As Texas Flood Deaths Rise, Officials Blast Faulty Forecast by National Weather Service

[Larniavc]

Nothing could have prevented is,

Kind of the same argument as with gun deaths, the poor; in fact anything as long as it doesn’t mean any personal effort to fix the problem.

 

[Larniavc]

Why did the warning not reach the people who drowned?

To be fair if they had bootstrapped their own environmental disaster warning agency none of this would have ever happened.

Poor life decisions are not the responsibility of the government.

 

[FenderTL5]

I heard that Donnie called this "terrible" and "shocking" while rushing to the scene.
and by "scene" I mean one of his golf courses in New Jersey.

 

[Larniavc]

I heard that Donnie called this "terrible" and "shocking" while rushing to the scene.
and by "scene" I mean one of his golf courses in New Jersey.

And by rushing do you mean ‘ponderously lumbering’?

 

[Fantine]

In reality it was predicted and warnings were issued. If some extra new agency isn't around any longer, that doesn't mean the agencies that have been around for a long time aren't still operating. I'm guessing whoever was running that remote camp didn't didn’t see the warnings issued at 4:30 AM.

This seems to be yet another tragedy being exploited in hopes of political gain.

May I refer you to the Scientific American article linked above? That article and many others warned Americans of the danger and havoc that would be created by DOGE and Elon Musk's youthful assistants.

 

[ozso]

Modern cellphones are equipped with the ability to broadcast loud alarm noises for alerts, so everyone sleeping shouldn't be an issue.

Doesn't change the fact that the forecast by the NWS was wrong. Had the forecast been accurate, the people maybe wouldn't have decided to go camping, or at least chosen a more secure spot for their camp.

Did you read post #4? "And meteorologists say that the NWS did send out adequate warnings as it got updated information."

 

[ozso]

May I refer you to the Scientific American article linked above? That article and many others warned Americans of the danger and havoc that would be created by DOGE and Elon Musk's youthful assistants.

Why don't you refer to what's linked in post #4?

 

[ozso]

I hope democrat politicians are able to use this to get votes.

 

[Desk trauma]

Modern cellphones are equipped with the ability to broadcast loud alarm noises for alerts, so everyone sleeping shouldn't be an issue.

Earlier this year Texas sent out a state wide alert using that feature at five am to announce a police officer had been wounded. Priorities.

 

[Fantine]

The meteorologists in the article you provided are not identified. Not a single one identified. Did they really provide information but were too embarrassed to allow their names to be used in the article? Or are they just anonymous sources? In other words your counter article lacks credibility.

 

[ozso]

The meteorologists in the article you provided are not identified. Not a single one identified. Did they really provide information but were too embarrassed to allow their names to be used in the article? Or are they just anonymous sources? In other words your counter article lacks credibility.

If that is to me, I did not make post #4. That was posted by another member who's a scientist.

 

[ozso]

Earlier this year Texas sent out a state wide alert using that feature at five am to announce a police officer had been wounded. Priorities.

Do cell phones go out of service in remote locations? Or in canyons?

 

[Desk trauma]

Do cell phones go out of service in remote locations? Or in canyons?

Clearly a waste to send out any notice if anyone who could be affected may not receive the notice. Unlike announcements about wounded cops which the entire state must be sent posthaste.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

Modern cellphones are equipped with the ability to broadcast loud alarm noises for alerts, so everyone sleeping shouldn't be an issue.

Many of the childrens' camps specifically advertise a "no phones" policy. Additionally, there are large portions of the US that have zero or spotty cell phone coverage, or only have coverage by one carrier (there are three primary cell networks in the US). I believe that emergency alerts go out as priority traffic at a higher signal strength, and should get around some of those restrictions, but there are definitely places where even a boosted signal won't reach.

Doesn't change the fact that the forecast by the NWS was wrong. Had the forecast been accurate, the people maybe wouldn't have decided to go camping, or at least chosen a more secure spot for their camp.

The biggest failure that I can see in this situation is on the part of the summer camps. Because of their bans on phones, people did not get alerts that way, and it seems that many of them did not have weather radios (which can be set to only broadcast emergency alerts, so they're not disruptive in a normal situation) or even any sort of disaster plan in place.

Forecasting events like flash floods is difficult, as they're frequently caused by abnormal weather events (e.g. a large storm system stalls over a specific area). While you might be able to identify those conditions a few hours out (and the NWS did - the first warnings went out at ~1:30am, while flooding didn't begin until ~4:30am), they're not really possible to forecast multiple days in advance.

 

[Desk trauma]

Many of the childrens' camps specifically advertise a "no phones" policy.

For the campers. Unless the camps were committed by ideology to ludditeism some member of staff would have had a cell phone or barring that weather radio especially given the flood prone location.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Clearly a waste to send out any notice if anyone who could be affected may not receive the notice. Unlike announcements about wounded cops which the entire state must be sent posthaste.

At 4:03 a.m., a Flash Flood Emergency was issued for parts of Kerr County, including Hunt, triggering Wireless Emergency Alerts on cell phones.

Devastating flash floods slam Texas Hill Country; Tropical Storm Chantal heads for Carolinas » Yale Climate Connections Devastating flash floods slam Texas Hill Country; Tropical Storm Chantal heads for Carolinas » Yale Climate Connections.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

For the campers. Unless the camps were committed by ideology to ludditeism some member of staff would have had a cell phone or barring that weather radio especially given the flood prone location.

Like I said in the rest of my post, the biggest failure here was on the part of the camps for not having a weather radio or any sort of disaster plan.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Death toll rises above 50 in Texas floods as rescuers scour for missing​

The most dire alerts came in the overnight hours, and many residents said they didn’t see them in time. At about 4:30 a.m. Friday, the National Weather Service notified residents of “a life-threatening situation.”

At a news conference, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said without elaborating that the agency was using “ancient technology” to issue alerts and that the Trump administration would work on upgrading it. In a statement, however, the Weather Service said its reports gave localities hours of lead time.

Officials have deflected questions about what more should have been done to prepare for the floods, with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) asking observers to stop “finger-pointing.” Every level of government, he maintained, was doing everything possible to help.

Kelly, the county judge, lives on the Guadalupe and said he never expected the storm to get so bad.

“We didn’t know,” he told reporters Saturday. “We know we get rains. We know the river rises. But nobody saw this coming.”

 

[Landon Caeli]

This is why Satellite phones are handy, which are designed to recieve signals from the NWS. Had the camps had one, for emergencies, this situation may not have happened - I mean, if we're looking for real solutions to real problems.

 

[Desk trauma]

This is why Satellite phones are handy, which are designed to recieve signals from the NWS. Had the camps had one, for emergencies, this situation may not have happened - I mean, if we're looking for real solutions to real problems.

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Far too soon to be talking about such things! Wait, what’s that? The kids were drowned, not shot? Oh.