to rent more trucks to distribute water, pay additional drivers and dig more wells, according to Barragán, the general director of the water agency.
The governor of Nuevo Leon state, Samuel García, recently urged the world to act together to tackle climate change because it was beyond the capacity of any single government to confront.
“The climate crisis has caught up to us,” García wrote on Twitter.
“Today we have to take care of the environment, it is life or death.”
(Maria Abi-Habib & Bryan Avelar, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Stephen Bowling, director of the Breathitt County Public Library in Jackson, Ky., said he could see it as soon as patrons walked in the door.
“Right now, what we’re still seeing on the faces and voices of people coming in is total shock,” said Bowling, who is also the Jackson city historian. Patrons were coming in to use the library’s Internet connection to file claims with FEMA, Bowling said, and some were looking for books and DVDs to “try to think about something else for a while.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday afternoon that the search and rescue operation was winding down. “We’re not getting any more reports of stranded individuals, and we’re transitioning into recovery,” said Brett Howard, who is overseeing recovery efforts for the agency.
Eastern Kentucky dodged what had been predicted to be heavy rain overnight into Tuesday morning, as the storms shifted westward instead. But flood advisories were still in effect for several rivers in the state, the National Weather Service said, and rain could return Thursday into Friday — unwelcome news for a water-soaked state that registered some of the worst flooding in its history after heavy rainfall caused floods and mudslides last week.
Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for across eastern Kentucky. Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll remained at 37 as of Tuesday morning but he expected that number to grow. More than 1,300 people have been rescued, he added.
The rain had largely moved out of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia on Tuesday morning, giving way to drier conditions through Tuesday afternoon, meteorologists said, and introducing the next weather challenge: heat.
A heat advisory was issued from midday today until Thursday evening, with heat index readings expected to approach triple digits, the National Weather Service said. Beshear said about 7,500 power outages remained in eastern Kentucky as of Tuesday afternoon, and cooling centers were being opened.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Search teams discovered the additional bodies Monday at separate residences along state Route 96, one of the only roads in and out of the remote region near the state line with Oregon, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“This brings the confirmed fatality number to four,” the sheriff’s statement said. “At this time there are no unaccounted for persons.” Other details were not immediately disclosed.
Sheriff’s officials said two bodies were also found found Sunday inside a charred vehicle in the driveway of a home near the tiny unincorporated community of Klamath River, which was largely destroyed in the McKinney fire.
The fire jumped the Klamath River over the weekend and raged through the tiny community of about 200, destroying many of the homes along with the post office, community hall and other scattered businesses.
“When that fire came over that ridgeline, it had 100-foot flames for about 5 miles and the wind was blowing. It was coming down like a solid blowtorch. There was nothing to stop it,” said Roger Derry, whose home was among a handful that survived.
“It’s very sad. It’s very disheartening,” said his father, whose name is spelled Rodger Derry. “Some of our oldest homes, 100-year-old homes, are gone. It’s a small community. Good people, good folks, for the most part, live here and in time will rebuild. But it’s going to take some time now.”
More than 100 homes, sheds and other buildings have burned in the McKinney fire since it erupted last Friday. The blaze remained out of control, authorities said.
Thunderstorms dumped some much-needed rain on Monday and into Tuesday even as temperatures hit the 90s Fahrenheit and the brush, fields and forest remained generally bone-dry.
But the storms also meant a threat of lightning strikes that already sparked several small blazes and the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch through late Tuesday night because of concerns that heavy rain could send rocks, mud and water pouring down the fire-scorched slopes.
In addition, the moisture and storms were “creating an unstable atmosphere which may make firefighting conditions much more hazardous with wind speeds potentially reaching 50 mph during those storms,” fire officials said.
The Northern California wildfire has burned more than 56,000 acres, and is the largest of several wildfires burning in the Klamath National Forest.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky confirmed Monday that the death toll from last week’s floods had risen to 37, but warned that countless people were still missing. “There are hundreds of unaccounted for people, minimum,” he said at a news briefing.
The governor emphasized that responders were still in the search-and-rescue phase, but that the operation was exceedingly difficult because of impassable roads and washed-out bridges.
Last week’s catastrophic flooding, and the mudslides that followed, left some of these communities all but isolated from the outside world, doubly so given that cellphone service has been down in so many places.
The storms that came in Sunday night into Monday, running off already saturated soils, only made things worse.
Even aside from the storms, there were concerns about the sweltering days ahead, given that around 11,000 customers were still without power and more than twice that number were without water.
Cleaning was the herculean task that lay before the exhausted citizens of Whitesburg, a town of roughly 2,000 people that hugs the Kentucky River.
“It’s watching people pick up everything they worked for their whole lives,” said Kristie Profitt. Profitt’s house on Highway 7 had been her grandmother’s.
Now, she was dreading going through the house, confirming what she feared was lost when water as high as her waist surged through: the oak bed that had been in the family for generations; the Bible that had belonged to her grandmother, who had died last November.
“It’s just hard to see the history having to be torn down,” she said, “and history being floated away and set out for trash.”
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday the designation of heat-related death is preliminary and requires further investigation.
Multnomah County, which is home to Portland, recorded seven deaths suspected to be related to heat, the highest of any Oregon county.
Seattle set a record for its longest stretch with highs at or above 90 degrees on record. The previous record was a tie between two five-day spans in 2015 and 1981. It hit 94 degrees on Tuesday, 91 on Wednesday, 94 on Thursday and Friday and 95 on Saturday and Sunday.
Portland also experienced a record stretch of exceptional heat, with a full week of consecutive days at or above 95 degrees that ended Sunday.
The previous record-holder was a tie between a six-day span in 1941 and another in 1981. The city’s average July high is 81.8 degrees, and yet three days between July 25 and the end of the month reached the century mark.
In Medford, Ore., it got as hot as 114 degrees, just 1 degree from its all-time high. Tri-Cities Airport near Kennewick, Wash., managed a high of 110 degrees on Thursday, 112 on Friday and 109 degrees Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for both the Portland and Seattle regions lasting through late Sunday evening. Temperatures started to cool off on Monday as colder air from the Pacific blew in.
Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.
Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following last summer’s deadly “heat dome” weather phenomenon that prompted record temperatures and deaths.
About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia during that heat wave, which hit in late June and early July 2021. The temperature hit an all-time high of 116 in Portland.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Hot and gusty weather and lightning storms threatened to boost the danger that the fires will keep growing.
The McKinney fire in Northern California near the state line with Oregon exploded in size to nearly 56,000 acres after erupting Friday in the Klamath National Forest, firefighting officials said.
It is California’s largest wildfire of the year so far, and officials have not yet determined the cause.
The vehicle and the bodies were found Sunday morning in the driveway of a residence near the remote community of Klamath River, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Nearly 5,000 homes and other structures were threatened and an unknown number of buildings have burned, said Adrienne Freeman, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service.
The smoky blaze cast an eerie, orange-brown hue in one neighborhood where a brick chimney stood surrounded by rubble and scorched vehicles on Sunday. Flames torched trees along state Route 96 and raced through hillsides in sight of homes.
Valerie Linfoot’s son, a fire dispatcher, called to tell her their family home of three decades in Klamath River had burned.
Linfoot said her husband worked as a U.S. Forest Service firefighter for years and the family did everything they could to prepare their house for a wildfire — including installing a metal roof and trimming trees and tall grasses around the property.
“It was as safe as we could make it, and it was just so dry and so hot and the fire was going so fast,” Linfoot told the Bay Area News Group. She said her neighbors have also lost homes.
“It’s a beautiful place. And from what I’ve seen, it’s just decimated. It’s absolutely destroyed,” she told the news group.
Firefighting crews on the ground were trying to prevent the blaze from moving closer to the town of Yreka, population about 7,500. The blaze was about 4 miles away as of Monday.
A second, smaller fire in the region that was sparked by dry lightning Saturday threatened the tiny California community of Seiad Valley.
Freeman said “there has been significant damage and loss along the Highway 96 corridor” that runs parallel to the Klamath River and is one of the few roads in and out of the region.
Erratic storms were expected to move through Northern California again on Monday with lightning that threatened to spark new fires in bone-dry vegetation, forecasters said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The state has also been a major oil and gas producer for more than a century, and authorities are well aware some 35,000 old, inactive oil and gas wells perforate the landscape.
Yet officials with the agency responsible for regulating greenhouse gas emissions say they don’t include methane that leaks from these idle wells in their inventory of the state’s emissions.
Ira Leifer, a University of California Santa Barbara scientist said the lack of data on emissions pouring or seeping out of idle wells calls into question the state’s ability to meet its ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.
Residents and environmentalists from across the state have been voicing concern about the possibility of leaking idle or abandoned wells for years, but the concerns were heightened in May and June when 21 idle wells were discovered to be leaking methane in or near two Bakersfield neighborhoods. They say that the leaking wells are “an urgent public health issue,” because when a well is leaking methane, other gases often escape too.
Leifer said these “ridealong” gases were his biggest concern with the wells.
“Those other gases have significant health impacts,” Leifer said, yet we know even less about their quantities than we do about the methane.
In July, residents who live in the communities nearest the leaking wells protested at the California Geologic Management Division’s field offices, calling for better oversight.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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As residents in Appalachia tried to slowly piece their lives back together, flash flood warnings were issued for at least eight eastern Kentucky counties. The National Weather Service said radar indicated up to 4 inches of rain fell Sunday in some areas, with more rain possible.
Beshear said the death toll climbed to 28 on Sunday from last week’s storms, a number he expected to rise significantly and that it could take weeks to find all the victims.
Thirty-seven people were unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continued early Sunday, according to a daily briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A dozen shelters were open for flood victims in Kentucky with 388 occupants.
Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau, told The Associated Press about 400 people have been rescued by National Guard helicopter. He estimated that the guard had rescued close to 20 by boat from hard-to-access areas.
At a news conference in Knott County, Beshear praised the fast arrival of FEMA trailers but noted the numerous challenges.
“We have dozens of bridges that are out — making it hard to get to people, making it hard to supply people with water,“ he said. “We have entire water systems down that we are working hard to get up.”
Beshear said it will remain difficult, even a week from now, to “have a solid number on those accounted for. It’s communications issues — it’s also not necessarily, in some of these areas, having a firm number of how many people were living there in the first place.”
The governor also talked about the selflessness he’s seen among Kentucky residents suffering from the floods.
“Many people that have lost everything but they’re not even getting goods for themselves, they’re getting them for other people in their neighborhoods, making sure that their neighbors are OK,” Beshear said.
Among the stories of survival that continue to emerge, a 17-year-old girl whose home in Whitesburg was flooded Thursday put her dog in a plastic container and swam 70 yards to safety on a neighbor’s roof. Chloe Adams waited hours until daylight before a relative in a kayak arrived and moved them to safety, first taking her dog, Sandy, and then the teenager.
“My daughter is safe and whole tonight,” her father, Terry Adams, said in a Facebook post. “We lost everything today. Everything except what matters most.”
On an overcast morning in downtown Hindman, about 200 miles southeast of Louisville, a crew cleared debris piled along storefronts. Nearby, a vehicle was perched upside down in Troublesome Creek, now back within its debris-littered banks.
President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The McKinney fire was burning out of control in Northern California’s Klamath National Forest, with expected thunderstorms a big concern Sunday just south of the Oregon state line, said U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman.
“The fuel beds are so dry and they can just erupt from that lightning,” Freeman said. “These thunder cells come with gusty erratic winds that can blow fire in every direction.”
The blaze burned 52,498 acres just two days after erupting in a largely unpopulated area of Siskiyou County, according to a Sunday incident report. The cause was under investigation.
The blaze torched trees along California Highway 96, and the scorched remains of a pickup sat in a lane of the highway. Thick smoke covered the area and flames burned through hillsides in sight of homes. The fire Sunday cast an eerie, orange-brown hue, in one neighborhood where a brick chimney stood surrounded by rubble and scorched vehicles.
A second, smaller fire just to the west that was sparked by dry lightning Saturday threatened the tiny town of Seiad, Freeman said. About 400 structures were under threat from the two California fires. Authorities have not confirmed the extent of the damage yet, saying assessments would begin when it was safe to reach the area.
A third fire, which was on the southwest end of the McKinney blaze, prompted evacuation orders for around 500 homes Sunday, said Courtney Kreider, a spokesperson with the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. The office said crews had been on the scene of the fire since late Saturday but that the fire Sunday morning “became active and escaped its containment line.”
Several people in the sheriff’s office have been affected by evacuation orders due to the fires “and they’re still showing up to work so, (a) very dedicated crew,” she said. A deputy lost his childhood home to fire on Friday, she said.
The McKinney fire “remains 0% contained,” the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post late Sunday night.
As the fire threatened, some residents chose to stay behind while others heeded orders to leave.
Larry Castle and his wife, Nancy, were among about 2,000 residents of the Yreka area under evacuation orders. They left Saturday with some of their prized possessions, including Larry’s motorcycle, and took their dogs to stay with their daughter near Mount Shasta.
Larry Castle said he wasn’t taking any chances after seeing the explosive growth of major fires in recent years.
“You look back at the Paradise fire and the Santa Rosa fire and you realize this stuff is very, very serious,” he told the Sacramento Bee.
In northwest Montana, a fire sparked in grasslands near the town of Elmo had grown to about 11,000 acres after advancing into forest. Crews were working along edges of the fire Sunday, and aircraft were expected to continue to make water and retardant drops to help slow the fire’s advance, said Sara Rouse, a spokesperson with the interagency team assigned to the fire. High temperatures and erratic winds were expected, she said.
A section of Highway 28 between Hot Springs and Elmo that had been closed was reopened with drivers asked to watch for fire and emergency personnel. Visibility in the area was poor, Rouse said.
In Idaho, the Moose fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest has burned on more than 48,000 in timbered land near the town of Salmon. It was 21 percent contained by Sunday morning. Pila Malolo, planning operations section chief on the fire, said in a Facebook video update that hot, dry conditions were expected to persist Sunday. Officials said they expected fire growth in steep, rugged country on the fire’s south side.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday as the McKinney fire intensified. The proclamation allows Newsom more flexibility to make emergency response and recovery effort decisions and access federal aid.
California law enforcement knocked on doors in the towns of Yreka and Fort Jones to urge residents to get out and safely evacuate their livestock onto trailers. Automated calls were being sent to land phone lines as well because there were areas without cellphone service.
Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
The Pacific Coast Trail Association urged hikers to get to the nearest town while the U.S. Forest Service closed a 110-mile section of the trail from the Etna Summit to the Mt. Ashland Campground in southern Oregon.
And in north Texas, firefighters continued in their effort to contain the 2-week-old Chalk Mountain fire. The crews now report 83 percent containment of the fire that has destroyed 16 homes and damaged five others about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. No injuries have been reported.
(Noah Berger, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The measure combines 49 separate bills and would increase firefighter pay and benefits; boost resiliency and mitigation projects for communities affected by climate change; protect watersheds; and make it easier for wildfire victims to get federal assistance.
“Across America the impacts of climate change continue to worsen, and in this new normal, historic droughts and record-setting wildfires have become all too common,” said Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., the bill’s chief co-sponsor. Colorado has suffered increasingly devastating wildfires in recent years, including the Marshall fire last year that caused more than $513 million in damage and destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and structures in Boulder County.
The bill was approved 218-199 as firefighters in California battled a blaze that forced evacuation of thousands of people near Yosemite National Park and crews in North Texas sought to contain another.
One Republican, Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, voted in favor of the bill, while Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader was the only Democrat to oppose it.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has sponsored a similar bill.
Both the House and Senate bills would permanently boost pay and benefits for federal wildland firefighters. President Joe Biden signed a measure last month giving them a hefty raise for the next two years, a move that affects more than 16,000 firefighters and comes as much of the West braces for another difficult wildfire season.
Pay raises for the federal firefighters had been included in last year’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, but the money was held up as federal agencies studied recruitment and retention data to decide where to deliver them. The raise approved by Biden was retroactive to Oct. 1, 2021, and expires Sept. 30, 2023.
The House bill would make the pay raises permanent and sets minimum pay for federal wildland firefighters at $20 per hour. It also raises eligibility for hazardous-duty pay and boosts mental health and other services for firefighters.
“The West is hot — hotter than ever — it is dry and when it is windy, the West is on fire,” said Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash. “And we are seeing this every year because of climate change. That’s why this bill is so important.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the bill “a major victory for Californians — and for the country.”
The bill would deliver “urgently needed resources” to combat fires and droughts, “which will only increase in frequency and intensity due to the climate crisis,” Pelosi said. The bill includes $500 million to preserve water levels in key reservoirs in the drought-stricken Colorado River and invest in water recycling and desalination.
Republicans denounced the measure as “political messaging,“ noting that firefighters’ hourly pay has already been increased above $20 in most cases. The House bill does not appropriate additional money for the Forest Service or other agencies, and without such an increase, the Forest Service says it would have to lay off about 470 wildland firefighters.
Besides boosting firefighter pay, the bill enhances forest management projects intended to reduce hazardous fuels such as small trees and underbrush that can make wildfires far more dangerous. It also establishes grant programs to help communities affected by air pollution from wildfires and improve watersheds damaged by wildfire.
(Matthew Daly, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Authorities warned that the death toll would likely grow sharply as search efforts continued. The rain let up early Friday morning after some areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches over 48 hours, but some waterways were not expected to crest until today and more storms were forecast to roll through the region early next week.
It’s the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have hammered parts of the U.S. this summer, including St. Louis earlier this week and again on Friday. Scientists warn that climate change is making weather disasters more common.
Water poured down hillsides and into Appalachian valleys and hollows, where it swelled creeks and streams coursing through small towns. The torrent engulfed homes and businesses and trashed vehicles. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes.
Rescue teams backed by the National Guard used helicopters and boats to search for the missing. But some areas remained inaccessible and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at least six children were among the victims and that the death toll could more than double as rescue teams reach more areas. It could take weeks to account for all victims, he said.
At least 33,000 utility customers were without power. The flooding extended into western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic.
“There are hundreds of families that have lost everything,” Beshear said. “And many of these families didn’t have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But we’re going to be there for them.”
President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed an officer to coordinate the recovery.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than 30 people died in two villages, northwest and northeast of Tehran, after the monsoon dumped heavy rains that triggered mudslides there, the report said. Almost two dozen people died in eight other provinces, and 21 out of Iran’s 31 provinces were affected by the heavy rains.
There were fears the death toll could rise even further as at least 16 people remained missing and more bodies were being uncovered after the rains abated.
The report said military personnel had joined rescue efforts and were helping transfer thousands from remote areas to safer places.
This week’s storm is the deadliest among Iran’s rain-related incidents in the last decade.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“We’re expecting some ... between Friday night and Monday morning,” said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster. “Lightning could appear in San Diego, or farther up the coast, or in places like El Cajon and Escondido.”
Although the chances of lightning aren’t super high, forecasters always cite such figures because thunderstorms pose a public safety hazard. And there are a lot of large outdoor events this weekend, including a three-game home stand at Petco Park, where the Padres will host the Minnesota Twins.
There also will be horse racing at Del Mar and the opening of the Ramona Country Fair.
Forecasters say people who plan to be in wide open places, such as a golf course, should go inside immediately if they hear thunder.
The weather service says the chance of lightning on Saturday and Sunday is 20 percent to 30 percent in the valleys, 35 percent to 45 percent in the mountains, and 25 percent to 35 percent in the deserts.
Thunderstorms increase the risk of wildfire, especially in East County, where the chaparral is drier than it has been in years.
Since the rainy season began on Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport has received 6.08 inches of precipitation, which is 64 percent of normal. Ramona Airport has recorded 9.47 inches, which is 67 percent of normal.
Temperatures will be in low 90s today through Sunday in El Cajon and the low 100s in Borrego Springs.
San Diego will be 73 today, 75 on Saturday and 76 on Sunday. A patchy marine layer has kept the coast cooler than average throughout most of July.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The farmers had taken shelter under trees during a drenching monsoon rain when they were struck by lightning Tuesday and died instantly. The victims included four members of a family and some cattle grazers near the city of Kaushambi, according to police officer Hem Raj Meena.
The high death toll has prompted the government to issue new guidelines for how people can protect themselves during a lightning storm, said state government spokesperson Shishir Singh.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, confirmed in a video Thursday evening that the death toll had risen to eight from three.
“This is an ongoing disaster that continues to put people into danger,” Beshear said. “It looks like we will have more rain tonight that may worsen the situation in many places.”
High water and strong currents were making it difficult to rescue people, he said. So far, he said, about 30 people have been airlifted to safety.
“There are a lot of people out there still in danger that need your prayers,” he added.
Hours earlier, the governor told state residents to prepare for loss of life as a result of flooding that inundated homes and turned roads and highways into rushing rivers.
Beshear said on Twitter late Thursday that he had asked President Joe Biden for federal help with recovery efforts. He also established a state flood relief fund to help those affected by the floods.
Beshear also said earlier that “a number of people” were unaccounted for, and others were waiting to be rescued from rooftops. More than 25,000 residents were without power, and cellphone service was down in some areas, he said.
The scenes of flooding in Kentucky came just two days after record rainfall drenched parts of the St. Louis region with up to 1 foot of rain that quickly flooded interstates and neighborhoods.
While a variety of factors contribute to flooding, researchers expect that, as the climate warms, flash floods will increase and get “flashier,” meaning their duration will shorten as their magnitude increases. Severe flash floods can be more dangerous and destructive.
“I believe climate change is real,” Beshear told reporters. “I believe that it is causing more severe weather. With that said, I don’t know about this one and whether it is or is not connected, and I don’t want to cheapen or politicize what these folks are going through.”
Beshear declared a state of emergency in eastern Kentucky. The flooding was a “dynamic and ongoing” situation, he said, adding that the water had yet to recede or even crest in many areas.
Beshear said that the emergency declaration would “unlock resources” to help those who had been affected by the flooding. “Massive property damage” was expected, with hundreds likely to lose their homes, he said.
After a lull in the rain during the day, scattered showers and thunderstorms, with the potential for heavy rain, were expected Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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“We warmed up the forecast for the latter part of this week,” said David Bishop, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Portland, Ore. His office is now forecasting up to 101 degrees Fahrenheit for today, Friday and Saturday.
Portland already hit 102 degrees on Tuesday, a new record daily high, prompting the National Weather Service to extend the excessive heat warning for the city from Thursday through Saturday evening.
Seattle on Tuesday also reported a new record daily high of 94 degrees.
The duration of the heat wave puts Oregon’s biggest city on course to tie its longest streak of six consecutive days of 95 degrees or higher.
Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.
Heat-related 911 calls in Portland have tripled in recent days, from an estimated eight calls on Sunday to 28 calls on Tuesday, said Dan Douthit, a spokesperson for the city’s Bureau of Emergency Management. Most calls involved a medical response, Douthit added.
Multnomah County, which includes Portland, said there has been an uptick in the number of people visiting emergency departments for heat-related symptoms.
Emergency department visits “have remained elevated since Sunday,” the county said in a statement. “In the past three days, hospitals have treated 13 people for heat illness, when they would normally expect to see two or three.”
People working or exercising outside, along with older people, were among those taken to emergency departments, the statement added.
People in Portland’s food cart industry are among those who work outside. Many food trucks have shut down as sidewalks sizzle.
Farther south, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory on Wednesday for western Nevada and northeast California that is set to last from late this morning until Saturday night. Across the region, near-record daytime high temperatures will range from 99 to 104 degrees.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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“This is pretty hot,” Carr said. “I can just take my uniform off, jump in there with my shorts for my break, and hang out for a good 10 or 15 minutes.”
Temperatures soared to 102 degrees Fahrenheit in Oregon’s largest city on Tuesday, which is expected to be the hottest day of a scorching spell that will be unusually long for this part of the United States. It was also a new daily record for the city for July 26, besting the previous mark set in 2020.
Seattle also reported a new record daily high of 94 degrees, breaking the previous record of 92 degrees from 2018, according to the National Weather Service.
Elsewhere in Washington state, record daily temperatures were also registered in Bellingham and the capital Olympia, which experienced 90 degrees and 97 degrees, respectively.
Oregon health officials said there has been an uptick in the number of people reporting heat-related illness in emergency departments, and the number of those calling emergency services numbers for similar symptoms.
“Heat-related illness daily visits are above expected levels statewide,” said Jonathan Modie, lead communications officer at the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division. He said there were 32 such visits to emergency departments on Monday compared with three to five per day before the heat wave began.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency across much of the state, warning the extreme temperatures may cause utility outages and transportation disruptions.
Portland officials have opened cooling centers in public buildings and installed misting stations in parks. TriMet, which operates public transportation in the Portland metropolitan area, will allow passengers who cannot afford fares to ride for free when heading to cooling centers.
As the northwestern U.S. heated up, the hot spell on the East Coast appeared to have broken, with few areas east of the Mississippi River under heat advisories Tuesday.
Philadelphia hit 99 degrees Sunday before factoring in humidity. Newark, N.J., marked five consecutive days of 100 degrees or higher, the longest such streak since records began in 1931. Boston also hit 100 degrees, surpassing the previous daily record high of 98 degrees set in 1933. On Tuesday, highs peaked in the 80s in New York and Boston.
While temperatures this week are not expected to get as high as last year’s record-setting 116 degrees in Portland during a heat wave in which about 800 people in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia died, the anticipated number of consecutive hot days has raised concerns among officials.
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for large swaths of Oregon and Washington state, including Portland and Seattle, out of concern that nighttime temperatures won’t help residents to sufficiently cool off.
Officials in Seattle and Portland have also issued air quality advisories through Saturday.
(Claire Rush, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The agency said the temblor happened shortly before sunrise at El Sauzal, a tiny community northwest of Ensenada in Mexico. It appears to have occurred on the Aqua Blanca fault, an 80-mile-long system that can produce quakes in the 7.0 range.
“This is probably just a garden variety 4.3 quake,” said Tom Rockwell, a seismologist at San Diego State University. “But that fault is known to produce big ones every 700 to 800 years.” The last big shaker happened more than 300 years ago.
The USGS said Monday’s quake was felt in Chula Vista, San Diego, Encinitas, Oceanside and San Marcos.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Crews “made good headway” against the Oak fire, according to a Sunday night incident report by Cal Fire. “Fire activity was not as extreme as it has been in previous days.”
But smoke from the fire drifted more than 200 miles, reaching Lake Tahoe, parts of Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area, officials said.
“It’s been just horrendous with the air quality,” said Kim Zagaris, an adviser with the Western Fire Chiefs Association, which maps wildfires across the country.
More than 2,500 firefighters with aircraft support were battling the blaze that erupted Friday southwest of the park, near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County. Officials described “explosive fire behavior” on Saturday as flames made runs through bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades.
By Monday morning, the blaze had consumed more than 26 square miles [16,600 acres] of forest land, with 10 percent containment, Cal Fire said. The cause was under investigation.
Firefighters working in steep terrain on the ground protected homes on Sunday as air tankers dropped retardant on 50-foot flames racing along ridgetops east of the tiny community of Jerseydale. Personnel face tough conditions that include steep terrain, sweltering temperatures and low humidity, Cal Fire said.
There are two major blazes burning in California, which is experiencing a fairly typical ramp-up to what is sure to be an active fire year once California’s infamous Santa Ana and Diablo wind events begin in September, Zagaris said.
“We’ve been fortunate. We’re not quite as far along as we were at this time last year,” he said. “But the fuels, the vegetation, are much dryer than they were last year. It’s so dry out there.”
Zagaris compared the wildfires in California this year to 2008, when few blazes burned early but a midsummer barrage of lightning hit the state “and before we knew it there were 2,000 fires burning in the northern part of the state.”
Evacuations were in place Monday for over 6,000 people living in the fire zone in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Japan’s Meteorological Agency said Sakurajima volcano erupted at around 8:05 p.m., blowing off large rocks as far as 1.5 miles away in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima.
Footage on Japan’s NHK public television showed orange flames flashing near the crater and dark smoke and ash billowing from the mountaintop.
“We will put the people’s lives first and do our utmost to assess the situation and respond to any emergency,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told reporters. He called on residents in the area to pay close attention to updates from local authorities.
The agency said it has raised the eruption alert to the highest level of five and about 120 residents in two towns facing the volcano were advised to leave their homes.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Other parts of the country also sweltered, with Oklahoma enduring temperatures that have topped 100 degrees in nine of the past 11 days.
The baking heat underscored the sobering reality that such dangerous temperatures are becoming a summertime norm for the United States and elsewhere, with heat waves, wildfires and droughts disrupting day-to-day life across the globe.
Heat waves in the United States jumped from an average of two per year in the 1960s to six per year by the 2010s. The last seven years have been the warmest in the history of accurate worldwide records.
The Northeast heat surge, which hit some of the country’s most densely populated corridors, sent residents scrambling for relief. In New York City, temperatures stayed just shy of record highs Sunday afternoon, hitting 94 in Central Park, as lines formed at the city’s pools, despite many facing lifeguard shortages.
William Jimenez, 59, brought his 13-year-old son to the Crotona Park pool in the New York City borough of the Bronx early in the day, knowing that the spot would be mobbed later.
“The weather is getting hotter and hotter,” he said. “The best thing is to be in the pool and the park.”
In Newark, the temperature reached 102 degrees, a record for the date and the fifth day of above 100-degree readings, the longest recorded streak for the city. Providence hit 98 degrees, breaking its previous record of 94 in 1987, and Boston reached 100 degrees, breaking its earlier record of 98 in 1933. Philadelphia hit 99, breaking its record of 98 from 2011, and Manchester recorded a temperature of 97, topping its previous high on the day of 95.
From Boston to Philadelphia to St. Louis, major cities declared heat emergencies and advisories that lasted throughout the weekend, some triggering services to keep residents cool, like opening libraries as cooling centers. In Washington, D.C., where temperatures hovered in the 90s, officials extended opening hours for some of the city’s pools, and Kansas City, Mo., released tips on Twitter for residents to keep heat from damaging the foundations of their homes.
Philadelphia, which declared a heat emergency starting Thursday, halted a plan to shut off water to customers with delinquent bills, citing the heat wave.
Terry Greene, 62, said he used to enjoy the Washington heat but has grown grateful for air conditioning at the church where he is employed as a maintenance worker.
“If I’m going to be working outside, I just prepare for it. I know to come early in the morning,” Greene said.
In Boston, race organizers postponed the city’s annual triathlon. In New York, organizers shortened a similar race to account for the temperatures; the water temperature soared to nearly 80 degrees when the race started around dawn.
In New York City, Allan Drury, a spokesperson for Con Edison, said that this past week represented the peak demand of electricity all summer.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The Oak fire started Friday near Midpines and had grown to more than 15,600 acres as of Sunday night, making it California’s largest blaze so far this season and prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency for Mariposa County.
Although not as large or destructive as the August Complex fire in 2020 or the Dixie fire in 2021, experts worry the Oak fire is the start to what could be a particularly difficult wildfire season in California.
A combination of climate change, intense drought and overgrown vegetation over the last several decades has increased the likelihood of devastating, fast-moving fires.
“I think we can expect much more of the same, unfortunately,” said Park Williams, an associate professor and climate scientist at UCLA. “As long as we have more heat waves then we will continue to see forests in California really primed to burn because it’s just been so dry.”
Temperatures in the mid-90s — slightly warmer than usual — and single-digit humidity have created a punishing situation for crews battling the Oak fire.
The blaze has destroyed 10 structures, damaged five and is threatening more than 2,600 others, according to Cal Fire. The fire has forced more than 3,000 residents to flee their homes. Officials have not determined what caused the fire.
Smoke billowing from the blaze choked much of the San Joaquin Valley over the weekend as the fire continued to creep northeast toward the mountain community of Jerseydale and south toward Bootjack.
The plumes of smoke were so thick Sunday morning that they were blowing into Bootjack Market & Deli, about a quarter-mile from the blaze.
Keisha McGruder, who manages the deli just off Highway 49, said she’s staying open in spite of the conditions to make sure people get food and supplies they need to either hunker down or flee.
That group includes the crew of firefighters and emergency personnel that McGruder is offering free coffee and soft drinks while they turn her parking lot into an impromptu meeting spot.
“It’s pretty devastating up here,” she said.
Since Friday, the fire has quickly chewed through parched grass, brush, woodland oak and has moved into timber stands. There, flames have overtaken conifers killed by drought and bark beetle infestations causing crown fires, where the blaze burns through the top layer of foliage on a tree.
The heavy fuel load and wind, created by the fire itself, have sent embers casting more than a mile from the blaze, said Hector Vasquez, a spokesperson for Cal Fire.
Despite lackluster weather conditions, resources have been plentiful. More than 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze Sunday, up from about 500 a day earlier.
“One of the biggest contributing factors is that we are the only big fight going on right now so we can attract those resources to come in from all over the state,” Vasquez said.
While daytime temperatures are likely to hover in the 90s this week, overnight humidity is expected to improve as monsoonal moisture moves into the region from northern Mexico on Tuesday, said Jeff Barlow, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.
“Daytime is tough because the fuel is so heavy with tons of dead trees and the fire is kind of almost creating its own weather environment,” Barlow said. “It’s overnight when the fires lay down where we’ll be able to see some better overnight recovery.”
Air quality officials predicted the relentless smoke would travel as far as the Bay Area early today.
Red Cross officials had checked in more than 100 people at the main evacuation center at Mariposa Elementary School as of early Sunday afternoon.
A little less than half stayed overnight in cots in converted classrooms, said local Red Cross spokesperson Taylor Poisall.
Aubrey Brown and his wife, Lynda, have been at the center since Friday when they rushed from their home in the Lushmeadows community.
Brown was working in his garage when he noticed the sky turning orange. He walked outside to see a giant smoke plume encircling their home.
The couple, both 70, moved from the Bay Area a year and a half ago, enticed by a countryside that reminded them of their youth in more rural areas.
They bought a two-acre property with a custom home with a glass wall that offers sweeping views of the mountains. They understood they were buying into an area prone to fire.
“We bought with our eyes wide open,” Lynda Brown said. “There’s a price you pay for having paradise these days.”
Sitting in her front yard Sunday morning while ash rained down on her, Beth Pratt was thankful that things weren’t worse.
Less than a mile from the evacuation zone in Midpines, Pratt had packed up her car on Saturday ready to leave.
“The fire blew up,” said Pratt, 53, who is the California regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation. “It looked like Godzilla over my house.”
But then firefighting jets began to arrive dumping retardant and tamping down the flames near her. Pratt cheered them from the ground. The planes haven’t stopped coming.
“Here I am in the middle of nowhere outside Yosemite,” she said. “But I feel like I’ve been under LAX the last couple of days.”
In the 25 years she’s lived in Midpines, she’s had to evacuate three times due to wildfires. But she said the Oak fire has been her scariest experience because it’s so large and fast moving.
She’s been without power in the sweltering temperatures, hauling up water for herself, five dogs, two cats and a lizard.
Pratt is planning to stay until there’s an evacuation order because leaving is stressful on her animals, and because once you leave it’s hard to get back, she said.
“I’m still not out of the woods,” Pratt said. “The wind is blowing the fire away from me. But that means it’s blowing it to someone else which doesn’t make you feel good.”
(Hannah Fry, Liam Dillon & James Queally, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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As the summer’s hotter and drier weather has fueled drought and fire throughout the West, federal and local agencies are salvaging what they can along a 100-mile section of the river: rationing the water for 66,000 acres of agricultural land and rescuing silvery minnows stranded in the remaining puddles of water. If the area doesn’t get consistent rain soon, the drought not matched in four decades could worsen.
They are also warning residents to prepare for the sight of a bed of mud and sand where one of the nation’s longest rivers should flow. While southern stretches of the river regularly dry out, this reach has not experienced a drought like this since 1983, said Jason Casuga, CEO of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.
“Most folks in Albuquerque who have lived here have grown up always seeing the river have water,” he told The Washington Post. “So it would be a real big surprise to wake up and go outside and look at the river and realize ‘hey there’s no water.’ ”
After three consecutive years of extreme drought conditions, officials had feared a historic dry spell, but heavy rain in late June offered a brief respite. Still, an arid July and triple-digit temperatures scorched any hope. As of Thursday, more than 73 percent of New Mexico is under an “extreme” or “severe” drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Casuga said that officials’ fears came true Friday when investigators arrived at the river and reported seeing the stretch of gravel and sand. Where water had pooled, authorities could measure water flow, which was historically weak.
“We’re pretty much out of water at this point,” Casuga said.
Aside from rain, the other options for water have been sapped, Casuga said. New Mexico is in debt to Texas as part of their water-sharing agreement. A reservoir at El Vado is not accessible this year because of a dam-building project. Other reserves upstream would not be able to help much this year because of weak snowpack and a lack of rain. Nearby Elephant Butte Lake is half full compared with just months ago.
In the meantime, the Bureau of Reclamation has released stored water to target specific areas where silvery minnows live, rehousing fish as well. The river is also home to the willow flycatcher and yellow-billed cuckoo.
The unusual sight of the river, a brown scab through the green swatch of cottonwood and willow trees, has shocked those who live along the river.
John Fleck, who is writing a book about the river, investigated after a friend reported imminent drying and described it as “a lovely puddly mess of mud.”
(Meryl Kornfield, WASHINGTON POST)
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The move to bypass some environmental review could cut years off the normal approval process required to cut smaller trees in national forests and use intentionally lit low-intensity fires to reduce dense brush that has helped fuel raging wildfires that have killed up to 20 percent of all large sequoias over the past two years.
“Without urgent action, wildfires could eliminate countless more iconic giant sequoias,” Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in a statement. “This emergency action to reduce fuels before a wildfire occurs will protect unburned giant sequoia groves from the risks of high-severity wildfires.”
The trees, the world’s largest by volume, are under threat like never before. More than a century of aggressive fire suppression has left forests choked with dense vegetation, downed logs and millions of dead trees killed by bark beetles that have fanned raging infernos intensified by drought and exacerbated by climate change.
The forest service’s announcement is among a wide range of efforts under way to save the species found only on the western slope of Sierra Nevada range in Central California. Most of about 70 groves are clustered around Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and some extend into and north of Yosemite National Park.
Sequoia National Park, which is run by the Interior Department and not subject to the emergency action, is considering a novel and controversial plan to plant sequoia seedlings where large trees have been wiped out by fire.
The Save Our Sequoias (SOS) Act, which also includes a provision to speed up environmental reviews like the forest service plan, was recently introduced by a bipartisan group of Congress members, including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, whose district includes sequoias.
The group applauded Moore’s announcement Friday but said in a statement that more needs to be done to make it easier to thin forests.
“The Forest Service’s action today is an important step forward for Giant Sequoias, but without addressing other barriers to protecting these groves, this emergency will only continue,” the group said. “It’s time to codify this action by establishing a true comprehensive solution to fireproof every grove in California through the SOS Act and save our sequoias.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The most enduring misery continues to be focused on central and southern states, including Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, which will “yet again” see temperatures in the 90s and low 100s this weekend, said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“We’ve had heat waves that have been quite long in the past,” Orrison said, but added: “This one here is pretty persistent, especially for parts of the central United States and in the Southern Plains.”
Excessive heat set in earlier this week after a relatively mild summer in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Temperatures will steadily rise to a crescendo Sunday, peaking around 100 degrees. The heat index — a measure of how humidity makes the air feel — will rise to 105. Washington could see its first 100-degree day in six years Sunday.
After also experiencing a relatively mild summer, heat will set in across much of the Pacific Northwest on Sunday and into next week. Away from the coast, the highs will be in the 90s in Washington state, Oregon and Northern California and could reach 100 degrees. In Canada, British Columbia will also see a hot stretch.
The Southwest was the hottest part of the country Friday. The interior deserts from Phoenix to Las Vegas were under excessive heat warnings, said Brian Planz, a weather service meteorologist in Nevada.
Las Vegas saw a high of 108 on Friday, while Phoenix reached 109 degrees. But a monsoon predicted for the weekend will probably bring some relief, Planz said.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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The deluge has swollen rivers, damaged highways, bridges and about 5,600 houses since June 14, the National Disaster Management Authority said in its report.
The rains also flooded many areas across Pakistan, disrupting normal traffic.
Many of the 282 people who died in rain-related incidents were women and children.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“It’s just a devastating decline,” said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new listing. “This is one of the most recognizable butterflies in the world.”
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating monarch butterfly for the first time to its “red list” of threatened species and categorized it as “endangered” — two steps from extinct.
The group estimates that the population of monarch butterflies in North America has declined between 22 percent and 72 percent over 10 years, depending on the measurement method.
In North America, millions of monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration of any insect species known to science.
After wintering in the mountains of central Mexico, the butterflies migrate north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. The offspring that reach southern Canada then begin the trip back to Mexico at the end of summer.
“It’s a true spectacle and incites such awe,” said Anna Walker, a conservation biologist at New Mexico BioPark Society, who was involved in determining the new listing.
A smaller group spends winters in coastal California, then disperses in spring and summer across several states west of the Rocky Mountains. This population has seen an even more precipitous decline than the eastern monarchs, although there was a small bounce back last winter.
Emma Pelton of the nonprofit Xerces Society, which monitors the western butterflies, said the butterflies are imperiled by loss of habitat and increased use of herbicides and pesticides for agriculture, as well as climate change.
The United States has not listed monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act, but several environmental groups believe it should be listed.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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As some temperatures neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit, millions of Americans sought comfort by staying in the shade of homes or in air-conditioned offices, and cooled themselves in fountains, at beaches or in cooling centers.
The heat was expected to extend into the weekend, prompting officials to urge people to seek shelter, as well as to drink lots of water and be good Samaritans by checking on elderly neighbors for signs of distress.
“It’s going to be very hot and humid. Hydrate and stay in shaded areas,” said James Tomasini, a meteorologist in Uptown, N.Y.
Excessive heat warnings — issued when the heat index surpasses 105 degrees Fahrenheit continuously for at least two hours — were in effect in parts of the Deep South and pockets of the mid-Atlantic.
Heat advisories extended along the East Coast, from South Carolina to southern Maine.
In Boston, residents and visitors were doing their best to cool down during the third of what could be a six-day stretch of 90-plus temperatures. Mayor Michelle Wu extended a previously announced heat emergency in the city through Sunday and urged residents to take advantage of cooling centers and splash pads.
Josh Austin and his wife, Michelle, traveled down from New Hampshire with their two young daughters to visit the New England Aquarium and enjoy one such splash pad.
“I’m sure there’s some aspect of this heat wave that is a result of global warming — higher temperatures for longer periods of time,” said Josh, 40, a sustainability manager. “But I think it’s also just typical of New England summers to get these warm stretches.”
Massachusetts House and Senate lawmakers approved a compromise bill on Thursday that mandates some of the steps the state needs to take to meet a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Nancy Cahill also took her young grandsons to the aquarium, stopping by a splash pad on the Rose Kennedy Greenway afterward.
“We are very fortunate that we have access to pools,” said Cahill, 63, who lives in Wakefield, about 15 miles north of the city. “We’re also fortunate because we have air conditioning. I feel bad for those people who don’t have that right now.”
This summer is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record — not just in the United States but across Europe and other parts of the globe.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Heat warnings and advisories were put in place for parts or all of 28 states. People in the Southeast and the Southern Plains faced the most oppressive temperatures, with triple digits expected today and beyond across parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, said Andrew Orrison, a weather service meteorologist.
Oklahoma City broke a daily heat record dating back to the Dust Bowl era Tuesday with a temperature of 110 — tied for the state’s highest-ever July temperature, the weather service said — and Austin, Texas, on Wednesday saw its 40th straight day of highs over 100 degrees.
“These are definitely dangerous heat conditions,” Orrison said.
The Dallas area has had more than two dozen days of triple-digit heat this year, including 16 in July, and highs there were expected to top 100 every day this next week. The average number of 100-plus-degree days in Dallas for an entire year is 20, said Madison Gordon, a weather service meteorologist.
The extended heat and lack of rain has caused the ground to shift in Fort Worth, Texas, causing nearly 200 water main breaks over the past month. And Oklahoma’s largest ambulance service said earlier this week that it had seen a surge in heat-related health emergencies in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
On the East Coast, heat advisories were in place along much of the Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston, as well as across parts of upstate New York and southern New England. Actual highs will be in the mid-to-upper 90s, while heat indexes will reach 105 degrees. With the heat expected to intensify through the weekend, several cities opened cooling centers for residents.
The Boston area was expected to see five or six consecutive days hotter than 90 degrees this week and through the weekend, said Kyle Pederson, a weather service meteorologist in New England. The last time the city saw six consecutive 90-plus-degree days was in July 2016. The average temperature in Boston for this time of year is 83 degrees.
New York City was also forecast to see above-normal heat through Tuesday, said James Tomasini, a weather service meteorologist in the city. Temperatures will be in the high 90s; the average for July is 84 degrees.
California’s Central Valley also had excessive heat warnings in place Wednesday, although that is not unusual for this time of year.
The relentless heat afflicting the middle of the country showed no signs of ending through at least the rest of July — and could extend to places that have been largely spared so far this summer.
A high-pressure heat dome was forecast to expand to more parts of the West and East coasts by the weekend and into early next week. The weather service is already anticipating heat warnings for the Pacific Northwest this weekend, Orrison said.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The swell began to roll ashore on Monday, generating waves up to 8 feet at Mission Beach and up to 5 feet at Solana Beach. The weather service later adjusted its forecast to accommodate larger sets.
“The time between wave peaks has been up to 20 seconds, which is the longest period I’ve seen in years,” said Mark Moede, a weather service forecaster. “That shows that this is a swell from the southern hemisphere.”
Surfline.com and other surf outlets reported that the swell first produced massive waves last week at Teahupoo, Tahiti, which is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous surf spots in the world. The swell rolled on and generated surf that reached 25 feet over the weekend in the Diamond Head area of Oahu, Hawaii. KHON-TV said the waves were the largest to hit that area in more than 25 years.
