July 6th, 2025.

At least 80 people are dead and more than 40 are still missing in Central Texas,

after almost a foot or 30 centimeters of rain caused flash floods overnight on Friday. Most of the deaths were in Kerr

County, where the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet or 8 meters in 45 minutes, engulfing a Christian

girls camp. Even as rescuers searched for survivors, the disaster has highlighted the dangers of MAGA governance.

The steps that left people in the path of the floods on Friday are unclear, but observers are

already pointing to the administration's cuts to government as well as the lack of systems that

could have provided earlier warnings to those in the path of the floods.

Immediately after the catastrophe became apparent, Texas officials began to blame cuts to the National Weather Service,

or NWS, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA,

for causing inaccurate forecasts.

The Department of Government Efficiency cut

about 600 staffers from the NWS.

After the cuts, the understaffed agency warned

that severe shortages of meteorologists

would hurt weather forecasting. All five living former directors of the NWS warned in May that the cuts leave the nation's

official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit, just as we head into the busiest

time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes.

Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed

that there will be needless loss of life.

But former NWS officials maintain the forecasts were as accurate as possible

and noted the storm escalated abruptly.

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