Key Facts Of The Day 07/13

Hurricanes

• Tropical system to bring heavy rains to Florida Panhandle and Louisiana.
  • The National Hurricane Center reduced the system’s chances of development to 0%.
  • Regardless of development, heavy rains will pose a risk of flash flooding along portions of the northern Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle over the next several days.
• Rescuers in Tennessee reportedly saved more than a dozen people trapped in rising floodwaters at a campground Tuesday night as they continued to search for others amid an ongoing flash flood warning.
  • Fourteen people were first reported trapped at the Greenbrier Campground in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
  • A temporary evacuation center was opened at Pittman Center Elementary School in Gatlinburg for residents displaced by flash flooding on the Little Pidgeon River.
• NYC basement apartments are still unregulated, despite Hurricane Ida deaths last fall.
  • City and state officials say evicting people from basement apartments isn’t realistic and instead want to focus on legalizing them and making them safer. But they haven’t done enough to make that type of housing safer.

Wildfires

• As of Tuesday, there are currently 79 large active wildfires that have burned 2,896,445 across AK, AZ, CA, ID, MT, NV, NM, TX, UT, and WY. As of Tuesday, 35,964 wildfires have burned 5,021,894 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 58 fires have burned 2,481,373 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Clear Fire has burned 70,613 acres and is 22% contained as of Tuesday.
    • On Monday half-inch of rain fell, slowing the Alaska wildfire that prompted evacuations.
    • Evacuation orders were placed for all properties accessed by roads, trails, or driveways on the west side of the Parks Highway from mileposts 269 to 275.
    • At least one home has been confirmed to have been lost.
• In Arizona, 3 fires have burned 30,969 acres as of Tuesday.
• In California, 2 fires have burned 7,198 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Electra Fire has burned 4,478 acres and is 85% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Washburn Fire has burned 2,720 acres and is 20% contained as of Tuesday.
    • The area in the southern portion of Yosemite was closed to visitors, but the rest of the national park remained open.
    • A sprinkler system was set up within the Mariposa grove to maintain moisture, and there were no reports of severe damage to any named sequoia trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant.
• In Idaho, 1 fire has burned 108 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Montana, 1 fire has burned 355 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Nevada, 2 fires have burned 7,955 acres as of Tuesday.
• In New Mexico, 1 fire has burned 341,735 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 341,735 acres and is 93% contained as of Tuesday.
• In Texas, 7 fires have burned 10,040 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Utah, 3 fires have burned 16,059 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Wyoming, 1 fire has burned 653 acres as of Tuesday.

Extreme Heat

• State officials curtailed supplies to nearly 60% of water rights holders in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delt watershed as California battles an ongoing drought.
  • According to the state water board, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta watershed is California’s largest surface water supply, utilized by nearly two-thirds of the state’s population and millions of acres of farmland.
• While Texas is being hit by heat waves, solar power is helping keep the electric grid running and preventing blackouts.
  • Solar accounts for roughly 25% of the renewable resources on the grid.
• Most of Texas has had above-normal heat since the start of June.
  • Paramedics in Fort Worth, Texas, responded to a dramatic surge in heat-related 911 calls as the heat intensified, with people suffering from homelessness, the elderly, young children, and outdoor workers at the highest risk for illnesses caused by the searing heat.
  • Abilene started a new streak of triple-digit heat on July 4.
  • According to the National Weather Service, Austin and San Antonio are experiencing their hottest meteorological summers on record.
  • On July 11, the mercury hit 107 degrees in San Antonio, smashing the old daily temperature record by 3 degrees and tying the record for the warmest July day ever in the city.
  • On July 12, despite dropping two degrees, San Antonio’s high of 105 degrees still broke a daily record of 103 set in 1998.
  • On Monday in Austin, the temperature rose to 106 degrees for the third day in a row. Austin has been above 100 degrees every day since July 6.
  • On Monday in Laredo, the temperature rose to 110 degrees.
  • On Tuesday evening, 23,000 customers were without power in the state, including almost 1,000 outages in the central state Concho County.

New Reports And Data

• A July 2022 study found that U.S. emissions inflict almost $2 trillion in damage to other countries.
• A June 20222 study found that the risk of death increased by 21% on days when there was both extreme heat and high air pollution.