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

[Pommer]

Caroline Cutrona, a counselor at Camp Mystic, told CNN that counselors were not allowed to keep their phones at work, so she never received the NWS warnings. Cutrona was in a higher area at the camp overnight and avoided the floods.

Policy will be revisited.

 

[FaithT]

It now appears that the local disaster officials didn't heed the warnings that they got, and when confronted tried to blame others (notably the NWS).
They (these same “local officials”) are probably doing an adequate job in the aftermath, but should (be forced to?) resign after the clean-up.

Who are the local disaster officials?

 

[FaithT]

Policy will be revisited.

That’s why I have mixed feelings about kids having phones in school. If there’ some sort of tragedy, they can’t call for help.

 

[iluvatar5150]

A user on reddit has posted exerpts from several Kerr County Commissioners Courts proceedings (like a town council) where the flood warning system was discussed. Several officials had a history of dismissive attitudes towards such a system, both the need for one in the first place and the cost. Once Biden started doling out money, some residents started wringing their hands about the source of federal funds for building such a system:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TexasPolitics/comments/1ltnjf8

 

[The Barbarian]

Kandiss [Jesus Guns Babies] Taylor

Is this some kind of Alex Jones wannablee? Those were real kids, with real families, and now they are dead. Everyone in government is pointing fingers at each other, but the reality is, they were unprepared and it killed people.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Is this some kind of Alex Jones wannablee? Those were real kids, with real families, and now they are dead. Everyone in government is pointing fingers at each other, but the reality is, they were unprepared and it killed people.

She's a candidate for the GOP nomination in the 1st Congressional District of Georgia for an open seat. (Incumbent Democrat is running for Gov.) (She is as vile as you likely assume.)

https://www.ajc.com/politics/politically-georgia/kandiss-taylors-congressional-bid-shakes-up-georgias-2026-gop-midterms/

 

[The Barbarian]

That’s why I have mixed feelings about kids having phones in school. If there’ some sort of tragedy, they can’t call for help.

After I retired, I became a teacher. Smart phones were a huge resource for me. While I had laptops available, most kids chose to do tests on their phones. It was a great help to me, since grading was automatic on multiple choice items, and I could monitor each student's progress and answers on the test. And simulations worked very well. My word wall had lots of QR patches for sites where they could get more information on specific topics. Kids loved it. And so did my principal.

Here's the secret; kids will secretly video teachers. My thought is that if the teacher is doing it right they should be happy to have it videoed. I once had an asst. principal tell me that she didn't know how I could stand the noise and disorder during labs. I said that they were so engaged in the problems I asked them to solve that they wouldn't even notice if I walked out of the room. Arguments and high fives were a sign that they were getting it.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Some extra context regarding TX' rules for camp disaster readiness and Kerr County's history of dealing (or not) with floods:

https://www.expressnews.com/news/investigations/article/camp-mystic-required-evacuation-plan-time-use-it-20603145.php

And more:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/us/texas-floods-warning-system-invs

 

[essentialsaltes]

109 dead in Texas, 161 missing in Kerr County​

There are 161 known people missing in hard-hit Kerr County, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
About 12 are missing in other counties, he said.

 

[rjs330]

Better yet, and speaking of blame and repenting:

Trump blames Biden, yet again

Speaking on Sunday, President Donald Trump brushed aside criticism that federal budget cuts to weather, and emergency agencies had worsened the disaster. As questions grow about why the public was not warned sooner or why people were not evacuated from the area known to be popular with campers, Trump sought to deflect the blame and claimed that the situation was a "Biden setup". "That was not our setup," Trump said when asked about warnings that failed to reach campers in time. He claimed the situation was a "Biden setup," despite having been in office for around six months​

​

Think the man who claims to be Christian but will tell you he doesn't make mistakes and has no need to repent or ask forgiveness is going to, as you suggest, repent?

Yeah he was as wrong to do that as every single person on this thread was wrong to blame Trump. Trump should have have just said the weather service did their job and shouldnt be blamed for this tragedy and point out we are doing whatever we can to help those in need at this time.

