Texas, Donald Trump and floods
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Through the rest of the evening on Sunday, the NWS is predicting a level two of four (slight) risk of storms across the majority of South Central Texas. Rainfall amounts of two to four inches is expected, while some areas could see pockets of nine to 12 inches of rainfall in certain regions.
Parts of Central Texas are under yet another flood watch this weekend. The impacted areas are the same as those hit by the July 4 deadly floods.
Q: Is it true that if President Donald Trump hadn’t defunded the National Weather Service, the death toll in the Texas flooding would have been far lower or nonexistent? A: The Trump administration did not defund the NWS but did reduce the staff by 600 people.
For years, employees say, they've had to do more with less. But the ability to fill in the gaps became strained to the breaking point when the Trump administration began pushing new staffing cuts.
After deadly floodwaters swept through Central Texas, there are questions about the timeline of weather alerts and possible gaps in the warning system.
Deadly flood in Texas sparks a debate over whether recent cuts and staffing shortages led to a greater loss of life.
President Donald Trump on Friday defended the National Weather Service’s advanced warnings of the heavy rainfall that caused catastrophic flooding in central Texas last week, killing over 120 people.
The death toll from the devastating Texas floods has risen to over 110 people and at least 173 remain missing. Former NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad joins Ana Cabrera to break down the timeline of the flood alerts and to provide more insight on response.
Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.
From 1959 to 2019, 1,069 people died in Texas in flooding, which is nearly one-fifth of the total 5,724 flood fatalities in the Lower 48 states in that time, according to a 2021 study in the journal Water.