Axios

Even as floodwaters rose with terrifying speed, people sprang into action, making split-second decisions that helped save lives in Kerr County, Texas.

The big picture: From camp counselors guiding children to safety in the dark to first responders navigating dangerous conditions, stories of courage are emerging from the chaos.

The 2026 midterms will test clean energy's uncertain political salience as advocates attempt to tether it to economic matters that voters prioritize.

Why it matters: Both chambers of Congress are narrowly divided and up for grabs next year.

Tropical Depression Chantal was bringing flooding rains and multiple tornadoes to central North Carolina over Sunday night, prompting Orange and Moore counties to declare states of emergencies.

The big picture: Chantal was threatening communities inland after making landfall as a tropical storm along the coast of the Carolinas on Sunday morning, with the National Weather Service noting that thunderstorms associated with the depression were producing "very heavy rainfall" across central and eastern N.C. and into southern Virginia.

Flash flooding in Texas has led to at least 68 deaths in Kerr County, Texas, after severe weather inundated central parts of the region, including the Camp Mystic summer camp, where some campers remained missing Sunday.

The big picture: Across the state, around 82 people have been reported killed in the catastrophic flooding that began early Friday on the Guadalupe River, in an area about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio.

The Trump administration pushed back Sunday on criticism of the National Weather Service's initial forecasting and its staffing levels ahead of Central Texas' catastrophic flooding.

The big picture: The storm that's killed at least 80 people has brought renewed scrutiny to federal cuts at NOAA's NWS after it emerged that two Texas NWS offices were missing key staff at the time — including San Antonio, where a veteran warning coordination meteorologist has taken an early retirement buyout in April.

While the story of the Texas flooding tragedy and what went wrong is still unspooling, scientists said it provides another reminder that climate change can make extreme rainfall events even worse.

What they're saying: "[T]his kind of record-shattering rain (caused by slow-moving torrential thunderstorms) event is *precisely* that which is increasing the fastest in warming climate," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a longer social media thread.

Forecasting models that failed to predict the severity of rainfall, a lack of an adequate warning system and bad timing in part led to the disaster that left at least dozens dead and more missing in Kerr County, Texas.

The big picture: Meteorology and climate experts tell Axios that storms like the one that surged the Guadalupe River more than 30 feet in a short time are likely to happen again, partially due to climate change.

Eleven campers and one counselor from the all-girls private camp, Camp Mystic, remained missing as of Sunday after catastrophic floods hit the area on Friday.

The big picture: In the days since the flooding began on the Guadalupe River, the identities of several campers who died have been released.

Dozens of people — including at least 28 children — have died after severe flash floods inundated parts of Central Texas, including a girls' summer camp along the Guadalupe River.

The big picture: Flooding began early Friday about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio and then spread across the region, triggering evacuations and leaving communities in Kerr, Travis, Burnet and Williamson counties devastated.

We've rounded up ways to support those affected by the flooding.