KHOU 11 meteorologist Kim Castro is tracking Tropical Storm Bertha, as well as extreme heat in the Houston area. view article

Daily electricity use could surpass previous record highs, with renewable energy helping meet demand.  AUSTIN, Texas — Some of the hottest weather of the year is moving into Texas this week, and the state’s power grid operator is preparing for a significant surge in electricity demand.  The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, said the state experienced its second-hottest summer on record in 2023, when electricity demand reached 85.5 megawatts – the highest level ever recorded in Texas. view article

One year after volunteer firefighter Razor Dobbs scoured the Texas Hill Country for victims of a devastating early morning flood, he stood before an elderly couple reluctant to evacuate their Center Point-area home as rain pounded and thunder crashed.It was around 3 a.m. Thursday, and in the darkness the nearby Guadalupe River was surging over its banks. view article

Daily electricity use could surpass previous record highs, with renewable energy helping meet demand. AUSTIN, Texas — Some of the hottest weather of the year is moving into Texas this week, and the state’s power grid operator is preparing for a significant surge in electricity demand.   The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, said the state experienced its second-hottest summer on record in 2023, when electricity demand reached 85.5 megawatts – the highest level ever recorded in Texas. view article

Long-term housing is a pressing need after last week’s storms left another 490 residences needing repairs, the governor said.  Swift-moving floodwater destroyed or heavily damaged 135 homes in Kerr County, Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday from Kerrville after taking a helicopter survey of affected areas and receiving a briefing by state and area officials.  Water that surged over the banks of the Guadalupe River last week also damaged 490 homes and about 100 businesses in Kerr County, Abbott said. view article

While much of Texas has begun shifting from rescue efforts to recovery after days of catastrophic flooding, Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday the state's greatest concern remains along the Nueces River, where evacuations continued in parts of Uvalde County as floodwaters slowly receded.  The storms killed at least two people and prompted disaster declarations covering dozens of counties.  “We, as a state and our local communities, still have to get them through the remaining challenges over the next 48 to 72 — maybe even longer than that — hours,” Abbott said.  In Uvalde County, the river crested at a record 28.01 feet, surpassing its previous high-water mark set in 1996. Floodwaters also destroyed part of the FM 481 bridge southwest of Uvalde, cutting off a key connection between Uvalde and Eagle Pass. view article

Tropical Storm Bertha is tracking westward across the northern Gulf. It could strengthen a little more before making landfall. Here's the latest forecast. Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to bring heavy rain to the Gulf Coast rim as the system strengthens. Tropical storm watches have already been issued for parts of the Florida Panhandle, specifically from the Ochlockonee River to the Alabama border. [theweatherchannel] 2 Articles  The system, currently identified as Tropical Depression Two, is forecasted to move northwest through the early part of the week before tracking along the northern Gulf Coast. Beyond heavy rainfall, residents should be aware of potential threats including gusty winds of 40 mph or greater, a possible storm surge of 1 to 3 feet in the Florida Big Bend region, and increased risks of rip currents from the Florida West Coast to the Louisiana coast. There is also a possibility of tropical tornadoes or waterspouts occurring as the storm progresses. [theweatherchannel] 1 Article view article

Good Morning. Tropical Storm Bertha is a good reminder that even though the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season could be one of the least active in over a decade, that doesn’t mean that tropical storms are just taking this year off. view article

DHS attributed the success to President Trump’s border security policies. view article

One of the shocking things about the storms that hit Texas this week is that rainfall of similar devastating strength struck almost exactly a year ago in many of the same places.  That tragic repetition may be less of a surprise to those who follow climate science.  While it is tricky to attribute specific rain events to climate change, experts say they know enough about how the warming atmosphere and warming oceans affect precipitation to recognize trends.   "We're not saying that our warming climate caused these floods this year, last year" Shel Winkley, chief meteorologist at Climate Central, told Texas Public Radio's The Source. "But we understand how it's making it more likely, more frequent."   A warming atmosphere, for example, increases extreme rainfall risk because warm air holds more moisture that can lead to about 4% more rainfall for every one degree warmer the air becomes, Winkley said. view article

Tropical Depression Two maps tracker: Cone of uncertainty, watches, rainfall   This system is a good reminder that, even though we’re predicting a quieter-than-normal hurricane season, that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing some storms. This is a great reminder that anyone living near hurricane-prone areas should make sure their weather alerts are enabled and their go bag is ready. Get ready, stay safe and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.   view article

Rainfall over already saturated ground keeps emergency crews on their toes, but forecasters see hope for drier weather. view article

