Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

Severe Storms Threaten Millions with ‘Generational’ Flooding

On once-in-a-lifetime bad weather, Trump tariffs, and Tesla’s shares

Severe Storms Threaten Millions with ‘Generational’ Flooding
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: A heat wave triggered power cuts in Kuwait as electricity demand exceeded capacity • Australia just rounded out its 12 hottest months ever recorded • Temperatures in New York City are forecast to reach 73 degrees Fahrenheit today, nearly 30 degrees higher than yesterday.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Severe storms threaten millions with ‘generational’ flooding

Powerful thunderstorms are tearing across the Midwest and Mississippi Valley in what the National Weather Service has warned will be a “multi-day catastrophic and potentially historic” event. Destructive and deadly tornadoes were reported overnight in multiple states including Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Indiana. The system also brought a threat of once-in-a-lifetime flooding caused by heavy rainfall. More than 1.4 million people were under flash flood warnings. “This isn’t routine,” the National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee, warned. “This is a rare, high-impact, and potentially devastating event.” The storm is expected to stall over the region and continue to dump heavy rain – up to 12 inches in some areas – through the rest of the week.

NOAA

As Heatmap’s Jeva Lange has reported, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is highly confident in the attributable influence of climate change on extreme rain, and “everything we know about thunderstorms suggests that a warmer, wetter atmosphere will mean severe convection storms become both more frequent and more intense.” These historic spring storms are hitting as the Trump administration slashes jobs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, hampering the government’s ability to effectively forecast and respond to weather emergencies.

2. Trump rolls out reciprocal tariffs

President Trump on Wednesday announced sweeping 10% baseline tariffs on imported goods, as well as higher “reciprocal” tariffs against about 60 countries that impose charges and other trade barriers on U.S. products. China will be hit with a 34% reciprocal fee, on top of Trump’s existing 20% tariffs on Chinese goods, bringing the overall rate to 54%. The European Union will be hit with 20% reciprocal tariffs; India 26%; South Korea 25%; Japan 24%, and Vietnam 46%. The full list is here.

The newly announced levies exclude imported energy commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, and refined products. “The exemption will come as a relief to the U.S. oil industry, which had expressed concerns that new levies could disrupt flows and raise costs,” Reuters noted. Meanwhile, high reciprocal tariffs on goods from southeast Asia mean higher prices for solar panels, “another potential dent to the clean energy buildout by a president keen to boost fossil fuels,” according to Bloomberg. Trump’s 25% tariffs on auto imports also come into effect today, a move expected to hike car prices for American consumers.

3. Tesla shares rebound on rumor of Musk’s White House departure

Tesla’s shares have been on a rollercoaster ride over the last 24 hours, falling by about 6% on weak quarterly EV sales, then rebounding on a report that CEO Elon Musk plans to step away from his role within the Trump administration. The electric vehicle company delivered 336,681 cars in the first quarter of 2025, far below analyst expectations of 390,000. The results are the company’s weakest since 2022, a further sign of curdling consumer sentiment as Musk spearheads unpopular mass firings across multiple federal agencies as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. On Wednesday, Politico reported that President Trump has been telling his Cabinet that Musk will soon “return to his businesses and take on a supporting role” within the administration. The White House denied the report, but the rumor seemed to buoy Tesla’s stock market position, with pre-market shares up about 5% on Thursday.

4. Republican state lawmakers urge Wright not to cut hydrogen hub funding

A group of 16 Republican state legislators on Wednesday sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright asking him not to pull the plug on funding for seven nascent hydrogen hubs dotted across the country. The Department of Energy is reportedly thinking about cutting $4 billion in funding for the hubs, which were approved under the Biden administration in an effort to turn hydrogen into a viable fossil fuel alternative. The GOP lawmakers urge Wright to preserve funding for the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub in particular, pitching it as a boost to manufacturing, energy independence, and domestic economic growth. Senate Democrats sent their own letter to Wright on Wednesday slamming the contemplated hydrogen hub defunding. “Indiscriminately canceling program funding and executed contracts, and refusing to execute on the funding directives Congress enacted, neither honors existing agreements nor is consistent with the spending laws that have appropriated funding for specific purposes,” the Democrats wrote.

