The latest: The death toll "is likely to increase," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a press conference Saturday. Search and rescue teams could be recovering bodies for weeks to come, he added.
The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be unusually active, with worrisome signs in parts of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
The big picture: While hurricane forecasters' main tools are provided by the federal government — such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Air Force hurricane hunters, satellites and computer models — startups are playing a growing role in forecasting.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) had a message for her Democratic colleagues before she flew home to Arizona for the weekend: She's preserving her options.
Why it matters: Sinema has leverage and she knows it. Any potential modification to the Democrat's climate and deficit reduction package — like knocking out the $14 billion provision on carried interest — could cause the fragile deal to collapse.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday urged public officials and private sector workers to dress more casually to stay cooler after a deadly heat wave hit the country earlier this month, Reuters reports.
Why it matters:More than 2,000 people died from heat-related causes in Spain and Portugal in roughly a week after a deadly heat wave swept through Europe over several weeks.
The Oak Fire burning on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County, California has destroyed at least 135 structures and has damaged at least 10 others, Cal Fire said in an incident update on Thursday.
Why it matters: The wildfire has forced thousands of people to evacuate the area and has burned more than 19,100 acres, making it the state's largest so far this fire season.
Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentucky has experienced "one of the worst, most-devastating flooding events" in its history after heavy rainfall and flash flooding hit the eastern portion of the state overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
The big picture: This is the second deadly extreme rainfall event from this same frontal system, which stuck the St. Louis metropolitan area with record rainfall on Tuesday, also causing flash flooding that killed at least one person.
The climate and energy provisions in the Senate's revenue and spending deal cover everything from incentives to buy electric vehicles to spurring the development of next-generation climate technologies, such as direct air capture.
The big picture: The draft bill would bring U.S. carbon dioxide and methane emissions down and dramatically scale up the development and deployment of new technologies.
House leaders are preparing to call lawmakers back to Congress the week of Aug. 8 to pass the Senate's $740 billion climate and deficit reduction package, according to lawmakers and aides.
Why it matters: The current timeline speaks to the Democrats' confidence that they can pass a reconciliation package this August and hand President Biden a victory on some — but not all — of his priorities.