Moede said that San Diego County beaches that face the southwest will take the biggest beating from the incoming swell. Dangerous rip currents are expected up and down the coast.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings blanket the Plains, where the combination of record-challenging heat and tropical humidity will place dangerous amounts of strain on the human body for those who can’t escape the heat. That presents a serious threat to the elderly, homeless individuals and others without adequate access to cooling shelters.
“Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses,” wrote the National Weather Service, “particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities.”
The heat is centered over the southern Plains and south-central United States, but it has already managed to deliver an all-time record temperature of 107 degrees to Salt Lake City on Sunday. In Montana, Glasgow experienced one of its top 10 hottest days on record at 108 degrees.
A sprawling ridge of high pressure known as a heat dome is responsible for the high temperatures. It brings clear skies, sinking air and abundant sunshine. It also shunts the jet stream north into Canada, deflecting any major storm systems or inclement weather. That’s why heat domes often beget drought.
Tuesday was likely to be the hottest of the week, though highs over the century mark will linger for the forecastable future. Oklahoma City hit 103 degrees Tuesday, not quite as high as the forecast of 109 degrees. The Sooner State’s capital has only hit 109 degrees 19 times since 1890.
“We had one day in 2018 where we made it to 109,” said Vivek Mahale, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla. “We’ll be around 104 tomorrow (Wednesday), but even so we’re going to be 5 to 7 degrees above average through the rest of this week.”
The extreme heat, topping 110 degrees in some areas, bleeds farther south toward the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where DFW International Airport tied for its hottest day on record Monday. The morning low of 86 degrees and the afternoon high of 109 averaged to 97.5 degrees, matching the record set on Aug. 3, 2011. That 86 degrees also tied for a record warm low.
Fort Worth’s Meacham International Airport spiked to 110 degrees Monday and Tuesday.
Dallas hit 107 Tuesday, and is forecast to hit 108 today. So far this month, DFW has already had 15 days at 100 degrees or more.
In addition to the magnitude of the heat, the duration is equally alarming.
“I’d say right now the longevity” is most impressive, Mahale said. “The biggest impact to people is how persistent it’s been.”
The heat itself is unusual — about 5 to 10 degrees above average in places like Oklahoma and Kansas and up to 15 degrees hotter than typical in the Lone Star State. Even Houston is anticipated to peak around 100 degrees each afternoon through at least the start of next week.
In Austin, highs in the 102- to 106-degree range are expected through the start of next week. The same is true in San Antonio, Tulsa and Wichita.
Even more problematic are nighttime lows, which in many areas will not dip below the mid-80s. Hot overnight temperatures are major contributors to heat-related fatalities, since warm nights prevent the body from entering its nocturnal cool-down period. Highs above 100 degrees will extend throughout the Desert Southwest as well.
In Southeast Texas and along the Gulf Coast, dew points near 70 — indicating the amount of tropical moisture in the air — will lead to heat indexes approaching or exceeding 110 degrees. Farther north and west over the Interstate 35 corridor, comparatively less moisture will translate to fire weather concerns. Red flag warnings are up for a wide swath of Texas and Oklahoma, where relative humidity could fall below 25 percent and winds may gust up to 30 mph.
“A red flag warning means that a dangerous combination of weather conditions and dry vegetation is expected within 24 hours, favoring rapid growth and spread of any wildfires,” wrote the National Weather Service in Tulsa. Several fires are already burning across the south central Plains and in Texas, where the Chalk Mountain fire about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth was the largest active Texas wildfire as of Tuesday afternoon after blackening 6,000 acres and destroying at least a dozen structures.
Those conditions could “contribute to extreme fire behavior,” echoed the Weather Service in Norman. More than half the state of Texas is experiencing a severe or top-tier “exceptional” drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
(Matthew Cappucci, WASHINGTON POST)
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While the heat’s effects cascaded from Greece to Scotland, the greatest damage was in fire-ravaged France. More than 2,000 firefighters battled blazes that have burned nearly 80 square miles of parched forest in the Gironde area of the country’s southwest, forcing more than 37,000 people to evacuate in the past week.
Temperatures fell overnight Monday, but the efforts of the firefighters have been hampered by fierce gusts of wind, arid conditions and scorched trees that sent fiery embers through the air, further spreading the flames.
“Climate conditions are crazy,” said Matthieu Jomain, a spokesperson for the regional firefighter unit. “It’s an explosive cocktail.”
Spain, Italy and Greece also endured major wildfires, and in London, a series of grass fires erupted around the capital Tuesday afternoon, burning several homes.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the city’s fire brigade was “under immense pressure,” and the brigade declared a “major incident,” allowing it to focus its overstretched resources on serious incidents.
The temperature in Paris reached 40.5 C (104.9 F) on Tuesday. The city had recorded temperatures above 40 only twice before, in 1947 and 2019, according to the national weather forecaster.
Britain never recorded a 100-degree temperature before 2003, and until Tuesday, the record had stood at 38.7 C (101.7 F), set in Cambridge in 2019. The country made a bit of meteorological history before noon, when the thermometer in Charlwood, a village in Surrey north of Gatwick Airport, reached 39.1 Celsius — and then quickly left that record far behind.
At Heathrow Airport, the mercury hit 40.2, breaking through a barrier that once seemed unimaginable for a temperate northern island — a record that was surpassed a few hours later when Coningsby, a village in Lincolnshire, reached 40.3 C, or 104.5 F.
At least 34 sites broke the old British record Tuesday, according to the Met Office, the national weather service, including at least six that reached 40 C. Scotland blew by its old record of 32.9, with a reading in Charterhall of 34.8 — 94.6 F.
The heat continued a global pattern in recent years of leaping past records rather than breaking them in tiny increments.
Amid the excitement at falling records was a recognition of the human cost of dangerous heat waves. The police in London said they had recovered a body from the Thames and believed it to be that of a 14-year-old boy who went missing while swimming Monday.
As temperatures soared, fears for residents of nursing homes also rose. Residential nursing homes are not equipped to deal with extreme heat. Many are housed in older or converted buildings, without air conditioning. This is a particularly fraught issue in Britain, where critics say the government’s inept handling of nursing homes during the pandemic caused needless deaths.
Experts and staff members said greater measures must be taken to protect older people. Those over 75 years old — whether living on their own or in a care home — are among the most at risk for severe health complications from the heat, according to the country’s Health Security Agency.
“The last 48 hours have been unprecedented, so that’s a massive concern,” said Helen Wildbore, the director of the Relatives & Residents Association, a national charity for older people in care homes and their relatives. She said that the organization’s help line had been inundated with calls.
For most people, however, a second day of extraordinary heat mostly meant a second day of disruptions. Some public transportation, many offices and some schools remained shut down. The government urged people to continue to work from home — a call that many heeded again Tuesday — but for schools to stay open.
Network Rail, which operates the country’s rail system, issued a “do not travel” warning for trains that run through areas covered by a “red” warning issued by the Met Office. The red zone covered an area stretching from London north to Manchester and York. Several train companies canceled all services running north from the capital.
Trains are particularly affected by intense heat because the infrastructure — rails and overhead wires — is not built to cope with triple-digit temperatures. Those still running were subjected to strict speed restrictions. The London Underground, most of which is not air-conditioned, also suspended some of its service.
Britain may be a microcosm of the climate crisis, but it is being waged in myriad other ways across Europe.
In France, the authorities responded to this week’s dangerous conditions with warnings and contingency plans, hoping to avoid a repeat of the devastating death toll the country suffered in a 2003 heat wave. In August of that year, some 15,000 people died, including many older residents in retirement homes that lacked air conditioning, shocking the public and fueling anger at a government it considered ill-prepared.
In Greece, thousands of residents were ordered to leave their homes Tuesday as a wildfire tore through forest land north of Athens. Although temperatures were not unusually high, dry conditions and strong winds stoked dozens of wildfires, the largest in the Mount Penteli area, northeast of Athens.
In the Netherlands, workers sprayed water on mechanical drawbridges over Amsterdam’s canals to prevent the metal in them from expanding, according to The Associated Press. That can jam the bridges shut, blocking marine traffic.
Amid all the sweltering, there was a promise of relief: Forecasters across Europe said the heat would ease its grip by midweek. In Britain, some showers were expected, and temperatures were forecast to plunge, staying below 80 degrees in most of the country today.
(Mark Landler, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Much of Britain took an involuntary pause Monday as merciless heat filtered north from a fire-ravaged European continent, driving temperatures close to triple digits Fahrenheit in many areas and reaching the hottest mark ever recorded in Wales.
Authorities placed most of the country under a “red” warning for heat for the first time in history, with the mercury hovering around 100 degrees (37.5 degrees Celsius) across London and the country’s south and Midlands. Britain’s top reading, 100.6 Fahrenheit (38.1 Celsius), did not quite reach the record of 101.7 set in Cambridge in July 2019, but to a sweltering nation, that felt like a distinction without a difference.
On the sweltering London Underground — most lines are not air-conditioned — Georgia McQuade, 22, lugged a heavy suitcase as she made her way to Victoria bus station, where she planned to catch a bus home to Paris.
“The Tube is really hot right now,” McQuade said. But she added, “I don’t want to get an Uber, because using cars so much is what caused this heat in the first place.”
She expected to encounter even more ferocious temperatures in Paris, as a mass of hot air has baked Italy and Spain over the past week and fanned wildfires in France and other parts of Europe, before spilling across the English Channel.
On Monday, French firefighters were battling two enormous wildfires that had torn through 55 square miles [35,200 acres] of dry pine forest in southwestern France over the past week, forcing about 16,000 people to evacuate.
For Britain, a nation known for its scudding clouds, frequent showers and temperate weather, the blast-furnace of heat was enough to disrupt much of the country. It even intruded into the political debate during a campaign season.
In the United States and other countries more accustomed to it, such heat might scarcely register. But essential infrastructure in those climates, from schools to public transportation to private homes, has been designed to deal with it, and people’s bodies are more acclimated to it.
In Britain, the houses, especially older ones, were built to retain warmth, and their residents are similarly outfitted. Britons, in fact, are famously unprepared for extreme weather of all kinds — whether winter blizzards or summer downpours — and pavement-shimmering heat is no exception.
Some train services were canceled while others ran at reduced speeds for fear that the rails could buckle. Luton Airport, north of London, closed briefly after the heat caused a “defect” in the runway, forcing flights, some from Mediterranean holiday resorts, to divert to other airports.
In London, the cast-iron chains and pedestals of the Hammersmith Bridge on the Thames were wrapped in reflective foil to shield them from the sun. Previous heat waves had caused cracks in the iron to widen, raising fears that the majestic but corroded 19th-century bridge could collapse.
A 14-year-old boy was missing Monday evening and believed to have drowned while swimming in the Thames, according to London’s police service, as thousands defied warnings and flocked to stretches of water to escape the heat.
The Royal Air Force halted flights into and out of its largest base as a preventive measure, a spokesperson said, because tar on the runway may have melted. Alternative airfields were being used and air force operations were not affected, he added.
Officials urged people to use public transportation only if necessary, and to work from home Monday and Tuesday — a plea reminiscent of the depths of the coronavirus pandemic. But few homes have air conditioning, forcing millions to choose between a torrid commute or a stifling home office.
“Our immediate concern is to get the country through the next 36 hours in as good a shape as possible,” said Kit Malthouse, the Cabinet minister overseeing the government’s response. Forecasters warned that today would be even hotter, putting records again at risk.
Malthouse defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who stayed at his country residence, Chequers, and skipped crisis meetings of the Cabinet. Malthouse said he was briefing Johnson, who announced his resignation after losing the support of his party two weeks ago, about the latest developments.
With the Conservative Party in the thick of a clamorous leadership race to replace Johnson, the weather has inevitably played into politics. Whatever the temperature, though, combating climate change has fallen well down the list of priorities.
Britain’s cost-of-living crisis has, for now at least, elbowed aside the country’s ambitious targets to reach net zero in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. During a televised debate, four of the five candidates voiced only tepid endorsements of the policy while one expressed open doubts.
Prince Charles, heir to Britain’s throne and a fervent climate change activist, waded into the debate, declaring Monday that “those commitments around net zero have never been more vitally important as we all swelter under today’s alarming record temperatures across Britain and Europe.”
Blisteringly high temperatures are becoming more common globally, and climate scientists say that the burning of fossil fuels is a significant driver. Some of the recent heat extremes the world has experienced would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-induced climate change, scientists have found.
Elsewhere in Europe, more than 15,000 people were evacuated amid the wildfires in France. The Interior Ministry announced it would deploy hundreds of additional firefighters to the most severely hit regions, including the popular beaches and vacation spots on the country’s west coast. In Spain, authorities said in many places, the available firefighting planes were already working at capacity.
“Full solidarity with firefighters and disaster victims,” wrote French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on Twitter. Her Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, on Sunday paid tribute on Twitter to a dead emergency service worker.
Models by Spain’s public Carlos III Health Institute estimate that at least 350 people died over the previous week as a result of the country’s heat — far above the weekly average of about 60 deaths, though in line with the impact of heat episodes in prior years. The institute reported more than 800 heat-linked deaths last month, when similarly scorching temperatures hit the country and other parts of Europe, with temperatures reaching between 104 and 110 degrees (40 to 43 Celsius).
The number of fatalities could still rise above the estimates — it sometimes takes days or weeks until authorities have a clear understanding of heat-linked death tolls, which are difficult to estimate in real time.
Authorities warned that the heat would degrade air quality in major urban population centers.
Hospital unions in France and other countries warned that the heat is putting an additional burden on services that were already dealing with a renewed rise in coronavirus-linked hospitalizations in recent weeks.
(Mark Landler, NEW YORK TIMES; WASHINGTON POST)
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So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain, but authorities in Madrid have blamed soaring temperatures for hundreds of deaths. And two huge blazes, which have consumed pine forests for six days in southwestern France, have forced the evacuation of some 16,200 people.
In dramatic images posted online, a wall of black smoke could be seen rolling toward the Atlantic on a stretch of Bordeaux’s coast that is prized by surfers from around the world. Flames raced across trees abutting a broad sandy beach, as planes flew low to suck up water from the ocean. Elsewhere, smoke blanketed the skyline above a mass of singed trees in images shared by French firefighters.
In Spain, firefighters supported by military brigades tried to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. Spain’s National Defense Department said that “the majority” of its fire-fighting aircraft have been deployed to reach the blazes, many of which are in rugged, hilly terrain that is difficult for ground crews to access.
Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after a dry, hot spring that the European Union has attributed to climate change. Some countries are also experiencing extended droughts, while many are sweltering in heat waves.
In Spain’s second heat wave of the summer, many areas have repeatedly seen peaks of 109 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Spain’s Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily, 360 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 10 to 15. That was compared with 27 temperature-related deaths the previous six days.
Almost all of Spain was under alert for high temperatures for another day Sunday, while there were heat wave warnings for about half of France, where scorching temperatures were expected to climb higher today.
The fire in La Teste-de-Buch has forced more than 10,000 people to flee at a time when many typically flock to the nearby Atlantic coast area for vacation.
The Gironde regional government said Sunday afternoon that “the situation remains very unfavorable” due to gusting winds that helped fan more flare-ups overnight.
A second fire near the town of Landiras has forced authorities to evacuate 4,100 people this week. Authorities said that one flank has been brought under control by the dumping of white sand along a 1.2-mile stretch. Another flank, however, remains unchecked.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Central Portugal has been particularly hard hit by a spate of blazes this week. In the village of Bemposta, residents used garden hoses to spray their lawns and roofs in hopes they could save them from the raging wall of red flames that approached through the wooded hills.
Temperatures in the interior of the Atlantic country were forecast to hit 111 degrees Fahrenheit as hot, dry air blown in from Africa lingers over the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula.
In June, 96 percent of Portugal was classified as being in either in “extreme” or “severe” drought.
The hot air and parched ground, combined with strong winds, has created the perfect mix for severe fires.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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At 3:28 a.m. a magnitude 3.6 quake occurred roughly 3.7 miles beneath the seafloor, at a spot 61 miles west-southwest of La Jolla. The temblor happened near the San Clemente fault system, southeast of San Clemente Island.
That was followed at 9:01 a.m. by a 3.3 quake that broke 5 miles north-northeast of Borrego Springs, in the vicinity of the San Jacinto fault system.
Seismologists say that such shaking is normal in Southern California and rarely leads to a significantly larger event.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The Washburn fire is one of dozens of blazes chewing through drought-parched terrain in the Western U.S. It has increased in size to more than 5.8 square miles, pushing containment from 22 percent down to 17 percent.
“As the fire grew, our containment went down,” said Nancy Philippe, a fire information spokesperson.
Firefighting preparations had already been under way in the national forest.
“We’ve brought in Sierra National Forest folks from the get-go, kind of anticipating that this may happen,” Philippe said.
Containment lines within the park, including along the edge of the grove, were holding, firefighting operations official Matt Ahearn said in a video briefing.
The fire had been entirely within the national park since breaking out July 7, when visitors to the Mariposa Grove of ancient sequoias reported smoke.
Authorities have not said how the fire started and whether it involved a crime or some type of accident.
Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon told a community meeting this week that it was considered a “human-start fire” because there was no lightning that day.
Philippe said a park ranger who is a trained investigator was on the scene almost immediately when the fire was reported, and a law enforcement team continues to investigate.
Philippe said she believed they had found the point of ignition, but declined to release further information, citing the active investigation.
The fire in the southern portion of Yosemite forced evacuation of hundreds of visitors and residents from the small community of Wawona, but the rest of the park has remained open.
One firefighter suffered a heat injury and recovered, but no structures have been damaged.
Flames mostly skirted the Mariposa Grove, though it did leave its mark on some of the trees.
The Galen Clark tree, named for the park’s first custodian, and three trees that greet visitors when they arrive at the popular destination, were partly charred but none were expected to die because their canopy didn’t burn, said Garrett Dickman, a park forest ecologist.
Dickman credited periodic intentional burns in the undergrowth beneath the towering trees with helping the grove survive its first wildfire in more than a century.
Small, targeted fires lit over the past 50 years essentially stopped the fire in its tracks when it hit the Mariposa Grove and allowed firefighters to stand their ground and set up sprinklers to further protect the world’s largest trees, Dickman said.
“We’ve been preparing for the Washburn fire for decades,” said Dickman, who works for the park. “It really just died as soon as it hit the grove.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Cans are in short supply nationally, creating an unforeseen headache for brewers and driving up prices for drinkers. A variety of factors are driving the shortage, including pandemic lockdowns that curtailed manufacturing, supplier upheavals and a canned cocktail boom that increased demand for aluminum.
Another reason: California’s creaking recycling system can’t collect enough cans, one consequence of a program that has been crippled by redemption center closures and out-of-date policies that have made it harder for people to recycle effectively.
The chronic shortage highlights how an overlooked link in the supply chain — trash — can hamstring a beloved, and booming, industry.
About 73 percent of an aluminum can comes from recycled scrap. As demand for canned beverages boomed in recent years, the state’s patchwork of recycling centers and recovery facilities just couldn’t keep pace.
In the last five years, California’s recycling rate for aluminum cans has fallen 20 percent, from 91 percent in 2016 to 73 percent in 2021, according to data from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle.
“The problem that we have, particularly in the United States on cans, is that we don’t recycle them enough,” said Matt Meenan, vice president of external affairs at the Aluminum Association. The overall can recycling rate in the U.S. is 45 percent, meaning that more than half of the cans wind up in landfills.
In California, the situation has deteriorated precipitously. In 2016, according to the state’s data, slightly more than 766 million aluminum cans wound up in landfills or never got recycled. Last year, the number was 2.8 billion. That’s enough cans to fill about 31,000 backyard swimming pools.
Experts said the beer business could come to a standstill without a steady supply of cans, and smaller businesses are the most vulnerable.
If “we don’t have beer to send to our distributors, we don’t have beer to sell over the bar in our tap room,” Le said. “It creates that domino effect of us not being able to sell beer or make money. That’s the real disruption.”
Amid the shortage, one of the biggest can makers in the U.S., Broomfield, Colo.-based Ball Corp., said last fall that it would no longer handle small or even mid-size orders. “Ball implemented a minimum order of five truckloads, which is like 5 million cans,” said Bart Whipple, supply-chain manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico. For “smaller places, that’s a lifetime supply.”
That set off alarms at Beachwood Brewing in Huntington Beach.
“Ball gave us essentially a two-week notice that we had to order all the cans for the next year,” co-owner and brewmaster Julian Shrago said. He decided to spend much of the company’s cash reserves on the cans and paid upfront. And still, it wasn’t clear when his supply would arrive.
Industrywide, the issue with vendors was “ ‘you can’t get this now,’ you’re going to have to wait twice as long,” Shrago said. “Then it became three times as long and then four times as long. It wasn’t that we weren’t able to get products; our lead times increased and our cost increased.”
Beachwood Brewing and Almanac Beer Co. scrambled to get what cans they could, paying a premium and averting a business standstill. “If we weren’t able to can beer, then we had not beer to sell,” said Le, who two years ago was paying 13 cents a can. By this spring, cans were selling for 22 cents each. With roughly 1.86 million cans purchased annually, Almanac’s can costs shot up by approximately $167,400 in less than two years.
When costs balloon that way, “eventually we have to pass it down to the customer,” Shrago said.
Although the can crisis exploded during the pandemic, it has been years in the making.
The rise of ready-to-drink cocktails, such as those by White Claw and Truly, were already creating more competition for aluminum.
At the same time, the biggest source of supply, California’s recycling system, was breaking down.
In 2015, there were 2,245 buyback centers, or places where consumers could go to claim their nickel deposit on a bottle or can in the California Refund Value program. Those centers make their money by selling aluminum — as well as paper, glass and some plastic — on the scrap market. The price of scrap metals caved that year by 30.8 percent, and the centers began to close en masse.
Some 420 centers couldn’t pay their bills and closed. An additional 600 shutdown during the next five years. CalRecycle, the state agency in charge, did little to stem the tide, according to critics.
When there are no redemption centers nearby, California’s Bottle Bill, AB 2020, requires that grocery stores and supermarkets step in and offer customers a nickel for every can they turn in. But few retailers are willing to accept them, and enforcement is lax.
A 2019 investigation of 50 Los Angeles-area stores by consumer rights group Consumer Watchdog found that two-thirds of the stores refused to issue CRV refunds. The group took a few bottles to stores required by state law to issue refunds and tracked which ones did or did not give nickels back.
For the majority of Californians, the only option to recycle is to toss the can into the blue bin that is part of municipal trash pickup, along with paper, plastic and other recycling items. But this so-called “single stream” option is costly and inefficient.
“We have a single bin for curbside recycling, and we know that most of that ends up being contaminated,” said state Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont). “Cardboard doesn’t mix well with mayonnaise jars.”
As much as a third of the material collected in single-stream containers ends up in landfills because it either can’t be properly sorted or is contaminated with non-recyclable materials.
Wieckowski is the author of SB 38, a bill that seeks to combat redemption fraud, updates requirements for exemptions from the state’s recycled content standards and addresses contamination issues. It will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee when the Legislature reconvenes in August.
It’s one of several bills being considered in the state Legislature that seek to overhaul the state recycling system, such as SB 372, which includes wine and liquor bottles.
Meanwhile, cans headed to landfills are worth more than ever on the spot market right now.
Aluminum scrap cost $2,354.78 a ton in March, up 62 percent year over year, according to American Metal Market data. Prices for primary aluminum, the material used to make 27 percent of a new can, shot up 68 percent during the same period, to $3,475 a ton from $2,069 a ton.
Global brands are also feeling the pinch. Harold van den Broek, Amsterdam-based Heineken’s chief financial officer, told investors in February that it would be raising prices in part to offset “soaring expenses related to aluminum.”
The rising prices pose a challenge for breweries, even with the can supply flowing more regularly.
Almanac has an agreement with a packaging broker that secures its can supply for now. “The con side is, if there’s any price increases, then we’re stuck with that,” Le said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Small, intentionally lit fires over the past 50 years essentially stopped the fire in its tracks when it hit the Mariposa Grove and allowed firefighters to stand their ground and prevent flames from doing more than charring the thick bark on the world’s largest trees, Garrett Dickman said.
“We’ve been preparing for the Washburn fire for decades,” said Dickman, who works for the park. “It really just died as soon as it hit the grove.”
The fire that started Thursday near the grove had burned 5 square miles — 3,200 acres — Tuesday, but was 22 percent contained and moving away from the largest grove of sequoias in the park. Based on prevailing winds, it was unlikely to return to the grove.
The blaze started near a trail. Authorities said it wasn’t from lightning and wouldn’t comment on whether it was sparked accidentally, intentionally or through negligence.
Hundreds of visitors and residents were evacuated from the nearby community of Wawona on Friday, and the grove and southern entrance of the park were closed. The rest of Yosemite remained open, though it has been blanketed in heavy smoke at times.
Some of the sequoias were charred by flames that reached 70 feet up their trunks, but Dickman said he surveyed the grove and did not think any of the trees would die. The Mariposa Grove, home to over 500 mature giants, and Yosemite Valley were protected by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 — almost a decade before Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872 and decades before Yosemite was added to the system in 1890. Dickman said the grove had not seen a wildfire in over 100 years.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The image, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope — the largest space telescope ever built — showed a distant patch of sky in which fledgling galaxies were burning their way into visibility just 600 million years after the Big Bang.
“This is the oldest documented light in the history of the universe from 13 billion — let me say that again, 13 billion — years ago,” Biden said. The president praised NASA for its work that enabled the telescope and the imagery it will produce.
“We can see possibilities no one has ever seen before,” Biden said. “We can go places no one has ever gone before.”
Biden’s announcement served as a teaser for the telescope’s big cosmic slideshow coming this morning, when scientists reveal what the Webb has been looking at for the past six months.
For Biden, the reveal of the images was also a chance to engage directly with an event that will almost certainly stir wonder and pride among Americans.
In a setting in the White House’s South Auditorium that evoked scenes from the bridge of a starship on “Star Trek,” Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were joined by Alondra Nelson, the acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Bill Nelson, the former Florida senator appointed NASA administrator by Biden; and Jane Rigby, an operations project scientist for the Webb telescope. Each sat at small, widely spaced desks in front of a large screen where other NASA officials appeared. The screen gave way to the cosmic image, which was speckled with tiny dots of galaxies and drew applause from the far end of the room.
Nelson, the NASA chief, touted the telescope’s scientific potential at the White House event.
“We are going to be able to answer questions that we don’t even know what the questions are yet,” he said. When he added that the technology could determine whether other planets were habitable, Biden responded with a “Whoa.”
As the ceremony ended and the reporting pool was escorted from the room, Biden was heard to say, “I wonder what the press are like in those other places.”
One of the most ambitious of the Webb telescope’s missions is to study some of the first stars and galaxies that lit up the universe soon after the Big Bang 14 billion years ago.
Although Monday’s snapshot might not have reached that far, it proved the principle of the technique and hinted at what more is to come from the telescope’s scientific instruments, which astronomers have waited decades to bring online.
As the telescope “gathers more data in the coming years, we will see out to the edge of the Universe like never before,” said Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale University, an expert on black holes and primeval galaxies, in an email from India.
She added, “It is beyond my wildest imagination to be alive when we get to see out to the edge of black holes, and the edge of the universe.”
What was the image NASA and Biden showed?
On Friday, NASA released a list of five subjects that Webb had recorded with its instruments. But Biden showed off one of them at the White House on Monday.
The image goes by the name of SMACS 0723. It is a patch of sky visible from the Southern Hemisphere on Earth and often visited by Hubble and other telescopes in search of the deep past. It includes a massive cluster of galaxies about 4 billion light-years away that astronomers use as a kind of cosmic telescope. The cluster’s enormous gravitation field acts as a lens, warping and magnifying the light from galaxies behind it that would otherwise be too faint and far away to see.
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, described this image as the deepest view yet into the past of our cosmos.
Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona, who led the building of NIRCam, one of the cameras on the Webb telescope that took the picture, said, “This image will not hold the ‘deepest’ record for long but clearly shows the power of this telescope.”
What about the rest of the images?
NASA will show other pictures at 7:30 a.m. PT today in a live video stream you can watch on NASA TV or YouTube. They will be shown off at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The pictures constitute a sightseeing tour of the universe painted in colors no human eye has seen — the invisible rays of infrared, or heat radiation.
A small team of astronomers and science outreach experts selected the images to show off the capability of the new telescope and to knock the socks off the public.
There is the Southern Ring Nebula, a shell of gas ejected from a dying star about 2,000 light-years from here, and the Carina Nebula, a huge swirling expanse of gas and stars including some of the most massive and potentially explosive star systems in the Milky Way.
Yet another familiar astronomical scene is Stephan’s Quintet, a tight cluster of galaxies about 290 million light-years from here in the constellation Pegasus.
The team will also release a detailed spectrum of an exoplanet known as WASP-96b, a gas giant half the mass of Jupiter that circles a star 1,150 light-years from here every 3.4 days. Such a spectrum is the sort of detail that could reveal what is in that world’s atmosphere.
Why has it taken so long to share Webb’s first images?
Getting to space on Christmas Day last year was just the first step for the James Webb Space Telescope.
The spacecraft has been orbiting the second Lagrange point, or L2, about 1 million miles from Earth since Jan. 24.
At L2, the gravitational pulls of the sun and the Earth keep Webb’s motion around the sun in synchronization with Earth’s.
Before it got there, pieces of the telescope had to be carefully unfolded: the sun shield that keeps the instruments cold so it can precisely capture faint infrared light, the 18 gold-plated hexagonal pieces of the mirror.
For the astronomers, engineers and officials watching on Earth, the deployment was a tense time. There were 344 single-point failures, meaning that if any of the actions had not worked, the telescope would have ended as useless space junk. They all worked.
The telescope’s four scientific instruments also had to be turned on. In the months after the telescope’s arrival at L2, its operators painstakingly aligned the 18 mirrors.
In April, the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, which requires the coldest temperatures, was cooled to minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit, and scientists could begin a final series of checks on it.
Once these and other steps were done, the science could begin.
How does the Webb compare with the Hubble Space Telescope?
The Webb telescope’s primary mirror is 6.5 meters (about 21 feet) in diameter, compared with Hubble’s, which is 2.4 meters, giving Webb about seven times as much light-gathering capability and thus the ability to see further out in space and so deeper into the past.
Another crucial difference is that Webb is equipped with cameras and other instruments sensitive to infrared, or “heat,” radiation.
The expansion of the universe causes the light that would normally be in wavelengths that are visible to be shifted to longer infrared wavelengths that are normally invisible to human eyes.
(Dennis Overbye, Kenneth Chang & Jim Tankersley, NEW YORK TIMES)
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The fire, which more than doubled in size over the weekend, was within striking distance of the park’s Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 mature sequoias including the Grizzly Giant, a 209-foot behemoth estimated to be about 3,000 years old.
“We really don’t want to leave this one to chance, because this really is such an iconic tree,” forest ecologist Garrett Dickman said in a video update showing sprinklers spraying water around the base of the Grizzly Giant.
“We’re trying to give it some preventative first aid, really, and make sure that when the fire — if the fire — comes over here, that this tree is protected,” he said. “That is, to cool flames and to increase the relative humidity and decrease the fire behavior around this tree.”
Sequoias are known to withstand heat, and in fact have long relied on fire for reproduction.
But California’s new breed of hotter, faster and more frequent fires fueled by climate change have proved a formidable foe for the giants, with last year’s KNP Complex and Windy fires destroying about 3,600 of the trees in Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks — an estimated 3 percent to 5 percent of the world’s sequoia population.
The year prior, the Castle fire in Sequoia National Park wiped out an estimated 10 percent of the world’s sequoias, with experts warning that extreme heat and drought were sapping moisture from the trees and impairing their defenses.
Stanley Bercovitz, a spokesperson with the U.S. Forest Service, said the Washburn fire was “bumped up against” the northern line of Mariposa Grove, where firefighters were laying hand lines and lining up for defense.
“The grove is threatened, but it’s not imminent,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting as many resources on it as possible.”
Fire crews had their work cut out for them. Not long after officials declared 25 percent containment on the blaze, images captured by wildfire cameras showed an explosion of activity Monday afternoon, including a massive pyrocumulus cloud over the fire, signaling intense heat.
“We don’t want to say everything’s fine and we’re getting a good handle on this fire and it’s downhill from here on out, because all it’s going to take is one hour of wind,” Bercovitz said.
The blaze, which ignited Thursday near the park’s Washburn trail, was feeding on “heavy dead and down fuels,” according to the Forest Service, including vegetation dried by the West’s worsening drought.
“They’re dealing with complicated terrain, and there’s not a lot of natural barriers we can use — things like lakes and roads that the fire won’t cross,” Bercovitz said.
The fire was also threatening the community of Wawona, where mandatory evacuation orders remained in place and Highway 41 was closed from the South Entrance to Henness Ridge Road.
But while structure defense remained a top priority for firefighters, Bercovitz said he was getting inquiries from around the world from people worried about the sequoias.
“The acreage is low but the panic level is high just because of the trees,” he said. “I just got a call from Hawaii, from someone who said, ‘I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so worried about the trees.’ ”
Nearly 550 personnel have been assigned to the blaze with more on the way, Bercovitz said.
“They’ve ordered a lot of engines and a lot of crews, so that’ll start bumping up. This is getting high priority,” he said.
The KNP Complex last year led to one of the most indelible images from the 2021 fire season: the massive General Sherman tree wrapped in protective foil.
Crews battling the Washburn fire had not yet turned to foil to defend the Grizzly Giant, but Marc Peebles, a spokesperson for the Washburn fire’s incident management team, said they had wrapped some “high-risk trees” in the park with the fire-suppressive wrap.
“They have containment lines in (the grove), and it’s been plumbed with fire hoses, and fire engines are in there mopping up and taking care of hot spots,” Peebles said.
Indeed, firefighters were using a variety of tactics to fight the blaze, including “offensive firing,” or the process of using intentional fire to stop the spread of uncontrolled flames.
“Offensive firing is one of those options that gets it down to a pre-established control line,” deputy operations chief Matt Ahearn said in a video update.
The offensive backfires were allowing crews to introduce low-intensity fire to the area and eliminate crown fires, or fires near the tops of the trees, Ahearn said.
Officials similarly hoped that a history of fire management in the national park would help slow the spread. According to Bercovitz, that history includes prescribed fire and mastication with heavy machinery to help thin out vegetation that can act as fuel for flames.
But while crews were not expecting to see strong wind at the fire on Monday, they were contending with increased heat and reduced relative humidity.
Temperatures near the fire climbed into the low 90s on Monday with humidity hovering around 20 percent, according to the National Weather Service.
Weather service meteorologist Andy Bollenbacher said there may be a slight midweek reprieve before the heat picks back up on Friday and into the weekend, but cautioned that any relief would be minimal.
“It’ll go from being extremely hot to being really hot,” he said. “It’s going to start cooking again by Friday, Saturday.”
The fire has created large plumes visible from miles away, and Bollenbacher said smoke was affecting Yosemite Valley as well as portions of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“The smoke is going west, northwest of the fire — that whole area is being polluted quite a bit,” he said.
The plume was so intense that on Saturday, a tree branch was “sent into the air from the powerful updraft produced by the fire,” the Forest Service said, and “as it dropped back to earth, it narrowly missed two firefighting aircraft.”
One Twitter user captured an audio recording of the pilot communicating with a dispatcher after the incident.
“Just wanted to let you know a branch went right over the top of us — pretty good size, probably 50 feet above us coming down, and fell right in between Tanker 103 and myself,” the pilot can be heard saying.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
(Hayley Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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On Sunday, more than a dozen record highs were set throughout the state as temperatures soared as high as 113 degrees. Houston shot up to 105 degrees, matching its highest temperature ever recorded in July.
Sunday was the state’s second-hottest day since at least 1950, according to Maxar, a weather consulting firm.
The record-challenging heat is forecast to persist through today, combining with a moist lower atmosphere to produce heat indexes above 110 degrees in the southeast part of the state.
The statewide scorcher is enough to induce record high demand and tax the state’s beleaguered power grid, prompting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to issue a public appeal for conservation during the hottest times of day.
“With extreme hot weather driving record power demand across Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is issuing a Conservation Appeal, asking Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity, Monday, July 11 between 2-8 p.m.,” the agency wrote on its website. “ERCOT also issued a Watch for a projected reserve capacity shortage from 2-8 p.m. At this time, no systemwide outages are expected.”
Between conventional electricity generation sources and installed wind and solar arrays, ERCOT is projecting that, between 2 and 3 p.m., the statewide grid will be able to generate 80,168 megawatts. During the same window, demand is anticipated to reach 79,671 megawatts.
In other words, expected demand is only 0.61 percent less than total electric generation capacity, leaving very little wiggle room on the grid.
Last Friday, ERCOT set a record power usage peak for July of 78,204 megawatts, wrote Austin NBC affiliate KXAN.
(WASHINGTON POST)
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Campers and residents near the blaze were evacuated but the rest of the sprawling park in California remained open, though heavy smoke obscured scenic vistas and created unhealthy air quality.
“Today it’s actually the smokiest that we’ve seen,” Nancy Phillipe, a Yosemite fire information spokesperson, said Sunday. “Up until this morning, the park has not been in that unhealthy category, but that is where we are now.”
More than 500 mature sequoias were threatened in the famed Mariposa Grove but there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant.
A sprinkler system set up within the grove kept the tree trunks moist and officials were hopeful that the steady spray of water along with previous prescribed burns would be enough to keep flames at bay, Phillipe said.
The cause of the Washburn fire was under investigation. It had grown to about 3 square miles [1900 acres] by Sunday night, with no containment.
Beyond the trees, the community of Wawona, which is surrounded by parkland, was under threat, with people ordered to leave late Friday. In addition to residents, about 600 to 700 people who were staying at the Wawona campground in tents, cabins and a historic hotel were ordered to leave.
Temperatures were expected rise and reach the lower 90s in the coming days, but fire crews working in steep terrain were not contending with intense winds, said Jeffrey Barlow, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.
The giant sequoias, native in only about 70 groves spread along the western slope of California’s Sierra Nevada range, were once considered impervious to flames but have become increasingly vulnerable as wildfires fueled by a buildup of undergrowth from a century of fire suppression and drought exacerbated by climate change have become more intense and destructive.
Phillipe, the park spokesperson, previously said some of the massive trunks had been wrapped in fire-resistant foil for protection, but she corrected herself on Sunday and said that was not the case for this fire.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A team was being sent to the Mariposa Grove to wrap some of the massive trunks in fire-resistant foil to protect them as the blaze burned out of control, said Nancy Phillipe, a Yosemite fire information spokesperson.
More than 500 mature sequoias were threatened but there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, such as the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant.
The cause of the fire was under investigation and the rest of the park remained open as nearly 300 firefighters tried to control the flames with the help of two water-dropping helicopters and an air tanker dumping flame retardant, Phillipe said.
The giant sequoias, native in only about 70 groves spread along the western slope of California’s Sierra Nevada range, were once considered impervious to flames but have become increasingly vulnerable as wildfires fueled by a buildup of undergrowth from a century of fire suppression and drought exacerbated by climate change have become more intense and destructive.
Lightning-sparked wildfires over the past two years have killed up to a fifth of the estimated 75,000 large sequoias, which are the biggest trees by volume.
There was no obvious natural spark for the fire that broke out Thursday next to the park’s Washburn Trail, Phillipe said. The grove, which is inside the park’s southern entrance, was evacuated and no one was injured.
The fire more than tripled in size overnight to 166 acres by Friday, Phillipe said. Fire officials had previously estimated that 250 acres burned but it was revised after a closer assessment.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The monsoon rains also damaged homes, roads, bridges and power stations across the country since June 14, Sherry Rehman told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, as storms continued lashing the country.
Rehman said 39 of the 77 people died in rain-related incidents just in Baluchistan since last month.
“This is a national disaster,” Rehman said about the rain-related casualties.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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As few as eight of the porpoises remain there. It is the only place they live, and they cannot be captured and bred in captivity.
Vaquitas become trapped and drown in gill nets fishermen set illegally for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is a delicacy in China and sells for thousands of dollars per pound.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Officials initially feared 13 hikers were still missing after a huge chunk of the Marmolada glacier cleaved off Sunday in northern Italy. But the province of Trento on Tuesday reduced the number of people unaccounted-for to five, all of them Italian, after eight others checked in with authorities.
One of them is Erica Campagnaro, and on Tuesday her sister Debora Campagnaro, lashed out at the lack of warning about the accumulation of water at the base of the glacier that experts say was evidence of an unusual melt from a heat wave that has been scorching Italy for weeks.
Campagnaro said her sister and brother-in-law, an experienced Alpine guide who is also among the missing, never would have left their two sons at home to go hiking if there had been an alert system as there is in ski season warning about the possibility of snow avalanches.
“Is there an authority that had to prevent people (from going up the mountain) given the weather of that day and the weather of the previous days? Where is this authority?” she asked at the site of the rescue camp.
Rain had hampered the search Monday, but sunny weather on Tuesday allowed helicopters to bring more rescue teams and their drones up to the site on the glacier, east of Bolzano in the Dolomite mountains, even as hopes dimmed of finding anyone alive.
“We have to be clear, finding someone alive with this type of event is a very remote possibility, very remote, because the mechanical action of this type of avalanche has a very big impact on people,” said Alex Barattin of the Alpine Rescue Service.
After the 200-yard-wide chunk of glacier detached, a torrent of ice, rock and debris plowed down the mountainside onto unsuspecting hikers below.
At least seven people were killed, two of them Czech, officials said.
Nicola Casagli, a geologist and avalanche expert at Florence University, said the impact of the glacier collapse on the hikers was greater than a mere snow avalanche and would have taken them completely by surprise.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Electra fire in Sierra Nevada Gold Country broke out Monday afternoon and tripled in size to more than 4.7 square miles [3000 acres] by Tuesday.
“The rate of spread isn’t what it was like yesterday, but it is still spreading,” said Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman. He said firefighters were working to keep flames confined to unpopulated canyon areas.
Mandatory evacuation orders and warnings combined affected up to 700 residents in Amador County and 300 to 400 people in Calaveras County, Redman said. Evacuation centers were set up for people and animals.
The fire started at a recreation area that was packed with people, forcing 85 to 100 celebrating the holiday at a river to take shelter at a Pacific Gas & Electric facility, Redman said. All were later safely evacuated.
Redman said the cause of the fire was not known, but that it started in the Vox Beach area of the North Fork Mokelumne River. He said that could suggest fireworks or a barbecue as a potential cause.
More than 100 fire engines, 1,200 firefighters and 14 helicopters were sent to the fire, Cal Fire said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Emergency response teams made 100 rescues overnight of people trapped in cars on flooded roads or in inundated homes in the Sydney area, state emergency service manager Ashley Sullivan said.
Days of torrential rain have caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks, bringing a fourth flood emergency since March last year to parts of the city of 5 million people.
The New South Wales state government declared a disaster zone across more 20 local government areas overnight, activating federal government financial assistance for flood victims.
Evacuation orders and warnings to prepare to abandon homes impacted 45,000 people as of today, up from 32,000 on Monday, Sullivan said.
“The weather is meant to stick around for at least today and tomorrow, and the threat will remain with those flood warnings for the rest of this week,” Sullivan told Nine Network television.
Parts of Sydney had been lashed by nearly 8 inches of rain in 24 hours, Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Jonathan How said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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So far, the toxins do not appear to have diminished any flocks, and researchers say they are trying to stay ahead of the potential problem by steering the birds away from the threat and monitoring the conditions of eggs in nests.
The threat has been found to be greater in California flocks near the coast because they are feeding off dead sea mammals that have the chemicals in their system, while the threat is much less in the inland Baja, Mexico, flock closer to San Diego County.
The research was led by San Diego State University and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance scientists in collaboration with Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
The study was published May 17 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Co-author Christopher Tubbs, associate director of reproductive sciences at the Wildlife Alliance, said DDT and other toxins have been found in marine mammals on the California coast, which could be harmful to condors feeding on them.
Lead poisoning, poaching and habitat destruction led to the birds becoming critically endangered in the 1980s, with only 22 left in the wild. In another threat, condors were laying eggs with thin eggshells, possibly a result of exposure to halogenated organic contaminants such as DDT, which has been banned for 50 years.
Despite the ban, the chemicals still are in the environment because about 20,000 to 25,000 barrels of it were illegally dumped off the Southern California coast, Tubbs said.
“It’s one of the legacy contaminants,” he said. “Even though we’re not using them anymore or putting them in the environment, they’re just resistant to degradation. DDT is very good for hiding in the fat of mammals. It’s just like a savings account for DDT in the marine mammal’s blubber.”
Breeding and release programs have increased the condor population to about 500 condors, with half in the wild. Besides the Baja flock, which has 40 birds, two flocks are in Central California, another is northeast of Los Angeles and another is in northern Arizona.
The recent study came about after the Ventana Wildlife Society noticed the population in Big Sur was producing thin-shelled eggs, leading researchers to suspect that the birds’ food source contained harmful chemicals, and Tubbs said local researchers were curious whether the Baja birds had similar problems.
“We didn’t think so, because the marine mammals in Baja aren’t the ones hanging around the Channel Islands in that DDT hot spot, but we didn’t know,” he said.
All condors in the U.S. and Mexico are captured at bait stations about once a year to have their blood tested, and the new study found an average of 32 contaminants in the coastal condors’ blood and only eight in the inland condors. DDT was seven times more abundant in coastal condors than in inland flocks.
That was good news for the Baja flock, where no thin-shelled eggs have been found, Tubbs said.
In other good news, condor flocks are heavily managed and can be directed away from the coastal DDT hot spots off of Los Angeles and Long Beach with strategically placed bait stations, Tubbs said.
There also is a way to save thin-shelled eggs without disrupting the parenting process of the wild condors. Tubbs said the eggs can be taken from the nests and placed in incubators at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Los Angeles Zoo or other partners in the captive rearing program. Eggs taken from the wild are replaced with stronger captive-laid eggs so the condor parents can go through the incubation and hatching process to learn what it takes to be parents, Tubbs said.
