Hey there from CNN. I'm Krista Bow with The Five Things You Need to Know for Tuesday, July 8th.

A key role at a central Texas weather office was vacant during last week's deadly floods.

And former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad thinks that could have hindered communication with local emergency managers.

The staffing was just fine, and the White House has concurred with this, to get the forecast

out, to get the watches and warnings issued.

But when you send a message, there's no guarantee it's being received, so someone needs

to follow up, and that's the warning board nation meteorologist, a position that was vacant.

The warning coordination meteorologist serves as the main link between forecasters and

emergency managers, and Spinrad said the one in the Austin San Antonio office took the Trump

administration's retirement offer and efforts to shrink the federal workforce.

In response, a National Weather Service spokesperson said extra staff were on duty and decision

support was provided.

But Kerr County has declined to comment on its response.

At least 108 people have died from the disaster, with the majority of those killed in Kerr County.

Israeli strikes have hit several areas of Gaza today, with emergency

responders and hospitals reporting more than 60 people have been killed. The attacks come as

indirect negotiations between Israel and Tamas continue in Qatar on reaching a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza

in return for the release of Israeli hostages.

A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson says mediators spent the last three days working to build

a so-called framework to give the talks a better chance of success in less time.

Here's CNN's Jeremy Diamond on how the talks are going so far.

There's been progress made, I'm told, on the issue of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza,

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