Important Takeaways:
- Powerful storms unloaded flooding rainfall that swept away vehicles and triggered evacuations, delivered hail the size of softballs and spun up at least one damaging tornado in Texas Thursday.
- Dozens of tornadoes have hit from the Panhandle to the Gulf coast and months of rain has fallen in East Texas in intense spurts, causing rivers to rise to levels not seen since the devastating floods of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
- Mandatory evacuations were ordered Thursday in parts of Harris County
- “We want you out of this area… this is a life-threatening situation,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at a news conference.
- Mandatory evacuations due to flooding were also ordered for parts of San Jacinto County and Polk County, with voluntary evacuations for Montgomery County.
- Several more sites are forecast to experience major flooding by the weekend and could meet or exceed record levels set during Harvey.
- A “large and extremely dangerous” tornado impacted the towns of Hodges and Hawley – about 10 miles north of Abilene – Thursday evening.
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Important Takeaways:
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott has celebrated the decision by a Texas grand jury to indict 141 migrants on misdemeanor rioting charges, a day after a county judge ruled there was insufficient probable cause to press charges.
- On March 21, a group of migrants broke through some of the border defenses near El Paso in Texas following which they were arrested. Footage showed the migrants tearing down a fence and forcing their way past a group of uniformed men—who appeared to be National Guard soldiers—before reaching a more robust barrier.
- According to El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks, around 221 people were arrested over the incident during which several Texas National Guard soldiers were injured.
- On Sunday, Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta ruled that “all the rioting participation cases will be released on their own recognizance,” according to The El Paso Times.
- However, the decision was overturned on Monday by a grand jury.
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Important Takeaways:
- Aderbiss Pirela, of Venezuela, was captured in New Braunfels, Texas on Tuesday
- Pirela is the second leader of Los Satanás, a gang that operates in Bogotá, Colombia, and in January was able to apply for asylum in Texas
- The gang is linked drug trafficking, murder and extortion in Bogotá
- Gualdrón said that Pirela was caught crossing the United States-Mexico border on January 2 and requested political asylum from the United States on January 7.
- Investigators would learn on January 27 that he and his associates were operating Los Satanás gang activities from a shelter in Texas and instructing gang members in Bogotá.
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Important Takeaways:
- Largest fresh egg producer in U.S. finds bird flu in chickens at Texas and Michigan plants
- The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan.
- In Texas, Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at the facility in Parmer County, Texas.
- The plant is on the Texas-New Mexico border in the Texas Panhandle about 85 miles southwest of Amarillo and about 370 miles northwest of Dallas.
- “The Company continues to work closely with federal, state and local government officials and focused industry groups to mitigate the risk of future outbreaks and effectively manage the response,” according to the statement. “Cal-Maine Foods is working to secure production from other facilities to minimize disruption to its customers.”
- The company said there is no known bird flu risk associated with eggs that are currently on the market and no eggs have been recalled. Eggs that are properly handled and cooked are safe to eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Important Takeaways:
- A new, 2,000-person migrant caravan is making its way north to the US border — and is expected to reach El Paso, Texas, in just the next few days.
- The group proclaimed in Spanish, “We are not criminals, we are international workers.”
- “El Paso has shown itself to be very able to gear up when the surge comes and provide a safe and orderly way for those who have been permitted to come in to find a secure situation and continue on their paths,” he said, according to Border Report
- The Texas National Guard has deployed two planes carrying 200 members of the Tactical Border Force to El Paso
- Their deployment comes just days after a group of migrants stormed the border in El Paso, tearing down concertina wire and trampling over Border Patrol agents in their way.
- The charges the migrants face include inciting a riot, damage of property of over $2,500 and assault on members of the Guard
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Important Takeaways:
- Mexico is warning a federal US court that if its judges permit a controversial Texas immigration law to take effect, the two nations would experience “substantial tension” that would have far-reaching consequences for US-Mexico relations.
