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Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic and deadly flooding

Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic and deadly flooding

Boston Globe2 days ago
The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 32 people, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.
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But as authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate.
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The National Weather Service sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger.
Local officials have insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming and have defended their actions.
'There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,' said Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County. 'There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how,' and I understand that.'
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When the warnings began
An initial flood watch — which generally urges residents to be weather aware — was issued by the local National Weather Service office at 1:18 p.m. local time on Thursday.
It predicted rain amounts of between 5 to 7 inches (12.7 to 17.8 centimeters). Weather messaging from the office, including automated alerts delivered to mobile phones to people in threatened areas, grew increasingly ominous in the early morning hours of Friday, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office.
At 4:03 a.m., the office issued an urgent warning that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life.
Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company that uses National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities.
'People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast,' Porter said in a statement.
Local officials have said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.
'We know we get rains. We know the river rises,' said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official. 'But nobody saw this coming.'
Kelly said the county considered a flood warning system along the river that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, before he was elected, but that the idea never got off the ground because of the expense.
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'We've looked into it before … The public reeled at the cost,' Kelly said.
Hundreds of rescues
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that the massive response to the flooding had resulted in the rescue and recovery of more than 850 people, including some found clinging to trees.
Scores of people in and along the river were airlifted to safety by helicopter, including girls at Camp Mystic.
Kelly said he didn't know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camps may have had.
'What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle of the night. I don't know where the kids were,' he said. 'I don't know what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time.'
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Saturday it was difficult for forecasters to predict just how much rain would fall. She said the Trump administration would make it a priority to upgrade National Weather Service technology used to deliver warnings.
'We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that's why we're working to upgrade the technology that's been neglected for far too long to make sure families have as much advance notice as possible,' Noem said during a press conference with state and federal leaders.
Weather service had extra staffers
The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during the storms, Runyen said.
Where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had up to five on staff.
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'There were extra people in here that night, and that's typical in every weather service office — you staff up for an event and bring people in on overtime and hold people over,' Runyen said.
Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
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Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?
Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?

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  • Forbes

Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday fired back at suggestions that staffing shortages at the National Weather Service or problems with emergency alert systems impacted the response to the deadly Texas floods over the July 4 holiday weekend—but Texas state officials and others have questioned their effectiveness after the disaster. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said blaming the Trump administration's cuts for ... More exacerbating the disaster was a 'despicable lie.' Getty Images One high-profile public official in Texas placed early blame on the early NWS forecasts for failing to predict the severity of the storm—'listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service,' Texas Division of Emergency Management chief W. Nim Kidd said at a press conference Friday, noting 'it did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.' A New York Times report published Saturday then detailed staffing shortages at the NWS offices in San Antonio and San Angelo, but representatives for the NWS employees union told CNN the offices had 'adequate staffing and resources.' The San Antonio office was missing a warning coordination meteorologist, a role that works with officials to send emergency alerts, after the office's 32-year veteran meteorologist took an early retirement offer earlier this year as part of the Trump administration's move to downsize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, local station KXAN reported. The National Weather Service, however, issued alerts of increasing severity ahead of the flash flood, which included an overnight text alert warning of a "dangerous and life-threatening situation." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the NWS, but said President Donald Trump wanted to improve the NWS' warning system, telling reporters at a press conference 'we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years.' When asked on Sunday, President Donald Trump called the situation the 'Biden setup,' but stopped short of directly blaming his predecessor for the destructive floods: 'I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either, I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe." 'Flash Flood Warnings were issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours,' NWS said in a statement to multiple outlets. When Did The First Warnings Go Out? The Texas Division of Emergency Management activated their emergency response resources as early as Wednesday in anticipation of heavy rainfall and potential flash floods. The NWS issued the region's first flood watch on Thursday afternoon, around 1:18 p.m. CDT, then issued a flood warning that evening at 11:42 p.m. CDT. The NWS in San Antonio also sent a text alert to cell phones in the area, warning of a "dangerous and life-threatening situation" around 1:14 a.m. CDT, Reuters reported. The NWS' Weather Prediction Center noted in a 12:26 a.m. CDT discussion that flash flooding was 'likely' over central Texas, with 'significant impacts possible,' predicting up to six inches of rain in the region. Some municipalities in the area ended up recording over 20 inches of rainfall over the course of the holiday weekend, according to data compiled by the NWS. The Guadalupe River rose over 20 feet in just three hours on July 4, according to data from NOAA. In the immediate aftermath of the July 4 floods, state officials said they were caught off guard by the severity of the storm, despite the warnings. 'Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,' Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said at a press briefing Friday. 'We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever.' Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the warnings may not have communicated the acute danger the storm posed for Kerrville, which was severely impacted by the flooding. 'There were alerts or warnings about heavy rain, potential for flash flooding in certain areas,' Abbott said at a press conference Sunday. 'The problem with that is that to most people in the area, flash flooding would mean one thing—not what it turned out to be. Because they deal with flash floods all the time, just like I put people on notice in these regions of Texas right now. There's the potential for flash flooding, but there's no expectation of a water wall of almost 30 feet high.' How Has The Trump Administration Responded? Speaking at a briefing Monday afternoon, Leavitt lashed over claims staffing shortages or policy decisions from the Trump administration contributed to the disaster. 'Unfortunately, in the wake of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,' Leavitt said, praising the NWS' response and disputing reports that they were impacted by staffing shortages. 'The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers the forecasts for Austin, San Antonio, and the surrounding area had extra staff on duty during the storm, despite claims of the contrary.' What To Watch For Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote a letter (first published by Politico) to the Commerce Department's acting inspector general, urging him to open an investigation into whether staffing shortages at the NWS offices in San Antonio and San Angelo contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasts or weakened weather alerts. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, also called for an investigation.. 'I don't think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies,' he said during an interview with CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday, though he didn't directly blame the tragedy on staffing. 'I don't want to sit here and say conclusively that that was the case, but I do think that it should be investigated.'

