Camp Mystic, Texas.
In the wake of the Texas flash flood catastrophe that has, so far, claimed 68 lives, with over 41 still missing, 27 of them (originally) young girls at a campsite (Camp Mystic) along the Guadalupe River, this seems like a good time to mention how the current GOP administration is taking care of Americans facing weather disasters. Helicopters in Texas are searching for survivors even now, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Liaison to the city of Kerrville, a Texas location which was hard hit. The Cajun Navy (unofficial) is helping try to locate and hopefully rescue survivors. The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting in the search. Army Corps of Engineers and Border Patrol are involved, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem
Kristi Noem
Kristi Noem, former Governor of South Dakota, is now the United States Secretary of Homeland Security—(also known as the woman who shot her own dog dead.) She was seen on CNN, stylishly attired, saying,”When President Trump took office, he said he wanted to update this ancient system. We can do all we can to fix these kinds of things.” In other words, she offered nothing substantial to reassure residents of any state that things will improve over time, and the facts suggest that they will get worse—much, much worse.
These empty words came from the administration that just dramatically cut major aid to weather forecasting agencies and to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Trump wants to put entirely under his own presidential control, so that he can “play favorites” in sending aid to states hit by weather disasters. Trump has said he wants to completely eliminate FEMA by the beginning of next year’s hurricane season.
Tropical Storm Chantal is the third major storm of the hurricane season. It is strengthening off the coast of South Carolina right now. It may well be another weather crisis that will hit within 24 hours of the Texas Guadalupe River tragedy. Will Kristi Noem’s agency be prepared? Will she have the right outfit for the inevitable destruction that Chantal might cause? Her previous pose, outside the prison in El Salvador, featured a backdrop of shackled prisoners. Reminded me of Robert Palmer’s videos for “Addicted to Love” and “Simply Irresistible,” (only with a less well-attired backdrop). Will someone steal Noem’s purse while she is on camera, her favorite place to be?
Robert Palmer girls in “Addicted to Love.”
Official Warnings
It might be a flood, a tornado, a hurricane, an earthquake, a derecho or a fire. (Or, today, in Illinois, warnings about dust storms that remind of the Dust Bowl Days.) In Texas, at hours that survivors describe as two to four in the morning, river levels rose from a foot to heights that reached thirty-four feet… a virtual wall of water that swept away everything in its path. Survivors described individuals being swept 6 to 12 miles downstream and—if they were lucky—holding on to trees, bushes and telephone poles to survive.
At 6:16 a.m., the City of Kerrville’s Police Department posted on its Facebook page its first warning about the weather, noting that it’s a “life threatening event” and “anyone near the Guadalupe River needs to move to higher ground now.” Kerr County Sheriff posted on its Facebook page for the first time about the flooding at 6:32 a.m.
At 7:22 a.m., the City Hall of Kerrville posted on Facebook: “Much needed rain swept through Kerrville overnight, but the downside is the severe weather may impact many of today’s scheduled July 4th events. Citizens are encouraged to exercise caution when driving and avoid low water crossings. Kerrville Police and Fire Department personnel are currently assessing emergency needs.” At 7:33 a.m. it posted about road closures due to flooding. At 8:32 a.m. it posted: “If you live along the Guadalupe River, please move to higher ground immediately.”
Speaking on Friday, Lt. Gov. Patrick (the very Lt. Governor whose own staff sued him in a famed whistleblower suit) said there were 14 helicopters, 12 drones, nine rescue teams as well as “swimmers in the water rescuing adults and children out of trees.” He said there were 400 to 500 people on the ground helping with the rescue effort. The numbers of the dead—many of them unidentified—rise hourly.
First-Person Accounts
Interior of Camp Mystic, the 100-year-old Christian camp hit by the flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas.