The research was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California Sea Grant and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
(Gary Warth, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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A local Civil Protection official, Gianpaolo Bottacin, was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA as providing the toll, but stressing that the situation was “evolving” and that there could be perhaps 15 people missing.
In late evening, the National Alpine and Cave Rescue Corps tweeted a phone number to call for family or friends in case of “failure to return from possible excursions” to the glacier.
Rescuers were checking license plates in the parking lot as part of checks to determine how many people might be unaccounted for, Corps spokesman Walter Milan told The Associated Press by telephone.
The glacier, in the Marmolada range, is the largest in the Dolomite mountains in northeastern Italy and people ski there in the winter. But the glacier has been rapidly melting away in recent years.
Experts at Italy’s state-run CNR research center, which has a polar sciences institute, says the glacier won’t exist anymore in the next 25-30 years and much of its volume is already gone.
The Mediterranean basin, shared by southern Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa, has been identified by U.N. experts as a “climate change hot spot,” likely to suffer heat waves and water shortages, among other consequences.
“We saw dead (people) and enormous chunks of ice, rock,” exhausted-looking rescuer Luigi Felicetti told Italian state TV.
Nationalities or ages of the dead weren’t immediately available, Milan said.
Of the hospitalized survivors, two were in grave condition, authorities said.
The fast-moving avalanche “came down with a roar that could be heard at great distance,” local online media site ildolomiti.it said.
The search by helicopter and dogs for any more victims or missing was halted for the night while rescuers evaluated the risk that more of the glacier could break off, Walter Cainelli, after conducting a rescue mission with a search dog, told state television.
Rescuers said blocks of ice were continuing to tumble down. In early evening, a light rain began to fall.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the section of ice to break away and rush down the peak’s slope. But the intense heat wave gripping Italy since late June loomed as a possible factor.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Residents of the villages of Treffen and Arriach were told to seek safety in the upper levels of their houses, public broadcaster ORF reported.
The mayor of Treffen, Gerald Ebner, said 20 homes and farms could not be reached by rescue teams.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The U.N.’s humanitarian coordination organization, OCHA, said on Sunday that an additional 250 children were injured in the magnitude 6 temblor that struck the mountainous villages in the Paktika and Khost provinces near the country’s border with Pakistan, flattening homes and triggering landslides.
Most of the children died in Paktika’s hard-hit Gayan district, which remains a scene of life in ruins, days after the disaster. The quake has also left an estimated 65 children orphaned or unaccompanied, the U.N. humanitarian office added.
Even as badly needed food, medicine and other international aid has trickled into the provinces on precarious dirt roads, despair is growing among newly homeless survivors. Many villagers who were scraping by have lost everything.
In ravaged Gayan, villagers are grappling with the extent of the tragedy.
When the earthquake last week demolished his house and those around it, Abdullah tried to claw through the rubble and rescue his children.
For hours, he called for help, shouting from under a deep pile of mud. When he and his neighbors finally cleared the wreckage, he discovered a nightmarish scene — the bodies of 12 family members, including his son and daughter, lying dead in the debris.
“What happened that night is very difficult to explain in words,” the 65-year-old farmer and teacher, who like many Afghans goes by one name, said. “Everything is under the ground now. We have just buried the bodies.”
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have put the total death toll from the quake at 1,150, with hundreds more injured, while the U.N. has offered a lower estimate of 770, although it has warned the figure could still rise.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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As hopes of finding survivors faded, a second earthquake Friday jolted Gayan, the district hit hardest by the 5.9 magnitude temblor Wednesday. The follow-up quake killed at least five people and injured another 11, according to local officials.
That added to the hundreds killed and many others injured Wednesday in the provinces of Paktika and Khost, which are both on the border with Pakistan. According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, more than 1,000 people died and at least 3,000 others were injured; the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Wednesday put the current death toll at 770.
Large numbers of people are missing, and aid agencies have said that they expect the toll in the rugged region, where communications and access are difficult, to rise.
The news of fresh tremors came as rescue efforts from Wednesday’s quake were winding down and as Taliban officials issued more calls for assistance from aid agencies and international governments. The Taliban and local functionaries said that they did not expect to find more survivors.
The punishing terrain and challenging weather conditions in the affected region made it difficult to send aid swiftly to Paktika province, according to Mohammad Nasim Haqqani, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Disaster Management.
But as of Friday morning, a flow of aid from international governments and agencies had begun to stream in via air and road. Volunteers were carrying in whatever aid and supplies they could in their cars in a makeshift convoy along unpaved and steep mountain roads.
About 42 humanitarian aid planes and a group of 15 trucks sent by the Ministry of Disaster Management carrying emergency housing and food items — including rice, oil and flour — had reached the province, and the supplies were already being distributed, according to Haqqani, who said that the Afghan government had allocated 100 million afghani, or about $1.1 million, to help survivors.
Planes filled with medical supplies and aid from India, Iran and the United Arab Emirates began arriving early Friday, according to Mujahid.
“The aid that has been given to the people is enough for 10 to 15 days, but they have lost everything, and there is a constant need for cooperation from international aid agencies,” Mujahid said. Afghans based abroad, he added, were having trouble making donations as the Afghan banking system has largely collapsed under the weight of international sanctions.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Already in 2022, before peak fire season has descended upon the drought-parched state, fire has burned nearly 17,000 acres.
Yet not all fires are equal. New research from UC Irvine shows that fires caused by human activity — be it arson, a neglected campfire, sparking electrical equipment or ill-conceived gender reveal parties — spread faster, burn hotter and destroy more trees than those caused by lightning strikes.
“The physics behind the fire is of course the same, but humans increase the risk of having these kinds of ignitions at really bad times during the year,” said Stijn Hantson, the study’s lead author. A project scientist in the lab of UCI Earth systems professor James Randerson at the time of the study, Hantson is now an Earth systems scientist at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia.
Wildfires are a natural part of a forest ecosystem, but nature tends to start fires in less combustible conditions than humans do.
Longer droughts and higher temperatures have dried out vegetation and turned fire season into a year-round event. At the same time, humans have moved ever farther into previously unoccupied land that is more primed than ever to ignite.
Lightning typically happens in humid conditions and is often accompanied by rainfall, both factors that dampen the growth of naturally occurring fires. But people light campfires, flick cigarettes and use machinery all year long, including when it’s dry and windy out.
“This is a nice and timely study that highlights more of the nuances of wildfire in the state,” said John Abatzoglou, a UC Merced climatologist who was not involved with the new research but has studied the effects of climate on wildfire.
“Most of the notorious fires the state has seen in the past several decades have been human-caused fires that are coincident with dry and very windy conditions,” Abatzoglou said. “These conditions often render fire suppression less effective or dangerous to fire-suppression operations.”
For the UCI study, researchers created a database of all 214 fires in California from 2012 to 2018 that could not be contained within the first 24 hours. Of these, 42.1 percent were caused by lightning strikes, 39.3 percent by humans and the rest by undetermined sources.
By the end of their first day, the human-caused fires were on average 6.5 times larger than those caused by lightning. These fast-moving fires also kill more than three times as many trees as slower ones, Hantson’s team found.
The results were published last month in the journal Nature Communications.
Human-ignited fires also tend to start in windier conditions than lightning-sparked fires, said Jennifer Balch, a fire scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
In a 2017 study looking at wildfires fought by state or federal agencies from 1992 to 2012, Balch and a team that included Abatzoglou found that people caused 84 percent of the blazes, adding an average of 40,000 wildfires per year across the United States.
(Corinne Purtill, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Park managers raised the gates at three of Yellowstone’s five entrances for the first time since June 13, when 10,000 visitors were ordered out after rivers across northern Wyoming and southern Montana surged over their banks following a torrent of rainfall that accelerated the spring snowmelt. The cost and scope of the damage is still being assessed, Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said Wednesday.
Empty roads and parking lots quickly grew busier by mid-morning as about 5,000 vehicles entered the park after getting through long lines that stretched for several miles at one gate in the early morning. The backups were gone by early afternoon, though, and visitation numbers were less than a normal summer day that draws about 10,000 vehicles, park officials said in a news release.
Paul Nithyanand of Chennai, India, gathered around Old Faithful along with 1,500 people in the afternoon to see it erupt. Nithyanand was touring the western U.S. with his brother and had already seen the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, but said nothing on his trip compared with Old Faithful.
“It’s awesome,” said Nithyanand, who was so impressed he waited around 80 minutes to see it erupt again. “I’ve been seeing it in movies and on YouTube but seeing it live is amazing.”
The record floods reshaped the park’s rivers and canyons, wiped out numerous roads and left some areas famous for their wildlife viewing inaccessible, possibly for months to come. It hit just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up as the park celebrated its 150th anniversary a year after it tallied a record 4.9 million visits.
To keep visitor numbers down while repairs continue, park managers are using a system that with few exceptions only allows cars with even-numbered last digits on their license plates to enter on even days, while vehicles with odd-numbered last numbers can come on odd days.
Park rangers had to turn away fewer than 1 percent of the people lined up due to license plate issues, and they were turning them away before they got in long lines to enter the park, Sholly said.
If traffic along the park’s 400 miles of roads becomes unmanageable, Sholly said officials will impose a reservation system for entrance.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades, and officials said the toll could rise. An estimated 1,500 others were reported injured, the state-run news agency said.
The disaster inflicted by the 6.1-magnitude quake heaps more misery on a country where millions face increasing hunger and poverty and the health system has been crumbling since the Taliban retook power nearly 10 months ago amid the U.S. and NATO withdrawal. The takeover led to a cutoff of vital international financing, and most of the world has shunned the Taliban government.
In a rare move, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzadah, who almost never appears in public, pleaded with the international community and humanitarian organizations “to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no effort.”
Residents in the remote area near the Pakistani border searched for victims dead or alive by digging with their bare hands through the rubble, according to footage shown by the Bakhtar news agency. It was not immediately clear if heavy rescue equipment was being sent, or if it could even reach the area.
At least 2,000 homes were destroyed in the region, where on average every household has seven or eight people living in it, said Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special representative to Afghanistan.
The full extent of the destruction among the villages tucked in the mountains was slow in coming to light. The roads, which are rutted and difficult to travel in the best of circumstances, may have been badly damaged, and landslides from recent rains made access even more difficult.
Rescuers rushed in by helicopter, but the relief effort could be hindered by the exodus of many international aid agencies from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover last August. Moreover, most governments are wary of dealing directly with the Taliban.
In a sign of the muddled workings between the Taliban and the rest of the world, Alakbarov said the Taliban had not formally requested that the U.N. mobilize international search-and-rescue teams or obtain equipment from neighboring countries to supplement the few dozen ambulances and several helicopters sent in by Afghan authorities. Still, officials from multiple U.N. agencies said the Taliban were giving them full access to the area.
The quake was centered in Paktika province, about 30 miles southwest of the city of Khost, according to neighboring Pakistan’s Meteorological Department. Experts put its depth at just 6 miles. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage.
The European seismological agency said the quake was felt over 310 miles by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Footage from Paktika showed men carrying people in blankets to a waiting helicopter. Other victims were treated on the ground. One person could be seen receiving IV fluids while sitting in a plastic chair outside the rubble of his home, and still more were sprawled on gurneys. Some images showed residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble. Roofs and walls had caved in.
The death toll reported by the Bakhtar news agency was equal to that of a quake in 2002 in northern Afghanistan. Those are the deadliest since 1998, when an earthquake in the remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.
Wednesday’s quake took place in a region prone to landslides, with many older, weaker buildings.
More than 60 percent of Afghanistan’s population of 38 million already relies on international aid to survive.
Humanitarian agencies still operating in the country, including UNICEF, rushed supplies to the quake-stricken areas. And Pakistan said it would send food, tents, blankets and other essentials.
Obtaining more direct international help may be more difficult: Many countries, including the U.S., funnel humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the U.N. and other such organizations to avoid putting money in the Taliban’s hands.
The quake “will only add to the immense humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, and it really has to be all hands on deck to make sure that we really limit the suffering that families, that women and children are already going through,” said Shelley Thakral, spokesperson for the the U.N. World Food Program in Kabul.
In the capital, Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency meeting at the presidential palace.
“When such a big incident happens in any country, there is a need for help from other countries,” said Sharafuddin Muslim, deputy minister of state for disaster management. “It is very difficult for us to be able to respond to this huge incident.”
That may prove difficult given the international isolation of Afghanistan under the Taliban. The newly restored government has issued a flurry of edicts curtailing the rights of women and girls and the news media in a turn back toward the Taliban’s harsh rule from the late 1990s.
“This does add a lot to the daily burden of survival,” the U.N.’s Alakbarov said of the quake. “We are not optimistic today.”
(Ebrahim Noroozi, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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“It’s not a particularly impressive surge, but it could bring change,” said forecaster Mark Moede. “I think people will notice an increase in humidity.”
Since the rainy season began on Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport has recorded 6.10 inches of precipitation, which is 3.47 inches below average. Wildland areas have become critically dry. Forecasters say the region is in a moderate drought.
Moede said the moist, unstable air that will arrive from the Gulf of California and Gulf of Mexico will be about 10,000 feet high, which means that the county’s mountains are most likely to get passing showers. The air way below that layer is mostly dry, which will make it hard for raindrops to fall all the way down to the coastal plain without evaporating.
But the conditions might generate flashes of lightning from the desert to the sea early today.
San Diego’s daytime high today is expected to be 77°F, 6°F degrees above average.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The agency quietly posted an 80-page review that details the planning missteps and the conditions on the ground as crews ignited the prescribed fire in early April. The report states officials who planned the operation underestimated the amount of timber and vegetation that was available to fuel the flames, the exceptional dry conditions and the rural villages and water supplies that would be threatened if things went awry.
Within hours of declaring the test fire a success that day, multiple spot fires were reported outside containment lines and there were not enough resources or water to rein them in.
“The devastating impact of this fire to the communities and livelihoods of those affected in New Mexico demanded this level of review to ensure we understand how this tragic event unfolded,” U.S. Forest Chief Randy Moore wrote. “I cannot overstate how heartbreaking these impacts are on communities and individuals.”
As of Tuesday, the blaze had charred more than 533 square miles [341,000 acres], making it the largest fire to have burned this spring in the U.S. It comes during a particularly ferocious season in which fire danger in overgrown forests around the West has reached historic levels due to decades of drought and warmer weather brought on by climate change.
The number of acres burned so far this year is more than two and half times the national average for the past 10 years, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. So far, 31,000 wildfires have burned more than 5,000 square miles [3.2 million acres] in the United States.
Anger and frustration have been simmering among residents and elected officials in northern New Mexico, where hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands of residents were displaced.
Many mountainsides have been reduced to ash and once towering ponderosa pine trees have been turned into charred toothpicks.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The stifling tent city has ballooned amid pandemic-era evictions and surging rents that have dumped hundreds more people onto the sizzling streets that grow eerily quiet when temperatures peak in the mid-afternoon. A heat wave earlier this month brought temperatures of up to 114 degrees — and it’s only June. Highs reached 118 degrees last year.
“During the summer, it’s pretty hard to find a place at night that’s cool enough to sleep without the police running you off,” said Chris Medlock, a homeless Phoenix man known on the streets as “T-Bone” who carries everything he owns in a small backpack and often beds down in a park or a nearby desert preserve to avoid the crowds.
“If a kind soul could just offer a place on their couch indoors maybe more people would live,” Medlock said at a dining room where homeless people can get some shade and a free meal.
Excessive heat causes more weather-related deaths in the United States than hurricanes, flooding and tornadoes combined.
Around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless.
Temperatures are rising nearly everywhere because of global warming, combining with brutal drought in some places to create more intense, frequent and longer heat waves. The past few summers have been some of the hottest on record.
Just in the county that includes Phoenix, at least 130 homeless people were among the 339 individuals who died from heat-associated causes in 2021.
“If 130 homeless people were dying in any other way it would be considered a mass casualty event,” said Kristie L. Ebi, a professor of global health at the University of Washington.
It’s a problem that stretches across the United States, and now, with rising global temperatures, heat is no longer a danger just in places like Phoenix.
This summer will likely bring above-normal temperatures over most land areas worldwide, according to a seasonal map that volunteer climatologists created for the International Research Institute at Columbia University.
Last summer, a heat wave blasted the normally temperate U.S. Northwest and had Seattle residents sleeping in their yards and on roofs, or fleeing to hotels with air conditioning. Across the state, several people presumed to be homeless died outdoors, including a man slumped behind a gas station.
In Oregon, officials opened 24-hour cooling centers for the first time. Volunteer teams fanned out with water and ice pops to homeless encampments on Portland’s outskirts.
A quick scientific analysis concluded last year’s Pacific Northwest heat wave was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change adding several degrees and toppling previous records.
Even Boston is exploring ways to protect diverse neighborhoods like its Chinatown, where population density and few shade trees help drive temperatures up to 106 degrees some summer days. The city plans strategies like increasing tree canopy and other kinds of shade, using cooler materials for roofs, and expanding its network of cooling centers during heat waves.
It’s not just a U.S. problem. An Associated Press analysis last year of a dataset published by Columbia University’s climate school found exposure to extreme heat has tripled and now affects about a quarter of the world’s population.
This spring, an extreme heat wave gripped much of Pakistan and India, where homelessness is widespread because of discrimination and insufficient housing. The high in Jacobabad, Pakistan, near the border with India hit 122 degrees in May.
Climate scientist David Hondula, who heads Phoenix’s new office for heat mitigation, says that with such extreme weather now seen around the world, more solutions are needed to protect the vulnerable, especially homeless people who are about 200 times more likely than sheltered individuals to die from heat-associated causes.
“As temperatures continue to rise across the U.S. and the world, cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, New York or Kansas City that don’t have the experience or infrastructure for dealing with heat have to adjust as well.”
(Anita Snow, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The floods triggered by monsoon rains have killed more than a dozen people, marooned millions and flooded millions of houses.
In Sylhet in northeastern Bangladesh along the Surma River, villagers waded through streets flooded up to their knees. One man stood in the doorway of his flooded shop, where the top shelves were crammed with items in an effort to keep them above water. Local TV said millions remained without electricity.
Enamur Rahman, junior minister for disaster and relief, said up to 100,000 people have been evacuated in the worst-hit districts, including Sylhet. About 4 million are marooned, the United News of Bangladesh said.
Flooding also ravaged India’s northeastern Assam state, where two police officers involved in rescue operations were washed away by floodwaters on Sunday, state officials said. They said about 200,000 people were taking shelter in 700 relief camps. Water in all major rivers in the state was above danger levels.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Monday his administration is using military helicopters to airlift food and fuel to badly affected parts of the state.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Assam’s disaster management agency said 32 of the state’s 35 districts were underwater as the swollen Brahmaputra River broke its banks, displacing more than 3 million people. The Indian army was called in for rescue efforts and the air force remained on standby.
On Sunday, four people went missing when a boat carrying nine capsized in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district, 310 miles east of Gauhati, the state capital.
Police said that search operations were ongoing but they were hampered by strong currents.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The worst damage in Spain has been in the northwest province of Zamora, where over 74,000 acres have been consumed, regional authorities said, while German officials said that residents of three villages near Berlin were ordered to leave their homes because of an approaching wildfire Sunday.
Spanish authorities said that after three days of high temperatures, high winds and low humidity, some respite came with dropping temperatures Sunday morning. That allowed about 650 firefighters supported by water-dumping aircraft to establish a perimeter around the fire, which started in Zamora’s Sierra de la Culebra. Authorities warned there was still danger that an unfavorable shift in weather could revive the blaze that caused the evacuation of 18 villages.
Spain has been on alert for an outbreak of intense wildfires as the country swelters under record temperatures at many points in the country for June. Experts link the abnormally hot period for Europe to climate change. Thermometers have risen above 104 degrees in many Spanish cities throughout the week — temperatures usually expected in August.
A lack of rainfall this year combined with gusting winds have produced the conditions for the fires.
Germany has also seen numerous wildfires in recent days following a period of intense heat and little rain. The country’s national weather agency said the mercury reached 102.6 degrees in the eastern cities of Dresden and Cottbus on Sunday.
Strong winds have been fanning a blaze near the town of Treuenbrietzen, about 31 miles southwest of Berlin, prompting officials to order three villages evacuated Sunday.
About 600 people in Frohnsdorf, Tiefenbrunnen and Klausdorf were told to immediately seek shelter at a community center.
More than 1,400 firefighters, soldiers and civil defense experts were deployed to tackle the blaze, which also affected a former military training area known to be contaminated with ammunition.
Officials expressed hope late Sunday that thunderstorms moving in from the west would help put out the fires.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Contreras fire has scorched more than 18,000 acres, twisting among Indigenous-populated areas in the state near Tucson, and scientists might not be able to return to the observatory for weeks. But its telescopes, which number in the dozens, remained safe as of Sunday afternoon, officials said, and only the four buildings, which were not used for research, were destroyed.
Firefighters have contained 40 percent of the fire’s perimeter despite the excessive Southwest heat wave slowing their efforts.
Although the fire has crested and the threat to the observatory appears to have decreased, the close call represents a new facet of climate disasters: the endangerment of science and research.
David Schlegel, an astrophysicist in a research group that relies on Kitt Peak’s cutting-edge Mayall Telescope, said more extensive fire damage, which might still be discovered among the equipment, could “pause the progression of cosmology for years to come.”
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Entrances to the south loop of the park will reopen to a limited number of visitors starting at 8 a.m. local time, the National Park Service said Saturday in a news release.
“Less than six days ago, Yellowstone National Park was hit with devastating floods,” Park superintendent Cam Sholly said in the release. “Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our teams and partners, we are prepared to reopen the south loop of Yellowstone.”
The south loop includes the Old Faithful geyser and Yellowstone Lake and is accessed via the south, east and west entrances of the park. Some parts of the south loop, including four campgrounds in Wyoming near the border with Idaho and Montana, will remain closed.
Local residents, business owners and tourists are likely to be relieved that parts of the park will reopen. Yellowstone receives the most visitors between June and September, and this summer season was expected to be a particularly busy one, as the national park prepared to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
In an earlier news conference, the park superintendent suggested it was the first time since Yellowstone opened 150 years ago that it had to shut down due to flooding.
Scientists say climate change is making extreme weather events more common globally. The flooding around Yellowstone was just one of several climate disasters recorded across the United States this month.
(WASHINGTON POST)
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At least nine people died across the delta nation on Friday after lightning struck amid rainfalls, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.
In a statement, the government’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Dhaka, the nation’s capital, said Friday that water in all major rivers across the country was rising. The country has about 130 rivers.
The center said the flood situation is likely to deteriorate over the next 24 hours in the worst-hit Sunamganj, Sylhet districts in the northeastern region as well as in Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari and Rangpur districts in northern Bangladesh.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Meteorologists say the unusually early heat wave is a sign of what’s to come as global warming continues, moving up in the calendar the temperatures that Europe would previously have seen only in July and August.
In France, some 18 million people woke to heat wave alerts affecting about a third of the country Friday.
Forest fire warnings were issued from the Pyrenees in the south to the Paris region.
France has introduced numerous measures to cope with extreme summer temperatures following a deadly heat wave in 2003 that killed about 15,000 people.
On Friday, schoolchildren were allowed to skip classes in the 12 western and southwestern French regions that were under the highest alert.
The government stepped up efforts to ensure nursing home residents and other vulnerable populations could stay hydrated.
Temperatures in France have mounted all week and passed 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the southwest Friday.
Britain recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with the temperature reaching 90 degrees at Heathrow Airport near London just after midday.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The pelicans were returned to the wild at Corona del Mar State Beach after treatment at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach. They were among about 70 that have been brought to the center since mid-May, said Dr. Elizabeth Wood, the facility’s veterinarian.
“They were all brought in in a state of emaciation,” Wood said. “They were basically starving.”
The birds were not showing any signs of obvious disease and they tested negative for disease, she said.
“So basically it just seems like a mass starvation event. They were found all over the beaches — emaciated, anemic, dehydrated and with the feathers not waterproofed anymore,” Wood said.
The birds, however, responded well to basic care, including fluids and large amounts of fish, she said.
“We don’t have a clear answer as to what caused this,” Wood said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said last month that hundreds of starving pelicans had been admitted to wildlife rehabilitation facilities since about May 13, and many died shortly after their arrival at facilities. The department similarly found no indications of disease or unusual parasites.
It’s not known if the starvation event is over, but Wood said the intake of birds has declined dramatically over the last week or so.
The 12 birds released Friday will serve as a “sentinel group” to see how they fare before additional birds are released.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Residents in ravaged areas, meanwhile, cleaned up from the mess and braced for the economic fallout while the park remains closed at the height of tourist season. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Montana, ordering federal assistance be made available.
The city of Billings had asked residents to conserve water because it was down to a limited supply when the Yellowstone River hit record high levels and triggered the closure of the treatment plant.
“We are aware yesterday’s alert to the community caused a panic. That was never our hope,” city officials said in a statement Thursday. “We have never witnessed a situation like the one we saw yesterday. We did not know how bad it could get or how long it would continue.”
The floodwaters continued to move downstream and by this morning were expected to reach Miles City in eastern Montana.
Local authorities said low-lying areas along the river could be flooded but there was no immediate risk to the city of more than 8,000 people.
Officials had asked Billings residents Wednesday to conserve water because it was down to a 24- to 36-hour supply after a combination of heavy rain and rapidly melting mountain snow raised the Yellowstone River to historic levels that forced them to shut the treatment plant.
“None of us planned a 500-year flood event on the Yellowstone when we designed these facilities,” said Debi Meling, the city’s public works director.
The city of 110,000 stopped watering parks and boulevards, and its fire department filled its trucks with river water.
Normal operations resumed Thursday after the river level began to drop. It crested Wednesday at more than a foot above the previous recorded high in Billings in 1997.
The unprecedented and sudden flooding earlier this week drove all but a dozen of the more than 10,000 visitors out of the nation’s oldest park.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said during a Senate hearing in Washington that federal officials now believe protecting “critical levels” at the country’s largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — will require much larger reductions in water deliveries.
“A warmer, drier West is what we are seeing today,” Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “And the challenges we are seeing today are unlike anything we have seen in our history.”
The needed cuts, she said, amount to between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet next year.
For comparison, California is entitled to 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year, while Arizona’s allotment is 2.8 million.
The push for a new emergency deal to cope with the Colorado River’s shrinking flow comes just seven months after officials from California, Arizona and Nevada signed an agreement to take significantly less water out of Lake Mead, and six weeks after the federal government announced it is holding back a large quantity of water in Lake Powell to reduce risks of the reservoir dropping to a point where Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity.
Despite those efforts and a previous deal among the states to share in the shortages, the two reservoirs stand at or near record-low levels. Lake Mead near Las Vegas has dropped to 28 percent of its full capacity, while Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border is now just 27 percent full.
Touton said it’s critical to achieve the additional cutbacks and her agency is in talks with the seven states that depend on the river to develop a plan for the reductions in the next 60 days. She warned that the Bureau of Reclamation has the authority to “act unilaterally to protect the system, and we will protect the system.”
Though Touton didn’t spell out what that could entail, the Interior Department could impose cuts if the states fail to reach an agreement on their own. Touton said her agency is “working with the states and tribes in having this discussion.”
The Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in cities from Denver to Los Angeles and farmlands from the Rocky Mountains to the U.S.-Mexico border. The river has long been over-allocated, and its reservoirs have declined dramatically since 2000 during a severe drought that research shows is being intensified by global warming and that some scientists describe as the long-term “aridification” of the Southwest.
“What has been a slow-motion train wreck for 20 years is accelerating, and the moment of reckoning is near,” said John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which supplies the Las Vegas area.
He pointed out that Lake Mead’s water level, now at 1,045 feet above sea level, has continued to decline toward critically low levels. Hoover Dam could still release water down to a level of 895 feet, but below that, water would no longer pass through the dam to supply California, Arizona and Mexico — a level known as “dead pool.”
“We are 150 feet from 25 million Americans losing access to the Colorado River, and the rate of decline is accelerating,” Entsminger told the senators.
Avoiding “potentially catastrophic conditions,” Entsminger said, will require reductions that many water managers previously considered unattainable.
In talking with representatives of other states, Entsminger said, they all recognize the urgency of the situation and are working to increase conservation efforts.
Entsminger pointed out that roughly 80 percent of the river’s flow is used for agriculture, and most of that for thirsty crops like alfalfa, which is mainly grown for cattle, both in the U.S. and overseas.
“I’m not suggesting that farmers stop farming, but rather that they carefully consider crop selection and make the investments needed to optimize irrigation efficiency,” Entsminger said.
Last year, the federal government declared a shortage on the Colorado River for the first time, triggering substantial cutbacks in water deliveries to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. Farmers in parts of Arizona have left some fields dry and unplanted, and have turned to more groundwater pumping.
The cuts have yet to limit supplies for Southern California, but that could change as the reservoirs continue to drop.
The timeline that Touton laid out, to come up with an agreement for water reductions within 60 days, puts the deadline just before the bureau is scheduled to release its mid-August projections for reservoir levels on the river. Those projections determine the level of the shortage in 2023 and the severity of the delivery cuts.
(Ian James, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.
Yellowstone National Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.
“The water is still raging,” said Sholly, who noted more wet weather forecast this weekend could cause additional flooding.
The Yellowstone River hit historic levels after days of rain and rapid snowmelt wreaked havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where it washed away cabins, swamped small towns and knocked out power. It hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up.
Instead of marveling at massive elk and bison, burbling thermal pools and the reliable blast of Old Faithful’s geyser, tourists found themselves witnessing nature at its most unpredictable as the Yellowstone River crested in a chocolate brown torrent that washed away everything in its path.
Waters were only starting to recede Tuesday, and the full extent of the destruction may not be known for a while. It was not expected to have affected wildlife.
Closure of the northern part of the park will keep visitors from features that include Tower Fall, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, which is known for viewing wildlife such as bears and wolves. Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and viewing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are on the park’s southern loop road and likely to be reopened.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than 100 million people were expected to be affected this week and authorities warned residents to stay hydrated, remain indoors when possible and be aware of the health risks of high temperatures. Strong storms brought heavy rain and damaging wind to many of the affected areas on Monday, and more than 400,000 customers remained without power as of Tuesday afternoon.
Excessive heat warnings are in effect for much of Illinois and Indiana along with parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio from Tuesday through tonight according to the National Weather Service.
Heat index values — which take into account the temperature and relative humidity and indicate how hot it feels outdoors — approached and topped 105 degrees in some locations, including Chicago, the weather service said.
“Full sun today will make it feel even hotter,” the weather service wrote. “There will not be much relief for those without air conditioning today through Wednesday night.”
Much of southeastern Michigan — from just south of Flint to the state lines with Ohio and Indiana — was put under an excessive heat watch Wednesday through Thursday morning as the warm front is forecast to move east.
A heat advisory also was issued, stretching from as far north as Wisconsin down to the Florida Panhandle on the Gulf coast.
In Chicago, where a ferocious storm Monday night heralded temperatures that were expected to exceed 90 degrees on Tuesday and today, the May deaths of three women when temperatures climbed into the 90s served as a fresh reminder of the dangers of such heat — particularly for people who live alone or are dealing with certain health issues.
Pat Clemmons, an 81-year-old resident of the apartment complex where the women died, said everything was working well Tuesday morning as the temperatures climbed. She said she has lived in the building for about 20 years and that she never experienced issues before “that one horrible Saturday” in May.
“They have every kind of air conditioner, air blower, fan jets and everything else ... I’m fine right now,” Clemmons said. “The air’s on. You know they’re gonna have everything working perfectly right now ’cause all the chaos that happened.”
By midafternoon, the temperature at Chicago Midway National Airport reached 100 degrees for the first time since July of 2012, the area’s weather service office reported.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The boy’s body was found during a search of the city’s drainage tunnels, WITI-TV reported. Two adults in their 30s who entered the water in an attempt to rescue the child Monday evening were still missing, according to Milwaukee fire and police officials.
Firefighters focused their search Tuesday on three connected tunnels that carry water to the Kinnickinnic River. Search crews did not enter the tunnels Monday night because of dangerous conditions and instead sent a drone inside in an attempt to locate the three, officials said. Police said all three knew each other, but didn’t elaborate.
The water was deep and fast-flowing following the severe storms, which also caused damage in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. And the storms also packed a punch early Tuesday as they rolled into West Virginia, where numerous roads were closed by downed trees and power lines.
The storms came as high temperatures and humidity settled in over states stretching from parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and eastward to the Carolinas. More than 100 million people were facing combination of heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches.
In Illinois, a supercell thunderstorm with winds in excess of 80 mph toppled trees and damaged power lines Monday evening as it left a trail of damage across the Chicago area and into northwestern Indiana, the National Weather Service said.
Numerous reports of wind damage were reported along the storm’s path, with Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport recording an 84 mph wind gust, the weather service said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Beach closures that were once thought of as largely a wintertime occurrence now appear poised to become a year-round phenomenon in San Diego’s South Bay.
However, that’s not because the cross-border pollution from Baja California’s overtaxed and crumbling wastewater system has dramatically escalated, according to county officials.
It’s because the ocean is more polluted than previously thought. A spate of recently shuttered shorelines followed a May 5 rollout of a new DNA-based water-quality testing system nearly a decade in the making.
“This method is more accurate, more precise, so we’re able to get a better picture of what the water quality truly is,” said Heather Buonomo, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Health and Quality.
“Until the root cause of this issue is addressed, which is correcting the sewage contamination that’s flowing up to these beaches, this will continue,” she warned.
Coronado’s beaches have been shuttered for an eye-popping 17 days since the new testing started early last month. The Imperial Beach shoreline to the south, which historically has suffered much greater impacts from sewage pollution, was immediately closed and has yet to reopen.
“No one was expecting that this was going to result in these closures all the way up to Coronado,” Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said Tuesday. “Right now our beaches are going to be closed all summer.”
Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey did not return multiple requests for comment.
Dedina and others expressed concerns that the closures could have widespread economic and social impacts, potentially shuttering programs such as the junior lifeguards and YMCA surf camps and interfering with Navy training operations.
“The Hotel del (Coronado beachfront) is going to be closed all the time now,” said Chris Helmer, environmental and natural resources director for Imperial Beach. “That’s going to piss off a whole lot of powerful people.”
The Naval Special Warfare Command, whose base is on the southern end of Coronado and is the training home of San Diego’s Navy SEALs, did not return requests for comment.
The closures are necessary to protect beachgoers from dangerously high levels of bacteria and viruses, according to county public health officials. Swimmers who ignore the restrictions could be at risk of diarrhea, fever, respiratory disease, meningitis and even paralysis.
San Diego is the first coastal county in the nation to institute a federally approved water-quality testing system that uses DNA technology, officials said. The effort involved the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Public Health and researchers at UC San Diego.
“We started this process nine years ago because we heard loud and clear from the community that they wanted to know what was going on with their water,” said Buonomo with the county. “They wanted faster results and more accurate information on if it could make them sick.”
The old testing regime relied on what’s known as taking a culture, where scientists examine water samples for bacterial growth in a lab. Officials said the new DNA-based method is not only more accurate but quicker, returning results within 10 hours, rather than 24. In either case, the presence of bacteria is considered an indicator for pathogens, such as E. coli, Vibrio and salmonella.
“When you have high increase of sewage in your sample, often the culture method might miss those, whereas the DNA test is not missing those,” said Jeremy Corrigan, director of operations at the San Diego County Public Health Laboratory.
For years, environmental regulators thought sewage pouring over the border from Mexico was largely the result of heavy winter rains that flushed polluted runoff and wastewater through the Tijuana River channel into the estuary in Imperial Beach.
However, recent studies out of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Stanford University have identified a defunct wastewater facility in Tijuana as a major source of the pollution. San Antonio de los Buenos sewage treatment plant at Punta Bandera is estimated to be dumping as much as 35 million gallons of raw sewage a day into the Pacific Ocean.
When ocean currents move northward, referred to as a “south swell,” they can carry plumes of feces and other pollution as far north as Coronado. Such conditions are prevalent in the spring and summer, according to health officials.
The EPA has released a $630 million blueprint, nearly half of which has funding, to stem the cross-border pollution. A major part of the plan is an effort to reroute much of the wastewater currently pumped to Punta Bandera, which relies on a system of outdated lagoons. Instead, that sewage would be sent to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant along the border in San Diego.
(Joshua Emerson Smith, Andrew Dyer, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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All entrances to Yellowstone were closed because of the deluge, caused by heavy rains and melting snowpack, while park officials ushered tourists out of the most affected areas. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstone’s gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a landslide, a bridge washed out over a creek, and roads badly undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.
The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, Mont., a town of about 900 people near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Gardner rivers, just outside Yellowstone’s busy North Entrance.
At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terra Haute, Ind., got an up-close view of the water rising and the river bank sloughing off in the raging Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door.
“We started seeing entire trees floating down the river, debris,” Manning told The Associated Press. “Saw one crazy single kayaker coming down through, which was kind of insane.”
Yellowstone officials were evacuating the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, park Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.
But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.
“We will not know timing of the park’s reopening until flood waters subside and we’re able to assess the damage throughout the park,” Sholly said in the statement.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Roughly 2,500 homes have been evacuated because of two wildfires burning on the outskirts of Flagstaff in northern Arizona, officials said at an afternoon briefing.
“We all have felt the pain of watching our beautiful mountain burn. We acknowledged what an incredibly difficult time this is for those who have been evacuated and for those whose homes have been threatened,” Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chair Patrice Horstman said.
The wildfire prompted the county to declare an emergency. It’s been fueled by high winds that have grounded aircraft as an option for firefighting. Crews are planning on being able to use aircraft today as winds moderate, authorities said.
Incident commander Aaron Graeser said the Flagstaff-area fire is one of the country’s top priorities for firefighting resources.
“Every potential fire source was a problem today, and every potential unburned area was receptive to fire today,” Graeser said. “That puts us in an interesting situation of trying to, again, assign resources the best we can based on that.”
Conditions have also kept fire managers from being able to better map it by air but the fire is estimated to be 5,120 acres.
Two smaller wildfires northeast of the blaze were also burning Monday.
Wildfires broke out early this spring in multiple states in the Western U.S., where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires.
Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In California, evacuations were ordered for about 300 remote homes near a wildfire that flared up over the weekend in forest land northeast of Los Angeles near the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The blaze saw renewed growth Sunday afternoon and by midday Monday had scorched about 960 acres of pine trees and dry brush, fire spokesperson Dana Dierkes said.
“The fuel is very dry, so it acts like a ladder, carrying flames from the bottom of the trees to the very top,” Dierkes said. Crews were also contending with unpredictable winds, she said.
Aside from mandatory evacuations for some, the remainder of the mountain town of Wrightwood, with about 4,500 residents, was under an evacuation warning. Several roads also were closed.
The fire was 18 percent contained.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Shortly after the blaze ignited, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies rescued five people in the area who were suspected of crossing the border illegally, Cal Fire San Diego Capt. Thomas Shoots said.
Two of the people required medical care — their injuries were thought to be heat related — and were airlifted from the scene to waiting ambulances, Shoots said. Three others were turned over to Border Patrol agents.
The blaze was reported a little before 1 p.m. in an area southeast of Dulzura, south of Barrett Junction and east of Marron Valley, according to Cal Fire San Diego, which said the fire was initially burning at a moderate pace.
It had grown to 577 acres by 4:30 p.m., but firefighters were “making good progress,” according to a Cal Fire tweet. By 6 p.m., the agency said the spread of the blaze had been halted, and the fire was 10 percent contained.
Shoots said the fire did not threaten any homes or buildings but had threatened “critical infrastructure” on nearby Tecate Peak. “There are a lot of radio towers and that kind of thing,” Shoots said. “We have resources up there protecting that infrastructure.”
Winds in the area were relatively strong Monday, according to Shoots, who was at the scene.
About 180 firefighters — including crews from 20 engines, as well as bulldozer crews and others — helped battle the blaze, Shoots said. Water and flame retardant-dropping planes and helicopters from San Diego County and across Southern California also helped douse the flames from the sky.
Monday’s fire — dubbed the Border 13 fire — was about a quarter-mile from a 65-acre blaze that ignited Sunday afternoon, Shoots said. That fire was 25 percent contained as of Monday morning.
(Alex Riggins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The Forest Service has acknowledged that two prescribed burns it set to clear out brush and small trees that can serve as wildfire fuel sparked two blazes that came together as the largest in New Mexico’s recorded history.
The wildfire has charred 500 square miles [320,000 acres] in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. Several hundred homes have been destroyed.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on behalf of 50 Mora County residents.
Without the information, the lawsuit alleges, the residents “cannot determine the Forest Service’s responsibility ... for starting the fire.”
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Storms have pummeled Hunan since the beginning of the month, with some monitoring stations reporting historic levels of rainfall, the Xinhua News Agency said late Wednesday.
As of late Thursday, 10 people were reported dead and three missing in the floods that have affected around 1.8 million people in the largely rural, mountainous province, Xinhua said. It said 286,000 people have been evacuated to safety and more than 2,700 houses have been damaged or collapsed entirely.
In Guangxi, rescue crews were still looking Thursday for survivors in several villages in the area of Beiliu city, where days of rain left hillsides waterlogged and prone to slippages, Xinhua said.
Seven people were confirmed dead in the landslides, one was missing and at least one person was pulled out alive.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The temperature is expected to reach 100 degrees at Jacumba and 111 to 115 degrees in places such as Ocotillo Wells. Points farther east could reach 117 to 119 degrees.
Strong, gusty winds will arise on Saturday, making driving even more hazardous. The winds will pick up during a period of very low humidity, raising the risk of wildfires.
Forecasters remind motorists to carry extra water when traveling along that stretch of interstate and to check their tire pressure before leaving. Intense heat can cause blow-outs and degrade a vehicle’s battery.
The heat will begin to moderate on Sunday, but will still be higher than normal.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham met with homeowners and local officials while surveying homes in two of the many small northern New Mexico villages that were overcome by flames during the past several weeks after two planned government operations meant to clear out overgrown areas of the forest went awry.
The first-term Democrat is preparing for a visit Saturday with President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to make a quick stop in New Mexico to be briefed on the wildfires and the recovery efforts.
The largest blaze has charred close to 500 square miles — 320,000 acres — in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, which sits at the southern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Much criticism has been levied by residents throughout the rural area because of the federal government’s role in causing the fire.
The governor’s office confirmed Tuesday that several hundred homes are estimated to have been destroyed by the fire. That number will likely increase as inspections and documentation is ongoing.
“I saw firsthand the irrevocable harm that has been caused, with historic homes and livelihoods lost to the flames,” the governor said in a statement following her tour. “But I was also reminded of New Mexicans’ resiliency — I saw neighbors helping neighbors with that same compassion that New Mexicans always show toward one another in tough times.”
The governor also heard about where recovery aid has been helpful and where gaps remain.
Lujan Grisham and other top elected officials have called for the federal government to cover 100 percent of recovery costs. Some also have asked for an independent investigation of the U.S. Forest Service’s prescribed fire protocols even though the agency has put a hold on such operations pending its own inquiry.
While New Mexico has felt the brunt of the fire season so far this year, much of the West has marked notably hot, dry and windy conditions. Predictions for the rest of the season do not bode well, with drought and warmer weather brought on by climate change worsen fire danger in overgrown forests around the region.
The National Interagency Fire Center reported Tuesday that thousands of wildland firefighters were working toward containment of eight large fires that have burned more than 723,200 acres. Five of those fires are in New Mexico, while Alaska, Arizona and Colorado each have one.
In Alaska, crews were working to protect several structures from a fire burning west of Talkeetna.
(Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Golden State’s urban residents used 17.6 percent more water in April compared with the same month in 2020, the year the current drought began and the baseline against which conservation efforts are measured.
The South Coast hydrologic region — an area that includes Los Angeles and more than half the state’s population — remained among the worst offenders, using 25.6 percent more water in April than in April 2020. It was second only to the Colorado River hydrologic region, which increased usage by about 41 percent.
Officials said the dismal report marked the second straight month of substantially higher water consumption in the state. April’s use was only marginally less than that of March, when Californians used about 19 percent more water than the baseline.
“The rain is usually finished by the end of April, and as of today, almost 60 percent of the state is in the two highest drought categories,” Marielle Rhodeiro, a research data specialist with the State Water Resources Control Board, said during Tuesday’s meeting of the board. “As the summer progresses, that number is likely to increase.”
The cumulative savings from last July — when Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Californians to voluntarily cut water use by 15 percent — to the end of April were just 2 percent, she said.
The numbers arrived even as state water officials pleaded with residents to do more to conserve. January, February and March marked California’s driest-ever recorded start to the year, and the state now sits in a perilous position as it heads into the hot, dry months of summer.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor update, published Thursday, shows about 12 percent of the state under “exceptional” drought, the worst possible category, up from 0 percent just three months ago.
Those conditions are “unlikely to improve,” deputy director Eric Ekdahl told the board.
“Expect things to intensify over the next couple of months,” Ekdahl said, noting that almost all of the year’s snow has melted and reservoirs probably won’t receive any more precipitation until at least the start of the next water year in October.
What’s more, the latest temperature outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows above-normal temperatures in California for the next month, Ekdahl said. Much of the state is bracing for a heat wave this week, with Sacramento forecast to hit 105 degrees on Friday.
But the outlook wasn’t all grim. A spot of rain in April helped break the state’s dry streak and “somewhat mediate residential use,” Rhodeiro said.
Two Northern California areas, the North Coast and North Lahontan hydrologic regions, posted gains in April, saving about 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively, while the San Francisco Bay Area reported no change.
Water board chair Joaquin Esquivel also underscored that 2020, the comparison year, had some of the lowest-ever recorded water usage. When compared to 2021, residents in April used about 7 gallons less per person per day, he said.
