While Gov. Greg Abbott declared “the worst of the rain is behind us,” he cautioned that rivers in the hardest-hit counties still pose a danger.
Emily Foxhall
Emily Foxhall is The Texas Tribune's climate reporter. She joined the Tribune as an energy reporter in December 2022, focused on the state’s transition to green energy and the reliability of the power grid. She completed a year-long Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in May 2025. Emily is based in Houston, where she grew up. After a stint as a Tribune student intern in 2012, she began her career at the Los Angeles Times and its community papers. She later worked at the Houston Chronicle where her environmental reporting uncovered the effects of climate change and pollution on the region. She won several Texas Managing Editors awards and was part of the 2017 team that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Emily graduated from Yale University in 2013, where she studied English and was a Yale Journalism Scholar.
Posted in
Environment
Key differences spared Texas lives in second straight July flood
Emergency responders say better tools and preparation also played life-saving roles after intense storms dropped heavy amounts of rain.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
A year after deadly floods, Texas lawmakers haven’t addressed training for emergency coordinators
Texas’ emergency management chief has repeatedly recommended that lawmakers require minimum training but a bill proposed after the disaster failed.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
One year after the July 4 flood, Kerr County shows signs of trauma and healing
Crider’s dance hall is back. Homes are rebuilt. Kids swim in the river. But there’s also deep grief after the river killed 119 people and traumatized more.
Posted in
Data Centers in Texas
An unprecedented data center boom means new challenges for Texas. Find out what’s planned near you.
A Texas Tribune analysis identified at least 248 planned data center projects. Opponents fear the projects will spike Texans’ electric bills and make the grid less reliable. But industry representatives say they promise huge economic gains.
Posted in
Investigations
Texas lawmakers repeatedly failed to pass flood protections. Some could have saved lives.
Dozens of bills were rejected over nearly 60 years, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. Some measures would have prohibited youth camps and new construction in high-risk flood areas.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Camp Mystic abandons bid to reopen this summer
Twenty-five campers, two counselors and the Hill Country Christian camp’s executive director died in a devastating 2025 flood. Families of victims had criticized plans to reopen.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Camp Mystic director apologizes to families of campers, counselors who died in flood
Parents confronted the Eastlands in an emotional hearing Tuesday over the camp’s failure to protect the children it was entrusted to care for.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Poor preparation doomed Camp Mystic victims, investigator tells Texas lawmakers in harrowing account
The summer camp hadn’t prepared counselors and staff with adequate emergency training, an evacuation plan or flood preparedness supplies, the investigator concluded.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Texas agency finds Camp Mystic emergency plan insufficient
The camp has 45 days to revise its plan as it aims to reopen for campers this summer. Other youth camps also had deficiencies to correct in their plans, according to the agency that must review them.
