Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Not so bewildering |
Anonymous
DOGE got rid of the veteran metorologists. That part is squarely on Trump. The county officials didn't act, the state officials didn't act. I mean, Biden gave this county $5m to deal with the early warning system and they ended up spending it on something else. |
Anonymous
They did? Was that part of the infrastructure funding? That’s nuts if true. |
Anonymous
This was 4th of July weekend and a weekend between some camp sessions with families staying for a vacation. This was the peak time of year for people camping along the beautiful Guadalupe and for those to be at their river homes and at summer camps. I do not dispute that a flash flood siren system could have helped, even moreso for those NOT associated with the summer camps with no organized communication or evacuation to higher ground system. I am sharing some photos for context. It is one of the most beautiful places in the state. 
|
Anonymous
+1 A lot of this comes down to the entitled attitude of the Texas elite who can't imagine Mother Nature not bending to their will (see prosperity gospel, it's a mindset). As far as they're concerned, they're entitled to that lovely piece of real estate down by the river. In third world countries, most of the poor have no choice but to crowd onto a bad piece of land, so when there's a flood they're pretty much done for. Amazing that the Texas elite think they're entitled to vacation in such places, as if there's really nowhere else to go. |
Anonymous
It’s incredibly narcissistic, hubristic and arrogant to believe that your “faith” (being man made belief in an imaginary supernatural being) or your ideology (e.g. states rights and conservative beliefs about taxation, spending and the role of government) can somehow supersede and take precedence over the laws of physics. Storms don’t care what your ideology is or who you worship. Storms and flooding rivers don’t honor party lines or state lines. And no amount of denial or spin can change any of that. The only thing you can do is DEAL with it, meaning investing in forecasting, modeling, warning and prevention, it means sound land use policies, it means trying to mitigate climate change, it means being rational and responsible. Republican policies have been the exact opposite of this. |
Anonymous
What are you even talking about? It is the people who owned the river houses and properties who were pushing for more warning systems. And affluent people all over the world have homes in flood prone areas. Please stop making things up out of hate. |
Anonymous
Tone deaf of you to say a flash flood siren system “could’ve helped, even more so, for those NOT associated with the summer camps.” The camps DID NOT HAVE A FLASH FLOOD SIREN SYSTEM! If that’s one of the most beautiful places in the state of Texas, sucks for y’all. Are you a travel agent? |
Anonymous
It is not tone deaf. The camps were evacuating to higher ground because they had warnings. The campers and the people in homes along the river had no organized system of warning at all. There is little to no phone reception in many of those areas. Therefore, a siren warning system would help them all especially those with no organized system. However, the siren system is only as good as the data and the staff. |
Anonymous
|
I posted this in other thread:
From an Austin meteorologist this morning: The flooding this weekend was so extreme that a number of the equipment sites that monitor river levels were damaged or destroyed. The USGS has been working to retrieve some of that lost data, and we have some final numbers regarding the historic crests on the Guadalupe, San Saba, and San Gabriel Rivers from the July 4th & 5th floods. 🔹Up to 22" of rain fell on part of the San Gabriel watershed. That sent the river to its 2nd HIGHEST crest on record, and about 6 feet higher than the 2007 flood in Georgetown 🔹10-20" on the San Saba watershed brought the San Saba River to its HIGHEST CREST on record in McCulloch County 🔹10-15" of rain July 4th morning west of Kerrville took the Guadalupe River up to 10ft at 3 AM, 29ft an hour and a half later (that's when the flood gauge was damaged), then finally to a crest of 37.36ft by 5:10 AM in Hunt, TX. That's the highest level that flood gauge has ever measured, and it's located near just downstream from Camp Mystic and the many other camps that sustained catastrophic damage. 🔹That wall of water quickly moved into Kerrville with devastating consequences from there and further downstream towards Comfort, TX. The Kerrville flood gauge topped out at its 3rd highest crest on record. Closer to Austin, two flood gauges operated by the LCRA were washed away in the catastrophic Saturday morning floods. One on Big Sandy Creek was destroyed after sending its last reading of 21ft. Another on Hamilton Creek in Burnet county was destroyed after topping 26ft. We may never know the true heights of those creeks which tore through so many homes, businesses, and lives this weekend. As of this writing, the 13 fatalities reported in Travis, Burnet, and Williamson counties is the same number of deaths from the 2015 Memorial Day weekend floods along the Blanco River in Wimberley. With many still reported missing, the grim reality is that the death toll will likely climb higher. The fact that this flood will likely eclipse the 2015 Wimberley flood is unbelievable. I thought I would never see anything like that again in my life. What's worrisome is that the state and national attention has been heavily concentrated on Kerr County. Obviously, they need all of the assistance that they can possibly get, but I hope state and national leaders will also recognize the critical need for equipment, manpower, and supplies in the disaster zones of Travis, Williamson, and Burnet counties in the coming days. So many people need so, so much help. |
Anonymous
It's optics. DOGE gut the NWS and NOAA budgets; Trump/Rs cut taxes mostly for the rich. Cuts to NOAA/NWS barely made a dent in the debt, but the tax cuts for the rich increased the debt by a ton. -former R, now Independent. |
Anonymous
I read 2021 so if that’s correct it was part of the American Rescue Plan. |
Anonymous
