Department of Research, Studies and International News 11-07-2025

Over the recent holiday weekend, central and southern Texas were engulfed by catastrophic flash floods, which have claimed the lives of at least 119 people, with over 160 still unaccounted for. The calamity has drawn scrutiny not only for its staggering human cost but also for what many are calling a damning indictment of systemic failure on the part of the U.S. government.

Nature’s wrath, government’s negligence

Triggered by a sudden and violent downpour before dawn on Friday, floodwaters in Texas Hill Country rapidly rose to engulf entire communities. Within two hours, the Guadalupe River surged beyond 9 meters, submerging residential areas and sweeping away lives. Aerial footage painted a grim picture of devastation, entire neighborhoods drowned beneath a sea of muddy water.

While such extreme weather is not unprecedented in the region, known as “Flash Flood Alley”, experts argue the disaster was exacerbated by an underfunded and understaffed weather monitoring apparatus. The U.S. administration, particularly under President Donald Trump, systematically defunded critical federal agencies like the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the very institutions meant to forecast and warn against such disasters.

A particularly harrowing loss at camp mystic

Among the most tragic sites is Camp Mystic, a private Christian girls’ summer retreat located along the banks of the Guadalupe River. With approximately 750 people on-site when the flood struck, the toll has been especially high: at least 27 attendees lost their lives, including children as young as eight and the camp director. Five children and one counselor remain missing. The haunting echoes of a similar 1987 disaster, where a flood originating from Mexico killed 10 teenagers at another camp, are fresh in local memory. The sheer scale of casualties in Kerr County, where 95 of the victims were found, including 36 children, raises troubling questions about early warning systems and evacuation protocols. Critics argue that the tragedy was not merely a natural event but a failure of institutional foresight and response.

Warnings ignored, responsibilities evaded

Despite claims from U.S. officials that flood warnings were issued in advance, the patchy and under-resourced emergency services failed to reach many communities in time. The NWS, operating with nearly 600 fewer employees due to budget cuts, had multiple local offices suffering from staffing shortages. As a result, key weather alerts were delayed or insufficiently communicated, and the ensuing chaos revealed a gaping hole in America’s domestic emergency response capabilities.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management and local NWS offices attempted to warn the public through social media posts and flood watches. However, these alerts came only hours before the devastation, and the state’s rugged terrain meant many vulnerable communities remained unaware or unprepared. When asked whether the former meteorologists should be rehired, Trump’s response was indifferent: “I would think not. This was the thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it.” This cavalier attitude has been widely condemned as a reflection of Washington’s detachment from the realities facing ordinary Americans.

The broader political failure

This tragedy is emblematic of a deeper issue: the chronic neglect of public infrastructure and emergency preparedness in the U.S., often justified through austerity measures that prioritize military expansion and foreign interventions over the safety of the American people. While Washington sends billions in arms to conflicts abroad, particularly in support of regimes like the Israeli occupation, it fails to provide the most basic protections at home.

Even as Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed over 1,700 personnel and hundreds of vehicles in the aftermath, the reactive nature of this response stood in sharp contrast to the glaring absence of preventative strategy. The federal government’s inability to predict or mitigate this disaster, despite historical precedence and modern forecasting technology, further undermines its credibility.

 A moment of reflection

The flood has prompted renewed debate within the United States about its priorities and preparedness. From failed weather systems to chaotic emergency responses, the tragedy lays bare the internal decay behind Washington’s facade of global leadership. While American officials attempt to deflect blame and disguise incompetence with technical jargon about “100-year floods,” the victims of Kerr County, including dozens of innocent children, are the ones who pay the price. In stark contrast to countries like China or Iran, where disaster response is often treated as a matter of national security and handled with coordinated efficiency, the U.S. response reflects a nation in decline. This is more than just a natural disaster. It is a sobering revelation of a crumbling system whose leaders are more invested in global hegemony than the well-being of their own citizens.