Donald Trump signs a major disaster declaration for the flooded Kerr County in Texas, says that over 850 lives have been saved

Time of India

15 hours ago

Flash floods have been ravaging Texas since the past couple of days, with at least 68 people having died as a result. Kerr County in particular has been among the worst hit regions, with 38 adults and 21 children having perished just from there.
The scale of the disaster has prompted President Donald Trump to directly speak out and intervene. As he revealed on Truth Social, he's issued a major disaster declaration for Kerr County in order to enable the first responders to receive the resources they need, and claimed that over 850 lives had already been saved.
Trump said that the families in Texas were enduring an unimaginable tragedy, and stated that Kristi Noem from the Department of Homeland Security was on the ground working with Texas governor Greg Abbott to manage the situation.
The Texas flash floods have severely hit Kerr County
Kerr County is located on the Edwards Plateau, and was named after congressman James Kerr, who was a public servant in Texas during the 19th century.
The flash floods began during Independence Day weekend, and Kerr County has borne the brunt of the lives lost in this natural disaster.
In the wake of the floods, Kerrville mayor Don Herring Jr spoke to the press and said that the city council's goal was to save whoever they possibly could.
Furthermore, city manager Dalton Rice warned individual residents from taking matters into their own hands by flying their personal drones over the disaster-ravaged areas. He said that their presence could be a detriment to ongoing rescue operations.
Questions are being raised about the lack of preparedness
Good morning and Happy Sunday to everyone who isn't surprised that trump had DOGE cut funding on NOAA and NWS, weakening storm forecasts — we saw him trash Obama's pandemic readiness plans before COVID also caught us unprepared.He is disastrously UNFIT.pic.twitter.com/itjLxo9i2N
In the wake of this flash flooding disaster, people have raised questions about why Texas wasn't better prepared for such an eventuality. City manager Dalton Rice himself had to field questions from the press who asked him why Kerrville residents weren't evacuated sooner.
Donald Trump's critics have also seized upon the flash floods as an opportunity to condemn the President, along with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), for laying off around 10% of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) workforce, which also impacted the National Weather Service (NWS).