 

[rjs330]

Some extra context regarding TX' rules for camp disaster readiness and Kerr County's history of dealing (or not) with floods:

https://www.expressnews.com/news/investigations/article/camp-mystic-required-evacuation-plan-time-use-it-20603145.php

And more:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/us/texas-floods-warning-system-invs

Thanks for that. Unfortunately there are MANY places around this country where County and City governments have to decide how to spend their money. And the public weighs in on all of it. Its called by the people and for the people. And sometimes the people choose badly. It sounds like this is one of those cases. The citizens of this county and area bare a chunk of blame on this.

 

[The Barbarian]

President Donald Trump’s approach to the federal government has been to cut, cut, cut, which means when there is a disaster in which the government plays a role, he will have to expect questions about those cuts.

When there’s a plane crash, as there was days into his second term, the shortage of air traffic controllers will be scrutinized.
When the administration quietly backtracks on some layoffs and struggles to re-fill key positions, it will lead to concerns that cuts went too far.

When there’s a tragic flood that catches an area off-guard, the effect of his cuts on the National Weather Service and FEMA will become a line of inquiry.

Flash floods killed at least 95 people over the July Fourth holiday, and many others are still missing. Rescue and recovery are still ongoing, so no one can say for sure that personnel cuts at the National Weather Service or open positions at forecasting offices in Texas amplified or even affected the flood’s tragic outcome.
There are many facts yet to be discovered, and a full investigation will certainly be conducted.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/noaa-nws-fema-layoffs-cuts-texas-floods

I'm thinking that the "investigation" will have the same fate as the Epstein files.

“If you look at that water situation, that was really the Biden setup,”

Donald Trump Makes ‘Super’ Awkward Gaffe While Ranting About Iran

The president’s thunderously botched take went viral.

www.aol.com

It's his way; whenever he messes up, he blames someone else. This is how we know he knows he messed up.

 

[Say it aint so]

Yeah he was as wrong to do that as every single person on this thread was wrong to blame Trump. Trump should have have just said the weather service did their job and shouldnt be blamed for this tragedy and point out we are doing whatever we can to help those in need at this time.

Hmm....nothing about Trump needing to repent.

 

[keith99]

That’s why I have mixed feelings about kids having phones in school. If there’ some sort of tragedy, they can’t call for help.

> That’s why I have mixed feelings about kids having phones in school. If there’ some sort of tragedy, they can’t call for help.

There are several reasons in a situation like this not to have phones that do not apply to a school setting.

Remember the vast majority of the camp will be several girls sharing a common area. Both theft and charging can be a problem. It seems cell reception is poor. Like everything else it will bet worse under stress. Something like this puts the system under stress in at least 2 ways. The direct issues because of the thunderstorm and a significant increase in call volume because when the lights go out everyone calls.

Since the girls are NOT local I wonder just how much information there is to gain in either direction.

In a camp setting homesickness is a major issue. Cell phones exacerbate that issue.

And just about the last thing you want is to depend on a system that is apt to fail just when you really need it. Which seems to be a strong chance with cell phones in this area.

One thing that does come to mind walkie talkies for councilors. Perhaps mounted in cabins like fire extinguishers.

Also well marked evacuation routes, which would pretty much be one way, always going up. The ideal there was someone who had been a camper 20 years ago could be in a new or changed part of camp while visiting and use the evacuation system to get safely out.

 

[wing2000]

....text based alerts are all well and good. But how effective are they at 1:20 AM? I know I would sleep right through them.....

It seems to me one needs other methods as well...such as sirens.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Leaders in Kerr county, where searchers have found about 90 bodies, said their first priority is recovering victims, not reviewing what happened in the hours before the flash floods.

Only losing football teams ask questions about who's to blame; winners are determined to score next time and win the game, TX governor says​

 

[FaithT]

> That’s why I have mixed feelings about kids having phones in school. If there’ some sort of tragedy, they can’t call for help.

There are several reasons in a situation like this not to have phones that do not apply to a school setting.

