Trump's National Weather Service under fire after deadly Texas floods
Rescue teams are still searching for missing victims, including 11 girls and a counselor at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp in Kerr County — the area hit hardest. As search and recovery efforts continue, and Donald Trump signs a 'major disaster declaration' to support first responders, local officials are blaming the NWS for issuing alerts too late.
The NWS put out a flood watch on Thursday at 1:18 p.m., estimating up to seven inches of rain by Friday morning. A flash flood warning came at 1:14 a.m. Friday, with an urgent, extreme-level warning at 4:03 a.m. urging evacuation to high ground. Experts say the forecasts existed — they just didn't reach people in time. 'This wasn't a forecasting failure,' meteorologist Matt Lanza told the Texas Tribune. 'It was a breakdown in communication.'
Further complicating matters, many warnings came while Texans were asleep. 'The Weather Service was on the ball,' said meteorologist Chris Vagasky. 'They got the warning out, but this was an extreme event.' Still, Texas officials say the NWS drastically underestimated rainfall. Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd said, 'The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.'
Staffing issues may have played a role. The NWS is hiring 100 new employees after nearly 600 departed in recent months due to Trump-era firings, buyouts, and retirements. By April, nearly half of forecast offices had 20% vacancy rates. Yet NWS meteorologist Jason Runyen said the New Braunfels office had extra staff on duty that night. 'That's typical—we staff up for events,' he noted.
Meanwhile, victims say there was no effective local emergency system to deliver warnings. Christopher Flowers, who was staying at a friend's house near the Guadalupe River, said the forecast looked normal — until he woke up surrounded by water. Bud Bolton, a Kerrville resident, said no one warned him. 'Where was the notification for all these families that needed to get out of here?' he told the Houston Chronicle. 'That's their job.'
Lorena Guillen, a restaurant owner who lives in the Blue Oak RV Park, said she called the sheriff's office before 3 a.m. but wasn't told to evacuate. 'We saw cabins and cars floating down the river with people honking inside,' she said. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly admitted the county has no unified emergency alert system, saying, 'The public reeled at the cost.' He also didn't know what alert system Camp Mystic had in place.
Experts argue this tragedy could have been lessened. AccuWeather's chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter said flash flood warnings should trigger immediate action, regardless of rainfall estimates. At a Saturday press conference, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined Governor Greg Abbott and vowed to upgrade the 'ancient system.' Trump echoed support in a Truth Social post, saying, 'These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy.' But victims like Guillen say the response has been inadequate. 'There was too much loss — human loss and property loss,' she said.
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The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Republicans toe Trump line even in aftermath of deadly Texas floods
The US is reeling after catastrophic floods killed more than 100 people in Texas, including 27 children and counsellors from an all-girls Christian camp. On Monday, Democrats asked a government watchdog to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) affected the forecasting agency's performance. But Republicans' default response has been to express fealty to Donald Trump. They lavished praise on the president for providing federal assistance while studiously avoiding questions around the effect of his 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) or threats to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). 'It is a sign of the sickness and dysfunction of what was the Republican party that they have almost no thoughts about their constituents,' said Rick Wilson, a cofounder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group. 'Their thoughts are, how do I avoid making sure that Donald Trump doesn't look at me as an enemy or a critic? 'Despite the fact that the Doge cuts and the reductions in force and the early buyouts have savaged the workforce of the National Weather Service, they can't even utter the slightest vague, elliptical critique of the administration that is now engaged in these cuts that have cost the lives of the people they supposedly represent.' The raging flash floods – among the US's worst in decades – slammed into riverside camps and homes in central Texas before daybreak on Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Authorities say the death toll is sure to rise as crews look for the many who are still missing. Republicans have long been criticised for responding to mass shootings with 'thoughts and prayers', as if the tragedy transcends politics. Similarly, party leaders have sought to blame a freak act of nature rather than contemplating a potential association with Trump's policies – or with the broader threat of the climate crisis, seemingly a taboo subject under the current administration. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, praised Trump for approving a major disaster declaration that ensured state and local government have more resources to deal with the emergency. 'The swift and very robust action by President Trump is an extraordinary help to our response,' he said. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, tweeted 'Thank you @POTUS Trump' for the declaration and told Fox News: 'The National Weather Service under President Trump has been working to put in new technology and a new system because it's been neglected for years. It's an ancient system that needed to be upgraded and so President Trump recognised that right away and got to work on it when he came into office in January.' Senator Ted Cruz wrote on the X social media platform that 'President Trump committed ANYTHING Texas needs', while telling a press conference: 'There's a time to have political fights, there's a time to disagree. This is not that time.' Trump himself has struck a similar tone, deflecting questions about whether he is still planning to phase out Fema. He said he does not plan to re-hire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. The president told reporters on Sunday: 'That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup. But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe.' But scrutiny of whether more could have been done to avoid the tragedy is already under way. Texas officials criticised the NWS, arguing that it failed to warn the public about impending danger. The NWS defended its forecasting and emergency management, stating that it assigned extra forecasters to the San Antonio and San Angelo offices over the holiday weekend. But a top leadership role at the NWS's San Antonio office has been vacant since earlier this year after Paul Yura accepted an offer from the Trump administration to retire. Doge, formerly led by the billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been pushing the NWS to cut jobs and gave hundreds of employees the option to retire early rather than face potential dismissal. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, asked the commerce department's acting inspector general to investigate whether staffing vacancies at the NWS's San Antonio office contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasting the flooding. Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to politicise the tragedy. Wilson, a political consultant who has worked on numerous campaigns, said: 'It is an ongoing family psychodrama inside the Republican party, where everyone is desperately, deeply afraid that they will put a foot wrong with Donald Trump and that's why there's absolutely no candour with these folks about what has happened to the people they represent.' Some commentators suggest that Republicans will ultimately pay a political price for their blind devotion and for last week passing Trump's cost-cutting Big, Beautiful Act. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: 'It's a vision of the future because every time there is something tragic that happens, not just a natural disaster but a mass shooting or you fill in the blank, somebody is going to find a connection to these deep cuts in government engineered by Trump and Musk. 'I think Trump and the Republicans need to get used to this. It may not hurt Trump, but it could potentially and should hurt some of the members of Congress from competitive states and districts that voted for the BBB.'
