A woman reacts as she and others are evacuated by boat from their homes by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies on Friday in Conroe, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Heavy rains and rising rivers in Southeast Texas near the Houston area have led to school closings, high-water rescues and mandatory evacuation orders.
More than 80,000 people were under flash flood warnings on Friday in Harris, Liberty and Montgomery counties, and officials in the waterlogged region urged residents to prepare for the flooding to get worse.
Over nine inches of rain fell during the past 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. It has also issued a flood warning until Tuesday for the region.
Of particular concern are the neighborhoods along the San Jacinto River, where mandatory evacuations are in place for residents within a half mile of the river and to the east. The river is expected to rise another nine feet between Friday and Saturday, according to officials.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This threat is ongoing and it’s going to get worse. It is not your typical river flood,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Friday at a news conference.
About 26 people and 30 pets have been rescued so far, according to Judge Hidalgo. Photographers captured images of some of those rescues in Conroe, Texas. No fatalities have been reported as of Friday morning, according to the Texas Tribune.
Meanwhile, severe storms caused several trees to fall in Spring, Texas, where photographers captured the severe damage they caused to some homes there.
Here’s a look at the situation unfolding in Southeast Texas:
A woman is handed her child after being evacuated by boat from her home with the help of deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office on Friday in Conroe, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A pickup truck maneuvers a residential street filled with water in the Woodloch, Texas, subdivision near The Woodlands as floodwaters rise on Friday. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Summer Belson, left, and her brother, Steve Brown, survey damage from a tree that fell in Belson's backyard during a severe storm on Thursday in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Conroe firefighter Cody Leroy carries a resident evacuated in a boat by the CFD Rapid Intervention Team from her flooded home in the aftermath of a severe storm on Thursday in Conroe, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A man carries his dogs rescued by boat from his home by Caney Creek Fire and Rescue on River Plantation Drive on Friday in Conroe, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Emergency workers with Caney Creek Fire and Rescue carry a dog from a flooded area in the River Plantation area of Conroe, Texas, on Friday. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Family members survey the damage after a tree fell on the home of Monica Ramirez during a severe storm on Thursday in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A woman is rescued by airboat from her home by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies on River Plantation Drive on Friday in Conroe, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after several trees fell on it during a severe storm on Thursday in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
An SUV is stranded in a ditch in a stretch of street flooding during a severe storm on Thursday in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
These Canadian CL-415 aircrafts, also known as amphibious water bombers, have been on the front lines fighting the wildfires blazing through California
With wildfires becoming more common and freshwater resources becoming scarce in some parts of the world, using ocean water to fight fires sounds like a simple solution. However, saltwater has a host of hazards. Kim MacDonald explains why it is only used as a last resort.
UPDATED with latest: Two more people were behind bars today for allegedly setting small fires in Los Angeles as crews continued efforts to contain the major blazes that have killed dozens of people and destroyed roughly 13,000 structures. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna reported there have been 44 arrests so far, 36 in the …
It may come as a bit of a shock that Toronto has seen more snowfall than Canada's usual top suspect for the highest accumulation at this point in the winter
John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources of Canada, says a volcano located 500 kilometres off the coast of B.C. could erupt this year, and it's an exciting opportunity for scientists to observe its impacts.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The windy, flame-fanning weather that put the nation's second most-populous metropolitan region on edge eased up Wednesday as firefighters made significant gains against the two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles.
Several episodes of light snow set to hit Ontario ahead of a potent cold front that opens the door to Arctic air, which will fan out across the region. Some of the coldest air of the season to come
Canadian crews are being put to use in the battle against wildfires that are devastating parts of Los Angeles, in a deployment that demonstrates Canadian expertise and sovereignty, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said.
Pascal Duclos, the head pilot of Quebec's aerial service, says crews are getting tired after days of dumping water on California wildfires in high winds over mountainous terrains.
Colossal Biosciences, which aims to revive extinct species, has raised an additional $200 million. Critics say de-extinction in its purest sense isn’t possible.
