Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said that after the deadly flood of the Guadalupe River in central Texas, the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service should be investigated.
Host Dana Bash said, “Talking about the the federal government and even the local government to Texas National Weather service offices involved in forecasting and warning about flooding on the Guadalupe river are missing some key staff members, a director of the NWS union told CNN that the Austin San Antonio office is missing a warning coordination meteorologist due to the Trump administration’s buyouts. Do you have any indication whether those or other cuts helped play a role in the fact that the people in the flood zone were not prepared, and certainly not evacuated?”
Castro said, “I don’t think it’s helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies. And you know, when I say that we ought to do everything possible to help prevent a tragedy like this again, that’s part of what I mean. That’s why there’s an incredible value to the National Weather Service is because on most days, obviously you’re not going to have a tragedy like this. But when you have flash flooding, you know, there is a risk that you won’t have the personnel to make that do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, and it could lead to tragedy. So I don’t want to sit here and say conclusively that that was the case, but I do think that it should be investigated. And having, you know, not having enough personnel is never helpful.”
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