Inside Texas’ next-generation flood warning system

One year after catastrophic flooding killed more than 100 people along the Guadalupe River, another round of deadly July flooding swept across Central and South Texas, creating flash flood emergencies that forced evacuations and rescues along the Guadalupe River and in Kerr County. To give emergency managers earlier, more precise warnings, a team at the University of Texas at Arlington is leading a new $4 million effort to build a next-generation flood monitoring and warning system that combines advanced sensors, weather data and real-time modeling. Nick Fang, a civil engineering professor who is helping to lead the project, said the university will use National Weather Service data and partner with Texas Tech for additional weather stations and radars. If successful, he said, the system could become a model for flood-prone communities nationwide.

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More than 30 Minnesota communities saw their water and wastewater utilities disrupted by a coordinated cyberattack this week. Though none of the local governments reported anything more than a lapse in operation, analysts said they are concerned that the U.S. will continue to face similar threats, particularly as attackers are aided by frontier AI models.

California Chief Information Security Officer Vitaliy Panych will step down after seven years leading the state’s cybersecurity strategy, he announced on social media. Panych, whom Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed in 2021, after serving nearly two years in an acting capacity, helped steer California through a period of rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats — including the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating ransomware attacks and the state’s growing adoption of artificial intelligence.

Following recent updates to nationwide broadband-availability data, some states may be required to cut one-third of the awards to satellite internet companies through the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, according to an independent review published last week. The Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute released its findings as the BEAD program moves into its final phases.

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