Firefighters around Los Angeles were preparing on Tuesday to attack flare-ups or new blazes. The National Weather Service issued a rare warning that dry winds combined with severely dry conditions created a “ particularly dangerous situation," indicating that any new fire could explode in size. The warning comes a week after two massive infernos destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 25 people.
Interviews with pilots paint a graphic picture of the struggle to maintain control of their ships amid one of the most intense and complicated airborne firefights in U.S. history.
Some of the visuals coming out of Los Angeles County over the past week are ones we expect with wildfires: dramatic flames, orange skies and damaged structures. But what's with the pink powder blanketing some neighbourhoods? The eye-popping substance coating streets, cars and surfaces is actually fire retardant, dropped by aerial firefighting tankers in massive plumes of red or pink. Unlike water drops, which target active flames, fire retardant is dropped by planes ahead of a fire's path to slow the fire's progress and allow crews to construct fire lines. Thousands of gallons of fire retardant have been dropped in Los Angeles County since fires broke out last week, officials say. The deadly fires have killed at least 25 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and displaced tens of thousands of residents so far. A car is covered by fire retardant as the Palisades Fire, one of simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County, burns at the Mandeville Canyon, a neighbourhood of Los Angeles. (Ringo Chiu/Reuters)What exactly is fire retardant? Fire retardants are composed of fertilizer chemicals such as ammonium phosphates. They often include bright pigments to aid pilots in dropping the retardant accurately. They work to slow the rate of fires by cooling and coating plants that serve as fuel to a fire, depleting the fire's oxygen, and slowing the burning process "as the retardant's inorganic salts change how fuels burn," according to the U.S. Forest Service. Phos-Chek, made by the company Perimeter Solutions, is the retardant being used in Los Angeles County, and the most common one used in Canada. It's also the most-used fire retardant in the world, according to a 2022 report from The Associated Press. Although there are several formulations, it generally comes in a powder concentrate that is mixed with water before being dropped from tankers.An air tanker drops fire retardant in an attempt to fight the Palisades Fire, which has now been burning for a week. (Ringo Chiu/Reuters)Is it safe? Generally, fire retardants approved for use are not considered toxic to humans — though direct inhalation, eye contact or consumption can cause irritation, and scientists say more studies into long-term exposure are needed. But fire retardants can be toxic to fish or other aquatic animals if they get into waterways. For this reason, the U.S. Forest Service prohibits dropping fire retardant within 300 feet of waterways or specifically mapped out avoidance areas, "except when human life or public safety are threatened."A study released last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters found that some fire retardants, including Phos-Chek LC-95W, contained toxic metals, including lead and arsenic.A representative with the U.S. Forest Service told NPR that LC-95 had been phased out in 2025 in favour of the newer MVP-Fx formulation. According to Perimeter data, Phos-Chek MVP-Fx is much less toxic to fish than the older LC-95 formulations. A mailbox covered with fire retardant during the Palisades Fire is seen at the Mandeville Canyon, on Monday. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)Perimeter has previously stated that residents should try to clean off retardant with water and mild soap as soon as safety allows. "The longer the retardant dries, the more difficult it is to remove completely," the company stated in a brief. Pressure washers can be used on larger surfaces, it added. The bright colour will slowly fade with exposure to sunlight. WATCH | B.C.-based aviation company talks about helping to battle L.A. fires: Wildfires are connected to a range of health issues, with studies showing long-term smoke inhalation can seriously impact the lungs and heart, and even raises the risk of dementia more than other forms of air pollution. The U.S. Forest Service has been using aerial fire retardants since the 1950s, according to their website, but its usage has gone through many transformations over the years as older formulations were phased out and regulations changed. In 2005, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled that the Forest Service had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not carrying out proper analysis of aerial fire retardant's impact on the environment and endangered animals. After years of back and forth, the U.S. Forest Service carried out assessments and implemented the requirement of no dumping on waterways and avoidance zones in a 2011 decision. Last year, the U.S. Forest Service announced that they had decided against entering into a contract with Compass Minerals for magnesium chloride-based aerial fire retardants after inspections found corrosion in the aerial tankers used to deploy the company's retardant.
