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"After severe flooding in non-evacuated areas in Texas has left at least 24 dead with dozens more missing, including several young girls at a summer camp, Texas officials are blaming their failure to act on a faulty forecast by Donald Trump’s new National Weather Service gutted by cuts to their operating budget and most experienced personnel."

~ Ron Filipkowski

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
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meidasplus.com/p/texas-officia…

This entry was edited (5 months ago)

reshared this

in reply to William Lindsey

"The voters of Texas decided that they wanted Donald Trump and Greg Abbott to be in charge of the government services they received. That is exactly what they are getting. And as of this writing on Saturday morning, Trump still hasn’t said a word about the storm and the little girls who were killed at the camp."

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
/2

Vee reshared this.

in reply to William Lindsey

"However, Trump was seen dancing on the balcony of the White House last night celebrating the latest round of cuts in his budget bill that just became law so billionaires and corporations can have huge tax cuts."

There will, sad to say, be more and more consequences to the path we — many of us — have chosen for our nation, serious, lethal consequences.

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
/3

Vee reshared this.

in reply to William Lindsey

"Texas officials blame local weather prediction services for not predicting the devastating flooding that has now killed at least 24 Texans."

~ Aaron Parnas

As W. Nim Kidd, head of Texas's Emergency Management program, says in the video linked below,

"Listen. Everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service, right?

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
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threads.com/@aaronparnas/post/…

in reply to William Lindsey

"You all got it. You're all in media. You got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."

WHY IS NWS MALFUNCTIONING? DID SOMEONE GUT ITS PERSONNEL AND SLASH ITS FUNDING?

Just asking for many friends.

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
/5

in reply to William Lindsey

Can't wait to see their tail spin when they realize there won't be any FEMA help.
in reply to William Lindsey

the democrats should use some of the money they have collected with their spam campaigns to run adds in Texas as to who sabotaged the NWS, with receipts. They should do this quickly, before the conspiracy theories spread to normal people.
One of the strategies in play is to destroy government and then blame it for the results of the destruction
in reply to William Lindsey

"Just a year ago, the U.S. was better at predicting storms’ tracks than it had ever been. But now, Zoë Schlanger reports, the country is rapidly losing state-of-the-art forecasting, just in time for hurricane season’s busiest months."

~ The Atlantic

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
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threads.com/@theatlantic/post/…

in reply to William Lindsey

"32 dead in Texas floods, including 18 adults and 14 children

The number of dead from the Texas flood has increased, according to the Kerr county sheriff.

Thirty-two people have died in the floods. Eighteen adults and 14 children are among the deceased, according to the latest numbers from Saturday afternoon."

~ The Guardian

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
/7

theguardian.com/us-news/live/2…

in reply to William Lindsey

"There are still 27 people missing from the flooding event. Of the bodies recovered so far, five adults and three children are still unidentified.

The emergency management chief says they’re 'looking for live people right now', but Texas’s governor Greg Abbott instructed responders to assume every missing person is still alive."

#Trump #weather #Texas #flooding #NWS
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in reply to William Lindsey

They probably won't find every body. They're still looking in the NC flood sites with excavators & cadaver dogs, but some families are unable to proceed with claims for death benefits.
in reply to William Lindsey

got all mighty. People need sirens. Not everyone looks at their phone all the time, especially when camping. Also, I rely on sirens and loud alerts because most dangerous weather events happen around here while we are asleep.
in reply to Kim Possible

They have *no warning system whatsoever*… for an area locally known as “flash flood alley.” Texas shares the blame in this.

ETA: Citing source: apnews.com/article/texas-flood…

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to William Lindsey

🤬 They were told, they knew. They're literally throwing the one resource they had under the bus because they knew what would happen. I will forever call them out on their lies and remind them they got children killed.
in reply to Julescelt

@julescelt01 So drastic cuts in NWS resources are unimportant in understanding what happened here?

I tend to see things otherwise.

in reply to William Lindsey

Oh, sorry for any confusion; I absolutely agree those drastic cuts are to blame. But only in as much that missing data (from staffing cuts to reduced equipment) leads to less predictable weather outcomes. Not the fault of staff, those folks are doing their level best here.

I'm saying local EMS has known these threats for years. And that they were forewarned about increased risks from climate change.

in reply to Julescelt

@julescelt01 I would think local EMS groups and officials probably need much more training than they get — but think the red light flashing in this story is not so much about lack of officials' preparedness as about what gutting the NWS will do to all of us as extreme weather events occur.
in reply to William Lindsey

I guarantee calls are being made in Texas to pressure officials to stop blaming the National Weather Service (it makes Trump angry).

I expect today to be filled with the phrase "act of God", like no one had any power to mitigate this tragedy.

in reply to William Lindsey

It's pretty scary because these cuts and the resulting lack of information comes at the exact time when severe weather ramps up fueled by climate change, and contagious disease is getting much worse.

