Debate erupts over role job cuts played in weather forecasts ahead of deadly Texas floods
Short answer: probably not. While the cuts to NWS were done poorly, alerts went out in time. And since it was emergency conditions, a full compliment of staff was there. However, Trump’s cuts don’t get a full pass, more on that later. So what happened? Well, not many people in a known flash flood area had NWS radios. These radios are designed to come on and broadcast a warning to emergency areas even when they are turned off. They were designed after devastating flash floods in Texas in the 1980’s. (See Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Texas Flood”) Not having one might be forgivable for the average citizen perhaps, but not for a kids’ camp. Heck, it’s 2025, why didn’t they have a satellite phone since they were in a remote area with poor cell coverage? You had elementary school kids for God’s sake! IN A KNOWN FLASH FLOOD ZONE, no less! Water has to go somewhere when it rains, you should know where it goes in your area. That’s common sense. I sense a LOT of nasty lawsuits coming.
But lawsuits won’t bring back kids and memories are short. What happens next time? Well, instead of getting better prepared, our government has taken the path of becoming LESS prepared. Part of the reason no one had those NWS radios is because NWS didn’t have the budget to advertise them. Having even less of a budget does not help with that. Also, while there was a full compliment of staff at the time of the flood, there usually isn’t. Which does not help with being prepared, since weather in Texas doesn’t always give much warning. Lastly, As I have mentioned before Donnie Dumb**s’ cuts were done with a chainsaw, not a scalpel. So younger staff went, not older staff. But the younger staff can better run the newer equipment and software. Add to that a complete gutting of any new research on severe storms and you can see we are not heading in a good direction. How about Texas state government? Surely with the state’s history they were getting ready.
Democrats Should Say Who’s Really to Blame for the Flooding in Texas
“The Texas Tribune further reports that the state’s Republican-controlled legislature rejected a bill that would have established a statewide plan to improve Texas’s disaster response infrastructure, upgrading alert systems and providing grants for counties to buy new emergency communication equipment, including “outdoor warning sirens” that could have saved lives lost over the weekend. State Representative Wes Virdill—whose district includes the worst-hit areas, in Kerr County—voted against the bill. He told the Tribune that he couldn’t recall the specifics of the bill or why he opposed it, guessing that it “had to do with how much funding” was tied to the measure.”
Of course, nowadays any press event must begin with the obligatory praise of Donald the Great’s wondrous leadership and the always successful members of his administration. Ya know, just like in the old Soviet Union or like China does.
Texas News Anchor Rips Kristi Noem And Greg Abbott Over Flood Press Conference