Deadly floods in Texas put Republicans on the defensive: 'It was an act of God, not the administration'

LeMonde

08-07-2025

If only he had known... Three days after catastrophic floods devastated his county, Republican Representative Wes Virdell publicly admitted he regretted voting against a natural disaster response bill introduced in early March in the Texas legislature. The bill, called "HB 13," would have implemented an action plan across all 254 counties in the state. It aimed to improve warning systems where they existed and offered grants to other counties to purchase emergency communications equipment and build radio towers.
These precautions were sorely lacking for residents of Kerr County, Virdell's district, when the Guadalupe River overflowed in the middle of the night after torrential rains, sweeping away trailers and people in a torrent of mud. The county had no emergency siren. More than 100 people died, including 28 children spending July at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp established a century ago on the riverbank. More than 10 people are still missing as of Tuesday, July 8.
In this staunchly Republican state that prides itself on not charging a state income tax – residents pay only federal tax – the bill, with an estimated cost of $500 million over 10 years, was deemed too expensive for Texas taxpayers. "I can tell you in hindsight, watching what it takes to deal with a disaster like this, my vote would probably be different now," Virdell told the Texas Tribune, while noting that, even if adopted, the warning system would not have been in place before early September.