“Having that year-over-year reduction from last year is at least heartening,” he said.
What’s more, April’s numbers don’t account for the massive call for conservation ordered by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at the end of that month.
Dozens of water agencies, including the Los Angeles Department of Water Power, reduced residents to one- or two-day-a-week outdoor watering in response to the MWD’s order beginning June 1.
(Hayley Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level at Mount Bulusan in Sorsogon province following the 17- minute blast but added that there was no sign of an impending major eruption.
There were no reports of injuries, officials said.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Alex reached tropical storm force after strengthening off Florida’s east coast early Sunday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Alex had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and was centered about 325 miles west of Bermuda on Sunday evening.
It was moving to the east-northeast at a brisk 26 mph and was expected to pass near or just north of Bermuda today. A tropical storm warning was in effect there. Forecasters said it could drop 1 to 2 inches of rain across Bermuda beginning late Sunday and into today.
National Security Minister Michael Weeks said emergency services were monitoring the storm.
In Cuba, Alex killed three people, damaged dozens of homes in Havana and cut off electricity in some areas, authorities reported.
Parts of southern Florida experienced road flooding from heavy rain and wind Saturday. Officials in Miami were towing stranded vehicles from flooded roadways.
The tropical rainstorm prompted flash flood warnings, while rain fell at up to 2 to 3 inches per hour.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said the storm tested the system of drainage pumps the city recently installed as climate change has increasingly made flooding an issue in the low-lying area.
“We moved the water off pretty quickly, but in some areas, obviously, it was really challenging,” Gelber said. “There were some problems getting through on some streets, one of the main arteries was unpassable, but by and large water is dissipating.”
The National Weather Service received reports of nearly 15 inches of rain in Hollywood and Margate. Miami International Airport registered about 9 inches of rain — or roughly an entire month‘s worth.
Alex partially emerged from the remnants of Hurricane Agatha, which made landfall on on Mexico’s southern Pacific Coast last week, killing at least nine people and leaving five missing as it moved overland.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Tuesday. This is an unusually early start to the storm season but not unprecedented for Florida.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The temblor appears to have occurred on the Earthquake Valley fault, the same system that produced a 3.5 quake on May 9, said San Diego State geologist Tom Rockwell.
The USGS said Friday’s shaking was felt as far west as San Diego and Fallbrook and as far north as Palm Springs. The quake also was felt in Pine Valley.
The fault “is not expected to produce a large earthquake in the near future, as it likely ruptured in 1890 or 1892,” Rockwell said in a scientific journal article.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now than at any time in at least 4 million years, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said.
The concentration of the gas reached nearly 421 parts per million in May, the peak for the year, as power plants, vehicles, farms and other sources around the world continued to pump huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Emissions totaled 36.3 billion tons in 2021, the highest level in history.
As the amount of carbon dioxide increases, the planet keeps warming, with effects like increased flooding, more extreme heat, drought and worsening wildfires that are already being experienced by millions of people worldwide. Average global temperatures are now about 1.1 degrees Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, higher than in preindustrial times.
Growing carbon dioxide levels are more evidence that countries have made little progress toward the goal set in Paris in 2015 of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say the likelihood of catastrophic effects of climate change increases significantly.
They are “a stark reminder that we need to take urgent, serious steps to become a more climate-ready nation,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement.
Although carbon dioxide levels dipped somewhat around 2020 during the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there was no effect on the long-term trend, said Pieter Tans, a senior scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory.
The rate of increase in carbon dioxide concentration “just kept on going,” he said. “And it keeps on going for about the same pace as it did for the past decade.”
Tans and others at the laboratory calculated the peak concentration this year at 420.99 parts per million, based on data from a NOAA weather station atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm once known as Agatha in the Pacific Ocean will be known as Alex in the Atlantic Ocean basin, once it reaches tropical storm status.
A Friday evening advisory from the hurricane center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, just above the tropical storm threshold, but it remained labeled “potential tropical cyclone one” because it had few other characteristics that define such storms.
At 8 p.m., forecasters said the system was about 300 miles southwest of Fort Myers, Fla., moving at about 7 mph.
A Hurricane Center advisory said the system was expected to develop “a well-defined center and become a tropical storm” as it approached Florida on Friday night and into today.
In Cuba, heavy downpours brought by the system caused landslides and accidents that left two people dead in the capital, Havana, state media reported. A person was also reported missing in Pinar del Rio province after falling into a rain-swollen river. The country’s Civil Defense organization said the main damage so far was to homes and the electricity system. The state electricity company said 50,000 clients were without power.
In Florida, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said most government services, such as bus routes and trains, planned to operate as normal over the weekend. Some events have been canceled, she said, and while there is no widespread anxiety about the storm, it might be best to make indoor plans.
“If it isn’t necessary to go out, it’s probably better to stay home,” Levine Cava said Friday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Gov. Alejando Murat said rivers overflowed their banks and swept away people in homes, while other victims were buried under mud and rocks.
“There were fundamentally two reasons” for the deaths, Murat told local media.
“There were rivers that overflowed, and on the other hand, and the most serious part, were landslides.”
Agatha made history as the strongest hurricane ever recorded to come ashore in May during the eastern Pacific hurricane season.
The hurricane made landfall Monday afternoon on a sparsely populated stretch of small beach towns and fishing villages in Oaxaca.
It was a strong Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, but it quickly lost power moving inland over the mountainous interior.
Remnants of Agatha were moving northeast Tuesday into Veracruz state.
Murat said power had been restored to some communities near the coast, but that some bridges had been washed out and mudslides blocked a number of highways.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Torrential rains and howling winds from Hurricane Agatha whipped palm trees and drove tourists and residents into shelters in a region that is sparsely populated except for a handful of small communities along the shore.
Oaxaca state's civil defense agency showed families hustling into a shelter in Pochutla and a rock and mud slide that blocked the highway between that town and the state capital.
Agatha made landfall about 5 miles west of Puerto Angel as a strong Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. But it quickly began losing strength as it moved inland.
By evening, maximum sustained winds fell to 80 mph. It was moving northeast at 8 mph, heading toward the Gulf of Mexico, where its remnants might re-emerge.
National emergency officials said they had assembled a task force of more than 9,300 people for the area and more than 200 shelters were opened as forecasters warned of dangerous storm surge and flooding from heavy rains.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The nearly 8-week-old fire was surrounded by containment lines cut and scraped around half of of its perimeter, enclosing 493 square miles [316,000 acres] of forested mountains and foothills east of Santa Fe.
Nearly 3,000 firefighters and other personnel were assigned to the blaze, the largest in New Mexico's recorded history.
Red flag warnings were issued for Saturday through Monday because of high winds and low humidity, but crews backed by bulldozers and aircraft dropping water by midday Monday were able to jump on hot spots and allow only minimal growth, officials said.
With forecasts calling for improved weather conditions beginning today, fire officials said they were reducing the frequency of livestreamed evening "community meeting" briefings from daily to three times a week.
"This change is a direct result of the positive progress firefighters have made in containing this fire and limiting fire growth," officials said in a statement.
In another reflection of gains made to check the fire's growth, San Miguel County on Saturday lifted evacuation orders for several areas on the fire's western flank and downgraded pre-evacuation warnings in others.
Initial estimates say the fire has destroyed at least 330 homes, but state officials expect the number of homes and other structures that have burned to rise to more than 1,000 as more assessments are done.
The fire started in early April as a result of prescribed burns that either got out of control or smoldered for months before bursting into flames with drier and warmer weather.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Agatha could make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane this afternoon or evening in the area near Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel in the southern state of Oaxaca - a region that includes the laid-back tourist resorts of Huatulco, Mazunte and Zipolite.
In early evening Sunday, the recently formed hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph - just 1 mph under the threshold for a Category 3, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It was centered about 160 miles southwest of Puerto Angel and heading to the northeast at 5 mph.
The center said Agatha could have winds of 120 mph when it makes landfall.
A hurricane warning was in effect between the port of Salina Cruz and the Lagunas de Chacahua.
The civil defense office in Oaxaca said the hurricanes outer bands were already hitting the coast. The office published photos of fishermen hauling their boats up on beaches to protect them from the storm.
Municipal authorities in Huatulco ordered "the absolute closure" of all the resorts beaches and its famous "seven bays," many of which are reachable only by boat. They also closed local schools and began setting up emergency storm shelters.
To the east in Zipolite, long known for its clothing-optional beach and bohemian vibe, personnel at the small Casa Kalmar hotel gathered up outdoor furniture and put up wooden storm shutters to prevent strong winds from blowing out glass windows and doors.
"The biggest worry here is the wind," hotel manager Silvia Ranfagni said.
With only one guest - and plenty of cancellations due to the hurricane - Ranfagni planned to ride out Agatha at the property, which is three or four blocks from the beach.
"Im going to shut myself in here with my animals," she said, referring to her dog and cats.
The governments Mexican Turtle Center - a former slaughterhouse turned conservation center in Mazunte - announced it was closed to visitors until further notice because of the hurricane.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of dangerous coastal flooding as well as large and destructive waves near where Agatha makes landfall.
The storm was expected to drop 10 to 16 inches of rain on parts of Oaxaca state, with isolated maximums of 20 inches, posing the threat of flash floods and mudslides.
Because the storms current path would carry it over the narrow waist of Mexico's isthmus, the hurricane center said there was a chance the storm's remnants could reemerge over the Gulf of Mexico.
In northern Guatemala, a woman and her six children died Saturday when a landslide hit their home, but the accident did not appear to be related to Agatha.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7:02 a.m. quake was centered 8 miles west northwest of Azangaro, but was fairly deep - 135 miles beneath the surface.
The quake swayed some buildings in La Paz, the capital of neighboring Bolivia, where people fled into the streets.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Citing its authority under the 1972 Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a legal determination that would ban the disposal of mining waste in the Bristol Bay watershed. It is a move that could deal a death blow to the proposed Pebble Mine, an intensely disputed project that would have extracted the metals but also irreparably harmed the ecosystem, scientists said.
The proposal, which would create permanent protections for the waters and wildlife of Bristol Bay, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, will be finalized later this year.
The determination would prohibit any entity from disposing mine-related waste within 308 square miles around the site of the proposed Pebble Mine project.
"The Bristol Bay watershed is a shining example of how our nation's waters are essential to healthy communities, vibrant ecosystems and a thriving economy," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said. "EPA is committed to following the science, the law and a transparent public process to determine what is needed to ensure that this irreplaceable and invaluable resource is protected for current and future generations."
The fight over the fate of Pebble Mine and Bristol Bay has raged for more than a decade.
In 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the project that was seen as critical for it to proceed.
The company seeking to build the mine, the Pebble Limited Partnership, appealed that decision and is also expected to challenge the legality of the Biden administration's new plan to protect Bristol Bay.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The World Weather Attribution group analyzed historical weather data and suggested that early, long heat waves that impact a massive geographical area are rare, once-a-century events. But the current level of global warming, caused by human-caused climate change, has made those heat waves 30 times more likely.
If global heating increases to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) more than pre-industrial levels, then heat waves like this could occur twice in a century and up to once every five years, said Arpita Mondal, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, who was part of the study.
"This is a sign of things to come," Mondal said.
The results are conservative: An analysis published last week by the United Kingdom's Meteorological Office said the heat wave was probably made 100 times more likely by climate change, with such scorching temperatures likely to reoccur every three years.
The World Weather Attribution analysis is different as it is trying to calculate how specific aspects of the heat wave, such as the length and the region impacted, were made more likely by global warming. "The real result is probably somewhere between ours and the (U.K.) Met Office result for how much climate change increased this event," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Imperial College of London, who was also a part of the study.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The storm - with wind gusts surpassing 80 mph - uprooted trees and damaged power lines and structures across southern and central Quebec and southern Ontario, Environment Canada, the government's weather service, said. On Sunday, a day before Canadians were to celebrate Victoria Day, scattered tree limbs still blocked roads and animals were trapped by pieces of splintered barns. Utility companies rushed to restore power for customers, some of whom had been in the dark for more than 12 hours.
The storm was a derecho, a line of severe thunderstorms that produce high winds and can spawn tornadoes, said David Sills, executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in Ontario.
That kind of severe weather, which feeds off instability in the atmosphere, is rare in Canada, occurring once perhaps every five or 10 years, he said.
"It just got stronger and stronger," Sills said. "By the time it got about an hour west of Toronto, there was a gust of wind of 132 kilometers per hour," or about 82 mph.
Most of the fatalities were the result of people being hit by falling trees, police said.
This included a woman in Brampton, Ontario, just west of Toronto, as she walked outside; a person who died when a tree fell on a camping trailer that was parked at Pinehurst Lake; a 59-year-old man at a golf course; a 30-year-old man in the Ganaraska Forest, east of Toronto; and a 44-year-old man in Greater Madawaska, in eastern Ontario.
In Quebec, a 51-year-old woman died after her boat capsized and she fell into the Ottawa River in Gatineau, north of Ottawa, police said.
Sills said the deaths from falling trees likely stemmed from the nature of the storm, which was moving at more than 60 mph, and that Canadians were outside enjoying the long weekend.
Widespread power outages continued into Sunday evening, with about 226,000 customers, mostly in Ontario, still without electricity. Hydro One, a power company servicing Ontario, said that its transmission system in the Ottawa area had incurred substantial damage.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The twister hit Gaylord, a city of about 4,200 people roughly 230 miles northwest of Detroit, around 3:45 p.m.
Mike Klepadlo, who owns the car repair shop Alter-Start North, said he and his workers took cover in a bathroom.
"I'm lucky I'm alive. It blew the back off the building," he said. "Twenty feet of the back wall is gone. The whole roof is missing. At least half the building is still here. It's bad."
Emma Goddard, 15, said she was working at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe when she got a phone alert about the tornado. Thinking the weather outside looked "stormy, but not scary," she dismissed it and returned to what she was doing. Her mother then called and she assured her mom she was OK.
Two minutes later, she was pouring a customer's smoothie when her co-worker's mom rushed in yelling for them to get to the back of the building, Goddard told The Associated Press by text message. They took shelter in the walk-in cooler, where they could hear windows shattering.
"I was crammed shoulder-to-shoulder with my seven co-workers, two of my co-workers' parents and a lady from Door Dash coming to pick up her smoothies."
When they left the cooler about 15 minutes later and stepped outside, they saw "some of our cars in pieces and insulation all over the ground," Goddard said. Three neighboring businesses were destroyed, she said.
The Michigan State Patrol confirmed that one person was killed, saying in a tweet that more than 40 others were hurt and being treated at area hospitals. The patrol planned to hold a briefing today.
"I've never seen anything like this in my life," Mayor Todd Sharrard said. "I'm numb."
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Otsego County, making further state resources available to the county.
Video posted online showed a dark funnel cloud materialize out of a cloud as nervous drivers looked on or slowly drove away, uncertain of its path.
Other video showed extensive damage along the city's Main Street. One building appeared to be largely collapsed and a Goodwill store was badly damaged. A collapsed utility pole lay on the side of the road, and debris, including what appeared to be electrical wires and parts of a Marathon gas station, was scattered all along the street.
The Red Cross set up a shelter at a church.
Brandie Slough, 42, said she and a teen daughter sought safety in a restroom at a Culver's. Windows of the fast food restaurant were blown out when they emerged, and her pickup truck had been flipped on its roof in the parking lot.
"We shook our heads in disbelief but are thankful to be safe. At that point, who cares about the truck," Slough said.
(John Flesher & Ed White, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Crews also battled blazes in Texas, Colorado and California, where forecasters issued red flag warnings due to elevated fire danger across the region.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore cited the extreme conditions Friday in announcing a pause on prescribed fire operations on all national forest lands while his agency conducts a 90-day review of protocols, decision-making tools and practices ahead of planned operations this fall.
"Our primary goal in engaging prescribed fires and wildfires is to ensure the safety of the communities involved. Our employees who are engaging in prescribed fire operations are part of these communities across the nation," Moore said in a statement. "The communities we serve, and our employees deserve the very best tools and science supporting them as we continue to navigate toward reducing the risk of severe wildfires in the future."
The U.S. Forest Service has been facing much criticism for the prescribed fire in New Mexico that escaped its containment lines in April and joined with another blaze to form what is now the largest fire burning in the U.S.
Moore said that in 99.84 percent of cases, prescribed fires go as planned and they remain a valuable tool for reducing the threat of extreme fires by removing dead and down trees and other fuel from overgrown forests.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who praised the temporary suspension of intentionally set fires, said it's clear that well-managed prescribed burns can help improve forest management.
But "it is critical that federal agencies update and modernize these practices in response to a changing climate, as what used to be considered extreme conditions are now much more common," she said in a statement Friday.
"The situation unfolding in New Mexico right now demonstrates without a doubt the grave consequences of neglecting to do so," she said.
Wildfires have broken out this spring earlier than usual across multiple states in the western U.S., where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires. The nation is far outpacing the 10-year average for the number of square miles burned so far this year.
Nationally, more than 5,700 wildland firefighters were battling 16 uncontained large fires that had charred over a half-million acres of dry forest and grassland, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
One that broke out Friday in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada about 80 miles north of Sacramento forced some evacuations and closed a state highway, but no structures had been damaged and fire officials said they were making progress on the 20-acre blaze. At least two other fires had charred a total of nearly 600 acres.
The biggest U.S. fire has blackened more than 303,000 acres in northern New Mexico. State officials have said they expect the number of homes and other structures that have burned to rise to more than 1,000 as more assessments are done.
(Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Evacuation orders remained in place for residents near the wildfires in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.
Dangerous fire weather involving gusty winds, high temperatures and extremely low humidity was predicted to continue through today - especially in New Mexico, where the largest U.S. wildfire has been burning for more than a month and the governor expects the number of structures destroyed will exceed 1,000.
More than 2,100 fire personnel are fighting that blaze, which has burned more than 302,720 acres - 473 square miles - of timber and brush in a region east of Santa Fe and south of Taos. Only about one-third of the fire's perimeter is estimated contained.
With winds gusting up to 40 mph, red flag warnings signaling extreme wildfire danger were in effect until 10 p.m. - much later into the night than is typical. Gusts closer to 50 mph were expected today, said the wildfire's incident meteorologist, Bladen Breitreiter.
In Texas, the Texas A&M Forestry Service said the fire that has burned dozens of homes was still only 5 percent contained Thursday afternoon after charring more than 9,500 acres of juniper and mesquite brush 18 miles southwest of Abilene.
That fire had prompted the evacuation of the historic town of Buffalo Gap on Wednesday. Forestry Service spokesman Stuart Morris said the town had reopened Thursday, but a wind shift could pose a new threat.
No injuries had been reported as of Thursday afternoon, but Morris said 27 structures had been destroyed. It wasn't clear how many of them were residences.
All of West Texas was under a red flag wildfire danger warning Thursday, with an underlying drought and critically to extremely dry vegetation combining with 100-degree temperatures and gusty winds.
However, the Forestry Service said a new weather pattern by the weekend is expected to usher in cooler temperatures and moisture that could limit potential for wildfire activity on Saturday and Sunday.
(Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stressed that was only a rough estimate but likely not an exaggeration, saying it's clear to state and federal officials that there are many victims who have lost their homes and have had their businesses affected.
"And their families are suffering," the governor said during a news conference with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell and top state officials. "And that's my takeaway, the number of families that we have to help."
The fire has charred more than 468 square miles - 299,520 acres - over the last 42 days to earn the distinction of being the largest fire in the arid state's recorded history. It's also the largest fire currently burning in the U.S.
Evacuation orders remain in place for some villages. Crews have been working on multiple fronts around the fire's massive perimeter to herd the flames around homes by building more dozer lines, clearing brush, raking pine needles and setting up sprinkler systems.
A fraction of an inch of precipitation fell over parts of the fire Monday, but a meteorologist assigned to the blaze said those places along the perimeter that needed it most missed out on the moisture.
Fire managers said during a briefing Tuesday evening that they were concerned about potentially erratic winds that could result from thunderstorms that will cross the area.
Lujan Grisham warned that many residents, depending on where they live, should be ready for potential evacuations all summer given the likelihood for higher fire danger due to strong winds, warmer temperatures brought on by climate change and forecasts for little to no precipitation.
Officials with three of New Mexico's five national forests announced that closure orders will take effect Thursday, prohibiting public access because of active wildfires and extreme fire danger. All of the Santa Fe National Forest will be off limits along with the Cibola National Forest that borders Albuquerque and the Carson National Forest in far northern New Mexico.
Another fire burning in the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico had grown more than 35,480 acres in one day, causing concern among state officials. Forest roads and trails in the area were closed.
Near the community of Los Alamos, crews made progress on keeping another fire within its containment lines. That blaze was behaving differently given that it was moving through the burn scar of a 2011 wildfire.
Federal officials acknowledged during Tuesday's briefing that recovery for northern New Mexico will be a long process and that the initial aid provided through emergency programs was not meant to make people whole but rather provide reimbursements for lodging, medical expenses and emergency home repairs. More than 2,000 people already have registered with FEMA.
Lujan Grisham recognized the emotions that many people are feeling after losing homes and property that have been in their families for generations. She said the goal of state and federal officials is to save all lives and as many properties as possible.
"We have lives to put back together," she said, adding that she was hopeful Congress would approve pending legislation that would allow additional damages to be paid to New Mexico residents and business owners.
(Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Local utility CEEE Equatorial said on its social media channels that it had all its staff out dealing with damage from the storm, which blew trees and other large objects onto power lines. The company said it could not predict when service would be fully restored.
Earlier, authorities canceled soccer matches, closed public buildings early, suspended classes in schools and universities and beefed up services for the homeless due to fears of major disruptions caused by winds of more than 60 mph.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The probe is still in its early stages, but Southern California Edison issued an initial report to state regulators saying that "our information reflects circuit activity occurring close in time to the reported time of the fire."
No other details were provided.
"Our thoughts are with the community members whose homes have been damaged and those who were evacuated because of the Coastal fire, and we're coordinating with fire agencies as needed to ensure firefighter safety," said David Song, a spokesman for the utility.
Song said Edison's report - which is required for certain types of events - is intended to put the California Public Utilities Commission "on notice of an incident, so that it can conduct its own investigation."
Some of California's most destructive fires have been caused by power lines damaged by winds, including the Paradise inferno and the massive 2017 blazes in wine country. Edison faced more than half a billion dollars in fines from the California Public Utilities Commission last year related to several big fires, including the Thomas and the Woolsey.
The Coastal fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in a coastal canyon near the Pacific Ocean in an upscale section of south Orange County. Hundreds of residents fled as the flames swept into a gated community of multimillion-dollar homes overlooking the ocean.
The fire remains at about 200 acres, and an estimated 900 homes have been evacuated, officials said. Approximately 550 firefighters were battling the blaze as of late Thursday morning, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Greg Barta.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Now scientists have the first-ever photograph of the formidable force at the center of our galaxy: Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole with the mass of 4 million suns.
The image, unveiled Thursday, was captured by a network of eight radio observatories at six locations around the world. Together they form the practical equivalent of an Earth-sized telescope designed to see some of the most mysterious and perplexing objects in the universe.
Taking a picture of a black hole is a singular feat, since its signature feature is that nothing within its gravitational grasp can escape - including light.
But astronomers can see the ring-shaped boundary known as the event horizon, and beyond that the golden, gauzy ring of superheated gas and bending light that skirts the edge of the black hole's point of no return.
"What's more cool than seeing the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way?" said Katie Bouman, a Caltech computational imaging professor and a member of the international telescope team.
The results were published Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Black holes are the densest objects in the universe. When a giant star explodes in a final, dramatic supernova, its collapse creates a tiny clot of matter so dense that its gravitational pull warps the fabric of space and time around it.
Scientists have long suspected that supermassive black holes lie at the center of every galaxy, including our own. Yet despite their colossal size, they're an elusive presence in the universe, observable only by their influence on the objects around them.
Capturing an image of an object from which no light can escape is the monumental challenge the Event Horizon Telescope consortium set out to tackle back in 2009. The effort involves the collaborative work of more than 300 scientists and engineers at 80 institutions around the globe.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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"This appears to be a pretty random quake, but it happened on a fault that is believed to have produced quakes of 6.0 or larger in 1890 and maybe 1893," said SDSU geologist Tom Rockwell, who has dug research trenches on the system.
The USGS says the quake, which began 7 miles beneath the Earth's surface, was felt as far east as the Salton Sea and as far west as downtown San Diego and Oceanside, as well as north of Borrego Springs and south of Tecate.
Earthquakes of this size are common here and rarely lead to larger events.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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The wildfire has charred about 300 square miles of tinder-dry ponderosa forests, making it the largest blaze burning in the U.S. during what has been an early start to the fire season. Thousands of people have been evacuated.
Much of the Southwest has been in the grips of drought for decades and warmer temperatures have combined with spring winds to make for dangerous fire conditions.
Crews in Arizona were dealing with strong winds Monday as they battled a fire near the U.S.-Mexico border that forced several dozen people from their homes.
And another wildfire in northern New Mexico near the federal government's key facilities for nuclear research prompted Los Alamos National Laboratory and others in the area to begin preparing for evacuations, though officials stressed there was no immediate threat to the lab.
Strong winds continued to blow across the region after fanning the fires for weeks and often grounding essential aircraft used to drop water or fire retardant ahead of the flames, complicating efforts to contain them.
Fire officials were assessing weather conditions Monday and predicted part of the main New Mexico fire would push north into rugged terrain that is difficult for firefighters to access.
"This isn't a surprise to us. All the models showed this probably was going to happen," said fire operations section chief Todd Abel, adding that crews have spent days working to protect ranch homes scattered thorough the area.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than 1,500 firefighters were on the fire lines at the biggest blaze east and northeast of Santa Fe, which grew another 8 square miles overnight to an area more than twice as large as the city of Philadelphia.
The area's largest rural town - Las Vegas, N.M., population 13,000 - appeared safe for now thanks to fire lines dug by bulldozers and other priority preparations over the past week.
But authorities appealed to residents on the outskirts who've already been ordered to evacuate to delay no longer.
"If things start picking up today as they are expected to do," fire spokesman Todd Abel warned Sunday, and "you are trying to leave the area and we are trying to go in, that obviously causes a lot of problems, congestion, confusion."
A red-flag warning was in effect, kicking off what fire officials predicted would be another "historic, multiday wind event that could result in extreme fire behavior."
A few helicopters were able to gather new information from the air on the spread of the flames early Sunday "but they won't be up there very long because of the winds out there," Abel said.
"The wind is incredible. It is precedent-setting, the amount of wind we are going to have and the duration we are going to have it," he said a briefing Sunday in Las Vegas.
"They are predicting the wind to blow all day today, through the night, all day tomorrow so that is a long time for our fire," he said.
Thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico - a total of 275 square miles.
The swirling winds gusting up to 50 mph made it difficult to predict where the flames would go later Sunday and into today.
Ryan Berlin, fire information officer, said Sunday afternoon the city of Las Vegas itself is "very safe at this point."
"We even started to repopulate a section of town already," he said. "Our concern right now is on the southwest portion of the fire which the wind is helping us out, sort of, because it's blowing the flames back into the fire."
For many California firefighters backing up local units, the winds in New Mexico are puzzling. Unlike the sustained Santa Ana winds in southern California, the air around the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fires in New Mexico has swirled around and been redirected in complex and changing interactions with the mountains.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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"California is in for a very smoky future, and the continued resilience and even persistence of numerous terrestrial ecosystems is not assured," concluded a new study published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
The state's Mediterranean climate, with its normally wet winters and dry, hot summers, has primed California to burn throughout its history. Before colonization, though, such wildfires helped keep the state's vast forests healthy by burning underbrush and triggering trees to release their seeds, according to scientists.
The 2020 wildfires marked a turning point. Fires burned 4.2 percent of the state that year, about the acreage annually consumed by fire before European and American settlement. But a century of fire suppression has left California with what the researchers call a "massive fire deficit" as forests become choked with trees and undergrowth.
The payback in 2020 was devastating. All that fuel, rising temperatures, drought and high winds dramatically increased the intensity and speed of wildfires, which burned 2.2 times more land than the previous record set only two years earlier.
Firefighting costs neared $2.1 billion and the wildfires caused $19 billion in economic losses and 33 deaths. Fires burning hundreds of miles away blanketed the heavily populated San Francisco Bay Area in a layer of toxic smoke so thick it turned the sky an apocalyptic shade of orange. Scientists expect exposure to particulate matter in the smoke to lead to thousands of premature deaths over time.
"It's a return to the past and a harbinger of the future," said wildfire expert Hugh Safford, the lead author of the paper and a researcher at University of California Davis. "I don't think you can get away from this strong inertia of forests burning."
The researchers correlated the severity of wildfires in 2020 with how much time had lapsed since forests and chaparral last burned. In many cases, forests had not burned for more than a century, and as a result the fierceness of the fires destroyed so many trees that some woodland ecosystems may not recover.
"We're going to be transitioning into dryland-type ecosystems that are dominated by shrublands, and grasslands," said Safford, a retired U.S. Forest Service ecologist. "In 50 to 60 years, Northern California could look like parts of Southern California if we keep going in this direction."
Climate change has set the trajectory of more widespread wildfires in California and experts expect a record-breaking drought, diminishing snowpack and heat waves to make for a potentially catastrophic wildfire season this summer.
The researchers called for a change in government strategy that has long focused on reducing the amount of land burned by wildfires.
Instead, they said, the priority should be on lessening the severity of fires and restoring ecosystems of burned areas.
That would require a huge investment in thinning overgrown forests that fuel out-of-control wildfires while under the right conditions, letting fires burn in wilderness areas that are inaccessible due to steep terrain.
"We know what to do," said Safford. "We've known for 60 years that fire is an escapable and integral part of these ecosystems."
(Todd Woody, BLOOMBERG NEWS)
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The broken main was reported just after 3:45 p.m. in an industrial area near Sherman and Lovelock streets, west of Morena Boulevard and north of Friars Road, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
"This is a construction site and the water coming from the broken pipe is causing a sinkhole," Fire-Rescue Department officials said in a statement.
Businesses were being evacuated as of 4:20 p.m., according to the agency.
No homes or apartments were affected, according to the Fire-Rescue Department.
(Alex Riggings, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Iraqi state media said most of the patients suffered respiratory issues as clinics across the country's north and west struggled to keep up with the influx. Authorities urged citizens to stay indoors.
Iraqis awoke to an ochre-colored sky - and a thick blanket of dust covered the roads and buildings with an orange film. Visibility was low and drivers kept car headlights on to see the road.
Flights scheduled to depart overnight and on Thursday morning were postponed, an airport official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Flights resumed by the afternoon, when the dust began to clear.
Iraq is prone to seasonal sandstorms but experts and officials are raising alarm over their frequency in recent years, which they say is exacerbated by record-low rainfall, desertification and climate change.
Issa al-Fayad, an official with the Environment Ministry, said Iraq could face 272 days of sandstorms a year in the coming decades.
At least 700 people sought medical care in Iraq's western province of Anbar, and dozens more in the provinces of Kirkuk, Salahaddin and Najaf, state TV reported.
At the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Baghdad, staff stocked up on more medication as weather forecasts predicted the storms would continue throughout May.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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There were no reports of serious injuries following the Wednesday night tornadoes, but the system caused flooding in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas, and more stormy weather took place Thursday.
Significant damage was reported in the Oklahoma city of Seminole, about 60 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, where Gov. Kevin Stitt said damage assessments were under way after he toured the area Thursday.
"(We're) getting all the resources and supplies that the city wants and needs," including generators, Stitt said. "Thank the Lord that nobody was hurt" and no deaths have been reported.
More than 2,900 customers remained without power in Seminole late Thursday afternoon, according to Oklahoma Gas & Electric, more than 63 percent of the utility customers in the city.
The Academy of Seminole took a direct hit but no one was injured, the school said on Facebook.
In East Texas, a tornado on Thursday damaged several campers and buildings at an RV park in Rusk County, Sheriff Johnwayne Valdez told KTRE-TV. Valdez said no injuries were reported.
The storms, which were moving east into other southern U.S. states, could bring more tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds, and the threat of severe weather will continue today in parts of the South and over the weekend in the central Plains and Midwest, the weather service said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez announced the presidential disaster declaration during an evening briefing by the U.S. Forest Service about efforts to contain the fire, which has fanned out across 160,000 acres of high alpine forest and grasslands at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains.
"It will help us do that rebuilding and it will help us with the expenses and the hardship that people are facing right now," the congresswoman said. "We're glad it happened this quickly."
Fire bosses said they are seizing upon an interlude of relatively calm and cool weather to keep the fire from pushing any closer to the small New Mexico city of Las Vegas and other villages scattered along the fire's shifting fronts. Airplanes and helicopters strategically dropped slurries of red fire retardant, as ground crews cleared timber and brush to starve the fire along crucial fronts.
Bulldozers for days have been scraping fire lines on the outskirts of Las Vegas, population about 13,000, while crews have been conducting burns to clear vegetation along the dozer lines. Aircraft dropped more fire retardant as a second line of defense along a ridge just west of town in preparation for intense winds expected over the weekend.
Local law enforcement officials urged residents to be careful not to spread misinformation. Las Vegas Police Chief Antonio Salazar said his officers would provide "burglary patrols" of evacuated areas and help maintain order at a local Walmart as people line up to purchase supplies.
Meanwhile, numerous fire engines and crews remained stationed Wednesday on the western edge of town.
Getting the right resources into the right areas when they can do the most good is the goal, fire officials said.
"And the chess board keeps getting bigger. That makes it even more complicated," fire information officer Andy Lyon said Wednesday, referencing a peak and ridge on the northern end of the fire that weren't factors just days ago. "So now that topography is part of our equation, part of the chess board."
The fire grew to 160,000 acres, with containment stuck at 20 percent of its perimeter.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to hold back about 480,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell to maintain Glen Canyon Dam's ability to produce hydropower for millions of homes and businesses in the region. That's roughly enough water to serve 1 million to 1.5 million average households annually.
Tanya Trujillo, the bureau's assistant secretary of water and science, said keeping the water stored in the reservoir would stave off hydropower concerns for at least 12 months, giving officials time to strategize for how to operate the dam at a lower water elevation. The lake currently holds less than one-fourth of its full capacity and the dam produces electricity for about 5 million customers in seven U.S. states.
"We have never taken this step before in the Colorado River basin, but conditions we see today and the potential risks we see on the horizon demand that we take prompt action," Trujillo said.
The decision will not have any immediate impacts on the amount of water allocated for the region's cities. And it won't affect farms that rely on the Colorado River, which already face mandatory cuts in central Arizona.
But it illustrates the compounding challenges facing Mexico and the seven U.S. states that rely on the Colorado River, which supplies water to about 40 million people and a $5 billion-a-year agricultural sector.
There is less water flowing through the river than is consumed by cities and farms throughout the region. And the water levels in the river's two primary storage reservoirs - Lake Mead and Lake Powell - have plummeted substantially over the past two decades - to such an extent that boaters found a decades-old dead body in a barrel exposed on Sunday.
The action announced Tuesday is one of several that have been taken to shore up Lake Powell. The Bureau of Reclamation has also ordered releases from other reservoirs upstream frpm Lake Powell, including 500,000 acre-feet of water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Utah-Wyoming border announced last month. Releases from Flaming Gorge as well as Blue Mesa reservoir in Colorado and the Navajo reservoir in New Mexico were ordered last year.
Shoring up Lake Powell may allow water to continue flowing through the turbines at Glen Canyon Dam and keep its hydropower-generating capacity intact, but that's only one of several interests that officials are juggling in managing reservoir levels.
The decision injects uncertainty into the boating and recreation industries that rely on consistent reservoir levels to operate infrastructure like docks. And it forces officials to confront that without drastic conservation measures, demand for water in growing regions will likely come up against supply constraints in a hotter, drier future.
The Bureau of Reclamation announcement followed months of talks between upper basin states - Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - and their lower basin counterparts in Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico, which are already taking mandatory and voluntary cuts.
Federal officials first floated the proposal last month in a letter to the seven states, which responded with a joint letter in support of the move in which they asked the bureau to adjust water accounting and how it reports lake levels when deciding on future cuts.
The request centered on the fact that keeping water stored in Lake Powell will decrease the amount of water flowing downstream to Lake Mead, the Colorado River's other main storage reservoir.
(Sam Metz, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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During a briefing on the fire burning across the state's northeast, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a request for a presidential disaster declaration that will be sent to the White House in hopes of freeing up financial assistance for recovery efforts. She said it was important that the declaration be made on the front end rather than waiting until the fire is out.
"I'm unwilling to wait," said Lujan Grisham, a first-term Democrat who is running for re-election. "I have 6,000 people evacuated, I have families who don't know what the next day looks like, I have families who are trying to navigate their children and health care resources, figure out their livelihoods and they're in every single little community and it must feel to them like they are out there on their own."
In the small northeastern New Mexico city of Las Vegas, residents were already voicing concerns about grocery stores being closed as some people chose to leave ahead of the flames even though evacuations had not been ordered.
Fire managers told an evening briefing at the local community college that the spread slowed a bit on Tuesday, and put the amount of newly charred land up slightly, to about 147,840 acres of mountainsides, towering ponderosa pines and meadows.
Officials have reported about 170 homes destroyed, and said the state's psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas remained evacuated. Schools in the community canceled classes at least through today.
Dan Pearson, a U.S. Forest Service fire behavior analyst, called Tuesday "a brief reprieve from the extreme conditions we have been experiencing," but warned that winds are expected to increase and shift today, pushing fire and smoke toward Las Vegas.
"Tomorrow, we're back to red-flag criteria," Pearson said, adding that forecasts called for better firefighting conditions on Thursday and Friday before winds increase and gusts whip to 50 mph or more during the weekend.
Nationally, the National Interagency Fire Center reported Tuesday that a dozen uncontained large fires have burned about 256,000 acres in five states, including New Mexico. Nearly 3,500 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to fires burning across the country.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire east of Santa Fe, which began as two fires before merging a week ago, had burned almost 104,000 acres, or more than 160 square miles, by Sunday, up from about 75,000 acres Friday. It was 30 percent contained, fire officials said, with smoke from that fire and another - the Cerro Pelado fire in Jemez Springs, roughly 40 miles west of Santa Fe - permeating much of the northern part of the state.
The air quality in Las Vegas, New Mexico, was expected to be unhealthy and potentially hazardous today, officials said at a briefing Sunday.
More than 100 firefighters have worked to contain the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon blaze. The spread of the fire from Friday into Saturday exceeded predictions, officials said in public briefings. Wind speeds exceeded 65 mph at times, according to Mike Johnson, a fire information officer. On Sunday, wind gusts reached 48 mph, and "extreme fire behavior" was possible in the early part of the week, according to InciWeb, a government website that tracks wildfires.
Sundays winds, which kept changing direction, led fire officials to ground air-support operations by midafternoon. Fire officials also closed several national monuments and forests in the area.
No deaths or injuries have been reported from the fire. State police reported the deaths of two people in April from another wildfire.
Carl Schwope, commander of a team for the region that combines firefighting resources from federal, state, local and other agencies, said on Saturday that the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire "could easily double in size" before being contained.
"We're still in a very dangerous fire situation. It's going to continue," he said, adding that winds were not letting up. "There's nothing in the weather that looks like it's going to change. High wind events, north wind events, south wind events - it's all over the board."
Schwope also urged residents to be on alert for more evacuation announcements, and Sunday afternoon, residents in two areas of Mora County were ordered to leave immediately. According to Johnson, about 6,000 people from 32 communities in the vicinity of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire, some in rural mountain areas, were already under orders to leave.
Because of the ongoing danger, county officials have been unable to provide a full accounting of how many structures have been destroyed or damaged. But Joy Ansley, county manager for San Miguel County, said that before the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire expanded Friday, it had destroyed 200 structures.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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At least 166 homes have been destroyed in one rural county in northeast New Mexico since the biggest fire burning in the U.S. started racing through small towns east and northeast of Santa Fe on April 22, the sheriff of San Miguel County said.
Authorities on Friday morning urged people to immediately leave a string of sparsely populated canyons and forests on the fringes of the Santa Fe National Forest northwest of Las Vegas, N.M., where nearly 1,000 firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed.
Flames were driven forward by steady winds that were expected to persist until Friday evening. A weather update from the U.S. Forest Service described gusts as high as 66 mph.
In a Friday afternoon briefing for the Santa Fe National Forest, operations Chief Jayson Coil said that intelligence gathered from a plane, before winds picked up, reinforced their concerns.
"The fire is moving faster than we originally had anticipated under these conditions and we still have not reached the peak of the wind," Coil said.
One expert warned that the conditions across the drought-stricken region were a recipe for disaster on the wildlands where some timber is drier than kiln-dried wood.
"It's a very, very dangerous fire day," fire behavior specialist Stewart Turner said at a briefing on the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest in Las Vegas. "It's a day that as a firefighter, we'll write about, we'll read studies about."
Matthew Probst, Las Vegas-based medical director for the health clinic network El Centro Family Health, said the nearby fire has swept through impoverished communities already frayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Here, you're losing meager homes, but it's everything. It's all they had," said Probst, a coordinator of county health services for wildfire evacuees.
Rural families in the area were caught off guard after heading home from an early evacuation - only to be ambushed by a fast-moving fire last week.
A 79-year-old widow from the tiny community of Sapello left her house and a blue heeler cattle dog for a doctor's appointment, with boxes packed for possible evacuation with jewelry and her 1964 wedding photos. Winds kicked up, and police said it was too late to go back for anything.
"They said, âÃÂÃÂNo ma'am, it's far too dangerous,'" said Sonya Berg in a phone interview Friday from an emergency shelter at a nearby middle school.
A close friend says the house burned, but Berg doesn't want to believe it. A neighbor rescued the dog.
"I'm in denial until I go and see it," said Berg, whose husband passed away in 2019 and was buried outside the home. "He's up there, he's been through the whole thing. I'm hoping the gravestone we put up is still there."
In the Jemez Mountains east of Los Alamos, another wildfire spanning 12 square miles crept in the direction of Bandelier National Monument, which closed its backcountry hiking trails as a precaution while central visiting areas remained open.
A swath of the country stretching from New Mexico and Colorado to Kansas and the Texas panhandle is expected to be hit the hardest by the return of weather that has generated unusually hot and fast-moving fires for this time of year, forecasters warned.
Red flag warnings for extreme fire danger were in place Friday for nearly all of New Mexico and parts of Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
High winds were likely to ground firefighting aircraft in some areas, officials said.
More than 2,000 firefighters were battling fires in Arizona and New Mexico on Friday - about half of those in northeast New Mexico, where more than 187 square miles [120,000 acres] of mostly timber and brush have been charred.
(Morgan Lee & Cedar Attanasio, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The outdoor watering restrictions will take effect June 1 under the decision by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and will apply to areas that depend on water from the drought-ravaged State Water Project.
"We are seeing conditions unlike anything we have seen before," said Adel Hagekhalil, the district's general manager. "We need serious demand reductions."
The MWD's board has never before taken such a step and the resolution adopted by the water wholesaler will bring the first widespread water restrictions imposed in Southern California during the current extreme drought.
California's drought, now in a third year, has become the driest on record and has been intensified by hotter temperatures unleashed by climate change. With the state's major reservoirs at low levels, the MWD has been left without enough water in parts of Southern California.
"These areas rely on extremely limited supplies from Northern California, and there is not enough supply available to meet the normal demands in these areas for the remainder of the year," Hagekhalil said.
The MWD board voted unanimously to adopt the emergency measures to "reduce non-essential water use" in certain areas. Cities and smaller water suppliers that get water from the MWD are required to start restricting outdoor watering to one day a week, or to find other ways to cut usage to a new monthly allocation limit.
Any water suppliers that fail to comply could face large fines from the MWD for exceeding their monthly allocations.
The State Water Project delivers water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmlands and cities to the south. The project includes canals, pipelines, reservoirs and pumping facilities, which transport water to 27 million Californians.
After a record dry start to 2022, California water officials slashed the project's expected deliveries this year to just 5 percent of full allocations.
Areas that depend heavily or entirely on the State Water Project include northwestern L.A. County and Ventura County, parts of the San Gabriel Valley and parts of the Inland Empire.
The MWD imports water from the State Water Project and the Colorado River, serving 26 public water agencies across six counties that supply 19 million people, about half the state's population.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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The fires are part of what has been an early and active season across the country, as fires have also plagued California, Colorado and Texas.
Corey Mead, a National Weather Service forecaster, said Nebraska had seen "above normal" activity during its current fire season, and the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said the fires had come well before the beginning of the state's wildfire season. "It's going to be a tough summer," she said.
Wildfires are increasing in size and intensity in the United States, and wildfire seasons are growing longer. Research has suggested that heat and dryness associated with global warming are major reasons for the increase in bigger and more powerful fires.
In New Mexico, Lujan Grisham said at a news conference Saturday that the largest threat in her state was the Calf Canyon fire, east of Santa Fe, which put more than 900 homes at risk.
The Calf Canyon fire combined with the Hermits Peak fire, about 12 miles northwest of Las Vegas, N.M., at the base of Hermits Peak in the Pecos Wilderness. The Hermits Peak fire started April 6 after "unexpected erratic winds" from a prescribed fire in the area caused the blaze to grow, officials reported.
Lujan Grisham said more than 200 structures had been burned and that 1,000 firefighters had been dispatched. By Sunday, the Calf Canyon fire had burned more than 54,000 acres and was 12 percent contained.
Coconino County in northern Arizona was under a state of emergency as firefighters struggled to contain a wildfire about 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff. More than 260 firefighters and workers had been deployed to the fire, which forced more than 750 households in the area to evacuate, according to the governor's office.
The fire in Coconino County, which began April 17, was only 3 percent contained as of Sunday and had already burned more than 21,000 acres. About 25 structures have been lost to the fire, known as the Tunnel fire, the governor's office said.
One of the casualties of the Tunnel fire has been the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, which has been "burned in its entirety," the park said on Facebook.