'30-foot wall of water': Survivors of Texas flooding speak out

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The night that devastating flooding obliterated parts of Texas, Stuart Gross said he was awakened by nearby screams as raging waters swept up homes and citizens. The Ingram, Texas, resident told ABC News he has lived near the Guadalupe River for more than 45 years and has seen other floods, but "this was the biggest." "We had a 30-foot wall of water, 300 yards wide, go down by my house at 85 miles an hour," Gross said of the flooding that began in the early hours of Friday. Gross, who was able to get his wife and "fur babies" to safety, said he does not think this tragedy was preventable, but said he doesn't know "why we don't have an early warning system on this river, not that it would've changed everything." Many people like Gross are now surveying the aftermath of the devastating floods, searching for missing family members or grieving the loss of loved ones. Another survivor, Carlos Valles, began to assess the damage in Louis Hays Park, where he was preparing his production team for a Fourth of July music festival. The area of the festival, which has been going on for more than 20 years, is now surrounded by torn-down trees, mangled metal and flipped-over forklifts and cars. Valles began to cry as he evaluated what had happened. "Water rose so quick, you couldn't do anything about it," Valles told ABC News. Regardless of the damage, Valles said the "biggest thing" is the 94 lives that were lost in the floods, which includes young campers at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp housing hundreds of young girls. "Our stages, stuff can be replaced with time, but lives cannot, you cannot bring all these children back," Valles said. Devon Williams, one of the surviving camp counselors at Camp Mystic, told "Good Morning America" that prior to the floods, "it was just a normal day" and "nobody had any idea what was going to happen." Williams said the counselors had "no idea" people were missing or how grave the situation was "until we saw the helicopters flying over us." As of Monday, 10 girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic are still unaccounted for, according to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. William said the tragedy feels "surreal" and "not real." "I cry a lot. I try not to think about it. These are babies that were lost. It's just a lot, like I really can't even put it into words. It's a lot to process," Williams said. Rev. Jasiel Hernandez Garcia, who was in charge of receiving survivors from the camp at the reunification center, witnessed the children "being offloaded from the bus, missing shoes, having dirt all over them, being hungry, seeing their parents from a distance and their weeping out of joy," he said. A short distance away from Camp Mystic is Camp La Junta, a boys' camp, where everyone was able to get to safety. Katie Fineska, the owner and director of the camp, said she walked to her porch and saw "one of our tables from our dining hall floating across the field from our house," which is when she knew "something was very wrong." Fineska said the "incredibly calm" counselors had the children climb "from their bunks up into the rafters" to keep them safe. Someone else who was able to survive the deadly floods is Devyn Smith, who was swept away by the waters when she was camping with her family, but was able to climb to safety in a tree, according to her uncle, Travis Reynolds, and Carl Jeter, the Coast Guard who rescued Smith. Smith was allegedly in the river for about four hours before grabbing hold of a tree, where she dodged RVs, tree limbs and even a refrigerator floating beside her, Jeter said. Jeter said he was across the street on his deck when he heard Smith screaming for help. Reynolds said that his niece has cuts and bruises all over her entire body, but should be released from the hospital soon pending blood work. Regardless, he said the trauma of this experience will weigh "heavily on her and the rest of our family." Reynolds said five other members of his family remain missing.

