Overview
- Rescue crews in central Texas are still searching for more than 100 people under persistent flood watches after early July’s deadly flash floods.
- More than 3,000 flash flood warnings were issued nationwide from January through mid-July, overwhelming local emergency networks and data management systems.
- The Commerce Department’s indefinite suspension of the Atlas 15 rainfall dataset has stalled critical updates to flood-risk models based on decades-old data.
- Aging infrastructure—from century-old New York City sewers to outdated drainage systems—has been regularly overwhelmed by increasingly intense rainfall fueled by a warming atmosphere.
- NOAA and the National Weather Service have begun phasing in upgraded forecasting and warning tools to integrate higher atmospheric moisture and intensifying storm patterns.