Kristi Noem says Donald Trump will 'reform ancient weather system' after Texas flood alert failures

KERR COUNTY, TEXAS: In the wake of the devastating Texas flash floods that have claimed dozens of lives, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted the outdated technology behind the government’s weather alert system and promised that change is on the way under President Donald Trump’s watch.

At a press conference, while seated next to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Noem was asked why the weather warnings had been so late.

“The weather is extremely difficult to predict,” Noem insisted. “But also, the National Weather Service, over the years at times, has done well and at times, we have all wanted more time and more warning and more notification.”

She then added, “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 there.”

Death toll rises as officials reveal forecasts missed scale of storm

As of July 5 evening, the full impact of the flood was beginning to set in. The death toll had risen to 43, including 28 adults and 15 children. Authorities reported that the bodies of three children and five adults had yet to be identified at the time of this writing.

The tragedy unfolded after sudden thunderstorms dumped more than 10 inches of rain, causing the Guadalupe River to flood with little warning. 

“The original forecast that we received July 2 from the National Weather Service predicted 3–6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4–8 inches in the Hill Country,” said Texas Emergency Management Chief W Nim Kidd during a July 4 press conference. “The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.”

Kerrville’s city manager, Dalton Rice, backed that up. “Dumped more rain than what was forecasted” on two forks of the river, he said.

Budget cuts weaken forecasting as National Weather Service faces critical staffing shortages

The National Weather Service (NWS) had reportedly already taken a major hit from budget and staffing cuts.

Under Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the NWS was one of the agencies targeted in a bid to “gut the federal bureaucracy,” resulting in the loss of about 600 staffers.

According to an internal document obtained by The New York Times in April, the agency began preparing to offer “degraded” forecasting services, facing “severe shortages” of meteorologists.

Back in May, a warning came from all five living directors of the NWS in a dire letter.

“Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life,” they wrote, adding that Trump’s cuts "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.”

However, The Times reported that by June, the administration had given the NWS a waiver to override the hiring freeze. A spokesperson told the outlet that the agency was adding 126 staffers in an effort to “stabilize” the system.

Donald Trump calls Texas floods 'shocking and terrible'

Flying aboard Air Force One on July 4, Donald Trump called the Texas flooding disaster both “shocking” and “terrible.” He added, “They don’t know the answer yet as to how many people, but it looks like some young people have died."

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service stood by its response timeline.

A spokesperson told The Daily Beast, “The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County. On July 3, the NWS office in Austin/San Antonio, Texas, conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a Flood Watch in the early afternoon. Flash Flood Warnings were also issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred.”

Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, defended local teams, saying that they “issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm,” and that the offices were adequately staffed.

Even as the floodwaters began to recede, Governor Abbott made it clear that the search wasn’t over.

“We will find every one of them,” Abbott vowed. “When Texas faces a challenge, we come together, we unite. It’s what Texans do, it’s what we will continue to do… We will not stop today or tomorrow, we will stop when it’s finished.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.