No, prayers aren't all you can do

It is very much the exact time to talk about what happened in Texas

Shocking loss in the Hill Country

The loss of now over 100 people including at least 27 young girls from Camp Mystic on the Guadalupe River in Texas Hill Country is absolutely stunning and heart breaking. I can only imagine how despondent the families are of those lost and terrified must be the ones of those who have not been found yet.

I cannot express my sorrow and true condolences enough. I am not a praying man, but I know the devastation of loss of a wife and a child and there is little that compares, so my prayers are with everyone.

I offer those as a private citizen.

I expect more from elected officials.

But, let’s get something out of the way right now. It is NOT playing politics to demand our elected officials get to work immediately to find out if lives could have been saved. ‘Once in a lifetime’ storms are happening everywhere every day now and this idea we have time to let the news cycle move on is ridiculous.

We just had an assassination of an elected legislator in Minnesota and it wasn’t the right time to talk about it…and now they have successfully moved on.

Telling an elected person of any party to do their damn job isn’t playing politics. It’s demanding they do what we pay them to do in a Constitutional Republic.

So…with that…

Thoughts and prayers ain’t it, Chief

On Sunday Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appeared on Fox News Sunday (of course) and was asked by Shannon Bream if more can be done by Congressionally or legislatively for the citizens there.

He offered prayers.

He acknowledged the losses and mthey would consider “supplemental funding” when the time is appropriate.

But, that’s it. Nothing else.

I want pastors and citizens to offer prayers. I want elected leaders to offer fixes.

What should they be doing?

I want elected officials to do what we pay them to do. The list is extensive.

They should immediately launch investigations into what could have been done differently at the federal, state, and local levels. Look at the cuts that have already occured at the NWS and examine if they should be immediately rolled back. Dive into the cuts that are in the outrageous reconciliation bill Trump signed on Friday and ensure they won’t cause more damage.

It appears that the National Weather Service did in fact call that the storm would be worse than expected and sent out a Flash Flood Watch and Warning hours before they deluge arrived. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of the night and the Hill Country has spotty cell phone coverage and no warning system.

The New York Times has an extensive and unfolding story about how the tragedy progressed and it’s not great.

There are no warning sirens, river gauges, or systems in place. It is shocking to me that the system the summer camps were using consisted of camps further up river calling down stream to warn others that something was coming.

This wave rolled down in the deepest hours of the night.

Kerr County got the NWS alert and then waited literally hours to post about it on Facebook. The New York Times found that county officials have recognized the danger for years and attempted to find solutions. They were rejected for grants from FEMA under Trump and Texas leaders have completely ignored them.

When asked why the county itself hadn’t paid for sirens a county commission member said they didn’t think taxpayers had the appetite to pay for it.

He thought.

I’m serious.

All of this is on the heals of the layoffs of over 800 probationary employees of the NWS under DOGE and mass departures from the early retirement offers shortly after. They are now short staffed across the country leading to less prediction personnel and less upper atmosphere balloon launches to see what is coming.

Renowned retired meteorologist Dan Satterfield laid it out on his Facebook page with the launches that were canceled on Saturday.

Look at those red dots.

But it gets worse. This tragedy comes on the heels of Trump signing his ‘Big Ugly Bill’ on Friday that included massive cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that is the parent agency of the National Weather Service.

The NOAA plans to cut 17% of its workforce next year alone. The reconciliation bill has cuts to the NOAA budget, specifically targeting research and grant programs. The cuts included a significant reduction to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), with the intent to dissolve it and shift some of its responsibilities to other NOAA entities. Additionally, the bill proposed cuts to weather satellites and infrastructure, and eliminated programs like the Sea Grant program.

The Trump administration proposed to eliminate the entire Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), including research labs, cooperative institutes, and regional climate centers. Several OAR programs, including 16 NOAA cooperative institutes and the 50-year-old Sea Grant program, were slated for termination. The budget included a $209 million cut to NOAA's weather satellites and infrastructure.

The proposed budget would result in a more than 25% overall reduction to NOAA's budget from its current level of roughly $6 billion.

Something’s happening

About all of these cuts are because they don’t believe in climate change so they want to eliminate all of the research about it, prevention measures, and defenses.

Let me be clear, I don’t care if you believe that climate change is normal, man-made, or it’s God hugging us closer. The fact is it’s changing. We just had a tornado mow through a major chunk of St. Louis that has never seen one in it’s entire history. These events are happening more and they are happening more dangerously.

The massive St. Louis tornado as seen from the Gateway Arch webcam

Either you believe government is meant to protect us and make our lives better or you’re an fool who should stay off the roads and never call the fire department or cops.

Those are the choices.

So, when we are calling for our elected leaders to seek answers quickly, make changes, change their stupid budget cuts, or help the local communities its because that is their damn jobs.

I’d like my tax dollars to save lives.

Maybe I’m a radical.