Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
At least 27 people have been killed and more than 20 children are missing after a catastrophic flash flood in Texas.
Officials say the Guadalupe River, which runs through central Texas Hill Country, rose 26 feet (8 meters) early Friday in just 45 minutes, bursting banks and damaging roads and property.
On Saturday, rescue workers continued to search for more than 20 children who were missing from the summer camp where they were present. Floods have occurred as Americans gather together to celebrate Independence Day.
“The rescue team is working all night and will continue until we find all the citizens,” Kerrville Police Department said on Facebook on Saturday.
The search and rescue operations involve helicopters, drones, boats and hundreds of staff, officials said, but are hampered by limited access to some areas, especially when roads are washed away.
President Donald Trump said the floods and deaths were “awful” and “shocking” as he vowed to support the federal government.
Officials in Kerr County, northwest of San Antonio, said extreme rainfall was not predicted, adding that there was no warning system. “There was no reason to believe this would be something like what happened here,” said Carr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local elected official.
However, the National Weather Service said Kerr County’s first flash flood warning was issued early Friday morning, and issued flood monitoring for the area on Thursday. On Saturday, he warned that there is still more flash flood risk in the area.
Hannah Cloak, a hydrology professor at the University of Reading in the UK, said the gorgeous ones “apparently predicted by several predictors around the world a few hours ago.”
“It’s not enough to say that authorities don’t realize that floods were coming. The warnings were available, but the message didn’t go through,” she said.
The Trump administration has x hundreds of jobs in the National Maritime and Atmospheric Administration and its National Weather Service, and critics have argued that the move undermines the country’s ability to generate life-saving predictions.
Scientists warn that climate change is increasing the risk of catastrophic storms and heavy rainfall, as warmer air retains more moisture. Flash floods – rapid flooding in low-lying areas – killed more than 200 people in Valencia, Spain last year.
“The tragic events in Texas are what we expect in a hotter, climate-changing world,” said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysics and climate risks at London University College.
“In recent years, explosions have been occurring in extreme weather, including devastating flash floods caused by slow moving, wet storms.