Yep, and they want everyone coughing up money so they can live in dangerous spots. Because they’re entitled. They deserve a good view of the river, and apparently, so did their kids. |
Anonymous
| The Helene floods last year killed 250 mostly flash floods. NOAA did better this time. |
Anonymous
“Extreme weather events”……. going back as far as records starting being kept. From Wikipedia: 1913 edit In December of 1913 between 10 and 15 inches of rain fell in the greater area. 180 people died.[13] Torrential rains fell across Central Texas starting the morning of 5 December, swelling the Brazos River and causing it to shift course.[14] The Colorado River overflowed its banks and joined the Brazos. The Brazos River and Valley Improvement Association formed in 1915 to address flooding issues.[14] The first Lake Waco Dam was built in 1929.[14] The Trinity River also flooded.[15] 1921 edit Main article: September 1921 San Antonio floods In September of 1921, a Category 1 hurricane made landfall in Mexico and moved into Texas. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, from 8-10 September the San Antonio area received 7.38 inches of rain.[16] 215 people died. San Antonio developed flood control plans, including the Olmos Dam and River Walk.[13] Thrall received an estimated 40 inches of rain, Austin received 19, and San Antonio 15.[7] The Little and San Gabriel Rivers also flooded.[7] 1935 edit Near Uvalde, 22 inches of rain fell in under three hours.[11] 1978 edit In July 1978, tropical storm Amelia made landfall and moved inland, stalling over the headwaters of the Medina and Guadalupe Rivers. The Guadalupe crested at over 40 feet in Comfort.[11] Thirty-three people drowned in the flooding.[8][7] 1981 edit Shoal Creek flooded 24 May when a slow-moving storm settled over Austin. Thirteen people died.[11] 1987 edit On 17 July 1987, a sudden flash flood swept a bus full of children away at a low water crossing and killed ten near Comfort, Texas.[6][7] On the night of 16 July and into the morning of the 17th, slow-moving storms dropped between 5 and 10 inches of rain, triggering immense flooding along the Guadalupe through Ingram, Hunt, Kerrvile, and Comfort.[7] The Pot O' Gold camp was evacuating when a bus was swept away.[7] In 1989, the story of the deaths and rescues was shown as the pilot episode of Rescue 911, and in 1993 was made into a television movie called The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? The film followed the experiences of some of the children and their families, and starred Joe Spano as Reverend Richard Koons. 1998 edit Main article: October 1998 Central Texas floods The remnants of Hurricane Madeline and Hurricane Lester flooded the San Jacinto, San Benard, Colorado, Lavaca, Guadalupe, and San Antonio Rivers in October of 1998, killing 31.[17] The city of San Antonio experienced a 500-year flood.[13] 2002 edit The Guadalupe River flooded in July 2002 after the area received over 19 inches (480 mm) of rain.[8] Some parts of the area received a year's precipitation over a few days.[13] 12 people died.[13] 2007 edit Main article: June 2007 Texas flooding In June, a slow-moving frontal system caused heavy rains. Marble Falls, one of the hardest hit areas, received 18 inches (460 mm) of rain in a period six hours. The headwaters of Lake Marble Falls and Lake Travis had 19 inches of rain totals recorded.[18] Two people died.[3] 2013 edit May edit In May of 2013, the Olmos basin received over 17 inches of rain over the Memorial Day weekend, causing 2 deaths.[13] October edit In October of 2013, in a 100-year flood, the Onion Creek rose to its highest levels since 1921, killing four.[12] 2015 edit In a 100-year flood, the Blanco River rose 45 feet and caused 13 deaths and severe damage in Wimberley over Memorial Day Weekend.[1][12] The river had been at 5 feet at 9 pm on 24 May and by 1 am had reached 40 feet.[11] Wimberley installed a monitoring system to send out cellphone alerts.[6] 2018 edit In a 100-year flood, the Llano River washed out the Kingsland Bridge.[12] 2025 edit June edit In June 2025, flash flooding in San Antonio killed 13 people.[5][6][19] The area upstream had received over 7 inches of rain in three hours, which qualified as a 100-year event.[19] It was the city's highest daily rainfall in over a decade and the 10th highest ever recorded.[16] On 12 June, heavy rain began around 2 am.[19] Within hours at least fifteen cars were swept off Loop 410 when Beitel Creek, which runs parallel to the road, flooded.[19] At least eleven people were killed in the Beitel Creek area, with two others killed in nearby areas.[19] According to the San Antonio River Authority, over 400 yards of the westbound access road lie within the 100-year-floodplain.[19] July edit Main article: July 2025 Central Texas floods In July 2025, torrential rain fell in a three hour period on 4 July from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry, resulting in over 100 deaths, many of them children from the summer camps along the Guadalupe River.[20][10] Flood related deaths were reported in other nearby counties.[5] At 4:00 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a particularly dangerous situation warning for communities along the Guadalupe.[9] In Hunt, Texas, where the two branches of the Guadalupe River meet, the river gauge recorded a 22 feet (6.7 m) rise in 2 hours before failing when it reached 29 feet (8.8 m).[21] Downstream in Kerrville, the river surged to 21 feet (6.4 m).[22] Further downstream, in Comfort, it surged to 29.86 feet (9.10 m).[22] The city of Kerrville issued a disaster declaration on 4 July following the floods.[23] In total, 5–11 inches (130–280 mm) of rain fell on some areas that experienced significant flood effects.[24] Flooding continued into Saturday, 5 July[25] with two more flash flood emergencies being issued for areas around Lake Travis north of Austin.[26][27][28] Later, a third flash flood emergency was issued for central Comal County, noting that "local law enforcement reported flooding of the Guadalupe River".[29] 20.33 inches (516 mm) of rain fell northwest of Streeter.[30] Extreme weather events like this have been happening for at least a century. |