Being on top of locations that report disease carrying ticks and mosquitos could be lifesaving but that information is really hard to find now.

in reply to William Lindsey

@TheEffekt

Abbott gave more time and pretended to have more care about this weather disaster than the 19 children and 2 adults murdered by a crazy person with a gun. But he did the same with both, refused to even allow questions about why. Refused to blame the people who deserves the blame, Abbott and Trump; the cuts made to NOAA

I don't know if you watched the press conference but it seems those who are really to blame are those who didn't pray hard enough for the rain not to come.

in reply to William Lindsey

They want you to contact Joel Osteen and Paula White and John Hagee for help.
in reply to William Lindsey

Add to this FEMA being gutted and having its funds redirected to build concentration camps, and you have a classic case of FAFO.
in reply to William Lindsey

@sjar and that is just for starters...
As far as I know States did get FEMA emergency funds 'when needed'.
Maybe it won't be a problem for Republican States, but we have to see if the other States will get some.
in reply to Paul Schoonhoven 🍋🍉

@vosje62 @sjar Unless I'm mistaken, the Republican-voting states of Arkansas and North Carolina have been denied emergency relief funding under Trump.
in reply to William Lindsey

There's something biblical about a flood killing children at a Christian camp, yet none of the Bible-tHUMPING, Jesus-lovin' Christians will say anything to criticize the lack of support from their ideal Chirstofascist government.
in reply to mastodonphan HAS MOVED

@mast0d0nphan it seems nearly all media outlets are refraining from even saying it is a Christian camp. I had to go to its website to find out it was. All part of his mysterious plan, I’m sure.
in reply to William Lindsey

You can see where this narrative leads: “government doesn’t work, privatize it!”
in reply to William Lindsey

They get what they deserve… and voted for…
This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to xs4me2

@xs4me2 Let's hope all of us don't get what we deserve — and for that reason, I myself refuse to wish harm on anyone else, since I know full well that I invite it to myself when I do that.
in reply to William Lindsey

And I respectfully disagree.

There is evil in this world and we see it happening right now. It should not go unpunished.

in reply to William Lindsey

I lived in San Antonio for 40 years flash floods were never that predictable they are just pissed off that it happened on the biggest rafting & tubing revenue weekend of the year. 🐊 😈 🐊
in reply to Darberoom

@Darberoom1954 Interesting, isn't it, that those unpredictable flash floods have begun to produce tragedies of this enormity only after Trump and DOGE drastically cut NWS staffing and funds.

That's where I intend to keep the focus.

in reply to William Lindsey

Texas as a whole leads the nation in flood deaths, and by a wide margin. A colleague and I analyzed data from 1959 to 2019 and found 1,069 people had died in flooding in Texas over those six decades. The next highest total was in Louisiana, with 693.
in reply to William Lindsey

It seems to be really common for MAGA types to blame the effects of their own bullshit on others.

Mighty good at pointing fingers. Less good at solving problems.

in reply to crazyeddie

@crazyeddie I'm going to keep my focus on those drastic cuts to NWS, both in funds and personnel, and how they're now playing out — and will continue to play out — as we deal with dramatic and dangerous weather.
in reply to William Lindsey

And of course, the playbook is entirely predictable: GOP pols and pundits will first shed melodramatic crocodile tears about the loss of these precious young lives. Next, they’ll pick somebody who made heroic lifesaving efforts during the crisis and praise them for being what America/Texas is all about. Finally, they’ll proclaim their horrified disgust at those in the media and the Democratic Party who’ve dared to politicize the deaths of innocent children by pointing fingers.
in reply to WL

@patzer Yes — these precious young lives that happen to be white and Christian in a red-voting state…. All lives matter, and in saying this, I do not in the least want to diminish the tragedy of what has taken place. But my point is that we wouldn't be seeing the kind of horror and lament we're seeing now if these lives had been immigrant lives, brown or black lives, etc.
@WL
in reply to William Lindsey

But there's also this:

AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation.

“These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather said in a statement that called the Hill Country one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the U.S. because of its terrain and many water crossings.

apnews.com/article/texas-flood…

in reply to Jeri Dansky

And this: "In this particular case, we have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that current staffing or budget issues within NOAA and the NWS played any role at all in this event. Anyone using this event to claim that is being dishonest. There are many places you can go with expressing thoughts on the current and proposed cuts. We’ve been very vocal about them here. But this is not the right event for those takes."

theeyewall.com/making-sense-of…

in reply to Jeri Dansky

@jeridansky Yet the officials in Texas responsible for preparing for the disaster are saying the precise opposite about whether they did or did not receive information. Should they be disbelieved?
in reply to William Lindsey

Well, there's plenty of evidence that the warnings were sent; NWS warnings aren't a private thing! If/how they were received by Texas officials is another matter.

And I saw Texas officials talking about Wednesday forecasts not being so alarming. But a lot happened forecast and warning-wise on Thursday and very early Friday. If they stopped paying attention after Wednesday ...

Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source
William Lindsey
@ZuilenV See the continuation of Ron Filipkowski's quote in /2 above.
in reply to William Lindsey

Unfortunately, the flooding in Texas doesn't affect Dementia Don at all, and he doesn't really care about what happened.
in reply to William Lindsey

Apparently the cell service sucks there too, so even if there was a timely warning at 3:00AM, it may not reach those in need.