Some officials claim that budget cuts approved by the Trump administration may have caused communication strains within local emergency responders ahead of the Texas floods.
Devastating flash flooding in central Texas has claimed the lives of at least 82 people since Friday (July 4), with officials confirming 41 people are still unaccounted for across the state.
CNN has confirmed that 68 of the deceased people were situated in Kerr County, located on the Edwards Plateau. 28 of these were children, according to Sheriff Larry Leitha.
It’s estimated that at least 10 girls and one councillor are among those unaccounted for from Camp Mystic – a Kerr County-based Christian camp situated along the Guadalupe River.
“This tragedy has devastated us and our entire community,” Camp Mystic said in a statement. “Our hearts are broken alongside the families that are enduring this tragedy, and we share their hope and prayers.”
There have been 82 confirmed deaths amid the devastating Texas floods (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
When asked why summer camps like Camp Mystic were not evacuated ahead of the severe rainfall, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected official, said, “I can’t answer that. I don’t know.”
According to the New York Times, some Texas officials are attributing the National Weather Service’s (NWS) failure to adequately warn emergency services about rainfall to budget cuts previously approved by US President Donald Trump.
It’s understood that ‘crucial positions’ at local NWS offices – as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – were unfilled due to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cost-cutting methods earlier this year.
The publication reported that these staff vacancies may have made it more difficult for the agencies to coordinate bad weather warnings with local Texas emergency managers.
Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization – the union that represents Weather Service workers – claims that the San Angelo NWS office was missing three crucial employees.
Budget cuts previously approved by the president have come under fire (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
These included: a senior hydrologist, a staff forecaster and a meteorologist in charge.
Moreover, Fahy claims the nearby San Antonio office was also missing key staff members, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer.
The New York Times reported that the San Antonio office’s warning coordination meteorologist left the company on April 30 after taking an early retirement package offered by the Trump administration.
However, Fahy stated that a handful of these vacancies actually predate Trump’s return to the White House for his second term in office on January 20, 2025.
Meanwhile, former Weather Service officials have defended forecasts delivered ahead of the tragic flash flooding.
It’s reported that they believe the forecasts were as ‘good as could be expected, given the enormous levels of rainfall and the storm’s unusually abrupt escalation’.
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The Camp Mystic dorm room which has been ravaged by the Texas flooding. The camp has released a statement amid the tragedy (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
On Sunday (July 9), Trump, 78, signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County.
He also activated federal emergency management resources in the state while stating his intent to visit in person on Friday (July 11).
“I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way,” the 47th President of the United States confessed to reporters. “It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible.”
Speaking on behalf of the NWS, Erica Grow Cei, a certified broadcast meteorologist, said: “The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life.
She added that the agency remains ‘committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services.’
Governor Greg Abbott has vowed that authorities will continue to work around the clock and that new areas will be searched as the water recedes, as per PA.