5. Report: Global coal use is up, especially in India and China

Global coal-fired power capacity additions in 2024 were at their lowest level in 20 years, according to a new report from the Global Energy Monitor. The drop signals an ongoing slowdown in coal use as renewables come online, but the fleet is still growing, especially in China and India. China’s 30.5 gigawatts of newly commissioned coal power capacity last year accounted for 70% of the global total. Meanwhile, India recorded more new coal proposals than ever before. Coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, accounting for 40% to 45% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Global Energy Monitor

THE KICKER

Montana’s Colstrip power plant, which produces more fine particulate emissions than any other coal-burning plant in the United States, has asked President Trump for an exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency’s air pollution standards.

Yellow

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
AM Briefing

Exxon Counterattacks

On China’s rare earths, Bill Gates’ nuclear dream, and Texas renewables

An Exxon sign.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Hurricane Melissa exploded in intensity over the warm Caribbean waters and has now strengthened into a major storm, potentially slamming into Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica as a Category 5 in the coming days • The Northeast is bracing for a potential nor’easter, which will be followed by a plunge in temperatures of as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit lower than average • The northern Australian town of Julia Creek saw temperatures soar as high as 106 degrees.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Exxon sued California

Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against California late Friday on the grounds that two landmark new climate laws violate the oil giant’s free speech rights, The New York Times reported. The two laws would require thousands of large companies doing business in the state to calculate and report the greenhouse gas pollution created by the use of their products, so-called Scope 3 emissions. “The statutes compel Exxon Mobil to trumpet California’s preferred message even though Exxon Mobil believes the speech is misleading and misguided,” Exxon complained through its lawyers. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the statutes “have already been upheld in court and we continue to have confidence in them.” He condemned the lawsuit, calling it “truly shocking that one of the biggest polluters on the planet would be opposed to transparency.”

Keep reading...Show less
Red
The Aftermath

How to Live in a Fire-Scarred World

The question isn’t whether the flames will come — it’s when, and what it will take to recover.

Wildfire aftermath.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

In the two decades following the turn of the millennium, wildfires came within three miles of an estimated 21.8 million Americans’ homes. That number — which has no doubt grown substantially in the five years since — represents about 6% of the nation’s population, including the survivors of some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in the country’s history. But it also includes millions of stories that never made headlines.

For every Paradise, California, and Lahaina, Hawaii, there were also dozens of uneventful evacuations, in which regular people attempted to navigate the confusing jargon of government notices and warnings. Others lost their homes in fires that were too insignificant to meet the thresholds for federal aid. And there are countless others who have decided, after too many close calls, to move somewhere else.

By any metric, costly, catastrophic, and increasingly urban wildfires are on the rise. Nearly a third of the U.S. population, however, lives in a county with a high or very high risk of wildfire, including over 60% of the counties in the West. But the shape of the recovery from those disasters in the weeks and months that follow is often that of a maze, featuring heart-rending decisions and forced hands. Understanding wildfire recovery is critical, though, for when the next disaster follows — which is why we’ve set out to explore the topic in depth.

Keep reading...Show less
The Aftermath

The Surprisingly Tricky Problem of Ordering People to Leave

Wildfire evacuation notices are notoriously confusing, and the stakes are life or death. But how to make them better is far from obvious.

Wildfire evacuation.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

How many different ways are there to say “go”? In the emergency management world, it can seem at times like there are dozens.

Does a “level 2” alert during a wildfire, for example, mean it’s time to get out? How about a “level II” alert? Most people understand that an “evacuation order” means “you better leave now,” but how is an “evacuation warning” any different? And does a text warning that “these zones should EVACUATE NOW: SIS-5111, SIS-5108, SIS-5117…” even apply to you?

Keep reading...Show less