Kristi Noem Accidentally Low-Key Suggested That Trump Might Be to Blame for Deadly Texas Flooding
While insisting this wasn't Trump’s fault, Noem blamed previous administrations for failing to update NOAA’s “ancient” systems—which would include Trump’s first term, no?
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I've got to admit, I was a bit confused by this headline, because I'd heard that despite cuts to NOAA, the usual flood alerts were given and Texas officials were lying about that.
The article clarifies that a bit:
Former and current NWS employees have defended the agency’s response, as have meteorologists across the country. NWS’s Austin/San Antonio office—which covers the region— issued a flood watch on Thursday afternoon, followed by flash flood alerts that night into Friday morning.
However, the office’s warning coordination meteorologist took an early retirement offer in April as part of NOAA’s personnel and budget cuts, which were part of DOGE’s efforts to slash government “waste.” The position still hasn’t been filled, and according to the department’s website, the office currently has six additional vacancies. That vacancy may have delayed urgent communication with local officials.
It also sounds like the Trump admin isn't going to change their plans for NOAA:
Unfortunately, NOAA’s recently released 2026 budget plan would shut down multiple NOAA labs, including the decades-old National Severe Storms Laboratory, which is crucial in researching and developing storm prediction technology, including hurricane forecasts. These cuts were outlined in Project 2025, with Russell Vought—Trump’s OMB Director—writing that he wanted to gut NOAA because the agency is responsible for “climate alarmism.”
I have to agree, knowing the facts about how rapidly the climate is changing does lead to alarm.
One thing I wonder is how seriously people take the flood warnings.
Most of the time if it is raining at all, I get the various flood warnings. I could imagine people underestimating those.
I recall quite a bit being made of how overtly grim, specific, and certain the Katrina warning was and how that may have helped set it apart from the usual "warning"
One thing I wonder is how seriously people take the flood warnings.
Most of the time if it is raining at all, I get the various flood warnings. I could imagine people underestimating those.
You have a point. But the issue is probably that some people don't differentiate between the different watches and warnings. There are different levels of alerts. Most flood alerts are not of the immediately life threatening variety, and often focus on informing people that they shouldn't drive across flooded road ways. This article about the Texas floods details what alerts were sent out and when as this disaster unfolded.
Initially, the NWS issued flash flood watches on Thursday, the day before the floods, which indicated that conditions in the watch time frame suggested flash floods were going to be possible. Later in the evening, they issued a second watch highlighting the slow moving nature of the storm which suggested even heavier rainfall which increased to risk of flooding. Friday morning, shortly after midnight, they issued a flash flood warning which which is different than a watch.
A weather warning means that there is immediate danger in the highlighted area, not just a possibility of danger. A flash flood watch equals there may be a flash flood, a flash flood warning means there is a flash flood happening. A tornado watch means a tornado could form. A tornado warning means a tornado has formed.
The initial flash flood warning issued after midnight Friday also included the "considerable" tag which triggers the wireless emergency alerts to go out to cell phones and NOAA radios. That warning was upgraded 2 hours later with instructions to "Move to higher ground now. Act quickly to protect your life." A half hour after later, that warning was upgraded to a flash flood emergency which again set off the wireless emergency alert system. Sadly, the region has spotty cell service so it's unclear how effective the wireless emergency alert system was in this incident.
It's possible that people not realizing that each alert represented an increase in the immediacy of the threat to their lives which led them to fail to take action. The solution to that is education, of course. Teach them the meanings of the alerts so they are not confused in the future. But that requires increased funding which is the one thing we can be sure Texas and the Trump administration will not do.
Thanks for that write up, very informative about what went down.
I wonder about having different alert sounds. The one alert sound I barely think to take seriously. I read them and I think I would notice unique phrasing, but I also imagine people are tempted by the ability to turn off emergency alerts as they seem a bit overused.