The Steve Miller Band recently announced that the rest of their tour is being canceled due to extreme weather events that have been happening around the country.
The band had 31 scheduled upcoming dates beginning August 15 in Bethel, New York, and concluding in Anaheim, California, in November. But now fans won’t have the chance to see the “Jet Airliner” recording artists in any of those cities.
“Dear Steve Miller Band fans,” the statement shared to social media says. “You make music with your instincts. You live life by your instincts. Always trust your instincts…”
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&mdash; Steve Miller Band (@SMBofficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/SMBofficial/status/1945635867055313343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“The Steve Miller Band has cancelled all of our upcoming tour dates,” it says. “The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires make these risks for you our audience, the band and the crew unacceptable. So …You can blame it on the weather… The tour is cancelled.”
The statement concludes, “Don’t know where, don’t know when… We hope to see you all again. Wishing you all peace, love and happiness. Please take care of each other.”
Many fans shot back on social media, saying the cancellation of the whole tour seemed extreme. Some followers posted images of available seats for some of the tour stops, suggesting that it was because of low ticket sales.
“Are you serious? I’m a big fan and got tickets for this tour , but next time please find a [better] excuse,” one person <a href="https://x.com/marchenajr/status/1945662577012363533">wrote</a>.
“I am embarrassed FOR you…” another said.
“You’re canceling all tours …….. because of nature? That is matter-of-fact dumb,” a third <a href="https://x.com/NathanMirlywx/status/1945638489690722554">wrote</a>.
“Our ticket sales aren&#8217;t exactly buoyant, but at least we can get a little virtue signaling in,” another <a href="https://x.com/GlennisWil24642/status/1945818670426378677">said</a>.

Steve Miller Band

Steve Miller Band Cancels 31 Future Tour Dates: ‘Blame It On The Weather’

Steve Miller Band Cancels 31 Future Tour Dates: 'Blame It On The Weather'

Entertainment

Music

Natural Disaster

U.S.

Weather

Texas-based country singer Pat Green said his stepbrother and other family members were among the victims of the deadly flooding that occurred over the Fourth of July holiday.
“Over the weekend, during the devastating flooding that hit Central Texas, my family — like so many others — suffered a heartbreaking and deeply personal loss,” the recording artist shared on his Instagram account. “We are grieving alongside countless Texans whose lives have been upended by this tragedy.”
The post continued, “Right now, we kindly ask for privacy and space as we mourn, support each other, and begin to process what comes next for our family. Thank you for your love, prayers, and compassion,” he concluded.
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Green’s younger stepbrother, John Burgess, 39, is one of the confirmed victims, per local outlet <a href="https://www.kwtx.com/2025/07/05/china-spring-native-family-among-those-missing-amid-deadly-flooding-texas-hill-country/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KWTX</a>. According to KHOU, his wife, Julia Anderson Burgess, 39, also died. Their two sons, James and Jack, were still missing as of Monday. The deceased couple lived in Liberty, Texas, but were camping at the Blue Oak RV Park in Kerr County with their boys when the flooding occurred. Their 8-year-old daughter was reportedly at a camp that was not affected by the flooding and is safe.
According to a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/07/us-news/texas-dad-refused-to-let-go-of-his-babies-during-flood-and-all-were-swept-away-witness-says/">report</a> from the New York Post, a bystander at the RV park pleaded with Burgess to hand over his children to safety, but he would not let them go.
“My husband was in the water trying to ask them, ‘Please throw me your baby!’ The man was holding tight to his babies, and he just got swept away,” Lorena Guillen, owner of the Blue Oak RV Park, said. 
As of Wednesday, at least 173 people are still missing, including 161 unaccounted for from Kerr County, the hardest-hit area. The death toll from the flooding across the state reached 119 on Wednesday, including dozens of children. Five young girls and one counselor remain missing from Camp Mystic, the Christian girls’ camp that took the brunt of the flooding when the Guadalupe River in Central Texas rose more than 30 feet in under an hour in some spots.
Green has been in the music industry since 1995, recording seven total studio albums. His single, &#8220;Wave on Wave,&#8221; from his gold-certified album of the same name, reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2003. It was featured during campaign rallies for George W. Bush during his 2004 re-election campaign.

