A home surrounded by floodwaters is shown in this aerial view, in Rosharon, Texas, on June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
ATLANTA—More than 17 million people on the East Coast are
in the path of what could be severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and
tornadoes on Sunday.
In Florida, the governor and top emergency officials are keeping an
eye on a system developing near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that could
bring anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain beginning Sunday. The wacky
weather comes at the end of a week of scorching temperatures out West
and flooding that killed nine soldiers when their military vehicle got
caught in the rushing waters of a rain-swollen creek at Fort Hood,
Texas.
In Southern California, nine people were sickened by the heat during a
high school graduation ceremony as temperatures flirted with triple
digits. In Ohio, the third round of the Memorial PGA tournament was
delayed by thunderstorms.
An
evacuated Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison surrounded by
floodwaters is shown in this aerial view near Lochridge, Texas, on June
4, 2016. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Here’s a look at what people are doing to prepare and recover from the various types of weather:
Tropical Rains
The hurricane season is just a few days old, and its third named
storm may be developing near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The U.S.
National Hurricane Center in Miami says the system has a good chance of
forming into a tropical cyclone, and even if it doesn’t, it will still
bring heavy rains along the Gulf Coast.
Police in St. Petersburg distributed sandbags and Gov. Rick Scott warned residents, tourists and businesses to be prepared.
Florida’s emergency management director Bryan Koon said they expected
a fast-moving storm, which means it could mature rapidly. The severe
weather could last through Tuesday.
“Even if this system does not develop into a named storm, it still
poses significant risks from flooding, damaging winds and tornadoes, and
rip currents,” he said.
If the storm does develop, it would be named Colin.
Cattle are herded through floodwaters toward higher ground, near Chenango, Texas, on June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Heat Sickness
Nine people were sickened from the heat at Palm Desert High School’s graduation ceremony, which was held outside.
Two people had to be taken to the hospital for treatment, said
Jennifer Fuhrman, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire
Department.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory and warnings for
the suburbs south and east of Los Angeles through Sunday and urged
residents to take extra precautions when spending time outside.
Temperatures in the area could reach triple digits on Saturday.
Similar heat warnings were issued in Las Vegas and Phoenix, where the mercury could climb to 118 degrees Saturday.
Taking Aim at the Nation’s Capital
More than 17 million people in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Virginia
Beach, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina, are looking at an
“enhanced” risk of severe thunderstorms Sunday, according to the
National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.
Damaging winds, a tornado or two and marginally severe hail are expected from the Southeast to as far north as New York.
A
home surrounded by floodwaters is shown in this aerial view, near
Holiday Lakes, Texas, on June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Brushfires and Wildfires
Firefighters are spending the weekend battling blazes in California, New Mexico and Arizona.
A wildfire sparked by lightning burned nearly 12 square miles in the
San Mateo Mountains near Magdalena, which is about 100 miles southwest
of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Firefighters
approach a brush in the foothills outside of Calabasas, Calif., on June
4, 2016. A fast-moving brushfire sweeping through hills northwest of
downtown Los Angeles has damaged homes and prompted neighborhood
evacuations. Los Angeles County fire officials now say the brushfire is
threatening about 3,000 homes in the Calabasas neighborhood. (AP
Photo/Richard Vogel)
In Arizona, firefighters are fighting a much larger blaze. The
Juniper Fire just south of the town of Young is now burning on over 28
square miles in the Tonto National Forest. It too was caused by
lightning.
Officials say the extreme heat and a dry winter mean there’s a high
risk of wildfires. Summer has typically been considered wildfire season
but experts now say blazes happen year-round.
In Southern California, a brush fire burned 30 acres near Temecula,
forcing the closure of the southbound I-15 freeway. No homes were
immediately threatened.
Billowing
smoke from the Calabasas, Calif., fire as the clouds passed over the
homes of Park Calabasas, on June 4, 2016. (Matthew Dangerfield via AP)
Unyielding Texas Flooding
It’s been several days since deadly flooding began in parts of
southeast and central Texas, and the rain just started to let up
Saturday.
In its wake, Army officials investigated a training exercise that
went horribly wrong at Fort Hood, leading to the deaths of nine soldiers
whose vehicle was swept into rushing waters of a rain-swollen creek.
Three soldiers were pulled from the water and survived.
Coryell County emergency medical services chief Jeff Mincy told the
Killeen Daily Herald that only the wheels of an Army troop-transport
truck were visible after swift flood waters washed the 2½-ton vehicle
from a low-water crossing on the installation. He surmised the waters
were about 8 feet deep.
The Brazos River is causing trouble for communities in Fort Bend
County, especially near where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
County Judge Robert Hebert said floodwaters are receding but warned
some neighborhoods are still cut off and many local streets are
impassable.
“As water levels recede we will be able to get into these inundated areas and assess the damage,” he said.
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