Environmental Glance
At least 359 people have died, and nearly 1,000 others are reported missing after a flash flood struck a mountainous area in Nepal and the Tibet region of China on Aug. 26.
The working theory is that a glacial collapse produced the flood that washed away buildings, cars and people with incredible speed and force, scientists told USA TODAY. The U.S. Geological Survey said a glacial collapse, in which part of a glacier breaks away, produced a seismic event at about 8:37 a.m. local time.
The collAs emergency officials continue to search for the dead and missing after a horrific Himalayan river flood, scientists race to assess the risk of even more flooding and piece together how it all began. It could take days or weeks to fully understand the event. Here's what we know so far:
See how a glacier collapse caused a deadly flood in Nepal and Tibet
Fast-growing Hawk Fire near Reno triggers mass evacuation orders
Afast-growing wildfire forced over 42,000 people to evacuate near Reno, Nevada, over the weekend, while more than 40,000 others remained under evacuation warnings.
The blaze, dubbed the Hawk Fire, started northwest of Reno on the morning of Aug. 22 and quickly grew to more than 15,000 acres by the afternoon of Aug. 23, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Firefighters expect the fire to spread to the northeast, "impacting multiple major thoroughfares, structures, businesses" and infrastructure in Stead, Nevada, the fire center posted in an update.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared an emergency for Washoe County, which includes Reno and the northeast portion of Lake Tahoe. "This is an active and rapidly evolving situation, and I urge everyone in the affected areas to remain vigilant and follow the direction of local officials," said Lombardo in a statement shared on social media.
The Hawk fire had burned an undetermined number of structures, according to Shane Akerson, a battalion chief with the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District during an Aug. 23 briefing. The fire, which started in the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, was human-caused and the source of the ignition remains under active investigation, Akerson said. At least six people had been injured, including three civilians and three first responders.
Four dead as historic rainfall hits Japan, triggering landslides and power outages
Today's floods come after a week of storms in the region.
Japan, China and the Philippines were hit by back-to-back storms – Dolphin, Chan-Hom and Peilou – which are churning across the region at the same time.
Earlier this week, Chinese authorities evacuated more than a million people from their homes as Dolphin, the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year, made landfall in thMore...e country's east.
On Friday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said the deluge was brought by warm, humid air flowing into eastern Japan that combined with cold air above to make atmospheric conditions extremely unstable.
Around 7,000 people were left stranded overnight at Narita, one of Tokyo's two main airports, as the rain cut transport services linking to the airport on Thursday.
All flights are scheduled to operate normally on Friday, an airport spokesperson says. National flag carrier Japan Airlines says some of its flights may be delayed but it does not expect any cancellations.
Famed tourist destinations evacuated as wildfire threatens California’s Big Sur
Evacuations have been ordered for areas along California’s famous Big Sur coast as a wildfire burns in the nearby steep, rugged mountains.
The Timber fire in Monterey county started on Sunday and grew to nearly 3,000 acres by Tuesday evening, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Nearly 500 fire personnel had been assigned to the fire in the Los Padres national forest.
The evacuations have affected famed tourist destinations such as the Nepenthe restaurant, the Henry Miller Memorial Library and the Alila Ventana resort, as well as state parks during the region’s busiest season. Part of the Pacific Coast Highway in Monterey county was closed for non-residents, and officials urged visitors to avoid the area entirely.
Firefighters worked to build containment lines along the Highway 1 corridor, Cal Fire said on Monday, and have boxed in 5% of the blaze. Ground crews are working to access difficult terrain, the agency said, but the fire is moving slowly, burning primarily along the ground through grass, brush and oak woodland and has not moved into the tree tops.
Green grant cancellations were ‘based solely’ on states’ political affiliation, Trump administration says in court
Federal green grants canceled last year were selected “solely” based on a state’s political affiliation, the Trump administration said in a recent court filing.
In the filing, Department of Energy (DOE) lawyer Jeff Novak said the department came up with a list of 624 grants slated for potential termination.
Novak said the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) selected 284 of those grants to be included in a tranche of cancellations.
He wrote that all except one of the 284 grants OMB selected had ties to states that voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and had two Democratic-caucusing senators. Novak noted that the other 340 grants have not been canceled.
“DOE accepts that the inclusion of grants in the October notice tranche was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” he wrote.
He added that the grants’ inclusion in the October cancellations was not “based on any programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction, or performance-based factor.”
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Utah under historic ‘red flag’ weather warning amid dangerous wildfires
Salt Lake City’s National Weather Service declared a “particularly dangerous situation red flag warning”, the first in the service’s history, according to a social media post.
“THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE … Wind gusts of 40-50+ mph, combined with hot temperatures and extremely dry air, could cause explosive wildfire growth. Any new fire that starts could spread rapidly and become difficult to control,” said Chase Thomason, a meteorologist for KUTV, Utah’s CBS affiliate.
On the same day that the red flag warning was announced, Utah governor Spencer Cox has announced a state of emergency and accompanying temporary prohibition on the use of personal fireworks until 5 July. The announcement comes as the state experiences an unprecedented wildfire season with blazes that have prompted evacuations in Eureka, a small town about 80 miles (130km) south of Salt Lake City.
Under the governor’s executive order, the state forester is allowed to ban the use of fireworks anywhere in the state. The order temporarily suspends a 2024 law that disallowed the forester from banning fireworks in cities across the state.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocks the southern Philippines
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered at sea shook part of the southern Philippines early Monday, causing damage in a key coastal city, knocking down power and setting off 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami waves along nearby coasts, officials said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked people to immediately go to higher ground in Philippine areas vulnerable to a tsunami, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities also issued warnings to their nearby coastal areas.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, and it was not clear if people were trapped or injured in the collapse of at least one small building in General Santos, a tuna-processing city of more than 700,000 people that is also a commercial hub in the south.
The strongest earthquake to hit the Philippines this year was was centered at sea about 13 kilometers (8 miles) southwest of General Santos and was caused by movement in the Cotabato Trench at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It struck at 7:37 a.m., the institute's director, Teresito Bacolcol said.
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