Pat Green

Country Singer Mourns Family Lost In Texas Floods

Country singer

Death

Floods

Texas

President Donald Trump plans to travel to Texas on Friday to meet with victims of the devastating Fourth of July weekend flooding that led to at least 110 deaths. 
The president will be joined by first lady Melania Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, he confirmed during a Tuesday cabinet meeting. Parts of the Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe River were hit with sudden flash floods and more than 170 people are still missing. 
&#8220;I&#8217;ll be going down on Friday with the first lady and we will be taking a trip. And we don&#8217;t want to get in anyone&#8217;s way because, you know, it&#8217;s what happens. The president goes, and everyone&#8217;s around focused. I don&#8217;t want anyone to focus on us,&#8221; Trump said. 
First responders are still searching for potential survivors as Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday that 161 people were missing in Kerr County and another 12 throughout other impacted areas. Emergency responders have rescued at least 850 people. 
&#8220;They could have somebody saved still,” Trump said. “And, you know, probably unlikely at this point, but that could be. I mean, they&#8217;re thinking there could be the possibility, but, what a tragic situation.”
Trump also stated that the relationship between federal responders and Texas first responders was very good, noting that numerous federal helicopters were deployed to assist local rescuers.  
Earlier this week, Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Texas, and top administration officials have moved to offer federal help to the region.
 Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a public health emergency on Tuesday to surge healthcare resources to the region. The Department of Housing and Urban Development also announced a 90-day foreclosure moratorium on Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single-family mortgages in Kerr County.
Dozens of children attending Camp Mystic, a Christian girls&#8217; camp in Kerr County, died in the flooding. Five girls and one counselor are still missing, according to an update provided on Tuesday. Flood victims included 8-year-old campers Renee Smajstrla and Eloise Peck, 19-year-old camp counselor Chloe Childress, and the camp’s 74-year-old director, Dick Eastland.
Other young victims include twin sisters Blaire and Brooke Harber, who were <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/sisters-found-hands-locked-together-following-20630269.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> 15 miles from where the flood waters washed them away from their grandparents&#8217; cabin near the Guadalupe River. Their grandparents remain missing.