Caroline and Juliana, daughters of Representative August Pfluger of Texas, were safely evacuated from Camp Mystic. Unfortunately, twenty-seven other female campers are still missing. Carl Jeter of Spring Branch, Texas, rescued a woman from a tree near his house. He talked with the woman, who had been camping above Ingram, Texas. Ingram to Hunt is currently, on 7/6 at 3:30 p.m., being evacuated, as it is near a bend of the Guadalupe River and a wall of water may be coming. Residents of Hunt, Texas, are being urged to get to higher ground and there are non-stop traffic jams.
The four individuals woke up, got in the car, and tried to drive out, but it was too late. The woman and her three companions climbed through the sun roof of their car and into the flood waters. She went through 4 dams and through Sydney Baker Road in town. She saw cars going by and screamed for help as she was swept possibly 20 miles in the raging flood waters. She summoned the strength to grab a tree and climb up, spending 4 hours treading water in the Guadalupe River. She had lost contact with her 3 companions. She is now hospitalized.
Trump’s Budget’s Effect on Future Disasters
Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which could more accurately be described as the Big Bad Bill, has caused FEMA to lose 25% of its full-time staff, reducing its trained staffers ready to deploy to disasters from 6,588 to 1,952. Twenty-five % of its full time staff, about 2,000 people have been let go or resigned since January. The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, could produce up to 19 storms and 5 major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is above the annual average of 14 named storms, which NOAA official say is a result of higher ocean temperatures and lower trade winds. FEMA last year passed $64 billion to states and local governments for disaster relief, cleanup and recovery. Is that likely to continue? Officials are worried that it will not.
Officials now also worry that they won’t receive notification of impending climate catastrophes because Trump’s Big Bad Budget cut 20% of NOAA’s staff. More than a dozen NWS forecast offices along the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico are understaffed. The release of weather balloons has been suspended or reduced at sites across the U.S. The Hurricane Hunter unit, which flies planes into storms to collect critical data for hurricane monitoring, lost 2 flight directors and one electronic engineer due to cuts. Its ability to fly 24/7 missions is jeopardized. Retired NWS meteorologist James Franklin said (of the weather service), “They can move the desk chairs on the Titanic but they just don’t have enough bodies to do the job they are supposed to do.”
Acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton testified before Congress in May, saying that he did not believe that it was “in the best interests of the American people to eliminate FEMA.” He was fired by Trump the next day. He has been replaced by another typical Trump appointee—someone with no emergency management experience who is a painter, novelist and ex-Marine. The #2 in command of FEMA, MaryAnn Tierney, quit as the agency’s #2 expert last month. She said, in her resignation letter, “The agency is failing its moral and statutory obligations to the American public.” She added, “Everyone has a line and I have reached mine.”
The current inexperienced novelist-turned-FEMA director, David Richardson, warned that the federal government is no longer going to cover 75% of disaster relief and recovery costs, but only 50%. Hurricane Helene (North Carolina) last year cost $53 billion. FEMA has provided $656 million in emergency aid for North Carolina, but future payouts are in doubt, causing Governor Josh Stein to raise the alarm in the legislature. To scrap FEMA with no careful thought and no good planning—a hallmark of Trump administration moves like DOGE—is described as “frightening” by residents of Florida who suffer buffeting from hurricanes with great frequency.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced the FEMA Independence Act to make FEMA a cabinet-level agency which would remove it from Kristi Noem’s purview. The way Trump prefers, the federal government will distribute less disaster aid and funding will come directly from the President’s office. This means that DJT will play favorites and politicize aid to devastated states—something that sounds exactly like a dictator in an authoritarian state. Tillis announced recently that he would not vote for Trump’s Big Bad Bill and would not seek re-election, saying he could not vote for the Medicaid cuts, among other horrors in the bill. Trump immediately exulted.
Thom Tillis (R, S.C.)
Is this GOP administration looking out for your welfare in the best way possible? Do you feel reassured that the government will be there to help your state, if your state has a climate catastrophe?
Mid-terms are coming. Vote them out!
What are your thoughts?