In Nebraska, one person was killed and three firefighters were injured as wildfires that began Friday, fueled by high winds and dry grass, burned throughout the western and central regions of the state, authorities said.
A spokesperson for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said Sunday that there were reports of additional injuries in other fires but that she did not immediately have specific details.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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Firefighters working to keep more homes from burning on the edge of a mountain town in northern Arizona were helped by some snow, scattered showers and cooler temperatures early Friday, but the favorable weather did not last and more gusts were expected to batter parts of Arizona and all of New Mexico through the weekend.
Firefighters were assigned to more than a dozen large fires across the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Six blazes were in New Mexico and three were in Arizona, but that didn't include the many new starts that were reported Friday as conditions deteriorated.
The wind howled across New Mexico on Friday, shrouding the Rio Grande Valley with dust and pushing flames through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the north. Fire officials expected one blaze northeast of Santa Fe to overrun several communities late Friday night or early today.
"With the dry conditions, high temperatures, extreme winds and limited suppression ability, the fire is traveling very quickly and it is imperative that residents comply with evacuation orders," authorities said Friday afternoon.
Neighbors spent the night helping one another pack belongings and load horses and other animals into trailers to escape approaching flames. The rural area is home to several hundred people, but many residences are unoccupied as families have yet to arrive for summer.
Lena Atencio and her husband, whose family has lived in the Rociada area for five generations, got out Friday as winds kicked up. She said people were taking the threat seriously.
"As a community, as a whole, everybody is just pulling together to support each other and just take care of the things we need to now. And then at that point, it's in God's hands," she said as the wind howled miles away in the community of Las Vegas, where evacuees were gathering. "We just have to wait and see whapens."
Fire managers' predictions were coming true: With no air support or crews working directly on the fire lines, there was explosive growth. Gusts reached 55 to 65 mph.
San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Lopez called the situation very dangerous. Evacuation centers were set up and several roads closed.
Another wind-whipped fire in the northeastern corner of New Mexico also was forcing evacuations while the town of Cimarron and the headquarters of the Philmont Scout Ranch, owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America, were preparing to flee if necessary. The scout ranch attracts thousands of summer visitors, but officials said no scouts were on the property.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed emergency declarations for four counties over the fires.
In Arizona, flames had raced through rural neighborhoods outside Flagstaff just days earlier. A break in the weather Thursday allowed helicopters to drop water on the blaze and authorities to survey the damage.
They found 30 homes and numerous other buildings were destroyed, with sheriff's officials saying more than 100 properties were affected.
That fire has burned close to 32 square miles and forced evacuations of 765 homes after starting last Sunday.
Spot fires threatened to run up mountainous areas overlooking neighborhoods. If that happens, any rainfall in the area could magnify flooding.
Lighter winds are expected over the weekend but fire officials worried winds could shift and push the blaze back onto neighborhoods.
(Felicia Fonseca & Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit 26 miles southeast of the city of Mostar at 11:07 p.m. local time, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center said.
A 28-year-old woman died from injuries and her parents were injured after a rock dislodged by the earthquake slammed into their family home in the city of Stolac, near Mostar, authorities said.
The earthquake was felt throughout the country and in neighboring Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.
(U-T NEWS SERIVCES)
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But the country's national disaster prevention agency did not immediately report any damages or deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred about 36 miles southwest of the coastal town of Masachapa, which itself is located southwest of the capital, Managua.
Vice President Rosario Murillo said the quake was felt along the coast, and officials were monitoring for any reports of damage.
(U-T NEWS SERIVCES)
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California's current standard for residential indoor water use is 55 gallons per person per day. The rule doesn't apply to customers, meaning regulators don't write tickets to people for using more water than they are allowed. Instead, the state requires water agencies to meet that standard across all of its customers.
Last year, a study by state regulators found the median indoor residential water use in California was 48 gallons per person per day, well below the current standard. They recommended state lawmakers lower the standard to encourage more conservation as droughts become more frequent and more severe because of climate change.
The California Senate voted 28-9 on Thursday to lower the standard to 47 gallons per person per day starting in 2025; and 42 gallons per person per day beginning in 2030. The bill has not yet passed the Assembly, meaning it is still likely months away from becoming law. But Thursday's vote by a comfortable margin is a sign the proposal has the support necessary to pass.
"This really is about the next generation. This really is about your grandchildren," said Sen. Robert Hertzberg, a Democrat who authored the bill.
The U.S. West is in the middle of a severe drought just a few years after record rain and snowfall filled reservoirs to capacity. Scientists say this boom and bust cycle is driven by climate change that will be marked by longer, more severe droughts. A study from earlier this year found the U.S. West was in the middle of a megadrought that is now the driest in at least 1,200 years.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked people to voluntarily reduce their water consumption by 15 percent, but so far residents have been slow to meet that goal.
The new standards for indoor water use, should they become law, would be just one part of the state's strategy to conserve more water. They would be combined with other new rules still under development for things like outdoor water use.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Not this year.
As Scott Phippen looked out on his orchard on a recent afternoon, he felt a sense of foreboding tinged with rage. His warehouse is stuffed with the leftovers of last year's harvest - 30 million pounds of almonds. Orders assembled for customers sit in giant white plastic bags and cardboard cartons, awaiting ships that can carry them across the water to Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The almonds are here, the customers are over there, and the global shipping industry is failing to span the divide.
Every week, Phippen, 67, overseer of his family business, Travaille & Phippen, peers hopefully at a calendar showing confirmed bookings on container vessels sailing to points worldwide from the port of Oakland. Every week, he absorbs all manner of disheartening news: No shipping containers available, no vessel arriving, no space on board.
"My warehouses are already bulging at the seams," Phippen said. "It scares the crap out of me, because in five months I'm going to get a new crop in the door."
Beyond a logistical torment, the crisis assailing almond producers is inflicting deep financial consequences, from diminished revenues to higher costs for storage.
Most of the almonds stuck in Phippen's warehouses have already been purchased by buyers across the water, but he cannot collect payment until they make it onto a ship.
The exasperation of agricultural exporters amounts to the latest chapter of the Great Supply Chain Disruption, the tumultuous reordering of international trade and transportation amid the worst pandemic in a century. At the center of the story is the shipping container: the steel box that revolutionized commerce, allowing unfathomable quantities of goods to be carried around the planet.
Shipping companies - which last year collectively secured profits reaching $190 billion - harvested especially enormous returns on their routes from Chinese ports to the West Coast of the United States.
Traditionally, carriers unload containers arriving from China at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and then ship empties up to Oakland, where they are reloaded with almonds and other agricultural crops.
But in recent months, the carriers have put growing numbers of empty containers back on ships immediately. The companies can make more money sending the valuable containers directly back to Asia, where they are refilled with goods destined for American consumers.
Almond growers like Phippen have been left with limited options to deliver their wares to customers abroad. Throughout California, more than 1.1 billion pounds of almonds from last year's harvest are sitting in warehouses, a volume roughly one-third larger than this time last year, according to the Almond Alliance of California, an industry trade group.
As the Biden administration contends with public anger over inflation, the president has seized on the shipping industry as a central part of the explanation. President Joe Biden used his State of the Union address to excoriate carriers for mistreatment of "American businesses and consumers," while vowing a "crackdown."
But the shipping industry counters that it is being scapegoated for the broad turmoil unleashed by the pandemic amid booming demand for goods produced in Chinese factories, from exercise bikes to kitchenware. Despite floating traffic jams at major ports, a supposed shortage of truck drivers and a dearth of warehouse space, the carriers have managed to move record volumes of cargo.
As an exporter, James Blocker's job is to move Phippen's almonds across the ocean. Right now, booking passage on ships is bordering on impossible.
Blocker's company, Valley Pride, is among the largest exporters of almonds in California.
Every year, California farmers produce more than 3 billion pounds of almonds, or about 80 percent of the world's supply. Nearly all those nuts are harvested on more than 6,000 farms in the Central Valley.
In 2013, Blocker, 41, started Valley Pride. The business includes an orchard and a packing plant, but its heart is an enormous sales and distribution operation that buys almonds from growers throughout California and exports them around the world. Last year, Valley Pride sold 140 million pounds of nuts while securing revenues reaching $350 million.
Although Valley Pride is generally compelled to pay its growers no later than a month after an outbound shipment arrives at a port, the company does not itself get paid until the almonds make it to their final destination.
The chaos roiling shipping has widened the time between those two events. That has forced the company to tap its credit line, expanding what it has borrowed to about $8 million from less than $2 million, Blocker said.
In a typical week, Valley Pride dispatches 50 containers full of almonds, the vast majority out of Oakland. In recent weeks, the company has struggled to confirm just five bookings. Even those have tended to be "rolled over," in shipping parlance - bumped to a later date - when loading day arrived and no containers could be found.
"That's happening week after week," Blocker said. "They tell us, âÃÂÃÂWe don't have equipment.' What I hear is, âÃÂÃÂWe do have equipment, but we're not going to give it to you.'"
Before the pandemic, about 40 percent of all containers leaving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were loaded with goods and the rest were empty, according to Sea-Intelligence, a shipping consultancy. But over the past year, carriers have shipped more empties back to Asia, with the share of outbound loaded containers dropping to 30 percent at Long Beach and 21 percent at the port of Los Angeles.
Carriers have also bypassed Oakland with increasing regularity - something that occurred only about 1 percent of the time two years ago, according to Sea-Intelligence, yet was happening nearly 25 percent of the time by late last year.
Meanwhile, carriers have raised shipping rates. In June, Mediterranean Shipping Co. - the world's largest container carrier - was charging $1,400 to move a 40-foot container from Oakland to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This month, the carrier raised the fare to $7,700, while refusing to honor previous rates on bookings that had been repeatedly rolled.
Last year, Valley Pride had logged about $100 million in revenue by the end of March. This year, it has tallied half that.
Valley Pride has looked into other route options, such as hauling almonds east to the port of Savannah, Ga. But the train passage across the country alone could take two weeks.
So Blocker conducted a reconnaissance trip to Houston, where containers are more abundant. He lined up warehouse space and was looking into trucking his cargo there, then shipping out of the Gulf of Mexico.
Trucking to Houston will add $2,800 to the cost of sending a container. His logistics team discovered there were no bookings available from Houston to Dubai until the middle of June. And they entailed "premium" charges of $5,200, more than double the going rate of $2,400.
Still, this seemed worth pursuing. The alternative was staring at bags of almonds stuck in warehouses.
Agricultural exporters are competing for space on ships with enormous importers like Amazon and Walmart. They traditionally incur much higher rates than exporters and can afford to pay the premiums carriers are demanding.
That spread has been widening. Before the pandemic, importers shipping goods from China to the West Coast of the United States paid two to three times as much as American agricultural exporters shipping goods in the opposite direction, according to Freightos, a cargo booking platform. Now importers are paying 10 times as much.
Blocker recently drove 110 miles north to Manteca to visit his most important customer, Phippen.
What they talk about lately is how to get containers onto ships. Phippen's warehouse is now full of enough almonds to fill 678 containers.
In the busiest months of the year, he needs about 100 containers to handle his usual flow of exports. In January, he shipped 66. In February, 55, and in March, fewer than 50.
He has shelled out $820,000 to buy 3,000 more storage bins for his warehouses. He is spending another $700,000 to build an additional warehouse.
But he cannot shake the suspicion that he has become a rube in a global economy run for the benefit of others.
"There's a lot of people taking advantage of the situation," he said. "Somebody's screwing with us. We're getting jacked around here."
(Peter S. Goodman, NEW YORK TIMES)
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The blaze continued its run Wednesday through dry grass and scattered Ponderosa pines around homes into volcanic cinder fields, where roots underground can combust and send small rocks flying into the air, fire officials said. Persistent spring winds and 50 mph gusts hindered firefighters.
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for today, which means the wind will be conducive to rapid fire growth, said Brian Klimowski of the National Weather Service. A strong front is moving into the area Friday.
"This is a good news/bad news scenario," he said. "The good news is temperatures will be cooler, relative humidities will rise. Bad news, the winds will be even stronger on Friday."
Operations sections Chief Steven Van Kirk said aircraft capable of dropping water and fire retardant on the blaze were not able to fly Wednesday because of strong winds.
"So you can imagine what the next two days are going to bring," he said.
Fire managers are contending with tight resources as wildfires burn around the Southwest. The U.S. has 16 top-level national fire management teams, and four of those are dedicated to blazes in Arizona and New Mexico.
In New Mexico, the Mora County Sheriff's Office issued mandatory evacuations for more residents as winds fueled a blaze that has burned more than 14 square miles since Sunday. Meanwhile, another fire was sparked Wednesday afternoon in a wooded area along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque.
The number of acres burned in the U.S. so far this year is about 30 percent above the 10-year average.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Winter storm warnings from the National Weather Service were in effect for several counties in central and northern New York state.
Heavy, wet snow could bring down tree limbs and cause power outages, the service said, and travel could be "very difficult" through Tuesday evening. Wind gusts reaching up to 40 mph were also a concern.
More than 169,000 customers in New York remained without power, according to PowerOutage.us, which aggregates data from utilities across the U.S.. More than 41,000 customers in Pennsylvania were still experiencing outages.
Areas around central New York, including in Otsego and Oneida counties, had received 14 inches of snow by Tuesday evening. Farther north, parts of Hamilton County had received 16 inches.
Gov. Kathy Hochul advised residents on Tuesday to check their local forecast and to "use caution on the roads." On Twitter, the New York State Department of Transportation described the roads as "messy" and advised people to stay home if they could.
In Broome County, N.Y., on the border with Pennsylvania, County Executive Jason Garnar declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning, as more than 14 inches of snow had already fallen in Binghamton. He also issued a travel ban for all nonessential personnel. By Tuesday evening, the travel ban had been lifted, but drivers were still advised to keep off the roads.
Natalie Walters, 54, of Syracuse, said she was walking by her lilies and hydrangeas Monday afternoon with her dog Homer, hoping the snow would not damage the buds. Still, she said, snowfall would mean a welcome delayed start to classes Tuesday at the elementary school in Syracuse where she works as a teacher.
New York City was spared from snow, but the rain that fell there on Monday persisted into Tuesday morning, with wind gusts of up to 40 mph, according to the forecast.
In northwestern Massachusetts, skies were clear Tuesday evening, but strong winds were expected through today.
(Jesus Jiméenez & Eduardo Medina, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Coconino County declared an emergency Tuesday as the fast-moving wildfire outside of the Northern Arizona University college town of Flagstaff ballooned to about 6,000 acres Tuesday, Sheriff Jim Driscoll said during a news conference.
County officials said 766 homes and 1,000 animals have been evacuated. More than 2,000 people live in the area, officials said.
A couple of hundred homes are still threatened as smoke billowed into the air in an all-too-familiar scene. Residents recalled scrambling to pack their bags and flee a dozen years ago during a much-larger wildfire burned in the same area.
Driscoll said the sheriff's office got a call saying a man was trapped in his house, but that firefighters couldn't get to him. They do not know if he survived.
Flame lengths are as high as 100 feet, the U.S. Forest Service said. Firefighters on Tuesday were up against 50 mph gusts that pushed the wildfire over the highway and weren't expected to let up much this week, authorities said.
"It's blowing hard, and we have ash falling on the highway," said Coconino County sheriff's spokesperson Jon Paxton.
About 200 firefighters were working the blaze that appeared to be moving northeast away from the more heavily populated areas of Flagstaff, toward Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and volcanic cinders, said Coconino National Forest spokesperson Brady Smith.
"It's good in that it's not headed toward a very populated area, and it's headed toward less fuel," he said. "But depending on the intensity of the fire, fire can still move across cinders."
A top-level national fire management team is expected to take over later this week.
Fire and law enforcement agencies that were knocking on doors to warn of evacuations Tuesday were forced to pull out to avoid getting trapped by the flames, Paxton said.
Arizona Public Service Co. shut off power to about 625 customers to keep firefighters safe, a spokesperson said.
Red flag warnings blanketed much of Arizona and New Mexico on Tuesday, indicating conditions are ripe for wildfires. Residents in northern New Mexico's Mora and San Miguel counties were warned to be ready to evacuate as wildfires burned there amid dry, warm and windy conditions.
The National Interagency Fire Center reported Tuesday that nearly 2,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel were assigned to more than a dozen large wildfires in the Southwestern, Southern and Rocky Mountain areas.
The Arizona Department of Transportation shut down a section of U.S. 89, the main route between Flagstaff and the far northern part of the state, and a primary route to and from Navajo Nation communities, because of the wildfire. Various organizations worked to set up shelters for evacuees and for animals.
(Felicia Fonseca, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Nearly 4,000 homes have been destroyed and more than 40,000 people displaced by the floods and mudslides caused by prolonged heavy rains, provincial officials said Tuesday. More than 40 people remain missing and about 600 schools have been hit with damages estimated at about $28 million, according to officials.
South Africa's military has deployed 10,000 troops in Operation Chariot to help with search and rescue efforts, deliver food, water, and clothing to victims, and rebuild collapsed roads and bridges. Water tankers have been sent to areas where access to clean water has been disrupted and teams are working to restore electricity to large areas.
Students shoveled mud out of some schools that had been flooded.
Visiting some of the flooded areas last week, South African President Cyril Ramophosa blamed climate change for the unprecedented rains, the heaviest in at least 60 years. Announcing the state of disaster in a televised address Monday night, Ramaphosa pledged that government funds for the flood victims will not be lost to corruption.
"Learning from the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are drawing together various stakeholders to be part of an oversight structure to ensure all funds disbursed to respond to this disaster are properly accounted for and that the state receives value for money," he said.
Ramaphosa's remarks come after widespread graft was uncovered by the state's Special Investigating Unit in state funds that were supposed to help the nation respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize resigned after the investigation found that businesses linked to his family benefited from inflated COVID-19 contracts from his department.
Despite Ramaphosa's pledge, many South Africans are skeptical that government funds for relief will not be diverted by corruption. Several businesses, prominent South Africans and charities have pledged money to private organizations.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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But scientists wanted to be certain that the superlative stuck, so in January they pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at the comet and measured its nucleus with precision. As reported this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the comet's core could be up to 85 miles across, making it more than twice the width of the state of Rhode Island. It also has a mass of 500 trillion tons, equivalent to roughly 2,800 Mount Everests.
"It's 100 times bigger than the typical comets we've been studying for all these years," said David Jewitt, an astronomer and planetary scientist at UCLA, and an author of the new study.
Despite its impressive dimensions, this comet - named C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) after its two discoverers - will be visible to the naked eye for only a brief time. It is barreling toward the sun at 22,000 mph. But at its closest approach, in 2031, it will get only within 1 billion miles of the sun - just behind Saturn's orbit - where it will appear as a faint glow in the night sky before boomeranging back out into the shadows.
With the help of Hubble, however, astronomers can see and study this effervescing extraterrestrial visitor in all its glory, almost as if they were flying right beside it - a spectral haze of blue enveloping a seemingly bright, white heart. "The image that they have is beautiful," said the comet's co-discoverer Pedro Bernardinelli, an astrophysicist at the University of Washington who was not involved in the study.
Despite its heft, measuring the size of this comet's nucleus proved difficult. Although far from the sun, just a trickle of sunlight is sufficient to vaporize the nucleus's volatile carbon monoxide ices, creating an obfuscating dusty atmosphere known as a coma.
Hubble could not clearly see the comet nucleus through that haze. But by taking such high-resolution images of the comet with the space telescope, Jewitt and his colleagues were able to make a computer model of the coma, allowing them to digitally remove it from the images. With only the nucleus remaining, sizing it up was a breeze.
Their analysis also revealed that its icy nucleus is blacker than coal. This dark nucleus suggests that this comet - its supersize notwithstanding - is not too dissimilar to others.
(Robin George Andrews, NEW YORK TIMES)
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It was a decade ago that fire ripped through part of the village of Ruidoso, putting the vacation spot on the map with the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history when more than 240 homes burned and nearly 70 square miles of forest were blackened by a lightning-sparked blaze.
Now, Mayor Lynn Crawford is rallying heartbroken residents once again as firefighters on Friday tried to keep wind-whipped flames from making another run at the village and the hundreds of homes and summer cabins that dot the surrounding mountainsides.
More than 200 homes already have burned, and an elderly couple was found dead this week outside their charred residence. While power has been restored to all but a few hundred customers in the area, evacuations for close to 5,000 people remain in place.
Crawford said the village is overflowing with donations from surrounding communities.
"So we have plenty of food, we have plenty of clothes, those kinds of things but we still appreciate and need your prayers and your thoughts," the mayor said during a briefing. "Again, our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, to those that have lost their homes."
Authorities have yet to release the names of the couple who died. Their bodies were found after worried family members contacted police, saying the couple had planned to evacuate Tuesday when the fire exploded but were unaccounted for later that day.
Near where the bodies were recovered, in Gavilan Canyon, the fire reduced homes to ash and metal. An 18-home RV park was destroyed.
"I had like 10 people displaced, they lost their homes and everything, including my mom," said Douglas Siddens, who managed the park.
Siddens said his mother was at work when the fire broke out "with just the clothes she had on and that's all she has left."
While many older residents call Ruidoso home year round, the population of about 8,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the summer months as Texans and New Mexicans from hotter climates come seeking respite.
Part-time residents have taken to social media over the last few days, pleading with fire officials for updates on certain neighborhoods, hoping their family cabins weren't among those damaged or destroyed.
The hotlines lit up Friday afternoon as people in the village called in to report more smoke. Fire information officer Mike DeFries said that was because there were flare-ups within the interior of the fire as the flames found pockets of unburned fuel.
While the fire didn't make any runs at the lines crews had established, he said it was still a tough day for firefighters due to single-digit humidity, warmer temperatures and the wind.
New Mexico authorities said they suspect the fire, which has torched more than 6,000 acres of forest and grass, was sparked by a downed power line and the investigation continued Friday.
(Susan Montoya Bryan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The temblor began about nine miles beneath the sea floor, at a point roughly 80 miles southeast of San Diego.
The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement that the quake was not expected to produce a tsunami.
Locally, the quake was most strongly felt in Chula Vista, central and eastern San Diego, La Jolla and Del Mar, the USGS said. The shaking also was felt in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. The San Diego Fire Department said that it was checking its stations for damage.
"It was a sharp, very quick jolt that was widely felt in San Diego," added Rockwell, who felt the quake at his home in La Mesa.
More than 350 years ago, the fault produced a 7.0 earthquake that shook all of what is now Southern California, Rockwell said.
Thursday's quake comes three days before Easter. On Easter Sunday in 2010, a 7.2 quake erupted near Guadalupe Victoria in Baja California, producing nearly 90 seconds of shaking, some which was felt in San Diego County and other parts of Southern California.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Fire crews on Thursday used a break in what had been a steady stream of relentless gusts to make headway against the deadly wildfire, which is believed to have killed the two people.
Police investigators and firefighters found the older couple's remains Wednesday afternoon after family members notified Ruidoso police that the two had tried to evacuate but were unaccounted for.
The remains were found near the home but not in it, and no additional information was immediately available, Ruidoso spokesperson Kerry Gladden said Thursday. Authorities were working to confirm the identities of the two people.
The fire moved into a more densely populated area on Ruidoso's northeastern side Wednesday afternoon, prompting more evacuations. Laura Rabon, a spokesperson for the Lincoln National Forest, interrupted a fire briefing and told people to get in their cars and leave after the flames jumped a road where crews were trying to hold the line.
Authorities have told as many as 4,500 people to evacuate.
"We've had students who've lost their homes. We have to support them on Tuesday" when school resumes, said high school English teacher Sara Ames Brown, who was with students when they were evacuated by bus, with flames visible in the forest outside as they drove away.
Overnight, crews kept the flames from pushing further into the village, and Rabon said that progress continued Thursday as helicopters dropped water and ground crews secured lines on the east and south sides. They also put out hot spots in the neighborhoods where the flames raced through earlier this week.
The fire has torched an estimated 9 square miles (5,760 acres) of forest and grass, and the strong winds that battered the area have left behind toppled trees and downed power lines. Crews continued work Thursday to restore power to parts of the village that have been without it since Monday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The death toll is expected to rise as scores of people, including whole families, are missing, officials said Thursday.
The persistent rains have wreaked havoc in the province, destroying homes, collapsing buildings and washing away major roads.
The damage to Durban and the surrounding eThekwini metropolitan area is estimated at $52 million, eThekwini Mayor Mxolosi Kaunda said Thursday.
At least 120 schools have been flooded, causing damage estimated at more than $26 million and bringing officials to temporarily close all schools in the province.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The woman's death occurred Wednesday as part of a multi-day severe weather outbreak that caused tornadoes, powerful winds and huge hail in parts of the central and southern United States.
A weak tornado confirmed by the National Weather Service tore roofs from homes in a public housing community and peppered cars with debris Wednesday night in rural Greene County, Ala., about 90 miles southwest of Birmingham. Billy Hicks, who lives in the area, told WBMA-TV he was lying down when he heard a rush of wind that lasted only a few seconds.
"I jumped up and put my clothes on, put my shoes on when everything was over with. I come to the side door and looked across the street. I knew that something had hit all these houses," said Hicks, who got in his car to go check on neighbors.
Authorities swarmed the area but didn't find anyone who was hurt, said Zac Bolding of Greene County Emergency Medical Services.
"Most of the people we talked to as we were doing a house-to-house search explained that they were in their bathroom or an interior hallway, so they were listening to those warnings and without that I think we would have been looking at a much different situation," he said.
In Arkansas, the woman died when a tree toppled on her home in Rison shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, pinning her to the couch, said Stephen McClellan, Cleveland County's emergency management coordinator. Rison is about 55 miles south of Little Rock.
A day earlier, 23 people were injured in the central Texas town of Salado. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth said Wednesday that the twister was rated an EF3 with peak wind speeds of 165 mph. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued disaster declarations for Bell County, where Salado is situated, and nearby Williamson County to hasten state assistance to storm-ravaged areas.
Tornadoes were also reported Tuesday in parts of Iowa and Minnesota. Residents in the small southeastern Minnesota farming community of Taopi were cleaning up after a devastating tornado destroyed half of the town's homes, toppled tall trees and left piles of debris.
A tornado that was rated EF2 with peak wind speeds of 130 mph struck Taopi near the Iowa border late Tuesday night, tearing the roofs off houses, overturning vehicles and bringing down power lines. There were no reports of serious injuries.
Volunteers arrived Wednesday to help residents clean up the debris in the community of about 80 people. Family members sifted through rubble looking for keepsakes.
"Half the town is gone," City Clerk Jim Kiefer said. Of Taopi's 22 homes, at least 10 are beyond repair, with roofs and walls missing, he said. Kiefer said his house is OK, but his mother's home is a total loss.
"She won't be going home," he said.
Also, a blizzard struck North Dakota this week, closing the state Capitol, schools, government offices and some businesses for a third day Thursday.
The National Weather Service's blizzard warning for much of the state and smaller sections of South Dakota and Montana remained in effect Thursday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Homes were among the structures that had burned, but officials did not have a count of how many were destroyed in the blaze that torched at least 6.4 square miles (4,096 acres) of forest, brush and grass on the east side of the community of Ruidoso, said Laura Rabon, spokesperson for the Lincoln National Forest.
Rabon announced emergency evacuations of a more densely populated area during a briefing Wednesday afternoon as the fire jumped a road where crews were trying to hold the line. She told people to get in their cars and go.
So far, no deaths or injuries were reported from the fire, which has been fanned by strong winds.
The winds forced a suspension of the aerial attack on the flames and kept authorities from getting a better estimate of how large the fire has grown. But some planes returned to the air as winds subsided late in the day, and seven air tankers and two helicopters have now been assigned to the fire, Forest Service officials said Wednesday evening.
While the cause of the blaze was under investigation, fire officials and forecasters warned Wednesday that persistent dry and windy conditions had prompted red flag warnings for a wide swath that included almost all of New Mexico, half of Texas and parts of Colorado and the Midwest.
Elsewhere in New Mexico, wildfires were burning along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque, in mountains northwest of the community of Las Vegas and in grasslands along the Pecos River near the town of Roswell.
In Colorado, crews were battling wind-whipped grass fires that had destroyed two homes and forced temporary evacuations.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Although the rain in the region stopped Tuesday, officials were still trying to fully assess the massive human and infrastructure toll as rescue crews rummaged through muddy hillsides in search of the missing. The days-long rain was reminiscent of weather around this same time in 2017 and in 2019 but brought more destruction, washing away bridges, leaving gaping holes in roadways, and sweeping homes and shacks from their foundations.
Residents and community leaders recalled promises made by local officials to improve drainage systems, strengthen roadways, and move shack settlers into more stable housing and away from flood-prone areas. But those pledges were not fulfilled, they said.
"When infrastructure fails it leads to human catastrophe," said Sbu Zikode, the president of Abahlali baseMjondolo, a shack dwellers movement concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal, the province where the rain and flooding occurred.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The death toll is expected to rise as members of the South African National Defense Force were called in to assist emergency rescue teams in the KwaZulu-Natal province, government officials said Tuesday. Along the coast, vacation homes and shacks alike were swept away in a part of the country known as a getaway for its sun, beaches and warm temperatures.
"We were all surprised by the magnitude of this storm," Mxolisi Kaunda, the mayor of Durban, said in a news briefing.
Storms have already caused devastation in several countries in the southern African region this year, displacing thousands of people and leaving dozens dead. Some scientists attributed the destruction in part to a storm season intensified by rising global temperatures.
The island nation of Madagascar has been the worst affected, hit by a cyclone and four tropical storms that left at least 178 people dead during February and March.
But the storms, originating in the southern Indian Ocean, pummeled the mainland as well. Thousands were displaced along Mozambique's coastline, with flooding reaching as far inland as landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe. South Africa's eastern KwaZulu-Natal province also saw heavy rain and flooding in February.
On Tuesday, a new storm left much of Durban flooded. Footage from emergency services showed parts of a national highway resembling a river, with shipping containers dislodged and washed away. In Verulam, a township north of the city, two people were killed when a house collapsed overnight, according to a local emergency services team.
Residents sought refuge on higher ground, climbing onto the roofs of houses, office buildings and a Hindu temple, according to rescue workers.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The thermometer hit 99 in Escondido, which is 25 degrees above normal, and 97 in El Cajon, which is 23 degrees above normal. Chula Vista also was 23 degrees above average, topping out at 91.
"This is not unprecedented for this time of year but it is unusual, and borderline extreme," said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster.
The weather service says the Santa Anas, which rarely occur in April, will mostly fade away early this morning. But temperatures will again hit the upper 80s and 90s in many areas.
San Diego International Airport is likely to reach 87, tying the record for April 8. Vista could hit 96, two degrees above the record for the date.
The weather won't dramatically change until Saturday, when a coastal eddy develops, sending cool, moist air ashore. San Diego will reach 71, three degrees above normal.
Forecasters say a low-pressure system will arrive early next week, preventing San Diego from getting above 64 on Monday and 61 on Tuesday. The region is not expected to receive substantial rain to offset the drying effect the Santa Anas are having on the area's highly combustible chaparral.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Forty states are experiencing longer outages - and they're worst in areas where weather is getting more extreme, data shows. The blackouts can be harmful, even deadly, for the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable communities.
And power grid maintenance expenses are skyrocketing as utilities upgrade decades-old transmission lines and equipment. So customers hit with more frequent and longer weather outages also are paying more for electricity.
"The electric grid is our early warning, " said University of California Berkeley grid expert Alexandra von Meier. "Climate change is here."
The AP found:
On Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for parts of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, set to last until 10 p.m.
A large section of the region that includes the cities of Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; and Chattanooga, Tenn., faced an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms that the National Weather Service said could create damaging wind gusts and hail.
The threat came a day after more than 40 tornadoes were reported across the South, according to forecasters, who said that higher-than-usual water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico were likely to contribute to more storm systems.
Some of the areas that were struck by storms Tuesday were again at risk on Wednesday, extending an onslaught that resulted in a record for confirmed tornadoes in March, meteorologist Jonathan Porter said Wednesday.
"It's sort of a one-two punch," Porter said. "The ingredients are once again in place for another dangerous afternoon across the Southeast."
Active thunderstorms continued to push through central Georgia on Wednesday evening, said Dylan Lusk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Georgia. "Most of it has kind of turned into a heavy rain and flooding event," Lusk said, pointing to a flash flood warning in parts of central Georgia.
Meteorologists also urged people to have more than one way to receive weather warnings, because downed power lines could cut off television or Internet access.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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Pritam Singh, chair of the Sea Shepherd group, said its crews had not seen any of the elusive porpoises during about three dozen trips this year to what is believed to be the last area in the gulf where vaquitas live.
But he said scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature reviewed images taken late last year that suggest eight adults and perhaps one or two calves are still in the the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez.
Vaquitas drown in illegal nets set by fishermen to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is a delicacy in China and sells for thousands of dollars per pound.
The Mexican government has been criticized for partially giving up on efforts to enforce a zero-fishing zone in the last known area of the Gulf of California where vaquitas live.
But Singh said that while there were a lot of small fishing boats in the zero-fishing area early this year, coordination between Sea Shepherd and the Mexican navy has helped cut down on the vessels.
Singh said that the first three days Sea Shepherd patrolled the area this year, they sighted 58 fishing boats on the first day, 35 the second and 27 on the third.
During their most recent trip, those numbers were down to between one and three boats per day, he said.
“That is great news,” Singh said. “That helps to give the vaquita a chance.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The National Weather Service says temperature records could fall countywide, including in San Diego, where the offshore winds will blunt the sea breeze. Thursday’s projected high is 93, or 25 degrees above average.
It will be 96 on both days in Vista. The seasonal high there is 69 — or 27 degrees cooler.
A heat advisory will be in effect from 11 a.m. today to 6 p.m. Friday for almost all areas west of the mountains. A wind advisory went into effect at 6 a.m. today and will last until 8 p.m. Thursday.
Forecasters say the winds will peak Thursday morning, hitting 50 mph to 60 mph across inland valleys and foothills. The gusts could be strong enough to make driving difficult on Interstate 8, from Alpine east to the county’s border with Imperial County.
The relative humidity is expected to drop to the 10 percent to 15 percent range inland.
“The combination of winds, low humidity, high temperatures and two straight years of below average rainfall will be like taking a big hair dryer to plants and vegetation, which are starved for moisture even though we had rain about a week ago,” said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster.
San Diego International Airport has recorded 6.06 inches of precipitation since the rainy season began on Oct. 1. That’s 2.67 inches below normal. The city received even less rain during the previous season.
Tardy said, “There probably will be some fires (on Thursday) with the extreme heat and low humidity and gusty Santa Ana winds. The rain we got last week should limit the potential for very large fires. Could we get a 200-, 300-acre fire? Certainly.”
Santa Ana winds most commonly occur from October through February. But they can happen during the spring, sometimes with disastrous results. In May 2014, the winds heavily influenced the spread of wildfires that consumed about 26,000 acres throughout the county. Local fire officials say the fires also destroyed 65 structures, including 46 single-family homes in Carlsbad.
The threat of wildfires is causing anxiety throughout California and other western states.
Scientists reported in the journal Nature Climate Change in February that “2000–2021 was the driest 22-year period since at least 800. This drought will very likely persist through 2022, matching the duration of the late-1500s megadrought.”
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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In eastern Texas, W.M. Soloman, 71, died when storm winds toppled a tree onto Solomon’s home in Whitehouse, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas, Whitehouse Mayor James Wansley said. Officials said trees fell on at least four homes in the area.
More than 50,000 homes and businesses were without power Tuesday afternoon from eastern Texas to South Carolina. No injuries were reported, but the National Weather Service issued a nonstop stream of tornado warnings for hours as the storm system tore across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
A possible tornado touched down early Tuesday evening in Pembroke, Ga., about 30 miles west of Savannah. Carter Infinger, chair of the Bryan County Commission, said some buildings were damaged, but he wasn’t sure if there was more widespread destruction. Infinger said he wasn’t aware of any injuries.
“It looks like a tornado touched down up there and did some damage to our administrative building and the courthouse roof,” Infinger said. “We’ve had no injuries to our county staff that we know of.”
In South Carolina, Allendale County Manager William Goodson said a tornado, captured in a video on social media, caused damage in his rural county, but exactly how much and whether there were any injuries were unknown.
“I know we have buildings damaged and power lines down,” Goodson said. “My deputies and emergency officials are out there assessing it.”
Debate was delayed for nearly an hour in the South Carolina Legislature after the House chamber was evacuated for a tornado warning for Columbia. The legislation being debated would require athletes to compete with the gender listed on their birth certificates.
The weather service said it was sending teams to examine tornado damage in Wetumpka, Ala. Lightning struck a flea market in north Alabama, causing a fire that gutted the building, news outlets reported.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The landslide on a walking path at Wentworth Pass, a popular tourist destination in the mountains west of Sydney, was reported to emergency services about 1:40 p.m. Monday.
A 50-year-old woman and her 14-year-old son were winched by helicopter and taken to Sydney hospitals with significant head and abdominal injuries.
They remained in critical condition on Tuesday, New South Wales Ambulance Acting Chief Superintendent Stewart Clarke told Nine Network television's "Today" program.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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To get the state’s nearly 40 million residents to recycle more and send more deposits back to them, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration unveiled a plan Friday to temporarily double to a dime the refund for a 12-ounce bottle or can. California already pays 10 cents on containers over 24 ounces, and that would temporarily double to 20 cents.
The move would make California among the highest-paying recycling programs in the country. Rachel Machi Wagoner, director of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, said the effort would help California again become the recycling leader it was 35 years ago when it started its cash refund program.
When someone in California purchases a regular-sized soda, a 5-cent charge is applied that can be recouped if the container is brought back for recycling. Under Newsom’s plan, the deposit charge would remain the same but the return amount would double. The goal is to raise the recycling rate for beverage containers from 70 percent to at least 80 percent.
Oregon and Michigan already offer 10-cent refunds, and advocacy groups say that amount for each glass or plastic bottle or aluminum can has been enough for consumers to recycle at least nine of every 10 containers.
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog’s President Jamie Court, a frequent critic of the recycling program, called the plan “a very positive step” and “a bold proposal to give people their money back.”
“That money isn’t doing anybody any good sitting in the bank,” Court said. “We need a complete structural fix, but this is a good interim step.”
California’s proposal feeds the latest national effort to boost recycling as beverage distributors face increased pressure to include higher percentages of recycled material in their containers, National Stewardship Action Council executive director Heidi Sanborn said.
Just 10 of the 50 states have deposit programs now, but many are considering them — potentially creating a confusing patchwork and beverage labels crowded with different states’ deposit amounts, something she said distributors want to avoid.
California’s doubling of refunds would be temporary — a duration for the change has yet to be decided — and is expected to cost $100 million. If approved by the Legislature, the refund increase would take effect sometime during the next fiscal year that starts July 1.
It’s uncertain if any boost in recycling would last once the higher price ends, Sanborn acknowledged, but she hopes instead California will decide to make the increase permanent. She’s also hopeful pressure from states will spur attempts by U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon to craft a national bottle bill.
Newsom’s plan also attempts to ease a bottleneck that began years ago as more neighborhood recycling centers closed and Consumer Watchdog said many grocery stores also were refusing to take back empties in store as required.
To increase access, Newsom’s administration proposes spending $100 million on grants to add about 2,000 automated recycling machines, also known as reverse vending machines, at high schools, colleges and retailers. Consumers dump their empty containers into the machines, which issue a refund.
Another $55 million would go for state-funded mobile recycling programs in rural areas and other places with few recycling options.
Recycling officials had expected beverage consumption to drop during the pandemic, as it does during most economic downturns, Wagoner said. Instead, container sales in California increased by 2.5 billion over three years, to 27 billion last fiscal year, meaning a record number of deposits flowing into the state’s recycling fund.
The number of refundable containers recycled in California, meanwhile, hit a record high of more than 18.8 billion in 2021 — but that still left plenty of money on the table.
Repeated attempts to improve the state’s recycling system have struggled in the Legislature, even as California tries to boost its recycling rates, minimize food waste, and work toward a circular-use economy.
(Don Thompson, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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New readings showed the water in California’s mountain snowpack sat at 38 percent of average. That’s the lowest mark since the end of the last drought in 2015; only twice since 1988 has the level been lower.
State officials highlighted the severity of the dismal water numbers as they stood at a snow measuring station south of Lake Tahoe, where the landscape included more grass than snow. At the deepest point measured there, there was just 2.5 inches of snow.
“You need no more evidence than standing here on this very dry landscape to understand some of the challenges we’re facing here in California,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “All Californians need to do their part.”
Nearly all of California and much of the U.S. West is in severe to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Last July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked people to cut their water use by 15 percent compared to 2020 levels, but so far consumption is down just 6 percent. State reservoirs are filled far below normal levels.
About a third of California’s water supply comes from the snow as it melts and trickles into rivers and reservoirs. April 1 is when the snowpack typically is at its peak and the date is used as a benchmark to predict the state’s water supply in the drier, hotter spring and summer months.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Mark Wool, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, said the two people who were killed lived in a mobile home in Washington County that was destroyed early Thursday.
“It was the middle of the night and they obviously either didn’t receive the warning or didn’t have any way to shelter from it,” Wool said. “People in mobile homes really don’t have any protection against tornadoes.”
Wool said a radar showed a tornado in the area around 4:10 a.m., but the weather service won’t provide an official confirmation of a tornado until investigators visit the scene today.
“We are highly confident that it was a tornado and the damage pictures I’ve seen so far are consistent with that,” Wool said.
The storm also “severely damaged” a brick home in Washington County and toppled a tanker truck on Interstate 10 in Jackson County, Wool said.
Kristy Kolmetz, public information officer for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in northwestern Florida, said a tornado had caused significant damage about 7 miles outside Chipley.
“In that area, there was total destruction of homes, and there were several downed power lines and downed debris on the roadways,” Kolmetz said.
The Washington County School District closed Thursday because of the threat of severe weather.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said on Twitter that his office had received reports of severe weather in Washington and Jackson counties and that the Florida Division of Emergency Management was there to help local officials.
The high winds and heavy rains in Florida were part of a line of thunderstorms that traveled across the South overnight and into Thursday.
The storms moved east from Mississippi, Alabama and northwestern Arkansas, where at least seven people were injured, two critically, when a tornado touched down Wednesday.
Mayor Doug Sprouse of Springdale, Ark., the town where the seven people were injured, declared an emergency there Wednesday.
The weather service said the line of storms continued to move east Thursday and could cause severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes from Florida to New England.
Parts of the Carolinas, Maryland and Virginia were under tornado watches Thursday evening. The weather service also said that scattered severe thunderstorms would move through the Northeast. Portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., were instructed to stay on alert for strong winds, hail and tornadoes until 10 p.m., while parts of Delaware, New Jersey and New York were warned to brace for winds up to 70 mph and possibly “a tornado or two” until midnight.
More than 15,000 customers were without power in Virginia on Thursday evening, as well as 13,000 customers in Mississippi, 11,000 in North Carolina and 11,000 in Tennessee, according to PowerOutage.US, a website that aggregates data from utilities.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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No deaths had been reported from the storms as of Wednesday evening, officials said.
But widespread damage was reported in the Jackson, Tenn., area as a tornado warning was in effect. “Significant damage” occurred to the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, a nearby nursing home and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office in Jackson, said Madison County Emergency Management Director Jason Moore.
A warehouse roof collapsed as the storms moved through Southaven, Miss., near Memphis, police said. The building had been evacuated and no injuries were reported.
Earlier Wednesday, a tornado that struck Springdale, Ark., and the adjoining town of Johnson, about 145 miles northwest of Little Rock, about 4 a.m. injured seven people, two critically, officials said.
The National Weather Service said that tornado would be rated “at least EF-2,” which would mean wind speeds reached 111-135 mph.
“Search and rescue teams have been deployed, as there are significant damages and injuries,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.
The storms come a week after a tornado in a New Orleans-area neighborhood carved a path of destruction overnight and killed a man.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The fire, which ignited Saturday, burned to within 1,000 yards of homes on the west end of Boulder, said Mike Smith, incident commander. No homes were lost and no injuries were reported, he said.
A quick initial attack “combined with all of the fuels mitigation treatments that we’ve done in this area is one of the reasons that we’ve had such great success,“ Smith said Sunday.
Fire crews were also able to use aircraft to fight the fire, laying down lines of fire retardant near homes in the rolling hills south of the college town, he said.
The evacuation area was reduced late Saturday to cover about 1,700 people and 700 residences, down from about 8,000 homes earlier in the day. Fire managers hoped to allow more people back into their homes Sunday as the area becomes safe, officials said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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There were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries. Frankel Maginaire, a reporter for Radio Caraibes in Jeremie, told The Associated Press that some minor injuries happened as people panicked and started running. Some people also said walls that were damaged in the 2021 quake collapsed.
The quake was centered 11 miles north of Jeremie at a shallow depth of 6 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Jeremie is at the tip of Haiti’s southern region.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the project with the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization aims to make the alert systems already used by many rich countries available to the developing world.
“Today, one-third of the world’s people, mainly in least-developed countries and small island developing states, are still not covered by early warning systems,” Guterres said. “In Africa, it is even worse: 60 percent of people lack coverage.”
“This is unacceptable, particularly with climate impacts sure to get even worse,” he said. “We must boost the power of prediction for everyone and build their capacity to act.”
Early warning systems allow for the monitoring of real-time atmospheric conditions at sea and on land as a way of predicting upcoming weather events — whether in cities, rural areas, mountain or coastal regions, and arid or polar locations.
Expanding their use has taken on urgency because more lead time allows people to prepare for potentially deadly disasters such as heat waves, forest fires, flooding and tropical storms that can result from climate change.