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting

Trump Confirms Plans To Visit Flood-Stricken Texas As 170+ People Still Missing

Donald Trump

Executive

flooding

Kristi Noem

Melania Trump

The following is an adapted monologue from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1765-after-big-wins-trump-s-head-on-mount-rushmore?elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=The+Michael+Knowles+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
There were horrific storms and massive floods in Texas this past weekend. So far, over 100 people are confirmed dead, and that number is almost certainly going to rise. Many people are still confirmed missing, including dozens of girls from a Christian summer camp. Just absolutely horrific. We all pray for everyone, for the family, for the dead, and for the rescue efforts.
One thing we should not do, however, is react in the way that prominent people on the Left have been reacting. Their reactions are repulsive and nauseating. But they get to a real problem at the heart of liberalism.
Here’s just one example. <a href="https://x.com/KyleKulinski/status/1941856657069252610">Kyle Kulinsky</a>, a fairly well known Internet person on the Left, writes:
<blockquote>With the flooding in Texas and all of those precious little girls dying it&#8217;s important to remember this was 100% preventable. Elon and Trump slashed the national weather service and massively reduced the number of weather balloons in the country, destroying our ability to accurately forecast severe weather events. I&#8217;ve personally experienced forecasts being way off multiple times already. They have blood on their hands and they should be arrested for the deaths of those little girls.</blockquote>
Listen to the sanctimony, the self-righteousness from this guy: “&#8230;all of those precious little girls dying,” “They have blood on their hands.”
None of this is true. This was not “100% preventable.” Elon and Trump slashing the National Weather Service? As Michael Shellenberger <a href="https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1941616444724346983?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">points out</a>, the National Weather Service got this right. The issue was not the National Weather Service. There do seem to have been errors in sending out alarms at the state level, but there&#8217;s no evidence that the National Weather Service failed at all. There&#8217;s also no evidence that suddenly, just now, in the first year of the second Trump term, the meteorologists are getting forecasts wrong. Obviously, that has happened so frequently that it&#8217;s a punch line for as long as there have been meteorologists.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
We also know this isn&#8217;t true — that it’s not attributable to any supposed “cuts” made during the second Trump term — because of Hurricane Harvey. The confirmed death toll so far in this awful storm is now 100. Hurricane Harvey killed at least 68 people in 2017 — many years before the supposed cuts to the National Weather Service by Trump and Elon. What would the Left and Kyle Kulinsky blame that on?
Let’s go back further. Tropical Storm Allison <a href="https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/severe/this-day-in-weather-history-june-5-2001-tropical-storm-allison">killed</a> 41 people in 2001, long before anyone really considered President Trump a serious presidential candidate.
Well, let&#8217;s go back even further than that, because the other thing that people are going to blame this on is climate change or global warming. How about the Galveston Hurricane? The storm surges and floods from that storm killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people in 1900, long before any global warming — “climate change” — and long before Trump, and long before any of the things the Left is going to blame this natural disaster on.
Plenty of people on the Left have reacted the same way as Kyle Kulinsky.
This reaction entails a lot of vice. You have to have a lot of personal vice and sin to have this kind of reaction. But ultimately, ideologically, it&#8217;s about a denial of original sin.
The tragedy has to be preventable because the world can&#8217;t be fallen, because there can&#8217;t be any such thing as original sin, because there can&#8217;t be any limits on human potential. We must be able to control everything. We must be able to prevent every bad thing. We must be able to perfect society. It must be true. That is the premise of liberalism.
But it&#8217;s not true because it is a fallen world. And you couldn&#8217;t have prevented any of these things. Not in 1900, not in 2001, not just this past week. Bad things just happen sometimes. And bad things happen to good people. It’s called theodicy. Great thinkers have dealt with this problem for millennia, but modern people — modern liberals in particular — cannot deal with that because there cannot be such a thing as original sin.
‘Bad things can&#8217;t just happen,’ they say. ‘We must be able to stop it. We are human beings. We have the potential to totally control the world. We can make ourselves into gods.’
That&#8217;s the theory, and it’s false.
When you ask liberals what would you have done to prevent the flood? They will say things like, “I would have funded the National Weather Service.”
There&#8217;s no problem with the National Weather Service. 
They might say, “I would have had more carbon tax credits. I would have had more electric vehicles.”
But nothing they’ve proposed will stop natural disasters. They wouldn’t have stopped Hurricane Harvey, they wouldn’t have stopped Tropical Storm Allison or the Galveston Hurricane or any of the others. There has been flooding. There have been natural disasters. There has been evil and sin and death in the world since Adam and Eve were booted out of the Garden.
Yes, there are things we can obviously do to protect ourselves, to try to cope, and to comfort people who deal with the suffering that life entails. But this ain&#8217;t it.
What it comes down to is a fundamental error in modern ideology — in liberalism, most notably: the hubris, the pride to say, “We can prevent evil. We can just totally stop it. We can perfect the world. We can save the world.” That&#8217;s the error.
These people certainly can&#8217;t. None of us can. There is one person who can save the world. And He has.

