Key Facts Of The Day 07/29

Hurricanes

• On Thursday, heavy rains continued to unleash high water and people lost electricity as storms kept pounding parts of central Appalachia.
  • On Thursday morning, Gov. Andy Beshear issued a statewide state of emergency and activated the Kentucky National Guard to assist victims and the recovery effort.
  • On Friday morning, Gov. Andy Beshear said that at least 15 people — including children — had died in the flooding.
  • Rockslides and mudslides also have been reported, some of which have cut off communities.
  • There were more than 20,000 power outages in eastern Kentucky and nearly 10,000 more in southern West Virginia.
  • Floyd County in eastern Kentucky declared a local state of emergency due to significant rainfall and flooding.
  • In West Virginia’s Greenbrier County, firefighters pulled people from flooded homes.
  • Five people who got stranded by high water while camping in Nicholas County were rescued by the Keslers Cross Lanes Volunteer Fire Department.
  • 20 to 30 people had been airlifted to safety.
  • Black Hawk helicopter crews are rescuing people trapped on rooftops, including at a school.
  • People in low areas in Perry, Leslie, and Clay counties were urged to seek higher ground after multiple swift water rescues were reported.
  • Flooding has caused houses to be submerged to their roofs, cars swept away, and serious damage to roadways and other infrastructure.
  • One family waded through water, climbed over debris, and slid through mud for about two miles before another family member was able to take them to safety.
  • The deluges in St. Louis and eastern Kentucky are both considered events with less than a 1-in-1,000 chance of occurring in a given year.
  • The Weather Service has placed eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia under a Level 3 of 4 moderate risks for excessive rainfall.
• Climate change is making extreme rainfall, like in Missouri and Kentucky, more common, and driving dangerous floods across much of the U.S.
• On Tuesday, the northernmost city in U.S., Utqiagvik, Alaska, just had its wettest day on record.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 61 large active wildfires that have burned 1,956,668 across AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OK, TX, UT, and WY. As of Friday, 38,855 wildfires have burned 5,626,071 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 40 fires have burned 1,490,877 acres as of Friday.
• In Arizona, 3 fires have burned 4,384 acres as of Friday.
• In California, 2 fires have burned 24,077 acres as of Friday.
  • The Oak Fire has burned 19,191 acres and is 42% contained as of Friday.
    • The fire has destroyed at least 116 homes and other structures.
    • As of Wednesday,  about 2,200 residents remained under evacuation orders.
    • Some 6,000 people fled their homes when the blaze erupted Friday near the town of Midpines.
  • The Washburn Fire has burned 4,886 acres and is 95% contained as of Thursday.
  • The smoke from California wildfires is wafting north, bringing hazy conditions and complicating high-temperature forecasts.
• In Hawaii, 1 fire has burned 2,368 acres as of Friday.
• In Idaho, 3 fires have burned 42,970 acres as of Friday.
• In Montana, 2 fires have burned 1,390 acres as of Friday.
• In Nevada, 3 fires have burned 8,020 acres as of Friday.
• In New Mexico, 2 fires have burned 344,435 acres as of Friday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 341,735 acres and is 94% contained as of Friday.
• In Oklahoma, 2 fires have burned 19,190 acres as of Friday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 6,746 acres as of Friday.
  • The Chalk Mountain Fire has burned 6,746 acres and is 67% contained as of Friday.
    • The fire has destroyed at least 16 homes.
    • Extreme drought, combined with wind gusts and temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, has resulted in destructive wildfires across North Texas.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 11,701 acres as of Friday.
• In Wyoming, 1 fire has burned 510 acres as of Friday.

Extreme Heat

• The National Weather Service has extended excessive heat warnings for the Pacific Northwest to Saturday evening.
  • Heat wave duration records could be broken in the Pacific Northwest this week.
  • Highs are running some 10 to 15 degrees above average in spots, with readings as high as 115 degrees expected.
  • On Tuesday, officials in Seattle and Portland issued air quality advisories expected to last through Saturday, warning that smog may reach levels that could be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
  • Fifteen million people in the western United States and Pacific Northwest will see highs hit the century mark over the coming days.
  • Seattle should peak around 90 degrees at the airport each day through Friday or Saturday.
  • Upper 90s to near 100 degrees in Portland are essentially a guarantee through Saturday.
• By the middle of next week, an even bigger heat wave may build in across the central and eastern Lower 48.

New Reports And Data

• A July 2022 study found that extreme weather caused $65 billion of losses in the first half of 2022.
• A July 2022 poll found that 53% of U.S. adults personally have felt the effects of climate change.
• A July 2022 study found that the record-shattering heat wave that ripped through the United Kingdom last week was at least 10 times more likely to happen because of climate change.