A World Meteorological Organization report on disaster statistics released last year showed that over the last half-century or so, a climate or water-related disaster has occurred daily on average, resulting in an average of 115 deaths and $202 million in losses a day.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tuesday night’s tornado in the Arabi community of St. Bernard Parish sprung from a storm system blamed for earlier tornadoes in Texas that killed a woman north of Dallas and prompted Gov. Gregg Abbott to declare a disaster in 16 counties. It also spawned a tornado that touched down in the Lacombe area of St. Tammany Parish, caused damage in eastern New Orleans and was blamed for torrential rain and building damage in Alabama.
“My neighbor died. Why did it spare us?” Michael Baiamonte asked Wednesday afternoon. He, his wife, their two sons, his father and their dog took refuge in a closet under a stairwell when the tornado hit. “The amount of shaking that was going on in that house for that small time frame was phenomenal,” said Baiamonte.
He added that the destruction was all over in the time it took him to say “four Hail Marys.”
Half his roof was gone. And the house where his neighbor, 25-year-old Connor Lambert had lived, was gone. Lambert’s body was found amid debris. The St. Bernard Parish coroner’s office said he died of multiple blunt force injuries.
Gov. John Bel Edwards declared an emergency in St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes. After flying over the area Wednesday, he walked the streets in Arabi, greeting storm victims.
The National Weather Service said the Arabi damage was caused by a tornado of at least EF-3 strength, meaning it had winds of 158-206 mph, while the Lacombe-area twister was an EF-1, with winds as strong as 90 mph.
As the storm front moved eastward, an apparent twister shredded a metal building and shattered windows east of Mobile Bay. The weather service reported more than 8 inches of rainfall in the central Alabama city of Sylacauga overnight. The roofs of several homes were damaged in Toxey, Ala., where tornado warnings were issued.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said a dozen counties had damage to homes and two injuries were reported.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann said during a news conference that one person was confirmed dead and multiple others were injured in the suburb.
Other tornadoes spawned by the same storm system hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma, killing one person and causing multiple injuries and widespread damage.
A video taken by a local television station showed a large black funnel visible in the darkened sky looming among the buildings in the eastern part of New Orleans.
The tornado appeared to start in a New Orleans suburb and then move east across the Mississippi River into the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans and parts of St. Bernard Parish — both of which were badly damaged by Katrina — before moving northeast.
About 13,000 homes and businesses were without power in the three parishes around New Orleans after the storm.
Guy McGinnis, president of St. Bernard Parish, told WWL-TV that the parish had “widespread damage” in parts of the parish that borders New Orleans to the east. Search and rescue teams were going through homes looking for people and responding to calls from people who said they were trapped in their homes.
High winds uprooted trees in Ridgeland, Miss., as a possible tornado passed the Jackson-area city Tuesday afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of any injuries or serious damage to buildings.
Many schools closed early or canceling after-school activities Tuesday in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. The system dumped heavy rain, downed trees and prompted multiple tornado warnings as it moved into Alabama on Tuesday evening.
In Texas, several tornadoes were reported Monday along the Interstate 35 corridor, particularly in the Austin suburbs of Round Rock and Elgin, as well as in northern and eastern Texas and southern Oklahoma. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a disaster declaration for 16 hard-hit counties. Abbott said 10 people were injured by storms in the Crockett area, while more than a dozen were reportedly hurt elsewhere.
The Grayson County Emergency Management Office said a 73-year-old woman was killed in Sherwood Shores, but provided no details.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Eastland Complex fire, which consists of four fires that ignited last week in and around Eastland County, about 100 miles west of Fort Worth, was 30 percent contained Sunday, according to a report by fire tracker InciWeb. It has burned more than 54,000 acres and killed one sheriff’s deputy.
The new fire, called the Blowing Basin fire, began near the small Eastland County community of Rising Star. It covered roughly 100 acres and was 5 percent contained Sunday afternoon, said Mary Leathers of the Texas A&M Forest Service, the state’s lead agency for fighting wildfires.
Nearby roads were closed as fire crews and aviation assets were dispatched to fight the wind-driven blaze. “It’s an evolving incident,” Leathers said.
She added that other new outbreaks or expansions of the current fires were possible Sunday, noting that hours of daylight, warm temperatures and wind gusts are the optimal conditions for wildfires.
“Our concerns today over the fires is the critical fire weather that’s moving in this afternoon,” she said, adding that officials were staying “hypervigilant” about the weather.
The biggest threat by far in the Eastland Complex fire is the Kidd fire, which has consumed more than 42,000 acres and was 25 percent contained Sunday. The blaze has destroyed more than 140 structures, including homes, businesses, outbuildings and other structures on properties.
The town of Carbon in Eastland County lost nearly 90 homes by one local official’s count, and other small towns in the county, including Ranger, Gorman and Rising Star, also sustained damage.
Although conditions Saturday brought a brief reprieve, the winds and temperature picked up and the humidity level dropped Sunday, said Angel Lopez Portillo, a spokesperson for the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Portillo added that he was uncertain how long it would take to bring the Eastland Complex fire under greater control.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The report by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority, which manages the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, comes three days before a United Nations delegation is due to assess whether the reef’s World Heritage listing should be downgraded due to the ravages of climate change.
“Weather patterns over the next few weeks will be critical in determining the overall extent and severity of coral bleaching across the Marine Park,” the authority said.
“Bleaching has been detected across the Marine Park — it is widespread but variable, across multiple regions, ranging in impact from minor to severe,” the authority added.
The reef has suffered significantly from coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and 2020. The previous bleaching damaged two-thirds of the coral.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The wildfire, a set of several blazes collectively called the Eastland Complex fire, began Thursday evening.
On Friday evening, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a disaster declaration that would allow the state to better help 11 counties affected by the fire. He said more counties could be added.
Abbott said the fire remains dangerous because of “ever-shifting winds” and dry ground.
“Part of what we’re fighting is the fire,” he said. “Part of what we’re fighting is the weather and the winds.”
On Friday afternoon, the fire was about 10 percent contained, the Texas A&M Forest Service said on Twitter.
“This is definitely one to pay attention to,” Madison Gordon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said, adding that this was the first wildfire of this magnitude to hit Texas this year.
Gordon said that forecasters had anticipated the blaze’s size and had sent several warnings. On Thursday, the weather service issued wind advisories for central and northern regions of the state.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said it responded to 10 wildfires overall across the state. Those fires burned about 52,700 acres, the service said, adding that strong winds and dry grasses were contributing factors.
The Eastland Complex fire consists of four fires. The largest of them, the Kidd fire, was responsible for burning 30,000 acres alone.
The four fires scorched parts of Comanche and Eastland counties, according to InciWeb, which tracks fires.
Communities affected included Gorman, where roughly 475 homes were evacuated; Carbon, where a highway was closed; and Lake Leon. Gorman is about 100 miles west of Fort Worth. Shelters for evacuees were opened at sites that included local churches and a school.
Residents were sharing footage of the fire across social media, including scenes of damaged homes. Smoke from the blaze was reaching other parts of the state, including Houston, some 300 miles away, the weather service said.
The Houston Health Department told residents, especially those with respiratory issues, to stay indoors Friday.
Smoke from the fire can lead to health problems, including burning eyes and chronic heart and lung disease, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The sandstorm, known as a calima in Spain, began covering much of the Iberian Peninsula on Tuesday morning, blanketing cars and buildings in a thick red dust and making it harder to breathe in the stiflingly dry air.
A calima occurs when a burst of dusty, warm wind forms during sandstorms in the Sahara and then crosses over from the African desert. With rain forecast in Madrid today, residents were bracing themselves for a muddy rain.
While Spain’s skies tended toward the apocalyptic, with blood orange colors reminiscent of areas besieged by wildfires, the effects were more subtle elsewhere.
In London, it was as if the skies had been run through a sepia-toned filter, a slightly unsettling aura that could easily be taken as a harbinger of nothing good. It was the gray-orange color the sky would be in a movie about a town recovering from nuclear fallout.
Although the phenomenon isn’t new, the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service described this week’s events as “an exceptional Saharan dust episode,” with “very high concentrations of coarse particulate matter.”
In the coming days, the dust is expected to move north through Europe, reaching as far as Denmark, before fading by the weekend, the monitoring service said.
On Wednesday, Spain’s health ministry called the sandstorm an emergency situation and issued a warning to residents, particularly people with existing breathing problems, to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut to avoid inhaling particles. The ministry also warned drivers to show caution because of diminished visibility.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The region is part of northern Japan that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that caused nuclear reactor meltdowns, spewing massive radiation that still makes some parts uninhabitable.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary session this morning that four people died during the quake and the cause of their deaths are being investigated, while 97 others were injured. A man in his 60s in Soma city died after falling from the second floor of his house while trying to evacuate, and a man in his 70s panicked and suffered a heart attack, Kyodo News reported earlier.
The Japan Meteorological Agency early today lifted its low-risk advisory for a tsunami along the coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Tsunami waves of 11 inches reached shore in Ishinomaki, about 242 miles northeast of Tokyo.
The agency upgraded the magnitude of the quake to 7.4 from the initial 7.3, and the depth from 36 miles below the sea to 35 miles.
NHK footage showed broken walls of a department store building that fell to the ground and shards of windows scattered on the street near the main train station in the inland prefectural capital of Fukushima city. Roads were cracked and water poured out from pipes underground.
Footage also showed furniture and appliances smashed to the floor at apartments in Fukushima. Cosmetics and other merchandise at convenience stores fell from shelves and scattered on the floor. In Yokohama, near Tokyo, an electric pole nearly fell.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant where the cooling systems failed after the 2011 disaster, said workers found no abnormalities at the site, which is being decommissioned.
More than 2.2 million homes were temporarily without electricity in 14 prefectures, including the Tokyo region, but power was restored at most places by the morning, except for about 37,000 homes in the hardest hit Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, according to the Tohoku Electric Power Co. which services the region.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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There were no immediate reports of casualties in Parcoy.
The mayor, Luis Velezmoro, told state television that neighbors were trying to rescue trapped people by breaking down the walls of houses.
President Pedro Castillo tweeted that his government will help affected families.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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After months of cutting back, new data from the State Water Resources Control Board shows that rather than conserving water, Californians increased urban water use 2.6 percent in January, compared with the same month in 2020 — the baseline year against which current savings are measured.
The cumulative savings from July — when Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Californians to voluntarily cut water use by 15 percent — to the end of January were just 6.4 percent, less than half the target. Officials said more must be done to prevent worst-case drought scenarios, including increased restrictions and mandatory water cuts.
“These numbers are a good wake-up call that we need to buckle up and get going,” conservation supervisor Charlotte Ely told reporters Tuesday morning.
The numbers hark back to California’s punishing 2012-2016 drought, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a mandatory 25 percent reduction in urban water use. Californians came close to meeting that goal, and many of their water-saving habits remain.
But conditions today are more extreme than even those dire times. January and February, typically the heart of California’s wet season, were the driest ever recorded, with only about three-quarters of an inch of precipitation, said state climatologist Michael Anderson. The next lowest, 2013, saw about twice that amount.
Despite the dwindling numbers, some experts said the state’s water managers haven’t done enough to prepare for and respond to the current conditions.
“I think mandatory cuts are not only warranted — I think they’re long overdue,” said hydrologist Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute. “The reservoirs are lower than they were at this time last year, and last year we were in the second year of the drought.”
During a board meeting Tuesday, Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said California needs to receive about 4 more inches of precipitation before month’s end or it will end up being the driest January-February-March stretch on record — an increasingly likely scenario.
“It’s really turned into a very difficult year,” Nemeth said, adding that although the state typically relies on a slow accretion of reservoir inflows through summer, “it’s entirely possible that our inflows will have already peaked.”
As a result, the department is planning to announce a reduction in the promised 15 percent water supply allocation that came on the heels of December’s storms, Nemeth said, although she did not specify by how much.
Officials are also planning to submit a temporary petition that would enable deviations from typical water rights and usages from April through June, and are in the process of evaluating additional endangered species actions, among other steps.
“It’s all hands on deck for this particular situation this year,” Nemeth said.
Already, snowpack and reservoirs have dwindled far below average for the date. On Tuesday, Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, was only about half of its historic average, officials said. Statewide snowpack was 57 percent of normal.
Some areas of California are conserving more water than others, the data shows. The San Francisco Bay Area reduced water use by 11 percent from July to the end of January.
Officials were reluctant to speculate on the reason for the difference across the state, but Ely said there could be “a little bit more awareness up north because we’re closer to the immediate problem.” The dire drought conditions that started around the North Coast last year also spread into the Central Valley, including much of the state’s agricultural hub, which suffered an estimated $1.2 billion hit due to drought-related restrictions.
Southern counties, including San Diego, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura, were among the last to be added to Newsom’s statewide drought emergency declaration last year. The largest urban water supplier in Southern California, Metropolitan Water District, declared its own drought emergency in November.
Given the unusual dryness of January, Metropolitan’s chief operating officer, Deven Upadhyay, said he wasn’t surprised that conservation efforts backslid that month. However, he said better messaging is needed to reach people who don’t always think in percentages.
“I want to be clear: This is not a drill,” he said. “This is the real deal. It is a drought emergency.”
Yet awareness is only part of the problem, officials acknowledged, as disaster fatigue is making it more difficult to drive home the severity of the drought and necessity of conservation.
“This is a slower disaster,” said James Nachbaur, director of research, planning and performance with the State Water Resources Control Board. “Climate change and drought are slower-moving problems than the war in Europe or even the pandemic, and so it is a little harder to get people to focus on slower, longer time scales. Drought is kind of a reminder that while climate change is a longer-term process, there will be acute impacts.”
Indeed, rules outlawing water wasting adopted by the board in January helped spread some awareness, officials said, but the lackluster conservation numbers that month also indicate that fines and voluntary measures may no longer be enough.
The water board will be issuing a “dry year warning letter” to all water rights holders and claimants in the state in the coming days advising them to plan accordingly for another year of drought, Deputy Director Erik Ekdahl said.
Individuals are also urged to do their part by shoring up leaks, reducing outdoor irrigation and replacing turf, among other conservation practices.
“California has just experienced the driest January and February on record, and our precipitation levels remain critically low,” Newsom’s office said in a statement following Tuesday’s update. “Climate change has fundamentally altered the state’s hydrologic cycle, intensifying extreme weather and leading to longer, dryer periods. We all must do more to adjust and adapt.”
(Hayley Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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As the storm traveled from Tennessee to Maine, putting about 16 million people under a National Weather Service winter storm warning, meteorologists warned that the precipitation would be followed by a cold snap and strong winds.
“It’s a rather expansive winter storm, but it’s very, very quick moving,” Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., said Saturday.
Heavy snowfall hit the central Appalachians Saturday morning, Orrison said, and it moved rapidly across the northern Mid-Atlantic region and up into the Northeast over the course of the day.
Snowfall exceeded 8 inches in some parts of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to preliminary reports from the weather service.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation asked drivers to avoid unnecessary travel and imposed speed restrictions on some roads.
Snow was expected to fall in some places at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour and combine with winds of up to 50 mph, leading to “blowing and drifting snow” from the central Appalachians to the Northeast, the Weather Prediction Center warned on Twitter.
“Severely reduced visibility and whiteout conditions will make travel extremely dangerous at times,” the center said.
The center also warned that sharp temperature drops were expected overnight in much of the eastern United States. Tampa, Fla., where temperatures reached into the high 70s Saturday, was expected to see temperatures plunge to 36 degrees overnight.
Nearly 53,000 people were without power in Georgia on Saturday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which aggregates data from utilities across the United States. More than 90,000 others were without power in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The severe weather conditions also affected travel, with more than 1,200 flights canceled within, into or out of the United States on Saturday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service. More than 4,500 flights were delayed.
The Northeast was most likely to get the brunt of snow accumulations, forecasters said. Seven to 14 inches of snow could fall in Vermont, and parts of northern Maine could get 12 to 18 inches.
(Amanda Holpuch & Derrick Bryson Taylor, NEW YORK TIMES)
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With snowfall totals ranging from about 4 inches in northern parts of Alabama and Mississippi to about 13 inches in northern Maine, the storm could cause travel problems and power outages across a wide part of the Eastern United States through early next week.
The system is referred to by some as an ominous-sounding "bomb cyclone".
"With this bomb cyclone, maybe what's the biggest concern is how late in the season it's coming and that it's traveling over inland areas," said Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research, a commercial firm outside of Boston. And that's bad news for plants that acted as if spring was here.
Many crops and plants in the Southeast have started to bud because of warmer weather until now and the freezing cold temperatures - maybe record low - that are expected on the back end of this bomb cyclone can cause some serious damage, Cohen said.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology said in a statement that around 3 a.m. Tuesday the volcano's activity began to diminish.
"The seismic and acoustic sensors confirm that the activity that persists in the crater are weak explosions and booms that still generate some avalanches principally toward the Ash and Dry ravines," the institute said.
Guatemala's disaster agency said shelters had been opened for the evacuees in the nearby town of Escuintla.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“Realistically, as far as our dams and our hydroelectric production, it’s looking like we could be in a similar spot as last summer, potentially even worse by the end of the summer,” said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist that the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. “It’s not looking great, to be honest.”
That’s a far cry from just over three months ago when the lab, located at Donner Pass at nearly 7,000 feet elevation, recorded the largest-ever accumulation of snow for the month of December — some 210 inches.
But since then, a weather whiplash occurred. The lab recorded no snowfall at all from Jan. 9 through Feb. 15 — 37 consecutive days, constituting the longest amount of time that the lab’s records dating back to 1970 had ever seen without winter precipitation.
While the Sierra received just over 6 inches of snow last week and the forecast calls for a good-sized storm arriving around March 15, the prospects for a wetter than usual winter are melting away.
The snow water equivalent — a critical metric that represents the overall amount of water the snowpack contains and will release when it evaporates — is down to 69 percent of its average peak, or 31 percent below average.
“A hundred percent is what we expect out of a regular year,” Schwartz said. “If we get over 100 percent, we’re helping relieve the drought. If we get to 100 percent, we’re kind of staying in the current drought conditions. And if we’re any lower than that, then this year’s going to contribute to the drought.”
California’s Department of Water Resources, or DWR, reports statewide precipitation stands at 80 percent of average.
“We are essentially coming to the close of our wet season,” said Jeanine Jones, DWR’s interstate resources manager, “and frankly, there’s not a lot of significant stuff in the forecast.”
As of Monday, reservoirs across the state came to 71 percent of average.
A dry winter figures to translate into another sub-par year for hydroelectric production in California. In wet years, such as the winter of 2016-17, hydro facilities can supply around 21 percent of all in-state generation to the grid.
But in dry years, the numbers can plummet. In 2015, large-scale and small hydro combined to produce just 7.1 percent of in-state generation.
The California Energy Commission has not yet released the figures for 2021 but a hot and extremely dry summer saw water levels at the reservoir at Oroville Dam near Chico dip to historic lows, forcing officials to shut down the Edward Hyatt Power Plant for the first time ever.
Megawatts from hydro give grid operators a valuable tool since the release of water and the subsequent generation of electricity can be used at peak times during the summer, such as between 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. when solar generation dissipates as the sun goes down but demand on the grid remains high as customers keep their air conditioners blowing until temperatures cool off.
In addition, generation from hydro does not emit any greenhouse gases.
Jones of DWR said it’s hard to say if hydro production will be better, worse or about the same than last year’s desiccated conditions.
“If I were to make a guess, I might guess probably about the same,” she said. “And the reason I say that is because reservoir storage is roughly close.”
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and DWR operate large hydro plants in California such as the Oroville Dam, Folsom Dam and Shasta Dam.
Folsom’s level is actually 101 percent of its historic average because “it happened to be in the sweet spot” during December’s big storms, Jones said. Shasta, however, stands at just 51 percent of its historic average. Oroville is at 72 percent.
Is there a decent chance the Hyatt Power Plant at Oroville could shut down again this summer?
“I don’t know,” Jones said. “We just haven’t seen the runoff forecast yet.”
The California Independent System Operator, the nonprofit that manages the grid for about 80 percent of California and a small portion of Nevada, will take a look at hydroelectric supplies when it compiles all the data from this winter (through April) when it puts together its 2022 summer assessment.
“Currently, the snowpack and water levels are below average and with the uncertainty in spring weather, we are watching the conditions closely,” system operator spokesperson Anne Gonzales said in an email.
Schwartz of the UC Berkeley Snow Lab said California has always been prone to meteorological variabilities and extremes because of its geography.
“With anthropogenic (related to human activities) climate change, those extremes are becoming more extreme,” Schwartz said. “When we do get atmospheric rivers, like the big ones we had in October or December, those are actually carrying more water than they used to. And then when drought conditions start or these prolonged dry periods start, they’re typically dryer and hotter than average.”
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the vast majority of California is considered to be in severe drought, with a handful of counties including San Bernardino and Mendocino experiencing extreme drought conditions. All of San Diego County is in moderate drought.
Across the Southwest, record-low water levels along the Colorado River system threaten hydro production at the Hoover Dam, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Last week, the Bureau of Reclamation warned Lake Powell may be just days away from dropping within a buffer zone for generating hydroelectricity.
(Rob Nikolewski, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Emergency management officials in Madison County said four were injured and six people were killed Saturday when one tornado touched down in the area southwest of Des Moines near the town of Winterset around 4:30 p.m. Among those killed were two children under the age of 5 and four adults.
In Lucas County, about 54 miles southeast of Des Moines, officials confirmed one death and multiple reported injuries when a separate tornado struck less than an hour later.
The state Department of Natural Resources said that the person who died was in an RV at a campground at Red Haw State Park in Chariton, Iowa.
Thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes moved through much of Iowa from the afternoon until Saturday night, with storms also causing damage in the Des Moines suburb of Norwalk, areas just east of Des Moines and other areas of eastern Iowa. The storms were fueled by warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.
Officials reported a number of homes were damaged or destroyed, roads were blocked by downed lines, and tree branches were shredded by the strong winds. At one point, power outages affected more than 10,000 in the Des Moines area. About 800 customers remained without power Sunday evening.
The storms are the deadliest to occur in Iowa since May 2008 when one tornado destroyed nearly 300 homes and killed nine people in the northern Iowa city of Parkersburg. Another tornado a month later killed four boys at the Little Sioux Boy Scout ranch in western Iowa.
Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini said there have been plenty of examples of deadly storms in March even though they are more common in April and May. Saturday’s storms were not nearly as unusual as the mid-December tornado outbreak that Iowa saw last year, he said.
“The storms that produce these tornadoes — these supercell storms — they don’t care what the calendar says,” Gensini said. “It doesn’t have to say June. It doesn’t have to say May. They form whenever the ingredients are present. And they were certainly present yesterday.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Firefighters battled the 9,000-acre Bertha Swamp Road fire and the 841-acre Adkins Avenue fire, which have threatened homes and forced residents of at least 1,100 houses in Bay County, Fla. to flee over the weekend. The Adkins Avenue fire destroyed two structures and damaged an additional 12 homes late Friday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the larger Bertha Swamp Road fire “a big boy” at a news conference in Panama City on Sunday afternoon. “It’s moving very quickly.”
On Sunday, a third fire developed, forcing the evacuation of a 120-bed, state-operated nursing home in Panama City. Public transit was being used to move the residents at the Clifford Chester Sims State Veterans’ Nursing Home. Buses also were on standby in case the 1,300 inmates at the nearby Bay County Jail needed to be evacuated to other facilities.
Hurricane Michael in 2018 left behind 72 million tons of destroyed trees that have provided fuel for the Bay County wildfires, according to the Florida Forest Service.
Local authorities say they don’t know when residents will be able to return to their homes.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The U.N. Environment Assembly voted unanimously Wednesday at its meeting in Kenya’s capital Nairobi for a resolution “to end plastic pollution.”
It sets the stage for international negotiations designed to produce a treaty by 2024.
“Today we wrote history. Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic,” said Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s minister for environment and climate and the assembly’s president. “With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.”
After a week of debate, negotiators fashioned proposals — one by Peru and Rwanda and others by India and Japan — into a framework for a global approach to prevent and reduce plastic pollution, including marine litter.
The treaty would cover the full life cycle of plastics, including production, design and disposal.
“It is not always you get such a major environment deal,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, told a news conference. Anderson called the endorsement by representatives of 175 member counties “the most significant global environmental governance decision since the Paris (Climate) Agreement in 2015.”
According to a recent Pew study, the global plastic industry is valued at $522.6 billion and 11 million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year.
The environmental group Greenpeace said the U.N. panel’s decision is a “big, bold step to end plastic pollution.”
Graham Forbes, global plastics project lead at Greenpeace USA, said that until a strong global treaty is signed, the organization and its allies will keep pushing for a world free of plastic pollution with clean air and a stable climate.
“This is a big step that will keep the pressure on big oil and big brands to reduce their plastic footprint and switch their business models to refill and reuse,” Forbes said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The water content of the statewide snowpack is just 63 percent of normal to date and the snowmelt forecast is just 66 percent of average, a state Department of Water Resources official said in webcast from Phillips Station, one of hundreds of measuring sites in the Sierra Nevada.
“That’s not enough to fill up our reservoirs, and without any significant storms on the horizon, it’s safe to say that we’ll end this year dry and continue on into the third year of this ongoing drought,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of the department’s snow surveys and water supply forecasting section.
Statewide reservoir storage is at about 73 percent of average, and the largest reservoir, Lake Shasta, is only 37 percent full, he said.
California’s water supply problems stem from a historic drought tied to climate change that is gripping the U.S. West. Snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada and other mountains normally provides about a third of the state’s water supply.
Last year, shockingly little runoff reached reservoirs as snowmelt was absorbed by the parched ground. Gov. Gavin Newsom has been calling for Californians to reduce water consumption by 15 percent from 2020 levels since last summer.
After deluges late last year, California’s snowpack was at 160 percent of normal to date at the start of January. But ominously, the past two months were the driest consecutive January and February in the Sierra in recorded state history.
“We were all encouraged after all that rain and snow in October and December. But after how dry these last two months were, there’s no guarantee that the snowmelt will run off and follow the same historical patterns that they have in the past, which makes the results today all that much more important,” de Guzman said.
Historically, December, January and February are California’s wettest months.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The accident occurred Monday night in Kachin state's Hpakant township, a remote mountainous region at the center of the lucrative jade mining industry, Human rights activists say jade mining is an important source of revenue for Myanmar's military government.
Earth and waste from several mines around Ma One village slid about 300 feet down in more than 50 miners and mechanics from the YTT Mining Group, said a local resident who asked not to be identified because he feared for his safety.
At least three excavators and trucks were also buried in the landslide, he said.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The report released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, is the most detailed look yet at the threats posed by global warming. It concludes that nations aren’t doing nearly enough to protect cities, farms and coastlines from the hazards that climate change has already unleashed, such as record droughts and rising seas, let alone from the even greater disasters in store as the planet keeps heating up.
Written by 270 researchers from 67 countries, the report is “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. “With fact upon fact, this report reveals how people and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change.”
In the coming decades, as global temperatures continue to rise, hundreds of millions of people could struggle against floods, deadly heat waves and water scarcity from severe drought, the report said. Mosquitoes carrying diseases like dengue and malaria will spread to new parts of the globe. Crop failures could become more widespread, putting families in places like Africa and Asia at far greater risk of hunger and malnutrition. People unable to adapt to the enormous environmental shifts will end up suffering unavoidable loss or fleeing their homes, creating dislocation on a global scale, the authors said.
To avert the most catastrophic impacts, nations need to quickly and sharply reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that are dangerously heating the planet, the report said.
Even so, the world’s poorest nations are increasingly struggling with climate shocks and will likely require hundreds of billions of dollars per year in financial support over the next few decades to protect themselves — support that wealthier nations have been slow to provide.
“This report is terrifying; there is no other way of saying it,” said Simon Stiell, environment minister of the Caribbean nation of Grenada. “We need to see enhanced action and increased climate finance provision for adaptation. The scale of this crisis requires nothing less.”
Global temperatures have already increased by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, since the 19th century, as humans have pumped heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere by burning coal, oil and gas for energy, and cutting down forests.
Many leaders, including President Joe Biden, have vowed to limit total global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial levels. That is the threshold beyond which scientists say the likelihood of catastrophic climate impacts increases significantly.
But achieving that goal would require nations to all but eliminate their fossil-fuel emissions by 2050, and most are far off-track. The world is on pace to warm somewhere between 2 degrees and 3 degrees Celsius this century, experts have estimated.
If average warming passes 1.5 degrees Celsius, even humanity’s best efforts to adapt could falter, the report warns.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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The body of the latest victim was recovered from the rubble of homes toppled by the magnitude 6.2 earthquake that shook West Sumatra province on Friday morning, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
Six people died in Pasaman district and another five in neighboring West Pasaman district, he said. Rescuers were still searching for four villagers believed to be buried under tons of mud that tumbled down from the surrounding hills in Bukit Lintang village in Pasaman.
Nearly 400 people were injured by the earthquake whose tremors were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore, and about 42 people were still receiving treatment, Muhari said.
More than 13,000 people fled their homes to temporary shelters, and over 1,400 houses and buildings were damaged, Muhari said.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that arcs the Pacific.
The last major 6.2 magnitude quake was in January 2021, when at least 105 people died and nearly 6,500 were injured in West Sulawesi province.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Queensland has been hit the hardest, with torrential rain pummeling towns and cities and slowly moving south to engulf the state’s capital, Brisbane.
Photographs and videos from the city this morning showed the Brisbane River extremely swollen and many streets severely flooded, with extensive damage to roads, buildings and vehicles caught in the downpour. Usually busy thoroughfares were submerged.
Up to 18,000 homes across the state have been affected, authorities estimated, with about 15,000 of those in Brisbane. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated and about 53,000 homes were without power this morning. Hundreds of schools are closed, and officials have asked residents to work from home.
This morning, the rain had eased and the Brisbane River had peaked at 12.6 feet. It was expected to peak again in the afternoon.
The heaviest rain is moving south to New South Wales, where the town of Lismore is experiencing its worst flooding on record. Torrential rain Sunday night caught the authorities off guard and left residents little time to evacuate, with many becoming stranded on roofs as floodwaters quickly rose.
With emergency services overwhelmed, some have taken to social media to beg for help. Officials expect the town’s river to peak at about 46 feet this afternoon.
Of the eight people who have died since Wednesday, seven were in Queensland and one was in the state of New South Wales, authorities said.
Australia has been buffeted by particularly extreme weather over the past few years, including catastrophic fires, drought and widespread flooding.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck about 41 miles north-northwest of Bukittinggi, a hilly town in West Sumatra province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was centered about 7.4 miles below the Earth’s surface.
At least 410 houses and buildings were damaged, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said. More than 5,000 people fled their homes to temporary shelters, mostly in devastated areas of Pasaman and West Pasaman districts, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.
“We are still focusing on search and rescue efforts for the victims,” Muhari said.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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More than 118 million people from Texas to New England were under a winter storm warning or a winter weather advisory Thursday afternoon. About 7 million people along the Tennessee and Ohio valleys were under a flood watch because of expected heavy rain from the same weather system.
James Connolly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York, said Thursday that the system would bring a mixed bag of weather to the New York region.
“The snow will be a concern initially, and then it’ll change over into a wintry mix, and then it’ll change over to rain,” he said, adding that areas along the coast could receive the least amount of snow. About 3 inches of snow was expected in the New York City area, while parts of Connecticut and the Lower Hudson Valley could get up to 6 inches, he said.
The forecast was more severe farther north. Heavy snow, at a rate of 1 inch an hour, was predicted for upstate New York and most of New England today, the weather service said. The Albany, N.Y., region could get up to 1 foot of snow, while similar totals were expected around Boston and Burlington, Vt.
Before moving into the Northeast, the storm was expected to bring heavy ice to the southern Plains, parts of the Mississippi Valley and portions of the mid-Atlantic through Thursday night, paving the way for possible widespread power outages, tree damage and dangerous travel conditions. Ice glazing greater than one-quarter of an inch was likely across the Ozarks and southeast Missouri, forecasters said. Locally, about a half-inch of damaging ice was possible, while freezing rain was forecast from the eastern Ohio Valley through the mid-Atlantic. Significant ice accumulation was possible in pockets of Maryland and Pennsylvania, where the weather service in Pittsburgh issued an ice storm warning Thursday.
The storm system was expected to cast a chill across the country, except in the Southeast, the weather service said. Record low temperatures were possible in California, western Oregon and western Arizona.
Weather conditions appeared to be relatively calm for Thursday in other parts of the country, with the northern Plains under a wind chill advisory and the Southeast under a dense fog advisory.
The East Coast has been under an active weather pattern this winter.
While some may be hoping that this week’s storm could finish off the winter season, Connolly warned people not to put away their shovels.
“March tends to be quite stormy,” he said. “We couldn’t say this is the last one.”
(Derrick Bryson Taylor, NEW YORK TIMES)
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A second major winter storm is beginning to consolidate. The system has already delivered the first healthy dose of snow to portions the Sierra Nevada since the beginning of the year. It will head northeast through the end of the work week, spreading significant snow and freezing rain from the Midwest to New England.
As this new storm builds, winter storm warnings are up from Dallas to Oklahoma City and then across a large portion of Arkansas and Missouri for the threat of freezing rain and sleet. The beginnings of an ice storm threatens major travel troubles and significant icing that can bring down trees and power lines.
Around 500 counties in 14 states are under a wind chill advisory or warning, as a fist of frigid air extends from Washington state to Minnesota and south to Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. Wind chills Wednesday morning ranged from minus-20 to minus-50 across the northern Plains.
Below-zero temperatures reached as far south as the New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma borders. Numerous daily record lows have been set already, including Denver, which bottomed out at minus-7, besting the old record minus-4 in 1899, and Livingston, Mont., which saw the mercury dip to minus-27, smashing the old record of minus-18 set in 2003.
Airlines had canceled more than 1,000 flights by Wednesday morning, more than half of them in Texas, as parts of Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas braced for an ice storm making its way into the Southern Plains.
More than half an inch of ice could accumulate in parts of the Ozarks through Friday morning, the National Weather Service said.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Forecasters have issued a frost advisory for the coast, where overnight temperatures were expected to range from 26 at Oceanside Airport to 39 at San Diego International Airport.
The San Diego reading will be about 13 degrees below average and could be low enough to put frost on vehicle windows and cause people to see their breath when they exhale.
The storm, which dropped at least 14 inches of snow on Mount Laguna and 10 inches on Palomar Mountain, also is likely to cause some plants to freeze inland, especially in the valleys and foothills.
“Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” the weather service said in an advisory.
“Thursday night is not expected to be as cold, but areas of frost are still expected in colder locations.”
Schools in Julian will get another day off because of the snowy roads, county officials said. Julian Union Elementary School District and Julian Union High School District schools will be closed today and start late on Friday. The Spencer Valley School District will remain open, but will start late today, officials said.
Similar closures were announced Monday and Tuesday due to high winds and a snowstorm.
The core of the storm moved ashore Tuesday evening packing wild winds, slashing rain, a bit of thunder, lots of hail and heavy snow.
The snow briefly fell as low as the 2,600-foot level, causing a light dusting in Campo. There also was plenty of snow on Interstate 8 in East County, creating challenges for some motorists.
Interstate 8 was open in both directions with no restrictions but drivers heading up Sunrise Highway faced chain restrictions Wednesday morning.
All vehicles were required to carry chains and drivers in two-wheel-drive vehicles were required to install them, California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Garrow said.
At least 10 tractor-trailers got stuck in deep snow on westbound I-8 just west of the Buckman Springs Road exit at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“We had all kinds of big rigs stuck,” Garrow said.
Snow plows worked to clear the roadway while CHP officers and others dug out the stuck trucks. They all were able to move along by around 9 a.m., Garrow said.
Snow was blown sideways by winds that gusted 40 mph to 60 mph in some areas. The storm’s winds and icing on power lines caused lights to flicker on Tuesday night in the Birch Hill area of Palomar Mountain.
The rain didn’t come close to erasing the region’s drought deficit, but it was significant in some areas. Pine Valley got 2.56 inches, Descanso got 2.13 inches, and San Ysidro received 1.75 inches.
San Diego International Airport got 0.48 inches, pushing its total since Oct. 1 to 4.24 inches. That’s 2.40 inches below the seasonal normal.
(Gary Robbins & Karen Kucher, Alex Riggins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Blizzard conditions are even possible early this week in the Dakotas and parts of Minnesota.
To the south and southeast of the wintry weather, a pulse of warm air surging ahead of the cold air will trigger heavy rain and severe thunderstorms in parts of the South, Tennessee Valley and Southeast. Some areas could see flooding and damaging winds, and a few tornadoes cannot be ruled out.
Not until the weekend will the Lower 48 see a pause from the extreme weather. Even then, it will be much chillier than normal over much of the country as winter refuses to give in to spring.
The frigid air, which entered the northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Monday night, will bring temperatures about 20 to 40 degrees below normal from Montana through the Southern Plains. In some places, the cold could threaten records, according to the National Weather Service.
Single-digit and subzero high temperatures are forecast across much of Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas today, with lows of minus-15 to minus-20. Wind chills could dip as low as minus-40.
That cold will penetrate as far south as central and northern Texas by Wednesday. Subfreezing highs are forecast to reach as far south as the Texas Panhandle.
A second, reinforcing blast of cold will dive through the northern Plains on Thursday into Friday. Unlike the first blast, it will penetrate somewhat farther east, spilling toward the Ohio Valley, northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. That will set the stage for a mix of wintry precipitation in these areas as a storm system rides up the Arctic front pressing eastward.
An extended period of wind-driven snow is forecast in parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and the northern Great Lakes through tonight. Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories cover a large part of this area.
(THE WASHINGTON POST)
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The milestone was reached on Sunday when one of the 13 turbines of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam started power generation in an event officiated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
“From now on, there will be nothing that will stop Ethiopia,” Abiy said.
The dam will be Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam upon completion.
“We just started generating power, but that doesn’t mean the project is completed,” said Kifle Horo, the dam’s project manager. “It will take from two and half to three years to complete it.”
The dam has been a source of tensions between Ethiopia and the other riparian states, Sudan and Egypt.
Egypt fears a quick filling of the dam will reduce its share of Nile waters and seeks a binding legal agreement in case of a dispute.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The U.K. weather service said a gust provisionally measured at 122 mph, thought to be the strongest ever in England, was recorded on the Isle of Wight when Storm Eunice swept across the country’s south. The weather system, known as Storm Zeynep in Germany, is now pushing into the European mainland, prompting high-wind warnings in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
The storm caused mayhem with travel in Britain, shutting the English Channel port of Dover, closing bridges linking England and Wales and halting most trains in and out of London.
Eunice is the second named storm to hit Europe this week, with the first storm killing at least five people in Germany and Poland.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The fire scorched more than 4,100 acres but there were no injuries, that California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The Airport fire erupted Wednesday near Eastern Sierra Regional Airport outside the town of Bishop, and winds drove it south toward the town of Big Pine, where evacuations were ordered.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Interstate 39 north of Bloomington was closed in both directions Friday morning as crews worked to untangle the vehicles, officials said.
There were no reports of injuries in the crashes, which happened as winds gusting up to 40 mph cut visibility during a storm that swept through the Midwest and other parts of the country.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The Rio de Janeiro state government confirmed the rising loss of life, with many feared buried in mud beneath the German-influenced city nestled in the mountains above the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Torrents of floodwaters and mudslides dragged cars and houses through the streets of the city Tuesday during the most intense rainfall in decades — more than 10 inches of rain fell in three hours. One video showed two buses sinking into a swollen river as its passengers clambered out the windows, scrambling for safety. Some didn’t make it to the banks and were washed away, out of sight.
Survivors dug through the ruined landscape to find loved ones even as more landslides appeared likely on the city’s slopes. A small slide Thursday prompted an evacuation but didn’t cause injuries.
As evening came, heavy showers returned to the region, sparking renewed concern among residents and rescue workers. Authorities insisted those living in at-risk areas should evacuate.
Rosilene Virginia’ said her brother barely escaped, and she considers it a miracle. But a friend hasn’t yet been found.
“It’s very sad to see people asking for help and having no way of helping, no way of doing anything,” Virginia told The Associated Press as a man comforted her. “It’s desperate, a feeling of loss so great.”
As some people tried to clear away mud, others began burying lost relatives, with 17 funerals at the damaged cemetery.
Rio police said in a statement Thursday that about 200 agents were checking lists of the living, the dead and the missing by visiting checkpoints and shelters, as well as the city’s morgue. They said they managed to remove three people from a list of missing after finding them alive in a local school.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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With steady winds of about 10 to 15 mph out of the northwest, evacuation orders and road closures remained in place for much of the day.
Cal Fire officials lifted all evacuation orders and the closure of Highway 168 east of Highway 395 as of 6 p.m. as crews stopped the fire’s forward progress north of Highway 168. As of 7 p.m., the fire was 20 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
Dozens of structures were threatened, but there have been no reports of homes destroyed or damaged, officials said. There have also been no reports of injuries.
The White Mountain Research Center and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory were included in the evacuation.
The University of California’s White Mountain Research Center supports a wide range of scientific research and is known for earth science education.
“We were lucky to not sustain any damage to our facility. Though the fire was close, about 200 yards from our fence,” the center’s spokesperson Gaylene Kinzy said in an email to The Associated Press.
The Owens Valley Radio Observatory is owned by the California Institute of Technology and has large dish antennas used for radio astronomy and astrophysics research.
Caltech said in a statement that personnel on-site reported that a perimeter was established around buildings and the main threat to those structures had passed.
Driven by wind, the Airport fire was the largest of three wildfires to have broken out so far in 2022, according to Cal Fire statistics.
The Emerald fire, which ignited in Laguna Beach on Feb. 9, burned 154 acres amid unseasonable heat and Santa Ana winds. The Colorado fire started on Jan. 21 in Big Sur and burned 687 acres after high winds blew embers from a pile-burning operation onto nearby brush.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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California runs one of the world’s largest carbon markets, known as “cap-and-trade,” which requires companies to buy, trade or receive pollution “allowances” equivalent to how much they plan to emit. The state makes fewer allowances available over time, with the goal of spurring the companies to pollute less as allowances become scarcer and more expensive.
California’s market has been closely watched by both advocates and critics of efforts to control emissions using market forces, not mandates. The state is required to reduce emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, an ambitious target, and the state has previously said more than a third of those reductions will come from cap-and-trade.
But companies that participate have saved up so many allowances — 321 million — that it could hurt the program’s ability to force significant emissions reductions, according to a report finalized last week by the Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee, a group of five experts appointed by lawmakers and the governor. The banked allowances are roughly equivalent to all the carbon the companies emit in a year and they so far exceed the emission cuts cap-and-trade is supposed to achieve by the time it expires in 2030.
“If you can’t take that as a wake-up call you’re not paying attention,” said Danny Cullenward, a lawyer and economist focused on climate policy who serves as the committee’s vice chair.
The report comes as the California Air Resources Board is preparing an assessment of the state’s progress toward its climate goals, known as a “scoping plan.” It’s the first such plan in five years, and the committee urged the board to thoroughly look into the role cap-and-trade should play.
“Because of the size of the bank, it’s plausible that all the covered sources don’t reduce emissions at all over the course of the decade,” committee Chair Dallas Burtraw said.
One allowance is 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, about the same level of emissions produced by driving a car 2,500 miles. During last year’s quarterly allowance auctions, one allowance cost between $17 and $28.
The air board does not make public who holds banked allowances and there is a limit on how many an individual emitter may possess. If the program expires in 2030 as planned, companies would no longer need to pay to pollute and any outstanding allowances would be useless.
Rajinder Sahota, deputy executive officer for climate change and research at the air board, said it has tools to ensure banked allowances don’t jeopardize the program’s goals, such as taking allowances off the market if they don’t sell for 24 months. Additional allowances could only be removed at the direction of the Legislature or regulatory changes to the program. The air board previously took some allowances out of the auction following legislative changes in 2017.
“The fact that we have some unused allowances is actually a good thing from the perspective of the atmosphere, because that means those emissions didn’t happen,” she said.
Companies covered by cap-and-trade collectively emitted less between 2018 and 2020 than they did from 2015 to 2017, air board data shows. The beginning of the pandemic saw a decrease in economic activity that accounts for some of those reductions.
Shell Energy and the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance, a coalition of labor and business groups, warned against altering the amount of allowances through any new measures, saying such a move would disrupt the “market integrity” of the program.
The air board’s last scoping plan found cap-and-trade would be responsible for 38 percent of the state’s emissions reductions — essentially anything that can’t be achieved by those other programs. The 2022 update will likely show a diminished role for cap-and-trade, Sahota said.
Any changes to the program and the amount of allowances sold would have ramifications beyond cap-and-trade. The state has brought in more than $18 billion through quarterly auctions of allowances, and it goes toward other programs designed to cut emissions. A quarter of the auction proceeds go directly to the state’s long-delayed and vastly over budget high-speed rail project.
(Kathleen Ronayne, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The mayor of Petrópolis, Brazil, a historic city nestled in mountains about 70 miles from Rio de Janeiro’s beaches, said the death toll could still rise. Many experts say such extreme weather events are becoming more common with global warming.
Intense rainfall that started Tuesday evening caused mudslides that tore down dozens of homes on the hillsides above Petrópolis and caused flooding that did more damage in the streets below. Images and videos on social media showed rivers of mud rushing through the city’s streets, sweeping everything along the way: cars, trees and sometimes people.
The rains that caused the devastation were the heaviest the city had seen since 1952, Brazil’s National Meteorological Institute said.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Rio state’s firefighter department said in a statement that more than 180 soldiers were working in the stricken region.
The department said the area got just over 10 inches of rain within three hours during the day, almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined.
Footage posted on social media showed cars and houses being dragged away by landslides and water swirling through the city of Petropolis and neighboring districts.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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“Reducing the wildfire risk is critical to making insurance available, reliable and affordable for all Californians,” state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said.
Dubbed “Safer From Wildfires,” the new standards announced Monday outline actions to harden homes, their immediate surroundings and the communities they are in, measures that insurance companies should consider for homes and businesses.
