The National Weather Service issued several forecasts Tuesday through Thursday morning, warning of the risk of flash flooding.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — Sen. Ted Cruz pushed back on the notion that funding cuts at the National Weather Service played any role in how the Texas floods were forecasted and alerted in the Hill Country last week.
Cruz, speaking at a news conference in Kerr County on Monday, dismissed accusations as “partisan finger-pointing.”
“I think there have been some eager to point at the National Weather Service and say cuts there led to a lack of warning,” Cruz said. “I think that’s contradicted by the facts. And if you look at the facts, No. 1, these warnings went out hours before the flood became a true emergency level. But No. 2, the National Weather Service here — New Braunfels is where they were headquartered — had additional manpower. In fact they had three additional people working that night, anticipating it was going to be a very dangerous weather situation.”
The National Weather Service issued several forecasts Tuesday through Thursday morning, warning of the risk of flash flooding. At 1:14 a.m. Friday, a flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County. This was followed by additional communications at 2:28 a.m. and 3:02 a.m., and then, at 4:03 a.m., a rare flash flood emergency was declared. Here’s the full timeline of events and warnings issued by the Weather Service.
Cruz said it’s “reasonable” to eventually review “what could have been done better.”
“But I think just immediately trying to use it for either side to attack their political opponents, I think that’s cynical and not the right approach,” Cruz said.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, on Monday called for a government watchdog group to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service played a role in the response to the Texas flooding, according to Reuters.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Saturday it was difficult for forecasters to predict just how much rain would fall. She said the Trump administration would make it a priority to upgrade National Weather Service technology used to deliver warnings.
“We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that’s why we’re working to upgrade the technology that’s been neglected for far too long to make sure families have as much advance notice as possible,” Noem said during a press conference with state and federal leaders.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Great Job & the Team @ WFAA RSS Feed: news Source link for sharing this story.