Death Toll Rises After Flash Floods In Texas Hill Country

Texas Floods And Liberal Hubris

Bible

Catholicism

Michael Knowles

National Weather Service

Opinion

At least 104 people, including dozens of children, are dead after devastating flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend as recovery efforts continue. 
Officials said Monday that the death toll could still rise as dozens are still reported missing. Among the dead are 28 children, including around two dozen who were attending Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls near the Guadalupe River in Kerr County.
Authorities <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-search-rescue-flood/3879504/#:~:text=Officials%20say%20at%20least%2041,River%20corridor%20on%20July%204." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that 84 of the deaths were in Kerr County, while the other 20 were in Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Tom Green, and Kendall counties. 
“We will remain 100 percent dedicated, searching for every single one of the children who were at Camp Mystic, as well as anybody else, and the entire riverbed to make sure that they’re going to be recovered,” Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday. 
Ten girls from Camp Mystic and a counselor are still missing. The camp’s 74-year-old director, Dick Eastland, was killed in the flooding. 
“If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” George Eastland, the director’s grandson, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLwKvu9A6Jd/?img_index=1">wrote</a> on Instagram. “That’s the man my grandfather was. A husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to thousands of young women, he no longer walks this earth, but his impact will never leave the lives he touched.”
Another one of the victims was Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old camp counselor. 
“Chloe Childress lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith,” her family <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/state/texas-news/texas-flood/camp-mystic-counselor-chloe-childress/285-c7f2cb2a-75cd-445f-82c7-37509ce92e8d">said</a> on Monday. “Returning as a counselor to the place she loved so dearly, Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic.”
A pair of 8-year-old twin sisters attending Camp Mystic, Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, were also killed in the flooding. 
&#8220;Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” their parents <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-hanna-rebecca-lawrence">said</a>. “We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time.  Thank you for the love and support.&#8221;
Other victims included campers and people who were caught in their vehicles and homes by the sudden flash flooding. Emergency responders successfully rescued around 850 people. According to the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Scott Ruskin was responsible for saving 165 of them.

Deaths Reported After Flooding In Texas Hill Country

Texas Flooding Claims More Than 100 Lives, Christian Campers Among The Dozens Missing

Greg Abbott

As the nation continues to mourn the tragic loss of life from the catastrophic flooding that hit Central Texas over the July 4 holiday, Democrats are looking for someone to blame. As usual, it’s all being pinned on President Trump.
Celebrities and commentators have been piling on the president, accusing him not only of ignoring the threat of “climate change” but also claiming that Trump cutting jobs at the National Weather Service exacerbated the tragedy. 
Meanwhile, many social media users are pointing out that the NWS had extra staffers working in the time leading up to the flooding.
“What a horror story in Texas,” comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who moved to Ireland following Trump’s reelection, said in a TikTok <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1941900226828108079">video</a> posted Sunday. “When the president guts all of the early warning systems and the weathering forecast abilities of the government, these are the results that we’re going to start to see on a daily basis.”
“It’s because he put this country in so much danger by his horrible, horrible decisions and this ridiculously immoral bill that he just signed into law,” the actress continued. “As Republicans cheered, people will die as a result and they’ve started already.”
“Shame on him. Shame on every GOP sycophant,” O’Donnell said.
Many commenters on X pointed out the inaccuracies of O’Donnell’s statements.
“NWS had EXTRA staffers during the storm and warnings were [issued] hours in advance. This is TDS,” the account Libs of TikTok <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1941900226828108079">wrote</a> alongside screenshots of articles about NWS adding extra staff and copies of the flash flood warnings.
“Everyone knows she doesn’t care about the people in Texas. She saw any opportunity to blame Trump, and that is her sole purpose,” another person <a href="https://x.com/Denosko1/status/1941906396250882198">added</a>.
“Children are dead in Texas, and your first instinct is to use their tragedy to rant about Trump — from your villa in Ireland? You don’t need a platform — you need perspective,” <a href="https://x.com/DeCesareStephen/status/1941915141957677255">echoed</a> a third.
O’Donnell wasn’t the only one using the tragedy to vilify President Trump. Attorney and liberal media editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski posted and then deleted a similar sentiment on Threads, which was screenshot and circulated on X.
“The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott,” his original message <a href="https://x.com/Legal_Fil/status/1942072754431271216">said</a>. “That is exactly what they are getting.” 
A Texas pediatrician was let go from her job after laying the blame on Texans as well. 
“May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry,” she wrote. “Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts,” Dr. Christina B. Propst posted on Facebook, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-pediatrician-fired-after-saying-maga-flood-victims-got-what-they-voted-for">reported</a>.
Connecticut senator Chris Murphy posted on X, “Accurate weather forecasting helps avoid fatal disasters. There are consequences to Trump’s brainless attacks on public workers, like meteorologists.”
At least 80 people, including 28 children, have been declared dead from the raging flood that struck Central Texas on July 4. Ten girls from Camp Mystic are still missing. 
Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office, said they increased the staff from two to five people in advance of the storm. 
“There were extra people in here that night, and that’s typical in every weather service office — you staff up for an event and bring people in on overtime and hold people over,” Runyen said.
President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday. He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-shares-plan-to-visit-site-of-texas-flood-damage">also said</a> he’d be visiting the scene of the tragedy later this week.

