Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 14:19     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.


"The River rose higher and faster than it ever had before". Trump is deliberately trying to not have us understand why that happened and what can be done about it and the people that voted for him are behind that strategy.


I don't understand your point.

But then, I am deliberately not listening to any elected officials when it comes to this situation. I am hearing plenty from first hand accounts along with my own experiences there.


What is happening with the climate?. Why are there so many unprecedented catastrophic weather events coming more frequently and more violently?

The point is I want to invest in understanding it. I want explore prevention and mitigation strategies. Nothing is engineered for this level of precipitation. The point is Trump voters do not want to invest in this. He dodged anything that has the word climate in it for God's sake.

You're entitled to stick your head in the sand and I'm entitled to want to understand what is going on.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 14:07     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:OP and others blaming Trump are ghouls. Many of the victims were little girls!

I know the area well. The camps have been there for many, many decades - I went to one. If you've never been there, you have no idea what you're talking about. Thie speed of the flooding was unpredictable, and no amount of money would have made a difference.

If that’s true, it sounds like that camp can’t safely operate in that location. Will it close?
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 14:05     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If a flood like this happened to a blue state or at a Pride festival or something, the Christians would be out in force saying it's god's divine punishment.

So I'll go ahead and say it, it's god's divine punishment for Texas electing Trump and because these Christians are bad people.


Good point.



Np, I hate that innocent children lost their lives, but actions have consequences. Many Texans voted for this fool, and now his foolery is in full effect.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 14:03     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
One thing that is true in all the flood deaths from Katrina to Kerr is that people are very bad at understanding their flood risk. If they haven’t flooded before they think they will never flood so they don’t want to evacuate. They want to protect their property, they don’t want to leave their pets, they don’t have money, and so on. The federal government can warn them and advise evacuations but it has no authority to force it. Even when local governments call for mandatory evacuations, they usually urge people to evacuate but don’t force them. Anyone with children should always evacuate. Anyone elderly or impaired should always evacuate. Anyone who stays should write their name and Social Security number on their leg or torso so their body csn be identified easily.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 14:00     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.

This is going to be true of many, if not most, natural disasters in the future as climate change increases their intensity. We also have more technology and disaster planning experience than we've ever had before. It's shocking to me that those counselors did not have 2-way radios so they could remain in contact in the very foreseeable circumstance of losing cell connectivity. This isn't a partisan issue, it's an issue of acknowledging reality.


They have loudspeakers and radios at the camps. I don't know how they were used that night though or by whom. They were all in the middle of evacuating when the river came up in record time so I assume there was communication happening.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:54     Subject: Re:Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, no mention is made of Democrats using levee money for themselves betting there would not be a Hurricane Katrina.


And no mention in your reply about how Republicans are 100% responsible for this actual disaster we are dealing with right now.


Katrina was an actual disaster too.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:53     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.

This is going to be true of many, if not most, natural disasters in the future as climate change increases their intensity. We also have more technology and disaster planning experience than we've ever had before. It's shocking to me that those counselors did not have 2-way radios so they could remain in contact in the very foreseeable circumstance of losing cell connectivity. This isn't a partisan issue, it's an issue of acknowledging reality.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:46     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.


Catastrophic flood probability was foreseeable earlier. There was torrential rainfall. The river rose fast but that’s what flash flooding is. If you wait until you can see the water rise, you’ve waited too long.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:43     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Of course. It’s what MAGA wants right?!

Yes but in the NE. They’re prob devastated this happened in Texas.


We don’t have extreme weather in the Northeast. Some hurricanes with ocean front houses destroyed sometimes but the buyers knew that. Not much else.


Hurricane Sandy says hello. GTFOH with this crap. NE doesn’t see extreme weather?
Sandy hit NJ and NY much more than NE.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:31     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Well, Americans are getting a dose of FAFO they voted for. Americans voted for Trump/Elon and DOGE, and the predictable happened. It's so ironic that Texas is now whining for FEMA help and for the federal government to do something. They voted for Trump who wanted all disaster reposne to be turned over to the states. So why is the federal government helping now? Texas should be on its own, because that's what people voted for. Everyone was warned DOGE was going to get people killed or cause lots of suffering. Give it to them. There should be zero federal help.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:29     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.


"The River rose higher and faster than it ever had before". Trump is deliberately trying to not have us understand why that happened and what can be done about it and the people that voted for him are behind that strategy.


I don't understand your point.

But then, I am deliberately not listening to any elected officials when it comes to this situation. I am hearing plenty from first hand accounts along with my own experiences there.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:21     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.


"The River rose higher and faster than it ever had before". Trump is deliberately trying to not have us understand why that happened and what can be done about it and the people that voted for him are behind that strategy.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 13:18     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
I don't think so. The river rose higher and fast than it ever had before. The camps were in the middle of getting campers to safety when the water reached the cabins.

I very much disagree with my fellow democrats/liberals who are using this as political fodder. We certainly should learn from it and will, but it is not Trump's fault.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 12:35     Subject: Re:Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Collateral damage on the way to an Ayn Rand-influenced libertarian Utopia.
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2025 12:04     Subject: Did Trump's cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service impact predicting the flash floods in central Texas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A big part of what the NWS does is liaise with local (state, county, city) emergency management officials. Local NWS staff who manage those relationships in this part of Texas took the DRP in April, per the NYTimes.

Your accurate weather prediction is as only as effective as your ability to warn the right people at the right time. When you lose senior folks with the relationships, it takes time to be build back institutional capacity.

An automated alarm system along the river communities (similar to tornado warning sirens) has been debated for a long time, according to the NYTs. Local officials confirmed that it wasn’t installed because taxpayers would get upset by the spending.

You get what you vote for.


Good post. I’m not sure we will ever be able to say that this unfathomable tragedy was caused by NOAA cuts - but what seems certain is that preventing future weather catastrophes requires investment and not gutting the system.



And here’s the thing: it’s not even about 600 cuts. The real issue is when you lose the one or two critical individuals who are missing when the incident happens. Even if the Trump admin only cut two jobs at the NWS, if those two jobs were in this area when the disaster struck….its still the fault of the administration.

You need to be very strategic about cutting for efficiency. The Trump admin and DOGE has NOT been strategic. And now the chickens are coming home to roost for elite Republicans in Texas.

This tragedy was also indicative of a uniquely Texas problem. Adherence to 100 year tradition probably kept them from moving this cabins. Anti tax sentiments prevented them from installing an automated warning system for flash floods. General climate change skepticism likely leads to individuals not taking the warnings seriously. Anti government sentiments among Texan elites leads to collective action failures with deadly consequences.

Texas has a fundamental problem that is cultural. Until the culture changes, the hits will keeps coming for Texas. “All hat, no cattle” among the stewards of Texas culture.


Well stated, and agreed.