More than 100 people are reported dead and over 160 remain missing after catastrophic floods devastated Kerr County, Texas this week, including 27 children at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp. Questions remain about how prepared the region was for the floods and whether the losses could have been prevented.
The Trump administration enacted cuts to both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in July. The NWS—backed by the White House—said its flood watch allowed Texas residents enough time to evacuate, even though some chose not to.
Voices on the left argued funding cuts to the NWS could have played a role in the response to the disaster.Voices on the right cited the affected county’s dismissal of a flood warning system. Some, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have said the floods could be linked to cloud seeding, but others across the political spectrum disagreed.
An article in The Guardian (Left Bias) said, “The 2026 budget makes significant cuts to Noaa including terminating the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which in essence could be the end of the efforts to improve warnings for events like the Texas floods… NSF funded research has played a pivotal role in developing early warning systems for all sorts of hazards, but more work is urgently needed to improve local accuracy and community acceptability amid the growing threats due to global heating. There is no other funding source capable of filling this gap.”
A writer for The Epoch Times (Lean Right) wrote, “Unfortunately, this tragedy, while certainly unavoidable, could have been mitigated… And seven years ago, flood warning sirens were considered in Kerr County, but were not implemented due to budget constraints… Preparedness for acts of God are of paramount importance for any state or locality. No cost is too great to protect Americans. If there is a lesson to be learned from this, it is that actively monitoring severe weather patterns and implementing early warning systems saves lives. And you simply cannot put a price on that.”
RollingStone.com (Left) published a piece that argued, “The flash floods that killed over 100 people, including at least 27 campers and counselors at a summer camp for young girls, have become fodder for online conspiracies and harassment that are being fomented by online trolls, right-wing influencers, and even Republican lawmakers… In the modern political landscape, those who bravely venture into broken and battered American communities in the aftermath of a disaster cannot focus on their lifesaving work, but must instead expend energy fending off attacks and accusations from their own elected officials.”
An opinion in The Washington Free Beacon (Right) read, “As a trained meteorologist with a passion for truth, I can authoritatively tell folks on the right that the floods were not caused by cloud seeding or ‘chemtrails.’ Yet, when I also try to explain the data to social media users on the left, showing them that there is no evidence climate change caused or exacerbated the Texas floods, the conversations quickly devolve into insults or even threats… The tragedy on the Guadalupe River shows that meteorology is serious business. Let’s not let politics, junk science, or unchallenged orthodoxies get in our way.”