US-FLOOD-WEATHER

Libs Dragged For Blaming Texas Flood Disaster On Trump

Celebrities

Rosie O'Donnell

A new bipartisan proposal would significantly overhaul FEMA and ensure that there is no political discrimination in the distribution of emergency aid.
The proposal, from Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Rep. Rick Larson (D-WA), would make FEMA an independent agency that directly reports to the president, transfer significant responsibility to the states for handling natural disaster responses, and officially prohibit political discrimination. Graves, the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released a <a href="https://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fema_discussion_draft_text.pdf?utm_campaign=198289-345" target="_blank" rel="noopener">draft</a> of the bill on Thursday.
&#8220;We have clearly seen that FEMA is not working as it should for Americans who’ve been impacted by disasters. Congress has passed FEMA reforms over the years, but it simply hasn’t been enough,&#8221; Graves said. &#8220;This draft bill includes substantive changes that will transform FEMA and our emergency programs to be much more state and locally driven – not micro-managed into ineffectiveness by the federal government.&#8221;
One of the key components of the draft legislation is that it would add &#8220;political affiliation&#8221; as a protected status under current federal law. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-senator-vows-to-stop-fema-from-discriminating-against-republicans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously introduced</a> legislation in the Senate that would do the same thing.
This proposal comes after The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in November that FEMA supervisor Marn&#8217;i Washington ordered relief workers in Lake Placid, Florida, to skip the homes of people &#8220;advertising Trump.&#8221; Washington and three other FEMA employees were fired over the instructions, which caused over 20 homes to be skipped by FEMA workers.
The draft legislation would also seek to return more agency to the states &#8220;by replacing the slow and bureaucratic rebuilding process with faster, project-based grants&#8221; and reducing &#8220;their dependence on costly consultants,&#8221; according to the committee. The lawmakers also hope to streamline the application process for requesting assistance by reducing paperwork and providing quicker responses.
Graves and Larson also want to incentivize states to make their own investments in mitigation, robust state rainy day funds, and private insurance policies.
The proposal comes as President Donald Trump has called for dramatic reforms to FEMA and floated the idea of getting rid of the agency completely. In an executive order, he called for the creation of a federal council to look at the possibility of getting rid of FEMA and shifting over responsibility to the states.
On Thursday, Acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton was fired and replaced with Department of Homeland Security official David Richardson. Hamilton&#8217;s ouster comes one day after he said that he personally didn&#8217;t think that it would be a good idea to get rid of FEMA.

