Key Facts Of The Day 5/2

Storms and Flooding

• On Monday, six people were killed and at least 37 others injured when a rare dust storm swept through nearby farms and onto a highway in Farmersville, Illinois, causing “zero visibility” conditions.
  • The dust storm came on rapidly, creating conditions similar to a snowstorm whiteout, in which visibility is significantly reduced.
  • Although dust storms can occur anywhere in the U.S., they are most common in the Southwest and rarely occur in central Illinois.
  • However, a dry spell, combined with very strong winds, had created Monday’s conditions.
• Mississippi River crest reached historic proportions as Iowans coped with another flood.
  • On Monday, the crest in the Quad Cities area in Iowa ranked in the top 10 historic crests.
  • On Monday morning, the river gauge at Rock Island, near Davenport, crested with water levels around 21.4 feet, placing it as the eighth-highest recorded at that spot.
  • Flood warnings continue along a long stretch of the Mississippi River from St Paul, Minnesota, to just north of St Louis, Missouri.
  • In Green Island, Iowa, a levee breach flooded roughly 4,000 acres of a wildlife refuge and damaged nine properties.
• Hundreds of hazardous industrial sites that dot the California coastline – including oil and gas refineries and sewage-treatment plants – are at risk of severe flooding from rising sea levels if the climate crisis worsens.
  • Residents living within a kilometer — about 0.6 miles — of these contaminated sites tend to be people of color, the elderly, unemployed, and low-income communities.

Wildfire

• As of April 28, 13  large active wildfires have burned 45,376 acres across CO, FL, KS, NJ, NM, NC, OK, and WV.
• As of April 28, 12,972 wildfires have burned 392,287 acres across the country.
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 4,618 acres as of April 28.
• In Florida, 2 fires have burned 1,353 acres as of April 28.
• In New Mexico, 1 fire has burned 989 acres as of April 28.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 32,400 acres as of April 28.
• In Oklahoma, 5 fires have burned 2,384 acres as of April 28.

Extreme Heat

• In Phoenix, Arizona, three hiking trails are set to close during excessive heat warning days through September.
  • Heat is the deadliest weather in Arizona, and prolonged exposure to some outstanding temperatures during the summer can cause heat illness and death.
• Dangerous summer heat puts people in New York prisons at risk.
  • The Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a nonprofit with oversight authority under state law to monitor prisons, found that incarcerated individuals were locked in cells with no cross ventilation in humid conditions.
  • Some people were sweating just standing inside their cells.
  • Some people said the heat worsened their health conditions.
  •  Some people also added that the heat contributed to people being agitated.
• Deadly heat waves threaten older people as summer nears.
  • Older people of color, with a greater tendency for chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure, are especially at risk.
  • Many older people need personalized attention during extreme heat because of isolation, mobility issues, or medical problems.

New Reports and Data

• A May 2023 study found that many bird species produce fewer offspring as global temperatures rise.
• A May 2023 study found that hundreds of hazardous industrial sites on the California coastline are at risk of severe flooding from rising sea levels if the climate crisis worsens.