08-07-2025
Democrats want to blame Trump for the Texas floods. They've learnt nothing
Companies such as PlanetiQ, Spire, and Orbital Micro Systems feed data from satellites to computers for detailed analysis. These private-sector innovations are revolutionising forecasting, often outpacing government capabilities. In fact, many government agencies now rely on data from companies to enhance their own models.
Nor is rainfall necessarily related to climate change – another assertion regularly made by the Left. A new paper for the Heritage Foundation by Greek professors Theano Iliopoulou and Demetris Koutsoyiannis using 200 years of global data on rainfall concludes that variations in rainfall have 'no systematic pattern'. However, some regions show more variations in rainfall than others.
Texas is one of those states with droughts and heavy rainfalls, and the Guadalupe River has seen past flooding. In 1987, a similar deluge killed 10 teen campers and almost drowned 33 more at Pot O Gold Christian Camp. What is important is to be prepared. Sometimes the forecast gets it wrong, but you can't protect everyone against every risk all the time.
Senator Schumer wants to know the effects of budget cuts on future weather forecasting and disaster preparedness. But the real story is that major advances are coming from satellite data and private companies such as Disney. These new technologies often also cost less. The current administration is emphasising the use of new, more accurate technology to improve weather forecasting and disaster response.
Blaming political opponents for natural disasters may be convenient, but it distracts from the real issues. The tragedy in Texas was not the result of a failure to forecast, but a question of whether enough speedy action was taken to heed the forecast, including by the local authorities. More will be gained by focusing less on partisan finger-pointing. Nature doesn't care who sits in the Oval Office.
