Texas Floods Death Toll Creeps up
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Texas, Camp Mystic and Flash Flood
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Authorities confirmed Wednesday that 120 people have died in the central Texas floods. Follow for live updates.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered state legislators to convene a special session on Monday as the death toll rose to at least 120 people and 172 reported missing in Fourth of July flooding in the Hill Country.
Meanwhile, anguished parents waited for word on the 10 young campers still missing from Camp Mystic, which was hit hard by floodwaters.
Heavy rains fell quickly in the predawn hours of Friday in the Texas Hill Country, causing the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in just 45 minutes.
The heavy rain that turned a river in Texas into a raging wall of water was fueled by unique atmospheric conditions, according to meteorologists and climate scientists.
After a devastating holiday weekend that left dozens dead and many still missing, Central Texas is bracing for more rain. Forecasters warn that additional storms this week could exacerbate already hazardous flood conditions,
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"There has been a lot of misinformation flying around lately, so let me clarify: the Texas Department of Agriculture has absolutely no connection to cloud seeding or any form of weather modification," Miller said in a statement.
There are reports some cloud seeding occurred a few days before the Texas flash flood. But it’s important to understand that cloud seeding has a relatively short-term effect in that a certain cloud is seeded and perhaps turns into one individual rain cloud or even a thunderstorm. The increased rainfall would not last for days.
The National Weather Service extended a flood watch July 7 through 7 p.m. local time for much of central Texas.
Regardless, the process cannot create storms out of thin air. Ken Leppert, an associate professor of atmospheric science at the University of Louisiana Monroe, said it “had absolutely nothing” to do with the flash floods in Texas.