Editor’s Note: The following article was originally written by Ximena Tobon, one of the Tribuno’s first summer interns.
On the 4th of July, unforeseen weather struck the Texas Hill Country causing deadly flooding in Kerr County and surrounding areas. Months worth of rain fell in hours leading the Guadalupe River to rise more than 37 feet in the middle of the night. While “life-threatening flash flood” alarms were sent out at 1 a.m., by 5 a.m. the river had overflowed and swept up houses, cars, and cabins. Almost two weeks later, more than 160 people are still missing and 130 have been found deceased. Of the victims, 27, were girls ages 8 to 17 who were attending Camp Mystic, an all girls Christian summer camp.
The floods were deemed a “worst case scenario”, creating uncertainty of how officials dealt with the situation and its aftermath. Due to President Trump’s federal cuts, the warning coordinator meteorologist took an early retirement in April leaving the seat in the San Antonio/Austin National Service forecast office empty. The position is in charge of ensuring communication and coordination of weather information to emergency management officials and ultimately the public. Some believe that if the spot had been filled the high rates of missing people and deaths could have been avoided, while officials say that it would not have made a difference as there was a 3 hour gap between the first alert and peak flooding.
All the warnings were sent by phone, yet many people did not receive them as they opted out of the notifications and areas of Kerr County like Hunt, Texas have unstable cell service. At Camp Mystic, phones and any other similar devices were not allowed and had to be turned in by campers and counselors. Making those flood alarms ineffective to warn people of the rising water levels.
Flood sirens, another form of a warning system, have not been installed in Kerr county due to lack of state funding and political polarization. In 2017, 2018, and 2024 the requests for a warning system were denied by the state of Texas due to not meeting requirements or being focused on areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. Yet, in 2021 the county received $10.2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act that could be used for storm-related infrastructure. With the money coming from the Biden administration, Republican constituents asked to give the money back to “the most criminal treasonous communist government ever to hold the White House”. While it is unclear if constituents knew how the federal funding would be used, the tragedy on the 4th of July has now forced the Texas legislature to use state funding to install sirens within the next year.
Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, responded to those criticizing the state’s role in preventing the deadly flooding by comparing the situation to a bad football game. It is “the word choice of losers” as “every football team makes mistakes” and Texas has to make sure to score again and win the game. President Trump, who during the California wildfires criticized local Democrats and condemned former President Biden’s administration for their response to the hurricane in North Carolina, has said there is no one to blame and is offering support to the state. The mutual praises between President and Governor continue, even after FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue teams arrived over 72 hours after the flooding began. Demonstrating how “the allegedly ‘pro-life’ governing party… consistently choose to ignore and undercut systems that protect human life”.
During the wait for FEMA, “Texas FEMA” or HEB arrived July 5th with disaster relief supplies. The Texas grocery store founded in Kerrville, a town in Kerr county, has said they are working closely with the Red Cross, local officials, and first responders, while providing millions in aid and setting up mobile kitchens. From across the border, Mexican volunteers also arrived to help the search effort including the Protection Civil search and rescue team, Fundacion 911 volunteer firefighters, and Los Topos volunteer rescue team. While being in a state with strict anti-immigration policies and social rhetoric, the Mexican volunteers said they do not see colors or have borders as they have empathy and humanism for the missing Texas residents.
The search for missing people is likely to continue for the next 6 months as flash floods in the area have continued and there are tons of debris to be removed. “Flash Flood Alley” in Central Texas has seen “100-year-floods” happening more recently due to climate change. As Texas works to rebuild itself, the public will see if new policies and warning systems are implemented to save lives in the next flood.
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