Critics of President Donald Trump quickly pointed to staffing cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) as a factor in the widespread death and devastation caused by the Texas floods—an accusation the White House slammed as “shameful and disgusting.”
At least 59 people, including 21 children, have been confirmed dead following flash floods along the Guadalupe River that began Friday. Eleven children and one counselor are still missing from a girls’ summer camp near the river, which was overwhelmed by floodwaters triggered by remnants of Tropical Storm Barry. Although the storm made landfall in Mexico, it unexpectedly unleashed powerful thunderstorms across parts of Texas.
“It only took 9 days for Trump’s cuts to the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] to kill dozens of children in Texas when Tropical Storm Barry landed this week,” Grant Stern, the executive editor of Occupy Democrats, wrote on X.
“The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott,” added Ron Filipkowski, former federal prosecutor and the editor-in-chief of MediasTouchNews. “That is exactly what they (sic) getting.”
“What has happened to the girls at Camp Mystic is EXACTLY what one of the country’s best meteorologists, John Morales, warned would happen,” added Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director at Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Public Policy. “Trump’s cuts to the NOAA & NWS have critically impacted storm prediction nationwide.”
None of the cuts made in the Big, Beautiful Bill have even taken effect yet, meaning that whatever spending bill signed into law by then-President Joe Biden, which was bipartisan, is still being utilized.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed the media Saturday, acknowledging some of the criticisms surrounding the nation’s flood notification systems—including concerns that weather forecasts underestimated the volume of rainfall. Noem stated that the Trump administration is “currently upgrading” the country’s flood alert infrastructure, which she described as “outdated and ancient.”
“When the [weather] system came over the area, it stalled,” Noem said during the press conference. “It was much more water, much like [what] we experienced during [Hurricane] Harvey, with the same type of system that was unpredictable in the way that it reacted in the way that it stopped right here and dumped unprecedented amounts of rain that caused a flooding event like this.”
Also, NWS officials pushed back on the false Democrat narratives. Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, told NBC News that weather forecasting offices were adequately staffed, and “they issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm,” but he added that unfilled leadership positions were “clearly a concern.”
“All I’ll say is this. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the catastrophic flood. A flash flood warning was issued for Hunt & Ingram 3 HOURS before the Guadalupe started to climb,” said Texas-based meteorologist Avery Tomasco. “They did their job and they did it well.”