- “Enforcement of SB 4 would also interfere with Mexico’s right to determine its own policies regarding entry into its territory, undermine U.S.-Mexico collaboration on a legal migration framework and border management, and hinder U.S.-Mexico trade”
- Signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December, the law makes entering Texas illegally a state crime and allows state judges to order immigrants to be deported.
- Mexico said it was backing the law’s challengers, which include the Biden administration.
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Important Takeaways:
- A Lebanese migrant who was caught sneaking over the border admitted he’s a member of Hezbollah, he hoped to make a bomb, and his destination was New York
- Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, was caught by the US Border Patrol on March 9 near El Paso, Texas
- Ebbadi said in a sworn interview after his arrest that he had trained with Hezbollah for seven years and served as an active member guarding weapons locations for another four years
- Ebbadi’s training focused on “jihad” and killing people “that was not Muslim,” he said.
- Border agents continue to see a surge in migrants whose names appear on the terror watchlist entering the US illegally as crossings continue at record levels.
- Border agents recorded 98 encounters with terror watchlisted individuals at both the northern and southern borders in fiscal year 2022, and almost twice as many, 172, in fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30.
- So far, in the first four months of 2024, 59 people have been apprehended, according to federal data.
- “The federal government has failed to enact border security measures, and the state of Texas, through Gov. [Greg] Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, will continue to take unprecedented action to help secure the border,” DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Over 140,000 Farms Lost in 5 Years
- Between 2017 and 2022, the number of farms in the U.S. declined by 141,733 or 7%, according to USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, released on Feb. 13. Acres operated by farm operations during the same timeframe declined by 20.1 million (2.2%), a loss equivalent to an area about the size of Maine. Only 1.88% of acres operated and 1% of farm operations were classified under a non-family corporate farm structure.
- While the number of farm operations and acres operated declined, the value of agricultural production increased, rising from $389 billion in 2017 to $533 billion in 2022 (40% nominally and 17% adjusted for inflation).
- Between 2017 and 2022 all states but five (Alaska, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island) lost farms. Texas had the largest numerical loss – nearly 18,000 farm operations – followed by Oklahoma (-8,153) and Missouri (-7,433).
- The challenges faced by farms of all sizes has raised calls for a robust and comprehensive farm bill that could provide support to the operations most at risk and to those providing the lion’s share of the American food supply, helping both to navigate economic uncertainties and regulatory complexities, to undertake innovative and sustainable practices, and to promote the long-term viability of a diverse agricultural landscape across the nation. The Census of Agriculture paints the picture of what we have lost, and of what more could be lost without firm support.
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Important Takeaways:
- Texas wildfires map: Track latest locations of blazes as dry weather, wind poses threat
- Texas wildfires have been burning for 5 days
- The wildfires were ignited in the panhandle on Monday Feb. 26. The flames continued to spread throughout the state as dry, warm and windy weather conditions created obstacles for rescue crews to contain the fire.
- The Smokehouse Creek Fire, about 60 miles northeast of Amarillo, is the largest reported fire in state’s history and has burned over a million acres of land.
- Where are the Texas wildfires?
- 687 Reamer — Hutchinson County, 2,000 acres, 10% contained
- Grape Vine Creek — Gray County, 30,000 acres, 60% contained
- Magenta — Oldham County, 3,297 acres, 85% contained
- Smokehouse Creek — Hutchinson County, 1,078,086 acres, 60% contained
- Windy Deuce — Moore County, 142,000 acres, 60% contained
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Important Takeaways:
- Firefighters battling ‘monster’ Texas wildfire contend with strong winds and heat as residents grapple with lost homes
- The biggest inferno in Texas history is being fueled by winds and high temperatures as it rages Sunday, threatening to incinerate more buildings, cattle and livelihoods across the Texas Panhandle while residents sift through ashes of what used to be homes.
- Critical fire weather conditions were expected to continue Sunday in the area, with strengthening winds gusting to 50 mph and dry conditions combining to set the stage for rapid wildfire spread, the National Weather Service warned.
- The Smokehouse Creek Fire has been burning for nearly a week and has torched more than 1 million acres in Texas alone, making it the largest fire on record in the state – and it is only 15% contained.
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