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Posted on 07/05/2025 5:11:08 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
A slow-moving storm that dumped more than a foot of rain in the Texas Hill Country has killed 27 people, with dozens more missing, and officials are saying they weren’t prepared because the National Weather Service got the forecast wrong.
Wonder if Donald Trump and Elon Musk laying off 600 National Weather Service staffers earlier this year could have had anything to do with that?
…Deadly flash floods are, unfortunately, not uncommon – 10 teens at a summer camp died during a flash-flood event from a storm that dumped 11 inches of rain in Kerrville in 1987, and 13 people died in flooding from a six-inch rainstorm in San Antonio just three weeks ago.
Which is to say, there’s a reason Texas Hill Country is also known as Flash Flood Alley.
…On the meteorologists, the National Weather Service isn’t talking, but you do have to wonder how much the mass layoffs ordered by DOGE, in line with the Project 2025 plan to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has eroded the ability of the NWS to keep on top of things.
The bulk of the staffers let go were specialized climate scientists and weather forecasters, and an internal document obtained by The New York Times warned that the agency was on the verge of offering “degraded” forecasting services because it was facing “severe shortages” of meteorologists.
In May, five past directors of the National Weather Service issued a letter warning that Trump’s cuts “leave the nation’s official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit, just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes.”
“Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life,” the directors wrote in that letter.
(Excerpt) Read more at augustafreepress.com ...
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No. Moving on.
Though I see the NPCs got their new talking points.
You knew this was coming...
Is there anything infra-structurally or pre-planning wise the state govt could have had in place to alert people? Texas for all its accolades seems to be notorious for this things like big freezes, power grids going awry etc…
No. The weather service issued a warning. Texas refuses to put any monitoring on the state of the river upstream, and whatever warnings they do send out is with a trendy new text message on the cell phone. They have moved away from the old familiar siren warning.
So if you’re in one of the countless cell phone dead areas in the hill country, or a little kid asleep at summer camp, or someone who has the temerity not to sleep with their cell phone, you’re kind of out of luck.
This is piss poor planning from the emergency people in the state of Texas regarding a river well known for flash floods.
A simple seltzer located at a couple of points up the river and reporting flash flood in real time, combined with an audible warning could’ve saved countless lives. This isn’t on the weather service.
Thanks you just answered my question in post 4. Re: Texas state government and disaster preparedness.
A flash flood cannot be predicted. Even they knew it was coming, the camps had only minutes to act.
What could be updated is weather warnings. My province has a provincial wide alert system that goes off whenever something happens in the province.
So they actually think if DOGE hadn’t done it’s job, then this would not have happened? Mother nature does her own thing.
It is a legitimate question and deserves to be answered. Not unlike questions about DEI programs in the military under the last administration hurting recruiting and readiness.
When government makes significant staffing changes affecting service provided to the citizens of the nation, the citizens have the right to understand the impact and to question the decision.
In the corporate world I’ve seen headcount cuts negatively impact sales, production and other key functions. Decision often result in unintended consequences. Successful organizations recognize their mistakes and make adjustments.
Perhaps finding a better location for a children’s camp than a flood prone area?
They need to blame someone or some organization instead of the weather. I feel sorrow for those kids.
Trump's fault. /s
It’s inexplicable that every 5 miles or so down the river there isnt a flood gauge with a satellite connection. It could easily provide real time warning of impending flash floods. Also, Texas has abandoned the warning sirens in favor of the modern cell phone notification. Cell notifications can be useful here and there, but they are no substitute in the middle of the night for the Old Faithful tornado/air raid siren.
But it’s not like it ever floods in Texas, it’s not like Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and every blues singer in the world has a song about floods in Texas. It’s not like the Guadalupe has flooded countless times. And if you ask any more questions they’ll tell you about the heroic first responders, and tell you that you need to pray, and how they’re all one big family. If you ask again they’ll tell you the same thing.
Well, 10 years ago and before DOGE, a storm occurred in that same area, more or less, that killed more than 13 people and destroyed 300 plus homes.
Next, the MSM will be blaming it on BBB that just passed. People need to realize the rugged terrain of that area of Texas.
Sensor…. Not seltzer!
<> you’d think more locals were watching or listening to tv & radio stations out of San Antonio or Austin. How many people in your neighborhood used national weather service as their “go to” source of news?
<> btw, when the great renaldo fired all the Air Traffic Controllers when they went out on strike, where did reagan go to fill those slots on such a short notice?
Actually, I think it’s Chris Graham’s fault.
The Augusta Free Press should fire Chris Graham.
See post #5 courtesy @DesertRhino re: the shortcomings of not the weather service, but Texas’ state government.
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