What to know about deadly Texas flash flooding
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Catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country has killed at least 82 people, including 27 children and counselors from a storied all-girls summer camp called Camp Mystic, while search and rescue efforts continue for dozens who are still missing. More than 12 inches of rain — approximately four months' worth for the area — came down in mere hours on July 4, according to meteorologists, rapidly pushing rolling water past the banks of the Guadalupe River and its tributaries. Here's what to know about the devastating natural disaster. Questions are swirling over why federal, state and local officials did not see the floods coming sooner and evacuate people from the most vulnerable areas. Harris County meteorologist Jeff Lindner told Fox 26 Houston on Sunday that the warning signs were there, but he noted that a disastrous combination of other factors, including the July 4 holiday and an overnight surge in rainfall, exacerbated the impact. 'This particular instance was a relatively isolated but extraordinarily intense amount of rainfall that unfortunately fell on just a long portion of this river system, what we call the headwaters, the start of the river,' Lindner said. 'Obviously, it was just a combination of a lot of things, the weather, the holiday weekend, the soils and all that out there in Hill Country that eventually would go to produce this just horrific event.' National Weather Service (NWS) offices in Texas warned of 'life-threatening' flooding along the river in a series of alerts overnight Thursday and into Friday morning. 'Conditions are life-threatening! DO NOT go out onto the roads,' the NWS San Antonio office posted on social media early Friday morning. 'Expect roads washed out and rapid rises on rivers and creeks.' Republicans are already pushing back on suggestions that staffing cuts at the NWS under President Trump were partly to blame for the human toll of the disaster. Others have raised the possibility that residents have become numb to flash flood warnings because of less severe instances in the past. 'There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday-morning quarterbacking,' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said during a Saturday news conference. 'There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how,' and I understand that.' 'Let's focus on finding those who can be found, then we can always assess what we need to do later, going forward,' he added. The New York Times reported that crucial positions at NWS's Texas offices responsible for monitoring flooding in the area have not been filled after Trump's government overhaul that included buyouts for some federal workers. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said Sunday that NWS staffing cuts should be investigated in relation to the Texas flooding. The NWS and experts have dismissed staff vacancies as playing a role. Tom Fahy, a spokesperson for the NWS employees' union, told CNN that the offices had 'adequate staffing and resources.' Others have questioned the warning system and the severity needed to prevent people from falling into complacency when alerts are issued. The floodwaters rose overnight during an extended holiday weekend. 'Even the warning mechanisms that we have, you know, hitting cellphones, sending alerts to cellphones if people are sleeping — they're not getting that, [and] that part of that warning process isn't getting through,' said Lindner, the Texas-based meteorologist. Trump issued a disaster declaration for the Central Texas area on Sunday and is planning to travel to Texas later this week. 'I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way. Probably Friday,' Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding he had been in contact with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, the president extended his sympathies to those affected. 'These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,' he wrote. 'GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!' The White House is scheduled to brief reporters Monday afternoon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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