Here’s Why Texas Lacked A Flood Warning System When Everyone Knew It Needed
The post Here’s Why Texas Lacked A Flood Warning System When Everyone Knew It Needed appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Topline One week after deadly flash floods killed at least 120 people in central Texas, a raft of new reporting increasingly aims the blame at state and local officials for failing to build a suggested warning system—and taxpayers for refusing to pay for one. A Texas state flag flies in a yard filled with debris on July 6, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Getty Images Key Facts Kerr County officials knew for a decade that a better flood warning system would serve the local community well, meeting minutes obtained by the Texas Tribune show, but one was not in place when last week’s floods hit the state for several reasons. One reason: Texas state officials repeatedly rejected requests from Kerry County to pay for such a warning system, estimated to cost about $1 million, and turned away the county’s applications at least three times between 2017 and 2024 for various reasons, the New York Times reported. Another: Local officials also failed to act when they were given $10 million under the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act money in 2021 and, instead of using it on storm-related infrastructure as the grant encouraged, allocated it to other public safety projects, county employee raises and a new walking path, according to the Texas Tribune. Kerr County’s own voters are getting blamed, as well, by local officials who say there was little public support for a system: “Generally everybody’s for doing something until it gets down to the details of paying for it,” Harvey Hilderbran, the former state representative from Kerr County, told the Tribune. Trump’s FEMA also blamed: Sources inside FEMA told CNN and the New York Times that new policies put in place by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem delayed the deployment of search and rescue crews by 72 hours, delayed a request…
The post Here’s Why Texas Lacked A Flood Warning System When Everyone Knew It Needed appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Topline One week after deadly flash floods killed at least 120 people in central Texas, a raft of new reporting increasingly aims the blame at state and local officials for failing to build a suggested warning system—and taxpayers for refusing to pay for one. A Texas state flag flies in a yard filled with debris on July 6, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Getty Images Key Facts Kerr County officials knew for a decade that a better flood warning system would serve the local community well, meeting minutes obtained by the Texas Tribune show, but one was not in place when last week’s floods hit the state for several reasons. One reason: Texas state officials repeatedly rejected requests from Kerry County to pay for such a warning system, estimated to cost about $1 million, and turned away the county’s applications at least three times between 2017 and 2024 for various reasons, the New York Times reported. Another: Local officials also failed to act when they were given $10 million under the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act money in 2021 and, instead of using it on storm-related infrastructure as the grant encouraged, allocated it to other public safety projects, county employee raises and a new walking path, according to the Texas Tribune. Kerr County’s own voters are getting blamed, as well, by local officials who say there was little public support for a system: “Generally everybody’s for doing something until it gets down to the details of paying for it,” Harvey Hilderbran, the former state representative from Kerr County, told the Tribune. Trump’s FEMA also blamed: Sources inside FEMA told CNN and the New York Times that new policies put in place by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem delayed the deployment of search and rescue crews by 72 hours, delayed a request…
What's Your Reaction?
