This is devastating. The Trump administration just held a press conference in Texas in the aftermath of the catastrophic flash flooding in Kerr County that has already claimed 32 lives — including 14 children — and officials fear the toll could rise. The disaster response, or rather the lack of it, is raising serious questions about federal leadership and accountability.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, speaking at the press conference, was immediately put on the defensive when asked why the National Weather Service (NWS) didn’t issue phone alerts before the deadly flood. Instead of taking responsibility, Noem blamed outdated technology and shockingly pointed the finger at former President Biden, despite the Trump regime now being in power and having had time to address any issues.
Let’s be very clear: the National Weather Service is part of NOAA, and the Trump administration proposed a $1.6 billion cut to that agency, gutting staff and weakening forecasting capabilities. According to former Biden official Dan Coe, over 600 NWS employees were lost due to Trump-era budget cuts. And now they’re acting like they just noticed there’s a problem?
Even worse — this week, Kristi Noem bragged about stealing FEMA funds to pay for a pet political project known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” That’s money that should’ve been used to prepare for and respond to disasters like this flood.
Noem kept suggesting that Texas should take the lead in disaster response — a complete distortion of how emergency response works. In large-scale disasters, FEMA is supposed to lead, especially when local and state resources are overwhelmed. But Trump and his allies have openly talked about abolishing FEMA — and fired the head of FEMA, Cameron Hamilton, for daring to say the agency should still exist.
Yes, they fired a MAGA guy because he said FEMA should stick around. You can’t make this up.
Here’s the proof: In recent months, Kristi Noem has repeatedly said FEMA should be eliminated. In March, she said on camera, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.” In congressional testimony, she doubled down, saying Trump believes FEMA has failed Americans and should be dismantled.
That belief is now having deadly consequences.
At the press conference, reporters pushed Noem hard. Why weren’t people warned earlier? Why wasn’t the federal government leading? Why did people not get alerts until hours after the floodwaters began rising? Noem dodged, blamed local officials, and made it sound like the government is merely supporting Texas, not taking responsibility.
Even Texas officials are blasting the federal government and the National Weather Service. Local forecasts wildly underestimated the rain totals. Officials expected maybe 4–8 inches. They got over 13 inches in some areas. The river rose from 7 to 29 feet in minutes, and still, some camps in danger were never evacuated.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, when asked why camps weren’t cleared ahead of time, admitted he had no answers and said, “We didn’t know this flood was coming.” But federal officials did issue some warnings as early as 1 a.m., so where was the communication breakdown? Why were life-saving alerts not reaching people on time?
This is what happens when you destroy government from the inside, slash science budgets, and replace experts with ideologues. Americans suffer. Kids die.
Meteorologists like John Morales in Miami have been sounding the alarm about these cuts for months, warning that under Trump, NOAA and the National Weather Service are so underfunded and understaffed that they may not be able to give reliable forecasts anymore. In some areas, weather balloon launches — crucial for forecasting — have been cut by 20%. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.
And now it’s here.
Even former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said the proposed Trump cuts would “cripple” the agency’s ability to forecast and respond to disasters. This isn’t about politics — it’s about basic public safety.
And it’s not just this one storm. Across the country — Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas — we’ve seen deadly tornadoes and floods, and in many of those cases, FEMA didn’t show up in time or was actively blocked from helping. In North Carolina and Georgia, Trump’s FEMA rejected supplemental aid after Hurricane Helen.
This is the consequence of putting extremists in charge of public safety. They don’t believe in government — and now we’re all paying the price.