California has existing wildfire building standards for homes built after 2008. But as catastrophic wildfires drive up the cost of insuring homes, the new standards would prompt insurance companies to offer discounts, providing incentives for retrofitting older homes, Lara said.
There are 12 insurance companies representing 40 percent of the insurance market already offering discounts to homeowners who take hardening measures, according to the state.
Three years ago, only 7 percent of the market was offered such discounts, Lara said.
But he said he wants to see broader discount programs and thinks a uniform set of standards, based on scientific research, will give homeowners, communities and insurance companies a shared strategy for reducing wildfire risks.
“The framework will help me as a regulator of the nation’s largest insurance market to expand insurance incentives to homes and businesses and that will save money and encourage safety,” he said.
The guidelines follow a year of work by the insurance commissioner and four state agencies charged with wildfire response and prevention.
The participating agencies in the plan include the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California Public Utilities Commission and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
Since 2017, nearly 50,000 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in California, and taking proactive steps to protect properties before a fire starts is critical, said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the state’s Office of Emergency Services. The persistent statewide drought and the effects of climate change will put California at an ever-increasing risk of wildfires.
“Those homeowners that actually take the time to become prepared by taking actions like these we’re discussing today are going to be more resilient and will be able to deal with the impacts of these kinds of disasters and of course recover more quickly,” he said.
Homeowners and communities will have access to millions of dollars from state and federal grants to help them make their homes and neighborhoods more resilient, officials said.
Stronger California, which is a coalition of homeowners insurers, said it welcomed the new standards, which reflect input from many stakeholders across the state.
“Policies like these are already being implemented by many insurers which will help us achieve the common goal of accessible insurance for all homeowners in California,” it said in a statement.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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In their research, the scientists examined major droughts in southwestern North America back to the year 800 and determined that the region’s desiccation so far this century has surpassed the severity of a megadrought in the late 1500s, making it the driest 22-year stretch on record. The authors of the study also concluded that dry conditions will likely continue through this year and, judging from the past, may persist for years.
The researchers found the current drought wouldn’t be nearly as severe without global warming. They estimated that 42 percent of the drought’s severity is attributable to higher temperatures caused by greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere.
“The results are really concerning, because it’s showing that the drought conditions we are facing now are substantially worse because of climate change,” said Park Williams, a climate scientist at UCLA and the study’s lead author. “But that also there is quite a bit of room for drought conditions to get worse.”
Williams and his colleagues compared the current drought with seven other megadroughts between the 800s and 1500s that lasted between 23 years and 30 years.
They used ancient records of these droughts captured in the growth rings of trees.
Wood cores extracted from thousands of trees enabled the scientists to reconstruct the soil moisture centuries ago. They used data from trees at about 1,600 sites across the region, from Montana to California to northern Mexico.
The study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, adds to a growing body of research that shows the American West faces major challenges as the burning of fossil fuels continues to push temperatures higher, intensifying the drying trend.
Williams was part of a team that published a similar study in 2020. At the time, they found the drought since 2000 was the second-worst after the late 1500s megadrought. With widespread heat and dryness over the past two years, the current drought has passed that mark.
Some scientists describe the trend in the West as “aridification” and say the region must prepare for the drying to continue as temperatures continue to climb.
Williams said the West is prone to extreme variability from dry periods to wet periods, like a yo-yo going up and down, but these variations are now “superimposed on a serious drying trend” with climate change.
“The dice have been loaded so heavily toward drying,” he said.
The average temperature in southwestern North America since 2000 has been 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average during the previous 50 years, the researchers said. The warmer temperatures have compounded the drought by increasing evaporation, drying soils and leaving less water flowing in streams and rivers.
Higher temperatures make the atmosphere thirstier, drying out soil and vegetation in much the same way that “our house plants dry out when we turn on the heater,” Williams said.
The scientists pointed out that the flow of the Colorado River during the 2020 and 2021 water years shrank to the lowest two-year average in more than a century of recordkeeping.
The river supplies water across seven states, from Wyoming to California, and to northern Mexico. But it has been chronically overused, and the drought has compounded the problems. Over the past year, its two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, declined to their lowest levels on record.
“We need to understand that the water budget of the West is changing beneath our feet rapidly,” Williams said. “We need to be prepared for a much drier future and to not rely so much on hope that when it gets wet again, we can just go back to business-as-usual water management.”
The hot, dry years have taken a major toll on water supplies and landscapes throughout California and the West. California’s reservoirs have dropped during the past two years. In Utah, the Great Salt Lake has declined to record-low levels. Extreme heat has contributed to explosive wildfires. And in the Mojave Desert, scientists have attributed major declines in bird populations to hotter, drier conditions brought on by climate change.
Even without climate change, the past two decades would have been a “bad luck period” naturally for the region, Williams said. But without the influence of climate change, he said, “this drought wouldn’t even be coming close to matching the worst of the megadroughts.”
Some of the long droughts included those from 1213 to 1237 and from 1271 to 1300. During that century, the Indigenous people who lived and farmed in villages in the Four Corners region are thought to have left their cliffside homes because of drought.
The scientists studied data compiled over decades by hundreds of other researchers, who extracted wood cores by boring into long-lived trees such as Douglas firs, piñon pines, ponderosa pines and blue oaks.
They found the current drought has included two years — 2002 and 2021 — that rank among the driest in the past 1,200 years. And with the surge in drying over the past year, Williams said, these 22 years have already been drier on average than most of the longer megadroughts.
The late 1500s drought ended abruptly after 23 years when wet conditions swept across the region. But the current drought shows no signs of subsiding.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor website, 96 percent of the western United States is now abnormally dry or worse, and 88 percent of the region is in drought.
The scientists projected it’s highly likely the drought will continue at least through this year. They considered a hypothetical future scenario based on soil moisture during all 40-year periods in the past 1,200 years and then superimposed the same amount of climate-change-driven drying that has occurred in recent years. They found that in 94 percent of their simulations, the drought continued for at least a 23rd year. And in 75 percent of the simulations, the drought lasted 30 years.
“When it’s in a very depleted state, it takes a long time to fill the bucket back up,” Williams said. “It would take exceptional luck to end this drought in the next few years. There’s only been a couple of examples of that type of luck in the last 1,200 years of data that we have.”
Williams co-authored the study with researchers Benjamin Cook and Jason Smerdon of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. They used 29 climate models to estimate the influence of higher temperatures unleashed by climate change.
When they analyzed how the drought would have evolved without climate change, they found that the region would have emerged from drought during wet years in 2005 and 2006, and then drought would have set in again in 2007, Williams said.
The scientists used a 10-year running average in assessing long-term trends, so a single wet year, such as 2019, wasn’t enough to end the run of mostly parched years.
The research focused on the entire region, but there were differences depending on the area. While the dryness has been most extreme in areas from Arizona to the Rocky Mountains, the study showed that much of California experienced one of the driest 22-year periods, though not the absolute driest.
Williams said the research should serve as a warning that the drying could get much worse in the years and decades to come.
“The big megadroughts that occurred last millennium occurred in the absence of climate change,” Williams said. When such megadroughts return, they’ll be occurring “in a world where the atmosphere is also artificially warmer because of human-caused climate change, which would be absolutely catastrophic.”
Isla Simpson, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who wasn’t involved in the study, said she thinks the methods are solid and the findings make an important contribution to previous science.
“It’s really useful to have this update, given how severe the last two years have been,” Simpson said.
She said the current drought has occurred in part due to low precipitation, but it’s really the effect of higher temperatures that has worsened the drying and is “very clear climate change signal.”
“We have emerged out of the climate of the 20th century in terms of temperature, which will have an impact on evaporation and soil moisture,” Simpson said. There will still be the natural swings from dry to wet, she added, “but we’re experiencing this variability now within this long-term aridification due to anthropogenic climate change, which is going to make the events more severe.”
Williams said the research points to real problems in the chronic overuse of water sources like the Colorado River, which fueled the growth of cities from Los Angeles to Phoenix over the past century. He said the widespread depletion of groundwater is another symptom of overdrawing the region’s critical water reserves.
Many people in the West may not feel like they’re living through a megadrought, he said, because “we have all of these buffers in our system now, like groundwater and large reservoirs.”
“But we are utilizing those backstops so rapidly right now that we’re at real risk of those backstops not being there for us in 10 or 20 years,” he said, “when either this event still hasn’t ended, or when the next megadrought has already begun.”
(Ian James, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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A volcano expert with Italy's National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology said Friday that such volcanic storms are rare but can happen in particularly violent eruptions or with volcanoes located near the sea.
The volcanologist, Boris Behnke, told The Associated Press that volcanic lightning was observed over Etna in 2021 and 2015.
The eruption shortly before midnight Thursday didn't cause any damage. But it did shoot ash more than 6 miles into the air above sea level.
Etna is one of Europe's most active volcanoes, and its eruptions aren't infrequent.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley downgraded their conservation status across the country’s east coast, in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, on a recommendation by the government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee.
Earlier they had been listed as a vulnerable species.
Many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia. Koala populations in New South Wales have fallen by 33 percent to 61 percent since 2001. In 2020, a parliamentary inquiry warned the species might become extinct before 2050 without urgent intervention.
The number of koalas in Queensland has fallen by half since 2001 due to drought, fires and deforestation. Some are killed in attacks by dogs, or run over on roads.
“Koalas have gone from no-listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline,” said Stuart Blanch, a conservation scientist with the World Wildlife Fund-Australia.
“Today’s decision is welcome, but it won’t stop koalas from sliding toward extinction unless it’s accompanied by stronger laws and landholder incentives to protect their forest homes,” he said.
The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are less than 100,000 Koalas left in the wild, possibly as few as 43,000. Summer brushfires in 2019-20 killed at least 6,400 of the animals, as rescuers worked desperately to save them and treat their injuries.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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They spent their days seeking relief from 117-degree temperatures in grocery stores and college classrooms. At night, the Salem housemates slept downstairs next to fans blowing over bowls of ice.
“While none of us had to go to the hospital due to heat exhaustion or heat stroke, many other Oregonians were not this lucky,” O’Neil said in written testimony to the state’s Legislature.
The historic heat wave killed at least 200 people in Oregon and Washington. Now, lawmakers in the Pacific Northwest are eyeing several emergency heat relief bills aimed at helping vulnerable people.
The measures would provide millions in funding for cooling systems and weather shelters during future extreme weather events.
Three consecutive days of extraordinary temperatures in the region sent public health officials scrambling between June 25 and June 28. Temperatures in Portland reached triple digits for three days, peaking at 116. In Seattle, temperatures reached a record of 108.
An initial scientific analysis by World Weather Attribution found that the deadly heat wave would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change that added a few extra degrees to the record-smashing temperatures.
In the western portion of the Pacific Northwest, summers are usually mild and air conditioning units are not as common as they are in other parts of the country.
About 91 percent of U.S. homes have primary air conditioning installed, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Housing Survey. By comparison, that figure was 78 percent for Portland and just 44 percent for Seattle.
“Most people who passed away had no access to lifesaving cooling devices such as air conditioning or heating and cooling pumps in their homes,” Oriana Magnera, a manager with the environmental justice nonprofit Verde, said to Oregon lawmakers during a public hearing during the ongoing legislative session last week.
The first of Oregon’s two proposed heat relief bills, both of which have received bipartisan support, would direct $5 million to the Oregon Health Authority to create an emergency distribution program that would deliver air conditioners and air filters to low-income families. It would also allocate $10 million to create an incentive program to make it easier for vulnerable households to purchase energy-efficient heat pump cooling systems.
In addition, the bill directs the Oregon Public Utility Commission to find ways of “alleviating spikes” in energy bills during extreme weather events.
During the heat wave, hospital emergency department visits for heat illness surged to more than 30 times above normal levels in Multnomah County — home to Portland.
Despite this, county officials received reports of residents who opted not to operate air conditioning units due to worry about the additional cost.
“As the frequency and severity of extreme weather increases, fear of bill spikes should not prevent people from relying on the energy they need to stay safe in place,” said John Wasiutynski, the director of the Multnomah County Office of Sustainability Director.
Oregon’s second heat relief bill would remove barriers for renters to install portable air conditioning units in their apartments and would require cooling systems in newly constructed rental units.
The bill would allocate $2 million for local and tribal government to create extreme weather relief centers.
Lawmakers in two other states have also passed bills focused on expanding and opening cooling shelters in the past three years. In 2019, California lawmakers passed a bill that allows the adjutant general to utilize vacant armories as temporary cooling shelters for homeless people. In 2021, lawmakers in Illinois passed a measure calling for space to be set aside in communities for use as cooling shelters in extreme heat emergencies.
In Washington, lawmakers explored a bill that would have expanded the use of air conditioning in senior care homes. However, the measure didn’t make a legislative cutoff and likely won’t proceed this session unless lawmakers decide to add it as an element to the state budget in the coming weeks.
Washington’s proposed bill would have allocated $5 million to establish a grant program in the Department of Social and Health Services to ensure air conditioning is provided in adult family homes.
“I know lots of homes here in the Pacific Northwest don’t have air conditioning, and most of the year we don’t need it,” Sen. Mark Mullet, a Democrat from Issaquah who sponsored the bill, said in a written statement introducing the bill. “But our swings in weather are getting more extreme, and nowadays a lack of air conditioning can be fatal.”
(Sara Cline, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A blaze erupted Thursday afternoon in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier near Rose Hills Memorial Park. The blaze spread uphill to a cul-de-sac of homes and two homes were gutted. About 200 firefighters aided by aircraft battled the blaze, which had only burned a few acres, fire officials said.
Firefighters were making quick progress controlling the fire, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Sean Ferguson told KCBS-TV.
Another fire erupted before dawn in hills above the Orange County community of Emerald Bay near Laguna Beach, and gusty Santa Ana winds carried a plume of smoke across the normally picturesque shoreline and out to sea.
Several hundred residents fled their homes before winds subsided and an influx of firefighters and aircraft slowed the blaze. Officials said 150 acres burned but no homes were lost. The cause was under investigation.
While firefighters appeared to have prevented a repeat of an inferno that destroyed and damaged hundreds of Laguna Beach homes in 1993, it marked the second California wildfire this winter, following a January blaze near Big Sur.
“We no longer have a fire season — we have a fire year,” Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said at a briefing. “It’s February 10. It’s supposed to be the middle of winter. We’re anticipating 80-, 90-degree weather.”
Storms drenched the state in December but then vanished. This week Southern California has had a heat wave as high pressure over the interior of the West sends extremely dry air toward the coast, creating the Santa Ana winds that raise temperatures, sap moisture from vegetation and elevate fire danger.
The dry, windy weather in what is typically California’s wettest month raised concerns of a repeat of last year’s heavy wildfire season, which saw more than 4,000 square miles scorched and more than 3,600 structures burned, according to preliminary data from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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San Diego International Airport hit 85, breaking the record of 83 for Feb. 9. The previous record was set in 2016. Oceanside Airport reached 87.
The National Weather Service said that temperatures countywide were generally 15 to 20 degrees above average, and that conditions would be similar today and maybe Friday.
The unseasonably warm weather will last into the weekend and there’s a small chance that Sunday’s readings at the Super Bowl game in Los Angeles could tie or exceed the record high for the championship. The current record is 84, which was set on Jan. 14, 1973, when the Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Today’s heat will be enhanced by dry Santa Ana winds, which are expected to gust 40 to 45 mph in places like Ramona and Alpine, and 70 mph in the Cuyamaca Mountains in East County. The relative humidity will drop to the 10- to 15-percent range. A fire weather warning has not been issued. But a wind advisory is in place east of Interstate 15 until 4 p.m. Friday.
Through 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the weather service reported the following highs in San Diego County: Fallbrook, 86; San Pasqual Valley, 91; Ramona Airport, 84; Rancho Bernardo, 87; Poway, 90; Alpine, 81; La Mesa, 86; Santee, 91; El Cajon, 87; Lemon Grove, 87; Encinitas, 84; Del Mar, 85; Miramar, 86; Chula Vista, 78; Brown Field, 85; Coronado Island, 85; National City, 78; Carlsbad, 85; Vista, 88; San Marcos, 90; Julian, 66; and Ocotillo Wells, 86.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Up to 40 of the 49 small satellites launched last week have either re-entered the atmosphere and burned up, or are on the verge of doing so, the company said in an online update Tuesday night.
SpaceX said a geomagnetic storm last Friday made the atmosphere denser, which increased the drag on the Starlink satellites, effectively dooming them.
Ground controllers tried to save the compact, flat-panel satellites by putting them into a type of hibernation and flying them in a way to minimize drag. But the atmospheric pull was too great, and the satellites failed to awaken and climb to a higher, more stable orbit, according to the company.
SpaceX still has close to 2,000 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth and providing Internet service to remote corners of the world. They circle the globe more than 340 miles up.
The satellites hit by the solar storm were in a temporary position. SpaceX deliberately launches them into this unusually low orbit so that any duds can quickly re-enter the atmosphere and pose no threat to other spacecraft.
There is no danger from these newly falling satellites, either in orbit or on the ground, according to the company.
Each satellite weighs less than 575 pounds.
SpaceX described the lost satellites as a “unique situation.” Such geomagnetic storms are caused by intense solar activity like flares, which can send streams of plasma from the sun’s corona hurtling out into space and toward Earth.
Since launching the first Starlink satellites in 2019, Elon Musk envisions a constellation of thousands more satellites to increase Internet service.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The agency last week proposed designating critical habitat for Tiehm’s buckwheat on a high-desert ridge near the California line halfway between Reno and Las Vegas.
It’s the only place in the world the delicate, 6-inch-tall wildflower with yellow blooms is known to exist.
It’s also the site where Ioneer USA Corp. plans to build a big lithium mine.
Ioneer said the proposed designation was “an anticipated development” that “has no material impacts on our planned mining activities.”
The Australian-based company noted that mining is allowed within areas designated as critical habitat if approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
“Ioneer has already taken this into account with its planning and proposed operations and continues to work closely with both agencies to ensure its proposed activities will not jeopardize the conservation of the species,” the company said in a statement.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said in its formal notice of the proposed designation that “this unit is essential to the conservation and recovery of Tiehm’s buckwheat because it supports all of the habitat that is occupied by Tiehm’s buckwheat across the species’ range.”
Conservationists who sued to protect the wildflower praised the move.
“This proposed critical habitat rule sends a clear message: protecting the native range of Tiehm’s buckwheat is the only way to prevent its extinction,” said Naomi Fraga, the conservation director of the California Botanic Garden, a group that joined the Center for Biological Diversity’s 2019 petition to list the plant as endangered.
Demand for lithium worldwide is expected to double by 2025. Most of it currently comes from Australia and South America.
Boosting domestic production could potentially lower the price tag on a key component of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan: offering rebates to consumers to trade in gas-powered for electric cars.
Ioneer says its mine is expected to produce 22,000 tons of lithium — enough to power hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles annually. But the endangered species listing process has contributed to delays in its original plans to obtain all necessary permits and begin initial construction of the $785 million project before the end of last year.
Unless the Fish and Wildlife Service reverses course because of new information, the plant will be declared endangered in September based on a court order and the agency’s final listing rule in October 2021 that concluded that the wildflower may already be on the brink of extinction.
That listing triggers certain regulatory obligations, such as consulting with the service before any development or other activity that could harm the plant.
The critical habitat designation also identifies specific habitat that “may require special management and protection” — in this case “to address mineral development, road development and (off-highway vehicle) activity, livestock grazing, nonnative invasive plants species and herbivory,” the agency said.
Tiehm’s buckwheat grows on about 10 acres — an area about the size of eight football fields — at Rhyolite Ridge in the Silver Peak range west of the small community of Tonopah, about 200 milesfrom Reno. Fewer than 30,000 are believed to exist.
The 910 acres proposed for habitat designation — about 1.5 square miles — would provide about a 1,650-foot buffer around the plants to ensure access to bees and other pollinators.
Conservationists have argued for a buffer three times larger, while Ioneer suggested less than a tenth of the size proposed by the agency would be sufficient.
The company has said its project has a conservation strategy that includes transplanting some flowers and growing new ones with seeds it gathered as part of an experiment in greenhouses at the University of Nevada Reno.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said Ioneer’s conservation strategy remains “in the early stages.”
It said Ioneer plans to avoid and fence off half of the eight separate places within the 10-acre site where the flowers grow and “remove and salvage all remaining plants and translocate them to another location.”
But the agency said soil studies and results of greenhouse experiments show there’s a “unique envelope of soil conditions in which Tiehm’s buckwheat thrives that is different from adjacent unoccupied soils.”
“The areas outside the occupied area do not support these physical and biological features and we are not confident that they would support populations of Tiehm’s buckwheat,” the agency said.
(Scott Sonner, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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It was the second time in a year that residents of the Texas capital have been told to boil water before drinking. Last February, the problems were caused by the collapse of the state’s electricity grid, which resulted in power failures at Austin’s largest water treatment plant.
But city officials said the issues at the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant in northwest Austin over the weekend were unrelated to a winter storm that caused temperatures to plunge across the state late last week.
“This is a very different event than what happened last year,” City Manager Spencer Cronk said during a news conference Sunday.
In a state still traumatized by the failure of its electrical systems during a bitter cold last year, the directive over the weekend to boil water caused frustration and anger across Austin. The notice is likely to remain in effect for the entire city until at least this afternoon.
“We have to do a better job,” said Mayor Steve Adler during a television interview Monday. “In our city, we can’t have our water system going down like this.”
Adler said 7,000 cases of bottled water had been distributed by the city, along with 6,000 gallons of water from delivery tankers.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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The U.S. Geological Survey says the latest event occurred at 3:22 p.m. Sunday when a 3.5 temblor broke 9 miles west-northwest of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County.
Geologists say the quake originated on the Elsinore fault system, part of which extends through northeast San Diego County. Sunday’s quake was felt in Fallbrook, Bonsall, Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside, Escondido, Valley Center, Carlsbad and San Diego, the USGS reported.
A 4.0 quake occurred on the same fault system on Jan. 30. The epicenter was located a few miles from the Palomar Observatory in North County. And a 3.5 quake occurred near Idyllwild on Jan. 18 along the nearby San Jacinto fault system.
“The Elsinore system has been more actively lately, but this isn’t anything unusual,” said Tom Rockwell, a San Diego State University geologist who has spent decades studying the fault.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Information about the identities and nationalities of the victims wasn't immediately available.
At least 31 separate avalanches had been reported as of Friday afternoon, officials said. Four, including one that occurred near Solden and another in Zillertal, involved confirmed injuries.
(U-T NEWS SEVICES)
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The storm spread misery from the Deep South, where tree limbs snapped and a tornado claimed a life, to the nation’s northeastern tip where snow and ice made travel treacherous Friday.
Massachusetts State Police responded to more than 200 crashes with property damage or injuries, including one fatal crash, starting Thursday evening, officials said. New Hampshire State Police reported at least 70 crashes Friday morning.
“This number is most definitely low because reports are still being written and entered,” state police in Massachusetts tweeted.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents as the snow blows out to sea late Friday and today to stay home if possible to avoid ice-coated roadways and the threat of falling tree limbs in the Hudson Valley and Capital regions.
More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Utility crews were making progress in an area stretching from Texas to Ohio after about 350,000 homes and businesses were in the dark at one point.
One of the hardest-hit places was Memphis, where more than 100,000 customers remained without power Friday night in Shelby County alone, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
Crews worked to remove trees and downed power lines from city streets, while those who lost electricity spent a cold night at home, or sought refuge at hotels or homes of friends and family. Utility officials said it could take days for power to be restored.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Storm conditions also caused headaches for travelers across the country as airlines canceled thousands of flights scheduled for Thursday or today in the United States.
The highest totals of power outages blamed on icy or downed power lines were concentrated in Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and Ohio, but the path of the storm stretched further, from the central U.S. into the South and Northeast on Thursday.
Heavy snow was expected from the southern Rockies to northern New England, while forecasters said heavy ice buildup was likely from Pennsylvania to New England through today.
Parts of Ohio, New York and northern New England were expected to see heavy snowfall as the storm moves to the east with 12 to 18 inches of snow possible in some places through today, Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Md., said early Thursday.
However, ice accumulations were expected to be the primary hazard from central and eastern Pennsylvania through the Catskill Mountains of New York to New England, NWS meteorologist Rich Otto said Thursday evening.
Along the warmer side of the storm, strong thunderstorms capable of damaging wind gusts and tornadoes were possible in parts of Mississippi and Alabama, the Storm Prediction Center said.
In western Alabama, Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden told WBRC-TV a tornado that hit a rural area Thursday afternoon killed one person, a female he found under rubble, and critically injured three others. A home was heavily damaged, he said.
Tornadoes in the winter are unusual but possible, and scientists have said the atmospheric conditions needed to cause a tornado have intensified as the planet warms.
More than 20 inches of snow was reported in the southern Rockies, while more than a foot of snow fell in areas of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
The flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed more than 9,000 flights in the U.S. scheduled for Thursday or today had been canceled, on top of more than 2,000 cancellations Wednesday as the storm began.
“Unfortunately, we are looking at enough ice accumulations that we will be looking at significant travel impacts,” Orrison said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than $12 billion in federal recovery funds are available, and a portion of that will help finance dozens of grid modernization projects scheduled to start this year, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which signed the agreement with Puerto Rico’s government along with the U.S. departments of Homeland Security and Energy.
In addition, more than $1.9 billion will be used to improve the island’s power system, including the creation of small and large microgrids with the aim to help lower-income households.
Officials said more than 130 projects soon will be in the bidding phase or under construction, including repairs to substations across Puerto Rico, the replacement of thousands of street lights and the creation of an early warning system for dams.
The announcement comes as Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority struggles to emerge from bankruptcy and restructure some $9 billion in debt as power outages continue to hit the U.S. territory of 3.2 million people, with many worried about the state of the grid four months before the Atlantic hurricane season starts.
“It’s very much needed,” said Cathy Kunkel, energy program manager for CAMBIO, a Puerto Rico-based environmental organization. “The electrical system is still very fragile and there are a lot of problems with blackouts.”
The agreement signed with the U.S. territory also aims to lessen Puerto Rico’s dependence on petroleum, with the island’s power company slated to sign contracts for at least 2 gigawatts of renewable energy and 1 gigawatt of energy storage projects. Officials said Puerto Rico is finalizing negotiations on several initial projects, including one that would provide 844 megawatts of renewable energy and 220 megawatts of energy storage.
The deal also marks the launch of a two-year study funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will include public participation to help determine the best way for Puerto Rico to reach 40 percent renewable energy by 2025 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, a priority of the administration of President Joe Biden.
Kunkel praised those efforts, adding that her organization commissioned a study that found Puerto Rico can realistically reach 75 percent renewable energy by 2035.
“It’s absolutely feasible,” she said in a phone interview. “It’s a question of politics.”
She noted Puerto Rico’s outdated generation system is 97 percent based on fossil fuels.
The deal also calls for the Energy Department and one of its laboratories to develop a tool ahead of the June 1 start of the hurricane season combining models of Puerto Rico’s electric system and hurricane forecasting to help the island prepare for storms and speed up emergency response, officials said.
Puerto Rico is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria, which hit September 2017 as a powerful Category 4 storm that damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and led to the deaths of an estimated 2,975 people. It shredded most of the island’s already rickety and aging power grid, leaving some people without electricity for almost a year.
(Danica Coto, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow.
By midday Wednesday, some places had already reported snow totals exceeding or nearing a foot, including the central Illinois town of Lewistown with 14.4 inches and the northeastern Missouri city of Hannibal with 11.5 inches.
“And it’s still snowing across these areas,” said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Md.
Central Illinois and northern Indiana appeared likely to receive the most snowfall, with expected totals ranging from 12 to 18 inches by the end of today, Orrison said.
For those on the roads, the heavy snow created hazardous conditions.
In central Missouri, officials shut down part of Interstate 70 midday after a crash made the roadway impassable.
Areas south of the heavy snow were expected to see freezing rain, with the heaviest ice predicted along the lower Ohio Valley area from Louisville, Ky., to Memphis, Tenn.
“If everything holds to where it is right now, this is the real deal,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who ordered state government offices to close today. “It is dangerous. People need to be prepared.”
The disruptive storm moved across the central U.S. on Groundhog Day, the same day the famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Snow totals updated Tuesday by the state Department of Water Resources show the amount of water in the Sierra Nevada snowpack is at 92 percent of what’s normal for this date. In December, heavy rain and snow left the state with 160 percent of its average snow water content.
“Our climate is experiencing these volatile shifts form wet to dry year after year, and even month after month,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of the department’s snow surveys and water supply forecasting section.
The extremely wet December followed by a dry January was strikingly similar to previous months, which included a very wet October followed by a dry November.
De Guzman spoke from a location near Lake Tahoe where the state measures snow pack. Snow totals there were slightly higher than average, indicating the varying conditions across the state. It’s one of hundreds of locations where the state manually and electronically measures snow totals and water content.
The whipsaw effects of the weather and precipitation were illustrated by the situation on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in Reno, which had zero precipitation in January for the first time in recorded history. That came months after the city experienced its wettest October since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1893.
California needs a wet winter to ease the drought because much of the state’s precipitation typically falls between December and March. Most of California is now in what’s considered severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with only a small part of the state classified as being in the more serious extreme drought.
Winter snow is a crucial part of California’s water supply and December through March are typically the wettest months of the year. Snow that melts in the mountains and runs down into California’s lower elevations makes up about a third of the state’s water supply.
(Kathleen Ronayne, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The announcement[by] Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni appeared to confirm fears that accepting the aid could usher in a second disaster by bringing COVID-19 into a nation that had been virus-free.
Ships and planes from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and China have been delivering aid.
Those nations had promised to drop off their supplies of fresh water and medicine without coming into contact with anybody on the ground in Tonga.
News site Matangi Tonga reported that the positive test results came after officials tested 50 front-line workers at the port. The lockdown was open-ended, the site said.
Since the pandemic began, Tonga had previously reported just a single case of the virus.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The Quito Security Department said at least 48 more people were injured, while eight houses collapsed and others were damaged when the hillside gave way late Monday. The authorities also reported 12 missing people.
Neighbors joined rescue workers in hunting through the ruins for survivors of the disaster that hit following nearly 24 hours of rainfall.
Waves of mud, some 10 feet high, carried vehicles, motorcycles, trash bins and other debris under a heavy rain in the neighborhoods of La Gasca and La Comuna below the slopes of the Ruco Pinchincha mountain.
Smaller waves of muddy water continued pouring down the ravine Tuesday past weary neighbors trying to move stones, tree trunks and debris.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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The approaching blast of frigid weather, which was expected to arrive Tuesday night, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico to Vermont under winter storm warnings and watches. More than a foot of snow was possible in Michigan, on the heels of a vicious nor’easter last weekend that brought blizzard conditions to many parts of the East Coast.
“It will be a very messy system and will make travel very difficult,” said Marty Rausch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Md.
The projected footprint of the storm extended as far south as Texas, where nearly a year after a catastrophic freeze buckled the state’s power grid in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history, Gov. Greg Abbott defended the state’s readiness. The forecast does not call for the same prolonged and frigid temperatures as the February 2021 storm and the National Weather Service said the approaching system would, generally, not be as bad this time for Texas.
Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights in the U.S. scheduled for today, the flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed, including more than half taken off the board in St. Louis. In an effort to stay ahead of the weather, Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that it would suspend all of its flight operations today at St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Thursday at its Dallas Love Field hub.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency as school districts and universities shifted classes online or canceled them entirely.
The National Weather Service said 6 to 12 inches of snow was expected by Thursday morning in parts of the Rockies and Midwest, while heavy ice is likely from Texas through the Ohio Valley.
Today and Thursday, the weather service said, 8 to 14 inches of snow was possible in parts of Michigan. That includes Detroit, where the mayor activated snow emergency routes and city crews were expected to work 12-hour shifts salting and plowing major roads.
In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a statewide state of emergency as the winter storm approaches.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The EPA action restores a 2012 rule imposed under President Barack Obama that was credited with curbing mercury’s devastating neurological damage to children and prevented thousands of premature deaths while reducing the risk of heart attacks and cancer, among other public health benefits.
“Sound science makes it clear that we need to limit mercury and toxins in the air to protect children and vulnerable communities from dangerous pollution,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “EPA is committed to aggressively reducing pollution from the power sector so that all people, regardless of ZIP code or amount of money in their pocket, can breathe clean air and live healthy and productive lives.”
The action is another example of the Biden administration reinstating environmental protections loosened under President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden has set a goal to make the U.S. electricity sector carbon-neutral by 2035, but a sweeping, $555 billion plan to promote clean energy such as wind and solar power remains stalled in Congress, following an objection by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
Even without legislation, Biden can pursue his climate agenda through rules and regulations. But those can be undone by subsequent presidents, as demonstrated by the mercury rule and other environmental actions taken under Trump.
The EPA has announced a series of regulatory actions under Regan, including a plan to impose stronger limits on tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks and tighten restrictions on emissions of methane, a leading contributor to global warming.
The Interior Department also has announced approval of large-scale solar projects in California and backed major offshore wind projects along the East Coast.
Still, Biden’s agenda remains at risk and could be jeopardized further by a Supreme Court case scheduled to be heard in late February. Justices will hear arguments in a case brought by West Virginia that could undercut EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act.
The Trump administration gutted the mercury rule on power plants in 2020, saying the earlier rule amounted to regulatory overreach that imposed undue harm on the power sector. Andrew Wheeler, the former coal lobbyist who headed the EPA under Trump, said the 2020 action balanced the rule’s cost to utilities with public safety.
In reversing that decision, the EPA said the Trump-era action was “based on a fundamentally flawed interpretation of the Clean Air Act that improperly ignored or undervalued vital health benefits from reducing hazardous air pollution from power plants.”
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit around 9:46 a.m. at a depth of 13.7 kilometers, or about 8.5 miles. It was located 3 miles south-southwest of the observatory.
Sunday’s quake occurred on or near the Elsinore fault, a roughly 70-mile-long system, part of which is located near Palomar Mountain. It’s not unusual for the fault to produce 4.1 quakes. Seismologists say the system appears to be capable of generating a 7.5 temblor, which could produce catastrophic damage in San Diego County.
Residents all around the region, including La Mesa and Escondido, reported feeling the temblor.
One resident in Valley Center called the Sheriff’s Department to report the earthquake after seeing smoke in the area. The smoke was from a controlled burn and not related to the quake, said sheriff’s Lt. Martha Hernandez.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, Hernandez said.
(Karen Kucher & Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Three people from the same family died when a landslide destroyed their house in the city of Embu das Artes, according to the municipal government, while four other people were rescued by firefighters.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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Winds that had gusted to more than 80 mph on Saturday died down on Sunday, and temperatures climbed into the upper teens and 20s as people emerged from their homes to dig out.
The storm dumped snow from Virginia to Maine, but Massachusetts bore the brunt of the fury, with the neighboring towns of Sharon and Stoughton getting more than 30 inches of snow.
More than 100,000 lost power at the height of the storm, mostly in Massachusetts. That had dropped to about 35,000 by Sunday afternoon, mostly on hard-hit Cape Cod. No other states reported widespread outages.
Utility Eversource said Sunday it had 1,700 crews working to restore electricity in Massachusetts, and customers will have their power back on “by the end of the day Monday, with most before then.”
Authorities on Long Island reported three storm-related deaths. Suffolk County police said an elderly man fell into a swimming pool while shoveling snow in Southhold and was pronounced dead after resuscitation attempts failed.
Nassau County officials said two men ages 53 and 75 died in the town of Syosset while shoveling snow.
Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said at a news conference that officials were not aware of any storm-related fatalities in the state.
In and around New York City, snow totals ranged from a few inches north and west of the city to more than 2 feet in Islip on Long Island, according to the National Weather Service.
Warren, R.I., got more than 2 feet, and Norwich, Conn., finished with 22 inches. Some areas of Maine and New Hampshire also received more than a foot.
Winds gusted as high as 83 mph on Cape Cod. Coastal towns flooded, with wind and waves battering Weymouth, south of Boston, flooding streets with a slurry of frigid water, according to video posted on social media.
Other videos showed a street underwater on Nantucket and waves crashing against the windows of a building in Plymouth.
Forecasters watched closely for new snowfall records, especially in Boston. The Boston area’s modern snowfall record for a winter storm is 27.6 inches set in 2003.
The city tied its record for biggest single-day snowfall on Saturday, with 23.6 inches, the National Weather Service said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Officials from Virginia to Massachusetts rushed to declare snow emergencies, impose parking bans and restrict travel in advance of a system expected to drop wet snow at rates as high as 5 inches per hour. The storm threatened blizzard conditions and coastal flooding in some areas.
Merrick McCormack was among hundreds who packed a Shaw’s Supermarket in Warwick, R.I., with the entire state under a blizzard warning and officials mobilizing more than 500 snowplows.
“I don’t fuss with storms. I know in a couple of days, we’re going to be free and clear. No need to panic,” the 51-year-old Cranston resident said.
Regional supermarket giant Stop & Shop pleaded with customers to practice restraint, warning that staffing and supply woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic will mean barer shelves and longer checkout lines.
“We ask shoppers to buy what they need and save some for their neighbors,” the grocery chain said in a statement.
By midday Friday, airlines had canceled more than 1,000 flights in the U.S. and had already scrubbed about 2,500 scheduled for today, according to the tracking service FlightAware. The hardest-hit airports included those serving Chicago, New York City and Boston. Amtrak canceled or limited weekend train service along its busy corridor from Washington to Boston.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Although the storm poses a serious threat to nearly a dozen states, its exact track remained uncertain as of early Thursday. The upcoming storm would send another round of heavy snow to much of the East Coast, which already had a lot of snow this month, including a system that stranded hundreds of drivers south of Washington, D.C.
“It’s always better to be over-prepared than under-prepared,” said Tiffany Fortier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York.
The storm would probably form east of the Carolinas by this evening, the weather service said. Light snow could break out across the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic by this evening before pushing north, where snow accumulations could exceed a foot in some areas. Strong winds and coastal flooding in some areas are also possible, forecasters said. As of early Thursday, a winter storm watch for the weekend stretched from eastern North Carolina up through New England.
Snow accumulations across the northeast could be as high as 9 inches, but the coastal counties of New Jersey could see 12 inches. In southeastern Massachusetts, 12 to 20 inches of snow, starting tonight, could accumulate, with winds as strong as 65 mph, the weather service said.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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Researchers at the Health Effects Institute, a group that is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency as well as automakers and fossil fuel companies, examined health data from 68.5 million Medicare recipients across the United States. They found that if the federal rules for allowable levels of fine soot had been slightly lower, as many as 143,000 deaths could have been prevented over the course of a decade.
Exposure to fine particulate matter has long been linked to respiratory illness and impaired cognitive development in children. The tiny particles can enter the lungs and bloodstream to affect lung function, exacerbate asthma and trigger heart attacks and other serious illness. Earlier research has found that exposure to particulate matter contributed to about 20,000 deaths a year.
The new study is the first in the United States to document deadly effects of the particulate matter known as PM 2.5 (because its width is 2.5 microns or less) on people who live in rural areas and towns with little industry.
Researchers concluded that 143,257 deaths could have been prevented between 2006 and 2016 if the standard had been tightened to 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
“If we were to reduce PM 2.5, we would be saving a substantial amount of lives,” said Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard who led the study, which took four years to complete. “It’s highly significant.”
“This is important evidence for EPA to consider,” Dominici added.
Other studies have linked fine soot pollution to higher rates of death from COVID-19, with Black and other communities of color particularly at risk because they are more likely to be located near highways, power plants and other industrial facilities.
The Biden administration has made tighter regulation of emissions from power plants, factories and other industrial sites central to its strategy to address environmental justice.
By law, the EPA is required to review the latest science and update the soot standard every five years.
(Lisa Friedman, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Highways and roads in Istanbul became clogged Monday after the storm pounded the city of 16 million that straddles Europe and Asia — dropping more than 30 inches of snow in some areas. Stranded motorists spent the night in their cars, abandoned their vehicles to walk home or crowded subways and other limited public transportation.
All highways and main roads in Istanbul were reopened by Tuesday afternoon.
In Athens, rescue crews freed up to 300 drivers trapped on a major highway that connects the Greek capital with the city’s international airport.
Drivers there had abandoned their cars and walked home. Others had trekked to a nearby train station. Train service had been suspended, but a train was sent Tuesday to pick up stragglers.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Parts of Turkey, including Istanbul, also endured snowy conditions.
The Associated Press reported that the Greek government declared a holiday in Athens today after snow disrupted road, rail and air travel.
Among the crazier scenes, a webcam captured footage of a waterspout or tornado over water, passing over the Mediterranean adjacent to Andros island, 60 miles east of Athens, while snow blanketed the adjacent shoreline Monday.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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One structure, a yurt, was destroyed by the blaze that broke out Friday in a steep canyon and quickly spread toward the sea, fanned by gusts up to 50 mph.
The flames made a big run after winds whipped up again late Saturday, but since then conditions have calmed and crews made some progress against the blaze, said Cecile Juliette, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“The winds today have been favorable, so that’s some good news,” Juliette said Sunday.
The blaze dubbed the Colorado fire was 25 percent contained after burning more than 1,000 acres of brush and redwood trees, Juliette said.
Evacuation orders were in place for about 500 residents of a sparsely populated area between Carmel and Big Sur.
Authorities closed a stretch of Highway 1 with no estimated time for reopening. The two-lane highway along Big Sur is prone to closures due to fire and mudslides from heavy rain that made portions of the roadway collapse last year and in 2017.
Evacuees shared on social media dramatic images of flames burning behind iconic Bixby Bridge. The tall concrete span has been the backdrop of many car commercials, movies and TV shows, most recently the HBO drama “Big Little Lies.”
Strong winds were recorded across the San Francisco Bay Area early Saturday, knocking down trees and power lines and causing a small number of electricity outages. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
In Sonoma County, firefighters extinguished a small blaze on Geyser Peak, where gusts above 90 mph were recorded. In the Sierra Nevada, the winds topped 141 mph near the summit of Kirkwood Mountain Resort, shutting several ski lifts.
In Southern California, a peak gust of 90 mph was recorded in the mountains east of Santa Clarita. Strong winds developed across the region, toppling trees and power lines before starting to die down on Sunday. Many wind advisories expired around midday.
Dry conditions returned to Northern California after a series of December storms that dumped heavy snow in the mountains and partially refilled parched reservoirs.
However, Juliette said the winds quickly dried up vegetation weakened by a prolonged drought.
“It’s unusual to have fire this size here on the coast at the end of January,” she said. “The fact that we had a fire this size is of great concern.”
The cause of the Colorado fire is under investigation.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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With the rains continuing and a possible cyclone approaching the Indian Ocean island, officials warned of potential landslides in the capital city, which is built on steep hills.
President Andry Rajoelina has called an emergency meeting over the flooding crisis, his office announced.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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A C-130 Hercules military transport plane left New Zealand carrying water containers, kits for temporary shelters, generators, hygiene supplies and communications equipment, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said.
Australia was also preparing to send two C-17 Globemaster transport planes with humanitarian supplies. The flights were all due to arrive in Tonga this afternoon.
The deliveries will be done with no contact because Tonga is desperate to make sure foreigners don’t bring in the coronavirus. It has not had any outbreaks of COVID-19 and has reported just a single case since the pandemic began.
“The aircraft is expected to be on the ground for up to 90 minutes before returning to New Zealand,” Defense Minister Peeni Henare said.
U.N. humanitarian officials report that about 84,000 people — more than 80 percent of Tonga’s population — have been impacted by the volcano’s eruption, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, pointing to three deaths, injuries, loss of homes and polluted water.
Communications with Tonga remain limited after Saturday’s eruption and tsunami appeared to have broken the single fiber-optic cable that connects Tonga with the rest of the world. That means most people haven’t been able to use the Internet or make phone calls abroad, although some local phone networks are still working.
A navy patrol ship from New Zealand is also expected to arrive later today. It is carrying hydrographic equipment and divers, and also has a helicopter to assist with delivering supplies.
Officials said the ship’s first task would be to check shipping channels and the structural integrity of the wharf in the capital, Nuku’alofa, following the eruption and tsunami.
Another New Zealand navy ship carrying 66,000 gallons of water is on its way. The ship can also produce tens of thousands of gallons of fresh water each day using a desalination plant.
Three of Tonga’s smaller islands suffered serious damage from tsunami waves, officials and the Red Cross said.
The U.N.’s Dujarric said “all houses have apparently been destroyed on the island of Mango and only two houses remain on Fonoifua island, with extensive damage reported on Nomuka.” He said evacuations are under way for people from the islands.
According to Tongan census figures, Mango is home to 36 people, Fonoifua is home to 69 people, and Nomuka to 239. The majority of Tongans live on the main island of Tongatapu, where about 50 homes were destroyed.
Dujarric said the most pressing humanitarian needs are safe water, food and non-food items, and top priorities are reestablishing communication services including for international calls and the internet.
Tonga has so far avoided the widespread devastation that many initially feared.
(Nick Perry, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The quake hit at 11:39 p.m. and appears to have happened on or near the San Jacinto fault zone, a 130-mile system that partly cuts through San Diego County.
The USGS says that members of the public reported shaking in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Pauma Valley, Pala, Poway, Valley Center, Escondido, Santee, Bonita, La Jolla and San Diego.
The temblor began 7.6 miles deep, a common depth for quakes in Southern California. Quakes of this size also are common in the region. A 3.9 quake occurred on the same fault, 15 miles north-northwest of Borrego Springs, on Jan. 12.
(Gary Robbins, S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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New Zealand’s military is sending drinking water and other supplies, but said the ash on the runway will delay the flight at least a day. A towering ash cloud since Saturday’s eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand also sent a navy ship to Tonga today with another planned to leave later in the day.
Australia sent a navy ship from Sydney to Brisbane to prepare for a support mission if needed.
