Now we know what Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts whether an early spring will arrive each Feb. 2, does on the other 364 days.
The Pennsylvania group that handles Phil, and his groundhog wife, Phyllis, says the couple have become parents.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club said in a Facebook post Wednesday that Phyllis recently gave birth to two healthy babies. It did not specify their sex or give names for either one.
“We’re pleased to announce that Punxsutawney Phil has had his first children; we believe there are two baby groundhogs and that Phil and Phyllis have started a family,” Thomas Dunkel, president of a tuxedo-clad group called The Inner Circle that carries on the groundhog tradition each year, said at a news conference Wednesday. “We’re pleased about it, and I talked to Phil with my cane, which lets me speak Groundhogese, and Phil could not be more excited that he started a family.”
Dunkel said a club member discovered the babies Saturday when he came to feed their parents fruit and vegetables.
Phil emerges from his burrow each year the morning of Feb. 2. If he sees his shadow, tradition holds, there will be six more weeks of winter. This year, he did not see his shadow, heralding an early spring.
Although the best known, Phil is far from the only groundhog to try his hand at meteorology. There have been weather-predicting groundhogs in at least 28 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, and less formal celebrations far and wide.
Phil and Phyllis live in climate-controlled quarters at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library.
But like most growing families, they now need larger digs. The club plans to move them to a larger home on the library's grounds.
Like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, Punxsutawney Phil comes with his own mythology, including the claim that he will live forever, due to imbibing some magic juice called “The Elixir Of Life.” (His wife is not allowed to partake of the elixir, and thus, is not immortal. Where are groundhog suffragettes when they're truly needed?)
Given that the annual Groundhog Day ritual has been performed since 1887, that would place Phil in his late 130s, a procreational feat that puts Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Mick Jagger to shame.
And what about the kids? Will they someday inherit the responsibility of predicting whether there will be six more weeks of winter? Will they have to spend their lives waiting for dad to shuffle off to that big burrow in the sky before they can inherit the throne?
Alas, no, Dunkel says. Because their father is immortal, there will always be only one of him.
Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
FILE - Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club announced that Phil and his wife Phyliss, have become parents of two groundhog babies on Wednesday, March 27. Phil is credited by many with predicting whether an early spring is coming based on whether he sees his shadow on Feb. 2 each year. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger, File)
FILE - Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club announced that Phil and his wife Phyliss, have become parents of two groundhog babies on Wednesday, March 27. Phil is credited by many with predicting whether an early spring is coming based on whether he sees his shadow on Feb. 2 each year. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger, File)
HOUSTON (AP) — Floodwaters closed some Texas schools on Monday after days of heavy rains pummeled the Houston area and led to hundreds of rescues including people who were stranded on rooftops.
A 5-year-old boy died after riding in a car that was swept away in fast waters, authorities said.
Although forecasters expected storms to begin tapering off in southeastern Texas, high waters continued to close some roads and left residents facing lengthy cleanups in neighborhoods where rising river levels led to weekend evacuation orders.
Houston is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the country. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dumped historic rainfall that flooded thousands of homes and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues.
In one soggy area of Houston, school officials in Channelview canceled classes and said a survey of their employees found many of them had experienced circumstances that would prevent them from coming to work.
“These folks have suffered much, people," Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said Sunday during a Facebook livestream as he rode a boat through a rural flooded neighborhood. Partially submerged cars and street signs peeked above the water around him.
Areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, received upwards of 23 inches (58 centimeters) of rain over the past week, National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler said.
In Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, a 5-year-old boy died when he was swept away after the vehicle he was riding in became stuck in swift-moving water near the community of Lillian just before 2 a.m. Sunday, an official said.
The child and two adults were trying to reach dry ground when they were swept away. The adults were rescued around 5 a.m. and taken to a hospital, while the child was found dead around 7:20 a.m. in the water, Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore wrote in a social media post.
Storms brought 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain in a span of six to eight hours in some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley said.
Since last week, storms have forced numerous high-water rescues in the Houston area, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.
Greg Moss, 68, stayed put in his recreational vehicle on Sunday after leaving his home in the community of Channelview in eastern Harris County near the San Jacinto River. A day earlier, he had packed up many of his belongings and left before the road to his home flooded.
“I would be stuck for four days,” Moss said. “So now at least I can go get something to eat.”
Moss moved his belongings and vehicle to a neighbor’s home, where he planned to stay until the waters recede. The floodwaters had already gone down by a couple of feet and he wasn’t worried his home would flood because it’s located on higher ground, Moss said Sunday.
Stengle reported from Dallas and Associated Press reporter Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report.
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A heron stands as water flows over N. Houston Road, making the road impassible on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Humble, Texas. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Dorothy and Earl Blevins' temporary home sits off its foundation after it was moved by flooded water and into the new home they are building on property once owned by Dorothy's mother on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Spendora, Texas. "We've never flooded like this," said Dorothy. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Clouds amass over power lines follow days of storms on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Humble, Texas. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Dorothy Blevins dries out photos from her home after it was flooded by the East Branch San Jacinto River on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Spendora, Texas. "These mean the most to me, everything else can be replaced," she said. Two weeks ago, her husband, Earl, closed their storage rental and put everything in their new home. "The timing of this is terrible," he said. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A mobile home in an unincorporated area in east Harris County near Houston on Sunday morning, May 5, 2024, is surrounded by flood waters caused by the nearby San Jacinto River, which overflowed due to heavy rainfall earlier this week. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
A mobile home in an unincorporated area in east Harris County near Houston on Sunday morning, May 5, 2024, is surrounded by flood waters caused by the nearby San Jacinto River, which overflowed due to heavy rainfall earlier this week. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
A mailbox is partially submerged on a flooded street in an unincorporated area in east Harris County near Houston on Sunday morning, May 5, 2024. The nearby San Jacinto River, overflowing due to heavy rainfall earlier this week, caused the flood waters. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
Overflow from the swollen Trinity River fills James Smart's backyard as wades the floodwaters to make preparations to his chicken coup to ensure the safety of his livestock, Sunday, May 5, 2024, near Liberty, Texas. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Alvaro Trevino pulls a canoe with Jennifer Tellez and Ailyn, 8, after they checked on their home on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Spendora, Texas. The family has lived on the property in a rental trailer for two years. "It's really bad," said Tellez, who says they stayed dry during the most recent flooding in February. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
