Human Stories — Issue 46

First Performance

The Flood Warning Reached One Woman Six Times. Another Woke to Water on the Floor.

By Maya Jiménez— August 21, 2026

Feature image for article: The Flood Warning Reached One Woman Six Times. Another Woke to Water on the Floor.

After 135 people died in Central Texas on July 4, 2025, Kerr County rebuilt its flood warning system. When the storms came back a year later, Suzanne Gschwind in Kerrville got alerts through half a dozen channels all night. Kat Sprawls in Batesville was reached only because a friend called five or six times, enough to punch through her phone's do-not-disturb setting. Jaclyn Gonzales, near Uvalde, woke to water on her floor before anything official reached her at all. The same storm system passed through all three counties.

First Performance

The Flood Warning Reached One Woman Six Times. Another Woke to Water on the Floor.

By Maya Jiménez— August 21, 2026

After 135 people died in Central Texas on July 4, 2025, Kerr County rebuilt its flood warning system. When the storms came back a year later, Suzanne Gschwind in Kerrville got alerts through half a dozen channels all night. Kat Sprawls in Batesville was reached only because a friend called five or six times, enough to punch through her phone's do-not-disturb setting. Jaclyn Gonzales, near Uvalde, woke to water on her floor before anything official reached her at all. The same storm system passed through all three counties.

System Junction

One Thermometer, Two Million Renters, and Everything That Can Go Wrong in Between

System Junction

One Thermometer, Two Million Renters, and Everything That Can Go Wrong in Between

Opening Day

The Thermometer at Lavaland Elementary

A teacher at Lavaland Elementary photographed her classroom thermometer on August 7, the first day of school: nearly 93 degrees. Contractors were still on-site, working on the building's evaporative coolers. The National Weather Service had posted a heat advisory for that afternoon, forecast high near 102°F.

At Adobe Acres Elementary, a parent's photo showed above 90. She'd solved it the year before by buying a portable A/C unit for the classroom herself. Nobody from APS has said publicly who authorized the unit, who covers the electricity, or what classrooms do when no parent can write that check.

Neither school is among the 20 in APS's $40 million bond-funded cooling conversion. Converting all 153 buildings would cost four times that.

Opening Day

The Thermometer at Lavaland Elementary

A teacher at Lavaland Elementary photographed her classroom thermometer on August 7, the first day of school: nearly 93 degrees. Contractors were still on-site, working on the building's evaporative coolers. The National Weather Service had posted a heat advisory for that afternoon, forecast high near 102°F.

At Adobe Acres Elementary, a parent's photo showed above 90. She'd solved it the year before by buying a portable A/C unit for the classroom herself. Nobody from APS has said publicly who authorized the unit, who covers the electricity, or what classrooms do when no parent can write that check.

Neither school is among the 20 in APS's $40 million bond-funded cooling conversion. Converting all 153 buildings would cost four times that.

State standard: Classrooms must maintain 68–75°F at full occupancy, measured at a work surface in the room's center. Thermometer photos document conditions but don't constitute the official measurement.

Evaporative coolers: About 72% of APS classrooms still rely on them. Best case, they drop outside temps by 20 degrees, which means 80°F on a 100-degree day before you add thirty kids.

Bond status: 8 of the 20 funded schools are under construction. The other 12 remain in design, some needing electrical upgrades and reroofing before conversion can start.

Portable A/C units: Teachers were buying their own as early as August 2024.

By 2050: Albuquerque is projected to see roughly 45 days above 97°F per year, up from about 7 in 1990.

Endurance Tests

Nine Hours for a Day's Water

Scott Snyder makes eight trips a day with a 6,500-gallon tanker to keep 800 cattle alive near Montrose, Colorado. Nine hours of hauling buys a day or two of water. USDA reimburses eleven cents a gallon, which doesn't cover fuel, vehicle wear, or the hours. Nearly 95 percent of the Intermountain West is in drought, and every resource holding the ranch together is drawing down on its own schedule.

Endurance Tests

Four Days of Ownership

Kim Pierce paid $387,000 cash for a North Carolina townhome and moved in on September 23, 2024. Four days later, Hurricane Helene flooded it. Twenty-three months on, she owns two properties: the one she can't live in and the mortgaged replacement she bought while waiting for a government buyout. North Carolina has awarded 251 properties in Buncombe County. Twenty-six have closed. Participation is voluntary, though the alternative is keeping a flooded house in a floodplain.

Endurance Tests

Nine Hours for a Day's Water

Scott Snyder makes eight trips a day with a 6,500-gallon tanker to keep 800 cattle alive near Montrose, Colorado. Nine hours of hauling buys a day or two of water. USDA reimburses eleven cents a gallon, which doesn't cover fuel, vehicle wear, or the hours. Nearly 95 percent of the Intermountain West is in drought, and every resource holding the ranch together is drawing down on its own schedule.

Endurance Tests

Four Days of Ownership

Kim Pierce paid $387,000 cash for a North Carolina townhome and moved in on September 23, 2024. Four days later, Hurricane Helene flooded it. Twenty-three months on, she owns two properties: the one she can't live in and the mortgaged replacement she bought while waiting for a government buyout. North Carolina has awarded 251 properties in Buncombe County. Twenty-six have closed. Participation is voluntary, though the alternative is keeping a flooded house in a floodplain.

Endurance Tests

Nine Hours for a Day's Water

Scott Snyder makes eight trips a day with a 6,500-gallon tanker to keep 800 cattle alive near Montrose, Colorado. Nine hours of hauling buys a day or two of water. USDA reimburses eleven cents a gallon, which doesn't cover fuel, vehicle wear, or the hours. Nearly 95 percent of the Intermountain West is in drought, and every resource holding the ranch together is drawing down on its own schedule.

Endurance Tests

Four Days of Ownership

Kim Pierce paid $387,000 cash for a North Carolina townhome and moved in on September 23, 2024. Four days later, Hurricane Helene flooded it. Twenty-three months on, she owns two properties: the one she can't live in and the mortgaged replacement she bought while waiting for a government buyout. North Carolina has awarded 251 properties in Buncombe County. Twenty-six have closed. Participation is voluntary, though the alternative is keeping a flooded house in a floodplain.