It Didn't Have To Happen
July 12, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 28) - Regardless of the sentiment among local, state and federal officials that the July 4 flash flood in Texas could not have been predicted, the fact is that it could have - and should have - been anticipated. Maybe we can't stop Mother Nature's wrath. But with forethought and planning, we certainly can mitigate it. While Texas's lame-ass governor refers to questions about finding out who is to blame as "the word choice of losers," the fact remains that "blame" is just another way of saying "accountability." And the people of Texas and the United States have a right to know who is behind the colossal failures that have led to at least 120 deaths with many more still missing.
There are four stages to any crisis: the prodromal or warning stage, the point of no return where damage is unavoidable, the clean-up stage (in this case, the search and rescue of victims), and the period when things return to "new normal." The biggest failures in Texas came in that first stage, when there were warning signs of a potential disaster but they were ignored. The local government officials and the state knew that the region had experienced serious flash flooding in the past. Yet they did nothing. One local official railed against the idea of installing flood warning sirens for aesthetic reasons. The MAGA following commissioners initially turned down $10.8 million in federal COVID recovery funds because they felt President Joe Biden was a corrupt communist. They eventually accepted the money, ostensively to deny it from being distributed in a blue state. However, they did nothing with the money to address the flood warning system. Governor Abbott and the state legislature should have taken responsibility for the health and well-being of their fellow Texans by installing updated warning systems in the flood-prone region. The state had the resources to do it. But - again - they did nothing.
When the flood hit the "point of no return stage," the Trump administration's evisceration of the National Weather Service and FEMA made matters worse. The short-staffed Weather Service did an admirable job warning of the impending threat. However, the key official charged with coordinating with local emergency management officials had been fired by DOGE. That left a critical gap in the response. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a/k/a "Dress-Up Barbie," established reckless budgetary restrictions on the federal government's response. In short, she had to personally sign-off on expenditures over $100,000. During any major emergency, FEMA would spend several times that amount in rolling out resources to respond to the emergency. Secretary Noem was sent the budgetary request on Friday morning. But she didn't get around to signing it until Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, thousand of calls to FEMA from frantic citizens went unanswered. And, the man who actually heads FEMA has been nowhere to be found. When President Trump toured the disaster area yesterday, he used his press conference to vent old grievances. The practice of his predecessors has been to act during disaster responses as a "comforter-in-chief." But that's not Trump's style. At least he didn't throw paper towels to the victims.
In my May 29, 2025, post, I warned that the Trump administration has gutted the government's ability to respond to disasters. I take no pleasure in saying "I told you so." But make no mistake about it: The actions of the local, state and federal officials in this matter borders on criminal mismanagement.. There are signs that the Texas legislature is finally motivated to do something about a flood warning system. And the Trump administration appears to be quietly shelving its idiotic plans to eliminate FEMA. But that is not enough. Kristi Noem should be fired, as should the elusive head of FEMA. Voters need to hold their elected official accountable at the polls. The massive death toll from the Texas floods should have never happened. But it did and the "new normal" stage of the crisis should result in a reckoning on Election Day. That's it for now. May God bless the victims and comfort their families and friends. Fear the Turtle.