Communications with Tonga have been extremely limited, but New Zealand and Australia sent military surveillance flights to assess the damage on Monday, with aerial photos showing the vibrant Tongan landscape transformed by the ash into a gray moonscape.
U.N. humanitarian officials and Tonga’s government “report significant infrastructural damage around Tongatapu,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
“There has been no contact from the Ha’apai Group of islands, and we are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands — Mango and Fonoi — following surveillance flights confirming substantial property damage,” Dujarric said.
New Zealand’s High Commission in Tonga also reported “significant damage” along the western coast of the main island of Tongatapu, including to resorts and along the waterfront area. The commission said Tonga police had confirmed two deaths from the tsunami, including one who was a British national.
Family said Angela Glover, 50, died after being swept away by a wave in Tonga.
Two people drowned in Peru, which also reported an oil spill after waves moved a ship that was transferring oil at a refinery.
Satellite images captured the spectacular eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific. The eruption set off a sonic boom that could be heard as far away as Alaska.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A towering ash cloud had prevented the military from launching any flights earlier to the Pacific island nation.
People on Tonga described their country as looking like a moonscape as they began the task of cleaning up from the tsunami waves and ash fall caused by the eruption. Communications with the island nation remained limited after the Internet was cut soon after the eruption on Saturday evening.
There were no reports of injuries or deaths, although concerns remained for the fate of people on some of the smaller islands near the volcano.
Meanwhile, scientists said they didn’t think the eruption would have a significant impact on the Earth’s climate.
Huge volcanic eruptions can sometimes cause global cooling as sulfur dioxide is pumped into the stratosphere. But in the case of the Tonga eruption, initial satellite measurements indicated the amount of sulfur dioxide released would only have a tiny effect of perhaps 0.02 Fahrenheit global average cooling, said Alan Robock, a professor at Rutgers University.
Satellite images showed the spectacular undersea eruption Saturday evening, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific waters.
A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska and sent pressure shockwaves around the planet twice, altering atmospheric pressure that may have briefly helped clear out the fog in Seattle, according to the National Weather Service. Large waves were detected as far as the Caribbean due to pressure changes generated by the eruption.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there had been significant damage to boats and shops along the Tongan coastline. The capital, Nuku’alofa, was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, she said, contaminating water supplies and making fresh water a vital need.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tens of thousands of customers were without power in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Highway patrols reported hundreds of vehicle accidents, and a tornado ripped through a trailer park in Florida. More than 1,200 Sunday flights at Charlotte Douglas International were canceled — more than 90 percent of the airport’s Sunday schedule, according to the flight tracking service flightaware.com.
Winter Storm Izzy dumped as much as 10 inches of snow in some areas of western North Carolina as the system moved across the southeastern U.S., said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.
First Sgt. Christopher Knox, a North Carolina Highway Patrol spokesperson, said that by mid-afternoon, the agency had responded to 300 car crashes and nearly 800 calls for service. Two people died Sunday when their car drove off the road and into trees in a median east of Raleigh. The driver and passenger, both 41-year-old South Carolina residents, were pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle crash. Knox said investigators believe the car was driving too fast for the conditions, described as mixed winter precipitation.
Durham police tweeted a photo of a tractor-trailer that slid off the N.C. Highway 147 overpass in Durham. A police spokesperson said the driver did not appear to have life-threatening injuries.
Outages, which had ballooned to a quarter-million customers earlier in the day, stood at around 130,000 customers by late Sunday, according to poweroutage.us. North Carolina was hardest hit, peaking at some 90,000 outages. Parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Kentucky also lost power.
The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado with 118 mph winds struck southwest Florida. The weather service said the tornado was on the ground for almost two miles with a maximum path width of 125 yards. Thirty mobile homes were destroyed and 51 had major damage. Three minor injuries were reported.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The water also rose by 6 inches in La Jolla. Forecasters say the bay magnifies the tide, which is likely responsible for the higher reading.
The volcanic eruption, which occurred about 5,300 miles southwest of San Diego, triggered pre-dawn tsunami alerts for the West Coast of the U.S. The weather service canceled the advisory in San Diego at 1:30 p.m., when it was apparent that the surge here had played out.
“This was really weird; we usually associate this kind of thing more with earthquakes than underwater volcanoes,” said Brandt Maxwell, a forecaster at the weather service office in Rancho Bernardo.
“Some people could see the water rising in and out of the bay. Things were even more noticeable up the coast in Central California.”
As of 11 a.m., Port San Luis in San Luis Obispo Bay on the Central Coast had logged the largest surge in California with a 4.3-foot increase in water level, according to the weather service. Videos on social media showed flooding surges in Santa Cruz, putting at least one parking lot underwater.
Elsewhere in California, coastal waters rose by 3.7 feet at Crescent City, 2.9 feet at Point Reyes, 2.4 feet at Monterey, 1.8 feet at Santa Barbara, 1.4 feet at Los Angeles, and 1.1 feet at San Francisco.
The waves began arriving in San Diego shortly before 8 a.m., roughly coinciding with a 6-foot, 1-inch high tide. The extra water also showed up as local surfers were trying to catch the tail of a west swell that has been pounding beaches since Wednesday. The 1.4-foot reading was logged at 9:42 a.m.
The phenomenon was triggered by a volcano that exploded late Friday a short distance west of Tonga. Authorities said the eruption produced a booming noise that was heard 1,100 miles away, in New Zealand.
Shortly after 4 a.m., the shock wave from the volcanic eruption caused a change in the air pressure at San Diego International Airport, the weather service said.
The resulting surge of water in San Diego was reminiscent of an event in 2010, when an 8.8 earthquake off Chile generated a tsunami that lifted the bay’s waters, damaging some docks.
The county Office of Emergency Services sent out an alert at 6:55 a.m. that the National Tsunami Warning Center had issued an advisory. An advisory is less serious than a warning.
To many watching the beaches, the change was not easily discernable.
“Even a foot change would be difficult for anyone to notice with the swell going on right now,” said Encinitas lifeguard Lt. John Strickland.
Videos posted on social media showed a more clear-cut surge in local marinas.
The guest boat docks on Shelter Island were quiet Saturday, with only a couple mariners sitting in their docked boat, waiting for the strong, tsunami currents swirling in all directions to subside.
Phil Barlow, 35 of San Diego, stood in a small park over the dock watching the currents and chaotic swirls stirred up by the surging and receding tide. He pointed out that one of the Harbor Police’s two floating plastic platforms to park boats out of the water had buckled, gotten caught on the bottom and remained bunched up.
“It’s not a wave,” Barlow said. “You can see the rip currents, and then you can see the movement of the ocean surging in for about five minutes, then receding, tossing things around here on the dock.”
The warnings to stay away didn’t keep several looky-loos from the water, up and down the coastline, although the drizzly morning weather likely helped keep those curious crowds small.
“There have been people right when the first event was supposed to occur on the overlooks,” Strickland said. “But the crowds are already gone.”
Lifeguards have been restricting access to the water line but haven’t officially closed beaches.
At the state beaches in North County, parking lots were temporarily closed to the public. Coronado lifeguards kept the sand clear of people, while Encinitas lifeguards had roped off access points.
The county’s Emergency Operations Services team monitored the situation while communicating with all of San Diego’s coastal jurisdictions, the weather service and state authorities.
Tsunamis are typically produced by certain types of offshore earthquakes and underwater volcanoes that displace tremendous amounts of water, generating waves that can travel great distances.
Southern California rarely gets such tsunamis “because we’re far away from places like South America, the Indo-Pacific and Alaska, where events like this tend to happen,” said Susan Hough, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena.
“The waves attenuate,” she said. “And we’re not angled to take a direct hit.”
The region also benefits from not having a subduction zone directly offshore.
These zones represent the boundary lines between Earth’s huge tectonic plates. One plate bends and slips beneath the other, motion that can produce massive earthquakes.
There are earthquake faults off San Diego County, including one that produced a 5.4 quake off Oceanside in July 1986.
“It wasn’t large enough to cause the sort of underwater landslide that would lead to a tsunami,” said Tom Rockwell, a seismologist at San Diego State University. “You’d probably need something larger to happen to produce a local tsunami.”
There are many mysteries left to be solved.
Scientists were surprised by how the underwater volcanic eruption unfolded and produced a tsunami that radiated across the Pacific.
“This is an unusual tsunami,” said John Orcutt, a geophysicist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
“Normally, a large section of a trench experiences a deep fracture, which creates a large tsunami propagating away from the fracture.
“In this case, a large volcano erupted and the vertical motion has created a tsunami. This did result in a tsunami at Tonga about a meter high. There was flooding there although not catastrophic.”
(Gary Robbins&Kristina Davis; Morgan Cook; S.D. UNION TRIBUNE)
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Satellite images showed the eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.
The eruption cut the Internet to Tonga, leaving friends and family members around the world still anxiously trying to get in touch to figure out if there were any injuries and the extent of the damage. Even government websites and other official sources remained without updates.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said thick ash and smoke was continuing to affect Tonga’s air and water, and authorities were asking people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said it was very unusual for a volcanic eruption to affect an entire ocean basin, and the spectacle was both “humbling and scary.”
The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and Santa Cruz, but did not appear to cause any widespread damage.
Tsunami advisories were issued for Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific coast. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare.
The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning was declared for all of the archipelago, and data from the Pacific tsunami center said waves of 2.7 feet were detected.
Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano. She said she hadn’t yet been able to contact her friends and family in Tonga.
“We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land,” she said.
Tonga gets its Internet via an undersea cable from Suva, Fiji, which presumably was damaged. All Internet connectivity with Tonga was lost at about 6:40 p.m. local time, said Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis for the network intelligence firm Kentik.
Southern Cross Cable Network, the company that manages the connection, was unsure “if the cable is cut or just suffering power loss,” chief technical officer Dean Veverka said.
Limited satellite connections exist between Tonga and other parts of the world.
The Fiji-based Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga’s King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore. He was among the many residents who headed for higher ground.
On Tonga, home to about 105,000 people, video posted to social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas, swirling around homes, a church and other buildings.
New Zealand’s military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked.
In Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported waves that measured 1.6 feet in Nawiliwili, Kauai, and 2.7 feet in Hanalei. The National Weather Service said there were reports of boats getting pushed up in docks, but the hazard diminished as the morning went on.
“We are relieved that there is no reported damage and only minor flooding throughout the islands,” the tsunami center said, describing the situation in Hawaii. The tsunami advisory for the islands was lifted about 11 hours after the eruption more than 3,000 miles away.
In Tonga, a Twitter user identified as Dr. Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore.
“Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent,” he wrote, adding in a later post: “Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky.”
The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions.
Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island in recent days after a new volcanic vent there began erupting in late December.
Satellite images captured by the company show how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga.
“The surface area of the island appears to have expanded by nearly 45% due to ashfall,” Planet Labs said days before the latest activity.
Following Saturday’s eruption, residents in Hawaii, Alaska and along the U.S. Pacific coast were advised to move away from the coastline to higher ground and to pay attention to specific instructions from their local emergency management officials, said Snider.
“We don’t issue an advisory for this length of coastline as we’ve done — I’m not sure when the last time was — but it really isn’t an everyday experience,” Snider said.
Savannah Peterson watched in shock as the water rose several feet in a matter of minutes in front of her oceanfront house in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco.
“It came up so fast, and a few minutes after that it was down again. It was nuts to see that happen so quickly,” she said. “I’ve never had water come all the way up to my front door, and today it did.”
The first waves to hit the continental United States measured about 1 foot in Nikolski, Alaska, and 1.9 feet in Adak, Alaska. A wave of about 2.6 feet was observed in Monterey, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center.
Beaches and piers were closed across Southern California as a precaution. The National Weather Service tweeted there were “no significant concerns about inundation.” Strong rip currents were possible, however, and officials warned people to stay out of the water.
On California’s central coast, the National Weather Service reported tsunami waves up to 4 feet and flooding in beach parking lots at Port San Luis. About 200 miles down the coast, the waves were much smaller at Southern California’s Seal Beach, according to Michael Pless, the owner of M&M Surf School.
“The waves are looking pretty flat,” Pless said. “We’re hoping they reopen the beach in a couple hours.”
Crowds gathered at the Santa Cruz Harbor to watch the rising and falling water strain boat ties on docks. Law enforcement tried to clear people away when big surges started at around 7:30 a.m.
About an hour later, a surge went over the back lip of the harbor, filling a parking lot and low-lying streets and setting some cars afloat. In 2011 after the Japanese earthquake a series of surges cost $20 million of damage in the harbor.
Although experienced surfers would consider the waves reaching the West Coast barely high enough to qualify as swells, the National Weather Service warned that tsunamis cause deceptive water surges powerful enough to pull people out to sea.
First responders in Northern California said two people were hospitalized in stable condition after being swept into the water while fishing.
Some Alaska residents reported hearing a “sonic boom” around 3:30 a.m. local time, roughly seven hours after the volcano erupted, according to the weather service. Brian Brettschneider, an Alaska-based climatologist, estimated on Twitter that a pressure wave traveled 5,820 miles from Tonga to Anchorage at a speed of 830 mph.
Residents of American Samoa were alerted of a tsunami warning by local broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide Saturday. An outdoor siren warning system was out of service. Those living along the shoreline quickly moved to higher ground.
As night fell, there were no reports of any damage.
Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. In New Zealand, officials warned of possible storm surges from the eruption.
New Zealand’s private forecaster, Weather Watch, tweeted that people as far away as Southland, the country’s southernmost region, reported hearing sonic booms from the eruption. Others reported that many boats were damaged by a tsunami that hit a marina in Whangarei, in the Northland region.
The Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano is about 40 miles north of the capital, Nuku’alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the area created a small new island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.
There is not a significant difference between volcanoes underwater and on land, and underwater volcanoes become bigger as they erupt, at some point usually breaching the surface, said Hans Schwaiger, a research geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
With underwater volcanoes, however, the water can add to the explosivity of the eruption as it hits the lava, Schwaiger said.
(Nick Perry, ASSOCIATED PRESS; WASHINGTON POST)
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The sprawling weather system prompted winter storm warnings and watches from North Dakota down to northern Mississippi and across to Raleigh, North Carolina, and areas of western New York.
But some ambiguity remained over how much snow, ice and rain the storm could bring in the coming days, especially in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, where another storm caught transportation officials off guard and stranded hundreds of drivers in Virginia this month.
“This is going to be a major setback for several days for companies trying to move products around the country just due to the scale of the storm,” Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist for AccuWeather, said Friday.
Inland portions of the Appalachians extending from western North Carolina and western Virginia to western Pennsylvania and upstate New York could get 12-18 inches of snow during the storm, Porter said. The rate of snowfall could be more than 1 inch per hour in some places, which could cause significant travel delays.
On Friday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and ordered the activation of that state’s Emergency Operations Center.
“This upcoming weather system is likely to include additional downed trees, more electrical outages and significant impacts on travel conditions,” Northam said in the declaration.
In the Northeast, the storm is expected to bring 1 to 3 inches of snow to Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston from midday Sunday to Monday morning, Porter said, noting that the precipitation would most likely turn to rain and could vary in amount if the storm shifts.
He warned that the storm could produce wind gusts of up to 70 mph along the coast.
In the South, ice loomed as a major concern for meteorologists, who said that northeastern Georgia and the Carolinas were expected to bear the brunt of freezing precipitation Saturday night into Sunday.
“While much is going to be said about the snow, we’re also raising the alarm of the ice storm that’s going to occur across the Carolinas,” Porter said. “It looks like that’s a recipe for extended power outages and tree damage in those areas.”
Some airports and transportation departments were already bracing for potential travel issues.
By early Friday, snow was falling across parts of North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the weather service.
“This snow will combine with gusty winds to produce slippery, snow covered roads and significantly reduced visibility,” the weather service said on Twitter. “Travel will likely become hazardous to dangerous at times.”
The storm system could storm system could plaster 70 million Americans with snow.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The planet’s average land and ocean surface temperature last year was 1.51 degrees higher than the 20th-century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a new report. A separate analysis from NASA also concluded that 2021 was the sixth warmest year on record and tied with 2018.
Experts from both agencies said the global warming trend was being driven primarily by greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s clear that each of the past four decades has been warmer than the one that preceded it,” said Russell Vose, chief of climate monitoring for the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. “Of course all of this is driven by increasing concentrations of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide.”
Last year was the 45th consecutive year that saw global temperatures rising above the average, meaning that the planet has not had a colder-than-average year since 1976, according to the report. What’s more, the years 2013 through 2021 all rank among the 10 warmest years since record keeping began in 1880.
Vose said there’s a “99 percent chance” that 2022 will also rank in the top 10.
“The punchline here is, it doesn’t really matter how you do the analysis — they all tell you the Earth has warmed quite dramatically over the past century,” he said.
The United States overall fared even worse than the globe, with 2021 ranking as the fourth hottest year on record in the contiguous U.S., according to NOAA.
Many of the acute warming effects were felt in the West, where exceptional drought, extreme wildfires and simmering heat waves coincided with California’s hottest summer on record.
A heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in June shattered all-time high temperature records in Washington and Oregon, while the Dixie fire, which sparked in July in Plumas County, went on to become the second largest wildfire in the state.
But the region wasn’t alone in its experience, as global warming contributed to significant climate anomalies across the country and the world, including major floods in Germany, sandstorms in Beijing and East Africa’s worst locust plague in decades.
“Unfortunately, we certainly expect to see more of these types of extremes in a warming world,” Vose said. “Some of the events this year were probably not even possible without global warming — or at least they were made much worse by it.”
In the United States alone, there were 20 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that killed at least 688 people — more than twice the previous year’s death toll of 262, according to the report. Damage from these U.S. disasters totaled approximately $145 billion.
(LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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Most of the fuel drained into two artificial ponds called “borrow pits” and thousands of fish, birds and other animals were killed, state and local officials said Wednesday. The spill also contaminated soil, according to state and federal officials.
The pipeline’s owner said 315,000 gallons of fuel with some water mixed in had been skimmed and recovered, primarily from the ponds. Cleanup work is ongoing.
The spill from the 16-inch-diameter line operated by Collins Pipeline Co. was discovered Dec. 27 near a levee in St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans, according to documents from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The spill had not been previously publicly reported.
An inspection of the 42-year-old Meraux Pipeline more than a year earlier, in October 2020, revealed external corrosion along a 22-foot section of pipe at the same site as the spill, federal records show.
The pipe had apparently lost 75 percent of its metal where the corrosion was worst, which would have required immediate repair, according to the records. But work was delayed and the line continued operating after a second inspection concluded the corrosion was not bad enough to require immediate repair under federal rules, the records show.
The spilled fuel also contaminated soil in an environmentally sensitive area near the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a closed canal, according to state and federal officials. A small amount of diesel remains in the two borrow pits, said Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Gregory Langley.
The spill killed 2,300 fish and more than 100 other animals, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Fuel from small spills can evaporate or disperse naturally in just a couple of days but larger spills can take months to degrade, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Collins Pipeline is a subsidiary of PBF Energy Inc. The company repaired the line at a cost of $500,000 and resumed operations last Saturday, PBF Vice President Michael Karlovich told The Associated Press in an email.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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High temperatures were not expected to make it out of the teens and 20s in most spots, with single digits in many areas, especially northern New England, according to the National Weather Service. But things felt even worse because of the wind, which made it feel below zero for many.
Schools in Massachusetts’ three largest cities — Boston, Worcester and Springfield — canceled classes, saying they did not want children standing outside for extended periods of time waiting for buses.
“There has been an increase of Covid with transportation personnel, which would result in buses running up to 30 minutes late,” according to a tweet from the Worcester public schools. “The safety of our students and staff are always the focus of our decisions.“
Low temperatures can result in frostbite to exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
Syracuse, N.Y., Manchester, New Hampshire, and Burlington, Vt., were among communities that also closed public schools. The closures came just a few days after many schools closed because of snow Friday.
Some COVID-19 testing sites in New Hampshire and Massachusetts closed in response to the cold, and warming centers opened across the region for people who needed temporary shelter from the bitter temperatures. Rhode Island opened warming centers across the state and in Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu reminded residents that the city’s network of public libraries were open for people looking for a place to warm up.
The frigid cold was the likely cause of a water main break in downtown Boston that forced street closures and turned the area into an icy mess, a spokesperson for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission said.
The freezing temperatures were caused by a pocket of cold air descending from Canada, but the good news is that it is expected to be a short-lived cold spell, said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Norton, Massachusetts, office.
“We’re getting an arctic cold front with northwest flow, quickly switching to a southwest flow,” he said, adding temperatures are expected to rise to around 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the Boston area later in the week.
Wind chill temperatures in areas near lakes Erie and Ontario in New York state were expected to drop as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. To make matters worse, parts of the state were expected to be hit with up to 2 feet of lake-effect snow and winds gusting up to 40 mph.
The high temperature in Vermont on Tuesday was expected to be several degrees below zero in some areas with wind chills of up to minus 35.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The company’s annual report put the overall economic losses from natural disasters worldwide last year at $280 billion, making it the fourth-costliest after 2011, the year a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan.
Insured losses in 2021 amounted to $120 billion, the second-highest after 2017, when hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit the Americas, according to Munich Re.
More than a third of those insured losses last year were caused by Ida ($36 billion) and the July floods in Europe ($13 billion).
Almost 10,000 died as a result of a natural disaster in 2021, comparable to the death toll in recent years, Munich Re said.
The company warned that studies showed a link between global warming and natural disasters.
“The images of natural disasters in 2021 are disturbing,“ said Torsten Jeworrek, a member Munich Re’s board of management.
“Climate research increasingly confirms that extreme weather has become more likely,” he said. “Societies need to urgently adapt to increasing weather risks and make climate protection a priority.”
Satellite measurements show 2021 was one of the warmest years on record, with the annual average temperature 1.1-1.2 degrees Celsius higher than the preindustrial period from 1850 to 1900, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said Monday.
Europe experienced its warmest summer on record, it said.
Scientists say that higher temperatures can cause the air to absorb more moisture, which can then lead to more extreme rainfall such as that seen in western Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands last summer.
The resulting floods devastated whole villages and killed more than 220 people in what insurance companies said was the costliest natural disaster Europe has ever seen.
“Even though events cannot automatically be attributed to climate change, analysis of the changes over decades provides plausible indications of a connection with the warming of the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Ernst Rauch, Munich Re’s chief climate scientist, adding that adapting to increasing risks would be “a challenge.”
The company said not all natural disasters are climate-related, citing volcanic eruptions in Indonesia and Spain’s Canary Islands, and earthquakes such as the one that hit Japan in February.
(Frank Jordans, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Not when both the United States and Europe had their warmest summers on the books. Not when higher temperatures around the Arctic caused it to rain for the first time at the Greenland ice sheet’s normally frigid summit.
And certainly not when the seven hottest years ever recorded were, by a clear margin, the past seven.
The events of 2021 “are a stark reminder of the need to change our ways, take decisive and effective steps toward a sustainable society and work toward reducing net carbon emissions,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union program that conducted the analysis made public Monday.
The mean temperature globally last year was 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius (2 to 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than it was before industrialization led humans to begin pumping large quantities of carbon dioxide into the air.
The year was fifth warmest by a slight margin over 2015 and 2018, by Copernicus’ ranking. The hottest years on record are 2016 and 2020, in a virtual tie.
“If you look at all the last seven years, they’re not super close, but they’re quite close together,” said Freja Vamborg, a senior climate scientist at Copernicus. “And they stand well off from the ones that came before that.”
Copernicus’ temperature records start in 1950, but in its analyses, the group combines these with other records that go back about another century.
The steady warming corresponds with the scientific consensus that increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing long-lasting changes in the global climate. Copernicus said its preliminary analysis of satellite measurements had found that concentrations of heat-trapping gases continued to rise last year, helped by 1,850 megatons of carbon emissions from wildfires worldwide.
The rate of increase in carbon dioxide levels appears to have been down from a few years earlier, the analysis found. However, concentrations of methane, the second-most-prevalent greenhouse gas, grew at their fastest pace in two decades, and Copernicus scientists said they were still trying to understand why.
One big reason for 2021’s lower mean temperature was the presence during the early part of the year of La Niña conditions, a recurring climate pattern characterized by lower surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. (La Niña has returned in recent months, which could presage a drier winter in the southern U.S. but wetter conditions in the Pacific Northwest.)
Those effects were offset in the 2021 average, however, by higher temperatures in many parts of the world between June and October, Copernicus said.
“When we think about climate change, it’s not just a single progression, year after year after year being the warmest,” said Robert Rohde, the lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, an independent environmental research group.
“The preponderance of evidence — which comes from looking at ocean temperatures, land temperatures, upper atmospheric temperatures, glaciers melting, sea ice changes — are telling us a coherent story about changes in the earth system which points to warming overall,” Rohde said. “Slight variations up or down, a year or two at a time, don’t change that picture.”
As ever, higher average temperatures were not observed uniformly across the planet last year. Most of Australia and parts of Antarctica experienced below-normal temperatures in 2021, as did areas in western Siberia.
Europe’s summer last year was the warmest on record, though 2010 and 2018 were not far behind, according to Copernicus. Severe rainfall and flooding caused destruction and death in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Heat and dryness set the stage for wildfires that ravaged Greece.
The western side of North America experienced off-the-charts heat, drought and wildfires last summer. Canada’s maximum temperature record was broken in June when the mercury in a small town in British Columbia hit 121.3 degrees Fahrenheit, or 49.6 Celsius.
Scientists have concluded that the Pacific Coast heat wave would have been practically impossible in a world without human-induced warming. The question is whether the event fits into the present meteorological understanding, even if it is without precedent, or is a sign that the climate is changing in ways that scientists do not fully grasp.
(Raymond Zhong, NEW YORK TIMES)
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Boaters who narrowly escaped being crushed captured videos of the giant slab falling into Lake Furnas in Minas Gerais state Saturday. The rock peeled off about 12:30 p.m. after days of intense rain in the area.
One video showed panicky boaters who could see boulders tumbling into the lake urging others, “Get away!” But their calls appeared to be drowned out by the waterfall there and music blaring from the boats.
Another video registered the moment the cliff came crashing down, destroying two small boats.
Ten people were killed and no one remained missing Sunday afternoon, Marcos Pimenta of the Minas Gerais civil police said.
“Today we are suffering the tragedy of a loss in our state that resulted from strong rain,” Romeu Zema, the state’s governor, said in a statement.
Michel Leite Neves, a 31-year-old Brazilian tourist who was on a boat in the lake when the cliff collapsed, told the G1 news outlet that he had alerted the craft’s skipper to the rocks tumbling down. At first the boat operator said the phenomenon was normal, but as the rockfall intensified, he gunned the engine with seconds to spare, Leite said.
“He turned the boat around because he said it was better for us to get out of there,” Leite said. “But at that moment the cliff was already falling.”
Lake Furnas, near the city of Capitólio, is among a cluster of picturesque destinations popular with tourists during the summertime in Minas Gerais. Visitors take boats to watch the waterfalls.
Lt. Pedro Aihara, a spokesperson for the Minas Gerais Fire Department, said at least 24 people survived on the two boats that were directly hit. The search concluded Sunday with all victims and survivors accounted for.
(NEW YORK TIMES)
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The swollen Chehalis River was expected to crest Sunday as the region enjoyed a dry weekend after a series of winter storms since Dec. 17. Crews, meanwhile, worked to open several major highways connecting Seattle to the east that have been closed for days by heavy snow, avalanches and debris.
Southwest Washington has experienced its worst flooding in a decade and some rivers crested at more than 18 feet last week, the National Weather Service said. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation on Friday.
The weather service issued flood warnings Sunday for Grays Harbor and Thurston counties. It said moderate flooding in the Chehalis River was affecting road access to the Chehalis Reservation near Oakville. A flood warning continued for the Pudding River in Oregon’s Clackamas and Marion counties.
In Washington’s Grays Harbor County, authorities were searching for a man reported missing after driving into floodwaters in Elma early Sunday, but it wasn’t known if the man was swept away or walked out on his own, said Undersheriff Brad Johansson.
Crews worked to open several major highways connecting Seattle to the east, including Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass and U.S. Highway 97 over Blewitt Pass, the Washington Department of Transportation said.
U.S. Highway 12 over White Pass may reopen today, the department said.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Most of the victims died of hypothermia, officials said. Among them was an Islamabad police officer and seven other members of his family, fellow police Officer Atiq Ahmed said.
More than 4 feet of snow fell in the area of the Murree Hills resort overnight Friday and early Saturday, trapping thousands of cars on roadways, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. The snow was so severe that heavy equipment brought in to clear it initially got stuck during the night, said Umar Maqbool, assistant commissioner for the town of Murree. Temperatures fell to 17 degrees Fahrenheit.
Officials called in paramilitary troops and a special military mountain unit to help. By late Saturday, thousands of vehicles had been pulled from the snow but more than a thousand were still stuck, Ahmed said.
Most roads leading to the area’s resorts were largely cleared of snow by late Saturday, and military troops were working to clear the rest, Maqbool said. The military also converted army-run schools into relief camps where they provided shelter and food for the tourists who had been rescued.
Emergency officials distributed food and blankets to people while they were trapped in their snowed-in vehicles, but many died of hypothermia. Others may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after running their car heaters for long periods of time, said rescue services physician Abdur Rehman. As of late Saturday, the death toll included 10 men, 10 children and two women, Rehman said.
In one instance, a husband and wife and their two children all died in their car. In another, four young friends died together, he said.
Located 28 miles north of the capital of Islamabad, Murree is a popular winter resort town that attracts well over a million tourists annually.
(Zarar Khan, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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More than 250 crews were working Saturday to restore power to nearly 7,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in its Sierra Division, including El Dorado, Placer, Nevada and Sierra counties, said Karly Hernandez, a spokesperson for the utility.
After a Dec. 26 storm knocked out their power, Elisabeth Jones and her wife have been relying on their wood-burning stove to warm up the house and store-bought ice to keep food fresh in their coolers. Because their home uses a well and powered pump for water, they don’t have running water and have resorted to urinating in a bucket filled with straw, Jones told the Sacramento Bee.
The pair skipped showering for days and wore the same unwashed clothes, because they want to avoid laundromats amid the surging spread of COVID-19.
“It is truly a nightmare, but it’s so much worse for people with small children or an elderly person who need to charge up their oxygen tank,” Jones said. “It doesn’t have to be this way; that’s what’s so enraging.”
The storm was part of a record month of snow for the region, with parts of the Sierra recording nearly 18 feet of snow, more than any other December in the past 142 years, the University of California-Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab reported.
The snow weakened trees, causing branches to snap onto power lines.
PG&E and local counties have opened resource centers where residents can take showers, wash clothes, recharge their batteries and devices and restock firewood and propane. PG&E said it expects to fully restore power by Tuesday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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In southwestern Washington’s Lewis County, a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 had been closed in both directions south of Chehalis because of flooding from the Chehalis River. All lanes of Interstate 5 in that area reopened Friday afternoon, according to Washington State Patrol Trooper Will Finn, who said other roads in that area were still experiencing flooding.
The major route across Washington’s Cascades — I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass — closed Thursday due to avalanche danger, heavy snow and low visibility. Stevens Pass on U.S. Highway 2, White Pass on U.S. Highway 12 and Blewett Pass on U.S. Highway 97 also closed Thursday.
Transportation officials say the four mountain passes that connect Western Washington with Eastern Washington likely would remain closed until Sunday because of dangerous conditions.
Part of one of the only other roads crossing the state, state Route 14 on the Washington side of the Columbia River, closed Friday because of a fatal crash near Lyle, Finn said.
Washington State University canceled classes Monday and Tuesday to allow students ample time to return to Pullman in Eastern Washington following the week of severe winter weather, officials said on the university’s website.
In northwest Oregon, coastal flooding after heavy rains disrupted communities. Astoria got more than 4 inches of rain Thursday, breaking a record for rain on that date set in 1914.
The nearby city of Warrenton declared a state of emergency due to widespread flooding and school districts in Astoria, Warrenton, Knappa and Seaside canceled classes Friday.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Nashville saw 6.3 inches of snowfall on Thursday, shattering the city’s previous Jan. 6 record of 4 inches that had stood since 1977, the National Weather Service said. Freezing rain and sleet coated areas around the Tennessee-Alabama state border, said Scott Unger, a meteorologist for the service in Nashville.
Authorities urged people to travel only when necessary, as Metro Nashville Police reported accidents and other driving woes that snarled and slowed several roads. Police in the city reported dozens of wrecks on the road by the early afternoon. A bevy of crashes and other issues bottlenecked drivers on multiple interstates in the region.
Along the Kentucky border, authorities in Montgomery County, Tenn., were dealing with dozens of crashes as well, including a wreck that killed one person involving a commercial vehicle on Interstate 24, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesperson Lt. Bill Miller.
With temperatures expected to plummet overnight, everything on the ground is going to freeze and create treacherous road conditions today, Unger said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned that the snow hitting his state was “both real and dangerous,” with hundreds of car crashes across the state. Some areas had already received more than a half-foot by early afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Steve said. Beshear declared a state of emergency.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 — down from an initial calculation of 6.2. It was centered on the country’s Pacific coast about 36 miles south of Corinto.
The earthquake was at a depth of 17 miles.
It was felt strongly in Managua, the capital, where residents milled about outside their homes and workers cleared buildings.
(U-T NEWS SERVICES)
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A 40-mile stretch of the highway — one of the busiest travel corridors in the United States — came to a standstill overnight after a fast-falling snowstorm led to jackknifed tractor-trailers and hundreds of other accidents. Some people abandoned their cars. Many, including a U.S. senator, spent the night on the snowy highway.
As people spent a sleepless night in driver’s seats and truck cabs, state troopers slowly trudged from person to person, helping when they could with supplies. Tow trucks dragged car after disabled car out of the ice.
“It’s been so horrible,” Arlin Tellez, 22, said in an interview Tuesday morning from her car on the highway in Caroline County, Va., about 80 miles south of Washington. She had been trapped there since 5 p.m. Monday without any food or water, and was layering on clothes she had in the car.
“There’s just no way for us to know what’s actually happening,” she said. “When we tried to call the police, because at this point that was our only resource, they literally just told us to hang on tight.”
The interstate reopened Tuesday night after Virginia state officials said that they had been working to clear several hundred vehicles off I-95. With slick roadways still possible, the Virginia Department of Transportation said drivers should avoid unnecessary travel overnight and this morning.
“We were prepared for the storm that was predicted — a few inches of snow — but instead, Mother Nature sent more than a foot of snow to the Fredericksburg area,” Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Virginia State Police said they had not received any reports of injuries or deaths related to the storm, but authorities around the Mid-Atlantic said it had caused at least five deaths.
Officials said the storm began Monday with rain, which would have washed away road salts, and quickly overwhelmed efforts to keep the highway clear. Rain turned to sleet and then snow, which fell at a rate of 2 inches an hour for 4-5 hours, according to Marcie Parker, a Virginia Department of Transportation engineer.
“That was entirely too much for us to keep up with,” she told reporters Tuesday.
Cars and trucks slowed, and then stopped, on their way up and down hills. At least one tractor-trailer slid sideways across the highway. In some places, Parker said, 4 inches of ice froze underneath vehicles.
Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for Virginia State Police, said authorities had responded to more than 1,000 traffic crashes and more than 1,000 disabled or stuck vehicles statewide. “We don’t believe that accounts for the vehicles on the 95 stretch,” she said.
The snowstorm trapped truckers, students, families and every stripe of commuter, including Tim Kaine, the junior U.S. senator from Virginia and a former Democratic nominee for vice president. His ordeal began at about 1 p.m. Monday, as his normal two-hour commute to the Capitol was disrupted by the gathering accidents and snow.
“I’m extremely tired,” Kaine said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon as he arrived in Washington, having spent more than 20 hours stuck in his vehicle. “I had to sleep in my car last night on an ice-packed interstate with a ton of other cars.”
He said he left his car on for 30 minutes at a time to charge his phone, make calls and warm up, then turned it off to save gas and to sleep for 20 minutes or so, only to be wakened by the cold.
When he wasn’t napping, Kaine said, he passed the time by sipping Dr Pepper, listening to SiriusXM radio and eating small wedges of an orange that another stranded driver had given him.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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“A major winter storm is underway,” the National Weather Service said Monday morning, while warning, “Snow-covered and slippery roads along with heavy snowfall and low visibility will make travel dangerous.”
The storm dropped about more than 14 inches of snow in parts of northern Virginia, while Washington recorded up to 8 inches, said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Md. In central Tennessee and northern Alabama, which caught the tail end of the storm, snowfall totals reached 9 inches, the weather service said.
The storm was moving north Monday afternoon through Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey, where snowfall totals ranged from 6 to 15 inches by Monday night, Orrison said.
In North Carolina, the storm brought strong winds and snow to the mountains in the western part of the state, while up to 2 inches of rain fell in Greensboro, Raleigh and Durham, breaking daily records for rainfall set in 1992.
As of Monday evening, more than 376,000 customers in Virginia were without electricity, while outages affected 55,000 customers in North Carolina and more than 50,000 in Maryland, according to PowerOutage.us, which aggregates data from utilities across the United States.
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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Its success is now intertwined with the community’s identity and being touted internationally.
It began more than two decades ago in Teuchitlan, a town near the Tequila volcano. A half-dozen students, among them Omar Dominguez, began to worry about the little fish that fit in the palm of a hand and had only ever been seen in the Teuchitlan river. It had vanished from local waters, apparently due to pollution, human activities and the introduction of non-native species.
Dominguez, now a 47-year-old researcher at the University of Michoacan, says that then only the elderly remembered the fish called “gallito” or “little rooster” because of its orange tail.
In 1998, conservationists from the Chester Zoo in England and other European institutions arrived to help set up a laboratory for conserving Mexican fish. They brought several pairs of tequila splitfin fish from the aquariums of collectors, Dominguez said.
The fish began reproducing in aquariums, and within a few years Dominguez and his colleagues gambled on reintroducing them to the Teuchitlan river. “They told us it was impossible, (that) when we returned them they were going to die.”
So they looked for options. They built an artificial pond for a semi-captivity stage, and in 2012 they put 40 pairs there.
Two years later, there were some 10,000 fish. The result guaranteed funding, from not only the Chester Zoo but also a dozen organizations from Europe, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, to move the experiment to the river.
There they studied parasites, microorganisms in the water, the interaction with predators and competition with other fish, and then introduced the fish in floating cages.
The goal was to re-establish the fragile equilibrium. For that part, the key was not so much the scientists as the local residents.
“When I started the environmental education program I thought they were going to turn a deaf ear to us, and at first that happened,” Dominguez said.
But the conservationists succeeded with patience and years of puppet shows, games and explanations about the ecological and health value of “zoogoneticus tequila” — the fish help control mosquitoes that spread dengue.
The fish rapidly multiplied inside their floating cages. Then they were marked so they could be followed and set free. It was late 2017 and in six months the population increased 55 percent. Last month, the fish had expanded to another part of the river.
The reintroduction into nature of species that were extinct in the wild is complex and time-consuming. Przewalski’s horse and the Arabian oryx are among successful examples. The Chester Zoo said Dec. 29 that the tequila splitfin had joined that small group.
(Maria Verza, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Authorities closed roads in Hazel Green, AL, after power lines came down and homes suffered damage. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office shared photos online, including one of a snapped power pole.
The weather also caused damage to businesses in Hazel Green, including a Walmart, local news outlets reported. The community is located about 15 miles north of Huntsville.
Huntsville Utilities said service has been restored to parts of Hazel Green, but work continues with multiple downed power poles in the area.
The same system brought down trees in the nearby town of Triana, roughly 20 miles southwest of Huntsville. Mayor Mary Caudle told WAFF-TV that about 280 residents took cover in a storm shelter Saturday night.
Madison, Morgan Cullman, Marshall, Jackson, DeKalb, Limestone, Franklin and Lawrence counties remained under a tornado watch until 2 a.m. today. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for north and parts of north-central Alabama, in effect from 6 p.m. through 3 a.m. Today’s temperatures are expected to plummet as a cold front moves through.
The storms followed a system earlier Saturday that brought flooding to parts of Kentucky. Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that four tornadoes were confirmed. No injuries were reported.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The flames ripped through at least 9.4 square miles [6,000 acres] and left nearly 1,000 homes and other buildings destroyed in suburbs between Denver and Boulder. It came unusually late in the year after an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow. Experts say those conditions, along with high winds, helped the fire spread.
Rex and Barba Hickman sifted through the ashes of their Louisville home with their son and his wife.
Their son Austin cut a safe open with a grinding tool to reveal gold and silver coins, melted credit cards, keys and the charred remains of the couple’s passports.
They evacuated with their dog, their iPads and the clothes on their back. Rex Hickman said he was heartbroken to see there was nothing left of their home of 23 years.
“There’s a numbness that hits you first. You know, kind of like you go into crisis mode. You think about what you can do, what you can’t do,” he said. “The real pain is going to sink in over time.”
The couple have to find a rental property and clothes in the short term, and their insurance company told them Sunday that it would take at least two years to rebuild their home.
“We know how fortunate we are,” Rex Hickman said. “We have each other. We have great friends, wonderful family. So many people have got to be suffering much more than we are, and we feel for them.”
While homes that burned to the foundations were still smoldering in some places, the blaze was no longer considered an immediate threat — especially with Saturday’s snow and frigid temperatures.
Authorities initially said everyone was accounted for after the fire. But Boulder County spokesperson Jennifer Churchill said the three people reported missing were later discovered amid the scramble to manage the emergency. One was found alive, officials said Sunday.
Crews were still looking for a woman at a home in Superior and a man living near Marshall. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said their homes were “deep in hot debris and covered with snow. It is a difficult task.”
Other investigators were seeing if the missing people might have made it out, but not contacted their families or friends, Pelle said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and federal emergency officials visited some of the damaged neighborhoods Sunday morning.
“I know this is a hard time in your life if you’ve lost everything or you don’t even know what you lost,” Polis said after the tour. “A few days ago you were celebrating Christmas at home and hanging your stockings and now home and hearth have been destroyed.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the wind-whipped blaze that erupted Thursday and blackened entire neighborhoods in the area located between Denver and Boulder. By Friday the fire was no longer a threat.
Pelle said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out.
He said authorities were pursuing a number of tips and had executed a search warrant at “one particular location.” He declined to give details.
A sheriff’s official who declined to provide his name confirmed that one property was under investigation in Boulder County’s Marshall Mesa area, a region of open grassland about 2 miles west of the hard-hit town of Superior. A National Guard Humvee blocked access to the property, which was one of several under investigation, the official said.
Authorities had said earlier no one was missing. But Boulder County spokesperson Jennifer Churchill said Saturday that was due to confusion inherent when agencies are scrambling to manage an emergency.
Pelle said officials were organizing cadaver teams to search for the missing in the Superior area and in unincorporated Boulder County. The task is complicated by debris from destroyed structures covered by 8 inches of snow dumped by a storm overnight, he said.
At least 991 homes were destroyed, Pelle said: 553 in Louisville, 332 in Superior and 106 in unincorporated parts of the county. Pelle cautioned that the tally was not final.
At least seven people were injured in the wildfire that erupted in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000. It burned at least 9.4 square miles.
The snow and temperatures in the single digits cast an eerie scene amid still-smoldering remains of homes Saturday. Despite the shocking change in weather, the smell of smoke still permeated empty streets blocked off by National Guard troops in Humvees.
The conditions compounded the misery of residents who started off the new year trying to salvage what remained of their homes.
Utility crews struggled to restore electricity and gas service to homes that survived, and dozens of people lined up to get donated space heaters, bottled water and blankets at Red Cross shelters. Xcel Energy urged other residents to use fireplaces and wood stoves to stay warm and keep their pipes at home from freezing.
Families filled a long line of cars waiting to pick up space heaters and bottled water at a Salvation Army distribution center at the YMCA in Lafayette, just north of Superior.
Monarch High School seniors Noah Sarasin and his twin brother, Gavin, had been volunteering at that location for two days, directing traffic and distributing donations.
“We have a house, no heat but we still have a house,” Noah Sarasin said. “I just want to make sure that everyone else has heat on this very cold day.”
(Brittany Peterson & Eugene Garcia, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Colorado residents driven from their neighborhoods by a terrifying, wind-whipped wildfire got their first, heartbreaking look at the damage the morning after, while others could only wait and wonder whether their homes were among those destroyed.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said more than 500 homes were probably destroyed. He and the governor said as many as 1,000 homes might have been lost, though that won’t be known until crews can assess the damage.
At least seven people were injured, but remarkably there were no immediate reports of any deaths or anyone missing in the aftermath of the blaze outside Denver.
Cathy Glaab found that her home in the town of Superior where she lives with her husband had been turned into a pile of charred and twisted debris. It was one of seven houses in a row that burned to the ground.
“The mailbox is standing,” Glaab said, trying to crack a smile through tears. She added sadly, “So many memories.”
Despite the devastation, she said they intend to rebuild the house they had since 1998. They love that the land backs up to a natural space, and they have a view of the mountains from the back.
Rick Dixon feared there would be nothing to return to after he saw firefighters try to save his burning home on the news. On Friday, Dixon, his wife and 21-year-old son found it mostly gutted with a gaping hole in the roof but still standing. Only smoldering rubble remained where several neighboring homes once stood in a row immediately next to theirs.
“We thought we lost everything,” he said, as the family held his mother-in-law’s china in padded containers. They also retrieved sculptures that belonged to Dixon’s father and piles of clothes still on hangers.
The wildfire erupted Thursday in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000.
Tens of thousands were ordered to flee as the flames swept over drought-stricken neighborhoods with alarming speed, propelled by guests up to 105 mph.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Emergency authorities said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out. The blaze was largely contained Friday.
With some roads still closed Friday, people walked back to their homes to get clothes or medicine, turn the water off to prevent the pipes from freezing, or see if they still had a house. They left carrying backpacks and pulling suitcases or wagons down the sidewalk.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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