Critics of President Donald Trump are using the catastrophic flooding in Texas that occurred over the July 4th holiday to show the devastating impacts of Trump's cuts to the federal government and his approach to climate change. (Patrick Keely via Reuters)
"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."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference Saturday, and acknowledged some of the criticisms regarding the nation's flood notification systems, which included concerns that weather forecasts underestimated the amount of rain that ultimately fell.
Noem noted that the Trump administration is "currently upgrading" the nation's flood notification technology, which she described as "ancient."
DEADLY TEXAS FLOOD EXPOSES ‘NEGLECTED’ WEATHER ALERT SYSTEM TRUMP AIMS TO MODERNIZE
"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."
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."
Severe flooding was reported Friday in Kerr County, Texas. (City of Kerrville)
"It is hard to make the Texas flood tragedy worse, except to know that on the same day Trump signed a bill cratering solar and wind energy that is vital in the battle against the climate change making these torrential rains more frequent," Inslee wrote on X this weekend.
During an interview with CNN, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, added that he didn't think it was helpful to have open leadership positions that, if filled, could "help prevent these strategies."
"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," Castro said, adding "we have to figure out in the future how we make sure that it doesn’t happen again."
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White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called it "shameful and disgusting" to see that in the wake of this tragedy people are politicizing what took place.
"It’s shameful and disgusting that in the wake of tragedy, the left’s first instinct is to lie and politicize a disaster to target their political opponents. False claims about the NWS have been repeatedly debunked by meteorologists, experts, and other public reporting," Jackson said. "The NWS did their job, even issuing a flood watch more than 12 hours in advance. The Trump Administration is grateful to the first responders who sprung into action to save hundreds lives during this catastrophe, and will continue to help the great state of Texas in their recovery efforts."
Fox News' Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-spending-cuts-his-approach-climate-change-attacked-catalyst-catastrophic-texas-flooding