Criticism Grows Over Flood Warning Procedures in Texas

At the same time as the extensive search and rescue efforts are underway in Texas, questions are being raised about whether the worst consequences of the flood could have been prevented. Now criticism is being directed at local authorities.

» Published: July 06 2025 at 17:35

Criticism Grows Over Flood Warning Procedures in Texas
Photo: Julio Cortez/AP/TT

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It will be a lot of "pointing fingers" and hindsight, says Chip Roy, Texas politician and Republican member of the House of Representatives, to the news agency AP, and continues:

There are many who ask themselves "why" and "how", and I understand that, he says.

A first warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) came at 1 am, during the night to Thursday. Then, about 13 to 18 centimeters of rain were expected.

During the early Friday morning, the warnings became increasingly serious. Among other things, automated messages to mobile phones belonging to people in the affected areas were activated. People were urged to move to higher areas and to evacuate particularly risk-prone areas, says Jason Runyen, meteorologist at NWS, to AP.

"Should take action"

Shortly after 4 am, an acute warning of high risk for catastrophic destruction and deadly scenarios was issued.

Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at Accuweather, a private weather forecasting company that uses data from NWS, believes that there are signs that the authorities could have acted more proactively, for example with preventive evacuations.

"People, businesses, and authorities should take action based on flood warnings issued, regardless of the amount of rainfall that has fallen or is forecasted", he writes in a comment.

Plans for warning system

According to the head of the local government in Kerr County, Rob Kelly, however, no one could predict what would happen.

A few years ago, they considered introducing a warning system for floods along the Guadalupe River, which would work like tornado warning sirens, according to Kelly. But it was never introduced due to the high cost.

Taxpayers have not wanted to pay for it, says Kelly.

What type of warning system or evacuation plan the affected summer camps located along the river had, he does not know.

It will come out over time, he says.

Questions about staffing

Kristi Noem, US Secretary for Homeland Security, promised at a press conference on Saturday that the Trump administration will investigate how NWS warning technology can be updated.

At the same time, questions are being raised about staffing in parts of the weather agency. Certain key positions at local NWS offices have been vacant for some time, reports The New York Times. Experts who the newspaper has spoken to speculate that it may have made it more difficult to coordinate with rescue services.

According to Jason Runyen, however, the NWS office that issues forecasts for the affected areas has been staffed with extra personnel during the storms.

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