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Did the DOGE layoffs at the National Weather Service just kill a bunch of people?
Augusta Free Press ^ | July 5, 2025 | Chris Graham

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 ...


TOPICS: Government; Weather
KEYWORDS: abbott; augustademocratpress; blametexas; blametrump; bs; chrisgraham; climate; democratshopeso; didithelpthough; didnthelp; doge; enemieslist; enemyjournalist; flashflood; flood; idiocy; journalisticsedition; nationalweathersvs; nevertrumpfault; nlz; shifttheblame; tds; tesafault; texas; weather
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
It seems to be a state government incompetence or willfull negligence thing…playing at least some part.

I suspect the failure was at the county emergency management level.

81 posted on 07/05/2025 6:05:36 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: Wayne07

“A flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County as early as around 1 a.m. CT on Friday

A more dire flash flood emergency warning was then issued for Kerr County at 4:03 a.m. CT

followed by another one for Kerrville at 5:34 a.m. CT.”

When disaster creeps up after midnight, the warnings often don’t reach people.

It reminds me of western North Carolina getting hit by the hurricane rains.

Audio warnings have to be sounded locally in flood prone areas.

The easiest to implement solution is to have the police watch the rivers and blast their patrol car sirens when the danger is really high.


82 posted on 07/05/2025 6:06:15 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

“... and officials are saying they weren’t prepared because the National Weather Service got the forecast wrong.”

Gosh, that has never happened before. Also would someone familiar with Texas Hill country let us know whether flash floods are always a possibility after heavy rains.


83 posted on 07/05/2025 6:06:20 PM PDT by lastchance (Cognovit Dominus qui sunt eius.)
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To: DesertRhino
This is piss poor planning from the emergency people in the state of Texas regarding a river well known for flash floods.

Dead on accurate. This was a known risk. There is plenty of history of deadly floods there. This is actually normal for the region, and should be planned for.
84 posted on 07/05/2025 6:06:36 PM PDT by rottndog (What comes after America?)
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To: stanne

TX, like CA and numerous other states, could do more with regard to natural disaster preparedness, intra-communication, and management in general. My point. Have posted earlier that DeSantis is a good model, he ends up so prepared that Florida’s electrical people, first responders, etc… end up being sent out to Texas, North Carolina et al.


85 posted on 07/05/2025 6:09:08 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

“ Need to learn from DeSantis”

What?

What exactly are you talking about?


86 posted on 07/05/2025 6:09:35 PM PDT by stanne (Because they were mesmerized by Obama, the man for whom this was named, whose name they left out of )
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To: stanne

How to plan for, prepare, manage, and navigate natural disasters.


87 posted on 07/05/2025 6:10:14 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
If you live in Texas or Oklahoma you know that each TV station has it's own connection to weather radar, forecasting and coverage of events.

Severe weather is taken seriously at the local level. Don't need no fed bureaucrats to tell there is a storm coming.

88 posted on 07/05/2025 6:13:02 PM PDT by pfflier
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To: DesertRhino
...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.

Bring back the Hemi:



89 posted on 07/05/2025 6:13:38 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: Soul of the South

-It is a legitimate question and deserves to be answered. -

Did the DOGE layoffs at the National Weather Service just kill a bunch of people?

No!


90 posted on 07/05/2025 6:14:08 PM PDT by bosco24
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To: DesertRhino
It’s not like the Guadalupe has flooded countless times.

So then what you're saying is that the organizations that keep camps along the river are the ones at fault and should be sued. If they placed their guests in a known dangerous situation they should take the blame.

My dad grew up in a WV 'holler'. They had major floods probably at least on par with the Guadalupe and, yes, people died. They probably still do.

I don't remember him ever telling me they blamed it on NOAA or the NWS.

91 posted on 07/05/2025 6:14:33 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Burma Shave)
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To: ransomnote

Ryan Hall, one of the most followed forecasters on YouTube has been predicting this flooding for over a week. So have a few others. Sad sad situation.


92 posted on 07/05/2025 6:14:41 PM PDT by Newbomb Turk
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To: DesertRhino

Or perhaps the people responsible for the children should watch/listen to weather reports and understand the terrain, hazards and possible outcomes and avoid the area and come another time?


93 posted on 07/05/2025 6:14:43 PM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man, a subject.")
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

No.


94 posted on 07/05/2025 6:15:27 PM PDT by enumerated (81 million votes my ass)
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To: Skywise

This one is being repeated by every leftist wackjob. Reminds me of Katrina.


95 posted on 07/05/2025 6:15:41 PM PDT by Luke21
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

“How to plan for, prepare, manage, and navigate natural disasters.”

You’re not explaining your comment at all

And distant desanctimonious for a reason does this better than the Texans? How, exactly.


96 posted on 07/05/2025 6:17:55 PM PDT by stanne (Because they were mesmerized by Obama, the man for whom this was named, whose name they left out of )
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Actually, that is done state to state through emergency management compacts and/or mutual aid agreements, either ad hoc or codified. Florida has had many responders, lineman, etc., from Texas and other areas after hurricanes. It’s part of what states do in support of each other.


97 posted on 07/05/2025 6:18:35 PM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man, a subject.")
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To: Jonty30

If they’re expecting 3-5 inches of rain, then one might think they could sound an alarm when inch #6 falls, with no sign of letting up.


98 posted on 07/05/2025 6:18:46 PM PDT by coloradan (They're not the mainstream media, they're the gaslight media. It's what they do. )
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To: Allegra

If you wait till then nobody cares. Seem any policy discussion about Tennessee lately? Maui? Etc?


99 posted on 07/05/2025 6:19:31 PM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2025... RETURN OF THE JEDI….There’s really not much to)
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To: DesertRhino

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.

><

No warning plan and escape plan in place, from what I can tell. The most dangerous flash flood would occur from 3-5 am for sure.

No training for this type emergency. Very sad.


100 posted on 07/05/2025 6:20:49 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
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