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Texas couple tells of their miraculous escape after floodwaters exploded their Ingram home
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But all that changed in the early hours of Friday morning – sparking a terrifying ordeal that saw the pair submerged in flood water that came up to their shoulders for over an hour as they struggled to hold on to their porch while being battered with strong currents. 'Some people are saying there weren't emergency alerts,' Jennifer said. 'There were. But Jack's phone was in the living room, and my phone was on silent, so it wasn't loud enough to wake you up.' The power had gone out leaving them in pitch darkness while the flood waters were rising so rapidly, their home was flooded with four feet of water in less than four minutes. 'I grabbed a tote bag, and I ran to the back office and got our birth certificates and passports,' said a tearful Jennifer. 'It's dark, I can't see anything, but I could feel those, so I grabbed them, then our phones and chargers, money and our medicine. 'By that time, the water was so high, we couldn't open a door to get out. So, we had to go through a window. 'Everything in our house was floating, and the water was coming at what felt like 100 miles an hour towards where we were. 'It was crash, bang, boom, refrigerators, big armoires, everything. And it was all happening in the dark.' Once outside, the couple realized their predicament was even worse than they had realized with the surging currents threatening to tow them and their dogs Georgie and Zumi out into the flood. Jennifer said she tried to climb onto the roof with miniature mongrel Zumi but proved too petite at 5ft 2' to make the climb. Meanwhile Jack was trapped at ground level with the much bigger Alsatian-cross Georgie who was too heavy to hoist into the air. Instead, the pair climbed onto the low wall surrounding their porch and clung on for over an hour even as the flood water rose to nine feet and surged around them. Jennifer said: 'It's dark and you're frantic. And you do the funniest things when you're in a panic like that. 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Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Maps reveal the impact of deadly Texas floods
The National Weather Service has warned that the situation could get even worse, with thunderstorms and heavy rains of up to three inches potentially causing more flooding in the area. A flood watch has been issued for Central Texas that lasts until 8pm ET with dozens of counties in the path of the storm. Some areas could see rain that exceeds five inches which will 'quickly lead to flooding', the NWS said in an advisory. Meanwhile, officials have revealed just how bad the initial flooding was, with maps showing how far inland water from the Guadalupe River traveled. Collectively, flooding across multiple rivers created a flood footprint spanning over 150 miles of riverine corridors, with the Guadalupe's rapid rise - described as the worst since the 1987 flood - causing the most extensive damage. The Guadalupe River, San Gabriel River, San Saba River, Pedernales River, and Llano River all surged far beyond their banks, transforming the region's limestone terrain into a vast flood zone. Fueled by a mesoscale convective complex (a massive cluster of thunderstorms that dumps heavy rain over a wide area) and the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry, five to 18 inches of rain fell in mere hours. This caused rivers to rise dramatically, with the Guadalupe River reaching a devastating 39 feet in under three hours. This river's floodwaters affected approximately 50 miles of its course, from its headwaters near Hunt through Kerrville, Ingram, and Comfort, extending downstream toward Center Point and beyond, where it merges with the San Antonio River. The San Gabriel River in Williamson County, particularly around Georgetown, flooded for about 20 miles of its length, submerging low-lying areas like Two Rivers and Waters Edge apartments, with floodwaters spreading into northern Travis County. The San Saba River, Pedernales River, and Llano River, feeding into the Colorado River were each affected for roughly 30 to 40 miles. Overall, the flood zone stretched far inland, covering an estimated 2,000 square miles across south-central Texas, with Kerr County bearing the brunt. The Guadalupe River's floodwaters spread up to five to seven miles inland from its banks in some areas, particularly around Kerrville, where entire neighborhoods, fields, and infrastructure were submerged. In Hunt, Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' summer camp, was a focal point of the devastation, with floodwaters sweeping away buildings and leaving 11 campers and a counselor missing. The inundation reached 10 miles north and south of the river's course in Kerr County, engulfing rural areas and camps like Waldemar. In Georgetown, the San Gabriel River's floodwaters extended two to three miles inland, submerging green spaces and apartment complexes. The San Saba, Pedernales, and Llano rivers created additional flood zones, each spreading three to five miles inland, affecting agricultural lands and small communities. Families with ties to Camp Mystic planned to unite at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in the wake of deadly flooding. Organizers of Monday night's event planned to pray, sing songs, and read verses that are traditionally recited at the camp. 'While the outpouring of love from everyone has been so appreciated and comforting, we want to make this a special time for Mystic girls and families to be able to be together,' the group said in a post. Experts warn there are several other states, including Florida, New York, and New Jersey, which are prone to deadly flash floods due to a combination of geography, weather patterns, soil type, and urban development. Climate scientists say warming temperatures are driving more intense and frequent rainfall events. Warmer air holds more moisture, which leads to heavier downpours and, in turn, greater risk of flash flooding, especially in regions like the southern US where the terrain and infrastructure are ill-equipped to handle rapid water surges. This could bring deadly flash floods to other US states, including Florida, which is barely above sea level in many areas, so rain has nowhere to drain. Much of Louisiana is swampy or below sea level, especially around New Orleans, making it a target. New Jersey is one of the most densely populated cities in the US, meaning there is less natural land to absorb rainwater.