Residents experiencing flooding on Thursday similar to 2025’s catastrophic July 4 event describe a new sense of preparedness but the same intense anxieties.   KERRVILLE — Soyla Reyna stood outside Calvary Temple Church, taking a momentary respite from hours of manning the flood displacement shelter at her home church in Kerrville on Thursday.  “A lot of it was unbelievable,” she said as the rain outside the church patio began to let up. “People are devastated by the reoccurrence.”   Over the course of the morning, Reyna had seen nearly 50 people come to Calvary Temple. They sought supplies and shelter after rapidly rising water swept away their homes and RVs, scenes reminiscent of the devastating flood that tore through the region a little over a year ago. view article

WFAA (Dallas–Fort Worth) is your source for breaking news, Texas weather, traffic, and live coverage in Dallas, Fort Worth, and across North Texas. Get the latest updates from the WFAA team — from major local headlines and investigations to severe weather, community stories, and the moments everyone’s talking about. Watch live newscasts, stream breaking coverage, and catch up on the top stories shaping Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, and surrounding communities. view article

Forecasters warn of a “large and deadly flood wave” on the Guadalupe River and place 14 counties under flash flood warnings. view article

"MASSIVE amounts of water moving downstream today." view article

The tornado warning is in effect until 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, July 15.  A tornado warning was quickly issued for parts of Frio and Medina County on Wednesday, July 16. The warning issued by the National Weather Service was originally set to expire by 6:30 a.m. However, NWS extended to 7:15 a.m. view article

After a construction worker died earlier this year on the Converse Elementary School campus, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused a contractor and a staffing company of committing multiple safety violations. The construction worker, later identified as 63-year-old Baltazar Rubio-Olvera, was removing dirt from the school’s crawl space with a mini-excavator. view article

Dangerous flooding is spreading across Central Texas on Tuesday as relentless rainfall overwhelms roads, with some areas seeing more than a foot of water covering major highways and rain totals climbing toward historic levels. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott activated Texas emergency response resources ahead of a statewide threat of heavy rain and flash flooding. The National Weather Service warns slow-moving storms could bring flooding, damaging winds and large hail through midweek. State rescue teams and helicopters are on standby, while Texans are urged to avoid flooded roads and stay weather aware. view article

Unreliable energy and a “mockery of republican form of government” take center stage in transmission line battle.  In response to lawmakers’ request for a pause on extra-high-voltage transmission lines, transmission service providers admitted reliance on wind and solar power, along with government intervention, is driving Permian Basin energy issues. This aligns with a third-party report that the lines are primarily built to support wind and solar, while local reliable generation alternatives were never fully examined.  Providers argued that public utility commissioners do not have the power to grant lawmakers’ request to pause the project. The next day, state senators announced they would hold a hearing on the proposed lines in late July.  view article

Crider’s dance hall is back. Homes are rebuilt. Kids swim in the river. But there’s also deep grief after the river killed 119 people and traumatized more.  Alicia Baker can’t bring herself to clean her daughter’s bedroom.   Eleven-year-old Madelyn “Emmy” Jeffrey left a pile of craft supplies on the floor in their San Antonio home before heading off to the Guadalupe River with her grandparents, where they drowned in the flood last Fourth of July.   A year later, the pile is still there. view article

wGalveston County alone is home to 22 refineries and chemical plants. Their level of emergency preparedness varies widely.  Nearly two decades had passed since the storm. For many, the memory of what had happened on Goat Island had largely vanished into the Gulf of Mexico.  Instead, what residents remembered that year were the piles of boats and cars washed up along the highway to Galveston and the twisted mounds of debris where homes once stood. It was late summer 2008, and Hurricane Ike had just struck, decimating parts of the upper Texas Gulf Coast.   But Goat Island — a spit of swampy land just east of Galveston — also flooded, and with it an oil and gas facility that sat on its uninhabited shores. When the hurricane struck, piping to the St. Mary Land and Exploration Company’s storage tanks snapped apart, releasing thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. By the time St. Mary workers arrived a day later, the tanks were empty.   There were nearly 450 reported releases of oil, gasoline and other hazardous substances into the air and water during Ike, including the incident on Goat Island. None of these releases was catastrophic. But the area’s luck may not hold. view article

A fire damaged a Lewisville Independent School District high school Tuesday night, officials say. Fire crews responded to Killough High School, located on North Summit Avenue, just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night. Firefighters saw black smoking coming from the roof of the building and began cutting holes to ventilate the smoke. view article

