AEM

The #Texas #floods of 2025 and 2026 both pushed rivers up by roughly 30 feet. But they unfolded very differently—and so did their human consequences. In 2026, the rain that caused the surge fell over roughly five days. In 2025, that rain fell in about three hours, much of it overnight. The much faster 2025 surge left far less time for people to recognize the danger and respond. That difference matters for early warning. Communities cannot count on having days to respond to developing flood conditions. Those conditions can emerge in a matter of hours, even when no one is actively watching. That's why alerts need to be triggered automatically as water levels reach critical thresholds. For more about how communities can make sure flood alerts reach the people who need them when they need them, check out this blog: https://lnkd.in/ewrcyPCh

Looking forward to attending AFAC26 and representing AEM alongside emergency management, resilience, and public safety leaders from across Australia and New Zealand. AFAC is always a fantastic opportunity to connect with industry leaders and showcase our latest innovations helping communities prepare for and respond to evolving risks. If you're attending, come and say hello to the AEM team at Stand #513. I'd love to catch up and discuss the challenges and opportunities shaping this sector.

Thanks to Sam Coggins and the BC Wildfire Service for their efforts to keep this and other Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) in tip-top condition. Our RAWS units (historically distributed under our FTS Inc. brand) perform a vital function by providing land managers, fire agencies, and communities with the information they need to stay on top of dangerous #FireWeather. We understand that inoperable stations translate to potentially deadly blind spots. That's why we design and build each RAWS unit to be extremely rugged and to require minimal maintenance.

If you're attending the National Homeland Security Conference in Louisville (#NHSC2026), don't forget to stop by booth 101. AEM's Ted O'Connell will be joining the team from Safeware, Inc. to discuss monitoring and alerting solutions for natural hazards, including #wildfires, #floods, #lightning, and other #severeweather.

This week's #WildWednesday comes to us courtesy of Sean Weber, who shared this client video of two bears using one of our Quick Deploy Remote Automated Weather Stations (QD-RAWS) as a toy and as a scratching post. #Wildfire and land management agencies rely on these stations to stay on top of fire weather in extremely isolated wilderness areas. In such places, encounters with bear, moose, and other large animals are relatively common. We understand that our clients cannot afford to have their situational awareness compromised every time such an encounter happens. That's why we design our RAWS and QD-RAWS units to be the gold standards in ruggedness and durability.

Ever wonder why our Remote Automated Weather Stations (#RAWS) are designed to be so durable and easy to service? That's because #wildfire and land management agencies depend on these units to provide critical weather updates from highly remote locations that are extremely difficult to reach. That goes for both the standard and Quick-Deploy versions of the RAWS. This is one of the reasons our RAWS units have become the gold standard in wildfire weather monitoring. https://lnkd.in/epSz2Vz2

Although it is not yet official, climate scientists say that July 2026 will likely go down in the record books as the warmest month ever for the contiguous United States, surpassing the previous record set in July 2012. July's extreme heat was triggered by a series of intense heat domes that settled over the U.S. After killing more than 70, the heat is poised to linger into August, as another intense heat dome settles over the Western U.S. Now is a perfect time to review your heat safety procedures to make sure they are up to date. A good place to start is our Heat Stress Prevention Guide: https://lnkd.in/euTjv3NZ

When should you clear the field, and when is it safe to resume operations? Join our expert panel on August 27 to learn how leading organizations make fast, defensible lightning safety decisions that protect people, reduce unnecessary disruptions, and stand up under scrutiny. Register now: https://lnkd.in/esNrbaJB

This edition of #WildWednesday should be a fun one. Coming to us courtesy of Sam Whitfield - UK Weather Chase, it features his Storm Force One chase vehicle, which is where the action happens as his team livestreams their storm chases. Sam says the vehicle's Davis Instruments Pro2 weather station plays a vital role in helping the team stay on top of evolving storm conditions in the field, empowering them to make smart decisions in highly dynamic situations. You can learn more about what Sam and his team do and how to tune into their livestreams at the UK Weather Chase website: https://lnkd.in/eEp2B2tR