Remember the vast majority of the camp will be several girls sharing a common area. Both theft and charging can be a problem. It seems cell reception is poor. Like everything else it will bet worse under stress. Something like this puts the system under stress in at least 2 ways. The direct issues because of the thunderstorm and a significant increase in call volume because when the lights go out everyone calls.

Since the girls are NOT local I wonder just how much information there is to gain in either direction.

In a camp setting homesickness is a major issue. Cell phones exacerbate that issue.

And just about the last thing you want is to depend on a system that is apt to fail just when you really need it. Which seems to be a strong chance with cell phones in this area.

One thing that does come to mind walkie talkies for councilors. Perhaps mounted in cabins like fire extinguishers.

Also well marked evacuation routes, which would pretty much be one way, always going up. The ideal there was someone who had been a camper 20 years ago could be in a new or changed part of camp while visiting and use the evacuation system to get safely out.

The ideal would’ve been to not have cabins close to the river.

 

[FaithT]

....text based alerts are all well and good. But how effective are they at 1:20 AM? I know I would sleep right through them.....

It seems to me one needs other methods as well...such as sirens.

There’s no way I could sleep through a tornado alert that comes on my cell phone.

 

[SimplyMe]

> That’s why I have mixed feelings about kids having phones in school. If there’ some sort of tragedy, they can’t call for help.

There are several reasons in a situation like this not to have phones that do not apply to a school setting.

Remember the vast majority of the camp will be several girls sharing a common area. Both theft and charging can be a problem. It seems cell reception is poor. Like everything else it will bet worse under stress. Something like this puts the system under stress in at least 2 ways. The direct issues because of the thunderstorm and a significant increase in call volume because when the lights go out everyone calls.

Since the girls are NOT local I wonder just how much information there is to gain in either direction.

In a camp setting homesickness is a major issue. Cell phones exacerbate that issue.

And just about the last thing you want is to depend on a system that is apt to fail just when you really need it. Which seems to be a strong chance with cell phones in this area.

One thing that does come to mind walkie talkies for councilors. Perhaps mounted in cabins like fire extinguishers.

Also well marked evacuation routes, which would pretty much be one way, always going up. The ideal there was someone who had been a camper 20 years ago could be in a new or changed part of camp while visiting and use the evacuation system to get safely out.

I don't have an issue with girls not having phones in a camp like this. As pointed out, there are a variety of reasons not to allow them, not least at which issues of theft (or even pranks where phones are hidden) and charging.

At the same time, they should have at least one senior counselor who always has a working phone with them (even if requiring them to remain in a particular office (I'm sure they have some administrative work that needs to be done) where they either get service or can be connected to WiFi) that is getting emergency alerts, particularly weather alerts. If nothing else, you have one of the affiliated church leaders who monitors events and a camp leader always near a phone (even if they have to sleep in the camp office), where they can call in case of emergency, such as this flash flood.

I have to wonder if someone from the affiliated church, not at the camp, tried calling the camp (knowing the lack of connectivity at the camp) only (since people don't have phones at the camp) could not get in touch with camp leaders to warn them of the flooding.

 

[FaithT]

I don't have an issue with girls not having phones in a camp like this. As pointed out, there are a variety of reasons not to allow them, not least at which issues of theft (or even pranks where phones are hidden) and charging.

At the same time, they should have at least one senior counselor who always has a working phone with them (even if requiring them to remain in a particular office (I'm sure they have some administrative work that needs to be done) where they either get service or can be connected to WiFi) that is getting emergency alerts, particularly weather alerts. If nothing else, you have one of the affiliated church leaders who monitors events and a camp leader always near a phone (even if they have to sleep in the camp office), where they can call in case of emergency, such as this flash flood.

I have to wonder if someone from the affiliated church, not at the camp, tried calling the camp (knowing the lack of connectivity at the camp) only (since people don't have phones at the camp) could not get in touch with camp leaders to warn them of the flooding.

I agree with you. A senior counselor or somebody should’ve had a phone.