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June was hot month, with mostly above normal temperatures throughout the state. To make matters worse, there was not much relief from rain for most of Texas during the month to help cool off. The exception to this, though, was mainly found in North Central Texas and Southeastern Texas, where Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall.

During the beginning of the month, select areas experienced rainfall, which caused flooding. One area was Corpus Christi, and another was North Texas, where 52 calls were made to Fire Departments to help people escape cars swept away by water. The middle of the month was lacking in significant rainfall events. Then to change the story for a small portion of the state Tropical Storm Cindy made her appearance in the Gulf. At the beginning, forecasters were hopeful for the landfall to bring more rain to areas of Texas, but in the end her track made landfall closer to the Texas/Louisiana border. This occurred near the end of the month and is likely the cause of the above normal rainfall depicted for Southeast Texas this month.

With the lack of rain came more unbearable temperatures for the entire area. In some cases, sadly, it proved to be lethal. Many toddlers died from being left in the warm cars during the month. These deaths are preventable by being vigilant and aware of where your toddler is at all times. Thankfully a young boy has made a device to help with reducing the amount of deaths due to toddlers being left in hot cars through a fan, which turns on after a car reaches a certain temperature. Pets left outdoors during the workday were in need of extra water and shelter in order to stay cool in the heat. A few storms during the month did bring temporary relief to the heat, but the overall story of the month was the above normal temperatures throughout most of the state.

Economically the largest story was Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord. However, many city mayors within Texas disagreed with the decision and are looking to make changes in their cities to stay in alignment with the plans. In addition to this, many Democratic governors are also continuing to aid in leading their states to be in accordance to the Paris Climate Accord. Despite some wanting to continue to follow suit and decrease greenhouse gasses, many Republican senators, mayors, and governors are proud to see Trump leave this plan. Besides this, a severe storm hit the Odessa area, leaving 9,000 people without power. In addition to this some of their streets were flooded and hail the size of golf balls were recorded. At the peak of the storm 19,000 people were without power.

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