Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Texas Deadly Floods: Who Is To Blame for the Devastation?

News

Texas Deadly Floods: Who Is To Blame for the Devastation?

Flood waters left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on July 5, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported.

(Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)

As search teams in Texas work through Sunday to locate flood victims after the Guadalupe River overflowed days earlier, government officials have begun to point fingers over who is to blame for the deadly disaster.

At a press conference, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said, "Listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."


In the same briefing, Dalton Rice, the city manager for Kerrville, Texas, said that the catastrophic flash flooding happened because the skies “dumped more rain than what was forecasted."

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. Friday for a portion of Kerr County, where the majority of flood-related deaths have been reported. However, it would be at least four hours before any county or city government entity posted evacuation directions on social media, reported KXAN.

The NWS was among the government agencies targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in its effort to streamline the federal bureaucracy, resulting in the loss of approximately 600 staffers.

In May, all five living former directors of the NWS—a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sent a letter expressing concerns that proposed budget cuts under the Donald Trump administration "leave the nation’s official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit… just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes.” The letter stated that under-resourced forecast offices could lead to preventable loss of life.

This policy aligns with Project 2025, a proposal initiated by the Heritage Foundation that advocates for significant reforms to the federal government, including the "dismantling" of NOAA. Additionally, Trump has proposed eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), suggesting that states should primarily manage their own preparations and responses to extreme weather. Disbanding FEMA would necessitate legislative action from Congress.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized the current system used to alert the public about potential weather threats, “When President Trump took office… he said he wanted to fix [that], and is currently upgrading the technology. And the National Weather Service has indicated that with that and NOAA, that we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years, and that is the reforms that are ongoing,” Noem explained.

During the joint press conference with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Noem confirmed that President Trump has already committed to honoring the governor's federal disaster declaration request, ensuring rapid deployment of federal resources. Approval of a federal disaster declaration speeds up the allocation of emergency resources and funding. Long-term recovery efforts will focus on rebuilding infrastructure and assessing flood preparedness measures for the region, which has a history of flooding.

In a message on Truth Social, Trump said, "Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!"

Scientists and experts attribute climate change as a significant factor in increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events, such as the one experienced in Texas. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to heavier downpours. Some studies suggest this event is "precisely" the type of rainfall scientists expect to become more common due to a warming climate.

On Friday, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a $4 trillion tax and spending package proposed by congressional Republicans. This legislation effectively eliminates the key climate and clean energy provisions included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in 2022.

Over the past several hours, rescue teams have successfully saved more than 850 individuals using helicopters, boats, and drones to locate victims and assist those stranded in trees and isolated camps. Local officials report that at least 51 people, including 15 children, have lost their lives due to the flooding in Texas.

Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network.

SUGGESTION: Just the Facts: Trump Signs ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by first lady Melania Trump, delivers remarks during an Independence Day military family picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on July 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. At the picnic President Trump signed the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Read More

Ingrassia Exit Highlights Rare GOP Pushback to Trump’s Personnel Picks

President Donald Trump speaks at a White House press briefing on Jan. 30, 2025.

Credit: Jonah Elkowitz/Medill News Service

Ingrassia Exit Highlights Rare GOP Pushback to Trump’s Personnel Picks

WASHINGTON — Paul Ingrassia withdrew his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday night after facing Republican pushback over past controversial statements.

While Ingrassia joins a growing list of President Donald Trump’s nominees who have withdrawn from consideration, many who have aired controversial beliefs or lack requisite qualifications have still been appointed or are still in the nomination process.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Revolution in Congressional Decision-Making
low light photography of armchairs in front of desk

A Revolution in Congressional Decision-Making

The dysfunction of today’s federal government is not simply the product of political division or individual leaders; it is rooted in the internal rules of Congress itself. The Founders, in one of their few major oversights, granted Congress the authority to make its own procedural rules (Article I, Section 5) without establishing any framework for how it should operate. Over time, this blank check has produced a legislative process built to serve partisan power, not public representation.

The result is a Congress that often rewards obstruction and gridlock over compromise and action. The Founders imagined representatives closely tied to their constituents—one member for every 30,000 to 50,000 citizens. Today, that ratio has ballooned to one for every 765,000 in the House, and in the Senate, each member can represent tens of millions (e.g., California). As the population has grown, representation has become distant and impersonal, while procedural rules have tightened the grip of party leadership. Major issues can no longer reach the floor unless the majority party permits it. The link between citizens and decisions has nearly vanished.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lasting peace requires accepting Israel’s right to exist

US President Donald Trump hailed a "tremendous day for the Middle East" as he and regional leaders signed a declaration on Oct. 13, 2025, meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners. (TNS)

Lasting peace requires accepting Israel’s right to exist

President Trump took a rhetorical victory lap in front of the Israeli parliament Monday. Ignoring his patented departures from the teleprompter, which violated all sorts of valuable norms, it was a speech Trump deserved to give. The ending of the war — even if it’s just a ceasefire — and the release of Israel’s last living hostages is, by itself, a monumental diplomatic accomplishment, and Trump deserves to take a bow.

Much of Trump’s prepared text was forward-looking, calling for a new “golden age” for the Middle East to mirror the one allegedly unfolding here in America. I’m generally skeptical about “golden ages,” here or abroad, and especially leery about any talk about “everlasting peace” in a region that has known “peace” for only a handful of years since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Keep ReadingShow less
A child looks into an empty fridge-freezer in a domestic kitchen.

The Trump administration’s suspension of the USDA’s Household Food Security Report halts decades of hunger data tracking.

Getty Images, Catherine Falls Commercial

Trump Gives Up the Fight Against Hunger

A Vanishing Measure of Hunger

Consider a hunger policy director at a state Department of Social Services studying food insecurity data across the state. For years, she has relied on the USDA’s annual Household Food Security Report to identify where hunger is rising, how many families are skipping meals, and how many children go to bed hungry. Those numbers help her target resources and advocate for stronger programs.

Now there is no new data. The survey has been “suspended for review,” officially to allow for a “methodological reassessment” and cost analysis. Critics say the timing and language suggest political motives. It is one of many federal data programs quietly dropped under a Trump executive order on so-called “nonessential statistics,” a phrase that almost parodies itself. Labeling hunger data “nonessential” is like turning off a fire alarm because it makes too much noise; it implies that acknowledging food insecurity is optional and reveals more about the administration’s priorities than reality.

Keep ReadingShow less