Summer Camp Kids Did Not Have to Die in the Texas Floods

In May, five former directors of the National Weather Service wrote that the budget cuts could leave weather forecast offices so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life. The NWS, which lost 500 staff positions since the Trump-Musk budget cuts, provides the data and analysis that inform virtually all of the weather forecasts Americans receive. Early reports indicate that the problem in Texas was that the budget cuts crippled the NWS's ability to warn residents about the oncoming flash floods. It's not that the service's scientists didn't forecast the potential flooding accurately enough; it's that the service's communications staff had been so shrunk that the forecasts were not shared promptly with the public and emergency managers. Only hours after NWS issued its storm and flood warning did safety officials pass that warning on to the general public.