Storm Helene Causes Massive Flooding Across Swath Of Western North Carolina

Lawmakers Renew Efforts To Protect Disaster Victims From Political Discrimination

Congress

FEMA

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump announced Monday the members of his FEMA review council, which he tasked with returning power to state-level emergency managers.
Trump, who has been very critical of FEMA&#8217;s handling of recent natural disasters, signed an executive order in January aimed at bringing serious reform to the agency. In previous interviews, Trump has floated the idea of getting rid of FEMA all together, and handing back responsibility to the states to handle their own emergencies with federal funding.
&#8220;I am proud to announce the formation of the FEMA Review Council, comprised of Top Experts in their fields, who are Highly Respected by their peers,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1916943942156734688">posted</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;I know that the new Members will work hard to fix a terribly broken System, and return power to State Emergency Managers, who will help, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. Congratulations to all!&#8221;
Members of the task force include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, RNC Chair Michael Whatley, and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
&#8220;As a proud son of Western North Carolina, I have seen first-hand the incredible work of the Trump Administration to help the region recover from Hurricane Helene and look forward to working with these great leaders to bring much-needed reforms to federal emergency response across the country,&#8221; Whatley <a href="https://x.com/ChairmanWhatley/status/1917045935286182331" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in response to the news.
In his executive order, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/council-to-assess-the-federal-emergency-management-agency/">said</a> the council will assess “the existing ability of FEMA to capably and impartially address disasters occurring within the United States and shall advise the President on all recommended changes related to FEMA to best serve the national interest.”
The executive order stipulates that the council develop proposals to improve FEMA, survey states and other stakeholders impacted by natural disasters, and produce a comprehensive report on the agency and how disaster relief was handled before its creation.
His executive order also referenced the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">story</a> broken by The Daily Wire, revealing that a FEMA supervisor in Florida had ordered FEMA response workers to skip the homes of people with Trump signs or flags in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
“There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA,” Trump wrote in the executive order. “Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President.”

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump Attend Hurricane Briefing at FEMA

Trump Rolls Out FEMA Taskforce To Fix ‘Terribly Broken’ Emergency System

Glenn Youngkin

Michael Whatley

Pete Hegseth

New Jersey officials ordered thousands of residents to evacuate on Tuesday after a fire erupted and spread out of control in Ocean County.
The Jones Road Forest Fire had consumed 3,200 acres and was just 5% contained by 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening. The fire forced 3,000 nearby residents to evacuate. Roughly 23,000 JCP&amp;L customers have lost power, according to <a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2025/04/massive-nj-wildfire-rages-out-of-control-3000-residents-evacuated.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NJ.com</a>.
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WILDFIRE UPDATE: Jones Road Wildfire &#8211; Ocean &amp; Lacey Townships, Ocean County
New Jersey Forest Fire Service remains on scene of a wildfire burning in Ocean &amp; Lacey Townships, Ocean County.
SIZE &amp; CONTAINMENT 🔥 3,200 acres 🔥 5% contained <a href="https://t.co/nxdzQNQ5Ot">pic.twitter.com/nxdzQNQ5Ot</a>
&mdash; New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) <a href="https://twitter.com/njdepforestfire/status/1914834324563890401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The fire shut down multiple roads and has threatened over 1,300 structures. Local and state resources including “Forest Fire Service fire engines, bulldozers and ground crews” and “[n]umerous local fire, rescue, county and state cooperators” have been dispatched to fight the fire, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“[An] average of 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of New Jersey&#8217;s forests each year,” the New Jersey Forest Fire Service <a href="https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> says. Over half of New Jersey under a “high” fire risk, the site says.
Videos of the inferno have surfaced online, showing a massive blaze burning through New Jersey forest.
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A massive wildfire is burning in Ocean County, New Jersey, on Tuesday. Some homes in Barnegat Township have been ordered to evacuate. <a href="https://t.co/dNfmfAEpnp">https://t.co/dNfmfAEpnp</a> <a href="https://t.co/lHsnotMa7i">pic.twitter.com/lHsnotMa7i</a>
&mdash; CBS Philadelphia (@CBSPhiladelphia) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSPhiladelphia/status/1914809019035689048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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An eyewitness <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1882868009218571&amp;rdid=XkZbAC2sGE21nXvY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> posted to Facebook shows flames towering over and surrounding nearby buildings as emergency workers and others move. NJ.com identified the setting as an “industrial complex in Lacey Township.”
Swaths of New Jersey are under moderate and severe drought conditions, according to the <a href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?fips_34029" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Drought Monitor</a>. Ocean County is largely under dry conditions that swing toward a moderate drought at the southern end of the county.
Winds have gusted at up to 25 miles-per-hour, contributing to the spread of the blaze, according to NJ.com.

