Texas Floods: A Storm of Neglect and Misinformation

In central Texas, heavy rains led to deadly floods, sparking a closer look at the U. S. President's actions against climate research and disaster readiness. The National Weather Service (NWS) did warn about the flood, but many key positions were empty before the disaster. This raised questions about the Trump administration's firings, budget cuts, and the state's long history of neglect. When asked if the government should rehire the fired meteorologists, Trump said no. He even claimed that the talented people at NWS didn't predict the flood. But meteorologist Eric Holthaus called this a lie. He said Trump's cuts made kids less safe and that Trump is trying to deny his role in the damage. Holthaus pointed out that Trump's staff cuts hit the Environmental Modeling Center hard. This center works to improve forecasts for complex weather events. While it's unclear how much the staff shortages affected warnings, it's clear that climate change is making such disasters more common. Trump's administration has cut funding and staff for climate agencies. They even proposed ending climate research funding by 2026. Scientists are already limiting research due to these cuts. Trump has also dismissed experts, cut NOAA's workforce, and stopped tracking climate disasters. All this while pushing for more fossil fuel use, which worsens extreme weather. A NOAA veteran warned that these cuts could set the agency back to the 1950s. Environmentalist Stephen Barlow called Trump's actions reckless and dangerous. He suggested calling these disasters "Trump events. " Aru Shiney-Ajay from the Sunrise Movement blamed Republicans for firing meteorologists, cutting disaster aid, and giving billions to fossil fuel companies. She said the deaths are on Trump's hands.