Camp Mystic summer camp has filed for bankruptcy after 25 young girls and two counselors were killed in July 4 flash floods last summer.  A Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding was filed in the Southern District of Texas at 1 a.m. Wednesday, according to online court documents.   Under possessions that need immediate attention the filing lists the property poses or is alleged to pose a threat of imminent and identifiable hazard to public health or safety, needs to be physically secured or protected from the weather and it includes perishable goods or assets that could quickly deteriorate or lose value without attention.  view article

The names, Social Security numbers and medical information of more than 26,000 people were exposed as part of a data breach impacting Alamo Heights ISD. The San Antonio school district reported the breach to the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday, saying that those affected were in the process of being notified by mail. It's unclear how much of the affected population are students, staff or faculty members with Alamo Heights ISD, which serves about 4,700 students. view article

A new investigative report paints a troubling picture of Camp Mystic’s preparedness before last year’s historic July 4 floods, which killed 25 campers and two counselors. The 115-page report will now be used by the Texas Legislature to guide future policy changes.  No written emergency plans. Stalled evacuations. Chaotic incident management and reunification efforts.  Those were some of the main findings included in a new investigative report on Camp Mystic’s response to last year’s historic July 4 flood that killed 25 of its campers and two counselors.  The 115-page document, which was adopted Thursday by a special joint committee in the Texas Legislature, paints a troubling picture of Camp Mystic’s preparedness prior to the flood.  “This report represents months of careful work by the Senate and House General Investigative Committees to establish a complete and factual record of the events surrounding this tragedy, honor the memories of those that were lost, and identify lessons that can help prevent future loss of life,” said state Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, a committee chair.  More than 130 people were killed in the July 4 floods. The majority of those deaths took place in Kerr County in the Texas Hill Country, where Camp Mystic is one of many popular summer camps lining the banks of the Guadalupe River.   Now, lawmakers say the report’s findings will be used to guide policy changes for the Texas Legislature to take up when they reconvene in 2027. view article

The storm may bring another 5 to 10 inches to the southeast, up to 20 inches in some spots. view article

Tropical Storm Arthur could develop in the western Gulf by late Wednesday morning.  Potential Tropical Cyclone One is nearing the Texas coast, and is still expected to possibly bring life-threatening flooding to portions of Texas and Louisiana.  The system is moving northeast at 7 mph and is expected to move farther offshore of the Texas coast this morning.   view article

Tropical Storm Arthur could develop in the western Gulf by late Wednesday morning.  Potential Tropical Cyclone One is nearing the Texas coast, and is still expected to possibly bring life-threatening flooding to portions of Texas and Louisiana.  The system is moving northeast at 7 mph and is expected to move farther offshore of the Texas coast this morning.   view article

Hut 8 says its proposed Beacon Point campus will minimize noise. A researcher says residents should still understand potential impacts of noise pollution.  ROBSTOWN, Texas — Questions remain about water use, power demand and economic impacts as Florida-based contractor Hut 8 moves forward with its proposed Beacon Point data center campus in Nueces County.  Now, a researcher who studied communities living near large concentrations of data centers says another issue should be part of the conversation: noise. view article

The number of uninsured young children in Texas has risen in recent years, according to a new report from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families.  Georgetown CCF, a prominent nonpartisan health policy research organization, used data from the 2024 American Community Survey — the most recent data that is currently available from the U.S. Census Bureau.  "The reason we look at young children is because their coverage is really important during a critical time of their development," said Georgetown CCF research fellow Elisabeth Burak. "When they don't have access to the care that they need in those early years, they're at higher risk of falling behind developmentally."  Researchers found that 10.8% of Texas children under 6 were uninsured in 2024, up from 7.9% in 2022. That comes out to more than 73,000 additional uninsured kids. Texas has the highest uninsured rate of any U.S. state for that age bracket, far exceeding the national rate of 5.3%. view article

Millions of Americans are starting to see their monthly health-insurance bills rise, a new pressure point for a nation still frustrated with the high cost of living.   Many of those facing the most substantial dollar increases are middle-income Americans who buy health insurance through the marketplaces set up by the government’s Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. view article

Three students are hospitalized after a band tower collapsed in Frisco on Thursday evening, officials said. According to Frisco ISD, the band tower at Centennial High School, which was approximately 30 feet tall, collapsed, injuring several students who were climbing on it. The injured students were transported to local hospitals for treatment, Frisco ISD officials said. view article

Alvin Independent School District announced Wednesday that Wilder and Marek Elementary Schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year due to significant water damage as rounds of heavy rain and storms continue moving through the Houston area. Initially, district officials said they expected both schools to reopen on Thursday, but that changed in a Wednesday afternoon update. view article