Fire Engine

Massive Fire Rages In New Jersey; Thousands Evacuated

New Jersey

wildfire

Torrential storms and violent tornadoes wreaked havoc across the Midwest and South over the weekend, killing at least 21 and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.
Among the victims was nine-year-old Gabriel Andrews, who was swept away by floodwaters while walking to his school bus stop early Friday morning, leaving his family and community reeling while demanding answers from their school district.
The National Weather Service put in place a flash flood warning for 13 counties surrounding and including Franklin County, Kentucky, until 8:30 a.m. that morning, but rather than heeding the NWS&#8217;s county-wide advisory and canceling school for the devastated district, the district <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C26ixMhv5/">announced</a> on Facebook at 5 a.m.: “We need to cancel two bus routes this morning.”
As the storms intensified, the district dismissed &#8220;rumors&#8221; of a shutdown of the schools, despite flooded roadways and up to 12 inches of water <a href="https://www.wkms.org/2025-04-07/significant-flooding-continues-to-wreak-havoc-across-kentucky-tennessee">reported</a> in some areas.
“All schools are operating normally and there are no lockdowns in the district,” the district <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FmxHeBYbc/">posted</a> on Facebook after Andrews&#8217; had been missing for hours.
The reality on the ground was much different, according to Franklin County local Caitlin Green who told CNN affiliate WLKY that “the rain was coming down hard” the day of Andrews’ death, with “flooded roadways” requiring Andrews to hop drains and cross dangerous obstacles to reach their bus stop.
The third-grader&#8217;s body was found around 8:47 a.m., approximately half a mile from where he was swept away in the Hickory Hills area while walking to his bus stop, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/05/us/gabriel-andrews-frankfort-kentucky-death/index.html">reported</a>.
Superintendent Mark Kopp offered no explanation for holding classes during the flood warning. &#8220;We are deeply saddened that this horrific tragedy has claimed the life of one of our students,&#8221; Kopp said in a statement.
The tragedy occurred as Kentucky was under a state of emergency, with rivers nearing record levels, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/severe-weather-flooding-tornado-cda0e8803e4e692d162de856ccc6ef9e">reported</a>. Governor Andy Beshear confirmed more than 500 state roads remain closed.
The storm system responsible for Gabriel&#8217;s death has caused at least 21 fatalities across multiple states as of Monday.
Ten deaths occurred in Tennessee alone, while others were reported in Arkansas, Missouri, and Georgia.
Among the victims was a 5-year-old boy in Arkansas who died when a tree fell on his family&#8217;s home, and a 16-year-old volunteer firefighter in Missouri who perished in a crash while attempting to rescue storm victims, per the Associated Press.
More than 500 state roads remained closed across Kentucky as of Monday morning, with dozens of locations in multiple states expected to reach &#8220;major flood stage.&#8221;
The Frankfort Police Department and Franklin County Coroner&#8217;s Office continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Gabriel&#8217;s death.

US-WEATHER-STORM-FLOODING

Tragedy In Kentucky: 9-Year-Old Swept Away By Floodwaters As Storms Kill 21 Across Region

Kentucky

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand earlier today, killing at least 154 people as President Trump pledged U.S. assistance to the devastated region.
&#8220;The death toll and injuries are expected to increase,&#8221; stated Myanmar&#8217;s military ruler Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a television broadcast, confirming 144 fatalities and 730 wounded in his nation.
According to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/thailand-earthquake-bangkok-4fce87aced74b1fc0cf260fb5454d353">report</a> by the Associated Press, Thai officials documented 10 deaths, 16 injuries, and 101 missing persons from three construction sites in Bangkok, including one collapsed high-rise.
The tremor hit at midday near Mandalay, Myanmar&#8217;s second-largest city, with multiple aftershocks following, including one measuring 6.4 magnitude.
United States Geological Survey experts estimated that casualties could ultimately exceed 1,000 throughout the region.
Myanmar&#8217;s military regime, which seized power in a 2021 coup, issued urgent calls for blood donations and expressed willingness to accept foreign assistance. The United Nations immediately allocated $5 million for initial relief efforts.
President Donald Trump pledged American aid to the earthquake-ravaged region on Friday, saying, “We’re going to be helping. We’ve already alerted the people. Yeah, it’s terrible what happened.”
Rescue operations face enormous obstacles in Myanmar, which is already suffering from devastating civil conflict, not to mention the now-collapsed bridges and cracked roads as a result of the earthquake.
&#8220;We fear it may be weeks before we understand the full extent of destruction,&#8221; warned Mohammed Riyas, International Rescue Committee&#8217;s Myanmar director.
State media reported building collapses across five urban areas and the destruction of two bridges, including one on a crucial highway connecting major cities. A dam failure in Mandalay has reportedly caused flooding in the surrounding lowlands.
In Bangkok, witnesses captured footage of a 33-story construction project crumbling near the city&#8217;s famous Chatuchak market.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a great tragedy,&#8221; remarked Thailand&#8217;s Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit after visiting the remains of the city.
&#8220;Even before this heartbreaking earthquake, conflict and displacement has left countless people in real need,&#8221; said Julie Mehigan, who oversees Christian Aid&#8217;s work in Asia.
According to United Nations data, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar were already in desperate need of humanitarian assistance prior to the earthquake.

Tremors from Myanmar Earthquake Are Felt In Bangkok

Death Toll Rises To Over 150 In Myanmar-Thailand Earthquake; Trump Commits American Support

earthquake

United Nations

World

House lawmakers announced Thursday that they will put FEMA under a “microscope” to assess its future as President Donald Trump has floated the idea of getting rid of the agency altogether.
Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL), the chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, said that he will hold a hearing on March 4 to evaluate FEMA’s use of taxpayer dollars. The agency has faced heavy criticism in recent months for its handling of recent hurricanes and reports of political bias.
“For nearly fifty years, Americans in every corner of this country have turned to FEMA for help when disaster hits,” Strong said. “Alongside President Trump and his administration, the Committee will continue to conduct oversight and examine reforms within the agency to ensure it works effectively and efficiently to serve Americans in need.”
“After four decades of experience as a first responder, I am honored to start my tenure as subcommittee chairman by hearing valuable insight from the emergency management community on how we can strike a better balance between FEMA and state governments in this effort,” Strong added.
The hearing will feature testimony from Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Jeff Smitherman, former FEMA official Timothy Manning, and several other emergency responder specialists.
Last year, the committee began an investigation into FEMA after The Daily Wire reported that former supervisor Marn’i Washington directed employees to skip homes with Trump signs or flags in Lake Placid, Florida.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-fema-executive-order-takes-aim-at-supervisor-who-told-workers-to-skip-his-supporters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited the guidance</a> in an executive order last month as one of the reasons he was launching a robust investigation of the agency.
“There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA,” Trump wrote in the executive order. “Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President.”
Trump has suggested that FEMA might be scrapped and responsibilities for responding to natural disasters shifted to the states.
“FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA working really well. We had hurricanes in Florida. We had Alabama tornadoes,” he said in January. “But unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”

Trump Ends Climate Work Inside Agency That Responds To Disasters

House Republicans To Put FEMA Under The ‘Microscope’

Politics

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